Looking Back on 2019

As 2019 draws to a close, I'd like to thank all my followers and wish everyone a Happy New Year! Since it's the end of the quarter, it's also time to check in on my Wargame Hobby Bingo... I DID IT!

 

 

Gutter Runner Diorama

Here's a look at the finished diorama, with some notes about how the painting and final assembly came together:

 

Nighthaunt Army Progression

Time to check in on how my Nighthaunt army has shaped up over the course of the year:

 

Gutter Runner Diorama Build

As the year draws to a close, I've been scrambling to check the last few boxes on my Wargame Hobby Bingo Card. One of these is for building a diorama. I needed something small and quick that I could finish in a couple weeks, alongside all my other work and the holidays. I settled on a Skaven Gutter Runner, running through a storm drain tunnel. Here's a look at how I built the tunnel:

 

Endless Spells Showcase

My final three endless spells are finished, and that completes the entire set of endless spells from the Malign Sorcery box set. Here's a look at all 13 of them, plus the Balewind Vortex. Enjoy!

 

 

Painting Tutorial: Tomb Kings Bone Giant

Here's a look at my newly-completed Bone Giant, and the process I used to paint him and my other Tomb Kings:

 

Plans on a Primaris Scale

Today I'm taking stock of my Space Marine projects and where I'm going with the Primaris models:

 

Playing Catch-Up

I've been under a deadline crunch for a few scenery commissions, so my blog has been getting neglected for the past few weeks. I managed to keep up with my #HobbyStreak however, so I've got a bunch of projects that I'll be posting about this month...

 

The Infernal Headsman, Lord Executioner

This October, I put the finishing touches on a model that's been in the works for the better part of a year– The Infernal Headsman:

 

Converting a Colossus

Not content to ever build a "stock" model (even under a time crunch), I converted a unique Bone Giant. Here's how it all came together:

Red-Hot Swords and the Guardian of Souls

I've added a couple of new additions to my endless spell roster and Nighthaunt army– 

 

 

Wargame Hobby Bingo, 3rd Quarter Update

I scored a Bingo this quarter, but I'm starting to fall behind on my quest to finish the entire card...

 

 

Malifaux, Witch Hunters and Death Marshals

I never buy models that I don't intend to paint, even if it takes a few years. I bought two faction starter boxes for Malifaux when it debuted at Gencon in 2009. Ten years later, I have finally painted them...

 

Modeling Tutorial: Re-basing Scenic Bases

I didn't have very many Nighthaunt units in my Legions of the Infernal Skull undead army. In fact, the Spirit Hosts are the only unit that I had finished before the release of the Nighthant Battletome. While I'm not about to re-base my Legion from squares, I have decided to re-base the Spirit Hosts to match my round-based Nighthaunt army.

 

This tutorial will show the process I used to re-base the Spirit Hosts, while preserving all the work I put into their scenic bases. I'll also show you how to deal with those pesky rows of peg tubes under the 40mm square bases.

 

Hexwraiths, the Long Journey

I recently finished my unit of Hexwraiths, so I thought it only fitting to show off some detail photos and take a look back at the long road to bring this project to its conclusion. It only took Frodo and Sam a year to walk all the way to Mordor and back, but it took me more than two years to paint these 10 models. In my defense, this was a pretty ambitious project...

Hurray! A New Death Faction– Oh Wait...

At Nova last week, GW previewed a new Death faction, The Ossiarch Bonereapers. As a fan of all things undead, I was eagerly anticipating what they had in store for us. GW has always hit the mark with its undead models, but this might be the first time they've released an entire range that I don't quite like...

 

Nighthaunt Progress Report

I had put my Nighthaunt projects aside to work on some scenery, endless spells, and to finish off my Skaven backlog. With all that out of the way, I've had some time to get back in the swing of painting wraiths...

 

Painting Tutorial: Batch Painting Clanrats

I recently finished up a batch of 100 Skaven Clanrats, themed to match my Clan Pestilens force. Painting large units can be a daunting, even exhausting task, but if you have a plan and work at a steady pace, you can get through it in no time. Here's a look at the process I used to batch-paint all of these Clanrats:

 

Terrain Tutorial: Making Newspaper Litter

One of the easiest ways to add realism to your scenery is to add bits of litter and trash. Here's a quick tutorial for adding newspaper litter to your terrain:

Endless Spells

One of my hobby goals for 2019 is to finish all of the endless spells in the Malign Sorcery set. Over the past couple weeks, I was able to knock out a bunch of them.

 

Subway Station Terrain Showcase

At Gencon 2019, Atomic Mass Games premiered their Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures game. I had been commissioned to build a 3' x 3' demo table for the game's debut– This subway station. Here's a look at the board, along with a little insight into its construction...

Necron Gallery Photos

I've finally had time to take some gallery photos of my newly-finished Necron models, including a full army shot:

 

 

Catching Up

I've been neglecting my blog as I finished up a scenery commission for Gencon, but I've maintained my #HobbyStreak by spending at least a 1/2 hour every day working on models. Here's a look at what I've got on my painting table and what's coming...

 

Wargame Hobby Bingo, 2nd Quarter Update

We're halfway through 2019, so it's time for another check-in on the hobby bingo card progress...

