Re: All things Rogue Trader and Warhammer 40K (May 2022: SPACE DWARFS!)

[Sgt. Scream]

Thanks for the template on how to properly paint that old RT medic. Me wants moaaar.   

[Curis]

Thanks Oshiro!  Thanks Suber!  Thanks Sgt!

It was Christmas 1987, and Games Workshop celebrated the festive season by releasing two limited edition Space Marines (or “Spaced Out Marines” as the advertising called them).  I’ve painted the pair for my growing Crimson Fists force.

Crimson Fists, more like … Crimson Pisseds.

These castings came thanks to @DocRods – who’s been sending me an absolute surfeit of vintage beakies and 2000AD bits.  Thanks Doc!  A very merry Christmas to you, more of them appearing painted very soon.

The Battle Brothers have I FEEL FISTIVE and PUNCH DRUNK graffitied onto their armour.

The cigar-smoking Space Marine has a wisp of tobacco smoke sculpted onto his cheek, which other painters have misinterpreted as a casting worm to remove, or a facial scar to paint pink.

“Everyone! Let’s … hic… get (war)hammered!”

There are two varieties of plastic mk6. backpacks – identical except for the placement of the depressions where they attach to the Marine.   One hole is so high up that when mounted on the metal Rogue Trader Space Marines it looks like it’s sliding down his back – but on this one Marine it’s perfect for the drunken dishevelled feel.

The Crimson Fists stagger back from the Candlemas celebrations.  But who-ho-ho is lurking in the woodlands?

I’ve brought a pile of metal Space Marines away with me, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can post up some new squads, characters and vehicles.  Will 2019 be the year they can reach the critical mass of a workable army?

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Memories...

Nice job on those.

[Curis]

I normally have a cooling off period before I buy new Games Workshop releases, as every miniature is turbo-exciting on first reveal and owning all of them is impossible. But the new Genestealer Cult Locus is such an instant classic he was not only pre-ordered but jumped to the front of the painting queue.

The sentinel-like pose, with him resting nonchalantly on his weapon in a set of long hooded robes, is one of Citadel Miniatures’ time-honoured sculpting tropes. Chaos Dwarf Khazek Doomlord, Human Wizard Pedregar the Green and one Champion of Tzeentch have also appeared with it. There’s a cheeky little Genestealer tail poking out under the robes’ hem which tells you he’s more than human, and when you get round the back there’s a set of carapace ridges that make you wonder about what generation of Hybrid he is.

The shoulderpads I painted with a little Cult icon and a W so when you look at the miniature from above it spells out “CW” – my initials.

Not the actual Broodlord, but certainly the Lord of Looking Brooding.

Here he is on an advance casting of the Scrap Fort from Fogou Models, which is my ongoing major terrain project at the moment. I’ll be showing off the complete fort soon, and maybe using it as a rationale for growing the Genestealer Cult (can’t have just one Locus knocking about in such a large fort on his own).

As the Locus is 95% robes, he’s a great miniature for teaching the technique for painting cloth. The purple uses a “wet-blending” method that’s been photographed between stages from all angles and written up clearly and comprehensively, breaking down the theory, technique and colours used.

8 simple steps to perfect purple cloth.

It’s my seventh instalment in the Patreon tutorial series that’s proved really popular. Big thanks to last month’s new patrons Craig, John, Steve, Ben, Jason, David, Toby, Jamie, Victor, Dimitrios, André, Alan, Brian, Alexander and Philipe.

The Genestealer Cult range is dripping with great models, from homages to the original Rogue Trader range (the Nexos), and new character types (like the Locus and the Kelermorph) which mean my Cult will inevitably grow. Though I might take an oldskool detour with the vintage 1980s Throned Patriarch and some Bob Olley Hybrids. Watch this space!

[Ockman]

Amazing paintjob on an amazing mini!

All in all - awesome!

[blacksoilbill]

Yes, spectacular work on a fantastic miniature.

[tim in saskatoon]

Yeah, all those new Genestealer Cult characters were pretty exciting - I was tempted to pick up a few, and I don't even have any other GSC stuff!?

Fabulous job on the Locus!

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice work.

[Curis]

Thanks Ockman!  Thanks blacksoilbill!

