The Low King is comming...

I feel a little like the White Dwarf magazine now, speaking of something to come in the future...

But I re-discovered dwarfs these last few days, and I have already decided my next project in the Warhammer genre (after I finish 24 chaos warriors) will be dwarfs, dwarfs and even more dwarfs.

As I told in an earlier post, I bought some new dwarf boxed sets on a trip to Sweden to shop for food and beverages.
I have used some time trying to think if I would like to have Thunderers or Quarrelers built from the box. For the cannon I have already decided on an organ gun (as I have a cannon and crew already). This means I will have a spare cannon that can be used for other purposes.

I seem to buy every number of White Dwarf Magazine that comes out, as there is always at least one interesting article in it (usually a lot more), and have for this reason decided to buy a subscription for 2011. Since the 2011 subscription miniature is a dwarf fighter pilot or engineer, I have decided to build an attack-blimp for him. How I will do this, I do not know at the moment, but several ideas are running through my head. Some of these involving thin metal sheeting and balsa wood...

I also thought it would be very cool to design a large stronghold for my dwarfs, and these last few days I have started to think how this can be done. A stronghold complete with a brewery, big mountain gates, a watch tower and not to forget a landing pad and service area for the attack-blimp and gyrocopters. This will have to be quite large, so I don't see me building it in the near future, but then the planning is a lot of the fun anyway and the building mostly a pain in the behind to get it to look as good in real life as it does in ones own mind. I should probably start small and build a few buildings or terrain pieces. One thing I plan to build to get some experience is the entrance to a dwarf mine for my grudge pony and miners.

The Dwarf fluff always mention the High King of the Dwarfs, but I like to go against the grain, so I have decided that I will have a Low King. He might answer to the High King, I see no problems with that, but my idea is that the Low King lives in the deepest caves of a dwarf stronghold, and thus has the title Low King. I haven't yet worked out the details around it, as the title really is borrowed from Terry Pratchett and his magnificent books about the Disc World.
If you haven't read these books yet I would certainly recommend you to check them out at once. There is no need to start at book 1 and read all the way through, just find a book with a story line that intersts you, and take it from there. Some of these books tell a lot about dwarfs, and others don't mention them at all... Some very funny characters like Officer Carrot of the police department, who was adopted by dwarfs as a kid and thus see himself as a dwarf while he really is a giant of a man. Not at all like Warhammer, but several of the races are there, and the books are really hillarious at times.

so much for progress...

What I wanted to name this blogentry was "Watch out for the Cavalry" (or something in that way), and then post pictures of the finished Leman Russ. But it seems like that tank is a project doomed for stand-still even though I really do want to get it finished.

Saturday me and the Wife was in Sweden (just across the border) to do some serious shopping. Norwegians go to Sweden, Swedes go to Denmark, Danes go to Germany, Germans go to Poland, and the Polish go to the Baltic States. There's always some place where you can save a lot of money on food and other stuff.

Since we were in Strømstad, I decided to stop by the local Citadel Miniatures supplier to see if they had some sets that I wanted. Since Games Workshop have the same price for Norway and Sweden I tend to save some money on this, because of the difference in the currency.

This was probably my last time shopping miniatures there, as they had a clearance sale for what Warhammer stuff they had left. Everthing was 30% off.

I am quite sure I could have bought myself a decent Skaven or Ogres army (the last one was actually quite tempting), but instead I ended up with 4 boxes for my existing armies.

1 Space Marine Chaplain on bike (plastic biker kit with a metal chaplain). 1 Imperial Guard Sentinel (the new all-plastic kit), 1 Dwarf Cannon (will be used to build an Organ gun), and finally 1 unit of Dwarf Thunderers (the future will decide if the will be Thunderers or Quarrelers).

Today (Sunday) was Father's Day here in Norway, and I spent some time with my father helping him around the house. Among the things we did, was packing all his outside furniture away for the winter.

