Rome!

I know, it's been a very long time since I posted anything here, but I have been painting....

First up is a growing Caesarian Roman army based for both Clash of Empires and Hail Caesar.

Balearic Slingers,

Numidian Skirmishers,

Cretan Archers,

I hope to have the first Legion cracked over the weekend. Just waiting on some steel bases to come through the post...

Moritat and Destroyers!

Well, that's the last of them finished for the weekend in time for the weekend:

Group Shot

Here's the full group for the Bolter&Chainfist painting challenge:

and some extra Cataphractii termies for good measure:

Light at the end of the tunnel! Death Guard Contemptor.

With the Contemptor Dreadnought complete, the ten termies on the way and the Destroyers awaiting assembly, I feel like I may soon escape painting Death Guard...

Legion Praetor

Pretty much straight out of the box. I may well do another with a power scythe eventually though:

Back from Hols

Sorry for the long break, but here's some more Death Guard in way of apology ;-)

To add insult to injury, I actually finished the Deathshroud back in June, but just did not make time to put them up on here. They gained a few transfers this weekend and probably deserve another photo...

The Tactical Support Squad were about half way there. I just needed to finish off the weathering and make the Volkites glow! Still some barbed wire to go on the bases though.

Next up is the Praetor, ten Termies, a Contemptor Dreadnought and another Apothecary.

Last of the Tactical Marines

Last six out of the forty that seemed to have dominated my painting tray for quite a while!

and a Apothecary to keep them safe. Yes, he's missing his left pauldron as I don't have a Mk IV Death Guard one for him yet :-(

and seven more!

I tried out a green wash on the brass and I am quite taken with the effect:

So I'm now working my way through the earlier versions and doing the same thing.

Next Seven!

So, that just leaves 13....

Third Crusade - again

With Kingdom of Heaven supplement for Clash of Empires in final draft and planned for a Summer release and freshly back from talking medieval at Kalamazoo, I can feel the need to dust off my crusaders. Some more foot seems a must as the Hospitaller crossbowmen need some protection. Having made some progress on the identity of the Hospitaller marshal and what was going on at Arsuf, means a mounted figure painted up as Baldwin de Carron is a certainty. If only I can decide how he might combine personal with household heraldry...

But first, I really must finish off those pesky Death Guard.

All washed up!

Ready for general tarting up me'thinks:

Wash Day

Next twenty Death Guard Tactical marines base painted, assembled and ready for receive some washes.

Yes, there are two vexilla in there. In truth the first twenty were actually the first two halves of separate squads with subtle differences in the decals. These, then, will make up the second half to each twenty man Tactical squad.

Who let the dogs out etc. ;-)

As the next pack of Horus Heresy era marines for the Elva, Vlka Fenryka aka The Rout have reached the painting tray and, following requests from the cheap seats, here is the force to date. The only thing missing is the Fenrisian Wolves as the old goblin mounts are being replaced by nice new GW versions. Apologies to Nordic friends for what are clearly Nordic inspired rather than real titles ;-)

Lempogärd, Fenris Hunters

Ukkogärd, Fenris Hunters

Mielikkigärd, Fenris Hunters

Førgärd, Wolf Scouts

Etsiägärd, Wolf Scouts

Förloraderne, Wulfen

Surma Tuonelasta, Rune Priest

Äijö Pitkänen, Rune Priest

Even Halvfist, Contemptor Dreadnought

Jarl Durfast Spiritwolf, lord of the Elva

Ageir Skarpeklo, Wolf Guard of Fenris, vaerangi of Durfast Spiritwolf

 Vaerangir of the Elva

Marshal Durak Rask, Siegemaster of the Death Guard Legion

As per the Fortuitous Accidents post, the FW Games Day 'special' received some dog love, which required a little additional work.

The result is Durak Rask, Siegemaster of the Death Guard Legion:

I think the new Thunder Hammer is much more '30K' than the original. The Volkite Serpenta pistol was produced by cutting down a Caliver. I'm sure that FW will produce a proper one in due course, but I think this looks okay.

Of course, this now means a proper FW version of the good siegemaster will appear shortly ;-)

Death Guard Apothecary

I really enjoyed doing this model. I tried to keep the base coat close to white with grey chipping rather than the my usual scuffed off-white look.

Mk 2 armour and lots of detail - what's not to like!

I may do another one in Mk 2 with a powersword in due course ...

more Death Guard heavies...

Next five Heavy Support/Havocs:

and all ten together:

They'll be a couple of characters to come over the next few days, and then it's on to the next batch of twenty Tactical marines. Got to keep going or I'll run out of steam!

He ain't heavy... with Death Guard recipe!

First of 10 autocannon armed Heavy Support troopers:

I changed the helmet crest for the Mk II version as I'm saving the fore and aft crests in red for captains (see last post). Besides I think it looks cool!

Here's the rest of the squad so far:

The next 5 are base coated and awaiting final assembly. So shouldn't be too long...

A few have asked for the recipe. So here it is:

The base coat is Rakarth Flesh and Castellan Green with Army Painter Weapon Bronze for the metal bits. This then gets a wash of Agrax Earthshade with a little watered down Reikland Fleshshade in places. I also use some Nuln Oil on the metal bits of the shoulder pads and the collar. Make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies with the first coat of Rakarth, as the washes will run off any bare resin. I suggest doing the base coat on the sprue and touching it up once you've assembled the figure.

Next I dapple on the Rakarth Flesh again with smaller dapples in White Scar.

The white metal is just Ironbreaker washed and touched up again and the bolter is Mechanicus Standard Grey with a Nuln Oil Wash.

The bases are just blank painted sand, dry brushed with Mournfang, then Baneblade and then Rakarth.

Fortuitous Accidents

Somehow the long-haired general managed to knock a partially painted Forge Limited edition figure off the painting tray and onto the floor, causing certain bits to break off last weekend. These were then immediately consumed by the dog (who seems unbothered after eating resin)!

The backpack was easy enough to replace, the hammer and shield, however....

So with a new hammer en route, as well as the bits to craft a Volkite Serpenta pistol, looks like I'll shortly have Marshal Durak Rask ready for action:

First Twenty Death Guard

The first 20 strong Tactical Squad with CCW (marked by the bayonets etc.) in Mk II armour is nearly there. Just a little more weathering on their right pauldrons and then off for varnishing:

As you can see, I went with red for the Sergeant's helmet crest after all, but he is now good to go:

I plan to do a spare sergeant to give me the option of running them as two ten man veteran squads.

Next on the conveyor belt is a 10 man Heavy Support Squad in MkIII armour and some Termies...

Grimbold and more Death Guard

Here's the big man himself with standard bearer and horn blower:

They're facing their first outing today, so I expect to be packing them away early!

Also fresh of the production line, nine more Death Guard. I've put some rusting barbed wire on the bases this time, but might add a touch of silver here and there to help them stand out more:

The right hand pauldrons have been varnished gloss ready to receive transfers later this weekend :-)

Riders

Just need to finish the command team to have this unit ready for action against Saruman's horde on Saturday. That wont be a drama. Of more concern is whether Erkenbrand turns up in the post in time!

Anyway, here's the rank and file.

Arrows are courtesy of the Perry WotR box set, As mentioned, the command team should be ready by tomorrow. So group shot to follow :-)