Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Even more fun with P-card

I ran into my plasticard bits pile the other day while looking for some 1/35th scale armor for my son. It was a quick reminder of other projects that were not so painterly and how, sometimes, it's nice to put away the brushes & just build. Back to a lingering project taking up space on my Epic shelf: The Stompsmasha. Inspired by this brilliant bit of art from WD 116,
the great gargant, made out of paper & balsa, in this pic was born:
The plan is to re-skin the entire model in p-card and update the main armament. Lot's of fun to be had here with a model that has tons of nostalgic value for me. Overall, The Stompsmasha is roughly the size of a regular gargant, which ain't bad considering when I built it, there were no available Great Gargant models available from GW to use for comparison.
Since the p-card was already out, I did a test bit that I have been wanting to work on ever since looking at some of Ray R. Dunakin's amazing work. While Ray has the benefit of working on a larger scale, I think this test came out pretty solid. It's funny how p-card is really a better medium for wood on small scale projects; no "hairs" & you can impart a grain far easier than with basswood or balsa.
It's been pretty dead around here, but I'm aiming to get this blog up to date with what I have actually been doing. First up are pics of my finished zombie Slaan:

Friday, July 4, 2014

Minor Update

Some minor work on Slawn of the Dead. Used a different approach on the water adding turf under the self levelling gel. Would likely work beter with a deeper base, but I'm happy with it. On to plants & basing!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Old Plasticard & a Mission

So, I actually have almost an entire week at home due to the July 4th holiday, which is both amazing and good for hobby progress.  Unfortunately, my workspace is running at 41°C, which is murder to paint in unless you are using oils/enamels.  That got me to thinking about some older p-card projects that were on my shelf that aren't really dependent on what the weather is doing.  Not to mention, I can easily move them somewhere, away from my painting setup, that is cooler.

So, project#1 is old enough at this point to have yellowed, not that it makes a difference.  The scratchbuild is intended to be a 40K-sized Grotnought as described in the Epic Gargant Big Mob.  Several bits are magnetized & it has a full interior, which isn't all that common for walkers.  Full armament is something like a belly gun, snappa, combat 'ammer, and 4x big shootas.
Here are some of the bits laid out:
Some random bit shots:

Here is what it sort of looks like in the round partially assembled:


Now to find the rest of the missing parts and get back to detailing.  I feel pretty guilty about letting this sit for so long, but I'm committed to gaining some serious ground on it before the year is out.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Another WiP minion & member of the Lustrian Undead Recreational Club of Hexoatl (LURCH).

This simple conversion was based off of the C32 Slann "Lep'Nluni" & required little more than clipping the tag + adding some GreenStuff.
The bug was my 11-year old son's idea & it came out of a very scientific discussion of zombie feeding habits.  I mean, seriously, if regular zombies like braaaiinsss, then what would a Slann go for?


Monday, March 31, 2014

Even if you are not a fan of the preslotta minis from Citadel's Golden Age, you have to appreciate the detail that was added to this necro-esque C19 shaman.  Standing on a severed head, covered in skulls, with a frog wand & lizard familiar, this mini really stands out from the rest of the range.
 These conversions are among the first models destined to be the shaman's undead minions.  There's a mix of C17 skeletons, C27 pygmies, & even a Slann destined for the summoned ranks.  I see several hours of sculpting conquistador helmets in my future...
Zombiefied pygmy post-paint.  The flowers were something I found last summer that seemed to have some Lustrian jungle potential.  I'll likely work them into the rest of the swampy dead group.

 So, these guys have sat in several boxes over the years and were originally supposed to be part of some lost legion for an Undead army.  I really wanted to do something outside of the boring plastic skellies &  tried to give them an ancient quality.
Raised from the earthen floor of the jungle, they retain some of the vegetation & funk that would have grown in over the years.  These were fun, quick projects & I have some now with clingy vines & ferns on the way.
The verdigris is less painterly & more process with multiple shades of pastel chalk.
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One of those oddities that I never spent much time with in the '80s, was Citadel's line of C19 Lizardmen.  While I always liked the rough "gatormen" sculpts from Trish Morrison (blame it on being from Florida), the race got scant attention through Warhammer Fantasy Battles 2nd & 3rd ed, so I funneled my efforts into Orcs & Goblins.  By the time 4th rolled around, when GW fell down, hit it's head, & woke up thinking Lizardmen were Slann, I had zero interest in the reworked race & it's Jurassic Park vibe.

Here is the WFB 3rd-themed Army as it presently stands.  A challenge to collect with the present market, but I'm shooting for a well-rounded force with a couple groups of infantry, some archers, cavalry, beast handlers, & Troglodytes.  There is a Tom Meier Black dragon in there as well.  I always loved that mini & it looks like something that could have come out of a deep cave with it's undersized wings.
Not reflected in the pic are a contigent of swampy undead that I'm attaching to the shaman/necromancer.  Lustrian dead guys are just too much fun to miss out on!


This is a test trooper that I rattled out using an airbrush.  Not too shabby & it helped to identify some things I'll change moving forward.  Basic crocodile colors to start, but I plan to mix it up across the force.
Heroes & characters are definitely going to be albinos.