But anyway, WIP pics. He's blue. His trim is red, since he was originally a member of the Third Company. I'll be giving the different squad members trim from a few companies, to represent the cobbled together nature of the squad.
Friday, 12 July 2013
An Ultramarine Ultramarine; WIP space marine
Not much to report today, just some WIP pics of the first marine. Can't say I'm loving painting him, after the sheer joy of painting the RBG zombies, it's hard to get back to the grind of a model full of nooks and crannies. I like the elegant simplicity of models like the zombies, you don't have to fight the model to paint it, it's simply a canvas to work with.
But anyway, WIP pics. He's blue. His trim is red, since he was originally a member of the Third Company. I'll be giving the different squad members trim from a few companies, to represent the cobbled together nature of the squad.
But anyway, WIP pics. He's blue. His trim is red, since he was originally a member of the Third Company. I'll be giving the different squad members trim from a few companies, to represent the cobbled together nature of the squad.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Braaaiiinsss; some zombies escape the Red Box
Expecting Space Marines? Nope! What then? MERCS? Warmachine? Mass Effect? Historicals?
Nooooope, ZOMBIES!
Trust me, we're only scratching the surface of my list of armies and projects... I'm giving my mate Staz Matt a run for the title of biggest hobby butterfly lol.
Anyway, I was missing the joys of batch painting, after all these single minis I've been working on. That might sound strange, most painters hate the grind of batch painting, but I find it enjoyable, so long as the models aren't overly complex - pouches, belts and buckles give me nightmares.
Last year I backed Red Box Games' first Kickstarter project, producing a bunch of Tre Manor's amazing sculpts in plastic. Unfortunately the project turned into something of a disaster for Tre, who finished sculpting all the models last year, but couldn't deliver many of the rewards until the last month or so, due to the guy doing all the casting for him being slow and having terrible quality control. Not Tre's fault, and I at least was content to wait. My pretty plastic pieces showed up last month, and I've been slowly putting them together. Overall, the cast quality isn't great, air bubbles mostly, but there hasn't been anything a tiny bit of GS doesn't fix, and quite a few casts have no flaws at all. The sculpts, at least, are every bit as gorgeous as I knew they would be - Tre's models always have so much character and charm, his sculpting style reminds me a little of the great Paul Bonner's artwork.
So, wanting a fun batch of models to batch paint tonight, I cleaned up and primed one set of nine zombies. I got two of these sets as freebies with my order, and they're very nice minis. I highly recommend them for any fantasy skirmish/RPG that needs some brain munchers. 5/9 of the models are wearing trousers too, and could fit into a modern setting nicely.
The models are a little on small/frail side, compared to usual beefy warrior models, but this seems reasonable for the corpses of random peasants/villagers.
With painting them, I've tried to vary the flesh tones while keeping them looking dead. I'm very happy with how the flesh has turned out, let me know what you think of it. I didn't go too heavy on the gore, since I wanted to keep the paintjob largely intact.
Oh, and ignore the still-drying white glue on the bases. I'm impatient...
Now, enough waffle, time for pics. As an aside, the red robed dude is the village priest, while the beefy blue cloak is a blacksmith. Figured I'd add some character to the horde.
"The lowliest form of undead creature is the thrall. Animated corpses of the freshly slain, these soulless creatures have no intellect or willpower, and will mindlessly follow a necromancer's orders. They are not inherently aggressive, and if uncontrolled will often wander aimlessly until rotting away. When under the power of a necromancer, they form an unflinching wall of corpses between him and any would be attackers, though their dead hands and stiff jaws provide little offensive threat."
As always, feedback appreciated.
~ Alex/Magos
Nooooope, ZOMBIES!
Trust me, we're only scratching the surface of my list of armies and projects... I'm giving my mate Staz Matt a run for the title of biggest hobby butterfly lol.
Anyway, I was missing the joys of batch painting, after all these single minis I've been working on. That might sound strange, most painters hate the grind of batch painting, but I find it enjoyable, so long as the models aren't overly complex - pouches, belts and buckles give me nightmares.
