Eldar: Ranger

Here's another filthy Xeno! Purge the alien! This Eldar Ranger is one of a small squad of outriders for my Eldar army - designed to observe the enemy and infiltrate behind their lines.

Of course, he's made of bloody Finecast, isn't he?  So, already, his rifle is starting to warp and bend.  The Finecast resin is truly frustrating, and now surely obsolete, given GW's improved plastic casting methods.

I really like the Ranger models... I'm not sure how useful they will be these days, though, considering how many weapons ignore cover. Bah!

Space Wolves: Wolf Priest

Back to the Space Wolves now, and another HQ choice in the form of a Wolf Priest.  This chap was converted from the Finecast Chaplain.

I used bits from the Wolf Guard and Thunderwolf Cavalry kits, as well as a grizzled Flagellant head to make him less of a cookie-cutter Astartes Chaplain, and more Wolfy.

I have problems, generally, with Finecast, but this particulat model was so chunky that there was never much risk of him warping or bending.

He's pictured here with some of my Wolf Guard, but the plan will be to have him lead my Skyclaws (jump pack Blood Claws) into battle.

Blood Angels: Captain

Well, here is the fearless leader of my Blood Angels! Although, saying that, he has never actually taken to the field of battle.  He's a lover, not a fighter.

YET another sample of the models that came with the Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition boxset: Assault On Black Reach.

Vampire Counts: Grave Guard

Aha! Back to the world of the Undead!  These Grave Guard infantry are elite troops within my army (hence there not being very many).

As with the skeleton warriors, It's all a mixture of reds and silvers, with the bone colours obviously mixed in.

Everything is dry-brushed with Baneblade Brown to give a dirty, dusty feel...

...and then, of course,  washed with Agrax Earthshade! Like everything I do!

Space Wolves: Wolf Guard

Back to the Space Wolves now, and these chaps are some of the elite of the pack - the Wolf Guard!  Seasoned veterans, these chaps are the wise heads of the Great Company, and are as tough as old nails.

These are a few of the group that I have.  These guys are actually pretty expensive, points-wise, so they will probably never see a lot of action on the tabletop, but fluff-wise I like them.

Replete with furrowed brow and mysterious metal stud in his forehead...

A fine set of whiskers on this chap - I'm sure you'll agree!

And this guy looks a bit like an Adam Ant fan.  Adam Ant is still okay, isn't he?  Right...?

Blood Angels: Dreadnought

Once again, this is something that came with the Assault On Black Reach boxset, although since its original paintjob, I added a number of purity seals (the little scrolls you can see), and a banner to its sizeable torso.

I also included a small amount of Blood Angels iconography, which helps to link it in to the rest of my army.

The banner was a very straightforward addition, and featured a bit of crude freehand painting.  Not great, but at least it adds a bit of character and individuality to the piece.  I've found that using browns, rather than blacks, helps text and icons to blend in more.

I always enjoy painting vehicles and such - the speed at which you can paint them is a bit of a reward after the detail painting of infantry models.

Chaos Space Marines: Plague Marine

This chap is from an old 2nd Edition (ie early 90s) version of Warhammer 40,000 and is one of the Plague Marines of Nurgle - the Chaos God of disease and entropy.  Nice!

Due to the nature of these guys, I've opted for a lot of muted colours: greens and browns and purple inks, with the metallics done as a brass, rather than a shiny silver or gold.

Vampire Counts: Skeleton Warriors

And now for something completely different!  It's not just Warhammer 40,000 that I have been working on over the years, but a bit of Warhammer Fantasy Battle as well (because I'm just cool like that).  These miniatures are actually not Games Workshop ones, but made by a company called Mantic.

Usefully, their miniatures are built to the same scale (1:28) as the Citadel ones, and use the exact same base size, so they slot neatly onto GW movement trays.

Even more conveniently, they were being sold 3-for-2 at Hobbycraft at the time, so I was able to buy a mountain of them!  With Skeletons, you really need a horde to get the desired effect, I think.

All of my Skeletons were painted with the minimum amount of time and effort, and were mostly the result of just drybrushing and washes.  Reds for the armour, bone colours for the... well... bones... and some steel for the armour and weaponry.  Slather it in Agrax Earthshade wash, and they look as if they've just got out of the grave! Hurray!

Chaos Daemons: Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

These Pink Horrors are an absolute devil (no pun intended) to play with.  Their stances may look fairly dynamic, but that just makes them more likely to fall over due to their fairly poor weight distribution.

Still, at least they were fairly fun to paint: with one main base colour for their flesh, it meant I was able to race through twenty of them very quickly.

Chaos Space Marines: Chaos Cultist with Heavy Stubber

So, here's my first blog post!  Well, my first proper one, anyhow.  And I have chosen to devote it to this chap from my Chaos Space Marine army.  I was inspired to start collecting CSMs when the Dark Vengeance boxset was released, and you were able to get a whole range of fantastic, snap-fit miniatures in one easy-to-afford box.  There were 20 Cultists inside, but this chap was one of my favourites.

The detailing on the miniatures was really nice - enough to be interesting, but not so much as to be daunting.  I decided to paint up my first batch of Chaos Space Marine Cultists as followers of the Chaos God, Nurgle - the Plaguefather!  With the focus on rot and decay, I used a lot of browns, greens and purples, with splashes of red for blood.

Hello And Welcome!

Some Imperial Guard Catachan Jungle Fighters from Warhammer 40,000

Hello you crazy fools who have opted to wander onto my blog!  My name is Ben - in case you didn't already know - and this will be a chronicle of my hobbying adventures.  I like to paint, you see.  Specifically, I enjoy painting Games Workshop miniatures - primarily Warhammer 40,000, but also from Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Blood Bowl.

I know that this may sound utterly nerdy - and it no doubt is - but when I paint, it always gives me time to think, chill out and relax.  You can forget about the day's bad news and absorb yourself in blending paints, applying washes and trying to avoid getting your fingers stuck together with superglue.

In case you are wondering about the strange, crypto-Latin title, it is a reference to Warhammer 40,000, and the beginnings of the Cult Of The Emperor - mankind's saviour in the grim dark future of the 41st millennium. It's nothing religious-based, in case you were getting worried about me!

I'm going to start back a-ways, and showcase some of the models that I painted a long time ago, and then gradually work my way towards the present day.  Seeing as how I don't paint every single day, that should help to fill out the pages somewhat.

So, sit back, relax, and observe how I am an enormous nerd. And proud!!!! (Kinda...)