He’d been sitting waiting for his base to be painted for absolutely ages and, seeing as he was next to my Arab miniatures in the Works in Progress box, I finally sorted his base out while doing my Naffatun.
That’s another finish for the year! Running total now at 34.
I’ve been prone to skidding about with a lot of diversions in my hobby over recent years. But after a period of ill health I maintained a reasonably consistent painting habit in the last few months of last year. With this in mind I’m going to try to focus my efforts a bit more this year and attempt to complete a number of projects I have in progress.
Number one on the list is my Age of Sigmar Slaves to Darkness 1000 point army. This has been in progress for years and never got to the finish line. Nick and I have aborted two attempts of attending a team event at Warhammer World due to lack of a painted army so I’m determined to get a force complete so it’s ready to go.
Number two on the list is my Lord of the Rings Minas Tirith army. I started this in January 2023 but swiftly got diverted into a dalliance with Horus Heresy. I want to get this force completed so I can get some games in with a painted force. It’s not just useful for Games Workshop’s Battles in Middle Earth but also Osprey’s Rampant series of games.
The third project I want to get finished is my 10mm version of the Lucrum board game. My aim is to recommence attending wargame trade shows and this would help promote Lucrum.
The fourth project is my Horus Heresy Space Marines, these were a diversion last spring and halted diving in as I wanted to ensure I painted what I have before buying further into the collection.
I’ve also got my Tyranid warhammer 40k force to continue building towards 1000 points.
Finally I have a box of works in progress of many different kinds of models that I’ll be dipping in and out of as the whim takes me.
You could be forgiven thinking that’s quite enough to be going on with but I’ve also got the purchase I made in 2023 including loads of Fenris Games resin scenic items. I will also inevitably add to the mountain this year but I am going to try to be more considered in my approach rather than jumping about like a kid in a toy shop. I’m not sure how I’ll get on with this.
So there’s plenty to be going on with, if I manage a decent amount of this I should hit 52 models this year quite easily. But we’ll see how likely that is as the year progresses.
I finally managed to get the last of the 10mm Pendraken Haystacks and the five outstanding Termagants for my 10 model unit finished this month.
It was a bit of a last gasp affair with the Termagants but I was determined to finish the unit by year end.
These completions take my total completed models in 2023 to 52! A new record for me and I’m quite pleased with managing to hit it.
A bout of covid just before Christmas and then the mayhem and busy period of Christmas itself took out any chance of hitting 116 finishes so I’m still down against new purchases this year. But on the whole I’m pleased with the completions I’ve managed, I had several screaming diversions that didn’t actually make any new finishes materialise but did slow progress on actual works in progress.
Next year I’ll be attempting to focus on finishing projects rather than leaping around and getting nowhere fast.
First up are the first half of a 10 model Termagant unit for warhammer 40K. These are the old two piece plastics from long ago. I’ve continued the paint scheme started with the Genestealers and it’s proving an interesting project working out how to balance the colour spread across the various chitin elements on the models. My models are spread across different decades of GW sculpting and the styling has been refined over the years meaning that what works on some models wouldn’t necessarily work on others. I’m working on the basis that a consistent colour palette will tie everything together rather than any particular placement on the models.
The next model is the third base for the Ripper Swarm unit (although they can operate as 1, 2 or 3 bases). This one is the new modern 2023 design. A current model in my collection! Shock moment.
Finally there’s two more units of three Spore Mines, a combination of old metal and plastic versions.
These models have been waiting weeks and weeks for me to finish their bases. Now they’re finally completed it takes my 2023 completions up to the heady heights of 40 models! A new record for me in recent years.
After a hurried rebasing session on a few Tactical marines I needed to finish a few other models to take.
These are are a five man Death Company unit and a very old Chaplain to lead the Boarding Action force.
They were a bit quick so a light on detail work and minimal colour additions but they do the job.
With the release of the new 10th edition of Warhammer 40K Nick and myself have been enjoying getting to grips with the system using the Boarding Actions variant of the game.
While I’ve been using my Blood Angels for the initial missions I’ve started putting together a Tyranid force built from old models I have knocking around on the mountain.
So the first new (old) models for the army are these rebased 1st edition Space Hulk Genestealers painted in the traditional colours from waaaaay back in time.
These models take me to just 11 completed models for 2023. But I do have a load of works in progress which ‘should’ see me hit 52 for the year. By my standards in recent years that’ll be a massive change. 🙂
Yes, it finally happened, I managed to move something from the half finished to the done pile... and it's only taken me 16 1/2 months since the last one!
What a crazy year it's been and this certainly isn't what I expected to be my first and, so far, only finished miniature to show for it - an Ork boy from Games Workshop.
The inspiration to dig out my 40k Orks came with the release of the latest edition of the 40k rules and the new narrative 'Crusade' style of gaming, which instinctively appealed to both myself and Carl and the way we like to play (when we can once more that is).
I know one of Carl's ongoing 40k armies are old skool 80-90's Orks, which I have quite a few of myself, but I also have a good handful of the newer style Orks even though these too are about 10 years old (but never got beyond a few being built).
With this in mind we decided to have an inter-clan Ork rivalry as the basis for our Crusade campaign, or more specifically as both of us favour the same Bad Moons clan, an 'old' Warboss vs 'new' Warboss power struggle and the 'War of da Teef' was born (Orks use teeth as currency, and Bad Moons are known to grow theirs quicker than other Orks).
As I was effectively starting this project from scratch (even though I already have just enough figures to build the required force), I decided it was an ideal opportunity to upgrade the boyz with the new, larger 32mm round bases and keep all the 25mm ones for something at a later date - might as well bring them up to date while I'm at it?
It was also an ideal opportunity to experiment with Games Workshop's 'Contrast Paints', something which I've been wanting to try and bought into very soon after 'lockdown' came into effect earlier this year.
I started with a brown Zenithal highlight prime using Badger Stynylrez 'Ebony Flesh' primer followed by Vallejo 'Skeleton Bone' surface primer at a 45° angle, an idea I had picked up from a suggestion in one of the excellent Little Wars TV YouTube videos - the idea being that it creates added depth to the 'contrast' effect but with a warmer colour than a standard black/white Zenithal prime (especially important for the yellow colour scheme) but also muting the 'bubblegum' finish often seen with the Contrast paints over their standard base coat.
This guy is 90% Contrast Paints over the Zenithal prime with just the metal being in gunmetal metallic and Strong Tone wash, and the yellow armour receiving a quick Skeleton Bone highlight and Golden Yellow glaze to bring the brown/yellow of the Nazdreg Yellow contrast paint back up to a warmer shade I was happy with - before adding some scratches and chipping, an extra level of detailing for what is otherwise is supposed to be quick paint job but something I felt it needed and quite a focal point of the model.
I also decided to try out my new portable LED Lightbox from Green Stuff World which worked very well I think, and certainly provided plenty of light just where it was needed... I didn't even require my usual mini tripod either.
So one down and plenty more to go, I certainly won't be completing a figure per day this year (much like the previous attempts then!) but hopefully I can get a few more table-ready before 2020 thankfully draws to a close - several are quite close already.
