Space Marines Update

After reading some more in the Space Marine Codex, it is clear that I must rethink my scouts a little from the last post. It is clearly stated that a scout unit is only allowed 1 heavy weapon in each unit, so I will have to rethink my teams a little.
Probably the sniper unit will consist either of one more sniper, making the team 7 snipers and a missile launcher (team led by a sniper sergeant). Then I will use the high risk entry unit as earlier stated as this only consist of a heavy bolter and regular weapons.
This leaves me with both a heavy bolter and a missile launcher to go with the remaining troops, hopefully I can get that to be two teams. If not, I have to go for anther boxed set or a blister or two to comlete yet another unit.

As for my regular Space Marines I've decided to make my first devastator a member of the 4th company, and the space marine I build now (the one from ebay) will probably be a veteran of the 1st Company (unless the rules stop me again, then he will be reassigned to the 4th).

The production of scouts and the devastator is going well, only the small detailing and the creation of the bases left. I figure I'll have them done by the end of this week, or early next week at the latest. Then I can start creating more space Marine troops, so that I get a playable army.

Space Marine Scouts

The first scouts of 2.Ultras have been standing on my shelf for a little while now just waiting to get the insignia added. As the pic shows this is not done yet, but it will be done as soon as my new batch of scouts are finished. They are at the moment in the final phases. They will all have the mark of the Ultramarines as they are an Ultramarine successor chapter. Also they will have the normal marks of the 10th squad.
Represented here is a knealing scout from the Sniper sprue, but the unit consists of 3 metal scouts and 5 plastic ones. 6 of them have sniper rifles, and 2 have missile launchers.
I have decided that my scout unit will be built up around 10 teams of 8 troops plus some special units (bikes and land speeders).
One of these 10 teames is the sniper unit (not sure if there might be a second team of snipers as well as I sort of like them so...), then there will be 2 teams with special skills for clearing buildings, and 6 or 7 regular sniper teams.

The colorsceme used on my snipers are as follows:
Shoulderpads, bodyarmour and gloves are Ultramarines Blue
Shirts and pants are Bleeached Bone
Boots are painted Chaos black with Vermin Brown soales
There are also some Midnight Blue parts on the back of the boots (to match the legs of the regular troops)
All leather's painted Vermin Brown
The eagle on the chest is painted in Shining Gold
The breathing aparatus and the scull in the middle of the eagle are Boltgun Metal
Some of the snipers also have capes, these are painted in a camouflage pattern of Chaos Black and Catachan Green with Bleached Bone spots.
Lasersights have been painted Goblin Green.
The weapons are painted a combination of Chainmail and Boltgun Metal for the metal parts and Chaos Black for the ceramic or rubber parts and the tubes (for those weapons that have this). Also the tip of the weapons are painted Chaos Black to give the barrels some depth.

General update

Well, not really a general, perhaps more of an ensign...
I haven't worked that mutch on my scouts lately, as I've got hooked on Goblins. Over the last few weeks I have bought several boxes, lots and blisters with goblin miniatures, and I just felt like starting to work on my Goblin army right away. I had a Goblin big boss with squig from earlier, and I'm thinking of changing some of his colors to fit the army. No major changes, just minor details.
I have bought two sets of Goblin fanatics that I've started working on, so it is six miniatures in progress. Most of the basic work is done, but I have the detailing and the bases left, as well as painting the ears, eyes and daggers. I haven't decided on how to detail the bases yet, but since the models came with quite a lot of extras I know I'll do something. Probaly something including Squigs, Snotlings or mushrooms either by themselves or a combination of the three. I might also create my first ever unit filler with some of the spare parts.

My space marine scouts are coming along fine. I have to paint the hair, the comms equipment and the cartridges in the gunbelts in the boxed magazines for the heavy weapons. When this is done I can bring out my green stuff and place them on the bases. Then it's time for detailing of the models and finally fixing up the bases. I know that the bases will be done just like the other scouts, as the black rock is a look I want on the entire army. But I might add some more details if my ideas work out.

I bought a SpaceMarine with a giant lascannon on Ebay, but the model was partially damaged on arrival, so I might use that to try out some easy conversion work. In one hand he held a dagger, but that is broken, so I will see if I can fit something else into that hand.

In the future I will focus on finishing my projects instead of buing more miniatures. I think I have enough minis to start playing now. It's just a matter of assembling and painting them and learning the rules of the game.
I have reached the conclution that I probably won't have the best showcase minis, but I think I paint a fair tabletop quality and it helps me relax.

I also upgraded my workplace this weekend as I mounted two racks on the wall for bits and pieces. My bitbox was rapidly running out of room, so I bought two small racks ment for screws, bolts, etc. This has given me 50 small compartments to keep the different bits and pieces in.
I am thinking one row for each army for now, with some rooms for bits that can be used with all kinds of armies or that don't belong in any of my 5 main armies. One example here will be spares from my Dark Elf boxed set, as I won't build a DE army. But spares from this army might still come in handy...

I've decided on 5 armies (probably should have kept the number lower, but that is a little late now since I already have the boxes on the shelves).
The future only know the sizes of the armies, but I am quite sure that some will be between 1000-1500 points while others might be quite a lot more.

