The Adept's Forge

Shadow Hawk Chief Librarian

2011-02-16T20:33:00.006-05:00

So as I continue adding to my Shadow Hawk Space Marines, I decided that it was time to add some of the characters to the army from the BA army book. One of the first ones that I wanted to put my own spin on was Mephiston. His rules are very good (obviously) in the game and I knew he could be a valuable addition to the army. So I set out to create my own version of the chief librarian for my chapter.

I used a variety of parts to create my version of Mephiston (still haven't named him for my own chapter yet). I started with some robed Dark Angel legs and I added the back torso and cloak from the Space Marine Captain. The front half of the torso is from a Sanguinary Guard. I then added the back cowl from an Empire Wizard before I used a Sanguinary Guard head. To represent the force sword, I added the flaming blade from the Empire Wizard kit to a Marine power sword arm. Finally, I used one of my custom Shadow Hawk shoulder pads along with the shoulder pad from Tigurius to give him the proper librarian markings. His base is from the Dark Age miniatures line of basing products. Overall I am very happy with the way he turned out.

I am currently painting up the rest of my Sanguinary Guard unit for the army before I dive into some vehicles to increase the chapter's armor.

In my next post I will be showing off the finished Sanguinary Guard along with the Astorath conversion I have underway.

Painted Storm Raven

2011-01-28T23:59:00.004-05:00

I have completed the paint job on my Shadow Hawk Storm Raven. I am very excited to see this on the battlefield! It will be a few weeks as it will be on display at Games and Stuff for a little while along with some of my other Shadow Hawk models. Stop by and check it out if you are in Glen Burnie!

Here it is, let me know what you think!

Death from above!

2011-01-24T08:12:00.009-05:00

Hello all! I hope that 2011 is going well for everyone. I started off the year pretty strong by painting a Hell Pit Abomination and Warp Lightning Cannon for our local shop's previews (Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD.) Sadly I didn't get a chance to photograph them before I dropped them off for the store to display. I will be sure to do that when I get them back.

When I dropped off the Skaven models the store had just received their new Blood Angel preview models and I was eager to get my hands on them! If you follow the blog for some time, you may remember that my Shadow Hawk Space Marines use Blood Angel rules so I have been anxious for a Storm Raven for the army for some time. I have had a love/hate relationship with the Storm Raven model ever since the first pic leaked out months ago. There were elements of it that I really liked, but there was always something about it that just didn't gel with me. Once more pics and the sprue pics began to get out, I definitely started liking it a lot more. There was just one part that was throwing it all off - the top turret and air intake. These two things were throwing off the overall aesthetic of the kit. I really feel that the model is like a mini Thunderhawk once you address those two areas. So as soon as I had the kit in had to build and paint for the store, I began working on those things.

You will see that I removed the top turret entirely and covered that area over with some plasticard cut to fit the area. I then added some icons and a name plate to the plasticard to give it some extra details. I also cut down the air intake vent quite a bit to make it more in scale with the kit.

With the turret gone, I needed a place for the weapons the turret housed. So I added them to the front area.

Overall I am really happy with the final look of the kit with these small changes. I have some gaps to fill with some putty today and then it will be primed and ready for paint. I hope to have painted pics of the kit done later this week.

Finally, I wanted to show you all one of my recent conversions I painted up a few weeks back. I am building a small Space Wolf force as one of my 2011 goals. Here is my converted (and built entirely from plastic) Logan Grimnar.

Back later in the week with more! You can see my 2011 details along the side of the blog as I am continuing to track all of my painting, building, and even purchases! I need to add a section for trades as well since I recently got a ton of new stuff through some great trades on the Dakka Dakka Swap Shop that didn't cost me any out of pocket money (aside from shipping). Have a great week!

Welcome to 2011 - The Year of the Dark Chaos Rat Wolf

2011-01-17T14:45:00.006-05:00

Ok, 2011 is actually the year of the metal rabbit (WTF?) but that doesn't match with my hobby plans at all. So instead, I am going with my own title. If they can rearrange the Zodiac, I can come up with my own icons as well :-)

So Happy New Year to everyone. I have decided to really, really (and I mean really) get better about keeping the blog updated this year. One of the big hang ups I have is getting things photographed to show you all, so I am working on that with trying to get something set-up more permanently to keep that from being a hindrance.

I sat down and really thought about what my plans were going to be for this year. 2010 was kind of a hodge podge of hobby time. Lots of random models painted, but no real focus on getting full armies done. I feel that isn't always a bad thing, as sometimes you need to recharge and paint whatever you feel like. That being said, for 2011 I really want to get some new armies started. So here are the plans for this coming year.

2011 Hobby Resolutions
1. At least 3 new armies - I want to get at least 3 brand new armies painted this year. I know that may be a huge thing to start off the resolutions with, but I think with some dedication I can do it. I am not saying each army will be massive Apocalypse sized forces, but they will be playable forces. The three armies I am focusing on are going to be:
A. Skaven - I am finally going to get these guys painted. No more excuses, no more procrastinating, it is time to get the forces of the Horned Rat ready for battle!
B. Space Wolves - I have wanted to do a Logan Grimnar themed army for a while now. I finally got that started with converting up and painting my own Logan. It isn't a huge army (around 50 models) and I think it will be lots of fun with all the characterization you can put into the Wolves.
C. Dark Eldar - I started in on these guys when they came out (I painted up 10 Warriors, 3 Jetbikes, and a Raider for a local store) and I also did a bunch of cool conversions for things there are no models for. There is a lot of room for customization with this army and I think it will be a nice change of pace from some of my other forces.

2. Additions to the Shadow Hawks, Black Legion, Orcs & Goblins - Since the Shadow Hawk chapter (my custom Marine force) uses the Blood Angel codex, I am anxious to add a Storm Raven and more to the army with the new BA models releasing next month. Since I help out the local shop (Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD) with painting new releases, this will give me the perfect opportunity to do some new stuff for the Marines.
I also want to add a few things to the Black Legion that is my largest army. I plan on converting up my own Abaddon and also trying to do some Possessed and a few more vehicles for them.
Finally, my Orc and Goblin army is getting a new book in March, so I am sure there will be some new models there that will have to be added to the army. I hear talk of a Giant Spider of some sort, so I can't wait to see if that happens!

3. Try out some new games - I have wanted to try out Malifaux for some time now and since you only need a small number of models to play, I am hoping to get a gang together for this.

4. PLAY MORE GAMES!! - This is number four on this list, but is very important to me. I really hope to actually play more games this year. After so much painting and army building, I want to use these things!

5. Don't be so ADHD with the hobby - I suffer at times from New Shiney Syndrome, where all the new things are quick to grab my attention. I have resolved to get better about this for 2011 and stay focused on projects I have in the works! Though there are Grey Knights coming in April... (STOP!!!)

Well those are the big plans for 2011. I have a lot on my plate for this year so I hope I can stick to these plans. I'll leave you with a quick teaser pic of a few of my Dark Eldar conversions. These are quick snaps and better pictures need to be taken of them. But until then, here is a teaser:

Tell me what you think they are in the comments section. More details on their construction are coming in the future!

Starting to wrap up 2010...

2010-12-12T18:13:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that there are only 19 days left in 2010. What a crazy year this has been! In many ways, this was one of the hardest years I have had in a long time, so I am glad that it is on its way out! I have high hopes for 2011 and beyond.

I have been keeping a running tally on the side of my blog for all the miniatures that I have painted this year. Things started out a bit better than they have finished in the amount of models painted. Since our big move and all in the summer, things have just never gotten back into full swing on the hobby side of things. I still worked a good deal on various projects, I just didn't get nearly as much painted as I would have liked. As we get closer to the end of the month (and year) I will go through that list for a final count.

Anyway, in the 19 days I have left in the year I have decided that I am going to try and finish up some half half finished and somewhat started models to end the year with getting some things done. When we moved in August I had to pack up everything so I have had all my built/primed/unfinished models in various boxes and I have slowly been going back through them and evaluating what I need to finish up. I often get the bug to build/convert something but don't always get it immediately painted. So I figure the best way to end the year is to get some things finished that have sat for a while. Since I didn't do a completely brand new army this past year (first time in a while!) I wanted to remedy that a bit. The closest I came to having a fully new army this year has been for the Tyranids and WFB Daemons. So to end the year, I am going to try and add a few more units to my Tyranids to make them more of a playable force.

My goal for the rest of 2010 is to finish:
4 Raveners
1 Trygon
1 Tyranid Prime
1 Lictor
and possibly 1 Carnifex
If things go quickly on painting those things, I also have my Tervigon conversion from back when the book came out to paint as well.

I plan on starting the new year with some big hobby resolutions (and I still need to get my 8th edition challenge army settled on and sorted - Dark Elves haven't been holding my attention at all). I am hoping to be able to do at least 2 brand new armies in 2011 (one being Dark Eldar, the other I am not sure yet) and also add more stuff to my Shadow Hawks and Orks. Never enough time for all the plans!!

Until next time when I update you on the above goals, have a Happy Holiday season and Merry Christmas!

