Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Rats! Thousands Of 'Em!

Any self-respecting Skaven army should have a nice big swarm of rats, and that's what I have:

I really like swarms in general - I have a soft spot for things like snotlings, jungle swarms, scarab swarms, ripper swarms and so on. They're usually really good as a flank guard because they never break, take a long time to kill, and can be flung into things like Chosen Knights of Khorne as redirectors or even just tarpits. This is why I almost always take five bases if I can, and this army's no exception.

As they're second hand, they haven't been built the way I would have done (they're very same-y, with one large rat on the front right, and a funny rat-with-knife-and-cloak in the middle rear) but they are mostly complete. I drybrushed some of them grey and some of them black, repainted all the cloaks from blue to undyed cloth colours, and then hit them all with Agrax Earthshade. The next step will be to highlight the cloaks and then paint all the tails, paws, and bony protrusions (and poxes). I should be able to get all that done tomorrow.

Monday, 31 March 2025

Poisoned Knives In The Dark

Yes, it's warpsword o'clock. The Skaven may use magical radiation rocks for everything from cooking their food to nuking the moon, but the classic is the Warpsword, and this Assassin from Clan Eshin has two of them just to make sure that whatever gets stabbed will definitely die, if not immediately then in 20 years from magic cancer of the pituitary gland or something.

An annoyingly fuzzy photo (I suspect I had shaky hands when I took it), but it does show you the nice icky green of the warp poisons and the like

What a friendly face

With the Assassin done the only character that's left to do is the Battle Standard Bearer, but that'll wait for the Stormvermin unit to cross my painting table. I plumped for having a crack at finishing the Rat Swarms next, which were a second-hand pick-up along with a lot of my Skaven, so they're partly painted and not assembled in the way I'd have liked them to be - but some paint and Agrax Earthshade and faffing around with the basing and they should be absolutely fine.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 1
2025: 192

Sunday, 30 March 2025

Clan Eshin's Workplace Apprentices

Today I finished the last of the Night/Gutter Runners, and got the Assassin up to the Agrax Earthshade point. I've also decided I'm probably going to do either the Rat Swarms or the Rat Ogres (and their Packmasters) next.

These are, I think, actually made with a mix of the plastic Clanrat and Gutter Runner kits - I don't know because I got most of them second hand and already built

The one second from right is mine from the original Mordheim boxed set though; I undercoated him back in the year 1999!

Now I have ten Gutter/Night Runners, a Warplock Engineer, three Poison Wind Globadiers, and a Warpfire Thrower team painted up - well on the way to 2,000 points I'd say!

Painting Points:
Today: 4
This Week: 12
2025: 191

Saturday, 29 March 2025

Runners Of The Night

So this bunch of squeaking backstabbers can either bump up the Gutter Runners to 10, or turn the whole unit into a slightly cheaper Night Runner unit. I've managed to get them to the Agrax Earthshade point now, which is good - should be able to get them all done tomorrow:

You can also see the Hero-level Assassin in the background, who's now had a couple of block colours applied. I should be able to get him done tomorrow too, and then I'll have to find something else to paint from the Skaven. I do have a regiment of spear-rats sat next to me, but they're all bare plastic and I'm out of spray undercoat at the moment.

Friday, 28 March 2025

Clan Skryre Brings The Techno-Magic

Today has been crazy busy with appointments, family, and a Dungeons and Dragons game but I did manage to get the Warplock Engineer finished! I painted him up as an albino - the only one who'll be in the army.

That pistol is less prone to exploding than you'd think

Unfortunately a blurry picture but the halberd has some nice runes in the blade

The warp condenser (or whatever it is) on his back will make him fit in nicely with the Poison Wind Globadiers

"Death-doom to foe-things!"
 

The rust is incredibly simple - it's just a couple of irregular blotchy layers of Skrag Brown! I also went a little extra because he's a character model, and put a triangle design on the bottom of the robe. The Warpstone is just Caliban Green with a coat of Technical Tesseract Glow.

Next up is the Clan Eshin Assassin and the rest of the Night/Gutter Runners.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 8
2025: 187

Thursday, 27 March 2025

Slow And Steady Does It

Hardly any painting today - finished blocking out the colours on the Warlock Engineer and slathered him in Agrax Earthshade, and then popped the metals down on the rest of the Gutter Runners and the Assassin:

Tomorrow's going to be very busy so I may not get any painting done, but I hope to at least finish the Engineer.

Wednesday, 26 March 2025

Sneaky-Quiet In The Dark-Gloom

Clan Eshin is, after all, best known for its Assassins. Gutter Runners are sort of Assassin-adjacent, and the way this particular little group will be used is to pop out of a tunnel (hopefully) near the enemy's war machines, wizards, and other squishy targets... then kill 'em!

Gutter Runners led by a Black Skaven. All are armed with two hand weapons and are a Tunnel Team

I really like the way they've turned out, and the rust in particular looks great

I also started blocking out colours on the Warlock Engineer - just the bronze, steel, and robe at the moment - and am hoping to get him done tomorrow, along with another four Gutter Runners to (in theory) expand the unit to 10, although that would have to be in a bigger army as there's no room in the 2000 point list I currently have.

