6/24/15: Showcase: Imperial Fists Deimos Pattern Predator

Howdy folks!

Sorry for the lack of posts, I got a wonderful summer illness that threw a whole bunch of delays in my plans! I'm also working on a set of blood Bowl teams at the moment, but I figured I'd break them up with a mini project! A buddy of mine picked it up for me to paint as part of a trade we did. I always love working on some Forge World vehicles, so I happily obliged!

All weapon options are magnetized, from the heavy bolter/Lascannon sponsons, to the 4 turret choices. I personally love the look of the Plasma Executioner, couple it with 2 Lascannon shots and you've got overkill written all over it! The hatch also comes off to allow for Sergeant Chronus, who I'll be wrapping up for the tank in a bit! Such a lovely kit, even if Predators are hard to justify these days! The last picture shoes it's current state, which is immolating cultists in the fury of a dying sun! 

As I said next up is two Blood Bowl teams, I'm very excited to show these off! After that is Drop Pods, Iron Hands, and Infinity! OH MY!

Granesh

6/17/15: Showcase: Dark Eldar Grotesques Commission

Howdy folks!

Super late night post! Our latest commission was a very interesting one; 16 grotesques converted from Island of Blood Rat Ogres! Client wanted a very standard scheme with red rather than the blue green you normally see, resin bases done to look like toxic sludge, and some extra detail on the sergeants.

There's lots of little details in this army, from warpstone chunks and infected skin, to blood and sinew effects and even tattoos! The Sergeants also have trophies from the client's most common opponents; orks, tau, and space wolves.

Glad to have them finished! Next up is a couple Blood Bowl teams and some Drop Pods! Also, I keep forgetting to post up pictures of my current personal army, so expect shots of that soon!

Granesh

3/16/15: #MiniatureMonday One

Howdy folks!

Today is the first part of a new weekly series called #miniaturemonday, since I'm all over the social medias, why not bring that enthusiasm to the blog! Also posting from the phone, so we'll see what that does to the picture placement!

This #MiniatureMonday, we've got three projects to show off! First is the new Plastic Bloodthirster getting the ol' Smells Like Wargaming treatment! Love the model, so glad it got an update! The sinew on the axe needs a little touch up, and obviously he's missing his whip, but he should be done and for sale by the end of the week!

Secondly is the White Scars commission I've been working on here in the studio. Slow and steady with the white, I still have to finish the crew in the Storm, as well as complete three centurions, a Bike command squad, and the Space Marine captain to go with it all. Goal is to be done Friday with that, the client also commissioned a Knight, be I'm still waiting on some info before I get started!

Last, but not least, is the newest toy for my Imperial Fists, a bouncing bad ass Storm Eagle! I got this in a trade cheap from a buddy who'd gotten it on eBay, and boy oh boy, was it in bad shape! Some Smells Like Wargaming magic, and it's ripping and rearing to go! I included the picture of how lopsidedly built it was when I got it!

Still have a very busy week ahead, bit expect to see all these guys finished very soon ď

Thanks folks!
Granesh

3/10/15: Results of Genghis Con 2015 Painting Competition!

Howdy folks!

Haven't had a chance to post about this yet, had a lot going on! For those of you who don't know what Genghis Con is, its a local gaming convention here in Aurora, CO. I've been going for the painting competition for the last three years now, and I'm always happy with how its goes. The competition is run by the Colorado Miniatures Painting Alliance, which has a couple of Golden Daemon winners and some exceptional painters in it, so I'm always flattered to walk away with an award...or in this case...four!

Enough jibber jabber, you guys want pictures!

First up is my Nurgle Blight Drone. Part of my winning Armies on Parade army, I entered this on a whim, and wasn't expecting it to do anything.

He ended up winning a 3rd Place in vehicle/ordinance! I'll take it!

Next up was my deathstar unit for my Imperial Fists, consisting of Lysander, a Librarian, and six Assault Terminators. I tossed them on a wooden plinth and used magnets to hold them in place. 

I was very confident these guys would do well, and lo and behold, they did! This is my first 1st Place award at Genghis Con, so I was very pleased!

My final entry was a House Hawkshroud Knight Titan; I was very pleased with how he turned out, and knew he'd do well this year as well!

The pilot is an old Imperial Guard model, and the bird is from the Garden of Morr kit. I opted for red (the scheme is based on a Cardinal) to make your eye jump instantly to the scene, then pan down the rest of the model.

