Loran's Ogre Army (and other random models)

A new year and a new army... Having been looking at Ogres since September, I finally took the bait. Wandering to the local GW to get my monthly dosage of hobby stuff (ie. the White Dwarf), I was once again drawn to the larger fellas and spent a couple of mins looking at the stuff...
Deeming that the time was right, I bought some models (first time in a while...) along with the WD. While browsing through the mag on the way home, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Mournfang Cavalry kitbash article in it. This I took as a sign from the greater forces of the universe

Unfortunately, I did not get Mournfangs yet, but I did get a Battallion and a Firebelly. With Ogres, there is a definite possibility of managing to paint the models before buying new ones I don't really want to repeat the Tyranid incident (despite new ones being released...) and end up with an army of ~5k points of unpainted models. "Some day..." and all that

But yeah, I'll try to post some pictures when I've assembled the models. Another pleasant surprise was the quality of the Firebelly. No bubbles and very little in the way of mould lines!

- Loran

Battalion is the single best way to start an ogre army, Hands down. The fire belly was an awesome choice because they while the floor with people in low point games, and that battalion and a fire belly will get you creeping close to 1k. If not already.
- I would def pick up some mourn fang when you have the chance, but other than that it looks like you off to a rocking start

Cant wait to see some updates and painting progress, and welcome to the gnoblog community

~ ConOgre

Thanks for the tips! Mournfangs are going to be my next purchase I'm a bit bummed after reading the kitbash article that I didn't get any today, but maybe it's for the best. Buy stuff, paint them and only then get more stuff

First two Bulls almost assembled. Having a bit of a slow day hobby wise, as I recently re-found an old classic: The Settlers III! Been fighting with little virtual soldiers all day, so wasn't exactly efficient model assembly

- Loran

A small update!

Been assembling the Ogre Bulls and I've got a couple of WIP pic to show. Nothing special, as they're straight out of the box. Might have the occasional Ironguts part in there, but as they're quite similar to the other Ogre parts, they don't show that well (as compared to say High Elf Spearelves vs. White Lions)





Work has begun on the Ironguts, but nothing to show really, as I've only been cleaning out the mould lines. One thing to say about the Ogre models, is that the significantly larger size makes removing mould lines much easier! I'm more used to smaller models from the Empire, Dark Elves and Vampire Counts ranges, so having all models in the army being Monstrous Infantry is a nice change (no, I haven't forgotten any Gnoblars, but I don't have any of them ).

Also working on the Firebelly, but no pics as of yet. The head and flames bit was a bit warped, so needed to some warm water to straighten the part. Need to use a bit of Green Stuff in the gaps in the neck and arm. Will post pics when done

- Loran

It's all progress.  Any ideas on colour schemes as yet?

Indeed Jimmy, progress is always progress

On the colour scheme... Well, pretty much the only thing that's already decided is the skin (duh...). Going for the "usual" slightly tanned look Probably going for blue pants, but not sure on that yet.

- Loran

2 tips to mention. After I assembled and painted my ogres from the battalion I realized it's easier to paint ogres with only the arms and head glued. I leave the hands with weapons separate, along with the guy plate. It's fine doing bit assembled but I found it's easier to reach some spots.

Second tip is for colour scheme! Perhaps die what I did, all bulls have red pants, ironguts and characters have blue pants, lead belchers green pants!

It makes a nice mix

~ConOgre

2 tips to mention. After I assembled and painted my ogres from the battalion I realized it's easier to paint ogres with only the arms and head glued. I leave the hands with weapons separate, along with the guy plate. It's fine doing bit assembled but I found it's easier to reach some spots.

Second tip is for colour scheme! Perhaps die what I did, all bulls have red pants, ironguts and characters have blue pants, lead belchers green pants!

It makes a nice mix

~ConOgre

By no means am I an expert, but I second ConOgre's point. I have been doing mine mostly unassembled, I use craft tack to cover a glue spot, and to attach the pieces to extra sprue sections.

Quick update on the progress:

Ironguts have been assembled, will post pics later today. The first 3 Leadbelchers are almost assembled, just need to attach all the extra bits like pouches and whatnot to their belts. Will try to finish the assembly of these guys today as well.

As for the Firebelly, the neck joint still needs some work. It had the largest gap, which I was not able to get rid off with just some hot water. So more green stuffing to do...

- Loran

Sounds like everything is coming together nicely, Looking forward to more pictures and some painting.

~ConOgre

Sorry guys, spent last night writing a paper instead of uploading pics But here they are, the Ironguts!





I tried to fiddle with how the light hits them, but I've only got a Galaxy S2, so not that many options... But you get the idea, they're big fellas with big swords/clubs

- Loran

Bought the new Tyranid Codex last week, and now I've had a little spur of the moment inspiration to put some paint onto the models. Here's a WIP pic of my first Hive Tyrant:



Still need to highlight pretty much everything and come up with a colour for the whip...

More Ogres to follow soon, need to finish the pledge I made! First ever so best not start with a failure

- Loran

If I was to do tyranids, thats the exact colour scheme I would use. Maybe make the blue green but all in all same deal. Looks really good.

Huge tip incoming thats gonna save you so much grief.
- Take those shields off of their shoulders that you glued on. I did the same thing and it aces painting the skin a nightmare. I just took em off, did a quick scrape with the side of a razor and it was all gone. Trust me it will save you a big headache. But maybe you have a more steady hand than I do

Looking forward to more guys!

~ConOgre

Yeah, that colour scheme looks awesome. I actually went with the instructions in the WD. Very straight-forward and quite simple. I'm not sure if I'll highlight the skin as much as the WD article showed. Currently the skin is only done with the following colours:
Basecoat: Mephiston Red
Shade: Carroburg Crimson
Layer: Mephiston Red

I'll highlight the skin with one more colour, but probably not any more than that. As for the chitin highlights (or striations as they were named in the WD ), they're easy to do on the large areas, but thinking about the hordes of Hormagaunts, Termagants and Genestealers that I've got, I figured I'll need to cheat a bit. Probably going to cheat a bit and try out a small drybrush for them, as the areas where the highlights will show are way smaller than on the large critters so I hope that'll work as it'd be quicker to do

And yeah, about the shields on the shoulders. I thought about leaving them off, but I'm used to assembling models as much as possible before painting, as then I won't have to worry about after-painting gluing of parts. I find it a bit problematic to scrape of the paint on the area that the glue will stick as I've always had to tidy it up afterwards anyway So I figure that as I'll need to tidy the painting a bit anyway, might as well save me the trouble of needing to scrape off the paint in the first place

- Loran

Considering how good the Nid looks, i can't wait to see some paint on the Ogres!
G_H

Considering how good the Nid looks, i can't wait to see some paint on the Ogres!
G_H

Thanks mate! Good-looking Ogres is the plan

On the topic of painting, I've run into a problem. Or well, breezed into it (pun intended) as the weather is a "toasty" -10 to -20 C... So undercoating models outside is a bit of a no-no as the paint will freeze up before it hits the models, and there's not really any place inside where to spray aerosol paints either
Hopefully the temperature will rise, otherwise painting Ogres will have to wait for a while

- Loran

Or, if not painting multiples of ogres and concentrating on say, a character or test model GW now do an uber thick technical paint called "Imperial Primer" (I am sure loads of other companies do something similar which will be way cheaper) which will (once shaken well, and I mean well; shake that puppy til it pukes!) entirely cover a model and dry black and stay on the model. It does actually work quite well.
I wouldn't do a whole army with it though, and it is a bit more time consuming. But the gods of the frozen wastes should not prevent a keen painter from readying their tribe for battle!
G_H

Indeed, there is the primer paint, but I usually just use it to undercoat some part that the spray did not reach, such as all the deep details on Finecast models Not really a fan of undercoating whole models with it, even if the models in question are Ogres with relatively large and simple to reach areas

Will have to see what happens. Hopefully I'll figure out a way soon, as not being able to undercoat the finished models is a pain

- Loran

The gods of the Frozen Wastes (as Gnoblar_Herder so well put it ) are still set on making sure no new models are undercoated, so I set my painting frenzy on an Empire model: the Master Engineer on Robohorse!

Some WIP pics:




My Empire army hails from Middenheim, but this fella is in the colours of Nuln, as I'm going to include a small Nuln detachment in the army. Why? So I can justify getting some of the Nuln Ironsides models from Forge World which are absolutely stunning!

