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15mm Dwarfs - First painted Unit

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:18:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

One of the great things about wargaming in 15mm, is that you can build up armies quickly, simply and efficiently. There is no need to paint in details of every single miniature. One can paint in block colours with a quick wash to tie up the figure. The results are visually pleasing on a unit scale rather than a miniature level.

The unit of Dwarven veterans was painted up over two evenings. The models are from the old Grenadier Models that are now produced by Mirliton Miniatures. I spent a total of 5 hours on it. Now for me that is quick, considering that I have always been a slow painter. I think the unit looks quite acceptable for gaming purposes on an army level.

This ease of preparation allows the gamer to focus more on actually wargaming rather than painting. It is also ideal for those that do not enjoy or are not very good at painting, to build up armies that are visually stunning in a short time with very little hassle.

I will be posting more units of my army as I finish them off, and I am also thinking about writing up a post about the actually wargaming in 15mm and its advantages. I hope you all find it interesting.

Well that's all for today, and as always -

Farewell and good health,

15mm Dwarves

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have been dabbling in 15mm wargaming of late, maybe you have seen the other posts on my 15mm Orcs, in any case I always wanted to build two armies for wargaming in this scale. I have completely given up fantasy wargaming in 28mm for a few years now, migrating to 10mm, but now I want to do a few Dwarf-Orc campaigns in 15mm. I have started painting up the armies, but I wanted to make a quick review of the Dwarf ranges out there for anyone who would be interested.

The picture below shows four 15mm dwarf ranges currently available, and which I think are the best on the market.

The first four minis starting from the left are samples from the Alternative Armies and the Old Grenadier range now produced by Mirliton miniatures respectively. I have grouped these two ranges together because they have similar qualities. Both ranges excel in proportion over detail and are slightly larger than the following two ranges. Both companies offer several poses within each weapon category which offers a nice variety for 15mm.

The second four minis belong to the Demonworld range and the old Ral Partha range. These two companies produce slightly smaller dwarfs but with more detail than the previous two companies. The old Ral Partha dwarfs are hard to get a hold of, but the Demonworld minis are now being produced by Ral Partha Europe. Unfortunately, for reasons I am not sure of, they no longer hold the rights to their old range. These companies do not have a wide variety per weapon category, but their quality and detail are slightly superior to the previous two companies.

The last two minis are from the Blood Dawn range sold by Magister Militum. They are lovely minis but unfortunately their scale is way too large to be compatible with other 15mm ranges. I would only recommend these if you were intend on building a whole army with them.

Personally my army is a mix of the first four brands, that is : Alternative, Grenadier, Demonworld and Ral Partha. By combing all four I can simulate every unit type in several fantasy settings. The height descrepancy can be easily overcome by placing the Demonworld and Ral Partha minis on slightly higher bases. I will be showing examples in the near future.

Overall I recommend theses ranges, regardless if one mixes them or builds an army from just one range. If you do decide to build from one range then I would choose from either the Grenadier or Demonworld sets since they offer the most choice in weapon & unit catergories. Please check out my miniatures page on this blog for links to the respective sites.

Well that's all for today, and as always -

Farewell and good health,

English Knight

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

The last month I tried my hand at historical modelling for a change. After I migrated from Warhammer fantasy wargaming to historical wargaming, I thought the change in painting genres might be refreshing, and I was right.

I found a 54mm English Knight from Andrea miniatures with a simple paint scheme for my trial. I think it came out well but the photo does not do it justice.

A lot of the highlights have been lost. It seems I will have to do some more research into close up photography if I want to improve the quality of my pictures, but that is a whole different story.

Farewell and good health,

The 2nd Grey Hunter Pack - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:25:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have just put on the finishing touches to the last five Grey Hunters and I have left them over night to dry. This morning I took two pictures and here they are:

As you can see I have kept more or less the same themes throughout, that is wolf-tooth necklaces, fur cloaks and trophies.

The first miniature on the left is from the older metal line of Space Wolves. I always wanted to add a few of these but they seem short next to the newer plastics. Therefore I had to saw the legs off and lengthen them a bit in order to match the others. As you can see its height blends in with the others better now.

The next space wolf that is running with the flying cloak is a variation from the last post, but with the fur on the inside. I also gave him a wolf skull trophy on his shoulder pad. It is not very clear in the pic though.

The banner man in the middle has to be my favourite. Since I will be painting up 3 Grey Hunter packs, I wanted them to all have different banners. There is only one in the box so I had to get to work building up something different. The results of my modest endeavors can be seen in the pics.

The power fist marine running was another experiment at diversification. I wanted to cover up the pack markings with fur so I could inter-change the power weapon marines from pack to pack. The power weapon wielder in the first pack had a wolf's head covering the shoulder, so this time I opted for tails. I can't say I'm a 100% happy with it, but since I built them up to army play standard, I think it will do.

The last is the weapon specialist. It is basically the same as all the others I have done with the single difference that it is kneeling instead of running/standing.

Well that's all for know. Until next time.

Fare well and good health

N.R.

The 2nd Grey Hunter Pack - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:51:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have just finished putting together the first five minis of my new Grey Hunter pack, the second of three I intend to build up before I stop once and for all with GW army building. The reason simply is that GW have pushed me out of 40K gaming & army building with the last price hike the year before. I have enough models to finish my Space Wolf army, then I will only concentrate on dioramas with respect to GW products.

On the bright side this has given me the inclination to look up other game systems. In fact I have landed my sights on Dystopian Wars. I intended to build a flying force from the Covenant of Antartica faction. More on this at a later date.

In the meantime here are the first five Grey Hunters from the second unit.

As you can see one is already painted. This was a test paint-up to see if the colours match up with existing models in my force. Since it's been a while since I have painted any Space Wolves (in fact it has been a while since I have done anything hobby related), and I wanted to get it right.

I also wanted to differentiated the 2nd pack from the first, so I added differnt trophies to them. As you can see I gave the Plasma gunner a combat knife on the shoulder pad, ans I added a wolf skull and a different type of fur cloak.

I also thought of adding a horn blower to the pack, besides a banner (it will be with the next post). I think it gives the pack a nice touch. Well that's all for know. Later on next week I will post the other five and get on painting my Long Fangs that have been sitting in my 'To Do' box for the past six months.

Farewell and good health,

Crimson Fist Anniversary Model

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:43:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I just received the latest Crimson Fist Anniversary Model in the post yesterday, and I thought to share it with the community. I wont be showing the box art since it has already been discussed and shown over the net.

We all know the fame of Finecast, so I am not going to go into a rant about the line, but I will say a few words about the kit I received.

All in all, I am surprisingly pleased with the quality of the model. There were hardly any bubbles or miscast parts or pieces, and the definition was good.

Since this was a limited piece, I was afraid it might not be replaceable if it was defective. At least that is not a problem.

The only quirk are the flat surfaces which seem slightly wrinkled. Nothing that cannot be sorted out with a bit of fine sanding, but still - it is a hassle. The other point I'd like to make are the mold pour entries. I think that some of them are a bit too thick and positioned wrongly. This can cause some inadvertent damages if cut without extra care.

Other than that I would have preferred if they stuck completely with the original artwork and integrated the plasma pistol into the arm, instead of giving the model a plasma pistol. In my opinion the artwork looks way cooler!

So, I can safely say I am quite happy with my purchase, and I might just be interested in doing a small vignette with it, adding a few models to simulate a section of the artwork. That's all until next time.

Farewell and good health,

NR

The Ork Nob and other Domestic Adventures!

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 10:15:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I know I haven't been a good blogger lately, but this situation unfortunately will persist up to about the end of November. I have currently taken out a home loan and bought myself an apartment, simply because renting is not a viable long term option anymore in this country.

To save a couple of thousand euros, I bought the flat in shell form and I am currently working on it on my spare time. I have to bring it to a livable standard by the end of October, because by then I have to move out of my current apartment.

Due to this current state of affairs, my time has been eaten out by plumbing, wiring, plastering and tile layering. In the meantime, I have packed up nearly everything except the essentials, and stored it in my mom's garage until the move is complete.

