The Tallyman 28/02/16: Slow-er Progress

Ok so, the "slow month" of janurary was a bit of an under estimate of how slow a month can really be. Turns out the Open University has a thing called "deadlines" that I'm supposed to meet? Who knew! Anyway, on with the show.

February was a bad month for the Tallyman, Nurgle won't be bestowing any favours at this rate. Lets start with the good (ish)... 

I started work on these guys! They're very much WIP at the moment, I think this is just after base coat and wash, so very early stages. I thought I'd get these guys done, because numbers 1,3 and 4 were part of the Colony 87 kickstarter, and with the dawn of the Return To Colony 87 kickstarter currently in progress, it's probably time to get these painted up.

Ok, that's the positive side of the scales sorted. Now I'm sure that there's no way i would panic buy something that I've previously had no interest in, just because it was being discontinued...

Ah, bugger. So anyway, the story is Games Workshop decided to discontinue the Tomb Kings. This move upset a lot of people, but it's kinda unreasonable for us to ask a company to keep stagnant stock around just so we won't miss it. So when the Red Sand Timer of Doom (tm) popped up, I had to take the plunge and pick up some of the models on the chopping block. I'm sure I won't regret this.

I also picked up this guy from eBay - I'm not going to lie, this was a 100% impulse buy. No idea on the range or manufacturer but it looks like a fun model, and I'm sure I can squeeze it into a chaos warband or something. 

Ok so, two months down and the scores on the doors are currently at 2 Painted : 7 Brought. So my leadpile slowly rises. Hopefully I'll conquer it before it crushes me.  

Kickstarter Roundup - Die Hard Minatures

It's the one we've all been waiting for:

Diehard Miniatures: Oldhammer Fantasy Miniatures

A very promising range of models, the Chaos Warriors and Undead are particular stand outs. Between Oldhammer, Mordheim, AoS, Kings of War and Frostgrave pushing it's way into the limelight, the models won't have a hard time finding a place in anyone's collection.

Diehard Undead, not an average model among them.
Way above standard.

There are some very interesting potential stretch goals coming up, or (I assume) future products if the line is successful, one that caught my eye was the "Lesser Spined Dragon", which sounds like a younger cousin of a certain Best-Dragon-Model-Ever. Time will tell.  

At the time of writing it's at around £6,400 of a £35,000 goal as it enters the "Kickstarter Dead Zone", the middle 20 days of a project. I would of preferred the project to be somewhere around £11,000 at this point, so at the moment, nothing is certain. Back the project HERE.

A New Dawn.

Out with the old and in with the new, as they say. Loyal readers to this blog (which is, I'm pretty sure by now is, you, my girlfriend, and about a dozen Russian spam bots) would of noticed that things have been a bit in turmoil around the OC recently. Long story short - I had a job interview and had to reign in my social media accounts. During the downtime, I decided to refresh and revitalise the blog a bit - and trim the fat on some of the older posts. 

Not to waste your time with words when I can be showing you pictures, here's some models! 

A Bob Olley Ogryn - Seriously nice model to paint.

I actually based these guys! 

I also painted up a Chaos Warrior of Slaanesh with mace and fancy tights. He came with a broken weapon, so I had to improvise a bit.

1 Hour Painting Challenge

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's missing trends by a matter of weeks.

With that in mind, I've decided to have a go at painting a model in an hour. Now, I'm not the best painter in the world, or the quickest. So this might be a challenge with a surprisingly unsatisfactory ending. 

And we begin. I've opted for a chaos
dwarf who's mostly plate armour. 

10 mins in and I'm well into the
base coating. 

20 mins and I've finished the base
coat. Time to start washes
and shading.

At the half-way point I've put the
first wash on.

This is the last in-progress photo
I took. I think I was just about to begin
 highlighting (or have just started).

The finished model!

Overall, not my best work. But I'm still pretty pleased with it and it was a fun way to spend my hobby time. I would like to have another go sometime. 

On the workbench.

