Another One Bites The Dust

In the final evaluation sticking to an expansive list of projects is quite difficult. I honestly don't remember when I wrote my current list, sometime back in early 2016 potentially. Now that it is done I feel nothing but relief. First of all I feel the need to get my list of shame out of the way.

Abandon Projects
I consider these negative points for the completion of a current list. Projects that I have bought the miniatures for, maybe started, but ultimately abandon are some kind of stain on my level of commitment. Unfortunately, life does get in the way and some things become less important than they were.

• Guild Ball
  My reasons for ditching this project mostly stem from the complete lack of enthusiasm for both the game and the miniatures. Add to that the fact that it seems to have been very much a flash in the pan in terms of popularity in my local meta. Therefore following through with the project would not have segued nicely into a competitive scene. Furthermore, I don't have a great deal of enthusiasm for sports themed mini games. So ultimately my desire to move on to other projects trumped my willingness to follow through.
• Flames of War - ANZAC Centurion
  I screwed up the build with this one, also the metal tracks were a bit munted, and suffered from some kind of lead rot that occasionally happens to older minis. Ultimately I couldn't save it, so I abandon it. At some point I'll find a better quality Centurion model at this scale and have another crack at it.

Finished Projects

• Warhammer 40k
  These were a composite of one big project, the Baneblade, and a mixture of smaller models to expand my Astra Militarum. The Baneblade itself turned out swimmingly, perfectly in line with the armour colour scheme with the rest of my AM armour, as were the rest of the newly painted troops. Overall not much to talk about here, a fairly routine and easy project

• Warmachine
  I couldn't wait to see the end of this project to be honest. I do like the Trencher infantry models, but damn me if they are an utter pain to get painted up. The Jacks were just as frustrating, and I have a particular complaint with the plastic that they have adopted. It doesn't file down particularly well, which makes cleaning and prepping the model particularly frustrating. The end results weren't that impressive, but ultimately they are table ready and good enough, so I'll call it a win.

• Bolt Action
  These chaps were the big one and potentially versatile as they will be usable in Chain of Command and Konflict 47 as well as Bolt Action. I added a second Cromwell using the Konflict 47 model to aid with this. Considering the quantity of models required for this project my batch method was good enough to achieve a fair table top standard. I already have a couple of good friends and local opponents lined up for this, so I'm looking forward to wheeling them out.

 

• Warzone Resurrection
  Speaking of flash in the pan projects, as far as I know there is no one in Canberra playing these guys. The level of quality that I achieved was pretty good, but not quite good enough as a comp entry as I originally intended for them. So I rolled them up, finished the project and done is done. In all likelihood I will never deploy these chaps on the table in anger.

• Display Pieces
  Ultimately a couple of these didn't quite make the cut as a comp entry. For the Warmachine Pirate, I honestly don't remember the name of the model, and it wasn't good enough to use for the Crystal Dragon, so I ditched it and went for a different piece that ultimately didn't make the cut for a bronze. Ultimately I have decided to give comp level painting a miss for a while, as I don't have the time and patience to do it properly. In slightly better news the Titus Pullo figure came in third at ScaleACT 2016 in the historical figures category, so hurrah for small victories.

Bonus Projects

• Flames of War El-Alamein
  The re-release of Flames of War, and the El-Alamien starter was quite appealing to me. With the failure of the ANZAC Centurions I felt the need to practice my 15mm armour. So the vehicles in this box proved to be a nice distraction from my larger projects. In terms of quality the models were decent for a small plastic kit and the final result was very clean and easy to accomplish. I'm also getting the hang of how to properly apply and dress up transfers, which came out very well in this kit. At some point in the ungiven future I have some vague intentions of rebuilding my Late War British Motorized Rifles in plastic, but for now I'm going to avoid dipping any further into Flames of War army projects.

• Mermaid Bust
  This one was an impulse purchase at ScaleACT and turned out pretty well in the final cut. Sadly it didn't make the cut at the Crystal Dragon. So I think I'm done with serious display painting for a while.

