Pest Control

A friend of mine (in fact the same guy who gave me the Actimel stuff for the idol) was also so kind to give me away these two Eldar, as he had no use for them:

'You'll find something to do with them' he told me

At first it was quite a challenge. I really couldn't think of a slot within my current projects for two Eldar artillery crew members (Besides, let's assume that I'm avoiding the most obvious answer; no, I'm not starting an Eldar army!)

After a few thoughts on the matter, I reached the only possible solution: let's start on some conversions and see where does that lead. So, I left the Muse of conversions do her work and I just lent her my hands. I finally came to something like this:

Better the masks than the haircut! :D

I somehow saw what they were meant to be. Pest control personnel for the lower levels of the city. Weird aspect, the guy with the gun carrying that strange box like the Ghostbusters trap, the other one with the anachronic lamp over his shoulder... They would make a scary view in the dark tunnels and sewers of any underhive. So pest control they were. I just made a couple of addings and...

You should see the size of those cockroaches, ma'am

They most certainly have to face some ugly bugs down there!

Fuck, Bill, we don't get paid enough for this shit

Now that I see the pics I realize I have to give some final touches to the bases and maybe add some dirt on the longcoat. But on the whole I think I can consider them done.

Recycling! More recycling!

Hakk Tee Mehl Idol

Today for something totally different!

Once you get into the cheap scenery world, you can't leave it so easily, huh? Some weeks ago, a friend unexpectedly gave me away some interesting stuff. Among it all, there was this tiny can of Actimel (it's a kind of liquid yoghurt or stuff like that, rather common in Europe, not really sure about other parts of the world, but for sure you get the idea).

Not trying to make product placement of any kind

Well, you see, the interesting part of it is that apparently they made some kind of promotion with a number of different faces. But this one would make a perfect dark, evil idol.

With some DAS putty and a piece of a branch I got from a park I soon came to this...

Hmm. Nope. Way too tall.

I had some problems about the crown or whatever I was going to put on the head. Everything I tried was quite over the top, even if I was reducing the shape of it.

'Over the top' may work for Peter Jackson, but not here

After some more experiments and a lot of doubts between Aztec or Chinese inspiration for the crown, I finally got this:

Not really sure about what I did

Not much to see in that pic. Let's try some colour and texture:

I pretended this pic to be clarifying

Then more colour and more texture:

Now we're getting somewhere...

With some vegetation...

Insert Dr. Jones here

Scale comparison pic:

It's Gork! Nay, it's Mork! Nay, none of 'em!!

Of course it's no big deal, and I could have texturized the stone and put some more effort on it. But given the time invested (just a few hours on the whole, all done using spare minutes between diapers, pacifiers and RealLifetm) and the raw materials, I think it doesn't work that bad!

But the real problem comes now, you may have forseen it: What am I doing with this lonely piece? Now I need a jungle board or something!

Ahh, life's so hard...

The Orkful Eight

Here they come the last three Orks of this batch, who besides allow me to finish the whole Space Riders KS minis:)

I went back for a full Chaotic approach. The old Freeboterz book proved useful for inspiration:

Oh, come on, Diego! Sculpt that Ogryn!!

But I gave them yet another twist. I'm trying to avoid the classic flashy green for their skin, but... what if I tried not even green, but totally different colours?

Well, this is what happens...

An Ork? A goat? A beastork? Who knows!

I particularly enjoyed this model the most, I think. It has something... indefinable about its quality. I think it has charm, character. I love it!

But... what to say about the next one...

Waaagh! I'm the Inside Out Ork!

I was suggested to paint an Ork red. I kinda found it funny (and a challenge!). I'm not sure if I succeeded. This bright red was quite an extreme choice, I believe. Chromatically too extreme, maybe. Anyway, as an experiment it's been nice. I may try darker tones for future references ;)

For the last one I chosee greenish grey:

Which cannot be apreciated due to the light. Sigh.

As this was the last one, I let myself go with the trousers and the banner. I wasn't sure of what motif could work here, I hope it fits the general spirit of the unit.

So finally! The family pic!

United Orks of  Benetton

I still haven't worked on a proper name for the band not a proper story behind them. All I have come with is that they are some rogue Freebooterz torn apart from the Ork society who offer their services to anyone willing to pay enough teef. For sure they have travelled and seen some wonders through the galaxy, as well as some pretty ugly stuff too!

