So I’m working on a clients Lizardmen Army at the moment, hard at work, and it got me thinking about the Dread Saurian. And specificially, how to build one!
This guy, while awesome, is 130 GBP or basically $220 USD. That’s not a small order.
While I love a cool model, I also love to save a buck, so it got me considering good base figures to convert into the Saurian.
These are a few of my ideas that I am opting to share with the community.
Here is a base model on EBAY I am considering. A 1/13 scale Revell Sailback. Not bad, it’s got the right overall shape and scale. Kinda reminds me more of a giant salamander., And it’s not very dynamic. But for $40 bucks, not a bad base figure to start playing with.
Here‘s my current favorite idea. A Pegasus Hobbies 1/12 Scale Kothoga from the ‘Relic’ movie. I bought one of these years ago on a whim, and never put it together. Hey, it was a good deal. The scale is right and it just need a good Saurian head. Also, that spine has got to go. I dug through my bits box and found a dozen or so horns for his back ridge and put them in the same box, now labelled aptly ‘Saurian Kit Bash’
For the head, I was thinking of using a spare T-Rex head from some Dominatrix kit bashes I did a few years ago. I have a dozen or so of these in a box and just didn’t know what to do with them. I was thinking about some sort of lizardman temple board with sort of large stone t-rex heads, like the stone heads on Easter Island, but I can spare one for this project.
Interesting enough, the howdah presents one of the hardest problems on this particular model. For those, I turn to bits vendors for some of their spares, that I can hack up and paint golden to give the illusion of a Howdah.
What this all means is with materials running around $60 buck and another $50 for assembly, I can comfortably charge a would be client about $110 bucks to build this model. If I were to charge another $100 to paint and base the model, and then $10 to ship, that means the entire kit bash would run the same price as the base FW model!
So . . my next question is . . . IS THERE A WOULD BE CLIENT OUT THERE interested in commissioning this model through WMG?
I am eager to build this model, but need a client to book the studio time between commissions!
Turnaround on this figure would be about 4 weeks once initial payment is received, and overseas shipping will be slightly higher.
Want to win a massive painted Ultramarines army? Got a couple of bucks?
In support of Help for Heroes , an organization which provides direct support to those servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty during the conflict in Afghanistan, there will be a charity auction for a massive Ultramarines Army.
Tickets go on sale October 1st. With each ticket you buy, you have a chance of winning an Ultramarine army, donated, built and painted by a select consortium of wargaming artists. The Storm Wardens project from 2010 raised over $16,000 for Doctors Without Borders and last years Salamanders project raised over $12,000!
The project is being headed up by youtube personalities IDICBeer, bloodofthefallen1 and WarlordsWargaming, and all the proceeds from the project will go towards the fantastic work done by HELP FOR HEROES. All the minis in this project were donated and painted by the contributors.
This project is ongoing, so be sure to check back on a regular basis to see updated pics from all the artists.
TICKET PURCHASING INFORMATION
Tickets will be available to buy at a cost of £1.50 GBP each and all the money made from the raffle will go to the HELP for HEROES charity. The raffle is a worldwide event and postage of the final army will be free to the winner. Sadly, we are unable to cover any addition charges that may occur, such as import tax etc. The final Draw date is still being finalised, but we will announced the draw details in the near future. CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
PLEASE NOTE For every £1.50 ($2.50 USD) you donate, you will be entitled to a single entry into the raffle. So if you donate £4.50 ($7.50 USD), you will be entered three times. Obviously any donation amount is most welcome, but if you want your donation to have a chance to win the army, please allow us to see the amount you have donated, and leave your contact details for us. You will not receive a physical ticket, but all entries will be recorded and held in a safe place by us. Main Contact Details: Please note that we are no longer looking for more painters for the army, but if you would like to contribute financially, you are more than welcome. We are always looking for ways to promote this worthy cause. So if you can help or have any questions, please contact us here: [email protected]
This is a list of all the models in the army so far, which as I said, is still expanding as I speak!
Special Characters: Librarian x1 Librarian Tigurius x1 Captain Titus x1 Sergeant Sidonus x1 Limited Ed. Figure x2 Chaplain Judd Clausel x1 Hero/Sergeant x1 Captain Invictus & Retinue x1 Sargeant Tellion x1 Master Apothecary x1 Uriel Ventris x1 Veteran Captain/Sargeant x1 Standard Bearer x1 Captain Master of the Marches x1 Captain Master of the Rites x1
Here is a list of all the awesome contributors to the project, so please be sure to check them out and subscribe to their Channels. (NOTE, THESE ARE NOT LIVE LINKS!!! YOU HAVE TO LOAD THEM INTO YOUR BROWSER)
Here is a list of all the talented and generous people who are making this all happen, be sure to check out the links to watch their progress…
Pictures of all the finished units will be posted on the home page, and we already have a number of units ready to go. This army is going to look awesome, good luck everyone!
With Forgeworld recently releasing their own set of twin linked devourers, lots of folks were plenty excited! Finally, easy access to a pair of devourers for your monstrous creatures! I have to admit, they look pretty snazzy. You know what I’m not crazy about? The price. 13 GBP for 2 little arms, plus shipping? Forget about it! That’s over $20 USD for just a few bits. Does that seem like a good market value for these?
In the past, folks quickly learned that Fleshborer hives made a great alternatively to the far more popular Brainleech Devourers, especially considering the Flyrant only had one empty arm socket. However, there are a few problems with this approach. Firstly, Fleshborers hives can go for quite a bit on the second hand market, like ebay, when they are available at all. A cursory search of Ebay for ‘tyrannofex bits’ yielded no results, other than just buying the entire kit!
Many of you will have been using the spare FBH’s from our tervigon builds, but what about guys like me that like to use them for crazy conversions? I need to save those fleshborer hives for other projects, like this guy!
Another thing I might point out is that Fleshborer hives now have 18″ range, so they have ‘some’ viability in a modern list. Twenty shots is nothing shabby, even if they are only strength 4. So maybe you want to hold onto those t-fex options for your own magnetized t-fex.
To exacerbate matters, devourers for MC’s are only readily available on the secondhand market (and they go for an arm and a leg there) or through the carnifex kit. But even then you only get one set!
So what we need then is a way to build a poor man’s Devourer for Monstrous Creatures and a Poor Man’s Twin-Linked Devourer with Brainleech worms for Flyrants!
Fortunately the solution to both is simple: Termagant Fleshborers and Monstrous Creature Arms.
You can get Tyranid Devourers in very large lots here! Less than 10 bucks and you’ve got enough devourers to do an entire brood of carnifexes . . . .carnifii? Whatever, you get 15 of them.
