Search the Community

Starting early last year, I fell off the Warhammer-Free bandwagon and started picking up boxes for a new Genestealer Cult army...which was my favorite army from "back in the day." Those boxes (and boxes, and boxes...) sat languishing for nearly a year before I cracked open a selection and glued them together. I tried to do a new (to me) style of painting, and just couldn't grasp it. I should have worked on some test models that I didn't care about first. Anyway, that gap between expectation and reality stalled the project and I eventually just decided to continue doing things the way I had been. But that meant I'd either have to redo all the minis I'd started, or replace them...GW being GW, and with the history of diabetes in my family meaning I'm likely to need both kidneys, meant repainting. Which brings us here. I need a change from HeroQuest, so it's time for the Genestealer Cult to arise! I've only got a couple "before" pictures that represent the jumping off point. These were all base coat and wash stage. And I just couldn't process it. The wash was patchy, the colors didn't look the way I wanted, etc. This probably could have been salvaged, but I just hit the wall and "couldn't." So they sat. Starting last week, I've been pumping my time into making the upgrades. Some things are better, others aren't. Not better doesn't mean "worse" just that it's not "better." This will be a WIP log for the entire army (currently 4,000 points worth), not individual units. That list is extensive. Currently 1+ of everything in the GSC model range (with multiple Combat Patrols and Start Collecting boxes) excepting any Brood Brothers (Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum) units. IF I get that far, that will be a whole 'nother thing of loyal, absolutely not renegade, guard who are all totally not mutants and whose cult of the (four armed) Emperor is absolutely not heretical. They're all normal there. The first round of pictures is rough: it was late, I was tired, etc. We start with the Patriarch: I've gotten the carapace 2/3 of the way redone. I started with Corporeal Shadow with the intent of using Worn Navy and Soft Blue to bring it up a bit, but there's just not enough difference between CS and WN to justify it. So I just used Soft Blue over the Corporeal Shadow and will use Heather Blue on the highlights. Heather Blue is actually a good match for the color I originally used on my Purestrain Genestealers from the original army. The red fleshy bits are currently Bloodstain Red. The spines and claws are still in need of work, as is the base. That will be coming soon enough. That brings us to the Maga/Magus and the Kelermorph (a rootin', tootin', three-armed shootin' alien hybrid). I've only redone the Maga's skin with the Rosy Skin triad. I've touched her brow ridges, and will hit those with Heather Blue to lighten the transition a bit. That dress will remain gold, and the boots will stay red but I'm working on the exact colors. The staff is the one actual piece of base coat and wash that I liked. I might leave that. The Kelermorph has had his flesh redone (Tanned Flesh triad), Bloodstain Red on the fleshy bits under the carapace, and the same Corporeal Shadow, Soft Blue as the Patriarch. His cloak is Uniform Brown, Green Ochre, and Faded Khaki on the "outside" and Stormy Grey, Cloudy Grey, and Rainy Grey on the interior. The trousers, which can't really be seen here, are also Turkey Brown, Uniform Brown, and Green Ochre. The Aberrations are a sort of shock troop--early mutations and experiments unleashed when the time is right. They mostly have Imperial Purple, Amethyst Purple, and a mix of Amethyst Purple and Spectral White for their trousers. The exception is the leader who has Turkey Brown, Uniform Brown, and Green Ochre. The carapace started with Heather Blue and was followed up with Morning After Blues and Ghost White. I've employed the same Tanned Skin, Golden Skin, Rosy Skin and Dark Skin triads that will appear later for the Hybrid Neophytes. The red fleshy bits under the carapace are Red Shadow, Bloodstain Red, and Clotted Red. The red Aberration is Bloodstain Red, Clotted Red, and Carnage Red. The grips on the weapons are done up in Deep Ocean, Marine Teal, and Surf Aqua which is a surprisingly adequate version of Makita's blue... More coming "soon!" Which brings us to the Hybrid Neophytes, the backbone of the army (seriously, I'm going to end up with about 120 of these guys--some with shotguns, some with slug throwers). The basics have already been described: standard flesh triads, uniform colors, the same blue on the heavy weapons, etc. The armor is Aged Pewter and I'll be using something to give a bit of a different base but I'm not sure quite what. It will stay mostly the Aged Pewter, though, to give a different vibe than standard silver colors. The trousers are the same (Turkey Brown, Uniform Brown, Green Ochre), and the jackets/shirts are Uniform Brown, Green Ochre, and Faded Khaki. The belts and straps are Green Ochre and Faded Khaki. Working with the same few colors has helped keep a unifying look and kept me from being too bogged down in the infinite details on the models. I plan on keeping the red trim, but I'm not certain which red it will be.