Last year I backed Red Box Games' first Kickstarter project, producing a bunch of Tre Manor's amazing sculpts in plastic. Unfortunately the project turned into something of a disaster for Tre, who finished sculpting all the models last year, but couldn't deliver many of the rewards until the last month or so, due to the guy doing all the casting for him being slow and having terrible quality control. Not Tre's fault, and I at least was content to wait. My pretty plastic pieces showed up last month, and I've been slowly putting them together. Overall, the cast quality isn't great, air bubbles mostly, but there hasn't been anything a tiny bit of GS doesn't fix, and quite a few casts have no flaws at all. The sculpts, at least, are every bit as gorgeous as I knew they would be - Tre's models always have so much character and charm, his sculpting style reminds me a little of the great Paul Bonner's artwork.
So, wanting a fun batch of models to batch paint tonight, I cleaned up and primed one set of nine zombies. I got two of these sets as freebies with my order, and they're very nice minis. I highly recommend them for any fantasy skirmish/RPG that needs some brain munchers. 5/9 of the models are wearing trousers too, and could fit into a modern setting nicely.
The models are a little on small/frail side, compared to usual beefy warrior models, but this seems reasonable for the corpses of random peasants/villagers.
With painting them, I've tried to vary the flesh tones while keeping them looking dead. I'm very happy with how the flesh has turned out, let me know what you think of it. I didn't go too heavy on the gore, since I wanted to keep the paintjob largely intact.
Oh, and ignore the still-drying white glue on the bases. I'm impatient...
Now, enough waffle, time for pics. As an aside, the red robed dude is the village priest, while the beefy blue cloak is a blacksmith. Figured I'd add some character to the horde.
"The lowliest form of undead creature is the thrall. Animated corpses of the freshly slain, these soulless creatures have no intellect or willpower, and will mindlessly follow a necromancer's orders. They are not inherently aggressive, and if uncontrolled will often wander aimlessly until rotting away. When under the power of a necromancer, they form an unflinching wall of corpses between him and any would be attackers, though their dead hands and stiff jaws provide little offensive threat."
As always, feedback appreciated.
~ Alex/Magos
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Omega Symbols for Everyone; more detailing of space marines
Not much to report here, just a few more pics as I continue adding detail to the squad. I'm making these idea up as I go along, but so far haven't had too many disasters. The omega symbols are quite easy to make, a lot easier than sculpting them certainly. I just use a thin slice of plastic tube , cut the top off it and then cut that cutoff in half to make the 'ears'. If people are interested I'll make a small tutorial.
Pennants are cool, or not?
My favourite detail so far, I added a power pack to the sergeant and hooked up his plasma pistol to it, makes it look much more serious as a weapon I think. Was a nerve racking procedure, making two seperate strands of wire line up with four separate points.
Thanks for viewing.
~ Alex/Magos
Edit: Oh, and for the lulz, here's a list of all the pieces I ordered for this project:
12 x 25MM ROUND BASE (MARINE) (BD01) = £0.84
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HEAD A (RCS41) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD POWER MAUL VARIANT (RCS24) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD B (RCS57) = £0.17
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD H (RCS63) = £0.17
2 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD LEFT ARM (RCS32) = £0.68
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD RIGHT ARM (RCS33) = £0.34
11 x SPACE MARINE REAR TORSO (SM84) = £1.87
2 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD MK7 BACK PACKS X5 (SM116) = £1.34
1 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER CHAINS SWORD D (TW21) = £0.34