Here’s how the conversion works. Couldn’t be simpler:
Firstly take a pair of monstrous creature spare arms. Deathspitters come to mind. You get two in every Carnifex kit, so you’ve likely got a set or two lying around. If you don’t, well, they are at least reasonably priced on ebay.
Clip or Cut off the barrel of the deathspitter. I prefer to cut, using a nice sharp exacto knife or box cutter. Be careful, both are sharp.
Do the same with the devourer.
Now play musical barrels. Presto! And that wraps up another thrilling conversion.
Here’s a side by side shot with our custom made Deathspitter (above) and the original Carnifex Devourer (below). Ours is a bit beefier, as you can see.
What’s that? Lame you say? Fine, let’s amp it up a little bit.
Take two MORE spare devourer arms, and a spare Tyranid Heavy Weapon. I like the venom cannon for this, because I have a bajillion of them, but use whatever you like.
Cut the barrel off the VC. Try to leave the little hose on the gun, if you can, since that’ll look nice on the final model.
Clip off a few Devouer Tips. Just the tip. Also trim off the spikes on the bottom.
Glue on at the top half of the exposed Venom Cannon Barrel, and one on the bottom half. Be sure to leave a small gap between them for the tendons.
Okay, now on the reverse of the gun, you are going to have an old slot for the previous feeder tube. You can either keep this as a feeder tube (if you want to keep this as a TL Devourer with Brainleech worms for say a Carnifex) . . .
. . . .or use those spare Devouer tube arms you have from the Termagant kit to plug the gap. I add mine on like below. Be sure to trim off the ball joint from the small end of the hose, otherwise it won’t sit flush against the weapon barrel.
Okay, now to fill the gap. Roll out a thin beam of your favorite, two part Epoxy putty.
Okay, when thin enough, plug the gap with just a little sliver of the putty.
Using a sculpting tool, smooth out the profile
Once reasonably smooth, use your tool, a pen, or a toothpick (or whatever you have that is thin and pointy) to poke a few small holes in the putty. If you are really cool, then poke a matching hole on the opposite side. This will give you that ‘tendony’ look, since it’ll actually be going through the entire length of grey stuff.
Using the tip of the tool, scratch out a few texture marks on the putty, just to give it a little definition.
And there we are. I made a matching set of two for a Flyrant.
Since Heavy Venom Cannons only come in right arm selections, I had to clip the socket for the arm and flip it around to make a lefty. Then I used a little putty to cover the gap. Sure, you can still see the inside of his hand on the barrel, so it’s sort of Rakshasa like in that regard, but meh, for me, that little detail doesn’t bother me. Clearly by now you realize I am NOT a perfectionist. I am a generalist.
Here’s the top profile on the ‘lefty’ gun to give you and idea of what I was talking about.
And the finished model. Bear in mind, if you don’t LOVE these devourers, and why would you, you trolls you . . just magnetize them until your broke assess can afford the real things.
Til next time, PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!!
If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel! Caleb, White Metal Games
Greetings fellow wargamers! Caleb with White Metal Games here! My how the time flies. It’s already spring and summer is on the way. Around eight months ago, I published an article on BOLS regarding the ‘Client Perspective’ on miniature painting services.
To reiterate from the first article, the goal of this project was to get first hand experience with commissioning models from other services, to gain a ‘client perspective’ on orders. Another goal of this project was to experiment with outsourcing projects, weighing the pros and cons of using international painters, whilst connecting the right model to the right painter/painting service to get the best possible results. After all, not every painter can be expected to paint every model equally well. For example, maybe I love painting Tyranids, but maybe Studio XYZ doesn’t and it shows in their work. To each their own.
Studio B: Based in Eng . . er . . SCOTLAND. This studio had really cheap rates, so I commissioned a squad of Orks. Studio was to buy the box, assemble to order, and paint to avoid the international tariffs.
Studio C: Based in the North America. A small squad of Necrons, with lavish OSL. Assembled at WMG and sent to the painter.
Studio D: Based in the North Amer . . . er . . CANADA. A small collection of models, including a greater daemon, a Land Raider, some zombies, some odds and ends, etc. Assembled at WMG and sent to the painter.
Studio E: Based in England. This studio impressed me with their work, so I sent them a giant daemon prince to paint up
So let me just go ahead and apologize now. In the first article I claimed several of these studios were in parts of the world that they in fact weren’t. In point of fact, studio B and studio D I listed in the entirely wrong countries, corrected above. In my defense, I was shipping models all over the world at that point, so confusion wasn’t so unexpected.
Studio B: I came across Studio B on a lark. The Studio was out of the game (pun intended) for a while and has only recently gotten back into wargaming and painting. He is in the process of rebuilding his portfolio, so he was willing to cut me an amazing deal on a squad of Orks.
I am happy to report this was what I consider a perfect commission. The models were completed within the timeframe originally specified by the painter, they arrived in a timely fashion, there were no extra charges or fees, etc.
The models arrived in good shape with no breaks and the pictures, well, you be the judge. I thought he did a great job.
Because this studio did such amazing work, I’d like to officially endorse Fraser and Dark Materials Miniatures. Fraser agreed for me to share a link to his studio directly: Be sure to check out his most recent work on his facebook page here!
I’d also like to apologize to Fraser. In the original post I commented DMM was based in England. Fraser was quick to point out that he is from Scotland! Sorry, Fraser . . .
Of note, DMM is one of the few if not the only Scottish based miniature painting service that I am aware exists. Are they any other Scottish painting services out there? If so, please be sure to sign up for our Miniature Painting Directory, here.
Studio C: I found this studio through Facebook and I was blown away by the quality of their work. In particular I liked their weathering techniques. So I contacted them to commission a squad of Necrons and a Cryptek. I specified Black Necrons with some heavy weathering, and lavish Red OSL. We also talked about the models having some other metallics splashed on, like gold, to create some contrast.
The painter told me about 4-6 weeks once he got the models to be done. I sent the models off, patiently waited 5 weeks, then contacted him. The painter assured me they were nearing his bench, but due to Ostheoartritis he didn’t paint as fast as he used to . . . wait a second, Ostheoartritis?
This isn’t something that I would expect him to advertise on his website, and his models looked good, but the lesson here was that you can’t learn everything about a painter, in particular their medical history, through a website. Maybe this is why some studio artists stay off camera?