Normally I only post completely finished pieces in here with bases and all. However, this time I finished a paint job that I'm too proud of not to share. I've still got quite a bit of work to do with the basing to really help this baby stand out, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I've been attempting to paint a small army of these grey knights. I haven't done an army before so this is new territory for me. I tried two colors first and then by the third model I figured out the scheme to go with. This is the 4th model of this set and he's somewhat of a special one, so I put a bit more time than the others. This is also the most technical piece I've done so far: drybrush, recess shade, black-lining, directional lighting, sub-assembly, nmm (sword), gradient blending, non-white white, florescent paint, inks, I mean, it's using nearly all the things I know how to do applied. That said, here's my Grey Knight.

I'm very happy with how she turned out. I was using the 80s Apple commercial as my inspiration for this. She's breaking through to the other side - wherever that may lead. Questions: Does the base need more color? If so, what color and where? Does the fleur-de-lis translate as metallic? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Having been away from the painting desk for some time combined with that fact that I still haven't finished painting my hoard of board game miniatures I really don't need another project. That being said I could really use a simple breather project and luckily I recently came across the perfect one. For awhile now I've wanted to paint some Space Marine Scouts in the typical Cadian colors. Though Space Marines aren't my thing I really like the look of their old Scouts. I can't quite put my finger on what it is but I knew sooner or later I'd paint some. Having recently found a squad at my local shop now seems like the perfect time to complete a project I've been thinking about for a couple of years. Now in hindsight I really should have just bought a new box as the discount wasn't great, the poses were lacking, and being already assembled meant the cleanup would be a pain. Looking them over though I mistakenly thought they'd been assembled with superglue however so I figured a quick trip through my sonic cleaner would solve all of that. Unfortunately I was wrong and having been built using plastic glue meant extra work. In the end I did what I could cutting arms off, repositioning heads, and trying to clean the remaining mold lines. They're still a bit rough but I thought they were passable so I forged ahead adding grit to their bases and priming them. Which of course brings us to tonight when I "truly" started the project. Armed with my recipe card and a couple of reference models from my army I started painting. I only managed to basecoat their fatigues and armor but already they're looking pretty good. Looks like the Cadian color scheme really agrees with them too.

Against all expectations, I'm getting back into 40K. This is because, against all expectations, some fine friendly folks are opening a FLGS that's actually local to me. That is, it's in the small town I live in. Activity is mostly been MTG and other card games along with 40K. Since they are just starting out they don't really have any terrain to play with. As it happens, I dont' have lot of stuff for 40K unless the battle is being fought on a planet that just happens to resemble the Ethiopian countryside. However, I have way too much "possible terrain stuff"/junk laying about so I figure I could knock some things out for people to use at the store. Here are some trees I put together (bases will be done later): Other plans are To copy Chris Palmer's board game punchout ruins. So sad about all the punchouts I have thrown away.. Add some Deadzone terrain bits to a styrofoam packing shape to make a bunker. Build some of the Deadzone terrain as scatter terrain. Maybe make a tower and some barriers? Any other ideas for quick, cheap, hard wearing 40K terrain are definitely welcome!

On a recent trip to the former dollar store in my area I came across something that really gave me ideas. With just a quick glance I knew this would make a great base for a lot of builds and the $1.25 price point was just right. This Final Faction line really is the gift that just keeps giving. Assembly revealed just how big it is, it is intended for action figures after all, but this wasn't a deal breaker. It did however give me second thoughts on building a Gunwagon though as this would make for a very easy Trukk conversion, next time perhaps. Grabbing some random junk from my collection I started immediately. After just one build session I ended up with this. A pretty respectable start with minimal time investment. Session two really brought it all together. Not too bad for such a small investment (both in terms of time and money). With just a few more details and a some magnets it'll be ready for primer.

