Ancient Chimera Refurbishment Project WIP 1

Yesterday I drove down to Richmond Virginia to attend my first IPMS convention. I entered models in four categories, and placed in all four of them. I'll do a more detailed post on that tomorrow. In the mean time, I think I should share another refurbishment project. This time I am repainting my only Chimera from my original Imperial Guard. Like the Griffen, this tank was grey, with Necromunda hive markings. In these photos the tank has gone through the first phases of weathering, and is awaiting decals, streaking, and touch up work. It is hard to image that this kit has traveled with me for more than 20 years. The paint is thick, the glue is bad, and none of that impacts my love for this little AFV.

Ogre Bust

A friend mentioned that IMPS Richmond was coming up, and that it was only two hours away from DC, so it seems like I might be going to the show this Saturday. I hate to go to a show without a model to share, so some quick work on the Roman Lappat Ogre and I think he is presentable now. This paint style will likely be the recipe I use for my Ogre Kingdoms army for Age of Sigmar. The weakest part of the model is probably the hair, though the base is pretty bas as well. I didn't have a plinth to put him on, so I chopped a chuck off of a wooden ruler and painted it black. Hopefully that works!

Anyone else going to the IMPS Richmond show this Saturday? Anyone have a critique they'd like to share? I would like to touch up major flaws before this weekend.

Valkyrie Refurbish WIP 3

I've been having so much fun repainting old GW models, that even though the Valk is a few stages away from completion, that I want to move on to the next refurbishment project. I added some heat treatment to the engines, but forgot to add red! I suppose I should be able to ghost in a little bit of it later, but that is the last glaring thing besides the lack of gunners and pilots. Good news on that front though, after Zzzzzz generously offered some replacements I decided to do more scrounging. I found the bits, along with my next refurbishment project in a box of half built Imperial Guard bits. I imagine it is getting old, me just posting repaints done right on top of existing paint schemes, but to me it feels like a pallet cleanser. I almost want to break out my Tallarn and paint them up to go with these aircraft.

A couple of things have contributed to this project being stress reducing and fun. First was deciding to use as few colors as possible. The second has been the feedback on the old models. It is really cool seeing what other people think about these refurbishment projects. There is something really satisfying taking a model that couldn't make it on eBay, and turning it into something a person might actually want.

One thin that hasn't been apparent on the blog has been my experiments with new air brushes during this work. I have been using Grex air brushes for years, but I recently discovered tamiya pistol grip air brushes as well as half a dozen no-name inexpensive chinese brands. I've been using these refurb models to familiarize myself with the new brushes prior to starting the Thunderhawk.

Also, did I mention that I found a box full of squats? No? Well I did, and they are glorious! My squats were apparently in service to the Imperial Guard, and are painted like the original plastic squat box art.  

Valkyrie Refurbish WIP 2

The Valkyrie is coming along nicely. For a model that has mold lines, poor glueing, and other defects, I really like it. I need to add environmental effects to it now. Chipping, flak steaks, engine exhaust, and loads of dripping will finish this model off. It would be nice to find the pilots and the heavy bolters for the doors, but that might be a bridge too far.

Valkyrie Refurbish WIP 1

After the refurbishing job done on the Valdor tank hunter, I decided to pull a NAVY blue Valkyrie out of my drawer and see what I could do to make it presentable again. The original model was not even completed, and had basically disassembled itself after years of rattling around in a drawer. I'm surprised I found enough pieces to put it back together. Part of me was looking forward to doing a crashed version, but after a little hunting I found everything.

I painted this up to match my DAK styled Lightning fighter.

I'm pretty sure that the Death Korps of Krieg don't have Valkyries, but it looked cool, especially with fighter escort.

So has anyone else been inspired to repaint an old vehicle?

Narrative 30K

Our second narrative 30k game took place last night over some nice martinis. One of the stand out things to me was that playing 30K made me want the tactical decisions available in Bolt Action. As the defender in this game I was able to deploy my forces secretly, and only reveal them as Eric's Raven Guard scouted onto the table. His objective was the comms relay station that I had just painted the night before. After our first game, in Arnhem 30k, the raven guard were abandoned on planet and had to scrounge for vehicles. The relay point was supposed to help them contact their fleet at best, or other stranded Raven Guard at worst. Despite great scouting,  and the ensuing overrunning of the Sons of Horus garrison force, the Raven Guard were unable to capture the communications relay. However, they were able to enact their revenge on the garrisoned force just up until the point the Warhound titan arrived to clean up. At this point the Raven Guard abandoned what remained of their vehicles and escaped down a hatch into the unknown. Land Speeders provided a rear guard action, nearly taking the Titan out.

This means, Zone Mortalis is next!

Speed Painting Scenery

Our Heresy campaign continues tonight, and after looking around for some suitably futuristic terrain I decided to grab these pieces and quickly paint them up using a Sherman tank palette. These models probably have three hours max all in. The trick was not caring too much about cleaning up the pin wash. That said, these may get touch ups, chipping, and some rework later since I really like the models. But for now, they have to get straight to work on our table for this evenings battle, where they will be secretly placed on Normandy like terrain. The hatch leads to an underground segment of the battlefield that will have to be built if the Raven Guard find it. Let's hope Eric does, as we both want to get a proper game of zone mortalis in.

Upgrading Paint On Ancient Valdor Tank Hunter

I've had one of my earliest Forgeworld purchases sitting in my display cabinet awaiting a bath of Simple Green for years now. Needless to say, my painting has changed a lot over the last decade. I don't know when this tank was purchased, but it was so old that it had developed a thick coating of dust. Rather than get my hands all goopy paint stripping the thing, I decided instead to practice some weathering on it. So, in order to upgrade the tired paint scheme, I added enamel pin washes, a light brown filter, streaking, weathering powders, and a new headlight lens.

So, yes it works. Weathering can save a vehicle from the dreaded orange smelling green solvent bath. I might even add some stowage and push the vehicle further along. On the other hand, I have a FW Thunderhawk to build.

DKoK Lightening Completed

I think I've 'finished' this model a couple of time, but this time it is really done. To counteract more of enamel problems, I dusted the entire model with a 1/10 mixture of Buff color. This dusted the model and provide a similar effect to a filter. The only real difference is that when I normally apply filters I don't let them get into the recesses of the model. By spraying buff, it became an all over filter. I also painted all of the missing lenses, and the pilot.

The base is not done, but I am still thrilled to move this model off of my desk and into the cabinet. The base is a separate and probably more enjoyable task.

I guess it is time to paint something bigger...