Bats, man (Part 1)

 Bats. Swarms of bats. 

Sorta. 

While poking around the Neverness Archives I stumbled upon these old bats. Much like a lot of my Warhammer Fantasy models, that weren't acquired for inclusion in a specific army, these were purchased for use in one of my D&D campaigns. Specifically D&D 3.5, and expressly for use as  Firebats in a 3.5 conversion of the classic 1st Edition module The Tower of Inverness. They are part of an awesome encounter involving a Fire Giant and a lot of lava.  These firebats performed admirably in the game, but that was their only rodeo, and they haven't been touched since. That was around 2003-ish. 

The goofy stands that were molded onto these things did not sit well with me back then (and less so now). So I chopped them off and drilled a rod into their posterior.  Then I mounted them to a flight stand rod which in turn was mounted onto a 20mm base. 

This worked out wonderfully in the game as these creatures operated independently and not as a swarm in the Warhammer sense. My original idea was that I would use greenstuff to sculpt flames onto them. I still believe this would have looked rad as hell, but time was more persistent than my vision and what you see in these pics are as far as the whole project got. And yes, they kicked ass in the game! 

When I recently dug these guys out of the archive, the plan was to magnetize them to a 40mm base and make them removable. Very much like I did with the Tyranid Ripper Swarms I assembled awhile back. But when I double-checked their stats I found that they have 5 wounds per base, and not the 3 that I thought they had. Oops. 

And that just isn't going to work like I originally envisioned. 

So my current plan is to remove the bats from their 20mm bases and attach them at different heights to a 40mm base. I am fairly confident I can make this work. So confident that I am going to save that whole process for the eventual, but inevitable,  Part 2 of this series. 

Swarmlord (Part 2)

 It's been a while since I posted Part 1 of this saga of the Swarmlord, but the desire to throw paint on him can no longer be restrained. That, and I wanted a break from my recent Old World focus.  Don't get me wrong, I am loving all that fantasy stuff after so many years away from it, but I was having fun working on the nids a few years ago and was recently feeling a bit bummed that I didn't finish this army. 

Primed.

So I decided to do something about it. 

I basecoated the model using Contrast Paints (Luxion Purple, Ultramarines Blue, and Skeleton Horde), Chaos Black Citadel Color and Applebarrel Indian Red. A lot of my color choices are somewhat in line with the choices I made on Old One Eye  awhile back as well as my original Screamer Killer model. 

Basecoated.

For the swords (including the one growing out of his head) I applied a thinned Khorne Red along the edges. 

Khorne Red blades. 

And so far, he is looking pretty much battle-ready.  But I'm not going to settle for just that, so stay tuned for the next steps! 

Hobgrots on Squares (Part 1)

 Somehow I found myself thinking "Gee, I could use some hobgoblins," and searching the internet looking for sanely-priced hobgoblins was an exercise in disappointment. But I kept stumbling upon AoS Hobgrots for fairly cheap. Eventually I took a good look at them and decided that these guys could work out just fine. They're not as comical as their ancestors of 30 years ago, but they fit the pseudo-mongolian vibe well enough. I am particularly found of their helms which strike a sort of samurai gestalt with me that I think works very well. 

I found a few sprues of old Warhammer shields that were made for the intention of being plugged onto the arms of whichever old metal model that could take them.  These shields have a big hole in the middle of them as a result which often makes them difficult to use on different miniatures. When I was working on some plastic skeletons recently I took note of the sbield plugs that came on their old sprues. These worked out great on these old shields.  I like the bigger size of these shields as I feel they put off a more archaic vibe.  

The Boss.

Most of these guys have two weapons and I decided to essentially ignore the smaller weapon and put a shield on that arm where applicable. Some of them have their shield going across their back. I just put them on however I thought looked the most pleasing to my eye. I think the chaotic disposition gives the unit that killer rabble vibe 

The Musician.

I accidentally built two musicians for this unit, not realizing what I had done until I had finished the unit's construction. I am already thinking about getting a second unit so that musician will likely go to that unit. (Eventually).

Standard Bearer.

Just for kicks, here is what the hobgrots look like next to one from the early '90s. I could say so much, but this is a good opportunity to just let the picture do the talking. I am sure it says far more than I am capable of articulating!

Compare and contrast.

As soon as I get my hands on a new rattle-can of Chaod Black, I will be able to start painting these lovely  chaps.

Lady Annika in the Old World (Part 1)

 I decided I wanted to add a bit of diversity to my vampire counts and, while I was at one of the local game stores, this kit called out to me.  So I decided to give her a shot.  I knew her cloak/robe-thing would flow off of her 25mm base, and I thought I could make that work.  But what surprised me was her height. (More on that in a moment here). So I built her up anyway.  I was stuck trying to determine which arm to take: the one holding the mask or the bat winged one. Mrs. Neverness thought the bat winged one was best so I went with it. 

Too classy for her base. 

Back to the height issue; She is definitely taller, by a considerable margin, compared to most of the typical Old World humanoids. But I think I am OK with this as it allows her to stand out rather dramatically during play.  I swear I think AOS has gone to a 32mm scale. But that's a topic I haven't enough knowledge to truly explore at this time.  So long as she's attached to a unit on the right flank,  her clothing can flow off to the side and not interfere with the joined unit. 

It's like a flank bumper. 

Now to figure out how to paint her (and her zombie pirate buddy's as well).  And eventually this unit of 20 pirate zombies will be getting their own post as I work on them more. 

"Arrrr, brains!"

