Procrastination by Numbers

[cunningmatt]

Nice report, of course if it were a WD report no way that giant would have cowardly gone and stood behind the toom and played at running circles around the phoenix guard, he'd have gone straight for combat with the intent of stomping them into the ground (though probably have been killed before getting a single attack in).

Yeah blame Lee!! He blatantly should have charged in!!

Yup, there was also a substantial lack of blatant advertising. Thats not the good White Dwarf quality we all know and love! Don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite the same...

Did I forget to mention I'm doing specially commissioned battle reports, £700 a time for anyone who is interested? The look good, no?!

Oh and as its OG, it would be remiss of me not to:
Do you hear that often?  HEY-O!

Are you suggesting that I would deliberately write something with an undertone of sexually suggestion. Me?!

[cunningmatt]

Right now I have everyone's attention with my glittering battle report - Update 76 previous page, plug, plug, plug! I would like to ask a modelling question in return.

I have some Vallejo Water Effects - this stuff:



I want to add some coloured liquid to a modelling project I'm doing (I cannot confirm or deny if this is my crater or not!), how is it best to dye this stuff? Add in an appropriate coloured paint to the mix before applying to the model? How much paint should I add, the liquid can be virtually opaque for what I'm doing.

Help and suggestions (not rude ones) please!!

[fatolaf]

You can either paint the bottom of the river, crater the colour you want for a subtle effect, or add colour to the mix during application, washes or inks for a lighter shade, paints for a darker, murkier look..

experiment with small bubble like dabs and leave to dry to see how see dark you have made it...

[cunningmatt]

You can either paint the bottom of the river, crater the colour you want for a subtle effect, or add colour to the mix during application, washes or inks for a lighter shade, paints for a darker, murkier look..

experiment with small bubble like dabs and leave to dry to see how see dark you have made it...

Cheers (how do you know it's the crater - ummmm....)

Think the paint jobby will work for me, I'll experiment, any thoughts as to what mix to start at? 50/50?

[cunningmatt]

Update 77 – Tuesday 31st July 2012: Self-Cratering

It's a welcome return for the blog that makes about as much sense as revealing Sir Tim Berners-Lee under a giant house does to Americans. Yes apologies for my absence, sadly the disappointing, crushing, depressing reality of the real-world has reared its ugly head once more. Still most of you probably were grateful for a break in the unrelenting bulls**t that this URL usually provides.

After last entry's amazing battle report (I hope you agree – apparently the Americans were annoyed because it was only available on a three hour time and they had to endure Ryan Seacrest), I actually have some painting to show you. Wooo.

Yep unbelievable I know, I've actually done something! And with good timing too, as today marks the close of the INAUGURAL OG TERRAIN PAINTING COMPETITION (not sure why it has to be written in capital letters – but branding is important so I'll do my best to follow). The idea of the competition, for those of you who've spent the last few months trapped on a Central Line train, is that our venerable leader Ol has provided a number of the plastic Games Workshop craters that we all have to paint/model/convert to the best of our ability. This competition also has the side-benefit of boosting the club's level of terrain, it's a bit like one of those "competitions" parents run with their small children – "We're going to have a competition now to see who can be the quiet for the longest!" I see through your ruse!!

Either way it's time to unveil my efforts, as I proudly present the mystical Fountain of the Spilt Shakeaway:









That's right; my terrain building is even more bonkers than my army painting!!! No, hold that thought doubters. Actually this is a model of one of Ulthuan's most sacred monuments. Yes. Deep in the Averlorn forest lies the holy site of the Fountain of the Spilt Shakeaway.

The site consists of the two Shakeaway cups of Anaerion, one is constantly full always topped up with the sugary life-giving, artery-filing milkshake, that is both the Everqueen's favourite and the magical nectar that keeps the isle of Ulthuan afloat. The other cup is that of the spilt Shakeaway, to the horror of all the High Elves the second cup was spilt during the time of the Sundering when all the Elven kingdoms were rocked by a series of earthquakes.

However much to the surprise of the Elves who guarded it at the time, they realised the true power of the monument, because as the cup's milkshakey contents spilt to the ground and soaked into the dry earth so more milkshake was formed in the cup. From that very day nearly 4,000 years ago the cup has been in a perpetual state of emptying, always spilling its contents at the same rate as it soaks into the parched earth below. No one not even the mightiest mages of Ulthuan, nor the Phoenix King himself can ever know if the cup will run dry. All that is known is that the largest, if most poorly commanded, army in all Ulthuan pledged itself to protecting the Fountain of the Spilt Shakeaway. The units wore costumes of that colour and even bore images of the mighty cups on their banners. Cementing their role as the Shakeaway guardians (and you thought I was just making this up!).



And in case you're wondering this piece would make a great chemical spill in Warhammer 40,000 – see always thinking.

