Year: 2009

Undercoating the Ork Fort

One of the things I liked about Cities of Death was the large Ork “town” which was there alongside the ruined Imperial Cities.

I also really liked the Ork Shanty Town which was the new Forge World display at GamesDay 2009. Some great scenery in there too.

I know I will never have the time, space or resources to make something similar, but I did like the concept and thought it would be nice to have some buildings for my Ork Airfield, well at least something that could be used alongside my Ork Bommer.

So I took an old DVD-R spindle tub I had, these are available in various sizes depending on how many disks there are, I used a 25 disk tub. The first thing I did was cut up some plasticard, wooden sticks and Starbucks™ wooden stirrers into similar lengths. I also delved into my bitz box to get some parts, in the main from Imperial vehicles, ie Rhino and Land Raider doors. Then using a hot glue gun I stuck these to the side of the DVD tub. A hot glue gun is perfect for this kind of thing, as both plastic and super glues are unsuitable for this kind of model. When I thought about the floor of the fort, I did initially think about adding a series of wooden planks or metal sheets, however in the end I went with using modelling sand, which I think will look quite effective when painted and somewhat Orky. The next stage was to add rivets using cut plastic rod and plastic sprue. I used both strips of plastic rod and hexagonal rod. Using the hexagonal rod to make nuts and bolts.

Having got far as I wanted to with the scrap, I gave the model a black undercoat.

This was really to ensure that when painted there would be an even tone over the model due to the diverse nature of the materials used in its construction.

See the full workbench pages for the fort.

Warmaster Stone Circle

Warmaster is one of those games which I really like, but actually never do very much with in terms of modelling, painting or gaming! Maybe it’s time to do something about it in 2010!

This is one of the many Warmaster games which was on show at GamesDay 2001.

Warmaster Game

Check out the Warmaster section on the main website.

More photographs from GamesDay 2001.

Ork Heavy Support

The more I look at my Ork army, especially the unpainted stuff, I start to realise how unbalanced the force is. I have way too much Heavy Support and much less of everything else.

I have very few HQ and Elite units, though in comparison more Troops and Fast Attack types.

Why is this?

Forge World to be honest.

Can I help it that they make such wonderful Ork vehicles and tanks? The recent new stuff is fantastic.

Not really sure what to do about it. Well I like the models so getting rid of them is not an option. I also dong want to spend more money building up my other non-Heavy Support units.

Don’t get me wrong the force is ideal for Apocalypse. So it’s also not like that I can’t use the models either.

To be honest I think the only real solution us for my opponent to invest in a ShadowSword.

Thunderbolt Dispersal

This wonderful Thunderbolt diorama was on display at the Forge World Open Day.

Mark Bedford's excellent Thunderbolt diorama.
Mark Bedford’s excellent Thunderbolt diorama.

If it reminds you of Dave Andrews’ classic Thunderbolt diorama then you wouldn’t be too far wrong, it inspired the diorama above.

There is lots of lovely detail in the model.

See all my photographs from the Forge World Open Day 2009 in this gallery.

See more photographs of the Thunderbolt Fighter.

Imperial Shrine

One of the impressive games this year at GamesDay 2009 was the mega game which comprised a large Imperial city surrounded by a defensive wall.

The model builders had used lots and lots of Imperial Bastions and Shrine of the Aquila as well as Cities of Death sprues.

Taking photographs at GamesDay is always challenging, the number of people, lighting, hands, dice, etc… so some come out well and others don’t…. Advantage of digital for me is that I can take hundreds and use the best of them on the blog and the website.

Check out my Games Day 2009 Gallery.

Inquisitorial Stormtroopers

As well as my other Daemonhunters Inquisitorial Stormtroopers which are based on the Cadian Kasrkin I have also decided to add a unit based on the Tallarn or I may just use them as inducted Imperial Guard.

The first stage was to base them, and like many Citadel Miniatures the Slottabase™ tabs are way too thin for the Slottabase™ slots. So a large amount of Green Stuff was required to ensure that gaps were not only filled, but also to stop the troopers leaning over.

The bases had some small pieces of slate stuck to them before being “flocked” with Citadel modelling sand.

I also glued the missile launcher to the missile launcher operator.

See the workbench feature on these Inquisitorial Stormtroopers.

You can see how they will look by checking out the workbench feature on the Tallarn blister.

Squiggoth

My Ork Squiggoth moving forward. This photograph was taken on my unfinished desert terrain boards, which as a result are a dark purple-red colour.

This is the Forge World model and is armed with a Forge World Kannon. I have been seriously thinking about getting another one, you can never have too much Heavy Support. I really ought to also finish off the howdah with some Ork krew and some grots hanging on.

You can see how I painted it in my workbench feature on the model.

Of course the rules for this model are not in the standard rules or the Ork Codex.

I use to use the Forge World supplements, but more recently I have been using the rules from Apocalypse.

Blight Drones of Nurgle

A new(ish) miniature on display at the Forge World Open Day last April were these appropriately disgusting Blight Drones of Nurgle.

A Daemon manifesting as a machine, these formidable daemon engines of the Plague God poison and corrupt the battlefield.

Though not a Chaos player I do think Forge World, well Daren Parrwood, has designed a wonderful model here. Very unique and clever.

See all my photographs from the Forge World Open Day 2009 in this gallery.