Tag Archives: Warhammer Fantasy

What Motivates Me

I’d like to take a short detour from my TK project to write about what motivates me to build/paint and to display the work of two good friends of mine.

I started this hobby back in ‘98 while I was still in the Army. I remember coming up to DC from Ft. Bragg to visit my girlfriend (now wife) and for some reason or another we found ourselves at a GW shop in the mall. I remember being blown away by the incredible armies they had on display in the glass cases so I bought a box of those crappy Saurus and some paint and vowed to return one day. 13 years later, I still play at that store and the then manager James is a damn good friend of mine and one of the most unforgiving opponents I know.

James is a brilliant painter and most of my technique was developed from trying to replicate his style and he still astounds me to this day with his talent. Here’s some of his work:

Savage Orc Boar Boy
Savage Orc Boar Boy
Savage Orc Boar Boy
Savage Orc Boar Boy
Savage Orc Boar Boy
Savage Orc Boar Boy

Savage Orc Boar Boy

My favorite part of this model is the boar. The skin is brilliant and the attention to detail by glossing the eyes and the tongue makes this little bastard spring to life. The Orc is also amazing. James paints like the old school Heavy Metal painters and it pisses me off at how easy it is for him. He now has a full unit of these sexy beasts by the way…

Dark Elf Lord
Dark Elf Lord
Dark Elf Lord

Dark Elf Lord

This Dark Elf Lord was painted for some tourney where everything had to be represented on the model. The Blood Armor is again brilliant. The saddest part of these models is that about 10 minutes after I took pictures someone knocked James’ case down and both got broken. The Boar Boy was easily repaired being plastic but the elf lord took all kinds of scratch damage. ☹

Last but certainly not least is this amazing terrain piece from my friend Michael (Chewie). Chewie is to terrain as James is to painting. It never ceases to amaze me what he does with board terrain. Here’s his “Rock of Aegis” (that name kills me! LOL!):

Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis
Rock of Aegis

Rock of Aegis

This beauty is for sale if anyone is interested. It does include the mounted guns by the way but we tend to take them off when he brings them into the store so they are not stolen/broken. Drop me a line if you have any interest and I’ll get you in contact with Chewie.

My hobby is driven by viewing the work of other hobbyists. Seeing someone crank out a badass model/unit or some inspired piece of terrain makes me want to paint/hobby myself. Find out what motivates you and use that inspiration to take your work to the next level.

Shawn G. (SoI)

New Dais Design & Watchtower

Well my molds arrived on Sat and I was really happy to get started with them. I used up all the black resin I had lying about and burned through quite a bit of my slower casting resin making enough to make this new version of my Dais and a watchtower.

New Dais Design
New Dais Design
New Dais Design
New Dais Design
New Dais Design

New Dais Design

I think they came out pretty nicely. Sadly the weather has not been cooperative so I think the coat of varnish dulled my gold a little too much but that’s fine. It looks good with the crew.

Watchtower WiP

The tower was a blast to build. It was like playing with Lego’s that I cast myself. Can’t wait to paint it up.
I started school this week so I’ll be slowing down somewhat with my painting. I’ll likely only get one unit done a week. Still nice progress though.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Stalkers Done

Stalkers
Stalkers
Stalkers

Stalkers

These guys were fun to do though a little annoying. Since they came glued together and on their bases I had to prime them in ivory and that was a pain to cover up. I would have done the base separately and primed the stalkers black and saved myself a great deal of cover-up time.

I’ll likely pick up another box to fill out a unit of 6. Don’t know when though. I have a unit of chariots on the horizon.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Modular Warsphinx Done!

This thing was a real joy to paint again. I didn’t go all out as I did before but the end results were very satisfactory. I’ll complete the crew tomorrow.

Warsphinx
Warsphinx
Warsphinx
Warsphinx

Modular Sphinx

Now I had designed this model to pose as both a Warspinx and Necrosphinx but it didn’t work out as I had hoped. Installing the howdah on it’s back scratched the paint pretty badly. So no wings for this bad boy…

Back Damage
Crap!

Back Damage
Double Crap!

I do however like the winged kitty look of this kit and may use it in the future.

Necrosphinx

Necrosphinx

Next on the chopping block will be the stalkers and crew for the Warsphinx.

More to come as I progress.
Shawn G. (SoI)

Modular Warsphinx and Heirotitan Mk2

Modular Sphinx WiP
Modular Sphinx WiP
Modular Sphinx WiP
Modular Sphinx WiP

Modular Sphinx WiP

I got to put in some real time with the sphinx kit yesterday and with some time I was able to modulate it. It’s not as easy as say a dreadnought but it can be done if you take your time and are careful. I love you Dremel.

