Painting Commission: Project 1

Here is the start of a new project. Group of 26 scouts which need finishing and new bases. Stay tuned for WIP pictures!

... Mitch

Painting in Progress: Scout Snipers

These scouts are what I am currently working on this week. There a mix of plastic space marine scouts, and metal Cadian scouts. The sqaud numbers 10 sniper-rifle armed soldiers with a SGT Tellion as memeber #11. This gives the option of adding him if needed. I chose not to have a heavy weapon in the squad to keep points down since they will be holding a home objective.

I used Tamiya olive drab on there cloaks. No secondary color has been chosen yet but I am leaning towards a "black splatter" on the olive and add some further "soot" weathering on the rifles. I will also be adding a dusting of "sand" to the models to give them an "infield" look.

Please excuse the lack of pictures, I really took more but some some reason my digital camera decides not to save three quarters of my images!

... Mitch

Space Marine Veterans: Sternguard

Here are a few pictures of my Sternguard. I avoided the use of GW washes for this batch of minis and used layering, highlighting and shading. The bases are custom made with greenstuff. I made lava style bases for these marines to make them standout. This project took about 20 hours to complete.

Here you see the squad complete. One day I will figure out the settings on my camera :)

The armor is basecoated Dark Angels green with Snot Green highlighting. Robes are Adaptus Battle Grey with a custom mix of grey+bone for the highlight. The shadows were greated using a mix of grey+red.

Te marines are metal dark angels. The sargent is a converted chaplain Asmodai ((converted by Alex Nemes))

The back robe shadows are a mix of grey+blue. I really hope they kick some ass in the upcomming Winter Skirmish! See everyone there!

... Mitch

Decals: How'd they do that!

Here I will give a small tutorial on how to apply water slide decals.

Water slide decals (or slip decals) are water-mounted decals generally printed face up and rely on the dextrose corn sugar residue from the decal paper to bond the decal transfer to a surface. A water-based adhesive layer can be added to the decal to create a stronger bond or may be placed between layers of lacquer create a durable decal transfer. I will be showing the second way to apply them using 'ard cote and some testors chemicals.


Here is the tools of the trade. I use Testors products to apply my decals due to the cost, its cheap! Below is 'ard cote, Gloss lacquer, Dull Cote lacquer, paint thinner, decal Set and a weathering kit. Also, the brush you use for this, will be ruined for ever being used for acrylic based paints.

First step is to apply a layer of 'ard cote to the surface you will be placing the decal. This does three important things.
1) It seals the paint from damage the lacquer can do
2) It creates a smooth surface for which the decal can set without creating air bubbles
3) It makes the edge of the decal invisible when done, which is essential in this process.

The second step is to cut the decal from its sheet and dip into clean water. When this is done the paper will turn a darker blue which tells you it has absorbed enough water. Place the decal on a piece of paper towel. Dip a brush into the decal set, apply it to the damp decal and the surface you will apply the decal too. Slide the decal into place using tweezers and blot the decal with a brush to smooth en it out. The decal set solution dries in about 5 Min's

When the decal dries, apply a cote of 'ard cote. This will seal in the decal and prevent the decal from ever being damaged. But now the shoulder is very glossy! not good at all.

When the 'ard cote hardens, apply a layer of dull cote to the area that is shiny. The dull cote will tone down the finish. If possible, do not make multiple passes. The dull cote can damage areas that have been already painted that are not protected by 'ard cote. After this step, I add a touch of weathering to the decal to make it appear painted or natural. Your done!

... Mitch

Painting in Progress: Fast Attack

Below you will find pictures of my recent painting project over the last week.

Here is four freshly painted Land Speeders. Two of them are armed in a Typhoon pattern and the other two are armed in a Tornado pattern.

On the to bikers! Here we feature six space marine bikers which contain some parts from a ravenwing set. The Sargent is armed with a powerfist and meltabombs, the meltabomb is located the chainsword toting biker. Two bikers are armed with meltaguns and the squad has an attackbike with a multi-melta. In summary, this squad backs one hell of an anti-tank punch!

Meltagunner and Biker

Sargent and Biker

Meltagunner and Biker

Attack Bike

Hi Ho Silver!