Phew! It's nice to close a stage, hehe. The Space Riders KS has been extremely rewarding, I've enjoyed the strange creatures in it and specially the Ork warband.

Now for more projects!! New stuff incoming!

Quick B/W

Well, not quite literally only B/W, but really close to that!

The following is all I've been able to do during the weekend. I know that three minis is quite a lousy performance, specially when, as you'll see in a moment, I've mostly applied just two colours! But oh, you all know how RealLifetm can tear all your plans apart. Sigh.

Anyway, today I'm bringing a few minis from the old West End Games range, gently passed over me thanks to a mate over a forum. I've just made a quick job on them, but I hope they are tabletop decent.

Man in black

So the first one is Luke, black robed as he appears in RotJ. I believe the pic doesn't allow the spectator to appreciate, but trust me, all the blacks there are different. The robe, the clothes, the boots & gloves and the gun... they all are different!

On the other hand...

Kneeling to help to improve aim

Only one white, I confess; but as every white dominant mini, you have to be aware that there will be hundreds of layers of paint involved. From the grey primer to the pure white highlights, there is a universe of whites in there!

The same applies for the third one:

The only thing worse than my paintjob is my photography

I no doubtly should have paid mor attention to the blue parts here, but it's been now weeks since I've realized I need another detail brush. I'll go get one as soon as a window of opportunity is available, promise.

The kneeling Stormtrooper is almost as tall as standing Luke. Wow, Leia wasn't joking about that!

Fun fact. My shitty phone pics are better than the good Nikon camera ones. Please explain

I think I'll be using them for my Imperial Assault games, but I haven't even read the rules! I still have to bring that project back to the workbench...

Da 'Utcast

Back again with the Space Riders Orks!

The new addition to this particular group of outcast among the Orks is not less than the Genztealer Hybrid.

Join da Cult, bro!

Though Orks don't tend to be a suitable race for Genestealers to infect, there have been cases where it appears to have hapened, particularly among less developed Ork societies. So well, you can bet that a wandering group of outcast freeboterz who have even turned themselves to worship strange Gods whom, to be honest, they even don't fully understand... well, they've lived a little and seen quite strange things. Most probably Genestealers aren't even the worst they've met!

The other one I've finished was a slight challenge.

Da tough boy

I really didn't have a clue of how to paint this one in the beginning. As I was on the Chaos theme, I wondered what Ruinous Power could their loyalties be with. Honestly, not a clue. The sculpt is quite neutral on that aspect. I mean, the mini is top notch, but it didn't scream 'Khorne!' nor 'Nurgle!' to me, like the others did. I even considered Slaanesh for this one (leaving the others I still have to paint for Tzeentch). Big, thick guy, leather pants, leather straps... I thought it could work at first.

But when I got to the brushes, I simply collapsed. I didn't see it. My approach was meant to be really pale skin and lots of tattoos all over, covering every square inch of exposed skin. But no. I didn't take the risk. I then turned my mind onto a generic Ork, no more. His allegiances could be with Chaos or with whoever he felt like. I chose a dull grey/green skin tone and let myself go. This was the result. The guy is quite intimidating, a towering lump with a huge gun. I think he fits in the group.

This is what I have so far:

Da strange fellaship

Five Orks done, three to go! This group indeed has some character. I bet I need a proper name for them and a suitable history behind...

Follow-on milk building

OK, if the title didn't get your attention, I don't know what will do. :D

This is the first of my shenanigans about scenery on a budget. If you have been lurking for a while here, you must have noticed my crazy future urban setting for Rogue Trader like games, which I call the Besenval Port. I have a number of gorgeous MDF buildings by now, but I'm facing the prospect of thinking a little out of the box and making some more scenery of my own. I still have some nice MDF kits waiting for their moment, but I also felt the urge of having some more stuff that could be easily set, that gave me new shapes and possibilities and, more important of all... that was unexpensive!

Sooo, until I get and cut some foamboard and stuff like that, let me explain. It all started with an innocent idea. The other day I just had this follow-on milk can in my hands...

The can was empty. No Suberling was deprived of food during this experiment

'Ohhh... I think I can use this shape...' was the thought that immediately crossed my mind. The rest, well, you can imagine.

I had two thoughts in mind. First of all, it could be used as a huge oil tank, that made sense for a port area. But it would have looked a bit dull, just one single pale colour and rust all over. I thought it could be something more. How about a building?