Of course no great terrain piece would be without some special rules and here they are for the Fountain of the Spilt Shakeaway. All High Elves painted in a Shakeaway theme gain a 1+ Ward Save if they are in the same gaming room as the terrain feature. Don't have a go at me, blame Games Workshop, it's not as if I just made up the rules.

For those of you interested in how I made it, all one of you, the cups are the lids from two bottles of mouthwash (bought simply as the lids looked the right shape):



Incidentally if anyone wants any mouth wash in a bottle with no lid, bob me a PM.

These were glued in place:



The full cup has a circle of card cut from a cereal box glued in – the circle is actually resting on the screw mechanism in the cap for extra stability. Drawing around a paint pot proved perfect for this:



The straw in the finished bottle is a paperclip bent into shape and pushed into the card.



It was then all undercoated Chaos Black:



The model was then basecoated in my usual colours:



Here's a full guide:

Crater: Basecoated Steel Legion Drab, then drybrushed Baneblade Brown, followed by Bleached Bone.
Cup (cream section): Basecoated Dheneb Stone, then layered Bleached Bone
Cup (yellow section): Basecoated Iyanden Dark Sun, then layered Golden Yellow, followed by Sunburst Yellow, then washed Ogryn Flesh and highlight Bad Moon Yellow
Cup (blue section): Basecoated 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue, then layered Ice Blue and highlighted 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White

For the milkshake I mixed some Water Effects with some Tentacle Pink paint, at a ratio of about 5:1 in an old spray can lid:



This was then applied to the model with a coffee stirrer in the spilt cup and on top of the full cup.

Finally I painted the Shakeaway logo in Warlock Purple around the cup, before flocking the crater. I may have got a bit carried away with the flocking, I blame seeing the hill in the Olympic Opening Ceremony:



So there we go, that's my crater entry we'll see if anyone lets me near any more terrain any time soon?!

And of course if you want to see all the other, better, entries check out here:

http://ogforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=3078.msg46586;topicseen#msg46586

[fatolaf]

Now just need to work out whether it's more dangerous than a swamp or a marsh

[Steve H]

Automatic strength test or "take it off" like Dwellers!

[cunningmatt]

Perhaps it's not dangerous terrain, but units can move through at half rate as they sip the delicious milkshake!!

[cunningmatt]

Update 78 – Wednesday 8th August 2012: Hell is so Tempting

Don't you just hate it when a plan goes awry, be you an Olympic athlete trying to work out the perfect moment to start your sprint, the Mayor of London trying to use a zip line without looking like a comedy piñata or just me trying desperately to finish painting a High Elf army.

Problem is this month's White Dwarf recently landed on my doormat – ok technically it didn't it was put in the little group mail box at the entrance to my block of flats, that's London living for you! Most of you will have opened it up and made a noise a bit like a contented pigeon as you leafed through the pages of the new Daemon models. No? Well I certainly did.



First up you've got the various hellish contraptions of Slaanesh in multiple sizes, that all look like they'd A) be great at making tagliatelle and B) would cause a massive tail back if you got caught behind them on the A345. What's worse a combine harvester or a Slaaneshy chop-chop machine on wheels?



Then there's Nurgle's abhorrent creations, finally some plastic Plaguebearers (probably the only core infantry unit in the game left not available in plastic? There's a challenge for you, quick flick through Army books to find out if there's another core unit not available in plastic! Quick do it!!

Done. Good reply and let me know what you found. Back to the Plagubearers, andin my opinion they look great too, if by great you mean having all your innards hanging of your body, probably won't get you the cover of Vogue I imagine. And of course the Nurglings, who on the face of it look rather cute, like the pile of cuddly toys in the Disney Store but jump into these and you'll have more to worry about that landing on a four-year old child and being accused of Gary Glitterism. I for one think these are great and hope that it's the start of a lot more plastic swarms.



And as dedicated follower of Tzeentch I am excited by the Screamers and Flamers making it to plastic. Not quite sure if the Flamers look too odd, or not, but in fairness the background does describe them as the oddest Daemons of all so guess the model's got that covered! The Screamers look like the packs of sinister, hovering, predatory sharks they are, and in plastic now stand a chance of being mounted on a flying base without potential disaster!! Then of course there's the wicked looking Scribes of Tzeentch, yet more flying bases saved by making them in Finecast!!

Not quite sure about the Soulgrinder yet, sure it will find its way into the Warhammer world soon enough, though it does dwarf the Greater Daemons now, who I think are going to need to grow in plastic scale soon – no I'm not even considering the life-size ones Forgeworld do, that's just ridiculous!