The 8th Edition Challenge Blog

2010-10-27T08:31:00.003-04:00

Hello all,

We have created a new blog site to chronicle the progress of our 8th Edition Challenge Over the coming days, our initial army lists will all be going up as will pics of conversions, paint schemes, and more!

Check it out here:

8TH EDITION CHALLENGE

When life gives you lemons ... feed them to a War Hydra

2010-10-26T09:51:00.002-04:00

So after my post a few days ago with my Skaven list for the 8th Edition Challenge, I sat down and really looked at what was involved to get this done between now and Adepticon (where I plan on playing mostly WFB events). I have about 5 months to get an army done. Going through the calendar and looking at family events, holidays, etc. I came to the sad realization that the Skaven may be too much of a project to fit into that timeframe. So after some serious thinking and studying of various books and all the amassed models I have around here, I have decided to make a switch.

For the 8th Edition Challenge my army is going to be Dark Elves. It is the project I want to do second to the Skaven and with a much smaller model count (and option for some cool conversions) I have decided that it is much more realistic to do this army for Adepticon and the Challenge.

I'll have my list together later today and posted with some shots of test models I have done in the past for the Dark Elves.

A slight DEtour...

2010-10-20T21:48:00.005-04:00

Wow, that may be my crappiest pun yet! So my Skaven for the 8th Edition Challenge are taking a short detour. We aren't officially starting the challenge until November, so it isn't too bad.

Anyway, the local FLGS, Games and Stuff, has asked me to paint up their preview Dark Eldar models. I was more than happy to help them out! After some time on display, I will get to keep the models for my own collection. I will be painting 10 Kabalite Warriors, 3 Reaver Jetbikes, and a Raider. I am working out the color scheme right now and I think I have some good ideas for it. I will also be using the awesome Slate Wasteland bases from Dragon Forge for all the models.

I am still working on building the Raider and I hope to get everything primed up tomorrow so I can really work out the final color scheme. More updates coming soon!

Warhammer Army Challenge

2010-10-18T09:39:00.003-04:00

Finally a hobby post after a long break! I hope everyone out there is doing well. I return to the blog world with a new army underway and an exciting activity some friends and I are working on. A group of us has decided to do a Warhammer Army Challenge to all get a 2000 - 2500 point army done over the next 6-8 months. We chose a longer timeframe so that everyone wouldn't feel too burdened with rushing to get things done.

The concept is simple, just create an army list for your chosen force and over the coming months work to hit certain point goals. In addition to the point goals, each person will create 5-6 personal milestones that they want to achieve by certain dates (convert a general, get all core troops done, etc.). We will be creating a new Blog where everyone involved can post updates, pictures, etc. for the group (and probably the world) to see what is going on.

I chose to return to my Skaven that I had started ages ago now that we have all those great Island of Blood models as well as other new Skaven coming in January. It is a bit of a daunting task with all the models I need to paint, but I have wanted to do a Skaven army since I started with Warhammer 2 decades ago! So this is the motivation I need to get things done!

My list for the challenge is:

Grey Seer on Screaming Bell
Warlock Engineer
Chieftan Battle Standard Bearer
40 Clanrats (w/Plague Mortar)
30 Clanrats (w/Warpfire Thrower)
30 Skaven Slaves
30 Stormvermin
20 Giant Rats
6 Rat Ogres (with Master Moulder)
20 Plague Monks
Hellpit Abomination
Warp Lightning Cannon
Plagueclaw Catapult
Doomwheel

As you can see, it is a lot of models! I have some tricks up my sleeve to paint them quickly (but to still look fantastic).

I am going to get some shots up soon of the test models I have painted as well as some new things I am working on building for the army. More to come!

Skorne for sale

2010-10-10T22:59:00.001-04:00

I am selling a brand new Skorne army for Hordes on ebay. All models are brand new.

The auction can be found here. This is over $700 worth of Skorne for half off!

Back to real blog posts soon, I promise!

Jeff

Rising from the ashes!

2010-09-27T10:40:00.002-04:00

I am working on some new blog posts! It has been a crazy 2 months since the move and all, but things are finally settling down. Later this week I will be spotlighting my new (and really exciting) hobby area in the new house as well as some new models.

In the meantime, I am also selling off some Warmachine stuff that has been gathering dust. First up, a large Cryx lot can be found here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230531342758

Special incentives for anyone who uses the Buy It Now option!

Back to hobby stuff later this week on the blog!

Crazy times!

2010-08-01T09:44:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We are in the process of moving and with all the packing, planning, and everything else that comes with selling one house and buying another, I have not had a lot of time for the blog!

I have managed to squeeze in some painting here and there, and once things are settled in the new house in a few weeks I will be back to the blog with lots of pics and some cool conversions I want to share!

I will also be at Baltimore Games Day on August 21, so if you are heading there, let me know!

Finally an update!

2010-06-22T09:01:00.006-04:00

Hello all,
Sorry for the delays in updates! It has been a crazy two months. I left my job to become a full time stay at home dad, we had to travel for a death in the family, and lots of other stuff happening outside of the hobby realm! But I am back to the blog with some updates.

I have been highly anticipating the launch of 8th edition Warhammer in July and I have had a chance to play a few games with the new rules. They are absolutely fantastic and the best WFB rules ever. The game is a lot more fun and fluid now. As I get ready for this new edition, I decided to join the Battle Bunker's 1000 pt army challenge. So I am feverishly building away on the Company of the Emerald Skull. These grizzled mercenaries will be using Empire rules. I am picturing a veteran force of various models and ranges to represent their mercenary nature. More to come on them soon. I did a test model to work out the color scheme on a handgunner and I am really happy with the results.

I am also working on having lots of War Machines in the army (since most of my other WFB armies have no shooting). I have planned lots of small vignettes for them and I have the first base built for a Hellblaster.

I used one of the great Dragon Forge 100mm square blanks to build that up. The fences are from the Warhammer terrain line. This is a fairly basic one and what I have in mind for my first Great Cannon should be fantastic!

Other than the Mercenaries, I have also been finishing up some other odds and ends. One other model I completed was a conversion for Ku'Gath for my fantasy Daemons. I built this a long time ago and I decided I would finally finish it and add a few last minute additions to it.

Well, that's it for this post. I have lots of projects underway and I should have a regular update on the Mercs as I work on them. If you haven't had a chance to see the new 8th edition rulebook yet, get down to your local FLGS who has one and take a look. It is awesome!

Shadow Hawks reinforcements

2010-04-20T13:40:00.011-04:00

With the release of Codex:Blood Angels, I finally have lots of new choices to add to my Shadow Hawk chapter. There are many things that I want to paint for my army and here are the first new additions.

First up we have the Librarian Furioso Dreadnought. I made this from the Venerable Dreadnought kit along with parts from the Ironclad, plasticard, Ravenwing sprue, and more. I have to give credit to GrimTeef from Dakka Dakka for many of the ideas!

I knew that the Sanguinary Guard (Shadow Guard in my chapter) would be a great addition to my army. The wings would look great in a chapter that uses bird imagery so I wanted to test paint a model to see how it looked in my chapter's color scheme. I am pleased with the final result.

When I first used the Blood Angel rules for my army (from the PDF army list) I had a small unit of Death Company that I used my robed veterans as. Now that the Death Company has a much bigger role in the army, I knew I wanted to redo the look and style of the Death Company. I am going to use the robed models as an Honor Guard in the new version of the army. Here is the new color scheme and design for the Shadow Hawk Death Company.

There you have the test models and some new additions to the army. Next up is finishing the full 5 man squad for the Sanguinary Guard and a Baal Predator. Until next time.

Wow, 2 months already?

2010-04-07T12:00:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I posted! Here I was hoping to have 2010 be the year of lots of updates! I need to get back on track!

So my hobby ADD continues and I find myself working on lots of things. The Nids continue (Gargoyles were finished up a few weeks ago - pics coming of those) as well as delving back to my Orks and Marines. The new Blood Angel codex has me in a fervor for my Shadow Hawks (I have used BA rules for them for the past 3 years or so) and I am working away on some new Sanquinary Guard and other additions.

I have to say I am really impressed with the new codex. As the past few books have been (Nids, Wolves, Skaven) there are lots of new options and units to get even the veterans of those armies working on new models. My existing Shadow Hawk army is only at around 2500 points or so, there is plenty of room to add new models. I have always been a huge fan of Dreadnoughts (with 4 already painted for the army) and now being able to field lots of them makes me very happy!

I will have new pictures up this week of some recent painting projects. I am working out the color scheme on my Death Company for the army and I hope to have some test models done for them as well as my first Sanquinary Guard test paint. Until later this week...

Tervigon - Building is complete!

2010-02-05T19:25:00.006-05:00

So the Tervigon is now built. Since I last posted, I added the back legs and tail, front talons, and the Termagant spawning points. I put one on each side of the torso and I have a Termagant emerging from the one side. I used some tendrils from one of the old Epic Bio Titans to be the parts that help spawn the creatures.

Overall I am really pleased with the model and I think it matches the codex artwork very well. I hope you enjoy it! All that is left is to create a proper scenic base for it with some termagants running along with it. Please let me know what you think of the model, I am anxious to hear what you all think!

