All posts filed under: WIP

Pictures and posts containing my works in progress. This may become my most frequent category.

Work in Progress Wednesday – Update on What’s on My Desk

The last few weeks have seen a bunch of sporadic hobby projects for me, but for some reason, little writing here. So, here is a look at my workbench and the randomness therein. While one of the things I have promised myself to work on is to finish a bunch of my half-finished projects before starting anything new, I have failed at that big time this week. I have found with myself that sometimes I just don’t feel like painting. Just the idea of it overwhelms me with ‘meh.’ Odd considering that this is my hobby and one of my biggest stress reliefs. Instead, I find the desired to build models to be where I get pulled. So that is where I have been since I finished the Megaboss. Mentor Legion Terminators It started with moving my workspace inside. My gracious wife recommended we move the boys into the same room and use the smaller bedroom as my new office. And in this new office, I could finally setup the bookcases with glass doors to …

WIP Updates 8-9-17: Ork Megaboss and Stompa are back!

Trying to get in the habit of writing more WIP posts, especially as I bounce from project to project. In my typical hobby butterfly fashion, I set the Dark Imperium box aside in favor of finishing off some Orks!   Rainbow Warrior Deathwatch But first off, I did finish the Deathwatch marine I painted using the Rainbow Warriors scheme. I took a bunch of pictures along the way and plan to do a full tutorial on painting him shortly. Though I am still 50/50 on the leopard print. I may go back and fix that first. Also, for the Rainbow Warrior Project, I am helping to set up the site. So in all my glorious free time (hehe) I am setting up another WordPress site for the project and allow all the contributors to showcase their miniatures. I’ll post more updates on that as I make some progress. Stompa!! In Ork news, I broke out the Stompa project box (yeah it’s taken that long I have it in a file box!). Where I last left …

Caught up in the #New40k Hype Train

Yes, I got swept into the massive hype of #New40k (can you blame me?). Between building the minis from the Dark Imperium box and a whole pile of Sector Imperialis buildings have kept me busy. I think I have built more miniatures in the last few weeks than the previous six months. While it has affected my posting schedule here, and my writing goals for the next book, it has been a ton of fun getting caught up in the thrill of 8th Edition. Gaming Table I think I bought a set of Secret Weapon’s TableScapes two  years ago and they have been sitting in the box, languishing ever since. But with excitement of the new edition of 40k being easier than ever to get into, I decided to break them back out as well as the box of GW building kits. While it is only a 4×4 set, it will be plenty big enough to get some games in at the house and I can expand upon it later. Eight of the tiles are roadways, …

I Wrote a Book! Start of a New Series

After writing on this blog for a few years now, I’ve realized that I kind of like writing. And some of you kind of like reading it. So writing a book about the hobby would make sense then yeah? So that is what I did, I wrote a book. Well, two books so far. A Free eBook If you enjoyed the How to Improve Your Hobby Skills series of posts, I hope you will like these books. Especially since the first is the three posts (Building, Painting, Showcasing) and formatted into PDF, Kindle, and eBpub books. I struggle to read books as PDFs, especially on my phone. So I felt stupid for providing only a PDF for that series of posts. Now, you can get the book (still for free) on nearly every eBook platform. Kindle, iBooks, Nook (still around), Kobo, and a few others. Even more stores through this link. Improve Your Building Skills So, getting the free book published on all these different stores was an adventure (one I’m still figuring out). But it got me …

Catching Up – Squaduary, Posts, and Looking Ahead

You know those crappy weeks where Real Life ™ destroys any hobby or personal time? Yeah, that has been the last two for me as I put it way too many hours at work to get projects completed. Finally wrapped up on Friday, only to come down with the flu. Whoa is me right? Anyway, you came here for the hobby, and while it’s been super quiet for me, I do have some updates, news, and looking ahead. Squaduary – Fail (but barely) First, February I was supposed to complete the Ork Blood Bowl team for Squaduary. I was off to a great start with having half the team highlighted. After getting the highlights on, I was really happy with the purple and orange scheme. I was waiting to do weathering and the base once the whole team was completed. Over the weekend I was able to get the other half base coated and washed (though I forgot the metal bits). This was great progress, but still long ways off from completion. With it being the …

WIP Ork Blood Bowl Lineman With Purple and Orange Armor

Squaduary Week 2 – Half of ork team almost done

Short post for today but wanted to share some my updates on my Ork Blood Bowl team for week Squaduary Week 2. The first half of the team is almost finished with all the highlights. After highlighting the orange towards yellow, it works a lot better with the purple armor. I did finish the middle lineork as you can see below and on the rest, I only have the purple and black left to finish. I haven’t done any weathering or the base yet as I am going to wait until the whole team is ready so they look uniform. The next two weeks are looking super busy at work so it might be a bit quiet from me. But I do have a couple of guest posts lined up thanks to the awesome Mr. Pink and Rory. Hopefully, I can still sneak some painting in to relax in the evenings.