I have the following armies for Warhammer Fantasy (traditional Warhammer):
- Chaos Mortals (originally planned as my main army, but there is a new rulebook on the way and if that changes my chaos nights and warriors too much this will be a 1000-1500 point army)
- Bretonnians (this might also be quite small, I'll have to see how I like the models when I've started painting. I do love knights though...)
- Goblins (this will probably be a large army as Goblins are quite cool, and playing them seems like a lot of fun even though it might be hard to win anything)
- Dwarfs (this might be the main army as dwarfs seem to be an army you can have a lot of fun with and win battles as well).

For Warhammer 40.000 I'll only build Space Marines. This will probably be quite a sizeable army some time in the future, but first I have to finish the models I have now and try them out in some games.

More for the shelf

Me an the Mrs. took a trip to Sweden on saturday, and that was a great chance to buy even more miniatures (what can I say, the price was a lot lower than in Norway).
Bought me a Space Marine Chaplain on Bike, another set of Night Goblin Fanatics, and a Goblin Doom Diver. The Doom Diver is a crazy mechanism built for giving the goblins the chance to use aerial attacks. To me it looks like a kamikaze project, and from the description it also sounds like this... "The Doom Diver Catapult is a torsion powered device much like a Rock Lobber or Spear Chukka, but instead of firing rocks or spears it is designed to launch Goblins. These Goblins are equipped with crude, folding wings which enable them to stay aloft for a short time before plunging back down to earth. This technique was developed to provide Greenskin tribes with a form of aerial reconnaissance. Early aeronaunts were given bits of slate and chalk on which to sketch enemy troop dispositions. As few Goblns survived the rather sudden landing, this was felt to be the only way of recovering the information they had gleaned. Unfortunately the idea wasn't a great success as most slates were found to bear a hastily scrawled message along the lines of "Yahooooo!" or "wheeeee!"
It was soon realised that Doom Divers were more effective as missiles."
I look forward to building this metal boxed set in the future.
I have already started to assemble my Night Goblin Fanatics, and I have about a 100 other goblins that are standing on the workbench ready to be painted. I think I see the beginning of an army...

Me - a nerd...

Ok, I admit it... I am a nerd! There is no doubt!
This is the Warhammer 40.000 5th edition rulebook. It was released at midnight, and I was on my way home with this book and some minis 30 minutes later. This is the first time I've ever done something like this, and I think it is a worthy cause...
I had my wife with me to the store, and I'm pretty sure she was the only female there. The majority of the bunch of assembled boys were pimplefaced teenagers, but I was glad to see that there were some gamers at my age too. It was also cool to see two youngsters of perhaps 10 that was there to buy the book (just like me) and to game. I take my hat off to the two dads that was there along with their sons to let them have this experience and play with the big boys. It was nice to see the exitement in one of the boys' eyes as he watched the armies of some of the more mature players as they brought out their scratchbuilt models of all shapes and sizes.
I didn't bring any of my stuff, as I don't have an army of anything yet. But with this book I might be able to put together a Space Marine army that can pack a solid punch. I can take the time to read the actual rules of the game, and perhaps I will learn what all the numbers and stuff in the codex book realy means...

The new sets for the shelf is Space Marine Scouts (think I have enough scouts now...) and for the regular Warhammer I bought Night Goblin Fanatics, Night Goblin Squig hoppers and Night Goblin Squig hearders (what can I say, I really got a crush on those squigs).

Also I got a load from Ebay today, consisting of 20 Goblins with spears, 20 Goblin archers and 15 Dwarf Miners. All groups with command. Only drawback was with my dwarfs, where 8 of the bases was damaged beyond repair so I will have to get me some new bases next time I'm at the Games Workshop store.
Also I got two minis I haven't placed yet, but I think one of them is a snotling on stilts. The other one looks like a cross between a Ku Klux Clan member and a magician. Will have to check the Ebay description tomorrow.
Edit: Ebay desc. didn't give out anything, so they are still a little mystery.

Elves - first miniature

There's lot of first miniature posts going on at the moment...
This is one of a batch of very old Elves I bought on Ebay. They are probably dating as far back as first or second edition of Warhammer as they are from 1984. They were primed when I bought them, but the color scheme is my own. This model is just missing the eyes and the finishing protective coating. I plan on doing the eyes when I have a little more practice...

As with the goblin I made the base all covered in turf. I figure the elves are a race close to the nature so that would look quite nice.
I don't really know if red is a good color for elves or if it shuld be more of an earth tone thing. But since my dwarfs are blue I wanted some different color on the elves and even though it looks a little christmasy I still think it looks nice.
The main color is Blood Red
The chainmail coat and helmet are Mithril Silver
Details on the bow, helmet and belt are Shining Gold.
Leather parts (a pouch and the boots) are Vermin Brown as I figured the Elves would have soft leather.
The bow is a wooden one and painted Scorched Brown, as are the shaft of the arrows.
Face and hands are Elf Flesh (as expected on Elf miniatures).
Arrow feathers are Scull White
The arrow pouch and the wrist supports are Dark Angels Green.
The hair is Bronzed Skin.

