Finished Malifaux Project!

For my first Malifaux crew I chose Lady Justice and her Death Marshals, mostly because they are simply the coolest, most eye-grabbing set in the game in my opinion. Nothing better embodies the horror, the magic, and the western feel of the setting than a blind ninja lady leading ghost-rider cowboys who are literally dancing on coffins. They were an absolute blast to paint (if a little fiddly at times) but I like to think I managed the gritty, desperate, and violent image I have of the city of Malifaux itself, and particularly the grim world of the Death Marshals.

I think this is all I'm going to do with my Lady Justice crew for now, as I have a few different options to try out here and I'd like my next Malifaux purchase to be a different crew and master. I will definitely return to Lady J though and perhaps add even more units like Death Marshal Recruiters which synergise with my existing collection. More thoughts and pictures below:

Fell Bats Conversion

For a long time I have wanted to include Fell Bats in my undead forces and unfortunately the current GW miniatures are really old and unfit for purpose. So earlier this year I spent some time rifling through my bits boxes to see what I could come up with. These are the results of which I am rather proud. I forgot to take pictures of them without paint (I got excited and started painting right away so these are very WIP pics) but I think its fairly obvious what I've done here. These miniatures can be put together quite easily, and are made from pieces most Death players likely have lying around.

The base of this conversion is the spare pieces from assembling a unit of Crypt Horrors. If you assemble the Crypt Horrors you will be left with the wings, hairy back, and head of the Vargheists. I began by taking these pieces and gluing them together in a flying pose. The heads glue really easily onto the top of the hairy back piece and the wings can be glued to roughly where the shoulders should be with relative ease, though you may need to cut the joints a little for the best fit. 

For the claws I then took some spare Ghoul arms and glued them to the bottom of the back piece. This may require cutting down the shoulder joint of the arms a little. I also elected to go with arms that weren't holding any items and showed the bare claws. 

This leaves us with all of the bat except for the front of the torso. You could green-stuff in some muscles or something but I elected to glue a skeleton shield to the front of the body for ease. The round shields from the Skeleton Warriors kit cover this front area quite nicely and I thought it would provide a nice space to display the colours and heraldry of an army. After all, I like to think of these bats as a proud Vampire/Necromancer's pets that they would want to cover in their personal colours or sigils. As an extra detail I added some arrows poking out of the bat above to show where enemy archers had tried to bring it down. 

I then used some green stuff to fill in gaps, make small tails, and generally smooth any connections that didn't look quite right. Finally they were glued to a standard 40mm base by their wing-tips (I'm not a fan of using flying bases but they could work equally well) and where necessary I glued coins to the bottom of the base to make sure they wouldn't fall over. 

I believe these Fell Bats are a fair bit larger than the current Fell Bat miniatures but with a more dynamic pose and more modern pieces I think you'll agree they are much better. I also think they fit within the aesthetic of most undead armies better than using Tyranid bits, which seems to be the most common means of converting Fell Bats that I have seen previously. I'm sure that others will be able to refine this method further, but for now I rather pleased with my Fell Bats and I hope it inspires others to try rooting through their bits boxes to see what they can make! 

WIP Eisenhorn and Cherubael

Though I was unsuccessful at getting hold of Eisenhorn on the day he was released, I did manage to get hold of one on eBay for less than GW's price which was nice! It really is a lovely miniature, and while I was thinking of finding a bald head for him (I had already found a walking cane) in order to convert this into an older rendition of the character, I liked the base sculpt so much I elected not to.

A more upright pose so his chest detail isn't obscured on the tabletop 

The miniature went together fairly well though there was quite a lot of flash to cut and scrape away. I think I managed to get all the mould lines but I wouldn't be surprised to find some during painting. There were two small bubbles on the resin (one on his collar and one on his book) but these were easily filled. The only thing I really dislike about the miniature is how far forward he is leaning. I decided to try straightening him up a bit which proved quite easy to do by simply repositioning his left foot. I didn't even need to cut his foot off, I just cut away some of the resin around his ankle, wiggled his foot a bit and added green stuff to fill the gaps I had made.

For Cherubael I have taken some flagellant and ghoul bits (along with a few pieces whose origins I'm actually uncertain of!) to create this unholy abomination as I don't like the old daemonhost models. I've still got some mould lines to clean up and some green-stuffing to do, but I'm rather happy with how this is shaping up so far. I did look up the 54mm miniature of Cherubael that was done for the old Inquisitor game for reference, but quickly realised that I would be unable to create an approximation to that with the pieces I had available. Instead I decided to just make what I thought looked like a cool daemonhost and await an official 28mm Cherubael should one ever be made.

Alongside the Malus Darkblade series, the Eisenhorn trilogy was one of my first proper forays into Warhammer fiction so his exploits have a special place in my hobby-heart. I'm therefore really looking forward to getting some paint on Eisenhorn and fielding him alongside some of my other Imperial armies. I also can't wait to getting round to picking up the new book 'The Magos' at some point, though I hope that Dan Abnett hurries up and writes the rest of the Bequin Trilogy soon!!