In the meantime I have found some old pictures of one my first attempts at sculpting - one of the more presentable attempts at least. I plan to paint it up next year.

The fur cloak and shoulder pads were worked out separately, to simplify painting. The ammo-belt and a lot of the plates are removable as well.

The weapons were the most fun to make, as well as being the part which offered the highest learning curve. I have never done anything with card before and in the process discovered the wonderful material called dope. And yes, that is a button from a calculator on the gun!

I will probably re-visit the hand on this power-axe since it came out somewhat smallish compared to the other.

As you can see from the pics, I have used a variety of materials to make this model. The reason was purely experimentation and to get to know the materials at my disposal better - their properties, workability and cost effectiveness. If I had to re-do the model I would probably use completely different materials, as well as less types.

Well that concludes my once monthly post. See you again next month for another post or two - if I can get it in.

Farewell and good health,

Another Open Letter to GW

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 07:47:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I saw this on Beasts of War and I have decided to post it up as well. I have already posted the open letter from Kirby who more or less pointed out the consumer's reasons why GW's policy is not beneficial to the hobby. I think this video address the same matter from the retail side. Here it is.

Well that is all for now. Until next time.

Farewell and good health,

Promethean Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Hi one and all,

I was the seventy-fifth of three thousand that managed to get hold of Promethean Sun, the collocetor's edition that could only be bought as a web exclusive through the Black Library site. It was a 30 minute ordeal which ended up with me placing three orders instead one, due to the number of times I attempted to log on and actually arrive at payment.

This is my first collector's edition I bought from BL. I had to buy this book you see, since I am a 30K fanatic, and I love this period of the Rogue Trader mythos were Primarchs walked along Astartes and men, and fought for the fate and soul of the human race.

The book, as I see it, is basically the character development of Vulkan; the Primarch of the Salamaders Legion. In the short span of this novella Nick Kyme brings out who Vulkan is and what he is. He manages to show how demi-god-like these post-humans were, but at the same time he reveals the deep flaws in their character which marks them as part of the human family.

I don't want to give to much away with spoilers but there is a good balance between action and character development. There are basically three battles described which might have been a bit too much and some great flashbacks into Vulkan's past.

We also get to see the relationships between the Primarch siblings and their petty rivalries as well. I like how Kyme gives Vulkan wisdom in humility, especially how he concedes to his brothers in order achieve the greater goal.

Overall I think Nick Kyme did a good job on this one. I would have preferred less battles and more insight into the Primarchs relationships with their legions as well as with the other two Primarchs in the book, namely Ferrus Mannus and Mortarion.

For example a nice touch was how both Vulkan and Ferrus were smiths and crafstmen, but where Ferrus put more emphasis into function, Vulkan puts more into form, and this translates over into their characters and how they go about things - including how they wage war.

The last thing I didn't really like about the story were the two 'Dragonball GT' moments with Vulkan. I know the Primarchs were superhuman, and I see that Kyme wanted to get this through to the readers - but these two scenes, which I will not give away, were just two much for me and I could have done without them.

What I was very disappointed with was the artwork. I bought this book for 40 euros and I had to pay another 20 euros for postage. That's 60 euros for a novella - a lot of money. For this amount, I would have expected the artwork to be all original.

In the mid-section we get a fold out painting of the cover, fine but I would have prefered something different since it is already on the cover! We also get armour pictures of the legions in the book taken from the Index Astartes publications. I was expecting something more in the Osprey tradition, but that's just me and my crazy opinions.

The worst though, is that of all the three Primarchs we only get a picture of Mortarion - the Primarch that is featured the least in the novella - and it is not even an original drawing! I was at least expecting to see a painted plate of Vulkan, but maybe may logic is flawed or not on par with BL Publishing.

Overall I give the story a strong 7 out of 10, basing my judgment more on subjective preference rather than objectivity. I give the product's look and artistic content a 5 out of 10. The beautiful cover and faux-salamander hide the only redeeming factors.

So overall I don't regret buying the book. I enjoyed the story and now I am interested in reading Kyme's salamander trilogy. Still, I was a bit disappointed with the artistic content and I honestly was expecting more.

An Open letter to GW:- A Kirby re-post

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:05:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

Like most hobbyists out there I was very disappointed with GW's new price hike and controlling. Although the shipping conditions do not affect me, I feel a strong solidarity to my fellow 40K gamers and modelers abroad and I would like to see GW treat us ALL with respect and consideration. We are what makes the hobby popular and the bottom line is that we keep it alive and pay this company's wages.

So I have decided to reprint Kirby's open letter to GW and hope they read it.

To Games Workshop,

Why? No seriously, why? I'm sure the excuse of cutting off Australasia and other countries (Canada, India, Korea, South American countries, etc.) to benefit the independent and GW store sales in Australia sounded good but unless you cut the prices here to not be a ridiculous 200% higher price than overseas, it's not going to happen. Let's look at this logically. You've stopped us from buying from stores like Maelstrom and Wayland with an embargo agreement in your Terms and Conditions (remember globalisation? how's that going btw?). Does this mean we are going to now buy at RRP in Australia or other countries? No.

There are other outlets overseas we can buy from which are still much cheaper (hi America), other companies which you cannot touch without raising a helluva lot of crap (hi ebay) and people who are willing to ship to us overseas (hello family and friends) without the 200% tax. We won't be getting as huge a discount as before but it's much better than buying here at RRP. The other option is of course going to be quitting which I imagine some people are going to do. Check out this thread on WargamerAU where a lot of people are indicating they are. The ultimate bottom line? Your bottom line suffers (more people leaving) and the retailers in Australia do not benefit.

Now I'm all for one in supporting the locals. I buy all my products such as spray paint, paints, plasticard, magnets, drills + bits, modelling putty, brushes, etc. from Australia. As an aside, do you actually stock good quality merchandise for all of those options? I don't see you selling plasticard, magnets, good sized drillbits, custom bases, etc. I'd be happy to pay a 5-10% premium on these objects compared to other stores to support your business but then again, I don't really want to support your business currently do I? The point of any business is to make a profit but the problem with your business model is you do not do this whilst concurrently supporting your customer base. We don't ask for much but a short list would look like...

not raising prices every year, without fail, regardless of the economic situation or inflation rates
basing prices around the world upon exchange rates (I wouldn't be averse to paying 20% more in Australia compared to the UK or America locally but I am adverse to paying twice as much) - there are circumstances in each country that make operating there more or less expensive but you need a base retail price for your product which is then translated by exchange rates at a given time (i.e. quarterly) rather than a price set many, many years ago. It's part of being in a global market.
regular and quick FAQs - you've done a fantastic job IMO of creating some pretty balanced books for 5th edition, fix the grey areas quickly.
official erratas - man up and admit you've made mistakes (hi Tyranids) and work on erratas that are official and re-print the books with these amendments. Admitting a mistake and fixing it isn't a problem and I'd applaud you for it. Ignoring a problem is.
fix Fantasy - you did it with 40k, why go backwards with Fantasy?
don't think your customer base is moronic - the resin re-cast to be cheaper than metals whilst hiking prices, not fooling anyone.

Ultimately people in Australia and other countries go overseas for their Games Workshop products for a reason: it's significantly cheaper (I.e. half price). What motivation is there to therefore buy from our locals when you aren't treating your customers with loyalty and support? People will walk away and your bottom line will hurt. A simple solution: care about your customers. Change the Australian (and other countries) prices so they are at least similar to the UK and US. This doesn't have to be the exact same price but some parity would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a quick example. If you could buy a similar product for $45 compared to $150, what would you do? How about if the product was the exact same but if you ordered it overseas it was $80 compared to $150 by the time it reached your door step? I'm pretty sure you'd want to take the cheaper option correct? For you as a company, you make your profit margin through the reseller regardless of where it is purchased. You may make more money off a direct sale at an Australian store compared to an Internet sale from the UK but you have already achieved the profit margin from the Internet sale already. The Australian stores may be hurting but this is down to the initial price you have set, not market trends. Simply put, you are alienating customers from a large and developing market .

