PAINTING SKORNE

Awhile back, I was gifted Morghoul and several Skorne Savages, a Brute, and a Shaman along with 3 Paingivers. They were free save for the shipping I paid to have them sent to me. An online contact was giving away his HORDES stuff as he was giving up gaming for religious reasons, and I scooped these up.  Although the list will not be the best in the world, I’m making a small army mainly comprised of Cyclops models. The army will not be used in competative games, and will be completely for casual and fun gaming. I have three more Savages to assemble.

The crazy 35 point list ends up looking kind of like this:

Master Tormentor Morghoul

Cyclopse Brute

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Savage

Cyclopse Shaman

Paingiver Beast Handlers (Leader and 3 Grunts)

This Savage below is converted to be holding some severed heads. I plan on adding skulls to their belts, weapons, and bases.

I’ve started painting one of my squad of Skorne Savages. I brushed on a basecoat of black, and allowed that to dry. I then used Reaper’s Shadowed Steel over the entire model, followed up by two washes of Original Black Wonder Wash.

PEELING PAINT

We all know about the super cool salt technique featured in No Quarter to help simulate wear and tear on your Warjacks and structures. This is a similar technique that helps modelers and painters to create a peeling paint effect on models.

After you have assembled your model, grab a bottle of rubber cement. Use an old brush, a tooth pick, or some other wonderful tool from your work space to carefully dab the cement in places where you want the structure or model to show some wear and tear. Remember, you are looking for an effect that makes it seem that the “fresh off the selling floor” paint job has aged and damaged. Vary the thickness and coverage as much as possible. Now, take a break because you need to allow the cement to fully dry before doing anything else.

Now is a good time to listen to your favorite podcast featuring WARMACHINE and HORDES. I recommend Lost Hemisphere Radio. Or maybe even The Iron Agenda!

Okay, so now it’s time to get back to work! Go ahead and paint your model or structure as you normally would making sure to allow the paint to dry. When you finish, use your finger of choice to rub the cement from the model. If you choose to do so, you can also use a pencil eraser to remove the rubber cement. Make sure to get it all off of there, and dispose of the cement properly, especially if you have Cats or a Beagle… like I do.

And that’s it, folks. You should have a nicely weathered model with streaks of peeling paint. The silver metal will be showing through, and it will look like it’s seen better days on the battlefield. Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.

Word to the wise: This technique is damaging for PLASTIC models as acetone , a solvent, does damage to many plastics. This nifty technique is best used on METAL, WOOD, or POLYSTONE.

Apply Common Sense (ACS) when using rubber cement, folks. Rubber cement should be used in an open area, and care needs be taken to avoid heat sources as it is highly flammable.

So anyway, that’s all I have for today. Make some time for fun today, and keep rollin’ sixes.

On The Table

And now on the painting table Autopsy Table … Stoneward and Woldstalkers!  You can see the “test subject” on the right hand side.

The Autopsy Table

I haven’t had a lot of time to paint in the last 6 months. But recently, I started painting again and would like to share some of the models that I’ve managed to crank out. Keep in mind that I do not claim to be a good painter. But I think I do okay.

Just look at all these miniatures … sitting there … staring at me … shouting out “PAINT ME!”

The Autopsy Table required a bit of cleaning … and Buddy Jesus says “Good Job, Man!” about clearing out the mess and clutter. He’s always so encouraging, and holds on to my paint brushes for me while I paint. No matter what, he’s always giving me a thumbs up about my painting. Nice guy. (My wife says I’m going to a Special Hell for having Buddy Christ on my painting table…)

And man, this model is awesome. I really need to paint it! (Notice it is standing on a PoM Heavy ‘jack wreck marker.)

Anyway, here’s what I have painted lately:

Cygnar Ogrun Bokur … this guy doesn’t mind getting coin from the Cygnar purse … I swapped his shield for a Lancer’s in order to make it painfully clear that he’s sporting the Swan.

Then we have Alten Ashley… who will be joining my Mercs on the battlefield soon …

And then we have Herne & Jonne … who I have owned for several years and never painted until a few days ago … finally!

