Ragnar Conversion- WIP

For this conversion, I used the Space Wolf Pack kit, and the Wolf Guard kit, as well as one sword arm from another kit; probably the Space Marine Commander or Command Squad box. I am waiting on the Space Wolves accessory sprue from GW to arrive in the mail. It has the commander back pack that a Ragnar model should have.

Here is how Ragnar's sword arm started. The GW model and the art in the new Codex both show Ragnar with a chain sword. None of the chain swords in the Wolf Pack kit had a pose I liked, so I dug the power sword arm out of my bits box and did some cutting and glueing.

Ragnar is supposed to have fancy shoulder guards. I wasn't too keen on sculpting a laughable imitation with green stuff, and started looking around for suitable bits. While looking over the sprues from the Wolf Guard kit, I noticed this bit:

Perfect! I even had a spare that I had ordered from a bits seller on ebay a while back (thinking ahead/buying stuff I probably wouldn't need). The rest of the cloak has the fur from a wolf's leg that looked like a possible addition to my conversion. It, and the wolf head bit are shown below, trimmed and ready to be attached.

Edit: pictures of the model mostly finished.

Excuse the tissue box with the flowers.

Space Wolves

Courtesy of Maelstrom Games, I picked up a Space Wolves army for myself a while back for a very good price. My original intention was to leave everything sitting in boxes until the summer. I made the purchase when I did because of the exchange rate at the time. So far, my choice remains a good one. Relative value of the British Pound to the Canadian dollar hasn't been that low since.

As it turns out, I enjoy modelling more than painting, and so when I needed a break from studying and felt like doing something hobby wise, boxes of Space Wolves and not yellow paint pots were opened.

My rune priest conversion. Everything I used came from a Wolf Pack box. The staff is a frost axe with the bottom and top removed.

His runic weapon is a bit unusual with the sword at the bottom, but I don't think it looks too goofy.

Next up, my Ragnar conversion and then some vehicles. The Wolf Guard in terminator armour will bemaking an appearance eventually. I need to get some cork board for the basing. The rune priest and Ragnar will get the same treatment. There is only the smallest dab of super glue keeping them on their bases at the moment.

University and hobby time, not the best of friends

I have seen several blog posts about the lack of hobby time people find themselves facing, and how life is preventing them from painting, gaming and blogging. Sorry for posting another one, but I felt that doing so was a better alternative to just leaving my blog quiet without explanation.

What part of life is keeping me busy? I have started law school! I'm not even sure if I want to be a lawyer, but I do know what I would like to do in life career wise. How I will get into the position to do it is not obvious, but law school seems like a sensible step. Even if this step turns out to be one that doesn't take me towards the path I would like to travel later in life, it will still leave me with plenty of other options (and should be a pretty fun path all on its own).

From what I have heard from second and third year students, first year law will be a lot like the first year of undergrad. There is a staggering amount of reading assigned, and even though a lot of it doesn't need to be done, it's only after you've done it all that you will have learned what you didn't need to do, how to glance at something and get everything you need to know, etc.

There is a way to succeed in school and have free time and hobby time. I did it in undergrad (minus the hobby time, since I wasn't into the hobby yet. But if half of the free time I had was turned into hobby time, there would have been enough of both), and I will do it in law school. First, though, I have to learn how. For a while that means my hobby time will be too restricted to game, and paint, and blog about it.

Eventually, I hope to have the time to do all of those things. Right now, I think only the very infrequent blog post will make it up. (especially considering that I'm behind on all my readings. Thanks Bungie.)

When I do manage to put up a blog post, it will likely be on one of the following:

-painting for my Imperial Fists (managed to get quite a bit done before school started. Just need to find time to photograph everything).

-painting and modelling for Dark Eldar (I've wanted them since first getting into the hobby. No way am I  being reasonable and not getting them as soon as they come out).

-painting and modelling for Vampire Counts (hint: my favourite background story in the army book is about a certain fiend from Krudenwald).

-gaming with Space Marines in Battlefleet Gothic (the fleet is ready to go, minus a protective coat of varnish. I'm currently trying to decide how to do it. Two friends very recently had spray varnish frost their models).

To those who have read my posts, and especially those who have taken the time to reply, thank you! I will be checking the FTW blog rolls frequently to check out the awesome stuff everyone is working on. 

Battle Fleet Gothic painting update

The fleet is nearly finished! Drybrushing is done, and the bases have been re painted. All of the engines and turrents still need attention, and the Imperial Fist symbol needs to painted onto each ship.

