RuneBrush Posted June 24, 2019 Author Share Posted June 24, 2019 I'm not quite as far forward as I ideally wanted to be, but I have made pretty significant progress over the weekend. Everything (well almost) that I had assembled has now been undercoated - getting through a second can of Grey Seer spray. The Mortis Engine has had it's base sorted and the ghostly carriage glued in place, so it's ready for a few skulls, some sand and then undercoating, and the 20 skeletons have had their bases sorted, so just need the leg/torso assembly glued on so I can sand them - then the arms heads etc glued on. All of that is feasible for completion by the end of Wednesday - including finishing off the riders for Reikenor & the Dreadblade Harrows (kept them separate for ease). I also need to work out where the remaining 90 points is going to go - I'm tempted with the bridge from Forbidden Powers as I've actually glued it together, but it's a flipping massive model to transport! Next up I need to work out the order I'm going to paint things - so do I tackle the bedsheets first or some colours onto the base etc. I also need to work out what colours to use on the Mortis Engine throne assembly. The bottom will be done the same as my ghosts, but the top probably needs to be dark bone or similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 Happy to say that I've actually started to get colours onto these models - which is good as I've only 5 weekends between now and Blackout (and two of those are actually taken up with commitments). So, the colours applied so far are just contrast paint - though thinned with medium and applied in two coats. As with a GW shade, this gives a much better finish than a single coat, although annoyingly does double the time taken (though still quicker than a traditional colour). The warm weather over the weekend certainly didn't help either, and I know there are a couple of "caught" patches where the paint had started to dry but I hit it with the brush. That said the new Grey Seer undercoat went on super smooth (unlike Corax White, which would have gone powdery). I've also undercoated everything apart from my Necromancer on foot (I'd like to find an alternative head) and given it a zenithal white from the airbrush. This makes a massive amount of difference as Grey Seer saps the vibrancy out of the contrast paints. I have managed to "upgrade" my painting handle blocks too - with a self-adhesive metal disc. This means that it's simplicity itself to swap models over. You may wonder why I'm doing this rather than buying 10 GW painting handles? Two reasons, firstly my wooden blocks and metal bits cost less than £20 (equivalent GW would be £40 if ordered from a third party), secondly a wooden block won't fall over, whereas GW handles tend to be top heavy. There is still part of me that's quite worried I've bitten off a lot more than I can chew. I certainly know that I'm not going to get everything highlighted up in time for the event. Reikenor and the Mortis Engine do worry me as they're both massive models and I'm not sure how I'm going to paint them up yet. I'm hoping that once I've got more models done, I may have a flash of inspiration... I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that the next month or so isn't too hot - a long period of 30+ degrees will scupper any possibility of getting everything done! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safr Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Awesome stuff and quite the undertaking. I'm sure you'll manage it in time. Might I ask what contrast colour the blue is? Is it two thinned coats of Talassar? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStreicher Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Makes me want to finish my whole undead range... cold, dead, grey plastic of 5k points.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 13 hours ago, Safr said: Awesome stuff and quite the undertaking. I'm sure you'll manage it in time. Might I ask what contrast colour the blue is? Is it two thinned coats of Talassar? Thanks, still a bit daunting, but about to put in a holiday request form for a couple of days holiday the end of the month, which should help! It is indeed Talassar Blue. Thinned with 1 part blue to 3 parts medium (I've filled a 24ml pot with the stuff) 12 hours ago, JackStreicher said: Makes me want to finish my whole undead range... cold, dead, grey plastic of 5k points.... I was about to say that's a massive amount of undead - until I realised that including this lot I'm probably lurking around the same points level 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 4, 2019 Author Share Posted July 4, 2019 Base colours got finished on these last night. They'll benefit from a wash of Agrax on the metallics, but my aim is to get everything up to this stage, do the bases and then I can add things like washes if I've time before Blackout. I've got the metallics down on 10 skeletons too, so belts and cloth on those and then onto the next 10. Unfortunately, I'm unlikely to get anything done over the next 4 days, which is a bit frustrating... I have also knocked out a spreadsheet plan at work on how I'm going to tackle things - it's looking unsurprisingly tight! What I'm hoping is that some things don't take quite as long. I've 3 contingency days (well 1 day and 2 evenings), and have blocked in 4 solid days for the Mortis Engine, which I'm hoping to knock out in less. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 I didn't manage to get round to an update last weekend as it was a fairly busy one. However I have been ploughing on with painting and happy to say that I'm slightly ahead of schedule! The group shot below still has a couple of things outstanding - the second Dreadblade Harrow and Reikenor, need the bone and details completing on their mounts and a bit of edge highlighting on their riders. Reikenor actually needs his metallics done too. The banner bearer in one group of skeletons needs his banner finished off and the second group of skeletons need their cloth painted - I'd like to use a different colour to try and differentiate them from the first group (but unsure what colour to do yet). Here is the one Dreadblade Harrow that is pretty much finished bar a couple of odd bits (highlighting the flesh & ribs and blending the blue on the back). Ultimately this is the sort of level I'll be pushing everything once it's all "battle ready". 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 Progress is still being made, although in dribs and drabs over the past couple of weeks. Thankfully life should settle a little for the next 2 weeks - which is good as I have to have everything finished in exactly 2 weeks time... I have managed to get the blues onto all 40 harridans and last night started on the hair. Don't get me wrong, this army doesn't stand up to close scrutiny - but looks pretty decent on from 3-feet away. It's also going to massively benefit when I can add some extra shading and highlights. I've done a grey streak on all of the hair and may on the second set of ten try a white streak - it's no extra work, but will add in some nice variety, which I feel the army lacks a little bit currently. By the end of the week I want to have the hair completed on all 40 Harridan (good job we're not experiencing a mini-heat wave in the UK). That frees me up for pretty much a 4 solid day run on the Mortis Engine and the details on the second Dreadblade Harrow and Reikenor followed by painting the bases on everything (which I'm really not looking forward to as I still don't know the colours to pick). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safr Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Looking good! Contrast seems to be doing it's job. I painted the flesh of 20 tzaangors in an evening with pretty much the same level of quality as I would have gotten in a week with my normal technique. Finding the right amount of contrast medium to paint ratio took some time though. Maybe a warm colour would work for the base, like martian ironearth or whatever it's called? Or perhaps it would contrast to much with the blue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Safr said: Looking good! Contrast seems to be doing it's job. I painted the flesh of 20 tzaangors in an evening with pretty much the same level of quality as I would have gotten in a week with my normal technique. Finding the right amount of contrast medium to paint ratio took some time though. Maybe a warm colour would work for the base, like martian ironearth or whatever it's called? Or perhaps it would contrast to much with the blue? Contrast paints have certainly helped get things painted quickly. I'd probably not say they're the same quality as my Grand Host army at present, the shadows need pushing with a purple and then edge highlights on everything. The medium ratio does require quite a bit of practice - I've certainly needed more test models than I've ever required before. I've tried a mournfang (drybrushed with beiges) for the earthy bit, but found the hue was just wrong. Will do a bit more experimentation - am sure I'll work something out! I also have all of the stonework & fences to paint up, which I'm hoping isn't going to take too long. Little worried the time available is rapidly disappearing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safr Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 I'd wager that your quality and my quality differs quite a lot. I'm just happy that my mountain of grey plastic is more of a mound now. And I can always go back and add details later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 On 7/26/2019 at 10:19 AM, Safr said: I'd wager that your quality and my quality differs quite a lot. I'm just happy that my mountain of grey plastic is more of a mound now. And I can always go back and add details later. I'm like a lot of people in that I'm hyper-critical on my own painting - far harsher than I would on other people. That's partly what this army is to help with, I spent a lot of last year trying to push my brush skills, but it resulted in me ultimately slowing down as I was trying to paint units up to a stupidly high standard. This lot has to be ready in a very short space of time, so I'm having to