Angels on a deadline

So have taken on the new challenge of producing an army in 6 months, have been cracking on in earnest this month before i completely have to devote all spare time to my impending exams in November. This challenge is brought to you by the ammobunker forums and was a way to help jaded hobbist get some mojo back. It seems to have worked for me but not sure if its this impetus is due to procrastination with revision. Ho hum. Anyway the format is to complete a FOC unit a month going troop, Hq, Fast attack, Heavy support, Troop and elite. Should be pretty straight forward so am using it to re-engage with the blood angels. Hoping to revamp them at the same time. My choices for this challenge are

Troop - Jump pack assault squad
HQ - Tycho
Fast attack - 2 Attack bikes
Heavy - Vindicator or devastators
Troop - Jump pack assault sqd
Elite - Sanguinary guard


Month one is almost complete so doing quite well. Still some niggly details such as squad markings etc but pics of this months progress below. Today i managed to do their bases.
But lessons learned this month with painting...red is still hard to do, especially over a grey undercoat. but have found vallejo fire red works well over the white. Still may try and pic up some mechrite red or the replacement as i go on for detailing as normal blood red is too translucent. Also been trying out the airbrush for figures, not really working for me, still more suited to tanks for me. think i've got the pressure on way too high. but live and learn.

Undercoating

Same pic as left, just tidied!

Revamped classic sgt, will be a sternguard sgt now

Tank support including previous ebay bargain raider turned crusader reclamation project

Same as left but less focus on sgt

Sgt has to lead from the front...though is likely to get shot now

Final thought....Ebay is still bad...bought two FW hydra's today...bargainous but still another two tanks to the collection to work on. .i think i'm saving these for retirement...but just to give you an idea of the backlog to paint..

40k
Grey knights - mini army as smaller than the others but still not insignificant
Eldar revisit - interest has been resurgent of late resulting in purchases that have created an army in their own right
Raven Guard - a nother mini detachment
Imperial guard - armoured company to finish, artillery company, 2 infantry companies...plus more
Ultramarine armoured brigade - 2 land raiders, a predator, whirlwind, & a storm talon

Fantasy
Bretonnian/empire dogs of war
High Elf - full army

misc
Anima tactics
infinity
Soda pop
Kingdom death

so yeah....enough to not be working on....erm

The Lynx effect...

 *random ramble alert*

"I must have it... it's soo beautiful, - no, when will you have the time to give it the love and attention it deserves? - but its so shiny.... -you've already got a massive pile of unpainted, unbuilt stuff,...." that last bit should make it clear that i am talking about hobby related stuff.... but these are the inner conflicts that i imagine all hobbyists often grapple with and one i seem to be increasingly at odds with. I touched on it briefly in my last post, but following on, i wanted to explore more into the addiction that is this hobby and ways people manage. This probably won't be a coherent ramble but i wanted to get in down so i could reconsider at a later date. Anyway this has all been prompted by my recent failure to acquire a FW Lynx on ebay. Yes ebay, the terrifying agent of the temptress "Internet" that will tease and entice you with pretty pictures and great ideas from other blogs. All while creating new simpler ways to make parting with your hard earned cash to purchase materials and models for said ideas easier, using promises of cheaper bargains to make it seem you are making a saving.... You see, these days with the rising costs of everything, the option not to pay RRP is a major draw, especially for luxury items. And having discovered the joy of online stores such as maelstrom, wayland and total wargamer, as well as afore mentioned ebay, this option has become a reality.  However, there are certain times when the desire gets too much and with "one touch" buying and its ilk, it is all to easy to throw self discipline and rationality out the window and succumb to the headrush. I almost found myself come acropper of this with the recent Lynx episode. Luckily i came to my senses before i made an order with forgeworld as realised i do have a massive backlog of stuff and i really should stop buying for the time being Yet, this hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for it ( it is a beautiful model) and i can't rule out picking it up direct at a later date...(maybe xmas or after exams) 

