The Final Foot Soldiers of the Deathwing

Hey all,

So as I have been saying for some time now... The basic Deathwing are now complete! The dreadnoughts are well on their way as well as you will see later this week. I had originally told the client I would be done by the end of Janaury but well obviously I've missed that deadline!! I hadn't expected to be moving flat over the christmas period which obviously ate into my painting time somewhat. But having shipped off the assassins that is one thing out of my hair! 

I have really enjoyed the commission painting that I have done, but being realistic going forward, I think I will only really be able to have 1 or 2 jobs on the go at once AND be able to keep up with my own painting, professional work and social life. So once I have finished my current jobs I will be scaling back due to those other commitments, particularly professional as I go all out on my thesis (10k words and climbing!). I've already agreed to take on more Ravenwing from the same client so that'll be an ongoing job and I've got another client lined up as well for mid to late march. 

In the meantime I have these guys to finish, a squad of blood angels to do and the night lords to get cracking on with!

In other news you'll be seeing a big beast of a tank appearing soon as well as my finished Malcador Infernus :)

Peace out,

Rob

The Callidus Assassin - Complete

Hey ho, lets go!

So I've been working on these Assassins for some time now, but I've really enjoyed painting them and I would go so far as to say that they are some of the best work I have ever done, particularly with regards to the Eversor. The Callidus completes the Execution force and I'm going to get some pictures of them all together before I get these sent off and I'll post them up at some point :). But for now here's the finished Callidus for you to feast on.

Peace out,

Rob

Laser Cut Candy - An FAQ with Mario Ruf

Hey gang,

So sometime ago I reviewed some awesome laser cut gubbins from ML Shield. Well the lovely young chap Mario who runs ML shields out of his university has put together an FAQ video for you to get some more insight into what he does and what goes on. A really nice guy, give a watch and be inspired :) you can find his facebook page here!

Peace out,

Rob

The Night Lords Return! Needing a Leg Up....

Hello there!

So those of you who have followed me from the early days will be aware that the Night Lords were my second collected army, after my Dark Eldar, and were the first army I actually fully completed painting wise. I sold them in the end, as I didn't feel at the time that there was any room for expansion without hitting unfluffy selections. I can tell you as I was VERY tempted by the Traitors Hate book to start collecting them again...

However I have had my itch for Terror sated by a fresh commission to paint up some Night Lords!! After receiving the models, I found a leg had broken off the forge fiend model that I had been sent, but this proved to be an ample sample (hehe) to test a scheme out on. And so I present the Forge Fiend Leg of DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

The request gave me some examples from the intertubes to go off for the blue and brass but I was asked to try an incorporeal look for the skin which I'm pretty pleased with!! For those that are interested, it was warp fiend grey with a layer of celestra grey before a waywatcher green glaze over the top and then a layer of ulthean(!?) grey on top. 

I'm really looking forward to taking a big bite at these guys. Though in general, in my personal collection, you should expect to see some 40k creep back in... Maybe...

Peace out,

Rob

Moar Deathwing Complete!

Hello!

MOAR! As requested by Dave and Marc :P a couple more Deathwing complete (though I realise as I type the halberd needs a cape painting, oops!) with two more in the (death)wings as well. Other than that I have two HQ choices to paint and then I will base everything that has already been painted and put a group shot together :) all the while working on the dreadnoughts!

Peace out,

Rob

Return of the Malcador Infernus!

Hey all!

Finally! Some more heresy stuff for you people :) here we have the nearly complete main chassis of my second malcador infernus for my solar auxilia. I just need to do the green lights on this and then its done! The little tanker on the back still has a tonne of work to do on it but its making progress. My Stormblade tank as my Lord of War is also getting basecoats in between working on commission work, so the auxilia are slowly edging to completion :)

Peace out,

Rob

More Deathwing Incoming!

So close to finishing the terminators now! Soon they will be.. terminated ;) mwahahaha! Ahem sorry about that... Here we've got the finished flail knight and two of the final four regular terminators nearly done as well. Two  more to go after this and then just the independent characters to get done. Work is progressing on the dreadnoughts as well. Then I have a Ravenwing command squad, two land raiders and the Dark Talon. Probably just in time for the client to drop off more Ravenwing for me to paint....

I'm sure you're all a bit sick of these guys now so expect to be updated on some Heresy stuff as well soon :)

Peace out,

Rob

Ravenwing Attack Bike and Land Speeder Gunner - Complete(ish)

Howdy all,

A quick fire update today (aren't they all these days with me....)! Over the weekend I got quite a lot of prep work done on some models for the death throes of my current Dark Angels Commission, but the models I actually got some decent work done on were the Ravenwing attack bike and both multi melta gunners for the attack bike and the land speeder.

I should have a few WIP shots of some of the remaining Terminators and Deathwing Knight soon as well as starting work on the blasted dreadnoughts! I say blasted as I still have to magnetise their arms, 4 for each! But I can say with confidence now that the end is in sight... The Land Raiders and Dark Talon are the only big things left to do that I haven't touched but I have visualised where paint is going on them so I should be able to start them up fairly quickly. 

Also expect to see the Callidus assassin popping up soon :)

Peace out,

Rob

Year in Review - 2016 and Looking to the Future

Good day all,

Somewhat belatedly this post will cover the general progress of my yearning hobby addiction as well as take a short look at how the blog has been doing! There is a fair amount to cover so it'll be a bit of a roughshod ride through bat country from here on out.

