DKOK Death Rider 1st Squad WIP

Before you are eleven almost completed death riders. I took a long painting detour making the flags three colors, before deciding they looked horrible and painting them orange. I am fairly happy with these, yet there seem to be an endless amount of detail still to paint, and I have 15 more of these guys to go.  So what is it about NOVA that makes people attempt epic feats of painting? I'm pretty sure a squad of DKoK dies as fast as a normal guard squad after all.

DKoK Death Rider WIP

I don't paint that many horses. So when it came time to start the 30 Death Riders needed for my NOVA Narrative army, I was at a loss. So, here is my first DKOK horse.  At the moment, I am using the following recipe.

Horse body

• Base Vallejo Flat Earth 70983
• Middle Vallejo Green Brown 70879
• Highlight Vallejo Iraqi Sand 70819

Controlled wash of either

• Secret Weapon Miniatures Flesh Wash OR
• Secret Weapon Miniatures Dark Sepia 

Plenty of details are not finished on this model, I just wanted to block in enough color in order to see how the horse would look.  The washes obliterated a lot of shading, but on the flip side, made the details stand out really nicely. Dark Sepia is my favorite of the two variations at the moment, but I figured I needed to have some slight variety in skin tones.

Hades Breaching Drill WIP 2

*EDIT updated images

I managed to add paint chipping to just about half of the vehicles, so in order to reward myself, I decided to do some pin washes and weathering. There are parts of the drill that are still unpainted, but  I was excited. So here it is, one sub-terraining 40k death machine. The gloss coat will be dulled down after all of the oil effects. The semi-gloss varnish makes the paint alternate from yellow to brown depending on the angle. Only 9 more vehicles/artillery to go.

Three Weeks Till NOVA Open Must Paint Faster!

With only three weeks till the NOVA open, and my Krieg only halfway done, I might have to investigate some backup options. I need a least a week to prep my painting entries. That means I really only only two weeks to finish these vehicles and move onto the Death Riders. All 30 Death Riders. What on earth have I gotten myself into!

So, I have a very packed three weeks. What do you have to compete before the NOVA Open if you are going? Have you donated to the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation army raffle? If not, then that is an excellent way to spend three weeks. We've managed to raise over $60,000 for Doctors Without Borders. I would really like to see us have the best year we've ever had.

To purchase tickets you can visit the NOCF site here:

http://novaopenfoundation.org/?tcp_product_category=raffle

To see more of these great armies, check out the NOCF blog here:

http://novacf.blogspot.com

Death Korps of Kreig Vehicle Color Scheme

I appreciate the comments on the color selection for Krieg vehicles. I've decided on the brown color scheme as you can see from the photos. The Interiors are a minty-green color in order to contrast. Looking at all of these vehicles, I can see that I have ages worth of paint chipping to do. I think they will look nice in the end, but it is a bit daunting. What isn't pictured here is the Bombard squadron. Yep, you read that right. Three bombards round out this force. The army has absolutely nothing special in terms of characters or death stars. Just a lot of artillery and horses.

I haven''t quite figured out what to do with this iron looking wheels. I am tempted to just shine them up with metallic weathering powders along the road facing portion.

Krieg Centaur Assault Vehicle Color Schemes

I thought it might be fun to share my vehicle color scheme tests for the Death Korps of Krieg. My original color scheme, painted ages ago is the dark blue-green centaur, painted ages ago. More recently I've been painting ww2 German vehicles, hence the middle centaur, dressed in a dark yellow. My current favorite scheme is a desert brown, with military mint color for an interior. The only problem I see with it is that it does not pop on the table. The yellow scheme is noticeable. The brown scheme is subdued. With my troops painted in subdued colors I am just not sure brown has enough pop. So as it stands, my wife votes for the brown centaur on the far right. I have not decided between the brown and the yellow, and while I really like the swampy blue-green centaur, it is just too dark for the force. Any thoughts?

Two Squads Of Death Korps

I took a break from painting to base a few of the almost completed squads. Technically there are three squads in this photo, but the engineers really need to be a full 10 man squad rather than a 5 man and 7 man squad respectively. Two more infantry squads are on the table just to the right of the finished models. Instead of finishing them, I think I'll go back and finish the artillery crew. They are nearing completion as well, and are essential to the army. At some point before NOVA I may paint the jacket collars a dark green. At least the army can be visualized now. It will just be bigger.

Ever More Basing For The Death Korps

I made really good progress this morning before the treadmill. It could have gone wrong though. Rather than follow my tried and true recipe using GW paints, I decided to mix things up a bit and use Tamiya air brush paints for these. After looking at the huge volume of painting to do, I decided that I really needed to avoid airbrush clogs at all cost. I am thrilled with the result. Granted that has more to do with SWM Green Earth weathering powder than my grey shading, but I like it none-the less. All I have to do is add black edging around the base, and I have enough bases for the force. Just in case I do some last minute list tinkering, I painted up some large bases to use with Krieg mortar teams. I love the idea have 6 more mortars to fire. When we play 40k with bolt action rules, the mortars are going to be incredibly important, since in BA they can fire smoke. That makes cavalry charges less hazardous. Alternately, it allows the dreaded Blood Pact (Dave, we have to play that game!) or Vrak's renegades (Steve, that is you!) sneak up and take out the artillery. If Greg ever paints up a huge force or orcs (I saw that painting tutorial, so I know you can do it quickly!) then we can also get in a guard on orc infantry game.

Got to rim the bases in black now. Better find a good documentary to watch.