Future Fridays: Warhammer Combat Patrol from Bits and Bobs

With the loss of e-books to "buy a physical book and get a code for the app", I picked up the new Codex: Space Marines given I have . . . rather a lot of Marine models and a pile of planned Marine projects - Imperial Fists guarding Terra, Deathwatch and Rainbow Warriors.

I have my big projects for the rest of this year planned out (finishing up the Wildfire Shasvastii, a Malifaux crew and a starter Skaven force) but I thought I'd have a dig about and think about what I could do with some Marines, maybe in January.

In the latest edition of 40K, there's a new 'suggested game size' of 25 Power Level or 500 points a size, called Combat Patrol. I don't much fancy massive painting projects for 40K at the moment, but I still like the look of the edition. Small games seem to be the way forward.

I work out a vague list with what I've got lying around.

I've got some Necron stuff from Indomitus I wanted to convert into something weird and creepy. The big tall tripod thing is a good basis for a Dreadnought. The floaty Necron character will become an Inquisitor. And the two stabby guard Necron constructs will be Company Veterans.

I include the Skulls pack as I know that will be the start of the conversions. I'll need some Marine weapons so they're clear on the table what they are, but a lot of the Necron looking lenses and so on are going to get skulled up.

A good friend heard I was doing a few different Marine projects and while we were swapping sprues, dropped off a bunch of Intercessors. I pulled four Intercessors out to use as the basis of the Troops choice, but I was then short a sergeant model.

I got Kor'sarro Khan in the "Supply Drop" deal. I have more Space Marine character models than I know what to do with, so super fancy sergeant he is!

My friend also included this Horus Heresy character sprue. I'm going to use the Terminator Captain here. I haven't decided if I'll also use the Chaplain for an alternative build for the Combat Patrol, or if I'll make him into a Rainbow Warrior or something...

The Intercessors are going to get some knightly heads. I think these are from the Demigryph Knight kit, but I'm not sure.

This bit from the old Empire General kit is also the sort of thing I'll be wanting to use for the look and feel. I want a weird, isolated planet feel, with lots of grime and weirdness. Probably metal and cream for a colour scheme?

Anyhow, this isn't for a while yet, but I've put these parts aside so they're all ready to go.

Work in Progress Wednesday - 40K Inquisition

I've got quite a few bits and pieces of 40K stuff in the paint queue - Inquisitors and other Imperial agents.

I'm not hugely enthused by 40K at the moment. I'm liking the look of what Games Workshop is doing with the rules in general, and am kind of keen to try out some smaller patrol games when I can get out again. But the new edition launch not having a digital version has been really rather disappointing for me, meaning I've still not picked up a copy of the new edition. I moved over to digital books to save space at home and have less to carry to games, and I'm less than happy that they seem to have moved away from that again.

I'll not be giving up 40K or anything like that. It's just been a bit disheartening. I'm sure I'll get into it in time.

I've got a couple of priests to do, either for my Guard or for the Sisters I'm planning to do.

I have a few Inquisitors to do, mostly from an old Made to Order Games Workshop ran a while back.

I'm not sure all the wargear these models are armed with are available in the current rules. I'm not too worried, though, as the models are pretty awesome looking.

I also have a Death Cultist I picked up cheaply at some point. That said, roll on plastic miniatures for the Death Cultists!

Also, not included in the group shot, I also found this Inquisitor on the "to do" tray after I'd done the group shot. I've left the book off to get the painting done separately.

I can't think of a good Satyr pun

 
I am deeply pleased with how well this satyr by Otherworld Miniatures has come out. I picked him up in their over-stock sale and how his paint job has come out deeply pleases me.

Unfortunately, I still haven't got the lights working on my photo box, so he's looking a little dark here as the sunlight isn't as forgiving as it was in the summer. I either need to sort out the cable for them or get a better solution in general.

The paint job itself was a a base of contrast, then some selective highlighting and shading. My latest discovery has been using Kislev Flesh Air paint for skin highlights as it's naturally good for glazing consistency. It's super good and I want to try the same principle on some other colours too.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Captain Friedrick

Also in the queue to get painted is Captain Friedrick by GrimForge Miniatures. I don't have a particular use for him, but I love the ornate look of him and really wanted to have a go at painting him.

The painting results of a week off

 

My goal last week was to try and paint one of the Aenor Trolls, a Shasvastii and the old EM4 ganger. I've managed to complete one of these three things, and also paint two other models while procrasting what I 'should' have been painting.

I actually got a ton more tidying and housework done than I'd planned / expected. But this remains my painting blog and not my housework blog!

This giant iguana is produced by Bad Squiddo, and is apparently called Leif. I got him on an impulse years ago, and thought it would be good to get a little paint on him. He's a lovely sculpt and super easy to paint. He'd been undercoated with Mechanicus Standard Grey. I drybrushed white over the top of this, then used the Warpstone Glow contrast paint. The skin was finished up with a light green drybrush from the top down. I then painted in the other details.

I quickly finished up this ganger at the start of the week. Not sure if he has a use in any particular game, but he's done now.

