2/19/14: Genghis Con XXXV: 4 Entries, 4 Awards!

Hey folks!

So just a quick post today, I got back from Denver/Boulder yesterday, and just now have time to throw a blogpost up about how Genghis Con XXXV's painting competition went!

I entered four pieces and won four awards! I was honestly expecting 'Serenity' to do well, and the rest would be nice. So when my other three pieces showed up on the awards, I was ecstatic!  

My Alpha Legion Helbrute, 'Laernae' won a Second Place award in the Single Miniature Large category!

Arkos, his Familiar, and his Warp Talons won Third Place in the Unit category.

My late-night Baneblade, 'Dominator', won a third place in Vehicle.

And lastly, 'Serenity', won a third place in Single Miniature Small! I'll have a full post on him tomorrow, I just realized I never got that post out! 

I'm very happy with how Genghis Con went this year! Thanks to all my supporters, followers, friends, and family for supporting me through my endeavours and projects, I couldn't do it without all of you! Next year, I'll be ready to throw my hat into the Masterclass ring; with Masterclass, its either all or nothing, so its gonna be an all-year endeavour to get a piece ready for that! 

Now that I'm back in the studio, I'm rolling through projects again! Here's a sneak peek at High Chaplain Erebus!

Goal this week is to wrap up Erebus and the Wraithknight, then jump into Tyranids and some Starship Troopers pieces!

Granesh

1/20/14: WIP: Water RoB Board for Game Space

Howdy folks!

First off, sorry for the delay in posts the last week and a half! My girlfriend was in town for a chunk of it, and the painting mojo was more assembly mojo, and there just wasn't enough to chronicle into a blogpost! Lots of waiting on pieces to come in though, which is always super annoying!

My big project, the last two weeks or so, is a new battleboard for my FLGS that I work at. I'd seen a really nice ocean-themed board on White Dwarf Daily back in December, and decided I would try to make one of my own.

I had a couple of key things I had to meet, though. I opted for less external details to make it less fragile. The boards had to match up with our existing Battleboard and add-on pieces to allow for bigger tables. And lastly, I wanted the hill water sections to  be able to link up to make a river, as well as a lake and an ocean. With that in mind, I dove in!

The two flat pieces had sand glued down around the skull pits to make little islands or sandbars. The hill pieces had sand applied where the hill met the flat piece to create a beachfront. I let these dry. When I do my battleboard, I spray the edges Black, then start on the top. The hills and islands were sprayed with Army Painter's Fur Brown, while the rocky areas were sprayed with a grey primer. The Water was sprayed with Macragge Blue. 

Ah, a completed tile! After the sprays dried, I broke out the GW Scenery Painting kit and got to work! The Brown areas were overbrushed with the Ochre color (old school Snakebite Leather), while the hills were brushed with a dusting of white to bring out details and highlights. as was the water. The beaches were dusted on the shoreline with white to simulate the foam created by waves; they were then dusted with a Bleached Bone spray, then drybrushed with white. 

The shark in the water was done with a quick-made stencil sprayed black.  

Here you can see the board as it sits now! The water was gloss varnished, and still needs another coat or two to really get the watery sheen I want! There's still some minor tonal distinctions on the rocks I need to fix up, and I want to add some special flock to some of the shorelines to look like moss and gunk floating on the water. May add some little details like treasure chests and crabs to the beach, but we'll see!

Here's a shot of the large sandbar pieces. I really like the rock in the middle, it just felt perfect for an island. Gotta hit the skulls, and will probably add some more detail of my own to really make this area pop. You can see the foam-effect I was trying for nicely in this picture and the next!

The beach looks calm....too calm...

Ah yes! The rocks on the hills and beach are large woodchips I grabbed from outside my apartment. I stuck them in the oven on low to dry them out and get rid of any gribblies living in them. They're glued down with woodglue, cemented with the additional sand, then overbrushed like the rest of the rocks. 

Alrighty guys! I should have more pictures of this board as I wrap it up over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that, it should be pretty fun! Like I said, I've been waiting on pieces to arrive, so work on the Tau assembly commission has been pretty slow as a result. The Necrons are almost entirely assembled, and will start painting tonight! Got some stuff to wrap up for Genghis Con as well, so you know its gonna be a busy couple of weeks for me! 

