Ork Meganobz/Big Mek Magnetization details

July 12, 2014, 5:06 pm

≪ Previous: Mek Gun and Trukk Kitbash (1+1=4)

Here's some details about how I magnetized the Meganobz box. I think I covered every option, including magnetizing the head on the Big Mek so that he can be a Meganob. The kit makes it easy to swap the hands without magents. There is a peg on the arm that push fits into the fist, and you can make all the Killsaws, power klaws and combi-weapons without duplicating parts. This is great since GW has a bad habit of using the same part in two options (to save space on the sprue).

For the Kombi-shootas I used 1/16" magnets on each side as pictured below. Its really important to get this aligned as closely as possible since 1/16" is so small. Otherwise they are pretty simple.

For the Big Mek I use a 1/8" magnet in the head and shoulders since i had the room to go bigger. A corresponding 1/8" magnet went into the Teloporta and Kustom Force Field, but the boss pole (for Meganob option) only has a 1/16" magnet.

Pics below, and I'm happy to answer questions in the comments below.

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High Elf Sword masters Tutorial

August 2, 2014, 4:56 am

≫ Next: Spacewoff Stormwolf/Stormfang Unboxing video

≪ Previous: Ork Meganobz/Big Mek Magnetization details

I did a unit of these guys way back when Island of Blood came out, and its been one of the more popular videos on my youtube channel ever since. Well, my tutorials have changed a lot since then, so I thought it would be a good idea to paint another batch of them. I started doing these just before the long drawn out Ork release, so about half way through I switch over to the new video camera.

Anyway, the main difference with the painting techniques is that I sprayed them silver to start, gave them a blue glaze, then did all of the other colours. It cut out a bunch of steps, and I'm pretty happy with how the metal turned out.

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Spacewoff Stormwolf/Stormfang Unboxing video

August 5, 2014, 4:05 am

≫ Next: Imperial Guard Commissar Tutorial (plus video)

≪ Previous: High Elf Sword masters Tutorial

Here's a look at the new Spacewolf flyer... its a pretty cool transport, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the whole frost cannon thing. I'm going to paint it up to go with my bloodclaws to replace the land raider that I had been using (ineffectively) for them.

Its a decent looking kit, but most of the space wolf icons are built into it, so if you wanted to use it for something else it would take a bit of work.

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Imperial Guard Commissar Tutorial (plus video)

August 16, 2014, 3:33 am

≫ Next: Space hulk 2009 Unboxing

≪ Previous: Spacewoff Stormwolf/Stormfang Unboxing video

Or Astra Militarum Officio Prefectus whatever the trademarked name is now.

I really like the new single sprue charactors, so that's why I painted this guy up. Just a quick paint with nothing fancy. Simple and effective.

For the black I used my typical, base + highlight then wash to tone down the highlights. I suppose I could mix black and grey for the first highlights, but I think this works well enough. With black its often a good idea to smooth out the highlights with a little black to help with the transition. The same goes with most base colours, but especially with dark ones where the layer is quite a bit lighter than the base.

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Space hulk 2009 Unboxing

September 14, 2014, 5:36 pm

≫ Next: Ork Mek Tutorial

≪ Previous: Imperial Guard Commissar Tutorial (plus video)

I'm excited about the re-release of Space Hulk... its a good chance for me to finish painting the figures from the 2009 version. I dug up some pictures from the archives (below) to show what was in the box that time around. I'm also working on some painting tutorials to get up for the new edition. From what I've read the contents are virtually the same. I'm curious to see the special rules for other chapters... maybe they'll release rules for other races like they did back with 2nd edition Space Hulk.

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Ork Mek Tutorial

September 16, 2014, 6:24 am

≫ Next: Space Hulk Genestealer tutorial (Quick and easy)

≪ Previous: Space hulk 2009 Unboxing

Here's the new Plastic Ork Mek all painted up in Evil Sunz colours. I wanted to go with a more traditional Mek look (red with blue pants), but it would be easy to swap the feature colour out for another clan pretty easily. The magnetized arm looks decent, and I painted up both weapons so that they are available in case I ever get a game in.

As usual, video after the break and painting guide lower down as well as lots of pics of the finished model.

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Space Hulk Genestealer tutorial (Quick and easy)

September 23, 2014, 6:02 am

≫ Next: Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors

≪ Previous: Ork Mek Tutorial

Ok, so a confession... I started painting the Space Hulk Terminators from the last release and never finished them. I didn't even start the Genestealers, so now I want to correct that by painting these guys up quickly. I hope to spend a bit more time on the broodlord, but the main ones need a quick paint job. Below is a tutorial that's basically a drybrush and wash technique to paint up the 22 genestealers fast. Should look decent on the table top, definitely better than table top.