Also, I forgot to take a comparison shot next to a Carnifex, but so you know that is an 80mm base it is on. So it is a big bug!

I want a new bug...

2010-01-31T19:25:00.008-05:00

Apologies to Huey Lewis for the title of this post...

So the poll is closed and Hive Fleet Scylla is the winner. This scourge is growing and will soon be unleashed upon the galaxy (or at least my gaming group).

So I have been working away on some conversions for the army as of late. As soon as I saw the new codex I knew I had to work at building a Harpy, Tervigon, Tyrannofex, and more! I started with a Harpy. I thought a lot about how I was going to make this and settled on using a neglected Forge World Winged Hive Tyrant a friend had given me. He had kept the wings for a conversion of his own, which I was fine with. I was more interested in the body and head! I hacked off the legs (yes I know it is a $90 model) and filled in that area with some putty and armor plates. I then added High Elf Dragon wings and created the twin-linked Stranglethorn Cannons for the model.

I know you can't see a lot of the detail yet since it is primed, but you can see the idea of the model. I patterned it as close as possible to the artwork in the codex (snakelike body, spikes, twin-linked guns). Overall I like it a great deal and I look forward to painting it up.

Next I started on my Tervigon conversion. I have seen a lot of hastily converted Tervigons on the web and I wanted to really make mine stand out. I wanted it to look as close to the drawing in the book as possible.
I started out taking a Trygon torso and widening it with plasticard. Once it was widened, I then started cutting and piecing together the back armor and front plates for the top of the torso. After that framework was all in place, I began sculpting in the details with Apoxie Sculpt. I really like working with it as it is thinned with water and easy to smooth out and shape.

You can see in the last picture the size difference in the Tervigon and the Carnifex torso. The Tervigon is much wider and appropriate to represent a Termagant spewing creature!

I still have a lot of work to do on the model. I have to finish the detail work around the back vents on the model (gap filling and smoothing) and then work on the underside more. I plan on having 2 separate orifices for Termagants to be expelled from - one closed and one open with an emerging Termagant. The back legs and tail will be from a Carnifex and the front 4 arms will be Scything Talons like the drawing in the codex.

I'll keep you all updated on the progress of this model as I go. I hope to finish it up this week! Let me know what you think of these conversions.

Hobby Seminars - Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD

2010-01-20T09:42:00.001-05:00

Just a quick note to anyone in the Baltimore-Washington area (and surroundings): I will be at the 10th anniversary celebration for Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD this Saturday from 1-3 PM to do some hobby seminars. I will have loads of models on display to discuss painting and converting techniques and answer any questions people may have. So if you are in the area and want to come by, please do!

I hope to meet many of you this weekend who follow this blog if you live in the area!

Naming the Nids

2010-01-16T13:55:00.002-05:00

Hi guys,

I should have lots of new stuff to show you this week from the growing Hive Fleet. Now that the codex and new models are out I am in full swing!

I am looking for suggestions on what to call my growing Hive Fleet. There is a poll to the side. If anyone has any additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

Know Your Foe: Tyranid Images

2010-01-02T19:16:00.016-05:00

Here are some pics of the Tyranid army I am working on. Some of these models I painted a few years back when I first thought about doing Tyranids, while others are more recent. First up, the Carnifex (and the actual first model I did for the army when this kit came out).

I have always been a fan of the Tyranid Warrior models and this is the first unit of them I have completed. I plan on having quite a number of them in my force, including some winged versions!

From the horde of little guys I plan on including in the army here are the first of many Termagants. I have 20 done so far.

The Genestealers are currently on the painting table and should be done this weekend. Here are the test models I did to work out their color scheme.

In the past week, I painted up two Tyrant Guard to go with my WIP Hive Tyrant. The pics on these are a bit blurry for some reason, but you get the idea!

Finally, to lead the Genestealers I have have the mighty Broodlord waiting in the wings for some paint!

I am excited about the upcoming release of the new book and seeing all the final details of the army list. I have been keeping up on the rumors, but nothing compares to having that book in your hands. I am even more excited about getting my hands on all the new models (especially the Trygon) and converting up some of the new unit types that don't have models yet.

More updates will follow soon as I continue with the army!

New Year, New Army

2010-01-01T23:20:00.003-05:00

So the new year is upon us. Just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Happy New Year!

I am working away on the new army and now I need to get pictures taken of all the units I have painted up for it. Some I have had done for quite a while, while others I just finished. It's probably not a huge surprise, but I have decided to return to my Tyranids that I started a while back. The new models are fantastic and I am very excited to paint up a Trygon. I can finally finish all the various bugs I have had built and primed for ages now!

So far, I have the following done for the army:
20 Termagants
4 Warriors
2 Tyrant Guard
Carnifex with Barbed Strangler
4 Spore Mines

I am currently working on a unit of Genestealers which I should have done this weekend. I also have another unit of Warriors, a Lictor, and my Hive Tyrant ready to go (the Tyrant is next on the painting schedule). I hope to have pictures taken tomorrow and get some shots up this weekend.

One thing I have decided to add to the blog for 2010 is a running tally of what I paint this year. I thought it would be fun to see how many models I finish in one calendar year so as I complete something I will add it to the list on the right. I just finished 5 Termagants today so there are my first models of 2010!

I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season and pics of the Tyranids are inbound! I look forward to having a fully fleshed out new army to play some games with early in the new year.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:19:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays to all in the hobby community. I am anxious for 2010 and loads of good hobby time! I am also going to make a New Year's resolution to update the blog regularly again! These once a month updates are not cutting it!

New pictures and updates in the coming week (since I am off for the next 10 days) so I can show you all what I have been working on. I have been working away on more Warmachine things in preparation for Mark 2 to hit the shelves.

I have also been trying to decide what GW army I am going to focus on finally. Wolves, Skaven, Orks, and others have all made their way across the painting table over the past months. So what army will finally get the focus? The only hint I will give is it is something I started a while back and painted up a few units for before moving on to something else. It's never been shown here on the Forge yet, but I am thinking it will be something fun to get back to. The next update will reveal all...

So I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and time with family and friends! All the best to everyone!

I demand, RETRIBUTION!

2009-11-25T19:03:00.003-05:00

Yes, the bad puns continue. Well, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all ready for a few days off to eat vast sums of food, spend lots of money shopping, and hopefully paint some toy soldiers!

I realize it has been a month since my last posting, but I have to say I haven't had much interest in miniatures of late. There is a time each year where I need a bit of a break from the hobby and this year it has been the past few weeks. Sure I still scour the internet each day for news and new models, and I have still bought a bunch of new figures, but the actual time to sit down and paint has not been there as of late. I blame my crappy job, way too many cool new video games (especially the new Call of Duty) and general craziness of this time of year.

I did venture up to Gettysburg about two weeks ago to the Fall In show that HMGS East puts on. It was a decent show. I only went for a few hours on Saturday to roam the flea market and dealers' area. I picked up some models for the recently released Malifaux game from Wyrd miniatures and I am looking forward to painting those up. I also found some great bargains in the flea market (5 Tzeentch Screamers for $2 anyone!).

I have also been reading through the new Hordes Mark 2 rules released yesterday and I am lookign forward to giving them a try. I played some Warmachine Mark 2 last week and I am getting used to the changes and liking what I am seeing.

My Skaven and Space Wolves are still lurking (and now I have amassed a ton of Skaven stuff to paint as well) as are lots of Privateer Press models for Warmachine and Hordes. I have been painting a bit today on some Trollblood Whelps to try and reinvigorate my desire to paint. It is starting to work...

Ok, enough of my ramblings. I am also planning on a Retribution force for Warmachine (hence the pun filled title) and here are some test models I painted a while back for the new faction. I am very happy with the color scheme. Let me know what you think!

The scratching of rats and howling of wolves...

2009-10-18T20:04:00.010-04:00

Finally I return to the blog with a proper update. My hobby time has been rather sporadic as of late. I find that without a driving force such as a tournament or other big event, I don't have as much of an urge to complete an entire army (which I am sure I have mentioned before). However, I feel all that is about to change.

Originally my plan was to crank out a small Space Wolf force focused on Wolf Guard. In preparation for that, I completed the following test model.

I opted for a more true grey color scheme than the blue look GW goes with on official Space Wolf models. This particular model was converted using the ForgeWorld Space Wolf parts along with parts from the Cullen special character model. I really like the overall look of the model and I think the army will look really sharp on the tabletop.

So as I made preparations to gather the necessary models for the Wolves, I found myself playing a game of Warhammer with my buddy John Shaffer. While we played what turned out to be one of the best games of Warahmmer I have played in years, I had the opportunity to check out the new Skaven army book. My history with the rats is long and troubled. The first Warhammer models I ever purchased (almost 20 years ago - yikes!) were some Jes Goodwin Plague Monks. Over the years I planned on doing a proper Skaven army many times and I have amassed quite a bit of stuff for the force. This new book blew me away. It was written by my friend Jeremy Vetock (one of my previous bosses during my GW tenure) and it is by far one of the coolest army books I have seen. The amount of options available are staggering and there are plenty of great conversion opportunities (which I love)! So I decided that I will still work away at the Wolves here and there, but for now my attention has been sucked in by the ratmen. I have had a few test models done for some time now, and they are some of my favorite paint jobs.