One single colour and spray dirt all over. Dull

Yup. I see a building over there. Trust me :P

I didn't really need this to be particularly shiny or professional looking. In the best Rogue Trader tradition I'm just using whatever junk I have at home and turning it into something useful on the board.

I painted raw blue on the parts meant to be windows and added just one professional bit to the mix: One of the really nice doors from the Trash Bash Sci-Fi Doors Kickstarter by Robebeast. Recipe for success. That tiny bit makes the difference, trust me.

Begin to look like something?

I was a little worried about the floor height, it's slightly smaller than actually required for 28mm. scale, but this being this kind of project, I really didn't care that much about accuracy, it's simply a way of having a cheap building with an unusual shape to give variety to the board.

Then all I had to do was painting some naive, comic-book like glass effect and paint the door. I could have added some more shapes, cardboard stuff or whatever, but this was enough for the experiment. What I indulged myself to do was a (cheap) advertising signal for the roof, as it looked too flat. I just copied the general design from a travel toothpaste kit I got on a travel to China some years ago, so it also fits into Firefly settings (one day... one day...). Dual-use material, I never do random stuff:

Please, any Chinese speaking reader out there, indulge my puny attempt

This is for certain the cheapest building I have in all my collection. I know, totally amateur, but works for me, I think it will do its part on the board. Great news is that I can potentially have a full neighbourhood of these in a few more weeks! I can build a full town! Mwahahaha!

No, seriously, now that I'm in the mood for stuff like this, I've begun to see the potential of lots of stupid objects and boxes. I think you may want to embrace for the impact of a Diogenes attack...

You may want a doctor see that...

New Orkling creatures from the Space Riders KS :)

I've dared to paint Nurgle dedicated Orks. Though you can find that Orks, in the uneven case they turn apart from Gork and Mork and may be prone to worship a Chaos Power, it would be more likely Khorne, the God of war and bloodshed, but there are cases of Orks who turn their cult to other Powers, such as Nurgle, for example.

If you remember the Waaargh The Orks! book of old, there was a tale about that. Among the widely known Ork myths we can find The Hunt:

Gork and Mork go looking for a gigantic Squiggly beast and find it at the bottom of a huge cesspit. Also at the bottom of the cesspit is Nurgle, who has eaten all the Snotlings. Gork and ork clobber Nurgle so hard that he spews up all the Snotlings who are still alive. Nurgle shrinks and becomes a Squiggly beast. The Snotlings then turn the squig into a feast for Gork and Mork. This myth clearly represents the Ork triumph over Nurgle. The Orks have no fear of the realmss of Nurgle, and happily thrive on Squiggly beasts that breed in their cesspits.

So with that precedent, let's just talk about the minis!

Talk 'bout me!

The tentacle who wants to take over the world

The sculpts are great, as the rest of the kit. They instil pure charm. There really is a RT quality to them.

It's not easy bein' green

Yup, I'm supposed to look dirty

I've consciously avoided flash green for the flesh, and I kinda like the result. I'm used to painting that vibrant green for Orks and I think I'm keen to a change, I'm trying different tones and colours on the next ones.

High fiv... ehhm. High tentacles!

 I'm finding these Chaorks pretty fun. It's a shame I'm doing such a slow progress these days, I'm totally hooked up, hehe! Let's hope the weekend brings some spare time!

Stiff hunchmen

The title is graphic enough to describe what you're going to see today. Not the long-suffering, loyal Stormtroopers (they will have their day too, don't worry), but the way more elitist Imperial Guard and some Imperial Officers.

Little to say about the Imperial Guard, I'm afraid. The minis don't allow any conversion at all, so I just did a quick paintjob and that's all:

Vive l'Empereur! Ooops, not that Imperial Guard

I promise, in hand you can see the highlights better. Sigh.

Not Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard either

The Officers were a little bit more rewarding, as at least they allowed me some conversions.

Yes, most definitely the droids went over there

Nothing too complicated, of course, just simple repositioning of heads and arms, that's all, but at least they now look different. Now that they are finished I come to regret my work on them. I should have painted one or two in black uniform, to depict NCO.s, and/or Stormtroopers Officers. I won't be repainting them anytime soon, but the idea is there...

Free interpretation on The Three Graces theme. Or Imperial command organization, not sure

Not a big progress I'm afraid, but these minis just allowed me to paint something quick during the week, which has proven quite busy!! I'm doing my best to keep my painting mojo up!