Rogue Trader Sumo Wrestler Mustard Gas Energy Slugger

I reckon that title will get me exactly one Google result going forward.

Mini is from Scotia Grendel, who actually have an entire line of these guys. Base by Dragon Forge. I love it when companies not named Citadel come up with this kind of stuff. Completely-off-the-deep-end sci-fi = happy Veronakid painting projects.

You! Get in my belly!

This could very well be a wrap on my 2014 painting. Lots of DM prep work to get ready for a Barrowmaze-inspired Christmastime campaign. What better way to celebrate the holidays than by smashing zombies and skeletons with your loved ones?

As Long As The Lightbox Is Out. . .

. . . I might as well get a couple of old mini projects documented.

First up is my RT-era SPESS MUHRRRINES. Like probably a large percentage of you reading this, my first foray into mini painting was one of the power armored giants, although my first one was one of the plastics that came with the 2nd edition 40K box and not one of these incredible metal C100 models.

The paint and color scheme came directly from one of my painting heroes, Delaney King, who posted a similar project along with a very kind tutorial on her blog a few years ago. As soon as I saw hers (she has some wicked conversions in her force as well, stuff that's well beyond my skill level), I knew I would have to collect some old marines and paint them up similarly.

My RT Eldar force, painted up to use in games against the marines, takes their inspiration (of course) from the Rogue Trader rulebook. They used to be so much more characterful and "elfy" than the current models, which seem to me too bulky for elven types. Purple guns for the win.

I used almost exclusively inks on these guys- only the flesh (if I remember correctly) was actually painted on. I still like the alien-ness that I achieved on this project- one of my personal favorites.

Take care.

The Gang's All Here

Took a little break from painting WFB minis this week to work on a Rogue Trader figure- the "Mad Punk" from the RT601 Adventurers code.

While I was working on her, I brought out the Sensei I purchased already painted earlier this year and finally got around to fixing up his face and armor. Of course, as long as I was tidying up this model, I figured it was a good chance to tidy up all of my RT Adventurers. . . one thing lead to another and several hours' worth of work later, the group was ready for their family picture:

I have several more of these types of figures in the queue. Now I am more anxious than ever to get back to them. So many figures to paint, so little time.

Hope you are well, wherever you might be.

C'mon . . . Gimme a Quickie

I'm finding that the last few rounds of commission jobs have really sapped my hobby ambition. I told my client I needed a wee break, thinking that I could take a couple weeks and make some serious hay on my collection, but I am having a hard time finding the desire to head back into my paint cave. I keep telling myself that this is a hobby, this is my free time, so I am not going to fight it- but those damn little lead men keep looking at me with those sad eyes making me feel guilty for not providing the gentle caress of my Windsor & Newton #2 . . . sigh.

I did find a few hours earlier this week when my blood was up and I banged out a couple of "quickie" projects: first were some more undead for my Barrowmaze / Otherworld D&D project. These ghouls arrived from OW a few weeks back. Painting them was a very simple matter; over my standard grey undercoat which I pre-shade with Army Painter Dark Tone and then give two highlight dry brush shades of light grey and lighter grey, I gave these fellers a bluish-grey base coat which had been mixed heavily with water and matte medium; I'd guess probably about 1 part paint to 1 part medium to 2 parts water, giving me a nice grey milk on the palette. Using very thin coats, I hit each of them twice; just enough for the pigment to give the basic color to the mini while allowing the shaded undercoat to shine through. I gave them each two highlight coats, adding increasing amounts of bone-white to the mix, first hitting all the raised areas and then for the final highlight pass, I just concentrated on giving the minis a highlight coming from a light source directly overhead. I used dark red to outline the blood, and then highlighted that with a fire-engine red color just in the center of the red, to hopefully give the impression of blood drying on the ghouls. A quick, heavy wash of Army Painter Strong Tone, and then gloss-then-matte varnishes, and done. Probably an hour and a half total painting time for three more fell fiends of undeath:

Who's been eating the nail polish again?

The second mini was even easier. I picked up this Rogue Trader-era Sensei from Steve a few weeks back, and he was already painted. From the pics Steve had on his eBay listing, I figured I would probably strip and repaint him, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw him in person. The details were nice, the base coats were very neatly applied- so I decided a simple re-base and mild augmentation were all that was needed. After taking him off of his old skool grit base and clipping off his slotta (gasp! the horror!), I refitted him on a modern lipped resin base with a sweet diamond deck finish, and then added a couple of quick highlight layers to his base coat. Two or three glazes to deepen his armor and cape colors, and viola! Sensei Fonzarelli is ready to smite a galaxy near you.

OK- hold that pose, and on three, say, "Cheese!"

I should probably, some day, try to do something with that face. That grin is. . . very disturbing. The face sculpt doesn't appear to be all that detailed, though, so I think the original painter did what he/she could, and I am not about to strip off all those cool checks just to find out that that grin is gonna be there regardless of how many times it gets repainted.

Cool mini, though. Definitely a needed addition to my RT Adventurers.

Sweet dreams, lead brethren.

On the Topic of Homage

After a couple of slow nights at the painting table, I managed to put the finishing glazes on and then varnish the batch of dwarfs I've been working on last evening:

As I was finishing up the beard on the stout little fellow in the middle with the steel skullcap, I was suddenly struck with the impression that I had seen him before. That face. . . it looked incredibly familiar . . . could it be?

Is this guy possibly

none other than our favorite Citadel jack of all trades?

I have a sneaking suspicion that whichever Perry bro sculpted up this polearmed stunty, he did so either in homage to, or possibly poking fun at, Dave Andrews, Oldhammerer extraordinaire. We've certainly seen this kind of personalization many, many times before in the early days of the design studio- there's a long history of the big names at the company ending up as inspirations for the minis they were churning out at the time. I think that I was just particularly struck by this possibility because DA has always been one of my very biggest inspirations in the hobby. I have long admired how well he seems to do, well, everything- his artwork, cartography, and shield designs are some of the most memorable visuals from those heady times, and I give him a lot of credit for maintaining the look of the old Warhammer world all the way through to today- he continues to build or design a lot of the scenery that is still in marketing pictures and battle reports. All those old card buildings. . . his. All those dungeon floor plans. . . his. If only he had managed to keep that sweet beard and long curly locks (more recent pictures from the "How To Build Scenery" books show him bald and goateed now). Alas.

Five more warriors with hand weapons reporting for duty

On the subject of homage, here's my own much more humble attempt. Like many of you out there, I have a special love for the RT601 code of Adventurers from the early Rogue Trader days. In all but a few cases, I think the 'eavy Metal team at the time did an admirable job illustrating the wackiness and randomness of the 40K universe as it was originally imagined. So, I have done my best to keep my own collection of these minis very inspired by the "originals."

RT601 Navigator, Halfling Chef, Ventolin Pirate, Pilot, Squat Engineer, and Armored Squat

Enjoy, brethren. Have a good one, wherever you are.