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Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors

October 24, 2014, 5:58 am

≫ Next: Armies on Parade - Silver for my Orks!

≪ Previous: Space Hulk Genestealer tutorial (Quick and easy)

Its been a while since I've posted anything, so here's an older tutorial for my Dark Eldar Kabalite warriors. I've got a bunch of Dark Eldar that need to be painted, and I'd like to catch up on them when I get a chance. In the mean time, here's a tutorial showing the basic paint scheme for my army.

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Armies on Parade - Silver for my Orks!

October 29, 2014, 1:28 pm

≫ Next: WIP Stormwolf and Ork warbosses

≪ Previous: Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors

I managed to jump over to my local Games Workshop with a pile of Orks on Saturday for the armies on parade competition. Even better, I managed to pull of a Silver medal! I was beaten by an impressive dwarf army that had an amazing display board. I just crammed as many cool models as I could on a Realm of Battle board piece and hoped for the best... and it worked out. More pictures after the break, and the other entries can be found on the Appleby Village Games Workshop facebook page.

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WIP Stormwolf and Ork warbosses

November 23, 2014, 5:09 am

≫ Next: How to Paint the Stormwolf

≪ Previous: Armies on Parade - Silver for my Orks!

Here's a couple pics of things on my desk right now. I haven't had much time lately to paint, so these have been moving slowly.

The Stormwolf was airbrushed, then the rest of the base colours added before a coat of acrylic gloss (Future floor polish) and then some oil washes. After the oil had a day to dry I wiped most of it off leaving the shadows intact and gave it a matte spray. I'll touch up some of the colours and then it'll be done.

**Update, the barrels on the multi-meltas are drilled**

The warbosses were given a silver base coat (army painter) then washes. I'm adding base colours now and will shade and highlight those later.

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How to Paint the Stormwolf

November 27, 2014, 5:51 am

≫ Next: How to Paint a Broodlord

≪ Previous: WIP Stormwolf and Ork warbosses

Here's the finished Stormwolf... finally. I started this guy back in the summer, and just haven't had time to get back to my painting table. For a large vehicle like this I like to use an airbrush, but for that to happen I need a chunk of time all at once, so that was a bit tricky to arrange.

The basic technique is this:
Airbrush the large surfaces
Add detail colours
*Highlight details (should have done this but did it later)
Spray with Future floor polish (Arcylic gloss)
Shade with thinned artist oils
Wait ~24 hours and wipe off as much of the oils as possible
Finish with dull coat spray.

I'm really happy with how the oils turned out. For large vehicles I'd say that this is the way to go. For minimal effort you really end up with a nice looking finish and the process is very forgiving. If you end up with too much you can wipe it off with a q-tip and a bit of mineral spirits. Not enough and you can do it again.

Oh, and yes I did drill out the multi-melta barrels after the comments from the previous post.

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How to Paint a Broodlord

November 29, 2014, 10:26 am

≫ Next: Ork Warboss size comparisons

≪ Previous: How to Paint the Stormwolf

Here's a quick tutorial showing a nice paint scheme for the Broodlord in Space Hulk. Since the Tyranid and Blood Angels box is coming out I thought this would be a timely tutorial. This guy painted up really fast, partly because I had already basecoated and washed the blue before starting. Otherwise its a straightforward video with results I'm happy with.

The painting tutorial I followed can be found on Tale of Painters here:
http://taleofpainters.blogspot.ca/2014/09/tutorial-how-to-paint-space-hulk.html

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Ork Warboss size comparisons

December 5, 2014, 3:54 pm

≫ Next: Forecast calls for Smaug

≪ Previous: How to Paint a Broodlord

I just finished painting up Grugg Face Rippa from the Stormclaw box, and while I was painting him I also did a Warboss I converted from the Assault on Black Reach box. Grugg is roughly based on that model, so I thought it would be good to compare sizes, also with Ghazghkull... see below.

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Forecast calls for Smaug

December 6, 2014, 9:52 am

≫ Next: How to Paint Grugg Face Rippa

≪ Previous: Ork Warboss size comparisons

So, I took a gample and put in an order for Smaug. Its crazy expensive, but hopefully I can recoup some of that through the blog and my youtube channel. When I saw that it was limited to 200 (for now) I decided to go ahead... unfortunately that was at full Canadian retail... ouch.