Around the 11 week mark I got an email like this: “i can finish it this week, its just an issue of the other commissions that are also eager to get their stuff back. It sucks losing a painting partner… (OMITTED) started school and it taking up WAY more of her time than we thought. After I get out from this mountain of stuff, Im going to have to restructure what I do here severely. Ill probably just stick to individual models and showcase stuff.” A few more weeks passed and I finally got the picture of the first totally completed model, pictured on the right.
Now let me just reiterate here . . . payment was sent up front for this squad of 13 models on August 7th, and the painter estimated completion of the project in about 4-6 weeks. Even with a week of shipping, that would have put project completion at the end of September.
Another month passed and I still didn’t hear back from the painter. I emailed them to let me know I’d like to either see the project done or cancel the project. At this point the project was over 10 weeks over due, and the painter had had the models on his desk for about 16 weeks or so. I felt like I had already learned all I wanted to learn about this particular painter, so I figured if he just wanted to return the models and at least most of the $$$, no harm no foul.
While I personally can relate to this painters dilemma, I did feel a bit mislead. In addition, no where in this email where the words “I’m sorry for the delay in processing your order” or something of the like present. I felt like a simply apology would have gone a long way here, and it’s lack was a sore spot for me when dealing with this particular painter. My guess, however, is that the painter is a bit older and perhaps there’s a generational pride issue going on here.
FINALLY, the painter contacted me to say he needed just another week. In the same email he related to me that he would be finishing up his last few projects and then closing up shop for good. He admitted that he was only able to paint a few hours a day at this point and that he didn’t want to spend them on other peoples projects.
A MONTH LATER I finally got tired of waiting and emailed the painter, who ‘thought he had emailed me already’. The models were done, but he was unable to photograph them with anything short of a camera phone (which confused me because on his website he takes photos all the time). The photos you see above were taken in my studio.
So, the models were finally received 14 weeks overdue. No apologies for them being late, no offer of a refund of any sort, no questions about whether I liked the models or wanted any changes, nothing.
It goes without saying I will not name this studio, so as to avoid any risk of slander. This was a mixed bag because the quality of the models were good, but the time and attitude of the painter was pretty poor. Studio D: Studio D got my second to largest commission, minus the full army that was discussed in part one of this series. This commission was for a random assort of models, mostly large, including: A squad of Plague Zombies A Lord of Skulls A Skarbrand Conversion A Landraider A custom converted Changeling A custom converted Ku’Gath.
So a big commission, but not so big a talented commission artist shouldn’t be able to handle it.
The commission started very strongly. In Mid October, about a month after the models arrived, he started posting some painted pictures. Skarbrand was first, and then he quickly threw some paint on the Lord of Skulls. This was around Halloween.
Over the next month, he posted a few other models on his webpage, mostly personal projects, and I didn’t see any new updates in November.
In early December, I contacted the artist to find out if there had been any updates since the last ones I saw.
Finally at the end of January, the artist began posting some new pics of finished models. So at this point the commission is about halfway done and we’re around 4 1/2 months in. That’s a long time to paint what boils down to a few vehicles, a squad, and a few characters, once of which was yes quite large.
At the end of March, almost six months later. the painter contacted me with final pics and let me know the projects were all done. In the end, I didn’t get pictures for the Changleing or the Landraider, didn’t even see them til they showed up at my door. The painter related to me that they used someone else to photograph their minis, and that was the cause for so many delays.
So, to be clear, it took about 6 months to get these models back from the painter. Although I generally liked the painter, I definitely thought he dropped the ball on this commission and I can’t recommend his service. I think he’s young and time may change the way he does business. My guess is from looking over his website that he gets excited about personal projects and uses commissions to fund them, but on his own schedule.
I also never fully understood why his personal projects seemed to be featured so often on his blog, but his commissions seemed liked a back burner object. I see plenty of pictures of his personal projects and custom models, but as a client, my models are rarely featured. For me, it’s the opposite When I have an active commission, my personal projects are pretty much forgotten on my bench.
It’s also worth nothing that when shipping to Canada, and I didn’t know this at the time I placed the order . . . when sending anything into Canada even if the package is sent as a gift, anything over 100 is by law to be met with the following charges: Duty, GST, PST, and handling costs from the Canada Border Services Agency. The receiver has no control over the amount that is charged towards the package, but they have to pay the extra fees. There is a form the receiver can fill out that says the goods have left Canada and they should refund the $$$. So, lesson her, tarriffs can hurt you on out of country commissions.
So another lesson I learned on this project was that shipping models INTO Canada has hidden expenses all it’s own. The painter let me know that he would try to get my money back to me when the package shipped out.
So far, still waiting. Studio E:
Studio E is based out of England. For this commission, I sent the painter a specially converted Angron I had built on a lark. Whether you like or don’t like the conversion isn’t really what this article is about, so try to keep the ‘Giant Ape! What a giant pile of *&^!’ comments to a minimum. I’ve heard them all before. Not every model we build will please everybody.
Regarding the painting of this model, this was very nearly a flawless commission. Once more, the painter received the model in good order, painted it to a high standard for a fair price.
My only learning curve with this commission was that when shipping items into the UK you pay Import Fees. in this case almost $40 USD. So it limits the amount on interaction I plan to have between my side of the pond and theirs.
So allow me to fully recommend and endorse Twitchy Droid Painting and Jamie especially! Great work, Jamie!
Before I wrap up my article, let me point out another article I discovered in my research regarding some of the pitfalls of commission painters, published right here on Bell by Brent, and I thought it was a pretty good review of miniature painting as a whole. I particularly like the bottom half of the article, where he measures his time vs. the value of his time when resetting dozens of models.
Of the five studios I contacted regarding commissions, I would say only 2/5 were flawless commssions. The others suffered from everything from camera problems, arthritis, false deadlines, you name it.
So, what does that mean for the miniature commission painting industry in general?
First lesson: NEVER PAY more than a deposit up front. If the artist requires full payment up front, be leery. When was the last time you paid a carpenter to fix a leak before they actually fixed the leak?
Overseas = Tariffs. Period. Whether it’s coming or going. Or both.
Paypal will only allow refunds on items or services for 60 days after the purchase. If the transaction takes longer than 60 days to complete, which happened with at least two of these cases above, then you get ZERO help from Paypal to get your money back. And you’re out the models too!
There are a few ways you can protect yourself in these instances. The first is to not pay up front. Or only pay a deposit up front. That’s the biggie.
Secondly, insist on a tracking # when they ship the items, and it’s usually worth it to have them take out insurance as well. It’s normally less than $5.00 for most packages, even those of high value, so for goddness sake spend the extra few dollars and get them to insure the package.