I and many of the readers here obviously enjoy your game. We've played it through thick and thin (4th edition...) or come back thanks to an improvement game balance (5th edition) and don't want to leave. We will though sooner or later if you keep piling on idiotic choices on us. Other companies like Privateer Press did very well in the early to mid-2000s for a reason and people will migrate to other gaming systems if you continue to mistreat them and their loyalty.

As it stands I question why you do the things you do. Raising prices every year annoys me but I cannot complain too loudly as your products are a luxury item but you do not provide excellent customer service one usually expects with such goods. I certainly find minimal fault with your staff or when your product is damaged/faulty but your overarching business model seems counter-intuitive to maintaining a customer base. Even if you are getting a large amount of new customers imagine how much better off your company would be if you had maintained a significant portion of your repeat customers. The model you are running currently to me does not seem sustainable as your turnover rate in customers is just too high. I applaud your efforts in making 40k 5th edition a more competitive game but what you've done to Fantasy 8th edition doesn't bode well for the future.

Please, look to satisfy both the shareholders and the customer rather than just the former.

Kirby.

Well, that is it. Well said and written Kirby! I agree wholeheartedly with you. Personally, I have already reduced my spending drastically two price hikes ago. I no longer build new Citadel armies; I have switched to 15mm fantasy armies; and only buy citadel models to paint and display.

Also, I only use my old fantasy armies that I bought years ago whenever I play 25-28mm fantasy games and the only army I have rebuild lately was my Space Wolves which I have bought exclusively from Maelstrom Games and Ebay.

The only side suffering from my decision is GW, and as a result many other companies and games systems have benefited like - Infinity, Warmachine, Hell Dorado & Malifaux. Not to mention the enrichment and broadening of my gaming experience.

There are also other options like playing smaller games like Killzone and Mordheim. You only need a dozen models and they are great fun to play.

I encourage everyone to do the same. If you do, I am confident that in the future we will see a giant bend the knee.

Farewell and good health,

Fenrisian Wolves

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:22:00 +0000

Hi one and all,

It's been a while since I have updated my blog, I know, but at the club we have been caught up in the Warhammer 8th edition frenzy and so everyone has been updating their armies. So I swam with the current and spent some quality time with my Wood Elves. Now I am not a big fan of Warhammer fantasy, simply because I think the game is a skirmish battle pretending to be a wargame. The rules mechanics are fine, if not excellent for Mordheim, but fall short for mass battles. In fact we are developing a fantasy game from the Fog of War historical rules which we think are awesome. But that is another story!

Well, on the side, I started and have nearly finished an experiment I wanted to try. I have played a few games with Fenrisian wolf packs led by a Wolf Guard sergeant on a Thunder Wolf to good effect most of the time, but I was playing with proxy models. So I decided to build up some relatively cheap temporary models for this unit until GW issues us with some official models for Fenrisian packs and Thunder Wolves. Below is what I came up with.

Well, as I was looking for models to use for my Fenrisian Wolf pack I stumbled upon DJ Batman's blog. He had an article about how a guy named Franz made his fen.wolves out of the Chaos Warhounds and goblin wolf heads. here is the link below:

http://dj-batman.blogspot.com/

I liked the idea so much I decided to give the concept a shot with my own take on it. I decided to buy a box of chaos warhounds and started to search for some goblin wolf heads on the online bit stores. At first I did not have much luck until I stumbled upon four lots on Ebay selling five goblin wolf heads and tails in each lot. I bought them all.

When everything arrived I glued together the chaos warhound's bodies together and removed all the spikes, sores and scales. At this point the warhounds can pass as proxy fen.wolves, and for the less industrious of us wargamers this would be a good compromise, but I wanted them to look more wolf-like. So I cut of the top part of their heads from the jaws upwards and fitted in the goblin wolf heads. This takes further cutting and trimming of both parts, and if anyone wants to try it out, please take precautions or extra care not to hurt yourselves. The next step was to attached the goblin wolf tails. This could not be simpler. Just drill holes in the tails and the warhound's backsides; insert a metal rod (usually a piece of paperclip) for strength and glue together.

Now that the heads and tails were glued into place I started to fill in the gaps with epoxy putty to add strength and I used green stuff for some minor sculpting to smoothen things out between the head and jaws. I also wanted to add a crest of fur along the back of the warhound to connect its mane to the tail. I let everything to dry out in the summer sun for two hours until every thing was cured.

The next step is to build up the mane of the wolves with green stuff. The secret to this is something I have mentioned several times on this blog. Do it in steps! One layer - let it cure - do another layer - and so on. For the mane I used small rolls of putty tapered at one end and sculpted with a clay pusher tool with an angle chisel.

When all the models were ready, and this took me just ten hours including the time for the putty to cure in Maltese summer temperatures, I based coated the models with Astronomican Grey.

The next step now is to go on and paint the lot, but that is something for another chapter of my blog.

So until Russ wear flowers in his hair and sings kumbayah, keep playing Space Wolves!

Farewell and good health,

Diorama Base Nearly Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 15:09:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have finally found the time to finish the Wolfguard diorama, between the madness the Libyan situation is causing in the Hotel industry in this little country and my other commitments. But finally I can post some pics.

I have to admit that I have always found this 30mm heroic scale very perplexing regards to scaling, even though it is forgiving. I was worried that the diorama would end up too big or extended. In fact I think it is but I will not try to correct it at this stage. I leave it as a lesson to tighten up more the composition in the future.

As you can see I have finished the base coats and know I will start the detailing and high and low lights. Hopefully, time permitting it will be ready. Unfortunately it will have to take the back bench since I have to prepare for some mid-terms.

Farewell and good health,

Grenadier - Mirliton SG - 15mm Orcs

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:32:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

As some might know by now I have started wargaming in 15mm. I do have two armies in 10mm that I am finishing up and will post here on my blog, but I don't have any 15mm armies. So I have decided to start two armies in this scale - Orcs and Dwarves.

The reason is they are the commonest races at this scale and the best in quality, unlike the Elves and other races. You might have also seen my review on the 15mm Orcs and Goblins from the superb Splintered Light range, they are worth taking a closer look at if you are interested in fantasy wargaming at this scale.

The Orcs from Mirliton are the resurrected range from the defunct company Grenadier that brought out the excellent wargame entitled Fantasy Warriors, if anyone remembers. Unfortunately the company went under, and at the time I was too into Warhammer to take a second look at this scale or these miniatures.

Well, I have long since matured in wargaming and have completely grown out of the Warhammer phase. Now since fate has given me a second chance to purchase these beauties, I don't mean to disappoint.

To begin with I would like to take a look at the rank and file miniatures of this range.

As you can see they are beautiful models with solid poses, and very detailed as well for their scale. Unlike the Splintered Light Orcs that have a Warhammer-ish look to them, these are rather more Tolkien-ish. Both styles are fine, depending on your taste.

There are two Orc Warior packs (QOR005 & QOR006) that cost €2.79 each with vat included afterwards. Each pack comes with 8 Orcs, with four different types.

The second batch of models I have up for review today are the command packs (QOR001 & QOR002). Each pack costs €1.67 with vat added at the checkout phase as well. Each pack consists of four figures including a leader, a standard bearer, a musician and a champion.

Just like their rank and file counterparts they are very well done for sculpts that were done about 2 decades ago.

Postage and packing is fixed and registered, so I recommend buying in bulk to reduce postage costs. They usually arrive after two weeks but might take longer if you are ordering outside the EU, so I suggest finding a supplier in your part of the world.

Farewell and good health,

Talent Not Required – MOTW & WTN

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:46:00 +0000

Disclaimer .... of sorts
Before I start the tutorial I just would like to say a few words why I am doing it. I received a few requests about how I did a few things and since all I know has come from the help and experience of others more talented than myself I feel an obligation, a debt if you like, to help others when they ask me. Just to be clear I am not trying to show off or be condescending, if fact if you read the blog I don't go into the detail shown in this article. I believe that the more you help others improve in their hobby, the investment comes back around with other modelers inspiring me with their works and making me want to improve more. That's all.

So in this tutorial I will be detailing how I did the Mark of the Wulfen (MOTW) and the Wolf Tooth necklaces (WTN) in a bit more detail than what's in the blog entry. Ideally I would of liked to do some short videos on how to do certain things since it is easier to see it done than explain it, but I am not equipped at the moment for such things, so I will do my best to explain it with word and photos.

