Lost In The Warp

Building my Iron Kingdom 2 - Danger High Voltage!

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:43:00 +0000

A while ago I posted that I was building some Iron Kingdoms scenery for myself - starting with a Warjack Repair Shop built from some Tech Deck skateboarding toys. I was really enjoying this work so have created another building from more of the toys.

This one I envisioned as a power station in this mining/outpost town. I wanted to give it a dangerous feel - not unlike a fenced off power transformer station with lots of warning signs etc. And I wanted it to be similar to the electrical aspects of some Cygnar 'jacks and the Storm Strider to really fit the setting. While Cygnar is definitely not my army of choice, I do love the crazy mad science "electrical" aspects associated with that army.

I started with another of the ramps. The circular sections on the side reminded me somewhat of the porthole style glowing sections on the Storm Strider and the shape lent itself well to adding a set of the big industrial doors from the GW buildings sets.

Also judging by the shape it seeems that most of the works would be contained underground which I also think fits well with the mining outpost kind of feel and also with my Rhulic sensibilities.

Wanting to emphasise the high voltage/power transformer feel I took a bunch of the power pylons from the Warhammer 40K Battle of MacRagge set and with my trusty razor saw sliced them in half and mounted them along the sides of the ramp/building. I used some plasticard to make little warning signs and added an access ladder.

More bits from 1/35 model tank kits add some further details such as a small grate, some industrial piping and venting stacks, a couple access hatches etc. Overall a fairly straightforward build that I am looking forwad to painting! Once I finish building a couple more pieces I will begin painting them all together. I like to paint several scenery pieces together at a time so that the weathering and finishes are fairly consistant and clearly related from one piece to the next.

On an unrelated note my incredibly talented friend Shawn Welte (PPC from Madhouse Workshop) and I have set ourselves a super cool little scheme/project which will be cross posted between our sites. Stay tuned for more info about that!

Cya next week

James

B1 Bis Historical Build part 5 - Why so Greasy? A combined lesson in history and weathering.

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:06:00 +0000

One of the most interesting and challenging parts of weathering this tank is a challenge posed by the history and mechanics of the vehicle itself.

Aside from fabulous front armour and terrible fuel efficiency, these Char Bis were absolute pigs on oil. Their seals leaked continuously and the tracks themselves were horrifically prone to seizing up if they sat too long (not the best of features in a wartime prelude referred to as the "sitzkrieg"!) As such, crews of the B1 Bis tanks were regularily required to oil the tracks all along the sponsons which usually left grease and oil just running and dripping down the sides. The side crew hatch even has a shielding lip welded along the top of it to keep the oil drips out of the crew compartment!

This meant that as soon as these things began to move any distance, particularily cross country the sides of these tanks got FILTHY. In some of the pics you can not even see the camo patterns along the sides at all because of the amount of dirt and crud stuck to the greasy oily mess on these tanks. I decided to put mine on cobblestone and used photos of French tanks in urban environments as the inspiration. Greasy - yes, Grimy - yes, Worn - yes, completely obfuscated by the filth - no.

This meant I would need to pull together a lot of techniques and try to push my boundaries a bit to create the contrasts and realistic finishes I envisioned.

I used:

AK Interactive - light rust wask - this enamel wash was used to emphasise rusty areas and to add subtle streaks from some of these

AK Interactive Dust Effects - This stuff is cool - I used it more on the top panels but here on the sides I painted it in streaks up from the bottom of panels and then once it had a bit of time to bite into the paint below I used clear thinner on a brush and dragged it upwards to approximate rainmarks and dustwash

Pigments - Various from AK Interactive, MIG, Forgeworld and Stardust. These were used dry and then stumped with clear AK Interactive thinner. I then took the dirty thinner and mixed a further slurry of dirty pigments and then worked these thinly across zones to really add a thin coat of dirt especially across the lower hull. I then fixed these in place using AK Interactive Pigment Fixer

Tamiya Smoke - this was thinned down and used to drag in some of the initial grease streaks and spatter along the sponson tops.

MIG Abteilung oil paints - I used a couple of tones of oil paint to finish the greasy streaks down the sponsons, between these and the Tamiya smoke I got a good variety of realistic colour and a sheen that is genuinely greasy looking and makes a brilliant contrast to my paint!

A little graphite around a couple of edges and we have Mission Accomplished!

I am super proud of how this turned out. Next up the basing and presentation!
Cya in a week with more Iron Kingdoms terrain pieces.....

Pimp my Popemobiles! Sisters of Battle vehicles for a friend

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

I dont take too many commissions anymore - usually only if it is for a friend, the price is too good to turn down or if it is something I REALLY want to do.

Well this covers the first 2 of those bases.....mabey a little of all three.

A few of the ghouls

I have a son who loves skeletons and zombies and who, at 4 years old, is already eyeing up Daddy's little statues. Someday he will likely want to play some version of Warhammer and I figure that when that day comes undead will most likely be the choice.

Yep undead... an army that hinges on hordes (literally) of basic troops. UGH! Now I know why they are caled "The Nightmare Legion" - just the thought of painting all that up gives me the heebie geebies.....

Well good news for me! Now I dont have to :) WOOHOO!!!

Some of the Grave Guard

A few years ago my buddy Stefan Grambart painted up a beautiful undead army, even won some awards. Time goes on, styles and priorities change and the majority of the army moved on to another friend.... a friend whose first love in miniatures is his SOB army, a friend who enjoys playing but doesnt really like to paint.

Now that they are mine, my son will have an incredible army all ready to go, just add whatever hero or monster or super kick @$$ new model is the flavour of the day!

So now here is the fleet of vehicles I painted in trade:

I used GW scab red and VGC bloody red over Chaos Black undercoat. The metal is Tin Bits overbrushed with with Boltgun metal and washed with AK interactive track wash. The numbers are dry transfers.

There really isnt that much more to it - just technique and application (OK...a little weathering powder and graphite too but really....) This was an exercise in efficiency of colour - I wanted to make it look as good as I could without straying from the colour scheme he had already established in his other troops. In the end I think they look pretty darn nice! They will certainly spruce up the overall look of his army on the table, will show well in tournaments, and will add the focal points that can sometimes be lacking in a Sisters Of Battle army.

