Games Expo mini haul...

Sam and Emma getting their own armies ready

Sam building his Meganobs, Emma painting her Necrons.  They're very jolly Necrons, with complicated back-stories involving school friends, arguments over who is better, unlikely friendships and many other things I never realised Necrons would care about.

Converting Wraithlords

Some WIP shots of the wraithlod custimisations.

Progress! Sort of.

So, the last post was September, which coincided with a new job in a new school in a rearranged faculty, all of which was announced with very little notice. So I've been busy.

Also, Fallout happened, so there was another option to lure me away, and one that was neat, tidy and has a "save game" feature that I wish modelling had.

But I'm back into it.  Probably gone a little mad upon return, to be honest.

• I've bought a bunch of Dark Eldar because I have an idea for a few diorama involving a techno-Victorian (more Gothic than steampunk) planet with a small, cut-off DE band that is partially naturalised and become the horrors of the night for the population. Hulking Talos in the shadows, Scourges flitting across ramshackle rooftops in the dusk, mysterious figure with a cape, top-hat and the most vicious knives and scalpels you've ever seen.
• I bought the Imperial Knights: Renegade box.  From Element Games, it was £100. That's two knights and some buildings, so £45 per knight and £10 for buildings, say?  If they can sell them at this price, why is everything else so expensive?
• I had a Wraithknight, Wraithseer and Skitarii start-collecting box for my birthday.  
• I've bought a bunch of reaper bones minis, some wasteland 70mm resin figures, Oathsworn metal minis and one from Relic, all from the UK Games Expo.
• Finally, +Daniel Goldsmith gave me a bunch of old metal wraithlords (from when they were called Eldar dreadnoughts) that are now all stripped and started to get customised using the pile of bits I have, along with two plastic wraithlords. When I'm done, I think I'll have 10 wraithlords, each unique in pose and load-out.

So, I might not have done much painting, but I now have at least a year's worth ahead of me and plans for them all.

Keeping things tidy

New brush stand!  Woo!

That's all I have to say about that.

KUM Brushes

I've mentioned before about my fetish for the Cult Pens website.  This time I found they were selling a range of brushes from KUM, a stationery manufacturer I've always liked.  The brushes are claimed to be special because they hold their shape and are able to keep a point even when old, wet and abused.

I bought a size 1, 0 and 00.

The points are nice and sharp.

I've used them a little so far and I'm really impressed. Only a few quid per brush and 3 for 2 on my favourite site helps, of course, but I really like using them.  The other brushes I use are army painter, W&N series 7 (such a god deal - £1, £2 and £3 from the bargain bin at HobbyCraft, still in the plastic tubes and with the tip protectors) and the WAMP brushes from the recent kickstarter, and I have to say these are up there and holding their own so far.

3D Printing

As a bit of an experiment, I've printed a piece of terrain I found on thingiverse. It's very Eldar.

I wanted to see how easy it would be to get it looking decent for the tabletop.

Here's the raw finish...

The material is translucent, which makes it harder to judge the quality without feeling it.  The vertical stripes are from the light coming through the material and aren't apparent in the surface texture.  What is affecting the surface is the layering of material, leading to a definite grain.

I've never tried liquid greenstuff, but I imagine it has similar applications to squadron putty, which is what I used.  This stuff is a bit noxious, but I really like working with it.  You can spatula it on thick, shape it, or pour lots of acetone on it and brush it on the model.  Or, as in this case, both. I made a thinish paste of it and brushed it on, then went over with a brush dipped in acetone to smooth it off a little. Here's my little dish of acetone and one of putty.  The acetone in the bottle comes from a larger one. It's actually Poundland nail-polish remover.

And here it is on the piece...

Once dry, I rubbed it all down with emery boards (Poundland again) and in the curves I used a piece of sanding paper wrapped around a paint bottle.

It looks nice and smooth, but I'll prime it soon and see.