Step One – The Materials

The materials I used to make the MOTW and WTN are duro epoxy-putty (greenstuff), talcum power, and two sculpting tools – one with a point and another with a flat tapering point. You will also need a sharp modeling knife or blade, pliers and cutters, super glue and plastic cement, and a hobby drill.

Step Two – Posing the Model

The posing of the MOTW is very simple. It is a just a matter of cutting the model in the right places and repositioning them in a natural position. By the way, don't forget to shave off all the Choas iconography with a sharp knife and pin file.

The best way to cut Space Marines is from the interconnecting parts of their armour. Make the cut and scrap off all of the interconnecting section.

Next, take the hobby drill, and drill holes in both sections and insert a thin bendable metal rod, like a paper clip. Make sure the drilled holes are centralized to insure a good fit and cut the rod to guarantee the right proportion for the leg.

Now just bend and position the part until it is what you are looking for and and has a natural position, then glue it into place.

Now mix up some green stuff and build up the interconnecting selection of the armour. This is quite easy. First place the putty and smooth it out into the required shape. Remember it should not be level with the armour but a bit lower. Then take the flat tapering pointed sculpting tool and with the edge slowly and carefully insert groves. Don't worry if you make any mistakes, just smooth everything over again and redo it. The picture below shows a very quick example I wiped up for the tutorial. Unlike the pic try to make the groves closer together.

Step Three - The Arms

The arms come from the Chaos marauder cavalry box set. It would be a simple matter to just glue the arms on and cover the joint with the main shoulder-pad, but with a bit of extra work you can get far better results.

Space Marines have a smaller minor shoulder-pad (in lieu of a better description) under the main one. The pic below shows this better. For better fits it would be wise to build this up with putty.

There is not need to make it perfect, just a good fit. Add epoxy-putty and form a rough shape similar to the minor shoulder-pad. Then take a main shoulder pad with some talcum powder on it and press it on to the putty to imprint the shape. The talcum powder serves as a non-stick layer. Gently take off the main shoulder-pad and leave the putty on the arm dry.

When it is dry just use your hobby knife and trim off the excess and give it a fine sanding to smooth it out.

N.B. : Before doing the above first make sure of the positioning you want to achieve. You might find that you have to attach the arm with a metal rod first and add the putty after to achieve a natural position. The possibilities are many and it is impossible to cover them all, but with these basics you should be fine.

Step Four – The Wolf Tooth Necklace

This is the most time consuming section of the modeling process. It does not require any particular talent to do (if it did I would not be able to do it!), just some patience and determination.

First of all, a word on green stuff. I use a 3 part yellow to 1 part blue mixture nearly exclusively with all my modeling. This is something I learned from the great Bill Horan at the UK expo. The putty still cures hard at this ratio and gives you a better flexible sculpting medium to work with.

First you need to drill small holes in the shoulder-pads. This is done with the hobby drill naturally. In the photo below I used a thicker bit than I should of. This is because my last fine bit snapped and I did not feel like crossing the island to buy one. I will fill in the excess later with putty.

As you can seen I paint up the shoulder-pad before hand. This is done on purpose. Unlike other epoxy putties, green stuff does not release residue when you add water or when brushed, unlike Miliput, Andrea Sculpt, or Magic Sculpt etc. It would be more difficult and painstaking to paint on the markings and add decals after adding the WTN. This is an advantage green stuff gives you.

Next, mix up some green stuff and roll it out on a smooth surface as thinly as possible with your finger. Be gentle and don't press too hard or else you will flatten it. Don't roll out long sections either, keep them short; it is more manageable. For better results spread some talcum powder on the surface and on your fingers, don't use too much though since talcum reduces the stickiness of the putty. If you prefer you can also use water which does not reduce the stickiness but does reduce visibility due to refraction.

Now just cut the string of putty to an acceptable length and attach it to the shoulder pad. Fit the ends into the holes drilled with your needle tool. Now at this stage, while the putty is soft, you have to set the string of putty in a way that gives the impression of looking taut but with a naturally looking curve due to the weight of the teeth and other stuff attached to it. This is done simply by gentle pushing the putty string with a sculpting tool. Now put the model in a safe place and let it cure properly for a few hours. You can decrease curing time with gentle heating ( even down to 10 minutes if necessary) but be careful you don't warp the plastic model.

Now the hard part. The teeth. First, a tip. Freshly mixed putty works better for attaching the teeth, so mix minute quantities (unless you don't mind wasting or are working on something else simultaneously) and don't use putty that has cured too long or you will risk your sanity.

After mixing the putty, roll it out and cut it into small parts. Do not use talcum powder; you need the putty to be sticky. Just dampen your knife and fingers when working.

Now gently taper a side of the small parts into a point with your finger. Be gentle and consistent in the pressure you apply. The pic below shows the results of this with different sizes of teeth.

Now with a dampened needle tool touch the root of the tooth and pick it up. You might need to apply a bit of pressure, but if the putty is fresh and sticky this should not be a problem. Take the tooth to the putty string on the shoulder-pad and with the patience of the gods position it according to the curve of the shoulder-pad. Also try to curve the teeth a bit at the point, it looks more natural, don't leave them straight. Always start positioning teeth from one of the ends of the putty string. Don't start from the middle. When the tooth is attached take the needle tool, dampen it, and use it to press in a hole at the top near the string.

This process can be tricky, but there is really no other way for me to explain it. To make it easier, if you are working on several models, then just stick two teeth on each, indent at the top, and let dry and then stick some more and let dry again. This way you won't risk squashing the teeth you already have placed. It also gives you more space to maneuver. Also, if you don't manage to attach the tooth within two or three attempts, put everything down for a minute, take a deep breath and try again. Trust me on this, don't struggle with the putty.

If you would like to add runes, then this is even easier. Just add a small blob of putty under the string and with the sculpting tool flatten it out, shape it and use the point to mark runes in it. Always dampen the tool or cover it with a thin layer of talcum powder. I prefer talcum when doing this. Now add a hole on top near the string and put it aside to cure.

When all the teeth and runes are attached and cured, it should look something like the photo below. Now at this stage I like to give the work a quick coating of matte varnish to help seal everything and leave it another hour to dry. The next step is to attach the teeth and runes to the putty string.

This is simple and easy. Roll out a very thin piece of putty and cut off a small part (note that it must be long enough to reach over the putty string on the shoulder-pad). Pick it up with the needle tool in the same fashion for the teeth, and gently but firmly place one end in the hole at the top of the tooth. Tuck it in with the point of the needle tool and bend it over the string. Now tuck the other end into the string and delicately remove the excess. Slowly yet surely repeat the process and Viola! Your tooth necklace is finished. Now you just have to paint it in.

These figures are just for gaming so I don't bother with extra work of fine tuning them. I leave that for dioramas and other 'showcase' pieces. But if you are a gamer who wants more than just a presentable army; if you want your army to be a collective showcase piece like many gamers on this forum then take more time on them and you will be able to achieve stunning results, especially if you have some talent, which sadly I do not possess.

Well that's all for now. I hope I have covered all the difficulties that might arise, and I hope you all find it useful in some way or another. If there are points that you did not understand or that you would have explained better (maybe with some more pics) or have another related question please leave your question in the comments section and I will be more than happy to answer it or clarify or even add to this entry. No problem whatsoever, so don't be shy.

Farewell and good health,

The Long Fangs

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 17:23:00 +0000

Hi one and all,

I have just finished modeling my first Long Fang Pack and I have decided to post up a few pics. I planned on building up a second LF pack in the future and they will have all the same pack markings. Why? Well because it will allow me to try out different weapon load-outs and tailor-make the LF against the army I'm fighting or the mission at hand. I current have built up two missile launchers, two heavy bolters, and one lascannon. My next pack will contain two missile launchers, one plasma cannon, one multi-melta cannon, and another lascannon.