Picture from FW, cos its beautiful

But what is it that drives this desire? surely its better to have finished miniatures? Indeed i enjoy setting out the armies i've collected over the years to evaluate and admire with a quiet sense of pride, in that "i did that, they're my boys (and gals - re: sisters, and eldar)". So surely i should be buying only after i've painted what i've got? A noble notion, but one not easily abided by. It was only achievable back in the day, through no design of my own, as it depended on whatever i got form family via birthdays/xmases/ special occasions. Therefore i had to really prioritise purchases to those models i really wanted  But ever since i've become an adult and have some disposable income to play with, the unpainted pile has grown to silly proportions with a mixture of nostalgic purchases, - steadily acquiring models i always liked but were not high up enough on the priority list, - to all the cool new releases, as well as discovering other minature lines such as infinity, anima tactics, it's all gotten a bit much. But where is the end to this madness? the fact is i don't really know, probably when i run out of space or have more important issues to deal with. but for the time being its a semi pleasurable ponderer. 

The beginnings of a displace case.

Anyway projects wise, after recent retake, have been trying to continue with hobby progress. Taking a break from the guard as have been at them for a good while now. So have switched focus on marines of late. Mainly blood angels. I had previously classed this as a completed army, but then space hulk came out and then sanguinary guard/death co so have been bulking them out a bit. This has been going on a wihile but again the parts were acquired but never got round to it. But after the landraider haul of the previous post have decided to get this done. At present looks like this.. okay missing a devastator squad and some of the characters in the army shot, but plan to add two 10 man jumpack assault sqds, a 5 man sanguinary guard squad, some honor guard and maybe some stern guard as well as a baal predator, vindicator and razor back so much to do.

another unfinished project. Blood angels getting a revamp

Internals of the the refurb to that landraider in the last post. Came apart quite well and with a well stocked bitz box was able to replace several parts including the assault ramp and front mantlet where the heavy bolters sit. I also had spare inner doors so all in all its getting back to some real loving. The inside hadn't been painted so that was first job after all the replacement parts. This is going to be attached to the blood angels and am making it into a crusader. itching to finish it but needs a bit more love as scuffs on the outside of the tank i am aiming to make into battle damage but requires a bit of for thought.

 After a bit of a strip and clean up, a bit of a spray with the ol' airbrush, its come up quite nice. Also tried my hand at a new freehand technique for ultra symbol i learnt off tale of painters blog. Works a treat. will try to find the linky but

After the refurb

 but for now thats your updates, thanks for reading unknow reader(s).

August austerity

Not particularly, ebay put paid to that! But not one to overly update i guess you could apply it to my posting.
Anyway its been a strange month so far, have been wanting to do stuff but more exams and other things have taken priority, not that exam studies are going ahead smoothly. Birthday has been and gone. Another year older but still my love of the hobby doesn't seem to wane. Its just having the time for it. Inevitably when trying to make time, it always gets eaten up by something else. Professional studies, social commitments, family life and just last weekend as i was settling down to painting some tanks... a blocked drainage system in the kitchen...c'est la vie and adult hood. Alas the birthday present i wanted to get - time to play- didn't really materialise. Still not all bad. Still scouring ebay for bargains which have led to an awesome haul of a land raider and massive pile of bits including a classic wraithlord amongst other junk, all for the princely sum of six whole English pounds! admittedly postage was the killer, £12! but considering the land raider and the plethora of bits. (i do like sorting through a pile of random bits) can't complain too much

Initial rustle through to see if landraider was complete

After first sort, Pile o' bits including old Dark Eldar Helions, jump packs, guardsmen...

...and a Wraithlord!

 Now admittedy the Land raider will need a bit of work(has already begun, see below) I think it started out as a Chaos Land raider but was then orkified, Thankfully not too much damage, can disguise it as battle damage. And due to my joy of buying bits of random crap my bits box is pretty much furnished with replacement parts for the inner doors, and the assault ramp as this needed to be removed and reinstalled as had been stuck down

 As you can see in the back ground this is on top of work on my first Landraider where i've now fitted it with the reinforced armour.

All in all much fun with tanks...when you have the time.

