Honsou finished and Chaos Chosen started.

Apologies for the grainyness of the picture I forgot to take final pics of the finished figure again whoops, anyway's by all accounts my friend absolutely loved this as a present from his brother so mission accomplished for me at least!

Next on the table are some Chaos Chosen, they are to be painted in Tzeentch colours, and to that end I have picked Blue, Purple,White and gold as my colours.

This chap was the first guy to be completed to get a feel for the scheme, to be honest they look amazing in plastic but are very hard to get looking nice.

This is due to the detail being very subtle and smooth across the whole figure.

I had to use black lining on most of the armour to make it "pop" a technique I've not used since I was teenager!!!

This is the current progress f the squad, I am still refining how I paint even after all these years and the lesson I learnt from these is to find a base colour that goes on easy.......not in 3 coats grrrrrr.

Stay tuned for more and possibly a second author......

Honsou Of the Iron Warriors

I have been asked by a good friend to create Honsou from the Black Library series of books. 

He is for his brothers birthday, so it's gotta be a nice figure. 

Here's where I started, with legs from the new tactical boxed set, a Terminator chest stuck to a Power Armour back and some power cables, the head is a Blood Angels one with the flowing locks cut off. 

The next stages involved sculpting the belt and holster and tidy up. 

A quick check once I'd started the arms, the Necron arm is an Ork one with the hand turned 90* the axe is from one of the Chosen from the Dark Vengeance boxset. 

End result is this, pretty close to the artwork as close as I can get myself. 

He is all primered up and ready for paint over the next few days. 

Munky

Better late than never eh!

Well doesn't time fly when your having fun (revamping the bathroom) Not a huge amount to report but a few projects have ticked along in the back ground firstly I finished off the Necromunda gang but stupidly forgot to get a final picture of them so this is the last one I took.

The only thing I needed to do was finish the bases off with weathering powders.

After them I did a small piece for a chap at my work place, this was a small pewter model car I cleaned up and painted for him.

The next unit on the commission agenda is a unit of Custodes these figures are from Scibor miniatures

I have built them with pole axe's from the Grey Knight Terminator boxed set with Blood Angels Angelus Boltguns fitted on top to represent the Custodes weapons.

This chap is armed with a Psycannon so the customer can use the Unit as Grey Knights.

A Scale comparison shot with Marines and Frankenstein is photobombing lol.

This is the group ready for primer and paint, I had to fill in a few haps with GreenStuff to get the arms to match, were off on a little holiday with the mini Munky who is now 8 months old and terrorizing the household!

See you soon followers.

Tu Shan update

Hello once again, I must confess it's been another busy week so not much has happened on the hobby front but I have got a little more done on Tu Shan.
The scales on the loin cloth was a bit of a challenge but it's all about learning it for yourself.

I also started work on the cloak which is very challenging to get it smooth but a few coats of liquid green stuff should smooth the way, then it's time for some more scales.

This little piece was sculpted from a Space Wolf Thunderhammer and will sit on the top of the Terminator armour as decoration, what do you think?

The only other thing I have done is the first bit of shading on the Cyclone Terminator, but there is much more to go.
I should have some time this weekend to get more done so stay tuned for an update.

Munky Out

Tutorials and cool stuff added to blog.

Hi everyone I hope you are all well!

I have been adding a little content to the Blog in the way of Tutorials I have done and seen over the years.
I know there is only a few now but I have loads to share, once I have checked the links are OK they will appear on the site, just browse off the menu bar at the top.

One of the tutorials I found only a week or two ago is of such a high standard that I just have to share it here as well.
It is by G.Schellert on his Blog here there are downloadable files of the articles he has produced.

Now the tools he describes and builds are of such a high quality and range that I personally will struggle to match his work, that aside it has inspired me to make some myself (although not as well finished as his!)

I am a novice sculptor and haven't really done much since my college days so I have a long way to go, but I was struggling to see how anyone could sculpt a models with conventional tools like these:

That's not to say that they aren't useful of course they are, but it struck me the other day that my problem was they are just too damn BIG! such a simple thought but ground breaking none the less.