be a lot less fussy 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XReN Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) On 7/24/2019 at 9:51 AM, RuneBrush said: Progress is still being made, although in dribs and drabs over the past couple of weeks. Thankfully life should settle a little for the next 2 weeks - which is good as I have to have everything finished in exactly 2 weeks time... I have managed to get the blues onto all 40 harridans and last night started on the hair. Don't get me wrong, this army doesn't stand up to close scrutiny - but looks pretty decent on from 3-feet away. It's also going to massively benefit when I can add some extra shading and highlights. I've done a grey streak on all of the hair and may on the second set of ten try a white streak - it's no extra work, but will add in some nice variety, which I feel the army lacks a little bit currently. By the end of the week I want to have the hair completed on all 40 Harridan (good job we're not experiencing a mini-heat wave in the UK). That frees me up for pretty much a 4 solid day run on the Mortis Engine and the details on the second Dreadblade Harrow and Reikenor followed by painting the bases on everything (which I'm really not looking forward to as I still don't know the colours to pick). I swear, everyone in this hobby has this airbrush cleaning pot Edited July 29, 2019 by XReN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 Much better progress over the weekend and think I've sort of caught up with where I was hoping to be (still have today and most of tomorrow to paint). All 40 Harridan have now been done, bar a drybrush and the bases. I've also got the bottom section of the Mortis Engine done to the same level as everything else. It's a complete nightmare of a model to paint - so many things that get in the way and I made my life more difficult by painting it multiple colours! All things considered, I'm fairly happy with the outcome. I do think that this will really benefit from some glazed shadows and highlights - but that's for another day... It also dawned on me that I had a larger tray, so I've managed to get a much better "family photo" of the whole army. There's still a lot left to do - and there's the top section of the Mortis Engine, Reikenor and a Necromancer not on the tray 😭 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 1 minute ago, XReN said: I swear, everyone in this hobby has this airbrush cleaning pot Wouldn't surprise me 😂 I actually only use it when I'm cleaning nasty stuff out the airbrush (e.g. varnish) - normally most of the airbrush gunk gets chucked into the mug you can just see the edge of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 And Reikenor is done (bar the candles and base edge). Quite happy, although really looking forward to when everything is done and I can edge highlight him - should make a massive amount of difference! I've also worked out the colours to do the bases too, so at least know what I'm doing there on everything. I've also made a start on the actual Mortis Engine too, which for a while I didn't think I was going to get onto today. Hopefully a good run on it tomorrow should get that one done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Well yesterday really felt like an uphill struggle. I got the stone parts done on the top section of the Mortis Enging on Monday, but decided I really ought to crack into applying the base colours on all the bases rather than continue with the Mortis Engine. I'm slightly grateful I did because this took me pretty much 11 hours to achieve. Dawnstone over a while undercoat requires two coats and I've well over 90 models... The target for this is still next Tuesday evening (which includes packing the army into cases) - not going to lie, it's going to be tight, especially considering I've lost Saturday as a hobby day. If I don't hang around too much, I should be able to apply the washes onto the bases and metallics this evening, allowing me to drybrush tomorrow. I can then spend Friday sorting out the top of the Mortis Engine and Sunday doing the Guardian of Souls, Necromancers and Skeleton shields. The edges of the base I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in on Saturday when I get back (done using the airbrush, so it's just volume of models that'll slow me down). That also gives me Monday evening as a backup for when things go wrong and Tuesday to pack everything up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 I had a bit of revision on the plan I came up with on Wednesday and yesterday cracked on with the Engine part of the Mortis Engine and Horrorghast. Happy to say they're both pretty much finished, just the flames and reliquary to do on the Engine and that's it. Very much on the home stretch now although likely doing some late nights to get everything done. Tonight's revised job is the drybrushing on the bases, not the most exciting of tasks, but I now have Dawnstone as a dry paint which should help. Saturday evening is still to sort out the edges of the bases with the airbrush, hopefully a couple of hours work. Sunday is the day I really need to pull my finger out as I've three complete models to paint (two Necromancers and the Guardian of Souls) and the Reliquary (which is less work, but still needs some effort) - some of which isn't even undercoated. Which leaves me with the odds and sods on Monday - so cloth on the second unit of skeletons, flames and candles etc. Providing there aren't any major problems I should still be able to get this lot done in time to pack it away on Tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingwalnut Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 This is awesome to see such an excellent job done so quickly. Eager to see the army finished and VERY curious how the event goes! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted August 2, 2019 Author Share Posted August 2, 2019 2 hours ago, flamingwalnut said: This is awesome to see such an excellent job done so quickly. Eager to see the army finished and VERY curious how the event goes! Thanks! Hopefully not too long to wait for a big family pic 😉 I'll try and do a bit of a game review of how I get on at the event, I have absolutely no idea how I'll fare as I've zero chance of a practice game - embarrassingly, I've actually only played 2 games this year 😬 That said, I'm hoping to play at Warhammer Achievements in November (once the tickets go live) so going to treat Blackout as a practice run! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Happy to say that progress this weekend was a lot better than expected. I managed to not only drybrush the bases Friday evening, but also airbrush the edges and wash all of the metallics - something I hadn't even planned on doing this side of Blackout (and was still in bed by midnight). This meant that the rest of the weekend had a bit less pressure and I'm currently on target for getting everything ready to pack away this evening 😯 My list of items to do is the cloth on ten skeletons (going to do it to match the Necromancer robes). Glue all shields in place and paint the front (23 in total - but 18 of them just need a wash as I've picked the metal shields rather than ones with wood). Paint the flames (I still do not know what colour). Glue the Mortis Engine top section onto the bottom. Oh and drill some holes into a sheet of metal to allow me to cable tie it into my magna rack. It's going to be fairly tight, but if I can get it all done, should mean I have a few evenings chill before the weekend. I do need to sort out some paperwork, which is going to be a pain as the hard drive with all my files on appears to have died... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Napwnleon Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 This project is so great! I hadnt realised that the legion of grief were a thing before this - now I feel like I must expand my Nighthaunt into one! Keep it up please champ. Would be great to hear how they perform in game as well - especially as you have a number of units there which I have been eying up myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThalmorRepresentative Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 I absolutely love the shade of blue you use across the robes of all of your nighthaunt. It's really vivid and striking, combine that with everything else and you have an army of legendary ghosts here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuneBrush Posted September 6, 2019 Author Share Posted September 6, 2019 Have just realised I've not posted up the "Battle Ready" version of the completed army at some point! 15 hours ago, Napwnleon said: This project is so great! I hadnt realised that the legion of grief were a thing before this - now I feel like I must expand my Nighthaunt into one! Keep it up please champ. Would be great to hear how they perform in game as well - especially as you have a number of units there which I have been eying up myself. Thank you! It's certainly an army that I will be revisiting as time goes on and adding lots of new options (I've plenty more models that can be added). They really benefit from some edge highlighting, so that's certainly something that I need to do regardless - plus blue static grass and frost effects are calling for the bases 😉 From a game perspective I didn't fare that well at Blackout last month - however a huge portion of this was down to my own generalship (and forgetting a key model didn't help). I've written up a brief summary which goes more in depth on what I found. I'm attending Warhammer Achievements in a couple of months so hoping to do win at least a game there. Overall I'd say they require more skill than some point and click armies, but lots of potential if you can get some practise games in. 4 hours ago, ThalmorRepresentative said: I absolutely love the shade of blue you use across the robes of all of your nighthaunt. It's really vivid and striking, combine that with everything else and you have an army of legendary ghosts here! Thanks! It was much more striking on the table than what I normally play with and actually hasn't been too much of a chore to paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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