Pods to Drop and Lands to Speed (Part 15)

All coming together.

Continuing on from last time, I kept on adding layers to the hull. Space Wolves Gray was thinned down to blend in with the Russ Grey mid-coat. A solid layer of Space Wolves Gray was applied to the edges to tighten it all up before the final highlight of White Scar was thinly painted onto the edges. The left shoulder pads were painted up from Fiery Orange to yellow using thin-to-thick layers of Sunburst Yellow. And the bronzey bits were painted using a base of Tin Bitz, followed by new color I recently got called Hashut Copper with a highlight of Shinning Gold.

Highlights added on the hull.

The Grey Hunter pack markings were sketched onto the side using a red micron. This was more like a guide line though...

Micron guide line.

...as I just free-handed over this with Scab red and Chaos Black. Mephiston Red was the final color applied to this.

Grey Hunters pack marking.

Up to this point I had not looked at the first Typhoon model I painted way long ago (not directly anyway) so I thought it was time to dig it out to compare it. All in all, it's pretty damn close! The biggest difference, paint scheme wise, is how I highlighted the front plate of these speeders. The older one is a tad bit darker, but it's not too contrasting I think.

Typhoons together again.

And yes, the real difference is the lack of Typhoon Missile Launders on the newer model. In fact there is a bit of a story here as to why that is. You see, ages ago I bought 3 blister packs from GW of the metal versions. However, these are very solid and heavy accessories and they bust off of the finished model a lot. You may notice the missiles are a bit crooked in the above pic because the last time they were glued on it was during a game; a battlefield repair if you will.

The original pewter Typhoon Missile Launchers.

So my set of missile launchers have been kicking around in the Portable Neverness Kit  for years now and I just couldn't bring myself to do a second one of these things that I would have to repair all the time. Enter the Dark Angels Accessory Sprue:

The plastic Dark Angel Typhoon Missile Launchers.

Light weight, multipart,  better detailed and fairly easy to build... it is the perfect solution! Added bonus: no lame Dark Angel nonsense that would need to be scrapped off! Now, let's see if I can get it painted in our next part.

Pods to Drop and Lands to Speed.(Part 14)

When I left to go out of town on a few recent trips for business, I took the Portable Neverness Kit with me. My intention was to work, once again, on my neglected drop pod  as well as the intercessors I started on back in October. However, while getting everything set up for a round of furious painting I discovered a basecoated Landspeeder Typhoon within my portable kit. For some reason I was more compelled to work on this than the intended Drop Pod. Go figure.

Base coat.

You might recall that I have always intended to produce three of these things. The first Typhoon was completed back in the early days of this blog. I guess I had always intended to work on this model while I was on the road for work, but usually I found that I was tired from traveling to get much accomplished. This is why that 2nd Drop Pod has been an exercise in tedium. Also, I rarely travel to the degree that I stay in hotels all that much anymore, so the chances to work on it are far less frequent.

Russ Grey layer.

Now, during one of my recent travels my phone, a Samsung Note 5, decided to brick itself. Just dropped dead and died. It happened a few hours before I was supposed to catch a flight home which made that trip quite challenging indeed. Luckily I had my tablet with me so I was able to communicate to some extent. I lost all of my photos, some of which were saved for future blog posts. They just were not backed up to Google Photos like I thought they were. No worries, now I have Samsung Note 9 which I am just loving. However the camera is far more advanced and I am having some adjustment struggles. You can see in these photos that, despite their clarity, they tend to be a bit washed out. I assure you that the model isn't this bright in reality.

Tin Bitz base. 

Following the steps I usually take for painting Space Wolves, the hull and armored areas are now pretty much done. Just need some final highlights. I have decided not to go with the orange-to-yellow scheme on the aquila chest plates of the crew, but instead go with a metallic scheme. I think all of my Space Wolves will go this way ultimately as I simply like this look better (as well as the fact that they are much easier to paint). I use Tin Bitz for the base coat of this scheme.

Space Wolf Grey layer. 

With time a precious and fleeting commodity as of late, and my struggling with getting anything done, I have persisted enough to be able to show off some progress here. All that said, I hope to get more done on this thing (and other things) soon.

Neverness goes to Warhammer! (In Richmond VA)

The title says it all, right?

 Actually it doesn't as this visit was very fun and engaging, even more so than the other Warhammer stores I have visited. Regular readers will note that I haven't posted much lately and that is due to the copious amount of training I am doing for my new job. The latest training has taken me to Richmond Virginia, and after I got here I decided to look and see if there was a Warhammer store nearby -and sure enough there was! After locating it, I was immediately impressed by how warmly I was greeted by the Manager (Bree) and the store's patrons. The conversation was easy to get going, as 40k-geekdom is a language unto itself!

Warhammer: Richmond.

After a brief introduction and tour of the store I asked Bree, the manager, if it was OK to take some pics for this blog and she enthusiastically said yes. These first pics, as one would expect, showcase the starter sets for Warhammer 40,000 and WH: Age of Sigmar. As a new customer or first time patron would likely see these as their gateway into these game systems, they are placed right at the front of the store.

40k starter diorama.

Bree was painting Harlequin miniatures in Christmas colors for an "elf on the shelf" event shelf is doing soon to promote Secret Santa event that the store is hosting. We had a fun discussion lamenting all the gems on those Harlequin models and the Joy's of painting them all...

Age of Sigmar diorama.

But the really fun models are always the staff/customer showcase models and miniatures. That Stompa is particularly inspiring!

The Stompa dominates the case!

As were these obviously Khorne themed mods.

Lots o' Blood for the Blood God!

I found this next one to be particularly inspiring. To encourage and inspire her younger patrons she asked her regular customers to bring their first, or earliest, painted model or miniature to put on display. Most of us look back, usually fondly, at our earliest painted efforts as a measure of just how far we've progressed in our craft and talent over the years. But more importantly we can show the newbies that, hey, don't worry if your first efforts aren't Youngblood trophy winners, you will only get better as you paint more and more. I thought this was awesome for Bree to have in her store!

Everyone starts somewhere! 

Next up we have a few fantasy models painted by Bree herself. The giant is particularly awesome. I have this model, unbuilt and unassembled, and I am always shocked at how small it is compared to the box...anyway, hers turned out very well indeed. The image with the yellow cloak is rather striking as well!

Fantasy!

Towards the back of the store there are charts, rules, graphs etc. where the various campaigns and leagues are being tracked. There is a Kill Team area and a rather big Age of Sigmar campaign. Bree told me about the unique missions that she made for it and how engaged her players were in their participation. Sounds like lots of fun, and it made me wish I could participate.

The Shyish Campaign.

After talking rules and GW history with the folks there I made a purchase (an audiobook, for the ride home) and wished everyone well. I have found out that 40k day is Thursday nights so I hope that when I return to town next week (yay, more training) I will be able to stop by on that night and see what the action is like. If you live in this part of the country, or are passing through, go and pay the store a visit. I am sure you'll leave inspired like I did!

To find out out more about this shop and what they are doing with events and games, you can follow them on Facebook. Thanks again to Bree and her friendly customers for making me feel right at home!