So I had this spare combi-melta...

Onwards and upwards with the Crimson Fists!  Painting procrastination is being held at bay by me actually setting myself some targets.  I'm aiming to have a 1,000 point army of Crimson Fists by the end of April.  This will mean painting:

1. 1 x Sternguard with combi-melta
2. 5 x Terminators
3. 5 x Scout Squad
4. 1 x Landspeeder Storm

So item number 1 is completed!

I wanted a 6th Sternguard and didn't want a duplicate miniature in my squad.  So I've had to be a little creative.  It's not the best or most complex of conversions, and The Dark Templar will probably roll his eyes (or curse) at the lack of dynamism, but  I'm quite pleased with him.  To help beat the procrastination, I'm limiting the time I spend on each - I'm not going for display quality here, just good enough for the tabletop.  So the blending is a little rough and he has a number of flaws that can be seen in the pictures, but hopefully not from a foot or two away.  He's also a little brighter than the other Sternguard, as I painted them 6 months or so ago...

I hope the Mk8 chest piece, and the little studs on the helmet and kneepads link him in with the other Sternguard, so he doesn't look like just a Tactical Marine with a fancy gun.

Just in case anyone was wondering about the colours used:

• Blue - Regal Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Ice Blue
• Red - Mechrite Red, Devlan Mud wash, Blood Red, Solar Macharius Orange

As always, comments and criticism (and questions if you have any) welcome!

Johann Kane

Yep, a naff name, but that will get changed at some point.

For some reason the pictures aren't the best, I'll have to look into that.  

Another quick paint job, using Charadon Granite as a base coat again - getting them to a gaming standard, rather than something to display.  The added bonus is that I have something to show for my efforts (and something worth posting here).

I'm pretty pleased with him, I've based his colour scheme on the Solomon Kane character - he's a little drab, but I think he's come out OK.

As always comments and criticism welcome!

Right, I've had enough of him, it's over.

A statement you would expect the wife to be uttering rather than me...

I realised how much time and effort I was putting into Ol' Mortis and how much I was worrying about trying to get him perfect.  I wasn't getting anything else much done and it was putting me off picking up a paint brush.  It never ceases to amaze me how the fear of not getting things right can stop me doing something that I love so much.  So over the last couple of days I concentrated on getting him finished - he might not be perfect, but he's done and I can move on.

 

The face has come out well enough in the end, as I lightened up the shaded parts of the face.  The shield is as good as it's going to get I think, and I'm pleased with the way the cloak came out.  I dirtied up the feet and the bottom of the cloak a bit just to make it look like he's been traipsing through the dirt.

All in all, I managed to get myself past an irrational, self imposed mental barrier and finished him, and he doesn't look half bad!

Let me know what you guys think - comments and criticism welcome!

Yuri the Kislevite

Something a bit different...

I'd mentioned previously that a good mate of mine donated to me a few witch hunter miniatures - over the last day or so I painted up the first (before launching back into Mortis again).  I only spent a few hours on him (it probably shows), but he's turned out pretty well.

I wanted a darkish colour scheme, a little "Solomon Kane" in style.  The whole miniature was basecoated with Charadon Granite, then washed with Badab Black.  Everything aside from the skin and the gold on the sword was highlighted up from that base colour, including the silver metal work. 

He was a blast to paint, very simple and straightforward - the Charadon Granite basecoated helped with that I'm sure.  The rest of the Witch Hunter types who will be dotted around the army will be painted in the same style.

It's amazing how photographs of the miniature can show up the bad bits that you can't necessarily pick up with the naked eye - I'm short sighted rather than long sighted, so close up stuff is usually OK, but I'm wondering if I need to start using a hands free/head mounted magnifier.

The lower part of the sword hasn't come out as well as I'd hoped, so I may touch that up, and the boots may need a wash or two of Devlan Mud to take the edge off of the top highlights I probably didn't need to put on, but otherwise I think he looks good.  I've gone for a dark green base edge for my Empire army, and I'm not sure it works - suggestions?

I've named him "Yuri the Kislevite", right hand man of "Johann/Solomon/Reinholdt/Magnus" (still unsure of a name), the lead witch hunter.  He'll be the champion of my greatsword unit, for obvious reasons...

As always, comments and criticism welcome - although please bear in mind this chap was a "speed paint" (well, as speedy as I get anyway).

In other news - despite what the Nibblonians say, the Dave Matthews Band DO rock.  It was an unbelievable concert.  :)

Crimson Fist Lysander - Making some progress...

Apologies for the lack of updates again...

Here's the latest shot of my Lysander - renamed Brother Captain Mortis.  I've not got too much left to do now, the back of the cloak (which will be crimson) and the chapter symbol on the blank shoulder pad are the "big jobs", while all over the model, I can see bits that need tidying up.  Particularly the face, that hasn't come out at all well in the photo for some reason.

 

I'm really happy with the hammer (an attempt at using something close to NMM techniques with metallic paint) and the shield - especially the lettering which I usually struggle with - I think I may have finally got that nailed now...

As always, comments and criticism welcome!

Off to London this weekend for a Dave Matthews Band gig at the O2, so not much painting this weekend sadly.