Wip: Astral Claws Retaliator Test model

Here is the completed (minus insignias) colours for my Astral Claws army. I have used metallic's this time round as I know the NMM route will lead to me not completing an army at all. I am happy with the way this has turned out, and am looking forward to completing a full squad. I opted to work on a Retaliator squad as I like the background and look of boarding assault, Space Marines with combat shields and also the art in IA 9 look brutal. 

The metals have been shaded with Vallejo and some GW washes and I was keen to give glowing eyes to the helmet to. The insignia of Huron's Legion (on the shield) is free hand, and I may do the same on the shoulder pads once the full squad is complete. I will be applying weathering to the shield and blue shoulder pad, but again that is something I will do once the full squad is done.

I have a few ideas running through my head for an army list as the chances of be able to use the Forge World lists are slim, non the less I have the image of Retaliators, Iron Hunters, Venerable Dreadnoughts and of course Lufgt Huron rampaging across the field. Bits should be arriving next week for me to complete the full squad including lots of armour variants, I think it will look awesome and am looking forward to showing the squad once complete.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

New 40K Project!

After many failed weeks trying to build a Death Guard and Deathwing army, I finally succeeded in making a start on a something 40K (as in I have painted figures!). Retaliators, Iron Hunters...Oh my....

I have a few figures put together but most importantly, and unlike the previous two armies, painted Space Marines! Ok so truth be told, they are test figures but I have to admit, I am very happy with them. 

looking forward to sharing soon,

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

Wip: Deathwing Army

I appreciate it has been a very non-GW 2011 so far, however I have had a project on slow burn in the form of my Deathwing army. My last update showed one built squad and a partially finished Belial conversion I was working on. While Belial is not yet finished (still more sculpting to do on the robes) I can say that at least some more troops have been built.

Although another squad is still needed (Belial's entourage) the bulk of the army is in possession and various stages of build. They are all the same configuration, so they will to some degree all look similar and to break up the uniformed look I have added small Dark Angel's devices to various terminators. Something I still need to consider, it what to fill the army with once I have finished building this lot. I did have two devastator squads in-mind but this detaches from the Deathwing theme a great deal, so considered three standard dreadnoughts. While it would be great to paint up the dreadnoughts, from a game perspective they are lacking when compared to the Devastator choices...decisions, decisions 

I am very pleased with the way Belial's cloak is turning out and am looking forward to adding the same style of robes to his bodyguard. That should look suitably heroic and really break the uniformed theme of the three standard squads.

The Thunder Hammer terminator to the left (pointing towards someone) is probably my favourite pose of the lot so far. He still has a few other devices I intend to add before priming, such as some hair. I have a very particular paint device in-mind for him, so look forward to getting that done.

Having the Forge World shoulder pads is a god send. It is a real shame that Forge World did not sculpt full upper torso's like they did for the Space Wolves and Chaos Cult terminators. Having some Deathwing with sculpted feathers or perhaps a bare head with a feather earring would have been great. But this would open too many questions of the Dark Angel's identity; Are they Space monks or Native Indians? I did in the end decide to include Kimmeria imagery in the form of feathers and I will be adding ceremonial blades to some of the members who represent native Kimmerians also. I think a few with this icons will go a lot further than detailing all the members in the same way. 

I think these small changes will be just enough to stop my Deathwing army looking just like standard terminators in bone, a sad prospect considering that the Deathwing have one of the greatest early fiction in my opinion. I also managed to get my hands on some cheap Cyclone Missile Launchers and just in the quantities I desired (3 sets), so all that is left to do now is buy Belial's retinue and build everything...then onwards to painting!

Time to re-read Deathwing as I wind down for sleep. 

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

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Wip: Kingdom Death's Manhunter #2

Progress update of my Man-Hunter paint job, I should of made a a start on him last night but the incredibly poor weather (constant rain) made it impossible to spray undercoat. Luckily, today was  better and I was able to make a start.Last night I had worked on the base and did some repositioning of components. The hang man's noose was at a unnatural angle originally so I applied some heat via hair dryer and repositioned it, I did the same with the sword scabbard which was bending outwards.

Today's progress has been pretty good as I reach the final stages of painting the skin. I have around 3-4 more highlights to go, before I wash the entire things and enhance the shadows via wash - to pick out veins etc. I am happy with the chosen colour as he looks like  Freddy Krueger on steroids now. A little annoyance is that the hang man's noose has broken after all the effort of repositioning last night, in hind sight I should have mounted the figure on a turn table or cork for handling as it was a clumsy finger that did the damage. Luckily I have a very fine drill bit and wire so repairs look viable.