1 x MKII CRUSADER ASSAULT LEGS A (FWHA22) = £1.68
1 x DEATH COMPANY BACK PACK E (DC15) = £0.34
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD TORSO A (BA07) = £0.50
1 x SPACE MARINE PISTOL IN HOLSTER COMMANDER (SM56COM) = £0.10
1 x SPACE MARINE VETERAN TORSO MK8 (SM93) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HELMET E (RCS45) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 STANDARD LEGS (SM109) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MASTER CRAFTED PLASMA PISTOL (SM04) = £0.13
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HANDLE BARS RIGHT (RCS30) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD & BIONIC ARM (SM22) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 CORVUS STUDDED SHOULDER PAD (SM78) = £1.01
20 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD STANDARD (SM117) = £0.60
1 x SPACE MARINE BACK PACK ICON "B" ULTRAMARINE (SM64) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE HEAD WITH GAS MASK (SM35) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE PLAIN TORSO "C" (SM87) = £0.39
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 COMMANDER LEGS (SM108) = £1.34
2 x SPACE MARINE FLAMER (SM46) = £0.68
1 x SPACE MARINE TERMINATOR HONOURS VETERAN SHOULDER PAD (SM69) = £0.10
2 x SPACE MARINE HERESY TORSO "D" (SM88) = £0.26
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD LEGS (SM114) = £1.00
2 x SPACE MARINE GRENADE HOLDING ARM (SM45) = £0.06
1 x DEATH COMPANY HEAD C (DC47) = £0.67
2 x SPACE MARINE KNEELING LEGS (SM110) = £2.34
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER A (DC35) = £0.34
5 x DEATH COMPANY LEFT BOLTER ARM (DC40) = £0.15
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD WITH LITURGY PLATE (SM71) = £0.20
1 x SPACE MARINE AQUILLA TORSO "A" (SM85) = £0.13
1 x DEATH COMPANY HELMET F (DC50) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK7 IMPROVED OPTICS (SM27) = £0.50
1 x FINE CAST STERNGUARD VET E (SMM05) = £4.02
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAMPION / CRUSADER HELMET (SM34) = £1.01
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD LEGS C (BA04) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE BOLT PISTOL WITH ARM LEFT HANDED (SM43LEFT) = £0.17
1 x CHAOS MARINE BOLT PISTOL D (CM47) = £0.17
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD POINTING CHARGE (SM20) = £0.67
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER PLASMA PISTOL (CMB26) = £0.17
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER LEGS D (CMB13) = £1.01
1 x KHORNE BERZERKER TORSO A (CMB14) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR CHAINSWORD C (CMR13) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR HELMET D (CMR28) = £0.67
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR ARM RIGHT (CMR36) = £0.13
2 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER BOLTER IN HOLSTER (TW29) = £1.34
1 x SPACE WOLF MARINE HEAD Q (SWP69) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE SKULL TORSO "B" (SM86) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD RIGHT HANDED (SM44RIGHT) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD HELMET (MIXED) (SM28) = £0.09
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD HEAD C (BA52) = £0.34
5 x SPACE MARINE KRAK GRENADE (SM54KRAK) = £0.35
10 x SPACE MARINE AUSPEX (SM62) = £0.30
3 x SPACE MARINE HEAVY BOLTER AMMO CRATE (SM68) = £0.39
5 x SPACE MARINE COMBAT KNIVES X2 (SM51) = £0.50
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER E (DC39) = £0.07
2 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER C (DC37) = £0.14
4 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD BOLTER (SM40) = £0.40
2 x SPACE MARINE PLASMA PISTOL WITH HAND (SM03) = £0.14
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD BOLT PISTOL D (RCS28) = £0.67
Must have given the poor store owner a headache fulfilling that one.
Pennants are cool, or not?
My favourite detail so far, I added a power pack to the sergeant and hooked up his plasma pistol to it, makes it look much more serious as a weapon I think. Was a nerve racking procedure, making two seperate strands of wire line up with four separate points.
Thanks for viewing.
