"I Saw An Angel"

Hlaine 'Mad Larkin & 'The Angel Of Bucephalon'

Morning All - just a really quick wee update while I try to get my morning coffee into me and vanquish morning stiffness.
Recently finished up a vignette I had been working on for one of the 'Gaunt's Ghosts' OOP figures. A most excellent and really generous painter over on DakkaDakka sent me 5 of the old metal character figures from the range and I figured they each deserved their own little vignette of a scene they played a role in from the books. Previously I did the Aexe Cardinal farmhouse scene (which you can see here - http://warpbound.blogspot.kr/2016/03/commissions-done-back-to-mech.html ) which turned out rather well. So it was time to do another. First up - my favourite of Ghosts - Mad Hlaine Larkin.
In the books, Larkin is one of the saddest of characters. Originally a poacher back on Tanith, he suffers from a few mental disorders and is the 1st's Master Sniper. I'm not going to go into him too much here as you can read all about him in the books, which you should have already done. If you haven't read the GG books yet, then go and get stuck in for feth's sake!
Anyways - there is a short story featuring Larkin called 'The Angel of Bucephalon' where Mad Larks imagines (or does he??) that he is visited by an angel while he is getting ready to assassinate an enemy Chaos Magister, Nokad the Blighted. It's an awesome wee story and shows us a very intimate and sad portrait of Larkin. This was the scene I decided to do for his figure's vignette.

In the story, it's a statue of an angel that comes to life and starts talking to Larks. I didn't have an angel/statue figures to hand and I didn't really want another figure beside Larkin in the vignette as I wanted the scene to also portray the isolation that Larkin suffers due to his condition. So rather than showing the angel as a statue, I decided to try and make a broken stained glass window with the remnants of an angel in it. This was something of a challenge!! And the results......well.......judge for yourselves!!
I give you 'Hlaine 'Mad' Larkin & 'The Angel Of Bucephalon' '

 And there we have it - hope you like him and cheers for stopping by. C&C welcome as always

Cheers folks and catch you for the next one :)

Jan

A Chosen Disaster

Back again! Been meaning throw out an update but things (as per usual) just kept getting away from me! Have of course been painting away like a lunatic! So, what's been happening.....finally finished the DV Chosen figs. Really really happy how they turned out and then DISASTER. I went to seal them with some Purity Seal spray and the damn stuff frosted the lot of them!!! Long story short - I found a brush on matt varnish at he local arts'n'crafts store that fixed them .....90% or so. But seriously.....that is not a good feeling when you spray on and see the figs I'd spent about 50hours or so painting start to look like they had taken a trip 'north of the wall'. I was gutted. Couldn't even bring myself to take a full load of proof photos. I have one....somewhere....I'll edit it in later if I can find it.
Anyways - I e-mailed CC at GW in the off chance they'd be able to help. I honestly wasn't really expecting much as at this point I can re-varnished them and only had one shot of one of them all frosted over. And no receipt for when I bought the DV boxed set last December. A few e-mails later though (with an incredible member of their CC staff) explaining what had happened and that it had happened (albeit to a very lesser degree) with the Harlie Skyweaver - I attached the one photo I had a screenshot of my Visa bill showing I had bought stuff from Orctown (a flgs, not an actual GW shop) they said they were sending me some replacement models. SCORE!!! I was however only expecting the figs that had got ruined. Nope..... a few days (yup - from Britain to Korea o.O ) later a whole brand new DV boxed set and a new Skyweaver boxed set arrived!!!! They do not muck around!! They didnt replace the affected figs but the entire kits that they came in! Dammnnnn - now that is awesome CC. There's one in the eye of all the whinning whinging maggots who incestantly harp on about how GW is the worst company in the 'verse et cetera et cetera!!
So, Chosen fixed and diorama built!! My biggest one yet too. Entered into Paradigm's monthly painting challenge (for June) over on DakkaDakka and thx to the nice folk who voted - I took 1st place :D   Anyways - less yapper and more photos eh?!!! Here's how it all came out (yes, I really do need to reshoot the photos but ...later..later ㅋㅋ)

