Dreadtober 2019 – Mostly TO DONE!

#Dreadtober update and as promised yesterday, today is just a preliminary wrap-up of pics. There’s still varnishing to do and adding some flock but it’s effectively complete.

 I have to say Dreadtober has been an absolute joy this year. Sure I made it easy on myself by prepping so much of it in advance, but I do that with all my projects and even so I almost [actually] didn’t meet the deadline so I can’t be too hard on myself – I know my pace.

 I think next year I’ll have to post every time I progress instead of sticking to my schedule and doubling. it might be a nice exercise in micro-blogging and also help with the whole community vibe.

It’s also worth mentioning Mordian 7th’s hard working in keeping Dreadtober up-to-date not to mention painting his own Contemptor Achillus. Collating everyone’s work in an additional blog is a thankless task, so I just thought I’d say ‘thank you’! 

lastly a couple of comparison pics, alongside my old skool Rhino/Razorback. Not quite as saturated green, but the battle damage is comparable.

And lastly, alongside my Armiger Warglaive. I think the Warglaive just edges the Redemptor – it’s on a bigger base for a start and I was always rather horrified that the interred marine’s tend to ‘burn out’ in these newer dreads. It’s horrific and seems perfectly grimdark 40k, but there is an element of callous disregard for a venerated brother and for me that doesn’t fit with how marines honour their [almost] fallen [not that kind] comrades.

That said I have grown attached to the Redemptor, something I never thought when I initially saw the model. It’s just a little sad I can’t envisage playing Dark Angels for a while because of the new additional rules, but I’ve said before they can be my ‘display army’, even if the Tyranids are actually more of a display! Anyway, happy Hallowe’en, happy Dreadtober!

Dreadtober 2019 – The Final 5

#Dreadtober update – “so say we all” fellow Dreadtoberists and Dreadtoberistas! Given the timescale I pushed [aka rushed] on through with this last night. Not only did I resolve most of the remaining details, but I got the glow FX and battle damage done.

Now the glow FX is not my best work, but once again I can live with that. Tyler Mengel covered something applicable last week in his article The Art of the Shortcut I’m referring to – ‘point 2. Focal Points’, in that although my glow FX is the brightest colour and stands out, the actual high quality shading of the bulk of the model may help mitigate the roughness of the glow and gives the illusion that it has all been painted to the same standard. Either way I’m not that fussed, it’s alright and I’m happy with ‘alright’.

With the reactor glow done I could finally glue on the Dark Angel reliquary. I broke it off about 5 minutes later so I can foresee that super-gluing it is going to come back and haunt me. If it does it again I may try polycement.

The fist is finished and battered. I loosely mixed Khorne Red and black and sponged on, so I got areas of more red and other darker areas so there was very little to do in making the damage stand out aside from the green highlight. This was mainly dabbed on after thinning with water and where it was a bit blobby a quick tap with my finger would blend the edge while leaving an area that was more saturated. I mean the detail isn’t pristine/fine but it does the job, much better than ‘alright’ anyways 😉 I didn’t want too much damage as Redemptors are a ‘new’ unit and I noted my Old Skool Rhino/Razorback wasn’t riddled with damage so this fits. One major success is I was a little more selective with it’s application – mainly on the lower half, unlike my Knights which seem to have loads of damage on their carapaces but not many units are bigger than them to visit such damage…

And that’s pretty much it, I need to add a couple more coats to the base rim, varnish and Tamiya Clear the lenses with some yellow flocking on the base. But, that will take a couple of nights and as Hallowe’en is tomorrow I’ll be otherwise occupied. So what I’ll be doing tonight is taking some preliminary pictures as it’s all but complete so I can share for the culmination of Dreadtober. I’ll finish it proper over the weekend and next week it’s time to take stock on other projects again…

Dreadtober 2019 – Devil in the details

#Dreadtober update and time seems to be running out, but that’s only because these first 2 pictures are from the 24th of Dreadtober. The truth is I’ll most likely be on track to finish this, what with working on the details now. But trying to fit in the blog updates before the end of the month, now that’s the difficult challenge.

As you can see I’ve started to pick out some pipework on the sarcophagus, shaded his power fist, added grey and a shadow wash to the Dark Angel Chapter moulding on is front and also added a company number on his shoulder

The other shoulder will have a Dark Angel decal, so I’ve glossed it, complete with these chunky brush strokes 😞 I’ll do another coat and see if it smooths out. I mean I could have free-handed this but for some reason just felt that a decal was the right way to go, time will tell.

I had a few more details to pick out, [red pipes, lenses, Tyranid elements on the base, Dark Angel Relic trophies on the back, rivets etc.] highlight all the black areas and some other bits and then consider battle damage. Luckily I got some time at the weekend to paint during the day. It’s a rare treat but I got to progress a lot of those details. So the initial 2 pics have suddenly got all these to show progress.

 It also helped I got the Chapter decal affixed so I could then go about shading highlight so it was less decal looking. And I started the base for my plasma glows. 

There’s actually a fair bit more detail in the chapter badge than this picture conveys but it does appear to have the notorious decal ‘halo’ which is a little misleading as I actually painted an outline of Caliban Green to add some shading to it and depth. The Genestealer Node also got highlights, just the teeth to do now. 