~ Alex/Magos
Edit: Oh, and for the lulz, here's a list of all the pieces I ordered for this project:
12 x 25MM ROUND BASE (MARINE) (BD01) = £0.84
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HEAD A (RCS41) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD POWER MAUL VARIANT (RCS24) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD B (RCS57) = £0.17
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD SHOULDER PAD H (RCS63) = £0.17
2 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD LEFT ARM (RCS32) = £0.68
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD RIGHT ARM (RCS33) = £0.34
11 x SPACE MARINE REAR TORSO (SM84) = £1.87
2 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD MK7 BACK PACKS X5 (SM116) = £1.34
1 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER CHAINS SWORD D (TW21) = £0.34
1 x MKII CRUSADER ASSAULT LEGS A (FWHA22) = £1.68
1 x DEATH COMPANY BACK PACK E (DC15) = £0.34
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD TORSO A (BA07) = £0.50
1 x SPACE MARINE PISTOL IN HOLSTER COMMANDER (SM56COM) = £0.10
1 x SPACE MARINE VETERAN TORSO MK8 (SM93) = £0.67
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HELMET E (RCS45) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 STANDARD LEGS (SM109) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE MASTER CRAFTED PLASMA PISTOL (SM04) = £0.13
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD HANDLE BARS RIGHT (RCS30) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD & BIONIC ARM (SM22) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK6 CORVUS STUDDED SHOULDER PAD (SM78) = £1.01
20 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD STANDARD (SM117) = £0.60
1 x SPACE MARINE BACK PACK ICON "B" ULTRAMARINE (SM64) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE HEAD WITH GAS MASK (SM35) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE PLAIN TORSO "C" (SM87) = £0.39
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 COMMANDER LEGS (SM108) = £1.34
2 x SPACE MARINE FLAMER (SM46) = £0.68
1 x SPACE MARINE TERMINATOR HONOURS VETERAN SHOULDER PAD (SM69) = £0.10
2 x SPACE MARINE HERESY TORSO "D" (SM88) = £0.26
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD LEGS (SM114) = £1.00
2 x SPACE MARINE GRENADE HOLDING ARM (SM45) = £0.06
1 x DEATH COMPANY HEAD C (DC47) = £0.67
2 x SPACE MARINE KNEELING LEGS (SM110) = £2.34
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER A (DC35) = £0.34
5 x DEATH COMPANY LEFT BOLTER ARM (DC40) = £0.15
2 x SPACE MARINE MK7 SHOULDER PAD WITH LITURGY PLATE (SM71) = £0.20
1 x SPACE MARINE AQUILLA TORSO "A" (SM85) = £0.13
1 x DEATH COMPANY HELMET F (DC50) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE MK7 IMPROVED OPTICS (SM27) = £0.50
1 x FINE CAST STERNGUARD VET E (SMM05) = £4.02
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAMPION / CRUSADER HELMET (SM34) = £1.01
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD LEGS C (BA04) = £0.67
1 x SPACE MARINE BOLT PISTOL WITH ARM LEFT HANDED (SM43LEFT) = £0.17
1 x CHAOS MARINE BOLT PISTOL D (CM47) = £0.17
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD POINTING CHARGE (SM20) = £0.67
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER PLASMA PISTOL (CMB26) = £0.17
1 x KHORNE BESZERKER LEGS D (CMB13) = £1.01
1 x KHORNE BERZERKER TORSO A (CMB14) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR CHAINSWORD C (CMR13) = £0.34
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR HELMET D (CMR28) = £0.67
1 x CHAOS RAPTOR ARM RIGHT (CMR36) = £0.13
2 x THUNDER WOLF RIDER BOLTER IN HOLSTER (TW29) = £1.34
1 x SPACE WOLF MARINE HEAD Q (SWP69) = £0.34
1 x SPACE MARINE SKULL TORSO "B" (SM86) = £0.13
1 x SPACE MARINE CHAIN SWORD RIGHT HANDED (SM44RIGHT) = £0.17
3 x SPACE MARINE MK7 STANDARD HELMET (MIXED) (SM28) = £0.09
1 x SANGUINARY GUARD HEAD C (BA52) = £0.34
5 x SPACE MARINE KRAK GRENADE (SM54KRAK) = £0.35
10 x SPACE MARINE AUSPEX (SM62) = £0.30
3 x SPACE MARINE HEAVY BOLTER AMMO CRATE (SM68) = £0.39
5 x SPACE MARINE COMBAT KNIVES X2 (SM51) = £0.50
1 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER E (DC39) = £0.07
2 x DEATH COMPANY BOLTER C (DC37) = £0.14
4 x SPACE MARINE STANDARD BOLTER (SM40) = £0.40
2 x SPACE MARINE PLASMA PISTOL WITH HAND (SM03) = £0.14
1 x RAVENWING COMMAND SQUAD BOLT PISTOL D (RCS28) = £0.67
Must have given the poor store owner a headache fulfilling that one.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
The Emperor Wills It; a brief trip to the dark side, 40k
One out of left field today guys, just keeping you on your toes.