As for the Ogres, the Leadbelchers are assembled and I'll try to post pics of them later today. Similarly, the Firebelly is starting to have all gaps between parts filled with GS so I'll be able to post pics of that as well. That'd mean I've finished my first ever hobby pledge!

- Loran

Well, for once the taking pics and uploading to Photobucket didn't take long

Assembled Leadbelchers:


Still debating on turning the fourth one from the Battallion into a Bruiser, but I'm a bit stumped on bits. I might have to get some Mournfangs for some more bits before these ones are all painted. We'll see

- Loran

Looking good so far, if only the big freeze would end and allow you some ogre painting time.

Agreed on the Nuln Ironsides, they are great looking models, having said that I like most of FW sculpts.

Keep up the great work
G_H

I'm quite a fan of winter actually, so what I'd need is about five minutes and I'd have most of my assembled, but not undercoated models ready for painting. Maybe make that 10-15 minutes, as I do have quite a lot of models in line Apparently the forecast says that it should thaw out a bit, but probably won't hit above 0 C, so maybe I'll need to try out a couple of really quick and thin layers of the undercoat, instead of taking my time and making sure the situation is perfect for spray painting

As for the Forge World models, yeah, they are unbelievable gorgeous! I can't wait to get some of them. I was thinking of getting some Ironsides, maybe 30-40 of the Marienburg Manann's Blades and the Command Set. And of course, Elspeth von Draken. That is one sweet model Can't wait for possible future Ogre models (and no, this is NOT a rumour, just a wish )...

- Loran

Loren; now appears to be a good time to buy from FW as they have some "bundle" deals on. In my experience, as soon as I have amassed enough cash to buy them, the deals are gone. They are cheaper than buying the models individually (which is better than GW deals! Sic)

Ironsides + command are included, take a look;

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Home/Search-Results.html

(oh, Rhinox patrol is in there too, I am pretty sure that £98 is cheaper than buying the three individually)

G_H

Indeed! I'm actually thinking about that Empire Defenders Bundle. I mean, yeah, it's a lot of money at once, but it would be cheaper to buy now than later on (as I've already pretty much decided on getting those models anyway...). And I've got all the extra bits that are required (handguns, swords, shields etc...)

Oh, the temptation!

- Loran

Ogre update!

Finished my pledge to assemble the Firebelly and Battallion (but leaving one Leadbelcher for future Bruiser conversion )!



Going to try to base all the assembled models by the end of the month for a bonus pledge. Hope to make it!

- Loran

Gotta love the leadbelchers, they are beautiful models, with many possibilities. Fire belly is looking good, can't wait to see some paint on everything.

~ConOgre

Indeed, the Ogre models are stunning! The Firebelly is probably my favourite miniature out of the range, with the "Paymaster" Maneater a close second. Can't wait to get the army up to the size where I can actually start broadening the choice of units.

Tested out the current roster in ArmyBuilder last night and, well, if I take almost no wargear on the Heroes (Bruiser and Firebelly) and add all possible wargear options of the other models, I'm still only at ~900pts, which technically means the list is not legal due to the max points in Heroes being over 25% of the total... Quite different from my Empire army, where a hero is usually around 100pts

So yeah, to bulk out the army, I was thinking of getting another Battallion. That'd give me twice the Core choices and more Leadbelchers. Add to that a couple of boxes of Mournfangs and I think I'd be all set for a while. Maybe even get the Stonehorn kit, although I'm not sure which one I'd prefer. I've been looking at the pics in the army book, and for some reason the Stonehorn has that "deer in the car headlights" -look in all of them Probably have to browse the forums a bit more to check up on their respective uses, although as I'm quite the casual gamer I don't think it matters that much in the end

- Loran

Oh yeah, update!

Army is based, with the Firebelly based tonight. For some reason I forgot to base the model last night when I based the rest of the army, hence the slightly lighter shade to the basing as the glue somewhat shows



So yeah, that's even the bonus pledge completed!

- Loran

I would buys  box of mournfang or another box of leadies and that will get you to 1000 easy. My old rule of thumb that always worked for me in 40k...and worked my 1 game of fantasy. Was to spend as much on just vanilla guys as possible, then squeeze in war gear last. I find numbers usually win out over war gear.

~ConOgre

@Loran;

It's by no means "definitive advice" but you can't go wrong with getting a second battalion box. There are so many options of things that can be built out of it.
I would suggest making a butcher/ slaughtermaster using the "fat boy" leadbelcher head and some greenstuff (for an apron etc).
Build another unit of leadbelchers (which should give you about 8 ) which can be used as a single unit or two units of 4. Either way a good choice.
This leaves a bunch of bodies to either make more Bulls or more guts.
Lastly I would suggest getting an Ironblaster. It's one of those "never leave home without it..." units.

After that it's up to you. Like Connor say's, I would add up the core parts of the army before spending on magic items etc if you really want to add something later, you can always drop a bull or two to get it.

Now, this is where I tend to differ from most people; the next thing I would (nay, have done) do is look at all the other Warhammer armies and their models, decide which you like/ would like to paint etc and then consider what unit in an ogre they could represent. This for me is the great thing about the twin towers of fantasy battles; the rules and the models are actually two separate things.

For example, I really love dragon ogres and they are about the same size as Mournfang, so for me they are in. Not too keen on yeti's...no problem, just look at them lovely river troll models (and there is 3 of both!). Fluff can always make something fit so, no matter what army you have there is always a way of making stuff fit in. Anyway, that's just me really.

G_H
(oh, and get a giant! They are great models and good to paint and the options and extra bits are really useful for all sorts of stuff!)

Thanks for the advice, guys

I actually took a break from studying earlier and checked out a couple of possible combinations of units in ArmyBuilder. I was actually surprised that just using the one Battallion box (ie. 6 Bulls and 6 Ironguts) I've got the minimum Core for 2k I'm too used to Empire, Vampires and Elves to think that 12 models in Core is enough for minimum

But yeah, another Battallion is in the purchase queue, along with Mournfangs and either a Stonehorn kit or the Ironblaster. And definetily a Giant. I've already got one, but it's built to fit in style with my Empire army And besides, many Giants is better than one Giant
I figure that once I've painted 12 Bulls and 12 Ironguts I'll have enough Core for a game of 3k, which also gives me quite a lot of options for cool and groovy stuff, like a Stonehorn and an Ironblaster

And as for different models to represent units, well... I do have quite a lot of models. Thinking about it, the only army I don't have *any* models for is Wood Elves. Then again, can't really say some of my armies are that large, like my Goblin army (no Orcs, just Goblins) has around 100 Night Goblins, but there's probably not even a 1000pts in the army However, I've been thinking of trying out different unit combos by using models like Crypt Ghouls as Yhetees etc, before investing in actual models for them. Whatever model I will end up using for a certain unit, I'll definitely have to convert them to look appropriate. I'm not a fan of proxying stuff on a continuous basis, but a couple of games in the beginning, sure. After that, the group that I play with tend to expect that you've got a unit that is either the actual models or converted to look appropriate. We tend to go with the 'Rule of Cool' instead of having to use a certain specific model, but it should look appropriate especially in the long run!

I'll have to check up on the converting of a Butcher, but only after I've got either a Tyrant or a Bruiser. With the Firebelly I've got offensive and defensive magic for small games, but I don't have a fighty general yet

- Loran

Pick up the tyrant resin kit, you won't be disappointed. I have got it twice now and they an absolute blast to paint.

I really should get a giant too, one day...one day.

~ConOgre

Stopped at the local store today to pick up the new Horus Heresy book (Scars), some of the new technical paints, Green Stuff, and a spur of the moment decision fueled by the need for bits to use to convert the Bruiser: a box of Mournfangs I put the second Battallion on hold for a while, as I won't really need new Core until the army hits 2k points. Instead I'll get Mournfangs, a Tyrant, an Ironblaster and hopefully either a Stonehorn or a Thundertusk. Not sure if the last two will fit in under 2k, but I hope so

Oh, and I've now got the contents of the Battallion drying out after undercoating!

- Loran

PS. On a side note, winter took a better turn last night, with about 25-30 cm of new snow!