Cheers tim.  Nice thing about buying character is they're "project complete" after just one.  And when you can find them at 20% off they're lovely pocket money purchases.

Cheers Ultra!

*********

With Space Marine players jumping for joy that the new Primaris miniatures get jump heavy weapons, I’ve jumped at the chance to do a Rogue Trader era squad – when jump heavy weapons were also a thing.

I regret not thinking of “JUMP THE GUN” as the armour graffiti for the squaddie with Heavy Bolter.

Stamped out in Warhammer 40,000’s second edition, and now only just reappearing 26 years later – Space Marines with heavy weapons could also select jump packs in a number of ways in the various army lists. Squad Taurasi have done it here by being a Tactical Squad upgraded to “Cobra Squad” status in the 1988 Book of the Astronomican army list – and the highly mobile lad on the far right is toting a Heavy Bolter.

Sergeant Taurasi’s graffiti reads “I SAY JUMP” and “U SAY HOW HI”, showing she’s the lady charge.

I had a lot of fun painting checks on the jump packs, to give the squad some visual interest, and distract from the assymetrically lumpen sculpting of these vintage Marine miniatures. This design of jump pack commands a high price on the collector’s market and is frequently pirated, meaning it’s taken years of patient hunting to source five genuine castings – so they’re worth lavishing the paitning time on.

Sergeant Taurasi is not actually a Space Marine miniature, but “Female Warrior Jayne” from the RT601 Adventurers range, meaning this blog counts as part of the Choose Your Own Adventurers series I’ve been doing with cheet0r and axiom. Recently, cheet0r has incorporated some of the Adventurer Cyborgs into his Necron army, and axiom has turned an Adventurer Pilot into a Buck Rogers homage – check ‘em out!

To spin Female Warrior Jayne as a sergeant she’s received a thigh-mounted helmet with rank stripe markings, and an an Imperial Eagle command trinket (in lieu of an unaerodynamic back banner) on her jump pack.

Squad Taurasi reinforcing the Crimson Fists battleline. Fort and towers coming soon from Fogou Models.

Squad Taurasi pushes my Crimson Fists force pleasantly closer to the initial 1000 points goal.

SQUAD
1 Marine Champion [9], Power Sword [7]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Power Axe [6], Bolt Gun [2]
16 POINTS

1 Marine [8], 2 Power Gloves [2*15]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Plasma Gun [5.5], Hand Flamer [2]
38 POINTS

1 Marine [8], Heavy Bolter [15], Targeter [5], 2 Suspensors [2*2]
32 POINTS

Basic Equipment (all models): Bolt Pistol [1.5], Jump Pack [2], Knife

• , Powered Armour [6] (with Communicator [0.5], Respirator [0.5], Auto-senses [0.5])

55 POINTS

TOTAL: 195 POINTS

If you’d like to learn how I paint Crimson Fists, I’ve photographed a Marine in between each step of the blue power armour process.

These steps broken down, with the techniques and theory behind them spelt out, the tutorial is available on Patreon.  The skills you’ll learn are transferable to all colours of power armour. The back catalogue of tutorials also covers white armour and brass armour – and will continue to expand every month.

Coming soon – some vehicles and support characters to round out this vintage Rogue Trader force. I’ve been painting a Missile Armour Dreadnought on the twitch, and also powering through the original metal Land Speeder, and collecting the glorious classic Techmarines. Stay tuned!

More of my miniatures at: https://www.ninjabread.co.uk/
Painting tutorials at: https://www.patreon.com/ninjabread

[Sgt. Scream]

Fantastic. I might steal the checker pattern idea for my own army of Crimson Fists 

[Suber]

This is pure love. Fantastic at so many levels.

[tim in saskatoon]

 

I... am at a loss for words to describe how totally magnificent this team of crimson fists are.

Wow.

WOW!

Well done, sir!

[Dr Mathias]

Wow, how did I miss this thread? I really like your high contrast style, beautiful.

[Curis]

Do it, Sgt. Scream!  My advice is to paint the checks before you attach the backpack, and paint the first checks on the rearmost part with the last checks tucked closest to the main body of the pack.

Cheers Suber!

Loads more Fists coming soon, tim.

Thanks Dr.!

