2018 should prove to be my most active year in the hobby. I have 2 gaming weekends planned and a weekend trip to Warhammer World planned. I should end up playing games of 40K, Age of Sigmar, Shadesspire, Shadow War: Armageddon, X-Wing and Blood Bowl. With this in mind, I need to paint a lot of stuff and will set some goals accordingly.
My first goal is to play the following:
8 Warhammer 40k battles,
8 Age of Sigmar battles,
10 Warhammer Underworld: Shadespire battles.
To ensure I have enough painted models to match the above goals, I will aim to paint the following models:
Age of Sigmar
5 Sylvaneth Tree Revenants,
16 Sylvaneth Dryads,
1 Treelord,
3 Sylvaneth Wyldwoods,
Steelheart Champions Shadespire Warband,
Sepulchral Guard Shadespire Warband
5 Stormcast Eternal Liberators
40K
10 Blood Angels Tactical Marines
5 Hellblasters
10 Intercessors
3 Inceptors
Other/Scenery
Build and paint a Realm of Life board
So its a fairly ambitious list! I will be spending a lot more time at home in 2018 so I feel the goals are achievable. I would like to paint more Blood Angels but those listed above will be the minimum... if I have time, I'll do Sons of Sanguinius.
My first post in 2017 set out hobby goals for the year (link here). Throughout the 2nd half of 2016 I struggled to dedicated time to hobby so for 2017 I wanted to set some targets! Now, 2017 is almost concluded and 2018 reckons, I wanted to look back and see how I'd fared against my goals.
In term of which models I aimed to complete in 2017; my list consisted of:
I also set myself a target of reading 12 books. I fell short and only managed to read 10... but I listened to 6 audiobooks (thanks to Black Library being on Audible!).
So, in conclusion, I'm happy with my achievements for 2017. I managed to paint up many more models than I had planned. This was mainly down to Nerd Day 2017 and the focus it provided. This event required a board and scenery. which occupied my activities during the middle of the year. After Nerd Day I was infused with the motivation to prepare for gaming in 2018 and managed to bash out the Sylvaneth units mentioned above and Sly Marbo!
Next up I will present the completed Kurnoth Hunters and Orc Blood Bowl team (looks like i forgot to post about the completed unit!). At time of writing this article, I am away visiting family so will cover that unit in a post before closing of 2017 with a 2018 goals article.
My hobby progress has been slow over the last month and whilst I've made progress on a variety of models; Blood Angel Tactical Marines, Slyvaneth Kurnoth Hunters, Tree Revenants and 2 Branchwraiths... I haven't finished any or managed to take any recent WIP photos.
This post, however, is mainly to cover a couple of social painting evenings I've hosted recently in preparation for Nerd Day 2018. The goal is to help a couple of friends who haven't painted models for many years to paint up a selection of their models which can then be used during nerd weekend 2018.
For individuals on the fringe of the hobby I believe the notion of painting models can be quite intimidating... not only do you need to understand the techniques involved, there is also an associated cost (paints, brushes etc.) which can easily become a barrier of entry. Hosting events where I can remove those barriers has been very rewarding and, as you can see below, seems to be nurturing some potential talent!
First I'll cover the hobby area! I set up two stations for my budding hobbyists, complete with citadel paint system chart for easy reference.
The only requirement I placed on my two protégé was to supply their own models. Neither let the side down! Dan, arrived armed with some goodies from his childhood! An old skool, 1994, Citadel Paint Set... which had usable paint!! very cool indeed!
Dans also brought along a complete Warhammer (4th? edition) boxed set. It's from this set that Dan chose which models to paint.
Alongside Dans Fantasy Battle models, Barry rocked up with an extended Skaven 3rd Edition Blood Bowl team!
These in progress pictures were taken following the second evening. As you can see, good progress has been made by both hobbyists!
Here are the archers Dan has base coated. I've been very impressed by the state of all the models and can't wait to see further progress in the new year.
Throughout 2017, whilst I've been working on scenery for BathCon 2017, I've spent a lot of time experimenting with various painting techniques trying to find methods of painting which fit with my hobby goals, style and ability. In short, the goal has been to find a technique which takes advantage of an airbrush, is quick to apply and which yields good results. I'm pleased to write that I think I've found the right combination of techniques to achieve my goal! This post covers how I've got to this monumental moment :)
Airbrush
So, I've had my airbrush for nearly 4 years. 2017 is the year I finally got to grips with it as a tool. In the past, I always found that the cleaning and maintenance put too much of an overhead on the benefits I reaped from its use. Enter stage left a glass full of water! This very simple addition to my Airbrush regime has made all the difference! Whenever I finish using my airbrush I wash it out in the sink and then simply place it in the cup of water... sometimes for weeks in between use. This ensures that there is never any dried paint to clean out before use and allows for much quicker applications of paint when required.
As a benefit of this, I also cracked the method for preparing paints for use with the Airbrush. You need thin paints! Almost all of my paints are GW. I like the clearly defined painting system they employ in regards to base coats and their matching layer paints. The downside of this is that I need to water down the paints before use in the airbrush. I've found that a suitable mix of paint, water and Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver make it very easy to dilute the paint enough to work through the airbrush without any problem.
Shading
Now on to the big one! Shading has been the area of the process which has involved most experimentation, failure and therefore required most thought to nail.
Shading is a very important step in painting a miniature and I have been on a mission to find a suitable method of applying a wash which is quick, gives awesome results and most importantly doesn't result in a need to reapply base paints to tidy up the shade. Not only is such an action a waste of time it is also very challenging to adequately reapply base paints when they have been airbrushed and so are likely part of a transition. I realise that applying a targeted ‘pin’ wash would solve this but that option would take too much time so wasn’t an option.