Thoughts from my desk - Titania, MiniCrate, and other Miscellany

I've had a lot of random thoughts about the hobby recently, and as I finish my first miniature of the year (its taken a while I know!), I thought I'd take some time to ramble and lay out some of the ideas and opinions I've had floating around in my head.

I was lucky enough to manage to pick up the alternate sculpt for Titania last Black Friday and I've had a lot of fun painting up the undead faerie queen. I tried as best I could to achieve a middle ground between her standard colour scheme and her appearance on the classic Red Joker artwork, and I think I've succeeded. Though I don't know if I'll ever build a crew for her, I can see her easily being the first of several Malifaux miniatures that I pick up solely for the pleasure of painting.



I have only recently been made aware of Privateer Press's 'MiniCrate', which is a miniatures version of the loot crate business model. For those of you who aren't aware of it and fancy a look heres a link: MiniCrate. I've got a lot of thoughts on this because on a basic level it really appeals to me as a collector and a painter, which I think is really the target audience for this. After all, the miniatures that are part of this product are simply alternate sculpts and seemingly chosen at random from across the various factions, so not much use to gamers. I quite like the idea of getting a new miniature every month to just paint up and have on display, especially as most of these alternative sculpts are quite cool-looking. The 'mystery' aspect is what I think is the greatest turn-off for most people, as there's a good chance of not getting a miniature for any of your factions or even one you actually like. Miniatures can be quite expensive and it would be disappointing to end up buying something you don't even like the look of. Indeed, the whole thing seems quite expensive for just a single miniature every month, especially for anyone like me who does not live in the United States. While a novel and interesting idea, the whole thing doesn't quite work for me. Privateer Press aren't particularly my favourite miniatures manufacturer as far as aesthetic goes and I'm not deeply into the lore of the game, but I did think this product worthy of a mention as I can see it, or something similar to it, being successful in the future and possibly attracting me.

Now onto a few bits of misc. thoughts I've had about my miniatures recently...

Horribly flat colours in desperate need of a highlight, ideally two

I'm thinking of doing something with my Lord of the Rings miniatures this year. They are painted in quite a basic fashion and would benefit simply from a few highlights, a bit of dry brushing, and maybe some better basing. I also ended up with a part-complete second-hand Mumakil about two years ago I really ought to do something with. Of course I have other, more pressing painting matters to attend to first, but I can easily see my Easterlings or Uruk-Hai getting a little attention in future.

Last year I was able to get hold of some second-hand Sisters of Silence which I've not really done anything with yet, but I have added a converted Astropath, an imprisoned psyker (to use as an objective marker), and some Tempestus Scions to represent the Black Sentinels of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. I think I am going to use these as an allied detachment for my Custodes and paint them in the same way. Hopefully in future we will see some manner of combined 40k Talons of the Emperor codex and I can have my Custodes and Silent Sisters fight side by side properly.

Such an incredible miniature, just the right balance of detail and simple elegance 

Though I still have lots of Death stuff to paint, I have been greedily eyeing the new Daughters of Khaine miniatures. I am very tempted to pull my Dark Elves out of storage and start putting some of my Witch Elves on round bases in preparation for getting Morathi and some of her new mutant aelves. The main thing stopping me is the financial burden of my upcoming Custodes project (as well as all my other unfinished projects!), though later on in the year I can see myself splurging on some Daughters of Khaine. First however I have a tonne of ghouls and skeletons to paint, and won't consider getting anything else for Age of Sigmar until they are done.

Coming up on the blog soon should be my Malifaux miniatures which I am close to finishing; after which should hopefully be a little bit of Eisenhorn, some progress on my Lich war band, and possibly a bit of Age of Sigmar if I can get the colours on this next war band right. Life has continued to be hectic recently but I am managing to get some bits of hobbling in when I can.

2017 Hobby Review and 2018 Goals

I already know the new Custodes will ruin my plans to
finish everything else this year...

Back in February last year I wrote a post on my Hobby Goals for 2017 and decided to do the same again this year (probably ought to try and remember to do it in January next year). I have managed to do a fair bit of hobby stuff these past 12 months, admittedly not as much as I would have liked, but I thought I ought to do a bit of a year in review again and set some goals for this next year. Unfortunately I have been quite ill this past month and will be on medication for the next few so I may not end up being as productive as I would like but hopefully things will pick up soon!


Finished Projects

- Menoth - I actually got this army finished! It was a bit of a slog halfway through but I'm happy with the gritty, alternative look for the Protectorate I have achieved. Unfortunately I don't really plan of having any games of Warmachine in the near future and I have no intention of adding to this force any time soon so I think I'll be putting it on display.

- Amontekh the Arboralist - This random late-year mini-project for my Rogue Trader character was a fun distraction from work. Unfortunately I have had to temporarily drop out of my Rogue Trader games until my health improves, but hopefully Amontekh will reactive his reanimation protocols soon!

- Scourge Privateers - I started this small war band for Age of Sigmar during the summer, inspired by Nick Horth's fantastic book: City of Secrets. Just before Christmas I managed to get them finished, which at least stopped a new random project carrying over into the new year! Pictures of the finished miniatures will appear on the blog when I get round to photographing them.


