Maybe I'll just paint it red. Works for the Orks!

Camo time!


I know it has been a hot minute since I've posted, but work has been crazy, parents came to visit, and just other stuff getting in line ahead of my painting table.

But enough with the excuses! So this is my second attempt at knocking up a camo scheme I might want to use on my Imperial Guard. The first go was so horrible, I didn't want to document the mess.

So I decided I'd put my new airbrush to good use and came up with this scheme. It's easy, I can replicate it, and it doesn't involve three hours of masking.

A couple of "excuse the..." things that I need to explain about this mock up:
-Ignore the tires... just... well.. just do that.
-Yes... I sorta took my silly putty mask off the windows before I sealed it with matte spray. Dumb. But I really don't care all that much on this model.
- Vallejo weathering powders! Very easy to use. I'm sold!
-Blue/white/blue stripe thing is going to be on the front side of each tank hull. I only did it on the back of the hummer because there was enough space back there to really test the look.
- The roughness in the paint is because I didn't bother stripping my previous failures off before just respraying. That's why I test on this model. The 40K models will be smooth.

So I learned some important things, and I saw the cleverness of using silly putty for masking, and learned of the perils of tape masking in general. Weathering powders are working like I want them too, and I'm becoming a little more confident with them.

That's about it for now. I've got to work on magnetizing my first Chimera. That'll likely be my next post. Here are some close ups of the stripes and the different levels of weathering I was trying out. The one with more weathering gets my vote. Something about the chipped white paint, just looks right.

How to camo a camo paint job

And for my next trick...


     So I bought this little cheap hummer model you see here. It was green camo, but I'm going to paint it a different camo. I must be bored. Not really actually, I'm using this here $2 model as a test bed for the camo techniques I hope to use on my Imperial Guard vehicles.

     Early days here, obviously. All I've done to the model is remove the very cheesy Army stickers, put silly putty over the windows (which is really just another test) and I've primed it. Of note though, I did use my new airbrush primer from Vallejo. I must say, this is the awesome way to prime. No stink, not horrid over-spray, no "fluffy" models, no detail lost. Stuff goes on like a champ. I'm thinking I'll likely be priming all my models like this now.

     I did apply this primer coat rather thin. I'm not wanting to waste the little amount I have on this $2 model because the primer actually costs more than the model. This coat should be good enough. I'll be sure to try and take a few progress shots as I go. If that's the sort of thing you're interested in, stay tuned.

     Oh and I put my little bulldozer in my display case along with my other guard. Looks rather awesome in there. Good for a chuckle. That's all I have for now. Quick update, thanks for stopping by.

Dozing off? Better get back on track!

It's cheesy, I know.


     So I've been busy. Busy with work, busy with Dawn of War II: Retribution, busy with Minecraft, and busy not painting! GASP! I'm ever so sorry for the complete lack of updates, I'm trying to get back to my painting table, and thus back on the blogging.

     So I've managed to finally finish up my first experiment with the weathering powders. I like the effect, but there were some lessons on the way. Mainly it was about me remembering (or not remembering) what I had seen in other tutorials. A key one was the medium that you use with your powders can make a huge difference and you want to select that carefully. I started by using rubbing alcohol, but without a protective base coat, that started to lift the paint underneath. So in future I'll need some glossy finish to protect the finished paint job, do the powders, then respray with a matte finish. I suppose that I could use a matte spray to protect it, but from what I read, it seems that the glossy stuff does the protecting job a bit better.

     I've seen a tutorial where they used a mixture of alcohol and white glue to form a sticky medium to basically clump the powders to make stuck on mud and whatnot. I like it, but I think it's a little too much for my models. If I was doing a diorama, I might use that technique to achieve a specific effect.

Grey Knights

     I grabbed the codex from my local GW. I've been slowly reading it, and so far I'm cool with it. The Grey Knights' back story has always been a little vague, and I think that has served them well enough, to a point. I think many people underestimate their over powered-ness when it comes to the fiction. These are the chosen of the chosen, and they have a very specific calling in the universe of 40K. The fiction in 40K is more about opening my mind, rather than closing potential creative avenues because something doesn't match expectations or previous stories. In that vein, I'm more likely to not have an issue with new interpretations of established fiction. Draigo's story, for example, might seem over the top, but I think it was intended exactly so to be. We're talking about one of the most powerful beings within the Grey Knights, which itself isn't filled with your "average" 7 foot tall, bio-engineered space marine. He kinda has to be crazy.

