Weekly Update #6 - 2/10/18

Didn't get any games in this week! Between working on the weekend, fighting off sickness (thanks Papa Nurgle), and a whole bunch of snow it just wasn't possible. That being said I did chop off a few heads in For Honor on PS4. Finally gave the game a go and it's got a lot of interesting game mechanics going on. Mostly just a brawl with various sharp objects but still takes a considerable amount of skill. 

While snowbound this weekend I did manage to get the finishing touches down on the Pusgoyle, Ole Horny Snail, and yet more Plaguebearers. 

Really hoping to get a game in with some of these pestilent creeps soon though the next couple month involve a lot of traveling away from home. Which means no access to minis to paint nor build nor pal around with! Here's hoping I manage to be able to paint when I come back to it in a few weeks. 

Weekly update #4 - 1/25/18

Nurgle! New Nurgle minis are really fun and I am excited to add them to my miniature forces. I picked up the new book and a couple boxes of Pusgoyle Blightlords. Just the name alone is worth it!

But before I can break them out of their plastic grey prisons I figured I should first finish building my horned gardener. A cool little model but I wanted to reduce/redirect the goofy eye powers and thus...

In the background you can see a few new Plaguebearers including a slight conversion of the standard. More about those guys next time out. I also managed to get a game of Gloomhaven in last week. Our 7th and 8th adventures out and Sledghe the Inox Brute is almost level 3!

Didn't manage to take down these two Inox Bodyguards though.... but the rest of the party did!

Weekly update #3 - 1/16/18

Where did that last week go? 

Really interesting colors out there in the wild

Spent most of it camping in a cabin here in MI. Got out and enjoyed the cold and snow then spent more time getting warm back in the cabin. It was a relaxing and peaceful time but did little to get any painting done. 

Did manage to get a bit of paint on some of the Malal force I have had on my desk off and on since last year. Really just want a reason to paint up these old Chaos minis with a few I added. Here is a Dragon I made out of a toy conversion. 

Here it is with a Chaos Lord on top made from another toy conversion. It was once white/glow in the dark. Now it is very dark. Grimdark even.

And here is some other guy pointing at something in a menacing way. Maybe he is picking  out toppings for his favorite chaotic sub sandwich? I tried to cover one half of his face with "tattoos" but I don't know that I was successful. 

Today I broke down and ordered a couple of the new Nurgle GW models. Specifically the fat guys flying on fat flies. And the new Rotbringers book. I also caved and backed the HATE Kickstarter because...

1. Adrian Smith

2. I like the comic and own that

3. Violence and skulls

4. Post apocalyptic low fantasy cannibals

I vow now that I will not buy any other minis this year (unless I do because you never know what you might come across and I have a taste for Oldhammer goodies). 

Progress Report 5/28/17 - 52 Minis week 19 through 21.

Those who lurk on this blog may have noticed my absence the past three weeks. It's been an eventful time but the majority of the past month was taken up with my best friend Udo who was in post cancer-surgery recovery. After coming through fine from the surgery we got the bad news... the cancer had moved to his lungs. He had just days to live. I spent as much time as I could with him before having to say goodbye. I miss him terribly.

RIP my hairy buddy

We're getting through each day but it has been tough. We knew Udo was getting old (he would have turned 11 this year) but we weren't expecting to go from healthy to dead in just a few short days. If  you have a hairy loved on of your own be sure and give them some pets and love. You won't regret it. 

I began collecting and painting miniatures (and blogging here) just shortly after we got Udo as a puppy. It's the end of an era! And while I will be happy to not have his long hair stuck in each and every mini I paint or assemble I would gladly trade that it for some more time laying around the house together. 

Spent time after Udo's passing rearranging the house. Flip flopped our bedroom and studio space and moved all of the miniature and gaming things into the studio. It's not a massive space but it now has all of my art supplies, PC, and minis in one place. I'm hoping it will lead to massive bouts of creativity! So far it hasn't but I think that is to be expected. 

Here are a couple minis for this update. I didn't finish 3 and one of these was already mostly done (and not totally painted by me) but I wanted to get them posted here. 

First up we have another Chaos Warrior of Malal. Not in love with this paint job though it gets the job done. 

And then there is this thing. I'm not going to give away too much yet... but let's just say I have my work cut out for me in the coming months for a new Blood Bowl event coming up in September:

Progress Report 4/30/17 - 52 Minis week 17

Done with my classes for the semester! While I wasn't completely happy with my final projects I did have some fun making them and they fulfilled the requirements of the assignments. Now to get back to the task of painting and assembling my ever growing miniatures collection for the summer months. One mini at a time!?

This time out we have another Nurgle Chaos Warrior looking for love and hugs. And heads. I'm happy enough with the look to keep it going on the remaining 14 minis at this point. 

Progress Report 4/16/17 - 52 Minis week 15 (oh Rat!)