Hi everyone!!! It has been launched yesterday ☢Dilapidated Modern Ruins 🧱, my new kickstarter project based on miniature bases & deco props. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/admapocalypse/dilapidated-modern-ruins-bases-and-terrain-stls What is included in the Core Set: 1) 25 decorated miniature bases with 9 different sizes 6x25mm 6x32mm 3x40mm 2x50mm 2x65mm 80mm 2x60x35mm 2x70x25mm 120x92mm Bases have a full-cut on the underside to save resin & 3 & 5mm magnet holes!!! 2) The 2nd Hand Survivor Gear Shop 20+ terrain props including: Alabard Gun Shotgun Doublepistol Machete Brass-knuckles Granade Bomb 2x Military Helmet Gasmask Military Crate --> solid & hollowed Modular Military Crate--> 2 parts (bottom & top) 3x crate inserts Toolbox First Aid kit Rucksack Bedroll Post-apocalyptic Food A wood pallet Rubble-fence--> solid & hollowed In addition, 150+ stl between bases & props as add-ons!!! All the models are pre-supported!!! Don't forget to download the Freebie model on the main project page!!! Thank you in advance for the interested and support Cheers The Admiral

As my Ghost Archipelago project nears its end I've started thinking about what's next. With the impending start of the Imperium subscription this seemed like a natural candidate. It's my hope that I'll be able to keep up with the release schedule and paint everything as it comes in. That however would make this less of a main project and more of side one to break up the monotony of the larger projects. Today I spent time building everything from the first two issues. That was a real learning experience too as I had no idea just how difficult the easy to build Necrons could be. Eventually I cobbled them all together though and based them in preparation of priming. As you can see one is missing its head/face as it was used in a conversion project. As luck would have it though it was never painted so I added it to the project.

Hi everyone!!! It has been launched yesterday Ancient Invader Ruins👽, my new kickstarter project based on miniature bases & deco props. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/admapocalypse/ancient-invader-ruins The rest of ancient enigmatic buildings and relics left by bygones eras visitors 👽🛸 are the main elements of this new set of models now available as Physical Reward too!!! 🤯 What is included in the Core Set: 25 decorated miniature bases with 7 different sizes (pre-supported) 6x25mm 6x32mm 4x40mm 3x50mm 4x65mm 80mm 120x92mm Bases have a full-cut on the underside to save resin 11 deco props (pre-supported) Unsupported models also included!!! 👉 In addition to the Core Set, the models included in my previous project 🏯 Lost Mage Tower 🧙‍♂️ are available as Add-ons!!! (digital reward only) Don't forget to download the Freebie model on the main project page!!! Thank you in advance for the interested and support Cheers The Admiral YouCut_20220503_133741345.mp4

I don't play Harlequins but thought these would be fun to paint. The usual diamond pattern is way beyond my freehanding skills, so I went a bit comic book with them.