Work in Progress Stompa and Inq28

Stompa Progress and Squaduary

Making good progress on the Stompa (still to be named) as I am focusing on his central body section before moving on the extra bits. I also have an update on the INQ28 squad and announcing my pledge for Squaduary. I’ve been working on adding more work in progress posts, in part because I know many of you like them, but it also relieves some pressure to create big, full posts every week. Stompa Progress I’ve been working on the Stompa during couch time and following the same steps as the Morkanaut. But the sheer size of this beast is a bit overwhelming. Not only is it about twice the height of the Morkanaut, but the surface area due to his bulk is massive. So I started by focusing on just the main body piece. While it’s the largest, once I get it done I can crank out all accessory pieces and glue them on as I go. At this point I have all the rusty metal done and the colored panels highlighted. I need …

Hobby on the Couch - Ork Style

Orks in Progress and Hobby on the Couch

There is nothing as satisfying as painting Orks. Ok, there are plenty of things that are more satisfying, BUT they are a blast to paint. Especially when done on the couch with a glass of whiskey. As a way to restore some hobby time from the sprint that was Dreadtober, I’ve been working on a couple of the Orks that have been lingering in the Closet of Doom (TM Mordian7th). The simple and crude nature of Orks makes them quick to paint and rather fun. I also wanted something I could work on while watching movies with the family. It’s how I painted a bunch of the Tyranids before and figured why can’t Orks watch a flick or two as well? Megaboss When I saw the Orruk Megaboss I knew I needed one for my growing Ork hoard. That is something as I haven’t had a ‘must buy’ impulse for new miniatures in a while. At the time I did an unboxing video and some rough ideas on how I would turn him into a 40k …

Mentor Legion Scout Squad WIP Squad

Mentor Legion Scout Squad WIP

As I mentioned in my last post when I finished my Librarius squad, I plan to mix in ‘required’ painting with the fun projects. As the librarians were my fun conversion, I am working on finishing my Mentors Scout Squad as my required choice. I had these guys nearly base coated a long while back and decided they would be a great unit to finally finish. While scout squads are not everybody’s cup of tea, I like the diverse look they bring to the Space Marine armies, especially since I tend to always put helmets on my Mentors (they are smart guys after all). Unlike my other scout squad which was armed as snipers, this squad was built for close up action with half armed with close combat weapons and the other half with bolters. The idea was that I could combat-squad them into a ‘hold position and shot’ squad, and a ‘take out the soft targets’ squad. As with the sniper squad, I am keeping the colors a bit more muted than my traditional Mentors, …

Mentor Legion Command Squad WIP Step 4

Mentor Legion Command Squad WIP

I normally don’t like posting work in progress shots as the in between steps can be a bit embarrassing for me. After watching prodigious posters such as Moridan7th or Greggles share every step, it made me more confident to go ahead with my own. So after unpacking the first project I threw my self into was finally working on my Mentor Legion Command Squad. I built these guys up a few years back to lead my ‘side project’ of Mentors into a full blown company. Step One – Primer The models were primed black with white over spray. I have found this to be the best balance between creating deep shadows and being able to paint lighter colors. Step Two – Base Colors Next up all the base colors were blocked in. I like the block-in, wash, highlight steps as they help me see where the model is going and provide nice incentive to finish the model once the wash is in place. The colors I used for each block: Green: Caliban Green White: Pallid Wych …

Green Marines of a Different Kind – WIP Mentor Legion

Although I have been much busier as of late with grad school and health goals for the year, I am still making slow and steady progress on the Mentor Legionaries. As you can see i the pictures below, I have a good chuck of the army built and primed. The first up to receive paint were 15 tactical marines (I had the first 5 already done), and the librarian and the chaplain from the Dark Vengeance box. At this point I have the base colors, wash, and the white are now done. First up is the chaplain, I really like this model from the limited edition set and with only a few minor modifications will make a great chaplain for any other chapter. The white base was started with Zandri Dust, followed with a wash of Earthshade. The white was built back up with the dust and finally pure white.   Next up is the librarian. A simple arm swap with one from the Chaos terminator lord, removal of a few of the dark angle markings, and a …

Chaos Conscripts WIP

Traitor Conscripts: The zombie slaves start to assemble

In between painting sessions, I’ve slowly been building up the legion of conscripts for Traitor Guard. Using a mix of Zombies, Flagellents,  Cadian troopers, and various bitz I’ve picked up along the way, the unit has started to come together. Current tally is 20/50 built. Why so many conscripts? Well it seems 6th edition has turned into a troopers game and there is no cheaper trooper than a pack of conscripts with “Send in the Next Wave!” For 270 points I can field 50 models, take them off at any point, and bring them back on the next turn! Combining the various kits has been a challenge of patience and creativity. The various bodies don’t line up with the different arms, and the heads are made for completely different sockets. This has led to green stuff magic to hide defects and tie pieces together as you can see in some of the individual shots below. I particularly like the second from the right above, he is my zombified Rambo. But you can see the small amounts of green stuff to tie …