Reentering Realspace!

Wow! It have been SOOO long since I updated this blog! I didn't realize it had gotten away from me like this! A lot of changed since my last post... I've lost at several tournaments, but won another "best painting" award! I've added a huge Necron army to my collection (posts incoming!) and had started a CSM army before getting sidetracked. My carpal tunnel has really started to flare up when I paint, so I've recently invested in a airbrush (a Badger Renegade Velocity), in the hopes that it with reduce workload and time. I'll be starting a Horus Heresy: Betrayal Imperial Fists list to break in the airbrush, I've been wanting to challenge myself with a yellow project for a while now, and shading light colors seems like it lends itself to airbrushing. For now, you'll have to make do with some pics of my last (probably) completely hand-painted model, a CSM Helbrute!

 

I was working on a small Emperor's Children army, using some of the Dark Vengeance stuff as a starting point. Since my wrist issues have flared up, I'm moving on to the airbrush project. This one was very time and effort intensive, but he is probably some of my best painting work.

 

I spent a lot of time wet-blending and working on zenithal lighting by hand, and I really think he came out great.

 

 I also did some conversion work: adding a Reaper Autocannon in place of the Multi-melta. I used plastic rod and jeweler's chain on that, and, if I recall correctly, a Necron Immortal gauss bit for the bayonet.

     

I also added a missile bit to the maw on the other hand, so that I could play it as a Missile Luancher if needed. The nice thing is, the conversion is subtle enough that it can still be played as a Powerfist if desired. I also did the base in cork, something I've been itching to try. It was really simple, and worked really well. I plan on using this method in most or all of my future projects. As always please let me know what you think of the model and paint! Sadly, I'm selling this one on eBay. :( Since I am switching to airbrushing, and I am a stickler for cohesive painting, I abandoned the rest of my CSM plans. I can't paint an entire force the way I did this model! It will take me ages, and I will likely ruin my wrists! ;) If you're interested in the model, here's a link to the eBay auction:

  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181122617312#ht_500wt_1288

Thanks for reading!

Dave

Logan Grimnar Conversion

This week, I've decided to show off my Logan Grimnar conversion.  I posted some WIP shots a while back, but I've since completed him.  Here he is in all his glory:

I really, really dislike the official GW model for Logan, and when I started this model it was only in metal.  Finecast wasn't even a rumor yet.  I didn't want to try and kit-bash a metal model, so I decided to make my own.  I used some arms, legs, a torso, and a head from the Space Wolves Terminator box, but I sculpted his bear from green stuff.  I used the fur cape from the Chaos Terminator Lord box, and added a wolf pelt from my bitz box to the top.  I then sculpted the arms of the pelt by hand as well.

I wanted Logan's Axe, Morkai, to be special, and stand out on the table.  I used 2 Chaos Power Axe blades, which fit the fluff about the weapon nicely, and attached them to a Power Weapon arm from the SW Termies.    The double-headed wolf icon is cut from plasticard, and appears on both sides.  

I decided to paint the Power Weapon effect in green, since my Space Wolves Army has no other green in it.  This makes the Axe Morkai, and Logan, really stand out when I field him.  I am really pleased with the Power Weapon effect, as well as the free-handed shoulder pad icon.  All my other Space Wolves feature Ragnar Blackmane's iconography (except for Arjac Thunderfist), but Logan deserves his own pack marking on his shoulder!  I think it is officially supposed to be white, but I painted in in Chainmail, so it would look a little cooler.  You might have noticed the Hormagaunt in Logan's left hand:

I use Tyranids as details for several of my Space Wolves HQs and Special Characters.  I like the flavor it adds, and it is another awesome detail that helps powerful units stand out.  Logan is grasping this 'guant in his fist, which was an interesting modelling challenge.  I ended up using my Dremel Stylus to drill out holes for the fingers of Logan fist to fit into, then sculpted some "guts" oozing out, to add to the effect.  I also added the wrist-mounted Storm Bolter, which Logan Appears with in some illustrations.  

A bit of bark to make the model taller, and some snow to finish the scenic effect, and he was complete!  I'm really happy with how he turned out, and I love having a unique model for this character.  He's always a conversation starter in games, too.

As always, thanks for reading!  Comments always welcome!

Dave

Space Wolves HQ Conversions

I finally found the time to snap some pics of a few of the HQ conversions I've done for my Space Wolves force.  They are in various stages of painting, but I wanted to share them from a conversion point of view.

I'll start with my favorite conversion so far, my take on Logan Grimnar:

I'm not too impressed with the official Games Workshop model for Logan, I think it needs an update.  In this conversion, there are bits from a Space Wolves Terminator box, some Chaos Lord bits, lots of green stuff (mostly fur) and a but of plasticard.  Oh, and the Tyranid in his grasp there.  Logan is still a few steps from final paiting, though.  Here are some more angles:

Next up, we've got Ragnar Blackmane:

Again, I found the Games Workshop model wanting, so went my own way.  I tried to ape the official model's pose a little, though.  Also, this was the first conversion I attempted, so it isn't very ambitious.  It's a fairly vanilla model, all parts from the Wolf Pack box.   There fur cape and the fur on the figure's left shoulder-pad are hand sculpted in green stuff, though.  Here are a few more shots:

More recently, I worked on a conversion for Arjac Rockfist:

For this model, I used a torso and shoulder pads from Scibor's Monstrous Miniatures which give Arjac a really unique look, and I feel fit his fluff.  The Foehammer and Anvil Shield are both custom made, from combinations of green stuff, bits, and plasticard.  Here's some more detail:

I've posted a pic of my Bjorn the Fell-Handed before, but I've got some new angles this time.

Bjorn is mostly made up of Ironclad Dreadnought bits.  I wanted to give his chassis a tougher, older look, but I wasn't into the Venerable model as much.  There are tons of random bits from the Space Wolves terminator kit, as well as the Wolf Pack box, and the claws on the Dreadnought CCW are custom sculpted.  The Lascannon arm is from a Venerable Dread box.

These last few conversions are not painted yet, but I wanted to show them off anyway.  First we have two Rune Priests:

Nothing too fancy, just a bit of kit-bashing on the Runic Staffs.  I wanted them to stand out a bit on the table, and I thought the long staff helped a lot with that.  I also have a Wolf Priest (with Jump Pack):

You might be starting to notice a bit of a theme to my Space Wolves: I hate Tyranids, so, by extension, my Space Wolves hate them, too.  There is a small amount of green stuff on this model, on his right leg.  Other than that, it is all Wolf Pack bits and some brass etching from the Forge World Space Wolves brass kit.  And, of course, the Jump Pack.  Here are some more shots:

These last models are not HQ choices, but I spent a lot of time on their conversions, so I wanted to share.  Here are my 3 Thunderwolf Cavalry:

All three of the mounts were made from the Knorne Bloodcrushers kit, with liberal amounts of green stuff fur and tons of bits form various Space Wolves kits.

That's it for this week.  Feedback and comments are welcome!  As always, thanks for reading!

-Dave