The Blog is Dead; Long Live the Blog!

Four months without a post. Holy guacamole, not my best attempt over here!

For those of you interested, Smells Like Wargaming is doing fine; we're booked until the end of the year, and I'm already making plans for Adepticon 2017 and the Team Tournament. We aren't going anywhere. I just don't have time to update a blog like this anymore! Honestly, I should bite the bullet and get a real website going, and that's a goal for this year. For the foreseeable future though, please check us out on social media!

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SmellsLikeWargaming/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/SLWargaming

INSTAGRAM: @SmellsLikeWargaming

And, of course, for commission quotes:

EMAIL: SmellsLikeWargaming at hotmail dot com

See you all on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Branden
Smells Like Wargaming

1/19/16: Good Golly, I Forgot I have a Blog!

Howdy folks!

This is easily my worst period without a post over here! Those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram know that I haven't been away from the brush, but my blog here has suffered. My computer crapped out on me late last year and I haven't been a fan of Blogspot on my phone, so the blog here has suffered!

I'm hoping to fix that this year, though I've been bad about it for the first 3 weeks of 2016! Here's a look at some of our latest projects before I neglected the blog!

A Saim-Hann group that'd make even the Bonesingers of Iyanden jealous!

Taking a stroll into the Horus Heresy with a Death Guard Praetor, his bodyguard, and their ride!

The start to my Adepticon Combat Patrol army. Only 17 models total, but its nice to play with some new techniques! All the bases are scratchbuilt as well!

Running a test scheme for a future for sale project of Space Marines. Despite the colors, I'm really enjoying them, and they should be very eye catching when done! Hoping for a full Battle Company!

Necron Deathmarks sneak up on Astartes Librarians! Part of a huge mish-mash commission completed in November!

And our most recent commission, consisting of 3 Crimson Hunters, 2 Warp Hunters, and 2 Hornets, all done in a variant Iyanden scheme. Client loved the flame effect on the Warlord Titan, so we opted to do it across all these vehicles! 

I'm hoping to keep up better on the blog, at least 2 posts a week, but in case I slip, you can follow us on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and Instagram (@SmellsLikeWargaming) and keep up with all our projects! I'm currently booked through July with some amazing projects coming up, as well as a trip to Adepticon in March, so its going to be a busy year!

Granesh

10/28/15: Showcase: White Scars Army Part Two

"Surround yourself with the greatest warriors at your command, or cower in the deepest and darkest hole you can find. It matters not. I shall take your head for the Great Khan and for the Emperor." -Kor'sarro Khan

Another White Scars commission down and dusted! This is wave two for a commission I completed earlier this year, and total I've done almost 6k points of White Scars in 2015! 

The army all together! 

A command Squad on foot

Can't go wrong with a squad of Scimitar Jetbikes! All their weapons are magnetized as well!

The Reclusiam Chaplain and a Rune Priest on bike! Absolutely love that Chaplain model, wish they'd release it in a clampack!

And who doesn't love a Librarius Conclave on bike?! Plenty of kitbashing here, and I opted for various force weapons for added versatility!

The first three Razorbacks! The Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer turrets are from a 3rd Party company whose name escapes me at the moment!

The other three Razorbacks!

Razorbacks aren't your thing? Deploy in a stylish Drop Pod! As finicky as these kits are, I absolutely love how they look all finished!

A Stormraven duo! All weapons are magnetized as swappable as well!

And a duo of Land Speeder Storms! I tried to keep the iconography and marking style consistent across both types of flying models, as it keeps them looking cohesive!

We changed up the crew in the second one, and I did a little digging in my bits box for some variant looks! 

2 Combat Squads of Tactical Marines, perfect for extra models in a unit or getting to your Demi-Company!

The first squad of Scouts; these were converted from the Land Speeder Storm passengers and some spare pieces I had in my bits box!

And sniper scouts! I opted for a dirty, dingy look for them to make them look like they've been out in the field for quite some time!

Grav-Cannon Devastator Squad!

Multi-Melta Devastator Squad!

Lascannon Devastator Squad!

Even the White Scars need an Ironclad now and again! Such a lovely model!

White Scars techmarine with servitors!

And lastly, 5 White Scars marines; these were done as a Hurricane Bolter replacement for a conversion the client is doing, hence why the squad is angled downward!

Despite all this white, I had a blast working on this commission! I love seeing a giant project like this come together, its one reason I love my job! Time to catch up on some sleep though, I've been burning the candle at both ends and its starting to catch up with me!

Next up is a couple quick vehicle commissions, followed by Necrons, Lizardmen, Execution Force, and Tau! Some personal projects in the pipeline as well, so stay tuned!

Granesh

10/20/15: Showcase: Bones Weapon Lockers Studio Terrain

Look, I don't need to tell you the Reaper Bones line is amazing. "Reaper's entire line in plastic AND cheap?! Count me in!" While putting around the FLGS, I noticed that they'd turned some of their terrain pieces into plastic as well. Seeing that said piece was only $3, I immediately picked it up, got home, and ordered two more! 

These paint up super quick, and work great for any game, from 40k to Warmachine, Malifaux, and Infinity! 

As you can see, they're big enough to hide a couple models behind, and stacking them creates a great defensive wall!

And the finished product! They were basecoated silver, washed, and allowed to dry. Once dry, a thin coat of hairspray was applied to the boxes. Once that was dry, they were airbrushed with their chosen color. I opted for primary colors for simplicity. Once the paint dried, some warm water was applied and the hairspray was rubbed off using a stiff-bristled brush. The water activates the hairspray, causing it and the paint to wash away. Once dry, a little sponging was done along the edges, they were matte varnished,  and stencils were applied using the same hairspray technique.

