Echoes of Eisenstein - upscaling madness with the XIV

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Deathshroud Terminators.

[Sherrypie]

Thanks Bjorn!

 

Now for something completely different: a Space Hulk tangent!

 

It is a most human tendency to look at your old works with some disdain, especially when you're showing them to other people. After all, the newer works are surely more representative of your art.

But then there are some things where you just go "eh, that's still cool". For me that's my Space Hulk project from 2009, the zenith of my teenage modeling skills. Despite being pretty roughly handled by convention goers over the years, this demo set has never failed to draw curious onlookers to the table. I'm still forever bitter about starting the project with 30 mm squares, making it a bit narrow for most modern models in general ZM use. One of these years, one of these years I swear I'll build a new and better one with blackjack and hookers...

But while waiting for that retirement plan, this summer's main Finnish convention is still digital due to earlier Corona restrictions. Not letting such little things stop me from some good gaming, I went and designed a virtual tabletop setup for SH on Tableplop with lots of immersive pictures for various situations during the game. "Into the Heart of Darkness" shall be our celebration of Richard Halliwell and his works, as a thousand bolter shots will mourn his passing.

Maybe I'll even paint the rest of the terminators in that box one day :D

Enjoy!









































Next set, finally some better pictures of the table itself :)

[Monstra Sumus]

Big Aliens vibe from this set of pictures. I love it!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine work on the Space Hulk diorama.

[Sherrypie]

Thanks Nomad and Bjorn! Original Alien thematics are certainly a big influence here, with their timeless, grungy space junk vibes.

 

Some shots from the old table itself (omitting the later-made wall parts and such, which are the same height for ZM skirmish table purposes when grids aren't required).



When I started the build in 2009, I made enough bits to play out the first mission in classic Hulk: the Suicide Mission. Afterwards I realised the folly of 30 mm squares and lost the original motivation. This mission is an evergreen demo favourite, so no big loss in that regard and you can even see it in the little details like the map in the corner, which is the map of said mission :D









 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Again, fine work.

[Sherrypie]

Bleergh, it's way too hot for any intelligent action...

...so it's time to paint on an assembly line :D




 

[acrowsperch]

Excited to see where those terminators go!

[Sherrypie]

Excited to see where those terminators go!

To haunt me, apparently.

 

Currently almost blocked the main colours before the fun part of washing gets going and the awkward mess starts to look like something. And here I thought I could escape painting trim for a while, painting something other than my titan legio, but of course the cataprachtii plate is full of it :D

[Sherrypie]

Terminators! Who doesn't love them? I sure do, though I do now somewhat regret painting twenty of the buggers at once :D
Looking over at the force as it stands, the termies apparently just are loved more in this house. I've made like 40 of them, counting characters, after starting this project in 2016 while the mere 20 normal infantrymen that kicked off the whole thing are still somewhat unfinished and the 100+ other troopers still haven't gotten out of their boxes. Whoops.

Click 'em bigger for deets! This time I finally tested out some weathering powders. Quite conservatively, but I am still satisfied with their potential. Expect more of those when the next lot gets painted.




Sorry for less than stellar shots, the weather decided to :cuss with my camera in particular today.










 

[Sherrypie]

And the rest of the pics (stupid limits, grumble grumble...):

 

 

(grumble grumble...)

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on Mortarion's sons.

[Sherrypie]

Cheers Bjorn ;)

[Sherrypie]

With the twenty termies behind us, it's time to paint something quick, light and less intensive.

Like a super-heavy tank!



It begins!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job.

[acrowsperch]

Those lines are crispy

[Sherrypie]

Thanks lads!

 

Clear linework seems to come with practise, surprising nobody ever :D

 

It's nice to see a marked difference to few years past, though it also creates strong urges to go back and repaint instead of working on more. Hngh.

[Markus_]

That diorama takes me back though I haven't seen it in the flesh, lovely work.
Gotta love Terminators. Two squads of seven am I right? What's the story of ol' lamphead over there?

[Sherrypie]

That diorama takes me back though I haven't seen it in the flesh, lovely work.

Gotta love Terminators. Two squads of seven am I right? What's the story of ol' lamphead over there?

 

Thanks, drop by in some future Ropecon and you might!

 

18 in this batch, to be exact. They'll probably mingle a bit with the dozen or so previously made Termies, allowing for plenty of variation in the squads.

 

The Big Daddy in training is a whimsical conversion to see what kind of stuff would work with the basic Terminator form. As I like my suits to look somewhat individualistically haphazard, like the men would have kept and modified them on the run as campaigns have dragged on and their logistic supply lines have struggled, I can imagine one of them utilizing parts from the origins of the suits as protective exoskeletons for working in plasma reactors. Probably not literally by diving in, but the old fashioned 19th century diving suit fits the bill on the aesthetic side :D

 

[Sherrypie]

Some messy progress. Always just an untidy, shapeless splodge before the edge highlights fix it back :D

[Sherrypie]

Some 9th, my DG vs. IG. Since I just got a batch of terminators painted, I took a humorous list with about 30 terminators of various kinds with a handful of supporting characters.

For some reason, this seems to have broken the IG player, who despite being the only one who dealt any real damage with their Demolisher Commanders and Manticores kept on insisting he couldn't do anything to the (constantly diminishing) wall of terminators and forfeited the game by turn four. I mostly trudged towards him, looking menacing :D

[Majkhel]

Hey, lovely warm colours on the XIV-th!
Great builds too.

This big-daddy-style terminator is AWESOME! :D

[Sherrypie]

Hey, lovely warm colours on the XIV-th!

Great builds too.

This big-daddy-style terminator is AWESOME!

 

Thanks Majkhel!

 

The colours are indeed drifting to somewhat warmer tones than one might see with many XIV forces, partially due to the liberal use of Burnt Umber and me generally enjoying a bit of a red tint on them.

 

The Big Daddy draws the eye nicely, makes it easy to spot where the melee specialist is in the thick of it as lines clash on the table :D

[Sherrypie]

Chugging along with this brick. The tracks looked like they needed a bit more dirt on them. I'll probably darken some bits yet, while the work on the edge highlights and chipping begins.

[Sherrypie]

Falchion IV, the Fourth Horseman, rolls from the hangars to join the III mechanised of the XIV legion!

You really want to click these full size.









I'm happy with the bugger, especially how fun it was to splash around with mud and how nicely the main gun's NMM turned out. Let me know what you think :)