Stormguard WIP

So Lynch has taken a tiny back seat, I have very little left to do on him, but like a child I got excited when my Stormguard unit arrived in the post, and couldn't wait to get started on them. I've pretty much cemented how I'm getting the blue done on infantry. As I said before blue is my least favourite colour to paint. I'm airbrushing the base coat and two zenithal highlights, then adding a couple of shades and highlights with a brush to finish. I have to say I don't know why people slate these models, they've got so much character, especially the sergeant. I'm gonna try and paint them in batches of 3, and do the sergeant separately. So far definitely my favourite warmachine unit.

Lynch WIP

Here's a WIP shot of Captain Dixon Lynch, leader and final member of the Black 13th. Once again my camera-fu is weak, but it's the best I could manage. I tried to get his stubble right, I'm pretty happy with it so far. All I need to do is his boots, his weapon, and add a couple of red and off-green glazes around the bridge of his nose to give him a slightly miffed look. And the B13's group shot as they stand so far I've ordered a unit of Stormguard next, hopefully they'll turn up just as I'm finishing Lynch, but having all my stuff painted so far as opposed to string at a sea of undercoated models is a wonderful feeling.

Sergeant Samuel Watts

So, continuing with the Black 13th, here's Watts. I really love the posing of this model. It really looks like he's daring someone to draw on him. I hate painting black hair, but once again handcannon online came to the rescue with an excellent article. Which I tried my best to follow and adapt. I'm getting these guys done at a rate of about one evening (5 hours) per model, which is about a quarter of the time I usually spend on a character model, but I'm really enjoying just having them painted. It helps with the motivation. I'm pretty happy with how the blue turned out, the photo also doesn't really show the black trousers well, but they look decent in the flesh. Excuse the wierd blue bits on the base, I didn't notice these till I took the photos and have since been rectified!

Cygnar progress

So, my speed painting seems to have levelled up, but my photography is still iPhone-woeful. Still, here's the progress
Captain Arlan Strangeways

And Black 13th Gun Mage Ryan.

I decided to kinda reverse the colour scheme on these, as I want the blue to run across the whole force. I've done the inner clothing black to represent the 'black' 13th. Here's my secret: I hate painting blue. This army is a kind of test for me. I want to improve my speed painting, and also my ability to paint blue. That's why this army is straight outta the box, no conversions, no crazy bases. Just on the table swiftly
Hope it works out...

Unplanned purchases

Tomorrow I'm going to do something I haven't done since I was about 10. I'm going to go to the store, and I'm just gonna buy some models, and I don't know what they are, I'll just browse and decide when I get there.

And finally, I admitted to myself that I like Warmachine. I decided on Cygnar, and I've had some issues with the blue, but I think I'm getting it now. I started with a battlebox, as that seems sensible. Also, I've got into airbrushing. I dug out an old mercenary mule that I have no recollection of buying, and mercenary warcaster Magnus the traitor. This was my first attempt at airbrushing, it's a lot of fun to do.

I'm Gonna pick up some more stuff this weekend, aiming for a 35 pt Cygnar Force

Painting roundup continued

And my 5-hour Elf blood bowl team. I've been really getting into speed painting lately, getting stuff done to play with. Bit of a corner turned, you can spend years painting to the highest standard you can, or you can get stuff painted and gaming and still be happy with it. 5 hours start to finish, in anticipation of blood bowl being GW's splash release for 2012.

Also, a couple of my Inquisimunda warbands. I painted a ton of these, but these were my favourites