White Scars Jetbikes cruise past an ammo dump in pursuit of their quarry! 

I'm a sucker for scatter terrain, especially since I like to take my cinematic pictures like the one above. One of my goals for the studio is a Zone Mortalis table, so I'll definitely be picking more of these up! As you can see from the final picture there, our White Scars commission is way on its way; at the moment, we've got 2 Stormtalon, 6 Razorbacks, 3 Drop Pods, a Techmarine, an Ironclad Dreadnought, and the bikers here completed. There's still 50 infantry, as well as some bikers and some other odds and ends. Will be done Tuesday, so my work is cut out for me!

Granesh

10/14/15: Showcase: SLW's Studio Renegade Guard Army WIP

"This day, we dedicate our lives to the masters.

This day, we dedicate our deaths to their cause.

This day, we dedicate our souls to the eternal glory of the abyss.

This day, we rise!"

-Mariak Soth, Invokator of the Cult of the Exquisite Corpse

Greetings warriors of the abyss! After selling my personal Imperial Fists army, I knew I had to jump into a project I'd been dying to work on for years and years! I've always been a fan of the Imperial Guard. Lots of tanks, massed infantry, the order system, everything just had a narrative feel to it. I'm a total sucker for the Gaunt's Ghosts books for that reason! My first army was Imperial Guard, and I knew it was time to redo that army with the skills and tricks I've acquired over the last five years of painting. This time, though, they took on a darker side....

The Renegade Command Squad, led by the brutal tyrant Ornifex Zaan, on left. Not shown is the standard bearer, who still needs to get his standard painted!

Doubling as either a Company Commander or an Arch-Demagogue, Zaan here is a brutal looking miniature, and reminds me a lot of the ghouls from Fallout! His adjunctant is the limited edition Warlord Princeps from Forge World, and is used as a Regimental Advisor. I also have the limited edition Navigator to work as an Astropath.

The Rogue Psyker Tru'ul; I opted for a sickly, pallid flesh tone to really give him a corpse-like look. Even the decapitated psyker head at his belt looks more lively than he does! He works as a Rogue Psyker or a Primaris Psyker, depending on the ruleset.

Last time I did Guard, there were no plastic Ogryn! If you're not running ogryn, you're missing out on a fun, hard-hitting unit! I also have another box that will become standard Ogryn, and both units will get a Taurox to ride around in.

The big centerpiece unit for the army is a renegade Malcador! While I love the model, its actually smaller than I expected, and I question its Superheavy status! Opted for 3 Lascannons and the Battle Cannon for extra armor destroying goodness!

Plenty of heretical runes and glyphs adorn the tank!

'Hail Zaan and his glorious new regime!"

The renegade brass etch is wonderful, and really adds that extra detail to the tanks. The Malcador comes with both Imperial and Renegade crew, and I'm sure the Imperial one will end up in a commission project very soon!

Side shot of the command chimera. Lots of weathering, lots of dust and grit. When the army's done I'll show off more angles.

Side shot of the Platoon command's chimera.

The first Taurox; while I can't run them in the Renegades list in IA13, these are great little transports for Veterans and Ogryn in the standard codex!

And what would a Guard army be without some Leman Russ! I have a second one that required a lot of cleanup and conversion work, and the goal overall is to add a third armed with a Demolisher Cannon!

On the workbench I've got 30 Infantry, as well as some heavy weapons teams, 30 Veterans (I'll be using renegade Death Korps for them) as well as some enforcers and a Platoon command. I'm booked until mid 2016 though, so we'll see when the next update on them is!

Granesh

10/12/15: Showcase: Ultramarines Suzerain and Thud Guns Commission

Howdy folks!

Its been a full week since I got back from my mini-vacation, and I've already been nose-deep in painting projects! This commission is an add-on to Guilliman and a set of vehicles I've completed over the course of the year!

The gang's all here!

The first chunk is a 10 man Suzerain squad. Client wanted 2 Thunderhammers, as well as a banner to go with the squad. These guys are going to be scary rolling out of their transport alongside the primarch!

A simple freehand banner, based on the 40k Ultramarines 2nd Company one. The basic shapes were drawn in with a Micron pen, then it was all colored in from there!

Three Thud Mortars; these models would make great alternative Thunderfire Cannons as well!

Ultramarines artillery rain death down upon the lines of traitor Militarum! For the 500 Worlds!

This is a super busy month guys! Lots of White Scars due towards the end of the month, and a couple of one-off fun projects to keep my brain from melting under all that white!

Stay tuned!

Granesh

10/5/15: Showcase: Halflings and Orcs Blood Bowl Teams

Hey folks!

Phew! I'm caught up! Holy guacamole! And this last one is a doozy! 

This commission consisted of two separate teams; a Halfling team, consisting of GW halflings and Willy Miniatures Treemen, and an Orc team, all pewter, and all very stylish! Lets go through each team individually!

The Halflings, consisting of 2 Treemen, Deeproot Strongbranch, a Halfling Griff Oberwald, and enough halflings to darken the skies over the pitch! Griff didn't photograph very well, but the client wanted him to resemble Griff by adding a chicken to his helmet, rather than the eagle the old model has!

The other team here is one near and dear to my heart! I learned Blood Bowl with an orc team, so I was excited to work on another one! The team, Goldtoof's Fancy Ladz, got their choice of colors and warpaint after rampaging through a Bretonnian brothel while playing a pickup game! The team consists of a troll, a thrower, 4 Black Orcs, 4 Blitzers, and a handful of linemen for backup!

I really miss playing the tabletop game, I should find a league nearby and get my Sarcos team painted! We'd love to get your team tabletop ready too! Drop us an email at SmellsLikeWargaming at Hotmail dot com and we'll get you a team that'd make Nuffel proud!

Granesh