I've also come to the conclusion that while all these wonderful blogs in my blog roll can be a great source of inspiration, they are also a great source of envy and keep fuelling my buying impulses. Its an impulse i must kerb as the pile of unfinished stuff grows. Need to focus on my stuff and make some of the ideas floating about in my head a reality again.

Retro fitting and other updates

What's this? two updates in a month?! something must be wrong....Not really, just at a loose end and had some photos to post. Mojo has died a bit of late but hey ho, it comes and it goes.

Anyway updates, got hold of some reinforced armour off warseer trading forums for a land raider. Now i didn't actually have a spare land raider but always felt my first one deserved a bit more protection. Luckily i always leave the option to revisit my models so any thing that isn't part of the main structure was glued down loosely so could be broken off without damage. 

Pictures show results as i started to attach it to my Ultramarine raider "Bellator" with the armour primed and preshaded.

Part painted with the rest of the armoured group

and onto some other projects, "Uruhu" sentinel and one shot who i am aiming to enter into the ammobunker monthly compo, but with afore mentioned ebb of mojo, not sure if will get it finished in time...well will see

In the mood for.... an update

Actually that's a lie, hence the continued lack of regular updates...but it's not like i don't want to share, its just with only a finite amount of time, the choice is either to spend time posting or to getting stuff done. In such circumstances getting stuff painted/built wins out, unless i am zonked....in that case the bed wins. I don't know how all those other bloggers out there do it, but kudos to them.

Anyway, rare occasion where i have time, motivation and uploaded pics of progress...and by my standards boy has there been progress!!

However, it has petered out of late due to afore mentioned knackerness and also recently got my exam results demotivating me. Mixed bag, passed one, failed one so a resit is on the cards which might limit hobby time again *sad face*...but still, an update is owed of what i did manage to achieve. so on to the pics

Previous post mentioned desire to focus on the tanks, and focus was indeed applied....

Voila, a pile o tanks!

King Russ completed

For those who like a backside

Russ company

plasma weaponry!

Alas the momentum did not last, but they are further along than before!

Pilot is Flt Lieut "Ace" and Flt gunnery sgt "trigger" 

Next up got more work done on the vulture i bought a while back. Markings really do make a difference and quite happy with how it is turning out. The next stage is will be finishing the weapon options ( punisher cannons or rocket pods and hunter killers to create a 40k apache) weathering is also in order but all in good time

Finally a collection of miscellaneous projects

Valhallans on the charge

Grey knight cruiser

a scale line up 

Who doesn't like titans? but whilst the forgeworld ones are beauties, can't justify getting one so a collection of the different sized walkers instead

Also started work on a new line for me, Soda pop miniature's "one shot and Fritz". What can i say? love robots and the pilot is quite cheeky, was a bit of a test in building her though as no instructions and some non intuative parts. got their in the end though. Need to finish painting now though

Tanks, tanks everywhere and not a drop of paint

So, after a temporary forced hiatus due to a build up of all too adult responsibilities, i'm back. Bet you didn't even notice!
But yes, i can finally swap pencils, calculators, rollers and house paint for hobby knives, razor saws, needle nose tweezers and polystyrene cement! With two weeks off, now is the ideal time to return with a vengence!

But where to start? So many projects, so little time. During my exile from the hobby i still managed to keep collecting "bargains" off ebay and fuelled by inspiration from the tinternet, a plethora of ideas made it into my little head that are all jostling to be attempted. From finishing a variety of projects to do with the guard, to getting cracking on some grey knights or refurbing an A-10 warthog (saw a bit of terminator salvation the other day which had them in it), to  Decisions, decisions...its such a hard life!

In the end i haven't really settled on one project after all, variety is the spice of life. However, i thought it would be prudent to bring some focus to my motivation and decided to channel the inner treadhead in me and make finishing my tank companies the priority as frankly its a travesty that they sit unfinished when they only need a bit more work. The problem though is deciding the final finished look. At the moment they are servicable as fresh out the factory. However they lack markings, an essential detail to be truly regarded as "done". What i did know though was i wanted a more rugged looking tank force and after seeing a multitude of excellent examples on ammobunker, definitely knew more stowage and weathering is required. But there in lies a further problem, what stowage and where to place it? Furthermore the number of tanks that needed treatment has been daunting, with 15 Leman Russ, 12 chimeras and 7 artillery tanks now.. how am i going to get through all those?....yes i know, i buy too much, but tanks are my weakness, especially at well below rrp!