All of this Daemonic naughtiness is providing an awful lot of temptation to my poor warp-raddled mind, I mean I have the other two pantheons of Chaos – Warriors and Beastmen, wouldn't it be a shame not to go for the hat trick? How about a Tzeentch contingent to accompany my Tzeentch Warriors in a Storm of Magic game (not that I've played Storm of Magic ever!!)? Bad thoughts that must be dismissed quicker than those thoughts that all my straight male friends had upon seeing Hermione Granger in the first Harry Potter film back when I was at uni!!

However all of the Daemonic naughtiness really, in terms of my temptation, was a side show to the next few pages.





Yes after proudly boasting back in Update 74 that this was my last batch of High Elves (unless new models or some Finecast characters I want pop out), Games Workshop have only gone and done that before I've got me bits painted. God dam you!! Plus not only that they've potentially added some Beastmen temptation my way too!!

This leads to loads of questions:

•   Do I need the new Beastmen Shaman? Yes, clearly! In fairness the models I currently have our 4th edition, great but a little bit goaty!!
•   What treats are actually coming in Finecast? Dam you Games Workshop for toying with me, with just a teaser page. Hoping for some of the Beastmen/High Elf special characters thank you.
•   Which Teclis shall I go for? Current metal Teclis (which I've warmed too after seeing from a new angle), or classic re-release Finecast Teclis. And yes I do need Teclis, and no I won't ruin games with him. Stop abusing me, I am nice really.
•   Should I make my Razagor Chariot from Finecast? I currently have a metal Tuskgor Chariot and Razagor kit sitting ready to be converted, but it was all such a f**king arse building both the Razagor and the chariot, with more pinning than a fat bride's wedding dress, that I'm really tempted to just buy both kits in Finecast and start again! Is that wrong? On a similar note I do have a metal Gorthor the Beastlord kit, in a box somewhere, but if he comes in Finecast can I be arsed pinning the chariot only so that it disintegrates on touch?

All this, plus the revival of my Beastmen in the current Narrative Campaign (more on that next time) is proving a distraction to my High Elves. I've even starting painting the Cygor I promised I'd leave until the Elves were done.



Still despite my naughtiness the Elves are coming together, here's a work in progress guide  to how I've got on with the Bolt Thrower, for you to ignore!! In fairness it's been a depressing 15 updates since my last High Elf painting guide – very poor!!:

Stage 1 – Repeater Bolt Thrower



Base: Khemri Brown
Leather: Scorched Brown
White Robes: 1:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Wood: Khemri Brown
Grass: Goblin Green
Silver Metal: Chainmail
Gold Metal: Tin Bitz
Yellow Trim and Feathers: Iyanden Dark Sun
Blue Trim: 1:1 Enchanted Blue/Ice Blue
Flesh: Dwarf Flesh

Stage 2 – Repeater Bolt Thrower



Base: *NO CHANGE*
Leather: Wash Nuln Oil
White Robes: Layer 2:1 Skull White/Astronomacian Grey
Wood: Layer: Watered down Graveyard Earth (except Bolt Thrower, layer: 1:1 Steel Legion Drab/Graveyard Earth then layer Graveyard Earth)
Grass: Layer Camo Green
Silver Metal: Wash Nuln Oil
Gold Metal: Shining Gold
Yellow Trim and Feathers: Layer Golden Yellow
Blue Trim: Highlight Ice Blue
Flesh: Layer Elf Flesh

Stage 3 – Repeater Bolt Thrower



Base: Coat Baneblade Brown
Leather: Highlight Beastial Brown
White Robes: Layer watered down Skull White
Wood: Layer watered down 1:1 Baneblade Brown/Bleached Bone then layer watered down Bleached Bone
Grass: Wash Thraka Green
Silver Metal: Highlight Chainmail
Gold Metal: Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Yellow Trim and Feathers: Layer Golden Yellow
Blue Trim: Highlight 1:1 Ice Blue/Skull White
Flesh: Wash Ogryn Flesh

That's it for this update, hopefully more High Elves will be finished soon. Happy Birthday to Mr Shakey Shakey who is 30 today. Got to mention that. Oh and can also say thank you to all of the people who view this blog. Just realised we've passed the 20,000 hits mark which is amazing! Don't think that's just down to regular OGgers so if you are one the unnamed masses who pop on here for a read make yourself known and leave some comments – hey even abuse and death threats are welcome. Makes me feel loved!!

[lagar312]

Then there's Nurgle's abhorrent creations, finally some plastic Plaguebearers (probably the only core infantry unit in the game left not available in plastic? There's a challenge for you, quick flick through Army books to find out if there's another core unit not available in plastic! Quick do it!!

Have to say i'd decided to do a deamon army prior to the release of the plaguebearers and nurglings and just had to grab some when i saw the pics.

Having seen them 'in the flesh' so to speak i have to say they're easily some of the best models GW have released!!