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 7
2025: 186

Tuesday, 25 March 2025

Running In The Gutters

Today I blocked out all the colours on the Gutter Runner Tunnel Team and then washed them all in Agrax Earthshade:

 

So that puts them in a good position for me to finish off tomorrow: a little highlighting and some details and they'll be done. That said, I do need more matt varnish, so if I can't find a spare pot I may have to hold off on completing them until I can get another pot. Fingers crossed!

(Oh, I also brush undercoated the Warlock Engineer, who can be seen just behind the Gutter Runners)

Monday, 24 March 2025

Quick And Easy

Sometimes you just need something you can bash out in a few minutes, and my Skaven collection provided: a tunnel team marker that I'd got second hand and which was essentially half done already, and a Gutter Runner I made and painted back in 2001 when Mordheim came out - it's one of the original minis from the Mordheim boxed set! 

Currently on my painting desk - an Assassin, a Warplock Engineer (in grey plastic), 10 Gutter/Night Runners, and a Tunnel Team Marker. The one with the blue cloak and white Skaven triangle is another Mordheim original

Skratch, from the original Mordheim set, painted 24 years ago when I was 14!

Pretty good for a 14 year old. At this point I'd been painting GW stuff for about five or six years and models for seven or so

And now they look like this:

Tunnel Team Marker, and a rebased Skratch

The tufts of turf on the soil help blend it into the base... sort of


Tomorrow, the Gutter Runners!

Painting Points:
Today: 2
This Week: 2
2025: 181

Sunday, 23 March 2025

Death-Kill To The Enemy-Things!

I managed to get the Poison Wind Globadiers and the Warpfire Thrower done today which is is nice, it's really got me in the rat-man mood. I think I'll do the Gutter Runners next - I've got ten of them, plus a Tunnel Marker. 

Clan Skrye globadiers, with their trademark glass spheres full of poison gas. Tesseract Glow works really nicely for Warpstone sort of stuff

I really like the fantasy steampunk gas-mask rebreathers they've got

The Warpfire Thrower team painted up nicely too; the Agrax Earthshade is a real secret sauce for Skaven honestly.

It's interesting that the one in the back is clearly a Skaven slave, with manacles

Ready to critically fail, exploding and dying, on turn one of every game

I like the splash of red and might well use it throughout the army, but it's definitely going to be the spot colour for one of the Clanrat regiments

The dark wood on the fuel tank blends into the dark bronze a bit, but ah well

I need to have a look at the Skaven army list I've constructed, because I'm pretty sure the models I have aren't quite right for it. But that's for later. For now, with these done, my Skaven army now has five finished models - these and a Grey Seer!

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 21
2025: 179

Saturday, 22 March 2025

When In Doubt, Agrax It

As a clear sign of aging, I have spent most of today asleep and feeling like I've been hit by a bus. My partner P and I are pretty convinced that it's due to the air pressure as there's been a thunderstorm and now it's gone we seem to be a bit more active. Anyway, I did manage to do a tiny bit of painting:

 

I hit the rats with an overall wash of Agrax Earthshade, and you can immediately see what a difference it makes. Skill in a bottle. I should be able to get them done tomorrow, body and mind permitting.

Friday, 21 March 2025

Stink-Gas The Man-Things!

Today has been mostly about blocking out colours on Skaven in preparation for an Agrax Earthshade wash, which has been quite fun. It took me a long time to work out how best to paint the wee squeakers, but the Mordheim Skaven warband I did a few years ago came out really well thanks to Agrax Earthshade, so I'm hoping that these ones will end up just as nice:


I've gone for very basic cloth colours on the Globadiers and the Warpfire Thrower team, but gave the gunner a red hood because I'm going to give the regiment they're attached to red hoods. The Globadiers on the other hand aren't attached to anything and so have a much more generic scheme. Tomorrow I hope to have finished them - it'll mostly be hitting them with Agrax, doing a highlight pass on the colours, and then detailing (red eyes, warpstone, etc).

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Venerable Ancients, Tell Us Your Wisdom

Shoot the stabby things and stab the shooty things, mostly.

I knuckled down today and got the two Venerable Dreadnoughts done for my Angels of Redemption Deathwing army, which is now essentially complete except for the two Dreadnought Drop Pods I need to pick up from my friend R, who 3D-printed them for me. 

I ended up going for a more mural approach on the Dreadnought to the left rather than the "stained glass" that I did on my similarly constructed Deathwatch Dreadnought

Both these lascannons come from the same kit, but the ability to build them even slightly differently really makes a difference to how they look on the table

Soot-stained exhaust stacks and Mechanicus seals - yes, it's 40K

You can really see the size difference between the 3rd Edition plastic missile launcher on the left and the 2nd Edition metal one on the right, as well as the design cues that were kept and which were added or changed

Taken together these really add a lot of ranged anti-armour punch to an otherwise quite sparsely armed list - these and two Cyclones are the sum total of long-range anti-tank in the army, but woe betide anything that gets up close to so many power fists.

Next up on the painting table are some smelly Skaven - Poison Wind Globadiers, to be exact. Unless I change my mind tomorrow, in which case who knows...

