The Razorbakz #1

As previously stated, my big passion, especially at the moment, is Blood Bowl. I have several teams on the go at the moment but, surprisingly, one has really taken my fancy. This is the Neomics orc team, which I won from Southern Shrike Bowl 09 (where I won best painted team).

I already have a fully painted orc team, and I need to get a human and wood elf team finished for next March, but despite myself these Neomics figures have me continually coming back to them.

So I succumbed and undercoacted a couple, then one day just decided the paint one. This is the result:

CMON link: http://www.coolminiornot.com/266158

I'm really proud of this guy. I wanted to achieve two specific things above all else and both, I think, came out.

The first was a really bright yellow with some decent shading. The picture actually mutes it a little, but you can still see it.

The other was some nuance and character in the orc skin tones. I've used elf flesh as the main highlight (over the ubiquitous goblin green) with a darker Formula P3 green (Gnarls?) as the main shade, but I've also added some blue (particularly under and around the eyes).

To make the ensemble I think the white and black have worked really well. White is no big deal but black, for some strange reason, is the one colour that I have so much trouble painting well (anyone have any tips?)!

So he is number one (well, OK, number 9, but you get the picture) of, I hope, a whole team to this standard. Already on my painting desk is another, beefier, orc model who is daring me to paint him. I'd like to try and get some armour plates of a chequered white/black pattern into some of the team (the above model didn't have enough armour plates to do this). We'll see though, I might just like the yellow too much!

Allister Caine #1

In a similar vein to my recent posting of Project Wallace, here is where I am at with my monochrome-blue AllisterCaine. As this description would suggest, the idea is to stick to blue-tints with all the colours, as if you are looking at him in that semi-darkness of dusk.

WIP front view:

And from the back (not as large):

And here's a bit more detail of the face:

Sorry that the pics aren't of a brilliant standard but, hopefully, you get the idea.

More updates on this, and other projects, as I get through them. Hope you like what you see and I'd love to hear your comments on them as they develop.

Project Wallace

OK, so I've been at this guy for a while, but it is a big job. Project Wallace is a Hordes (Privateer Press) Dire Troll Mauler. Here he is as he currently looks:

So, as you can see, I've finished most of the underside (except for his legs and left palm), his right shoulder, face and three spines.

The conversion is fairly extensive. The normal sculpt has the model's hands to either side, palm facing the enemy, as if he's bellowing (Hulk-style) at the enemy. I have repositioned the arms so that he looks as if he is moving forward in a gorilla-like knuckle-walk and about to take a chunk out of something with his other hand. I have also re-sculpted all of his spines.

The paint job so far, however, has been complicated. I am really very happy with what I have done, which is basically the face:

...and the right hand:

Most of this has been done using various shades of GW's Dark Flesh, which is a really nice rich colour to use.

I have only really started his back and am trying to get a very smoothly blended grey colour (my Trollkin are grey rather than the canon blue) and I think I've succeeded here, but it has taken a while:

So, as you can see, a long way to go, but hopefully this will inspire me to continue working on him. The rocky protuberances on his back will be the same colour as those on his chin, tying the two sides (underside and back) together, while his spines will probably be the blue you can see on the few that are painted (although this might change).

I hope you enjoy and I hope to post mose pics as Wallace develops.

New Hobby Space

Well, I've had a fairly chequered painting and modelling history for the last decade or so, but that's all about to change! Last week my hobby room was finished and, although it is a shared space with my partner's hobbies (sewing and embroidery), it is perfect for me. Now there's no excuse to being slack with painting (well, except for work, study, gettig stuff done around the house, band, social life, etc).

I also figured, seeing as everyone seems to be doing it nowadays, that I'd start my own little blog. So, welcome to SinDex Studio!

To start things off I figured I'd give a bit of a list of the projects I am currently working on, if only to make sure they are written down in stone somewhere so they might get finished one day.

Blood Bowl Teams
First on my long list is a range of different half-finished Blood Bowl teams. These days it is actually rare to get a game in of anything. Blood Bowl is my saviour in this regard because games are short, tournaments are fun and, if I need to, there's a computer version so I can keep my skills honed. I'll get around to posting my "finished" teams at some point, but my half-finished projects are:

• The Shard: a skaven team with five finished rats, built from the old Mordheim style plastics.
• The Hungry Maw: an ogre outfit, also with five finished (two ogres and three gnoblars/snotlings). Built from the ogre and gnoblar boxed sets respectively, these guys look really good.
• Ark Nemesis: dark elves, using a variety of figs. These guys are four strong at present and, while I'm happy with the two witch elves, I'm having trouble finding good parts for the other positionals.
• Platinum Compass: a high/pro elf team I only have one prototype for these guys at present. They are very labour-intensive as they use eldar jetbike rider torsos and guardian legs with a metal spearman head. I also haven't thought about positionals so this could lead anywhere.
• Duskrunners: my wood elf team based on the Maidenhead Miniatures feral elf range. I'm hoping to get this team ready for Southern Shrike Bowl 2011, which gives me roughly nine months.
• The Drop Bears: a "goblin" team, I'm trying to use the EucBowl koala figures plus some other random Australiana figures that have been sculpted for tourneys here, for this team. Not sure if I have enough of the koalas though so...? I have one koala flaming tinny done and another whipper-snipper partly there.
• I also have another dark elf team being painted on commission (well, kinda, it's my brother's team). These are the Shadowforge evil elves team which are, while not the best minis around, very easy to paint.

Trollkin - Hordes
My other main game is Warmachine/Hordes and I have, for a long time, run Cygnar for the former and Trollkin for the latter. At the moment I wouldn't class most of my stuff as 'projects' so much as spare minis sitting in my bitz box as I haven't played properly since the rules were re-done, but I do intend to get back into this and I do have a few bits and bobs in the works. For my trolls this is basically what I have been calling 'Wallace' for some time. Wallace is a Dire Troll Mauler upon which extensive conversion has been done. He is currently half painted, well... OK, maybe a quarter painted. But each time I sit down to paint him I get about a square inch done - and this boy is large! Once done, however, he will kick arse!

Warmachine - Cygnar
Also on my painting desk for Warmachine is an epic Caine that I have been painting in a monochromal blue colour scheme. He is looking spiffy so far but still needs a lot of work to finish.

Warmachine - Retribution
I also made a foray into Retribution when they came out and purchased a small force consisting of Kaelyssa, a squad of Mage Hunters with their commander, a Ghost Sniper and a Phoenix warjack. I already had an Eiryss that worked well into this force. Thus far the Kaelyssa, Eiryss, Mage Hunter Commander and Ghost Sniper are done, some pics below, but the rest are still in progress.

Other Projects
My chief other two current projects are just coll stuff I want to do and, by coincidence, both are based on old cartoons I used to love as a kid.

The first is a multi-part diorama of the TMNT (that's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for those who didn't grow up in the eighties and ninties). I want this to be five separate figures (Leo, Raph, Doni, Mikey and Splinter) that can be arranged together into one 'set' diorama. Thus far Leo is half-converted, so I have a long way to go, but hopefully I'll get there eventually.

The other is a bit more nebulous. I have, from a different project that I might discuss at a different time, some of the vinyl Transformer 'miniatures' that you can find on eBay. This is not the best medium to work with, but with some work you can get a good base to build from. I want to do an awesome Optimus Prime on a display base, basically just becase Prime is awesome. But, once again, this is in very early stages so... who knows!?


Anyway, with that list I'd better get working. Hopefully I'll get around to posting some WIPs as I tackle these and, with any luck, there'll be some progress. Look out for my pics on CMON and good luck in your own painting endeavours.

SinDex