Sunday 26 October 2014

Birthday presents!

It was my birthday not too long ago, and after almost six years I've finally convinced my girlfriend that small toy soldiers make for ideal presents.

I'm really quite impressed by the amount of research she did into getting hold of some nice old lead for my burgeoning Chaos forces, including excursions onto the CCM Wiki and Stuff of Legends!. So without further ado, meet the new recruits.

Freshly stripped and smelling faintly like wet dog

Ahem, whoops, they appear to be naked!

Let's try that again.


Much better.

I was in a bit of a painting rut again that has been surprisingly difficult to break out of. Lots of overtime at work as well as travelling to conventions and tournaments has sapped at my free time and willingness to apply paints to models so it took an embarrassingly long time for these guys to see the paint they deserved.

The first two are classic Citadel Chaos Hounds, although one of them is technically a 'Hound of Chaos' and I'm not sure what the difference is. Eventually I'd like to own a full set of them but that's a bit of a way off at the moment - if anybody fancies helping me out with that though then drop me a comment as I have some stuff to trade!

'Spines' - Best in breed in the Crufts 'mutations' category

'Spines' was painted up with very stark highlights giving him quite a severe, almost skeletal look. Or at least that was the aim. The skin around the spines is meant to look quite raw and pink compared to the rest of the body. 

Hound 5 - sounds a bit like a boy band

'Hound 5' was painted up in more 'doggy' colours although I'm a bit disappointed that the brown wash hid a lot of the general graduation of colour on his skin. You can still just about tell that he is darker on top and gradually lightens to his feet. I'm still trying to get the hang of wet blending and overall I'm happy with how smoothly it came out. I'll definitely try to make the colours stronger and more distinctive next time though.

Unknown lineage, but we'll call him Clive

Finally, this is an old Grenadier model, although I'm unsure of the original range he came from or his designation, any sleuths out there who can find out please let me know!

Grenadier 1988

Whilst I like the sculpt a lot, I think he came out a little too muted. In particular I think the red on the armour is too faded and actually the silvery metallic parts are probably too close to the fur tone. I think if I was to paint him again I'd start from a darker red base and highlight with a brighter, more vibrant red rather than the lighter, slightly pinky, colour I ended up using.

You may also notice that they don't have any flock on their bases at the moment. I'm currently deciding whether to re-flock my chaos forces, shifting from dry-brown static grass to a more natural looking green, or a mix of the two. Especially because I'd like some of their human recruits to be interchangeable with the Foundry ex-Citadel minis I've picked up for a fledgling Empire force.

Well, hopefully this has dragged me out of my painting rut and even more hopefully this might mean more new toys for Christmas. Maybe both!

5 comments:

  1. Very nice Peter! The spine hound is my favorite - lovely contrast. You just need the two headed and scorpion tail ones for a great pack :)

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    1. I'm glad you like them. :)

      Tw-Head and Scorpion-Tail are pretty high on my hit list at the moment. Maybe some subtle hinting, or leaving printed off SoL pages around the house, is in order!

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  2. How subtle do you call this?! :-)

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  3. Ffs! Third attempt at posting, my tablet insists on eating this comment each time! http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Image:Gren-jgbp-704.jpg

    There's your dog. :-) Julie Guthrie 700 series, 704 deathlord and warhound. Nice job!

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    1. You legend, I can't believe you found him! :D

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