     But let me say something VERY important here, and it has NOTHING to do with the rules, or fiction:

"Dear GW, please continue to make kits like the GK power armor and Terminator kits!"

      Seriously! These are what I've been harping on about since I got into this hobby. I've never understood the seemingly bizarre kits that were missing options. A tactical squad box should have all the weapon options. Simple as that. What's more, I should be able to make Devastators out of a tactical box, or perhaps (and this is stretching, I know) assault squads! I was pleased, when I stopped by my GW store, to see that the new Tomb Kings kits are following this model of "Here's a ton of options in one box. Have fun!"

     This means more bits, and likely lower costs for GW. I don't suppose that latter fact will translate into lower prices for us, but... one can dream.

What's next?


    I have a little toy Hummer here, and I'm going to practice some vehicle camo stuff. I'll start working on that this weekend. Should be interesting. In the meantime, here are some more pics of my bulldozer, enjoy:

 The headlights came out nice. I like the dusty effect I got on the dozer blade.

The seat got a little freehand wear marks. Not too much. 

The tracks came out okay. Don't know if I'll use that mud/rust color for my IG vehicles.

Tau says: Squats! I CHOOSE YOU!

Say WHAT?

     This rumor comes from the gentleman that spilled the beans on the Dreadknight for the Grey Knights. Now one of the earlier Tau rumors hinted that some more xenos would be added to the book. The Kroot and Vespids won't be the only add-in races for the Tau. Rumored is that the Demiurg might be joining in their Tau adventures. The Demiurg, for those of you that don't know are the squats (space dwarves), currently still in  Battle Fleet Gothic, and according to some fluff had allied with the Tau in times past. They are not, however, members of the Tau empire. And you thought they'd stop at space orangutans?

Demiurg Concept Art and Stronghold Ship from BFG

     The Tau have certainly been one of the races I've been more interested in. Some of their rules that are up for consideration in this new codex might really swing me towards their corner. They will surely need some new plastics, their Boxy-McBoxinton crysis suits are in desperate need of some refreshing. Fortunately I think Forgeworld knows the way forward.

You can get with this, or you can get with that.

     These tweaks would pretty much sell me on the army. I love the organic look of the tanks, and I dig the sort of anime styling of the battlesuits, troops, and drones. I really like the idea of an army that could possibly win a game of 40K in the shooting phase. We'll see if it happens.

Grey Knights

     If you've been following this blog for a while, you might know that I've actually got some painted Grey Knights. I grabbed a Stern model and a box of terminators more for the fun of actually painting them up and looking at them than playing them on the table. I've used them as an ally to my Space Marines in a few games. They never really did anything to spectacular, but they look dead sexy, and I dig their back story so I let it slide.

     I've been entertained with the reactions I've been seeing online. The mixture of "They went too far!" and "They didn't go far enough!" is bordering on insanity. GW isn't going to be able to please 100% of their fans... ever. I actually stopped by my local GW store a few times to check out the models and the codex. I'm loving the kits more for their completeness, but aesthetically they blend very well with the old metal models. The terminators more so than the power armored ones, but still they were meant to look very close to their older brothers. I listened to a few folks at the store moan about how they really expected more, but these aren't Dark Eldar we're talking about. That was an exception. Their old models were HORRIBLE, and without a reset, they'd have been dead in the water.

     The GK models were fine, but they were metal. So keeping the look, but making an awesome plastic kit that covers all the war gear gets a big 'win' in my book.

     Will I be running GKs? Yeah, but they're WAY down the road. Since completing these lowly six GK models, I've been wanting to build it out to a whole army. But before that, I have an IG army to do, my Red Scorpions, and a few long overdue additions to my Orks. Those shiny bastards will just have to wait their turn. 

Shout out to Japan


     Like everyone else, I've been pretty torn up concerning the tragedy in Japan. My wife has a few friends over in and around Tokyo, and fortunately they've all reported in that they are fine. Some are getting out of town while this nuclear reactor situation sorts itself out a bit. So I'd just like to say that I'm praying for all the folks out there, and I hope you might do the same, dear reader. The scale of the devastation is maybe too much to take in, but I'm hoping help gets where it is most needed. If you want to help, you can drop by the Red Cross website and make a donation. I've done so, and it ain't much, but I'd like to think that someone would do the same for me.

     And on a slightly sillier note: I was in my local Chipotle restaurant this evening and as I walked in a grimaced at the song playing. That song would be "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult. I'm a lyrics guy, and in case you didn't know there are a few parts: "Oh no! There goes Tokyo! Go Go Godzilla!" and "History shows again and again how Nature points out the folly of men."