• Team Yankee - Soviets
  I'm a big Cold War fan, so these fellows were a bit of a treat. Like the El-Alamien British and Germans, they were easy and quick to assemble and paint. The final results were pretty good for a quick job and the entire army was done in record time for me. The single mech infantry platoon turned out pretty decent, but I did mess up the Hinds due to not being careful with my rare earth magnets. At some point I'm planning to expand this force by adding some more infantry and ancillary vehicles, I'm thinking mostly support things like BRDMs and additional artillery and anti-air. I'm also planning to switch the infantry over to plastic as I was not a fan of the poor casting quality on the metal infantry company boxed set.

• Pulp Heroines
  I started these as fodder for a Twitch stream, as they seemed like a nice one of set of things to paint, independent of my current workload. While the streaming didn't last, I did end up finishing them off and getting them to a pretty decent level of quality. It is also nice to paint something outside the usual manufacturers.

• Cadds Commandos
  Like with the Pulp Heroines, I picked these guys up on a whim and painted them as a break from army painting. I think the level of quality that I achieved was exceptionally high for my standard, and has given me some ideas for future projects.

• Age of Sigmar
  These chaps were an impulse purchase mostly because I was intrigued with the new affordable boxed sets that Games Workshop are putting out. For fifty bucks (Australian money, so automatically more expensive), you get thirteen models, basic rules and some dice. As a basic intro to the hobby these sets are quite good for getting enough of the basics to push toys around a table top. At some point I'm planning to use them as the core of some Khorne and Stormcast warbands for the skirmish subset of the rules, but that won't happen for some time. In terms of painting they were pretty good GW standard, push fit, easy to assemble and lots of clean detail. The Stormcast don't suffer from the everything has skulls on it problem that a lot of 40k models have, so that is a bonus as well.

• Christmas Goblins
  As part of my mother's new experiment with home made Christmas crackers I got a handful of reaper bones minis, complete with all the problems associated with them. But the thought was nice. I put them through a quick paint job just to get them off my work bench and into my display cabinet. Again, I normally don't think much of Reaper Bones for a serious painting project, but for a half day to a day palette cleanser they work pretty well.

• Mancubus
  While doing a clean out in preparation for buying a house I found an old Mancubus mini by Reaper that came with the Doom III collectors edition. Since I had just come off the Bolt Action British I was looking for something quick and fun to do for a video tutorial, and this allowed me to experiment with some washing and glazing techniques for flesh that I've been keen to try for some time now. Overall I'm quite happy with the final result, as I think I've come fairly close to the original Doom character art. The only part which I don't like are they eyes, which In retrospect, I should've painted more conventionally rather than relying on washes.

• Old School IG
  These were mostly an experiment with shaded basecoats, which turned out pretty well in the final evaluation. If I ever do a large army that wear DPUs I'll probably resort to this technique to save time.

• Chibi Titan
  A nice little display piece inspired by Attack on Titan. Overall, decent result, especially the muscle strands.

The New List
On the up and coming list I've got 40k, a ton of it. With the arrival of 8th edition and in theory I'll be starting a new slow grow soon I'm keen to tackle a variety of vastly different projects. Unlike last time I'm going to move between them a bit at a time rather than painting the entire thing in one stretch. I'm going to do this to help prevent burnout from setting in for the bigger projects.

