Armies on Parade Win!

I won the Armies on Parade competition for the Springfield GW store! For quite a while I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to work the contest in between all of my business travel. Now I get to represent the Springfield store in Chicago. I have no illusions of grandeur for the overall Games Day competition, but it will be fun having my work on display.

There were six AoP contestants at the GW store. There was a nicely painted Ork Army with a great battle wagon, A vibrantly painted Empire army with a chalice wielding Lady riding side saddle, an Imperial Guard Army, a very small but well painted Ogre pirate army, and a space wolf army sporting the best freehand I have seen in a long time. The space wolf army had intricate freehand on every surface. He is one painter to watch. For a first army it was outstanding. It was really just a matter of not knowing all of the techniques.

In terms of preparation for Chicago GD, I have a bevy of good critiques to address. I am going to finish putting on transfers on the troops, as well as spray dull coat on all of the existing ones.

I may dremel out the blood chalice on Corbulo, but lacking dremel skills, I am a little wary of that idea. It would look look much nicer as an actual chalice rather than a weird solid mace like thing. As expected I have a lot of wear and tear to deal with. I've got a lot of little paint chips to deal with from transport. Unexpectedly, one finecast miniature's power sword deformed deformed in the heat while I was getting dinner.

Overall my wife and I are really looking forward to going to Chicago. We were married in Oak Park, which is right outside Chicago, and are really looking forward to going back.

Flesh Tearers and Devil Dogs

My original plan was to have my BA escorting the Devil Dogs for Armies on Parade. However I just don't have enough space on my board to make it happen for the competition. With the little space I had left over I decided to revamp an old partially completed squad of flesh tearers. I had to re-wash, highlight, and damage these guys, as well as rework the power weapon so it would fit into my new blue PW scheme. Overall I am really happy with them. I am a little surprised that some touched up older miniatures are in some ways more interesting than my new ones. If only I had time to finish chapter master Seth....

Warhammer 40k Cosplay

Maybe everyone has already seen this, but while taking a break from painting for Armies on Parade, I found this video online. If only Games Day were something like this!

Heroes of Armageddon Devil Dogs Pt3

I added washes, and used a trusty old number 2 pencil to add graphite marks to the tracks. The photos are a little dark, but such is life with photography at night. The weird thing is how my devlin mud wash made whitish pools around each surface. It is kind of cool as I think it fits in with the other HoA tanks, but I did not plan this. There may have been a little acrylic thinner in my water cup, so perhaps that caused the odd paint behavior. Any ideas?

Got to go pack so I can fly out across the entire country for a 3 hour meeting.

See you all at the GW Springfield store this Saturday for the AoP competition. If you can think up a list for my weird assortment of BA, I'll even try to get a game in.

Heroes of Armageddon Devil Dogs Pt2

The Devil Dogs now have rusty tracks and pressure transfers. I tried to make the red stripe with the white lettering look like something that would be put on in the field to mark the tanks out. I am thinking about not gluing the back portions on since the chemical tanks look so cool, and can be pulled out after a vehicle destroyed hit in order to make terrain. I plan to print out some transfers for each dog, customizing it like old WWII bombers. The tacky peeing calvin and hobbs image that used to be seen on a lot of cars is actually appropriate here! I don't plan on using that one, but it was a blast from the past when google image came up with it.

So, do I add washes to the tanks, or just let them be. I kind of like the way they look right now.

Remember, you could win these tanks, along with a whole sweet Dave Taylor inspired Steel Legion army, so your opinion matters!

Heroes of Armageddon Devil Dogs

At long last, the two Devil Dogs part of the Steel Legion army being constructed under Dave Taylor's leadership are under way. My plan is to bring these to the Armies on Parade contest this Saturday at the Springfield VA GW store. I think they will look right at home nestled in between my AoP Blood Angels armor.

I am not sure about the tracks though. I used water to try and dilute the weathering powders and I ended up with a glue like substance. The good thing is that it should wipe off fairly easily if it looks too bad when dry. My plan is to wipe these down, and then use a graphite pencil over all of the edges once they are on the tank.

Armies on Parade Tank Progress

All of the BA tanks are now weathered. There are still loads of lenses/head lights to paint, but I think they are coming along well. I was tempted not to weather the tanks at all.

The vindi finally got its siege shield, which it was really missing. Somehow they just don't look right without that massive dozer blade in front.

One the final details are painted, I will hit these tanks with weathering powders. It was hard not to jump in and hit the tracks with them now, but weathering powders are messy and really need to be the last step.

Armies On Parade!

After struggling with my display board all day, I am now on the home stretch! I still have to finish painting eyes, gems, weather the tanks. By tomorrow evening, just in time for Game of Thrones, I should have this complete.

Now, since I painted this without regard to army lists, is there a viable list in here?