In addition to these models, I have begun putting together a unit of Plague Monks and a few other characters to prepare for the Skaven's arrival on November 7. The new Clanrats and Stormvermin are amazing and I can't wait to start working on them! I am also in the process of sketching up some ideas for the units in the book that don't have any proper models so far, and I began construction on the Plagueclaw Catapult. This is very WIP at the moment, but I thought I would show you where I am trying to go with it.

You can see this is just the basic structure so far using parts from the old Screaming Bell, Siege Tower, Siege Attacker Mantlet, and more. I have a lot of work to go on this, but when it is all done, it should be an awesome war machine to rain warpstone death down on the enemy!

Well, this has been a long post getting back into things. I should be able to update more regularly from here on out. Look for my next post to cover something I have been thinking a lot about lately - how to come up with the proper bases for an army. I will also be featuring a lot of great resin bases from Dragon Forge in my Wolves and other Hordes/War Machine projects so look for some features on using those items to their fullest.

Until next time, have fun with your hobby!

Derailed!

2009-10-14T11:19:00.001-04:00

I had all the intentions to get a bunch of new posts done over the weekend but I got a cold and my daughter has also been sick all week so things have gotten a bit off track. Sorry, as soon as everyone is better the updates will flow! My Space Wolf test model and some models for my upcoming Skaven army are waiting to be seen!

Stop being a slacker!

2009-10-08T23:13:00.003-04:00

So my blog updates have been few and far between as of late. The new school year starting and juggling all that with the kids has taken up lots of time. But things have finally settled into a good rhythm and I should be able to return to blogging on a more consistent basis.

Like many others, the "shiny new toy" syndrome has gripped me and I find myself working on some Space Wolves. I wanted to make sure that this army is different enough from my Shadow Hawks so I am focusing on a Wolf Guard heavy force lead by Logan Grimnar. This will also be a Drop Pod army as it seems fitting for an army geared toward getting into the thick of things as quick as possible. I have finished a test model and I just need to get it photographed. I am really pleased with how it came out. I am going with an Adeptus Battlegrey base color instead of the blue that the GW studio uses on the Wolves.

I will also be basing all of my Wolves on some fantastic bases from Dragon Forge which I will be showcasing on here in some upcoming posts.

I plan on getting photos done tomorrow of the Space Wolf and a few other recent paint jobs, so check back for an update this weekend.

Shifting Gears

2009-08-23T20:49:00.012-04:00

The painting bug really took hold over the past few weeks and I found myself completing a number of models over the last days of summer vacation. Once again the Warmachine/Hordes models drew me back to them and I finally completed a few things that had sat half started or primed for ages.

First up, I new I needed a second Warlock for my Trollbloods. I have loved the Grim Angus model since I first saw him and I finally got around to painting him. I wanted to really make him stand out, so I decided to go all out on his base and really add some extra details to him.

The tree on his base is from the GW Tree's and I used some Hudson and Allen leaf scatter on his base and on the branches.
Next up I finished off a Troll Impaler that had sat primed in my "waiting to paint" pile for some time.

I had recently finished my Troll Champions unit, so to go with them, I completed the new Troll Hero model.

In addition to the painted models, I also got another unit ready to paint for the Trolls - the Pyg Bushwackers. While I like these models a great deal, I wanted to add something extra to them. The model that is laying down had a coonskin cap on, so I thought about giving the rest of them hats. The Perry Civil War plastics have some great hats on the sprues so I added these to the models. I also created a scenic base for the prone model with another GW tree branch.

Finally, I wanted to experiment a bit with the Army Painter line of sprays. I like to use sprays as often as I can to cut down on the painting time and speed up completion of units. The Army Painter line has a great selection of colors to choose from. However, they are very expensive for what you get. A can is $16.99. That is a very steep price. But I gave it a shot anyway, just to see how they worked.
I sprayed a unit of Cygnar Stormblades with the Navy Blue spray. Since they are all armored up, it was a good choice to get the armor done quickly. After they were sprayed, I washed them with GW's Asurmen Blue to deepen the color a bit. I then went on to highlight them with the usual process of Cygnar Blue, Cygnar Highlight, and Delta Mediterranean Blue. Below are some shots of the Blue sprayed model and the final model.

Well, that's what I have been working on for the past weeks. Next up on the painting table is to finish up the Stormblades and paint the Pygs. I also have a few Cryx models I have been wanting to finish up I am experimenting with. Until next time, enjoy the models and have fun with your own hobby projects!

The Return of the Blog - Shadow Hawk Designer Notes

2009-07-31T20:33:00.011-04:00

So I finally return to the blog! Sorry for the delay, it has been a hectic summer. I haven't found much time to work on too many models, though I have been working on a bunch of Planetstrike terrain. I'll have more on that in a future post. Now, onto part 1 of my Space Marine army details.

The Shadow Hawks

I created the Shadow Hawks around 4 years ago now after ages of trying to decide what Marine Chapter to do. I had planned on Imperial Fists for a long time, but all that yellow was too daunting. I was then going to go with Crimson Fists, but deep down I knew I wanted to do something unique.

Now I needed a cool chapter symbol that I could easily replicate or find a good source for. It was around that time that Forge World released the Raptor Rhino and Land Raider doors and Terminator Shoulder pads. I immediately loved the iconography and jumped at the chance to use these as my Chapter Symbol. Plus, there are eagle/bird icons everywhere in various Marine bitz so I knew that would come in handy. I just needed to figure out a way to do my Power Armor Marines in a simple way. Luckily, Dave Taylor was nice in enough to volunteer to sculpt me some shoulder pads for my Power Armored Marines. I then had another friend cast me up a big batch for the army. Things were underway!

I experimented with a few options but really lucked into coming up with my color scheme pretty quickly. It is based on a Delta color called Charcoal as the base with a few other Delta colors to achieve the deep red of the accent. I am a big fan of the Delta Ceramacoat line available at Michaels. They are inexpensive paints with good coverage (for the most part).

With the basic color scheme worked out, it was time to figure out the other details, like what to use as the basis for the army's composition and rules.

When I created the army, I used the now nonexistent Trait system from the last Marine Codex. The Traits I chose were Bolt Pistol/Close Combat Weapon for Tactical Squads and two Special Weapons for Tactical Squads. I always found these to be very useful in my Black Legion army and wanted to use some tactics I was already familiar with.

Once the new book was happening and you could no longer use these things in your army, I needed to figure out what to do next. I settled on Blood Angels as the primary list since I could use the BP/CCW options as Assault Squads without Jump Packs. It also fit the idea I had for the army as a rapid striking force with Marines who were quick into the fight. Lots of Assault Squads would be perfect for this!

Overall I wanted the army to be able to represent a variety of different options though. With that in mind, I am not really settling on any one army book for the Chapter. I love Terminators, and I wanted to be able to field a First Company army at some point. For that I would use the Dark Angels book with Belial (and I created a Chapter Master based on him - pics in an upcoming post). I also have been incorporating some of the new units from the Marine Codex (Sternguard, Vanguard, Ironclads, etc.) so I will also be working on making the main army more based on the regular Marine book.

I want to explore all the various things you can do with a Marine army in my Chapter. Scout armies, bike forces, Techmarines and lots of Dreads, and more! So to that end, I will be continuing to grow the army with as many options as I can so I will have endless options!

In my next post, I will delve into the background of the army in the setting (Founding, History, etc.). I will also get a bunch of photos done finally to start showcasing the army's models. Until then, here are some pics of my Librarian in Terminator Armor. He is built off of a Lysander model as the base and he is one of my favorite conversions in the army. Enjoy and I welcome comments!

Apologies!

2009-07-18T20:47:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this past week as I had planned. The little guy has kept us busy and we left today for vacation to the beach. I am hoping that this relaxing week will allow me time to write up my plans for the Space Marine Army as I had planned. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am working on it and I hope to get it up soon. Updates are coming!

Quick update

2009-07-10T09:56:00.003-04:00

Ok, I know it is Friday and I said I would update again on Wednesday, so first off - sorry! I actually had the opportunity to play some 40K yesterday so the past two days were getting prepped for that. I played a game of Planetstrike with my Tau vs. an IG army fielded by BrassScorpion of Bell of Lost Souls. It was a good time and I look forward to playing a lot more Planetstrike!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The Army Feature is underway and I hope to have lots of pictures taken over the weekend and details about the army up over the coming days. The army will be featured in 3 parts:

Part 1: Designer Notes (how I came up with the army, what I field it as, etc.)
Part 2: Index Astartes Shadow Hawks (the fluff if you will - army history, Founding information, leaders, etc.)
Part 3: Showcase (all the pictures of the army)

With each part I will have some pictures as well, then compile all the shots into one big showcase in the last post. I hope to do this with my other armies over the coming weeks as well so I can showcase lots of cool painted models!

So check back later in the week for the first post on the army's conception and creation!

Finally an update!