 

Necron Flayed Ones Conversion

If you haven't heard of #HobbyStreak before, it's a challenge intended to help hobbyists maintain momentum on their modeling projects. Every day, spend at least 1/2 hour on some sort of hobby activity– Painting, assembly, even cleaning mold lines or tidying up your work station counts! Every day, post a photo of your progress on Twitter with #HobbyStreak, and see how long of a streak you can maintain. Over the past month, I've been maintaining my hobby streak by chipping away at a few projects that I have finally finished... almost.

 

Skaven and Stormtroopers

My personal hobby time has been limited, so I've been chipping away at a few smaller projects. This week, I finished off my Skaven Warpfire Thrower teams, and a pair of Stormtroopers for Star Wars: Legion.

 

 

Terrain Showcase: Boot Hill Battlefield

This scenery commission for the Boot Hill game consists of four 2' x 5' board segments: the mesa, the ranch, and two town sections. They all line up to form a sprawling 5' x 8' battlefield. Here's a look at the boards, buildings, and all the accessories I made for the project:

 

 

Boot Hill Battlefield, The Town of Blumville

In the previous post, we took a look at the mesa and mine tunnels on the battlefield I made for the Boot Hill game. This time we'll cover the construction of the town of Blumville...

Boot Hill Battlefield, The Lost Kaye Mine

Earlier this year, I finished a commission for a gigantic 5' x 8' battlefield for the game Boot Hill that was featured at Gary Con in March. The battlefield was divided into four 2' x 5' sections. The two sections in the center contained the town of Blumville. On the two outer sections, one had a mesa with abandoned mine tunnels running underneath, and the section at the opposite opposite end had open pastures and a large manor house overlooking the town. In this post, we'll take a look at the construction of the mesa and tunnels of the Lost Kaye Mine...

 

 

 

Counting Toward DOOMSDAY, Part 4

Doomsday has arrived! This installment covers the final week of work on my two Doomsday Ark kits, finishing their cockpits and passengers, and fitting all the pieces together....

Counting Toward DOOMSDAY, Part 3

Work and life have kept my Doomsday Ark project from moving as quickly as I would have liked, but I still managed to get a significant chunk finished this week. Each of these rib sections was made up of 46 component pieces that all needed to be painted separately before assembling it all! Here's how everything came together...

 

Counting Toward DOOMSDAY, Part 2

The march toward Doomsday continues as I chronicle my second week of work on the Necron Doomsday Arks...

 

Counting Toward DOOMSDAY, Part 1

I've been keeping a journal of my daily progression as I work on this pair of Doomsday Arks–

 

Necron Quickies

This week, I finished off a few small-but-quick projects for my Necrons:

 

Skaven Endless Spells

Oh rats...

 

 

After my first game with the Skaventide, I realized that I needed some options to slow my opponent's rush toward my battle line. After a week-long push, I've finally got all of my Skaven-themed endless spells finished!

Wargame Hobby Bingo, 1st Quarter Update

This year I'm making my second attempt to fill out the entire bingo card. Here's how things are shaping up after the first quarter...

 

Thanquol and Thoughts on the Skaventide

Thanquol is ready for battle! In this post I'll show off the conversion for his throne, and share some of my thoughts about the Skaventide.

Modeling Tutorial: Fixing the Heavy Destroyer Cannon

Back in my day, straightening bent weapons on metal models was easy. These days, newfangled styrene plastic model kits don't need any straightening at all. But in those dark times between metal and plastic, we were treated to formerly metal parts being cast in resin. And if a resin component was warped, straightening it could be quite a chore. Case in point: The Necron Heavy Destroyer's cannon. Here's a tutorial for fixing it without worrying about straightening the resin itself.

 

 

Gnawholes and Nighthaunts

It's been a long week, but I've finally finished painting my set of Skaven Gnawholes:

Skaven Gnawhole Scenery Kit Review

I picked up the Skaven Gnawhole kit last week. Here's a detailed look at this simple, but very versatile scenery kit:

 

Speed Painting Necrons

Necrons are some of the easiest and fastest units to paint (even easier than skeletons in my opinion), and in this tutorial I'll share my process for getting through them quickly.

 

Carrion Empire Hot Takes

Well, that was sooner than I expected. Time for some reactions before the books are even released!

 

Nachtmar the Terrorgheist

 

At long last– Nachtmar, the Living Nightmare is ready to be unleashed upon the world...

Nighthaunt Project Queue, January 2019

One of my resolutions for 2019 is to finally start a stand-alone Nighthaunt army that will function separately from my Legion of the Infernal Skull undead army. Here's a look at what I've got in the queue, and what my plan looks like...

 

Necron Reinforcements

Reinforcements for my Necron army have arrived in the form of a Cryptek and a bunch of Destroyers...

 

Carrion Empire?!

Just when I thought I had a handle on my projects for the year, GW drops the Carrion Empire in our laps! Time to see how the Flesh Eater Courts and Skaven will fit into my schedule, and make some rampant speculations...

 

Terrain Showcase: Warscryer Citadel

The Warscryer Citadel is finished! I hope you enjoy this gallery and "walk around" tour of the terrain piece.