Hobby Therapy 9/28

It has been a busy month - teaching at a new school, rehearsals three nights a week, and a 2 hour + commute every day.   Weekends have been about catching up on chores and sleep, and a quick trip to visit mom.

This is the first time in three weeks that I have had time to do some "hobby therapy".    I did some clean-up and organizing in my work area (still a disaster zone) and put together a few models.

One thing I was doing, to relax, was to fiddle around with a variety of miniatures, doing some simple "kitbashing" experiments to see what looks good together.

These included quite a few of the humanoid factions from Warlord's Antares game, some Wargames Atlantic Raumjagers, and some Dreamforge infantry, as well as the ever-present GW bitz.



No painting today, but I did manage to get some minis primed - including one SM that had fallen off the tray three weeks ago and was waiting patiently on the ground next to my priming spot.

My other recent hobby activities included listening to a few episodes of my friend Jim's new miniatures gaming podcast.

https://daysofhighadventurepodcast.podbean.com/

While listening to Jim, I did a few more hours of work.  Here are the results.

Some mix and match with Raumjager and Cadians.   The one on the far right is an Antares body with Cadian arms and a Dreamforge head.

GW Cadian with Raumjager rifle, and a "pure" Wargames Atlantic Raumjager. 

Raumjager and Cadian mix, SM head on R, Dreamforge head on L.

The taller one is a Shieldwolf "Sisters of Faith" body, the Cadian and Raumjager are shown for scale..

More mashups.

A small horde of Ghar from Warlord Games Battle Beyond the Gates of Antares

The Ghar support section stands ready to lay down some cover fire.

The first Ghar assault section - I put these together first, and was still figuring out the legs.

The second Ghar assault section.

Simple Hybrid Conversions for Genestealer Cults (GSC)

Genestealer Cults have been yet another victim of my ADD - an "I'll finish this army later" project for me for decades.   I had genestealers and hybrids from the original Space Hulk expansions, assorted Imperial Guard and other early GW Rogue Trader minis, Necromunda minis, and a scattering of Chaos Cultists, and thought that a Genestealer Cult (GSC) army would be a good way to get use out of them.

These minis have basically been in a couple of boxes that they were all dumped into back in the mid-90s.   Partly this was due to moving, partly due to Genestealer Cults not being well supported by GW, and mosly because I got out of 40k for over a decade.

Last summer, as I was pulling minis out of the storage unit and building and painting them, I noticed that GW  had been doing some GSC releases (they were included as starter armies in Deathwatch Overkill, the Kill Team box, and in the 40k Tooth and Claw starter, as well as being released as a line of unit boxes), so picked up a few boxes, just to play around with building and converting these fun models.

I haven't purchased the Codex, or designed an army list, but have been having fun putting together the models.    While I have some older, metal GSC minis, the bulk of my GSC models are plastics - which I enjoy building and converting.  I have avoided the resin minis, partly due to cost, but also because I don't enjoy working with resin - which tends to be brittle and difficult to work with.

 Recently, while going through my Space Hulk minis, looking for Genestealers and Terminators, which I have been painting up recently (after owning them since 1991), I found several Genestealer Hybrid bodies.    This week's hobby project has been working on those hybrids.

Here are the six I completed and primed.   Hopefully I will be able to paint them up next week sometime soon.

The hybrid on the right has arms and an extra multi-handed weapon from the new GSC line.

The center mini in this group has a multi-handed weapon form the new GSC kits.  The one on the right has a shotgun from the 1990s version of Necromunda.

Some updates on 29 Sept, as I have started playing around with paint schemes - going with a light purple for the skin, and thinking of blue for the uniforms (or at least for some of the units).

The standard bearer in the center uses the body of a "Sisters of Faith" mini from Shieldwolf.

End of summer work in progress

Just thought I'd share the classic Space Hulk terminators I've been working on today.   They are old minis, and are not as detailed as newer models (including newer terminators) that are waiting to be painted, but these have been waiting for some love and attention since about 1991.

The last of the first squad (darker body - painted over darker colors - crimson and gold accents), and a "clean"/lighter bodied librarian (primed grey seer).  In the background are a couple of genestealer hybrids that have been incomplete for years, that I am playing around with.  Maybe I'll have some Genestealer Cult pics to share before too long.





The second squad (blue and gold accents) and the lighter bodies (primed grey seer).  I have another group that are primed a darker grey, the next time I get motivated to work on termies, we'll see how they paint up.


I want to thank my former coworkers Jim V. and Steve G. for motivating me to get some modelling and painting done this year.   The pics they have shared of their painting projects have inspired me  - and shamed me more than a little   ;).

The missing summer posts - experimenting with "Contrast" paints

I started some posts this summer, but had some camera/phone problems (my phone's battery was swelling as it got older, and started pushing the phone apart, so I had to replace it) and never got the posts finished or posted.

It's a long weekend, so why not play catch-up?

GW introduced a new line of paints this summer called "Contrast".   These are supposed to be both a paint and a wash, all in one.   I decided to try some out, as the idea behind them is to reduce painting time for "table ready" (as opposed to "painting competition ready") models.   Those of you who know me know that I am a slow painter, have shaky hands, and can come up with a bunch of excuses that keep me from getting painting done, and I am certainly not a competition level painter.

I started out with the new Ambull from Blackstone Fortress.  I primed her with burnt umber, and used the camo green contrast paint over it, and like the results.




The model needs a bit more work, including basing, before it's finished.  Still, it allowed me to try out the colors I was able to get in July.   My ADD forced me to move along to another project. ;)


I moved on to work with some Cold Ones - giant lizards that various troops may use as mounts.   I like the results I achieved with these guys.