Another Bad Squiddo sculpt, Morgana is a good natural spell caster / druid type model. I made the mistake of not lightening up her Mechanicus Standard Grey undercoat before applying contrast, so she was a little too dark. I added a Karak Stone drybrush to bring her up a little bit, but I think it would have been better adding the lighter tones before painting on the contrast.

Future Fridays: A realistic pace

This past week, I've been on holiday, trying to focus a bit on my painting. It turned out that there was way more housework to catch up than I thought, but as Friday starts, I've got three models finished and am progressing a fourth nicely. I'll be getting onto taking nice photos of those models later for a post next week.

What it has highlighted to me is that, even if I get my painting up to "a model a day" - and I'm not there yet - there's really no need to have over 70 assembled and undercoated models sitting in the "work on next" trays.

It creates a mental clutter, a visible stress that tells my subconscious that there's no point in painting because there's too much to do. It's counter productive. So a lot of things I'm not going to be working on soon will be going away into boxes.

I'll be keeping a good handful of quick and easy paint jobs to hand to work on while I'm working on my larger projects. But I need to avoid the mistakes I've made with the Pit Fighter and the Trolls - taking a complex and time consuming paint job as a 'quick win' and getting demoralised by it taking so long to complete. They can go and sit in a box until one of my project slots opens up.

So, the idea now is that the "next project" will be out and ready to go, along with a handful of 'easy to do" paint or assembly jobs. In the meantime, I can put everything else away, and tidy a bit more of the work space.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Skaventide Assortment

I've still got a few Skaven lined up to get painted. I still need to get on to some actual units, but there's a good variety of characters to get done.

The classic Deathmaster came from the Made to Order that Games Workshop put out a while back. He's made it to the Shelf of Shame as I've had him a bit too long.

The Arch-Warlock was the other Made to Order item. I've left his back piece separate for easy of painting.

This is a Games Day Clawlord from years back. I absolutely adore the pose they've managed to get with this sculpt and am really excited to get him painted.

I also picked up a Ratling Gun with some other bits and pieces to get the value up to the free postage amount. I've heard they're currently really rather good!

Invisible obstacles

I've got the week off, and I told myself I'd try and get a model painted a day, as I didn't really have any other commitments. It's now the end of Monday and I haven't sat down to paint once.

I've got no doubt that the messy painting desk is a big obstacle to this, mentally. I've got a lot of other housework done procrastinating clearing the painting area.

But if you're wondering why you're not sitting down to paint, maybe have a look at what is stopping you?

To try and keep this mayhem under control and try and step up the painting rate, I've thought of a new target for the rest of the year. October will be finishing up the Shasvastii from Wildfire and the Aenor Trolls. November will be the Viktoria Malifaux crew I got assembled ages ago. And December will be the painting of the Skaven Island of Blood set I meant to start at the start of lockdown.

First up, though, is finishing up all the half finished things on the desk, as they've clearly become some sort of mental block to be getting started. And a clear desk, too!

Latest Infinity Commission Painting

 

I recently got back an assortment of bits and pieces I'd sent off to my commission painter. This was mostly an 'odds and ends' batch of little bits and pieces for different factions I've got.

First up is this Maghariba Guard pilot for Dahshat. I got her cheap in a deal, as I don't actually have the Maghariba Guard itself!

I picked up the newer Odalisque Spitfire model. I'll definitely want to give a bit of time to trying this out with Dahshat Company, but it'll also run fine in Qapu Khalqi when that gets published in November.

The Janissary HMG is also for Qapu Khalqi. I picked him up in a cheap bulk deal - hopefully I'll be able to pick up a box of his friends in the near future.

I also grabbed the older box of Kaplan Tactical Services so I've got some flexibility in what profiles I take in that fireteam when I get the newer box.

Meanwhile for Ikari Company, the Cube Jaeger is all painted up and ready to go.

I've also got the Keisotsu for Ikari Company done. We're still missing the Tanko, which are key to making Ikari work, but I've been holding out on getting those until we saw the Ikari army list for N4 in case anything changed.

And finally, I got the Tokusetsu Butai, the Support Pack that Ikari use, so I've got a doctor and engineer option if needed.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Heresy Miniature Inspector Knuckles

A while back I mentioned that I was missing one of the Heresy Miniatures Inspectors set.

Well, Knuckles has arrived and been based and undercoated ready for paint.

How did September go?

 

I got a couple of minis painted over September. Nothing super exciting, but it's still progress. It seems to mostly be among the quick win small projects I have alongside the big projects I want to get done.

I was particularly pleased with how the Bad Squiddo Guinea Pig turned out. This month also saw me exceed the target of painting 60 miniatures within a year. Getting that done in September is a really good sign.

I've also had a bunch of assorted Infinity miniatures back from my commission painter. You can find him at Highland Wargaming on Facebook. I'll show off everything I got back next week. The new edition of Infinity is out now, and I'm enjoying learning what's different. Once I've had some time to absorb it, I'll write up some thoughts on the blog.