Heirotitan WiP
Heirotitan WiP

Heirotitan WiP

I also was able to use the torso for a new design for my Heirotitan. The Conduit concept works well for my army scheme but does not scream monster enough. This is closer to the idea I originally had.

Getting three models out of one box is pretty cool.

More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Big Tomb King Update!

It’s been a hectic last few days! First of all I got my TK book in on Thursday and as soon as I cracked the cover I noticed something I didn’t see before that gave ideas! (more on this in a sec).

First up is I finished that unit of Skeletal Archers. I hate to admit it, but they look pretty good with a decent paintjob. I would prefer newer models, but these can suffice. Hell, knowing me I’ll end up loving them in the end…

Archers

First Bow

Now about that idea I had. There is a little hieroglyph on the bottom middle of the first illustration in the TK book that spawned a slew of ideas for me. It has been pointed out that I like floating stuff (And I do! Big whoop, wanna fight about it?), here is a prototype of the ideas that took root: The Conduit.

Conduit
Conduit

Conduit

My idea was this was made of stone cut from the black stone of Nagash’s Pyramid like the casket conversion I made. Floating over the battlefield it acts as a focus for Liche Priest magic as well as throwing curses of it’s own. While I like it this concept and it fits in nicely with my army scheme, it needs work on several levels. First it does not give off the “AHHH! Monster!” vibe it needs to. Second being that it has no real facing (I marked the base to show the front). It function till I get the elements I need. I’ll be picking up 3 Warsphinx kits today.

It was built using blocks from my pyramid and another Hirst Mold (#56). The top is held aloft via rare earth magnets (REM). Unfortunately I had a resin mishap and the mold got ruined. I have it soaking in degreaser at the moment and will upgrade to mineral spirits if this fails.

Now for some weird stuff. I’m a tad compulsive. So when I do something I feel driven to go all the way. So this is my dice cup. XD

Dice Cup
Dice Cup

Dice Cup

The Necrosphinx planted a serious painting seed and when I gave into it the first thing I needed was an appropriate dice cup. My first idea was for a large canopic jar and I found a few really nice ones the problem is they were all either too large or too narrow to hold the sea of dice I intended to pour into my foes’ units. Then I found this beauty on Amazon. It’s called a ‘Bronze Scrab Box’ encase you want one for yourselves.

With some slight modification using some REMs I have the lid significantly secured. I love this thing so much I had to get matching dice. Did I mention I was compulsive?

Yesterday we had a 1000pt vet night tourney at the hobby shop and I decided to use my new TK. I had a BLAST and won Best Army and these were my prize! I can’t wait to paint these bad boys up!

Stalkers

Lastly, he’s home. And mine. I was given him last night along with the Stalkers. I was so happy I almost squee’d

Necrosphinx

Squee
Intransitive verb
1. A noise primarily made by an over-excited fangirl, however it has spread rapidly and is now widely spread among the web community.
2. A random ecstatic exclamation

Retrieved from Urban Dictionary.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Black Dais (Casket) & Necrotect Complete!

Dais Guard
Dais Priest
Dais Priest
Dais Priest

Black Dais (Casket of Souls)

My Casket of Souls conversion is now complete! I’m calling it a Black Dais until I can come up with a better title. I like this conversion a lot but I see room for improvement and will likely revisit this model in the future (The rear pillars are not working for me…)

The priest came out ok. Not tops for a character but definitely tabletop quality.

Necrotect

Necrotect

I finished the Necrotect last night. He painted up really quickly and I like this version better then the one they currently have in the rulebook.

Since it’s raining again I’ll have to wait a day or so for the humidity to clear up so I can varnish my completed units and get some more stuff primed. In the meantime I guess I have to start on these pieces of crap…

Archers WiP

Shawn G. (SoI)

Skeleton Unit Complete!

This sucker took a while to get done but the results are quite appealing! I was unsure last night while on the red stage but once one was finished I was really glad. Two units now done so I can reward myself with painting a character or to 2. (Do your units first or your army will never get done…)

Next on the block will be the Dais Priest, Necrotect, and Dais Guard.

Tomb King Skeleton Unit
Tomb King Skeleton Unit
Champ

Command

More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Black Dais & Skeleton Unit Filler

Here are some new pictures for my Black Dais (Casket) and a unit filler for my skeletons. I’m liking this design so far!

