Thursday, March 29, 2018

Space Hulk - Laboratorium Malum Plantae


Now that the 'Build Something' contest on the Lead Adventure Forum has run its course, I have some detail pictures to add to this thread. My entry, fitting the 'Ill Advised' theme of this year's contest, was a ship board repository for dangerous plants which would build onto my existing Space Hulk layout- the Laboratorium Malum Plantae. The backstory is that the section was administered by Adeptus Mechanicus seeking a more virulent form of bio-wire (which some may recall from the olden days of Rogue Trader). Naturally, things got out of hand somehow...

My goal was to create some mini-narratives on this rather large section. The first was a locked cabinet containing anti-plant spray, along with a poor unfortunate adept who was targeted by the bio-wire as it broke free. Why was it locked?


Another point of interest would be a carnivorous plant, probably from Catachan. It was made with some lily pods for mouths, wire for stalks, and plastic leaves. This piece is removable, so that it can be used for death world terrain, or removed if it is destroyed so that it can be passed safely.   

  




There are two large doors into the section, integrated into the layout. This one closed off in time, snipping a vine that had tried to snake its way down the corridor when the 'accident' happened.





The middle section contains long-dead plants- at some point the automated feeding and watering mechanism must have failed. This dome was never breached.



Some plant life attempting to establish itself in the corner, over a nice vent with warm humid air.



The second large door wasn't sealed fully; plant life has made its way past. The plan is that some further sections will have this sort of mossy mildew look.




 

Overall a pretty fun build to make, and one I'd been wanting to get to for a long time.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Arthur Rackham Style Trees

I recently finished up a project that I've had set aside for quite a long time, trees and thickets in the style of the iconic illustrator Arthur Rackham.





Tutorial here:
Dr. Mathias's Arboreal Extravaganza

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Rogue Trader Imperial Army and 'Bring Out Your Lead' Olivia

As many of you probably know there has been a steady 'Oldhammer' movement (probably beginning the day 4th edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle released). The special event miniature for the 2017 'Bring Out Your Lead' event was a miniature based off an iconic image from the Rogue Trader book. Although I couldn't attend I put up a 'figure wanted' post on Facebook and quite unexpectedly some people arranged to get one to me!





I couldn't let 'Olivia' languish in the queue for long, and I decided to paint up a bunch of other old Rogue Trader 40K era figures at the same time, in a matching scheme. I seriously doubt I would have ever painted the majority of these guys. Most were acquired in random lots and I really wasn't all that interested... but I ended up enjoying them. Regulation kit is not their priority but they look like a hard-bitten group of bad asses.






Friday, December 1, 2017

Lead Painter's League 11 - Round 8 - Wolf Riders (and Refurbished Hills)

I realized that I haven't used my hills for quite a long time because they didn't match the play surface any more. Even though I have quite a few other projects in the works I decided to give them a good repaint and flocking. The small plateaus needed a little variety in the sedimentary layers as well.


 Before, stage one with textured paint, and final version with paint and flocking.

 When trying to decide what to photograph with them, I realized I neglected posting the final three Lead Adventure LPL entries to my blog. Round 8 was 'Wolf Riders'. They're all Bob Olley sculpts, although the shaman on the demon dog is from the Clan Wars range if I recall correctly.



I have owned the full set of Oriental Goblin Wolf Rider figures for many years. Originally sculpted by Bob Olley and offered on his site, they ended up going to Cavalcade miniatures- I have no idea where they can be purchased now. I picked them up right when they came out I liked them so much, but it has taken forever to finish them. I still have a few left!

The last pic shows the five from the recent LPL with their brethren, painted a few years ago. 

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Hydra Miniatures Imperials - Zarek and Magi

I painted some new 'Retro Raygun' miniatures for Hydra a few weeks ago and have been awaiting their official announcement before I posted them. These are for the 'Imperial' faction- two Magi and a character named Lord Zarek.






Sunday, November 12, 2017

Zombie Baluchis

Better late than never, I finished up a few more shamblers for the 'Army Painter' project I started a couple months ago.These six are from Obelisk Miniatures, who have stopped trading, and I'm not sure who has the rights to these. They fit with the style of Foundry Darkest Africa range very well.


Friday, October 27, 2017

Shadow War: Armageddon - Tau Kill Team

My son had been begging me to let him play Shadow War, and I painted up some Blood Angels scouts for him. Since I've been using Sororitas for the main campaign, I decided to paint up a Tau Kill team for use against the marines. I've been wanting to paint some Tau auxiliaries for a while, but never really had an excuse. A"Hacker" from Wargames Exclusive was bought a while back with no real goal in mind. I also ordered two weird figures from Hasslefree- a sci-fi figure that resembles a certain doofus cartoon dog, and a platypus with a railgun. Why not?