We spend a lot of time revealing swanky miniatures here at Warhammer Community, but in between giving Phoenix Lords funky new looks and getting shiny with the Spyrers, we do actually find time for a few hobby projects of our own. To prove it, we’ll be whipping around the WarCom flensing pits every so often to see what the gang have been up to – or at least, grabbing whatever looks half-finished off their desks.
Rob: I was lucky enough to be in Warhammer World right after the Anniversary weekend, and had hoped to snag the exclusive Warsmith. Alas, they had flown off the shelves quicker than an Iron Warrior has ever moved before, and if it hadn’t been for the immense kindness of a generous colleague I would have left empty-handed.*
It all worked out in the end, and I’m wasting no time adding this strapping side of beef to my Age of Darkness army. I'm painting in subassemblies to get behind his massive graviton maul and like the rest of my Iron Warriors, I start with Leadbelcher spray and douse him in Agrax Earthshade before drybrushing a coat of regular Leadbelcher to make the metal look dirty and worn.
I then stipple a 1:1 mix of water and Basilicanum Grey on the lower sections of armour plates to give it a dark gradient on the undersides, before drybrushing the whole thing lightly in Runefang Steel to bring back some of the shine. The rest is all detail painting, though thanks to the lines sculpted onto the leg and shoulder, I won’t have to freehand the hazard stripes myself. I cannot adequately express how happy this makes me.
All I need to do now is finish off his cloak and base. Next stop: some Tyrant Siege Terminators to form the bodyguard.
Joel: I’ve been getting a few bits and pieces done from various different systems as I finish up a few projects. Most recently I’ve finished my Krieg Command Squad, to join my growing Krieg army. Hopefully I'll drop them off at Warhammer World soon to join the rest of the force on display in the shop.
I had a great time playing some Blood Bowl at the weekend, taking my brilliantly unreliable Vampire team out for a spin. They were well behaved, not distracted by the human thralls too much, and I won both of my games 3-0.
Inspired by my games with friends, I decided to start painting up the Swift Twins who are still in progress (yes, I’ll always find a way to mention elves), who have been unpainted on my shelf for about seven years now…
Riccardo: I'm fairly new to the WarCom team and to building and painting in general, so one of the ways I'm experiencing these vast settings is through video games. I remember patiently waiting for my turn to play Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II during the dark age of technology that was 2009. Now I am taking things into my own hands with Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, though I’ve barely scratched the surface – having just finished the first act with my small band of misfits.
I'm really enjoying the wide array of possible builds and progressions for the characters. My Rogue Trader is a Warrior with a calm and collected background – he’s a Crime Lord from a Death World. They have a predilection for melee shenanigans and shooting point blank with some questionable weapons, going for the Arch-Militant build. Loyalty to the God Emperor isn’t on the menu for my character either because the sweet, sweet voices of the Ruinous Powers are so tempting…
I’ve recruited the Navigator for my Void Ship and – spoiler alert – I just had my success ruined by cultists, a Chaos Space Marine and some Drukhari raiders. I had the chance to visit Warhammer World recently when I saw the Rogue Trader Entourage and Voidsmen at Arms, and could not resist the call. The goal is to paint them to complement the Deathwatch Veterans I'm working on for the start of an Inquisition force – an odd choice for someone on the ever-present brink of Heresy, you might think, but such is the power of a Rogue Trader!
Tom: I am aiming to get 1,000 points of painted Marienburgers onto the table for an Old World event next month. For the longest time, I had a General on Griffon, a Steam Tank and 10 Greatswords painted, which I don’t think makes for a particularly lore-accurate (nor effective) army of the Empire. I’ve therefore augmented them with a battery of Cannon and 10 Archers, and I’m working on an Engineer, a Standard Bearer and 10 Knights Mariner (using the incredible colour scheme we published here). This still scarcely constitutes a Grand Army, but I’m not allowing myself to buy any more miniatures until I’ve painted the ones I have.**
To my understanding, and despite what certain video games set in the Era of Karl Franz might suggest, the colours of Marienburg at this time were a regal mixture of red, blue and yellow. I just slap on the brightest Base colours I have, shade them with coloured shades (rather than my usual Nuln Oil), and then inexpertly highlight them with the brightest Layer paints. This method flies in the face of everything I’ve tried before, but it really does make my little guys look substantially less grimy than they usually do. They all still need to be properly based, which might happen this decade.
Luke: There’s a lot of great stuff on the horizon, and that’s causing me to struggle to focus on just one thing at. The arrival of the High Elves has set off some nostalgia fireworks in my brain, as I was just a little bit too young during the last few editions of Warhammer Fantasy to really amass a proper army.
I dug out a Loremaster of Hoeth to test-paint for a prospective army project. I luxuriated on this a little longer than I had planned due to it being a character, but it was still done in two nights. The armour was very quick but effective: just lightly shading metallics with Tyran Blue and Aethermatic Blue.
The Asuryani are also vying for my attention alongside the Asur. I finished up Asurmen shortly after release and entered him into the Legends of Paint competition at the Warhammer World Open Day. I got a Silver pin, and feedback that the base held it back from Gold – always a challenge when trying to fit a quasi-display piece into an army. After Asurmen, I tried a test miniature for my Fire Dragons. Working out a darker scheme for my Biel-Tan host is always a fun challenge, and here starting with a 1:1 mix of Khorne Red and Abaddon Black gave a good start for the armour, and a contrast to the orange I chose for the helmet.
Next up is finishing the squad – they’re all built but I need to find some time to start them – before grabbing Fuegan, and waiting patiently for the Lothern Sea Guard to arrive.
Andy: Converting has always been my favourite side of the hobby, but it does mean that I have mountains of unpainted grey plastic on my desk while the painted “gaming army” I take to events is about 20 years old.
To spur me into action on the painting front I needed a deadline, so a few months ago I signed myself and a mate up to the Warhammer 40,000 Doubles event at Warhammer World in April. Obviously, this means I have to convert up a bunch of new units first, before I break out the brushes…
I need 1,000 points for the event, and the quickest way to do that for my Dark Angels seems to be adding in a bunch of Deathwing. First up is a Land Raider Redeemer, based on a Horus Heresy Land Raider Proteus. I’m a huge fan of the classic-style Land Raiders, and if I get time it will be getting a huge flag added on to the back, for full 3rd-edition nostalgia.
I’ve also put together a squad of Deathwing Terminators, using Grey Knight Terminator heads to give them a more knightly feel. They’ll be led into action by a tooled-up Chaplain, who was bashed together from a Terminator Chaplain and the Terminator Captain from the Leviathan boxed set.*** His flaming Crozius Arcanum is made from a random brazier I found in my bits box (something Skaven-y maybe?) and the icon on his back is from a Black Templars Marshal. Never throw any spare gubbins away if you’re a kitbasher!
Right… time to go and buy some paints I guess…
* Bless you, Gadge.
** Games Workshop does not endorse this behaviour.
*** Yes, I’ve seen those mould lines. Yes, I’m going to get rid of them…