I had a spare number 5 stencil knocking around from my Predator, that’s also been cleaned up after stippling and highlighted. Hindsight a big red stripe down the centre would have looked better. Or the panel underneath made white, echoing the Predator… The interior of the sarcophagus had some orange added to echo the Drop Pods. Decisions I will dismiss for now, maybe consider them down the line as an update?

The Genestealer skull also got highlighted and his head crest Bahama blue, ready for turquoise next.

These later pics are from 27th Dreadtober. Still a number of things to do but it should be painted by the end of the month, meeting the deadline. Varnishing might be in November but I can live with that.  

Dreadtober 2019 – Verdigris and vert de green

#Dreadtober update and the verdigris has been added. Typically it is a mixed affair, where sometimes the application looks as close to what it can be in reality

And then in other areas where it just looks like I’ve splodged turquoise paint on it. 

But the fist got quartered for the 5th company’s badge and I also started shading all the panels with black. 

Again, subtle unwanted tide marks with the black, that’s what happens when you don;t apply a layer of texture to hide all these mistakes! However, the subsequent highlights/glazes should mitigate this issue.  

Waaargh Flesh I think is the highlight, mainly drybrushed on but some areas where it was applied as a line-highlight and others where it was thinned and blended.

I could feel myself rushing this a bit in places, but I’m thinking I may go back in with some Caliban Green, drybushed to help blend the lighter and darker shades together.

This will also help cover up any marks I hadn’t resolved, although if I do any weathering/battle damage that will be even less of an issue…

More highlights and glazing next…

Dreadtober 2019 – Shadow metallics

#Dreadtober update and I’ve shadow washed all the metallics. My Valejo Sepia ‘dipping’ wash is the main difference.

In truth it is not the best product in the world but I’ve tons of the stuff and a lot of this will be further enhanced with Army Painter String Tone wash for even more contrast and then the Verdigris

But you can clearly see on the assault cannon unwanted tide-marks

It’s less noticeable on the Plasma weapon and certainly makes it look a little more ancient but it’s still a bit of a gamble using it.

Perhaps a mix with Lahmian Medium might make it settle a little better but that’s always too much faffing for me 😂

And then not too much difference but this is after the Strong Tone wash as well

But a back shot, curiously missing from the last set of pictures.

I then shaded the pauldrons with black and painted the fist Angel Green.

And at some point plaid down the skull for a Renegade Knight banner that will go on the base of Lady Pettorini. It’s not quite working but maybe it’ll come right in the end…

Verdigris next…

Dreadtober 2019 – Moar Metallics

#Dreadtober update and yet moar application of the metallics. This is the mid-season finale so to speak, whereby I apply the final set of highlights before I add a wash layer to grime it up a bit. I believe it’s Valejo Game Color Gun Metal and Shining Gold [whatever they’re in this intro set and still going strong after 9 years] sponged on for the texture.

It works particularly well on the hip joint. There are still areas I can’t decide how to paint but I’ve no doubt my decision will crystallise green or bronze without delay when the time comes.

The weapons also got their highlights, I even had an Imperial Knight Icarus array that got a quick highlight. I will regret not pursuing the Deathwing Knights in parallel but that would dismiss my feelings that it would be too much to take on simultaneously and despite the metals being the same the application requires a different approach. The terminators are much smaller and need more care, whereas this thing is a beast and I can just slap it on and any issues can be covered up with battle damage. It’s actually quite a freeing experience.

The sponging is so rough and ready but the shade wash will balance it all together. I’m sure red casings like the ‘eavy metal studio army would be so pedestrian for me now. I considered having a bit of green on it but there’s something about a Dread that I did with Brother Cask [shares link then realises there are no back shots 😔] whereby there is the green armour built over a metal skeleton, much like how Imperial Knights would be presented.

So I was already imagining the paint scheme years before I did Euronymous or knew Imperial Knights would be a thing.

It’s also another aspect of my Darfk Angel scheme. I chose them way back when specifically because I didn’t just want to paint green. The Deathwing colour scheme gave my bone too and then they canonised the Ravenwing black so I got a third option [not realising the havoc it would play with my future hobby mojo] and then the bronze which ties it all together, the verdigris not too dissimilar to the green but on a big model I can play around with the metallics even more. That way is mostly green from the front then metallics all on the back, like a surprise as it turns round.

Anyway, lot of fun, I’m really digging #Dreadtober 

Dreadtober 2019 – Metallics

#Dreadtober continues inexorably but as expected my progress is slow. In fairness this has nothing to do with the model or even the usually problematic brassy bronze. No it has been impacted both by the weather and general fatigue. Heavy rain has meant the garden has flooded and wading to the Man Cave in my wellies has often been sufficient to discourage me even attempting to crack on with my Dread. One night I braved the elements to get out there and slap on some Balthasar Gold on top of the Warplock Bronze.