Finishing up my current school semester and work is keeping me pretty busy right now. This week I only managed a little bit of painting. Here is a mostly finished (not the base nor the scroll) Plague Monk test model for my Pestilens AoS force.

Decided to go for the classic gross greens and browns for my rats. Partly so they will fit in with the Nurgle Daemons and Chaos force I am also building up. I might go for a brighter bruised purple look for the Plague Priest characters... I haven't given their backstory much of any thought.

Progress Report 3/31/17 - 52 Minis week 12 & 13 (Dog Bowl V)

I've been very busy with the work and school and homework and not really sleeping schedule though not so busy I can't update this here blog!! This time around you get two weeks in one!

Last last week was a fun bit of time painting the Nurgle Slugbeasts. Here are they in their not quite done glory (still need to add some gloss to them):

I had fun painting these squirmy old slug monsters. I hope they perform well on the table as they slime my enemies....

Speaking of performing well... it's that time again! Time for Dog Bowl! This is the 5th year I have run this event with Furry and if it's like every other year it will be a great time. I happy coaches seem to enjoy the "underdog" boosting rules for the tournament and I am happy to see them playing teams that often get no love in the "competitive" scene.

This year we also decided to do a fun little thematic Bloodbowl 7s match set in the Realm of Chaos. Depending on how it is received we might expand upon this for next year.

Hmm... I wonder what these two Chaos Warriors could be for? It seems they have something on their minds...

Oops! Or should I say Rats!?

Progress Report 3/4/17 - 52 Minis week 9 (more Malal)

Gotta have it. Gotta have more of that sweet, sweet, MALAL!!

I haven't really finished any backstory or fluff for this particular Chaos Warrior of Malal. He was a weapon snip/ex-Blood Bowl mini I saved from the pewter graveyard and gave new life. Added his sword and shield and painted him up in a decidedly black and white style to honor his patron deity. I really like the hidden layers of character on his mask and behind the shield. Menacing! 

Here is the group shot as it stands in the current progress... but we have some new additions on the way!

I picked this Chaos Chariot up in a trade some time ago and have struggled to find the right project for it (it doesn't look good with the newer Chaos minis). I slapped on a few extra bits and presto! We have some deadly wheeled reserves coming in for Malal. 

And what Malal force would be complete with out THE Daemon Prince. A mini I have been coveting for quite some time now...

You know him, you love him, but we won't use his name... because this will be a Daemon Prince of Malal and I don't know his name yet! This was the first larger "finecast" GW mini I have built and it went together very smoothly. The details look good though there were a few areas I had to clean up (on the tail mostly). 

But it's not all Daemon Princes around here! I'm running a game of Pathfinder tomorrow and felt inspired to bang up a quick mini for one of the players in the group. Behold... Frodsak the Half-Orc Ranger! 

Still finding ways to use my pile of Bones minis from a few years back. Added a couple small touches to make him more WYSIWIG and add some toughness. I've slapped a bit of paint on him since this photo but I don't have a new image to share. You'll just have to come back next time to see it all finished! Til then...

Progress Report 2/25/17 - 52 Minis week 8 (a bit of a cheat week)

Another week means another painted mini! Well... sort of. I re-based and added to three minis I had previously painted the last time I started working on a larger Malal themed Warriors of Chaos army (back in 2012? 2013??). So here are three of the newly touched up Horns of Malal! 

I touched up the warpaint and added a bit more black to make the contrast a little starker. I may go back and add a few more detail highlights on some of the hair but overall I'd say these are done. 

Spent a bit of time this past week transforming two different toys into one bad ass Chaos Lord on Manticore stand in model. Here are a few WIP photos of where that project is at:

Scale is pretty much perfect for a Manticore but it looks cooler I think. This plastic is glow in the dark which I was thinking of keeping in some areas but I am undecided as of yet. Got it for $15 and it's got a lot of detail. Added a few bits and presto! Just need to get it on a base next...

The Chaos Lord was some old DC toy of Darkseid. I chopped off his head and added some bits to make him a bit more "chaos" but I wanted to keep his folded arms and "I really don't give a shit.." pose. Seems to work well on the back of a big monster! 

Speaking of monsters... I built another Exalted Hero/Chaos Lord for the footsloggin' and choppin' needed in a world gone mad. 

Started with a very cool Reaper Bones mini and added a different head and shield. Wanted to make him slightly WYSIWYG so I threw on the sheathed sword to represent two hand weapons. Very excited to get this mini painted up in a suitably Malal style!  

Another chaos warrior of Malal. I didn't like the head this one came with so I put on one I had left over from the Blightkings box and I think it is a great fit! 

And lastly I wanted another decrepit magic user of chaos to have as an option so I based up this custom Blood Bowl mini from a Chaos Cup (I think?) - was originally meant to be a Wizard or Coach I guess. Not easy to see here but he has a shield strapped to his back as well. 

Less painting this week but plenty more prep for the painting table was completed! Assuming I can get through my piles of homework I hope to get some more done this week so tune in next time...