February 2022 Modeling

 

February modeling was fairly limited.  Ten pieces of scatter terrain and five random figures.  Busy month that included a leak in my main hobby closet that forced me to take everything out to dry the space and review what was damaged.  Most of the paper products I really valued survived and the review of box contents revealed a few of the scatter pieces like the Armorcast skull piles and masoleum that I finally finished painting.  My favorite bit was the drink dispenser.  I shouldn't be that happy about a dental floss container but it turned out alright.

Photographing outside in bright sunlight was harder than I thought it would be.  Fortunately I can cast  a big enough shadow that I could take a few pictures.

January 2022 Modeling

January modeling was limited by time and enthusiasm.  Managed to finish a unit of xenos counts as storm trooper models I converted many years ago as part of a Inquisition/Space Marine/Imperial Guard set of forces for 5th edition 40K or something like that.  Never got very far besides lots of buying and some converting but maybe I can finish up some of these ideas in lieu of buying more models.

Somewhere there's a brainstorming model in my hobby notes with ideas for all three types of forces that probably includes puritanical and radical Inquisitors along with the allies they'd gather to take to the 40K battlefield.  Have to assume these tree storm troopers were for the Radical Xenos Inquisitor.

 

Mortal Citizens 2022

 

Backdrop scenery setting atmosphere.  Particulates in solution amidst agents and reagents.  Foils spoiling plans. Foundational functionaries of whatever passes for society.  Underhivers, town folk, distressing damsels...the young and the old.  There is always the need for crowds, dregs and story hooks.  Thanks to Warboss Kurgan's blog where he is currently working on his conversions for the Mortal Citizens Instagram for 2022 I was made aware of a set of prompts to create citizens for my various gaming settings. 

January - Constable/Judiciary/Investigator

February - Messenger/Diplomat/Court Advisor

March - Quartermaster/Logistics

April - Trader/Merchant

May - Explorer

June - Scholar/Librarian/Historian

July - Farmer/Agriculture/Animal Husbandry

August - Smith/Industry/Chemist/Alchemist

September - Entertainer

October - Clergy

November - Companion/Pet/Retainer

December - Ruffian/Criminal

I'm already behind on the prompts but with a ton of models and bits I should be able to come up with something for each.  My two main modeling settings are Necromunda/40K and Pulp.  A full set for either setting is likely beyond me but we'll see.

November 2021 WIP

 A rare sighting in my hobby life this morning...the bottom of a pot of GW paint.  Probably only the second or third pot I've ever actually finished in almost thirty years of hobbying.  Only painted consistently the last ten months so the math probably checks out.  A good deal of paint dried in the lid and top of the pot but a majority of the Lead Belcher made it onto gun barrels, servo arms, etc.

Working on some conversions and porting over a D&D miniature as an underhive beast. Left to right:

• Trying to turn a Reaper ork into Rattus Tatterskin. Basic pose is there. Need to find a good heavy stubber and add lots of rats, candles, face mask, etc.

• Making a Reaper necromancer into a twin chain axe murderpriest for a Cawdor/Redemptionist gang. Darn Sump City Radio always given me ideas.

• D&D Brain Collector seems like a good Underhive or sump beast. More thought and paint needed as always.

• A mix of Reaper Bones and Hasslefree barbarians for use as a Ratskins gang. Can't decide if I should try using chaos helot gang rules or come up with something else to base the conversions on.

October 2021 Modeling

Managed to finish 25 models in October:

• 8 scrunts/skrunts to bring my total to 23.
• 5 hive scum
• 12 Last Chancers

Up to 23 scrunts now.  Time to buy more skitarii heads for
another set of conversions when the mood strikes.

Five hive scum that were originally intended as members of an IG killteam for the 2018 release.  Hive militia, factorum worker and a gunslinger with the rare correct number of empty holsters.

Last Chancers with conversions for everyone but whichever member was armed with an lasgun and pistol(Grease Monkey, I think)  Used a autogun/pistol armed metal Escher model instead.  Need to find my White Dwarf Annual with their rules.

2020 Hobby Review

Not having to commute to work the last eight and a half months combined with the launch of 40K 9th Edition and its utter lack of connection with my hobbying mojo meant 2020 became the year of Necromunda.  I had started the year full of earnest hobby goals and trying to actually do more hobbying that just buying and assembling models.  The year definitely turned out to be more productive that probably any previous year.