Mournfang! yay! Gotta love them, so powerful, and gorgeous models.
- we got snow last night too, lots

~ConOgre

Yeah, these are some really nice models! I'd seen them a couple of times, but never really taken the time to check them out closely. These are ridiculously good-looking models And the extra bits! Going to need a couple of more boxes to get the full complement of six Mournfangs as well as dozens of bits to use for kit-bashes

Oh, and painting the Battallion has begun! Soon I'll be able to post my first painted Ogres!

- Loran

I for one am looking forward to seeing some of these painted models, after the undercoating problem presented by the weather it is going to be good to see you getting your teeth into colouring up the army.

Mournfangs are indeed nice models, and most ogre kits are crazy with spare bits, which is a great advantage!

G_H

Yeah, these are some really nice models! I'd seen them a couple of times, but never really taken the time to check them out closely. These are ridiculously good-looking models And the extra bits! Going to need a couple of more boxes to get the full complement of six Mournfangs as well as dozens of bits to use for kit-bashes

Oh, and painting the Battallion has begun! Soon I'll be able to post my first painted Ogres!

- Loran

Well thats awesome to here!I just finished up mine for the most part, best advice I have is start with something nice and dark for the fur and highlight up with dry brush, the effect came out great.
best of luck!
~ConOgre

Thanks

I've got most of the basecoat on the models already, I'll post pics later today when I get home from the uni campus. I'll try to remember to post WIP pics and info on what's been done if anyone's interested in that

And on other news, I did some purchases! On eBay I got a Tyrant, a Butcher and Golfag (might turn him into a BSB, we'll see). And I also got Bragg, a Hunter and some Maneaters! The tribe is growing! Need to start thinking about the tribe name and symbol, as well as the fluff for the tribe and the name of the Tyrant...

Oh, and I'll also post WIP pics of the Mournfang assembly!

- Loran

So yeah, updates!

First up: Mournfangs! Assembly still somewhat WIP as I've got all the extra bits to glue to the models. Riders are separate from the Mournfangs (duh... ).




And then, a picture of the Ogre Bulls that I'm working on right now:


Almost got all the base coats painted on the models. Going with the blue pants, so they'll look somewhat unified with my Middenheim Empire for when I field them together. Still not sure of what I'll end up painting on the banner Next up, finish painting on the base coats and then start the preliminary shading! It's amazing how much just the first layers of paint can do to a model, even without any shading! Even though the Mournfangs are incredibly good-looking models, they pale in comparison to the Bulls as they're only grey plastic, whereas the Bulls have a bit of colour Can't wait for these to be finished, so I can get around to painting the Ironguts!

Oh, and I decided not to convert the Bruiser yet, so I assembled (and based) the final Leadbelcher model so I'll have four. The temperature outside was actually close to 0 C today, so I'm gonna undercoat a couple of models later today

And now, for something a bit different, WIP Genestealers with a Broodlord:


- Loran

Gotta love those mourn fangs! Wait until you have them painted up, they are a wonder to behold. Everyone at my local game shop says there are few things more scary than mourn fangs getting deployed across the table

~ConOgre

I am right behind you with the Mournfang; my greenstuff is just drying off ready for me to post up a pic.

Nice work on the nids.
G_H

So yeah, been painting Bulls again. Got the first shading done (and ran out of Agrax Earthshade ), and the first layer of paint on the skin areas. Haven't really gotten the trick of how to paint skin well... One of the reasons why I started Ogres

Anyhoo, I also tried out the new Technical paint, Nihilakh Oxide, on one Bull's gut plate.



Impressions/thoughts? Any tips? I feel like it's a bit too bright... The basecoat is Warplock Bronze. I also used the same colour to overbrush after applying the Nihilakh Oxide...

- Loran

I hate giving advice because I feel like a fraud (because I always need lots of advice!) but;

Firstly, I don't think it's that bright. Secondly, and this is a bit more odd; it doesn't look like warplock bronze...I don't doubt that it is, it just doesn't look like it. Mine tends to come out pretty dark.

Still, It does depend what effect you want but warplock bronze, either red or brown wash, (um reikland or agrax or what ever they are called) then a uber light drybrush of leadbelcher then the oxidization thing. That tends to work for me.

If you want it brassy and lighter then I'd go screaming bell for the base, red wash, dwarf bronze (or what ever it's called now) then  yellow wash and leadbelcher drybrush. this tends to look very brassy though.

What colour were you hoping to achieve? To be faire to you, it looks darn good now...so I wouldn't worry too much.

G_H

Ogre update!

Finished my pledge to assemble the Firebelly and Battallion (but leaving one Leadbelcher for future Bruiser conversion )!



Going to try to base all the assembled models by the end of the month for a bonus pledge. Hope to make it!

- Loran

How warped was your Firebelly? I had a bent weapon shaft, and the head/left arm/fire plum were way out of whack.

I am loving this blog.

Two projects I personally am very familiar with (Nids and Ogres) and my most faced enemy (the Empire).

Great work on the Hive Tyrant, but my favourite thing is the Ogre skin you posted last. Great work there. Keep it coming!

Firstly, I don't think it's that bright. Secondly, and this is a bit more odd; it doesn't look like warplock bronze...I don't doubt that it is, it just doesn't look like it. Mine tends to come out pretty dark.

Still, It does depend what effect you want but warplock bronze, either red or brown wash, (um reikland or agrax or what ever they are called) then a uber light drybrush of leadbelcher then the oxidization thing. That tends to work for me.

If you want it brassy and lighter then I'd go screaming bell for the base, red wash, dwarf bronze (or what ever it's called now) then  yellow wash and leadbelcher drybrush. this tends to look very brassy though.

What colour were you hoping to achieve? To be faire to you, it looks darn good now...so I wouldn't worry too much.

That's just the thing, I painted on the Warplock and then gave a light was of Agrax, before applying the Nihilakh Oxide (which by the way, needs to be thinned down a LOT, otherwise you end up with a very bright light blue). Maybe I should have thinned down the Oxide even more, because the only reason why I had to do the overbrush was that the colour hid almost all of the stuff below Need to test out the stuff more, but as it's a new paint I wasn't exactly fond of painting it on *every* one of my models

I am going (or trying to, anyway ) for an old bronze look. First time ever doing this either, always used the polished and clean brass on stuff like the Empire models or Chaos Space Marines, so never had to worry about the oxidization. I'll try this out a bit more and post results. And as I want a bit of difference in the models, I'll test out with the Reikland Fleshshade and the Red Wash as well, so then we can compare results

Thanks for the tips, mate!

- Loran

Looking good! So my tips will be for the skin. I find it good to use a very watered down sepia or agrax, after you've done your base colour. Then highlight with original colour and slowly mix in a brighter flesh tone as you go. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, I'm not a great teacher but I can always make a video. Either way your looks good anyways, so not really needed.
Your tones on the base have red notes, if you are thinking of doing all bronze than this won't help, but I would strongly suggest doing some standard old orange rust to tie it together. I bet it would look great.

Awesome work like always, Keep fighting the good fight

~ConOgre

How warped was your Firebelly? I had a bent weapon shaft, and the head/left arm/fire plum were way out of whack.

By quite a bit actually. The weapon shaft was bent enough that I was actually considering just snapping it and making a new one with a brass rod core...  However, patience, time and hot water meant that I could slowly bend it more and more. The girlfriend had fun watching me making a make-shift bracket thingy to keep the bit straight while it slowly cooled. At least the engineering degree I'm studying for will have helped me in something

Similarly, the head/left arm bit wouldn't even have the other end of the bit anywhere near where it should have been. But this bit is the easier to bend with hot water, as it's thicker and more durable. You only need to hold it in the water longer. In the end, I didn't manage to get the bit completely straightened out, so what I did was pin it, which is something I thought I could leave behind with the metal models but alas, no... Anyway, I pinned both ends, then warmed the bit in the water so it'd be easier to bend around to fit the pins and then glued it on with the help of a little bit of Green Stuff. Then I just had to make sure the parts stayed in the places and the glue set (the good thing about super glue is that it sets quickly ). Had to spend quite a lot of time on the model after this as well, just to fill out the gaps between the parts. The GS used in the gluing process was just to help with the surfaces between the parts as they don't fit that well together and the GS will dry out between them.