An added note for those who are looking closely - yes these are all built on the OLD Rhino chassis. There are 3 Rhinos, 3 Immolators and 2 exorcists. The exorcists are early kits sold directly from GW (seriously!) which are one of the worst kitbashes of parts ever concieved. They use razorback parts, necron gun parts, rhino ablative armor panels and a whole whack of terminator missile launchers. These things were a nightmare to assemble!!!! That being said they are very distinctive looking and menacing so - mission accomplished?

The thing I really like about this whole force of tanks is the variety of extra armour panels Greg has used on them along with the inclusion of the Sisters metal front hatch and side hatches on them all. They feel unified but each feature distinctly unique details.

Well done Greg - I hope they serve you well in the field of battle (unless you are playing me of course!)

Until next week!

James AKA TKKultist

Pancakes FTW! and a recap of days gone by....

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Over the last year LITW has joined a few cool blogging networks, namely the amazing Iron Agenda Blogging Network (IABN), the FTW group and now the (INT'L) HOUSE OF PANCAKES, I figured it would be worth recapping (and linking to) what super cool $#!^ people can find here on LITW.

Painting/modelling/sculpting advice/tutorials/examples. I have nearly a dozen golden demons and a Forgeworld best of show, piles of fun armies and I am happy to share comments, critique and tips with anyone who wants to contact me. it is pretty easy really. I am right here. Also you will find tutorials/articles by some of my friends (and posted with permission) including Vince Hudon, Chris Borer and Dragomir Milanovic.

Beastmen - if you like beastmen you are in the right place. While my WFB playing may have slowed down my beastmen army continues to plod along at its usual turtle pace.
That doesn't sound very inspiring but this army sure is. It is a labour of love that is coming up on a decade of building and painting. The pieces of this army have won several golden demons and other major awards and I am really finding myself be drawn back to them more and more these days. I think it is time to finish a few more of the cool units I have built.... Click on the gallery tab above (or HERE for you lazy gits) to see some of these.

Reviews - I have done a few reviews over the past few years for various companies and products. I have a bunch of things that I am using today that have REALLY revolutionized my way of working. I am preparing a set of new articles for the next few month about products that have totally opened my eyes to new possibilites. You can also find reviews by some of my friends including a review/tutorial on painting skin by my friend and multi-slayer winner Chris Borer. It is a good one and well worth clicking HERE for.

Warmachine - My current addiction. I am working for the next year to build my warmchine forces into something worthy of taking to GenCon or some other major PP system event. There will be LOTS of WM stuff coming but for those who want to see where it all started for me click HERE. (Damn you Kris Aubin!)

Zoats/Fimir - I have a whole army (growing once more actually) of Zoats and Fimir. These things are strange but I love em. They are a hoot to play (as necrons) and have won some cool awards (including the coveted Astronomi-con best army)

Terrain - I have been actively working on some new terrain pieces for Warmachine and have several more articles nearly ready to go live... Stay tuned - im pleased with these. Also I have a few cool Warhammer/generic pieces in the cue as well. Click HERE to see the last one I posted working on.

Historicals - I have recently branched into historical modelling too and use the experiences there to inform new styles and techniques in my SF and Fantasy work. My Char Bis is nearly complete click HERE to see more of it. Also this has opened my eyes to the super cool hybrid of history and SF that is the world of Paolo Parente's DUST. You will see a lot more of this stuff on here over time.

The last one here is as much an ask for as an advert for - Battle reports - This is something I am newer to and am mostly doing them for Warmachine games. If anyone out there can send me links to people who they think do this well AND effieciently please do. I am looking to do a good job with these!

Back here in a week (I try to post every Thursday) with new stuff for y'all!
James Craig AKA TKKultist

Bat Reps: Winter Warmahordes 2012 Game 3 Ashlynn vs Haley + event shots

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:33:00 +0000

Game 3 was against George, a player who had travelled with Aubin all the way from Ottawa (about 3-4 hours drive) and had given a strong showing through the day.

He dropped a HUGE wall of scary metal on the table.

Major Victoria Haley + Stormclad + Thorn + Thunderhead + Squire + Journeyman + Black 13th

Knowing that both his lists were Jack heavy I chose Ashlynn for the FG slamming crits and the ATGM's push back shots - hoping that somewhere along the way I could force him out of position and open the lanes I need to get Haley.

Here is my Ashlynn List so you dont have to dig back through the posts :)

Ashlynn
Rocinante
Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
Marshalled Mule
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Full)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

He came right down the middle in a wave of terrifying armour with his b13 on my left and a light right flank that was sheilded by cover and difficult terrain. I held the middle with Rocky and Ashlynn and the Mule with Wish nearby hiding in a piece of terrain. I put my ATGM unit up the left to meet his B13 and my Quickened/tough Forgeguard moved as fast as they could up the right with rhupert. Eiryss moved up even further out on the right in hopes of putting a bit of pressure on Haley so that she wouldnt hide out too far back while her arcnode and wall of metal muscle did all the dirty work.

Between the thunderhead's pulse effects, spells and B13, George absolutely demolished my left flank and whittled down my FG to boot. He took controll of my mule and used it
to attack my caster and Rocky and managed to get his Jacks into a devestating position whereby Rocky was all but destroyed and stormclad actually hit Ashlynn and reduced her to a single wound!!!! EEK.

As I said, I am used to using my warcaster a speedbump but that was a little close for call.

HAMMER TIME!

Ashlynn responded by moving away upfield and desperately spent her focus healing herself in case her final gambit did not work. Wysh allowed her to upkeep her quicken on the FG for free and she popped her feat. Eiryss shot Haley - stripping her of all focus. Rhupert played the song to grant the FG pathfinder and they charged. Two of them managed to get within reach range of Haley and the got the chance to introduce the poledancing warcaster to the buisness end of a hammer on roulette.

Game 3 Win by Caster Kill.

Thanks for the game George!

The other player (Pat) that won his first two games and led in points standings lost in the third to my buddy Tyler and his Skorne (thanks Tyler!!!) So at the end of the day I was the lone player standing with a full 3 wins and a stack of player points. The tournament was mine.

