Getting back in the saddle

For many very dull reasons, mostly related to a promotion at work and all the extra work that that entails, I've not been doing much painting or gaming in the last six months. That's changed a little, as work gets a bit easier and also I have been re-invigorated by a boy's gaming weekend and doing some gaming, especially with the Lord of the Rings LCG with my son (and solo- but that's not as good).

When I'm re-energised for gaming I always get painting, even when the games don't necessarily use miniatures. So for your delectation I present:

Some Lord of the Rings Wood Elves, which are quite nice, but they do suffer from the same problems as all of those LotR scale plastics, namely that the faces are a little bland in the sculpt.

LotR Wood Elves

Then Gildor Inglorion, who wasn't quite finished in the photo above. If you don't recognise him from the film, he should have rescued the Hobbits while they were leaving The Shire, but he got cut. Also if you don't recognise him, then you should read the book. I believe that the miniature might be singing ;)

Gildor Inglorion

And finally some good old Space Marines that have been sitting on my workbench for ages. These Vanguard Veterans suffer from the same problem that the Sternguard do in that they are a bit too busy for their own good. They are also the final miniatures that were bought for me by Mrs. Holdenstein at the launch of the last Space Marine Codex. My Hall of Shame has resisted the particular indignity of not having been painted while an entire edition goes by. The eagle-eyed amongst you will also notice a slight painting error that I only noticed in the picture, and which I am repairing at the moment.

Vanguard Veterans

Once again, I hope that it won't be too long again between updates.

Middle Earth

Well you might not be, but I'm pretty excited about the upcoming Hobbit release. Prices are the only thing that is slowing me up slightly, but it's payday today and GW will probably get their man. I've bee doing some painting inspired by Hobbit related stuff...

Rangers of Middle Earth

Shadewraith and Grimnir's Thunder

Two more ships for Dreadfleet now.

First up the Shadewraith. Simple paint scheme: Celestra Grey base, Green Wash, Celestra grey layer and white extreme Highlight. Then there's a few splodges of very thin green/grey paint wash, to break it up and give a bit more variation. Done, and easily used on any other ghostly model you might see.

Bloody Reaver and Skabrus

I've finished the Bloody Reaver, which was a bit of a pain in the arse, due to being a cut and shut of three ships and a castle.

Gary Mawlock

I've had a week off work, so managed to finish my Mawlock in between the weather being good enough to lay Mrs. H's Patio. Basing was a bit of a brain ache, as it would have eaten anything organic, so I've gone for something quite minimal. I call him Gary. Gary Mawlock.

Sloan's Rangers (Gun Mages)

Here's a little more painting for you, this time of a Warmachine bent. I'm pretty happy with how these all turned out, but the pictures are actually nicer than the models in real life. Which is nice

Back in Black 13th

Love these models and the normal gun mages. Great concept well executed. Oddly small, but we'll get on to that in a minute...

And a bit more painting

The release of 6th Ed. 40k has been positive in  that it's persuaded me to paint. Here are some pics!

Brother-Sergeant Chronus

 So first up we have Chronus, who was a bit fiddly, but ultimately quite a nice job, after removing all his Ultramarines insignia.

Aegis Defence Line

 Next, another 40K painting job, the Aegis defence lines, which can be used as a fortification in the new edition. Don't know if I will, but of course they can go in normal terrain.

Gobber Bodger

And finally a Gobber Bodger. I love this model dearly. Would love to know who sculpted him, but PP don't seem to want you to know who sculpts their models. Nice though. It was painted using the new GW ork triad of paints, which are very nice indeed.

Next up, Kara Slone from Warmachine and some Vanguard Vets for 40K

What we've been painting

A bit of a family painting session here. I have been painting Tyranids and I am currently working on a magnetised Hive Tyrant. These are my last efforts...

Holdenstein Jr. fancied a go at a Moria goblin, and it worked pretty well..

And finally Holdenstein Mk III wanted a go too. For you Tommy, this war is over. This is what happens to the enemies of the Imperium.

MkIII is only four, so give him some slack