Longfangs

I managed to buy two old LF boxes in near mint condition from a player at the club disgruntled with GW. I bought two boxes for the price of one. I decided to buy them for the old SW sprue and because I like the feel (weight) of metal. In hindsight, I think I made an enormous mistake. They are some of the most ill-fitting models I have ever seen. In fact, since I will be painting up the weapons and models separately I will have to model-up the part where the backpack and weapon connect with some putty after they are painted. An enormous hassle for such a lazy person as myself!

Well, I guess it can't be helped. I'll just have to watch one of those motivational movies before I start them. But if anyone values the opinion of a 'lazy-I'll-do-it-tomorrow-with-the-least-effort-possible-in-order-to-get-a-decent-job' modeler, then please trust me and buy the new plastic devastator box and save yourselves the angst!

That's all for now, but before I go I just would like to thank everyone who has commented over the last 3 months and I would like to apologize in advance if I don't get back straight away. Life can be a hassle at times.

So until the mighty Russ paints his armour pink, keep painting and modelling in the fantastic world of 40K.

Farewell and good health,

Talent Not Required - Changing Faces

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:11:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have been asked how I alter the faces of my Space Wolves. Since this is very easily explained I thought I do a short entry here explaining it on my blog. Unlike other Space Marine Chapters, the Space Wolves have quite a lot of bare headed marines. This is one of the characteristics that make this army so attractive to collect. Despite this, there are still not enough different heads for every single marine. And if you are like me, you don't want two heads to be the same (or just painted with different colours).
The answer is to add mustaches, beards and different hair-styles to the models, besides painting the hair differently. The photo below shows 4 SW with the same head. The head is one from the old SW sprue. Back then we only had 5 different head types, but with the new SW sprues we can count ourselves very lucky. As you can see with a tiny bit of putty work and some painting you can vary heads to no end.

Adding mustaches and beards is very simple. Just mix up some green stuff (kneadite or duro) in a ratio of 3 yellow parts to one blue part. After mixing it well (you should have a uniform colour) roll out a thin piece. Cut a short piece of the roll with a sharp blade and with the help of a needle like tool, pick the putty roll up and attach it under the SW's nose and move into place. The process is the same as attaching teeth to a Wolf Tooth necklace discussed in the previous post. Now leave the putty to cure in situ for 15 to 20 minutes. Then with a blunt rounded hobby blade dipped in talcum powder slowly and delicately press in the groves.

The beard and hair follow the same process, just shape the form of the hair first by adding small blobs of putty. Once again let the putty cure in situ for 15 to 20 minutes and use a blunt rounded hobby blade dipped in talcum powder to slowly and delicately press in the groves. Try to keep the grooves as long and as adjacent as possible. Don't try to make one long straight groove by a slicing motion - like you're swinging a sword - or you will just manage to dislodge and squash the putty. The motion is more akin to slicing bread but with the tip of the blade, after dipping the blade in talcum powder. Keep the groove pattern natural - straight, wavy - whatever. If in difficulty, a magazine with people in it will serve you as a reference.

That is basically it. Short, sweet and to the point. The next entry will be another 'Talent Not Required' article detailing how I paint my Grey Hunters. This was a request that I am currently working on. I apologize if it is taking a while, but with a full and part time job, a course by correspondence, painting up the Swiftclaw bikers and finalizing two other projects (a prototype TWC model and a small SW diorama) it is hard to find the time to write it up. But it is nearly ready, pics and all.

So, until Logan Grimnar starts wearing tight pink latex; Keep playing Space Wolves!

Farewell and good health,

Prospero Burns - Grievances Galore

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:17:00 +0000

I just managed to finish reading Propero Burns and I wanted to say what I thought about it as a Space Wolf fan and get it off my chest. First off I think it was a very good novel. It was well written and plotted, and frankly any Black Library novel about the Space Wolves is always welcome.

I have been following the reviews of this book closely and most of them are favourable and I understand why after reading the book. Dan Abnett knows his craft and knows how to write a gripping novel. That said, my thoughts about this book are ambivalent, because although I did enjoy the book as a novel I was a bit disappointed with it as a Space Wolf book. So I will play the devils advocate on this and tell you why I am so disenchanted with it.

My first problem with this book is a matter of personal taste. I do not like the fact that for some reason they all have a face with a developing snout! I prefer the subtler Space Wolf Codex and the Lee Leightner approach to this by far, where the Space Wolves develop these features when they succumb to the curse of the Wulfen. I also do not like the idea that all the wolves hide their faces behind masks. Whether it is to hide these features, or to ward off malificarum or just to look more fearsome makes no difference to me at all. But as I said this is a matter of personal taste.

My gripe with the book does develop with the writing technique Dan Abnett uses to describe the Space Wolves. He describes the Space Wolves through the eyes of a third party. He uses a scholar by the name of Kasper Hawser and we see everything through his eyes – and this is where I have an issue with it.

Personally I don’t mind Kasper Hawser as a plot device to further the story, but to be honest I do not care about Kasper Hawser, I don’t feel anything for him and I am really not interested in what he thinks, what he fears, his problems, his anxieties, his doubts, his relationships with others etc, etc.

Why? Because this is a book about the Space Wolves and not about Kasper Hawser. I wanted to care about a Space Wolf character and not Kasper Hawser. I did not need Dan Abnett to use Kasper Hawser to TELL me what the Space Wolves are! I wanted Dan Abnett to SHOW me what the Space Wolves are through their actions and reactions, their conversations and dealings with others and among themselves.

I wanted him to take a Space Wolf character, anyone and there are quite a few, and experience the world through the eyes of a Space Wolf, not through the eyes of a normal man. I don’t need Kasper Hawser for that, I need Bjorn or Bulveye or Wyrdmake. Due to their genetic make-up, Space Marines see and experience things in a different perspective. The Space Wolves’ perspective is more different still because their senses are sharper and depended upon more; so their reaction and approach to things would not necessarily be the same. We cannot experience this through the senses of Kasper Hawser.

Unfortunately the book is set in a world of Space Wolves revolving around Kasper Hawser, but to its defence it is still a good book about the Space Wolves, but this is where it gets worse. Why? Because frankly, you can take the basic plot structure of this story with the central character (ie Kasper Hawser) and modify it for any period in the 40K universe and it would still be a great story about Space Wolves! You could even adapt it for the current time line and use for example Logan Grimnar instead of Russ etc; but you cannot take Leman Russ out of the 30K period and this is the tragedy of it. This was supposed to be a book set in the Horus Heresy. A book about Prospero burning. A book about Leman Russ and the Space Wolves of his time. I think it is safe to say that we mostly get a 3rd hand view of the Space Wolves during this period and very little of the rest.

This was an opportunity to show Leman Russ in all his glory. It was an opportunity to flesh the character out in a way only a brilliant author like Dan Abnett could have done. The few scenes with Leman Russ were excellent and I honestly felt our Primarch jump out of the pages and stand before me. Abnett did nail Russ’ character but he only scratched the surface – another tragedy. There was so much potential here that it breaks my heart to read so little of our Primarch in this book. I wanted to read about the relationship between Russ and his brothers – his rivalries, his jealousies, his gripe with Magnus and how this feud began – Who sowed the seeds? Russ is not a man to give respect freely – with him you have to earn it - the council of Nikea was a chance to see who Russ respects and how he acts towards them. How does Russ react when he is in the presence of the Emperor? We will not know by reading Prospero Burns. This was the book to do this in; this was the time for Space Wolves fans to read about Leman Russ – unfortunately the opportunity was lost and has passed us by!

There were other things in the book that were not addressed and do bother me, but compared to the above are secondary.

The actually Battle of Prospero was painfully short and spanned mostly around – guess who – that’s right – Kasper Hawser.
We see very little of the Silent Sisters and the Custodes during the battle and even less of Valdor. Now who would you have preferred to see fighting – Kasper Hawser or the Custodes – I wonder? What’s in the book is all we have.
Abnett directly uses Kasper Hawser as an outsider to take us into the Sixth Legion, but he could have easily used another Astartes from a different cultural setting to the same effect. In fact, come to think of it, I would have preferred one of the Astartes of the Traitor legions as the main character - an antagonistic one. At least it would have been a better literary device to connect to the bigger picture gong on behind the scenes with Horus and his rebellion.
A lot of the book could have been used for a better look at Terran Space Wolves that were absent except for one who was indistinguishable from the other Fenrisians. I would have like to see the differences between the two types of Wolves - and all the tension and confrontation that comes from being different but having to live and fight together - is it harder for them to trust each other if they harbour suspicion or resentment? All that flavour is lost.
What about Lorgar and his Word Bearers. Did they try to infiltrate and sway the Wolves with the lodges, and if so how did they go about it? Why did it not work?
And what about the beloved 13th company? Not even an honourably mention!
And what about Horus’ manipulation in the matter? How did the Warmaster actually go about it? We don’t know, but we do know a lot about Kasper Hawser- over a hundred pages from the beginning just to start with.

