2017

Happy New Year dear readers!

It's been a few months since I've been able to turn my attention to any hobbying. Mainly, this is due to a quite significant change in my career: I am now working away from home Monday - Thursday and thus I've had a lot of change to digest recently. Bearing that in mind, and considering the half finished models/units currently eyeballing me from my display cabinet I want to make a few hobby commitments for 2017. These won't be spectacular in any way, however creating achievable targets is important to ensure that I maintain a portion of my recreational time dedicated to the hobby.

So, lets get on with the list!

Blood Bowl Human Team

I took this unit with me for my initial month away from home with the goal of painting this team during my free time in the evenings. Unfortunately the light in my hotel room was terrible and I simply couldn't see the detail on the models!

This unit will be my primary focus for 2017.

Blood Bowl Orc Team

What use is one completed Blood Bowl if you don't have another for it to play against? Currently this team has been airbrushed green... and thats it!

This unit will be my secondary focus for 2017.

Blood Angels Assault Squad

Following my final post in 2016 I did spend time of my Blood Angels units. I followed the painting scheme/process documented in that post for both the Assault Squad, Tactical Squad and 2 Independent Characters. All these units received their undercoat, armour base coat and wash. I will take the Assault Squad forward from this point and move the models forward until completion.

I will focus on this unit once the Blood Bowl teams have been completed.

Reading 12 books

Slightly tenuous this one but it is hobby related so bear with me!

Last year I started reading the Horus Heresy novels and loved them! I managed to read through the first 4 between the summer and end of my Honeymoon in October. A goal I have set myself in 2017 is to read 1 book per month... and to be honest the vast majority, if not all, will be from Black Library! I am currently 100 pages into 'Fulgrim' so will aim to complete that by the end of Jan and then I will turn my attention to the Warhammer Legends Collection which I started picking up before Christmas. These are Hardback and so may not be ideal for inclusion in my suitcase for travelling in the week so I may revert to concentrating on the HH novels over the next few months.

So that's it really. Lets see how it goes!

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!

Black Crusade: Angel's Blade Limited Edition

After returning from my honeymoon, todays post covers the Black Crusade: Angel's Blade Limited Edition which I was lucky enough to pick up last month.

I've never been one for limited editions, preferring frugality over indulgence. However, this one peeked my interest and I'm very happy with it. The quality of the artwork, the extra objective markers, psychic cards and tactical objective cards is top notch... as you can see in the pictures below.

I'm currently 1/3 of my way reading through the narrative detailed in the book. Once completed I will focus on the formations and use them to help focus my efforts in building a suitable list. 

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!

New Project?

If you cast an eye (or two?) over my recent blog posts it's no secret that my hobbying hasn't had much focus! I've chopped and changed between Blood Bowl, Blood Angels, a Land Speeder Storm and a box full of scenery. To add to this, over the past few weeks I have also found myself being tempted by Age of Sigmar.

I think its fair to state that AoS had a slow start but has nicely found its feet recently. Whilst on a day out to watch some cricket recently I visited Excelsior Comics and picked up a couple of classic White Dwarfs and the Generals Handbook. I'll post about the White Dwarfs at some point in the future.

Anyway, back to my point: So alongside AoS finding its feet and the purchase of the Generals handbook, I absolutely adore the recently released Sylvaneth! They are about as far removed from Power Armoured dudes as you could want... and I find that VERY appealing. Check 'em out:

Of course, this temptation brings with it a bucket load of hobbying guilt. I have a couple of Blood Bowl teams to paint (and some star players), a small Blood Angels force and enough scenery to keep me occupied until England next win the World Cup. I dont 'need' a new army... but why do I want it so badly? I'm not really one for giving in to the impulse buy for the new shiny so there must be more to it?!?

Well, I think the root of the matter is that AoS is a more accessible game... and I'm missing the fun of getting my models onto a board and rolling some dice. Whilst I love 40k, considering where I am in my life at the moment, AoS could be the a very sensible avenue for me to explore and allow more gaming opportunities (and when I say 'more', I mean 'any!').

I am currently working on a Human Blood Bowl team so, at the very least, I want to use this interest in the Sylvanth to help push me to complete this team and then maybe some further outstanding units. If this all pans out, my next post will cover a completed Blood Bowl team!