The skin at this point has been highlighted up to white and given two light washes of Ogryn Flesh to blend the colours together and generate a earthier look to the figure. 

Veins are a focal point on this figure, they are everywhere, even running up to his face. I wanted to make sure these bits of detail were noticeable. To make sure they 'pop' I washed the veins with a slightly thinned Asurman Blue wash. Because I had highlighted the skin to white, the wash did a great job of adding the tint I wanted. I am tempted to give him glowing blue eyes at this point, to give a de-humanised look to him, fitting for a hunter of men.

Skin Palette:

• Tanned flesh
• Ultramarine blue
• chaos black
• Palid Flesh
• Skull white
• Ogryn flesh wash
• Blue Flesh wash

Depending on how much time I get this evening, I may make a start on some of the clothing, but I will see. I have already started construction on 'Saviour" so this figure will most likely be the follow up to the Wet Nurse. This is also the first project where I have used my Privateer Press (P3) paintbrushes, and wow am I happy with them! These are probably the finest brushes I have used in a very long time, both the Hobby and Studio range have amazing long bristles and fine points which give me excellent control of the paint. I strongly recommend upgrading to these brushes, they truly offer quality at a reasonable price.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Pick up your modelling and painting supplies from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Wip: Kingdom Death's Manhunter

I have decided to keep the KD games momentum going and putting on hold my Anima Tactics collection. I have now committed myself to painting the Manhunter as a companion to my newly finished White Lion. I really like how large this figure is and I am hoping to make the skin really stand out using washes and glazes. One of the key things I am trying to decide on, is how to deal with the browns. The trench coat almost screams to be painted a dark brown but I am afraid that it will clash too much with the hang man's frame and rope. I need a colour break to keep the figure interesting and stop it becoming a big brown mess, I also want to try and capture a 'dusty cowboy' feel, so my MIG pigments will probably come into play in the final stages of this paint job.

This will most likely be the last Kingdom Death figure I will be able to complete before "Grand Mother" arrives, then the priority shifts as I am really keen to work on their latest figure. While there have been many Angelic miniatures released in the past, what captivates me with "Grand Mother" is the elegance in design and pose that seems to be lost in a lot of Angel esque figures I have seen in the past. Couple that with a interesting spin on the lore, makes for one very interesting model.

With some luck and a lot of coffee, Manhunter will be complete by the end of the weekend.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Wip: Kingdom Death's White Lion

The White Lion is complete and I am currently prepping for the photo-shoot. If all goes well it will be up within the next few hours. It was actually quite a stressful job to complete as all manner of complications occurred ranging from; poor colour choices, particulates in the paint to overly heavy primer. I think the final result is pretty good considering all the problems I have had with it. In the end it is vastly different to how I had originally envisionaged it, but in a positive way, which is always a good thing.

Looking forward to posting the photos soon!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Wip: Deathwing Squad #1

First squad is built and cleaned, no shoulder pads however as I am waiting on a Forge World order to arrive (tomorrow should be the day). While I really like the Space Marine Terminator models but find them very plain when compared to the 2nd edition Deathwing Terminators.

So the next very obvious question, how to make my Deathwing more Deathwing? The most iconic thing about the Deathwing is of course the white armour, but other than this we have the Kimmeria tribal feathers and ceremonial daggers.

The daggers are easy to take care of, the Space Wolves accessory set or the Sanguinary Guard sets have some very nice daggers which are usable for on the figures and make them less standardised in look and more identifiable like their fanged brethren.

But should Deathwing Terminators have feathers? As stated above the tribute is in the colour change and not all Deathwing (or Dark Angels for that matter) originate from Kimmeria, so it would surely be unwise to start throwing feathers on all of them (although the current Dark Angels range seem to be very feather laden).

Reaching a compromise has proven pretty difficult, and could be summed up as go feather or don't if you want your Deathwing to have personality. This seems to be the problem with Dark Angels generally, they have gone from black armour to green and going from feral, tribal aspirants (in terms of recruitment) to former knightly order space monks. 

What do you think? Do Deathwing need feathers to be Deathwing, or should the tribute be solely in the paint job?

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

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Wip: Belial Part 1

Two Warhammer Projects in two weeks! I am happy to share the early stages of my rendition of  Grand Master Belial. I started work on this piece last Friday after discovering a spare pair of (badly mauled and foot re sculpt) Terminator legs. To get some extra pose ability, I removed the upper thighs and replaced them with pins and plastic tubing.