Of the 4 tournaments I have played in to date I now have 3 Best Overall and 1 Best General Award!

Hot dang thats cool.

A super thanks to Erik for running this event, to Nic for bowing out in the face of uneven numbers so that I didnt have to, to all my opponents and esecially to Kris Aubin for bringing a whole new crew of players down to our area! I hope to see many of them return again in the future!

Here are some more shots of the event

Cya next week!

BatReps: Winter Warmahordes 2012 game 2 Durgen VS ESkarre

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:10:00 +0000

Game 2 - As each list had to be played at least once in the tourney, I decided to play my Durgen List so that I would have an option for round 3. I was playing against Matt, whom I had played before. He can be tough and Durgen really had his number last time BUT... this time he brought a really different list that I wasnt expecting and which made Durgen want to weep.

He had:

eSkarre
Deathjack
Seether
Full Satyxis Raiders
Sea Witch
Full Blood Witches
Blood Hag
Satyxis Raider Captain

So fast, and so much immune to blast.... oh and Deathjack.....ugh

So that you dont have to scan back to find it I had:

Durgen Madhammer
Ghordson Avalancher
Ghordson Basher
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
Marshalled Mule
Ogrun Assault Corps (Leader and 2 Grunts)
Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile
Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

Uh oh....
Anyhoo, we got on with the game and it became clear immediately that I had to prioritize taking out the UA (or solo? - Im still not sure which witch was which ;P ) that gave him immunity to blast. Dougal and the ATGM made this their priority but I think it was
Durgens case cracking arcing fire that ended up taking her out. The Avalancher and the Mule shot up the other non immune infantry pretty well and my OAC turned into an explosive shield wall of primed flesh. Before I knew it, however, the remaining witches and raiders were in my face and incoporeal. This is where I was very thankful for Durgen's spell that turns a shot magical as it allowed the Avalancher to clear a little more breathing room. Next thing I knew though the Deathjack was in a deep flanking position munching on ATGM souls, Dougal was dead and the Seether was tearing up my Avalancher like nobodies buisness. Even a few of the remaining infantry were trying to stick their horns into Durgen himself.

Perfect - all was going according to plan.

Die young and leave a good looking corpse - right Skarre?
I have a bad(?) habit of sacrificing large portions of my forces for positioning and using my caster as bait and hoping that he/she survives long enough to pull the carpet out from under my opponent. In the first battle I pulled Ashlynn back behind the mule to draw his forces in deeper and get Rocky behind for the kill shot. This time I brought everyone close to Durgen so that he could let rip with his spell that pushes everyone back from him. In doing so I gave myself all the room I needed to shoot eSkarre in the face complete with boost + Feat. If that hadnt of finished her then the basher was also in position to charge her and fire its feat boosted blast AND I had one lone arcane tempest gun Mage UA (who had basically fed all his friends to deathjack) ready to unleash a final shot. I had sacrificed virtually my entire force to get these three lined up. It was overkill, Durgen vaporized her on the first shot.

Win by Caster Kill.

Better luck next time buddy!

With 2 wins I was in striking distance of the tournament leader.....

Part 3 Coming soon.....

BatRep: Winter Warmahordes 2012 game 1 Ashlynn Vs ELylyth

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Kris Aubin - Former Privateer Press Art Director ready to battle!

So here is what was up - a two list 35 point tournament. Three scenarios. FAC could not be duplicated between the two lists.

35 points - NO RESTRICTIONS - EXCEPT - You must bring and use Two lists (see below)
You may use characters only once, they can not be duplicated in the second list. You may have the prime version of a caster in one list and the epic in the second.

All lists must be led by warcasters/warlocks from the same faction. Mercenary players can use different contracts or Theme Forces for their lists. Minion players can use different pacts or Theme Forces for their lists. Players cannot include the same version of a model or unit with FA:C in more than one list. The original and epic incarnation(s) of a character do not count as the same version of a model."

Three super close games, so much fun.

My Ashlynn List
Ashlynn
Rocinante
Sylys Wyshnalyrr, the Seeker
Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)
Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer
Marshalled Mule
Horgenhold Forge Guard (Full)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord

My Durgen List (highborn)
Durgen Madhammer
Ghordson Avalancher

Ghordson Basher

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages (Leader and 5 Grunts)

Arcane Tempest Gun Mage Officer

Marshalled Mule

Ogrun Assault Corps (Leader and 2 Grunts)

Master Gunner Dougal MacNaile

Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator

Game 1:

First match was again former Privateer Press Art director Kris Aubin! Aubin and I have been friends for years but I think this may have been the first time we have battled each other. It was awesome, he had:
Epic Lylyth
Ravagore
Bolt Thrower
10 Blighted Archers
5 Raptors
Death Stalker
Annyssa Ryval

I used Ashlynn.
We squared up across the feild and he sent his cavalry way out on my left flank, brought the solo up just left of the middle and followed with his caster and beasts. the archers stayed far to my right.

I had my forgeguard tough thanks to rhupert and quickened by ashlynn running towards the buildings in the middle left to move on either the solo or cav with the gunmages and more to the middle with
Ashlynn and rocky and Eiryss way out on the right giving the archers some pause for thought.

In the second turn Kris underestimated the charge range of my Fg with reach and pathfinder from rhupert so I was able to plow into (through) a couple of his cavalry. His solo and caster killed off some of the gun mages and did some damage to rocky but all was still looking okay. Eiryss danced away and the archers moved into a stronger position to threaten.

In the third turn the forgeguard took some casualties from the cavalry/character combo that was repositioning back closer to his caster but swept back across towards the middle and some reasonable cover. Couldnt quite reach the deathstalker though. the gunmages were wiped out and ashlynn left the protection of rocky to go take over the mule - rocky plowed ahead through the some of the archers and took some serious bolt thrower hits as well. He was looking quite a bit the worse for wear and lost his sword.

Turn 4 all but one of the FG die, Rhupert got shot and Ravagore tried to get ahold of the Mule and make his way to Ashlynn. It really started to look like the noose was tightening except that Rocky had Admonition. This allowed him a smidge more movement that got him in range of Lylith..... I needed to roll a ten to hit and rolled 11. I proceeded to do 16 points of damage and he realised that he hadnt reaved the fury from his bolt thrower.