Yesterday a bits order I made a week or two ago arrived, and I dived right into assembling ~150 plastic pieces into 11 space marines. Yes, yes, that's right, space marines.
I guess I haven't really spelled it out on here before, but yes, I'm an ex-GW player, who moved on to the wonderful wider world of wargaming many years ago, and I've since given very few of my hard earned pesos to the evil overlords of gaming. Mostly because I just really don't like the games. Pretty models (and ugly ones), but the prices are also pretty discouraging here in Aus.
Anyway, don't worry, I'm long over the holier-than-thou anti-GW ranting phase, and while I don't play, I still follow the 40k/WFB news. Recently I've been tempted to try some skirmish 40k. Killteam-ish, but with a few more points and a few less restrictions I suppose. We'll see if this goes anywhere, it's a low priority right now.
But anyway, a few weeks ago a bits store had a sale, and I picked up a customised set of pieces to make a slightly more characterful squad of marines than the standard tactical box would allow. It only cost $60 for all 11 too, so cheap enough for me to not feel guilty about the diversion of funds.
The list is themed around an Ultramarine force in the aftermath of the Battle for Macragge - heavy casualties have forced makeshift squads made up of survivors, all of whom have seen enough combat to be considered 'veteran' in normal standards. The disorganisation and losses have made strict Codex adherence difficult, and marines like these will eventually end up forming the Tyrannic War veteran squads.
I used the Space Wolf codex for rules, simply because I like the flexibility and character it offers. In total, it's 250pts, made up of:
PA Lone Wolf - bolt pistol and power maul
10 Grey Hunters - 2x flamers, power fist, plasma pistol, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard
250pts
Enough waffling though, time for some pics. I meant to post the first half of the squad I'd assembled last night, but ended up simply building more instead of taking pics. So this post will be pic heavy, as all 10 GH are now done. The lone wolf is still in progress, needing more conversion than the rest. All of them are still 'WIP', as I will continue adding detail until I'm satisfied.
Sergeant - plasma pistol
Vexillarius - wolf standard (possibly my favourite of the lot)
Demi-sergeant - power fist
Marine - flamer
Marine - flamer (yes, yes that is a scoped flamer. Sometimes you just want to watch the Xenos burn up close)
Marine - mark of the wulfen
Marine - comms
Ordinary brothers -
Finally, wip of Brother Champion Heraklion - power maul and finger of doom
Phew, LOTS of pics. Hopefully you like what you see. I've tried to give each marine some character and personality, with bits from the standard, blood angel, dark angel, chaos and space wolf ranges, plus I plan of trying to sculpt some more details on them as well. I'm no sculptor though...
Let me know what you think. Not sure how soon I'll get around to painting these bad boys, but if people like them, it'll be that much sooner!
~ Alex/Magos
Yesterday a bits order I made a week or two ago arrived, and I dived right into assembling ~150 plastic pieces into 11 space marines. Yes, yes, that's right, space marines.
I guess I haven't really spelled it out on here before, but yes, I'm an ex-GW player, who moved on to the wonderful wider world of wargaming many years ago, and I've since given very few of my hard earned pesos to the evil overlords of gaming. Mostly because I just really don't like the games. Pretty models (and ugly ones), but the prices are also pretty discouraging here in Aus.
Anyway, don't worry, I'm long over the holier-than-thou anti-GW ranting phase, and while I don't play, I still follow the 40k/WFB news. Recently I've been tempted to try some skirmish 40k. Killteam-ish, but with a few more points and a few less restrictions I suppose. We'll see if this goes anywhere, it's a low priority right now.
But anyway, a few weeks ago a bits store had a sale, and I picked up a customised set of pieces to make a slightly more characterful squad of marines than the standard tactical box would allow. It only cost $60 for all 11 too, so cheap enough for me to not feel guilty about the diversion of funds.
The list is themed around an Ultramarine force in the aftermath of the Battle for Macragge - heavy casualties have forced makeshift squads made up of survivors, all of whom have seen enough combat to be considered 'veteran' in normal standards. The disorganisation and losses have made strict Codex adherence difficult, and marines like these will eventually end up forming the Tyrannic War veteran squads.
