PAINTING ORKS...

Almost finished with a test Nob.  He's kind of middle ground, more than I plan to do for the boyz mobz, but less than what I hope to achieve on some of the special characters (KFF Mek or Ghaz).

Still needs some paint on the nose ring and other little details, along with some more attention to the base...not sure where to go with that though (fortunately my projects move at a snail's pace, so I'm sure to come up with something by my next hobby opportunity)

NEW STORMBOYZ MODELS...

I'm not very interested in Boar Boyz, but the new models could make for some pretty cool Stormboyz.  Even though the actual Stormboyz models are excellent, it never hurts to add variation to the excellence.

40K Madness...

Have you completely lost it when you start playing games of 40K...against yourself?

It's not a problem, though...I can quit any time I want.

GHAZGHKULL THRAKA CONVERSION 4

Slowly...making...progress. Filled out the body and added armor. First layer of GS. A little wiring.

Still a lot of GS work to do on the legs:

Final layer of GS and detail work, maybe another wire or two, and he'll be ready for paint.

GHAZGHKULL THRAKA CONVERSION 3

Didn't like the last pose, so I took a step back and reworked things. I like this much better, seems to do a better job of fitting with Ghaz's fluff as a CC animal:

Also, Jeff shamed me into getting the model completely out of the "blu-tac" stage and onto a base. Still a lot to do, but he's solid and playable at least.

Ghaz and the Avatar, up to their old tricks:

Okay, now I'll start applying GS and bits.

GHAZGHKULL THRAKA CONVERSION 2

A little more work done on Ghaz. Reshaping and positioning the power klaw, trying to make it seem more sinister.

After cutting off the original gun barrels, I had a better understanding of why I didn't like them...they're tiny. I went back and forth about their replacement, trying to decide between one big shoota barrel or two. I then realized I was being silly, and used all three.

Playing with the pose amongst other models to get a sense of scale (or lack of... he's pretty huge). Regardless, I don't think the marines are going to make it:

Finally settled on this pose and pinned his arms in place. The more I look at this stance, the less I like it, but nothing has been done that can't be undone...we'll see.

I may change the pose, raising the PK slightly and lowering the gun arm so it's slightly cross body (pointing at the ground in front of him). Feel free to weigh in on this.

In the meantime, I'll greenstuff over the first layer of milliput on the legs and torso and start adding glyph and armor bits (can't have him looking so spindly).

New Ork Goodies:

Nom, nom, nom...trying to stop my drool...

40K MODULAR TABLE

If you were putting the tiles on a surface that was at least 4'x6', then you could probably get away letting gravity keep it all together. However, there's always table bumping and the support surface is often smaller (like a kitchen or folding table), meaning a portion of the tiles need to be able to cantilever off the edge.

They need to be joined somehow, and while I have many ideas about how to do this, the one in the lead at the moment involves clevis pins and hair-pin clips...you may be familiar with them by a different name, so here's what I'm talking about looking under the tiles: (color for clarity)

I'm showing three holes per side in case the tile has a feature that dips below the playing surface, as discussed in the last post and shown here: (pinned at highlighted locations)

Bolts and wing-nuts would provide a more secure connection, but wouldn't be quite as convenient. However, it would be easy to have both on hand and use whichever was more appropriate.

And here's a look at some modular hills placed on the playing surface instead of being joined to the surface:

P.S. The bunkers and vehicles are from 3D Warehouse, my thanks to the original modelers.

See part 1 of this modular table idea here.

40k Terrain - Modular layout

While I know using 24"x24" table 'tiles' increases the number of joints (and therefore helps in guessing ranges/distances), I still think they have merit due to their flexibility. The discussion over at Strictly Average inspired me to post some of my past terrain thoughts (which are now on hold, due to the Waaaagh!)

The idea: Instead of flat 24x24 modules, build simple 5-sided boxes so that the main playing surface is elevated. This gives you the freedom to go both above 'grade' and below.

Also, while I like the idea of modular hills, I don't think I'll include them in the table tiles. Done separately from the table, the hills would be more flexible and could hide the table joints/measuring aides.

See part 2 of this modular table idea here.

See how to make the buildings here.

Mek Update...

Crawling slowly toward completion. I think I might stop here and move on to painting him. I thought about adding mek boy odds-n-ends, but with the huge pack and choppa-tool, it might get too busy (if it's not already).

Besides, I need to scratch up some kannons so I can actually play a game...

See him finished here.

KFF BIG MEK...

...surprise surprise, a WIP. I wonder if I'll ever be able to post a finished project...

See him finished here.

The Ursamarines vs. The Ursus Bellum

Still struggling with the name decision, but I guess I'm leaning toward Ursamarines. In the grim dorky world of my far 40K tournament future, I think it will be more acceptable to other players. Ursus Bellum sounds singular, some might need an interpretation, and it might come off like I'm just plain trying too hard. It's a tricky thing, finding something that's cool in a nerdy world, and still have it be my brand of nerdy.

I need to work on the lighting for my pics, but below are a couple marines showing my newly finalized colors. The ML was painted entirely with this new scheme, while the flamer was painted in a different scheme and then touched up to bring in line with the new.
This was more about finding the colors, and less about painting to top standard. Hopefully, my line highlights will be more careful and neat on showier pieces. Also, these obviously need a lot more work (weapons, details, etc. but I do like the eye of the ML trooper).

I decided to ditch the pauldrons with a bleached bone field. They are bears...bears that have been charging through the blood of their kills, seeking more enemies to slay. Really, I wanted brown, but after deciding that most will have red legs, I found that the brown was overpowered by the huge white pauldrons. I think this will also help with the chapter symbol, a nice dark background to slap a white symbol on. I may have some vets with white helms, and some sarge's with red helms. We'll see.

Because of the dark lighting, you'll definitely need to view the larger pic to see anything, and maybe even zoom in on that.

Also, with the switch to brown pauldrons, I can get away with a pauldron trim color, which is more appropriate since it's a codex chapter at the moment. I'm leaning toward a muted gold for second company or red for third (Ultramarines standards)

Blah blah blah...

Update: a stab at correcting the shoddy pic...colors are a little more true to life:

40K TERRAIN MADNESS, why I have no beer money...

Okay, I mentioned I made a purchase...here's a preview:

In the boxes:

The boxes opened: (there's a lot of plastic here)

A quick structure: (all boxes are modular and compatible, this is probably no more than 15% of the available pieces)

The pics aren't great, I had to coax each shot from the dying batteries...

but I'm excited by the possibilities. The pieces snap together, so I can take apart and reconfigure with ease. I'm eager to take a look at the cathedral we discussed last weekend, ruined by the Crashed Imperial Aquila Lander.

However, I'm also looking forward to finalizing (to a point) the putty casts I did. I do plan to reduce the scale of the structure you saw and make two ruined corners instead.