Switching Gears…

The only thing that is consistant about the way that I approach my miniature projects is inconsistancy.  This is why none of them are finished at the moment! 

Well, here I go again.  I am going to pull back breifly from the Undead of Araby project for a little while to get some miniatures completed for my warhammer 40k army.  There is a campaign on amongst my friends here, and there are some miniatures that will need to make an apperance in this game.

It will be back to the undead after that and then hopefully either my DAK for Flames of War, or the Trollbloods for Hordes.  Sigh… so many little monsters, so little time.

New tutorial on making scenic bases for minatures

I have posted a new tutorial on how to make scenic bases for large numbers of miniatures.  Check it out and tell me what you think!

Hasadi cult sorcerers - work in progress

Here are the minis that represent the Hasadi cult members who control the undead army of Araby.  They count as Liche priests of various rank.  These models are based off of the excellent Empire wizard kit, and use a bunch of different bits including heads of some metal ghoul models.  The head scarves are made from greenstuff.  The distressing on their cloaks and tunics was done with x-acto knife and a heated pin to melt holes in the plastic.

Armored undead & new tutorial

While doing some research on armor worn by Muslim warriors during the Medieval period, I saw a lot of scale and lamellar components in different configurations. This was mostly worn by horsemen, but also by infantry in some occasions. In any case, I think it looks pretty cool and tied in with a very middle-eastern look in my opinion.

Be sure to check out my tutorial on making armor like this for minis!

Here are some shots of my undead warrior unit with this style of armor. I am in the process of adding areas of lamellar armor to the thighs of select members of the unit to help represent the light armor that they wear.

Here is a shot of the full unit work in progress:

Undead work in progress

Not too long ago I started an army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle that represents an undead legion raised from the decimated remains of an army of Araby. A sultan of Araby was betrayed by members of the Hasadi Death cult, who with the aid of evil spirits know as Ifrit cursed the Sultan’s grand army to serve the cult’s will after death. The army is a ‘counts as’ project based on the Tomb Kings army book. This ties in nicely with my back story, as the Hasadi cult are essentially secretive, contemporary followers of the necromancer Nagash.

The first unit that I am making for the army is a 25 model block of undead warriors (TK : skeleton warriors) with shields and hand weapons. Right now, I have the members of this unit up to a basic level of conversion, primarily focusing on giving them tunics, armor, and robes. Following that will be to add resin cast helmets, shields, and a final layer of greenstuff detail. Here are some images of the work in progress on this unit.

All of the units in this army are based on an amalgamation of Muslim & Arabic folklore, and historical military formations from around the 12th century. I’m really looking forward to creating the Ifrit Djinn (TK: Ushabti), and an undead cyclops (TK: Bone Giant).

Victory over table gaps!

Every time I have worked on a gaming table, getting consistent edges on the board sections has been a huge problem. This latest table project has been no exception. However, this time I have come up with a great solution. I had put strips of duct-tape onto the edges of the board to protect them against damage. It occurred to me that if I have an inconsistent edge on a board section, I can make up the space with shims of cardboard taped into the offending areas! I had always known that this was the best way to solve the problem, but I wasn’t sure what the best way to attach the shims would be until this project. Live and learn right?

When we built the table for the Adeptus Windy City club for Games Day 2006, we ran into this problem a little. Because the table was only two sections, it wasn’t too much of an issue.

Here is a question that I have for my visitors who may be reading this. Can you think of a way to make duct-tape take paint better? The paint seems to peal off eventually, and this could be a real hassle for my current table project.  Any ideas?

Table Progress

The plans for my new table have changed.  I was going  to do large 4′x2′ sections, now I have decided to do 2′x2′ sections that have overlapping edges to help hide the seams of the modules.

Here are some shots of the table modules in progress.

The materials that I have used for this project are 1 1/2″ styrofoam for the base, cardboard for the base of the overlap, 1/4″ styrofoam for the hill sections, and lots and lots of liquid nails for bonding and a little texturing here and there.   The edges of the styro are taped up as are the edges of the overlap to help prevent damage.

Here is a closeup of an area of hill section.

These hills are pretty flat, this is on purpose more to create a sense of flowing landscape than to create terrain to block line of site.  I think that the end result will be nicely playable, as well as cool looking.

projects update - Imperial Guard, Genestealers

I have been juggling several projects lately (well… I always am actually). Here is an update covering what has been going on.

My Imperial guard army has been a labor of love and hate for the last several years, and only recently have I been able to get the units to start coming together the way that I had hoped. My recent re-discovery of the Mechanized Company (Lots of soldiers riding around in tanks) has given me some new focus for the project.

I had posted some images earlier showing some modifications that I had been planning for my Chimera tanks. Several days ago I finished the mold, and made some casts.

These components, because they are fairly large are very easy to cast with good results. Because they are fairly shallow, and open ended, I can easily pour resin into the molds with little problems with air bubbles. As anyone who has done amateur resin casting knows, air bubbles that stick to your mold and create voids in your casts are a huge pain in the ass. This is the very problem that is holding up the heavy weapon teams for this project (more about that later).

Because the tanks need something to carry around, I have been trying to get some platoons finished up. Here is part of the 1st platoons A squad.

In addition to my IG tanks and troopers, I have also been doing a little work here and there on a squad of Genestealers. I have been inspired to work on these since the test pieces that I did several months ago. In the shot below there are several bodies in a early phase of conversion. I want their poses to be more varied than what I often see in other Tyranid collections.

PINK!

Yes. It is true. My friends know it. My family knows it. My lovely girlfriend also knows it.

I am a big dork.

In case proof is needed of this immutable law of social dynamics, consider the fact that this image makes me giddy with anticipation:

Like some sort of settler from the days of yore, I look over this pepto-colored plain of Owens Corning goodness and dream big dreams about what is possible! Yes, I am talking about a new gaming table! This is the next step in the plan that I described several posts ago. I still need to procure another 2″x8′x4′ unit of styrofoam, but this is enough to make four of the 2′x4′ sections that I have planned. Oh boy, its going to be sweet!

Tank Gear part 2

Here are some shots of a rough mock-up of a Chimera.