Create a timetable you are both happy with and stick to it! Get it in writing. It doesn’t have to be a written contract, but a simple email where they agree to the terms should suffice. If the artist is doddling, call them on it! When you get close to that 60 day mark, open a case against them. Don’t take their word, make them own their words. Hit them where it hurts, their wallets.
If after all this the artist ups and disappears with your models and $$$, what should you do. Well, to be honest, if it’s less than a $1000, it’s probably not worth your time to do anything. Write it off as a bad experience, post some warnings on their social media pages to other buyers, and call it a lesson learned the hard way.
If it is over a $1000, maybe consider looking into small claims court and suing them, but that may be a headache you aren’t ready for.
This entire process has made me really appreciate what Goatboy does every week at Full of Monkey where he posts every client whose models he is currently working on, but also the status, and then status pics when applicable. Not only does it give you a reason to tune in every week to see what he’s been up to, but it also shows his workload and gives you an idea of his process as well.
Through my interactions with Goatboy, I actually outsourced an entire army to him, just because I like his workflow and his style of work. You can see the beginnings of our joint venture, the Necrorks/Orkrons here!
How did I change my business practices based on what I learned here:
Firstly, I only outsource to other artists I have met personally and that I have vetted through friends.
Secondly, I NEVER give them more than a few units at a time, with the exception of Goatboy at this point.
Thirdly, I contact my clients every Monday to give them updates on their projects. I also post update pics on my facebook page for the entire world to see and track the progress.
In addition, when I am contacted by a client about a potential commission, I provide the client with a quote and if I don’t hear from them in about a week or so I contact them to follow up and ask if they have any additional questions/concerns about the quote. In some cases the clients are just busy and the follow up is the difference between booking a gig and not.
However, in most cases it’s a sign the client has lost interested or decided to go with another painter, which of course if their right. In that case I like to politely ask the client why they went with another service. 9/10 it’s price.
One repeat client of mine contacting me about a quote and when I asked him why he ultimately went with another client he had this to say: “With a local Montreal guy, who charges no shipping cost yet brings the miniatures to me, no chance to damage the goods through parcel shipment, no chance to get charged Custom Fees,with a fast turn around time between two days and two weeks,
This is a friend with whom I also conduct business. He’s a university student who doesn’t work an “official job” yet has to pay for food, transport and rent: he paints miniatures to be able to continue his studies.
Losing out to a broke college student is the LEAST of my problems. I’m not trying to underbid a college grad working for less than minimum wage. This guy won’t be able to charge that rate for long unless he’s living out of his mom’s basement for the foreseeable future. My competitors are the actual studios out there . . Frontline, Golem, Full of Monkey, BTP, Smell Like Wargaming, etc. Those are the folks I need to price towards, and in fact, so long as we all price ‘about’ the same way, it really comes down to a client preferring the ‘look’ or style of one artists work above the other. After all, Coke and Pepsi cost about the same. But if you’re a Coke man like me, you’re a Coke man. Period. It’s not about the price, it’s about the preference.
Isn’t that the way it should be?
Advice to Painting Studios:
Treat your business like a business, and treat your clients like clients, not friends. Don’t put them off and beat around the bush. If you are behind on an order SAY SO. Let them know, and by all means, Apologize! Learn the value of the words “I’m sorry” and own it!
If you find yourself apologizing on a regular basis, maybe this isn’t the gig for you.
Advice to Potential Clients: Cut the painters a break! Most of the time Miniature Painters, with a handful of exceptions, are either very young or doing this part time, on the side, between jobs, just trying to make a buck.
The reality is miniature painting is a challenging industry to break into. Their is more competition than ever before and the average client wants to pay $10 or LESS a miniature and the average miniature takes most painters upwards of 40 minutes to an hour from the time they lay down the first layer of primer to the final layer of varnish. So while it’s not bad money, it’s not great money either, and very few of us can support ourselves on just our miniature painting $$$. That means we are budgettng your projects and time against our personal lives.
Remember, we’re people too. Cut us a little slack from time to time.
JOIN US! If you have a miniature painting service and would like to be added to our growing list of miniature painting services, then you can do so by adding your service here
COLLABORATE!!! Despite my misadventures with several other studios, I still believe in the value of collaboration. I have begun to assemble a collaborative gallery here showcasing some of the projects I have teemed up on with other studios to create. Most of the time in these cases, I do my own building and transfiguring, and then send the other studio the models to paint.
If you are a miniature painting studio, looking to collaborate on a project, send me an email! I’d love to look over your gallery of work and if the price is right, perhaps we can do a little tandem business!
PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!
Caleb White Metal Games
If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel!
Well it’s a new year and with a new year come new toys! One of the things I received over the holiday was this brush box! Pretty cool right? Here’s the problem . . . it’s 14″ long! So it got me thinking about how to build a brush box on a limited budget.
The idea behind a brush box is to give you a way to store brushes and at the same time keep the tips from warping or bending when you travel. To complete this tutorial, you’ll need the following: A hot glue gun A pencil box (Another option is to buy one of these really nice looking boxes! ) Spare foam (Most of us have some spare foam lying around, either from blisters/clam packs or from our beloved pluck and pull foam trays. So grab some foam in roughly the same style. The stiffer the better) Sharpie Scissors
Here’s how it works:
Loosely lay out the foam in a parallel pattern. You want the foam to be two layers deep: one layer to provide cushion and the second to actually hold the brushes in place.
Using the hot glue gun, glue the 1st layer into position.
Use a sharpie to mark some roughly straight lines on the two pieces of foam. These marks are where you are going to cut. Lining them up now means when glued into position the brushes will line up too.
Using the razor saw, score the foam. You don’t want to cut all the way through the top layer of foam. Just about as close to 3/4 mark as can be .
I found in testing that cutting the to halfway point didn’t quite give me a good grip on the bigger brushes.
Now, using some of the leftover foam, cut the foam down so that you can wedge it into any deadspace on the fringes of the box.
Your goal here is to ensure the foam tightly grips your brushes, so by wedging the foam in, you are compressing the foam, thus ensuring a tight grip on the brushes when they are nestled safely inside the box.
Now proceed to hot glue the smaller pieces into your box. This was the messiest part of the excercise for me. I put blue on 3 of the 4 sides and quickly wedged the foam into the space between before it could burn me.
However, I DON’T recommend this method as that glue is really, REALLY hot. You might be better served to just put the glue on the bottom of the foam; safer and less messy that way.
Once done, test out your new brush box. The finished product should look like this. As you can see (below) the foam is compressed enough that even gravity can’t drag these brushes down!
There you go! That’s it! Total time it took me to make this was less than ten minutes, with gathering supplies! So don’t make any excuses. Find your mom’s hot glue gun, grab some spare foam, and go to town on this thing!
PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!!
Caleb, White Metal Games If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel! Caleb, White Metal Games
When the new nid codex dropped a few months ago, I found my wallet reeling. There were a lot of cool new nids and I wanted at least all of them! So without a lot of extra money to burn, I was tasked with coming up with a brood of zoanthropes without skipping a few meals. At $22 bucks a pop, they aren’t cheap. Why GW hasn’t released a Zoanthrope/Venomthrope dual kit box is still a mystery to me.
A few months ago I wrote an article called Building a Better Biovore. While the article was only marginally well received, I felt like it reached enough people that it was worth a rematch with an old classic, the Zoanthrope. I don’t have to please everybody, so this article is for the handful of people out there that did get something useful out of the last article.
I’ve seen a lot of great conversions for Zoanthropes over the past few years, and certainly with the lack of product support for the Doom I got a lot of practice building proxy models over the years. So, with the goal of building a brood or two of these, I hit my bits box and tried to see what I could come up with.
I like to think of this as a reimagining, because unlike some of my other kit bashes, this reimagining isn’t necessarily cheaper than just buying a new zoanthrope. Bits wise, this model can be a bit pricey. But if you’re a nid player, you probably have enough bits lying around to build at least one of these, or at the very least something similar.
Again, let me emphasize this: Some of the best conversion out there are only great because of the spares you have lying around your bitz box. My bitz box is obviously larger than the average persons.
Part of the fun of a good conversion/kit bash is using what you have on hand. That’s the challenge. But buying all these bits individually could cost quite a bit, so try to think of this article as just one of a possible series of options you COULD utilize if you have the right bits on hand, or something close to this.
So, without further ado, here are the parts you will need for this transfiguration:
Hive Tyrant flying tail and hip insert
4 x Carnifex Horn, Trygon spikes, or something similar
2x Genestealer Extended Carpace (hey, you don’t need them in the new codex anyway)
Spare Trygon headplate
Spare Genestealer Torso (time to gut those poor Ymgarls)
A spare Tyranid head, preferably small, like a gaunt head, stealer head, or tyranid warrior (we used Chapterhouse Alien Cthulu heads, which we love!, but aren’t necessarily needed for the conversion)
‘Green Stuff’ or the equivalent in your favorite 2 part epoxy (we are partial to Apoxie Sculpt)
Tube Tool, power cables, or something similar (see below)
In truth, this conversion couldn’t be simpler. Here’s how it works.
Firstly, assemble the tail.
Afterwards, glue the two pairs of horns/spikes in the place the zoanthrope’s vestigial talons would normally go. This is the spot the legs would go on a regular hive tyrant.
Grab your genestealer torso. Clip off the leg(s) and the tip of the tail. Just the tip.
Since we are using the Cthulu Alien head, we needed to cut the ‘eyes’ off to get the head to flushly nestle underneath the Trygon head plate. However, for the smaller heads, like a stealer head, termagant head, or the like, you just want to clip it, trim it down, or file it down so it smoothly sets underneath the headplate at the far end, where the face/mouth of the zoanthrope will be.
Now, glue the head into position and use the genestealer body for the main brain. Yes, I know, you can sculpt a brain and save a genestealer. But here’s the thing, most of us have a few stealers lying around we don’t need, and using the stealer torso will save you a good amount of time from sculpting the brain. So pick your poision: burn a genestealer and save time, or save the stealer and burn time making a brain. Your choice.
Okay, whichever way you go, now you need to mount the head to the ‘neck’, which is the old hip. I used just a little dab of apoxie sculpt to build up a slight bridge between the two. Don’t make this too thick, as you are going to putty over it in the next steps. Let this dry, at least until it’s hard enough to glue down permanently.
Once dry, you are going to fill in the rest of this gap with epoxy as well. Your goal here is to get a nice, smooth transition between the next and the head, without covering up too many details. Right now his neck looks pretty fat, but we’re going to change that in the next steps.
Now go in and fill in the slight gap behind the new models ‘talon vestigial arms). You don’t need to sculpt any detail here, since we’re going to be covering this up with the extended carapace anyway. Namely, you are just trying to get a smooth surface for the extended carapace to adhere to.
Meanwhile, go ahead and fill the gap at the back of the head too! I tried to do something similar to the genestealer carapace here. Since viewers will rarely if ever be looking under the hood of this model, I didn’t spend a great deal of time here. Just a few simple swipes with a clay shaper and right as rain.
To keep a consistent look, I poked a few ‘brain holes’ in the newly puttied area.
Looking good so far, IMHO, but there is a real lack of detail here. Instead of spending a lot of time working on detail here, let’s try to hide the lack of detail with a few simple distractions. Namely adding a few simple details, drawing the attention away from the lack of detail and instead towards the detail we put in place. Painters do this all the time by having you focus on things like OSL, battle damage, and the like. We can do the same thing with our kit bashed minis, if we are smart about it.
To start, we need a little white noise background texture. I used a simple needle to scrape some holes along the side of the grey stuff, to give it some texture.
Now, here’s the tricky part. I wanted to add a few bio-tubes to help hide the lack of general detail here. For these tubes, I used a specialty tube tool from Masq-Mini. There are other versions of this tool on the market, and the buy in for this tool is high relatively speaking, but the amount of time it saves you is life altering and I have never regretted buying a set of these many years ago.
So if you have this tool, SUPER DUPER! Then make a few hoses and apply them to your model. If you don’t . . . well, . . . time to get creative. Either make a few green stuff tubes and score the tube marks into them, or alternately find some actual tubing to apply to the model. Dragon Forge makes some great power cables that would work well for this purpose and you get a ton for your money!!!
To be fair, the tubes are kinda an extra detail, unnecessary to the total conversion, but if you have the means available, they can really sell the model IMHO. Finally, glue the extended carapace in place behind the talons/vestigial arms of the model, hiding your earlier gap filling.
Presto, you’re done! Here’s what they look like presented as a brood. It’s worth noting that these zoanthropes stand significantly taller than a normal Zoanthrope, so perhaps not GT friendly, but certainly great for friendly games.
I know, I know, I can here it now “Great, here’s an article to build slender man zoanthrope, but ONLY if you have a bagillion bits on hand! Thanks, buddy.’ So for those of you without the same bitz box I have, here are a few suggestions to rework the article in your favor:
Tail: Use as spare hive tyrant tail if you have the other one available. Doesn’t have to be the flying tail. You could also use a spare ravener tail, if you have one lying around.
