Rank and File!

Back on track! I have a day off tomorrow and I stayed up painting one of the rank and file troops of my army. This one mostly served as a test for the rest of the troops in the unit. It’s actually an older sculpt, though I can’t remember what era he is from. Unfortunately his sword blade is lost to the childhood attempts at converting metal models with random bits being chopped off and stuck on to other models. His replacement was a plastic woodelf blade that seems to work fine.

I photographed him next to one of my spearmen to see how they looked together. I think it will actually look really nice with a few ranks of troops, of course I’ll have to get some classic green flocking and paint for the bases!

I may have to revisit the colors on the sword blade. Not really sure what I wanted to do with them, but I did want them to be different from the red blades in the rest of the army. Now most of my swordmasters are your standard affair, but I was also thinking that adding in some kind of Oni looking types to give it more of that Nippon feel might be interesting, or maybe some of the Tengu they have at Reaper miniatures.

So there’s what I managed tonight after I was off work, I also received a couple miniatures in the mail for my Necromunda gang that I’m very excited to get going on!

A Hurt Shoulder, And A Late Shift

Unfortunately tonight was just not a night I would not be able to get something done. I had to work late and messed up my shoulder on some equipment at work....Whoops! Ah well, it happens, but that’s ok! I didn’t get anything painted, but I did work on some drawing!

This is the progress I made on my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the Warhammer 40k Universe. Here we have Raphael! I was really enjoying it and drawing thankfully only requires one good arm.

I really wanted these drawings to invoke some of the eighties goodness I grew up staring at in the old Warhammer Fantasy rulebooks, and the White Dwarf magazines my brother received in the mail. Such as it is, I’m happy with how it’s going! 

Since there wasn’t much to post, I suppose I can talk more about my hobbying and some random stuff I’ve been building. 

As I’ve mentioned my brothers were the ones that got me started into this hobby. They played maybe a couple games, but mostly just collected random odds and ends and painted them to the best of the ability of young children with crayola paints can do. Which is to say that our Bretonian blue knight was solid blue and our bretonian red Knight was solid red. It was like a medieval power rangers set riding along on their color coordinated horses. Not the most splendid affair, but it would do. We didn’t really know anyone else who had or played the game so we mostly just stared at what the Games Workshop artists created and dreamed of one day being a fraction as good.

The classic Dogs of War issue of White Dwarf magazine always stands out in my mind as the epitome of what I see this game to look like.

I actually have the rider Asarnil in my collection waiting to eventually be painted along with his stand in dragon.

Now my oldest brother was the only one to really keep up with this hobby. Myself and our other brother lost interest as things like Pokémon started to take over our childhoods and we grew into teenagers. Now I did continue to pour over my brothers rulebooks and draw ridiculous amounts of poorly proportioned space marines, but I never played the game much, and had given what few models I did by to my eldest brother who would start in high school to find others with the shared interest and regularly play games. Mostly they played 40k, but I think our main interests always was on the rank and file troops of the fantasy world.

As I entered into college my brother for the first time really started trying to get me to play. We tried a few practice games while he lived at home and I even started to buy some plastic High Elf kits that were out at the time. I somewhat lost interest again though as school was proving a lot of pressure, and I just wasn’t the skilled painter I wanted to be (I’m still not, but oh well)

I kept these models this time around, and my brother had given several old metal ones he had had from out childhood. Give it a few more years and the End Times for warhammer and here you would find us today.

With an actual art degree I find my painting skills at least adequate and I can at least somewhat afford the older models I crave.

As far as things I have built and really can't wait to revisit are the aforementioned dragon, and 2 deodorant tanks with a third sitting unfinished in the background. 

Not as charming as the original perhaps, nor do I know how I will work them into Necromunda scenery but I will figure something out.

Anywho Hope everyone out there is having a nice night

- Andrew Thurston

Something That Has Been Sitting Unfinished For Far Too Long

My first foray back into Warhammer Fantasy Battles (with my brother) was the Tears of Isha campaign from the 5th edition of the game. We adapted it to the best of our ability to the 8th edition and set out to play through it all, finally finishing this last year on Boxing Day.

The Particular miniature below was the High Elf General for the third mission of that campaign, which boiled down to a 300 spartan's style battle. The Dark Elves had a larger force and had to fight their way through a narrow pass. The longer the High Elves survived the onslaught, the better their position would be in the final battle. After the 3rd turn,  the High Elf player added more benefits,

The High Elf side with their commander, Imrallion, were near impossible to break and would fight to the last needing to be completely wiped out. 

