Three Mekboyz walk into a Gargant...

 After this strange Summer break, let's go back to some classics! Orks, for example!

I had a couple of Mekboyz (graceful donation by Iain from Caveadsum 1471) pending, and I also recovered this other ooold one I painted long years ago, when the Earth was young.

The Three Amigos

So you see, three Mekboyz walk into a Gargant.

First one says "She needs moar flama"...

...so he adds a giant flamer.

The second one says "Oh, but she needs moar dakka and kutta"...

...so he adds a giant saw and some real big guns.

The third one says "Bah, she needs moar punchy stuff"...

....then he adds giant steam-powered maces and some dreadful engines.

They peacefully sit and contemplate their work. Then one says...

"Hum, boyz, we don't even have a Gargant ta stick all dis stuff on"

Well, yes, I know, I have to learn to tell jokes.

Anyway, now I have some Mekaniaks, which are essential for any Warboss with some self-respect. Now I can think of adding weird vehicles and guns.

But I think I may do some different stuff before. Beware, a new project is coming...

The Knight's Quest

 A radical change today, both in subject and work! You've seen that I've been keeping a slow pace for a few months. You know, real life events and rest of boring stuff. I hope that things will begin to come back to normal in the next weeks (whatever "normal" means these days!).

While I haven't been able to paint as much as I would have liked, I've managed to draw a little bit again. I didn't have much materials, but my old reliable pencil and a ballpen were all I needed.

The initial sketch isn't that much impressive, so I think I'll show the final result first and then I'll go through the step by step:

Old school drawing

The story behind is quite short. I've been out of home for work and wasn't able to travel with minis and paints. But I just couldn't stay idle. So one day I came out with this doodle on a tiny notebook:

You can tell the pic is mine because there is a lamp in the back. Unintended treadmark

That day I didn't have any regular A4 sheet of paper at hand, but I found this huge A3 calendar in the office and I said to myself: "hey, I've never worked on such a big paper, let's give it a try".

So you know, Fortune favours the bold (or, in my case, the fool). I got the A3 to the hotel and started with the pencils:

You can't really see a damn thing, I don't blame you

Oh, some more definition

Hmm, close enough to the idea

I always used to work with some technical pens of different line widths, but I didn't have any, so I used a ballpen. Fortunately working on a A3 means I didn't have to be too afraid of different line widths, as I could work better with such a large area.

And there we go!

Slow progress day by day

Ballpen for scale. That's the tool I used

Now I think you can finally get a glimpse of the composition

I was so scared of screwing it all with the sky that I left it for the end

Oh, different hotel, so different table

Final shot!

I won't claim I did anything original or good. This was simply my way back to drawing after long years of not having touched a pencil, and a way to fill in lost hours between hotels while working far from home. As soon as I got my eye on the A3 calendar sheet I knew the kind of project I wanted; something crowded, with one main action to focus on and maybe another one on the back. I was of course heavily influenced by the illustrations of old by mighty Tony Ackland or Tony Hough (Not that I'm claiming to compare to them, of course!!) and so I tried to fill everything. You know, horror vacui and all that.

Well, I was enormously rusty, but all in all, I'm happy of having met the pencil and pen again. It provided me an enormous amount of joy and relax, and that's all I ask of the hobby!

 

Maximum resolution I can provide!

Now that I'm back home again I'm going back to regular minis and stuff. I don't know if I'll draw again anytime soon, but I'll let you know if that happens!

Trade is trade

 Final installment in the Astropolis project! While most of the minis in this kickstarter are mechanics or tech support of some kind (except the minis I used as Imperial Guard), these others have quite a different look. The first two are labeled as 'merchants'. Honestly, I think that if I had painted them red and added a Machina Opus or whatever, I could have made them pass as Mechanicus Adepts. But at the time I really wanted to change subject and in the end I went for the merchant idea.

So totally not-red colours! They needed to be somehow opulent, different form the rest of the bunch, kind of out of place, being outworlders coming to bargain or whatever.

He can also practice kendo if needed

Lady Olenna Tyrell after the grimdark filter

You see, they both are relatively versatile minis, but I think they work fine this way.

Oops, I hadn't discovered until this very moment that I had missed a bracelet. Will solve that

The thing is that having merchants gave me the excuse to paint the last two minis. Of course Xenos are not tolerated within the Imperium of Mankind. But you know, living in the Eastern Fringe can be hard, far from the Light of the Astronomican. Imperial authorities are not always watching, and even foul Xenos can trade some interesting stuff from time to time. So it's not that strange that weird alien species can come and visit, making the black market thrive.

It would have been fun to paint these in cold colours, kind of Sulley in Monsters, Inc., but I didn't see myself making it work, so in the end I opted for a classical Chewbacca scheme, just the way I did long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

These guys are like half Wookies, half Ithorians

Then I emphasised the Star Wars theme as much as I could, there was no point in hiding it

In the end it looks like trading is good for everyone:

"You got the stuff?" "It depends, you got the money?"

So I can happily declare the Astropolis project closed! Hooray! Besides, life is going back to normal, so I think I can afford to spend a little bit more time on the hobby. I don't even know what will I do next, but I'm delving into my pending projects boxes. For sure something will come up...

Mech Droids

 I know that, given the title, you may legitimately be expecting some R2 units today. Well, I'll try to make up for the broken expectations with some cool models from the Astropolis KS.

Today I'm bringing the bots, some pretty cute models, I have to say. However, even being so lovely, at first I was quite unsure of what to do with them. I mean, I don't see an obvious function they can perform, and for a moment I considered taking them down to bits and using them for conversions. But it was just a second, I really couldn't chop them down, they are simply too cute. So I just painted them!