Hip/Neck: if you don’t have the hip piece, try using a carnifex head as a neck piece. Just cut off the face, and glue the head, open end down, into the tyrant tail socket.
You could also use a spare ravener tail, if you have one lying around. Just clip off the lower half and use the upper half like a neck.
Head/Brain: Don’t have Cthulu heads (why would you, of course) ? No problem, here a few substitutions. Use a carnifex head with the top half shave off for a much BIGGER head.
Use any spare head you have lying around, from an old 2nd edition Lictor head to a ripper head.
Use a termagant head with a spare ravener torso plate for the brain.
Talons/Vestigial Arms: Prefer traditional arms? No problem. Use some spare scything talons from any number of kits, such as the ravener kit, hormogaunts, or genestealers in place of the tiny little arms I crafted above.
Be sure to check out some of our other crazy kit bashes on our facebook page, here, including this bad boy!
If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel!
Hive Bases for Tyranids (and other resin casting goodness!)
Greetings fellow wargamers! Caleb with White Metal Games here with another fun tip/tutorial for you!
Those of you that follow my blog will know that I am a long time Tyranid aficionado. I love me some bugs. And whether you love or hate the new Nid codex, we can all agree that the Tyranids are a dynamic, evocative race that are as fun to paint as they are to play! I’ve seen every sort of Nid color scheme from bumble bee orange/black to bio luminescent jellyfish nids, and everything in between.
However, what Tyranid army would be complete with custom bases?! There are some amazing resin bases out there on the market, from Dragonforge to Secret Weapon, to name just a few off the top of my head. But resin bases get pricey fast, especially when you are basing an entire army!
This is not to say resin bases aren’t worth every penny. The time they save you and the way they make your army stand out on the table cannot be matched. That being said, guys like me don’t love a project unless we’re doing it ourselves, so this article is for the folks out there, like me that like to do their own casting.
I don’t know if you’ve consider it or not, but there are some amazing silicone ice cube trays out there that work great as casting molds for a variety of basing purposes, terrain, etc. A few years ago I started experimenting with precast silicone ice trays and other mold like devices.
For this tutorial, we are using a set of silicone ice trays and a set of plastic ice trays I got at the supermarket.
As with most two part resins, you mix equal parts of either agent. I use measuring cups that I buy from the dollar store. It’s cheap and you can reuse them for hundreds of castings before they are finally so gross it’s just easier to buy a new set.
This article is not intended how to teach you how to cast. If you want to learn all that, there are tons of youtube videos and tutorials, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Hirst Arts. I can honestly say I learned 95% of everything I know about casting and mold making today by exploring his exhaustive site for days and days and days. A wealth of knowledge at your door.
After mixing the agents, and spraying a little mold release in the trays for good measure, I fill the ice trays with the compound resin. Some of the hex cells I fill to different levels, some barely at all. This will give me a variety of heights for my mounted models, and allow me some fun posting options.
I use the resin that sets in five minutes. If you have a vibrating table or the equivalent so much the better. If not, well, just rattle the table a bit after you fill the molds and you should be fine. These aren’t complex molds and they breath very well.
Once done, pop out your results. You can see here in just minutes I’ve cast up a wide variety of sizes, heights, etc. These trays have a very high yield.
This white tray below is a Portal cube tray. I’m thinking of using some of these as either objectives, or terrain, or maybe both. You could easily cover up the heart logo with a Space Marine Icon from a drop pod or the like with minimal effort.
Here you can see I’ve arranged a few of the hex bases around both a 60mm base and a 120mm base for the larger Tyranid organisms. I recommend NOT gluing them into place until you have experimented with how your models look onto top of the resin castings.
Some models, like the Tyrannofex or Exocrine, while quite larger, and not very poss-able. As such these hex blades won’t be ideal for every model out there in the current range, and bi-peds such as the Hive Tyrant, Carnifex, or the like will be ideally suited for these bases.
We’ll be working on a new studio army over the next few months and we’ll be testing out a few of these hex style resin bases on our own studio Nids.
YES, YES, I know, you’d like to see these bases look with some actual tyranids modelled on them, right?
Fine, here you go!
We’re thinking about using the Portal Ice cube tray to create some stacks of techno-crates. I could also seeing casting up a bunch and building some sort of strange pyramid or shrine with them.
If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel! Caleb, White Metal Games
Crackle medium . . . what all can it be used for? .
Greetings fellow wargamers! Caleb with White Metal Games here! And today I have a quick tip for you!
Over the holidays GW Released their Agrellan Earth technical paint, a crackle medium paint. Mediums like Crackle, Frost, Pearlized, etc don’t have a major place in our hobby and I’ve never entirely been sure why. My theory is that until the major paint vendors like Privateer Press, GW, Reaper, Vallejo, and others release their own version of these mediums, most of the consumers remain in the dark about them.
Well personally, I don’t have time to wait around for their okay to proceed. I like to test out things for myself. Crackle Medium is very cheap and easy to obtain. I picked up a bottle at Walmart for $5 bucks!
I’ve been trying to think of uses for Crackle Medium for a while now, and suddenly the other day I got a burst of insight. Veins! Veins on wings (and anywhere else you want veins) no longer have to be a pain. Now, I’m not saying I am the only person that’s ever had this idea, but a quick Google search didn’t reveal a lot of findings, so I felt like a post dedicated to the technique could be valuable.
Okay, so here’s how it works: Firstly, grab a wing. I’m using an old pewter Gargoyle wing below from the Tyranid range, however any leather wing would do. Prime the wing, preferably in a light color like white or grey. I’m using Vallejo light grey primer below.
Next, grab your crackle medium, a color for the veins (I’m using VMA Scarlet Red), and a color to go over the veins for contrast. Since this is a training tutorial, I went with a simple flesh color. This is actually a sample paint from reaper, but it’s fleshy enough for my purposes.
Once your primer is dry, apply red. I was generous here and applied a nice, even coat using an airbrush.
Author’s Note: I realize veins can be a variety of colors, including blue, purple (for old veins), etc. However, the same technique can in theory be applied to any underlying color. And a clever painter might even blend together a few underlying colors, like blue and red to create some dark purple patches, so that the final effect is more rich and interesting.
After it dries, apply a generous amount of crackle medium to anywhere you want veins. I did it in the inner part of the wings, the leathery membrane. It goes on clear, so you’ll just have to trust me that this happened.
Now, let that dry. For the final stage, thin your flesh paint down a little bit. What you want is a nice, even top coat, not so thick you can’t shift it around on the model. If applied correctly, then the crackle medium will start to do it’s job in mere moments! So hold your breath and wait for the magic to happen!