My brother and I converted miniatures for each game to represent the special commanders we were given. Imrallion is the first one I am willing to show that has been completed. He has been sitting half painted for months now as I was unsure how I wanted to take it on, and when I did know, I had to buy more paint.

The base miniature I used was the Pathfinder Iconic Samurai from Reaper Miniatures as my brother happened to have the bones soft-plastic version. His banner and sword were replaced with ones from the Dark Eldar Raider kit from Games Workshop. After several odds and ends were added from a multitude of plastic High Elf miniatures.

The base he stands on is actually a piece of painted sea glass and some small stones, and will be finished another time when I get a hold of some static grass in a color that  I like. As the campaign is over now, he continues to see use as my primary Loremaster.

For my High Elves, I have been taking some Asian influences, specifically Japanese and Chinese, as I see my army being one that is stationed in the Fortress of Dawn, that on the Warhammer map is located near the continents of Cathay and Nippon. These areas were never explored that much by Games Workshop, but I think will lead to a really interesting and unique army.

To end today's entry, I started working on a piece of hand drawn scenery to match the old style of cut-out buildings we used to see offered from older editions of Warhammer. It will eventually be mounted on plastic card when finished.

The most Important Part of Warhammer! Banners!

Any one who has played Warhammer Fantasy Battles will know that the banners can be just as important as the troops, both visually as well as mechanically. Nothing like a banner with a 2+ ward save!(High Elf Banner of the World Dragon)

So currently I have a few banners in the works. The rat on the top is actually a dead Skaven from my brothers army, my cousin's Lizardmen had a certain rivalry going for a little while. These were made  on Bristol board with Micron inking pens and Prismacolor markers. The fully colored banner with the tree will be for my High Elf archers unit and is a more traditional banner. The one with the hydra head came from my first game back and the first game my brother and I played from the Tears of Isha Campaign. Within the first turn, my silver helms fought off, chased down and trampled to death my brothers hydra, and while I ultimately lost the battle, that encounter will live on in infamy for me.  It will eventually be the banner carried by my mounted Battle Standard Bearer.

My plan is to have almost all hand drawn banners with the exception of my spear men who have the plastic molded banner from the High Elf Prince kit that came out some years back. Now I would have had liked to have more to show today but I was at work late due to some unforeseen circumstances and didn't get a whole lot of creative time.

No Miniature, But some Art Instead

Unfortunately, I did not have much time to get any painting done today due to my work schedule. Hopefully, tomorrow will provide me more opportunity. I did, however, get some drawing done! Now with my work I knew there would be days that I couldn't get any painting done so I allowed for the filling in of those moments with drawing instead as long as it was hobby related. To that end, here's what I completed after I was off today:

This first drawing is for my brother's Warhammer Fantasy group. He is working on t-shirts and wanted a beer mug for the back side. As the group is called "The Son's of Bugman", I figured having a Dwarven helmet incorporated was appropriate.

This second image was much more involved and fun. It was my attempt to realize Leonardo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the Warhammer 40K universe. I actually have Raphael and Michelangelo sketched as well. I intended them to be ab-humans, but the old Rogue Trader styled beakie helmet was too good of an opportunity to pass up! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little doodles.

A New Day, A New Dwarf!

So, we are back to our wonderful height-impaired friends, and I will say this guy took a lot longer than expected. I was starting to feel the rush of being so close to finishing, but I really had to work to slow myself down in order to make sure that  I did things right.
I did switch up the colors slightly on the tunic to see if I could make him a shade other than brown as the colors I had used to paint the Squat with the hammer blended a bit too much.

The plan is for this guy to be equipped as a sniper. The metal helmet he has on is from Uscarl Miniatures Space Dwarf range, his plastic body is Dwarf Thunderer's body from Games Workshop, and a lot of spare Kroot bits that I had lying around from a kit I had bought somewhere, sometime, for some reason I can no longer remember.

I am pretty happy with how he turned out and I feel like I am getting better at painting hair thanks to all these little bearded men. I've discovered through this challenge that I find that metal is a far more enjoyable material to paint on for me. The details feel much crisper and the overall weight of the metal miniature in hand is really nice.

Here is a group shot of my gang so far! Unfortunately, I have yet to receive the other minis I have ordered, and there are members that I still need to order. So, unless I happen to get my delivery tomorrow, I may be focusing on Elves for the time being.... those of which I have oh so many to paint.

