This Blog Needs More Genestealers

People are never coming up to me complaining that there are not enough Genestealers on this blog, and to try and make sure that this remains the case, here's a picture of a Genestealer that I painted all those years ago:

I've decided that as I've got far too many guardsmen to paint that I would break things up by painting about five or so of these guys to match the genestealer I did over a year ago.

Unfortunately, since then GW have taken down their painting article. Fortunately, I found someone who had printed it off and uploaded the scans here. I took my own screen shots of that scan and now I have a handy painting guide I can use even when I'm away from the Internet.

Finished that Scavvy

And got round to basing it too.

I think the model captures what I think a Brood Brother should look like.

I've also decided that snow covered rubble is the direction I'm going to go with the bases as it ties in my Imperial Guard and Blood Angels forces.

The £10 Challenge - A Partial Success

The Challenge

Well I'm back from my challenge and despite me completing it, its not as successful as I originally thought it might be.

I managed to pick up a few key pieces for scenery building but most of the money went on unexciting things.

I got a large sheet of foam core for £3.50 (which took the biggest chunk out of the budget). Whilst this sheet will last me for a while (its at least A2 in size, maybe even A1) its not a very exciting purchase.

The next biggest spend was a long (2m) outlet pipe that I picked up for £1.99. Its a lot of pipe to use but will come in handy.

After that, I got some backing card (card that is thicker and stiffer than cereal box / thin card). An A3 sheet was about £1.49.

By now, most of the budget has been spent and its all useful but not that interesting. The remains of the budget were spent on some cheap, vinyl floor tiles that should be good for basing as they have an uneven texture to them and were very cheap (£1 for about 4 square feet) and on two 90 degree pipe bends (for toxic waste pipes) - each one costing 99p.

So as you can see, I've hit my budget but I'll have to do a lot of rummaging through my spare bits and recycling to turn it into something interesting.

The £10 Challenge

At work we've been discussing the possibility of starting up a Necromunda campaign but unfortunately all our scenery is aimed more at 40k and not very three dimensional.

So this morning, I issued myself a £10 challenge to build a few pieces of Necromunda scenery by spending just £10 and using the odds and ends I have lying about.

At the moment, I've got an almost blank shopping list - the only item I need to get is some foam core for better looking bases, everything else is just what I can find.

The challenge is not to find the best deals on stuff or anything like that, its simple to set myself a budget and see what I can make.

I'm still working on the Scavvy however.

Another Figure Complete

For the long weekend I decided to do some painting in York, some work done on the Cult but also working on finishing off a squad of Imperial Guard.

Whilst the Scavvy / Cultist still remains to be finished (I have done work on it, honest) I managed to finish my Relic bearer / Priest.

I think the staff came out alright. He didn't end up as good as the Confessor but the model is older so a little simpler.

Hopefully won't be too much longer before I finish that Scavvy...

Confessor Finished and a New Project

So I've finished  the Confessor (minus the base). Only had his mace to do so I just needed to find some free time to do it. It wasn't anything too taxing.

I think this ranks as my best painted model ever and didn't take that long to do. Its a stark contrast to the first model I painted (sadly no pictures available as I stripped it a couple of weeks ago).

Also, whilst routing around in my bits box I found an old metal figure that I bought when I was using the Citadel Journal Genestealer Cult rules (so probably around 10 years or so ago). I think its an old Empire Light Wizard model (I ordered it when GW still had its bits service). The model was supposed to be used as a special character in the Journal rules but I never really got round to finishing him off. So after digging him out, I rustled together a few bits and made something that will hopefully fit into my cult.

Basically, I've replaced his sword with a fancy bolt pistol, and created an ornate staff head out of a cocktail stick, genestealer claw and genestealer head (the claw is supposed to be holding the head and it will all be a nice shade of gold). I also trimmed off the Egyptian bear that he was sporting. Not sure how he's going to look at the moment, I think I need to get some paint on him and hopefully he'll come to life and fit right in.