I have magnetised the arms to allow different weapon configurations but for now he is equipped with a Power Axe (Thunder Hammer) and Storm shield. I will be creating options for the Sword of Silence and Lightning Claw load outs.

The cloak is still in the rough shaping phase and I will be adding more folds and detail as the week progresses. There are also smaller details such as icons and badges still to add and some basing ideas I have been playing around with, but this will depend on whether or not it starts to look to busy. ideally I would like this figure to be close to completion by end of this week so I can work on the bulk of the Deathwing army, but this will depend on the arrival of bits orders. 

The nice thing about this conversion so far, is that it has given me a lot of ideas to implement on Belial's bodyguard. I want to make sure the unit has unique identity on the table but also fit in with the rest of the force and so far I feel Belial's design keeps with that idea, furthermore it has given me a bit more confidence in sculpting full robes (especially on Terminator armour), I prefer the idea of Dark Angels having full robes over tabards as I view the tabards as more of a Black Templar identity.

A army list is ready and I will share the details as the project progresses, perhaps concluding around the Easter holidays. I apologise about the blurriness of the photos, not quite sure what has happened there, I promise that the next Belial update will have far better eye candy.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Inspired? Get your figures and supplies from:Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Wip: White Lion & Genma

Today has been a great hobby day for me. Not only did my Anima Tactics order turn up, but I also finished the Gorm and added more content to the blog galleries (about time really). To finalise todays efforts I have two figures built, cleaned and primed; ready for me to crack on with tomorrow.

I am sticking to the Kingdom Death theme by working on the smaller but no less impressive White Lion. I actually picked this model up at salute 2010, direct from the KD Games stand, where I got a chance to speak to the members of the team (great people and next to Mike McVey too!) and it has dawned on me that it has taken almost a full year to get round to opening the box and finding the courage to work on it! Like the Gorm, I have no colour reference for this figure, so the colours I choose will be completely personal taste. I intend to use cold colour (greys, blues) for the skin, and offset that with a warmer (but still dark) set of colours for the base...time will tell if this works.

Genma from Anima Tactics is the next figure on my list to work on. I have decided that it's probably best to start working on this range before the collection grows out of control. At 12 figures still in box I think it is getting to critical mass levels. I am hoping to show a more colourful painting style in contrast to the cold and dark palettes I use with the kingdom Death figures. After looking at the stock models, this figure has freehand symbols on the robe, something I have not done in a while so the challenge is a welcomed one...and of course there is the challenge of doing female skin tones and makeup correctly without it accidentally looking like a Harlequin. 

The Ironback Spitter is currently sitting in the army box due to the lull in Warmahordes games but I will probably start working on it again mid next week to break the KD/Anima cycle. Variety is the spice if life, especially when painting!

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Wip: Kingdom Death's Gorm II

Some progress on the Gorm today. I managed to add shadows and highlights to the creature and even some  washes for tone. Although I did want the figure grey to maintain a cold feel, I think I need to add something in terms of more depth of colour, maybe a light wash of an off blue? 

I am very happy with the head work, I think I have used a nice set of hue to give a haunting and bruised look through a combination of purple, green and blue washes. Perhaps to offset the greys I may make the grabbing arms more purple or blue in appearance.

There isn't really much left to do on this figure, small details and perhaps a final highlight of pure white, once I have finished working the hues. For some strange reason my mind is telling me to wash the whole figure in a green/blue once I have applied final highlights...suggestions anyone?

Thanks for reading,
DiStudios
The 14th Legion.

Part I HERE

Wip: Kingdom Death's Gorm I

Part of this year's vows, I have taken the first step to painting up my Kingdom Death figure collection. For those who don't know; Kingdom Death games are a boutique miniature company specialising in the Fantasy /Horror genre, most notably they are the team responsible for the "Wet Nurse". So which figure have I decided to start my Kingdom Death year with? Non other than the Gorm, KD Game's first big bad monster.

The figure is a combination of elephant, human baby and Angler fish, complete with grabbing hands and a fang lined maw that makes me think Dune (movie) sand worms. This model comes with many fiddly parts and unfortunately I did break one of the fingers of the grabbing hands during construction. As with all resin figures, I spent a great deal of time searching and scraping mould lines off and gave the parts a scrub and wash in warm water to remove residual release agents.