So what I do in these situations is, after bending the parts as close as possible to what they should be:
1. apply super glue to the join surface on the larger part (in this case the body of the Firebelly)
2. put a small ball of Green Stuff on it and spread it around a bit. Make sure you don't get the super glue on your fingers, otherwise you might find yourself having and extra bit on your fingers
3. apply super glue to the join surface on the smaller part (in this case the head/left arm bit)
4. hold the bits in place and wait for the glue to set. This time depends on your brand of super glue, but usually super glue sets in within 30 seconds.

The GS is still not dry though, so be careful with it. The Firebelly actually posed a bit of a problem, due to the head/left arm still being slightly bent and the only things that held it in place were the pins and the GS (which was still soft). So another make-shift bracket to hold the thing in place for at least 24 hours was required

In the end, the result is good, but still makes you wonder about the resin casting process used in this model

- Loran

I am loving this blog.

Two projects I personally am very familiar with (Nids and Ogres) and my most faced enemy (the Empire).

Great work on the Hive Tyrant, but my favourite thing is the Ogre skin you posted last. Great work there. Keep it coming!

Thanks

I'll post some more of my Empire army in the future. Not much painted yet (around 30 models), but I'm slowly getting to that as well

The 'Nids are similar in that regard as well, except all the models that have some other paint than the basecoat have been posted. I'm working on some Ripper Swarms and more Genestealers. I've browsed forums and read reviews on the book, and I know that those two Troop choices are far from the better ones, but I have absolutely no idea where my Hormagaunts and Termagants are... There should be around 60 of each And I'm saving the Tyranid Warriors after the Ripper Swarms, but I do know where the models are

Will keep working and posting, stay tuned!

- Loran

Looking good! So my tips will be for the skin. I find it good to use a very watered down sepia or agrax, after you've done your base colour. Then highlight with original colour and slowly mix in a brighter flesh tone as you go. Sorry if that doesn't make sense, I'm not a great teacher but I can always make a video. Either way your looks good anyways, so not really needed.
Your tones on the base have red notes, if you are thinking of doing all bronze than this won't help, but I would strongly suggest doing some standard old orange rust to tie it together. I bet it would look great.

Awesome work like always, Keep fighting the good fight

~ConOgre

Thanks mate, and thanks for the tips! And if you can make a new video, I'll definitely watch it as your ramblings are fun to listen to

Yeah, the flesh is a somewhat new thing. Painting the flesh on the Tyranids is quite easy, as I'm used to painting red and it's much more forgiving than the actual flesh colours. What I did was start out with Bugman's Glow, which is quite dark and somewhat red-ish colour. However, the Ratskin Flesh seems a bit too orange

The flesh on the Ogre is painted to the following:
Basecoat: Bugman's Glow
Shade: Agrax Earthshade
1st layer: 50/50 Bugman's Glow / Cadian Fleshtone

I'm going to paint a couple more layers with more and more of the Cadian Fleshtone in the mix. Will post pics!

As for the base having red, that's probably due to the lighting... Really have to figure out a better place to take photos than on the corner of my desk. Unfortunately, it's the only place where I have a good light that can also be moved around Maybe if I put a white paper under the model... Will have to try it out.

The bases are painted with the following:
Basecoat: Steel Legion Drab, with a lot of water mixed in so it flows into the cracks in in the sand and stones.
Drybrush: Dawnstone
Shade: Agrax Earthshade

Not sure if I should give it a second, lighter drybrush with Dawnstone. I'll have to test this on a test base...

- Loran

I felt that using Agrax Earthshade to shade the skin had a too strong transition from the shading to the rest of the skin, so I tried out a second Bull. This time I used the Reikland Fleshshade, and here's the results:



This has only been layered once with only Bugman's Glow, but I'm liking this more than the earlier version. The muscle definition is much smoother, and once I have time to paint more I'm hoping the end result will look even better

I actually figured this out while watching Warboss Tae's videos on Youtube (from a recommendation by ConOgre ). Although he used the earlier versions of the GW paints, the same things work with the newer paints as well

- Loran

This looks really good. The finish looks really smooth, which is actually better than most of my ogres at this stage (as mine tend to look a bitch patchy). It won't help much now but when I do my skin I use the following;
Base: Ratskin flesh
Wash: Reikland fleshshade
Layer: Cadian Fleshtone
Highlight: Kislev Flesh

These are the new GW paints. If I am doing a character (as apposed to a mass batch of ogres) Then I just bump up everything a shade.
So the final highlight is a shade lighter, to give a paler look.

I am also currently experimenting with doing dark (black) skin. So far, the best formula seems to be;
Base: Rhinox Hide (or Scorched brown if you have it, old GW, but a teeny tiny shade lighter than Rhinox)
Layer: Gorthor Brown
Wash: Agrax earthshade
Wash: Seraphine Sepia
Layer: Gorthor brown
fine highlights: (palms and lighter areas) beastigor flesh followed by a very light wash of Agrax

The former is pretty standard and the latter is probably not much use to you, but it's good to share! 
G_H

   <--- see that? thats a dig it face. Because I DIG IT.

Looks great so far, Cant go wrong with warbosstae his taetorials are top notch, its from him and girl painting I learned most of my skills. The skin looks nice and smooth, Now just keep highlighting on the areas that would be hit by the skin with progressively lighter flesh tones. Or just leave it here honestly, both are fine

Something else you can try out, I used to do my boots in balor brown (snakebite leather) but I started doing them in rhinox his with a black wash followed by mournfang brown dry brush. Something you may want to give a go, I found the dark leather worked better (for me) because I use dark blue pants and red pants. The blue pants here remind me of that so that why I'm throwing that in :p

Cheers bud

This looks really good. The finish looks really smooth, which is actually better than most of my ogres at this stage (as mine tend to look a bitch patchy). It won't help much now but when I do my skin I use the following;
Base: Ratskin flesh
Wash: Reikland fleshshade
Layer: Cadian Fleshtone
Highlight: Kislev Flesh

These are the new GW paints. If I am doing a character (as apposed to a mass batch of ogres) Then I just bump up everything a shade.
So the final highlight is a shade lighter, to give a paler look.

I am also currently experimenting with doing dark (black) skin. So far, the best formula seems to be;
Base: Rhinox Hide (or Scorched brown if you have it, old GW, but a teeny tiny shade lighter than Rhinox)
Layer: Gorthor Brown
Wash: Agrax earthshade
Wash: Seraphine Sepia
Layer: Gorthor brown
fine highlights: (palms and lighter areas) beastigor flesh followed by a very light wash of Agrax

The former is pretty standard and the latter is probably not much use to you, but it's good to share! 
G_H

Thanks

Yeah, characters will get a more thorough treatment, ie. more paint layers etc etc. This has been the formula ever since I started the hobby in the late '90s, although with Ogres it wouldn't be that much of a problem to paint everything to the same standard as the amount of models will be considerably less than other armies. My first army in Fantasy was Vampire Counts, and I've still got loads and loads of Skeletons and Zombies to paint

Also thanks for the other paint schemes. I might give these a try, although for some reason I feel that the Ratskin Flesh is a bit too orange... Maybe I just need to try it and compare the end results, instead of just the base colour

- Loran

   <--- see that? thats a dig it face. Because I DIG IT.

Looks great so far, Cant go wrong with warbosstae his taetorials are top notch, its from him and girl painting I learned most of my skills. The skin looks nice and smooth, Now just keep highlighting on the areas that would be hit by the skin with progressively lighter flesh tones. Or just leave it here honestly, both are fine

Something else you can try out, I used to do my boots in balor brown (snakebite leather) but I started doing them in rhinox his with a black wash followed by mournfang brown dry brush. Something you may want to give a go, I found the dark leather worked better (for me) because I use dark blue pants and red pants. The blue pants here remind me of that so that why I'm throwing that in :p

Cheers bud

Thanks, mate!

Yeah, the tutorials by the Warboss have been a great addition (and inspiration ) to the repertoire of painting skills and paint schemes. These combined with your videos make for relatively easy Ogre painting

The skin will get at least two more highlights, with a 50/50 Bugman's Glow / Cadian Fleshtone, and then a 25/75 Bugman's Glow / Cadian Fleshtone. I might even highlight with just the Cadian Fleshtone, we'll see...

The boots at this stage have been painted with the following colour scheme:
Basecoat: Rhinox Hide
Layer: Mournfang Brown
Shade: Agrax Earthshade
The end result from that scheme is a bit more pronounced in "person" than in pictures, but I will be highlighting the boots with at least one more layer of Mournfang Brown.

