11/19/14: Finished: House Raven/Legio Metalica Add-On Commission

Howdy folks!

It's been a busy week! This time, we've got a couple of Knight Titans and some additional Warhound arms! For those of you who don't know, this is an add-on to a series of commissions I completed in May and in August. I've included pictures of these commissions at the end! Anyways, you're here for pictures! So....

The Questoris Knight Magaera was a ton of fun to work on and is easily my favorite model in the group!

Keeping with the Three Musketeers theme across them! Thank you Sparknotes!

The Flamer on the Achaeron is a monster! I opted for more hazard stripes and more black on the base and soot weathering to make him look like he's been doing some BBQing!

'A Champion on Armageddon, Planchet regularly accompanied clean-up squads and cityfighting. His kill-banner records the death of two Stompas, Gaze of Gork and Da Krumper, as well as quintet of Morkanauts and Gorkanauts.'

More Warhound arms! The client now has 2 Plasma Blastguns, 2 Turbo Laser Destructors, a Vulkan Megabolter, and the Inferno Cannon! 

And, to put everything in context, here's the rest of his army!

I believe this puts the Smells Like Knight Titans counter over 20 now! Like our work? Have a Knight (or anything for that matter) that needs some painting TLC? Drop us an email at SmellsLikeWargaming at Hotmail dot com, and we'll get you on your way!

Next up is an army of Tempestus Scions, as well as another Primarch! 

Stay tuned!

Granesh

6/12/14: Finished: Legio Ursas Alaska-themed Warhound Titan

Howdy folks!

This last month has been a lot of fun, getting to play with all these Forge World super heavy titans! As soon as I wrapped up the first Warhound, I got another commission to do a second! This one was open to my artistic interpretation, so I played around with some schemes and colors, until I realized my client was from Alaska. This is a model his entire group is going to use, so I figured I'd do something personal yet generic, if that makes sense! The client also wants a little fluff, so....

++Accessing files++
++Mechanicus Forge Worlds++
...Ursas...Accessing
++Location: Ultima Segmentus
++Sector: Nephilim Sector
++Designation: Forge World

     Ursas was founded towards the end of the Age of Terra, and was populated by a mix of colonial settlers and Martian technosavants. Ursas revolves slowly around a dying red giant, and thus most of the planet is tundra-lands, glacial moraines, and large boreal forests. The colonists soon discovered the planet was rich in metallic elements, and the glacial icecaps and tundra plains allowed for a quick growth in population and a flourishing trading economy. By the end of the Age of Technology, numerous Xenos invasions and pirate attacks had turned the planet into a technological bastion in the region, their abundant mineral and financial wealth supplying themselves and the surrounding planets with advanced weapons, armor, and wargear. When the Great Crusade arrived, the Priests of Mars were pleased to find a technological haven on Ursas, and quickly set to work to improve their new Forge World. Numerous flamer and melta STCs were recovered from the planet, and soon Ursas became a Forge World to rival even Gryphonne IV or Stygis. Recently, advances from the Tau Empire; namely the cadres of the renegade Farsight, has drawn the forces of Ursas back to their home system. Raids from Chaos pirate fleets and tendrils from Hive Fleet Leviathan have also continued to keep their forces nearby. 

Forge World Ursas draws its heraldry from two sources. When colonists landed on Ursas, they encountered lots of wildlife, but none as dangerous as the large black bears that inhabited the boreal forests that veined across the landscape. Although many were eradicated in the ensuing conquest, many were taken in as pets and aides for physical labor. With the arrival of the Mechanicus, the bears were given bionic limbs and cybernetic implants to strengthen and fortify their already monstrous physique. The heraldry of Ursas reflects that. The other side, an ancient Terran constellation, represents the guidance and aide that Ursas gave to her allies throughout her history, much as the constellation helped Terran settlers, both on Terra and throughout the galaxy.

Presented here is Arctos, a Mars Class Warhound Titan, during the Azulian Crusade. The Crusade halted the advance of Farsight Enclave forces into Ursan space.

The model is being shipped in pieces, though the guns are magnetized and the carapace removes to reveal the crew inside!

I wanted to do white and another color on this titan to reflect the snow base I was aiming for. Seeing as my client is from Alaska, I opted for blue and yellow to compliment it. The Big Dipper and North Star are the imagery on their State Flag, so its repeated several times across the model.

The yellow bands also allowed for some freehanding of the name.

The carapace was sprayed white. Then the yellow was applied. That was masked, then sprayed blue. Once dry, I went back into the yellow and chipped it with both brush and sponge weathering. It really adds detail to these sections of the model!

The erect bear heraldry of Forge World Ursas, backed by a golden sun. I added the bionics to keep the grimdark going on the model, and the purity seals add some extra detail!

The plasma blastgun is magnetized for future weapons, and the glow effect really gives that dangerous look we all know and love for plasma!

I also continued the glow onto the Vulkan Mega Bolter to show the reactors needed to power such a rapid-fire weapon!