Weapon options too. Originally I hoped to throw in my Deathwing Knights as well, as they are at the same stage but half an hour was just about as much as I could do before I felt it was time to go to bed. I’ve been monitoring my sleep again using Google Fit, I think I’ve made a little improvement in my sleep schedule. There are still the occasional late nights but I think they’re more uncommon now. I’ve had some early nights too, which doesn’t help the hobby obviously but should help me long-term.

Another night I got out to the shed and managed to sponge/stipple on some Retributor Gold. I’m a little uncertain on some areas of metallics but I’ll continue on until they’re all done and then decide if they should still be bronze or in fact green. I’ll need to cover splodges anyway so it’s no real hardship.

The guns are coming along too.

And the Fist, which I’d been rather impressed being black next to the green body but immediately decided I would not eventually keep it, but will quarter it so the fist is the 5th Company symbol. Really pleased that decision just came to me in a two step realisation. No doubts, no prevarication, just that looks cool, oh, or that would be cooler!

Another set of highlights to do, then shade washes to balance the colours.. This might then require some small highlights to sharpen things up and then it’s some limited verdigris and on to the greens.

Dreadtober 2019 – A ‘cheaters’ guide…

Dreadtober begins next week and I have this Redemptor Dreadnought to do. Now it’s supposed to be you build and paint your Dreadnought [or equivalent] in the month but I know my hobby pace and knew building it in advance was a minimum.

I also got it based, primed, base-coated and then painted the base [along with a lot of other models]. Now this took a significant amount of time to get to this stage, so I wouldn’t have achieved this and potentially finish the model in month otherwise. At least now I have a fighting chance.

All the brassy bronze is the next priority [ I will start that on the 1st] and my prior brassy bronze exploits will reveal this can break me, so I need to hold strong and get all those bits metalled up so I can enjoy painting the greens! And we all know how much I love doing that – just a bit above Ravenwing… is there anything I actually like to paint? Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through all this if it’s all so difficult, but we rise to the challenge and maybe that is the reason – the constant striving to overcome hobby inertia…

Dark Angels – Redemptor Dreadnought Big Build – TO DONE!

Building models alwaysfeels like a day job to me but most of my hobby time is at night. I’d got to the point where I needed to do his pose and that had to be the obligatory ‘standing on something’ that is all the rage. Of course that becomes fiddly, cutting plastic pegs off to allow joints to rotate, trying to old poses in place while poly-cement and super-glue dry, but somehow I managed it.

I have to admit I do like this dreadnought. When it was first revealed I wasn’t fussed but having one it seemed churlish not to build it and it’s deceptively bulky too. I was easilt convinced it was bigger than my Warglaives, but it’s shorter – clearly the extra bulk adds a few inches in height.

To that end I may call him Brother Jacamo. His main weapon is just push fit but the others are glued in – 8 Storm Bolter shots seems the better fit than the Fragstorm

My only issue is the ball of the waist joint is almost out of the socket. Not sure if I need to disguise this somehow, possibly greenstuff ribbed tubing, as if it’s a flexible joint, not a ball-joint.

 But my previous suggestion of putting the Ravenwing Relic [rope things] on his back might distract the eye from this and I removed two of the rivets where it was to attach.

And it would fit thusly.

Or more accuratley, unfortunately I’ve only gone and lost that piece, Now theres one on ebay for £3, all the bits sites are out of stock or a full Ravenwing upgrade sprue is £9 direct from GW… I really don’t need to make a decision just yet, perhaps I’ll find it.

The plan is to base and undercoat this and then leave it for Dreadtober. I know you’re supposed to build and paint throughout the month but it’s still a stretch for me just to paint the darn thing so a headstart will give me the best chance of completing it. My Imperial Knights were last years effort, with my hope to finish building them both but due to Oscar’s illness I couldn’t face the hobby for a good couple of weeks, which is what it took in November to get them ‘built’.  Still this is TO DONE!

 I builds it, I gets the badge!

Armies on Parade board 2016

I have in my 18 draft blog posts one article about Armies on Parade that has been completed for nearly a year and I still can’t decide if I want to post it. But I have decided that I may feel differently about the situation after tomorrow, so instead I thought I’d share my test layout for my board.

As you can see it’s pretty much all my completed Dark Angels and their Knightly allies, I even included the crashed Aquila Lander.

The two bastions are a bit OTT, it perhaps might look better as a scene with just the one and the two knights in each corner but I can’t bring myself to drop them now.

I’ll be popping along tonight to set up as tomorrow I can only go later on in the day, presumably when all the voting has taken place.

I did see a post on GW Bolton’s Facebook page that showed their winners trophies, AND entrant pin-badges! Which I think is a really nice touch for those that are taking part. Fingers crossed they’re happening everywhere.

Part of me is really excited, I hope it can be a good day and exorcise the event for me and it to be an enjoyable experience. Any aspiration other than that is just the elusive bronze medal but I know I’ve done a grand job this time.

Everything on the board is new to AoP, the only hangover from previous years is the backdrop, the board itself is one of my Realm of Battle tiles [though I doubt folk would notice the difference].

I even included the old skool assault marines I rebased for Battle Brothers, why not?

Round about here I remembered to add the Techmarine!

So there we go, if you’re parading tomorrow I hope you have a good one, all the best.