WHQ Silver Tower Minotaur w/ OG WHQ Head

Finally got some paint on this fella. I went with a Magic: The Gathering "Hurloon Minotaur" paint job. Click to embiggen!

I'm liking the clear bases, courtesy of Sally 4th. Since I go back and forth between quest- and fantasy battle-type games, this was the only option that made sense to me.

But WHY does he have an orange mohawk, not unlike those frequently seen on dwarven slayers? Hmmm...

Warhammer Quest Critters

Boy, did summer get away from me there!

I finally got around to the penultimate (second to last) batch of Classic Warhammer Quest minis, the critters!

The splotchy grey bat on the far left is my son Kieran's first painted mini! Welcome to the hobby, little buddy. :) Knowing I was getting burnt out and that hobby time is at a premium these days, I went the quick route and sprayed them black, then went to town with the drybrushing.

I may still put a glaze or gloss varnish over the black eyes on the spiders to give them some shine, before the matt varnish they looked more "alive."

Now it's just the four classic WHQ heroes to do and my set will be fully painted! Last step will be to put them all on clear acrylic bases, since I got my order in from Sally 4th the other day. They'll allow me to use the minis in a dungeon quest, skirmish, or army battle and still have the bases match the terrain.

The chiropterologists (bat scientists) among you will recognize that some of my bats seem to be suffering from white nose syndrome, because what's more horrifying in a dungeon full of nasty creepy-crawlies more than injecting some depressing real-world diseases?

I couldn't have gotten to this point without the inspiration provided by Warseer and the Tale of Painters blog! Even though I've used more jokers than I have painted, it was still a great push to get this set completed.

ToBGP March/April: WHQ Skaven!

Last update snuck in under the wire... this one's kinda inching along slowly. Looks like the monthly goals on the Warseer Tale of Board Game Painters are getting farther apart too... I guess with the nice weather people are going outside like some kinda crazy weirdos. Works out for me though, the deadlines were starting to blend together!

Bought these skaven clanrats without swords, minus the yellowish guy on the black base. He was already basecoated, and I wanted to preserve the previous owner's work, so I just dipped him in Army Painter strong tone with the rest of 'em once I'd painted them. Stuck with my traditional palette so they'll fit in with the rest of my classic WHQ figures. The new swords are stolen from Dark Elf spear tops. I think they look pretty "stabby" although some are a bit long.

I tried a new technique with the metal and basecoated with Leadbelcher before dipping. I'm thinking now that it's a little dull. I might ultimately decide to add some silver highlights on the edges to scuff 'em up. Either way, trying to avoid the whole drybrushing thing these days.

Guy on the left has a "fiery" shield design stolen from my undead... could be the start of a fun quest if they decide they want it back at some point! White guy behind him has a red shield design with double white cross pinched from Battle Masters. That one will need some dirtying up to reflect typical Skaven defiling. "Smeared with poo" would be a fun experiment. (It's just paint I swear!)

They were quick and dirty, but I still might give the bunch a little more TLC at some point, don't think they're QUITE up to my standards yet.

WHQ Orcs for Warseer's Board Game Painters: January

I decided to take the plunge and join the recently-restored (yay!) Warseer.com's Tale of Board Game Painters Project Log. Figured having an expection of a new Warhammer Quest unit each month hanging over my head would help motivate me.

I'm going for fast and cheap here, so base colors and a painted-on "dip" using Army Painter Strong Tone and I'm done! Apparently I lost a bunch of the shields that come with the game, so I had to dig through my bitz box to find suitable pieces. 

 Click to embiggen.

 I figure everybody's gotta have a pale orc in there somewhere since the Hobbit films came out, right? Mine turned out a little more "smurf" and a little less "white," but oh well. Gave him some blood splashes for color, this is a 90's-themed paintjob, right?

 I repositioned the archer's arms just like with the goblins. It was about this time that I had the sudden realization that the things on the ends of the bows are probably just supposed to be a RING of the string, and not actually some sort of CAP like I had previously thought (and painted on the goblins...) Anybody want to vote on which it is? Either way, painting 'em this way is faster, so hey, one less color! SPEED PAINT

Bases will likely stay this way for a while, since I plan to eventually replace them all with clear (round?) bases. Haven't decided on a final form for them yet, but in the interest of speed, I'm leaving 'em for now! SPEED PAINT

WHQ WIP Gobbos Dipped N' Dirty

I wanted to speed-paint some WHQ figs since I've basically got the entire set to do. Of course, my hobby OCD set in and I just HAD to re-position some of their hats and bows to get a little variety throughout.

These fellas are still awaiting a dull coat, so apologies for the shiny goblins!

I used Army Painter's Strong Tone, but this time painted it on with a brush. It's been forever since I used enamel-based anything, and since I had to thin it with some paint thinner, I managed to scrub some of the base paints off. Now I'm remembering why I switched from the Testor's Enamels all those years ago. Didn't we all?

HeroQuest Monsters Progress

I figured it was about time for a long overdue update! With my son having turned two, I've started thinking about all the figures I've got to get painted before he's old enough to play with me.

Trying out some new, quick strategies with the basing... the thought here was "camouflage." At least on the HeroQuest board. But as I continue to go back and forth between WFB and the "...Quest" games, the clear acrylic bases get more appealing...

Click to embiggen.

I figured everybody's got greenish fimir, but what if I want a POLAR swamp rapist? Frost fimir it is!

The "to-do" list... they've all been painted at least once, around my early teen years... the yellow ones have gotten a second try in my 20's/30's. 

'UUUGE... Tracts of Land

Sometimes, just sometimes... the perfect bitz show themselves at the perfect time. This is one of those times.

The head is going to need some reshaping, especially in the hair and moustache. But it's a start. I finally know what I'm going to do with that Wight King that has been sitting in the blister pack for a good long while. I'm excited to get started on him!

 The furry shoulders are what got me started on this path. They may need some fluffing up with green stuff to get just right. The head is from the Empire Militia kit, if I'm not mistaken.

WarpLoque's Sir Ragnar/Bedevere Reunited with HeroQuest!

When I first saw this guy on Warploque's site, I knew I had to use him as Sir Bedevere from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He's just about done, barring some metal details and finishing up the base.

I tried to make the bottom of his robe a little dirty with a wash of devlan mud to gribbly him up a bit.

I also finally managed to finish HeroQuest's wizard character, which was a lot of fun to do. Pretty slavish devotion to the original card art, but I think he fits in with his formerly completed compatriots well enough.

And here's Sir Ragnar, as he'll be used in games of HeroQuest, with the four warriors.

Terrorgheist! And Nurgle Chaos Warrior Grave Guard

I wanted to post some in-progress pics of my Terrorgheist, which Caitlin got me for my birthday last May (!) and finally chastized me about not having STARTED recently. I told her I was waiting until I could do it justice.

I followed Rob Hawkin's tutorial on magnetizing the wings to make him much smaller to transport, and now I'm working on magnetizing his head, rider, and rider's weapons as well. (If you can't tell, I'm really liking this whole magnetizing thing.) I plan on super-gluing the chains around his neck to give the whole thing some support when the wings are detached. They'll be glued in a dynamic, swooping angle to reinforce the sense of movement in the model, which I think is pretty sleek already.

I also had to do some single shots of my Nurgle Chaos Warrior grave guard, so here they are for your perusal!