Hobby

So it has been a pretty whirlwind year in terms of armies! Firstly I would like to pay honour to the lost and the damned that have left my hobby desk to visit a big gaming table up state where they can live out their lives peacefully...

Lost and the Damned

Dark Angels

Black Templars

Death Company

So yes, I pretty much purged myself of all 40k this year. Only to now be excited by agents of the imperium and planning a 40k army to arrive sometime in the autumn/winter of 2017. I also started and abandoned my Alpha Legion 30k project as well as my Dark Angels converted 30k project. I am trying to put a lot more effort into planning my armies so that I don't have these half cocked projects that wind up dying the slow death :/

Secondly lets have a look at the armies that made their entry into my hobby sphere in 2016, the Heroes of the Heresy!

Heroes of the Heresy

Taghmata Omnissiah

Solar Auxilia

Emperor's Children

My principal hobby is 30k now! And I am happy to say that with all these armies being started last year, I have now painted a combined 6500+ points of them! With only 4/5 models left to paint for the Auxilia and Mechanicum I am very happy with both the look and the feel of these armies and have zero plans to let go of them!

Blog

So the blog has had a pretty good year if I do say so myself! There has also been some aspects that I've fallen behind on and some things that I am keen to improve as this year develops. I won't go into to much detail as the blogs second birthday is in April so I'll do a bigger bonanza of figures then!

Posting Frequency

With 275 posts last year I averaged pretty much 23 posts a month which seemed fairly ludicrous when I put it like that! However quality is always better than quantity and I'm keen to not necessarily post as much but make sure that each post is something of real interest for readers, rather than sinking to self indulgence. A great deal of what I do is not interesting I am sure! It would be great to keep up a similar rate of posting, but its not something I am going to strive for in any way.

Viewing Figure

The blog has had a tremendous time when it comes to viewing figures, with nearly month on month growth with figures peaking in December at just shy of 30,000. I would like to broaden my appeal by utilising additional social medium like reddit, but there is only so much time in the day to spend on a blog that is jus my hobby after all, particularly if that comes at the expense of actual hobbying!

Other Blogging

I did quite a stint of posting for Spikey Bits in the year, with around 30 posts on their website. However personal problems, coupled with prioritising my own blog and hobby has meant I haven't posted there for some time. Rob Baer who is one of the Primes of Spikey Bits has been thoroughly understanding and I wish to repay him with a renewed impetus to put more material out for him. 

Product Review

I have been very fortunate to be approached and also have approached companies to review products and the like. This has been absolutely incredible and I have some exciting things coming up review wise in the new year. This is lovely to do and I really do enjoy pushing smaller exciting companies into the spotlight for hobbyists who perhaps (definitely) don't spend as much time trawling the internet for new things! Something I'm keen to continue with or without direct support from companies as I buy and review from them anyway!

I have also stopped the Horus Heresy Reviews that I think a lot of people have enjoyed on my blog, so they should be making a come back soon! They do take a lot of time and effort though so again it is a balancing act of getting the posts up and getting time to do my own Hobby stuff. 

Community Presence 

This has been a bit of a mixed bag. I have had the pleasure of making a review video for Winters SEO, of which I will be doing more, as well as playing him a few times. I've also attended a few events, notably Double Trouble where I got to chat and hand out with Dave Weston of 40k Addict Fame and NafNaf of the Danse Macabre at Objective Secured; as well as attending the incredible 24 hour event hero for a day run by Nick Thrower of the Burning eye and spending time with Mike from St Andrews Wargaming (now based in Newcastle!).

I also wrote several christmas themed scenarios for a heresy meet last year and when I attended HATE vs Vanguard in London I came away with two best sporting awards so I can't complain! I als won my first painting prize at Double Trouble which I am over the moon with!

However I am really quite down on myself for not commenting as much on other peoples blogs as I used too, I really do enjoy encouraging people and basking in their awesome work so I am going to try and put time out of my own blogging to make sure I give as much to other bloggers as people give to my blog. 

What's to come in 2017

Well this is a biggie! I have a few exciting projects, collaborations and ventures coming to the fore in 2017. 

YouTube

I have battle aplenty planned with a few of the big players on the bat rep scene, with Table Top Tactics, Winters SEO and Geeks40k in my sights. So hopefully you'll get a chance to see my armies take to the field of battle more often!

I also have several book reviews in video format planned that Winters will very kindly be hosting, and I hope that they are nice and informative

Armies

Well I have two main armies coming fresh to my table in 2017. The first of these is the Imperial Militia that I have been teasing about for some time and I am hoping to get a good chunk of building done on these early this year. The second is a very very new venture which is the Death Guard, spurred on by an impulse buy of Mortarion from Heresy Trading on Facebook...

Additionally I will also have the completion of my shattered legion force of World Eaters and Son's of Horus (Or should I say the Luna Wolves) that will accompany my Emperor's Children as a very fluffy and themed Istvann III force. 

Podcast

My favourite and most exciting venture this year! Myself and my mate Ed (he of the beautiful word bearers) are going to be making a high quality production, narrative focused podcast. This will involve audio dramatisation of Ed and mines writing, as well as discussing how we develop our army background and narrative and make this play on the tabletop. We will also be filing YouTube Battle reports as part of ongoing narrative where the outcome of the stories we tell is decided by our games. 

I am really excited for this and we are hoping to have our first episode out very soon :)

That's all for now folks, I hope you enjoyed that (not so brief) recap of my 2016 hobby blog and I hope you'll join me for 2017 as well! 

Peace out,

Rob