And then we have Freebooter #1 painted in a green scheme because I tend to use it with Magnus more than I use it with my Privateers … Magnus has some nice synergy with Knockdown these days …

and finally, we have the Feralgeist … which is a low cost model that I’ll probably work into some of my Circle or Skorne lists in the future …

So, that’s all for now. I am working on my Mercenaries right now. I have a unit of Highshields I’m finishing up and I’m also finishing my Press Gangers. When I get some more of them finished, I will post an update. Until next time … Keep rollin’ sixes!

- Q

THE ARMY PAINTER

No need to hold anyone at gun point to get your models painted.

“A young and innovative company hailing from Denmark, The Army Painter has over the last year quickly established itself as a major player in the wargaming industry. With a mutual passion for toy soldiers and wargaming, The Army Painter founders Bo Penstoft and Jonas Faering share a combined total of 36 years of gaming, painting, and conversion experience. Weary of sitting around watching other hobbyists play as they frantically painted up their miniature armies, Bo and Jonas decided it was time to bring proper Speed-Painting to the Hobby Scene — hence the “The Army Painter Technique” was born! Utilizing their innovative line of Quick Shade and Colour Primers, Bo and Jonas herald a new era of fast and efficient mass army painting, opening the doorway for everyone to simply have More Time for Gaming!”

THE ARMY PAINTER WEBSITE

From their website:

The Company’s aim is to produce top quality products to the miniature gaming & model industry – at affordable prices for the hobbyist.

As both founders of The ARMY-PAINTER each have more than 10 years experience in the gaming industry and are both die-hard miniature painters and gamers – the standard of our products are the highest available which can still be purchased and afforded by mere mortals. We would not use anything but great quality ourselves, so why should our fellow gamers? All products from The ARMY-PAINTER are designed to allow you to quickly and with little effort produce stunning looking models or armies of toysoldiers – ready for gaming. It is our Ethos that everybody should be allowed the opportunity to have a presentable and good looking army without necessary using half a life to finish it.  Our Products are also packed in larger volumes, ARMY-SIZE quantities, making them even cheaper for the gamer to use and also making sure The ARMY-PAINTER products will be a natural first-choice for the serious wargamer or model-maker.  We adhere to having New Releases every 4 months as a minimum, and we will do our best to accomodate the many hobbyists out there by continuing to develop top quality Hobby accessories & products at affordable prices.

Check them out.

MAKING MORE TERRAIN

Nothing exciting here, people. So move along. :O) Just some more simple, functional terrain templates for use at our Local Gaming Store. (LGS)

This hill was made out of simple blue foam board. It was cut and shaped using a utility knife and a Woodland Scenics Hot Wire Cutter. I painted it using P3 Paints, and then added flock and static grass. I also painted the Rangers that are on the hill. I nabbed these on eBay for a good price. Although the seller claimed they were painted, they were not completely painted. I went back and painted them a second time, and am pretty happy with the way they came out. I haven’t had a chance to use Rangers yet.

Nothing at all fancy here. I took a movement tray from Games Workshop and glued down three wooden barrels that I bought at JoAnn Fabrics. I added sand for the flocking material. I painted the barrels brown, and inked them with brown ink. I added some scrapbook stickers and then painted the sand, adding static grass. These can be used as obstructions during games of WARMACHINE and HORDES and would probably block LOS.

These templates look messy and dirty. GOOD! They are supposed to be battlefields, but neat little tracks of pretty little lawn. These are three diferent sizes of templates that can be used as rough terrain. The larger one could be used as a forest template with the addition of a few single trees.

I am also painting my second unit of Gun Mages including the UA and the Black 13th. I went for a brown uniform for my second unit of Gun Mages in contrast to the blue uniforms in the first unit.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep rollin’ sixes.

- Q

THE EZ VIEW DESK: NEXT AUTOPSY TABLE?

EZ VIEW DESK

I was looking thr0ugh one of my wife’s scrapbooking magazines and found the EZ VIEW DESK. I am definately going to start saving up cash to buy one of these. This could easily be the next autopsy table for the autopsy room. It has all kinds of nooks and crannies to stash and store hobby supplies and gadets. It’s pricey, but right now looks like a nice addition to our shared craft and hobby room!

MECHANIK SHOP

Now, this is a blast from the past. I have posted this twice on Privateer Press’s terrain making forums. Usually the reaction is what it should be: amusement. I got the idea while reading through this article. At the time, there were several Goodwill stores in the area that constantly had Fisher Price buildings for under $1.00 and I used to look at them and say “too bad that can’t be made into terrain.” And then after I reading the Park N Blow article, I thought “Why not.” So I took the challenge and had some fun trying to turn a Fisher Price toy into a Iron Kingdoms terrain piece.