Speaking of busy, I won't be getting any painting done on February 2nd! Why you ask? Well...

Our Denver Broncos are in the Super Bowl! Lets go Denver!

Granesh

12/24/13: Happy Holidays!

Hope you all have an excellent holiday! Relax, get some hobby in, don't drink too much, and be safe, everybody! Expect another post closer to the New Year; otherwise, see you all in 2014!

Granesh

12/22/13: Necron C'Tan and Friends Commission WIP

Howdy guys!

So just a quick little post for this fine Sunday morning! I'm headed down to Good Games to pick up some additional product for painting that TERRAIN last week and play some games this afternoon, so I should be back in the studio this evening to wrap up the Necrons.

I just couldn't hold back my excitement here; the pictures aren't great, but I really wanted to share the progress on the Necrons for those of you who don't keep up on Facebook or Twitter (shame on you!)

The C'Tan! I've always wanted to paint this model, so when the opportunity presented itself, I had to jump on it! I wanted to go with an "Emerging from his Essence" look; he is a Star-God, after all! 

I continued the galaxy effect into his shoulders and chest, where the robes meet the body. This model is finished, and if time presents itself, I'll try and do a tutorial on the galaxy effect, I've had a very positive response from the community with it!

Rockin' the waterslides! The Necron Waterslide transfer sheet is just pure awesome, lots of little ones and big ones to customize and really add character to your pieces. I had to opt for the gold, as the black ones wouldn't show up and the green would stand out.

I've dubbed the Destroyer Lord "Mr. Grumpy Destroyer" for shits and giggles; its not my fault he hates everything! Used the gold on the head to denote rank, and did the same galaxy effect on his Resurrection Orb so I could play with it some more.

This picture is a little outdated; right now, the C'tan, the Lord, and the 3 Heavy Destroyers are done, minus their guns. I've got 5 Praetorians to do, and Wave One is complete! Wave Two is 3 characters and 10 immortals, and Wave Three is 2 Doom Scythes, 6 Tomb Blades, and a Triarch Stalker. Stay tuned for these waves in January!

I would have had this commission done yesterday, if I hadn't been so busy with work and getting everything ready for the holidays! I still have gifts to finish up and errands to run, and I have to have these guys done by Monday evening! Whew! Gonna need me a LOT of Monsters!

I will have a blog post up on Monday night or Tuesday morning with the completed commission, so stay tuned for that! Smells Like Wargaming will be out of the studio from the 24th to January 2nd, as I'm visiting family for Xmas and my girlfriend for New Years. I will still have my phone and computer, and so will be on Facebook and Twitter, as well as email, if anyone needs to get a hold of me. Expect a special Year in Review post around New Years; I love looking back on my projects for the year!

Tally ho!

Granesh 

11/12/13: Finished: Imperial Navy Vulture Gunship "Misty"

Howdy folks!

So its been a little bit in the making, but the Imperial Vulture is complete! The client had two specific requests; A) it needed to be armed with the twin-linked Punisher Cannons, and B) It had to be named 'Misty', after what the Punisher Cannons did to enemies! Granted, they're only 24" range, no AP, and BS3, but boy-howdy will this thing eat Tyranids, Guard, Orks, and Cultists for breakfast! Lets break her down, shall we?

The white base and decals makes this guy a pain in the butt to photograph by itself! I opted for a neutral grey color, complimented by the occasional red stripe or marking, and some waterslides to add flavor.

The '21' is from the FW Valkyrie Transfer sheet, and the 'Mortis' is from the IG Transfer sheet that comes from GW. 

Fun story: with the name 'Misty', I was going to opt for Pokemon-themed iconography; pin-ups, names for the Punisher Cannons, the like. I wasn't able to go with it for fear of messing something up, so this is the only homage on the piece. Misty's Starmie is level 21 when you fight her in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow! Whose school? Old school!

