Well it was hobbymas in September...

Yes it was hobbymas in September, but unfortunately it did not include much painting.  Alas it was an interesting month.  So for the first time in 20 years, there are no marines on my hobby shelf.

I know in a painting blog, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I have played marines since day 1 of gaming.  I always liked the idea of being a super human in armor.  I still love them, but with 7th there codex is a B+.  I have hopes that with Tyranid codex will be in the B range and they will be playable.  On a competitive level if you don't have a codex you don't have a chance, and even with a codex, right now if its not chaos, its not top table.  If the nids  I did put a some hours on the belly of the Tervigon. 

I really like the stretched skin over the emerging gaunts.  Last step on the August model is the carapace.  Fingers crossed I can get it done.

So what the hell did i do?  Well I doubled my warmachine collection, literally.  I had some hobby money and toyed with the idea of buying the Grymkin army.  I decided instead, mainly since I was having so much fun painting them I would round I my Cryx army.  Besides, its a limited faction, i will be able to whole army as a lot in a couple years.  I had started piecemeal parts in, then found someone selling off their mark 2 collection.   Aside from assembling and organizing the collection, I painted up Skarre 1. 

Here is just before the final stages, I really liked the face at this point.

In the final version I am not a happy with the face. I have a couple ideas from dr. jones on how to highlight the face.  I will post the final version.  I am much happier with the purple on the coat over the last model.  

Ok Ok, just hold on...

Before you freak out, yes there will be warmachine updates, and yes it will look like I did more work on them then 40k, however, I have to admit that I did a lot of re-work on the Tervigon.  I had been working on the under side pouch.  It was turning out way to yellow, and was hard to discern from the skin.  So I basically started it over.  So the August portion isnt done, and well the clock is ticking on this month.  On to the updates...

Now several layers in, I still have to highlight the purple and smaller sacs.  I am really happy with the way this go round has turned out.  The tone is separate from the skin, and highlighted up to show the new broods forming.  The picture doesn't capture the orange undertone.  It helps blend the cream skin and red carapace.  Another session on the bottom, then I will be ready to highlight up the red.

So one thing I have come to realize is that I get burnt out painting units.  A good example is the GSC group from earlier this year.  The first 5 I was gun hoe for, and started the second unit right away.  By the time I had gotten to the 3rd set, I was ready for a break.  Typically here is where I would take a couple weeks (aka 2 months) off of painting.  I have found that painting the single warmachine solo, keeps things fresh and me interested in painting.  I think its the break from the marine/nid army palettes. When working on those projects you want everyone to look as part of a cohesive group.  With the solos, I can keep the overall tone "dark" but still use color.  I like the fact that I can start the mini on Monday and have it done by the weekend.  Here is the final solo in the withershadow combine.  I struggled with the purple cloak.  It did not highlight up the way the red and blue did.  I will have to play around with the color on other models.  In the end I can live with it, but I want a more "silky" look to them.

As a group the flesh, pulls them together.   I am happy with the group.  Alas its time to hit the nids hard.  Looks like they will be getting a codex this year and be able to play with the big kids again.

/waveshand This is not the update you are looking for

So August wasn't the greatest paint month out there.  With Birthday stuff, foot issues, and general craziness at work I had limited hobby time.  Here is where I will put the disclaimer; those looking for the Nids and Warhammer 40k, this is not for you.  While the Tervigon did get some love, she only got a couple layers in on the lower skin tone, and I didn't get a chance to grab pics today at lunch :-(

 In a general sense, warmachine armies are poorly (if at all painted), compared to what you see in 40k.  I have been to large events like adepticon and local events.  3 slapped on colors, a splatter or 2 on the base and presto "expert " painted warmahordes is the standard.  There are of course the stand out players with greatly painted armies, but in general the quality is low.  I asked around and timing seemed to be the theme.  They didn't think they had time to paint well, so they quickly slapped paint on.  While I agreed it does take practice to get good at painting, especially highlighting,  I wanted to see if with limited time I could turn out well painted models (7-9 scale).   In this case I wanted to take my "8" model painted last time and get a 10.  So here it is, the final touch, now with strings...

...and with that, presto he tops the charts.  Seems simple, but very dramatic, especially in Warmahordes where model conversion is forbidden (at least restricted and frowned upon).  Little details like this really set your army apart.  Most people slap on 3 colors, but you go all the way to do string bows, you are scoring bonus points with judges.  The overall process took about an hour per model.  In actuality I spent about double that on each model, if you count the ink dry time.  My process was to paint to base layers and ink in 1 setting, then come back and highlight everything another night.  To demonstrate, here is the second of the solos at what I call the "base" layer.  This is the stage before inking/washing.

