Greetings Terrans, how goes it? It has been nearly a month since my last post, which is rubbish, but the good news is that this post is a two-fer, and is the conclusion of me painting the Blackstone Fortress set! It may have taken me 5 years, but I’m still calling it a win.

First up is the burny-choppy zealot, ‘Pious Vorne’:

The bonkers 40K Grimdark has been turned up to 11 for Vorne, but she’s a nice mini to paint for all that, with just the right amount of detail. I really didn’t try too hard with the painting, just a basic base & drybrush, followed by a good amount of gunge.

Next up is UR-025:

I didn’t have as much fun painting this guy as I hoped – the whole ‘man of iron’ fluff has so much potential, but this mini is just a bit bland. Also, it is shite to photograph. Anyway, I painted him up with a bunch of different colours, like he had been patching himself up with parts salvaged from fallen comrades… I don’t know if that comes across or not, but I ran out of fucks to give on him, so this is how he stays.

And that’s it folks – BS Fortress done! Here’s a final cheeky shot of all the characters to draw a line under the whole thing:

So that’s all for this post – I’ll be dipping back into the Silver Tower next for some Orctober fun next, so catch you all soon!

Greetings Terrans, I hope you are well. I can’t believe it has been nearly 6 weeks since I last posted! It has been a ridiculously busy time with study, work and family all taking up a lot of energy at the moment – it’s all good stuff, but it has left me with little headspace or motivation for any hobby. I have a few minis that have been getting the odd tickle with the old hairy stick, but it’s only this week that I’ve managed to sit down and actually finish one… And here he (?) is, Navigator ‘Espern Locarno’:

Espern was fun to paint – there is a nice range of things going on with him, but it isn’t a stupid amount of detail to get through. All the flat surfaces would be particularly nice if you really wanted to go to town with the freehand- the official ‘Eavy Metal paintjob has that central strip as parchment rather than the cloth interpretation that I went with for example, but I’ve deliberately kept it simple.

One thing I was keen to capture was the importance of the character’s third eye mutation, so I painted the normal eye lenses black to de-emphasise them on the model. I also wanted to get some flesh on show, so chose to paint the hands as ungloved & with a pretty unpleasant skin tone. Otherwise it was a pretty standard paint job for me – it’s a bit sub-par I guess given my rustiness and general lack of motivation, but I’m pretty happy with him all the same.

Anyhow, that’s it for now – just 2 more BS Fortress dudes to complete, and they are both more than half done so hopefully it won’t be another 6 weeks until my next post!

Greetings Terrans, how’s it going? Another quickie from me today, and another BS character done and dusted – this time it’s the Eldar Ranger type ‘Amallyn Shadowguide’:

This one was a real sod to paint… I really like the look of Eldar, but every time I paint one I am reminded just how bloody fiddly they are. In this case, it’s more than just the bajillion gemstones – the rifle is ridiculously fragile & got snapped off mid-barrel as I was painting – I really should’ve used a painting handle for this one! The barrel was too thin to glue so I resorted to a small wrap of GS to add some strength… hopefully my crude Monkeigh sculpting didn’t ruin this fine mini!

Frustrations aside, I’m really pleased with how she came out – in particular, the face… I absolutely nailed the eyes, even if I do say so myself :-)

I roughly copied the green/bone scheme from a much earlier Eldar Exodite project, so she fits in with her peeps:

She also works ok with another earlier Eldar that I painted – a converted Harlequin Solitaire:

Anyhow, that’s it for now, I have a few more BS dudes to paint before I’m done with the set – onwards and upwards!