Stabbin' and such: Triumphant at Last! 2/9/17

[Firepower]

Congrats! He looks great!  Excellent detail on the tabard, very clean and sharp.  This is another one of those models where it is just covered in detail, and difficult to get the brush in just the right spot, at the right angle!

 

It was the gold that really slowed me down.  Took a long time to figure out something decent, and even longer to work up the patience to do it on the pistol

 

There were maybe 7 times when I was going over the model and said "Where the hell did that come from?"  Lots of hidden seals and whatnot that you won't see at a glance.  I also missed a handful of tags on the metal which turned out to be a nusiance.  That's the little bump on the upper part of the right sash.

 

Compared to the nightmare that Helbrecht is gonna be, this guy is fairly easy to paint, in terms of reaching through nooks and crannies.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Firepower

[HLVW]

Really nice Firepower and congratulations on your completion. I like the very matte look that your colours have, it really gives the reds a very vibrant look. This is a Reclusiarch I would gladly follow into battle.

[Andhil]

Well done, Brother! Always nice to see a completed Grimaldus. 

And while you said it took you a long time, I can honestly say the the gold on that model was worth the time. It's stunning. Absolutely amazing. Well done. 

 

Congrats on the completion of your vow. We can use every point. 

[SCOTT_FRANCIS]

Agreed, Grimaldus rocks, great job Firepower. 

[Firepower]

Thanks much everyone.

 

After I finish touching him up, and finishing up my quarter of Ax swingers, I think it'll be time to paint up a pair of Storm Talons.  I'm sick to death of painting infantry, and I'll be downright brain dead by the time I finish these 4 guys.

 

At the rate I paint (without deadlines) I should be done with my army just in time for...hmm...9th edition?

 

This is the list of future pains in my black armored backside-

 

Helbrecht

10 Neophytes

2 Drop Pods

2 Ironclads

8 Honor Guard

 

I hate painting Neophytes.  Such dull, monotonous models.  I haven't painted a Dreadnought since I was a wee little nose picker, though.  That could be fun.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Firepower

[greggles]

You'll be in heaven painting a dread.  I'd use that as your break before helbrecht.  The dread has lots of nice surfaces to catch the brush, lots of bits to play with.  Great times!  Helbrecht extracts his zeal in blood and swearing.

[Honda]

Bravo, I just love seeing Grimaldus done up. Rest easy brother!

[Chapter Master Furious]

I know how you feel brother! All I have been painting for the last year or so for my crusade is infantry as well. 

[Firepower]

Don't get me wrong, I hate painting vehicles, too.

 

Or I did, until I got an airbrush :D

 

Well, I still do to some extent I suppose, but not nearly as much now :lol:

[Eberious]

lol, talk about indecisive     

 

 

Just noticed , you have red wax candles. Don't think I've ever seen that on a 40k model before , nice touch FP. 

Edited August 1, 2014 by Eberious

[ThatOneMarshal]

Its good to see the High chaplain done justice! I think you might have convinced me to buy his model thoguh my poor wallet hurts. Theres a disturbing lack of ork heads on the base though.

[Firepower]

Well, my personal clock is set back a ways, so at the latest this guy is actually Mordred, not Grim.  Or maybe Mordred's predecessor 

 

I have to account for the future addition of High Marshal Helbrecht Ludoldus, as well as the already ongoing lives of Jasper and Brahm.

 

I actually haven't got any lore behind my crusade, so this is more of a running gag

Edited August 3, 2014 by Firepower

[Rags XII]

I agree I really like the matte black look.. can I ask what colors you used for grimaldus's tabard and cloth?.. I saw a helsbrecht with his head cut off and helmet swapped in, for such a quick kit bash I thought it looked absolutely bad ass..  great stuff though

[Firepower]

The smile of my mask had never been more sincere than in the moment I met my brothers in the armory once again. The Sons of the Maul stood alongside the other four of my Household, and though they didn’t carry any special collective title of their own, the four were likewise armed the same. They prayed to those weapons now, four holy axes of no uniform design. Their names were Dietrich, Falco, Emmerich and Hartwig. Though I would live to see some die in battle, those names live so long as I do.

Though the Sons of the Maul fought almost exclusively at my side, these four brothers were my symbolic presence among the Crusader Squads. I trusted the safety and the guidance of the lower ranks to the four and their axes.

