ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part1½ – It pays to do your research

While looking at contemporary photos (warning, nazi symbol in the link) of the Sdkfz 222 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug, German for "special purpose vehicle") I noticed that what I thought was some detail on the hubcaps actually was sinkmarks – or whatever its called when they are inverted – and not some round thing that was supposed to be there.

Now I really could and should have left these there. The wheels will eventually be covered in dust and grime. But once you know there's something wrong you will always know it, even if no one else does. So I had to sand it down and repaint. Woe be me!

Unfortunately my sanding stuff still hasn't arrived from MicroMark. So all I had was some diamond files. Which left a rather rough surface. That of course later showed up when I applied the wash and looks just awful when taking photos with a macro lense...

At least it got the same tonal value as the rest of the wheel, and of course... it will be covered in dust later on anyways.

-.-

FML! :)

ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part1

While waiting for some stuff to arrive from Micromark so I can finish up the SAFS suit I built I decided to build and paint a kit from ICM (some Ukranian maker) depicting a Sdkfz. 222. Or as we like to call it "a Frog".

The kit itself is pretty basic. Two sprues, a two part hull, photoetched copper (not brass) and some decals for vehicles from 1941 to 1944. Building it was also pretty much straightforward. The instructions are sparse, though since this isn't a 1/35 kit there isnt much detail to glue on the wrong way. Which led me to add some stowage from Black Dog as well. Without it the car would look rather bare...

One surprise is that the hubcaps are separate from the rubber tires, which made painting them -much- easier. The hassle of painting roadwheels is almost as coma inducing as putting together link-by-link tracks. That made me happy :)

I'm just gathering up strength to glue on the last pieces of stowage and then it's time for a coat of future and time for weathering.

At least it wasn't a year ago...

... more like six months ago.

So you might wonder, what happened? As written earlier, both me and Boomo got new jobs, 40K got in some sort of a standstill for us. Hordes turned more and more into the Games Workshop syndrome with more than 35pts being the norm (at least in our metagame). Boomo became a father, I somehow ended up in a relationship even though I do my best to dress and live like some redneck white trash dude.

No time for either 40K, hordes, hobbying or stuff. Which meant no more time for blogging as well.

But... the 6th edition of 40K is around the corner. Hopefully that will mean some more action on the tabletop for both us writers on PX40K. I've also gotten bit by the modelling-bug and just recently finished building and painting a 1/35 Tamiya Stug IIIb. Sitting on the workbench is a 1/35 T72 waiting for the second layer of wash. And when that's done, this little fellow just begs for me to be painted.

Maschinen Krieger S.A.F.S. in 1/20 scale.

So, hopefully some more content during the next months. Perhaps not as frequent as earlier, but I will promise at least one post every other week.

I leave you with some pictures of my StuG. Not the best modellingwise (straight out of the box) or paintingwise (I hadn't touched my pigments or airbrush for about six months). But hey... it's a tank!

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for infantry support, the StuG was continually modified and was widely employed as a tank destroyer.

The kreuz-decal broke while I was applying it. So I had to improvise a little.

Boomo once showed me pictures of his platoons IFVs after one outing. They were far more dirty than this StuG is. But Lifter said to me when talking pigments/weathering that I usually just have a pile of pigment and a tank under it. So I tried to restrain myself this time. 

Tools for tools.

"Hey, is this the way to Warzaw?"

MIG Oil Stain mixture for the engine hatches. Works out really nice when layering it on.

I was thinking of leaving the hatches closed. No matter how realistic the 1/35 scale figures are I cannot shake the feeling of them making the whole model feel "goofy". They do add some scale reference to the model though.

I opted out on the commander for the T72 I'm currently working on, mostly because it's such a hassle painting the insides of the tank and then have it covered up by the turret/cupola. In the case of the T72 (Tamiya version) there was no insides so it would be kinda silly to be able to look inside.

It feel like it was a year ago...

Trollblood Champion, WIP.

...and it almost was a year since I last posted. Starting a new job (I'm nowadays graphic designer/art director over at Net Entertainment), learning the new job, travelling to China and just trying to cope with everyday life left no time over for hobby stuff.

Boomo's new fascination with Warmahordes did transfer over to me though. After what felt like a lifetime Wayland actually managed to deliver my order of Trollbloods (Seriously, what's up with the delivery times nowadays?). A healthy bunch of metal.

So today, for the first time in three months, I actually found time to sit down and do some painting. I sure feel rusty, but it was nice to see that I hadn't forgotten everything about how to handle a brush.

For you list-geeks this is what I doodle together. I guess its going to be a Penny Arcade-moment once I bring it to play someone. But... meh... I like the models.

Madrak Ironhide, World Ender                          5
     Dire Troll Mauler                                9
Horthol, Long Rider Champion                          5
Krielstone Bearer and Stone Scribes (Leader and 3)    3
Trollkin Champions (Leader and 4)                    10
Trollkin Champion Hero                                3
                                                  25/25

Perhaps a little short on beasts, I guess I could get myself an impaler or something instead of the Long Rider-dude. We'll see about that when I'm done with the painting and can field them. Hopefully that wont be too far away.

Blindwater: Primed and Ready to Rumble (In the Jungle?)

First! ...let's get these fucking dust bunnies and spiderwebs out of here, shoo! shoo! *coughcough*
There...

Giving grief to all shooting armies since 2010

Been down with the sickness (oh-wah-ah-ah), another cold and sinusitis as a nice followup to my summer flu, and I prioritized lying on the couch, rubbing my belly, eating candy, and coughing my lungs out.
In other words: Sorry for another break in the flow of posts.