2009-07-06T08:52:00.004-04:00

So I have finally had a chance to return to the painting table after a hectic month. I picked up some of the Planetstrike items that were just released and I have to say, I am really excited about getting in some games. I think this will be a very fun way to play 40K!

So while I spent last night evening building a crazy two story Bastion, I also had the good fortune to be in PA for the past week and spend some time at Legions Hobby and Game. What an amazing store that is! I have never seen a larger selection of gaming products in one place! Everything you can imagine is there! If you find yourself in the Pittsburgh area, be sure to check it out!

http://www.legionsgames.com

I picked up a variety of things there: some Dark Age bases, Micro Art Orc heads (those conversions coming soon), an Avatars of War Chaos Lord, Ultraforge Daemon Wings, GW Direct Only Ammo Grots for my Flash Gitz unit, and more!

Well, enough rambling. Starting with the next post (by Wednesday) I will be doing a feature series of articles on my Shadow Hawk Space Marines. I am planning on adding some new units to the army for Planet Strike (like Drop Pods) and I realized it was time to really delve into the background and details on this army. Until then, here are some teaser models to get your interest fired up!

The Greatest Miniature ever...

2009-06-06T17:11:00.004-04:00

Sorry I haven't had a chance to update lately. I haven't had a chance to do much painting recently either! All because I got the best miniature on Monday: Alexander Jonathan Hall

Alexander was born on Monday at 3 PM! He is doing great and I look forward to having a future gaming buddy!

More on the regular little mans soon (once I get some sleep and can get back to some painting!)

Cadian 485th "The Diamondbacks"

2009-05-17T21:02:00.015-04:00

I have finally had a chance to get back to taking some photos and updating the blog in a proper fashion! As many others, the new Imperial Guard Codex has energized me to get back to my Cadian army that I started ages ago. Even though I haven't finished the Orks, the Emperor's Will cannot be denied!

The Cadian 485th was envisioned as an Armored Recon force. The infantry squads will be in Chimeras and there will be lots of Sentinels and other fast elements. The new Valkyries are perfect additions to the army as well! The army name comes from a lizard indigenous to the founding planet in the Cadia system. The creature's mottled skin tones are represented in the army's color scheme.

The overall commander of the army is an Inquisitor who is utilizing the recon force to investigate a variety of Chaos incursions in the sector. So the army will also feature Inquisitorial allies.

There is still quite a bit of work to be done on the army, but here is what I have so far.

The Kasrkin squad is one of the first elements I painted up. I had considered a Grenadiers army under the old doctrine system, but decided that I would just have them as a supporting unit.

The Sentinels. I have a second unit being built that will incorporate magnetic weapons so that I can swap them for different battlefield roles.

The Command Squad's Chimera has been converted out of a FW Trojan Recovery Vehicle kit and a large communications dish was added to the top from another FW kit. I am really happy with this design and I think it really conveys the army's role as a scouting force.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I would do Veterans for the army. I converted these models for GW when I was working there to show some other uses for the plastic Marine Scouts. Now with the Grenadier option in the Veteran entry, I decided that I would use these guys as my Veterans. I have to convert 5 more to complete the squad. The Vet squad will be mounted in a Valkyrie in the army, so their helmets and visors give them the appearance of drop troops as well.

This is the test model for my Grey Knight Terminators. I didn't want to do a standard color scheme for them, so I added the colors of the IG army to the model. I also painted him in greys instead of the usual metallics.

These are some other random models I have painted for the army so far. I am planning on using the cyber mastiff to be a bodyguard for the Commander in the HQ Command Squad. The Veteran officer will find his way to a platoon command or squad sergeant.

Here are some of the vehicles I have done so far.

There are the various models I have done so far. I am working away at an infrantry squad right now. I will keep you all updated as the Regiment comes together!

Baltimore Games Day 2009

2009-05-11T09:49:00.003-04:00

So Saturday was Baltimore Games Day. I had a lot of mixed feelings heading toward this particular show. First, it was the 15th Games Day Baltimore that I have attended. I began going to them in 1994, and I haven't missed one since. Second, this was a show that I knew would be facing some challenges. The constant changes at GW US and various friends who have been let go would make this show "interesting" to say the least. Finally, I decided to compete in Golden Demon for the first time as a regular customer.

So let's talk about the good first. I did OK for my first attempt at Golden Demon. I entered five categories and I made the first cut in 3 of those. So in all, I think that is pretty good for my first attempt against the big names in the painting world. I am going to try and get pics of all my entries done this week to show you all. I didn't paint anything specific for the show either, I just pulled out various models that I was really proud of and entered those.
Another good thing at this year's GD was getting to see lots of old friends. It's the one time of the year when tons of people I have met through this hobby are all gathered together, so it is always great to catch with them.
Finally, I participated in the Armies on Parade event and displayed my Shadow Hawk Space Marines. It is an army I am really pleased with and something truly original, so it was nice to show it off. I received a lot of nice comments on the army, and I thank anyone who stopped by to say they enjoyed seeing it.

Unfortunately, that's about all that I have to say on the good front. Overall, I was hugely disappointed in this year's show. Let me preface the rest of this with a few things though. I have run Games Day myself (the 1998 show and all the shows in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 - around 16 events) and I know they can be a total nightmare of logistics and other hassles. So while I am saying I did not enjoy the show overall, it has nothing to do with the hard work that I know many of my friends at GW put in. It has to do with the upper management (both UK and US) and their overall attitude toward Games Days in general.

GWUS has seen massive upheaval this year in staffing and focus as a company. Due to those things, Games Day was kind of left by the wayside. The upper level folks at GW have always looked at it this way. They want it to happen and they want it to be good, but they think that should happen with pixie dust and goblin magic. They don't want to devote the resources, time, and overall effort to make the show great. "Just make it happen." Because of this, the show suffered.

As soon as you entered the hall, you could tell things were not the same this year. There was massive open space (it was a bigger hall than in years past as well). They didn't bring ANY of the 100+ Games Day Tables that the hobby teams of yesteryear spent months and months of work on making. The only gaming tables were supplied by clubs. While that is a great idea in principal, you never know what you are going to get from the random hobbyists out there. Some do fantastic work (the remote control super heavy battles were great), while others slap a few models on a table and call it a day. So by not having something there for GAMING (and let's face it, that is a huge part of Games Day) that was completely under GW control, it left a lot to be desired. Heck, bring the tables and use them for open gaming, since most people would kill to play on fantastic terrain with their own models.

Another area greatly lacking was the Studio Guest area. There was only 1 model there that hasn't been seen online for weeks now. There were about 10 things on display period from the Design Studio, and there was nothing at all about Planetstrike (which releases in less than 2 months). The UK guests also did not have even a PowerPoint presentation to show. That kind of attitude is a slap in the face to dedicated hobbyists who paid $25 each to get in. Games Days were always the hotbed of excitement about upcoming releases and cool stuff. That was not the case in Baltimore this year.

The Games Day store was dismal. Sure Forge World had a few great new things to buy (after waiting in line for up to 4 hours), but the regular GW store had nothing new. Not even this coming week's releases were there. I was hoping to pick up a few things like the IG Advisors. Not the case. I did purchase the new FW Khorne Daemon Prince and Herald, but that was it.
Even to check out in the store took forever (and if you waited in the FW line to get your stuff you then had to go to the regular GW store to pay and wait in another line). Not fun.

Finally, GW made the decision to not use outside help from Outriders/Kommandos this year at the show. For the first time in 15 years, those great hobbyists were not present to help out. I have a special place in my heart for the Outriders. I started as one, I ran the Outrider Program for GW for a year, and I worked closely with them for 4 more years in running the events). These guys truly love the hobby and helping make a great day for the customers. Not utilizing this talent was a shame and it was noticed. There was an overall feeling in the air that just lacked excitement.

So in all, while anytime to get out and talk about toy soldiers and see friends is great, the event itself was not very good. I commend the GW staff that are in the trenches for working hard to make the best of what they had, but GW management needs to decide once and for all what they want Games Day to be and devote the proper resources to make that happen.

The Emperor's Might has arrived!

2009-05-02T12:13:00.002-04:00

Today is the launch of the new IG codex and I am very excited. Amongst the million other projects to work on, my Imperial Guard army has been half finished for ages. The 485th Cadian Regiment "The Diamondbacks," have been waiting for me to return to them and I think that it is time to start working on them. Well them and finishing more Orks, more WM and Hordes stuff, and I am sure something else...

I am going to try and get a bunch of pics up over the next week of what has been done so far on the army, but until then, I leave you with the HQ Command Squad, one of my Staff Golden Demon winning entries from a few years back. Enjoy!

And the winner is...

2009-04-23T12:53:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to all the entrants of the Stegadon Conversion Challenge. The winner is the great Nurgle Dragon submitted by the one of the talented guys from Santa Cruz Warhammer!

I'll have a full write up with additional pictures of the winning entries and some details on all the rest in the next day or so.

Congrats again and thanks to everyone who voted and checked out the entries!
Jeff

Reinforcements!

2009-04-15T18:41:00.003-04:00

Well, the Stegadon Challenge is going along great with over 150 votes so far. Thanks to everyone who is following it and participating.