     If you didn't know, Godzilla was originally an avatar of nuclear weapons. He was an allegory of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the reactor at Fukushima in an ever worsening state, this song seemed ever so timely. I was living in Norway when the Chernobyl accident went down, and I remember how panicked people were, and how helpless everyone felt as the fallout poured across Europe. Fortunately the effects weren't too widely felt, but you have to wonder what this will mean for Japan in the long run.

Take care out there, and be safe.

Command Squad Vox Caster completed!

Finally some progress!


     I have to apologize for, what I feel, was far too long of a break from actual painting updates. Silly finger injuries aside, I have been away from my painting table for too long. Ever get that feeling that, no matter what you're doing with your time off, it might be better spent painting? I do... I  might have a problem...

     So this Vox Caster marks the end of my troops. I have more infantry to paint, sure, but as I mentioned in my last post, those will be Storm Troopers, and I'm holding off on those until after my vehicles are done. Which is pretty exciting to me, because I haven't painted a 40K vehicle in seemingly ages. I think my last vehicle that I painted up was the Deff Dread for my Orks. I did paint my Koptas after that but, as we all know, those are technically vehicles, right?

     So next up should be the wacky Japanese bulldozer. This represents my weathering tests for how I'd like all my land vehicles in my guard army to look. Just the weathering, mind you, as I also have a camo test coming up too, but that'll be another model.

     So here are some additional pictures of the Vox Caster:

I liked the idea of painting him looking off to his left. I felt posture looked like he was turning. 

Ah the Dead Elf Head! The only good Eldar is a dead one. I wanted the glyph to look nearly worn off.

Retribution impression, Forgeworld, and my Finger.

Dawn of War 2 Retribution


     I don't know that I've mentioned it before on this blog, but I love me some Dawn of War 2. Hand on heart: It is what got me into Warhammer 40K. Now I'm sure that warms the hearts of both Relic and Games Workshop, to know that their marketing synergistic approach to licensing has paid off. Perhaps that sounds a bit cold, but I'm not pretending I don't know what's going on here: Unadulterated Capitalism! AND I LOVE IT!

     I've only been in the hobby for two years, and since I was introduced to the hobby via this video game, it only seems right that I should mark this second anniversary with a nod to the expansion for the game that made it all possible. If you haven't played Dawn of War 2 before, just know that it's similar to Company of Heroes in that the brunt of this Real Time Strategy is about managing squads. As opposed to the more common Dune 2 model, which was copied into Warcraft, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, and on down the line, you're rarely managing more than about five or six units. It can certainly be more than that, but it is rare, like I said.

"Nice hat, by da way..."

     I'm not going to try and fill you in on the campaigns from DoW2 and DoW2: Chaos Rising as that's something best served either from the Dawn of War 2 website or by a proper review. I'm just going to say that thus far, I love it. They've blended elements of the original DoW2 campaign mechanics with some of the multiplayer mechanics to some pretty awesome effects. The diversity of options you have between kitting out your heroes, choosing to leave the heroes and take special "Honor guard" units, or even which units to build during the mission to enhance your force can be nearly dizzying. Though the campaigns might seem a tad short, there's re-playability simply in the way you spec things out. I know that in the last two interations of this game, I have spent nearly 170+ hours playing and replaying the original campaigns. And those were quite limited compared to some of the meat on the bones that Retribution throws our way.

     The characters and their moments of interplay are awesome. You can pick up on some really established 40K archetypes. Having completed the Space Marine campaign, and nearly finishing up on the Ork campaign, I can say that these characters cover the gamut. If you enjoyed the original DoW2, and are remotely a fan of 40K, you owe it to yourself to give this a shot.

Forge World Cadian Goodies!


     It's like they know! So I've been going back and forth about what to do about my upcoming Storm Troopers. The Kasrkrin were my first choice, but they were metal and didn't come with the weapon options that I wanted, thus I would have to spend a good bit of change on two all metal squads that would have a lot of repeat models. Bleh. I LOVE the look of the helmets and armor. They're exactly what I want them to look like... if they were plastic. Then my next idea was just to get the Forge World Cadians with Respirators upgrade kit. There were some neat grubbins in the kit (whoops! Channeled my inner-Ork) and I did like the look of the helmets. It was still a toss up.

     Then Forge World broke the tie with the Cadian Hostile Environment kits! They had slick backpacks, unique torsos, and the awesome heads that I wanted. Granted they are lacking the grubbins that were in the other Cadian upgrade kit, but I'd make do.