Even though I have a never-ending paint queue, there's always room to add more. So, with that in mind, here's what I've got on my workbench at the moment:

The first is 'The Governor', the de-facto leader and despot of my frozen wasteland. of course he doesn't like to get his feet wet, so he rarely leaves his handy hover platform.

Next we have Wulf, The Governor's bodyguard and pet. 

Unrelated to my wasteland project, I also have these guys waiting for some paint:

I picked up this guy on the Oldhammer Facebook group, he's based on artwork from the Rogue Trader rulebook, I look forward to getting some work done on him. 

I also have the first three members of my Rogue Trader Warband - two Squats and a friendly(ish) abhuman. He might get converted, but I like the old-school Throt model, so I'm currently in two minds. 

Finally Some Painted Models!

So I've been painting diligently since late November and have I got a haul to show you! 

Ok, parts of that was lies, sadly hobby took a back-seat for a while (and when I could get hobby time, I chose to spend it doing hobby rather than blog) but I'm back (again, again) now and I'm back to work on my made-up-game-that's-more-of-a-themed-collection-than-strictly-a-game.

First up is the Mekanic(s):

One head fixes mechanicals the other fixes noses. They don't get along.

Secondly, we have Karl Werner the Bounty Hunter:

Any resemblance to a certain theoretical physicist turned meth cook is entirely coincidental. 

And finally I have the the Mercenary:

I also quickly (so quick I forgot to paint their eyes) painted up some Glowing Ones:

I've got a few more painted up (and even more on my workbench) but I'm going to save them for the next update, I don't want to blow it all at once, do I?

Orctober fest!

It's Orctober! Well, it's been Orctober for 23 days and I've only just gotten involved. Which is unsual, since I'm a long standing Orc/k fan, but real life gets in the way. Not to waste an Orcy month, I thought that I'd paint something up that's been sitting in my collection for a long time:

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Gorethz The Massive. The Warlord of the Chaos Goblin army that I've been planning for a long time but has never moved on from there. That is, until now. Specifically since I saw Chico's Chaos Orcs I've really had to give myself a kick up the metaphorical. That's not to say I'm going to get anything completed any quicker. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment. 

What model it it you ask? Well it's from the original Rackham line, before they switched to pre-painted plastic and then to the liquidators - interestingly (to me at least) I was an avid Rackham collector up until I started collecting old Citadel so I've amassed quite a large collection. I guess hoarding OOP is in my blood. 

Anyway, I'm planning on getting Old Gory painted up before the end of the month - as you can see, i've got my work cut out for me.  Wish me luck!

Some progress!

I've actually done some more W on one of my WIPs! It still needs basing (and I've done some more on the guy on the left) but it's almost finished!

Nurgle Wizard WIP

A quick WIP of my Nurgle Wizard for my Nurgle warband. Still undecided on how in painting the base...

Chaos Warriors WIP

Based up my chaos warriors/thugs (as needed). I was able to track down a handful of her old plastic chaos warriors (IMO I they're better than the new ones - although not as good as the old metals, but easier to convert). Once I've got my airbrush setup, I can get them primed and get them finished. 

My Top 10 Models (GW edition):

I've been seeing this go around for a while and I thought i'd give it a go. So, here it is, in no particular order, my ten favourite models:

10 - Rogue Trader Chaos Dreadnought

Probably the best Dreadnought GW has ever made (the Forgeworld Contemptors are a close second) - I love the Giger-esq aesthetic, it's subtly creepy in a way the new Hellbrute isn't.

9 - 1998 Gamesday Ork Nob

I'm going to lay this out right here: Gorkamorka is my Oldhammer, and this is the best Gorkamorka Ork (until the next one anyway).

8 - Death Jester

Creepy jester? Check and mate.

7 - Orc Shaman

Arguably my favourite model of all time. It's probably, to me at least, the best fantasy Orc that GW has produced (a bold statement indeed).

6 - Da Red Gobbo

Gorkamorkas back! I just love the idea of the Rebel Grotz. The Red Gobbo is the most characterful of the lot. Just look at him! Where did he even get a leather jacket in the middle of a desert...

