Games Workshop: Abaddon the Despoiler

Well, I do like the character of Abaddon a lot – the Talon of Horus book made sure of that.

So I build all models of him I can find -or can afford. This one has been sitting on my shelf unpainted. It came assembled, but this is the price when you buy stuff used on ebay for half the original cost -which is substantial.

I painted him using acrylics, the Vallejo Xpress color range wherever appropriate, and some oils (the cape, for example).

I have a cheap light-box from aliexpress, so the colors are not exactly showing well; I should invest in a better setup. My point is: he looks better in person.

(I will finish the conversions of Abaddon soon, and this will conclude my army of Abaddons. I wonder how competitive an all-Abaddon setup is…)

Grim Skull Miniatures – Master of Crusade large version (Abaddon)

Well, this is the larger version of the same miniature already featured here. The very definition of impulse buying. And honestly, I do not mind it at all. The mini has been sitting half-assembled for about five years now – I bought it while I was still in the UK. (The draft for this post was done in 2019!!!! Moses on a bicycle…) Now it was time to finally paint him.

It is a nicely detailed mini -although you can kind of see the layers of 3D printing at places-, and I am quite happy how it turned out. I used black from Vallejo’s Xpress color range -a Contrast-competitor- on a dark blue base, and it looks pretty good. (Black armor is horrible to paint in the “conventional” way…) The rest was a mixture of acrylics, inks and oils. (Especially the flaming sword was done using oils. Much easier to blend than acrylics, and I am lazy/unable to do 40 layers to create a nice, blended surface.)

I think I will keep coming back to the mini to add some paint here and there, but for now I declare it done. His Games Workshop buddy is also underway, and once they are finished, I will have a large range of Abaddons to display… (And finally I can start on the Razor Crest. I decided no more new projects until these are done.)

Don’t talk to me or my little brother again

Mystic Wargames: The Night Haunter (70mm)

Amazing, 3D printed model. I am less satisfied with the painting, but there you go- learning curve. I painted him using oils mostly (acrylic base colors and oils). The face especially turned out less than ideal; the tanned hide cloak turned out especially great.

So, 3D printing…

Well, I have been long aware of the potentials of 3D printing -after all I did order a couple of figures that are much better than the “official” ones, and the technology is also very attractive as a substitute for “garage” resin models. But the main reason I have been interested in 3D printing is Titans. (Sorry. TITANS.)

There are groups dedicated to creating Titan alternatives for printing -and it is not surprising -after all, it is cheaper to buy the printers, the files and the resin/filament, than buy a ready-made Titan. The result is not only cheaper, but cooler looking one, too. And once you made the investment, you can actually print even more… Not to mention Forgeworld Titans have a nasty habit of having issues with fit. Obviously there are disadvantages, too. Filament printers are normally used for large parts, resin printers are used for smaller ones, so you need two printers. Filament printers leave tiny little tide-marks which you need to remove with sanding.

https://imgur.com/0ZPHCcK

Resin printers use highly toxic resin, which you need to handle very, very carefully. And you need a lot of space for all that stuff.

But now apart from Titans now there is another reason to think about 3D printing… ships.

I dabble into ship building now and then (just wait until Monday), and quite like them, but the price for a 1/350 ship with all the aftermarket is enormous. 3D printing seems to come to the rescue here, too – observe:

Khârn the Betrayer

Here is the pre-Heresy version… And you will know I won the lottery if I have this on my blog.

The armor is pained with red ink sprayed over a shiny gold surface, then sealed with gloss varnish. Pretty spectacular.

Only after taking photos did I see the issues with the axe. (Also: just noticed the grip is supposed to be fabric.) Back to the workbench… although slowly but surely working off the pent-up, half-finished projects.

Mystic Wargames: The Emperor (70mm)

Well, I have an Emperor with a flaming sword already but this one is better. His head looks the right size at least, so cudos to Mystic Wargames.

It is a great model; I quite like the pose and all. Painting went the same way as with the other Emperor: True Metal paints, and oils over acrylics for the non-metallic colors. Even the flaming sword turned out pretty good -much better than I can manage with blending acrylics. The cape is actually quite flat (as it is a fabric), but the lights make it look glossy a bit.

McFarlane Toys: Necron Flayed One

These things are great –giant action figures to paint. (I got the artist’s proof.)

However. This is my first ever vinyl figure, and I did not prime it. Perhaps this is the reason for this thing still being sticky after more than six months. Really, really annoying. I will try to add varnish, perhaps it will seal the stickiness.

The body was painted with AK Interactive’s true metal range – I am quite pleased with the result. The rest were painted with artist’s oils, because I wanted to practice.

Anyhow, off to finish the rest of the pile…

Forgeworld: Chaos Warhound Titan

New Years’s resolution: finish everything on the started pile before starting a new project (which is going to be a Vickers Medium Mk.I with interior).

So I was doing some work on this thing last year. (Currently I call him “Chicken” because it looks quite avian with the torso off.) I always wanted to have one, but the price tag had always convinced me to be sensible. I finally had made a decision to buy one when I get my PhD, but when the time came I was freshly out of postgrad and into unemployment, so that was out of the question. Later the whole idea lost its appeal, since I always had a lot of things to spend on, like rent, wedding, preparing for a child, and so on and so forth. About five years ago I saw one on ebay: some parts were missing (one arm, some pistons, PE – that I know of), some were already started (one leg was glued the other way- hence the current pose), but it was relatively cheap so I bought it.

I have to say, considering the price tag, the fit is abysmal. I wonder how the Warlord titans compare in this department. (That I will never buy. It is cheaper to get a printer and start printing…)

Tried to magnetize the torso to the hip, but even that massive rare earth magnet I used is not strong enough, so the torso easily tips over even without the arms. We will see how it works with them… I glued it to a base, so it is a bit safer, and started to work on the scenery with my 4 years old. (She was in charge of putting cork sheets and random pieces of resin and plastic leftovers in place.) All work in progress.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce him.

Plague Marine -oil painting

A great summary of oil paints

I found it well after this post, but I did something similar – base coat with a primer, and use different oils to create these colors. I used both diluted and non-diluted oil paints.

Avunculus Fragili (Imperial Knight) part 3.

So I never actually liked the result with the Kinght. It is OK, but it is far from how a corrupted, ancient machine should look like. (And it is very far from a Golden Daemon winner.) After my little experiments with oils, I decided to give the Knight a doover. The edges got some serious highlighting, the deeper areas got some grime and shadows -it now looks much better (still no Golden Daemon) than before.

This is what it was like

The magic of oils

Now I can do something about the former, not much about the latter… so oil paints here I come.

All this gave me a serious push to finally start my Chaos Warhound Titan I bought long-long time ago.