- Loran

So yeah, a quick update (no pics this time, unfortunately)! I recently received Bragg, an AoW Ogre (the fella with the skull belt), a Hunter and three of the Araby Maneaters in the mail. This was a well-thought out, so no mistake with actually getting three of the same model Conversions for the world! But you'll have to wait for pics of the models, as I've got mid-term exams in a week from now so I'll need to study a bit. Hope I'll have time to paint the Bulls or finish assembling the Mournfangs

On the point of painting, I'll be stopping by the Helsinki GW tomorrow to pick up some more Agrax Earthshade. Won't promise any painting over the weekend, as I've got a uni association anniversary dinner party and sauna tomorrow which will mean getting somewhat (= totally) hammered Unfortunately, this also means that Sunday will (more than likely) be spent recovering

However, I did get all of the Bulls shaded with Reikland Fleshshade earlier today, and the pants with Drakenhof Nightshade. And the red banner with Carroburg Crimson Still not sure of the Nihilakh Oxide thing, but I'm seeing that as a more of a trial and error thing. Will have to try out on some test models...

- Loran

PS. To all the uni students out there, if you're on the last night before an assignment deadline, I definitely suggest a 12 year old Scottish Single Malt

Nice!
I am not an expert but played some games with my ogres and need to say : Dont forget to buy Ironblaster 1 for now and more more next... They are really awesome specialy on local tournaments!

Cheers!

Thanks Koozzi!

I will be getting an Ironblaster soon. My list of what to buy next consists (at the moment) of another box of Mournfangs, an Ironblaster and the Stonehorn/Thundertusk kit. I'm hoping my new order of a Tyrant, Butcher and Golgfag arrives in the mail today as I'm really hyped about them. The Firebelly alone is no longer enough for games, even though I haven't played one game yet As soon as I've got the minimum three units and a Hero painted up, I will be getting a game going with a friend, probably at 1000pts

- Loran

Don't worry about what performs on the field, buy what looks great in your opinion, and what you are interested in.
At most of out gamer experience levels, (garage hammer players) the hardcore number crunching and nit picking lists aren't really even necessary. Get what you like!

Oh definitely! I'm not a tournament player, and the group I play with is very casual, so we don't really need to care about what performs on the field and what doesn't However, the next planned things are there because they look cool, and I like cool

Still not sure whether I'll go for the Stonehorn or the Thundertusk

- Loran

That's a tough decision! My recommendation would be stonehorn. I like the model more and hunters are one of my favorite parts of fluff. It's basically a giant mournfang! Can't go wrong with either though

If it was me, I would go with the Thundertusk. Whilst there may be some reasons that it performs better on the table, this is not the reason I would go for it; Two ogre riders means more ogres to paint and kit out with weapons, because they are pretty much just ogres it's easy to tie them into the theme of the army...and the Stonehorn seems to look a bit more like a centrepiece (not that the Thundertusk doesn't) so practice painting such a big beast can be done on the Thundertusk ready for the day a Stonehorn is required.

Like ~Conogre though, either will look great. All the details that can be added to that base! Yum!

G_H

First I was sure to get thundertusk one day, but now I have changed my mind to get myself a stonehorn. Better have both. I think thundertusk might be better gamewise, but stonehorn appeals more to me with strong cool factor. And I really want to try out Hunter on stonehorn, at least once. Stonehorn just goes very well with a theme of ogres charging towards their enemy like an avalanche.

Yeah, buddyyyyyy!!!



My order arrived, so now I've got more characters to work on This'll keep me motivated to finish this month's pledge.

Not sure of how I'll arm the Tyrant yet, or if I'm going to assemble Golgfag as himself or convert him... We'll see

- Loran

The army roster, as it stands now:

1 Tyrant
1 Firebelly
1 Butcher
1 Golgfag / Bruiser, not sure yet which...
6 Ogre Bulls
6 Ironguts
4 Leadbelchers
2 Mournfangs
5 Maneaters (3 Araby Maneater models, the AoW Ogre and the soon-to-be-a-Maneater-standard-bearer Bragg)

The Maneaters are in various stages of converting, got some new GS last weekend so after the exams I'll start  sculpting. Not sure what I'll actually end up sculpting yet, but we'll see

- Loran

PS. My mercurial hobby focus is wandering again... I've now got a part of my (mostly unpainted ) Skaven army next to the Ogres and Tyranids, so you may see some rat updates in the near future

Loren; it can often be a good idea to have more than one project on the go as it helps to not get too bored with the thing you are working on. Variety is the spice of life so they say; it will be nice to see your Skaven brood getting some paint and hopefully this will help re-focus on some of the ogre projects you have on the go.
I do the same type of thing with Chaos Dwarfs and 40k orks. When I am all ogre'd out for a bit I just paint a few units of the other armies and soon find my focus/ love for my ogres again. regardless it is always nice to see others work, so can't wait to see your other projects.

G_H

Loren; it can often be a good idea to have more than one project on the go as it helps to not get too bored with the thing you are working on. Variety is the spice of life so they say; it will be nice to see your Skaven brood getting some paint and hopefully this will help re-focus on some of the ogre projects you have on the go.
I do the same type of thing with Chaos Dwarfs and 40k orks. When I am all ogre'd out for a bit I just paint a few units of the other armies and soon find my focus/ love for my ogres again. regardless it is always nice to see others work, so can't wait to see your other projects.

G_H

Good point, which is very true Only problem is the hobby pledge I gave for this month, so I'll have to finish those Bulls and get the Mournfangs ready for painting. Hope the Skaven enthusiasm won't get in the way

On the topic of assembling models, I've got the newly acquired Butcher assembled and the Tyrant is assembled apart from the great weapon. Decided to go with that weapon due to it looking extremely menacing I'll be modelling some more chainmail on him, as for some reason I find that the chainmail that the model has now is not very Ogre-ish as its a bit too symmetrical and clean... So expect to see some Green Stuff updates as well

- Loran

Tyrant WIP pics! I spent some time working on the armour on the Tyrant, as I thought that the chainmail armour looked a little too clean. I don't think that Ogres are all that interested in making sure that their armour is similarly coherent as Dwarfs and the elves, for example. So a bit more ragged look is to the armour edges




Also added a couple more armour plates to the back of the Tyrants head, as it looked a bit off as well. There was clearly room for more and I felt that it was a bit weird that the Tyrant would leave his neck unprotected

This was quite a good Finecast model, but still not without it's faults... Of course, the details on Ogres are relatively larger as they're monstrous infantry, but still it's a bit strange that GW hasn't got their act together in regards to the material... The Butcher was the same, not to mention Golfag. A couple of bubbles and all of the Butcher's arms needed a bit more work than just removing mould lines

- Loran

I have to agree with you here; whilst I am not one of those people who wont buy finecast, the sculpts do seem to leave allot to be desired.
It is definitely the case that you need to have some idea of using liquid greenstuff and "tidying up" each of the models in more than just a rudimentary way.

As for the Tyrant, I got a cheap one in metal off fleabay and I have to agree in the respect that the chainmail around the arms just didn't look right...it seemed to make the arm look like it was just plonked onto the body and the helmet does look like there is something missing. So good work on addressing these things on your model.
Sadly mine just got a lick of paint. the worse thing for mine was that it's former owner hadn't paid too much attention to the gutplate and virtually welded it on upside-down. I couldn't get it off so that's the way it stayed. Not really centrepiece material for my army 
G_H

Have you tried paint stripping? Usually the stuff that removes the paint affects the glue as well. Just leave it in for a bit longer But of course, if you've spent a lot of time on the model already, it's not really fun to dunk it in for paint stripping...

If the model is a really bad cast, then I always return it. I don't mind the mould lines, as long as the two halves of the bits in question are aligned, but if there is an abundance of bubbles, then it's back to the shop... I think I finally got enough bits to assemble the Master of the Ravenwing when the fifth model arrived. Even then there wasn't one set that I would have been happy with. And considering that I had already planned the sword swap, I even left one bit from the equation... If GW is getting rid of the stuff, I hope they replace it with something better. Metal is good, but it chips easily, so a lot of people have an issue with it. Personally I just want something that I can know is a good cast when I pay for it

- Loran

JJ asked about the Empire army I have, here's some pictures. These are a bit old, but who cares

Full army pic:
This is only a part of it, as I've got around 100 different State Troops in sprues lying around... Need to take the time to assemble them all. I've also got 6 Demigryph Knight conversions coming along (Winter Wolves of Middenheim ), not to mention some more Knights, Pistoliers and Free Company...