The engines were hit with heavy weathering to simulate constant service work on the battlefield. Navy vehicles often get inducted into regiments of Imperial Guard, who wouldn't have the time to make her sparkle.

I opted for a non-intricate base, just something simple. The glowing piece is from the Leman Russ kit, which I wanted to make look like, despite being destroyed, there was still plasma in the containment areas. 

"Cadian Baneblade 'Ol' Ironsides' moves into position under Navy support during Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade."

I love working on Forge World, nearly every commission and piece I've done of their pieces is a real treat. I'd love to do a Blight Drone or Blood Slaughterer someday! 

Alrighty! This week is looking a lot like cavalry-heavy Khador, though I may try to start on some other projects I've had sitting around. Finishing those Warp Talons a couple weeks ago really wants to make me rock out my Heldrake, but we'll see how time plays out!

Granesh 

11/5/13: Extra Life 2013; Alpha Legion and Terrain WIP

Hey guys!

So its finally come and gone! Extra Life 2013 was November 2nd and 3rd, and boy howdy, was it fun! Didn't get a lot of tabletop gaming in, but my thumb is still killing me from playing too much Super Smash Bros on the Wii! Not a lot of pictures, but I'll let them do most of the talking!

Sonic's my usual go-to character when I rock out Brawl. Good to have some actual challenges this time around! Played a little Sega Genesis too, but the Wii was our major focus. I did get a game of 40k in for the Badab War Campaign; I got my face stomped by the Raptors (damn you Lias Issoldon!)

My buddy's wife and her sister brought some snacks to keep us going all night. The Mario Mushrooms are made from Rice Krispies with a marshmellow bottom. Delicious!

RTGamer and the rest of the Fantasy guys got some Triumph and Treachery in, and seemed like they had a blast with it! Lots of laughing, yelling, and excitement was had! Their first game took forever, but I don't think they minded! I need to get my Vampire Counts up and running!

There was also some FIFA involved, a little Magic, lots of yelling, and a ton of fun! Overall, Durango Diceworks raised about $400 towards Extra Life and the Children's Miracle Network! Huzzah for the group, thanks to all my contributors and well-wishers for helping us towards our goals! I've got some bigger plans next year, we'll see how they culminate!

I've also jumped back into some projects, both personal and commissions. First off is a redo of my Chosen Champion. I wasn't happy with his color, so I scrapped the model entirely, and opted for a darker, greener tint. The glow effect on his backpack, chest and eyes is Moot Green dusted once dry with a lime green soft pastel. By taking your hobby knife and dragging it down the pastel, you can make your own powders; great for weathering, they help immensely with glow effects and tints. I may have a tutorial on it soon! 

And the commission! It consists of the Imperial Defense Emplacement here and two Defense Lines (4 sections). Gotta say, they paint up quickly and really nicely...until you get to the Cadians on the bases. They don't paint up quite as well, and the fact torsos and skulls just stretch on to oblivion just drives me nuts! Going to try to get 2 pieces done tonight and the rest done tomorrow, but we may just wait til Thursday. Depends on work tomorrow!

Alrighty! Back to work! Following the terrain, I'll be rocking out an Uhlan-heavy Khador group and an Imperial Vulture! Should be fun, so stay tuned!

Granesh

10/13/13: Smells Like Charity...Again! Extra Life 2013 and Charity Gaming Event

Hey guys!

Its been a busy two weeks! This post is going to have a little bit of painting showcase, but I really want to focus on the more important aspects this time; namely, more charity work!

Those of you might remember this time last year, Smells Like Wargaming participated in two charity events; Extra Life 2012, and the Breachside Benevolence Ball. Both were for great causes, and greatly helped out their respective groups. Lets break them down again, shall we?

With Extra Life 2012, myself, along with two other members of our gaming group, Durango Diceworks, raised over $800 for the Children's Miracle Network. We got in some 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, plenty of Magic, Xbox, X-Wing, and....*shudders*...Nitro Dice...

There may have been some...drinks involved...too...

For those of you unfamiliar with Extra Life, its a charity group involved with raising money for your local Children's Hospital by getting pledges to play games for 24 25 hours. Its for a great cause, and we all have a ton of fun gaming and raising money for the kids. Its all about the kids, ya'know!

