Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Testing... Is this thing still on?

Rumors of my demise have been slightly exaggerated, and I must apologize for my absence over the last month.While it would be easy to offer up a litany of excuses, the main point is I've been remiss in keeping the blog up to date, and it's high time to rectify the situation - While I haven't been posting, I certainly haven't been inactive!

So over the next few days I'll be curating and updating a number of projects (as well as taking a lot of new pics as I'm finding several shots that look good on a phone screen are garbage on an actual monitor. Doh! First off will be one of my most anticipated recent releases, Blackstone Fortress!


Honestly the first 40k box set I've been excited about since Necromunda - Specialist Games, how I adore thee!


Gotta have the group shot first. While I liked the Rogue Trader and entourage that came with Kill Team, THIS is what a proper Rogue Trader group ought to look like with all the strange and esoteric members!


Gotta love stripey pants!


Possibly my favorite model of the bunch, I love the aesthetic and got a chuckle at the name-check nod to Lustram Locarno in the 1st edition Rogue Trader rulebook.


Gotta love a fat priest! Thoroughly enjoyed painting this guy's outrageous rainment.


Burn baby, buuuuuuurrrrrrnnnnn! Dig the model, though it's a bit overpowered in the game itself I'm finding...


"Beep boop. I am a completely normal Imperial Robot and not an abominable intelligence. No sir."


Perhaps the most characterful of the entourage, the ratling twins were a hoot to paint and are quite amusing in-game as well!


If I was only going to paint one Kroot, I basically HAD to paint him up like an archetypal farmyard chicken, right?


The Eldar Ranger was so stealthy it was only at this point that I realized the pic was way out of focus. Derp. Reshoots required!


Quite liked the shades-of-green cameleoline cloak, and took a crack at the Biel-Tan thorny vines thing with marginal success.


Really, really liked the traitor guardsmen, but was really disappointed to find out they didn't do full ten-man squads. Still, great new sculpts full of character!


The second seven got the reversed color schemes on pants and jackets, but it's sort of hard to tell. In game they're sorts of grabbed at random so they all end up hanging together aesthetically at least.


The two rogue psykers are simply exemplary models!


Who doesn't like beastmen? Well, a lot of people apparently but I for one miss having 'em in 40k and was jazzed to see 'em in the set!


The Negavolt Cultists are some very evocative models, and would love to see more of this sort of thing on the Dark Mechanicus side!


The Spindle Drones were a neat new addition to the mix, though it was at this point my cunning plan to trim the slotta bases off the models sort of bit me. Trimming and gluing them down to the new bases was fraught with danger!


Interestingly, the models I'm most proud of are the ones I was least excited about in the whole set. I did some experiments with washes and color modulation on these guys and really dug how they turned out!

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed painting all the models, and the game itself is a blast to play (though does require a bit of a time commitment)! Next up, diving headfirst back into the Heresy with a surprise shift in direction due to some late-breaking news...

27 comments:

  1. Looking Great!!!! And welcome back. I picked up the bad guys since a friend owns the complete game and you've definitely inspired me to paint mine up.

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    1. Cheers! The whole set is awesome, looking forward to seeing your baddies!

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  2. Welcome back! I know your pain, I’m still struggling with the RL/hobby/blogging balance. Main thing is to do it when you are able and feel like it. It’s a hobby after all and RL sometimes does take precidence ;)
    Love those models, you’ve done a great job (and smashed through them at your usual rapid pace I bet! :) )

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    1. Totally - I keep meaning to get back to it but things keep stacking up. Tons of pics to share over the next few days/weeks though, still been flogging the painting servitor mercilessly! :D

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  3. Great job and speedy as ever. And mate, Blog when you want, not when you feel you need to! It’s your blog.

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    1. Thanks man! I appreciate it, gonna try and get back on schedule this year, as I do like how the blog helps me collate and plan new projects!

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  4. Great stuff! I've got a bunch of these on my painting table right now. Of yours, Locarno is my fave, but the chikkin Kroot is hilarious, and the Ur-Ghuls did come out surprisingly well. The Beastmen and Renegade Guard are pretty awesome, too.

    The Spindle Drones are one of the reasons that I'm trying to do GW's basing on them rather than putting them on Sector Imperialis bases like this. Nearly snapped a couple of the legs anyhow.

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    1. Sweet! Definitely looking forward to seeing your take on 'em! Aye, it was when attempting to rebase the spindle drones that I thought "well, THIS was a mistake". ;)

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    2. Oh, and while I certainly did notice the hiatus, and was happy to see a post from you again, real life kinda does need to take precedence. I know I end up going way too long without posting on plenty of occasions myself. Happens to just about everyone now and then. Don't worry about it.

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  5. That's a mighty looking collection sir, and welcome back! Your absence from the blogosphere was keenly felt!

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    1. Thanks very much, man! I was keenly feeling not blogging too, have been keeping the WIPs up on Instagram, but to be honest I haven't really felt that it's a good replacement at all for what blogging offers...

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  6. Thanks for posting, these look fantastic, looking forward to your future posts!

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  7. Great work, I really need to take the shrink wrap off my own box! Your works now inspires me to do so.

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    1. It's so, so good! The minis are great and the game is a hoot too! You won't regret it!

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  8. Welcome back and that's quite a return to form! Excellent work on the Blackstone Fortress models -- I still have to assemble mine... :(

    Also, this line really cracked me up:

    "Beep boop. I am a completely normal Imperial Robot and not an abominable intelligence. No sir."

    Here's to another year of successful blogging and crazy productivity on your part! :)

    All the best,

    KS

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    1. Cheers, bud! It's such a great box set, I cannot wait to see what madness you get up to with yours!

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  9. nice! welcome back. Geezus blog are a lot of work though! its o easy to just FB and insta, but so fleeting on those platforms too. nothing in depth.

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    1. Thanks! Indeed, I'm becoming less enamoured of the Instagram thing for that exact reason. It's good to dash off a quick WIP, but does feel sort of hollow...

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  10. Welcome back! Blackstone Fortress is absolutely on the "to buy" list, but I need to paint some of the stuff I already own first!

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    1. Haha! Naaaah, surely picking up just a few more models won't hurt... ;)

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    2. My darling wife informs me it most definitely will...

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  11. Welcome back !


    ++ End of Message ++

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  12. Yep it's still on.

    Great ot see you back

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  13. Gorgeous work on this set! I can't wait to get mine underway.

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