Speaking of Dwarfs, I really like the new mini you get if you buy a subscription for White Dwarf for 2011. I buy the mag anyway, so I might as well subscribe and get it home instead of trying to remember to stop by the store to get the newest edition.

The miniature is sort of a fighter jockey, and that got me set on an idea...

In the 8th Edition rulebook for Warhammer there is a pic of a Dwarf blimp, and that gave me the crazy idea that some time in the future I might make myself something like a small elite Dwarf Airforce. I already have the first gun for the blimp as there are both a regular and an organ gun in the Cannon set... I will start to think about this and see what I can come up with. Might get some help from people that are more handy than me to make the blimp itself, we'll see...

Progress is slow...

I just have minor details left before the Leman Russ is finished. I have to paint the commmander's head and arms, and the medals upon his chest. Also I need to paint and glue on the searchlight to the tank tower.
The only problem is that I seem to have lots of stuff going on beside painting miniatures.
Last weekend I was an instructor on a Big Band seminar, the weekend before that I had a big concert on Saturday and who knows what on Sunday. And the afternoons just fly by, with me comming home from work quite late, dumping down in my chair ending up in front of the computer and staying in a vegitative state until it's time to take my dogs for their late walk and then go to bed.

This weekend I'll try again... But on Saturday I know I am going for a field trip to Sweden. Who knows, I might pick up some more Warhammer stuff while I am there...
Sunday I will help my dad for a few hours, but there should be time to get the tank done. Unless I have to babysit my Niece and Nephew, but I haven't heard anything about that yet...

So hopefully on Monday afternoon there should be a picture of a finished Leman Russ with a commander in the hatch on this blog.

Leman Russ update

The Russ is comming along nicely. I used a long time to decide on the camouflage pattern and what colour to apply first, but I'm quite pleased with how it all turned out.
The pattern is large stripes, and consist mostly of Vomit Brown (almost ochre in colour, at least I think it looks a lot more yellow than it does on the Games Workshop website), and Adeptus Battle Gray (basically dark gray). On the back of the sides there are also a field of black.

What I have found is that the side sponsons gave me a little trouble, because they seem to be designed too tight, so that the paint is ripped off when they are turned. And what's the point of being able to turn them if the paint gets ripped off all the time? The solution is to find a position that one likes, and leave the turrets there. After all it is a model and not a toy! I have not found the same problem on the front revolving gun turret, and that is actually the only flaud I found while assembling and painting.
One very positive thing is the tracks, they have the best assembly system I have seen on any model I have built in all my years of model making. The only drawback to assembling tracks in pieces though, is that you can't roll the vehicle forward on the tracks so you have to lift it to move it. Then again, it's not often I roll my Tamya tanks forward either, even though it should be possible to do so.

The Russ ended up with a lascannon for the front weapon, and heavy bolters for the side sponsons. The turret is outfitted with the Battletank cannon, so all in all this is a fairly standard Russ. None of these weapons are glued on yet, as I will try to see how the interchangeable parts work first. They all seem to fit tightly enough in to the mounts not to create any problems by doing it this way.

I am currently assembling and painting the turret and the commander, and painting the tracks. I am quite sure the tank will be ready this weekend. Pictures will be taken when all is done.

A new week, new goals!

Finally I have finished the entire unit of Chaos warhounds. 20 hounds is now painted, washed and glued to their bases, waiting along with other miniatures to get their basework done. There are some extra room on the cavalry bases that comes with the hounds, so I am thinking of adding some small shrubbery, some skulls and other stuff to give them some character. This basing will begin as soon as I have cleared some room on my workdesk.

The next project for the Chaos army is a unit of 12 warriors called "The Shining" (pun intended). The unit may grow in size at a later time, I'm quite sure that will happen... This unit will definately have the Chaos feel, but they will be a lot brighter than other units in the army. They will also have a similarly painted knights unit to follow at a later time.
The Shining are all powerful warriors that have been corrupted by the forces of Chaos. They all use swords and shields, and the unit will have full command. Their leader will be a champion named Kubrick and it is said he gets his orders straight from Prince Sigvald. Their armour will be Mithril Silver with gold detail (Shining Gold or Burnished Gold will be decided later), their chainmail will be painted Chainmail (surprise!) and all leather will get the usual browns.