Caster kill FTW

Kris in Defeat - At least he still has his magnificent beard...

Game 2 Thursday....

HAPPY EASTER FROM LITW

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:48:00 +0000

HAPPY EASTER! (?)

Things this creepy are too hard to make up, reality (such as it is) is so much scarier! LOL

All that being said, I have been offline for a couple weeks focusing on family and such, but have a series of new articles, reviews, bat reps and such to put up over the next little while. So here we go again - back on track :) Double post next week so Ill see ya Monday and then again on Thursday for my next regular update.

VASSAL Tutorial - Playing Warmachine/Hordes Online

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:40:00 +0000

This video link has been reposted from Wargames@farfaraway.org, another member site on the IABN.

I just thought it was so cool and so useful it was worthwhile to put it here if only for me to keep track of it for myself. I hope you enjoy!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;hr class="more"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Red Menace - DUST Ruskies - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:59:00 +0000

The announcement I have been waiting for !!!!! The first Russian releases for DUST Tactics/Warfare have been announced!

Now on first blush I am not so sure about the design of the copter - it looks too bulbous/too much like a toy for my tastes. That being said I am sure there will be lots of ways to edit it to make it look cooler and what is most important about its inclusion in this picture is that it means AIRCRAFT are finally going to be a part of the game! Also one of the figures is clearly the character Koshka (one of the main protagonists of the comic and the girl seen in most of the web art, cover of the box for the boardgame etc.) which is pretty neat! Also pictured is a medic (more rules) and what appears to be a model holding a Molotow "cocktail". A little stereotypical but neat nonetheless.

It is worth noting that in the world of DUST, the Sino-Soviet Union is very much the key protagonist group in the battle against the Axis. The Allies are barely clinging to Britain and are mile behind everyone else in their mobilization for war. The SSU on the other hand has held in the face of Axis offence and has done a much better job of field stripping and capturing Axis tech for reuse and reverse engineering. Their 'bots seem to trend towards small quickly built battlesuits like the KV 47 or extra big behemoths like "Big Joseph" (man I hope they make that in 1:48 - I still want to build a 1:35 one pretty bad! Google Jose Brito's one if you want to see an amazing piece of modelling!).

I am SUPER excited about the KV47 light walker suits pictured. I love the design of these and they were a
really cool part of the DUST comics. Here is a shot of one in 1/35 scale to give a better idea of the design:

It also paves the way for players to convert (or the company to produce) DUST48 scale axis captured and refitted "Kampflauferfaust" which should add a different dynamic to the Axis forces.

For a couple of years now I have horded a few AT43 Red Blok (Russians) in anticipation of this direction in the game so I now have some pretty cool alternate troops and robots to make use of!

A primer on Primers!

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:46:00 +0000

There had been a discussion recently on the Collecting Citadel Miniatures (CCM) yahoo group about priming miniatures and types of primers - So I figured Id jump in with my $0.02
Preambled with: While I may have a dozen golden demons, articles in WD etc. the bottom line I have learned along the way is that exceptional results can come in a WIDE variety of way from an equally wide variety of materials. This being said here are some of the products I have used and my thoughts on each:

No Primer:

IMHO completely foolish for most 28-32mm applications. For starters, most paints are not designed to properly adhere to the metal/resin surfaces. Doubly rediculous for anyone who is doing any handling (gaming/transporting) of their models beyond a display case.

The ONLY reason I know of not to use a proper primer is for some metallic techniques that involve burnishing/staining or polishing actual metals. Even then a ( usually brush on) primer is to be used for non metallic surfaces. The picture to the right is an example (not mine)

Here is a link to a good article on polishing metal surfaces on larger models:

http://www.paintingclinic.com/clinic/polish.htm

Sprays:

GW Chaos Black/Skull White: Whether you prefer a black or white these sprays in their current formula (there have been many - even more if you live in North America than in Europe)have excellent surface adhesion, create a fairly smooth matte finish that takes paint exceptionally well. Many historical modellers have started using this product extensively because of its surface quality (Mig Jimenez even included references to it in his AMAZING new FAQ2 book). It has a slightly sweet smell which isnt horrific but is still a bit strong for indoor use. I use this on a lot of projects, especially anything I want to paint more quickly - because of the advantages and shortcuts priming black can give.

Duplicolour: Duplicolour make sandable primers for automotive applications - their primer is incredibly fine and smooth. It makes a great solid foundation and the red oxide is now my go to colour for using the so-
called "hairspray technique" (I use AK intereactive chipping fluids instead) on vehicles, but either way - this stuff is fantastic.

Tamiya Super Fine Grey: A thinner and much smoother primer than GW. I LOVE this when I am doing a lot of blending or fine work for the same reason that some painters hate it. It is so slick (satin not true gloss) that you can slide and blend paints right across the surface. Most of my finest work these days is done over this finish. Still smelly for most indoor locations. I have used it on a lot of models now and dont forsee myself stopping anytime soon. My best advice would be to shake it really well before starting (though really that should apply to all these rattle cans!)

Floquil black: Should be my favorite of all of these - it really has a fantastic surface tooth & smooth light coverage. Unfortunatly it is unstable and as a can ages (faster than you would think) it becomes increasingly dodgy to work with. It may NEVER dry if it becomes unbalanced or is used outside of tight environmental controlls. I will never use it again.

Airbrush Primers:

Vallejo: surface tooth is somewhere between the tamiya and the GW. Airbrushing allows for beautiful controll and super thin coats. It is, however not as strong of an adhesion layer and chips more easily. Perfect for display pieces or models that will be clearcoated as well. One of the really cool things is that vallejo has created a range of colours for this primer so that it can in many cases double as a basecoat too. Really learning to love this stuff

Alclad/Floquil Black Base:

Dont. Really just Dont. An incredibly HOT LAQUER base that will melt some of your models, may or may not dry (EVER) if humidity etc is even slightly out of tolerances or if it hasnt been mixed thoroughly enough. Scary to use. Only for special combinations of paints (like Alclad II - and even then there are better alternatives)

Apparently Floquil makes other airbrushable products that are far kinder to work with but I am too scared to use them.

