Infinity: Haqqislam

So Dzer0 over at Emerald Coast Wargamers/Elves and Angels got me into Infinity the Game, and I recently picked up the Haqqislam faction's starter box. The sculpts are great and the the casting is some of the best I have ever seen, though it doesn't make up for all the models being made of metal.

Techmarine

Currently working on a techmarine, as I'll be needing him to repair the slew of Land Raiders and Dreadnoughts my Deathwing will be having. I started this army from the get go as an Apoc force, and I plan to end up with a full company. Lots and lots of tanks and dreads.

Now, this is probably THE model that got me interested in GW. I love this model to death and I super excited to have finally gotten a hold of it.

Check it out:

Deathwing Bone Armor

Finished up a 5 man unit of terminators, each with Chain-fist, one with power sword, from the AoBR box set. Chainfists where made by cutting off a length of Chain blade from left over bits and then a quick filling down of lower part of the power fist, then gluing the chainsaw part on.

Dark Angels Test Models

I finished assembling 5 Terminators, a Dreadnought, 6 Bikes, and an attack bike. Using Army Painter colored primer "Skeleton Bone", my Deathwing terminators will be much easier to do than I had thought. Here are some pictures, of Belial (from the AoBR terminator squad,) and a Ravenwing Biker,

Talos/Chronos Pain Engine

Painted him up today:

Converted DE Wrack

Quick Friday update: Now working on my unit of wracks, a picture of one is down below. The pain engine has been based, work will likely start tomorrow.

Lets break down how he was painted:

Step One: Primed black
Step Two: Skin wetbrushed Tallarn Flesh, Drybrush Skull White
Step 3: Cloak Mechrite, then Scab, then Blood Red highlights, loincloth is Snakebite Leather highlighted with Iyanden Darksun
Step 4: Weapons drybrushed Chainmail, armor highlighted Blood Red
Step 5: Washes. Ogryn Flesh and Red Oak Stain

The Kabal of the Howling Gale update

Here are painted elements of the Kabal of the Howling Gale, namely 2 Squads of Kabalite Warriors, 2 Raiders, 6 Reavers, 1 Venom, 4 Trueborn and my Archon/Duke.

First up is Kabalite Squad One, The Searing Arrow and thier Raider Death that Sails
Squad includes a Blaster/Shredder and a Splinter Cannon, with the potential for one model to be the Syrabite.

WIP Prince of Pain/Duke Sliscus

I picked up a bunch of bits and pieces of dzer0 (link over in the linkafication section), which included the two Female Slaves Dark Eldar/Elf models, and the Dark Elf Hero character model Lokhir Fellheart. Which got me thinking, what better way to show a dashing Pirate Prince than by using Lokhir and a slave girl? (DISCLAIMER: Not trying to offend anyone here, as the more astute amongst you may have guessed, my Dark Eldar kabal is firmly rooted in the "Saturday morning cartoon villain" spectrum of evil, not trying offend anyone.) Anyway, here is how he is looking now. Prince Zhai Mor 'counts as' Duke Sliscus.





The Prince/Duke was primed black, his armor highlighted Goblin Green and Hawk Turquoise, his helmet is pure Skull White,his cloak was first painted with Scab Red, then Mechrite Red, then a heavy drybrush of Blood Red, followed by a slightly lighter drybrush of Warlock Purple. The inside of his scale cloak is Tallarn Flesh, then Skull White, then Tallarn Flesh again with a light wash of Leviathan Purple and a heavier wash of Ogryn Flesh. Swords are basic Chainmail, with Turquoise Blue and Skull white for the poisoned edges.
His lady friend (yes, the way she is placed is completely intentional) was primed yellow, her skin is Tallarn Flesh followed by a store brand acrylic paint "Buttermilk", her hair is Iyanden Darksun, then a drybrush of Sunburst Yellow, her make up is Blood Red, her chains are Chainmail, her clothes are Snakebite Leather highlighted with more Darksun.

Work to Do:
Base him(them?): My main issue here is to whether wait for more resin bases to arrive, or base him myself. The models take up most of the base, so what would be seen wouldn't matter that much, but I still want it to look good.

Highlights and touch ups: The Prince/Duke needs his blades highlighted, and I think I can do a better job on his eyes and cloak. The girl needs here eyes done, as well as overall facial highlighting.

Oh, and I'm working on a way to make a WYSISYG Shadowfield, so stick around if you are interested.

Cleaning and painting resin bases

EDIT: For some reason I cannot get some of the picture to a reasonable size. I'll try and work around it. If you want a clearer photo, just click on it, it'll expand for you.

I got some resin bases this morning from Secret Weapon Bases, and I figured I should do a quick run through of how to clean these guys up.

First, the materials:
Your resin products:

and some warm water, soap/dish detergent, and a file.


Now the, Step One: File away.
You may find that you have some flash, file or cut it off, but don't try and snap it. Resin is very brittle, it will break. Be careful to not inhale any of the resin dust,its not very healthy.


