What I'm Working on--November 2021

                 I’ve been trying to more consistently log my Warhammer projects on the blog, creating write-ups, essays, tutorials and just general ideas relating to whatever I’ve been painting or building at the current time. If you follow my Instagram, you'll be able to see that my modes of hobbying have gone through several distinct phases this year alone. Since finishing my Soulblight Gravelords army a few months ago, I’ve been experimenting with different backgrounds and props, like old books and antique surfaces, to make the pictures more interesting. So, I thought I’d do a general write-up of where I am with the hobby at the moment at what I plan to do next.

                Recently, I’ve been trying out painting some converted Forge World Primarchs—these are beautiful and large sculpts which have allowed me to really hone my techniques (and try new ones) on such a large canvas. The size of these monstrosities also allow for a great deal of contrast between them and the smaller troops, but you can read more about that in my scale article. A large inspiration for these models has been @lunax7070 over on Instagram and his “chad-scale” Space Marines. Though Lunax’s models are often put together from custom cast parts, I went with the easier approach of using the Primarch models to attain these large sizes. So far, I’ve made a Deathwatch Space Marine and a Stormcast Eternal—one for each main gaming system.

 

My Stormcast converted from Sanguinius

                With this, I’ve also bookended work on my vampires in the form of my Armies on Parade board for 2021. This was kind of a last-minute addition, coming together in under a week, to cap off that gargantuan project. Overall, I’m very happy with my work on that army, but I feel as though I’ve learnt so much more and refined my techniques since, which I can’t wait to showcase on other projects. Either way, I’ve sent the photos off and look forward to parade day.

Armies on Parade 2021

                A lot of these techniques have been a focus on even more grit in my painting style, particularly by looking at scale-modelling techniques most present in the Horus Heresy community, and those by @lillegend_studio who is a constant source of inspiration. His Youtube channel is great, breaking down his thoughts relating to painting certain miniatures. As I study more of this painting style, which isn’t super far-removed from my current work, I’ve been drawn in by the Heresy again. With renewed life from Forge World’s newer and beautifully scaled Space Marines and an uptake of interest, I’ve started working on some Sisters of Silence.

Sister of Silence w/ Boltgun. Excuse the mess of the early sculpting work

                I’ve been heavily inspired by some of the old Heresy art for these guys and will be following that closely when it comes to converting more. To make their proportions a bit more natural and fit with the current range of HH, I’ve extended their waists a little and trimmed down their Boltguns. Though I initially am making these as part of a Kill Team, I’m not going to kid myself and pretend it might not be a full Imperial Army at some point.

                Speaking of Kill Team, I recently went to Warhammer World with @k0rdhal and @death_of_a_rubricist where I borrowed Apologist’s Space Marines for a game of Kill Team against Admech.

@K0rdhal's Admech

@death_of_a_rubricist's Space Marines

                The game was a blast and super easy to pick up, which has started some chattering in my group of doing a Heresy Kill Team meetup, which is where my Sisters of Silence come in. Linking back to my earlier ramblings, they’re going to be joined by some HUGE Custodes to really lend a sense of scale. I’ve learnt a lot creating the Space Marine and other 40k models—specifically, how far a little conversion work goes. While AoS has fewer hard boundaries enforced by lore due to it being a newer setting, the more rigid system of the way people build their Warhammer 40,000 models means less conversion, and a little-rescaling + detail work can go a long way to make a model look unique. Perhaps this is because we’re all so accustomed to what a Space Marine looks like, so when we see a small change, we notice it more?

                In contrast to the last couple of years, where my relationship with 40k was restricted to a handful of Necromunda miniatures, I’m going back to the deep end with the Grim Dark Future. While I still plan to make some more Stormcast and Cities of Sigmar models from time to time, this where my interest lies at the moment, as I sit here half-writing this, half-pouring over old Witchhunters artwork!

                Thanks for reading!