Initially, I attempted to follow the method recommended by the top dawg, Kenny Boucher, of Next Level Painting. Kenny’s recommended method involved coating the model in gloss varnish and then using a gloss Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade wash. The combination of the gloss varnish and gloss shade ensure that the surface tension of the wash is maintained and drastically reduced any ‘coffee staining’ which can occur. I initially found this method to give positive results: I used in on a Blood Angels Tactical Squad early on in the year, however, some coffee staining did occur. Later, when using this method I encountered some issues when the wash seemingly dissolved the gloss varnish coat. This had some very problematic results for the Shadow War: Armageddon terrain I posted about back in June. It's worth noting though that I don’t think this was due to the wash/technique… more I’d either applied the gloss varnish to thinly or that I hadn’t left it long enough to dry (or both!).
As I appear to be covering this in chronological order, next up, during the summer I was listening to an episode of the fantastic Sons of Heresy podcast and the hosts mentioned following a shading technique they learnt during a seminar at a Horus Heresy event. After a quick YouTube search, a video of a chap called Mark Bedford who works at ForgeWorld revealed not only the secrets of how to apply a great wash but also how to follow a quick painting process to get your models on the board. I’ve included it below as it’s a fantastic video and well worth a watch, but the section which stood out for me revolved around his wash mixture… and how he applies the wash as the last stage of painting a miniature.
Andy’s wash mixture stood out as it seemed to promise the answer to the coffee staining problem. Essentially one mixes 1 part Nuln Oil, 1 part Seraphin Sepia, 1 part Lahmain Medium and 3 parts water to produce a subtle wash mixture; applied after a coat of gloss varnish. I tried this mix on 3 of the GW Objective Markers which were released along with 8th Edition. The washes worked fantastically aside from white residue which appeared in the areas where the wash had pooled the most. Upon investigation, it appears that this is due to the water element of the wash. Diluting GW washes with water is a huge no-no!
Base - Highlight - Shade
Following on from unlocking the ultimate shade formula I'd like to cover the idea of base coating, then highlighting and finally shading. This is, of course, different from the GW painting system of Base - Shade - Highlight! I feel that if one chooses to use an airbrush as the primary method to apply base coats and use gradual transitions for highlight (and also some shadows), following the traditional process causes issues as maintaining the transitions is difficult. Alternatively, if one can apply the highlight before shading the model... and the shade doesn't cause any coffee staining, that's ideal!
The trick is to highlight the model to '11' in preparation for the colour muting down. Whilst painting many of the large GW bits of scenery I've worked on, namely the Sector Mechanicum (Shadow War: Armageddon terrain), I noticed how the final colour of the terrain was always coming out darker than I desired. There were two reasons for this, 1) that the airbrush layers became less vibrant when dry and 2) as already indicated, the wash when applied also reduced the vibrancy of the colour. On some of the later pieces of scenery, I got used to highlighting the model to '11' in preparation for the toning back of the colours and found that it works perfectly! The bonus is that applying the shade last means your models look suitably muted and 'realistic' (as opposed to a cartoony look).
Pulling it all together
When painting my most recent model, Sly Marbo, I took the opportunity to bring together all the lessons learnt (mentioned above!). The shade was mixed up using 1 part Nuln Oil, 1 part Seraphin Sepia and 4 parts Lahmain Medium (essentially replacing the water element from Andy Bedford's mix with an increased amount of Lahmain Medium. Happily, it worked a treat and in conjunction with all my learning, he looks great!
In conclusion, I feel like my understanding of painting has increased a lot this year. My abilities with a paint brush (or airbrush) may not be top drawer but what skill I do have, combined with the techniques I’ve mentioned in this post, should mean I’m able to increase my output and for the models to be of a higher quality than I was previously achieving.
The learning never stops though... Next up I will be focusing on my Sylvaneth force. These models will provide a fantastic opportunity to refine the process on some amazing, organic miniatures. I’ve also ordered some Army Painter shades and shade medium as I’ve heard great things about their shades. I will use these to mix a wash along the lines as that mentioned above.
So, in September 2017 my other half is out of town for the weekend and I have arranged to have 3 friends over for a weekend of war gaming. On the agenda is:
Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Warhammer 40k (8th ed!!!)
Shadow War: Armageddon
Blood Bowl
X-Wing
Needless to say, this is quite an ask for the time available. My aim is to run quick battles of Age of Sigmar and 40K and focus on SWA, Blood Bowl and X-Wing.
I am extremely excited about hosting such a day and in preparation I will spending the next few months preparing a suitably awesome gaming area (40k battle mat already on order!) and completing as many miniatures as possible.
What this means for readers of this blog is that posts will come thick and fast over the coming months! Lets do this!
Back during my first stint in the hobby (roughly 1989 - 1997) a large part of my hobby time was spent at my cousin's house. At the time both myself, my cousin (Geoff) and my second cousin (Nik) were all immersed in 40k.
I collected Blood Angels, Nik collected (mainly) Eldar and whilst I have no photo's of my army, or Geoff's, Nik still has his army and recently sent me some photos. These you can see below. Considering Nik was a little younger than Geoff and myself (so must have been around 13 when he painted these) I think his standard of painting was really good! I especially love the 'old skool' Goblin Green bases on these models.
The weekends we spent playing 40k were a highlight of my first stint in the hobby. I vividly remember the huge battlefields which we would set up on the floor of Geoffs bedroom (often much larger than 6ft by 4ft). These were populated by our own home made scenery... converted Pot Noodles pots, broken up polystyrene painted to looks like ruins and as much lichen as we could get our hands on! I also don't think we ever finished a game... good old second edition eh!