Then the following models are missing from the picture:
- Second Griffon with a Beast Mage
- Luminark of Hysh
- Celestial Hurricanum
- 20 Greatswords
- 25 Teutogen Guard
- 2 Warrior Priests of Ulric
- Ar-Ulric Emil Valgeir
- Helstorm Rocket Battery
- 20 Crossbowmen
- 10 Archers
- assorted Captains and characters...

Sigmarite Arch Lector and Warrior Priest:


Engineers:



Halberdiers:


Crossbomen:


Knights Panther:


Greatswords:


Helblaster:


Sorry that the pics are a bit dark, I'll have to try to get some better pictures taken... Need to borrow my brother's camera, as these are all taken with the S2

- Loran

Oh, and the bases are being re-done. I felt that green grass isn't exactly themed with Ulric and Middenheim, so snow bases will be coming soon!

- Loran

PS. As for the Ogres, the Bulls are almost done. The Mournfangs are ready to be based and undercoated

Can i steal the Greenstuff idea on the Tyrant? It looks great!

Can i steal the Greenstuff idea on the Tyrant? It looks great!

Go for it!
I made the chainmail first and let it dry for a couple of hours. The extra armour plates hanging from the helmet were done later, as it's a bit easier to make flat surfaces like that when you don't have to worry about messing up the chainmail and then having to redo it

I'm still trying to decide whether I should add a bit more chainmail or not, but it does make it look more Ogre-ish even now. The original model just looked really weird without any additions

- Loran

Loran: that is one impressive looking Empire army! Then to suggest that's not all of it....it must be one awesome sight when hitting the table as a whole.

As I'm sure your aware, I have recently been thinking about this seeing the army as a whole allot recently. As all the fantasy players I used to have games with have now all floated off to different corners of the UK (only 40k gamers left in my circle) I realized that these days I gust paint stuff then put it in boxes or carry cases in cupboards. Seeing an army in it's entirety is a really inspiring sight, and this Empire army is certainly no exception.

Do you have pictures of your other armies in their entirety?

G_H

Well, every army is going to be at least 2k, so around that size probably Maybe make a larger one, if I figure out a good way to paint white in large areas But no, I probably won't be going pre-Heresy with those. I'm still debating which Legion I'm going to go with. Will have to see when they've all got some models

Next up on the Marine front will be a testing of the Scars and Iron Hands. I'm going to be putting an order for some bionic bits from a company called Anvil Industries, based in London (http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/). They've got some pretty groovy looking bits, and I'll probably put in another order for some of their Exo-Lord models, as those scout fellas with sniper rifles look truly amazing. I've heard or well, read, good stuff about their products (especially the bionic bits and Iron Hands conversions), so I'm feeling good about the stuff

However, the timetable for those two projects will be some time during the summer as, like I mentioned earlier, the gf and I are moving to a new apartment at the end of May. That will unfortunately mean a brief break from hobby stuff, and fast internet as well So even if I could paint stuff, I don't think I'll be uploading pics over the 3G network. Have to wait until the new connection is set up

- Loran

Well, every army is going to be at least 2k, so around that size probably Maybe make a larger one, if I figure out a good way to paint white in large areas But no, I probably won't be going pre-Heresy with those. I'm still debating which Legion I'm going to go with. Will have to see when they've all got some models

Sounds like a good plan I will follow with interest then!

Next up on the Marine front will be a testing of the Scars and Iron Hands. I'm going to be putting an order for some bionic bits from a company called Anvil Industries, based in London (http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/). They've got some pretty groovy looking bits, and I'll probably put in another order for some of their Exo-Lord models, as those scout fellas with sniper rifles look truly amazing. I've heard or well, read, good stuff about their products (especially the bionic bits and Iron Hands conversions), so I'm feeling good about the stuff

I am a huge Iron Hands fan, and even contemplated them before I settled on Emperor's Children (they were best buds once upon a time, so close enough!). The new Forge World stuff for the Iron Hands is really nice too

I have seen first hand the quality of the stuff from Anvil, and the price is too good to pass up. They are releasing some amazing conversion bits for Marines at the moment, so I may grab some at some point

JJ

Yeah, the Anvil bits are truly gorgeous. And thanks for the info on seeing the bits first hand It's good to know that from a reliable source as well, instead of just reading about it from forums that I'm not active on

I've been thinking of a pre-Heresy Dark Angels army, or a Sons of Horus army. Unfortunately the Dark Angels don't have any models yet... Can't wait to see the Lion Guard models

- Loran

Thanks!

And, yeah, I am toying with another army. Seriously, Marines are contagious! I am currently toying with Death Guard, Sons of Horus (I just love the paint scheme!), Iron Hands or Dark Angels... I wish they weren't so damn nice

JJ

Exactly! I totally know the feeling

Just put in an order for the Anvil bits. Unfortunately they didn't have the bionic heads in stock, but that doesn't matter right now. I'll be converting the stuff with the Marine bits, so I can wait for the heads I do have to say that their customer service is absolutely terrific! I mean seriously, I sent in an question about the size of the bits, it didn't take them even five minutes to answer. Sure, they're not a large company, but still, that's awesome response speed

If anyone is interested, I'll put in a review on the stuff when they arrive. That'll probably be some time next week

- Loran

That's why I love dealing with small companies - they are a lot more organic, and understand their customers needs. It's examples like this one, where GW should sit up and pay attention; the small details go a long way. Very impressive mate

I, for one, would very much like to see a review if you felt like doing one

JJ

Detail time!

While the shade is drying on the Leadbelchers, I started painting on the Tactical Squad markings on the Imperial Fists. Free-handing geometric shapes over a rounded surface has always been a skill that has eluded me. So after much trial and error, I've now got models with squad markings



I'll try to take a pic of the Leadbelchers later today, or tomorrow morning at latest. Depends on how long the sun is up to get that natural light

- Loran

Tactfully done (tactical squad pun very much intended). I hate both adding transfers and free handing those markings as I'm just too picky, but you have done an impressive job. I may hire you to do markings on mine when I get round to them haha!

You have already ton above and beyond what I ever achieved with marines. Looks really great man, top notch A+++++


~ConOgre

Thanks guys

And on the topic of the Ogres, I'll take a couple of pics once the sun is up. I tried to take some last night, but didn't get any good ones. I think I managed to grab one that was suitably stable, but the light was off I'm starting to think that I should get a real camera and start to experiment with light boxes and whatnots... Would save me a lot of trouble...

So stay tuned, more Ogres coming up!

- Loran

Alright, as promised: Ogre update!

So yeah, the Leadbelchers are in the detail-painting phase and I started work on the Firebelly. I'm still debating on whether to add the bits that go into the barrels of the cannons. We'll see...



Right now I'm trying to figure out a good way to paint the flames. I started off with a basecoat of Averland Sunset. Going to try out with some shades/glazes. I'll upload more pics as I go along, but that'll be either later today or tomorrow morning. Busy late afternoon / early evening

If anyone's got tips on painting flames, let me know!

- Loran

I don't really have any tips to be honest, but I would say that when ever I have painted lava in the past it has worked better when I have painted dark to light.

Now I understand this is different with flame, and the first time I tried this was on "torch wielding" Gnoblars with the leadies.
So I would say that you look to be going about it the right way. So if your going from light to dark, I would perhaps do the base even lighter as, if I were doing it the other way I would end with a lighter colour, if that makes sense?

Anyway, I am sure there are loads of people who can help better than I can.

G_H

Thanks Al Any tips are useful, even if you yourself don't know if they work! Like I said in the GS tutorial thread thingy, learning how other people do their stuff can help figure out a new way to do my own hobby stuff

I tried out the Bloodletter Glaze on the yellow basecoat. Then I highlighted the flames with Averland Sunset, and I think it works quite well. Unfortunately the sun is down, so all pictures that I'd take would be a bit dark So you guys will have to wait until tomorrow for pics

Stay tuned!

- Loran

PS. and I dragged out a Chaos Rhino for painting. So different kinds of Marines, or Marine stuff will be coming up. Sorry Al...

