“Meet Morrigun…”

“…The seventh warrior.”

This 28mm scale metal model of Morrigun was produced by “Wargames Foundry” and could be bought as code AD13 from their now long out of production (OOP) “2000 A.D.” range. Happily, the Nottingham-based manufacturer gave some advanced notice as to this particular line’s demise, so I managed to purchase the figure just before the sculpt was withdrawn from sale.

“The only female robot member the A.B.C. [Atomic, Bacterial and Chemical] Warriors have ever had ", the waitress on Hekate was undercoated using Grey Surface Primer by "Vallejo", before being layered with "Scalecolor" Blue Alchemy, shaded in Drakenhof Nightshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Scalecolor" Blue Alchemy. I then picked out all of the automaton's armour and dreadlock-styled hair with "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

"Mongoose Publishing" WIPs - Blackblood is slowly having his details 'picked out'

Morrigun’s formidable looking hand-weapon was predominantly pigmented with “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. However, the axe-headed flail’s handle was treated to a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and some “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. I also applied some “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson to the female android’s disappointingly misaligned lips.

Sticking with the comic book “2000 A.D.” and its A.B.C. Warriors, but moving across to a model originally produced by “Mongoose Publishing”, I have started work on a miniature of General Blackblood. This “most feared of the Volgans' war robots” was actually painted predominantly metallic green in his ‘official’ colour scheme. However, having recently used "Scalecolor" Emerald Alchemy on my Ro-Jaws figure, I decided to adopt the metallic silver palette used when artist Bryan Talbot was pencilling the character within the pages of “Nemesis The Warlock: Book Four”.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - This Royalist Pikeman has been glued upon a "Citadel" 25mm circular base

In addition, over the next week or so I aim to complete the first four 28mm plastic Pikemen by “Warlord Games” I’ve bought for my slow-burning English Civil War (ECW) project. Despite sticking to my initial plan of just painting a handful of models a month, I have changed my idea to simply stick each quartet of figures on to a single square base.

Instead, I’ve glued them upon “Citadel” 28mm circular stands with the intention of forming them up in blocks of ten using some MDF movement trays by “Warbases”. This system should help me with both the storage and transport of the soldiers, as well as allow me to use some of them for skirmish games (such as Smooth & Rifled by “Dadi & Piombo”)…

“The Black Templars Are A Loyalist Second Founding Space Marine Chapter…”

“…Derived from the Imperial Fists' gene-seed and their primarch, Rogal Dorn.”

These 6mm scale plastic models of ten space marines used to be produced by “Games Workshop” as part of their now long out of production (OOP) “Epic” range, and were predominantly found whilst I was busy mooching through my original box of “Space Marines” from 1991. However, I’m pretty sure the ‘beaky’ marine sculpts were actually acquired second-hand, as they were already primed on the sprue with a thick, black paint and were part of the game’s first edition, which was released a couple of years earlier than the version I bought.

These figures’ perplexing undercoat also meant that I would struggle to re-paint the diminutive Adeptus Astartes in any other Chapter colours if I didn’t want their already somewhat soft detail to worsen. So as a result I decided to make them all Black Templars and just ‘pick out’ their shoulder-pads and bolters, rather than risk anything else which would add an extra layer or two to the models.

 "Their origin can be traced back to the Imperial Fists' defence of Terra during the Horus Heresy."

I was though unhappy at the thought of my ten-man unit simply comprising of Corvus armoured warriors, so rummaged around until I had found a few (updated) sculpts wearing Mark VII armour. I’d actually previously painted these figures as Ultramarines, but felt the unimpressive thirty year plus paint-jobs could easily be expunged by the self-same heavily watered-down prime of “Citadel” Abaddon Black which I gave their ‘beaky’ brethren.

Once dry, all the space marines’ shoulder-pads were treated to a double-coat of watered-down “Vallejo” White and Pale Grey, whilst their bolters were given a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. I did actually attempt to apply some “Citadel” Abaddon Black to the shoulder-pad ridges of the Aquila armoured Adeptus Astartes. Sadly though, my skill with a paint-brush to successfully achieve such straight lines was distinctly lacking, so I soon settled upon the entire shoulder-pad simply being a single colour, and just dry-brushed them all with (more) “Vallejo” White after applying the Pale Grey.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - Four Royalist Pikemen primed in "Vallejo" Heavy Red

Stepping well away from my latest science-fiction based entry into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I have assembled and primed four 28mm plastic Pikemen by “Warlord Games” for a project I plan to patiently pursue throughout the entirety of next year – if not, beyond. I have always wanted to be able to play a large, mass-scaled historical battle, yet despite dabbling in Napoleonic armies at various scales over the decades, have never managed to get anywhere close to the breath-taking numbers required for such a feat.

Having recently reread the “Pike & Shotte” English Civil War expansion “To Kill A King” though, I’m hoping a change of war theatre and century might just make such a project a possibility. Working on the principle of having two opposing forces solely consisting of a Pike unit, two Musketeer units and a troop of cavalry by this time next year, I aim to finish just a handful of figures a month, and have duly started on a quartet of Pikemen for the King’s Lifeguard…

Painting Challenge: Week Eleven - 10mm Pendraken Miniatures

Approximately eighteen months ago I started to paint a Royalist English Civil War Army to use with the "Pike & Shotte" rulebook by "Warlord Games". In an effort to make the army affordable and playable on a small table I turned to my favourite 10mm manufacturer "Pendraken Miniatures" and set about work on the Royalist Regiment, The King's Lifeguard.

 

Unfortunately my enthusiasm for the project stalled upon my discovery that the North Yorkshire based company were about to imminently replace their English Civil War range with all new models. This deflating news, coupled with the sheer monotony I was experiencing at the time by repeatedly painting the same Cuirassier model in order to populate a small battalia of Horse, brought the project to a grinding halt.

As a result, upon determining that this week's Painting Challenge subject was to be any single base of 10mm models, I thought I'd try and breathe some new life into my substantial English Civil War collection.

In addition to completing the Cuirassiers, I am also hoping to turn my attention towards dusting down and finishing a couple of command bases I assembled as part of my Second World War Russian army. These two trucks will be accompanied by a number of officers and will be based upon a snowy landscape in order to fit in with rest of my Soviet 'winter' forces.