Monday 29 February 2016

Smells like Kev Spirit


Look, I've said it before but I'm not exactly a great orc lover here. I know I've said it a fair few times already but I keep coming back to painting some now that I've started a couple years back for orctober.
Thing is, I still wouldn't want to have a huge force of them in any game nor would I even want to play them that much but for some reason I feel compelled to having a force of them for my games.
Since this year, I've started to make warbands of all sorts for fantasy just like I used to do for Rogue Trader. That means when I saw a sale on the Oldhammer forum with plenty of cool orcs from Kev Adams, I took the opportunity to scratch the itch.

Now you will have noticed all models are missing their tab... That's a little annoying.
It is annoying and hard to understand since the model were just glued on their original square bases but it's also annoying because that means extra time spent...

Now since my good friend the One exposed his way to fix this issue, I thought I'd show my way to do things as well. It's pretty much the same with just a twist to save a step (because I'm that lazy really).

First step was to painfully drill and pin the feet of all models (at least all the feet standing flat on the base). I mean painfully because believe it or not I still drill with a hand tool and still haven't replaced the power drill that I broke some 10 years ago...

2nd step is to fill that useless hole in the bases (Hexes since those are meant for Skirmish warbands).
Just a bit of paper and PVA glue really, you don't need much since the sand and glue on top will be more than strong enough.


Next step is to drill holes in the bases to receive the pins (I cut the pins to the same size so I just have to put them on the base and move them a little to leave a little mark. I can then insert the pins and bend them to hold the base and then drown them in super glue :



Now you might remember my little Mordheim at the beginning of the month... well I came back with very good memories but also with some cool and fresh lead and amongst it I got some funky lead shields sculpted by the guys ! I think you'll agree they look splendid and old school with the perfect nod towards Kev Adams and Fraser Grey !
Couldn't ask for better shields really ! I strongly advise you to have a look at their ranges of cool models all sculpted by talented folks the name of whom you'll recognise in no time ;)


Shields from Uscarl Miniatures
Here are the shields on the models, just the right size I find :



So here's the prepared and based band ! Without stripping, the preparation and basing on all 7 must have taken me like a good hour, an hour not spent on painting them so please, please, try and think about friends when you remove tabs for no reason !



I've never been much of an orc fan but the Gorfang Rotgu model always had this little special vibe that I like with almost a Blanche style. I'll go the Blanche way on these by the way, loads of red and checkers, want to emphasise the silly and messy side of them. This should be fun, We'll see how to shoehorn them into a game afterwards ;)

I hope you'll forget this occasional post without any painted lead but I'm quite motivated by this little group. I think I'll have to find them the right ogre to fit with them, I have plenty of choice here so I'll make sur eto pick the right one.

As for what's coming next, well, I feel in a Heavy Metal mood these days, that should reflect on my output ;)


34 comments:

  1. It makes me happy to see all these guys lined up ready for some Assless love - your style combined with Kev's, there's going to be some magic in the air...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gorfang has been on my radar for long now, he's like the Ghazkull of fantasy but I actually like him more than his 40k counterpart. He's the perfetct sum-up of what I want to find in orcs. A little sophistication with sillyness and brutality on top.

      Delete
  2. Great tip about the PVA + paper. One of those things that once it's been pointed out to you, you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. :(

    I have a different obsession though - I put my figures on square bases, and insist that they face the front, none of this diagonals for ease of ranking up! And I won't cut the tab off, which means lots of time hacking around at the base. I'd love to be able to base 7 miniatures in 1 hour! :)

    And by the time I've finished the base does probably need the reinforcement of the Milliput I use to fill the tab hole.

    Looking forward to seeing paint on these, especially if you're going full Blanche.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me, i've done my fair share of square basing, cutting bases to fit the tab and needing to strengthen the bond with epoxy glue (those damn chaos warriors, so pretty and fun to paint but so desperately impossible to rank). I fully agree with the model facing forwards and have had to find tricks to make that work. The first was to use plain bases and make my own holes and then rank them on different lines even within the same rank. This leaves room and makes the unit look deeper so pretty much a double win. I also plan a given ranking and then mark the posistions underneath to rank them up rapidly on the table.
      By gaming a little with the Hexes, I've found it more convenient to have the model face the side rather than face a corner so I've had to adjust the new ones

      Thanks a lot Paul, I'm eager to get working on these duys !

      Delete
  3. I can't believe I've never seen or thought of the idea of bending the pins over when pinning miniatures to a base, I've spent the last few years vein frustrated trying to snip them down to a suitable length without mangling the edge of the base with my clippers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aha, we all learn everyday ! I'm a civil engineer and building something resilient is almost an OCD for me now so bending it is ! I quite like to see how we all come up with our own solutions for modeeling. Painting is usually well covered but some simple things are usually learnt on our own and ar every personnal to each of us.

      Delete
  4. Thanks for the nod JB :)

    That's a nice little tip with the paper there. But usually I don't bother trying to cover the hole prior to basing. I find that if I fill the bastard with enough PVA and basing material it'll cover just fine.