I used the Space Wolf codex for rules, simply because I like the flexibility and character it offers. In total, it's 250pts, made up of:
PA Lone Wolf - bolt pistol and power maul
10 Grey Hunters - 2x flamers, power fist, plasma pistol, mark of the wulfen, wolf standard
250pts
Enough waffling though, time for some pics. I meant to post the first half of the squad I'd assembled last night, but ended up simply building more instead of taking pics. So this post will be pic heavy, as all 10 GH are now done. The lone wolf is still in progress, needing more conversion than the rest. All of them are still 'WIP', as I will continue adding detail until I'm satisfied.
Sergeant - plasma pistol
Vexillarius - wolf standard (possibly my favourite of the lot)
Demi-sergeant - power fist
Marine - flamer
Marine - flamer (yes, yes that is a scoped flamer. Sometimes you just want to watch the Xenos burn up close)
Marine - mark of the wulfen
Marine - comms
Ordinary brothers -
Finally, wip of Brother Champion Heraklion - power maul and finger of doom
Phew, LOTS of pics. Hopefully you like what you see. I've tried to give each marine some character and personality, with bits from the standard, blood angel, dark angel, chaos and space wolf ranges, plus I plan of trying to sculpt some more details on them as well. I'm no sculptor though...
Let me know what you think. Not sure how soon I'll get around to painting these bad boys, but if people like them, it'll be that much sooner!
~ Alex/Magos
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Blueskinned Biotic Babe; Liara T'soni joins the Normandy crew
I figured while I'm on a Mass Effect kick I'd keep working on some of the other models I have for the project so far.
Liara T'soni was probably my least favourite ally in ME1, I just didn't really warm to her. In ME3, on the other hand, she's a kickass biotic, my default squadmate when taking on Cerberus, since singularity messes them up pretty good.
For her model, I knew I was going to use one of the Infinity females. When I found Gotthammer's blog, Collegia Titanica, I shamelessly ripped off was inspired by his choice of the Aleph Sophotect, so I feel it's only fair to give credit. You can see his conversion here: http://collegiatitanica.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/mass-effect-madness-movies-miniatures.html
The model is a pretty decent match to Liara's costume from ME2. For her head, I used a hairless female head and sculpted on the tentacles. This was pretty nervewracking, since sculpting is definitely not one of my natural talents. In the end they're a little on the bulky side, less tentacles and more dreadlocks. But there's the correct number and shape, so I'm satisfied.
Her colour scheme is two-tone white/grey, with blue trim. Not the best colours to work with, but I think she looks alright. The part I'm least happy with is her skin - blue skin is hard. My natural inclination would be to start with blue and mix in flesh tones to highlight, I've done this on my WM trollkin before. However asari skin is fairly flat blue. Hopefully she looks ok, let me know what you think.
I finished her and thought she looked a little plain, so I took a deep breath and attempted some biotic OSL. OSL is a technique I'm not very good at, and given the nature of it, it's pretty easy to ruin an entire paintjob if it messes up. In the end, it's not very noticeable, which might be good or bad.
Oh, and her weapon is an M23 Katana, both terrible, and a shotgun, which she can't technically wield... but it's the closest match to the Infinity weapon she's wielding.
Here she is next to Shepard. As you can see, Shepard is about the same height, but slimmer, than the Infinity sculpt.
Let me know what you think :)
~ Alex/Magos
Saturday, 6 July 2013
Putting some N7 back in this blog; a painted saviour of the galaxy
Been playing more Mass Effect after a couple months cheating with other video games. Feels so good to be delivering ass-kicking with my trusty Talon once again. Shotgun pistols FTW.
Anyway, way back when I started this blog I promised ME miniature goodness, and so far I've failed to deliver. I've not been idle on this front, however, having sunk way too much money into the Mantic Deadzone kickstarter, since the terrain from that looks perfect for building some ME inspired boards. I've also got some Mantic Enforcers on order to use as Cerberus troops. So things are happening slowly, I just don't have much to show for it yet.
But, determined to rectify this, tonight I knocked out my Northstar male Shepard. These models are REALLY nicely detailed, almost every panel line is present. The downside is that the detail is super shallow, which makes it hard to paint. Scale wise, the models are slightly on the tall side for heroic 28mm, but also much slimmer, with smaller heads and hands. They shouldn't look too out of place though. Hopefully Northstar will produce some more crew from the Normandy.