I have been on a major Warmachine kick as of late and that has been my painting focus. I will return to the Orks soon, but with the Mark 2 Warmachine rules out, I have been bulking up the forces to try them out. We have some games scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) night, so we'll see how the new rules play. Overall I like what I see (though some of my favorite units and models are quite different now). Anyway, I added a few new things to the Cygnar force (and there are even more done since I took these pics, I just need to get time to take more pictures). I also painted up Brun and Lug for my Trollbloods. Enjoy!

The Stegadon Conversion Challenge!

2009-04-08T22:12:00.007-04:00

Well, it is here! The entries for the Stegadon Conversion Challenge. Between this site and Dave Taylor's (http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com) we will be showcasing all the entries for the contest. The voting will take place here at the Forge and the winner will be announced in about 2 weeks. There are 3 entries posted here, and 3 entries on Dave's site. Please be sure to visit Dave Taylor Miniatures to see those great entries and then come back here to vote!

Entry 1: Squiggoth
The first entry is a fantastic Ork Squiggoth. Marching into battle atop this massive monster, the Orks are ready to unleash a devastating attack from the super Zzap Gun!

Entry 2: War Shrine
Marauders from the North know no bounds when it comes to the worship of their Dark Gods. This Stegadon has been captured and pressed into service as a Warshrine. When sufficiently angered it can also act as a Chaos Chariot.

Entry 3: Squiggoth

Not content with the configuration of the Stegadon, this converter switched the head and tail around and added some great bionic feet before dropping a cool Grot Rokkit howdah on the back!

There you have the first three entries. Be sure to head over to http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com to see the other three entries. Then be sure to vote for your favorite! Also, comments on the entries are welcome and encouraged! We hope you enjoy the first conversion challenge and we are anxiously awaiting your vote! All winners and who the models belong to will be announced in a few weeks!

Updates are coming!

2009-04-03T18:41:00.004-04:00

Hey guys,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the updates are on the way! I just kicked off Spring Break today (and it will be wonderful not to have to deal with 9th graders for the next 10 days!) and I have lots in store over the break. First up, the pictures are starting to roll in for the Stegadon Conversion Challenge. I also have finished a bunch of reinforcements for my Cygnar army and a Minion Warcaster for the Trollbloods. Hopefully this weekend I will get everything photographed and up on the site.

The Conversion Challenge entries should be posted here and at http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com over the coming week to week and a half.

Have a great weekend and look back early next week for lots of new stuff!

Jeff

Switching Gears

2009-03-18T20:30:00.013-04:00

As I worked away at my Orks, I finally realized that I needed a break. As much fun as I was having with them, I found that I was starting to get a bit burnt out. So I decided to work on some models for my other favorite games - Warmachine and Hordes.

I am currently working on my Cygnar force for Warmachine. I am also trying to squeeze in more models to my Trollblood army for Hordes. One thing I love about these games is how quick it is to add a few things to an army. Since it is more skirmish based, adding a new model or unit is much easier than adding the same thing in other game systems. Below you will find a gallery of my various models for these systems. In addition to my Cygnar and Trolls, I have also showcased a variety of my Mercenary models (my first faction for Warmachine that I painted). In a future update, I'll show you all some of the other models I have done for my WIP Cryx army and my WIP Khador. I also have a huge Skorne army not assembled, and a Privateer army, and some Legion models I want to paint... It's an addiction, I know!

The Deff Dread cometh!

2009-03-12T10:44:00.005-04:00

Well, my most ambitious scratch building / kit-bashing project has reached completion. I present the fully painted and ready for battle Deff Dread! This model has really been a labor of love for me and I am pleased with the final results. When I first started painting him I wasn't sure how it would end up. You know how it is when you have a model that just doesn't look write in the midst of painting it. But in the end, I think it came out well and blends in nicely with the rest of the army.

Incoming!

2009-03-09T09:51:00.002-04:00

Well, if all goes as planned, this should be a busy week here at the Forge. I finished painting the Deff Dread on Friday, so as soon as I get all the pictures finished, they will be up.

I have also begun working on my Stompa, and I hope to take some WIP shots of that to show you what I have planned for it. There is no way I could just build it as a stock kit, so the conversion work is underway! My goal is try and make the arms (or at least one of them) swappable so I can have a few of the options out there.

Finally, I have a test model underway for my Stormboyz mob that I am anxious to show you all. I am experimenting with some new ideas to make him taking off, and I think you will like the results!

Our next bios are now available for the Stegadon Conversion Contest. So without further ado...

Dan Cooper
Retired banker, life-long military and commercial aircraft modeller, recently started working on fantasy model kits as a change of pace. In addition to modelling, Dan also enjoys skydiving, fishing, and camping in his naitive Pacific Northwest.

Jeff Hall (hey, that's me!)
Veteran hobbyist with almost 17 years experience. Former Games Workshop US Community Manager and White Dwarf contributor. I have painted hundreds of miniatures over the years and I have 10 painted armies to date for Warhammer and 40K. I am also a fan of historical miniatures, Warmachine and Hordes, and all things nerdy (though I just don't get Anime...)

Well, there you have the next two people in the conversion contest. I'll try and get all the other bios up this week with all the other updates I have planned. Plus, I need to investigate that Cooper fellow. I could have sworn I heard about that guy somewhere before... :-)

Roll Call!

2009-03-04T10:13:00.005-05:00

Well, here we have the first short bios for those participating in our Stegadon Conversion Contest. Over the next few days I am going to try and get all the bios compiled and up so you can see who is flexing their hobby muscles in this! So without further ado, our first two participants are from the Santa Cruz Warhammer blog:

Mike de Boer - An alien from the old country who cannot live without his passions: his wife, his two daughters and modeling. He has given up on armies and just builds and paints models.

John Dickerman - Sergeant at Arms, Santa Cruz Warhammer
A Warrior Poet (and a Taurus, who enjoys walks on the beach, sunsets and soup), who has spent much of his life searching for the perfect cherry blossom, only to realize that they are all perfect.
Currently a:

Chaos Warmaster and Herald of Nurgle
Dark Angel Chapter Master
Slann Mage Priest
Orc Warboss
Ogre Tyrant
Eldar Autarch
Lord of Athel Loren
Hive Tyrant
Big Mek Whaaagh Boss
Tau Aun
Dwarf King and Grudgebearer

So there you have our first two participants. I'll try and get some others up later today. Thanks to Mike and Jon for participating and I look forward to your conversions. If they are as creative as the bios you have come up with, we are sure to see some great stuff!

Reminder - Conversion Contest

2009-02-27T12:35:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to remind everyone that The Adept's Forge and Dave Taylor Miniatures (http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com) are kicking off their conversion contest for the new Stegadon model on March 1. Check back early next week to both sites to see profiles of the hobbyists involved in the contest and hear a bit about what they will be working on.

Voting happens at the end of March!

A quick, and shocking update...

2009-02-27T10:17:00.007-05:00

Yes, I love bad puns. Sorry, I can't help myself.

I would update quicker, but I feel that a miniature painting and modeling blog is not worth reading if there aren't pictures to go with it! So I have to have something to show when I update.

Over the past week, I have started painting (and continued working on) a variety of things.

Continued plugging away at 9 Slugga Boyz. They are about 50% done and I hope that I can come very close to finishing them this weekend.

Began painting the Big Daddy Deff Dread. I have some base coats on it and I have begun picking out areas to paint yellow. This model is turning into one of those rare ones that just doesn't look right yet. But I have some ideas on fixing that which will be implemented this evening. So I hope that with these things done to it, the paint job will start to come into line with how much I like the rest of the model!

Finally, I have a base coat on my Battle Wagon. I'll be taking my time on this to make sure it stands out nicely on the tabletop!

So since painting is back to the forefront, I don't have too much to show as the paint jobs aren't complete. However, I did finish up the conversion/kit bash on my Shokk Attack Gun. The "vaccuum" tube that runs from the Big Mek to the Shokk Attack Gun isn't finished yet, but the other parts are. Let me now what you think!

The Shokk Attack Gun is made from a variety of parts. The main body is from the Imex/Pegasus Chemical Plant. The tracks are from an old Rapier kit, and then added to all that is plasticard, power cables from Dragon Forge, and other odds and ends. I'll give a special recognition to anyone who knows that the ends of the spinning part of the gun are made from!

For the tube I took some Apoxy Sculpt and rolled out a length. I then used some Empire Cannon Balls and added them to the tube. I covered these over and viola! Grots being sucked up through the tube and poking around :-)

I had a great deal of fun making this. Once I complete the tube and get it all based, more shots will be added. Now back to work and lots of painting this weekend!

Here comes the Big Daddy!

2009-02-19T18:57:00.016-05:00

So as I embarked on my Ork army, I wanted to make sure that I went all out. Not to say I haven't put a lot of time and effort into my other 9 painted armies, but Orks were going to be something special. No other army lends itself to more customization (in my opinion) as the Orks do.
As I looked at all the great forums and sites out there dedicated to the greenskins (especially Da Waagh) I knew that I would really have to step up my skills with plasticard and putty for this project. I wanted to completely scratch build / kitbash some of the models for this army. My first undertaking of going all out is now complete (well, the building at least). I present the ultimate Deff Dread!

