Iron Priest! Not To Be Confused With Judas Priest

Well, I finally did it, I finally finished one (1) Space Wolf. The Iron Priest, to be specific. With that one done, and the first of the ISS Vanguard commission done, I can safely say that I am making progress on both fronts. Even if the progress is slow, progress is progress. I've got three more of the commission ships on my painting table now, and the rest of the Wolves are making various growly faces at me (at least the ones who don't have helmets on) so I'll try and make some more headway on those the rest of this week.

There was a lot of detail on this figure, but I solved a lot of the problem by applying my usual tabletop standard to it of "cabling's black, black doesn't really need highlights"

Even now it's finished I'm not totally sure it was the right idea to paint the arm of the servo-arm in grey, but it does make it look different to the other Techmarines and Adeptus Mechanicus servo-arms I've done, and perhaps helps cement the idea that the Space Wolves' Iron Priests are rather closer to Fenris than Mars

The Sun Company's emblem should, in fact, have a howling wolf's head over the sun, but that is a real pain to paint, so once the whole force is done I'll get some transfers and do the whole lot all at once

The only reason there's no wolves on Fenris is because the Space Wolves keep killing them to make fur loincloths

 

Unfortunately the photo doesn't really do the orange justice! It's much more vibrant in reality

The stark white of the name stands out really nicely against the orange and black of the hull

As it's a playing piece it got a nice coat of matt varnish

And gloss varnish on the drive ports (which, again, the photo doesn't really pick up)

I'm nearing the self-imposed deadline between P and I where I have to have painted 300 models from my backlog before P's birthday on the 17th, which, according to my Pile of Opportunity spreadsheet, is a mere 23 models away! Which means I have 44 days left to paint 23 figures. The rest of the Space Wolves come to 20 (19 Marines and a Dreadnought), so I'm tantalisingly close. Woo!

Painting Points: 
Today: 2
This Week: 2
2025: 343

Hobbits In Space

Ages ago (perhaps not all that long ago really, but it seems it) I got a sprue of four Wargames Atlantic not-Ratlings off the front of, I think, Miniature Wargames. I didn't really know what to do with them but they will go nicely in the group of stuff I'm painting for C. I decided to do them in browns, and make them look like some kind of corporate security team. Farmer Maggot Foods PLC or something. I also cranked out an old 3rd Edition Obliterator, which I did up as an Iron Warrior sort. Hopefully it'll make a scary antagonist in Five Parsecs From Home or similar.

A little group of ummm hobbit security? Local shirrifs in a space colony, perhaps

Such a simple scheme - browns and khakis! These are absolutely just a very basic tabletop finish but they look good regardless

Obliterator! The left arm is from a very old late 1990s plastic Chaos Warrior, as the original was long since lost - I got the original figure and its one arm from a school friend back in about 2001!

Arm o' missiles!

I don't mind doing hazard stripes on the odd mini, but doing them on a whole army - absolutely not

They do look good though, I won't deny that

With them done I really should get back to that commission and the Space Wolves...!

Painting Points: 
Today: 5
This Week: 12
2025: 338

More Silly Things

A change of plans meant that I managed to get some extra stuff done for my friend C, who P and I are now seeing tomorrow. Most importantly I managed to dig out the remaining spider-drone from the pack of three, and get that painted up too. I also repainted a couple of Mark Copplestone's Neo-Sovs that I got given a long time ago, and a spare Crooked Dice Alien Invader. My hope is this eclectic mix will get some action in Five Parsecs From Home or similar - or at the very least sit on a mantlepiece somewhere!

That little bit of freehanding was quite hard!

But it was worth it. I really like the look of this little unit

Copplestone Neo-Sovs and Crooked Dice Alien Invader 2A, in random colours, to be allies or enemies in 5PFH

You can really see the difference in style and scale here - the Copplestone figures are nice and chunky, very heroic scale; the Crooked Dice one much slimmer and more realistically proportioned

'Scuse the fingers. I painted the face in purple to emphasise that despite being humanoid in shape, this is not a human being but something from another world...

If I can manage to, I have some Wargames Atlantic not-Ratlings and a very old 3rd Edition 40K Chaos Obliterator which I want to paint up for C too, so my plan for tomorrow is to get those done before we head over in the evening. After that, it's commission work and Space Wolves. I promise!

Painting Points:
Today: 4
This Week: 7
2025: 333

A Weekend Off And A New Start

I had a surprisingly busy weekend, given that I spent essentially all of Saturday asleep due to a side-effect from some medication. On Sunday P and I travelled to London for a protest in favour of trans rights that went from Marble Arch to Downing Street - important to have done, and the more pressure that can be brought to bear on the government to reverse its bigoted course the better. Anyway all of that meant that I didn't do any painting at all, which has been quite helpful actually.

Today, refreshed, I picked up some Ground Zero Games models I've had for a very long time - since I was a very young teenager in one case - and painted them up as part of a deal with my friend C. He paid me to paint him some random figures for him, so I've collected some stuff that I think will work well in Five Parsecs From Home, which C plays.

The two little spider-drones are from GZG's 15mm range; the bigger robot/battlesuit is, I think, no longer in production. I bought it in the late 1990s!

The idea is that the two little spider-drones are controlled by the main suit

A very simple scheme of drybrushing and black washing with details, and it looks great!

The canopy looks really nice with a coat of gloss varnish over the gem-style finish

The firepower is quite intense - three tribarrel machine guns, some kind of rotary cannon, and a 14-shot rocket pod

 As I checked them off on my Pile of Opportunity spreadsheet, I noticed there should actually be another spider-drone! I'll have to go rummaging for that. Anyway, it's been a nice little thing to do to fire me back up and ready me to get stuck back into the commission work and my Space Wolves.

Painting Points:
Today: 3
This Week: 3
2025: 329

Corporate Security - It's A Drone's Job

I bought a bunch of Heresy Miniatures' SF robots last year, after erroneously thinking I'd successfully backed Andy Foster's Kickstarter for them and, on checking to see why I hadn't received them, discovered I had not, in fact, backed the Kickstarter for more than £1. Woops.

So anyway then I bought the models I thought I'd already bought, and today I painted them up as Generic Corporate Security types for something like Five Parsecs From Home, Space Station Zero, or maybe even some Necromunda stuff or perhaps something for Rogue Trader or Stargrunt II at a pinch.

The human is the commander of the various robots - two fliers, five ground combat drones, a utility 'bot, and a Negotiator android

 

I went with a really simple and generic scheme of brushed steel and blue with white accents which had the happy side effect of being quick to paint and visually striking

I also painted up the little robo-dog in the obligatory Dr Who K-9 scheme, but genuinely have no idea how to base him! Do I put him in the desert scheme like all my 40K stuff, or the urban scheme like my generic SF/Necromunda, or maybe grass? I'm going to sleep on it I think, but either way I'm calling K-9 done.

Perhaps I could have painted the chassis grey, but I like the bare metal look

It was surprisingly hard to find images of the other side of K-9

 I've got a couple of random figures up next - a Bad Squiddo Games rogue sort for TTRPG purposes, and a wyrd from Troublemaker Games that's definitely going into the Necromunda group.

Painting Points:
Today: 11
This Week: 11
2025: 33