Mr Surfacer:
These guys make both primers and fillers in various measures of tooth/grit so make sure you get the right one ;) Airbrushes like a dream. Smooth finishes. The downside is that it isnt easy to get where I live so I dont usually use it.

Brush on:

Vallejo - makes some nice brush on primers including the thick opaque "foundation white" which is the bombdiggity for touching up paint chips that go back down to the metal/plastic . Good stuff overall, but I would just as likely reach for one of their airbrush primers and brush it on for other applications.

I dont actually use any other brush on primer to be honest but I have friends that like products from Windsor&Newton and Golden.

I hope that y'all find that somewhat useful! More models next week

James

Back to Bis! B1 Bis Historical Build part 4: Tank Weathering Started

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:39:00 +0000

Hey all, sorry for the couple of weeks hiatus. Semester turn around had kicked my butt as normal but having a new little baby and an active nearly 4 year old made it extra challenging this go around. I should have known and perhaps one of these days I'll learn to get a bit further ahead but such is life :) On an added note many of the techniques in this article will be a part of my class on Rust and Weathering at Gen Con - details to come soon! And for the SF/non-historical modellers out there - fear not! - these techniques will look every bit as awesome on your Leman Russ, Warjack or Steamtank as they do on this B1 Bis.....

Back on topic, having completed the very complex camo scheme I outlined it all as per the reference material. Once dry I applied the transfer set that I ordered from Editions du Barbotin in France. These were of excellent quality, very resiliant, crisply coloured and transferred with virtually no difficulty using only a little micro sol and micro set. It really is crucial to add transfers before weathering so that they recieve the same treament as the rest of the vehicle and create a harmonious finish.

Just for reference, I HIGHLY reccomend transfers from this company to anyone in search of such things and I will also be selling off my remaining sets of marking from this sheet if any of my readers are interested in making B1 Bis of their own! Just contact me directly tkkultist@gmail.com if you are interested.

I then moved on to weathering the model.

I worked through several different techniques and stages with this. First I used extremely diluted oil piants to do a pinwash over the whole model. This is a time consuming but very worthwhile endeavour. It involves flowing extremely thin paint around all the raised rivets and details and into all sunken panel lines using a very fine brush (I used a synthetic bristle 00 by Imex and it worked great). This gives everything a weightier look and re-establishes a bit of the contrast that airbrushing can too easily remove from the model. Clean up of any over tinted or sloopy areas was done a little while later with clean mineral spirits.

Following this I went through again with a brown streaking wash for vehicles by AK Interactive and individually tinted additional panels and began the work of creating layered streaks of grime and such along the sides in particular. This stuff is an enamel product and is really interesting to work with. I am really thrilled with how their line of products has been changing the way I work and even the way I conceptualise working. (More on all this stuff over the coming weeks). The basic technique for using it is to paint vertical lines of random length along the vertical planes, leave it to sit and effectively "bite" into the paint beneath for a few minutes and then use a brush dampened with thinner to drag
away excess. This leaves transparent/translucent streaks along the panel surface. Really great stuff!

Once this had all dried I began using a small piece of sponge (pulled from one of my Sabol Design cases) and began to add additional chips and wear to various areas. I used GW Charadon Granite paint because I
really like the flat dark dirty tone it creates. It really gives great effect. I tried to give some thought as to the areas that would recieve the most wear and am particularily pleased with the way this worked out on the top panel near the turret where the crew would come and go but also where I planned to put the "chandail" jacks whose bouncing around would certainly distress things. I also made sure to place some chips across the transfers as well to aid in the distressing effect and to create that crucial harmony.

Following the sponging I went through with a very fine brush and added additional chips or combined the sponged ones to make aesthetically pleasing larger chips. I then highlighted several of the chipped areas with a lighter tone of the colour of the camo colour that they were painted over. This made them look more 3-d and natural and also really broke up the flat surfaces of the panels nicely.

Following this I also stippled some timy touches of rust toned paints into some of the chips and then very lightly sponged a bit of these same rust tones to make smaller rust points around many of the larger chips. A treatment of AK interactive Rust streaks used to both create some small streaks and to simply tint or filter areas that rust and chips are more prevalent.

Next up: A description of the dirt and oil streaking along the sponsons/sides, weathering pigments and the tracks!

LITW Joins FTW

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Thats right - Lost In The Warp has joined the From The Warp blogging network. This is a great collection of primarily 40K related sites and blogs. Great stuff - glad to be here. Link posted on the links page as well.

Aside from that, I have confirmed that I will be attending Gencon this summer and am currently working out what it is that I am going to be teaching. If anyone has particular requests for lessons/tutorials do let me know and I will try to work them into my schedule. I am going to try my best to schedule around some of the Privateer Press events as I want to play some Warmahordes while I am there. I am also looking to be involved again in the Aces charity painters challenge and a few othe mini related events. Cant wait!

I have nearly finished my B1 Bis model and will be posting more updates about that over the next few weeks as I prepare to take it to my first ever IPMS competition (HeritageCon 2012) . I am also hopeful to finish a special additional model which I basecoated last night and will begin shading later today..... Definitely updates for that one in the que.

New 18 mp Canon t2i camera will hopefully also result in some nice pictures in the booth. If everything goes well this is going to lead to rephotographing large sections of my collection and a whole new set of galleries including several never before seen pieces....Should be good.

So not much model wise this week but lots of kick@$$itude to come.

Cya in 1 week

James

New Warcaster from an Old Friend.

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:01:00 +0000

It is awesome to have great friend like David Pauwels. Aside from being my teammate and one of my favorite painters/competitors in the Golden Demons year after year, David is a real stand up guy. Whats more, he and his lovely wife have been good enough to let me stay with them from time to time in the Windy City. Dave is simply one of my favorite people.

No, this is not the best picture of him I could have chosen - but this one makes me laugh.

From the first time Joe Orteza introduced me to him and I saw his award winning daemonettes I could see that we had similar painting sensibities and I have enjoyed watching his work develop. I have also long coveted owning a piece of his work (heck even Chris Borer has one of David's models! - funny story that-)

Well, the time to covet is past and the time to revel in the having is here.

