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Showing posts with label 28mm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 28mm. Show all posts

Monday, 23 June 2025

Warhammer 40,000: Hive Fleet Behemoth

 

Something a bit different, a post that showcases my wife's amazing work completing the Tyranids from the Leviathan box, bought over two years ago now.
Winged Tyranid Prime
I think the first thing I should mention is that my wife has only been painting miniatures for about as long as its taken to complete these Tyranids.
Screamer-Killer Carnifex
While I might have guided her on colours and techniques, I think its fair to say its her own talent that's produced this amazing finish.
Neurotyrant, Neuroloids  and Von Ryan's Leapers
Obviously, having chosen Macragge as the landscape for my marines and the Ultramarines as the chapter, the Hive Fleet Behemoth colour-scheme was a no brainer.
Psychophage
I think she's used all Citadel Paints, contrasts for base painting, washes to add depth, and colours for highlighting - with maybe Vallejo for basics light white, etc.
Barbgaunts
Basing was the traditional black rimmed base with liberal use of Games Workshop's 'box'o'skulls' and various manufacturers' tuffs.
Termagants
This was to represent the mountainous, rocky north, where the Ultramarines had their last stand, and we tied in some base colouring with the marines I'd already finished.
Hormagaunts
I think there's a box of Hormagaunts in here from the Tyranid range as well, an addition which my wife graciously accepted into her painting queue - because they didn't come in the Leviathan box and I *really neeeeeded* them 😝
Neurogaunts
I really do think she's done an amazing job with these Tyranids and I'm stoked that I have a completed army of them.
Ripper Swarms
I guess its up to me now to finish the Ultramarines from the Leviathan box, which is in the queue after I've completed my AWI collection.












Saturday, 31 May 2025

Multi-Scale: Sci Fi Industrial/Post Apocalyptic Scenery

 

Yep, old plastic containers, bits off of bottles, a massive raid through a giant bits box, and the use of a scenery kit purchased nearly 20 years ago. Nothing was held back over the last year as we feverously built up a table's worth of Sci Fi terrain.

Having been inspired by the motto of the 131st Pi Orionis Mechanised Hover Infantry, I thought a table's worth of run down, weather beaten terrain from one of the mining planets in the Pi system would be perfect.
But having a large collection of 15, 28, and even 25mm sci fi figures and vehicles, I really wanted to make the scenery usable with all these scales.
Its definitely worked with the 40k stuff and the terrain scales well with both the Tyranids and Ultramarines. 
In fact I don't think I'd do anything more to this stuff before being happy having a game with it at 28mm.
The 15mm stuff on the other hand, while it works reasonably well, I think it will need some additional scale pieces done in the same style before it sits well.
But there's now plenty of terrain to set up a full table top for a game.
Some bunkers for firebases are a must for any game.
A lot of the pipe and installation greeblies are from a Chemical Plant Construction Box I bought many years ago - a couple of places like ebay and Pegasus Hobbies are still advertising them for sale.
Other parts are from plastic supplement bottles and even chocolate boxes. These were heavily sanded first, to take the printing off or to dull the shine of the plastic.
Earlier this year my brother moved into a smaller house and donated a giant box of spare parts collected over the last 40 years of modeling.
Suffice to say that greebly time is now made a lot easier and the box was used extensively with this terrain. I think there's some EVA foam on some of the pieces as well.
These ash/tailings piles were made by first bending cardboard into cones, gluing them on the base, then covering them in ground cover.
But this was done old style without printing a single part - although there's a couple of printed bits on the piles. And a further thanks to my wife who decided she wanted to finish off at least half of the pieces and patiently matched the style I'd started off with.

Tuesday, 26 November 2024

D n D: Props to Set the Scene

 

I know its not meant to be about the props and minis, but I've been trying to entice some beginners (a.k.a. my wife and stepson) to give DnD a go for about two years.
A 10x10 grid system, so peeps can figure out distances.

I might have been a little too enthusiastic to be fair, generating an entire world and set of scenarios... possibly... probably... and despite my stepson reading and retaining just about every monster stat in the book, things have gone cold.

Some simple and quick hovels made from XPS foam, EVA foam, and crafting sticks.

In the meantime we've be building up quite a lot of stuff to play the game, including a small village of hovels, playing grid - to scale for 28mm, and collecting minis as we find them.

I ordered in some Reaper Miniatures from Ausy and we've been getting monsters and characters from our local Wizkids suppliers Wizards Retreat and Iron Knight Games.

The Wizkids stuff sure does paint up nicely and really enjoyed painting the Beholder and Gricks.

Got carried away with the raptor painting, dabbing away down the sides with different colours, and I think the Orc on the end was free with a Reapers purchase.

Its not the same without some town guard to suck up some attacks, think these are Reaper Minis and the dragon born are Wizkids.