If the Space Wolves are so popular within the gaming community, it is simply because we – the fans – have made it so. We breathe life into the Space wolves with our models, our games, our discussions/arguments/debates and brawls. We ensure the Space Wolf longevity in Games Workshop’s products and publications with the money we put into to the hobby. This is our hobby and the Space Wolves belong to us. We are the heart that beats life into them. Games Workshop is just the skeleton – the infrastructure around which it operates. On this premises and this alone I think we Space Wolf fans deserve (and this is just a bare minimum) a modicum of respect - and more important still – and modicum of consideration.

So when a Black Library author writes about our chapter, I would appreciate it if he gave us what we as fans want to read about, instead of just giving us what he wants to write about. If you don’t like writing about Space Wolves, then write about a chapter of your own invention. I don’t want to set rules and restrictions, because if I did any writer worth his salt would not abide by them, but I do think he should strike a compromise. This is fan fiction after all. The author has the good fortune of making some money and fame by writing about something that exists because of the fans’ dedication – not the other way round. Prospero Burns was a good novel but it was not what I wanted to read about in a Horus Herersy novel about the Space Wolves.

In the end Prospero Burns was a missed opportunity.

As I have already mentioned in the beginning, if you go around the Internet reading reviews and comments about this book you will find that the majority are all favorable. To be honest there is a minority of Dan Abnett fans and apologists who don't think it is his best work either, but most of the criticism regarding this book tends to pop up with Space Wolf fans.

I think this is a very interesting trend and it says something about the book I had not realized before. Prospero Burns, in my opinion, is not a book written primarily for Space Wolf fans. It is a book written primarily for Horus Heresy and 40K fans in general. In effect it is not a Space Wolf book, but a Horus Heresy book with Space Wolves. What do I mean by this.

Propero Burns is a psychological thriller of sorts about Kasper Hauser, and the Space Wolves are a very, very elaborated backdrop. This is how Dan Abnett gets away with murder so to speak. This is how he writes about Space Wolves without writing through them. Knowing his reluctance to write about Space Marines and especially Space Wolves, maybe this is his only way to engage. The fact that Kasper is used to provide an insight into the sixth is obvious but not the focus of the book. The focus of the book is Kasper 's manipulation and his journey in discovering the plot into his use. The world of the Space Wolves is a backdrop in which this unravels and it has been skillfully used at the same time to bring understanding into who and what the sixth are. For this I am grateful but not satisfied.

This is the main reason I say it is a good book, but a missed opportunity. This is why Dan wiped out the Terran Space Wolves with a swipe of the pen, this is why there is so little of Russ, this is why there is no 13th Company, this is why the Battle of Prospero is barely an honorable mention, and this is why the only developed character is Kasper Hawser. Simply because everything I have just mentioned is not necessary to tell the story of Kasper Hawser.

I think this is why, as Space Wolf Fans, a lot of us were disappointed or unsatisfied. We were expecting to relate to a Space Wolf character, but instead got a protagonist many of us don't care for or cannot identify with. To be honest, while reading the book I couldn't wait to get past all the Kasper Hawser stuff and get to the Space Wolf stuff. A lot of us Space Wolf fans wanted Prospero Burns to give Leman Russ the same treatment Lorgar and Magnus got in their respective books. Word Bearer and Thousand Sons' fans got to know and understand their Primarch deeply and learn aspects about them that were not immediately apparent. Not so in Prospero Burns. The only character we get to know really well is Kasper Hawser. This to some of us Space Wolf fans might have left a sour after taste.Therefore, this to me was all space that could have been used better, or to be fair - used differently.

The same is not true, and doesn't hold, if you are a Horus Heresy fan or a Dan Abnett fan/apologist in general. To them they get a good psychological/action thriller featuring the coolest chapter this side of the Astronomicon. Why on earth should the Horus Heresy or Dan Abnett fans complain and why should they bear grievances!

In their eyes they got the whole deal and maybe this is why they say that 'we don't get it’ or ‘we have missed the subtle references that all come together at the end’ or that ‘we were just looking for war porn and found something deeper’ and other conclusions to this effect.

Nothing could not be further from the truth. I like the added depth Abnett has given the Chapter, in fact it's one of the things I actually like about the book and gives the history of the Wolves more dimension - History is all about changes after all. I could have lived without any battle scenes if Abnett had made an effort and developed the characters of Russ and one or two of the Space Wolves instead of focusing on Kasper Hawser.

This is why I am so ambiguous about this book. I just don't know what to make of it really. Am I happy we have a book detailing the Space Wolves of another era - yes. Am I happy that it is not really a Space Wolf book but a Kasper Hawser book - no. So to be as objective as possible I would give this book a 7/10 as a Horus Heresy novel, but only a 5/10 as a Space Wolf novel.

Although Abnett is an excellent writer, I honestly hope he does not write anymore Horus Heresy books with the Space Wolves in them, unless he is willing to make the effort he did with Horus Rising and give us a character treatment like he did with Loken. Then again, I'd better listen to some advice given to me by one of the Moderators in the B&C forum and not hold high expectations when it comes to Black Library publications and just take the book for what it is and be thankful we have something.

What's a Space Wolf fan to do?

Farewell and good health,

The Wolf Guard Diorama - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have just finished painting up the Wolf Guard in this diorama. It was harder than I thought it would be. Since it is the focus point of the diorama it had to be done well, but I wanted a more realistic look than the over-highlighted look (which I like by the way). So I opted for less highlights were possible and more battle damage. I also chose to paint with metallics rather than make it look like metal with non-metallic paint. I was hoping it would give it a grittier feel to it.

The next step is painting the blood on the chainsword and adding some dust effects when it goes into the diorama. Does anybody know what colour orc blood is?

Now I have 3 orcs left to paint up and the diorama itself. Unfortunately I cannot start the stand until I receive the wooden base, even though I have all the parts, so I will start the next figure which is the Orc being strangled.

Farewell and good health,

Feel The Love Power

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 07:15:00 +0000

Hi one and all ,

Today's entry will continue the levity I began in the April Fool's thread I opened last year by going into how I came up with the idea and how I made it. For those that haven't seen it I decided to play a little joke down at the Fang (Bolter & Chainsword) just to raise spirits a little, especially with the advent of the the new Blood Angels Codex. I wont go into detail about what I wrote in that thread but the link is below. Give it a look-see,some of the posts are hilarious. Just note that I have removed the pics from the B&C site, so you wont see them in the thread. The link is:

I'm SICK of SPACE WOLVES!

Well the idea came to me about a year ago. I knew the 1st of April was approaching, and every day on the B&C, members were grumbling about the new Blood Angels Codex for some reason or another - including myself. Seeing how useless it is to complain where GW is concerned I decided to make myself remember that this is just a game and that it should be fun, so I decided to farce it out on my own reverential notions towards what I hold dear in the hobby - Space Wolves. If I can playfully make fun of them and not take that seriously then all the rest would be a breeze.

The idea for the model came to me while I was having a drink at a bar after a gaming night with some of my fellow gamers. I happen to notice an add for Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey with that I8th century gentlemen in the top-hat and walking stick...and it just came to me, there and then, between one drink and another.

The next day I looked through some of my plastics to see what I could use for this conversion. The head is the 'Something about Mary' Space Wolf head, the legs are from a normal Tactical marine and the rest are parts of the old Space Marine plastics (the mid nineties plastics).

As you can see all the converted pieces are made up of Greens Stuff, with the lighter green parts being a mix of Green Stuff and Milliput. This mixing gives the Green Stuff more workable properties. Especially when it comes to smoothing after it has cured.