Dave decided that it was time to clear out a few of his extras and next thing I knew a parcel full of even smaller boxes arrived at my door.....

May I present my third caster for Warmachine - Ashlynn D'Elyse - and her compatriots the Mule, Talon, Vanguard and Eiryss as painted by David Pauwels:

Much like my own warmachine models, these pieces are not painted to so called "Golden demon" standards but are still really beautiful and far above table top quality. Any of these would make a great centerpiece in most people's army.

What I REALLY love is that these just happen to share almost the same colour palette as my existing merc forces. As such, they really fit right in with my existing units and will look great no matter what I pair them up with. SWEET.

I am also thrilled that Dave's pieces included the No Quarter limited edition Eiryss model. It is my favorite sculpt of her and really frees me up to use her as either standard or epic version without a problem.

To see more of David's miniatures work please check out his AMAZING historical miniature company GORGON STUDIOS. He also runs a toally kick @$$ - Edgy SciFi Rock and Roll dystopian online comic called Free Mars which you can find HERE (not for kids!). Fun fact: Dan Abnett is a fan and wrote the foreward to the first Free Mars printed collection!.

More on Ashylnn (tournament battle report/lists/etc) Dave's CELEBRITY DREADFLEET and Free Mars to come soon!

Till Next Week!
James AKA TKKultist

FOW Table and a new post format.

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:44:00 +0000

Here is a quick update in a slightly different format. I have embedded a slideshow of a great Flames Of War table made by Dan and some of the other guys at my local store (J&B Books in Trenton, Ontario).

LMK if you like this format or if you have any issues with the slideshow.

Happy Holidays From LITW

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:55:00 +0000

May your stockings be full of coal!

(To power your warjacks all year long of course!)

Happy Holidays From Lost In The Warp

Just chillin with Vader....

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:17:00 +0000

May I present my latest creation....

This is Piper Evangeline Craig hanging with her buddy Darth Vader (courtesy of her brother Jack).
Pretty proud of this little lady!

Cya Next Week
Tkkultist

PS No, there will be no tutorial on the creation of this one ;)

Building my Iron Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:44:00 +0000

So as I have been reporting, this year has become very Warmachine-centric for me. Having discovered this game has really revitalized my love of playing and has had me painting for fun again as opposed to just for competition. Three tournaments (with 2 Best Overall and one Best General award) and a handful of games later, and I am well and thoroughly hooked. So what is next?

Terrain.

I have a great gaming room with an 8 foot table. For a while now I have had it set up with a pair of 4ft boards - one my old mordheim set with a few AT-43 cargo containers and some of my 40k scenery, the other a really neat vaccuformed table that was made by GW for its stores.

But now think it is time to add something new, something that will help set the Steampunk/Mixed tech industrial feel of the Iron Kingdoms. I spent a bit of time digging through the Privateer Press forums and the ABSOLUTELY AWESOME Terrain Thralls website, and started looking for materials/bits in my workroom. It was when I was in the toy aisle with my son, however, that it really hit me.

Tech Deck skateboarding toy sets were on a deeply discounted sale and the shapes and scale were ideal! I immediately wanted to work with the one ramp section and had some ideas for making bridges etc with the others.

So here we go! I started by playing around with a few random assemblies of the sections to make interesting profiles and shapes. Following that I had an absolute blast digging through bits and establishing in my mind what each building would function as. Here is the first one I assembled:

This building will be a 'Jack repair garage. I scaled the corrugated door to be big enough even for Heavy 'Jacks and envision it as having a catwalk inside at the man door level so that mechanics could work above

and below. I can almost picture Thor or McBain renting out this space to bodge their equipment back together.....

I started with the large drop in ramp from one set and a smaller notched wedge from another. I added a doorway from a warhammer 40k building, some piping made of sprue, some roof vents and a chain hoist assembly made from 1/35 tank parts.

This shape just screamed industrial/factory to me. I think I built this one first because I was most excited to see it and had the most clear vision of what I wanted it to be in the end.

I added a row of windows high on the facade. I liked these ones because of the ornate detailed grating on them - it really helps to tie this back to the steampunk concept instead of being simply a SF/40k building.

The large rectangle of clear plastic will be a buisness sign - helping to give this a real frontier/outpost look to this large flat building front that I think is well in keeping with the Iron Kingdoms. I gave it a light sanding to add a little texture that will help it stand apart from the smooth wall. I also added a corrugated sliding barn style door with an appropriately over complex mechanical opening mechanism and a second little sign with a light over it next to the door. The chain hoist and ramp both facilitate getting heavy parts/crates/tools etc up to the second level.

Time to get this one into primer and do a smidge more on my next building before the day is out.
Cya next week
James AKA Tkkultist

DUSTing away the cobwebs on this site.....

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:04:00 +0000

So... yeah I know I have been absentee in most of November but with good reason - I have a new baby girl coming in a few days. That being said - I will not be ignoring y'all over the next while as I have actually partially written a pile of new articles, reviews, tutorials, bat reps etc. and even finished (or part finished) new models and minis to share! So good stuff en route.

First amongst these is a new shipment of stuff from the fine folks at Meeplemart (AN AMAZING ONLINE + REAL STORE DISCOUNT RETAILER) located in Toronto Canada. This place is a pleasure to deal with and offers flat rate $10 shipping in Canada. Sweet!

Here is what I got:

So.... Much....Awesomeness!!!

For any who arent aware of it yet - this game is DUST: Tactics and is an alternate WW2 setting miniatures boardgame produced by Fantasy Flight based on design work by the incredible Paolo Parente. The even better part of all of this is that the original 40K overfiend himself ANDY CHAMBERS has written the ruleset to expand the game beyond its beer and pretzel board bound experience (which is great and has been so wonderfully developed with expansions etc. but is still at its heart a boardgame) into a full fledged unbound miniatures system called DUST: Warfare which should be released in the next couple of months!

Alien tech, robot walkers, 1/48 scale compatable, Nazi Zombies, Cyborg Apes - what isnt to love!!!!
I have actually been preparing a few things for this since the first conformation that it was being developed and I will have more on that to come soon ;)

Cya next week with some Warmachine updates!!!

