Vlka Fenryka - Lone Wolf Completed

This guy took me longer than i thought! But i did want to spend a little bit  more time on the 'Heros' of this army:

I'm very pleased with him, but he's not quite as striking as i would have liked him to be. I am rather pleased with his right shoulder pad though! These are the names of his lost Pack Mates who he strives to avenge in battle! A nice touch i thought!

I tried something different with the armour this time. I used an airbrush to apply the Space Wolf Grey base coat and watered down Badab Black wash (as usual). Then i used the airbrush to create areas of shade by applying 2 further layers of lightened Space Wolf Grey to the raised areas. It worked OK, but i need to practice a bit more on the close up airbrush work. I over did it on a few areas. essentially though i like the look, and will try it again on the other Heroes.

As for weathering - well i stared at this model for ages trying to decide on paint chips, etc!! As i couldn't make decision, i left  it.....for now anyways! It night come later.

Next up its Arjac Rockfist! The last part i needed for  the conversion came through the post yesterday, so they'll be more on him of Monday!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave

Vlka Fenryka - Lone Wolf WIP

Well, most of the work is actually done! All it needs now is a cracking paint job!

This, the first of two Lone Wolves, was based/inspired by this piece of artwork:

I love the raw aggression in this piece and I really wanted to capture a bit of that in this model; the anger, the violence, and the pain of loosing your pack mates!

I acknowledge that the mini doesn't really resemble the artwork much! The swinging axe is as far as the similarities go, but you  get the gist!

The bulk of the model is made from Space Wolf parts, cut, repositioned and modified in one way or another! The legs are from a SM Assault marine, and the base is from those awesome dudes over at Scibors Monstrous miniatures! I'm using large 40mm bases for all the 'Heros' in the army to help make them suitably heroic!

I'm currently in the process of making the legendary Arjac Rockfist! More on that soon!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave

My First Finecast - Logan Grimnar

I've finally bitten the bullet and taken on my first Finecast model. After all the bad reviews I've seen and heard, i was not looking forward to it!

I've mounted Logan on a Scibor Snow Base; suitably dramatic for a charicter of his stature! The smooth 'melted' bits on the base will be covered in snow-flock once done, so it'll fit in nicely with the rest of the army. As he's only got one foot firmly on the base, i've pinned him on.

Having inspected the model, i feel that i got off quite lightly. There was a defect on the Axe of Morkai handle, where it meets the hand. It was barley attached to the model, and fell away soon after i removed it from the packaging. I pinned it back in place and filled in the gaps with Green Stuff.

On the left leg there was a hell of a mould line, which revealed a 'trench' like defect beneath it. This was filled and filed quite easily.

Finally there was a small hole in the right ear of the pelt on Logan's back. It was to small to take a picture of, and was no problem to sort.

Overall, my opinion of Finecast is unchanged - its still a pile of shite! Although i got away with getting a model with minimal major defects. the overall quality is TERRIBLE! A lot of the 'smooth' armour surfaces had to be filed flat for one reason or another, and a fair bit of the details were filled with flash which had to be scooped out with the tip of a scalpel.

On the plus side, i heard a rumor that Finecast has its days numbered, and GW may be scrapping the whole thing. How true this is i don't know, as it seems unlikely to me that they would do this. On the other hand, given the quality of the product, they may be making a massive loss and discontinuation of the product may be the only viable option. I live in hope!!

Thankfully this is the only Finecast i need for this army. We'll see how it paints up over the next few days!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave

Vlka Fenryka - Second Drop Pod Complete

The second and final Drop Pod for this army is done.

Much like the first. The only difference here is that i was a bit  more confident with the weathering powers while doing the scorch marks. I was wary of overdoing the scorching, especially as it was on such a light base! I do like the look of  this Pod though over the first, and will probably go back and add a bit more scorching onto the first later!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave

Terrain Made Easy: 40K Silo

After the success of the Necron Obelisk i decided to start making my way through the pile of cans, canisters and containers that are piling up under my painting desk! As i toyed with a baked bean tin, and old GW idea surfaced!

Anyone who's been gaming for a while may remember this very simple piece of terrain: Tin Can Silo!

On the left we have your standard tin can; in this case, a baked bean can! In this tutorial I'll show you how i made the example on the right.

Firstly, i made a template. The picture below will enable you to print out a true-scale copy of it, allowing you to replicate it yourselves. Well, it came out in the right scale on my printer, so hopefully you'll have the same success!

Cut it out and stick it on some card. Don't waste your plasticard supplies, it works just fine on some cardboard from a cereal box!! (excuse the picture - sideways syndrome!)

Once dry, cut it out.

Wrap it around the tin  can and stick it in place.

I then sprayed it in Boltgun Metal with an airbrush. I didn't bother with an undercoat, the paint goes on just fine without it.

Lastly, i gave it a heavy wash of black oil paint mixed with white spirit to make it nice and dirty!

A quick varnish one dry and your done! Quick, easy, and environmentally friendly! If your feeling really creative, you could add rivets, handrails, and a multitude of other details. I'm planning on making an Aquila stencil for my silos, and maybe adding some alpha-numerical designations to them as well!

Enjoy!

The GunGrave

Vlka Fenryka - Rhino Rush!

The Rhinos are done! Now the Grey Hunters won't have to walk to battle anymore! Take a look:

Rhino 1

Rhino 2

Front Armour Detail

Side Armour Detail

As far as paint schemes go, they're quite plain and bland. I'm really glad i added the Forgeworld doors now!! I threw around some embellishment ideas for a bit, but none of them really did it for me. So i went with my gut and these were the results. I am really pleased with them, but i won't be surprised if i look at them in a few months time and start accessorising! Im happy with the usual weathering that i've applied as well - clean vehicles just don't do it for me!

So the Space Wolf army project is blasting along at full steam, and the painting desk is now occupied by a half painted Drop Pod, the second for the army. I was planing to have a crack at Logan, but i decided to knock out the Pod quickly so it was out of the way!

Move Wolves soon!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave

Vlka Fenryka - Second Wolf Guard Terminator Squad Complete

Well, they're sorta' complete! This squad is of course missing the legendary Arjac Rockfist, who'll be converted and painted separately. So for the time being, its a four-man show!

Here's all the Wolf Guard Terminators to date! Looking bad-ass!

On the table now is the pair of Rhinos that i pictured a few posts ago. Got a day off on Friday, so they'll get some attention. Then it'll be time for me to sample the notorious Finecast and tackle Logan Grimnar!

Until next winter.....

The GunGrave