Please ignore the tilted Thermal Cannon, its magnetized....but he walked away with a 1st Place award as well!

Not only that, but he also won 2nd Runner Up, beat out by two very nicely done single miniatures! I'm ecstatic with this turnout, as all my Knights are done to the same quality and paintscheme as he is, and he was 2 models away from winning a trip to the Crystal Brush at Adepticon! 

Definitely a fruitful endeavour this year! This is also the second year everything I entered walked away with an award, which I couldn't be happier with! 

No time to rest on my laurels though! Commissions haven't slowed down in the slightest, and I'm currently working on an add-on to a White Scars army, as well as wrapping up my personal Imperial Fists army. Here's a teaser of the Imperial Fists; once they're done, I'll be sure to do a post on them!

Stay tuned!

Granesh

1/17/15: Finished: Imperial Fists Tarantula Turret Sentry

Hey folks!

Like a lot of you, I love Forge World models. I've done everything from basic infantry to Titans, and its always a lot of fun to work on. I especially love the models you don't see very often! A couple weeks ago, I had to order a transfer sheet from FW for an upcoming commission, and as I had a little extra spending money, I decided to pick up something small for my Imperial Fists. Obviously, I decided on the Tarantula!

I'd never seen one in person, so I was a little surprised when it arrived! 

You get the base, then the...wait...Space Marine Razorback turret? I'd never paid enough attention to those, but its simply the turret added to a base!

Washed, assembled, based, and sprayed. For my yellows, I prime black, then airbrush the lower areas of the model with brown. Once dry, I spray white. Lastly, I spray the yellow, which coats well thanks to the white, and shades thanks to the brown. I use a lot of weathering powders for shading and effects, so the model got 3 or 4 coats of varnish.

And the completed model! About an hour from start to finish, this piece was incredibly fun to work on! Though the rules aren't amazing for normal 40k, I'd gladly run these in smaller games or even Zone Mortalis!

I'll have to get pictures of the Fists here soon, I'm starting to wrap them up, though there's still plenty of models I want to get for them!

Next up are more Imperial Knights, some Eagle Warriors, and a hodgepodge of other models!

Stay tuned!

Granesh

10/3/14: Finished: Imperial Fists Pre-Heresy Felblade

Hey folks!

Next up on catching up on blogposts is a giant yellow tank! Client has a Pre-Heresy Imperial Fists army *drools* and wanted his Felblade done up as a centerpiece for it! We did some talking, and he wanted to break up the yellow, yet still keep it recognizable as an Imperial Fists vehicle. Enter weathering powders!

The beast in all her glory! I started by priming the model black, the spraying it brown, then dusting with white and grey. Black areas were masked off, then weathered with the rest of it. 

I used a combination of dark brown, light brown, grey, orange, and black weathering powders on it, working mostly into crevices and front edges to show weathering and dirt coverage. Several coats of varnish were applied to keep the powder on the model. 

The Fist is some leftover Brass etching I got from a commission a LONG time ago. You can also see, through the dust, the name 'Hammer of Dorn'. I tried to imitate the scrimshaw that the Imperial Fists become known for. 

The decals are from the Baneblade transfer sheet and the blocky, Bauhaus-style font really works for the Imperial Fists. 

I had a ton of fun with this model, I may have to do another one in the future sometime! Just need to find a Marine chapter I want to work on for a bit! Iron Hands? Crimson Fists? Rainbow Warriors? Oh help us!

Working on yet another Knight Titan at the moment, still waiting on the Reaver to fully arrive. Should be really interesting, I love huge Forge World models! Still need to show off the Nurgle Daemons too! Man, I really am behind!

Granesh

9/9/12: Finished: Imperial Fists Wave Three

Hey guys!

Kept meaning to post this up yesterday, but with Magic Celebration at work all day, I was pretty well pooped afterwards.

Anyways, the final group of Imperial Fists consisted of:

• 10 Sternguard
• 5 Assault Terminators
• Land Speeder
• 2 Forge World Dreadnought Arms

I’m really happy with the Terminators, they just turned out exactly as I wanted them to!





Needless to say, I’m very glad to be finished with this commission. Yellow is always a difficult color, especially when you have to keep to a set time schedule to make them profitable. I know I could spend 3 or more hours on an Imperial Fists Tactical Marine if I really wanted to.