This army is starting to come together and I'm having a lot of fun with it so far.  At this point I have a fully painted Tomb Banshee, Spirit Hosts and Skeletons with Spears. And there is definitely more to come! 

Saving the Cygor

On a recent trip to Knoxville TN, I swung by the CM Games store in Cedar Bluff where they happened to be having a 50% off sale on their used miniatures. This Cygor stood out to me as a very good bargain considering the current after-market prices for this guy, but more importantly I felt like I could save this model. 

"Save me!"

Mostly I just need to finish the basecoat, and just build up the colors from there. Except for that big boulder he is holding. That thing will be completely repainted. Don't get me wrong, I admire the original painter's attempt to make this appear molten, but it just doesn't work for me with this model. 

In the Neverness Hobbyzone being studied.

And I need to rebase him also.  And that's where I am starting this project.  I removed him from the large oval base and sized him up for his 60x100mm square  base before gritting it up and priming it. And of course, I felt compelled to go ahead and paint it prior to affixing the Cygor to his new base. 

The new base.

I used Skeleton Horde on any of unpainted bones and skulls. Volupus Pink was used on the big guy's tongue and mouth. For the big rock I used Adeptus Battlegray Foundation Paint on the rock. That stuff is still amazing. I was able to coat it in no time and get that thing looking like a big stone again. This revealed details to me that I hadn't noticed before such as the vine of ivy growing acrossed it. 

New base attached. 

I liberally applied Bloodreaver Flesh over most of the fleshy areas, which immediately began. To brighten up the model. 

Bloodreaver Fleah. 

Bugman's Glow was added over that which really started to bring this thing to life. 

Bugman's Glow.

And then I topped the fleshy bits with Cadian Fleshtone. This seemed like a good place to stop on this part. 

Cadian Fleshtone.

Stop? No way, I was having too much fun! I used white ink to fill in the recesses on the big stone (I made a mess of it really, but I tried). Then I decided to use Tesseract Glow on the recesses. 

Super glowy rock. 

After that I used Adeptus Battlegray Foundation Paint again to sort of dry brush over these groves in an effort to restore the glowy spirals. Although this turned out OK, my choice of Tesseract Glow clashed with my choice of green for the ivy. 

White drybrusbing on the hair/quils/fur areas.

The solution was to paint over the ivy using thinned Khorne Red. This kind of gives it a bit of poison ivy look which also gives it the benefit of contrast against the Tesseract Glow. 

Fur Contrast Paint over hair/quils/fur areas.

And then I worked up the leather wraps using the original Blood Angels Red as a base for Screamer Pink which was then washed in Nuln Oil and thinly highlighted with Pink Horror.

The bones (of which there is a staggering amount adorning this fella) were finished off using Screaming Skull, Wraithbone and White Scar. Pretty much the same process I used on the skellies I painted up recently. Except I was way more conservative with the use of the White Scar. 

With my final touch-ups I'm calling this Cygor done! Enjoy the next few pics of this model from different angles. 

And here is a final shot to help give those of you who may not be familiar with this model a sense of scale...

"Wow, you're a big one!" 

He should fit in well with the rest of my Beastmen Brayherd, of which, he is the first one with a finished paint job.. Actually, working on this guy has inspired me to do more, and hopefully I will do so soon. 

Walking Bones with Spears

 What's an undead army without skeletons? * Well, here are my first batch of 15 skeleton warriors ready to spear your fodder.

Primed.

After priming these guys with the appropriately named Wraithbone spray paint I next painted all of the bone areas using Skeleton Horde Contrast Paint.  

Skeleton Horde base.

Next, I decided (pretty much on a random whim) to paint all of their spears red. I guess the '90s nostalgia vibe from the box photos was far too potent to resist? After I paint the first one I knew that this was the right choice. 

Red spears for that '90s vibe. 

Then I added layers  to all of the bones using Screaming Skull followed by Wraithbone. 

Screaming Skull and Wraithbone.

Touched up.

I decided I wanted to give these guys glowing eyes in the same color as the spirit hosts that I painted recently. I figured that the color would help tie the units together a bit more.  But when I got down to it, I really liked them the way they were. So I compromised and added a subtle glow around the bottom or the edge of their empty eye-sockets. Some of their eyes have a rotten eyeball in them and these I painted with the Briar Queen Chill paint as well. 

Subtle glowy eyes.

After I added the grass tufts to some of these models I felt they could use a subtle highlight of White Scar.  

White Scar highlights. 

And with that it's a wrap. Oh, and I want to mention the model in this next pic, the one in the foreground to the left: 

Beastman skull headed guy to the left. 

His head is from the Skulls boxed set. There is a variety of beastman skulls in that set and I decided to stick on one of these skeletons after getting frustrated with attaching the horns to the beastman skull that comes with this set. I think it worked out good in the end. 

*Lame! The answer is LAME!!!

Thunder Struck! (Part 2)

 It was a bit of a grind, but I finally got to a point where I can declare that these guys are DONE. 

I neglected to take stage-by-stage/ work-in-progress shots as I went along mainly because ai dabbled on these guys here and there since the previous post.  This dabbling took place randomly between work on some of the other miniatures that I completed during that time. 

Which leaves me with these snazzy glamor shots instead. I hope no one minds. If you want to know more about this scheme check out the Dwarf Warriors posts and the post that details the single test model I did also. 

The leadership. 

Oh, and check out those leaves! I ordered some leaves for scale modeling from Amazon. These are great for adding a touch of realism to models such as these. 

And I suppose that's all I can say about them at this time. I think they turned out well considering their original state that they were in when I got them. 

Another unit painted, more to go!