Here is a shot of my complete vehicle parking garage.

...Mitch

My Workstation at Home

Here is my humble workstation where I create my armies!

I've also been working on my salamanders fast attack section, expect pictures of my bikers and speeders tommorow!

Death Guard

Well, it looks like I just came into a pile of 20 metal deathguard, about 20 chaos marines, and a chaos dreadnought! Looks like a soak in purple power is in order! Stay turned for progress updates and pictures on my 4 speeders I am currently working on.

... Mitch

** Update**

Here they are!

Weathering: Gritty Style

Today I will discuss weathering and how I used it to make my vehicles look battlefield worn.

I normally use a host of tamiya products and pictured below is the line I used to make this look.

First item of discussion, tamiya plastic cement. This is liquid wonder for constructing anything made from polystyrene. It is very thin and holds very strong. The small brush included with the bottle really helps getting cement in those tight spaces. The cost: $5

The next items are the weathering masters. I use series 1 and series 2 almost exclusively. As shown, the first one comes in sand, light sand and mud and the second one comes in snow, soot and rust. There basically made from ground pigment. They can be applied using the feather brush to make a dusty look, the foam applicator to make smears or a damp paintbrush to make stains. The cost: $11

The last product I will discuss, which really makes this project, well, not shine is the weathering sticks. These babies set my back about $6 each stick, but are well worth the investment. From what I can tell, there made of basically ground pigment the is moist. It has a texture like damp clay. There is basically two ways to apply it, smearing and dabbing. Smearing makes it look like mud that hasn't stuck to the vehicle, and makes a smooth finish. When dabbing, it makes nice chunks of pigment that really looks like built up mud around the tracks. Be warned tho, dabbing uses the stick at an alarming rate.

Now to the results!

... Mitch

Salamanders VS Ulthwé

The battle for dominance commences...

Todays battle report will feature my Salamanders VS Fox's Ulthwé Strike Force at a point level of 1750. This took place on Sunday February 8th, 2009. The mission rolled was Seize Ground with pitched battle deployment. I rolled first turn.


Deployment - I deployed in a standard line, while the eldar stayed in reserve.

First Turn - I moved my forces forward

Second Turn - I positioned my forces in a position to ready for the Eldar. During Fox's turn, a fireprism and waveserpant came onto the table and used star engines to get into my deployment zone.

Third Turn - I proceded to annilate the fireprism and waveserpant, only survivoirs was a single starcannon crew from the passengers. All the remaining Eldar came onto the table minus a single fireprism. The waveserpant deployed Eldrad and firedragons which roasted a predator tank. Also, the starcannon gunner caused an explosion on my second predator causing the gunner to die with it. Vengence :D Also, I lost a razorback carring the sternguard

Forth Turn - My marines opened up, and all kill a few firedragons, my bikes shot and destroyed a vyper, while another vyper rammed a speeder. My sternguard charged the darkreapers, but they passed the LD check

Fifth Turn - Bikes charge into the Eldar bikes and destroy them, Eldric storm wrecks one of my rhinos, a few marines here and there die, nothing critical. The remaining waveserpant and fireprism use there star engines to get into my deployment zone. Eldar are now on the ropes, but might be up to something!

Sixth Turn - Bikes charge Eldrad and kill him. SHooting into the remaining skimmers does not cause critical damage. The Eldar are down 75% of there force and apeer to be out of the game, and then it happens... A waveserpant attempts to tankshock my marines on my home objective, but it fails its dangerous terrain test in a ball of fire. The fireprism has a go, and my brave multi-melta marine standsfast, takes the shot... but only a shaken is caused and the squads moves off the objective. A die was rolled to see if the game continued, and a 3 came up, game over, a tie!