I have played my first few games of Warmahordes with my Gatormen, and so far I really like it, while I'm still learning, I feel that the game has sunk its big claws into me.

The good thing about playing is that it makes me really want to paint them too!

"I swear, this wide!"

Got my 15pts list built and primed, using black with white dusting to create a good contrast (alligators having pale bellies, making a zenithal basecoat kinda tricky to pull off.)

Oh, and my list is:
Bloody Barnabas
Bull Snapper
Gatormen Posse (full)
Blackhide Wrastler
15pts

Now that the party is jumping
With the bass kicked in and the vegas are pumpin'
Quick to the point to the point no faking
I'm cooking MC's like a pound of bacon ~ Warrior Poet V. Ice

Mercenaries Mariner Finished

Got it kinda done till tomorrow, it's past one and I go to work in 5 hours... I didn't have time for final touches but hopefully it will please the crowd at the contest...

"I'm broke; I know a walking corpse that spit icicle dagger to slit throat
quicker than you can prove there's four letters in hope (h...o...p...e)
I paint a portrait of myself, bored life inside the tortoise shell
tortured, orbiting Hell's orchid, intrigued but not compelled"

Merc Mariner WIP Part 2 / The future of PX40k

The deadline for the contest draws near, and I only have a few hours available to finish it. She won't be pretty but I think it will be alright. It's surprisingly hard to paint with fever shakes though, can't shake this summer cold when I can't afford to stay home from work. [Nooo whining! -ed.]

"With a bisquit on the side like fucking tomb stone"

I think I will have to go heavier on the verdigris, otherwise it's turning out quite as planned, not entirely at home with the chipping technique yet, will try another on the arms.
To do : Raw iron/steel surfaces, details, weathering and basing.
I bought some 1mm balsa wood for plank decking on the base, will do a step by step on that at a later date, 'promise!

The other thing I wanted to bring up was the sad lack of updates lately. We are not going away, nor are we on hiatus. Both me and Pixel have just started new jobs, with all that entails. PX40k will be increasing both quality and output when things have stabilized and all spare time isn't taken up by coma like sleep or teething babies. I can say that there is good stuff going on behind the scenes though, but I don't want to jinx anything yet!

Quick Update: Merc Mariner Warjack WIP

I bought a Warjack for a local painting contest, so I thought I would just drop a pic of how I'm doing.

"Guiseppe no sell-a tha cabbage"

I have not decided weather to do the non-green parts bronze or not. It feels odd to pick up the brush after so many months, but eh, why not. My gators arrived a few days ago, a couple of boxes of gatormen, a wrastler, snapper and Barnabas. I bought some tokens and the book aswell, but I dont feel like I will have much use for them, with the stats and rules being on the card and all :)

First Steps to the Dark Side

So... I ordered me some Warmahordes stuff...


I feel kinda dirty, but in a good way! I still don't love the overall aesthetics, the very cartoony stuff is kinda hard to swallow when you're used to the GrimDark. That said, I really love the open attitude Privateer Press shows and they know that the customer and the thusly the community is king, instead of the quite puzzling attitude we have been getting from GW the last... 20 years?

I have only played one game thus far, but I like what I'm seeing. The Warmachine scene in my area exploded recently when the local game store decided to expand their stock with non-GW miniature stuff. Apparently my town had a whole bunch of closet warmahordes people, and now both my club and the FLGS is packed with disney monsters and hydrocephalic robots.

I feel good things coming from this step, If you asked me a year ago if I would start to play this, I would have given you a whole hearted "Fuck No!" I guess I was wrong.
Now if PP-Eu's distribution people would come back from vacation so I could get me my gators, I would be grateful...

First Impressions: Plastic Tzeentch Sorcerer

So, the Slight Breeze of Magic is upon us, well, upon the poor squarebasers at least. I haven't heard much about the rules except "more magic? lol", and frankly I couldn't care less about that. What I do take interest in is the new direction GW is taking with the four new plastic sorcerers. I kinda goes completely against their usual MO of only making this kind of specialized figures in metal (and now in finecast). The models come in the new clamshell blisters, similar to the finecast ones.

The first thing that struck me when holding the box, is how cheap it feels. I bought it at MSRP, which is not that much I guess, but it is just a tiny plastic sprue in a flimsy box with a shitty paper insert.I guess that's not really important though, the model is. I just can't shake how stupid I felt for buying a quarter of a troop sprue for that much money.

"HAY GUISE?!"

It is pretty much a snap-fit model, zero options, one pose, and the feet are completed by adding the base, ie, the toes are cast into the base. GW made a very good mould for this, as expected, almost no visible mould lines and the injection points are well placed as to not ruin the model. The model is quite plain though, very little detail, and just from looking at the sprues, the other three sorcerers where pretty much the same. I get the same feeling as with the Wargames Factory Troopers, just too plain to live up to the standard GW usually keeps with their plastics. I must say I really like this take on Tzeentch though, the face, the birdy pose. Very chaosy and evil and not as cartoony as they have been lately.

"Cut my life into pieces, this is my last reso-*shotgun mouthwash*"

If I played Fantasy I would probably pick one of these up, the model as a whole is nice enough, and if I needed only one I could accept it only having the one pose. While it isn't a big issue, the moulded base with the birdman's toes is quite pointless.

It remains to see if these four sorcerers where an anomaly, or if we will see more of these simplified character models in plastic. If they could add more detail, this could be a cool way to release named characters in the future, especially if they keep up adding this many characters to the new codices