Painting Points:
Today: 10
This Week: 16
2025: 174

Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Even In Death They Still Serve

A small update today, concerning the last little bit of my 2,000 point 4th Edition Deathwing army:

Dreadnoughts!

These two are equipped with twin-linked lascannons and missile launchers (as well as smoke launchers). They're both the Venerable Dreadnought kit, but the one on the right has a metal missile launcher that I got through, I think, Facebook. Adds to the air of age, I feel. And makes it pretty hefty. Not quite as hefty as the all-metal ones from 2nd Edition, but hefty enough.

This is actually the second time these have reached this stage - I initially got them to this point then realised I'd painted the cream and green on the wrong halves. This was very demoralising! But now they match the Terminators:

I'm hoping to get them done this week. Eagle-eyed readers may also spot some creatures lurking behind the Dreadnoughts that I hand undercoated today...

Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Sing To The Gods

The Dark Master calls! The Winds of Chaos blow strong! The Cult of the Possessed has arrived with the completion of the Magistrix:

The strange fleshy creature on the stave was originally going to be blue
A very regency-era silhouette here with the enormous bum
Not hugely pleased with the horn, but it works at a distance and she is, most importantly, complete
I really like the graven demonic faces on her pauldrons

Tomorrow I'm going to pivot back to the 41st Millenium and do some Angels of Redemption Dreadnoughts for my Deathwing army. But for now, I'm celebrating the completion of the Cult of the Possessed!

The completed cult, at least until I get some Beastmen

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 6
2025: 164

Monday, 17 March 2025

Blessed And Possessed

As Powerwolf sing. Today I finished the Mutants and I also cracked on with the Possessed and finished those too! Excellent stuff. Back on track? I hope so; I've rather missed painting actually. Anyway you're not here for the rambling, have some photos of the Blessed:

L-R: Mutant with tentacle blackblood, axe, and sword; Mutant with great claw and axe; Mutant with tentacle, hideous, and sword

I really enjoyed painting the eyes on the Hideous Mutant, even though I'm not sure he'll see the field. He wields a sword taken from the old Empire State Troops kit that came out in the late 1990s

The Warhammer weapons really seamlessly go with the 40K minis; it's almost like they were made to be turned into fantasy cultists

The fleshy tube underneath the middle mutant's left arm is actually originally some kind of future-gubbins, but painted up properly it looks like a herniated organ of some sort

And the Possessed:

L-R: Possessed with daemon soul and tentacles; Possessed with daemon soul and great claw

I had no choice but to paint the tentacles like some kind of octopus is forcing its way out of her

The other poor sod with the hideous raw bloody clawing monstrosity emerging from him is much more "classically" possessed

I dunno about you but I wouldn't want to meet either of these two in a dark alleyway

And with that the Cult of the Possessed is nearly done - just the Magistrix to do now. I'd like to add some Beastmen at some point but I don't have any suitable minis that I can think of at the moment, so they'll have to wait until my purchasing moratorium has ended.

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 5
2025: 163

 

Saturday, 15 March 2025

Where Did I Go

Hail and well met, fellow perusers of miniature figure blogs, etc etc. Apologies for the 11 day absence - a variety of things happened, such as "not painting anything", going to Gritlands 4 LARP as crew (I got to be a hologram King Arthur!), and contracting norovirus which led to a very unpleasant couple of days. Anyway I finally sat down and did the tiniest bit of painting today, which has got my Cult of the Possessed Mutants to this point:

Which is to say about half done or thereabouts. I have to sort out the black areas, do the wood and leather, highlight the skin and do details like hair, horns, and hideous mutations as well as, of course, touching up any mistakes.

I'd like to say I can probably get these done tomorrow, and while I almost certainly could the question remains if I will actually spend the time painting that I need to. We'll see.

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Brethren Assemble!

I finally did it. I finished off the last Brethren - the group with swords and daggers and the group with bows and clubs. That just leaves the Magistrix, the Possessed, and the Mutants. I'll probably try and get the Mutants done next, but that's for tomorrow. For now, have some photos:

The skintones look quite nice, if possibly a little too healthy. Ah well, must be the blessings of the Dark Powers

The hand swaps and arm swaps are almost unnoticable - you wouldn't necessarily know these have been converted which is always a good thing I think

The red and yellow cloth on the woman on the right could probably have done with a bit of green stuff or something to join the two parts, but it just looks like a ragged bit of banner so it turned out ok in the end

The reason for the amputated hands and the red cloth is, of course, to cover up areas where the original mini had holes or gaps left over after removal of the grenade launcher

For some reason the models I decided to use for the archers are the most scarred and injured!

I didn't actually mean to make the side plate on the centre archer have gold trim; none of the others do

If you can't hit them with an arrow, hit them with a club

The purple and black is really striking! I tried to make the hair colours different, so there's a redhead and a brunette in this trio

 It feels good to have finally finished some minis again. I'm quite busy this month so I'm hoping to get more done than February but it's unlikely I'll hit the heights of January until April. My aim is to get at least the Mutants done this week.

Painting Points:
Today: 6
This Week: 6
2025: 158