BLOODBOWL! (A.K.A. 'ere we go again...)

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:51:00 +0000

So a couple of the local lads put together another great Bloodbowl day down at our local haunt J&B Books.
It was 1.25 lists and full 6th edition rules (Icepelt Hammerblow is my hero!). Anyhoo I brought out my Slaan with a slightly different list than usual - no big guy for starters! - and decided to have some fun.
Oh man did I ever! I pulled dwarves as my opponent. These stunties had a veteran and very skilled coach in the form of my friend (who was inccidentally the organizer of the day as well).

Cage Break FAIL

It was a losing battle for me from the beginning - that being said I kept the pressure on him even as my own players bodies began to overflow my KO box.

Party in my dugout!

There were several close moments a few bad dice rolls that could have handed be legit touchdowns and a couple of good ones that sent even the stoutest dwarves to the apothecary for help. It was a whole lotta fun!

I may have lost but I count this as a moral victory!!

I really do love Bloodbowl, though I dont get to play it as often as I used to. In working to address this, in at least a little way, I recently downloaded Bloodbowl Legendary Edition from Steam. They had a great weekend sale which priced it at 80% off! SWEET.

Discussions of AI efficiency and skill % balances aside, what I like about this game is that it IS Bloodbowl. It isnt a football video game reskinned to look like bloodbowl it really IS Bloodbowl. The machanics, the moving by square, the turnovers, the skill progression - all of it IS Bloodbowl. Now I can throw down against the computer or with friends online whenever I please - no set up no travel no worries. I still dont play it all that often but when I get the itch or if I am just not ready to go to bed I know that I can get in a quick game. My only wish is that my beloved Slaan were in the game - truth is though I do even appreciate that I am being forced to try out some other teams. In fact I have been inspired to build another team of bloodbowl models (perhaps for the 2012 Lakeside cup?) We shall see......

Happy Hallowe'en from LITW

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Wishing You A Tasty Treat This Hallowe'en!

From James at LostInTheWarp.com

Rhulic Rampage 13 - Ogrun Assault!

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:53:00 +0000

So a while ago, in my last RR post, I was discussing the idea of reusing some ogres that I owned to use as my Ogrun Assault Corps. I have had mixed feelings about the models from PP and have had mixed feelings about how this pricy (both in points and $) and relatively new unit would work in my force.

SO with all that in mind I decided that the best course of action is to use what I already have, rebase them on bases from Dragonforge and try them out for a while. If I really like them I can always invest
in a proper set later for official sanctioned events (like GenCon) which probably wouldnt allow my converted Warhammer pieces (locally that is not an issue).

Here is what I came up with - Note that these are still a long way from being done, I have just slapped a bit of paint on them to make them vaguely fit in with my battlegroup. Now It was time to use them a bit before
investing any more time and effort into them.

Well, I have since been using them with Durgen Madhammer and must say I LOVE THE OGRUN ASSAULT CORPS! I run them as a line/bodyguard unit for Madhammer who uses these beefy 8 wound meatshields to their fullest by shooting over them with his arcing fire and upping their damage output with his feat.

Using inhospitible ground to keep enemies at bay long enough for the Ogrun et al. to blow the bejeezus out of targets and then rush in to CMA and wipe up leftovers or bash a hole through enemy defences to make a kill run for the opponents caster.

They have been well worth it in virtually every game and I like them so much that I am indeed going to order a real box of them and am actually considering trying a list that runs 2 units!!!

So just a brief post this week with some cool stuff upcoming. More inf about my rather successful run with Warmachine, sharing my Rhulic Lists, some event coverage etc. CYA SOON!

Golden Demon Entries 2011 - Thunderbolt part 3/3

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:18:00 +0000

My next step was to add some chipping and scorching to the plane. I used AlcladII Jet Exhaust to spray some scorching and stains across the panels of the plane. I went a little overboard with this in terms of a natural/realistic finish and instead aimed for something that looked cool and satisfied my artistic sensibilities.

Following this I sponged some paintchips on using charadon granite and then refined the chips with my brush. I think it looked great! I added a few other tones of paint to the chips (including some metallic tones) and also used the Alclad paint to add a few chips to the black invasion stripes.

With the exterior virtually finished, it was time to finish the cockpit/interior. I had decided early on not to use the pilot model provided for a couple reasons. One his proportions looked distorted - very small feet/short legs in contrast to the helmet) and secondly because I was painting this plane with the
landing gear down I wanted it to be parked/at rest. So the pilot seemed uneccessary/improbable. In retrospect I probably should have painted up one of the extra Forgeworld limited Thunderbolt pilots that I have in a box in my games room (DUH!) - I think I will add it later.

As I had noted before, I spent a good deal of time adding additional technological details to the interior to make it look more like a real cockpit. I also crafed seatbelts out of brass fret from around the edge of one of the Forgeworld brass eagle sets. Handy stuff that!. I created deeper contrasts in the interior as they would still have to show through the clear "glass" of the canopy. I also painted some kill marks next to the canopy and added the pilot name label. I ended up using the name of one of my favorite gaming buddies Nic Drake. I think he though that was cool. (sorry Erik there was no room to put Hildebrandt instead! ;P )

In the 1st Cut Cabinet at Games Day Chicago 2011

Finally I had to glue in the canopy "glass" - This once again highlighted the lack of forethought in this kit. FW provides a little piece of clear plastic for you to cut into the window shapes but neglects to include any form of template!!!!! It would have been SO EASY to put the outline for the window shapes on one of the pages of the instructions (not like there is much other content on those sheets to get in the way....) but with a little fiddling and a replacement sheet of clear window plastic I managed to get a good fit. I used white glue to tack them in place with a couple small touches of loctite superglue. It didnt frost up at all and the windows ended up looking good.

I built the tarmac panels on an angle to create a more interesting visual movement. They are 2mm plasticard glued to a 1mm plastic sheetset into a picture frame. I coated them in Tamiya textured paint (not worth it btw - I will review this product later) and scribed in my cracks and shallow breaks. I added a area of grass and rubble at the back for interest and used some Tamiya smoke to create oil spills and stains of various ages.