Expect me to milk this one... unboxing, assembly, and step by step painting... even though you wont be able to buy one for yourself (unless you got one of the other 199 of them). I'm thinking that magnetizing the wings will make sense to help avoid it breaking.

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How to Paint Grugg Face Rippa

December 7, 2014, 4:53 am

≫ Next: Dark Eldar Archon unboxing and assembly

≪ Previous: Forecast calls for Smaug

And here's the tutorial for Grugg and the other warboss. I don't show much of the badmoon guy, so I suggest checking out the Badmoon shoota boy tutorial.

Oh, and something screwed up with the audio... sorry about that, I think messed up when I recorded it, so I'll have to fix that for next time.

Nice model, although lacking a little personality I think... There was something missing about this guy when compared to the other recent Ork releases. Regardless, cool model and fun to paint.

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Dark Eldar Archon unboxing and assembly

December 10, 2014, 3:12 pm

≫ Next: Smaug stuck until release date

≪ Previous: How to Paint Grugg Face Rippa

Here's a quick look at the new Plastic Archon model that came out with the Dark Eldar release... I've wanted to open him up and assemble earlier, but haven't had the time.

I'm not a huge fan of this model due to the statuesque pose, but the detail is pretty cool. I left his head and trophy rack off for painting, but assembled everything else. I suppose you could make a case for leaving off his cape, but I didn't want to deal with any gaps on his shoulders.

I'm not sure when this guy will get painted up, but here's a look at him compared to the fine~~cast~~ crap version I painted a little while back. Unboxing and assembly video after the break.

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Smaug stuck until release date

December 11, 2014, 1:03 pm

≫ Next: Smaug sculpted by Michael Perry, comments...

≪ Previous: Dark Eldar Archon unboxing and assembly

Well, it looks like GW's awesome policies have struck again... I had my Smaug delivered to my local GW thinking that it would help ensure I got him on time. Well, he's there now, but I can't have him until Saturday, because that's the release date (so says the single staff member when I called). Whoever made this policy needs to give their head a shake. I know its not up to my local manager, he seems like a nice guy.

You already have my money, the guy is sold out, and its just sitting there. If I had selected home delivery I'd have it by now. Why do I have to wait?

You won't usually see me gripe about GW here, but this one seems worth noting.

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Smaug sculpted by Michael Perry, comments...

December 12, 2014, 10:46 am

≫ Next: Smaug Unboxing (pics and video)

≪ Previous: Smaug stuck until release date

Saw this pop up on my facebook feed. It looks like Michael Perry digitally sculpted Smaug before they left earlier this year. Does this mean its the last model in the Hobbit lineup? I wonder if the comment about plastic is a sign of internal discussions... I mean, why would they go to the trouble of having him do his first digital model if it wasn't intended to be plastic? My guess would be that the plan was for plastic, but when the Hobbit flopped (from a miniatures sales point of view) they back peddled to forgeworld resin.

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Smaug Unboxing (pics and video)

December 13, 2014, 10:37 am

≫ Next: Smaug assembly WIP

≪ Previous: Smaug sculpted by Michael Perry, comments...

I picked up my Smaug at the local GW today (along with the new White Dwarf) and here's the unboxing. I'm going to continue with an assembly walk through and painting video as well... hopefully I'll have enough time over the Christmas holidays.

Anyway, first impressions are good for this model. There are no visible mold lines, and the casting is pretty much flawless. We'll see how well the different parts fit, but so far the warnings about expert modeling skills seem over blown... those are needed to fill in bubbles on finecast.

Some size comparison Pics and unboxing video below...

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Smaug assembly WIP

December 15, 2014, 8:20 pm

≫ Next: Smaug Assembly WIP 2

≪ Previous: Smaug Unboxing (pics and video)

Here's some pictures of Smaug as I assemble him. Overall its a fairly straightforward assembly... probably a standard forgeworld type model with some fitting and trimming necessary. The mold lines are mostly good, with just a few areas that need touching up. The scale is starting to get impressive... as I get closer to finishing it's going to get huge.

I'm also pretty sure that I'll need to magnetize the wings... I don't think I'd be able to paint the model with them attached, so that'll take a bit of extra work.

I've also noticed some evidence of 3d printing. There are some areas (where the wings attach) that you can see some small ridges that are left over from printing. You can see them in the third last pic below.

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