DKoK Russ

 It has been a long time since I've painted a russ. This one comes equiped with the DKoK air filtration resin and DKoK commander. 

Death Korps of Krieg Hades Assault Drill

 I reached into my ancient pile of Forgeworld and came out with this. Behold! A drill with a melta gun attached. 

DKoK Quartermaster WIP

I've had these models sitting in their little Forgeworld baggie for years. Now or never!

The first step was laying down all of the base colors. I've added some shading, but realized that I missed a lot of little details. These guys are really small. Even smaller than in the photos, so they are eye strain inducing! That said, I love the little diorama that these guys produce. The guardsman pleading before the quartermaster to avoid summary execution. I have no idea what this squad does in game. Anyone know what they do in this edition?

Krieg Goes To War

I realized that my Krieg lacked a commissar, so on the off chance that I end up brining this army to the NOVA Open this Thursday, I figured I needed to paint one up. So, here I present Commisar 234325.

Extra Shelves For Ikea Display Cabinets

A friend of mine started a project to add shelves to his Ikea display cabinets which looked like an excellent idea, so I stole it! I managed to find the STL file for the clips on thingiverse.com by searching for Ikea Detolf, and was able to print up a dozen sets in no time. A few screws and bolts later, and I have double my original storage. I am really pleased by this upgrade. The plexiglass I choose is a little bendy, but I think if I put infantry up top rather than tanks it will be just fine.

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.

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...

DKoK Lightening Mostly Done

I just realized I forgot to paint the lenses and the pilot! So, mostly done it is. It seems that every other post, I realize that a model isn't really completed. What would my stuff look like if I didn't post? I bet it would look unfinished.

I hope the smoke and chipping hides the lacquer problems I had. I think it does. I used a photo of a Japanese ww2 Zero for the aluminum chipping inspiration. I suppose I should dust the whole model using a sand colored filter now. I had intended to use an enamel for my filter, but after the lacquer incident that wasn't doable. Overall, this model is close to what I envisioned. It just lacks the realism I like.

Death Korps Lightening WIP 2

*EDIT additional photos added with better natural lighting.

I had intended this model to be a display piece, but an unfortunate incident with Model Master Semi-Gloss lacquer ended that option. Once on the model, lacquer normally forms a protective barrier to allow enamel pin washes and oil work. This lacquer bonded with the enamels and made is exceedingly difficult to remove the excess. I literally scrubbed the model with towels, and stippling brushes to remove as much as I could. In doing so I rubbed off layers of paint, and imparted fingerprints into the model. Lesson learned. Model Master paints are garbage. I won't touch them with a ten foot poll.

So where do I go from here? I'd like to make the model more presentable, so I'm going to have to weather more than I had originally intended. I'll use aluminum colored paint chipping to distract from tide lines. I intend to overspray some of the original yellow to tone down those areas and clean them up a bit. Finally, I'll add smoke streaking to the kit. That will add visual interest and hide some of the fingerprints in harder to touch up places. I love the model, but I don't think I want to strip it and start over. I expected an easier finish to this kit, and have been getting ready for my next challenge.