Work in progress

Base colours all on

- Dark Angels - Over the summer I begun an army-wide repaint, as well as minor conversion works on my Dark Angels. I forgot to take pictures over the summer but managed to get one or two over Christmas just to prove I have been working on them! I've decided to go for a metallic green look using some of the technical paints which is still rather WIP but is proving lots of fun to experiment with.

- Witch-Hunters - I also begun an army-wide repaint of this force, as well as the addition of new miniatures. Problems with desk space in my new apartment and St. Celestine's wings (I cant get them quite right) has hampered progress and motivation.

Percival, Pin-up Dark Paladin, and Twilight Knight Detective
all in various WIP stages 

- Misc. Kingdom Death - There has been some small progress with my backlog of Kingdom Death miniatures. I have completed some more pin-ups but I still haven't gotten around to photographing any of my stuff and putting it on the blog.

- Tomb Kings - Some progress but not a lot. My brother swears I'm never going to finish repainting them...

- Shadow War - I started a Astra Militarum Shadow War gang which I'm hoping to perhaps use for Necromunda and other 40k skirmish games as well. This is mostly in the planning/assembling stage and I don't have any photos yet.

A travel-weary Knight-Questor in the Realm of Death

- Misc. Age of Sigmar Stuff - I have managed to paint a few random miniatures for Age of Sigmar. Not as many as I would like but some have been done. When I've made more substantial progress I'll post pictures.

- Malifaux - I have started to play Malifaux which has been great fun. I got the Guild's Judgement crew box which I've started work on and I also got a few random miniatures for Christmas I cant wait to get some paint on as well.

- Lich Warband - steadily progressing but never seemingly enough to warrant an update. Though I started strong on this project (and didn't put any of it on the blog, typical!) it has slowed to being something I work on while I wait for other things to dry, hopefully I can get more work done on it soon.


No Progress (List of Shame!)

The Duc' d'Castlefells, one of the few minis I've actually finished for my FEC

- Flesh-Eater Courts - Unfortunately, despite my big plans for my Age of Sigmar army I have not managed to get any progress done on my ghouls. Part of this is due to the amount of 40k hype that has been going on this past year (which prompted the Witch-Hunters and Dark Angel repaints) and that I currently don't have space in my new apartment to get this large project out to work on. I am hoping that the 'Malign Portents' event will give me the motivation to get on with this project, even if i don't participate in the campaign itself.

- Imperial Guard - I actually forgot this was an ongoing project! I'll no doubt turn to it when my Witch-Hunters are done.


Goals for 2018

- Get some 40k armies finished!! - firstly I need to get some 40k stuff finished as my Witch Hunters, Dark Angels, and Imperial Guard are all stuck in a kind of limbo as I am working on them. I probably ought to have just chosen one to work on but hopefully I'll start getting through them this year!

- Work on my Flesh-Eater Courts - With Malign Portents approaching I think I'll finally get round to doing some meaningful work on my undead armies. I have been quite enjoying the build-up and mystery surrounding the next phase of the Age of Sigmar, and I think the campaign they are running looks increasingly interesting, though due to my health and backlog of other projects I don't think I'll have the chance to play and paint along.

My small, but slowly growing collection

- More Malifaux - I have quite enjoyed working on my first crew and having played a brief game over Christmas I think I could really get into this! I think I would like to not only get some more Malifaux miniatures but get some more games in as well. The use of a deck of cards instead of dice is really interesting and quite fun even if luck is very rarely on my side! In fact I'm already making plans to increase my Lady Justice crew and am contemplating which master I might buy for my next crew so I have a bit of variety.

Looking forward to when Morathi's new miniature comes out! 

- Daughters of Khaine - Dark Elves were my first Warhammer love and I don't think I can possibly resist such awesome new miniatures. I don't know when the new Daughters of Khaine will be coming out, so I think I'm going to have to try and get my Flesh-Eaters painted before they are released! I can already feel my wallet cringing and if anything is going to derail my plans for hobbying this year it will be the army of the Shadow Queen. I do already have a bit of a head start as I can rebase and repaint some of the miniatures from my old Dark Elf army (some Witch Elves, Warlocks, a Medusa, and a Cauldron of Blood), so I can just add some of the new stuff when its released and hopefully have a decent force.


Summary

As usual I have started or just worked on far more projects than actually finishing. I do naively believe that one day I will just have one or two projects going on at a time! In order to motivate myself I have decided that every time I finish a project, I will treat myself to a box of Custodes. I love the miniatures, in fact it was the preview of Captain-General Trajann Valoris that made me decide I wanted to do a small force of them as I thought his model was just brilliant. Hopefully such motivation will allow me to hurry up and get some things finished!

I just love these two miniatures, I cant wait to get my hands on them! 

While my health is not the best right now, and university stuff is pressing, I do hope I will be able to make the time for a bit of hobbying every now and again. In fact this past week I have managed to get some more paint on my Malifaux miniatures though they are still a ways from being finished. The year ahead look interesting and I hope that I can get plenty of painting done, get a few games in, and make some new purchases. I'll do my best to keep the blog updated and when I do this again next year I plan on having gotten more done!