I started out focused on my Steel Legion IG force thinking it was small enough that I could actually complete assembling and painting it.  Made a bit of progress before pandemic lockdowns and other distractions led me astray.

Steel Legion force.  Mostly metal with some officers coming from a combination of Anvil Industries plus Mad Robot Miniatures heads.  Mobile mortars for heavy weapon teams from Victoria Miniatures.

Another long running IG force are my attempt at Arbites.  Originally conceived using the old rules where you could upgrade non-veteran units with carapace and running lots of veterans units with shotguns.  In 2019 I'd finally settled on Anvil Industries regiment bits to get the carapace look but the 8th edition IG codex had stripped them of official rules to spam carapace but I still liked the concept and I love the Arbites so I dabbled a bit more.

I even got another semi-decent concept of using Genestealer Cult allies as the Detective/Special Forces branch of an Arbites precinct.  There would be some modeling carryover from the main Arbites force visually for some of the GSC characters along with Aberrants as Ogryns and maybe a brood brother counts as unit as a breacher squad or some other such thing.  That plus the ridgerunner vehicle as a patrol/scout vehicle were very appealing. 

I got a few of the characters modeled up but again ran out of enthusiasm and inspiration as the shelter in place continued and economic impacts began to be felt in our family finances.  That and the drop of 9th combined to just crush any remaining interest in 40K.

I avoided pandemic hobby interests like gardening or baking and instead picked up my Necromunda books to read a bit closer and brainstorm some terrain and other underhive hobby activities.  I also fortunately discovered the Sump City Radio podcast which explores the depths of Necromunda lore, modeling and gaming while also doing very creative audio segments as an underhive radio station with a diverse set of characters that they and their friends voice which includes news and atmospheric reports for the dome they occupy along with sports, listener advice and other interesting and funny segments.  The second half of 2020 ended up being all Necromunda as a result.

Only have the Sump City Radio station broadcast tower so far but the station building and fenced in yard should come soon.

Sump City Radio also got me excited about the "House of..." books released for four of the original six gangs through their tactical reviews and enthusiasm for the content.  

My 2020 Necromunda hobby output.

Lots of conversions started...

...many inspired by the "House of..." books.

Painted models for 2020.

Cawdor Modeling

So another long gap in posting to my hobby blog.  My hobbying has its fits and starts.  Documenting it even more so.  

I've really been enjoying the Convert or Die hobby blog over the course of 2020.  It's one of many that set a great hobby example in tone, detail and productivity.  Recently he posted his tenth in a series of updates about his Cawdor modeling which got me thinking about the models I had in my hobby closet.  Turns out I had even more than I remembered.

I built the box of Cawdor I bought when it was released right away and tried to work in other weapons in a bid to have more extras to spread across additional gangers converted from zombie bodies and Frostgrave cultists. 

That plan kind of worked but the current Cawdor bodies are so distinct, though, and I haven't found a good way to even come close to capturing the unbalanced, scruffy, scrawny aesthetic they embody.  Here's the other dozen or more "Cawdor Lite" models that have the ramshackle weapon aesthetic but not the body type.  You can see where I hit the pause button having run out of ideas and/or enthusiasm.  Looking at the metal Cawdor models picked up in auction purchases over the years I can only think they are destined to be Redemptionists since they all look too burly and well fed to be current Cawdor.

At least the Stig-Shamblers pretty much look the part.  Mis-matched hulking brute captained by a scrawny malicious minder.

I am very much enjoying the "House of..." books so far in 2020 and looking forward to seeing where "House of Faith" takes the Cawdor.  My 2021 hobby plans include trying to get some more Cawdor models and bits in place to add to the gang once their book is out in Q2.  Until then there's plenty to finish modeling and painting.

Arbites Detective Branch - Magus and Biophagus

Psyker Detective Heath - Tried to make some modifications to a metal fantasy model to bring it more in line with 40K.  A GSC Magus has an autopistol, cultist knife and force stave.  The kukri in her belt takes care of the knife while a Scion command rod becomes the force stave.  She's busy manifesting a psychic power so the gunskull will be her pistol.  It's more of a needle pistol in look with one of greatest bits, a more ornate double vial of who knows what from the Dark Angels Veterans sprue as the ammo feed, but it fits with a detective potentially working more quietly than the standard Arbite in carapace armor racking their shotgun in the middle of the street.

