Warhammer World 2017 - Part 1: Visit & Swag!

Whilst on annual leave a couple of weeks back my wife and I dropped in to Warhammer World. This was my 4th visit and my wife's first. I haven't visited since GW re-modeled the entrance and exhibition areas; so was very excited to see how it had changed.

The visit was also a week before my birthday and so my wife was armed with her credit card. At one point I had to refuse her offer to buy me the exclusive Warhammer World Space Marine tank bundle. Yep, she's a keeper! Whilst on the face of it, refusing such an offer would be bonkers, I can't complain about the haul I did leave Warhammer World with (and its nice to leave something for me to pick up next time I visit!):

Since reading the initial Horus Heresy novels last year I have been captivated by Loken and Abaddon. Therefor when I had the chance to pick up whichever HH Character Series I desired, since there is no Sanguinius (yet), it was an easy choice!

The next item on my shopping list, and a book I've wanted to pick up ever since I bought Volume One in the series, was the Imperial Armour Model Masterclass Volume Two. I haven't had the chance to analyse the techniques included in this volume in any detail yet but I'm looking forward to testing out the techniques and following that, during future projects.

Finally, I picked up two of the exclusive Warhammer World miniatures. As I seem to have 'accidentally' started a Stormcast Eternals army (I have the Storm of Sigmar starter set), I figured the Errant-Questor would be a good purchase. Alongside him, I've always wanted a Josef Bugman model... so he ended up in the basket as well!

Overall it was a fantastic day out. I took lots of photos, bought some cool swag and drank some nice ales at the home of GW. This post is the first in a small series of 5. The following 4 posts will cover photos from the Exhibition Centre- which is bloomin' epic!

Final Blood Angels Test Model

Todays post centres on my final Blood Angels test mode which I've been working on this week. My goal was to reach a point where I had tested and documented the main steps in the process I will follow to paint my Blood Angels.

The process steps are detailed below:

Undercoat

• Airbrush Vallejo black. 
• Airbrush Vallejo grey (zenithal highlight) 

Basecoat

• Airbrush GW Air Mephiston Red 
• Airbrush GW Air Evil Sunz Scarlet (zenithal highlight) 
• Paint details with GW/Vallejo base paints 
• Paint base with GW Steel Legion Drab. 
• Paint lighter areas of base with mix of GW Steel Legion Drab + GW Skull White 
• Pick out individual details on base with base colours 
• Apply gloss varnish 
• Apply decals 
• Seal decals 

Shade

• Apply brown/black oil wash to model and base 
• Tidy up shade with white spirit 
• Apply washes of thinned GW Steel Legion Drab mixed with earth coloured weathering powders to recesses on the base and lower areas of the model 

Highlights

• Highlight details on the model 
• Dry brush base with various earth coloured paints e.g. GW Tallarn Sand 
• Tidy up base 

Seal

• Vallejo Satin varnish

This process has been formulated from techniques observed on Youtube and from within the ForgeWorld Modelling Masterclass Volume 1 book. The scheme has been designed to combine elements of the Blood Angels livery from both 30K and 40K- hence the gold hand and other areas. Whilst the quality of the model isn't the highest (which wasn't part of my objectives), I feel as though I have sufficiently tested and learned enough about the scheme to move forward with starting on my army. The only tweak I will make is around the base. I didn't water down the GW Steel Legion Drab enough and so the base isn't to the quality I am trying to achieve (I want to get as close to the base on my Contemptor Dreadnought as possible- as it looks awesome!).

Next up I will be starting to work on my Blood Angels units... at last!

Contemptor Dreadnought Rebased

Todays post covers a rebasing of my Contemptor Dreadnought. I haven't been happy with the original base for a while now, and this week I wanted a quick and easy hobby project so thought I'd spend some time giving this model a more detailed base. I've included a comparison image of the old base... I hope you agree that the new one looks much better!

Work In Progress: Blood Bowl Ocs and Humans

Today I want to cover some models in (another) 'work in progress' post. 