And that’s it! Simple, yet effective. What?! I said this was a tip, not a book report. Honestly I could have made this a three word article: Crackle for Veins.
Even though this tutorial is brief, we could encourage readers to try crackle medium to achieve other fun effects. Try some of these!
Wood Grain: Black base coat with Brown Overcoat
Marble: Black base coat with off white/bone white top coat
Lightning: White or pale blue base coat with darker blue top coat
To see more of what’s going on at White Metal Games, like this interesting Ork Ghost Ark (wtf?) below, be sure to check out our facebook page for all the most recent happenings! And give us a like if you, well, like what you see.
And until then, PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!
If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel!
Recently I was tasked with coming up with a right handed power fist for a Chaos Helbrute. I know, I know, nobody likes Helbrutes in this addition. However, I’d argue that a Chaos Helbrute with two power fists and twin heavy flamers is actually a wrecking ball at 130 points!
The problem of course was how to covert the second power fist. The only Helbrute on the market right now is the Dark Vengeance model, which while cheap and easy to acquire doesn’t have what I’d call many options, or any options for that matter. Fortunately, conversions like this are what I live for!
Since I had kit bashed a few Helbrute back when Dark Vengeance was released, I had a few spare helbrutes laying around.
Here’s what you’ll need for this conversion:
2 Helbrutes (stop whining, they’re less than $5 each on ebay!) 1 Daemon Prince open hand right arm (about $5 for bit plus shipping) Clippers, Glue, and a Razor Saw
All told, you can build this model for less than $20 and still have most of the 2nd helbrute left over for another conversion. This is how bits boxes are born, people! Get with the program!
Okay, this conversion couldn’t be simpler. Here’s how it works.
First, clip the long fingers off the Daemon Prince right arm. Be sure to save the fingers, as these can be useful for conversions down the road. You’d be surprised. Clean up the edges where you cut with a hobby knife.
Now, using a pair of clipper, carefully clip both halfs of the arm behind the ‘elbow’. Clean it up a little bit with a hobby knife. Now glue the arm together normally.
Remove the melta barrels from the helbrutes right arm. These are also worth saving IMHO. They are useful for melta guns, engine exhausts, etc, down the road. Now glue the arm together otherwise normally.
Once dry, you are going to dry fit the open handed daemon prince forearm against the helbrute melta barrel arm, which now is more of an upper arm/elbow. If they fit smoothly, great! If not, clean it up a bit with a hobby knife. Then using some plastic glue to weld the two pieces together. Allow at least 1-2 hours to dry fully.
Okay, one of your two helbrutes is what we are going to call the spare helbrute. Using the right (powerfist) arm on the spare helbrute, carefuly remove the fingers from the right hand. I used a craft saw to do this, carefully sawing the three main fingers off the hand, then using a pair of clipper to carefully remove the ‘thumb’.
Clean up the fingers so that they are relatively clean and smooth.
Dry fit the fingers onto the daemon prince arm and once satisfied with the placement, glue them into position. Let dry.
Now the model is more or less done. All you need to do is use a little 2 part epoxy to till in the gap along the elbow and under the hand/fingers. I know, I know . . . you don’t love the posing. Well, if you are up for a challenge, then feel free to repose the figure in a more evocative stance, like this feral beastie we are putting together for a themed fallen Wolf Brothers army.
Got a cool helbrute conversion? We’d love to see it! Post a picture in the comments below, and then you’ll really . . . PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!
Caleb, WMG If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel! Caleb, White Metal Games
If you’ve got an old picture frame, you’re half way to your new display board!
Hey guys! Caleb with White Metal Games here. When most of us are getting ready for a tournament, the last thing on our mind is a display board, especially for new players. The cost of models, time to assemble (and convert) as well as time to paint eats up all our resources.
But a good display board can mean the difference between having a good looking army and having a great looking army! And building one can be easier than you think. I recently volunteered to building a few Demo Board for my favorite FLGS. In practical terms there is very little that is different about a demo board to a display board, and in most instances they can be used interchangeably. In fact if you can build terrain, you can build a display/demo board.
Obviously every player is going to want something different out of their display board, and certain armies will look better on certain types of board than others. For example, if I build a creepy graveyard board for my Vampire Counts, then it might not work well for my Sisters of Battle army.
This tutorial is more intended to show newcomers to the hobby one way they might bang out a fairly generic display board in a day or two for their upcoming tournament. It’s not intended for veterans, nor is it the end all be all only way you can do this. So with that being said, on with the tutorial!
To start I grabbed a large frame from a local thrift shop. Big frames like this go for about $10-$15 generally. You don’t need one with glass (since you’ll just be removing the glass anyway), so a broken picture frame can sometimes be a bargain. This frame is a little bigger than I traditionally use. Most of the time a frame about 24″ x 24″ will suffice, however, you can go a littler bigger or smaller depending on the army it’s being designed for. Obviously a horde army will need a bigger frame than a GK Paladin army, etc.
Remove the glass, if there is any. If you are going to simply break the glass, BE EXTRA CAREFUL! Obviously shattered glass poses a safety risk on many levels. I would instead recommend removing the backing material from the frame,then removing the glass that way instead. Glass can be recycled, so if you have a large recycling bin just deposit it gently.
This particular frame posed several challenges. The first of which was the matte. I decided to keep the matte as this would create some depth to the board once done, like the soldiers were in a slight defile. I removed the old backing paper, carefully bent the metal holding spikes up, and removed the old glass. Then I used the glass like a template to measure the size of a replacement piece of foam board. I wedged this in front of the backing cardboard. This helped to reinforce the board, so now there were several layers to the board: cardboard, foamboard, then the matte material. I bent the holding spikes back into place.
To be extra sure that nothing would collapse, I also grabbed a roll of craft paper (the my wife uses for parties like a tablecloth that kids can draw on) and outlined the size of the frame on the craft paper. Then I cut it out, glued it down to the edges of the frame.
I also stapled it for good measure. This will ensure that the paper doesn’t go anywhere. Be warned these staples could scratch a table so perhaps apply some felt to the staples once done to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Next, I gathered up a variety of terrain supplies out of my bits vault. I knew I didn’t want anything too flashy or too tall. The goal with a display board is to draw attention to your army, without drawing too much attention to the display board itself. It should accentuate your army and make them look better, sort of the way any geek looks better when standing next to a beautiful person of the opposite gender. Think of it like a narrative base for the entire army.