. The posters I found about the net again, printed them on recycled paper and then tinted with shades. The unlucky guardsmen is from the Cadian squad box. The rest is all foamboard, sand/stones from the local river, mosquite screen repair patches, paperclips and plasticard for the marble tiles I painted to put in the back building. Oh - and a nightlight candle case for the podium that Draz is standing on :) Loved building this thing.
Hope y'like them

You can still see a few bits where the rescue varnish ( as I will now forever call it) didnt quite beat the frosting but overall, I think it did an amazing job.

Any questions, comments, C'n'Cs always welcome :)

Irish Steve

Chosen Diorama

Busy and yet not busy at the same time. School has been closed for the last week and will be until next Monday - well......closed to students, yet we teachers must still come in and sit in our offices. Mercifully I get to go home at lunchtime but sitting at a desk all morning is soul crushing. Anyways, due to this and also the wife is and has been away in Australia visiting friends till Sunday, I have gotten an inordinate amount of painting and modeling done in the last week.
Am working on the DV csm squad - 'The Chosen' for Paradigm's monthly painting comp over on DakkaDakka. These are seriously gorgeous figs. There is 6 of them in total, 2 of which are duplicates so it's five different and really awesome sculpts. If GW got rid of the standard CSM models and instead released a box akin to these Chosen - the whole Chaos contingent would be so much better. Anywho - The Chosen  - stunning sculpts of marines who have had their armour also start to be affected by Chaos; we've got daemonic faces growing out of armour plates, just the right amount of spikey and more vintage looking weapons. Such lovely figs deserve a diorama I thought, so have been building one for them as well. Biggest one I've made so far. As I built it I suddenly realised that it was really reminding me of the little campos or campiellos of Venice. I must be missing Italy again!! Anyways - here's a few WiP shots of what is going on. The Chosen are much further ahead now than shown here but I haven't gotten around to taking newer shots yet. I wanted to try and show their tabbards are having been made of flayed skin. They're very clean looking the now but I will be dirtying, bloodying and weathering them up at bit in final details.
Hope you like 'em
Cheers
Irish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secty!!

Finally got Sect Anarkus finished, based and all done. Anarkus is a quality fig; really like that one. Flamer fella (who reminds me of a certain Canadian friend) as well. That's half of the cultists done. Sect Tetchy still to be done. Laaaatttter!!
Tis wee lot were a lot of fun to do, though the last 2 to be finished began to get a little.......óh god just be finished already`~' Tried not to get too carried away with the blood. Really quality stuff that technical paint

Anarkus - Chaos Cultist Leader

Chaos Cultist Flamer

Chaos CC Cultists

Chaos Cultist - Sect Anarkus

Brute-al

The Helbrute

Waheey  - finally finished the Crimson Slaughter's Helbrute. Loved painted this fig. Only thing that pissed me off a bit was those bastarding seams, esp on the melta arm. Ah well. Gorgeous fig to paint though and I don't usually bother much with Chaos but really liked doing this one. Looking forward to getting to The Chosen.

Helbrute

I used Blood For The Blood God paint on his claws and on those gill-like-thinys on his back. Was thinking of also using it on the spine but not sure now......maybe add it later...
Think the overall colour scheme worked well. Not too 'shiny happy helbrute' that I've seen a lot of. May dirtyhim up a little and add battle damage later on....and more blood :D   really recommend that BFTBG paint.

Next up gonna bite the bullet and do Balthasar......Least fav of the boxed set (godawful pose) but still a nice enough fig.