Hopefully we'll get a game in at some point in the near future 😆





Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Warhammer 40,000: Ultramarines

Back in the darkness of winter 2023, my wife and stepson went to the UK and came back with an amazing present - the Leviathan box for 40,000, by Games Workshop. Amazed and a bit stunned, more space marines and Tyranids arrived soon after.

I've been painting them all in dribs and drabs since then and have a growing collection of finished minis. My wife has taken on the task of painting up the Tyranids, which is as equally stunning as it turns out she's an amazing painter 😆

Primaris Veterans

Some first company vets from the Leviathan set. Painting white helmets against blue armour... sigh... worth the effort in the end and for the terminators, I'll spray their helmets white before assembly.

Primaris 3rd Company Flamers

Gotta have some 3rd company, but who the hell wants ten flamers. Will beg, borrow, or print some different heavy weapons for the other five of these dudes from the Leviathan box, and do some converting.
Washing the flamer's heat cowlings was easier than I thought it was going to be. I used three different Citadel shades for the job and applied and mixed them while still wet.

Heroes of Macragge

Bit of second company fun. These guys came from the Warhammer Heroes boxes, which were a fun thing for me and my stepson for a while. We'd head down to do shopping and head in to the local GW shop (Iron Knight Games), anticipating which ones we were going to get.

First Born Tactical

From the pre-10th Edition box of Tactical marines... did not dry fit enough and hate the pose I made for the sergeant 😆

The others came out pretty well, and really went for a grimy look for these guys. These were the first ones I did. 
I think I've gotten less grimy as I've progressed onto the Leviathan box minis and love they way the weathering ties in to the bases.

Chapter and Setting

Picking a paint scheme was a no brainer. Having painted an entire Ultramarine Epic army, and not having any 28mm SMs since the 90's, the Ultramarines were still my only choice.

I liked the ascetic of the 'grim dark' of recent paint schemes so have gone full on dirty, 'mid-campaign' look... without the rust. Its more grim than dark, and I just can't paint rust on equipment that's meant to be serviceable... it your equipment is rusty, its dangerous and won't work... rant over.

So with the Behemoth colour scheme chosen for the Tyranids, the only other thing to do was to weather and base the SMs as if they were doing their last stands in the twisting and turning concrete tunnels, beneath the frozen northern laser defence batteries on Macragge.


Still a truckload of minis left to do, but slowly getting through them amongst other projects.

Painting

For anyone whose interested here's the painting guide (nicked from a mix of Youtubers):

Step 1: Undercoat spray Citadel Macragge Blue.

Step 2: heavy wash 50:50 mix Citadel Agrax Earthshade and AV 73.201 Black Wash (or Nuln Oil).

Step 3: sponge 70:30 mix Citadel Macragge Blue Base and either Vallejo 72.021 Magic Blue or Citadel Caledor Sky.

Step 4: Detailing equipment with whatever blacks, reds, greys are on hand, washing with Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade, and line highlighting lighter colours.

Step 5: Aquilas and highlights using Citadel Retributer Armour, Reikland Fleshshade, and Retirbuter Armour again.

Step 6: Line highlight armour using Citadel Calgar Blue and shade pauldrons between edge and plate with Drakenhof Nightshade.

Step 7: touch ups using mix from step 3, and doing step 6 again if necessary.

Base: Citadel Dawnstone, wash as per step 2, highlight using Administratum Grey.

Tie in Base: Lightly dab Administratum Grey on marines using a drybrush, focusing on legs and feet and angling brush from the bottom (opposite of zenithal highlighting) - with hardly any paint on brush.

Helmets: Red - start with Blood Angles Red contrast and highlight up. White - start with a white and use Apothecary White Contrast and highlight from there.





Sunday, 23 August 2020

Sci Fi Terrain II - Battle Systems

Still getting terrain together to start playtesting the new Sci Fi game and I'd always wanted some exterior walls for the Battle System terrain I got many years ago.

I couldn't find any on the site and emailed to see if they were still available. Unfortunately my set is pretty old and not really 'supported' in current range. But I have to say Wayne from Battle Systems was awesome.

He sent me the links to the old DLC files and from them I was able to retro-engineer some walls and gateways. Just excellent service from these guys.
I tried to be careful in the design as I wanted to use these with 15mm and 25/28mm. Think they came out OK, made from card, printed at the local printer.

At 15mm, with the external walls in, the Battle Systems stuff looks like awesome hangers.

And the vehicles fit in without any scale problems.

Khurasan and GZG works well.

Khurasan M2189 Caimans and M3918 Polecats, with GZG New Israeli (old sculpt) hard suits. 

For 25mm, more of the Battle Systems interior goodies can be used.

And a couple of (ex-GZG, Wombat) Daemonscape Hover APCs also make fitting additions inside the interior.

And a heavy hover tank to boot, inside the vehicle bay, awaiting a final spraying of paint.

Mostly happy with how the walls came out, some of the gates didn't quite fit together as expected, but should make for a lot more interesting gaming.