*sigh*

Don't worry, I'll get something else out as well

On that note, I assembled a small army of Daemons a couple of days ago:
10 Bloodletters
10 Plaguebearers
10 Daemonettes
5 Seekers of Slaanesh
Daemon Prince

Unfortunately these are for 40k, but I do have some Daemons coming up as allies for Fantasy as well Not sure when I'll be painting Daemons, but at least they're assembled!

- Loran

I will look forward to these; Daemons hold a place very close to my heart

JJ

Daemons hold a place very close to my heart
JJ

 

G_H

JJ: Well, in that case I need to find out where the ones I've already have painted are and upload some pics

G_H: Thinking of "Burn the witch, burn the witch!" ?

Ogre pics coming soon. Sun is almost up high enough to shine into the apartment

- Loran

They were the first army that I really loved. Back in '08 when they were released as a stand alone army I became obsessed with them. I have plans for a 18,000pt army for them

Pictures would be awesome!

JJ

So yeah, as promised: Firebelly pic! Still very WIP though, but progress has been made



There's a heavy cover of clouds today, so no sun to help with the light in the pic. I did test out using the white background and worked better than just on the desk. Quite easy, just two A4-sized paper sheets on the laptop with one on the keyboard and the other leaning against the screen

I'll try to take a better pic over the weekend if the sun comes out...

- Loran

Base coats for the fire is looking good. I am keen to see how this model progresses, because like you have said, it is always useful to see how other people do stuff so I can improve my own painting.

Keep posting pics of this guy, he is looking great so far.

Daemons are cool.....holding a place in your heart for them does slightly smack of "burn the witch" though 

G_H

The flames have been painted with the following guide:
Basecoat: Averland Sunset
Wash: Bloodletter Glaze
Layer: Averland Sunset

However, after this I'm a bit stuck at what to do... The flames look quite good in person, from some angles, but not that good from others Any tips are still more than welcome

On a related topic, I went to get my order from the Helsinki GW and they've got the Fang competition going on. Kinda like a very small version of the Golden Daemon held at Games Day. Now, as I'm more or less unemployed until the 2nd of May (very little uni stuff to do before my job starts ), I thought I'd go nuts and enter into some categories Will have to come up with stuff to paint

- Loran

I think the flames look great, might want to just spot treat the deep areas with another glaze or wash of either orange or yellow.

~ConOgre

So yeah... Been a bit of a slow progress hobby-wise these last couple of days. Had a rock climbing course over the weekend, and the May Day celebrations amongst students are starting to get a good groove on Also been working on a project for the Production Engineers' association at uni, which has taken quite a lot of time. But that'll all be rewarded tomorrow with champagne and fun

Another thing that took some time was that I got a new computer rig. At first I thought it was just the motherboard, and thus bought a new mobo, CPU, memory and a SATA DVD-drive. Turns out it was also the PSU. So back to the store to get a new PSU. Which turned out to be a faulty one, so back again, hoping for third time lucky... Alas, no. Seems like my old rig had literally taken the final plunge, as I ended up replacing the graphics card as well Oh well, assembling computers is fun stuff, and very "high techy-techy" as the gf likes to say, quoting the Big Bang Theory

But, I have gotten stuff done. The final thing on my pledge to be completed is the Firebelly. It's not finished yet, but there's not much left. I'll try to snag a couple of pics later, as I'll have to fiddle around with the light quite a lot and it still won't be a great pic I'm only doing the final touches, so that'll hopefully be done today Oh, and Connor, thanks for the feedback. Gave the flames another wash of the Bloodletter Glaze and now they're a lot more pronounced

Stay tuned!

- Loran

Oh no, that real life thing interfering with our hobby time! 

All good mate, you're still making progress which is all that matters. 

Sounds like that rig will be a beast at playing certain PC games??? 

Indeed. That buggering real life thing requires the "occasional" effort

Anyway, the new rig will indeed be a beast at tackling pretty much any game out there. At the moment anyway, will see how the next big game release will affect the situation, but I didn't exactly go for the cheapest option. Being an engineer, with a minor in industrial management (economics and all that...), I ended up doing (in my head, no Excel-sheets ) a quick calculation about what would be the relevant level of new components so I'd be able to take on the next few games to hit the shelves

But on to the miniatures! Or well, miniature in this case... Took a pic of the Firebelly earlier today, but didn't have the time to upload it yet. So here goes:


I had a bit of a problem with the stuff on the gut plate. I had no idea on how to go about painting that thing (the mantid/whatnot beast head thingy), whatever it is... Checked the GW website on how they went about painting it, and ended up going for something similar

So that's the April pledge completed. Now I've got to figure out what would be a realistic thing to strive for while packing everything away for the move to a new apartment. I thought about going for a "pack everything away safely", but that would be relatively vague. Especially when I'd have to figure out a good way to prove it... We'll see...

- Loran

If you ever have time, I think I have my video on YouTube still of my old gaming rig. I loved building my own pcs. So much fun, I even did my own liquid cooling setup back in 2010. Double loop setup with 2 separate reservoirs. Was top notch.

I'll have to check that out then

The case has the possibility of using liquid cooling, but I didn't invest in that yet. Will see if that becomes relevant. At the moment there's still the possibility of adding four more case fans, although the temps haven't risen all that much yet without them... I'll be getting a couple more, so I'll have at least four case fans, as well as the CPU fan, PSU fan and GPU fans. Need to wait for a couple of weeks though, as I want a groovy fan with LEDs on it

- Loran

Oh ya, fans do a fine job. It was just a side project that I wanted to do. It's honestly pretty easy to do a single loop setup these days. The cooling blocks for the gpu are what cost so damn much.

But it's been a long time since I have done gaming of PC sadly. Much too long. Mobas have taken over.

So yeah, very little updates this month...

Now, onto business. The reason for this is, as some of you may know, is that I'm moving to a new apartment in just over a week, which means that I've been packing away the stuff in this apartment. Sadly, packing has to be prioritized according to requirements of life and this meant that most of my hobby stuff was in the first boxes (despite me continuously finding more and more models and bits hidden around the apartment). I did however manage to get around to basing my painted Ogres, as I pledged to do

The snow stuff is drying onto the models as I write, so I don't have pictures yet, but I will post some tomorrow. Stay tuned!

- Loran

Hope the move goes ok, i hate moving, super stressfull 

Will look forward to seeing this snow stuff

And here's the pictures, as promised! Sorry about the quality

Bulls:


Ironguts:


Leadbelchers:


Hunter:


Firebelly:


Full army:


So that's that for now. Sadly all of my models have now been packed safely away for transport, so no hobby stuff for a while I'll probably start getting my daily hobby fix by browsing the numerous faction forums and painting logs Might lose my mind otherwise

- Loran

PS. I will try to get better pics when I have more time. Especially the army shot is a bit unfocused, but that is the best one of a series of pics

Looking good Loran! Moving can be a real hassle I did it last year about this time and I found two things out; most models don't travel too well...so over pack them, and secondly; I never realised I had bought so much stuff that I had not gotten around to building or painting.

I am sure there will be stuff on the OS that can keep you enthused until your triumphant return when a new hobby area is set up!

G_H

Hey hey hey!!!

Felt that I had to post a bit of an update on the situation, as I haven't had the time to check up on anything apart from the occasional post in the Word Association game Sadly, no update on the hobby stuff, apart from the fact that all of my models and supplies have been carried into the new apartment... I've spent most of the last two months either working or renovating. In the end, we decided to renovate almost the entire apartment, to give it a bit of a cosmetic touch-up. So instead of painting small toy soldiers I've painted a few dozen square meters of walls in an off-white paint

Anyhoo, the colleagues at work are starting to return from their summer vacations, so I won't have to spend the 60-70 hours a week there. Now I hope to have time to browse through the various forums and the dozens and dozens of interesting threads that have popped up around the forum Not surprisingly, I plan to start with the Gnoblogs!

Oh, and on the hobby side: I did grab the new Stormclaw box with the Space Wolves and Orks, mainly due to the groovy limited edition models that were in the box. More pics to follow on that as I get around to assembling and painting even more Space Marines!

- Loran

Loran; great to see you back! I can't wait to see new projects and your return to the Gnoblogs. I hope the new place is all sorted now and a lovely new painting area all sorted ready for some more epic painting work!