The Gorm goes together very easily despite having many delicate parts and there is very little in the way of gaps, which keeps putty filling to a minimum. However it is only once it is fully built, that you can appreciate the full details of this figure, the wrinkles and skin folds will take well to glazes and inks, while the bulbous head and lure scream for some OSL work. I finally have an idea as to how I want this to look and hopefully tomorrow I will be able to put paint to figure, I will aim for a cold palette for this piece, with some vibrant pigmentation to hopeful create a eerie look. If all goes well, I will update some early stage paint pics by the end of the week.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Thrullg Complete

The purple magic eating Thrullg is now complete, but after some annoying issues. The main struggle was getting a decent hue to the purple, it started looking like a Ribena berry early on but a couple of blue washes brought it back to how I envisioned. Also the spine proved to be problematic, regular bone colour schemes clashed with the purple skin, so I defaulted to a grey to bone with hints of blue to tie it all in again. It was only after I finished the fine detail that it stopped looking like a purple lump and actually like the figure I envisioned.

Despite the set backs, I am happy to see it finished and on the shelf. I am carrying on the momentum and starting work on my Croak Hunter. I am looking at a personal best of 2 + figures in a month, no mean feat for someone who paints as fast as a one toed sloth :)

Inspired? Pick up our own Thrullg and wargaming supplies from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Wip: Thrullg & Snapjaw

Progress with the Blindwater Congregation. The Thrullg has had it's base colour and wash shades applied, I am still deciding on the best way to highlight the skin and blend the spine. I played around with the tentacle positions to try and give a sense of motion, as the stock pose points straight down. I have noticed that despite thinning, Vallejo purple is quite a strong pigment and I expect the final product to 'pop' when compared to the drab brown bases and general sombre tones of the Gators.

I decided to put together Snapjaw today as I was tired of seeing the pieces on my work desk. It is a really nice figure, very different to the Wrastler, with a shorter Alligator snout and noticeably shorted arms. Snapjaw has a more powerful look and in some ways less comical due to the lack of out humanised clothing, something that Gator fans wanted consistent.

Building Snapjaw was actually a bit of a pain, the torso comes in three parts: upper body, front legs and tail (Tail and leg joins marked in red). The tail and legs are not solid leaving a hollow area when stuck together, what this translates to, is the whole upper body weight (not to mention head and arms) sitting on a clean split joint. To counter this, I filled the body with green-stuff recreating what would be the torso mass and thus giving something solid to glue the tail and leg portions too. If you look closely you can see green stuff poking through the belly join. A bit if additional sculpting detail work will be required to mask the gaps completely. Now that he is built I am finding myself eager to paint him, but I have promised myself not to work on him until I finish the Thrullg off.

With the new detailed bases I have been working on; and the surprisingly good finish on the Wrastler; I am feeling more confident about having my first Horde's army ready for the Christmas period! (Maybe some games?!)

Inspired? Get the figures from this article from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th legion

Wip: Thrullg & Bases

A nice and productive follow up to the completion of the Blackhide Wrastler. I have completed the bases for both Snapjaw and the Thrullg complete with arc markings, with only the resin to dry. At the same time I cleaned and constructed the Thrullg model.

The bases have turned out well as a theme, especially with the addition of different coloured static grass. The addition of a few garden twigs have also produced a much more authentic look to the swamp theme. I was keen to prime and get some colour on the Thrullg today, but the weather was not co-operating. At least tomorrow I can look forward to some solid painting. Being mostly a single colour figure (purple) I may be able to get it done quickly, however I do have some effects running in my head that may look good on this model.

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Blackhide Wrastler Complete

Good morning! I actually finished the Blackhide Wrastler Thursday just past, but with the blog galleries and reviews to do I did not get a chance to write about it. I am very happy with the way it has turned out, the skin and scales is just as I envisioned and the base is a vast improvement on my usual 'sand and go' method. A proper 'glamour' shot will be done hopefully by the end of the month, with multi-angle shots and colour recipe break down.

With the first of my Blindwater Congregation figures complete, I am left spoilt for choice this weekend. At the same time as I was working on the Wrastler, I was also working on custom bases for Snapjaw, the Thrullg and Croak Minion hunter. I am thinking perhaps working on the Thrullg or Croak figures next to rest myself from Crocodile skin and play with other colour schemes and with the release of the Bull Snapper in December, I will have plenty of opportunities to improve my skin and scales technique down the line.

