Dog Soldiers: Making a Mess

I wanted something to test out all the weathering products I've been purchasing.  You know, before I go slapping it on all my models, untested.  I tend to paint darker colors because I'm lazy so I needed something lighter to practice on.

Hence, the Dog Soldiers.  I needed a basic Grey Knights Troops choice to use as Allies for Mordrak and Ghosts, but I'm not all that keen on running actual Grey Knights.  I thought I'd try to kit-bash something a bit more utilitarian and common.  Perhaps an elite unit for the Xenos Inquisitor character I've been working on.

 I'm not done with the models, but I started weathering some from the boots and greaves on up.

The Chimera is obviously not an option, but I'm painting it up as an Inquisitorial Chimera - I'm sure these guys will hop in from time to time.

I'm going to try something a bit different on the power weapons.  I just don't know how.  I'm going to have to watch some Les Bursley videos from here, methinks.

I've got a ways to go, but this has been a really fun project.  It's nice to have steps where making a mess is not only expected but required.

That's that.  Now I'm off for an Apocalypse game of somewhat epic proportions.  I'm siding with Big Whit, the Tim That Can, and the Card Pimp in Question to take on The Hoff and Just Doug in a 15K plus battle of Chaos versus Eldar.

Glorious!  Many hugs and gropings to follow, I'm sure.

One of these things does not belong here, one of these things is different...

Odds and Ends: Pictures from the Backlog

I've got thousands of pictures related to the hobby, ranging from games to collections to tournaments and back, going back a lot of years.  From a blogging standpoint, the problem is you pick through and use only a few from the many.  There are many, many unused pictures, most of them from tournaments over the years.  Occasionally, I'll drop some in the Backlog.

Most of the rest of the pictures are from an RTT back in the... I have no idea.  A long time ago.

Now just a random collection of pics grabbed almost at random.

This was the Lone Wolf in Dallas, Texas.  I think it was 2007.  I got kicked around the board bad.  Still do.  I love my old Minotaurs, but they don't seem to work out so well for me.

Ah, the old Dyson Pattern Storm Raven!  I made some changes to it later, but I rather liked it more this way.  It's as streamlined as any of the other Space Marine fliers, which is to say not at all.

Chaos; Daemons and Plaugebearers

Just a few quick pictures of some recent models, done maybe two months ago.  Most of them didn't come out properly due to the camera settings and the varnish on the models, which the owner prefers for gameplay.

I've been listening to Horus Heresy mp3's while working in my game room, and I couldn't recommend it more.  I prefer the unabridged but have no qualms with either.

Tamiya Weathering Tools

I've been working on a 1500 point Blood Angels army, but I needed something to try my new weathering tools out on, so I took this old Chimera and blasted on some paint.  I have a vague notion to use it for my Xenos Inquisitor's retinue...

...if I ever get around to finishing it.

That's obviously a kit-bash; the base was this model:

I also picked up these two models, plus some Xenos-looking creatures.

I'll get around to it in another decade or so, I'm sure.  As an aside, after seeing the new Sisters of Battle book today, that army is definitely going to be my 2014 tournament army.

Anyway, here's the LINK to the Tamiya USA website and here's the test model.

I'm going to fix the hatch - which didn't come out very well - but I'm happy with the rest of the model.  I'm going to put some mud on the tracks using...

...this product, mixed with brown paints.  Here's the Tamiya Weathering kits I've been using.  I've since purchased all four.  Fun stuff.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Nonsensical anonymous thoughts and comments?