The base features a wrecked Farsight Enclaves Devilfish, complete with freehanding on the top hatch showing Tau Propaganda. You can also see the two drones hovering around the titan's ankles, trying to defend their care to no avail. The drones also come off their flight stands for transport, storage, or for whenever my client decides to start Tau!

The Carapace, as stated, still comes off to reveal the crew on the inside. I continued the glow effect off the monitors onto the servitors.

Princeps Seward and his crew in all their glory!

Whew! I can't wait to do another Warhound Titan! Warhound Titan commissions are running $650 with scenic base, freehand, and all the extra parts I like to add to these titanic models, so if you're looking to get yours built and painted, now's the time to do so!

Next up are Necrons, Daemons, and terrain! 

Stay tuned!

Granesh

5/28/14: ROADTRIP! Finished: Good Games WHFB Table #1

Hey folks!

I know I promised this post yesterday, but I had a lot of unexpected stuff come up yesterday and, alas, I was unable to post. I'm pleased to report, though, that my car is now running in tiptop shape after making some strange noises coming back from Farmington! I also had to set up my new phone and get some supplies for the airbrush, along with some other errands. But I digress!

This terrain set is the first of five WHFB-themed tables for Good Games; you all might remember the 40k tables I did for them over the last year or so. The next four are going to feature scratchbuilt terrain heavily, which should be a lot of fun! This table had deadline written all over it though. They got to me late, shipping took a while, which left me about 3 days to try and get this table finished around other commissions. I threw on my Sonic shoes and got to work!

The table has a Garden of Morr theme; lots of dead trees, fences, mausoleums, and a foreboding wizard's tower, perfect for the Watchtower scenario.

The ghostly oxidized copper color is Nihlakh Oxide sprayed with an airbrush.

Who doesn't love trees?!

You thought 40k buildings had a lot of skulls? Think again!

This kit is really nice but, like GW's other circular towers, just doesn't go together very well! 

My favorite pieces are the hobbit hole hills. A combo of hill and building, I wish I'd had more time to spend on these; time constraints suck sometimes! The doors are two doors from the Fortress gatehouse trimmed and glued together, the bits are from the Garden of Morr kit, and the window is an old 25mm base!

I also dropped off the Legio Titanicus commission to my client! He was very happy, as you can see!

And they look great on any table!

Alrighty! Next up is more terrain, another Warhound Titan, some necrons, and some Daemons! I've also been working on my own stuff recently, I'll try and get a post up tomorrow of some speed-painted cultists!

Stay tuned!

Granesh

5/21/14: Finished: Legio Metalica/House Raven Titanicus Army

Howdy folks!

As you can see, I've been busy! Under three weeks to finish a commission like this is pretty good, methinks! I had a lot of fun working on an army like this. The commission, in total, was:

• 3 Imperial Knight Titans, done in House Raven scheme with magnetized guns
• 1 Warhound Titan, done in Legio Metalica Heraldry, with a Plasma Blastgun, Vulkan Megabolter, and 2 Turbo Laser Destructors

We opted for an urban theme on the bases; a mix of the Garden of Morr kit and the old Urban Barricades created this feel perfectly, some static grass, dusted black, added to the cemetery feel. Enough chitter chatter, more matter!

To add more character, the Knights were named after the Three Musketeers!

'Aramis' with Battle Cannon, above, and with Thermal Cannon below.

Love the decals on these kits, they add so much flavor and work so well!

'Athos'; he's the Seneschal of the group, hence the different helmet and larger striped carapace.

And 'Porthos', I opted to use checkers on the shoulderpads to add flavor.

And the big boy himself, 'Erasmus'. I had a ton of fun assembling and painting this beast; this is easily my favorite 40k model I've ever had the pleasure of doing! Shown here with the Plasma Blastgun and Vulkan Mega Bolter!

The Blastgun was done with a mix of airbrush work, washes, and, of course, some brushwork!

And a shot for scale next to some cultists!

You heretics probably want to run now...

Lots of open spaces allowed for a lot of freehand work and other little details. Here I added a freehand scroll with 'Erasmus'....

...while the right shinguard got an entire Legio Metalica emblem emblazoned on it! Legio Metalica translates to 'Iron Skulls' in Low Gothic, so I took the existing emblem and updated it!

The emblem was also repeated on the back carapace!

The other shinguard got a marbled eagle across it, again with 'Erasmus' written across the scrollwork.

The pilot, Princeps Dumas, has been fully painted, and the head carapace removes to show the entire interior. The crew was quickly painted, then airbrushed blue to show the extreme glow coming from the controls. 

Same thing with the servitors in the back, they were painted, then sprayed blue to give a glow effect.

Purity seals, purity seals, and hey! More purity seals!

The largest building in the Garden of Morr kit, a crypt, made the perfect embellishment to his base, as not only does it look good, but it makes him look even bigger!

I realized I forgot to get a picture of him with the Turbo Laser Destructors, so I'll get that up in a future post! While I'm sad to see this commission go, I've got another Warhound commission coming in soon, which will be a lot of fun!

Next up is terrain, terrain, and more terrain, along with the Obsidian Knight, and some daemons! Stay tuned!

Granesh