The top hat was the most fun part to do. First you have to make the rim. This is simple piece of card cut to shape to resemble the letter 'O'. Give it a coat of super glue or cellulose to make sure it doesn't warp when you use water while working with Green Stuff. The yellow ribbon on the top hat is just a piece of plumbing tape. The gluey side was treated with alcohol to remove the stickiness and cut as a thin ribbon and glued on. The rest is just Green Stuff sculpted to shape.

The walking cane is just a Space Marine backpack banner cut off and tapered down. I cut off the fingers of the old power arm and re-built then with Green Stuff after attaching the cane. The heart and flower symbols on the leg are Green Stuff with milliput shaped and sanded down. The petals of the flower where added after the sanding.

The flowers took the most work. First, I drilled a hole through the hand and inserted a bunch of fine electrical wires (which you still can see at the bottom painted as the stems). The wires were then wrapped in Green Stufff and modeled to look like wrapping paper. The flowers were made in layers and left to cure before the top layers were added. To make the flowers, first push a rounded piece of Green Stuff into position (I do this for the whole layer in one go). Let it set for 10 to 15 minutes and with a hobby knife or scalpel, push the point in and push out gently, making sure the blade is damp or covered in a thin coat of talcum powder or Vaseline. Do this for the whole outer circle first, and progressing inwards with the inner concentric circles. It is simpler than it sounds.

Te tuxedo is just a piece of rolled out putty cut to fit, but first you have to sculpt in the shirt and sash. The tie and buttons are the last thing to do and as you can see are just simple shapes that give the idea of a tie rather than sculpting every single fold.

The whole model took me three days to model, in between work and study.

There is nothing special to the painting either. The blue is the common Space Wolf blue, which at the Fang we call baby-blue. Two or three thin layers were applied over a white undercoat and highlighted progressively by adding Skull white with nearly white lining along the edges. Very simple and basic. Then I got some Fenris Grey, and thinned it down to wash consistency and carefully lined in the grooves and in between connecting armour parts.

The pink is actually Humbrol acrylics magenta (5058). I used this simply because it was the only pinkish colour I had available at the time. As with the baby-blue, I just added white progressively for the highlights. The flaps of the tuxedo have a base colour mix of 50% white + 50% magenta, and highlighted progressively with white as well.

All the red began with Mechrite foundation red and highlighted with Blood red and white. The flowers received a red ink wash (the old GW inks) at the end of the highlighting process to remove the chalkiness of the white.

The decals are actually the original Space Wolves' ones. As I've said before, I am proud to say that I am a first generation Space Wolf player. I had an army of Space Wolves during the Rogue Trader days (before 2nd), simply because I always like the name Space Wolves, as well as their artificially grafted fangs (back in the day). I thought this decal would look fitting for this model, especially wrapped up in the heart.

Well that's all for today. I hope you all liked it and enjoyed the prank. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section and I will answer them as soon as I can. I have to get back to my army projects and diorama, especially the army painting which I took a slight rest from because it was getting monotonous.

Farewell and good health,

No Talent Required - Quick Hair Sculpt

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Hi to one and all,

I known my posts have not been so frequent lately, but after painting grey for the past month I decided to take a small break and concentrate on other projects, two of which I will be posting here. In the meantime, getting back to Space Wolves, I have been working on my first pack of Long Fangs; adding a few tidbits to make them look wolfier. Well since I was asked how I did the hair on some of my models I decided to elaborate and show how no talent is really needed to make quick and effective looking hair.

Part One - Tools and Materials
As always you will need some putting and sculpting tools. I use greenstuff for this type of work, mixed 3y:1b, but you can use any type of putting really as long as it keeps detail when worked up.

For hair I use only two types of tools, a blade (with a filed down point) for straight grooves and a sculpting tool for curvy hair.

Part two - The models, Bulking Out and Sculpting Hair
Braids

Since I decided to alter the hair of two models, I decided to show them both. As Vikings, I like to add braids to my Space Wolves (in a very manly sort of way , since this makes them more interesting. First roll out a piece of putty to the lenght required and fix them into place and flattened them slightly.

There is nothing difficult with braids if you know how to execute the pattern. I use the method below illustrated by a quick drawing I wiped up.

As you can see, all you need to do is impress diagonal lines along one side (step 1), then along the other side and connecting to the first (step 2). Now with the sculpting tool (anyone) elongate the impressions of one side as in third diagram (as illustrated by the red lines). At this point all you have to do is tuck in the sides of the braid and add the top and bottom parts which are not braided.

Bulking out the Hair
This is probably the easiest part. Just take small blobs of putty and literally bulk out a part of the hair or a section, depending on the pattern you want. Now leave it to cure for ten to fifteen minutes. This will give it time to stick to the surface and allows it to retain detail better.

Just remember - don't try to do all the head in one go. This is one of the so called 'secrets' of miniature sculpting - work a part and let dry, then another part and let dry and so on. Like all epoxy putties gently heating can speed curing time down to a whopping 10 minutes. Just be careful you don't distort or melt down the mini.

Sculpting Hair

Like everything else on this scale, you only need to give an impression of hair and not sculpt out strand by strand. Remember these are only for table-top gaming use. They don't have to look perfect, just cool.

So, I like to use the rounded blade tool for impressing in straight hair lines and the other for curvy or curving hair. Make sure the tools are either moist or covered in a thin layer of talcum powder. This is to ensure the putty does not stick to the tool avoiding you accidentally pulling it off or distorting your work. Do yourselves a favour and don't use petroleum jelly; there is really no need...and nobody will ask why you need Vaseline so often .

I will say this for completeness sake, even though there is no need, but you are going to need a steady hand for this. Make sure you are comfortable and calm (drink a cup or two of camomile tea if necessary). Remember you can always smooth it up again and re-try it.

When the section you have done is dry, it is time to do another part. Just follow the the procedure above again. As simple as that. I will let the pic tell the story.

Part Three - Details and Wavy Hair
If you want to add more movement or form to the hair you can sculpt thicker patterns into the hair or add extra rolls of putty before impressing the finer lines. The pics below demonstrate both methods. The second pic has a small blob of darker putty added on top.

When it comes to curving the hair, it gets a bit tricky. I use the the sculpting tool (not the blade) for this. With the point I slowly cut in the lines and then with a swaying motion - slowly curve them up. Just make sure the tool is moist or with talcum powder. It is harder to explain than do, if that is any consolation.

Part Four - Conclusions
Naturally, you can other details like top knots, flowing hair in the wind, mohicans etc, etc. Just follow the simple procedures I mentioned above - Bulk out and let cure for 10 minutes, simplify patterns, let the section cure before adding more sections or detail.

I would have loved to do a vid tutorial but at the moment I am not in a position to do one, but here is an excellent vid for you to look at that gives more ideas on how to approach this topic, especially with regards to tools and texture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUepjZzgfJc

As always, if you have any questions, comments or if you would like to share your own ideas, please post them in the comment section and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Well that's all for now. I have to get back to my ill-fitting Long Fangs and finish them up.

Farewell and good health,

Side Projects - Horus Heresy Game

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 10:59:00 +0000

Hi,

In between projects or as a side project while I wait for a piece to set or dry, I like to do something that is not demanding, easy and quick. I do this in order not to waste the time I have at hand, which is, unfortunately, a bit limited at the moment.

Also, as a wargamer, I like to play with painted miniatures, so I decided to paint up the playing pieces of my new board game - Horus Heresy. Below is a selection of the pieces I have painted up with block colours and some drybrushing and a wash or two. Nothing special, but when you are actually playing makes all the difference in the world.

These are just some of the loyalist forces I have painted while I was building up my Wolfguard diorama. I'll post up the Traitors and Titans when they are done.

As a small note on the game, I have to say it is very good. Being a 30K fan, I played the old Horus Heresy board game to boredom. I have the same plans for this one!

Farewell and good health,

The Wolfguard Diorama

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:46:00 +0000

Hi one and all,

I have decided to start chronicling (in brevity) my 40K dioramas on this blog from now on. This particular diorama was started last year. After I decided what I wanted to portray as a story in the diorama, I started about the arduous job of sketching out the scene, finding and ordering the minis and parts I needed and slowly but surely put the thing together.