Whew! Alrighty, next up is some Ogres I need to finish, along with an Imperial Strongpoint and my own Dark Vengeance set! Here’s a sneak peak at my first Cultist!



Only 19 more to go!

Granesh

7/18/12: Completed: Imperial Fists Motorpool

Hey guys!

So I’ve been busy rolling through some bright yellow tanks the last week and a half!



The completed motorpool is, obviously, a Vindicator, 3 Rhinos, and, my favorite, 2 Predators. Don’t see enough Predators these days, but with the ability to move and shoot, I think you’ll start to see them more often on the table, especially with Codex Marines and Chaos Marines.



The Rhinos are all marked differently, and are numbered as to prevent confusion later on the tabletop.



I opted for black turrets on the Predators to break up the huge patches of yellow on the tanks. Again, these are numbered as well.



Lastly is a Vindicator. The chevrons were painted by hand with no tape, amazingly. Basic highlighting and some dusting helped it look more natural (and like a siege shield!).

The biggest trick I’ve found with Imperial Fists is breaking up the huge patches of yellow. Weathering helps a lot, as well as black panels and rivets. Unless you want pure yellow Imperial Fists, black and red are your best friends while working on them.

Alrighty, I’ve got 10 Sternguard and 5 Assault Terminators to do to complete the commission. Along with that, there’s some more Malifaux and various other pieces.

Keeping busy!

Granesh

5/23/12: Finished: Donny’s Imperial Fists Army

Hey guys,

Man I’m so glad to be done with this army, and damn does it look good all together! I’m not super happy with having to wash the yellow, but it looks good overall!
To start, the commission consisted of the Space Marine Megaforce, along with some additional pieces the client requested. So we’re looking at:

• 1 Fully Magnetized Space Marine Commander
• 1 25th Anniversary Space Marine model
• 1 SM Command Squad
• 2 Tactical Squads with Magnetized Special Weapons
• 5 Scouts
• Land Speeder Storm
• Land Speeder
• Attack Bike
• 4 Bikers with Sergeant
• Chaplain on Bike (never thought I’d do this model!)
• Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer
• 2 Drop Pods
• 2 Fully Magnetized Dreadnoughts; 1 Venerable 1 Regular

I think that’s it. The next group is going to be 2 Vindicators, 2 Rhinos, 5 Terminators and 5 Sternguard, which should be a nice addition to the force! Alrighty, what everyone’s looking forward to: Pictures! There’s over 30 of them!





First Tactical Squad



Second Tactical Squad; both have magnetized Special Weapons, you can see the magnets in their hands!



5 Scouts and a Land Speeder Storm.







A regular Land Speeder. I gave it an extra Missile Launcher, and the Heavy Flamer is an old Baneblade sponson flamer affixed to the bottom. The model was one of the set that was already put together and in rough shape.



Land Raider Crusader and Redeemer; hooray for magnets! The assault ramp is glued shut. The Forge World Land Raider doors are really nice and add to the model as a whole.





Lots of scripting, I feel it adds to feel of the Imperial Fists.





The brass etching is really nice too!



The bikers were the other pieces that came in in rough shape, but with a little time and care, they really came together nicely. I also got to do the Chaplain on Bike, a model I never thought I’d be able to do!





The Command Squad: Apothecary, Company Champion, Standard with Thunder Hammer, a Power Fist, and a Combi-Flamer.



A fully magnetized SM Captain:

Combi-Melta and Power Fist



Storm Bolter and Power Weapon



Combi-Plasma and Chainsword



Plasma Pistol and Lightning Claw



Bolt Pistol and Lightning Claw



There’s also another Captain with this group in the form of the 25th Anniversary Marine!



Yep, he’s magnetized. So he can be on a 25mm base, or his ornate diorama base!





2 Drop Pods; the Storm Bolter and Deathwind Missile Launcher are magnetized!





Drop Pod #2:





And the dual Dreadnoughts Romulus and Remus!





The Regular Dreadnought was assembled when I received it, so I couldn’t do it on the regular CC arm, but the Storm Bolter and Heavy Flamer on the Venerable Dreadnought arm is magnetized.
And, because I can, some pictures in terrain and set up!











Whew! That’s a lot of pictures! Anyways, I’m glad to be done with the Fists, and I can’t wait for the next group! Next up: High Elves, Zhufor, and Dark Eldar!

Granesh