Beep booop

They have quite a strong DUM-series pit droid (you know, the mech droids from The Phantom Menace) vibe to me, which makes them adorable, of course.

This droid shows more tiredness than any human-like mini I've ever seen

On the other hand, this guy is super happy

And this other one looks pretty pensive

What I'm saying is that these little fellas are super expressive, even without a face, or two of them even without arms! They are quite memorable sculpts in their simplicity.

I'd love to understand the conversation they are having

I could have added a lot more details, I guess,and I'm not happy with the light effect, but on the whole I think they work and will look nice on the board. By the way, if the Adeptus Mechanicus asks, they are servo skulls with reinforced armour and enhanced functionalities. Just in case.

Splatta Kannon

 A short pause in the Astropolis project so I can offer something different today :)

The title says it all, I've repainted my old Splatta Kannon. I didn't take a pic of the 'before' stage, as I took for granted I had an archive pic, but now that I'm posting it all I've realised I haven't. Well, I guess it's better for you, it was painted like in 1995 or 96 by the very younger me. No comment.

So new paintjob!

The original gun was painted in Bad Moon Clan colours. I really liked it, so this time I simply updated my previous work, didn't really innovate. I fortunately kept the yellow primer from the Gargant.

I can do a whole Bad Moon Waaagh!

So I replicated the work, but at this little scale. I used Iyanden Yellow Contrast paint as an ink:

I'm using a Contrast as an ink. You can expect anything from me!

Then I made the black fames and Orky stuff:

Orky stuff!

I mean, it's quite a basic scheme (and paintjob!), but I honestly need no more.

A pic from another angle

I also repainted the little gunnerz, but it also was quite a quick paintjob:

Da little gunnerz

So in the end I came to this result:

Da Splatta Kannon!

Boom boom dakka dakka

The model is really great, but I've always thought it really doesn't depict the supposed concept, not even remotely. I mean, here I can see quite a functional big gun, with proper ammo and a decent design. However, the description states that "it is a cannon which fires a splatta shell, named so because of the irregular way it travels across the battlefield. The shell consists of several linked rockets attached to a chain with a large metal ball at the end. The initial rocket is launched and the rest are fired on timers, giving it a particularly unpredictable trajectory.The ball and chain whip across the battlefield, slashing through anything it hits before crashing to the ground. A few moments later the next rocket fires and launches the chain and ball in another direction. It also has the effect to scatter ground troops due to its irregular movements".

I mean, I expect something different after that read. Something more... Orky, I don't know. Whatever, I do love the model.

Here you have the current state of my Orkdnance:

Oh, I should have put the Gretchin crew on separate bases! Didn't remember I did that with the catapult

Well, until I solve that, they're staying like that.

The Waaagh! grows!

Assistant crew

Tech Priests and novices require assistance from menial workers who can deal with basic procedures and help with Servitors. These workers can be later initiated in the rites of the Omnissiah or keep on doing their jobs for life.

He looks bossy

His companion looks a little bit creepy, but it's not his fault

I could have painted this mini as a regular worker with the rest of the batch of my previous post, but the pose, the attitude, the face... Everything convinced me to paint him as a Servitor.

Checking on his soldering iron. Looks safe

I'm unsure of what function does this Servitor fulfil, but he looks cool anyway.

Edward Whateverhands

If I was unsure about that one, wait a minute and see this other one:

I bet it is a Chimp Servitor

Well, this post is getting more and more confusing with each pic. The last mini today... well, I didn't see this coming, promise.

At least as qualified as any other member of the crew

I really didn't have the time to take a pic of all of them beside a ship, but t least here you have them all:

Still baffled about the pig?

Searching for truffles is a Mechanicus authorised task, apparently

Using such a restricted palette helped me to save a lot of time. It gives them a sense of coherence and ties them into the theme, so I'm happy with the time/result ratio.

Not that many Astropolis minis left. Just saying...

Mechanic grafters

 Though of course the Adeptus Mechanicus does run the monopoly of technology around the Imperium, there is a number of menial works that don't usually draw the attention of a tech priest, nor even a novice. The crews of ships need to have some most basic skills, as not every spaceship in the galaxy can afford to have a Mechanicus Adept on board.

Such certified mechanics thrive all over the galaxy, specially on remote worlds, where the grasp of the Omnissiah is not that firm. Though they can barely do anything more complex than refuelling small vehicles or basic nut-screwing, they are essential for the survival of civilization, as they can patch ships up or make elemental repairings on infraestructure, until a more qualified hand can arrive to take over the situation.

More qualified? I'm the boss here!

In places like the Eastern Fringe, pilots and captains, as well as local dwellers, tend to address these rogue professionals, as they are way more approachable than the Adepts of Mars, or even sometimes they are the only option available in the middle of nowhere. It is said that some of them have amassed knowledge enough through the years to enable them to make more complex works that not always the Adeptus Mechanicus would gladly approve. They might agree to improve your ship... for a price.

Whatever, but I want my ship fixed, I'm in a hurry

They all need to be authorised by the Adeptus Mechanicus to perform their duties, and are usually monitorised by an Adept when available.

However, they can handle minor repairings on their own

Not authorised to screw smaller nuts

I didn't see the point of painting these red or pretend them to be Mechanicus-like or whatever, as I did with these other fellas. They had a totally different vibe, so I painted them in earthy colours:

Come on, people, the client is waiting!

This pic would make much more sense if they were looking at a ship or something

O, fine noblemen, would you assist this errant knight?

These Astropolis minis are a real treat, so expect the rest of them during the next weeks!