Black Dais WiP
Dias Guard WiP
Black Dais WiP
Black Dais WiP

Black Dais WiP

Also here is a unit filler for my Skeleton unit. It really adds character to the unit and I’m growing more fond of the floating elements of this army. Reminds me of Stargate a little…

Skeleton Unit WiP
Skeleton Unit WiP
Skeleton Unit WiP
Skeleton Unit Filler
Skeleton Unit Filler

Skeleton Unit Filler

More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Tomb King Army of Arkhan the Black

Nagash has been one of my favorite characters in the Warhammer Fantasy world. I guess it’s because he is so heavily designed after Vecna from D&D who IS my favorite character from a RPG standpoint. But I digress.

Painting that Necrosphinx really has my hobby mojo flowing and I feel like painting an army again. This project will be for Arkhan, Nagash’s chief lieutenant. I’m still trying to pin down the color scheme but I think what I have will work fine. I’ll likely expand on it as I go. I’ve a real love for ancient Egypt. Everything they created has/had such character it’s a real thrill to recreate it in miniaturized form. I’ve painted a TK army in the past but had to sell it off to pay some bills. It will be fun to do it again I think.

Colors Scheme:
Detail – Dark red or black
Metal – Dark brass, gold highlighting w/ patina
Skeletal Bodies – Krylon Almond (satin), directional dry brushing, ivory highlighting
Mummified Flesh – Dark brown, flat earth highlights
Leather – Terracotta > tanned flesh > pale flesh
Gems – Unknown at the moment. Likely red.
Construct Bodies – Onyx (hopefully he marble technique I used for the Necrosphinx will translate)

Current Range Model Concerns:
Heroes
Kings/Princes – Good to go w/ new kits en route.
Liche Priest – Eww! Converted (see Below).
Herald – Really unbalanced but satisfactory

Core
Chariots – Great kit. Conversion (See Below).
Cavalry – Satisfactory.
Skeletons – God help me… (see Below)

Specials
Ushabti – Nice though expensive
Scorpion – One of my Favs.
Swarms – Acceptable but pricy & uninspired

Rares
Giant – Still like this kit. Conversion ideas brewing…
Catapult – Satisfactory.
Casket – Very sexy kit. Converted (see Below).

On Skeletons…

Skellies WiP

Skellies WiP

The current model range for this army is unusual. It contains new kits combined with some really OLD bits. Most of the range looks good together but some kits are really showing their age (Skeleton Warriors). This kit is so freaking antiquated GW really needs to put these sprews out to pasture. I can’t bring myself to use them and I’ve been searching for alternatives.

I’ve found that the current vampire counts skeleton range will satisfy the foot troop niche nicely if you are careful which parts you choose. I used 9/10 legs in the kit with the bare torsos, and bald heads. The spears work perfectly as they appear sufficiently ancient and their state of decay fits in nicely with this theme. Add in some TK shields and you’re done.

The archers are a different problem altogether… I don’t have an answer for this kit. I hate these models so much. If anyone has any ideas on how to circumvent these horrors please let me know.

On Liche Priests…

Liche Priests WiP

Currently there are only three LP models. One mounted/foot blister and the LP from the CoS (Casket of Souls) kit. I hate the blister and the casket kit is doing the ‘Big Arms’ thing (Eddie Izzard ref) and does not rank up so I converted them.

Now I’m not really satisfied with these conversions but I think they will suffice until GW releases some new models. They do fit in well with this army theme so I’ll likely grow to love them.

On the Casket of Souls…

Casket of Souls WiP

Casket of Souls WiP

Casket of Souls WiP

I love this kit but an idea struck me yesterday that I just had to follow. Nagash created a huge pyramid made out of obsidian to show the world the degree of his badassness. I had an idea that his followers would use small replicas made from the original glass as artifacts of war.

I designed this kit to float on a dais with a LP reading from a cursed tome to activate it. The dais is a Dragon Forge Temple base I had sitting around unused, and the base is made from acrylic sheet. The two guards will walk next to it as they are unworthy of hitching a ride.

On Chariots…

Chariots WiP

Chariots WiP

Chariots WiP

The current models for the chariots are pretty cool. The only problem I found was that they are not very character friendly. Normally the chariot is too narrow for ‘based’ heroes to be used but I found a work around. I like to keep my models modular if possible and this was simple. I Dremel’d out a nice groove along the base of the two sides of the chariot so you could fit a character inside that was mounted on a base. The Prince/King clicks right in. Sweetness…

More to come as I progress.