151 Down Memory Lane (2nd Edition 40k!)

I posted these on Facebook just a couple of days ago and was pleasantly surprised by the response.

These were my first taster of Warhammer 40k back in 1993..... I was 14. (please dont do the math!)

Before then I had mostly played the various "gateway" board games, Space Crusade, Heroquest and the like. I remember distinctly starting to use the models in those games to play on open tabletops and realising that boards were too limited.

The joys of using an old subbuteo pitch draped across stacks of books to form hills!

Then as now I spent more time reading and digesting the amazing fluff and imagining life in the setting than actually playing but hey I was that kind of kid.

I had been reading WhiteDwarf for a few years by then so when 2nd Edition came out and all the confusing Rogue Trader rules came together in one package I jumped at it.

The plastic Orks and Gretchin in their static mono pose and the statuesque Marines where a real challenge for my teenage self and rest assured that no evidence of my 14 year old painting survives!

I guess as a combination of my age and the newness of the game but 2nd Edition was something of a golden age for me. I dont recall getting as much satisfaction from any of the following editions as I did from 2nd. It was prior to the codexes, although they were quick to follow and you still had a lot of flexibility.

What are your memories of those heady days in the '90s?

150 For the Khan! (White Scar)

I was worried about this guy, oh my goodness was I worried! A bike covered with loads of details...!

But once I broke him down a bit and looked at it one piece at a time I was able to put something together that I am quite proud of. He was an experience but a good one I think

I tried to make his shield look old and bronzed but I think I will need to work on this. I wanted to have something similar for my skeleton warriors but I worry that this look wont work for them. We will see I guess.

Bases are sorted in this basic set up now, totally confident and at ease with them so its time to start with some more adventurous ideas.

149 The Flesh Is Weak! (Iron Hands)

Only a very short update today, managed to finish off the Iron hands guy. He is to be honest a pretty uninspiring model, pretty static and the shape closes him off for me.

Has some cool features though, loving the bionic leg and its nice to see a reloader just not feeling the model as a whole.

I should have maybe done some more colour to break him up a bit as he is very, black, grey, silver...

Oh well, not many left now!

148 Papa Smurf (Ultramarines)

Sorry i couldn't resist. I don't actually have too much prejudiced against Ultramarines to be honest, I think its just a shame they have been put on a pedestal somewhat with the writing and have become kind of "main stream" which always pushes me away from something. I would always rather have something different.

Both are great models I must admit, going along with the trend of all the new Deathwatch models to be honest. I really cant fault them.

Quite pleased with my basing now, I think I have got these quite simple styled ones down and can reproduce them quite easily. Armageddon Dust with a wash of Agrax Earthshade and then a dry brush of something like Ushabti Bone or similar to pick up some texture. Steel Legion Drab on the edges and bingo!

I think the next bases will have to be a bit more adventurous!

147 Fire In The Belly (Salamander)

Painting fire! Oh my! This was a difficult one to get to state I was happy with. My teenage self clearly thought fire goes from dark to light from the middle to the outside.... it doesnt! who knew!?

So after a few... how can I put it? experiments? I got to something I can live with... I think i will need to work on this more.

Other than that its another nice model, went together really well and I am really liking how all the seams get covered up by the overlapping bits.

The Salamander has some great contrast between modern tech and the techno barbarian styling.

146 All in the mind (Blood Raven)

This guy was a learning curve for me, I hesitated at doing the whole "blue for librarian" bit at first but I managed to make something work. Blending blues over the black armour and graduating it down the torso.

I think it works quite well but at one point I was just going to ignore it so really glad I went for it.

Happy with the classic cloth, parchment colours I do, think I have that technique down well now.

145 Angel Of Death (Blood Angel)

This is a lovely model; so much detail! Its just a shame that with his jetpack half of that detail gets covered over.

I broke away from my normal use of the old school "Blood Red" and used the newer "Khorne Red" its certainly not as bright a colour but it is far more consistent and covers well.

You know you are onto a winner when even the jetpack has scroll work on it!

Not managed to get the courage up yet to try writing on all the purity seals and the like but I do like how they look even as they are.

144 The Gang So Far (Deathwatch)

Half way through my Deathwatch group, I will post some more details and progress shots in a follow up post but wanted to show them all together in their finished state.

Really liking what I have managed to do with them. No 'Eavy Metal but I am pleased.

The test run of bases is working qiute will too, pretty simple but effective, Already thinking on what I can add to mix them up a bit. More progress to follow!

143 Nevermore (The Ravenguard)

The Ravenguard were one of my favourite Chapters for quite sometime (partly because they were black armoured and its easier to paint!) but as the fluff has been fleshed out they have faded a little in my rankings.

Fitting in with the Deathwatch scheme is really easy with this model, its basically just a Ravenguard paint scheme with a silvered shoulder. I put it together in 3 pieces as both the jump pack and right arm block a lot of the main model but once you have those done it all comes together well.

142 I Still AINT Ded

So this one is going to be a bit of a rambling post about whats been going on for me of late; the hobby and life in general.

You may have noted that its been quite a while since my last post, the reason for that is two fold; firstly I have not until recently had the time or inclination to hobby much and secondly I have been doing other stuff!

The lack of time has been more to do with not being home as work has taken me across the country again so not able to spend a lot of time at the hobby desk, which I guess you can all understand to some degree.

The other stuff has been positive in some ways as I have have started trying to get fitter by starting jogging; the "Couch to 5k" has helped me realise just how out of condition I am!

I have found some time to read more of late which is also good news and Sabbat Crusade got devoured quite fast.

There are some great short stories in there and I would definitely recommend for anyone who has enjoyed the Gaunt's Ghosts books.

I have still found a little time to paint and the Deathwatch are growing slowly in number.

With a few more as WIP.

My birthday passed without too much fuss but my wife was wonderful enough to indulge my love for the dead :-)

More on those guys soon!

I will end it there for now as I can feel this should really spread into a few posts so for now, have fun and keep painting.

141 Warhammer World Part 2

Some more of the eye candy from Warhammer World.


It seems people quite like the idea of looking at the pretties from Warhammer World so who am I to argue?

The way the exhibition part of Warhammer World (WW) is laid out leads you from some very early and nostalgic pieces like those I showed you in my last post through into area dedicated to all things Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar.

After that you enter the Warhammer 40k section which is heavily splattered with Forgeworld and 30k displays.

More to follow including some of the massive battle displays