     Then came the Cadian Hostile Environment Command Squad, and boy does that look slick. So I think I can combine the following and get two awesome and unique Storm Trooper squads:

1x Hostile Environment Command Squad
1x Hostile Environment Troops kit
1x Hostile Environment Melta Gunners kit
1x Cadians with Respirators kit

     That will give me plenty of the awesome Hostile Environment torsos, backpacks, and heads, plus all the extra grubbins from the Cadian Respirator kit to make two Storm Trooper squads with two melta guns in each. Not bad! I was really holding out for a plastic Storm Trooper kit to be potentially released for the Grey Knights codex, but that seems to be out of the picture now as it looks like the Storm Troopers were left out of the book.

     Thoughts anyone? Got any other ideas for potential Storm Troopers? I'd love to hear them. It's ages still until I order these. I've got plenty to paint before then. Including a Japanese Bulldozer (for my future White Scars army, of course).

Finger Update (speaking of scars)


     Not that you asked for it, just because it bugs the hell out of me. So as you can see from the picture, it has really healed up quite well, and quite fast. For a two inch gash that went to the bone, I'm happy to see that there doesn't (as yet) appear to be a hideous scar, nor is there seemingly any other repercussions. It hurts a bit when I flex it, but that might have something to do with the lack of motion it has had for the last week being mostly wrapped up in a bandage to prevent me from doing something daft and accidentally ripping some stitches out.

     I expressed the idea that I might take out my own stitches to my wife. Surprisingly she wasn't supportive of that! She mentioned something about me being "... your father's son" which I can only take as a sign of respect and admiration. Given that I'm in the military, I think there might be some official channels I'll have to go through to get these stitches out anyways. My wife can rest easy.

     So to sum things up: I should be painting again very soon. I might actually give it a go this afternoon as I do have some stuff sitting on my painting table that need to be finished. Namely that stupid Vox Caster I keep going on about.

The Latest And Greatest In White Scars Mobility! Also... ouch!

Wait... Is this a bulldozer?


     It's a WWII Japanese bulldozer, to be exact. So I'm getting close to starting my IG vehicles. And before I plunge into the mass of armor, I wanted to get some techniques figured out first. I would like to have an idea of how I want to weather these vehicles, and I'd like to figure out how I'm going to do the camo.

     The best way to go about this, I figured, was to pick up some models I might not care about so much that aren't going to actually be a part of my army. My first selection was this bulldozer. I really liked the look of it. It looks like it would fit into 40K, what with all the crazy hoses. The scale actually looks like it might work too. Possibly a fun terrain piece. This is the first non-GW model I've ever assembled since getting into 40K. I really enjoyed it as it is a WAY more detailed model than I'm used to. But it wouldn't survive hard gaming for long, that much is obvious. Just look at the silly tiny control levers!

     They're wafer thin. Still it's a very cool model for something as silly as a bulldozer. But after I was finished assembling it, I realized that it didn't really offer amble surface area to try out my camo pattern. So I decided I would do my weathering trials with this and I'd have to find something else for the camo. I stopped by Toys R Us and found a box of three metal military vehicles for $8. Here's the one I'll likely try out my camo painting on first:

     Plenty of surface area, and some tricky bits to practice some of the harder bits. I'll have to get those terrible stickers off there though... pfft... Army? Really? Go Navy!

All of this is academic, I'm afraid...


     I might not be able to do much painting though. And this has nothing to do with motivation. It sadly has much more to do with this:

     Yup. Underneath that mound of bandaging is a nasty cut now sealed by four stitches. It is well known that I'm prone to the world's WORSE luck in life. Murphy's law is nothing to laugh at when I'm about. Fortune 500 companies will find the most creative ways to screw me over. If something on a vehicle can break, I'll find the way. If there is a way to cause maximum personal injury in a mostly benign situation, better have the EMTs standing by. What you see above is the result of me attempting to change the fourth flat tire I've had in the last six months.

     If you feel sympathy, bless you. If you want to give me some advice related to tires, forget it. I'm ordering an entire new set of four tires oh so very soon. Regardless, it's pretty damned difficult to do much sans index finger. I'm absolutely terrible at typing, but fortunately mouse clicking is still fairly easy.

     I'm hoping that I can at least do some airbrushing and some masking and whatnots. The final details that are needing to go on my Vox Caster (last model for my IG command squad) will just have to wait. It's aggravating.

     I leave you with a picture of the bulldozer box art. Hope to be back in the action soon, and if anyone out there happens to know of some interesting extra models like this one, let me know! Better yet, share in the comments!

Majestic!