So back in December I decided that one of my hobby goals for 2022 would be to finally complete painting one of my 90s era 40k forces. Upon inspection of my forces, my Sisters of Battle army seemed the most likely candidate to start with, as it only has 24 figures and a vehicle. Up on my whiteboard I have a spot to track my progress on the army with a goal of working on them at least a little bit each month, with the intent of having the army complete before midnight Dec 31st. These are going to be from my own made up Order of the Ebon Tower, with a color scheme of cream/ivory armor, purple cloth with red linings and purple weapons. The symbol is a black tower using the same decal I used for my Soldiers of Dalend models, seen here. This is not a coincidence - the black tower decal was originally designed specifically for this army, it just got repurposed for my fantasy Dalend soldiers. Eight minis and the Immolator were partially painted with crappy 90's paint jobs (using craft paints), eight were simply primed white, and 8 were unassembled. As inspected the partially painted ones, I didn't see anyway to make them look good with such a crappy base coat on 25+ year old paint. So into a can of Simple Green they went - though I now regret not snapping a photo of that bad paint job: That was Saturday. Monday night I pulled them out and scrubbed them with a toothbrush which took off about 75% of the paint, and threw them back in. Tonight I pulled them out and did the toothbrush thing again. They're mostly clean now - trying to figure out if I can get them any cleaner: Those of you who have more experience stripping with Simple Green than I do - is this as good as I'm going to get? These ladies are primed white already, still trying to decide if I want to use a white, gray or black primer as my base coat. I'm leaning towards white, but am still undecided. If I use something else, these might have to go into the Simple Green as well. Next are the eight that were unassembled, plus the backpacks for them and the primed ones. I spent some time cleaning flash off of these, putting them on bases, etc. My standards for prep have gotten higher since the 90s - I could see marks of previous half-hearted prep efforts. So for the backpacks, I've filed off the fleur-de-lis in preperation of putting my decals on. I did a much better job of filing these smooth than I did back in the 90s, so those stripped ones are going to have to get filed to match. Instead of using decals, I may try to figure out how to stamp something out of green stuff, or 3d print something. I will probably leave the fleur-de-lis on the seraphim's backpacks, as I don't want to risk messing up other details trying to file them off. The final part of this project is the Immolator tank. As you can see, I sculpted (poorly) some towers for the Rhino doors, but I decided those weren't to the quality I am capable of now. So I fired up Fusion 360, and designed a replacement door with better detail: It's on the 3d printer now, so we'll see how it comes out. I'm pretty happy with my progress on this project this month, so I'll probably set it aside until mid-February and go back to painting Warmaster for my upcoming game. Look for another update then - and poke me with a sharp stick if you don't get a monthly update from me.

A friend asked me to do some conversions to make some Space Marine TM Drop Pods TM he had laying around into Chaos Drop Pods, aka Dread Claws TM. Naturally I was flattered. I have three distinct ideas but any and all feedback is very welcome. Drop Pod plus a couple of these kits(lucky Prime Day find!): The tricky bit is that I have 4 of quite a few parts and the drop pod has a 5 fold symmetry! Drop Pod plus this guy (who surely comes from a long lost GW chaos mold): Tricky bit is that I could probably use some cheap plastic sea creatures for some more texture but haven't found the right ones at the right price. Finally something with this: and these To make something Halloween Horror themed.

Since i didn't have my paints with me while on break, i was hungry to get back to it. I guess i wasn't as full of turkey and stuffing as i thought. As I'm posting this, i saw on his left leg that he's got an unpainted seal. Dang it! I made the bands on the blade smaller. Added more metal details. Added more accent color. Tested two new paint color (silver grey, red. And German Grey). Each did great. His backpack gave me some trouble. I was gluing it on, but the post didn't push in and then it broke off. Ended up doing some surgery back the but it's on.

Hi Gang, Been a while... this project took some time. The shoulder and knee pads were a lot of "cut and paste" (read kitbash). This isn't strictly the "Emperor's" lore, but I'm just a painter so I do whatever I like. I've also been a bit obsessed with fluorescent paint lately, and the plasma gun got the full treatment. In the end I didn't try pushing this project further as I was just running out of gas. Perhaps I could have left it on the "shelf of aging" for a while and come back to it, but in the end they made a sweet squad that I'm pleased with. See the sides, back and all that. Here. Thanks for checking it out, HMP

I thought it would be cool to show off an older model I painted, this one is a vintage Space Marine Captain, painted in the colours of my own Chapter, the Sons of Poseidon. Comments and criticisms always wanted, let me know what you think! The model was painted using Army painter paints.

As I mentioned in the thread on the Captain with Terminator Honours, here is the best painted Dreadnaught I have done, the trident symbol on the front is the chapter insignia. Let me know what you think!