This year, I'm hoping for an even greater turnout and results. You can't go wrong with raising that much money for charity, but hey, we've always gotta aim higher! For those of you interested, here's a link to my Extra Life page: Granesh's Extra Life Page 

The Extra Life page recommends a dollar an hour ($25), but anything works. My personal goal is $250, but I'm hoping that's a glass ceiling that we smash through! Honestly, any money raised for this group will make me happy!

Believe me though, I've got more going on than gaming for charity too. I'm always happy to donate my talents to these endeavours as well! Again, my good friend Magilla Gurilla came to me, asking if I could donate some vouchers for painting for his Charity Gaming Event, taking place in Southern California November 9th. I one upped him, as I like to do, and offered to paint up a Cygnar Battlegroup to be raffled off for charity. 

Again, for those of you who don't remember, I painted up a Seamus Crew and redid some models for a second crew (for some reason, I can't find pictures) for Malifaux; the two crews raised about $150 towards charity. Magilla approached me again, as I said, looking for some support, and I figured it'd be better if we had a set of models the bidders could see in the flesh. I opted for a Cygnar Battlegroup, as Warmachine seems to be bigger in their area than Malifaux at the moment. Pictures should begin next week of the progress, I'm very partial to that Colonel Striker model from that set...

Blue and Brass? I think that can be done!

Expect shots of this project over the next week and a half. I'll be out of town for Halloween, so we'll have to get it done in that timeframe. 

I apologize for the lack of updates, Facebook and Twitter seem to be a little easier for posting, especially WIP shots. I was working my butt off last week on High Elf stuff to get them ready for my client who was traveling with RTGamer and my boss to Feast of Blades. For those of you who haven't seen it, here's the freehand on the Dragon Prince's banner:

Alrighty! Got a game of Blood Bowl today (Don't lose too many skinks...) and I'm doing some work on my Warp Talons to relax, and monday, expect some Skaven and Cygnar goodness!

Granesh

9/28/13: Finished: Lots and Lots of Terrain!

Hey guys!

So here's what the last week of work has been leading to! I'm really happy with how all this terrain came out, but I'll let my pictures speak for me, as usual! Lets go!

The Shrine of the Aquila. Opted for a NMM-effect on the aquila, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 The base of the building is an overbrush from dark grey up to white. Everything is then sponged in a light silver to create chipping, then details were added.

 There is a lot of freehand all over the buildings, it really helps to add the urban feel to everything.

 

 

 Personally my favorite piece, the rust is FW weathering powders, and the billboard is the client's business card glued to a piece of plasticard, then a frame was built. Then I masked the picture, painted, and weathered it! Turned out perfectly!

 

  And the interior, lots of weathering powder on this guy, along with my standard freehand. This 'SLW' guy is everywhere!

 The Governor's quarters, the balcony adds a nice touch to the battlefield.

 

Spent some time to get those monitors looking sexy too!

 

 A broken Imperial Basilica, really digging the green with the bronze.

 

You again!

 

 Honored Imperium and Battlefield Accessories. Nothing too crazy, but all the Accessories have waterslides on them to add to the Imperial effect. Its little details like those that will really make your battlefield terrain.

 

More craters. Been there, done that!

 

 There's a set of three forests; first off is an Autumnal grove.

 

 Second is a summertime meadow.

 

 And lastly, a burnt out grove, perfect for Sylvania, the Chaos Wastes, and Armageddon alike!

 

 Added some extra leaves to the bases to make them look more natural.

 

 Look Ma, more freehand!

 

 Veterans of the Cadian 317th hold off cultists in a bombed-out Imperial city.

First time my IG have hit the table in a while!

 

 And High Elves face down the minions of Festus the Leechlord!

Whew! That's a lot of terrain! Like I said, incredibly happy with how it turned out, and the client was just as happy as well! Next up is some more terrain, a little Forge World, and more Elves! Here's a sneak peek at the next group:

 

May be a slow week on the painting front next week, but have no fear, the mojo is in full flow and I've got a lot of stuff coming up!

Granesh