Brother Dietrich

Brother Dietrich was, by any standard, an unusual case. Though he was a brother of blood by Dorn’s sacred gene-seed, he was not born a Templar. No, Dietrich was first brought to post humanity as an Executioner, but by all measures I considered him as worthy an inheritor of Sigismund’s black as any of my brothers. He came to us as a young scout during a gesture of mutual respect between our Chapter and the Executioners, when we fought alongside our cousins in the Sundering Crusade. In return, a Neophyte was granted induction into the Executioners after his Initiate died during those furious years of war. It grieves me to know that young soul would be tainted in the treachery of the Badab War years hence.

Dietrich, though he was long a distinguished Templar by the time of that shaming, felt he bore the dishonor as much as his former brethren. He became withdrawn, and eschewed the honor marks permitted by his station, wearing only the altered emblem of his parent Chapter as his personal heraldry. He turned that pain into a blessed weapon, every bit as keen as the relic axe he carried to war. Above all else, I considered him a true Templar, a trusted brother, and one of the most vicious warriors to ever serve under my command.

Brother Hartwig

Hartwig was already fully armored, and did little to welcome my return beyond a subtle nod. I hadn’t expected even that much. He was not a man given to extremes of emotion, with exception to the holy virtues of hatred and wrath. Outside of combat, he had the personality of a statue. He didn’t take any joy in brotherhood, but out of respect he never shunned the attempts at camaraderie by those who didn’t know better. He never laughed in all the years I knew him, and never joined in a jest or the cheers of a feasting hall. Hartwig, so far as he was concerned, existed only for war. Everything else was simply a series of pointless events filling the hiatus between battlefields. The only time I ever saw him smile was in his last breaths, and in truth the crooked awkwardness of it was no lovelier than the gashes of his armor spilling what little blood he had left.

That wretched moment was only days from this moment, this last precious hour when my eight brothers stood together beside me. There were no last words, no final benedictions or prayers. Just that one, singular attempt to understand joy. May he bathe in it now that his soul stands at the side of the Golden Throne.

Brother Emmerich

Emmerich was a grim soul with a remarkable vindictive streak. Quite an accomplishment for a brother among a Chapter born of vengeful wrath, really. He had an unhealthy habit of carrying tokens of fallen brothers into war. Even as he was being drilled and bolted into his armor by serfs and drooling servitors, I could make out tokens and armor of long dead brothers, as well as newer tokens no doubt added during my sabbatical. The bronze cross on his chest belonged to Tobias, a long dead brother who once shared a place in the Household. He first gained the right to wield (and refusal to relinquish) his axe when he lifted it from the fresh corpse of a brother. A sash was around his thigh now, and though I didn’t know its former owner, it was easy enough to recognize the cream and red cloth of a brother knight’s tabard.

Though I often had to chastise him for his melancholic behavior, I could not deny his value among the lower ranks. For any soul lost under his guidance, I knew our enemies would suffer horribly.

Brother Falco

Brother Falco was my senior by a full century, and even my teacher at one time long past, in the days before the Reclusiam plucked me from the ranks to wear Death’s Head. I learned much under his tutelage aboard the Eternal Crusader, swings and parries and strategy with an axe that I would carry through to the days of wielding my blessed Crozius. I cannot overstate the honor he granted me by serving in my Household. Although he would die gloriously in service to the Golden Throne, hacking his way through a mob of the blasphemous abominations of the Tyranids to leave a hundred meter gash of shattered chitin and spilled ichor in his wake, I still feel the ache of his death to this day. I never scrubbed his name rune from my visor’s display, from the moment I saw the flatline of his vitals streaming alongside.

Despite his seniority and his skill, Falco never aspired to be far beyond the rank and file of our Chapter. He wore the red of our Household, carried the blessed symbol of a veteran chained to his thigh, and spoke with words weighed evenly against the most exalted of the Chapter, but he graciously kept his talents to the Crusader Squads alongside the lower ranks of the Initiates and Neophytes. ‘Blood is every bit as red as the Household’s heraldry, my friend,’ he once told me. ‘If a brother wears it in battle, I’ll gladly consider him my equal.’

There we go, a proper update. Really gotta finish the trim on those bases though.

My camera continues to hate me. Photoshop begrudgingly tolerates me. Still, it gets the general message across. There are a lot of things I wish I did better (the shoulder heraldry especially- I butchered those axes), but to my shame I didn't allot myself enough time before the Crusade Expansion deadline. I believe a self paddlin' is in order.

I chose regular shoulders rather than the Crux ones of the previous four, to differentiate them as the 'hidden' weapons in the Crusader Squads. Not sure that was a great idea in retrospect, especially if I want to use the models as Honor Guard some time.