The main body of the Dread is made from a plasticard understructure that was then coated with a second layer of plasticard cut and damaged to look like metal. I then added loads of bolts and rivets made from various lengths of plastic rod (both round and hex).

I used a variety of other parts as well on the kit. The front part of the body and "eye" are made from an old Rhino hatch and the end of a searchlight. I created the top hatch from an IG tank hatch, old Rhino top hatch, and the wheel that opens it is from the Chemical Plant terrain kit from Pegasus Games.

The power plant for the Dread is made from tubing and connectors from the Chemical Plant. I also used some of the fantastic power cables from Dragon Forge (www.dragonforge.com).

I created the legs on the model from the Defiler's CCW weapon arm. I cut and repositioned one of the legs and left the other one straight. I added some armor plates from the old "gubbinz bags" and filled in the back open section with some tubing. For the feet, I used Sentinel feet.

Finally, I finished off the model with four close combat arms from the new Battle Wagon's Grabba Claws! I want to give a huge thanks to Jordan C. for helping me get the last two claws I needed to complete this!

The Deff Dread is a massive beast (the base is approximately 80mm and made from a metal drink coaster)! While he is quite large, I don't think he is too big, as any self-respecting Bad Moon Mek would go all out on such a stompy, killy machine! For the final shots, here are two scale pics showing it with a Killa Kan and also a weedy 'umie Dread!

Comments welcome, and I look forward to painting this soon!

Conversion Challenge - The Stegadon!

2009-02-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

The "Getting the most out of the new Stegadon kit if you're not a Lizardman player" Conversion Challenge!

The Adept's Forge, in conjunction with Dave Taylor Miniatures, is pleased to present the kick-off to what will hopefully be an ongoing series of cool idea-sharing and excitingly executed conversions.

All too often, there comes a great new plastic kit that you just can't help but want to put together. Perhaps, however, you're not into the army for which the kit has been released and you just can't bring yourself to build a one-off, never to be used again model. Enter the Conversion Challenge.

Over the next five to six weeks, a group of friends and verteran hobbyists will take on the challenge of converting the fantastic new Stegadon plastic kit into something they can more readily used in one of their existing armies. The rules are simple. Take (at least) one Stegadon kit, add heaping helpings of creativity and modeling talent, and create a masterpiece of conversion work that will be admired the world over (or perhaps just over the world wide web). Photos will be taken around the end of March and half will be posted on http://theadeptsforge.blogspot.com, while the other half will be posted on http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com. Polls will be set up for voting and the winner will receive bragging rights, and possibly a prize from the archives.

We'll be posting the names of the contestants shortly, so keep your eyes peeled for the mighty creations come late March!

Grot Tanks

2009-02-16T21:20:00.006-05:00

Well, I have finally been able to update! Sorry for the delay, life got in the way of toy soldiers! Anyway, one of the things I have been working on lately are some "grot tanks" to be big gunz batteries in the army. They are made from a variety of parts including Wartrak back sections, grot turrets from the new battle wagon, Zzap Guns from the battle wagon, and a few other bitz. I am hoping to do a step-by-step of the third and final one when I build it.

Until then, here are some pics!

Looted Wagon WIP

2009-02-01T14:39:00.010-05:00

Ever since I saw the drawing of the Looted Wagon in the Ork Codex, I knew I wanted to recreate that in a model. The Leman Russ the Orks had looted was just covered with great Ork additions! So as I got more and more skilled in plasticard work, I decided it was time to give it a shot.

One of the things that always stood out on the drawing to me was the turret with the teef next to the barrel of the boomgun and all the glyphs and chains on top of the turret.

I made the barrel of the gun from plastic tubing and I used a slightly larger tube cut into sections to represent armor plats on the barrel. The end of the barrel is the Kannon on the Battle Wagon cut and added to the tube. I finished it up with rivets cut from unused plates on the battle wagon.

For the top of the turret, I used various back banners and banner poles, along with a "crow's nest" from the Ogre Kingdoms banner. I used fine modelers' chain to hook it all together. One of the last things I did with the turret was cut off the cupola that is on the turret (it is from the Battle Wagon as well) and recreated that with plasticard.

For the other details, I studied the picture as close as I could and tried to recreate these details anywhere that I could. The spikes on the tracks, the various patches and plates, the iron gob style teef along the front - all these were inspired by the drawing in the Codex.

One thing I needed to figure out where the weapon options. The Boomgun was obvious, but I could only have 2 Big Shootas or Rokkit Launchas for the other options. With the two sponsons and the front body gun spot, I needed to figure out what to do with the weapons. So I settled on 2 Big Shootas for the front and side sponson, but then I made the other sponson look like the weapon had been destroyed and a grot was just poking out taking potshots!

So there you have the latest crazy creation for the Orks! I have had an absolute blast building this and I look forward to the next Ork creation. But first, I have to get more models actually painted!

Da Boss's Best Boyz

2009-01-28T08:20:00.006-05:00

I recently finished the first part of my Nobz Mob. I am looking to have a 10 man unit in the army, with the Painboy I converted. Here are some shots of the first 4. They are all from the Black Reach set, with one having a Power Claw added to him. The next batch will be made from the new Nobz boxed set and feature some Big Choppas, another power claw, and some combi-shootas. It may not be the most focused unit for combat, but it will provide a good all-around unit for different situations and also give me lots of different Nobz to use in my Boyz units.

Crushing!

2009-01-25T16:06:00.003-05:00

The Deff Rolla is always a favorite addition to any Battle Wagon. Even though a sprue is slated to come out soon (possibly March if rumors are correct) I always knew I had to build one of my own. Various posters on Da Waaagh! and other forums have done a great job scratch building Deff Rollas. While I pride myself on my conversion skills, full on scratch building is still a bit of a challenge for me. So I have to work with existing materials to make the magic happen "-)

So after a quick trip to Lowes, I came home with a bag of great parts to start up the Deff Rolla (and it only cost me $4 - be sure to explore your local hardware store for great finds!).

I used some PVC plumbing pipe "slips" as they are called as the basis for the rolla. On to that, I took armor plates from the old Gubbinz Bags and covered the main section of the tubing. For the outer ends, I fit half of a Siege Tower wheel to the end. The Siege Tower wheels are wooden, so I had to cover over the woodgrain with some Apoxy Sculpt. This left a thin area between the plates and end caps that needed something to fill it. I thought about spikes, but those just seemed like they would get broken as it rolled. So I decided to create some sturdier protrusions out of hooks from the Chaos Vehicle accessory sprue. I just clipped off the hook part, and shaved down the tips with a hobby knife.

Now came the hard part, attaching this to the Battle Wagon. I considered some plastic tubing, metal rods, and other components. As luck would have it, my answer arrived in the mail yesterday! I had ordered one of those Chemical Plant kits from a friend of mine's store and it arrived. The pipes that come with that kit ended up being the perfect solution to mount it onto the wagon!

Rollin, rollin, rollin!

2009-01-25T15:32:00.005-05:00

So I had the idea to build one of the new Battle Wagons with all tires on each side. This was inspired by the large Assault Vehicle in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. You can see that particular vehicle here:
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Heavy_Assault_Vehicle/wheeled_A6_Juggernaut

Based on this idea, I began converting my "Rolling Thunder" style Battle Wagon.

The getting wheels to fit took some trial and error, but overall it wasn't too difficult. I had purchased some extra wheels online and they came with additional frames to mount the wheels as you do in the front. Fitting these onto the back part of the wagon helped plan out the location for the wheels. For the middle wheel, I created a support from some plastic tubing. One of the last things I did with the wheels is to add Bad Moon hubcaps made from some old Marauder Miniatures Orc shields. These fit the wheels perfectly and add some great detail to the model.

The metal washer you can see on the right side turret is for placing the turret options. I have one built so far with a big shoota, and I plan on creating others with different weapon and crew options. The washer's center hole allows the various turrets to be mounted with some plastic tubing to keep it in place. This way you can have a variety of swappable turret options.

There are more details to come including additional big shootas, swappable crew, and more!

Conversion article - Chaos Giant WIP

2009-01-20T17:20:00.010-05:00

Since I began playing Warhammer some 17 years ago, I have always loved Giants. The thought of these massive creatures wading through hordes of troops have always inspired me. GW has released a lot of great Giants over the years, but the plastic Giant that came out a few years ago is truly one of my all time favorite models. I have painted 2 so far and this will be my third.

The basic idea I had for the Chaos Giant was a massive northern warrior. Other Chaos Giants often go the route of the mutant monstrosity, but I wanted more of a huge Chaos Warrior or Marauder.

I built the head for the Giant a while ago, and I had some basic ideas for using the Chaos banner as a tabard for him. I had considered using some of the shoulder pads from the 40K Daemon Prince on him, but in the end, I thought that would look too much like Marine armor.

