Catching up over the summer

 Hi folks, 

Here I am again. 😄 With travel abroad and camping scuppered due to Covid I had to entertain myself in a different way over the summer holiday. Luckily (?) I'm always virtually drowning in projects and things to do...

So, here are the fruits of this summer's labours:

 

First up: The big one, the Necromunda terrain project (still ongoing, btw). Here's what I built over the past few weeks:

This a collection of all the Necromunda terrain I have built so far.The new additions I built over the summer are (from left to right): The large Synthstill/destiller column, the bucket elevator, the old power reacter (partially hidden behind the nuclear waste silo), and the Necromunda dice tower.

Below you can see the reactor and the dice tower front and centre: These two items are fully 3d printed items, the two other ones are a mix of traditional terrain building techniques and materials and 3d printed parts. I really like the results I can get with this mixed approach.

I had a lot of fun building these and experimenting with new techniques (using a sand/tile grout mix for the basing and texuring of dirt and rust. Using AK interactive streaking grime and generally building in a more free-form and messy approach.)

But ofcourse, this table is nowhere near filled. I built more, but didn't get around to painting it, before work had to start again:

Sets of walkways, as well as a corpse-starch processing plant on a raised platform. (And as I type this, I realise I totally forgot to add my toxic pools to these photos! D'oh!)

 Hopefully I can get these painted over the next few weekends...

And now as to why I didn't get these painted during my vacation...

Ghost of Tsushima was released. And while I don't own a Playstation, seeing the enthusiastic responses from people, as well a playthrough by a friendly streamer got my love for (gaming in) medieval/mythological Japan again. Which prompted me to finally finish a 90mm samurai model I had lingering in paint in progress for months now:

She isn't still 100% finished, as the base still needs grass and tufts etc. added to it.

And I had to 3d print and paint this fun thing, couldn't help myself...

I maybe could have spent some time sanding out the print lines, but it was a spur of the moment thing, and they are a lot less noticeable in real life. I'm just waiting for the oil paint in the recesses to dry, and then I can varnish it and add the cords to wear it.

 

See you all next time!

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.... ;P

Sorry for neglecting this blog a bit lately...

First, let's get the bugbear out of the way:

Yeah, racism and bigotry is bad, I support this message.

Anyway, where did we leave off?
The Warhound is finished, except for heat discoloration on the barrels and painting the banners. Plus I still need to work up the nerve to do all the weathering on it...
Here's where he  stands now:

 And close-ups of his markings:

 And finally: the Warhound's name:

I took inspiration for the type and placement of the markings from the old Adeptus Titanicus background and painting guides.

But this hasn't been the only large project lately I've also printed and painted the Dragon's Crest, a free file from Dragon's Rest. I intend to use it as either terrain, vehicle or scenario objective for several games, including Reality's Edge, Necromunda, etc. As a result, I've tried to keep its colours fairly generic, and have magnetized the weapons (which still need painting...).

In its freshly printed, pre-painted stage. 

Base colours done:

Painting the interior and further details:

Done and weathered, with the cockpit glass in place:

Couldn't help myself putting it against a background:

And with some minis for scale/effect:

This entire gang is made from Hasslefree Minis, except for the crew boss, she's Raging Annie, from Bad Squiddo Games.

And ofcourse, the ubiquitous Primaris Marines:

A long view of the interior:

With my Void Crows salvage crew rushing on board:

Some other things I've been doing, but have no pics of:  I'm printing a Rogue Trader fleet for BFG, as well as printing various markers and tokens for that game. This has been delayed due my printer acting up with excessive stringing, something I'm still working on remedying...  Which has been my second major project recently. :/

See you next time, hopefully sooner than last time. XD

A Titanic undertaking, continued. (And a gift)

More progress on the Warhound to report!

Well, the test with the heraldic plates didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, so they won't be used.

I did however get on with the airbrushing stages:

As you can see in the pics, I've added gun-pennants and a small banner to the Titan. These were made from plastic and metal rod, some spare bits for the finials, and mainly tin sheet from old mayo tubes.

In the course of today, I've been painting the metal trim on the Warhound. Here's where he's at at the end of the day:

I've been using Vallejo Liquid Metal Old Gold for this, and aside from the smell (alcohol based) and the extra bother in cleaning the brush, I'm very impressed with these! Now I just have to paint all the other details and bits... I had hoped to finish it in my current week off, but now I'm having serious doubt if I can make it! Oh well, I'd rather do it well, than do it fast.

And finally the gift. A friend in Scotland, LongFang, does regular streams on Twitch and has significantly stepped up his schedule to keep people entertained during the present Viral Kerfuffle. As a sign of appreciation, and because he is a very keen player of Destiny 2, I decided to make him a custom Ghost (little personal A.I. assistants) prop:

 The core paintjob (airbrush), with a set of markings derived from the Flags of Scotland and a second set derived from his in-game heraldry.

Then it was time for weathering and final assembly:

And then it took a long, looong wait for the final component to arrive, a lighting unit:

Once everything came together, I could finally send it off to it's intended owner. He received it today, so I can now, at last, share this little labour of love with you.

See you all again next time!