    I like this warband JB, small enough & with enough character to be a fun little addition to your collection. I'm looking forward to your Blanche painting scheme on them.....he's signature red & checkers never get's old does it.

    It just dawned on me too, that those hex bases have an additional benefit to the square one's...helping you to rank up largish or awkward minis!

    cheers JB.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers man, I usually don't mess that much with paper as I usually base the modls forst and then just throw a little bit of paper over the PVA before adding more glue and my sand. In this case, it did look more convenient to just cover everything and have a neat surface to work from, that paper covering only took like 10 minutes so not exactly time consuming given the number of models. I usually use fine sand so covering with basing material can be tricky.

      Hex are convenient for you can chose the apparent width of it and it does offer a little extra space for big bloks like Rotgut ;).
      Oh and no, Blanche's red and checkers never get old !

      Delete
  5. Simple and effective, like all the best ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh great job! Loving all those orcs! It's cool because I just made a few hunts some months back on ebay just making a selection of the coolest orc models from the first orc fantasy range (mostly champions and such) to have a very characterfull warband where every member is very different and special.
    Now if we can just have a full "greenskins warbands" game......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly I wasn't too picky for these, I just wanted rotgut badly and the others were pretty cool too (and cheap). I would have picked others if I had the choice but they're more than good already. Just need to figure out which ogre I want the most for them ;)

      Delete
  7. Looking forward to these you naughty boy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some good faces on those and plenty of details to work on; this will be fun !

      Delete
  8. Love the Rotgut model as well. Wish I hadn't eBayed mine years ago!

    Something I do sometimes, instead of bending the pin, is to mix up some heavy duty putty and putty in some lad weights under the base, using the potty to both hold the pound and the weights. Especially if it's a top heavy model.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do that too, last thing you want is top heavy models falling and paint chipping from the nose and all (when not worse).

      Delete
  9. While I fill the empty holes in my bases too, I never took time to pin my models. Yet, I have some very heavy metal models, until nom, my glue never disappointed me.
    Hope I won't have to change my mind any time soon. Yet, the simple and efficiend "pin and bend" method will remain in some remote corner of my head should I need to strenghten my bases in the coming days :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never trusted any glue. I've had too many heart aches because of glues really. Only parts I don't pin are plastic to plastic, otherwise I'll pin. If I don't and something bad happens I'll just have to hate myself otherwise !
      Some (normal) people do seem to be able to get away with gluing only though !

      Delete
  10. There's a lot of 90's sword waving going on there! Not a massive fan of the sculpts, except the guy clutching his club, but I'm sure you'll reveal the missing beauty of these to me when you apply some colour.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those poses aren't really great I agree, and teh club wielding one is definitely the best pose wise, tha tsaid I like Rotgut and his flock for this reason too, it's a bit comedical and theatralic really, it's really meant to say "look at us, we're the villains" (and to fit in a mould easily).
      I don't really find them that appealing apart from teh boss but I do feel a strong urge to paint tem if that makes any sense !

      Delete
  11. Oh, come on! How cannot you love Orcs like these? Looking forward to seeing them painted!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do love them but they're not exactly a crush, more like something I want to try, I would probably get tired of more really. Just need to clear a few things first. ;)

      Delete
  12. Cool stuff - looking forward to seeing some paint on them. Orcs/Orks are the archetypal fantasy bad guys... everyone needs some!And it is infuritating when tabs have been removed for no good reason!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are, I agree, and those have just the right look on their faces !

      Delete
  13. Any plans to build a Mike McVey style banner for Gorfang?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I'm not sure I want to give back banners to my charecters, I don't exactly enjoy freehands and back banners are always sort of a weak part of the model (too prone to breaking). I'll give the standard bearer something fancy but that should be all I'm afraid.

      Delete
  14. Ha, a little while ago I bought Gorfang, that Standard Bearer and the Shaman from Lair Of The Orc Lord to use in either Dungeon Crawling or perhaps the start of an Orc contingent for my languishing, 3/4 done Night Gobbos.
    Great minds think alike and all that :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great minds for sure, I'm looking forward to seeing your take on those bad boys now !

      Delete
  15. the most beutifull miniatures ever made bay Games Workshop. Im lovit this models!!! enjoy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amongst th emodel released at this particular time I'd say they're amongst the best yeah, they sure do look like a fun bunch to paint !

      Delete
  16. I don't really like orcs myself. They aren't much to look at to be honest. But for some reason I find myself drawn to painting them too. In fact the only two armies I have from GW are Chaos and Orcs. It's so weird. Anyways ... I'm really looking forward to you working your magic on these orcs as the details they posses are really cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Funny isn't it ? It's sort of the same for music, the music you like listening to might be different from the one you like playing ! Anyway, they're here to get painted and that's what they're getting !

      Cheers ;)

      Delete
  17. Super curious about what ever happened to this guys? :O
    Did they saw some paint in the end?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not yet but I'm not forgetting them ! I will get round to them for sure !

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...