These two sets of models are the Ocs and Human teams from 3rd Edition Blood Bowl. I owned this back in the day (it was initially released in 1994) but somewhere along the way I sold the game on eBay. In 2014 I managed to find a well priced auction (on Ebay) so took advantage of the deal and picked up the game 

Since that point it has remained on my shelf; not getting the love it deserves! With ForgeWorld working on a new edition (due Christmas 2016 I believe), my motivation was rekindled so I dusted off the game and started to paint the models! 

The Human team had received a fairly basic paint job from the previous owner but the paint wasnt thick so I didnt bother to strip the models down. The Orc team was still fresh plastic. The first step, as is usually the case, has been to undercoated and base coat the two teams. Next, I'll start working on a team at a time (I'll probably tackle the Human team first) and will post an update when I have completed team(s) to show.

Space Marine Legion Praetor

I purchased the Legion Praetor models a couple of years back with a view to painting them up and using them in my 40k Space Marine army (mainly because they are stunning models!). As I'm coming towards the end of painting up units for my Space Marine army, I can focus on more of the independent character models I haven't completed and first up has been this guy. 

I'll use him as a HQ Terminator Captain in my army and want to acknowledge that the unit is from 30k, reflect this age of this amour and in doing so test out some weathering techniques. I have been a big fan of the Advent Calendar painting tutorial videos that GW posted on YouTube in December 2015 (if you haven't seen them; check them out here!) so I decided to follow the tips from the 'Chipping and Scratches' video to add a worn/battered look to the armour. The principle is quite basic and therefore straightforward; Using Rhinox Hide one paints narrow lines randomly across the armour, these were then follow this up with a highlight of Fensirian Grey underneath the Rhinox Hide lines. I don't feel like I applied enough of these lines to 'nail' the look but I'm generally happy with how the effect looks. On future miniatures I will focus on the application of the effect rather than worrying whether the effect looks suitable or not.

Salute 2016

After a few years of missing the event, this year I was determined to attend Salute in London. I'm very happy I did. Its a great day out for any hobbyist no matter your favourite gaming system. As its the year of my wedding, I set myself a strict budget for the day but I still managed to come away with various modelling bits and a couple of bargain! (like a built Blood Angels Death Company squad for £15). 

I think next year I will be able to take a bigger budget and full advantage of the offers from the various vendors. I will also consume the show better; by not buying anything until I haven't visited all the stalls and then go back to each stall to make purchases. For further info on Salute take a look at http://www.salute.co.uk/

To cap of what was a great day at Salute, I was also able to visit Brewdog and Bodeans in Soho for some epic beer and BBQ food! Oh and this was the day I won the painting competition!

Space Marine Contemptor Dreadnought

 Hot off the heels of the Land Raider comes a completed Contemptor Dreadnought.

I've had this model for 18 months and it had sat, base coated for the vast majority of that time! After completing the Land Raider I was keen to carry on learning the advanced modelling techniques which I had begun experimenting with on the Land Raider. This model seems like the perfect next step as, with it being essentially a 30k model, I could go to town on the weathering and feel comfortable that if I went OTT it would still look good. Mission accomplished I think?

WIP: Legion Praetor

I'm heading over to Warhammer World this weekend and in preparation I have been varnishing and weathering my troops. Alongside that activity I have been casually working on one of the awesome Legion Praetors which I picked up a few months back.

Bonus Time!!

Thanks to a very productive year at work I have quite a nice bonus to spend on hobbying this month. After hitting Forge World and my local GW store here in Bath I am happy to show off the new additions to my army!

In this picture you can see a Storm Raven, a Storm Talon and from Forge World; a Contemptor Dreadnought and Legion Praetors (still on their sprue's). I also put in an order to the brand new GW web store in order to take advantage of the 'free' limited edition Space Marine Captain- this order consisted of Inquisitor Coteaz, the Emperors Champion, Vanguard Veterans and an Aegis Defense Line. I don't want to think about how much these all cost but f**k me they are all sexy models! :)

My plan was to buy enough models to keep me going for the rest of the year. Considering I still have many units built and not painted already I am confident that I wont run out of things to build or paint; and that with the exception of purchases from Games Day I should be sorted until the end of the year.