My wife finally came to some decisions on the direction of her army. Which meant I could finally start buying said army. After watching for awhile I finally stumbled across some auctions that were right up her alley. I even managed to win a few and now I can finally "build" her army (as a lot came from the auction site this is mostly just painting them but some will need assembly). As the title suggests I'd like to complete this project in a year or less. As my army took about a year to "finish" I'd be remiss if I didn't try to finish her's in a similar time frame. That and I know I'd never hear the end of it from my gaming friends if her army took longer, my wife on the other hand probably wouldn't care. As of this post she has most of her army and can start playing and learning the larger game and that's all she really cares about. To start the project I went through all the figures and selected a few to paint first. Basically I went through everything and selected all the unique models i.e. the ones with odd bits, poses, or modifications. I even grabbed a few vintage models for this starting lineup. With everything primed during an unexpected winter reprieve it's time to begin. I started off with just a single model deciding it would get a little special attention. Unfortunately I put way too much yellow on my palette so I spent most of my time adding the yellow basecoat to everything else. Once that was finished I came back to that first model and finished off its "special" detail. I think it gives it a nice little extra something, but maybe I'm wrong. So let's see if a year is enough time to finish a Waaagh.

So awhile back Uncle Adam on the YouTube mentioned something about making a Halloween themed killteam scenario. It seemed like a pretty good idea and after a lot of thought I decided to give it a try. How hard could it be to make a custom scenario for the spooky season? Having seen quite a few interesting wave based custom scenarios I knew that was the way I wanted to go. I also knew I wanted to use the undead (zombies and skeletons). So the first problem is that I don't have enough zombies and skeletons for a wave based scenario. Not exactly wanting to break the bank for what will probably be a one off game I started looking for some cheap zombies. Turns out I didn't have to look hard or for very long. Zombies!!! Glowing Bag O' Zombies was just the ticket with 100 zombies (in four sculpts) for about $12 all in. Now they're a little on the small size, but again this is a one off game. Besides painting a hundred figures for a one off game I don't think my buddies will have too much to say. Armed with this bag and the few undead I already have I think I'll have enough enemies to go around. Or maybe I need another bag? I started out the night with two different sculpts with the simple intention of figuring out color schemes. First up was either a construction worker or a hunter, and honestly even after painting it I'm still not sure. As I blocked out the colors I was better able to see the figure's details, though I still don't know if it's a construction worker or a hunter. Would you call that a construnter? I hit everything minus the skin and gore when I had an idea. I just might be able to put that grey primer to work. With just a red wash I might be able to completely skip painting the skin and gore. I wouldn't exactly call it a success, but it's not terrible. This guy will probably squeak by as is but it looks like I'll be painting skin afterall. Next up was a fellow carrying a severed leg. On this one I painted a skin tone but used just a wash again for the gore. I think it looks better, but I'm still on the fence. Though neither figure is finished I can't believe how quickly they painted up. Knowing that a batch paint was the next step I attached all the construction/hunters (construnters) to craft sticks. Then seeing how much paint was leftover on my palette from this and a previous project I went ahead and basecoated all the pants. I did not expect to do so much in just one night, but then again we all know I won't keep this pace.

A kid who works for me plays 40K, and was showing me a color scheme he liked. I asked if I could give i a shot on one of his minis, so he gave me this one to paint up. I tried to get a decent result while doing it as fast as possible. Counting priming and sealing I think this is about 2 hours and some change. I did a zenithal prime with Stynylrez, and all colors are RMS with the exception of Nuln Oil and Seraphim Sepia.

