Grim Hammers wip

I have started work on a set of dwarf ‘Grim Hammers’ from The Hobbit. I have used a couple of short cuts on these models and they have been very quick to paint, just a couple of sessions to get them to their current stage. Firstly, I undercoated the models using Tamiya light gun metal spray. I did this over a black undercoat as my tests found that this gives a better finish than applying it over bare plastic (although you can spray directly onto the plastic but you will need a couple of coats). I then washed the models with Nuln Oil and left them to dry thoroughly. Once dry I gave them a quick drybrush with Necron Compound and then blocked in the basic colours for the non-metal areas. I just need to apply a few highlights now and they’ll be done.

Dreadfleet

 

Recently I have turned my attention back to Dreadfleet. I bought this set a couple of years ago when it was first released and the models are simply too nice to sit around in a box unpainted. The models themselves are superb but they are quite fiddly to paint as they often need to be painted in several sub-assemblies before being glued together. However, they are a nice change of pace from more traditional 28mm GW models and I can definitely foresee more of these models on my painting table in the not-too-distant future.

Over the Christmas holidays I made good progress on Grimnir’s Thunder, The Black Kraken and Skabrus. Initially I decided to work on Grimnir’s Thunder alongside my Astral Claws as I was painting lots of metalics anyway. However, I got carried away with the Dreadfleet bug and painted a further two ships.

Grimnir’s Thunder

Grimnir’s Thunder followed my usual technique for painting silver. It was basecoated Leadbelcher before being washed with Nuln Oil and then highlighted using Leadbelcher followed by Mithril Silver. For the gold I used the new range of Citadel paints and I must say I was really impressed. I have been using old pots of Shining Gold and Burnished Gold for years and normally I hate painting gold. However, with the new layer paints it was straightforward. The gold was painted Balthasar Gold and highlighted using Ghenna Gold, Golden Griffon and then Golden Griffon with increasing amounts of Mithril silver added all the way up to pure Mithril. the gold was then washed with Agrax Earthshade. The green areas were painted Dark Angels Green and highlighted with Snot Green followed by Goblin Green.

 

The Black Kraken

The Black Kraken was painted with GW’s new black/blue painted. I started with a basecoat of Chaos Black and highlighted it using Dark Reaper, Thunderhawk Blue and Thunderhawk Blue mixed with a little Fortress Grey. The brass areas also used the new paint range. I started with Balthasar Gold washed with Agrax Earthshade and highlighted this using Runelord Brass and Sycorax Bronze.

Skabrus

And finally one of my favourite ships from the whole set, Skabrus. This is a really characterful and imaginative model (not to mention gross) and, like the other two ships shown here, it makes great use of negative space. This is very much the zombie of the Dreadfleet, an undead sea monster summoned to unlife.

The fleshy areas were basecoated using a 50/50 mix of Tallarn Flesh and Space Wolf Grey. It was washed with Ogryn Flesh and highlighted using the original mix with increasing amounts of Space Wolf Grey added. Areas were then glazed red and purple and mottling was applied to the skin using dots of Ogryn Flesh and Bloodletter.

Astral Claws Captain

Here is my Astral Claws Captain. he is converted from the Master of Rites model. The inspiration for the conversion came from a Golden Demon entry, the only thing I have done differently is add some of Forge World’s Astral Claws shoulder pads.

Here’s a wip photo of the conversion:

One of the things I really like about this model is the expression on his face: he has a ‘sneer of cold command’, to quote Percy Shelley, which is perfect for an Astral Claws captain. This, combined with the pose of the Master of Rites model, exudes an air of superiority and arrogance. This illustrates how a simple conversion (just a head and arm swap) can dramatically alter the dynamic of a model.

Centurion squad complete

It’s taken a while but I have finally completed my Centurion Devastator squad. I really like these guys and as soon as I had read the battle report featuring them in September’s White Dwarf I knew that they would fit the Astral Claws theme perfectly. They are utterly brutal and great Space Marine killers, exactly the kind of unit that would be deployed during the Badab War.

As the sergeant can choose to target a different unit to the rest of the squad I decided to arm him differently and in the end opted for a pair of lascannons as they look really cool. It also adds a bit of variety to the squad.

The Servo skulls were added for a bit of fun. I had a number of them left over from my Devastator set and wanted to paint them up.  Servo skulls are really evocative of the artwork and I can remember pouring over pictures in White Dwarf many years ago wondering what all of those little flying skulls were long before GW released any information regarding them. If I ever use these guys in a game then they will double up as wound counters.