 Magos Krieger is a Mechanicus magos biologus assigned to the Arbites detectives divison.  He'll run closely with the Ogryns who will count as the Aberrants in the force to boost them in game.  I gave him an Escher chem thrower arm as the injector goad while a Mechanicus radium pistol counts as the auto pistol.  The little servo arm coming over the shoulder is a camera recording the combat for later analysis 

The magos and their counts as alchemical familiar.  More usage of the double vial as extra ammo since a single vial is the ammo for the injector goad.

Counts as Patriarch - Judge Press

Less time commuting and more time walking through my neighborhood the past two weeks has given me time to brainstorm more modeling ideas and even follow up with a conversion or two to see how things might work.  Below is a picture of Arbitrator Judge Press built to serve as the Patriarch of a counts as Genestealer Cult force.  Counts as forces are always fun to brainstorm and in this case the intimate local knowledge and the ambush/skirmish nature of the GSC seemed like it would work well for representing how the Detectives and Specialized operatives of a large enough Arbites precinct might function on the battlefield if it had to transition from everyday life to a war footing.

Judge Press and one of his psychic familiars.
I knew the GSC Patriarch was perched on a pipe so I built up the base for
him to stand on.

Then I found the Patriarch model from the Deathwatch Overkill boxed set for
a quick size comparison.  I'd forgotten how big the Patriarch model is on it's own.

So I went back and added some more height to the Judge's base.  Much better.
The downside to counts as modeling is that you can't always match the
presence of the original model. 

Gore Half-Horn, Grendl Grendlesen, and 40K Poultry

One of my favorite parts of the latest Necromunda game are the bounty hunters and other hired guns introduced in each book release.  It's a bit like a slow motion release of a big book of NPCs that I remember buying a couple of when I was into the 2nd and 3rd edition of D&D a long time ago.  That plus the opportunity to convert your own "counts as" models for them leads to that much more enjoyment in my case.  Gore Half-Horn is all GW bits while Grendl Grendlsen is a re-purposed Reaper Bones dwarf ranger.

Somewhere in the 40K universe someone is raising dangerous birds as sources of protein for uphivers, planetary governors or just because that's what was there when the colony ships landed.  Narrative games of 40K, RPGs or a Necromunda scenario style random monster all seems like potential homes for these two.  More Reaper Bones models.

All the models are base coated with a coat of Agrax Earthshade.  Dry brushing, bases and final details still to be worked out.  Getting to this point is an accomplishment giving my history of buying and building with no painting at all.  Finishing paint jobs and actually playing games with the miniatures is still to come.

Ambots, Arbites and Illness

A week ago I had a busy, productive Saturday that by evening time turned into a nagging cough which by Sunday midday was a fever, chills, aches, etc. For three days solid my mind was clear of all interest in any sort of hobby thought or action.  40K is a pretty constant presence in my daily activities or thoughts so it is always interesting to see what knocks it out.

In the last couple of days I've managed to build the two Ambots that have been sitting in my Necromunda cue.  It was a nice surprise that you end up with two extra pairs of legs and a small pile of other bits.

Converted Arbites bomb disposal servitor moves through Ambot depot.

Arbites are another long running 40K passion of mine.  Below are a couple of Hasslefree Miniatures converted to be a detective and her ratling sergeant/lifeward/gunslinger.  I seemed to be going for dirty concrete bases with limited success.  I need to come up with some background for the detective and her partner.  I watch a lot of detective shows and I like the idea of these two investigating cases mid-hive in what might pass for a normal community of different types of workers, Administratum and other Imperial citizens.  Not quite a cozy mystery if it's at all connected to the broader 40K universe but also not a Judge Dredd, "I AM THE LAW!!!!!" type of setting either.  The Fantasy Flight Games 40K RPG books were the inspiration for the bomb disposal servitor conversion and, while very much were intended to help set the stage for solving 40K mysteries, are also great fluffy sources of detail for life in the Imperium off the front lines.