I've been teasing this project way longer than I should have. I honestly just kept forgetting to pick up some lasguns. Really that's all that delayed this project for so long. But before we jump into it I figured I'd give a little context to the project. As the lore says some humans have defected leaving the Imperium of man and joining the Tau. Though I don't know a ton of Tau players every one I have met has at least one unit of human defectors in their army. My friend is no exception to this, but as I play Guard exclusively he really likes to point them out every chance he gets. I had no plans whatsoever to fight fire with fire, at least on this particular joke. I was content to let him have this one as I always had my "Fabulous" squad and segways on the field whenever I played him(and I can happily report that both squads tend to do really well against him). The bits bin however had other plans. A few months before my wife and I found a house and subsequently moved I came across a squad of Tau for about eight bucks. They were fully assembled save their arms, but all the neccessary parts were there. I originally picked them up as a gift for my friend, a potential trade, or for something new to paint. I really didn't have a specific idea for them and for that reason they remained tucked away in my desk. As I was just figuring out if my next Guardsmen project would be a squad of PDF or a big batch of conscripts it hit me. What about a Tau prisoner squad? At first I liked the idea as it was basically the same concept with just that little twist. It certainly fit the lore better than Tau defecting to the Imperium. It also seemed way more likely the Imperium would utilize them in that way. I could already hear my friends jokes however as they'd only be fighting on my side because they were forced to. So ignoring the lore and logic I went with regular defectors instead. First up I had to equip them with lasguns. I'll admit I thought about how to do that way longer than was necessary. There are indeed many ways to do it, but I figured the easiest way was to simply cut their regular guns just beyond where the hands held them. Then all I had to do was glue a lasgun to it, greenstuff the seams and call it a day. It wouldn't look amazing but it would suffice. It'd also give me a chance to practice with greenstuff. It did cause another problem however. Most of the secondary arms were designed to cradle the bottom of their guns. Their cupped hands didn't exactly fit the bulkier lasguns. They were perfect for holding grenades however. Well here they are primed and ready to paint. I'm not very good when it comes to green stuff but I'm hoping a paintjob might be able to hide some of the flaws. I know there are only nine, but I plan to take them with a regular Guard sergeant. They may be defectors but someone has to watch them.

Back in the "olden days" when I played 40k second edition, our game group played a lot of multi player games, and as a result, we sort of had a meta-game RPG going on with our Space Marine Chapters. Thanks to the things that happened during the games, our chapters had allies and alliances and rivalries and foes. Sometimes, to resolve disputes, we would hold a council meeting of the Chapters so grievances could be aired, agreements come to and consequences doled out. In these council meetings, each chapter got a vote. But a problem emerged - some players had multiple chapters of their own design, and multiple players were playing official GW chapters, which meant that some people had multiple votes, while others had to share. The solution we came up with was that for council votes, a chapter could be represented by a single fully painted miniature. And so most of us painted up three or four minis as our vote "tokens". And here are mine from the 90s: The guy on the left is one of my Marines Errant, which was my primary Chapter. The black and yellow guy is one of my Blast Hornets, a chapter that was declared renegade as the result of one of these council meetings. The two on the left are my voting minis, from the Fire Angels and Fire Hawks chapters. Just before I moved away, we had a big council meeting coming up, and I hatched a dastardly plan. I bought two boxes of the cheapest Space Marines I could, and planned to paint up twenty more chapters, thus ensuring I could rule final vote. This was also going to be my parting gift - I was going to give each of the other players two of the minis. Well, I didn't manage to do more than get those minis primed. I recently found that box of primed Space Marines, and decided to see how well I could paint one of my Marines Errant 20+ years later, using Reaper's MSPs. And then I decided I wanted to finally finish the project Here are the first six. On the left is a Marines Errant, and on the right is a Salamander - the other four I just painted up and threw decals on. I'll have to come up with chapter names for them later.

In lieu of a regular housewarming party my wife and I have opted to host a game day at our new house. After gathering supplies, prepping some food, and setting up some tables we're ready for our Housewarhammering. As luck would have it I'm flush with terrain (couldn't sell a single piece at a local craft fair), so I set up a couple of simple tables. Though they're sparse looking I doubt they'll stay that way, my buddies really get into setting up tables. After their tinkering I'm sure the tables with look better and most of my "extra" pieces will get used. Now it's just a matter of waiting for everyone to arrive. Guess I could play some PC Battlefleet Gothic Armada while waiting.

Orks are terrific, aren’t they? While the aesthetics and logic behind most 40k factions tries to toe the line between Full Blanche and minimally plausible weapons of war, the Space Orks just embrace the most absurd logic (a red paint job actually makes it go faster). This conversion was created by my client- and I really love it. Orks looting vehicles from Imperial factions is always great, but there’s something especially amazing about looting the claw of a titan and turning it into a tank. For the paint job, the titan claw is meant to look like the Orks painted over the original Titan’s color scheme. To this end, some of the scratches in the red show blue and imperial insignias and patterns underneath.