Good to see you back buddy!
G_H

Firstly, I adore that your first port of call when you haven't got much time to spend on here is the Word Association Thread (mine too!), it's a keeper!

Also, nice to have you back. Your blog is an inspiring project that GW would be proud (and lucky!) to display!

Loran; great to see you back! I can't wait to see new projects and your return to the Gnoblogs. I hope the new place is all sorted now and a lovely new painting area all sorted ready for some more epic painting work!

Thanks mate! Unfortunately, the new place isn't all that sorted out yet, with the bathroom to be completely re-done. That, however, needs to wait until next week for the professionals to come over, as the mortar used underneath the tiles apparently contains asbestos and I'm not too fond of shortening my life expectancy by a number of years

But yeah, I've started unpacking some boxes and there hasn't been any damage to models thus far, apart from the to-be-expected breaking up of models glued with the bad batch of glue. That's not too bad in the end as all the parts are in the box and I was going to have to get around to disassembling and cleaning up the models anyway

Firstly, I adore that your first port of call when you haven't got much time to spend on here is the Word Association Thread (mine too!), it's a keeper!

Also, nice to have you back. Your blog is an inspiring project that GW would be proud (and lucky!) to display!

Thanks for the praise! The Word Association thread is easy to keep tabs on, as the only thing you have to check is the word before your reply. So that didn't require that much effort

I am now in the process of reading through all the stuff people have posted and the amount of new stuff in the Gnoblog section is staggering, not to mention the quality! Lovely to return to a mass of new pictures and posts about hobby stuff

- Loran

A quick hobby update, although no pictures

My models and hobby stuff are still mostly packed away, but I did grab the new Codex: Space Wolves as well as the Champions of Fenris supplement, so I've been looking into that and planning how I'll paint all the Space Wolves that I've got but haven't painted yet I've been thinking that I won't go for the usual blue-ish grey armour colour scheme. Instead, I'm planning on painting the army in a Heresy era colour schheme with the dark grey armour. I did grab a couple of sets of the transfers for Harald Deathwolf's Great Company, which I'll be going for in relation to fluff and shoulder pad designs

At the moment I spend all of my time opening boxes after the move, but expect to see loads of Space Wolves in the near future

- Loran

Do you agree that a chariot pulled by wolves is perhaps the most flawed and ridiculous concept ever to grace GW?

But ultimately ripe for a Christmas themed space wolf conversion!

Do you agree that a chariot pulled by wolves is perhaps the most flawed and ridiculous concept ever to grace GW?

No. I don't agree. A chariot pulled by wolves sounds like a splendid idea; most goblins would love such a thing, why they would beg, steal and kill for a chariot pulled by wolves!

Equally Hobgoblins would covet such a beast of a war machine, why these Chaos Dwarf sympathizers would love to run a multitude of wolf driven chariots. Also, the............what?.........Space wolves?........don't be ridiculous! Of course you wouldn't have a chariot pulled by wolves in the 41st millennium...........that's what its for?.........against giant robots in futuristic armour?.............don't talk daft............that's the most flawed and ridiculous concept ever to grace GW!

 
G_H

I'm not sure if it's the most flawed and ridiculous concept, but it's up there in the top five probably However, I will say that I'll be getting the model, mainly for the model of Logan Grimnar. I might paint the chariot bit at some point (ie. when I run out of other Space Wolves to paint), but probably not that soon

Then again, there are daemonic chariots in the game already... Not sure what to make of that, so it's not surprising that the other armies are starting to get some models with chariot rules... And like Villan_Ogre said, it does have some Santa Logan conversion possibilities

- Loran

And hobby things took a new turn:
I spent a day in Helsinki over the weekend and wandered to the GW over there. They've got this thing called "A Gathering of Might". Kinda like "a tale of X gamers" thing, but there's a catch: You don't know what army you'll be making before hand. You pull a slip of paper from a bag that has the name of the army you'll be using. This is only for 40k though, hopefully they'll do a Fantasy one as well in the future. Anyway, you've got to paint 500pts of your given army before October 25th. A big game on that date, with all the guys taking part. Now, as I've started to get to grips with the unpacking (only about half a dozen boxes to go!), I decided to join in on the thing. My slip said Astra Militarum, so time to unpack the bits for Guardsmen!

Luckily, I've got a load of Cadian stuff lying around, so no need to spend loads of cash on new toys. Although 500pts isn't that much in the end, even with Guard. To go for even slightly (and hopefully) competitive, I settled on two squads of Veterans led by a trusty Lord Commissar. One unit will be mounted in a Chimera, while the other one will be riding a Valkyrie. Cue 'Flight of the Valkyries'

Complete list:

HQ:
Lord Commissar - Warlord
Power Sword

Troops:
Veteran Squad
2 Plasma guns, Meltagun
Chimera

Veteran Squad
2 Plasma guns, Meltagun

Fast Attack:
Valkyrie
Multiple Rocket Pods (I might change this to the nose mounted Lascannon, not sure)

As the game will have the different factions facing each other, I'll be joined by the other Imperial players. So far there's Blood Angels, Dark Angels and two Grey Knight guys. Hopefully I won't be left hanging

I won't leave the Space Wolves out either. I'll probably get frustrated with painting camo green fatigues and black flak armour every now and then, so painting grey will be a nice change of pace Stay tuned!

Over and out,
- Loran

I'm not sure if it's the most flawed and ridiculous concept, but it's up there in the top five probably However, I will say that I'll be getting the model, mainly for the model of Logan Grimnar. I might paint the chariot bit at some point (ie. when I run out of other Space Wolves to paint), but probably not that soon

Then again, there are daemonic chariots in the game already... Not sure what to make of that, so it's not surprising that the other armies are starting to get some models with chariot rules... And like Villan_Ogre said, it does have some Santa Logan conversion possibilities

- Loran

My space wolf loving friends cannot stand it that I constantly refer to that thing as a sleigh or sled...at least we'll get untold potential for fun comments as this thing is fielded on tables.

Finally, picture updates!

So, first 10 Skeletons in a long time have been basecoated and given the first wash. Sorry for the bad pic, there's not very good lighting around and the winter time takes away what little sunlight there may be


I'm going for a relatively simple colour scheme as there will be a lot of these fellas. Giving everyone a dazzling array of colours would make the unit look non-coherent, so simple is the way to go Also makes the painting process a bit quicker

- Loran

Meh... That really is a bad pic I'll try to grab a better one tomorrow. Really need to figure out a good place to take pics in the new apartment

Anyway, I gave the models some new layers of paint today. Drybrushed the bone and highlighted the red parts. As I'm going for a simple and relatively muted colour scheme as the Skellies have been underground for some time, I'm not using bright colours. The red for example is a basecoat of Mephiston Red with a wash of Agrax Earthshade. This will then be layered with another coat of Mephiston, but probably not given any more of a highlight, to make sure that the red does not become too bright

- Loran

Whooo... New experiences... I ran out of paint

So yeah, no washes on any Vampire models until I can make my way to the nearby Games Workshop to buy more Agrax Earthshade

Oh well, gives me more of an incentive to basecoat more models. Get them ready for the washing/shading stage and then go nuts when I get around to getting more

- Loran

Whooo... New experiences... I ran out of paint

We have all been there. Keep up the great work on the shabbling horde. I collected VC for a long time and if you persist they can be great; just dont decide you want 300+ Zombies (I even ran out of them once in a game)

Hehee

I think I've got 120 Zombies at the moment. Roughly 60 are painted and another 20 WIP painted... Will need to get more at some point in the future, but not until I've got the current ones painted. Not to mention the rest of the unassembled/unpainted models in line

Next up in the purchase queue is the Mannfred Mortarch model. And of course, the big bad boy, Nagash

- Loran

Alright, updates! WIP pics of the Spirit Hosts and the Mortis Engine

Spirit Hosts:


Mortis Engine:



I do have to say that missing a key paint is annoying. And to make things worse I'm not sure when I'll have the time to make the trip to the store to grab some more

- Loran

So, here's an update on the Skeletons! They're done, well in advance of the January hobby pledge deadline, but pics uploaded only now



Also, I was able to make a trip to the Helsinki Store and grab me some more Agrax, so more models incoming!

- Loran

Update on progress: Got the Mortis Engine almost done. Only need to paint the Banshees and glue them on

Pics to follow soon!

- Loran