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Showing posts from December, 2012

Behold! The steam-powered budgie!

There is a weird piece of music playing in my head, it's Ride of the Valkyries playing on a piano accordian. Why? Because of this: This is a mental contraption, a Dwarf Gyrocopter. It is essentially a wooden and canvas helicopter powered by a steam engine? Physics? Go hide in the corner and cry, for once I don't care. It's cool. These things are used by the Dwarfs for carrying messages between the holds and for recconnaissance. Its such a perfect choice for this army (essentially crusading across the Empire) so it had to be done. Plus they're evil in this version of the rules. The majority of the painting techniques used have been mentioned before so just a quick run down. All of the woodwork is my Steel Legion Drab with Rakarth Flesh highlights and Agrax Earthshade wash. I decided to keep the canvas sections very simple. Mostly the Stormbourne blue I've used before with just a few bone white sections. The studio one, by contast, is just awful. Its rare

Memory Lane

I always assumed I’d lost the first model I ever painted, but two days ago, whilst clearing out some junk in my parents’ house, I chanced upon an old, battered GW box. What should I find inside? The best goram paint job you’ve ever seen, that’s what. Feast your eyes on this beauty: i PAINTtED ThIS! In my thirteen-year-old mind, that was a badass colour scheme. Nothing says ‘dangerous’ or ‘the 90s’ like a bright red boltgun. And caked-on paint. And a Goblin Green base. And... whatever that stuff is on said base. Why do I bring this up? Well, other than pure comedy value, because a lot of hobbyists come to the conclusion that they’re rubbish at painting, and will never get any better. This post, therefore, is here to reassure you that even reasonably competent painters like me were once utterly crap. Come with me now, on a journey through time and space, to the world of my teenage failures...

2000 Points O'Dwarfs Done!

Hurrah, huzzah, jump up and down, bang trumpets and blow drums, or whatever. I have completed the first 2000 points of my Dwarfs. The units that finished this first stage of the marathon were a stone thrower (just cannot bring myself to call it a grudge thrower, that's one step away from a Mystery Men weapon) and a mob of Dwarf Warriors. Lets start with the war engine, everyone likes war engines: But wait! I hear you cry, that's no ordinary Dwarf stone thrower! And indeed it isn't, this is a converted (mildly) Bretonnian Trebuchet - or Tree bucket if your french pronounciation isn't up to the job. Why am I using a Bretonnian Trebuchet as a Dwarf Stone Thrower, I hear you ask? Because this is the current GW one: image copyright Games Workshop. used for illustrative purposes only. Lets leave aside for a moment the idiocy of a battlefield - i.e. portable - war engine made of solid steel. Actually, lets not. Steel has a density of about 7.8g/cm 3 whereas Oak h

Grimnir Hates Us All

Hello happy bunker dwellers! First of all, bonus points if you identified the oblique title reference, it is the subject of todays post*. Yes the Slayers are finished! Hurrah! I really think painting them in lumps has been the best policy for this little lot for a number of reasons. First, it has meant that I've been able to lavish the care they deserved on them. Second, serendipitously (totally a word) I have used a slightly different mix/method for the hair in each case meaning that while there is the appropriate sea of orange there are enough differences in tone to make it feel a touch more natural. These are the motly crew that finished the unit. As a result of my cherry picking my favourite Dwarfs it means that the unit contains a special character and a hero choice masquerading as normal slayers: Yup, that's a Dragon Slayer on the left and the nakedest Dwarf in Christendom - Garagrim Ironfist - on the right. Oh, and I'm not kidding about Garagrim, he i

Short, Grim and Deadly

 Greetings to one and all. Last time on the ever growing saga of Dwarfkind that comprise my posts I showed off the Hammerers. Today, it is the turn of their Lord and Master, the tragic figure of Lord Hafnir Stormborne. This figure is a sort of "cut-and-shut" between two Dwarf lords, the shieldbearers of the King Alrik model and the taciturn fellow you see standing up there now. I love this Dwarf lord. Just standing there, surly, patient, waiting for a target to present itself rather than racing into battle like a manling. I used a few tricks with him to make him appear older and more tired than the other greybeards in the army. Hafnir is the head of a disgraced household and the reponsibilities and obligations that brings tear at him (I'll do a full backstory post soon, finally found a "voice" to tell it in). The tricks are fairly easy, a thin purple wash into the eyesockets robbing him of sleep and adding pale grey to the final skin highlights rather

Stop...! Hammer time

Yeah, I know, the title was inevitable. It mugged my forebrain, took control of my typing fingers and forced me to do it's bidding. Why was the title inevitable? Because the Hammerer's are finished! These are some of the hardest troops in the Dwarf army. At WS 5 and with a base strength of 4, rising to 6 with the great weapons they tear through most things that the Warhammer world has to offer. Their heavy armoured, toughness 4 torsos can certainly soak the damage too and with the shields I bought them they have a 50:50 chance of ignoring most missile fire on the way in. Add a lord and these chaps also become stubborn. Dayum. The downside is that they are not cheap. 277 Points for the unit you see above. You have to win combats on wounds caused as you aren't ever going to be outnumbering the foe - unless they're Ogres, or Chaos I guess. I've kept the shields fairly plain and utilitarian, much like the thunderers' shield fence. Most of the Hammerers a