Infantry time - SM scout

Mornin'

Had some metal scouts hanging around so I thought I'd see what they look like painted up in the Eagle Warriors scheme. So here we go:

Managed to get the eyes fairly straight, but a little large so he's got that look of being engaged in a stare-out contest. I guess that it's good for a sniper to have keen vision though eh? Here's a bit of detail from the back:

...and a stab at freehanding the chapter icon:

Got a couple more of these guys to do, but I think I'll focus on the main batch of Black Reach marines and get them out of the way first. The Realm of Battle gameboard is also on the cards, all base-coated and ready to go. More on that later...

Anyway, that's all for now - have a good one folks - hope the dice are kind to you this week!

Whirlwind!

More progress on the Eagle Warriors. Here's a whirlwind. First thing I've done with involving extensive use of the airbrush. Masking is a bit of a fiddle, but wow is it ever faster than painting with a normal brush. The blue in this case was done with Vallejo's model air series paints rather than GW paints (a bit easier to use in the airbrush without blocking the needle up), I think it's a reasonable match with the work I've already done. Tried a coat of citadel spray-on satin-finish varnish on this one - big mistake as I got a "frosting" effect on the blue and had to go over it again with the airbrush to clean it up. Don't ask me why I chose such a large model to try it out on... maybe it's because I'm very very stupid. Anyway, at the moment the finish is really mega-clean with no "battle damage" - this and a bit of mud for the tracks will be added when I pluck up the courage... All suggestions welcome for the best approach to weathering / scratching up this beast.

Also - infantry are now properly underway - here's a Black Reach marine work-in-progress showing the Eagle Warriors shoulder pad (bone saw to cut away the old pad, then new pad fixed in place / edges neatened with green stuff)

Third army underway... Eldar time

Trying to paint your way through an army without losing momentum is quite hard, so how do you make it easier? - well, by starting another army to add to your "to do" list of course! And then when you've got figures in various stages of completion all over your house, what's the best thing to do? - well start ANOTHER army of course! - Yay!

Ahem... well I suppose variety is the spice of life so this way I can flit between different figures as much as my goldfish-like attention span requires. I've started an Eldar force, to add to the Eagle Warriors marines (Whirlwind underway for these guys by the way, pics to follow), and the good old Orks (Black Reach Orks nearly done, got to do those crazy helicopters next).

As best-wife-in-the-world bought Maugan Ra for me, I guess the Altansar craftworld would be appropriate fluff-wise, plus I like the whole gothic / skeletal / angel-of-death type imagery that you could tap into for them. So here we go, Altansar Eldar #1 - I've started with a guardian to try out a purple / red / black colourscheme:

... and here is the (old style) weapons platform and gunners:

I think the purple and red works OK for this squad, but maybe for vehicles and further squads of guardians I might go more purple and black and less red for a more brooding look. By the way, the weapons platform is magnetised, so that the various weapons can be swapped in as required, only got this one painted so far though.

Landspeeder storm!

Phew, what a complicated little model! - Way more work than a tank, but enjoyable. I found out to my cost that painting every little bit before you assemble is a good idea, particularly on something with so many fiddly little nooks and crannies. This model isn't some clever addition to my Eagle Warriors' arsenal with a purpose - I just bought it because I think it looks SO COOL.

Anyway, this weekend I also managed to have a go with the posh DSLR camera that I have borrowed, so here's a first attempt at some better (ish) photography... Basically this the camera used straight out of the box without any special settings applied or any post-processing, but certainly better than the little low-res point-and-shoot:

...and here's another shot trying to focus on the front and blurring out the back which I think worked out quite well:

One thing I noticed from doing the shot above is that if you have the camera really close to the subject you get this slective focus effect, but if you pull back and take the shot from a distance then you get a more open "everything in focus" look. I'm a complete novice at photography so any pointers you might have would be very helpful - please leave a comment if you've got any tips for me - ta.

Here's a couple more pics:

...and finally, our old friend the black reach dreadnought again, some slightly better pics than the previous ones:

Next time I'll have a crack at some infantry.

Purchases propagate productivity... perhaps

...no not in terms of minis bought and painted, but I've been busy all the same.

1. Built a nice glass display cabinet from Ikea, which is now sat there looking empty - adding to the motivational guilt. Yay (?)

2. Borrowed a nice shiny Canon Eos 450D to try to make a better job of my terrible, terrible photography. All suggestions / tips welcome! (best place to start with settings on a DSLR like this would be most helpful).

3. The Eagle Warriors shoulder pads are working out well - pics to follow.

and finally...

4. The best peace-and-quiet-producing tool ever... ladies and gentlemen, I give you: the Rawhide Spiral! - this keeps the doggy busy for HOURS so that I can get some stuff done. I'll leave you with a picture of our boys and a promise of some pics of minis once I get my head around this new camera... happy painting / gaming wherever you are.