I was lucky to get a plastic Mordor Troll sprue a while back from a buddy of mine, and it has sat for some time as I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Now that I started work on the Giant, the ideas seemed to just leap from the Troll sprue! The chest armor on the troll fit perfectly on the giant. All that was needed was to cut the very bottom plate off and on it went. I used some fine modeler's chain in a criss-cross pattern across the back to represent how it was attached to the Giant.

The Troll also has some great shoulder armor on the sprue that fit nicely on the shoulder of the Giant as well. I added a horn/spike to the center of this shoulder pad from the Spawn sprue for extra emphasis.

For a weapon, I had thought long and hard on what to use. I considered making some sort of giant flail, or perhaps a club studded with Chaos Warrior weapons. But while looking through sprues one evening, I came across my Soul Grinder sprues and the sword was perfect! It had a similar sized hand as the Giant, and all it took was some putty work to fill in the gap on the back of the hand.

Since he had a sword, a shield seemed fitting for the other arm. Once again, the fantastic LOTR Mordor Troll sprue provided just what I needed! I used some ForgeWorld brass Chaos icons to add extra detail and a giant-sized Chaos shield was born!

I finished off the model with some extra armor on the other shoulder made from a Troll helmet and I added the Chaos Star earring from an icon that comes with the new mounted Marauders. All that is left is coming up with some leg armor to guard those vulnerable areas where all the small ones will be attacking! I think I will make these from Chaos shields.

Now he just needs to be painted!

And now for something completely different...

2009-01-13T20:33:00.005-05:00

So far I have been focusing solely on my Bad Moon Ork army in progress. But as any hobbyist knows, you often deviate from your current army at times to get out a conversion bug you have buzzing around your head.

That's where the Ironclad Dreadnought comes in. I actually built this a few months ago, but only recently finished the final details. He will be painted up for my Shadow Hawk Space Marine army.

I started out by adding the additional armor plates to the main body. I built these from old IG plates from a tank accessory sprue. I actually don't even remember the exact place the panels in question came from, I just know they were on that sprue. I think they were part of the old Hunter Killer missile launcher assembly. I cut these down and made the armor from them.

The Hurricane bolters are simply Marine bolters cut and added to an assault cannon dread arm. Some hacking and shaving and they fit nicely.

The Seismic Hammer was the hardest part. Figuring out what I wanted the arm the look like took the longest! I tried a few configurations before I settled on the final product. This is based on a CAD drawing from Games Day of the Ironclad. I used the fuel pods from a Land Speeder Multi-melta to make the piston style heads for the end of the arm. These are placed around the end of a power cell from the Battle for Macragge set (one of the small terrain pieces). Small squares of plasticard are used to fit into the finger holes from the power fist (that I cut out and smoothed down).

The final details are some ForgeWorld brass and the chainmail tabbard is from a Marine backbanner (from a Veteran).

Tankbustas!

2009-01-13T20:08:00.008-05:00

I have never been a fan of the Tankbusta models, so I knew that I would have to really think about how I wanted to create this unit. I like how they play (having a unit all armed with Rokkits is never a bad thing) and I thought long and hard about what I would use for these guys.

At a recent Bizarre Bazaar at the local Battle Bunker, I happened across an old friend of mine who was unloading all his Epic Orks. When I saw the Epic Stompas, I knew I had to figure out something to use them for. So for a whopping $5 I acquired a bag full of them as well as some great parts from an old Mega Gargant (more on that at a later date). Once I had these great little robots, the idea for making Tankbusta boys came pretty quickly. I knew I would have to do some minor conversions on them so they looked different from just the Epic model. I dove into my bins and dug out the last of my Pit Slave arms. I scrounged up as many Rokkit style weapons as I could for their launchers and the unit was underway.

For the Nob, I envisioned him wielding a remote control fairly early on. Coming up with the right way to make this proved a bit more challenging. I tried to create a set of arms actually driving a joystick, but that didn't work out. So I used the new plastic Nobz box to create a Rokkit Launcha resting on his shoulder from one of the new Uge Choppas. The remote is made from a Tau missile pod with small plasticard buttons added. The attenae is from a Cadian backpack and also a power node from the Macragge set. His backpack is a set of Mek's tools from a Gorka Morka mek. I can't wait to paint these guys up!

Let me know what you think.

Updates inbound!

2009-01-13T10:14:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

I haven't forgotten the blog! I just haven't had a chance to get photos taken of my latest conversions. Unfortunately I don't get a dedicated photo area set-up like I have for my painting/modelling area. I should be able to get some pictures done this evening though.

On the horizon, look for details on my crazy Tankbusta conversions, custom bases, and a Space Marine Ironclad Dreadnought conversion I am really pleased with. I will also be doing some articles in the near future on topics such as Counts As Models and other interesting (at least I think they are interesting) topics.

So look for a more detailed update soon!

And his little buddy

2009-01-04T21:51:00.000-05:00

So to go along with my new Painboy, here is his Grot Orderly.

He is based off of the Ammo Runt in the Nobz boxed set. His cleaver is from the Ogre Kingdoms Bulls. I cut out the ammo from his box and replaced it with scissors (old Battle Wagon tools), a leg bone, and a skeletal arm. The Ork skull is added for extra "don't visit the Doc!" effect :-)

New Year, New Models

2009-01-04T16:20:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year all! Welcome to 2009 and the continued odyssey of my Bad Moon army.

As January kicked off with lots of new Ork models, I did the respectable thing and picked up a bunch of them! I had some exchanges to make at the local GW store, so I was able to pick up 3 boxes of the new Nobz and 2 of the new Battlewagons in trade for the product I was exchanging. I also picked up another Baneblade, but more on that at a later date....

The first thing I wanted to make with the new Nobz was a Painboy for my Nobz mob. I was not a fan of the one GW released and I had some ideas since I first saw some of the new parts on the sprue.

The head is from the Forgeworld Nob Bikerz and the tools are from the old plastic battlewagon (and an Ogre knife as well). I cut off the "doc" bit for the top of his head from the other painboy model. Let me know what you think! I am very pleased with the final result.

Mega Armor unit completed

2008-12-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

Conversion ideas - Skorcha WIP

2008-12-20T14:46:00.000-05:00

So as I suffered through my final day of work before a two week vacation yesterday, I started thinking about what conversions I wanted to work on for the army. I spent almost an hour going through the awesome archives on www.the-waaagh.com for ideas and inspiration. I came across some photos from a recent Games Day that showed a CAD drawing of a possible Skorcha.

So immediately the gears started grinding and I thought about how I could create something along these lines. I recently picked up the new ForgeWorld Warboss on bike, and the back tracked sections from that kit would work great on a Skorcha (especially since I planed on using wheels on my Warboss anyway).

So last night I started working on this conversion. I decided that I didn't want the spout for the flamer to be on the tank like this, so I worked up some ideas to run a hose from the tank to the flamer and have that in the front of the vehicle (and less likely to torch the driver!). Here's what I came up with:

The fuel tank is made out of a Grot Lobba with a Dwarf Flame Cannon steam valve on the back. I covered the front hole on the Lobba with a Tankbusta bomb (which makes a good valve/door). The Skorcha gun is an old Mega Gargant launcher fitted with a Burna Boy weapon. The hose from the tank to the launcher is from a Necromunda Spyrer Patriarch mechandrite, cut and bent into shape.

I made a similar driver to the picture above (with a Burna head) and I also gave him the chain. Overall, I am really pleased with the conversion. I am creating a custom bike base for it (more on my bike bases later).

Comments welcome!

Wazdakka WIP

2008-12-17T19:53:00.000-05:00

I had not planned on including bikes initially, but then I was caught up in tons of ideas for conversions! I started out with Wazdakka himself. He is based on a Forgeworld Nob biker.

The Trike is the FW one, with an additional Dakka Gun on the side to represent the Assault 4 stats of Wazdakka.

As for the rider, I used one of the FW Nob bodies, Grimgor's head (with a topknot added from the Ork Boyz sprue) and the old Nazdreg power claw.

I created the flaming skulls (which are described as the flaming skulls of a Titan Princeps and crew in Wazdakka's background) by taking some of the Empire Flagellant torches and hollowing them out. I then fit some of the new VC Skeleton heads into the cavity, and puttied in and rescuplted the flames around them. I then mounted them on carbon rods. I added a few chains from the Flagellant sprue for additional detail.

Killa Kan

2008-12-17T19:52:00.001-05:00

The first of many Killa Kans for the army!

Da Boss!

2008-12-17T19:48:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of my Mega Armor Warboss for the Bad Moons. I envision him as Nazdreg. He will have 4 Mega Armor Nobz in a retinue.

The back banner is made from Gorthor's (Beast of Chaos character) with a Night Goblin standard top added. I also used some of the ancient glyph plates from the old plastic battle wagon (from the 80s) cut into strips.

Deff Kopta

2008-12-16T12:44:00.000-05:00

Here is a Bad Moon Deff Kopta I completed as a test model for the army. I have the other two in the squadron on the table and should have them underway over Christmas break.

And so it begins...

2008-12-16T10:34:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the Adept's Forge. I have created this blog to showcase a variety of wargaming armies, models, hobby tips, and more! Enjoy!