But before I start on this project it is time to do a Warhammer 40.000 project, and this will be the first tank for my Imperial Guard army.
It will be a Leman Russ, but what variant is not decided yet. There are possibilities of making several versions with one kit, and also interchangeable weapons parts, so I will see how I will do this as the project goes forward.
The tank wil have either a two tone or a three tone camouflage pattern, I am still working out the details of the colors. But it will most definately fit with the colours of the remaining elements of the army.

Also I will try and spend some time finishing my units of Imperial Guard, Space Marines and Sisters of Battle standing on my workdesk, in order to be able to start basework on several otherwise finished models. Also I look forward to seeing them completed, as they have been standing on my workdesk for way too long. The longest waiting miniature is probably the Forgeworld Dreadnought; it has been standing there for ages. This is also the model that has needed the most work, but I know how to do all the remaining touches and look forward to seeing it in the glass cabinet along with the rest of the Space Marines.

Sunday, and time for an update!

Today I should've had some pirate minis to paint, as it's "International talk like a pirate day", but I don't feel that I have any pirate-looking minis in my armies (at least not yet). I have some thoughts of perhaps making some buccaneer-type units fighting with my Bretonnians (but I have no plans to paint Brets in the near future).

But I digress...

Just before I logged on to write this update, I finished painting the teeth and horns on my last 10 hounds for now (the same ones from my last post). All that is left now is to paint their eyes Blood Red and the inside of their mouths Red Gore. Then they will receive a heavy wash of Devlan Mud and the teeth will get a light wash of Baal Red. Depending on the light-conditions, I hope to do the painting later today and the wash tomorrow or Tuesday. Then the only thing left will be to mount them on their bases. Since I have decided to go for flat bases this time, this will not take more time than it takes for the glue to harden enough for the minis to stand alone. I might consider pinning 4 of the hounds as they are only standing on their hind legs, but I'll see how it works out.

The next Warhammer project will be the Chaos Warriors that are cut from the sprues and waiting in two boxes ready to paint and assemble. This is two units of 12 warriors. Considering the long time it took to finish the hounds, it will probably take some time before all 24 are ready to march to war.

The next Warhammer 40.000 projct is actually an ongoing project already, and that is the completion of all the Imperial Guard and Space Marines standing on the table in the hobby room. There are regular Imperial Guard troopers, Elite forces, Ratlings, Ogryns, and several types of Space Marines. They are all in different stages of painting and assembly, but quite a few of them are only missing the final touches.

After they are done, I will do a Leman Russ Battletank (haven't chosen what type yet).

I've also assembled a forrest of 3 trees and base and the Temple of Skulls to paint up for Warhammer Fantasy. The temple will look good on a table with my Chaos army.

I have no plans to buy my own table yet, as I have no place to keep it, but one can always use a table piece.

Slow progress, but still...

Well, there has been much going on the latest weeks. Puppy training twice a week, arrangements on the weekends, but still I haven't totally laid off painting. I have managed to paint the fur and skin on the last 10 hounds, and hopefully I will be able to start the detailing this Sunday. 

I am planning to have this batch of hounds standing directly on the original bases, but for the next batch of hounds (will follow some time in the future) I am considering to build up the bases to make sort of a rocky terrain. 

 The hounds will be possible to use as two units of 10 or one unit of 20 depending on what the rules say is most optimal and what kinds of enemies I will be facing. The plan is to make movement trays for them, and while doing this, making two trays for 10 hounds and one tray for 20. The trays will be made some time before I am ready to play my first game. Considering the slow pace I paint, I expect it will not be before 2011, even though I had a pledge to do this in 2010. I will see what kind of units I have ready before the year is over...