The gaming table at Ninjabread HQ has a new centerpiece in the form of an absolutely giant space castle. This humungous 18″ x 18″ fortification dominates the desert landscapes of the far future – a rock solid bastion for miniature soldiers to defend. This is Fort Hardknox.

Over three hundred square inches of post-apocalyptic fortress chonk.

This giant resin kit came courtesy of Fogou Models. I got to paint and keep an advance casting of it in return for encouraging all of you to go and back its incredibly succesful Kickstarter campaign.

The Godbreak 84th garrison Fort Hardknox against Skabsquig’s Skallywags.

I’ve kept the paint scheme quite neutral so I can deploy it on the table for games of Strontium Dog, Warhammer 40,000, Judge Dredd, Doctor Who, Necromunda et cetera. It perfectly suits Mad Max, Fallout, Gorkamorka and anything with a post-apocalyptic flavour.

Psycho Sam claiming Fort Hardknox for the glory America.

The Psycho Sam miniature was the event exclusive from the Oldhammer USA Weekend that Grove kindly gifted me. Asslessman, Lopez and Sean have all already painted this miniature in the red white and blue of the American flag, so to out-patriot all of them I modelled mine holding an actual American flag.

Republicans! Sportsmanship! Books!

There’s a gallery of yet more Psycho Sams in the Oldhammer Community.

Asslessman, axiom and cheetor have all painted their own advance castings of Hardknox. The four of us have been comparing notes, swapping photos and bickering about whose painting approach is the best for months now. There’s talk of us combining our forts into one truly giant structure that would be big enough for the smallest of us (cheetor) to sleep inside.

Fort Hardknox painting by Doti of Katsina Miniatures.

And finally, don’t forget to check out the Fogou Kickstarter, ending today!

More of my miniatures at: https://www.ninjabread.co.uk/
Painting tutorials at: https://www.patreon.com/ninjabread

[Curis]

It was competition time again over at the Oldhammer Community. The friendly neighbourhood Jeany-Bap-Baps challenged hobbyists to paint miniatures sculpted by the great Bob Olley, and have them judged by the Lord our Bob himself. I couldn’t resist, and so I created this mini-diorama.

"Yeah! Smash the patriarch-y!"

Bob Olley was one of the key contibutors to the nascent Warhammer 40,000 range, and he sculpted a huge portion of the Squat range that I’ve loved collecting, painting and gaming with through the years.

Olley-days are coming. Olley-days are coming. Olley-days are coming.

The Squat Berserker isn’t actually one of those original Rogue Trader miniatures, but a hyper-limited edition that Bob sculpted for a tiny indie manufacturer that’s since disappeared. I was hoping its extreme rarity would mean everyone who saw my painted casting would HAVE THEIR MINDS BLOWN with the novelty.

The original concept art for the Fantastic Miniatures limited edition.

Only not. The first bloke I showed mine to simply said, “Yeah whatevs, looks like the one I did.” Screw you, Paul. Screw. You.

Not only that, but turns out his blogpost features loads of other cool indie manufacturers’ Squat miniatures that he also painted before I did mine. Sho3box is exactly the kind of person that turns up to cool parties wearing the same Decepticon logo shirt as you. And with the girl you were hoping to ask out already on his arm.

A sample of sho3box’s trailblazing indie Space Dwarf collection.

Curis’s woefully derivative imitation collection.

So I had to push further to ensure novelty, and modelled the Slayer standing over another Olley sculpt – an original Citadel Miniatures Genestealer Patriarch. I sawed that huge lead torso diagonally in half, and chopped apart and resculpted the limbs until I was satisfied the Patriarch was looking sufficiently collapsed, defeated, and bleeding out into the cold metal grille of the base.

The Patriarch’s tounge lolling out of his head helps sell the, “Argh! Thus I die!” vibe.

It’s also the second Genestealer model I’ve painted recently, the first being a Locus for a wet-blended purple cloth tutorial for Patreon supporters. Check it out here!

Squats from the Furnace Valley Brotherhood coming together to battle the Genestealer menace.

Over forty people made it to the finishing line in the Oldhammer Community‘s Olley competition, and we wait with baited breath to see who Bob judges the best. (If it’s sho3box, I’ll explode.)

More of my miniatures at: https://www.ninjabread.co.uk/
Painting tutorials at: https://www.patreon.com/ninjabread