The first Space Marine

At last... Here is my very first Space Marine for my very own chapter; the Second Ultras (as described earlier).
The Marine is still missing his company colors and markings, these will follow when I have decided what Battle company he belongs to.
The only thing indicating that this is a Marine from the 2nd Ultras and not a regular Ultramarine is the dark legs. I am working on the nessesary "fluff" to explain this, and will come back to this when all is ready. But the basic idea is described in an earlier post.

The Space Marine Devasatator with Lascannon proved to be a little challenge, so I look forward to creating the next to see if it was just this one model or if it is a general flaud with these kind of troops.
The problem with this mini is that the cannon is so big that it is impossible to get the torso to look natural.
The base is done with gravel from black quarts that I had left over after using it in an aquarium.
The main color of the Devastator is Ultramarine Blue, the contrast color from the knees down is Midnight Blue, which is so dark it borders to purple.
The cannon is mostly Boltgun Metal, with some Chainmail and Black.
The seal on the Devs left leg is Blood Red and Scull White.
The eyes are painted with different reds and some white, just as described in the "How to paint Space Marines" book from Citadel Miniatures. I'm not too happy with the eyes, but I guess it will improve with experience. Probaly the colors should be mixed while they're still wet.

I have also finished 8 scouts, but they are waiting for their bases to dry before I take snappshots of them individually. But I'll end this post with a group shot of them awaiting the bases to dry...

First Dwarf minis

Some of the first miniatures I painted was two Dwarfs I bought on Ebay. I have no idea what kind of unit they originally belong to, only thing I know is that I bought them as a standard bearer and a musician.
I think they turned out nice, and it gave me an idea for my future Dwarfs. I decided that all my Dwarfs should use Regal Blue as a uniform color. This was recommended for my Miners when I bought them, and I will also use it on the remainder of my Dwarf army. I have a box of Warriors, a box of Thunderes (will be built as Quarrelers) and the before mentioned Miners. Also I have 15 Miners (at least that is what the description said) on the way in the mail from Ebay (seems I spend a little too much time and money on Ebay...)
The Dwarfs are metal miniatures and are marked GW, but I haven't found them in the current line of Dwarf miniatures so I guess they are some years old. Still they look nice, and that's the only thing that matter to me...
The chainmail is painted Chainmail
The "jackets" are painted Regal Blue
The helmets, "shoulder pads", the drum and the fine work on the axe are all Dwarf Bronze
The hair and beards are Vermin Brown
Skin is painted Dwarf Flesh (what else did you expect on Dwarfs...)
Drumstick and weapon is Boltgun Metal
The feathers are Scab Red as I wanted a dark red to go with the dark blue
The drumskin is Bronzed Flesh
And finally the Standard is Scorched Brown with the head painted Shining Gold.

The bases are fine aquarium gravel and static grass.

My first Goblin

I spent a few hours in the workshop this weekend, and my 40K Space Marine shotgun-scouts are progressing fine. Also I've started making the bases for my sniper-scouts and the devastator. Among all this 40K work I've also been working on my first Goblin.
This is a model bought on Ebay so I'm not sure of the origin of the model, except that it is a Goblin holding a Squig.
I really liked the Squig, and although I'm not 100% satisfied with how this one turned out (not yet anyway) I just know I'll buy more of them as they have such a great design.

This is my first time adding turf to the side of the base as well as the top, and I think it came out quite good. I think this will be the new way of making single figures with turf bases. I have to see how much larger the base becomes before I can do the same with units.
In my spare-box I found a snail, and I thought that it would add something to this model so I glued it on. Unfortionately I managed to break one of the two antennaes on its head, but I just have to claim that it is due to battle damage. Or perhaps the Squig took a bite...
The mini was really easy to assemble, just had to glue the Squig to the arm of the Goblin.
The cape and hood is painted Chaos Black
The Goblin skin is painted Goblin Green (it is a goblin after all...)
The eyes are blood red with scull white pupils (edit: changed to black)
The staff is Scorched Brown, with the metal painted Boltgun Metal.
The moon on the top was first painted Golden Yellow, but since I didn't get that color to cover it effectively I gave it a layer of Bronzed Flesh.
The Squig is painted Scab Red, with Scull white eyes and Chaos Black pupils.
The Teeth are Chaos Black, mostly painted over with Scull White
The "handle" the Goblin holds it in is painted Scorched Brown
The Snail is painted Dark Angels Green and the shell on its back is Terracotta.

The grass is my own mix of turf as usual when I use static grass on the bases.
Edit: I've now found out that this miniature is a Goblin Big Boss

Difference in scale...

Someone on the Warhammer Forum just asked a question regarding the use of 1:35 models with Warhamer 28mm miniatures, so I just had to rush down to the workshop and take a few pictures to compare. Hope this answers your questions my friend...

The stuff on the german soldier is dust, this is an old model that has been standing on the top shelf in the work-room for a very long time waiting to be used in a diorama...
The 1:35 model is a German Hannomag sdkfz 251/1 and the warhamer miniature is a black orc.