Deffkopta Squadron finished!

It took a while, but all my three Deffkoptaz are finally finished! Let's take a look at them first.


I spent so much time on these that I actually don't know what to start with! Each of them was painted in very different circumstances and it can be seen on them. Let's look at them one by one.



The first one was actually the first vehicle (if you will) I ever painted; it was finished back in June 2010. Since then, I haven't improved it much. Main change is the basing - when trying it out in a test game, the holding pole broke and I had to improvise. So I took some sand and rocks, a piece of sprue and few toothpicks, and made the ruiny stand you can see now. Lately, I added a plant as well.



This is the Deffkopta my girlfriend was working on. She finished it this summer, and as always, her work inspired me. On this model, she extensively used Bad Moon Yellow, and in quite a different scheme than I did (I used to pay only little attention to engines, and this model proves that was a mistake).

The base was done by me last week. I bought a large terrarium plant for like 5 euro, chopped it up and planted it into drilled holes in the base. The result looks pretty good, I think I'll try to make a whole terrain piece (a small forest perhaps) using this method.



I painted this one recently; in September or October, I think. I like to compare it to the first one I painted; I definately made progress since 2010. There are more colors and the Deffkopta seems richer. It's the same model as the previous one, without any conversions, yet the two look very different from each other. The check pattern is fundamental for this model's individuality. The basing was done last week as well.



On the picture above, you can take a better look at the rokkitz and the basing. One more neat detail there: notice the right Deffkopta pilot's head. My girlfriend really did a good job there - something as simple as a yellow strip gives the model a lot of character!

Last picture is sort of a teaser:



Yep, I got a Predator nearly finished! Still have to paint some details and battle damage on it though.

To be honest I'm glad I'm finally finished with the Deffkoptaz. They are great-looking models, but painting them was annoying because of the two-dimensionality of Assault on Black Reach sprues. Anyways, most of my AOBR units are painted now - only thing left is a bunch of Boyz!

Anyways, I hope you liked the orky machines and the new basing. These things took so long to get finished, but I feel the result was worth it.

See you soon! I'll try to make another post within a week or two, to make up for November.

Genesis Chapter Captain finished!

Finally, I have finished my AOBR Captain! Sorry it took me so long, as always I was busy in real life, and I couldn't find the one hour necessary to do the basing for like a month... Or maybe I could but I just didn't feel like it? Just kidding, let's take a look at the masterpiece:

Captain Severinus in all his glory.

OK, now seriously. I really enjoyed painting this one; regarding the details I think it's the best model of the Assault on Black Reach set. I love the beautifully crafted bolter, so I decided to play the model with Hellfire Rounds upgrade. Also, I want him to be as good in close combat as possible, so I'll count the sword as a Runic Blade upgrade; to make it feel less like an ordinary power sword I painted some germanic runes on the blade:


Painting it wasn't too hard. After basing the model black I painted the blade with Boltgun Metal and highlighted it with Mithril Silver. After that, I gave it a heavy wash of Asurmen Blue to achieve a power weapon effect. Then I had to carefully paint the runes, first with Badab Black, and then with Mithril Silver. It was quite an experimentation from my side, but I think it was worth it!



One thing I loved about the model was the flag. It's well detailed and it gave me an opportunity to finally use yellow instead of gold - which is cool, because yellow was the original secondary color for the Genesis Chapter!

Painting the loincloth was pain but the result looks good. It's pretty much Skull White on Astronomicon Gray base, carefully washed with Gryphonne Sepia, one of my favorite washes.



Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the model! Thinking of it, my Assault on Black Reach set is nearly all painted - all I have to do now is one Deffcopta and a bunch of Slugga Boys. I'll have to make a collective photo of them all when they are done! Also, I have a squad of Space Marine Scouts here ready for basing and transfers. That will most probably be my next post.

See you soon and thanks for reading! As always, any feedback is most welcome.

Terminators finished! (w. custom transfers)

Alas, the first Genesis Chapter Terminator squad is finished! I was working on these guys on and off for over a year, and it can be seen; especially as I recently started using Mithril Silver as my "veteran colour". Still, I think the squad looks coherently; see for yourselves.


The reason why it took me so long to finish them is, I think, the low variety of models; all of them have the same boring pose and they are basically clones of each other. Later I started adding bits on some of them, like grenades and spare bits from the Commander box set.



I was also lucky enough to score an Assault Cannon from a friend - that doesn't just give the models more variety, but most of all some heavy firepower! The bit is metalic, but it holds just fine.



Model I enjoyed the most is the Sergeant, even though I had to switch his Storm Bolter arm, the original one just didn't look right to me.



It was also my first time painting a power weapon - not surprisingly, I did it the easy way (using Asurmen Blue wash). I'm satisfied with the result though.



Now let's check the Genesis Chapter decals:


At first I was a bit worried the decals will be too large to fit the shoulders, but luckily they are sized well. I'm really happy with the result, though I'm thinking about adding some squad markings to the shoulders (or elsewhere). I used various iconography for hierarchical purposes (like the white/silver cruxes and icons on those shoulder shields), but when it came to squad markings, my imagination was burned out. Got any ideas?



I planned to buy five more terminators, but now that the prices are rising, I'm not that keen on the idea.

Anyways, thanks for stopping by! Now, back to magnetizing that Predator...

AOBR Terminators WIP

Hello there!

I'm not dead yet, but I'm not much alive either - I have so much work this semester that I will have hardly any time for Warhammer until April or May. I'm hardly ever at home, so the only thing I can do now is to hoard stuff. Therefore, excuse me for my delay, I promise I'll make up for it in summer!

Anyways, I thought I could share few pictures of my nearly finished Terminators. They still need a lot of work - bases, custom decals and ofcourse, a careful check for mistakes, and some more details, too.



As you can see, I'm trying to customize these, since the AOBR terminators are rather... boring and duplicate. Commander set helped a lot with this one.

Another bad thing about AOBR terminators is their lack of special weapons. Luckily, I have a shiny metal assault cannon from a friend!



I guess you noticed the color scheme difference. I used white as a veteran color on a first bunch of termies, and then switched to Mithril Silver - but I couldn't imagine a Terminator without it's classy white helmet, so I kept that on. So right now I have two red/white termies, and three red/silver ones! Let's see the difference closer:



I think I'll stay with the silver scheme because it makes the terminator look more battle-worn (and I'm going for that look in this army), but the unit is a mess. I hope it doesn't matter that much, because I really don't feel like repainting the white ones. Opinions are welcome though!

Anyways, I'm afraid this is all for now, and for few weeks (perhaps months) as well. :sight: See you in summer.

Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad finished, with custom transfers!

Finally, my first Genesis Chapter tactical squad is finished! In fact I had them lying around for some time already, but only recently I have printed a transfer paper for them.



They are far from perfect but I think they'll look well on table. Painting AOBR marines was just pain; I find their poses extremely lackey. Actually there are only 8 AOBR marines; two were already painted in Ultramarines colors, so I have replaced them with marines from the battleforce. They definately make the squad seem more lively.



Here is sergeant Lucius, along with two of his faithful marines.

I am not fond of the sergeant model, his pose does not make much sense. If I'll ever get my hands on another AOBR sergeant, I'll try to convert him a bit with Green Stuff.

I have equipped him with a meltabomb, you can see it behind his leg. I am working on a meltagun marine now, who might replace this squad's flamer. With a meltagun, melta bombs and a missile launcher, this could be a good anti-vehicle squad.



Missile Launcher Marine is probably the most interesting of the AOBR tacticals. He has some nice unique details, like the backpack or the stormtrooper-style helmet.



Here is the flamer marine, who will be possibly replaced, and the two battleforce marines.



Here is the whole squad again:



...And here is a better view of the transfers:



Note that you can find the Genesis Chapter logo sheet on Bell of Lost Souls.

Anyways, back to painting now! I will post the meltagun marine soon, as well as the Dreadnought, now with Genesis Chapter markings.

Thanks for reading! As always, opinions are most welcome.

Warboss Burstahed finished!

The warboss and his retinue proudly proceeded through the battlefield - only to stumble upon a falling back squad of red space marines. The bloodthirsty greenskins quickly assaulted the tactical team with their choppas and power klaws, and the fight has begun.

One nob has turned back though - only to face the four meters high chimera of green muscles and cybork technology, Warboss Burstahed himself. The Warboss laughted maniacally and shot the foolish nob to leg with his kustom shoota; there can be no remorse for the weak.

The eyes of one the marines met with the disturbing gaze of the greenskin leader. The holy warrior aimed his bolt pistol right to the face of the beast - too late, for Warboss Burstahed has already launched his attack. He grabbed the marine around neck with his razor-sharp power klaw and slowly snipped his head off.

And more beakie heads shall fall this day, the boss thought.

Alright, sorry for the badly written fan-fiction above, I guess I'm in that poetical mood again. As indicated above, I finally have my Warboss painted! Kudos to my girlfriend, as she has done a large part of the paintjob. Anyways, to the pictures:



Note that his skin is pretty dark. I like my Orks darker - especially Nobs, and the Warboss should be even darker, right? I might add a bit more highlight later on, though.

You might have also noticed the ponytail. I think it adds a nice piratic touch to him, as a Bad Moon should have.



I love those holstered guns. They have a golden coat, pity it can't be seen well on the picture.



And here is the shoota. I have already tested the Warboss in a small game and I have to say the model rocks. Not only it is already modelled with a power klaw, but it also has a twin-linked shoota, cybork body and hard armour as well! That's a nice setup for a starter-box warboss. I might add an Attack squid laters, if I ever get one.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one! Next to come: Tactical Squad and/or Lootas.

Genesis Chapter Dreadnought "Magnus"

I've finished the last details on my Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought and uploaded the pictures. God I love it. In my opinion it is the best model in AOBR; sure, the pose is rather static and the Multi-Melta might not be everyone's choice (though I believe it will work great as a "kan opener"), but all the great details make up for it. Really the only way to distinguish him from "normal" Dreadnoughts is that he has shorter exhaust pipes in the back.

All hail to Magnus, the veteran of the First Tyrannic War:



Magnus is the late latin for "Great". I like to give my marines late (christian) Roman names. After all, the Genesis Chapter adheres to the legacy of Ultramarines, so I believe they have a lot of common with the culture of Ultramar as well. The name "Genesis Chapter" itself has a strong Judeo-Christian connotation too.



I love how he turned out. Main coat used is Mechrite Red, with Blood Red and Boltgun Metal highlights. My girlfriend did a large part in that, she is awesome. There is Shining Gold on the sarcophagus, which is rather uncommon, yet I think it brings a lot of character and makes him look more "gothic".



Back side view. The exhaust pipes look so much better when they are drilled.



Here is the Multi-Melta. That Purity Seal is a neat detail - nice work, GW! Note that I use Mordian Blue for the sealing wax. I know GW uses red seals even on Blood Angels, but that seems like a waste to me, it just loses all the impression like that. Fun fact: blue sealing wax was historically frequently used, as well as yellow, gold, white and green.



And here is the DCCW. I love the way Boltgun Metal came out. When I'll assemble my Rhino, I'll paint in a similar style.



Here's a little detail on the basing - there's a severed Ork arm down there, along with a shattered Choppa!

Any comments are most welcome - I'd love to hear your opinions on the paintjob - after all, it is my first vehicle painted - or on the AOBR Dreadnought itself!

Bad Moons Deffkopta

Alright, quick update on the Bad Moons!

I have recently finished my first Deffkopta. I was thinking hard on the paint scheme - most people do Bad Moons vehicles with yellow all over the model, which looks cool (especially if heavy washed), but I prefer my boyz with a more serious face. Therefore I decided to heavily use black (made by mixing Chaos Black and Tin Bitz), which makes nice contrast with the yellowish details.

I chose the Deffkopta with dags (the dog-tooth pattern), since yellow-black dags were always favoured by the clan. Pity the other two Deffkoptas are clones. I'll try to be more creative next time.

Anyways, on to the pics:



It's a pity the flash I use is rather unforgiving on the yellow, making it look a bit brighter than it is. It is actually washed with Gryphonne Sepia, on all the right places.





Thank you for your time - any comments are most appreciated!

Bad Moons Nobz

Anyways, let's move on some units. The AOBR nobs are the first mini's I owned (I bought the sprue for few bucks on a tourney) and painted, so please be forgiving on the paintjobs.

So, without further ado, here they are:



Funny thing is I painted most of these before I had a wide selection of colors. Therefore the skin color is just a mix of Chaos Black and Goblin Green (washed though), and the leather is a mix of Mechrite Red, Sunburst Yellow and Chaos Black. Nowadays I prefer black-washed Calthan Brown for that.

Since the Assault on Black Reach nobz have only choppas and sluggas, I decided to convert some of their weapons over time. I already added two Big Choppaz and one Kombi-Skorcha, and I plan to add more kombi weapons and one or two powerklawz in the future.

Here are the big choppaz of Goldrippa and Bone'ead:



Goldrippas big choppa has been made with sprue bitz. I like the chain-halberd style of the result. Hey, it was my first conversion ever. Bone'eads big choppa has been made from two same choppas. That's one of the possibilities you get when you buy duplicate AOBR sprues.

Lastly, here is Koffhead, my newest Nob. Note his style is particularly different - I was greatly inspired by Fallout and Mad Max when I made him, so I tried to give him more of a post-apocalyptic edge. He's armed with a very simple Big Choppa (I just elongated the shaft with a part from a boyz choppa) and a Kombi-Skorcha, which was converted from various pieces (AOBR big shoota, AOBR nob slugga, burna, sprue bit and an ammo belt from a boyz kit).





I believe my future Orks will be a compromise between these two styles. I love the torn-out look, yet I also love the yellow/black contrast of Bad Moons.

I hope anyone can find this useful. Any comment or criticism is most welcome!

Genesis Chapter: Introduction

Let me introduce you to the Space Marine army of my choice - the Genesis Chapter.



The Genesis Chapter is a Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines Legion, created during the Second Founding. First amongst the Primogenitors, the Genesis Chapter are dogmatically loyal to the memory of Roboute Guilliman, and can be counted upon to fight at the Ultramarines' side without hesitation.

Not much is known about this chapter otherwise. The homeworld Newfound is located in the Ultima Segmentum, not far from Ultramar and Charadon. In the last decade, the Genesis have participated in two large military operations - in 997.M41 they have worked together on Exterminatus missions with the Death Strike Chapter in the Ulik Sector to prevent Hive Fleet Leviathan from spreading, and in 998.M41 they have engaged Waaagh! Irontoof together with Ultramarines.

(Source: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Genesis)

At first I wanted to start an Ultramarines force, but after seeing the Codex and its idiotically over-described part on the 2nd Company (I like to make my own fluff, at least partially) I got rather disguisted. Also, the paint scheme of Ultramarines is nice, but the blue seems to be rather docile. So I went searching for other Astartes chapters...

...And the Genesis came out as winners. They have a clean, aggressive paint scheme; they are loyal and work closely with the civilized Ultramarines; they are almost unknown and therefore leave space for my own imagination.

Note on the paint scheme - traditionally, it should be Red with Yellow details; well I decided to make it Red with Golden details, just because it looks better (shiny!!). After all, Ultramarines used to have yellow trims as well.

Anyways - here is sergeant Lucius, as well as two other battle brothers from the Assault on Black Reach set:

"You should add 'Place Template Here' around the base of your sarge.

Or maybe 'I'm with stupid!'"

- Heffling, from DakkaDakka.com Forum

I'll post more when the whole squad will be finished.

Ergotoxin out.

Review: Assault on Black Reach Paint Set

So, on to the first review. That is, the infamous Assault on Black Reach Paint Set.



This set includes:

- 6x 4ml citadel colors (white, black, burnished gold, boltgun metal, mechrite red, mordian blue)
- 5x Tactical Space Marines (see below)
- citadel starter brush
- pallete
- booklet

The exact content on the sprue is:
- 5x Tactical Space Marine
- 5x Bolter (2 w. scopes, 2 w. belts)
- 5x SM Backpack
- 5x Shoulderpad (w. Ultramarine insignia)

Price: £15.00

Let's start with the booklet. It's a simple manual on painting ultramarines. It's more informative than the AOBR "Getting started" book as it includes information on drybrushing and basing. Alright. let's move on...

The palette is small but handy; I find it rather cool. The starter brush is good for coating but you'll definately need a smaller brush for detailing. I never liked citadel brushes anyways.

The color selection is very narrow. There is no green, yellow or brown so don't even think about using this set to paint your AOBR orks. I don't know why GW chose to include Mordian Blue instead of Ultramarine Blue; it's too dark for them so you'll probably have to buy Ultramarine or Enchanted Blue.

What really sucks is that colors included are in 4ml pots only, instead of standard 12ml! So basically you buy only 1/3 of the standard color pots... Be prepared to run out of black quickly! Even worse, the pots aren't of good quality so the colors dry out fast.

The real gimmick of this set is ofcourse the marine sprue. The models are not the same as the AOBR ones - they have molded ultramarine symbols and there's very little variation, so I wouldn't really recommend them for a dedicated marine player.

All in all, it's an ok start to the hobby but that's about the only use. Better get some real paint set for your AOBR box and skip this one!

2/5

Pros:
- quick start to the hobby
- includes a brush, foundation & metalic colors
- includes 5 simplified tactical Ultramarines

Cons:
- colors are only 4ml and dry out fast
- color selection sucks
- simple models
- low price