Step Two: Wash.
You may find that the resin still has some sealing agent on it. This is when you wash it in warm, not hot (as this will make the resin soft and bendable) and soapy water. Make sure you clean it well.


Step Three:Prime.
Your resin models will need to be primed to allow paint to stick well. Make sure wha you have is a "Primer" or a bonding agent. Regular spray paint can work, but primer is better and you won't lose as much detail with it.


Now, lets apply some paint. As these particular bases are ruins, I used a lot of greys, blacks and metals.
Here are some painted ones:


Now I'll break down how I painted these.
For the rubble, I either used 1) a base of black, followed by a dry brush of dark grey (equal parts black and white "Apple Barrel" brand paints). Or 2)A base of black, followed by Snakebite Leather, then Scab Red, then a drybrush of Snakebite Leather again.
For the pavement/side walks, I used a base of black followed by a light grey layer (2 parts white, one part black.)
The roads where done with 2 parts black one part white paint.
Metals where done with a simple black basecoat, then a layer of Chainmail and a wash using Red Oak woodstain.

And here is a fully painted and based unit, complete with Transport. Specifically the Searing Arrow kabalite squad with their Raider The Death that Sails. Yes, I did replace its flying base, but the resin base is the same size, so I doubt anyone will mind.

Ork Looted Valkyrie, stage 1

Right. My brother (who I am painting this army for) really like planes. As such, I have acquired, and begun the painting of, a IG Valkyrie. First Impressions: Whoa, this model is huge, really, I did not expect to get a hunk of plastic this big on my desk. Lots of open space for freehand (if one feels so inclined), and the model presents ample opportunity for detailing and weathering. However, as I am working on a two week schedule to paint up about 25 Orks, 3 deffkoptas and finish Warboss Karkrusha, I have forgone the more fancy brush work for straight up silver highlights and an eventual coat of Devlan Mud.
WIP shots of the model, piloted by two trained Grots, taught the basics of flying by captured Air Caste Tau.




Planning to run it as a fighta, or fighta-bomba, depending if I get a Storm Raven on my hands. If it goes the rought of the fighta-bomba, it'll have some Bomb squigs or Grot Bombs coming out the back. If it goes fighta, then some wing mountain orks on guns will likely be added.

Here is an updated Warboss Karkrusha, now with more highlights and shading on the arms, newly painted trousers (snakebite leather, followed by Red Oak stain, the highlighted with snakebite again). Started work on the, er, rear end of the model.

Ork Warboss Karkrusha, Ork Speed Kult Painting Recipe

My 7 year old brother wants to start playing Orks (he likes all the guns), so I'm currently painting an assemblying a small starting force for him. Here is the HQ choice for his Speed Kult army, Warboss Karkrusha.



The whole model was primed black. The skin is a base of some store brand acrylic I had a while back, this is one of my older models and I'm basically upgrading his paint job, followed by Snot Green, then Goblin Green to highlight to the higher points on the model, muscles, etc. The Shirt is currently only snake bite leather, though I plan to add in some shading later. The red armor plates are Blood Red and Mechrite Red. Pants I haven't touched, they are an unknown paint. The gun and power klaw where painting with Chainmail and Dwarf Bronze. The eyes are blood red, with a fine Hawk Turquoise (I have to have this color SOMEWHERE on every model I do) glaze on the eyelids. The wires are Dwarf Bronze, while the wire covering is Hawk Turquoise lightly dry brushed with the same Dwarf Bronze. The armor plates where edged with Chainmail to give them the worn, broken down Ork look. His banner and loincloth still need work, and touch ups all around, but he is turning out all right. And yes, that is a horde of wyches in the back ground.

I want to take some time to gush over how awesome this model is. Big and bulky, he really shows off how an Ork should look. The power klaw is brutal looking, while the crude wires and augmetics, along with the patch job armor and shoota do a great job of showing how a "propa Ork" should look. On top of this, the combination of long flat pieces (in the form of the loin cloth, banner, and armor, have the potential for some great freehand while the detail of the face and weapons provide an great opportunity to practice highlighting, weathering, etc.

Speaking of Dark Eldar, here is a tally of what I have painted, followed by what I own.
Painted:
10 Kabalite Warriors, One raider.
Owned:
3 Ravagers
5 Raiders
1 Venom
1 Void Raven
24 Kabalite Warriors
17 Wyches
12 Jet Bikes
6 "Incubi"
6 Harlequins
2 Haemunculi
10 Wracks
4 Grotesques
So 11/91 models done.

Dark Eldar Wracks, Blood Angels Librarian and High Examplar Kreoss

The line up today:
Wracks, made from random Dark Eldar kits (mainly wyches/Kabalites), wads of green stuff, and Empire Flaggelants.