Bastarding Camps

Finally got the full DA Tactical Squad finished....well the figs are all done barring the weathering and chipping I want to do just before I base them. Need to pick up a few bits and bobs first. The thing that's holding me back on the bases is that I cannot for love nor money find anywhere that sells fine gravel/grit/sand. Looked everywhere. Usually see piles of perfect material on the street from where they are (constantly) relaying the pavements but as it's winter and everywhere is covered in a mess of ice, snow, slush, muck - that's out. I get around to the basing at some point.
Next up to paint is the Helbrute. Gorgeous fig. Not usually that into Chaos but the models that come with the DV boxed set are lush. After painting a squad, I really wanted to do a solo model. Can't be arsed with Balthasar (the one kinda crappy model in the box) and fancied something LARGE!! Helbrute it is. However. The colour scheme. The GW scheme of red skin and red armour is just daft. After looking at numerous versions on the net; still couldn't really decide. I considered changing the Chaos lot to another chapter but do kinda want to stick with the Crimson Slaughter. Red skin my arse though. Finally decided on doing the armour a dark rich red. Not too shiny shiny bling bling red as seem to be the norm and the skin a dark leathery brown. Tough and cured looking. The face was down first so I could then stick it into the model and put the 2 main halves together. All good, all good - WTF......serious crevices at the join seems. Especially going down one leg. Tried the liquid green stuff but its not really that effective and leaves a gritty texture. Balls. Anyways. the skin is all based, washed, layered and looking good. Really happy with the brown choice (mournfang brown and aba black mix). Again had to mix up my own dark brown wash. Really happy with the outcome.

Helbrute WIP

(edit: finally got round to getting a wee shot of this bugger. Went with a nice dark wine red for the armour base (Aba black + Kho red) - really begining to come together)


Havent had hardly anytime to paint recently due to all the preparation work I have on my plate at the mo for an ele English camp next week. Figs just a sitting there.......staring at me........bloody camps!!!
I pop up a few progress pics when I have some tie in the moro. Till then, keep on painting folks :)

'Spend' you damned heretic, 'Spend!'

  Finally made it to Seoul and hunted down what is (as far as I know) the ONLY place in SK to get GW product. The totally awesome 'Orctown'

Orctown (Maebong, Gangnam-Gu)

Piss easy to get to and pretty well stocked n all. Thy have several games tables which were hosting games with foreigners and Koreans alike. I was in a bit of a rush so didn't get the time to really get chatting. List out and a shopping I went. Had pretty much everything I wanted to pick up barr Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade. Fuck. Need those but will mix up a substitute until I can get my hands on some. When I went to pay I was quickly reminded what an expensive fuck of a hobby this is! The wee lass on the till nearly fell off her stool when I saved her from having to speak English by just using Korean (I really was in a rush). Picked up the DV boxed set (which now comes with a bonus mini and stat card; Vrosh Tattersoul - Chaos Marine aspiring champion for The Crimson Slaughter. The figure is bloody lovely!!), pin drill, undercoat spray and shitload of paint.

The haul

Anyways.....credit card glowing and all my stuff in hand - I headed back to Wonju. It was all I cold do to not rip everything open on the way home!

The Dark Vengeance set is a bloody prize! I'd already heard the quality of the figs was proper excellent but seriously - the detail is superb. W117,000 for rule books, 50 figs (incl 3 bikes and a Helbrute) and other bits'n'bobs. Where they do get you though of course is on the paints! I've been reading up on different tutorials/bogs recently (some of them linked yonder on the right) for colour schemes/tips/new paints et cetera so had a list of the paints I wanted. Ouch - credit card glows an angry red at the memory!

 I've decided to start with the Dark Angels tactical squad that's included so spent last night prepping them. Fucking mold lines!!! In all fairness, there was no flash and the mold lines were really light and barely noticeable; most folk would probably not bother but I wanted to anyways. That done and drilled out the bolter barrels (why the fuck do people not do this??!) and plasma gun and left it at that for the night :)

I'll spray coat them this morning once I've got suitably caffed up. Seriously excited to be getting back into painting!!