Forge World Executioner - Detailing Nearly Finished!!!

The starboard side brass rail for the skirt needs to be smoothed but at least it's cut, folded and attached.

I've added tracks on hooks to the front as both stowage and extra armor. I will add weld lines to the hooks, do a bit more folding and then fill in the mold marks on the tracks.

The brass pannier has been reattached and squared a bit more. It will have jerry cans in it when the model is finished.

I still need to decide where to put a couple of lights... but that doesn't have to happen today.

Forge World Executioner

I had a couple of people ask me what the brass triangles on the side of the tank were for so I thought I'd post an early WIP shot of the side skirt armor. I say "early" because this is only about 50% completed... on one side.

I need to bring the back of the support rail up a bit to correct the lay of the bottom line. There will also be secondary supports where the holes in the center of each panel are... assuming I remembered to line them up correctly.

The side skirts are going to get covered in litany text from bow to stern and then appropriately weathered and chipped. I won't be attaching them permanently so that I can get to the tank itself.

Forge World Executioner

My brass panniers came in today and I wasted no time in getting one onto the Executioner!

Of course I also apparently wasted no time in making sure that the edges were square. I'll fix that.

The detail on the engine is from the panniers frame. The bits on the side are cut brass that will form the top half of the side skirt armor rail.

The panniers are, of course, a Secret Weapon product -- and you get EIGHT panniers in three sizes on the frame. Oh yes, I will have a use for these....

New Plastic Ork Deff Dread - Final

My local nerd store was kind enough to pass along another pre-release when I dropped off some Secret Weapon product. I had a technique for oxidized metal that I've been wanting to try and what better model than an Ork dreadnought?

There are things I'd do differently next time - namely the use of brown as a base instead of red - but I'm really happy with the end result.

Forge World Executioner

I spent the weekend detailing this bad boy with the intention of finally entering something into the Games Day competition. Assuming I can justify the air fare expense I plan to make it out this year and take this, and possibly my Empire Steam Tank, with me.

I am processing a set of etched brass panniers that will go on the turret. Once those are on I'll look at adding a whip antenna. I'm also finishing the design of a set of etched brass side skirt armor I plan to add.

The model will be painted in the Krieg greys and then whitewashed for winter camo. I will add wall-to-wall litany text to the side skirt armor.

I plan to make a base of broken cobblestones and urban rubble and will, of course, give the whole thing in a generous coating of snow and mud. Lots of mud.

Blood Angels Venerable Dreadnought

My local nerd store asked me to paint up their plastic Venerable Dreadnought preview and I jumped at the opportunity. With the new Blood Angels codex and models on the horizon I decided it would be an opportunity to play with more red paint.

I still have some work to do - and I desperately need better photos so you can see the chipping - but I have to say that I really, really like the model itself.

It is, of course, standing on a base from Secret Weapon Miniatures because a little plug for my baby company never hurts!

Vostroyan Army: ROUGH RIDERS!

The incredible conversion work was done by John at Santa Cruz Warhammer -- and they have been a real pleasure to paint so far!

Yup, my army is getting Rough Riders. Ten of them at the moment. These five are unbased as I'm working on a set of new bike bases for Secret Weapon Miniatures. The urban series should work quite nicely for these guys - although I may put them on "Runic Mountain" bike bases... we'll see.

The Sergeant will keep the red coat to match the command squad and the rest of the unit will have cream coats to match the infantry. The Sergeant is also on an WFB Empire Outrider horse which turns out to be slightly larger than the stock Rough Rider horse.

I love these models and really couldn't be happier with the conversion work that John did for me. He put in a lot of extra little touches - such as the lens on the Sgt. - that have really kicked these up from Rough Riders to VOSTROYAN ROUGH RIDERS WOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!

Vostroyan Army: First Infantry Squad

I'm nearly finished with the first infantry squad and decided it was time for an update. I've included a close-up shot of the five finished troops and a super zoom of the WIP Sergeant.

Things have been super crazy and I haven't gotten to do as much painting as I would like. I lost my job three weeks ago and have been looking for a new one - and trying to build Secret Weapon - ever since. I'll get some painting done though because I really want to see this squad finished.

I decided to use a red stripe on the left shoulder armor to identify this as the first infantry squad. I'll use similar marks on the other squads so I can tell them apart on the table.

The bases are from my "Urban Streets" line - although these are from the now defunct mold. I'll put the next squad on a set of the new version.

Vostroyan Army: First Finished Infantry

I still have 43 infantry models to complete for my 1k army... but it's nice to have one finished.

The rest of the infantry will look more-or-less like this fella. I'm fairly happy with the end result and like how the snow works with my "Urban Streets" bases.

Vostroyan Army: Infantry Squad 01

I've made a solid start on the first five of my infantry. I still have a long way to go, of course, but given that this is the first time I've seen the colours on anything other than a single test model I'm reasonably pleased.

The melta conversion was made by snipping the end off of a Vostroyan flamer. The flamers will be made using the grenade launcher models - but that will happen later.

There are forty infantry - not counting the Command Squad - which includes four flamers and four meltas. I'd like to have the whole thing completed by the end of March. Between the day job, casting and sculpting that might actually be pushing my timeline a bit tight... but that's the goal all the same.