Thursday 10 March 2011

Attacked by Clan Pestilens

As if the spies of Clan Pestilens grew angered at the abominations I have created, and sent their diseased underlings to bite me in my sleep, I have only now just recovered from what was easily the longest lasting and worst feeling flu of my life! A week out of commission has caused me to be unable to post my previous progress, until now.

As I said, that converting work was great fun, but I really had to get to painting the now 120 clanrat/ skavenslaves in my collection. I have decided to to a variation of the dip method, painting only a few main colours on there (and the eyes) and then washing the entire thing with Badab Black. I like the effect, and if I ever get the time and inclination to add more detail I can easily make the models look that much better. For now, I am satisfied with the table top quality "quick" paint job for the rank and file guys.

I primed everything with Army Painters "Leather Brown" Spray. This stuff was amazing to work with, dries nice and thin and covers well, and the nozzle is a dream to work with compared to GW primers.

For the robe areas I used Baal Red Wash (Citadel). The metal parts I painted with Astronomicon Grey, which I added water to for easier painting (and being a citadel foundation, it held its pigment).

Next I painted the eyes (yellow on the one above but I corrected this to Scorpion green for the rest. After painting O&G I got real tired of red eyes, so my army will possibly all have green eyes instead!

 After those simple steps, they didnt look like much, but with a generous coat over the entire model of Badab Black, it all comes together!

I think the green eyes work really well, and certainly their exposure to warpstone could explain this change!

As you can see I have left out several details, such as teeth and basing. The basing I will definitely do for all of them, likely all at once at the end. The teeth and other details may or may not happen beyond the first rank, depending on my time, and efforts.


On a results to effort ratio, I would have to say I made out like a bandit with these guys, I really dig the look, and they are quick and easy.

I now paint them about 15 at a time, and have roughly 60 complete. I have stopped here (at the end of 60, because I may want to change the paint scheme a bit for the ones with spears, who will represent my slaves most likely).

So thats the "less exciting" side of things. Painting the rank and file. I couldn't stop myself from doing some conversions in there, so hang on just a bit longer for that stuff (to be posted soon).

Monday 21 February 2011

Roar of the Rat Ogre

Having purchased the Skaven portions of 2x Island of Blood (IoB) sets, I am thrilled to be getting started on my Skaven force. The Rat Ogre models are of particular interest to me for obvious reasons.

The Good: These models look fantastic, are ripe with detail, and the proportions are spot on. The figures assemble well, and the peg & hole system along with some glue goes a long way to reduce the gaps between pieces.

The Bad/The Ugly: Unfortunately both Rat Ogres from IoB have a similar pose and overall appearance, so if you have more than two, you will really want to fire up your conversion engines. With the models comprised of two main body pieces plus the head, you are definitely going to have some work on your hands to make any pose changes or swap body parts between them (even the heads are not interchangeable without cutting/greenstuffing.

However, the challenge is one I welcome, and of the four IoB Rat Ogres I currently own, I have converted two of them thus far. Working titles are simply "ROgre Claws" and "ROgre Wings". You can find some WIP example shots of the Rat Ogres below, and more photos in the Warp Watcher. Enjoy!

ROgre Wings:
Warpstone can creat all sorts of mutations, some more useful than others. ROgre Wings has powerful looking wings, but they of course cannot lift his substancial mass off the ground, but the wings can be a terrifying sight, as he leaps down from terrain, rocks, and trees onto his foes.


The wings (above) were cut off of a Chaos Marine backpack, filed to the approximate rounding of the rat ogre's back muscles. They fit in quite nicely.

Despite the good fit, I wanted to cover the gaps that did exist with some green stuff (GS), so I added a big fur patch on his back (see right), from which the wings have sprung (or been grafted). This fur was achieved by rolling GS  into a thin roll, and weaving it around the edge of the wings both on the outside and in. Next I flattened and smoothed the roll with the butt end of a paintbrush. For texture I first pressed a toothpick into the smoothed GS in a V pattern all over, then went back with the blade of an exact-o knife and used the tip in a "press and drag motion" to create a more detailed hair look, always dragging down/towards the outside.  I am very happy with the end result, as I am still a moderate newcomer to GS work. Tip: After mixing, rolling, placing and smoothing the GS, let it set for about 3-5 minutes before texturing.


ROgre Claws:
This formidable rat ogre has had warpstone infused directly into his body, one part at a time. His right arm mutation has been fully grown, and the mutation device has since been connected to his left arm, where a grafted claw is currently undergoing infusion.


Several conversions have taken place on this model. The large claw and the attached arm are from the Chaos Spawn sprue, and the smaller claw is from a Chaos Marine arm. I had originally intended to GS a bandaged-on look to hide the size difference on the chaos spawn arm (above) but I could not get the GS to look like the wrapped bandages already on the model, so I switched gears and instead GS'd muscle (right). I was very pleasantly surprised by how well this turned out. This figure's head didn't glue in as tightly as the other model, so I GS'd fur around the neck to hide the unsightly gap. I used the same GS fur technique described above. In addition to the arms, I augmented the shoulder tank by cutting off the top to make room for raw warpstone. This warpstone was made by cutting up sprue pieces on odd angles. It doesn't look like much now but I believe the end result upon painting will be good. I also added three "spine spikes" on his back, a side effect mutation from all of the raw warpstone pumping through his veins. The gaps are reasonably small, so I don't want to add GS fur here, lest he look too similar to his buddy.

In summary, I am thrilled with these models, and the conversions of the first two were a lot of fun. Therefore, I fully plan on converting the next two with over-the-top mutations as well. Painting of these figures, and converting of any others sadly must wait, as they are now strong motivation for me to get painting my 80 clanrat/slave models. If all goes well, I will blog about them soon!



Comments, questions, and constructive criticism are always welcome!

Songs of a Skaven Slaver

Hello Everyone, and thanks for checking out Warpstone Shards.

This Skaven blog will follow my personal exploits as I gather a fearsome Skaven Army for Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition. A long time collector of Warhammer Fantasy miniatures, the army will contain the best elements of both new and old models. Conversions, painting, army lists, and eventually battle reports will be featured.

Stay tuned for some fun content, and feel free to post comments on anything Skaven; being new to the army means that I am trying to absorb all the current information that I can.

Cheers
Skavenslaver