After poring over Schellerts pdf I decided to make some myself, now I don't have all the wonderful tools he has but armed with some wire a steel block and a hammer I bashed some tools out and with some bending in a vice and polishing with 1200 wet and dry paper I had success.

The handles are old xacto knifes and with a little modification to the chucks (I drilled them out with a 1mm bit a little) my new tool fit.
Each tool tip is around 30mm long and just pops in the handle when needed.

So far they are proving to be much easier to get into the details on a model, I just need to learn how to use them to they fullest which will take time.

Any ways thanks once again to G.Schellert for a wonderful article.

In other news I have had little free time this week due to 4 viewings of our flat which meant everything had to be tidied up grrrrr!
But I have added some studs to the armour of Tu Shan, I will be doing a Tutorial on these soon to show you how I do it.

Excuse the bad pic it was taken on my Iphone, as usual any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Munky out and see you soon.

Happy New Year everyone!

Hello I hope you all had a nice hobby filled festive break, and I hope you got lots of chocolate hehe.
There are only a few tidbits I've been working on over the break, I couldn't get much done due to "man flu"
The first is the cartoon Tau you see above, the scheme is designed to be fast and manga-esque.
The colours are Astronomicon grey and Solar Macharius orange with a Brown ink wash in the details, I'm not 100% sure on it yet so any comments are welcome.

The second item is a test model for my Necrons, I always fancied copper as the colour for them with a Verdigris wash it looks pretty sweet.
The gun and glow colour is still undecided I went with Purple as it's my favorite colour but it doesn't really work that well, I may switch to the tried and tested green?
I also have done the mask in Rotting flesh and shaded with a little Terracotta to give the appearance of a Ceramic death mask, what do you think?

On the commission front I have begun painting the final Terminator to round out the squad here and give them all the available weapon options.

I have made progress on Tu-Shan and there are plenty of things to add to him like flames on the shins and scaled cloak and odds and ends, I have used Thunderhammers from Chapter House Studios and a spare Logan Grimnar Storn Bolter arm with Blood Angel's Melta pistol barrels to make his "fist of fire"

Anyway that's all for now and I hope to have more to show this weekend, we are still trying to find a buyer for our flat so things are just a little bit mental right now!
But it's all for the better because once the move is complete I will have so much more room to store my hobby stuff in one place thing's will be a great deal easier.

Any hoo

Munky out

Work in progress.......

This is the current project on the bench.

A ten man squad of Death Company, they need tidying up and the bone/parchment finishing.

But the basics are there.

Let me know your thoughts please

Munky out

Salamanders commission cont............

Hello once again my fellow bloggers, and thanks for sticking with me all this time.

I have finished the Salamanders Command Squad complete with aftermarket bits as per the customers wishes.
I really like how these guys came out especially the standard and Lightning claw Veterans.

Well there is no rest for the wicked and I have more Salamanders in the works in the shape of Terminators.

This is the current state of them, they need highlighting and all the detail painting in and they will be complete.
There are 6 of them mainly so the Heavy Flamer and Assault cannon can be swapped based on their intended use, and the Chainfist is in there just add some bite!

The next model I will be working on is a Death Company Dreadnought, the Blood fists and Talons just slot in and out on plasticard rods.
Unfortunately the kit won't make both sets fully so I left the Thumbs off the Talons and filled in the recess.

Stay tuned for updates in a few weeks on this chap.

Also before I forget click here to see my models put to good use by Sandy in his campaign!

Salamanders continued.....continued?????

I have been busy building the Terminators with a combination of Forge World and Chapter House Studio bits to the customers requests.

Also in the mix are the Company Command squad, with Company Champion, Thunder Hammer and Stormshield , Company banner, Apothecary and Lightning Claw and combi-flamer dudes.

The Combi-flamer was made by trimming a Stormbolter to fit the flamer nozzle and tank.