However, in recent weeks, inspiration has been drawn having come across a plog on the afore mention forum by Bigwill, (who i have since discovered also has a blog - Heresy Workshop -added him to my reading list) I was inspired by how he put his winter themed WW2 American style guard tank force together.(wow that was a mouthful) taking it a tank at a time and applying some of the techniques and finishes i recognised from the forgeworld master class book. It was the detailing that really added to the force and was the deciding factor in making me set about my own force. So primed with the inspiriation decided to proceed along the same lines, although i'll be going a squadron at a time and not as detailed as all that stowage will drive me bonkers.

Therefore i bring you what i have been working on the last couple of days, "Breaker squadron" - 3 demolishers, a couple of predators to fix/refurb and my version of the King Russ to act as a command tank.

The predators should be relatively quick work, the Ultramarine one is one of my originals and only needed a repair job as one of the lascannons had broken off. 

The other one is an ebay special that was just a tenner! bargainous! who could say no?! Unfortunately on arrival was a bit more work than it seemed in the sale picture, the lascannons had broken off in transit and after initial inspection it appeared to have been resprayed several times so had really thick paint work over it....nothing a few goings over with fairy power spray wouldn't rectify...or so i thought....even with some hefty scrubbing didn't manage to get it all off and left it looking like this. 

Working through the layers discovered it has previously seen action as both a Blood angel and Dark angel  tank. Well soon it would see service once more but this time for the sons of Ultramar.

Otherwise the only other pics i have are of WIP on the king russ, This has been in progress for at least a year already, kinda stalled when i got to the engine block, but having recently obtained another ebay bargain -a Forgeworld Gryphonne vanquisher tank for under a tenner. Felt the turret was just the ride scale to balance the look of the enlarged tank thus has spurred me on to finish it. Only work needed on the turret  is a new lick of paint and pinning the cannon back on. Here's how it looks now

and on the tank.

and work on the engine block

New enclosed exhaust system

I also added in a pseudo engine as the cover will be partially see through as its a grate from the baneblade kit, but also it was to use up the other half of the baneblade exhausts. Waste not want not as they say. Looks alright not that it will be highly visible.  The exhausts were spare anyway having upgraded my baneblade and shadow sword's engines with the landraider engine block but i'll post that at a later date once the tank company is up to shape.

part of the engine.

So lots of work. Hope to keep it up so will keep you posted! but now back to the forge

And the beat goes on..

So, despite my lack of enthusiasm to update, as previously mentioned I have been fairly productive the past few months and i should really post up some progress to demonstrate the fact. This is in spite of pending exams and study gradually ratcheting up and house move/decorating. However, when it comes to updating here i guess because I already have a project log on the Ammobunker, - a friendly forum of like minded individuals - this diminishes my will to basically rewrite what has been written before,... but then that kinda defeats the point of this log....hmmm....anyway my mind is wandering...but in summary i will endeavour to continue updating this blog as it is my record of my hobby love. Anyhoo i should also mark the first milestone of my first comment. Many thanks to Admiral Drax for the kind words, his blog actually put me on the road to my own blog and his painting excel spread sheet was a catalyst for progress on the guard army. (will save that for another post) So many thanks indeed!

But now to photos, an eclectic mix but then i do like to mix it up

The Mercy of Isha of the Lightspear squadron of Ulthwe...this has been  PIP for ages...still not finished but there abouts.

Scout sentinels

Armoured sentinels

AoBR Nobz and the Kommando nob i picked up as one of my first ebay purchases cos really dig the modell 

Paint on the mortar team

And another one

Landspeeder storm

St Celestine

Lorr et co.

I'll probably embellish with more words later but i'm a bit sleepy now! but hope you enjoy the update