I lay out some of the bigger pieces to get a general sense of where I might want to put things. This isn’t a firm rule, I just want to have a sense of where things might go, so I can plan accordingly. Obviously this display board, being a demo board, was meant to have several different types of terrain, all of which are fairly flat and low to the ground. If you are designing something more extravagant, like a Necron Tomb World or Heldrake Aerie, then you’ll want to plan accordingly. I personally feel board with a lot of elaborate catwalks and such can take away from the army, but a few well placed pieces of even very tall terrain can really make the board pop.
Since this board was matted, I’m going to need to smooth over the transition between the higher level of the board with the lower level of the sunken foam board. I’ve used lots of different types of plaster over the years, from Plaster of Paris to simple spackle. The problem with plaster is two fold: One, it’s brittle, and chips easily. Two, it’s heavy and adds a great deal of weight to your terrain or boards. A few months ago I discovered this amazing stuff called plaster cloth, which sort of solves both problems! And it’s cheap!
Plaster cloth is a bit like an ace bandage. You cut strips of it and dip them into a basin of water.
Then you apply them much in the same way you might paper mache. The water activates the plaster and you simply smooth the strips out with your hands. You rub the strips down and it causes the plaster to fill in the holes on the strips, so that in the end you are left with a very thin layer of what looks like plaster, but is in fact much lighter and not at all brittle.
Obviously it gets messy and you’ll need to tive it some time to dry. Also, since the gauze it wet it tends to cling to whatever it is laid over quite tightly. For me, this meant that the transition was still quite pronounced ever after a few layers. I ended up applying about 4-6 layers around the edges of the matter.
This is around the halfway point. As you can see, the boarder is becoming less pronounced than before.
After the final strips are applied, the gradient is greatly reduced and the board appears to be a natural decline in the ground.
At this point I actually lay out my terrain pieces. I fiddle with them a little bit until I find an arrangement I find balanced and pleasing to the eye.
Okay, if there was a major lesson to be learned building this board, THIS IS WHERE I LEARNED IT! Learn from my mistakes! A lot of companies will try to sell you on scenic cement, which is for all intensive purposes watered down PVA glue. I thought I was being smart by making my own. I grabbed a spare bottle, mixed up a 1/1 ratio of glue to water and used it to coat the board.
Obviously when applying glue in this way, be sure to use some sort of template or mask to protect areas from overspray. For example, if I don’t want grit/dirty to be glued down in the center of the crater, I should take steps to ensure that the glue doesn’t waft over that area.
That wasn’t my problem. That was something I knew to expect. The problem came later, during painting. Here’s the rub. Scenic cement doesn’t have a lot of binding power. As you dilute the glue, it’s ability to hold things in place lessens. So when it came time to paint the display board, I ran into issues.
I applied my general house mix of dirt/sand/herbs/ballast, etc to the board. Normally for a project like this, I’d use a spray gun supported by a heavy duty compressor to basecoat the board black or brown or the like. However, even at lower operating pressure, the air was blasting the grit mixture right off the board.
I then tried using a brush to dab paint onto the board and smear it around. This method worked, but took over an hour and required multiple applications. Sand kept coming off the board and would get stained black by the paint brush, clogging the bristles with this half paint/half sand mixture. I would then smear this Azathothian like gel around the board, but it took forever! I don’t recommend this.
Instead, try this: apply generous amounts of PVA (white school) glue to the board in small areas, spread it around with an old paint brush (a big brush, like you’d used to paint something other than miniatures) and then apply your basing medium directly to the board. This will take longer in the application process, but will ensure a firmer grip on your basing medium and save you TONS of time in the painting process. Trust me!
So, after that entire debacle was done, I was finally ready to apply some actual paint. I primed the board black (see above) using a variety of techniques and many, many four letter words. Also at this time I blasted the interior of the crater with some brown paint from a spray paint can. My though process was they built this city on natural earth (and rock and roll), so when the bombs started falling, natural earth would be exposed. It gave me a chance to splash some color onto an otherwise very grey board.
I dry brushed the black with dark grey craft paint from my local Walmart, then applied a slightly light grey paint in the same fashion, create two levels of depth and light/dark contrast.
Already having spent a great deal of time during the priming process, I wasn’t interested in doing a great deal of detail work to the board. So I settled on a few simple techniques. For the crashed Aquilla wing, I overbrushed some dark red paint to the wing itself, overbrushed some boltgun metal (or the equivalent) to the exposed engine components, and applied some more grey to the ‘dirty’ areas on the wings. I applied a few simple black washes to pull out a a little detail and BLAM-O, doneski.
For the buildings I went even simple. I drybrushed some coppery metallics of the building, then some boltgun metal over the doors and vents. A simple black wash to pluck out a little detail and WHAM-O, donearoski.
I borrowed the same technique for the barricade and barrels, using brown and copper, respectively. Finally for the various metallic pieces on the board like the tank traps, etc, I used several different metallics (guess what I had on hand, you guessed right, copper and boltgun metal, what can I say, it was cold in my garage and I didn’t feel like getting up) to layer up from black to copper to a final dry brush of boltgun metal. The final effect was that these tank traps had the lock of rusty metal without every applying a wash. Interesting. I’ll have to try this technique again in the future. Iron Warriors, perhaps?
Here’s the finished display board, before bringing it to my FLGS. All in a few days work.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Highlen Terrain at this point. A month or two ago, I found out through youtube that Stephen with Highlen Terrain had designed an AMAZING Necron Tomb World gaming board for Project One Gaming. However, something happened (fuzzy on the details), and Project One had to cancel the project, even though it was practically done at this point. Stephen was very good natured about the entire thing and decided to sell of the board as four Necron Display Boards instead. At the time I last spoke with him, he had 3 of the 4 quarters remaining, and was offering them for around $100 each, which included a scratch built pylon. You can’t beat that!
If you haven’t seen the work done by Highlen, I can recommend them enough! If interested, you can email Stephen about what pieces he has remained. He also offered to rebuild the sections already sold if a buyer wanted to pick up the entire 4’x6′ board for $350 USD including shipping with everything (ALL THE PYLONS!). My mouth dropped when I heard that and if it hadn’t been so close to Christmas I would have most certainly bought it!
Recently Stephen has been working on some crater boards for a new client and let me tell you I can’t wait to see them done!
If you are a Necron player in need of an amazing Necron display board for an amazing price, contact Stephen at Highlen Terrain!
Or, if you’d rather tackle this project on your own then by all means . . .
PUT YOUR MINIS . . err, I mean DEMO BOARD WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS! If you found this tutorial useful, be sure to check out more of our work on our homepage, or at the very least, like us on facebook! We also have a new podcast called Warcouncil where we share other cool hobby tips! And you can see more tips through our Youtube channel! Caleb, White Metal Games
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Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