Well, to cut a long story short, I just finished modelling the orks and began the Space Wolf Wolfguard when I heard the earth-shattering news that Games Workshop was revamping the Space Wolf range. I decided to stop the diorama and wait until the new kits came out....and I am very happy I did so!

Now that my new army is going on quite well and steadily (something I never had the discipline to do before), I decided to work on a side project just to vary a bit. It can get very weary just painting grey all the time. In fact, initially I was going to build some other chapter just to get the chance to paint in other colours, but then I remembered this long forgotten little diorama and thought it was a shame to leave it half done. Anyways, my first diorama on this blog should justly be that of the greatest Chapter to have ever soared the stars!

The centerpiece of the scene is the Wolfguard Battle Leader strangling an Ork with his bare 'power gloved' hands. The first picture below was how it was going to look before I decided to halt the project. Naturally it was not yet ready at the time.

This is how it turned out with the help of the new GW SW plastics. It is nearly ready. All it needs is a bit of smoothing up and a grey enamel undercoat. The enamel undercoat is applied to bring out the imperfections and naturally allow me to fix them.

he Orks were really fun to do. In fact my second diorama will be about the Crimson Fists and the Rynn's World incident, and I think I might add an Ork or two, even if just laying dead.

The ork being strangled was the most difficult to plan. In Maltese we say 'Qis mitt darba u qaghta' darba', which means literally 'measure a hundred times and cut once'. If only it was that easy! The fitting changed constantly, especially since I measured everything before I modified the Space Marines' legs. Well in the end it turned out well, and I certainly learned a lot, especially about Space marine legs and how awkward it is to rescale them.

The other Orks were not hard at all, and I enjoyed every moment of it. These brutes are full of character in themselves, so it takes little effort to re-model them and retain that savagry that so distinguishes them. In fact, besides the re-positioning I only modified some of the clothing to make it more dynamic and realistic.

Well, that's it for now. I will add more, shorter posts of this diorama as I gradually work on it. That way anyone interested can see it evolve. I wanted to post some of the rough sketches and the initial positioning with blue tac, before I actually begin to cut things up. Just to give a full picture, but when I started this I didn't even have an account on Blogger, and I didn't chronicle my work. But when I start my second diorama I will endeavor to take pics and post from the beginning.

So, until Russ prefers Pinacaladas to good old Fenrisian ale, keep playing Space Marines!

Farewell and good health,

The 1st Grey Hunter Unit - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:10:00 +0000

Hi everyone reading this,

After a spell doing hardly anything within the wargaming hobby besides posting on this blog, I have made an effort to sit down and get to painting. The problem is that painting Space Marines can become tedious since it is nearly always the same formula. I'd probably have more fun painting Eldar with all those colourful units, but the only army for me is Space Wolves - always has been and always will be! Well finally I have finished my first GH pack with the last five minis posted below. I apologize for the last two pics which are not level. I honestly did not notice until I put all my photograhic equipment away and uploaded the pics. Next time I'll be more careful.

Grey Hunters

I won't bore you with too much info about painting, modeling or my intentions since they have been covered before on this blog. I'll just point out that I have covered up the pack markings of the leader and the special close combat marine (in the previous post) with a wolf pelt. This was done with the intention of allowing me to interchange them within the 3 GH packs I have scheduled.

Farewell until next time,

Mark of the Wolfen

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 02:13:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

For sometime now I have been thinking how to render the Space Wolves afflicted with the 'Mark of the Wulfen' (motw from now on) for my Grey Hunter packs. Ideas varied on this subject from just painting tattoos on the face to using the Wulfen models of the 13th Company.

Reading the fluff, the motw is a corruption of the Canis Helix and as such is the beginning or the process from which a Space Wolf is lost to the curse and becomes Wulfen. Technically, the Space Wolf afflicted turns into a berserker consumed with rage for spells of increasing duration until fully changed. So in my opinion it ruled out Wulfen models (not that I would disagree using them) but required something more than a tattoo.

Therefore I decided to walk the middle road and come up with something slightly more original. Looking at the Wulfen models I noticed that none of them have any armour on their arms, probably to show the line of fur sprouting along their arms. I thought this would be a good start; having the Space Marines recklessly shedding their armour. The description of motw depicts the Space Wolf as 'devolving', hence giving a wild and savage look to them. It also says that they fight with 'claws and teeth'; this would be a bit of a problem since it requires a lot of work I wasn't prepared to put in for gaming pieces, so I decided to use axes instead.

So my target was set; I would build 3 wild-looking Space Wolves (one for each Grey Hunter unit) with axes and bare arms. You can see the result for yourselves in the pics below. This one is by far my favourite and I think he captures the fury a berserker must feel while in the troves of the curse.

This one I am fond of. He has a predatory pose that came about quite by accident.

This one I don't like so much, and if I had more time I would probably redo. His pose is a bit off, and on hindsight I would have constructed him differently. Well all is not lost, at least I learned a few lessons in planning properly.

I decided to use the bodies of Khorne Berserkers, since they have older mark armour and are easier to pose, and the heads of marauder horsemen. They look more fearsome in my opinion than the Space Wolf heads. To make them look more wolfy I added pelts and wolf-teeth necklaces and scrapped away all the chaos markings. Although not visible in the pics, they also have bolters strapped to their lower back sides. I did this for the sake of wysiwyg.

I think the results do look like 'wild' Space Marines afflicted with battle frenzy, and I think that they will stand out from the rest of the pack, but like everything else in our hobby this is subjective and a matter of taste and opinion. I will post these figures again when painted. Well that's all for this week. I have started painting my Wolfgaurd diorama and probably will post some pics within a few days.

On a side note please feel free to comment, criticize, mock or point out anything you think I missed or overlooked or can do to improve. I welcome them all.

Farewell and good health,

The 1st Grey Hunter Unit - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Night Runner) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:57:00 +0000

Hi, one and all,

I have finished painting the first 5 Grey Hunters of my first unit. I am quite happy with the results. I have said several times on this blog, my intention is to build up an army for gaming and not display, so where I could do away with time consuming techniques, like shading and highlighting, and get by with block colours, I have. I use transfers in order to save time free handing insignia and I keep 'mixing colours' to a minimum.

I apologize for the quality of the pics, but I am not equiped for close up potography. Also the armour is coming out with a bluish tint due to the lighting I have available. It actually has a greyish tint but I guess it can't be helped. I'll have to tweak the 'White Light balance' on my camera when I gain enough initiative to overcome the lethargy I have for doing such things.

Grey Hunters

I'd like to describe how I go about painting my gaming pieces. After prepping, first I give them an undercoat of Adeptus Battlegrey. The next step is to paint in all the metallic colours, add black washes and highlight with drybrushing. I always do this first because metallic drybrushing is a very 'dirty' technique, so to speak, and leaves a lot of fragments all over the model. After that I paint all the pelts, furs and hair and drybrush accordingly. When all the drybrushing is done I paint the face first and all the accessories next. The last step is painting the armour.

As you can see from the pics there is no yellow at all in my Grey Hunters, and there will be no yellow whatsoever in any of my 3 projected GH units. Don't get me wrong, I like yellow, but GH are not Imperial Fists. I want my GH units to be down-to-earth, nitty gritty, pragmatic and sombre; just like their name-sake 'Grey'. Therefore, yellow, IMO has no place in these units. Yellow is a bright colour used a lot in nobility and heraldry in general, therefore it's place in a SW army is with the colourful, in-your-face, Blood Claws or with the heroic Wolfguard; but even then kept to a minimum in the pack markings.

It's not just the yellow that I tried to keep to a minimum, but also any unnecessary bling and ornamentation. Therefore I have used normal vanilla legs and backpacks for the GH units. I'll leave the new SW legs and backpacks for the Wolfguard (whom I affectionately call the 'Bling Boys').

Well that's all for now. My next entry will be the three 'Mark of the Wulfen' Space Wolves I am converting for the Grey Hunter units; or the other 5 Grey Hunter models in this unit. Which ever I finish first!

Farewell until next time,