Substation Complete

Very quick post this morning, just to show the finished substation.

Unfortunately I realised that the grey paint I had was lighter than the one I'd used previously so it might look ever so slightly out of place.

Aside from that, its a pretty simple, no frills paint job (grey, black wash, grey drybrush) partly because it fits in with the rest of the battlefield but also because I wanted a quick and easy terrain piece that still looks decent.

So here it is:

Painting Update and a Little Scenery

Progress so far with the painting has been good. I've been mainly working on the Arch-Confessor and need to just finish his mace and he will be done. I've used the Games Workshop picture as a guide for how to paint it but since that model has a lots of effects that I haven't the steady hand for, I've simplified things down a little.

I am really impressed with the results and he looks inspiring enough to bring the rest of the Cult to arms.

I've also done a little bit of scenery.

There's an RSPCA near where I grew up and not too far from that is a small outbuilding (which I think is an electrical substation or something). I always thought that it looked kinda cool and fitting but would also be simple to construct.

Unfortunately I ran out of glue so I couldn't add the gravel, rubble etc (that's a job for tomorrow). I also didn't worry too much about lining things up nicely as it makes things look like they are run down.

Its Been a While

Its been a good couple of months since I last posted anything. I've barely done any painting and the little that I have done has been some Imperial Guard.

I got the painting bug again a couple of days ago and decided to mix up painting the Imperials with a little more cult stuff.

The first is this Imperial preacher (I know he's a special character, I just can't remember his name). He's such a brilliant model and I thought he'd fit in perfectly in the cult.

The second is an old Necromunda Scavvy (his tab says 1988). I've shaved down some Cadian arms and converted the lasgun into an autogun but still need to do a little more work on the arms to get them to look right.

Well that's about it for now really. Still tied up with Imperials but hopefully I can get back into the Cult swing.

Hybrid Bike and Sidecar Complete!

Well its took me long enough but I've finally completed my Hybrid Bike and Sidecar (I would post links but there are far too many of them).

I'm pleased with the results as it has taken me a while to finish (I originally started planning it a few years ago). The model itself (using the most up to date rules) is only worth about 20-30 points so its got quite a high points to time invested ratio. Unfortunately I can't field it until I finish the rest of his squad (which might take a while due to my painting backlog).

And here's the shots:

Not sure if you can see them in the photos but I've attempted lighting effects on the bike's spotlight and some scorching on the exhaust.

Hope you like it.

Sidecar - Driver Complete

I've just finished the driver for the bike to go attached with the sidecar. He's pretty much just a Catachan that has had a decent amount of Greenstuff work done.

Unfortunately my Bronzed Flesh paint that I had been using to paint skin for the past 15 years had dried out when I went to use it this morning so I had to go and get a replacement (Ratskin Flesh) along with some of the new Citadel paints.

Here's some shots of the rider on a bike (obviously I'm still painting the bike).

I also did a little tidying yesterday and realised just how much stuff I have to paint which means I need to do a lot of work to get my backlog down. This means that I might have to push anything that will require sculpting / conversion work to the back of my list so things like the other bikers and the Patriarch throne. It doesn't mean the Cult is on hold though as there's plenty of that to do which doesn't require too much work.

Sidecar - Complete

Well I've just finished my sidecar (but not the bike or the rider) and thought it deserved an update.

However, I've not started painting the bike yet though I've almost finished modelling the rider (I just have the sleeves to do).

I've got a little bored with painting Shadow Grey at the moment so I'm also working on a Space Marine Captain (painted red) to mix things up a little.

Sidecar Construction Complete

Part 2
Part 1

After waiting for the greenstuff to cure, I got round to finishing the construction of the bike and sidecar (the rider still has a lot of work to go).

The final steps I made also meant that I didn't have to modify the Hybrid passenger so I just put his arms back on.

To do some work on the sidecar (and for later painting) I needed to detach it from the main body so the shape may be a little crooked (I've just placed it together to get a rough idea of things).