The next model is the Salamander/Lysander conversion which I will hope to show in a few days time as that progresses.

Chaos Dwarf Sorceror on Lammisu

Well Munky fans there it is, the secrets out this is what I've been secretly getting ready to paint!

It is a fantastic OOP model and I am quite chuffed to be painting it, as I would never have thought to buy let alone collect a Chaos Dwarf army!

I have filled the joins with GS and added magnets into the wing joints so there is less chance of them being damaged and he should be  a doddle to store safely.

The only progress other than primer is below, I have painted the Sorceror to match the customers army colours, I haven't tried painting models in component parts before and I am definately seeing the benefits on this figure. (the red plastic bit you can see in the photos is a small repair I had to do to the banner poles)

I decided to try for purple gems on the staff to add that mystical touch to the figure as he is fairly plain, I also thought to try out some verdigris on the brass bits, which came out well I think.

Anywho stay tuned for more as the week goes on.

Munky out.

Sternguard WIP

From Space Marines

Well it's not much to look at but it's all I have managed this week, it seems to be getting harder and harder to get decent time on the models.

These fellas are still only about 70% done, the left hand Marine has had all the green highlights done as a test to see how the colours work.

They still need the bone/parchment finishing and the little details, then I will have some freehand to do for the Veteran symbols on the shoulders, and the banner will have some flames running up it as well.

I am pleased with how they are coming along but I am still struggling to find a quick way of getting a good base that is easily shaded and then cleaned up without having to apply 2-3 coats of Snot Green.

I am thinking of trying a mix of Snot green and a foundation paint to give smooth single coat coverage, it's an issue that has plagued me for ages, I am not fast enough period!

This will be the last post until the new year I will post the finished pics here for everyone before I have a nice festive break.
And so to everyone who reads or posts here.

MERRY XMAS

Whirlwind Hyperios complete

Hello Munky fans!

I will apologise for the long delay inbetween posts, I have been feindishly busy.....not with my hobby though!

Real life has been butting its ugly head into my free time lately and has hampered me doing anything in at any sort of pace.

But I got there in the end and finished the Whirlwind off, it has magnetized roof panels and cupolas so it can be used as a Rhino as well, these were as per the customers instructions.

I actually enjoyed this project mainly because I haven't fully completed many vehicles before and it taught me some very handy lessons, mainly that GW vehicle kits need a tonne of work before the joins look good, I had to break out the filler more than once.

And another thing I had to do some digging about in the wonderful files over at Bolter & Chainsword on the history and details regarding the Salamanders chapter and their iconography and history.

A massive thanks to the guys over there for helping me out bigtime!

I have one more unit to complete for the Space Marine commission, it is a squad of Salamander's Sternguard veterans.

These chaps have been built out of Forgeworld resin parts and some bits I have scratch built, namely the Bolters.

These were made from Scout bolters with the hand and ammo clip shaved off and a clip made from Terminator Storm Bolter glued on in place, I think they look pretty much like the Special issue Bolters on the metal Sternguard models.

Stay tuned for an update as I get these fellas splashed with green.

Mid winter madness!

From Blogger Pictures

As some of you may be aware the British winter has arrived and the snow!
Now where I live in the south of England we are lucky to get even a few inches of snow, but this week we have had about 12-15 inches.

It's caused chaos, the poor lorry driver in the above picture couldn't get his car moving so he brought the cab home, only to have it slide out of control up the kerb and get stuck in the soft verge.
I saw the Police man arrive and try to tow him out with the 4x4 but they seemed to be having no luck, off I went with my spade to see what could be done.
Alas not much, the lorry had dug its wheels right into the earth and the Police 4x4's clutch had failed .....oops!

Once back in the warm I thought i'd get some more done on the Space Marine commission:

From Space Marines

I have completed all the smaller components so far including the two cupolas and the two top plates and Hyperios launcher.

The launcher and cupolas are magnetzed to washers glued in the body of the Rhino chassis, whilst the top hatch's are done with a magnet to magnet connection.

More on this soon as it nears completion.