Inspired to paint? Pick up a Blackhide Wrastler or any of the full range of Warmachine and Hordes from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Thanks for reading,
DiStudios
The 14th Legion

Wip: Blackhide Wrastler

Arrived last Friday but due to real life issues, I was not able to even start looking at it until Sunday evening, I think for me (snail pace painter) I have done well. The Wrastler was a great figure to play about with. I opted to bend the left arm downwards and avoid the surfing Lucha Libre look, it's a minor  modification but one I feel goes a long way to improving the look of the figure.

Due to the scales and armour detail, this was a very heavily textured figure to paint and I wanted to avoid the dry brushed look as much as possible, as a result it probably took longer than needed to get to this stage. The ropes around the arms deserve special mention for annoyance as I individually picked out each knot to highlight, shade, re-highlight and re-shade. Again a lengthy process but one (I feel) has given good results. 

I am just waiting for the base to dry (24 hours) and am a little anxious as it is my first foray into creating swampy, muddy bases. I have tried to give the mud a wet look (using MIG pigments) but right now it is looking a little too glossy, I am hoping that some bits of 'swamp grass' will help break up the solid blocks of glossy mud and compliment the water effect...fingers tightly crossed.

Inspired? Pick up your Blackhide Wrastler from: Wayland Games - Discount Wargames

Thanks for reading,
DiStudios
The 14th Legion

Wip: Nurgle Plague Hulk

Finally I have gotten down to some serious painting for myself after weeks of real life distractions, commissions and of course general procrastination. At the start of this year I made a start on some major conversions for a Pre-Heresy Death Guard army, and while I enjoyed every minute working on the figures, I did not enjoying the prospect of painting yet another power armour army. At the time I had made a few major purchases, all Nurgle, and I felt it would be a shame not to be able to use them at all. Luckily over summer (in between all the Warmachine gaming) I was able to finish one of my trio of Blight Drones, but unfortunately most people I play with do not allow the use of Forge World rules (so into the cabinet they go). With those out of the way I am left with: Plague Ogryns (three), Great Unclean One, Mamon Daemon Prince and of course the Plague Hulk. The Mono-Nurgle List I am running, uses all but one of these figures, so Mamon goes back into the box while the very impressive Great Unclean One, Plague Hulk and Plague Ogryn sit on my desk awaiting cleaning/paint.

I will need to get hold of two more Soul Grinders and convert them into suitable Nurgle Hulks for my final list but at the moment I am content with the amount of work I have now. I am also debating sculpting my own unit of Plaguebearers as I am not fond of the current GW sculpts, and unfortunately the heresy "Blights" have just become unaffordable (£8.00 for 3) for an item I can't use at GW events. In addition I  will probably have to sculpt my own Great Unclean One, primarily due to cost issues (not as much expendable collateral these days!), but also as much as I love the Forge World sculpt, I would hate to have 'twin' brothers on the table.

So plenty to get on with! The photo above is the result of one evening's worth of work and with a 'Some energon and a lot of luck' I may have the skin tones done by the end of day. All weathering will be applied once the block colours are complete. Now that think of it, I never did photograph that finished Blight Drone...

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion

Wip: Heresy Miniatures, Netherlord MK2 build progress

End of day progress on Heresy Miniature's Netherlord MK 2. This kit is truly monstrous, lots of spikes, horn and muscle; which all need cleaning and are very large bits of metal which form the upper torso. Due to the size of the components, a lot of dry fitting and cutting is required before the pieces sit comfortably, which naturally will need putty work for finishing. In most cases a short but thick pin would be necessary to keep this build stable.

I have opted to fully build the body first as it is the most imposing part of the build, comprising of several bulky parts. To add stability and strength I opted to fill the inside with Kneadatite putty (greenstuff), this also gives me a solid form to drill into when the inevitable pinning of extras occurs. With this now drying to one side I will begin working on pinning points for the remaining apendages.

The back has holes for the horn accessories but looking at the fitting it will much easier for me to cut the points off and use brass rod, which in turn will be much stronger due to the lumps of Kneadatite sitting inside the torso. Once this stage is done I intend to do a full clean; removing flash and excessive mould lines, after this I can go ahead and use procreate to rebuild any musculature. This kit, while requiring lots of time to clean has so far been a lot of fun working on and a nice distraction from the rank and file Dark Angels building up in front of me.

Now what to use the Netherlord MK2 other than a nice looking paper weight...

Thanks for reading,

DiStudios

The 14th Legion