And here's the pictures:

I decided to use one of my resin wheels instead of the plastic Space Marine wheel to match the rest of the bike (and also use some of them up). I did some greenstuff work to make the hub cap and improve the tread.

I used another wheel for a spare tyre doing similar greenstuff work to the other wheel I added. I also wanted to have some method of attaching the wheel (other than just having it glued on) to make it look more realistic. I initially tried modelling a strap but that didn't work well so I used some stiff wire to build a bracket.

I trimmed down the cockpit and added a greenstuff cushion to finish off the sidecar.

The next stage is to give it all an undercoat to check that all my surfaces are smooth and that there are no marks with the greenstuff. As the rider is detachable, I can work on him at a later date.

Sidecar Update 2

Part 1

I got my first delivery of Sentinel Searchlights yesterday but didn't have much time to work on the Sidecar last night.

Here's what I managed to do last night / this morning, unfortunately I didn't even have time to take the photos from my proper camera so my phone will have to do.

Its not much, just basically finishing the handlebars and adding the light. I've also added one of my spare wheels to the back to make a little stowage.

The bike itself is pretty much finished, its just the sidecar I need to focus on now, cleaning up the underside and making the 'cockpit' look less like I'm just sticking someone in there - thoughts have included sculpting a robe for my Hybrid, sculpting a 'blanket' to keep the water out or adding seat lining (like cushions). I'm also going to work on adding some stowage to it to make it look less 'efficient'.

Sidecar Update

I've done some more work on my sidecar but as I now am likely to be waiting on parts and doing some more planning, it might be a few more days before I make any more major progress on it.

Since the last update, I've done a little work on the driver, trimming his torso and a little greenstuff work to make him look better (haven't under took the major stage on de-Catachaning him yet though).

I've also started on the bike's handlebars by adding the central part and speedometer that I made from a cocktail stick, the meter from the Cadian comm-link and some more greenstuff and just need to tidy it up a bit more:

I'm in a minor dilemma though as to how to do the handle bars in regards to lining it up with the driver's arms - should I make the arms fit the bars or the bars fit the arms? I also need to decide on how to make them. At the moment I'm thinking of just using another cocktail stick or maybe some thick garden wire.

One of the main components that I've ordered for this and the other bikes is the Imperial Guard Sentinel searchlight (a smaller version of the ones found on the tanks). I had a spare one waiting to be fixed to my sentinel and just tried placing it where the lamps would be on a bike and felt it fitted perfectly. I had to order these parts (as I needed 6) from two separate bits dealers. I've never dealt with dealers before so hopefully everything goes smoothly.

I also stripped the paint off the old metal sentinel's cockpit for use as the sidecar and added the wheel attachment from the attack bike to its side. I think it looks pretty good though I am a little concerned whether it is a little too wide:

My other concern too is that as the sidecar is pretty much all metal, the thin fixture holding it to the bike might snap pretty easily do to the weight (I've applied some greenstuff to it to hopefully strengthen the bond).

As you can also see I've had to take the arms off the Hybrid rider to make him fit in the sidecar too. I'm ever so slightly tempted to try and sculpt another passenger, this time with the old fashioned goggles you used to see people wearing when in a sidecar...

Hybrid Sidecar

So I've put my Patriarch's throne on the back burner for now to focus on the bike and sidecar for this chap.

Basically its a trimmed down Space Marine Scout Bike with the wheels I received in the mail this week and the sidecar will be made from a combination of bits from the Space Marine Attack Bike and the 2nd Edition Imperial Guard Sentinel (the one with the Assault Cannon).

Its very WIP at the moment and as you may be able to see, the wheels are a little too big (and wide) for the Scout Bike so I've had to do quite a bit of greenstuff work - when I go to do the rest of the Bikers, I think I'll just bite the bullet and buy the proper wheels for the bikes.

The rider needs a lot of work doing too as at the moment he looks far too much like a Catachan. Hopefully I'll be able to do a little greenstuff magic on him to look more like a biker.

So here's the shots, hope you like: