Traitor Command - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all ! It's mid 2023 and of course I'm still on Blackstone Fortress ! I'm actually clearing the desk from any half painted models and this pair has been sittig on the desk since I moved house  last October ! I had this models up to the end of the "shit stage", you know, that dreadful stage where you just block colours in, it's taking ages and it ends up looking like playmobils ? The fun usuallt starts after that stage and for some reason I stopped there on these. Good thing though is that resuming work on them was a joy since all I had left were the fun bits and they're amazing models to begin with.

Rogue Psykers - Blackstone Fortress

So it might seem I'm on a good roll painting wise and I am, there's also the fact I'm running out of space in my desk and decided to finish all the works in progress and that means a very fast output since more than half the work was done in most cases (it also explains the meager output a few months ago).

But hey, this is not about numbers (not entirely) but what we do and I'm back on Blackstone Fortress !
Having failed my self imposed deadline of finishing the corebox in 2021, I'm not setting any date but I want it out of the way the sooner I can !

Negavolt Cultists - Blackstone Fortress

Hi everyone ! It's a weird time right now at home with some real life getting in the way but good stuff ! I have a fair few unblogged painted things so I'll try and clear the desk (and mind) of that unfinished business !
Keeping my 2021 resolution to finish the content of the core box of Blackstone Fortress, here are 4 new villains, the Negavolt cultists !

Since the traitor guards are coming soon, I wanted to test some speed painting techniques on those to gather a bit of XP. Almost all parts you see have had only 2 coats of paint with the exception of the red cables. It's either just contrast/highlights or glaze/wash or sometimes just one wash or contrast coat with the cables getting a wash and two highlights to make them pop a bit and the glowing parts getting 3 shades of red.
It's not spectacular from up close but at tabletop distance it's more than enough to get the effect working and that's where I'll try to go with the 34 cultists on the table right now.

Unlike the beastmen, those models are very samey-samey which is a pity, as a whole, I think the models from blackstone fortress are some of the most clever and neat design from the past few years and the combinations and variants you can find with the beastmen or psykers is excellent. I wish the negavolt cultists had got that sort of treatment bt they remain excellent models which really convey the right mood.

All in all, despite not looking at the box art, I've managed to get a very similar colour scheme, guess that's what suits them !

Anyway, they were fast and rewarding models to have done so I'm pretty chuffed, more to come soon so happy painting you all !

 

Chaos Beastmen - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey everyone ! A little more Blackstone fortress again ! 

Those groups of 4 villains have been extremely rewarding lately, a great achievement/effort ratio and therefore perfect hobby mojo boosters so I've continued with the beastmen.

These guys might not look like the pick of the box amongst all the wonderful models available but I've quickly grown fond of them and how very smart the design is.

Amallyn Shadowguide, Asuryani ranger - Blackstone Fortress

 

Ok so still ploughing the Blackstone Fortress thread it seems and after finishing a few villains, I finally managed to get some of the colours I needed to finish Amallyn at last !

Note for later pandemics : you do NOT want to start a lockdown without some of the essentials like medium or some washes and you do NOT want to start with a colour when all your pots are partly dry...

Spindle Drones - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all ! So what do we have here today ? Well a few more opponents for Blackstone Fortress (there are still 75% left to paint out of that box so expect some more !)

So, spindle drones ! They're the enigmatic (so far, haven't played or read much, don't want spoilers please) sentries of the Fortress, pretty expressionless and yet intriguing and menacing. 

We know they're equally organic and mechanical but I wanted to make them look entirely different from the Ur-ghuls so went for something aged and military so to speak and what better inspiration than the great Hayao Miyazaki himself ! It might be a bit far fetched but that's what I had in mind anyway !

As you can see, there won't be anyone mistaking one villain with another !

I quite like working on those very small batches of villains, 4 of them are almost 10% of the content and it's a number one can paint rapidly enough !

Ur-ghuls - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all ! So I've finally managed to start paintig villains for Blackstone Fortress ! Yeah ! 

I'm totally nowhere near being able to play with fully painted models for now but that's still one step closer so I'm more than fine. To get the juices flowing, I thought I'd start with a group I could do real fast and with little hassle so I picked the Ur-ghuls.

Dahyak Grekh, Kroot tracker - Blackstone Fortress

Alright people, so here's a new character for BSF ! I've decided to look at the Xenos and prepared both Dahyak and Ammallyn but running out of some colours means Dahyak got to the finish line first !

This is the first Kroot I've ever painted and I have to admit I discover this race and their anatomy as I went. I have to say I quite fancy this understated pose and real pro look of him, there's the strong and silent type quality you find in Eastwood cowboy characters or a certain mandalorian.

Missionary Zealot Pious Vorne - Blackstone Fortress

Hey all ! So as promised, here's another model for my Blackstone Fortress set ! After painting Taddeus the purifier, it only made sense to paint his acolyte Pious Vorne ! I actually started painting them at once but focusing on finishing one after the other near the end.

Ministorum Priest Taddeus the Purifier - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all, so here's my 4th adventurer for Blackstone Fortress ! 

So far I've managed to keep my promise to paint something for the game every other post and I hope I can keep that balance for long enough !

Imperial Navigator Espern Locarno - Blackstone Fortress

 

 

Hey everyone, so I'm still feelig good with the Blackstone Fortress characters so I've followed with the Imperial Navigator, Espern Locarno. It's a great figure and quite suprisingly one of the very few to not sport any type of weapon and in a very peaceful pose for someone dwelling in the grim darkness of a far future !
I have to say I'm pretty chuffed abot him because I didn't have a navigator painted until now so I believe it's a nice item ticked off the list !

Imperial Robot UR-025 - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey everyone ! So new year's all about good resolutions right ? Well there's one I clearly didn't realise last year and it pains me a fair bit : painting the whole Blackstone fortress content !

I had only painted one model so far, Janus Draik, and that was more than a year ago ! Yeah I know...
So with a few lockdowns under the belt and probably a few more coming, I really want to up my coop game capacity and my interest for the game hasn't vanished so I need A PLAN.

Rogue trader Janus Draik - Blackstone Fortress

Alright, quite a big leap from the Olleys I painted earlier I reckon, here's a new(ish) or at least relatively recent model (probably outdated by GW's infernal release standards) but one I'm really chuffed to have done since it marks the beginnings of my Blackstone Fortress project.

I've bought the box with plenty of ideas in mind and real life being what it is, guess what, nothing went according to the plan. The fact remains the box is packed with brilliant models and I have a use for each of them and when I'm done I fully intend to force friends into playing the whole thing ! ^^