Here's an older sketch from a few months back. It is meant to be the Albion Soothsayer from Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Very happy with how it came out when inked and it's a fitting transition into what I will likely have to present tomorrow.

Something Not a Dwarf

Today I worked on a miniature I have had for awhile, but was always somewhat afraid to take on. Alongside the original Squats, I had kitbashed together a Tarellian Dog Soldier wearing power armor. This, with the exception of the Tau arms and legs, was pieced together from my brother's bit box. This box is filled with pieces and miniatures collected from my brother and I's childhood up to current times, and there are some amazing little hidden gems. This.... was not made with those gems - I used beaten plastic bits to create this little guy .

Story wise, he is the mercenary for hire to my Rogue Trader, and his main bodyguard. Lore wise, Imperials and Tarellians don't exactly get along. However, if anyone was going to bridge the gap between these two races, it would be a Rogue Trader. Besides, it was fun, and getting to murder human gangers in the Underhive provides at least some incentive.

This was my first attempt at white armor and I am reasonably pleased with the effect. I'm less happy with how the checkerboard and freehand details on the armor turned out, but I imagine more practice will help steady my hand.... and maybe a smaller detailing brush.

Unfortunately, no drawings today as my work schedule kept me busy for the entire day, but I feel accomplished that I completed this guy. 

Also, any tips on small detailing would be more than welcome.

The First Day, The First Miniature

It's the first day of my personal challenge! I've gotten up early and just finished painting one more Squat before having to get ready for work. In addition to this project motivating me to piece my army together, it seems like I'm becoming a faster painter as well.

Now, I've mentioned before that these little bearded warriors are for a Necromunda gang. The plan is to get 10 of these painted for the gang to make them playable. With this Dwarf done, I'm at six painted (though two are currently missing their weapons as I am still deciding as to how I want them to look).

The entire force won't be made up of just Squats; it'll be led by a Rogue Trader having left his starship behind and turning to a life of crime. 

A wonderful miniature based off of the classic artwork below sold by Knightmare Miniatures:

This chap will be the leader of the gang. I have it ordered and hopefully, it'll be here soon. This leaves me with two more to get my hands on. Eventually, I would love to convert a miniature based on my own drawings.

But, for now, I would love to own something based on a classic piece. Who knows, maybe when I get better at it all (painting, converting, creating), I can tackle making something more unique to me.

A New Year's Hobby Resolution: Warhammer Blog

My brothers introduced me to Warhammer when I was about 7 years young. As a kid, I was never really interested in assembling the miniatures or playing the game. However, I'd always admired the designs. From drawing Space Marines at 6 years old to Squats and Chaos gods at the age of 27, it's safe to say that Warhammer has had the greatest influence on my art style.

Going through the illustrations in my brother's rule books and white dwarf magazines, page after page, was a favorite childhood past time of mine. Eventually, the miniatures would grow to become of bigger focus -  although, I could never bring myself to get a full army painted and playable.

Fast forward to 2017 and the creators of Warhammer ended it's story by adding an apocalypse to the plot to make room for another world, Age of Sigmar. My eldest brother, Matt, and I anguished over the destruction of our beloved childhood world.

Seeing the rise of Age of Sigmar, my brother decided to start a Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition Club. He bought a load of  High Elf miniatures for me to add to my tiny collection in order to get me into fighting shape.  Many of them being "oldhammer", miniatures made from older metal material as he knew I had a preference for the classic style and humor.

It all started with the two of us adapting the Tears of Isha campaign, which took nearly a year to complete due to work schedules(bleugh) and life. A campaign, in which, I was soundly defeated due to..... well, a poor gamble I had made early on.

Now, we're here in 2019 and most of my miniatures are still left unpainted. So, the creation of this blog's goal is to motivate me to paint one miniature, or create one hobby related drawing every single day.  The eventual goal is to get all these tiny soldiers painted.

Currently, I'm re-starting a project - making my Squat Gang for Necromunda. A project that started back in my early college days.

Pardon the poor lighting:

The center Dwarf is my latest in painting and construction, those in the back are two early attempts.

Bodies were the plastic Dwarf Thunderers.

A Christmas gift from my girlfriend, a couple squats from Uscarl Miniatures

This guy was made and painted around the time of the first two squats. I'm not really sure what my plan was for him. He could really use a repaint.....