I have several more of these guys, but most are primed black, and I wanted to show the conversion work involved. What I did was filed the neck down on the collars on the Flaggie torso, then cut of the round neck-stub from the DE heads and then glued them on. Now, they each have varius oddities on them, as I wanted to convey that the Haemunculus making them was just bored, and was messing around on his servants for kicks.

Codicer Varro, A Space Marine Librarian I had lying around.


I wanted to show that this guy has been in the thick of the fighting for a while, so I drilled several holes in his armor, "bullet holes", cut up his face, using a mix of scab and blood red, with some Dwarf Flesh, as well as dirtying up the model with Devlan Mud and Badab Black.

The Force weapon was an exercise in lighting, and I think its glowy look turned out well.


High Examplar Kreoss, first painted Warmachine fig, and exercise in the frustration of painting white.


This guy really exemplified the biggest issue I have with PP models, and that is that the details on them tend to be very shallow, and even a slightly thick basecoat will make you lose a lot of them. However, this was a blast to paint. The flowing robes give lots of opportunity for shading practice, and there are plenty of pieces of armor to practice metals on. The fire I sculpted from some Green Stuff.

Shifting into maximum overdrive.

And I'm back from my Christmas hiatus with a whole bunch of stuff to show ya'll. First on the itinerary, I have officially started to work on my Dark Eldar, and have built 10 Warriors and 10 Wyches. The new kits are fantastic, full of tons of options. I would show a picture, but in my haste to build all my my models, the sprues are now just that, sprues with nothing on them, picked clean of bits. I have painted a test mini, and have settled on a color scheme of cold blues, greys and steel, with black as a base color on the model, see below:


There is a lot of detail on the models themselves, so they are going to be an exercise in highlights as well as gaming. I'll try to have a painted Wych up later this week.
I picked up one of the new WFB terrain pieces "Dreadstone Blight", basically a huge ruined tower. The kit came in a grand total of maybe 20 pieces, and was very easy to assemble. There is plenty of detail on the tower, though skulls are, as always, very prevalent, for whatever reason.

On a final note, I desided that my next fantasy project after I finsih up my Empire army will be Chaos Dwarfs. I've been looking into thier fluff, and they are arguebably the most origianl race in Warhammer. I really like the mesopatamic influences in thier backkstroy, and with Mantic Games relaeseing a new range of 28mm chaos dwarfs I have set my mind to it. I'll be using the Ravening Hordes CD list from White Dwarf, as well as the American Indy GT CD unofficial army book. I converted one of my Battle for Skull Pass dwarfs into a Chaos Dwarf Lord, using a lot of Green Stuff (for the beard) , as well as bits from the Chas Knights and Marauders kits.




I will likely be going for a bronze and purple paint scheme, though I don't know what color the skin should be. Any suggestions would be appreciated, and comments on welcome.
EDIT: Yes, I am aware that the base isn't great, lava is reeaaallyy hard to do.

Empire unit filler, part two, now with %100 poorer lighting.

Here is the second bit of filler that I've done, instead of actually painting my army. the idea I had while making this was "If the Flaggelants will chain themselves to statues, how does the Empire treat prisoners?". in short, I took a 40k Ork Boy, cut him up, and chained him to a ruined plinth from the Arcane Ruins set, then placed two empire soldiers in front, one with a standard another with a horn, and one has a broken sword... anyways, the paint scheme is the same for all my empire, the usual Warlock purple and Sunburst yellow, same deal with the water as well, and the blood. I painted a trail of blood from the top of the plinth and it goes all the way to the murky water and mixes in. I think this piece really captures the inherent brutality of what Warhammer is, a wargame, where we make little plastic men kill each other with little plastic swords.

Empire unit filler, part one

I've found myself in need of Halberdiers, so I'm creating some unit filler for my 40 man Swordsmen horde. Here is the first piece, using a 40mm base, and pieces from the Flaggelant and Empire Chapel kits, and GaleForce 9 grass. I'm tempted to make this count as a musician and standard, as the enoous statue and screaming fanatic are pretty easy to spot, especially since the flaggelant isattached to the statue by a chain and is dragging it with him. I think I will name him William Phips (cookie for reference). Tell me what ya'll think please:




Here is how I went about painting it:
first, William Phip, who was painted looooooong ago, I think in June or August. Walmart quality Black, dark Blue, and white for his clothes. The mud is calthan brown with Ultramarine Blue and the blood is Scab Red layered (a bit heavily ) with Mechrite Red. The water is based in Calthan Brown, then Ultrmarine Blue, followed by Hawk Turquoise, and the white water effect is Hawk Turquoise mixed with simple white paint. As with the blood, after the paint dried, I applied a thin coat of Krazy Glue for a shiny-wet effect. The Statue is FolkArt Inca Gold, then Dwarf Bronze, with Hawk Turquoise highlights. If you focus, one of the statue's faces is crying tears of blood. Angsty I know, but i thought it looked cool.