So we're back!

Did a stock take today to see what I've got, and this was what it looked like:

The stuff in blue is from a second hand haul I grabbed when I picked up my Swarm-Master, and will need to be stripped before painting.

To save your eyes, included are:

10 Colonial Marines
14 Marines
3 Marine Casualties
21 SWAT
10 EBS Cyclos
14 Cyclos
6 Predator Marines
8 Talos
1 Helcat
1 Storm Strider
1 Tiger APC

4 War-Masters
31 Warriors
14 Hybrids
27 Helions
2 Heavy Spore Launchers

Phew!

Think I may start with the Cyclos as they're already based and primed - path of least resistance and all that. Then, who knows!

More Progress

The latest addition to the swarm is complete - more Helions:

I'd forgotten how simple these are to paint - almost relaxing you could say - which is a good job because I've got another sixty odd that'll need painting at some point.


Next up for paint will be the last Cyclos needed to complete the cention. Thanks to some very prompt service from Scotia, I have these all based and primed and ready to go. Once they're done, I've got a couple of options of what to move onto - either a strider for my SWAT or some Predator marines.

I've treated myself to a fancy new airbrush to deal with all the armour I'm planning on adding to the SWAT platoon, so I'm keen to break that out and have a bash at the strider.


Hopefully back soon with a completed cention!

I told you I was back

What's this? Two updates in two weeks? Surely not. I'll be turning into a regular blogger at this rate.

So on picking up the brushes again, I went right back to my comfort zone and painted up another unit of cyclos. And do you know what? I really enjoyed it.

 

Nothing earth-shattering, but it does bring me another step closer to finishing off the cention. Just 14 figures left and it's done, so I'll be placing the order for those later today. While I'm waiting, these will be next.

There'll be more interesting stuff in due course, but for now I'm happy enough to just be enjoying painting again.

More soon. I promise!

Talos Variants

Apologies for the lack of posts, but I'm back!

Had these sitting on the desk semi-finished for ages, and finally got them done.

Top to bottom we've got the Mad Dog, Howler, and Pointman heads. To be honest, the sculpts aren't in the same league as the originals, but they had to be done for completeness. I'm also not sure of the wisdom of equiping a unit for close combat against a race that specialises in tearing things apart at close quarters, but there you go.

More as and when.

Small SWAT update

Hi All. My painting mojo seems to have returned and I've banged out another few marines:

These new additions bring the platoon up to 22.


Heavy weapons next, then some armour!

More SWAT

Hi all, and first off apologies for the lack of updates this year. I had a brush with real life at the end of January which has affected my painting time lately, but now I'm back with a few pics to show.

The SWAT platoon has had its numbers bolstered a little:

Next up for these guys are a few more marines, then heavy weapons and vehicles.

I've also just received some Predator marines, which will either be added to this force, or see service with the CBU Cention.

More soon - hopefully!

Dipping

I've been reading plenty of things around the web lately about "dipping" miniatures in order to get a speedy paint-job, so I thought I'd post about that this week as this is the method I use to paint my Kryomek figures.

Dipping involves using a coloured stain all over the figure in order to give highlighting and shading without actually having to do any. There are plenty wood varnishes available fairly cheaply to do this, but I went with the Army painter range, because I've basically got better things to do with my time than compare different makes and colours of varnish. (Yes, I know I could save a few pennies and it's basically rebadged Ronseal, but it works for me and the tin looks nice)

First thing to do is block in the base colours. One thing to remember is to go for a shade lighter than you want for the finished figure as the dip will darken it considerably.

Next up, splash on the dip. Some people actually dip the whole mini in the can (hence the name) but I find using a bruch gives much more control, and much less waste. You'll need an old brush for this as the stain will kill brushes. It's also messy and a bit smelly. Leave it for a few minutes, then go back and soak up any excess where the stain is pooling.

At this stage, you may be tempted to cry, or at least curse me for having talked you into covering your cherished miniatures in sticky brown gloop, but fear not - give them 24 hours to set and hit them with a matt varnish.

Last thing to do is add details and a bit of flock and you're done. Obviously, you can take it further by adding in extra highlights, but I call them finished.

If you want to go super-speedy, you can start off with a coloured primer. I use bone on my bugs, again from Army Painter.

These guys aren't going to win any awards, but they look fine in table-vision and the method allows you to plow through a large number of figures fairly quickly.

Hope this has been of use.

Better Helcat Pics

Just a quickie today - I was able to get some better shots of the Helcats over the weekend.

Top to bottom - Cerberus, Fury, Loki.

More Gallery Shots

More pictures of the Kryomek range. The aim is to eventually get done everthing ever released for the game, but that may take some time! Again, thanks must go to Jon at Scotia-Grendel for his retouching.

I hope you approve.

A Great Big One (update)

Well hello, and apologies for the lack of action. Now we're getting to autumn proper, there'll be a lot more going on - I promise!

But in my absence, I have been pretty busy, so here's what's new.

I've been quite active on Ebay lately, and after months of searching I've managed to track down a Swarm-Master for the fledgling swarm. When it arrived, I was quite taken aback with just how massive it is!

It's going to need stripping back and some repairing, but it's going to make a great centre-piece for the army when done. I've also been picking up quite a few of the smaller critters - 80+ assorted Warmasters, Warriors, Helions and Drones at the last count! - so I've certainly got my work cut out.

The cyclos are slowly nearing completion, with just 29 infantry left to be painted for the cention to finished.

And finally, I've started off a platoon of CBUs.

This one will be a bit of a slow burner until I get the convicts finished, but I'll be looking to expand it with Interdict Marines, Walkers, and (maybe) Jet-bikes.

More updates soon.

Updated Walkers

Greetings, and apologies for the lack of post lately. I've been away for a well deserved holiday, and really lacked any kind of painting mojo on my return. But it's back! And I've finished repainting the Raven striders for the cention.

To be honest, I'd forgotten what a pig these guys are to put together. They'll all metal and very heavy, so they need some careful balancing in assembly. There's also lots of pinning, and still the legs were a nightmare. But they're done!

I'll have an update on the swarm soon as I've just won a very exciting auction.

Photo Magic

I'm a very happy cat today as Jon over at Scotia-Grendel has just added some of my work to their website - fame at last! I needed to do some better photos, which he went on to doctor, and I'm really pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy them as well.

I've also received some great news for all Kryomek and Void players, but if I told you I'd have to kill you. Don't worry - I'll be spilling the beans in the near future.

More later.

Additions to the Motor Pool

Finished up some much needed heavy support for the convicts last night. So here we have an assault gun and a rocket launcher.

Next up the guard squad for the cention command.

Laters

The Cention So Far

I was able to dig out the convicts over the weekend and able to get some group shots. I hope you approve!

Next up will be a couple of support vehicles - a heavy mortar and a MLRS.