5 - Space Ork Nobz in Power Armour

Painted by Dylan Gould - http://dylangould.blogspot.co.uk/

I don't know what it is about these guys. Their faces are weird, the proportions are odd and their waists are unsettling. But that said, I still love them. I just can't explain why. Like a pet dog that stinks a bit and eats it's own sick.

4 - Space Skeleton

The perfect mix of creepy, menacing and impossible to find for a reasonable price on eBay. All-in-all, 10/10 would pine after again.

3 - Nazgrub Wurrzag

Ok, last Gorkamorka model. I promise! I remember, as a lad, reading a fluff peice about Nuzgrub and it's stuck with me since, I think it ended with him pole axing an Ork boy in the head with his pick axe. If it just wasn't for his right arm (it's just holding his shotgun a bit... Oddly) he'd be my #1 Gorkamorka Ork.

2 - Genestealer primearch on throne (with magos)

A bit out of left-field (mostly because it's not an Ork), this is the model that keeps me wanting to do a genestealer cult. And any model that makes you contemplate dropping the money required to start a whole army is surely deserving of a place in your top ten?

1 - Marauder Giant

Aah, the Marauder Giant. To me, the definitive giant. A model I've wanted for as long as I've been in the hobby, but could never have (until recently, well, mostly). If only the new giant was just this guy, in plastic. I'd have an army of them.

Ok and that's it for my, admittedly GW-centric, list. I'll produce another one sometime focusing on alternative companies. Maybe, I've been very flakey on my posting recently. This is a situation I'll have to rectify :).

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Chaos Dwarf Mortar Team

I, finally, got round to basing up my mortar team. I committed an act of heresy and clipped off their base tabs - it just made the basing more versatile. Hoping to get these guys cleaned up and primed soon!

Hobby Update: Deadzone, Oldhammer, Beastmen and a disaster!

It's really got everything in this update!

First things first! What's on my table?

Beastmen:

I'm making some progress on my Scibor Minotaurs, they're all built, based and one of them is even fully painted! That's it. That's all the progress I've made on the Beastmen in the last three months. Might need to pick up the pace a little...

Deadzone:
Ahh, Deadzone, the place I've made some progress!
WIP of my plague strider -

 More in-progress shots of my Plague Mortars (when you get the chance to make a Squirtle, you make two)

 My Gen 1 has found himself some fancy new shoulder armour (sadly, he's still looking for a weapon) -

 My second batch of Gen 2's are awaiting  green stuff and basing -

And painting is under way for the first set -

Oldhammer Minis:
The great priming of 2014 has begun for my (non-warband) Oldhammer guys!

These guys are mostly dwarves and goblins and the like, with the odd halfling and hobgoblin thrown in for good measure.

In this photo you'll see the bases i'm using for all my pre-slotta (or non-slotta) models. Basically 2p's for big bases and 1p's for small ones. There are some advantages to this (price for one - 50/100 bases for a pound? bargain) and there's a reassuring heft to the models.

There are, of course, some downsides too - the big one being that I'm pretty sure this is illegal... but we'll keep this between us, ok? Snitches get stitches and all that.

All i do is stick the models to the base with super glue then smooth around the edges with some Fimo. which brings us onto the 'disaster' portion of tonight's post...

An Oldhammer disaster!:
Well, you see, as I said before I use Fimo on the bases to hide the join between the integral base and the coin, bake it in the oven and you've got a rock-hard join, job done. This method has suited me just fine with these models and everyone was happy.

Right up until last night. Where I may of accidental left the oven on a little high, or a little too long, or a combination of both (the summer heat may of cooked my brain) which lead to this when I went to get my models out of the oven:

Ouch.
Really. That's not good too look at.
What you see there is two Mantic Dwarves, a four Chronicle N11 Black Orcs... well. They were that once, now they're metal splats.

On the upside, if you own any of those Black Orcs, they've gotten a little more valuable. Back to eBay for me, I guess...