• Warhammer 40k
• Astra Militarum
  The Guard have always been my first choice for an army, and in this round they are certainly going to get some of the attention that they deserve. I'm planning to expand it with an entirely new platoon. Along with that I'm going to add some much needed additional heavy weapon support in the form of an Autocannon Heavy Squad and a Lascannon Heavy Squad. Furthermore, to give me some much needed anti-blob firepower I'm getting a Demolisher, primarily for the Punisher Gattling Cannon variant, but I'm going to try and magnetise the kit to allow it to swap out for the regular Demolisher cannon. I've also got an assortment of smaller models, a Standard Bearer, Pyskers, a Tech Priest, some mechanics and a wounded guardsman just to add flare to the force.
• Dark Angels
  With the release of 8th Edition and the rise of the Primaris, I'm going to retire my Dark Angels to the reserves. This does mean that the spare marine squad and their Rhino are going to get a paint job and added to the force. I imagine I'd bring the army out occasionally, but they probably won't be expanded on after this. The other models are for Shadow War as much as 40k. I've got a box of plastic Boltgun Scouts and a few old metals to compliment my Scout Sniper squad. Again, once I have painted all these I should have enough minis to cover Shadow War, so I doubt I'll expand it much after that.
• Chaos
  Last CanCon I dove deep into the bargain bins of Good Game and emerged with an armful of demon boxed sets. While I have moved some of the Nurgle stuff on to one of my diseased wargaming comrades, the remaining Bloodletters and a Demon Prince will be reinforcing my long neglected Chaos.
• Tau
  These chaps were the other half of an old Kill Team boxed set. Since I have never painted Tau before I'm glad to have the opportunity. It will only be a squad, but I may expand on it down the line.
• Triumvirate Boxed Sets
  Because I'm a sucker for good quality models I've been rather taken by the Triumvirate boxed sets, and as a result I have purchased all of them. I'm going to try for a couple of marks above my usual painting standard for all of these models, so much so that I'm getting increasingly afraid to put paint to primer for them. Never the less, once progress starts I'm going to have some fodder for the local painting competitions.
• Ultramarines All-Primaris Force
  I'm a big fan of the Primaris, which are basically marines but at the correct scale when stood side by side with other human sized models. Rather than add these guys to my regular Dark Angels I'm going to start them as an all new Ultramarines force, mostly to compliment Gulliman from the third Triumvirate. In terms of future expansion, this force will definitely be getting some love. Since releases are beginning to trickle through the pipeline we'll have to wait and see what in the new range I actually like.
• Objectives
  On a whim I picked up the objective boxed set, nothing much to tell other than I like the imagination that went into some of these pieces. Hopefully this will lead into a further expansion and improvement on my personal 40k terrain library.
• Dark Eldar
  These fellows were meant to be for a slow grow, but the stopping and starting nature of my local gaming groups means that they have been slowly gathering on my shelves without getting even remotely table ready. This cycle will be the time that they actually get done, I'm planning a black with pale green highlights, so I should be able to batch them out relatively quickly.
• Misc
  I have a few random models to add in as supplements to my various forces. So far I've got a Vindicare Assassin,  a pair of Death Cult Assassins, and a very old Lady Inquisitor model. Realistically most of these are going to be palette cleansers between the big batched projects. 

• Infinity
  Before I close off Infinity for good I want to paint at least one TAG for my PanO force. Not much else to say other than it it will mostly be Vallejo Model Colour by way of airbrush, following the methods defined in Angel Giraldez books on the subject. I don't think I'll tackle any more Infinity for some time after that as after this model I'll have a reasonable force for pick up games and that is all I need for the foreseeable future.
• Bolt Action - Konflict 47
  With a few additions, my completed Bolt Action British will be playable in Konflict 47. Along with the dual purpose Cromwells that have already been painted up, I have a squad of British Armoured Infantry and a generic dieselpunk style walker that could act as a decent stand in for the British walkers that are already defined in the Konflict 47 rule set. These projects will probably serve as more of a break in between large chunks of 40k.
• Flames of War
  I've been experimenting with some airbrush techniques for scale modelling, more so, I've also been working using oils and AK Interactive products for weathering. To that end I purchased some T-34s, Shermans, and Comets from the Battlefront range to practice on. In the next cycle I'm planning on starting a Late War British Motorised Infantry company as well, so practice now will help feed into future projects.
• Warmachine
  Nothing fancy here, apparently the Grenadier Light Warjack is still one of the kings of the Cygnar meta. Which means my old metal ones are going to get stripped, reassembled, and repainted.
• Display
  Finally, I've got a the Sigmarite Priest from the Silver Tower boxed set and a Highway Woman model from the Twisted miniatures range. Both of these I'm going to paint standalone, aiming for the best possible level of quality that I can manage. I've got a couple of display bases to go with them, so this will also be another foray into constructing a mini diorama. I'm hoping that at least one of these will crack bronze at the Crystal Dragon, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

That is pretty much it for the new cycle. At the time of writing I've broken the shrink wrap off a variety of these projects and have begun in earnest, I'd encourage you to check out my Tumblr or Instagram for a more blow-by-blow account of my painting progress. For a few of these larger projects I will write up more detailed retrospectives to discuss techniques and the models themselves, sort of a half how to paint, half review. Anyway, that is all for now.