@ Rags:

This is Grimaldus' cloth recipe: Bubonic Brown base. Steel Legion drab, leaving a slight bit of the base in the darkest folds. Karak Stone highlights. Normally I do a final sharp highlight of Bleached Bone. I'm debating whether or not I should take that final step when I go back to touch him up.

Edited October 2, 2014 by Firepower

[Theodore Broosevelt]

Great work! I especially like Brother Falco. What is the reddish metallic color used on parts of their helmets?

[Link2edition]

Nice models! I like that you came up with the backstory for each one!

[Brother dean]

Hey brother...  Having finally gotten round to lookin in here, you have a bit more painted than you let me believe... When you going to get round to thrashing me?  

[Firepower]

Hey brother...  Having finally gotten round to lookin in here, you have a bit more painted than you let me believe... When you going to get round to thrashing me?

 

After I build and paint 2 Storm Talons, 2 Drop Pods, 10 Neophytes, Helbrecht, and some Honor Guard.

 

...yeah. 

 

Great work! I especially like Brother Falco. What is the reddish metallic color used on parts of their helmets?

It's just a mix of Dwarf Flesh and Blood Red as a base, with Blood Red highlights. Probably just looks metallic because of reflection and the satin finish of GW paints.

 

I am however pretty pleased with the new technique I used for the tabards. Instead of my usual technique of vertical highlights and shading which is an absolute nightmare to blend, I painted horizontally in little slashes. It even helps to make the tabards look a bit like cloth, too. So yay for that

Edited October 3, 2014 by Firepower

[AndrewChristlieb]

I'm digging the purple power weapons, different but pretty sweet. You certainly have some work ahead of you too, I'm working on a Stormtalon now with 5 hours in assembly and magnetizing plus another 8 hours in paint and plenty more to go on it still . 

[Firepower]

I'm digging the purple power weapons, different but pretty sweet. You certainly have some work ahead of you too, I'm working on a Stormtalon now with 5 hours in assembly and magnetizing plus another 8 hours in paint and plenty more to go on it still .

Yeah, if it weren't for forum challenges, I wouldn't get anything done. I've always been rubbish at life when I don't have a deadline.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Firepower

[Brother dean]

1500 Point Game against me, @ a venue of your choosing (Fantasy Shop St. Charles got tables?) before Christmas.

 

Deadline enough?  

 

(Now which wing should I bring so I can actually have 1500 fully painted...  Hmmm....)

[Firepower]

Is 1500 the norm around here? I've been working towards 2000

[Brother dean]

1500 is a pickup game after work on Fridays, and it usually makes you limit yourself because you cannot get ALL the tasty stuff you want to bring..   Tournys come in most shapes and sizes.  Around April people start wanting to play 1850 for Adepticon in Chicago.

 

Whatever size you want to play is okay with me and most people have several different size lists in the case just in case.

 

Edit:   Shops publicize local tournys here:

http://www.gamemidwest.com/viewforum.php?f=54&sid=8cf335e2fabf726636cb7ad3c2a8dd92

 

which will give you an idea of which shops have tables and Pickup nights.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Brother dean

[Firepower]

Hmm, forgot I also have to buy, assemble and paint a pair of Ironclads, too. Ugh.

 

But looking towards 1500 instead of 2000 will save me some work, even if it means I'll have to struggle to make a proper semi-tide with that restriction.

 

Hmmm...I may have to summon the Laeroth for consultation.

Edited October 3, 2014 by Firepower

[Firepower]

Alright, let's see how democracy works in the Imperium.  Not well I imagine, but still, worth a shot.

 

So I submit to you, brothers, what should I paint next?

 

Option A: 8 Sword Brothers

 

Option B: 2 Drop Pods

 

Option C: 2 Storm Talons

 

Option D: 10 Neophytes

 

Option E: Helbrecht

 

None of these have been assembled yet, or primed.  If I had funds, it would be 3 instead of 2 Drop Pods, or 2 Ironclads.  But I don't have funds.  So they aren't options.

 

I really don't wanna paint...well, any of these.  So I figure it's better to ask my fans (yes, you have all been demoted to mindless followers of my mediocre painting) what models I should stare at on my work desk for the next 2 months.

 

As an aside, this blog is now more than 4 years old.  That's a long time for such little progress, even with a year off travelling abroad.  Considering how much free time I have, that's fairly unacceptable on my part.  I feel like I should ask you all to set a deadline for me, too. I rarely get anything done without one of those hanging over my head.

Edited October 21, 2014 by Firepower