1750 Pts - Eldar Roster - UlthweTroops: Guardian Jetbike Squadron (6#, 142 Pts) 6 Guardian Jetbike Squadron @ 142 Pts Unit Type: Jetbike Infantry; Turbo-boosters; Eldar Jetbike (EJB); Shuriken Cannon (SCan) (x1); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat) (x5)
Fast Attack: Vyper Squadron (2#, 140 Pts) 1 Vyper Squadron @ 140 Pts 1 Vyper @ [70] Pts Starcannon (StrCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat) 1 Vyper @ [70] Pts Starcannon (StrCan); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat)
Troops: Guardian Squad (12#, 308 Pts) 0 Guardian Squad @ 308 Pts Fleet 10 G Defender Squad @ [105] Pts Shuriken Catapult (SCat) (x10) 1 Weapon Platform @ [25] Pts Starcannon (StrCan) 1 Warlock @ [28] Pts Psyker; Fleet; Rune Armour (RAmr); Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Singing Spear (SSpr) 1 Wave Serpent @ [175] Pts Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); Vectored Engines (VE); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Missile Launchers (TL-ML)
HQ: Eldrad Ulthran (1#, 210 Pts) 1 Eldrad Ulthran @ 210 Pts Psyker; Doom ; Eldritch Storm ; Fortune ; Guide ; Mind War ; Divination; Fleet; Independent Character; Ghost Helm (GH); Rune Armour (RAmr); Runes of Warding (RofWard); Runes of Witnessing (RofWit); Spirit Stones (P:SpStn); Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Witchblade (WB); Staff of Ulthamar (SofU)
Elite: Fire Dragons (11#, 347 Pts) 9 Fire Dragons @ 347 Pts Fleet; Fusion Gun (Fg); Melta Bombs 1 Fire Dragon Exarch @ [28] Pts Fleet; Fusion Gun (Fg); Melta Bombs 1 Wave Serpent @ [175] Pts Energy Field (Wave Serpent); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); Vectored Engines (VE); Shuriken Cannon (SCan); TL Missile Launchers (TL-ML)
HQ: Farseer (1#, 78 Pts) 1 Farseer @ 78 Pts Psyker; Guide ; Fleet; Ghost Helm (GH); Rune Armour (RAmr); Shuriken Pistol (Sp); Singing Spear (SSpr)
Heavy Support: Dark Reapers (5#, 175 Pts) 5 Dark Reapers @ 175 Pts Reaper Launcher (RL)
Heavy Support: Fire Prism (1#, 175 Pts) 1 Fire Prism @ 175 Pts Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); Prism Cannon (PC)
Heavy Support: Fire Prism (1#, 175 Pts) 1 Fire Prism @ 175 Pts Holo-Field (Vehicle) (H-F); Spirit Stone (V:SpStn); Star Engines (SE); TL Shuriken Catapult (TL-Scat); Prism Cannon (PC)
1750 Pts - Space Marines Roster - Salamanders
HQ: Space Marine Librarian (1#, 100 Pts)1 Space Marine Librarian @ 100 Pts ...in Power Armour; Null Zone; The Gate of Infinity 1 ...in Power Armour @ [100] Pts Bolt Pistol; Force Weapon; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Psychic Hood 1 Psychic Hood @ [0] Pts
Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 235 Pts) 9 Tactical Squad @ 235 Pts Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta; Rhino 1 Sergeant @ [48] Pts Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Fist 1 Rhino @ [35] Pts Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter
Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 235 Pts) 9 Tactical Squad @ 235 Pts Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta; Rhino 1 Sergeant @ [48] Pts Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Fist 1 Rhino @ [35] Pts Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter
Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 230 Pts) 9 Tactical Squad @ 230 Pts Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta; Rhino 1 Sergeant @ [43] Pts Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Melta Bombs; Power Weapon 1 Rhino @ [35] Pts Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (IA) (1#, 95 Pts) 1 Predator Destructor (IA) @ 95 Pts Autocannon; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Heavy Bolter
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor (IA) (1#, 95 Pts) 1 Predator Destructor (IA) @ 95 Pts Autocannon; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Heavy Bolter
Fast Attack: Space Marine Bike Squad (7#, 260 Pts) 5 Space Marine Bike Squad @ 260 Pts Bolt Pistol (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun (x2); Attack Bike 1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts Twin Linked Bolter 1 Attack Bike @ [50] Pts Bolt Pistol (x1); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Multi-Melta 1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts Twin Linked Bolter 1 Sergeant @ [65] Pts Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Fist 1 Space Marine Bike @ [0] Pts Twin Linked Bolter
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 140 Pts) 2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 140 Pts Heavy Flamer (x2); Multi-Melta (x2)
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (2#, 180 Pts) 2 Land Speeder Squadron @ 180 Pts Heavy Bolter (x2); Typhoon Missile Launcher (x2)
Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (6#, 180 Pts) 4 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ 180 Pts Bolt Pistol (x4); Bolter (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Razorback 1 Sergeant @ [30] Pts Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Melta Bombs 1 Razorback @ [50] Pts Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Heavy Bolter; Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter

Painting in Progress: Update 1

Painting has been going great on these marines. I've done the red parts of there armor using a base of mech red, baal red wash, scab red for shading and blood red for highlighting. Now, normally I use the path of least resistance to paint and finish an army since I'm lazy! Not this time, says me! My new job I work is security for G4S, which leaves alot of time inbetween anything happening since I work the evening shift. So i paint during my shift.

Below is a few Random marines:

I have a Kodak EasyShare C913.

...Mitch

The Green and the Yellow

The Battle: Salamanders VS Imperial Fists

Today's battle report will feature my salamanders against TwinLinked's Imperial Fist on Wednesday February 4th, 2009.

The mission rolled for was killpoints and Dawn of War, I rolled second turn and deploy.

As you can see from these 2 pictures, the Fists deployed mostly in the center, with elements on the left. In response, I deployed my fast units and transports to the left, while leaving two predator tanks and a tactical squad center to prevent my forces from being outflanked while I flank his forces. The first turn saw very little shooting and the only loose was an Imperial Fist Land Speeder which was destroyed by the salamander attack bike.

Second Turn had the Imperial Fist forces shuffling in there lines and caused a shaken result on one of my Predators. My forces moved along the flank and caused a glancing hit against the yellow tank, preventing its escape!

On the third turn, the imperial fist tanks moved further back into there lines to brace for the pending charge, there shooting wrecked a land speeder. My turn seen my forces encroach on the yellow bastion. There engines roared for the oncoming commitment of force!

Now the shooting phase seen the destruction of a yellow landraider, rhino and dreadnought! Yellow casualties included some sternguard as well. All in all a very productive turn!

Turn four saw my forces prepare for the counter charge my the whole of the Imperial Fists! A review of the battle so far shows a Salamander dominance, but with the yellows poised for a strong counter charge, will the boys in green survive?




As you can see, only the Sargent made it out alive after that massed melee! Time for revenge. My bikes charged the dreadnought, causing it to become a burning wreck! I charged into the fray with my sternguard causing a draw in combat.




Since my bikes broke through the lines, they where able to cause massive havoc behind enemy lines, which included the demise of a full 10man tac squad! Melee seen the destruction of both forces sternguard. The survivors included Lysander and 2 marines, and my side seen a 5 man squad leave combat. Fist scouts destroyed a landspeeder with a powerfist on start of turn 7, which was followed up by there destruction by my bike squad.
Final result:

9 Killpoints Salamanders - 5 Killpoints Imperial Fists

A solid Victory!

... Mitch

My list

HQ: Space Marine Librarian

Troops: Tactical Squad - meltagun/multimelta/powerfist/rhino
Troops: Tactical Squad - meltagun/multimelta/powerfist/rhino

Troops: Tactical Squad - meltagun/multimelta/powersword/rhino
Heavy Support: Predator Destructor - heavy bolter sponsons

Heavy Support: Predator Destructor - heavy bolter sponsons

Fast Attack: Space Marine Bike Squad - 6 bikers, 2 meltaguns/MM attack bike/powerfist

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron - 2x tornado HF/MM

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron - 2x typhoon ML/HB
Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad - 5xmarines, 2 plasmaguns, razorback w/HB

Imperial Fist (as I recall)

HQ: Lysander

Elite: 10 Sternguard, powerfist, some combi- guns

Tac squad: razorback w/LC, lascannon/plasmagun, powersword(i think?)

Tac sqaud: rhino, plamsacannon/unknown, powerfist

Land speeder - heavy bolter

Land Raider

Pred w/ lascannon

Pred w/ autocannon

Scout Squad w/ powerfist