Armour in April Final Roundup

It's been a very productive month of April for me. I got a lot of work done across a variety of projects. Unfortunately not all of them were hulls for #armourinapril.

The two Leman Russ tanks are ready for the final detailing pass. The Salamander Scout is waiting on the crew to be finished, and the Thunderer is waiting for me to finish the dozer blade as well as a few other details.

In other Armour in April news, I managed to secure seven more hulls in trade right at the end of the month, along with quite a few extra heavy weapons. Five Chimeras, a Wyvern, and a Hellhound will add a little something something to my expanding motor pool.

Finally, Cylde Ar of Mastodóntica got in touch to share his absolutely beautiful Wave Serpents he knocked out during the month. Google probably butchered the translation when I went to check it out but it seems like he also got a Fire Prism and some Shining Spears done. Great work!

Thanks to everyone who joined in to get some armour done this month!

Cheers,

CJ

Armour in April 3rd Update

The third week of #ArmourinApril is over. Not too much painting got done this week, but I did bring the Thunderer to life so I feel like it's a fair trade. I did get it and the second of my eBay rescue Leman Russ hulls painted up to the same point as the tanks last week.

So all four tanks are now ready for detail. That ought to occupy the rest of the month nicely.

The crew of the Salamander is also ready to be painted up. I also have been thinking about adding more stowage to the scout tank...

Nearly there!

Cheers,

CJ

Paint Table Saturday

Working on lots of tanks this week as #ArmourinApril continues. And I managed to complete a character for Inquisitor Draco's retinue, so that's one down and three to go.

Finally, I got my 'The Guilder' mini from Mad Robot Miniatures. He came today and I'm gonna try and get him painted in the next 48 hours for that bingo stamp.

Cheers,

CJ

Thunderer Siege Tank 001

One of my favorite thing to do is convert models. If you've been following my blog for any length of time I think this is pretty clear. For #armourinapril I decided I wanted to add another hull to my collection so I turned to the Pile of Grey Shame to see about parts.

 What a shock I found everything I need... As you can see I already made some cuts to the main hull pieces of the Leman Russ and the Chimera.

And after a few hours of work and the addition of some greebles I have a very serviceable Thunderer Siege Tank. There is still a bit of work to do (like adding rivets) before I set to with the greenstuff to finish the build portion of the project.

Now at first I was worried about getting the 'Convert a model into a totally different unit or character. Make sure it accurately represents what it's supposed to be' stamp. I was thinking characters and models on foot and really I'm pretty well set for characters. No, that's a lie... I've got more characters than I need. But then I dug into this project and realized it was perfect to tick it off for my ninth stamp. Still no bingo!

I guess I need to keep plugging away at the pile.

Cheers!

CJ

Armour in April 2nd Update

The end of the second week of the month is here and #armourinapril rolls on.

This week saw me get some rare morning painting done before work. I'm usually up quite a bit before I need to leave the house anyways so I may try and capitalize on this previously unrealized hobby time. The Salamander Scout got it's basecoat finished up and both tanks got a black wash so they'd be ready for drybrushing when I got back to my desk again.

Update: I got some progress photos from Pablo Daniele Mura, he is working on a trio of Leman Russ tanks.

In related projects I assembled some parts and set out on a conversion marathon... Stay tuned for more news there.

In only slightly related news Dave Taylor's Kickstarter has successfully funded all the stretch goals. I look forward to getting my book.

Cheers,

CJ

2018 Wargames Hobby Bingo Update

It's been a really productive year and I've managed to fill out quite a few stamps for the card.

Painting the Knight for Monster March allowed me to stamp the 'Finish painting a model that's been in your to do pile or that's  remained unfinished for more than a year.' I started assembling that one back in 2015.

Finishing up my Vanquisher for #armourinapril lets me stamp 'Paint a vehicle.'

A little sculpting and a weapon swap made for an efficient One-Eye Jack stand in and got me the stamp for 'Convert a model.'

I don't have a completed photo for 'Build and paint a scenery kit' or 'Sculpt something on a model'  but the projects in question are my Garden of Morr and The Witchhunter's warband that I've added some purity seals to.

Finally a preview of the project in process (it's done now) of my Death Guard from the Dark Imperium box and The Plague Brethren. These projects count toward my 'Paint a model for an army you don't already collect and play' and 'Add a new unit to your army and completely paint it before using it on the battlefield' stamps.

So that's eight stamps so far for me. I've got a project for stamp number nine cooking as I type this up. #armourinapril is in full swing still. My only hope is that I can maintain this level of productivity in the months to come (and hopefully that's not a curse I've just laid...). There is plenty of plastic on my desk, and I'm really excited for the new Knight Codex.

Thanks again to Rob Hawkins for coming up with the bingo card.

Cheers,

CJ

Armour in April 1st Update

 I started with two tanks nearly complete so I have been focused on getting them done first. The LR Vanquisher is nearly done at this point. The Gideon pattern MBT I had painted half of the metallics and then stopped. I got the rest done and now they are both ready for some washes.

 I got all the Shadow Grey basecoat applied to one of my basic LR hulls as well. While I was working on the metallics for the Gideon I painted the tracks and grab handles on the armour skirt for this comparison picture. When I first started with my Imperial Guard, the tank on the left would have been fielded as is and considered done. I was completely chuffed with my paint job, too, since it was smooth, no brush strokes. That was about... oh iunno Eye of Terror? So In the interval I've made some progress.

In the modeling side of things I made some changes to the Salamander. I've added a few extra track links and an old lasgun rack. I may add some more stowage to the vehicle at a later date.

I haven't gotten any progress updates from anyone else participating yet, but when I do I'll make sure to share them.

Cheers,

CJ

Armour in April!

We've had a theme to help drive hobby productivity for the past couple months. I decided that I'd start #armourinapril and get some tanks of my beloved Guard painted.

I invite everyone to participate. Leave a comment that let's me know you're in and lag posts with the #armourinapril label so others can find em easy. Fantasy warmachines and tanky creatures definitely count!

One of the first tasks is to get the above dozerblade stripped and repainted.

After I finished my Imperial Knight I decided that I wanted to keep going with large models for a while, and since the end of the month was so nice I got some priming done.

 These are all eBay rescues except for the Salamander. The Chimera in the lower right looked like it had been dipped in superglue or something...

This is one of the few Gideon pattern MBTs that exist in the wild, along with a command tank I started in 2016 I think. As you can see the dozerblade is out of the brake fluid bath and parts of an old Hellhound are in there now.

Happy Easter!

CJ