Skulltaker....and Rant in GW Major

So, finally getting back to the blog.  I actually tried a few days ago, and Blogger was having issues and wouldn't save anything.  It kept telling me I had logged out.  I decided that someone didn't want me to post that day, so here I am, trying again. 

First, I need to get something off my chest.  Sometimes (more and more often) Games Workshop really irritates me!  The latest reason has to do with coverage from the various Games Day events around the world.  Last week, via a post by Mathieu Fontaine (winner of many, many Golden Demon trophies) on Facebook, I found out that there were a few photos from Games Day France (specifically Golden Demon winners) up on GW's website.  This was about 4 days after GD France.  North America Games Day was the end of July and there's still no photos up from it!  Three months!  Where is the coverage from the other Games Days?  Games Workshop, you make some really great games.  You also make some really good miniatures (don't get cocky, there's LOTS of other awesome miniatures these days.)  The way you interact with your customers/fans; not so good.  You're getting more and more competition all the time GW: better watch out, people are getting tired of dealing with you. 

Now that I've vented a little......here's some pictures of my Skulltaker-on-a-Juggernaught conversion!  I've seen a few of these over the years, and they never look right.  Always, Skulltaker is just stuck on the back of a Jugger and is balancing there like he's a circus act.  I gave him reigns to hold on to; which meant I had to swap his sword from one hand to the other.  It went smoother than I was afraid of, with only a little putty work to finish him off.  What do you think?

 I cut away the flaming skull, and then repositioned his hand so he could be holding the sword.  Swapping the sword; easy.  Repositioning the hand; tricky.  I didn't want to try sculpting an entire hand, so I carved away until I had just the hand with a cylinder shape in it that would look like the sword hilt.  I then cut the fingers at a knuckle joint and bent the hand around the "hilt."  Rebuilding the joint with intact fingers on each side of the gap wasn't too tough.

 

  Here, I had to cut the hand free from the arm so I could reposition it....without damaging his armor!  I then pinned the hand to the arm, and built a new wrist from Green Stuff.  Some plastic chains from the Skullcrusher kit finished off the look.  I'm pretty pleased with the overall look.  This was a pretty fun conversion to do.  This was my first conversion using a Finecast model.  Finecast definitely has some problems, but this project was much easier to pull off with resin as opposed to metal.  Comments?

Silver Demon Winning Plaguebearers!

I should have gotten this posted last week, but I didn't.  Just didn't get enough other stuff done so I could get to it.  This post is the last of the "background" posts.  After this, we're all caught up with past work, and can move forward with new projects and/or commission work.

In my last offering, you saw my Ultramarines army that was entered in Armies On Parade at Games Day in Chicago this year.  Entering AoP was an afterthought.  My main reason for attending Games Day this year was to enter the Golden Demon painting competition.  Last year, entering Golden Demon was an afterthought and I didn't make the first cut.  Disheartening, but I'd read offerings from better painters than I who were shut out in their first attempt as well.  This year I had many entries planned, but as so often happens, time got the better of me.  I only got 1 of my serious offerings finished;  A unit of 20 Plaguebearers which will ultimately be used in my Daemons of Chaos armies (I want Daemons so I can use the minis in both 40K AND Fantasy.)  I'll start the photos off with a unit I painted as part of a trade, which gave me the idea to paint Plaguebearers for Golden Demon based on how fast I was able to get the basic paint jobs done.

'Ere we go!

Here's 4 of the 5 models I painted for the trade.  I knocked these out in one evening and they look really good on the table.  Their owner is quite happy with them.  I figured this basic technique could be built upon to paint an entry for Golden Demon.  Would you be happy with models that look like this if you only had a half hour or so into each one?

Here's the next evolution of the technique!  Push the contrast a lot, and decide on a really bright, eye-catching spot color; check!  Use all of the composition knowledge I gained from Mathieu Fontaine's Master Painting Class a couple of years ago to try to keep the judges' attention on my entry; check!  Try out brand new techniques like using weathering powders to rust the weapons; check!  Try ground glass product (from Secret Weapon Miniatures) to make the snow sparkle on the bases: check!  Nurgle up the command group by adding color coordinated ooze to them; check!  Up the Nurgle factor by making nasty yellow and brown patches of snow; Check!  Result: my first Demon trophy!

A little more table level view.

The unit from the back

Command group from the front.

Command group from the back.

A few random models.

The same batch from the back.

A few more random models for variety.

Rear view of the same group.

The whole gang partying in front of the trophy!

Obviously, I'm pretty proud of winning the trophy.  More important though is the validation of work I've done (in collaboration with a friend) over the past few years to build a set of skills that let me paint good looking models fast.  Ultra high end painters like Todd Swanson (won his 5th Slayer Sword this year in Chicago) put hundreds (plural) of hours into 1 single model.  I can't do that.  I paint armies and play the games.  I need painted models on the table, and I want them to look good.  This entry (20 models) was painted over the course of 2 weeks.  I did not keep close track of my per model time, but I know its well under 3 hours per model.  In truth, I'd be really surprised if it was over 2.5 hours per model.  I normally try to keep my per model time under 1 hour per model.  Two and a half hours per model to win a Silver?  I'm down with that.

So why do I bring up the painting time?  To brag?  Not really, although I admit it will look that way.  My goal is to get people to realize that they can have nice looking models and great looking armies without having to spend hours and hours to get each model ready for the table.  A few basic techniques and you have an awesome army instead of the gray tide.  A few more expansion techniques and a relatively small additional investment in time, and you too could take a shot at the Golden Demon.  Believe it!