I'm mostly happy with how the models turned out. Sometime down the road I may repaint them. If I do, I'll bring the colour of the hull and highlight closer together.

The photos below were taken after I finished drybrushing, but before I repainted the bases. The base colour is Iyanden Darksun. This is followed by a wash of Ogryn flesh, which is followed by a dry brush of Iyanden/Bleach Bone mix, and then followed by a dry brush of Sunburst Yellow.

Battle Fleet Gothic, first model nearly finished

This first ship was a bit of a test model. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted. Too much of Ogryn flesh wash darkened the model more than I wanted, and dry brushing could only lighten the edges, due to how many of them and how close together they are.

The phote makes the model appear a bit lighter than it actually is. After a basecoat and wash, the model was dry brushed with an Iyanden mix, followed by a dry brush of Sunburst yellow. I will probably dry brush the model again with more Sunburst. The picture below is closer to the actual colour of the model.

The photo below is for anyone who was unsure of the scale between BFG and 40k.

The rest of fleet is basecoated and drying. I started to do the basecoat using an airbrush, but the spray was having trouble getting into all the recesses and I switched to a regular brush.

My plan was to finish the fleet by tonight. I'll now be going to my girlfriend's parents' place for dinner, so the dry brushing might have to wait for tomorrow. It's always nice to see them though, and they're making lamb! Easy to put the painting on hold for that (especially considering how awesome her mom can cook). Mmm lamb.

Some work in progress photos

Well, it's about darn time that I put up some pictures of models that actually have paint on them.

Around 1850 points of Imperial Fists are painted to a table top standard (3 colour minimum and based). The standard I'm aiming for is a little higher than this. The Razorback bellow is about 80% done.

This was my practice tank sized model. I applied the same scheme that I planned to use on my infantry models. At the suggestion of a friend, a highlight of sunburst yellow was added. As soon as I saw the look it gave, I knew everything would be getting that highlight. The hull is finished, with a basecoat, wash, and repaint that is slightly different from the basecoat. The highlighting is also finished, while everything else still has a little ways to go.

You might notice that the paint appears somewhat bumpy. This is due to the primer, which went on like that. I'm not sure what happened, but it only happened to this tank.

I don't have any pictures of fully painted marines, but here is one with the basecoat and wash layers finished.

And...BattleFleet Gothic! I plan on finishing the whole fleet by the end of tomorrow. One battle barge, three strike cruisers, and nine frigates. Actually, that's a lie. My Grey Knights strike cruiser will have to wait. I would like to paint it in a Non-metallic metal silver. NMM is something I have never attempted, so that will require a lot of practice.

Having issues with GW foundation paints and my airbrush. Also, what colour should a Grey Knights Strike Cruiser be?

I have been using an airbrush to basecoat the tanks for my Imperial Fists. The foundation paint I'm using is Iyanden Darksun. After around 15-30 minutes of use, the flow of paint starts to lessen, and will eventually stop. To fix this, I have to run a paint thinner and water through the airbrush, before going back to my paint mixture.

I am adding enough water to the paint. As a test, I upped the ratio of water so much that the paint was running off test surfaces. The airbrush still ended up having trouble though. The helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly hobby guru at the hobby store suspects the foundation paint is the problem, as it likely isn't designed to flow through an airbrush.  He is familiar with GW paints, but hasn't tried the foundation paints with an airbrush yet. As a potential solution to the problem, he suggested trying a non foundation paint that was close in colour to Iyanden Darksun. Luckily, GW does make a regular paint that is close in colour: Vomit Brown. I plan on trying it on a test model to see if it will result in a finished model that matches the ones I've already done.

The Painting Corps blog had an airbrushing week just a little while ago. I plan on checking out their series of articles to see if they have anything to say on the matter. Has anyone else encountered similar issues?


Also, my BattleFleet Gothic ships are in the process of being basecoated! The Battle Barge and  two Strike Cruisers have been done so far. I'm not sure what to do with my third Strike Cruiser, since it's the Forge World Grey Knights cruiser. Obviously, it shouldn't be the same colour as the Imperial Fists' ships! Forge World has their model painted grey, like the Grey Knights armour and Thunderhawk. As chamber militant to an ordo of the Inquisition, however, it would also make sense to paint their ship black. I don't know of any background which states how the Grey Knights' ships are painted. Anyone know?