Painting Progress, Inquisitor Axne and Cardinal Vindix

Getting close to finishing painting on my first squad of Steel Legion troops while starting the painting of squad #2.  11 out of 71 models with paint on them for the force.

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Minimal progress on painting has me looking at all of the in progress/built models that are visible in my hobby area and thinking about what to paint next.  One possibility is Inquisitor Axne built after seeing many interesting conversions from the easy to build Sequitor Stormcast models.  I'm working on some background for her and her Inquisitorial warband.  I see her as a positive, pragmatic force committed to both preserving and improving the Imperium.  It is a position that would, sadly, generate more enemies rather than fewer I suspect.

"An Escher ganger taken at age 10 in a Goliath raid, Axne was used as a test subject in Goliath growth stimulant experiments.  She escaped five years later having endured a litany of substances that left her standing well in excess of six feet tall with a strength to mass ratio the envy of many front line battle servitors. Alone in enemy territory, Axne then spent the next several years haunting the nearby territories as she collected resources and tried to determine how best to enact her revenge on the Goliaths. During that time she observed and eavesdropped on all manner of settings, people and transactions slowly developing an affinity for finding ideas and areas of worth."

Inquisitor Axne and acolytes recruited from her former Escher gang.

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If Inquisitor Axne is envisioned as a positive Inquisitorial force then Cardinal Vindix is quite the opposite.  He is a Ministorum Cardinal that will use Inquisitor rules if he ever takes the field.  Cruel and vindictive, his quest for Ministerial justice is always focused on maximizing fear and imposing his version of the Imperial Truth.  I assume his hood is made from the flayed skin of his opponents real and imagined.

Painting Progress and Conversion Chaos

Painting on the first squad of Steel Legion continues.  Weapon bodies painted black and helmets giving a coat of Castellan Green.  Both need a Nuln Oil wash and I've got at least one portion of a kneeling models coat to paint and wash since I somehow managed to miss it despite multiply passes over each model in the past week.  Lots of other details and clean up left, I'm sure, once I look closely at a given model.  Still it's progress.

The Steel Legion squad were occupying the corner of the mat holding the conversion pile I've been fiddling with the past week or so.  Ministorum agents, MicroArts mechanicus bodies, the one squad of new Scions I can't decide how to build...the list goes on and on.

Painting Steel Legion and Conversions

I have 70+ Steel Legion models plus a couple of Chimeras in my collection.  Mostly metal models but with some more recent additions from Mad Robot Miniatures for the heads and Anvil Industries for the rest of the models to round out units, model differently armed sergeants and even make a counts as set of Ratlings for the force.

Counts as Ratling snipers or a models for a Special Weapons or Veterans squad

I've never completed a 40K army in decades of buying and building.  This year I'm hoping to change that so I've started painting my Steel Legion and I'll take breaks to paint other models as I go.  After that there are many other 40K forces to work on.

Platoon 1 in progress paint job.

I also love to convert models and the counts as arco-flagellants and/or close combat servitors were made from Kromlech ork bits including their Mechanical Saw Arms.  I like that they are a bit beefier than other servitors I've bought or converted from ghouls or other models.

Arbites "Army"

I've long wanted to have an Arbites army despite their place in the background of 40K making army sized deployments extremely unlikely.  In a universe focused on war, amidst other Imperial organizational factions like the Inquisition and the Ministorium who are much more likely to field army sized forces, I wanted them to be able to take the field in narrative moments of insurrection, invasion and insanity.  

Over the years I have attempted to start such an army several times with the help of other hobbyists like Tim Hucklebery and BoLS.  There were conversions to go along with those attempts, of course:

March 2007

January 2013

Sometimes many conversions inspired again by other hobbyists like John's Toy Soldiers...

February 2013

...but like all of my 40K projects they got no further.  Maybe a few more years passing and blogging about the next attempt will improve upon my current track record.  

2020 Update:  Never finishing means you can always start over which I did in the summer of 2019 with bits from Anvil Industry including their medium armor torsos, shortcoat legs and armored arms combined with the Skitarii Vanguard heads which is another idea borrowed from the hobby community.  The plan has generally been to run them as Astra Militarum veterans with three special weapons.  The 2013 Arbites will be downgraded to local enforcers to fill out a basic infantry platoon and maybe a maxed out squad of conscripts.

June 2019