Then I decided to spruce up some of  my "old school" Space Hulk Terminators, in case I get a houseguest that wants to play a few rounds.





And then, of course, I tried out some of the contrast paints on the genestealers.   The darker blue looks better in person than in these pictures, but I want to find a better paint scheme before I finish off the pile of unpainted  'stealers that has been threatening to devour my home for decades.



I was a bit disappointed at how thin the purple ended up being - I was hoping for it to be more robust.  I may have to use a different primer for the rest of them.



I also touched up a few Chaos Androids (originally from the GW/Milton Bradley crossover "Space Crusade"), thinking they will be useful to replace the cardboard tokens in "Space Marine Adventures: Labyrinth of the Necrons" (another 40k boardgame).

Changing pace....

As you can see on the front model, the contrast paints can sometimes leave a spotty finish.

Then I went to work on some of the multitudes of unpainted space marine models that live in the walk-in closet of my guest bedroom.   These started out primed white, which is not recommended for contrast paints, as I was working on matching a paint/wash combo I had used on a squad of Space Marines from the game-changing (and great) 3rd Edition 40k box set back in 1999/2000, but packed away due to the divorce, several moves, and change of career.  One problem I have had matching the painting scheme I used back then is that GW has changed their paints multiple times since then.  With the white primer, I used the darker of the gray/black contrast paints, and sometimes used two coats.

The idea behind these models was to have a gritty, "in the field" look, as well as being easy to paint.   Many 40k armies - particularly space marines - are known for bright (even gaudy) colors.   I wanted something that looked more lived in, but kept the color accents (blood red and gold/brass/bronze*).

* Depending on what metallic colors I had available at the time I painted each batch of models.

Some of the early missile launcher models.

Missile Launchers continue to be my favorite SM heavy weapon.

A variety of missile launchers.  The one at center front is the most recent, and I included it for that reason, even though I haven't painted its shoulder pad trim yet.

Some multi-meltas and a heavy bolter.




Sometimes a las-cannon is the right tool for the job.






Assault squad with jump packs.

Heroes abound in the space marines.

Some space marine "riflemen" with bolters.

This group features a couple of Mk 6 "Beakie" marines from the RTB-01 box set - the first plastic 40k minis - along with their more modern brethren.

In this case, I used the contrast paints to spice up a squad I had block painted back in the 1990s.

The contrast paints add more texture to the look of the models.

"Beastie Boys" - Blackstone Fortress Beastmen: work in progress

I apologize for the long interlude without posting.   As a teacher, I should be able to get so much hobby stuff done in the summer, and yet...


... here we are.

I liked the beastmen in the Blackstone Fortress game so much that I picked up a few more on e-bay.

One nice thing about them is that they are quick and easy to assemble.   They have four pieces - legs, a torso front, a torso back, and a head, and there are two versions of each piece.   This means that they also only have a limited number of unique poses, which is not a problem if you are just using the four that come with a single Blackstone Fortress set, but opens up some quick conversion opportunities if you want to put together larger units (herds?) of them.  I am not overly fond of the running legs, as they only allow one point of connection to the base, but there are certainly models out there that are more awkward.



I think I've managed to get 20 unique minis, using some simple weapons swaps.   The most basic were putting the torsos together so that some had two melee weapons and others had two handguns.  Also pretty basic was swapping out the chainsword for the blade. 

A dip into the bitz box gave me access to some Chaos Warriors bitz, like a cloak for my leader, axes, a Chaos sword, and some flails.  I then added in some weapons left over from Genestealer Cult, Cadian, and Space Marine kits: different las-pistols, bolters, plasma pistols, and flamers (because low Ballistic Skill troops like Beastmen would want to have template weapons) and ended up with what you see here.


As you can see, the models have been primed, but not painted.   I added basing to a few of them to hide extra plastic I used to help stabilize the single foot (and one with both feet on the ground because I wasn't paying attention, grabbed the next model, and added basing material).




Contrast these with the Necromunda Palanite Enforcers released late this summer - here is my preliminary review of them, produced as I started building them.
The Enforcer models look nice.
They are humans in body armor that would seem to fit nicely with several lines of "heroic 28mm" human figures, and can work for police, security, paramilitary, and other roles.
They are multi-part models.
There are accessories, such as ammo pouches, grenades, holstered handguns, even handcuffs.

The box comes with two identical sprues, so there are extras of some things, which can go into your bitz box for use with other models.

These are GW plastic models, so are hard plastic, can be glued with plastic glues (super glue is not required), and can be cut cleanly for simple conversions.

The disappointing:

The sprues are crowded and tight – it can be difficult to get your side cutters into position to cut the pieces out.

The models, despite being multi-part, have limited build options.

There are a lot of parts for each model, particularly when you consider that they are designed so that each body needs to have a matched torso set (front and back), matched legs (matched with each other, and the torso), and appears to require a matched set of arms (matched with each other and the torso – but these are likely to be the easiest to mix and match).

Each model has a head, torso front, torso back, neck (?), right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, right hand and left hand – ten matched parts for the basic body, then more to add equipment. One figure requires an additional part for the lower front portion of the tunic.

Much more fiddly than you might expect for minis that are not really multi-pose – by comparison, many GW kits (such as Cadians) have head, torso (one or two piece), legs, and right and left arms (sometimes with hands attached), and legs, a total of 5-8 body pieces, plus equipment, and allow a greater variety of poses.

Half a box of Enforcers.  Primed and blackwashed for the photo.

I think that the models will be useful in a variety of roles for me, but am not rushing out to buy several more boxes (as I was thinking of when I first saw these minis), since the same ten minis (five poses, each with two weapons options) will be repeated, and building them is not as fun as building other minis – such as SM tactical squads, orks, or Cadians.