I actually hate this stage, everything looks lack luster and missing depth.  It is however a great example of an "expert" paint job in Warmachine.  No joke, this is level you normally see at events and I have seen it take best painted.  In general I am also avoiding black.  If I had a nickel for every Cryx army I see painted jet black with green eyes and "glowing" green parts I could afford a painting service.  You can paint "dark" and use color... simply amazing.

about 40 minutes and a bunch of highlights later

Really effective process, I used a similar technique on a unit of Banes last year.  There is a final guy in the unit, and he is at the second stage of highlights I think it is safe to say challenge passed.  Fast effective painting that is well more that 3 colors and put you in the running for best painted.

... and still going...

On a painting kick that is.  School for the little guy starting up I didn't have much hobby time this past week.  I did however manage to get 95% done on ... yeah that's right, another Warmachine solo.  These guys have been great to paint.  I can casually knock out a solo/caster a week this way.  I am keeping the army palette consistent so army will still look cohesive overall.  A big draw to painting warmachine is I can really go nuts with inks, and put multiple shade layers in.  The overall look of Tyranids and Marines don't really allow for that, as the bugs are organic and marines paint the metal.

For the non-Warmahordes players out there this guy is part of a 3 man unit.  I plan to keep the metal colors consistent between all 3, the difference will be the ink over the metals and the cloaks.  They will still be a unit, but individually have a different color hue.  I wanted to paint up this guy first, and show him at this stage.  The final piece will be to add the puppet strings.  I think that will push the guy over the top as far as quality goes.  Next time I will have the final shots, /fingerscrossed the strings go on as planned.  After that I better get some paint on the bugs before DR. Jone's sees all these warmachine minis :-)

Damn its a BIG one!

Update that is... So the bi-weekly update is going a little bit better than the weekly version.  This way I have at least sometime to write about each time.  After wrapping up the 10 man gaunt squad a couple of weeks ago I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the warriors or a monster.  I sat at my desk with a bit of painters block.  I really wasn't in the mood to paint more bugs, and the cult are shelved in 8th edition until they get a codex.  Unfortunately they only have genestealer spam which is sub par at best right now.  Plus I really enjoy running the Bugzilla list.  Typically this is when I take a couple days (turns to weeks) of painting.  This time rather than pushing through it and burning out (Fortunately no major events in the next 60 days to cram for) or taking a break and falling behind I grabbed a warmachine solo.  I really liked the model, recently stripped it and figured it would only take a session or 2 to paint up.

 Initially I debated actually painting the model when I got it.  The paint job as ok (actually a 7 compared to most warmachine armies).  I have used the "ebay Pro paint" job as a base coat for other models and it worked out well.  In this case,  I wasn't sure if the detail was lacking (like some PP plastic models) or if it was a sloppy paint job.  Figuring it was a metal model I stripped it to see.  I am glad I did, the armor and face plate had been completely been lost in the previous paint job.  In the end I like the result, I stopped a couple layers short of what I would do for a character.  I love how the cloak looks.  The dirty armor and leather help her to blend in with my other cryx models.

Well if the Siren only took a few days, what the Hell else did I do with my hobby time!?  Well I wasn't quite ready to go back to bugs (relax, they get an update too).  Another gamer was asking how to paint "green ghostly" figures.  While drybrushing lighter shades works well in this case I wanted to try out a couple of techniques.

Overall I am ok with how the model turned out.  Agatha isn't a caster I would normally use, otherwise I would be tempted to redo parts.  I got the effect out of the green without drybrushing, and tried several techniques to find the one I like.  The loose "skins" hanging from the axe and her lower armor would need work, but still an 8 on the warmachine scale.

Yep still going.  I know right, I told you it was going to be a big one.  

BOOM! Since the Warmachine solos don't count toward the paint challenge I figured I better get some bug work in.  Hard to tell but the Tervigon is around the 75% complete mark.  The skill has all 5 layers and the carapace 2.  The last 2 should really make the armor pop.  Its a bad picture to show it, but I painted the emerging gaunt to match the 10 man completed last time.  I also started highlighting the sac flesh to separate it from the main colors, but keep it in the same basic palette.  As long as I keep on track, the first of the monsters will be complete.