Overall I'm happy with how Shepard has turned out. He only took about two hours to paint, and there's not much more I feel I could do, though I did realise after taking photos that I hadn't finished his skin. Black/grey flat armour is pretty hard to make look good, it just ends up looking flat and plain. I've added what details there are, he has his N7 stripes and insignia, and I'm very pleased with how the glow effects turned out. His weapon is an M7 Lancer, slightly anachronistic considering it's supposed to be an archaic First Contact War weapon, but it's far superior to the bog standard M8 Avenger.
Macro photography is not kind to black :/
For reference, here's what the armour should look like:
Anyway, let me know what you think, I always appreciate feedback.
~ Alex/Magos
Anyway, way back when I started this blog I promised ME miniature goodness, and so far I've failed to deliver. I've not been idle on this front, however, having sunk way too much money into the Mantic Deadzone kickstarter, since the terrain from that looks perfect for building some ME inspired boards. I've also got some Mantic Enforcers on order to use as Cerberus troops. So things are happening slowly, I just don't have much to show for it yet.
But, determined to rectify this, tonight I knocked out my Northstar male Shepard. These models are REALLY nicely detailed, almost every panel line is present. The downside is that the detail is super shallow, which makes it hard to paint. Scale wise, the models are slightly on the tall side for heroic 28mm, but also much slimmer, with smaller heads and hands. They shouldn't look too out of place though. Hopefully Northstar will produce some more crew from the Normandy.
Overall I'm happy with how Shepard has turned out. He only took about two hours to paint, and there's not much more I feel I could do, though I did realise after taking photos that I hadn't finished his skin. Black/grey flat armour is pretty hard to make look good, it just ends up looking flat and plain. I've added what details there are, he has his N7 stripes and insignia, and I'm very pleased with how the glow effects turned out. His weapon is an M7 Lancer, slightly anachronistic considering it's supposed to be an archaic First Contact War weapon, but it's far superior to the bog standard M8 Avenger.
Macro photography is not kind to black :/
For reference, here's what the armour should look like:
Anyway, let me know what you think, I always appreciate feedback.
~ Alex/Magos
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
The Lady of the House; last of the FCC (for now)
Oh my, two weeks since my last update? Sorry about that.
Mostly just because I haven't been hobbying hard, work's been keeping me busy, and what I have been painting isn't too exciting until finished (terrain, why you so boring to paint?).
Anyway, it's high time for an update, and I never got around to posting pics of this lady, the FCC Housemaster. I painted her over a week ago, but here she is. Bit of a rush job, but she'll do. That ammo belt is such a stupid piece for a model, I know it's going to break off the moment someone looks at it wrong. Oh well.
Hopefully there'll be some new stuff coming soon, I have some pretty new models to paint (as if I didn't have enough...), and my Figure Art artbook by Roman Lappat and Raffaele Picca arrived today. Check these guys out on Massive Voodoo, if by some miracle you aren't already aware of their awesomeness. Two of the most talented painters in the world, and I was super thrilled to be able to back their crowdfunding campaign.
All the pretty pictures will hopefully get me inspired to wield the brushes again :)
~Alex/Magos
Mostly just because I haven't been hobbying hard, work's been keeping me busy, and what I have been painting isn't too exciting until finished (terrain, why you so boring to paint?).
Anyway, it's high time for an update, and I never got around to posting pics of this lady, the FCC Housemaster. I painted her over a week ago, but here she is. Bit of a rush job, but she'll do. That ammo belt is such a stupid piece for a model, I know it's going to break off the moment someone looks at it wrong. Oh well.
Hopefully there'll be some new stuff coming soon, I have some pretty new models to paint (as if I didn't have enough...), and my Figure Art artbook by Roman Lappat and Raffaele Picca arrived today. Check these guys out on Massive Voodoo, if by some miracle you aren't already aware of their awesomeness. Two of the most talented painters in the world, and I was super thrilled to be able to back their crowdfunding campaign.
All the pretty pictures will hopefully get me inspired to wield the brushes again :)
~Alex/Magos
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