I started with this:

This cost me .99 at Goodwill

And then this is what I did with it … The blue slides were removed … with razor knives and hammers. Sheesh, Fisher Price makes quality stuff. It was difficult to break the toy. I had to get all kinds of incredible Hulk on the plastic at times. I also needed to use a razor knife to cut away some of the orange plastic baseplate to make the building’s footprint smaller. Oh crap, that plastic is thick. I saved bits of the textured plastic for my bases. (Never throw away good bits!) I then used a black spray paint. Then I had to remove the flippity floppy coffee shop thing. It is hard to see in the picture but it’s to the right of the wide red door and to the left of the smaller green door. I had to remove about six screws that were holding the coffee sgop table thing in place. And then to break off the metal hinge I had to go all Hammersmith on it. I got out a lot of frustration that day come to think of it.

That being done, I sprayed the whole thing black. I cut a section of Games Workshop City of Death building to fit into the large hole where the coffee shop had been previously. I chose a wall section featuring a double door. I cut the doors with an X-acto and glued them so they were hanging slightly open. I then spent at least an hour looking through my bitz box for things to decorate the building. Here I used gears, lamps, lamp posts, doors, pipes, and so forth to make it look more like a workshop. I added a crane with a grabbing claw. It was from a toy that I found broken in the attic. I stole a bunch of parts from the toy and tossed the rest away. I then painted the building, and added details to the interior. In the end, the interior ended up being a challenge due to the extensive “dead spaces” that were created when I was removing the bells, clickers, slides, and other fiddly bits that couldn’t stay in if I was going to use it for terrain. The final tough spot was trying to figure out how to make a removable rear wall for the building. I started out trying to use magnets and plasticard, but this failed. In the end, I used textured foam-board from Department 56. I found a bunch of it on sale at King of Prussia Mall while I was shopping there with my Mom. (Two days before I got married to Megan.) All in all, the project took me two months. I had a bunch of fun. You should try it.

Painted Black. Removed the Slides. Tore out the Coffee Shop. Replaced big hole with City of Death wall section featuring doors.

On the side I added bits and pieces. Gears, a door, and a crane.

On the other side: more gears, a lamp post, and other bits.

Adding some paint, chimneys, and such.

Pipes FTW.

Closer look at the pipes.

The size of the building takes up a lot of room on the gaming board. However, it can be situated near a table edge, or in the center of the board as a control point. The building allows for combat to occur on the interior as well as the front, sides, and rooftop. It’s not a piece for everyday use. It’s definitely a special situation piece. But it was a hell of a lot of fun to make, and the challenges I faced took some time for me to reason things out and put some decent thought into problem solving.

The roof

I used railroad and pirate themed scrapbook stickers for the exterior signs and so forth. The exterior brick walls are textured cardboard from Vollmer. I bought this stuff at Modellbahn Ott in Gilberstville, PA. The stuff is amazing, really. You should get some. It made making the exterior walls soooo easy.

Finished

Mechanik Shop ... finished

The rear. You can almost see the interior and its goodies.

The interior was more of a challenege. I wanted it to look like a cluttered workshop so I had to collect some gadgets and goodies for the interior. I decided to use checkerboard scrapbook paper for the floor and it was easy to apply. Just cut to shape and glue down. I had to use some textured foamboard from Department 56 to fill in some of the gaps on the interior. And I also used the same foamboard to create a rear wall to make the building look intact. (As you might know most Fisher Price playsets are open on the back to allow kids to get in there with there little guys and play.)

The Interior of the Mechanik Shop. All kinds of gadgets and goodies.

The walls are textured foamboard and the floor is covered with checkerboard scrapbook paper.

I used a lot of TAMIYA 1/48 scale military model equipment for the stuff inside the shop.

Lego parts were used too but don't tell anyone. *wink* And yeah, that's a Games Workshop Dwarf Forge on the left. Shhhh.

Side with Gears and Crane

Side with sign

Enclosed Rear With Textured Foamboard Arches

Rear with textured foamboard and textured cardboard added

Foamboard swings open to allow models to be placed inside the shop

Thanks for reading. I challenge you to try this out and see what you can do with a inexpensive toy building.