I need to take a pictures of the finished base because it turned out quite nice! I was thoroughly pleased in the end. This piece was well worth taking to Games Day, was completed to a competitive level and - despite the hellishly bad fit of the kit - was indeed a lot of fun to paint!

Here is the finished piece as photographed by the incomparable John Schaeffer (Thanks so much John!) at the Golden Demon competition in Chicago. You can click on it to see it even larger.

All in all this piece turned out pretty much exactly as I envisioned it. The techniques all went as predicted and the finishes are really great (nicer in person especially due to the contrast of relectivity and matte surfaces IMHO). I have a piece that I am proud of, that was fun to paint and really reinvigourated my working attitude! It made cut as expected and got a runner up pin in a great category. Totally satisfied.
Cyall in a week!

Golden Demon Entries 2011 - Thunderbolt part 2

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:16:00 +0000

Now that the model was mostly assembled, it was time to paint! I decided to take my inspiration from a WW2 allied "Thunderbolt" aircraft. These planes were a shiny natural metal (alluminim?) with matte green anti glare strips painted along the top and black "invasion stripes" painted most often along the undersides of the wings.

I started by painting the while model with a base of Floquil gloss black base. In retrospect I would probably have used another gloss product (Probably Tamiya) as the Floquil is a really "hot" lacquer and prone to all kinds of problems. Lucky for me the paint behaved beautifully and after leaving it to cure for 4 or 5 days just to be sure I moved on to the main colour coats.

Part of the fun for me in doing this kit was that I would have the opporunity to play some more with the AlcladII metallic paints I own. These are beautiful true metallic finishes that must be applied by airbrush and look their absolute best over a perfectly slick gloss base. The thunderbolt really wasnt the best kit to use these on because it doesnt have a particularily smooth surface and I wasnt prepared to sand out and polish the entire kit but I still figured it would look pretty good and would really stand out in the display cabinets at the event. (oooh shiny......)

Yep I was right! I applied the polished alluminum paint over the gloss base and while I didnt achieve a true mirror finish the painted Thunderbolt really does shine! I added some further visual interest and realism by overspraying a few other Alclad II metallics (Aluminum, Magnesium and Chrome IIRC- I
will have to look it up) to alter the colours of some individual panels. This was starting to look really cool so I left it to dry for a few days.

Next up was the anti glare strip. I pulled out my handy Tamiya masking tape and started sticking strips of it to a clean tabletop in order to remove some of the adhesive from the back (Alclad can be a very delicate finish so I wasnt taking chances). Once everything was masked using the tape and post it notes I set up my airbrush with Tamiya Green cut with Lacquer thinner and said a little prayer. Hot diggidy dang a few minutes later I was adding a touch of yellow green for my follow up/highlighting coat and everything came out beautifully!!!!At this point I also began to paint the warm toned (brassy?) metal sections as well. I did this by glazing Gryphonne Sepia wash over the Alclad metallics in a LOT of repeated applications. The Imperial eagles brass plated, Brass numbers and jet engines recieved multiple coats throughout the remainder of the painting process.
Because I wanted to give this an atmosphere of heavy use in 40k style SF batlezones I decided to notch up the wear a bit with streaks and such across the metallic surface. For this I used AlcladII "Jet Exhaust" and sprayed it across the wings and body panels and, of course, on and around the jet engines. This is definitely all art and no science. I just did what I think looks cool and left it at that.

Because they looked cool, I decided to carry the stripes from the undersides all the way across the tops of the wings as well. This worked out really well for breaking up the big flat wing panels of this kit. I painted these with Tamiya Nato black cut with Laquer thinner because I love the flatness of the finish and the slightly greenish tone of this off black colour. I also started laying some washes onto the engine and hoses (I left the hood removable). Now it was time to let this all dry up good and solid. I went about assembling and painting the landing gear and the cockpit. But more on those and on detailing this kit next time!

Golden Demon Entrys 2011 - Thunderbolt Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (TKKultist) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:42:00 +0000

Such a cool looking aircraft, Such a pain in my keister.....

So being a guest of GW at a major event where I would be giving lessons and advice to other painters has never really been very intimidating to me but I would feel absolutely rediculous doing this if I showed up empty handed without entries for the Golden Demons! I have a line up of started GD entries and ideas, one of which would have been pretty straight forward for me (in fact I had built it months before with the intent of entering it).... but then WFB8th kicked my local gaming community in the metaphorical nutz while Warmachine exploded and my whole gaming world turned upside down. I lost steam and a bit of interest in the projects I had started. So in order to restart the engines of my GW machine I actually decided to do multiple pieces to a high display level even though they might end up being less competitive than my one already prepared entry. Why? I had a couple of pieces which have just been collecting dust on my shelves for a few years now that I bought simply as fun pieces - and FUN was exactly what I was after. So out came my Imperial Thunderbolt fighter plane and my Apostate Preacher of Nurgle

Well the fun just about ended when I unboxed my thunderbolt and started to dry fit it together. UGH.
Pulling no punches and adding no hyperbole here - this was the ABSOLUTE WORST KIT I HAVE
EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF TRYING TO ASSEMBLE! The gaps in the body alignment were more than 2 full mm....

The resin casting plugs were huge even by comparison to the majority of FW kits I have seen/own (and that is quite a wide comparison). I had to add several plastic shims throughout the assembly of the body and then sand or detail them to dissappear into the body contsruction.
The wing flaps werent even close to matching up against the hinge brackets that they were supposed to fit in - so I had to remove one piece from each flap and rebuild it from plasticard.

WAY out of alignment.....

The worst part was with the wing supports which I had to remove with a saw - otherwise my wings would have taken on the profile of the letter "V" - This was rediculous! My friends, who were watching my build over the course of a couple of weeks, were dumbfounded. None of us could believe how incredibly bad this kit went together. But at this point I was invested and determined to succeed - so I soldiered on.

Eventually I succeeded in building this really terrible kit of a really cool model and even added a pile of extra details to the cockpit interior, a few extra hoses etc around the landing gear and some nice brass etch bits to the exterior. Now it was time for the fun part - Into the paint booth.
Cya next week for more.....