PIRATE SHIP REBOOT … PART 5

The Poop Deck

So here you can sort of see the Poop Deck and Mizzen Mast. My cat, Monkey, decided that the Pirate Ship was perfect for a nap spot. This would be the beginning of the Pirate Ship becoming a cat bed when it was not being used for games or demos. Looking at the picture you can see the Lemax gargoyles (not yet painted in this picture) and the leering skulls on the side of the ship. I also included a ladder that was taken from a WARHAMMER Siege Tower set. The railing is a toy ladder that I found in my bitz box.

Lower Poop Deck

Below the Poop Deck is a boarding plank. You can see that it fits (just barely) even Heavy ‘Jacks. There is a small railing made from HO scale stairs. Looking at the above picture you can also see the planking I used for the side of the Pirate ship. I used thin cardboard, cut to size by hand, and glued into place. I then used push pins to secure the cardboard into place and to simulate rivets. I used over 200 push pins as rivets. My fingertips were killing me!

And on the second ship I chose to use large balsa ships to form the the deck. As you can see, the second ship is not complete in this picture. It needs planking in the front, and needs to be slapped with paint.

Poop Deck Magnet

Above you can see Eyriss on the Poop Deck. More imortantly, you can see the small magnet that I secured to the deck with super glue. The magnets allow for the Pirate Ship crane (made for me by my friend Gary … thanks again Gary!) to different locations on the deck. Also, the crane can be removed during storage and transport. In the picture below you can see a Khador Manhunter manning the ship’s crane to move a Khador ‘Jack from ship to ship. Using the magnets allows for the crane to be placed in different places in different games. The crane is made from a fire truck toy’s crane. The crane line is made from steel wire, and the hook is metal as well.

Poop Deck Magnet + Ship's Crane

Below is an action shot. The crane is dropping a ‘Jack on the deck of the pirate ship from the Supply Ship.

Crane Drops a 'Jack to the Deck

Below you can see the finished Quarter Deck. The ramps are for the ‘Jacks to move from deck to deck. I intended to install stairs as well, but never did. The Khador ‘Jacks are standing over the grating. You can see the planking pretty well in this picture. I wanted the deck to look like some of the planks were damaged, replaced, and so forth. Plus, ‘Jacks are crashing around on the deck too right, so the planking would be somewhat damaged during combat … I would think.

The Quarter Deck

Below you can see more of the planking as well as the painted Superman toy that is supposed to be part of a steam engine jutting out of the deck.

Gorten and Gunbunnies

Below you can see part of the main mast, the grated vent, and a wee bit of the “steam engine.” See more about the Broadsides Board project here.

Gorten and his 'Jacks

PIRATE SHIP REBOOT … PART 4

And so I continue to discuss the past in order to address the future.

Vents and Platform on the Poop Deck

My wife gave me some Sugar Free Peeps. I ate them, of course, and decided that the plastic packaging had an interesting shape. I used the packaging for some “steam stack vents” on the poop deck. I used about 75 push pins to simulate riveting. If you look closely at the picture above you can see the pins in the white plastic. In the picture below, you can see where the Peeps Package Vents are located. It’s right behind the Mizzen Mast.

The pirate ship is slowly taking shape.

Grated Vent = Lid from Air Freshener

The picture above shows the lid from a, air freshener. I painted it with silver spray paint. I attached it to the ship hoping it would look like some kind of a grated steam vent that allows steam and smoke to radiate from within the ship. I placed it on the Quarterdeck near the “Steam Engine” section. I planked around both after having glued it in place with white glue.

Location of the Grated Vent

The Main Mast

The Mizzen Mast is the one on the Poop Deck while the Main Mast is the one on the Quarterdeck. The picture above shows how I made the skeleton of the Main Mast. I used dowel rods, and floral wire. My cat decided that she was really interested in the mast and so she was playing around with it. It is attached to the ship’s deck with a magnet which allows for it to be removed during storage, transport, and game play. Below you can see the finished Main Mast.

Here are some of the pictures taken during game play and WARMACHINE demos …

The crews clash during a boarding effort!

The Supply Ship Crane during boarding effort

♣

Click here for PART FIVE.

More about the BROADSIDES BOARD.