Frolmec Heads from Katsina miniatures

Hey folks, I hope everything's going for the best. I'm still in the middle of moving house so things are quiet on the painting desk and messy everywhere else but that should all come back in shape soon enough (famous last words)

Now just before packing everything up I had managed to knock a few of these gorgeous Frolmec Heads (see the pun ?) from Katsina Miniatures from their latest Kickstarter.

They are finely sculpted, paint up very well and fast and I reckon they make up for the kind of neat objective markers in games or just as scatter terrain to give an otherwordly feel to your setting.

I did get a set of absolutely fantastic frogmies from them and although I'm still pondering about what colour scheme I want for them, there's no doubt that they are exquisite models and I mean it. Cute, delicate, full of character, they're one of my next warbands for whatever game will have them ! Doti really outdid herself on those.

Now take a look at some of what Katsina have produced over time and tell me you don't wish for more ? 

 

Fogou Shack me up ! - More Junktown scenery

Hey everyone ! It's been a while but with summer vacations it's sometimes hard to find the opportunities to get to your brushes, I reckon many will know the feeling. I've had plenty of fantastic stuff on the desk however so I was eager to get it all done and show you !

Rogue Trader Ork Wartrak and Scorcher for Orctober !

 

Hey everyone ! So you know what month it is right ? It's freaking october, you heard that ? OrCtober !

And what do we do on ORCTOBER ? WE PAINT ORCS, THAT WHAT WE DO !
Now to be honest, I had a few hundred things to pick from if I wanted greenskins so I picked some of the models I've had for a while and which really tempted me, namely the wartrak (minus field gun) and Scorcher !

Negavolt Cultists - Blackstone Fortress

Hi everyone ! It's a weird time right now at home with some real life getting in the way but good stuff ! I have a fair few unblogged painted things so I'll try and clear the desk (and mind) of that unfinished business !
Keeping my 2021 resolution to finish the content of the core box of Blackstone Fortress, here are 4 new villains, the Negavolt cultists !

Since the traitor guards are coming soon, I wanted to test some speed painting techniques on those to gather a bit of XP. Almost all parts you see have had only 2 coats of paint with the exception of the red cables. It's either just contrast/highlights or glaze/wash or sometimes just one wash or contrast coat with the cables getting a wash and two highlights to make them pop a bit and the glowing parts getting 3 shades of red.
It's not spectacular from up close but at tabletop distance it's more than enough to get the effect working and that's where I'll try to go with the 34 cultists on the table right now.

Unlike the beastmen, those models are very samey-samey which is a pity, as a whole, I think the models from blackstone fortress are some of the most clever and neat design from the past few years and the combinations and variants you can find with the beastmen or psykers is excellent. I wish the negavolt cultists had got that sort of treatment bt they remain excellent models which really convey the right mood.

All in all, despite not looking at the box art, I've managed to get a very similar colour scheme, guess that's what suits them !

Anyway, they were fast and rewarding models to have done so I'm pretty chuffed, more to come soon so happy painting you all !

 

Stargrave Crew - Rogue Trader retinue

 

Hey all, so after a little summer break I managed to get a few things out of the workshop, some I can't show yet and some I just finished and need to get out of my system like this Stargrave band !

Now Stargrave has been out for a little time now and despite it being the game many of my friends and I awaited, I've found myself lacking deadlines and games prospects to fully dive into production.
I could obviously pick from the several bands I've painted over the years but you know how it goes, one needs something a little fresh and fancy !
With that in mind, I knew pretty much from the start (actually from before even getting the rulebook) I would want to make a band out of the most classic sculpts from the Rogue Trader era. There's a little modern intruder of course but he really seemed to be made for that band.

That's the sort of stuff I'm talking about !

Rogue trader Ork Nobz !

 

Hey everyone ! Sometimes a painter needs a little break and a good hobby hug in his comfort zone. Mine are definitely somewhere in the arms of Jes Goodwin models or Kev Adams's so after painting a lot of models from my desk and requirements for Blackstone fortress, I felt like fueling my mojo up with some classics and I opted for some bad ass ork nobz from Kev Adams. This will make my orkish force grow even more and the colours are a no brainer since I'll just replicate the same old recipes on this colourful project!

An invisible Menace ! - Crystal resin Ymgarl genestealer

 

Hey folks, here's an odd one again !

You might remember me painting a fan sculpt of Ymgarl Genestealer earlier, well I was lucky enough to get a clear resin cast of it !
How awesome is that ? Very much indeed.

Epic Imperator Titan - A youth achievement !

 

Well hello there ! Today's post is rather special because I'm ticking several items from the bucket list at once !
I'm on the verge of turning 40 and 1994 was a formative year for me in terms of music, comics and models but amongst a few gut punches, I remember Titan Legions was one of those obsessions for me along listening to Infectious Grooves :

The gigantic robots, the completely insane cover box, that was pushing all of young JB's buttons like few things had before. I had a love at first sight with warlord titans in the early 90's like any sane kid but I just never got a box of any and I decided to spend my limited funds on blisters of chaos goodness bit by bit.

Chaos Beastmen - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey everyone ! A little more Blackstone fortress again ! 

Those groups of 4 villains have been extremely rewarding lately, a great achievement/effort ratio and therefore perfect hobby mojo boosters so I've continued with the beastmen.

These guys might not look like the pick of the box amongst all the wonderful models available but I've quickly grown fond of them and how very smart the design is.

Amallyn Shadowguide, Asuryani ranger - Blackstone Fortress

 

Ok so still ploughing the Blackstone Fortress thread it seems and after finishing a few villains, I finally managed to get some of the colours I needed to finish Amallyn at last !

Note for later pandemics : you do NOT want to start a lockdown without some of the essentials like medium or some washes and you do NOT want to start with a colour when all your pots are partly dry...

Spindle Drones - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all ! So what do we have here today ? Well a few more opponents for Blackstone Fortress (there are still 75% left to paint out of that box so expect some more !)

So, spindle drones ! They're the enigmatic (so far, haven't played or read much, don't want spoilers please) sentries of the Fortress, pretty expressionless and yet intriguing and menacing. 

We know they're equally organic and mechanical but I wanted to make them look entirely different from the Ur-ghuls so went for something aged and military so to speak and what better inspiration than the great Hayao Miyazaki himself ! It might be a bit far fetched but that's what I had in mind anyway !

As you can see, there won't be anyone mistaking one villain with another !

I quite like working on those very small batches of villains, 4 of them are almost 10% of the content and it's a number one can paint rapidly enough !

Ur-ghuls - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all ! So I've finally managed to start paintig villains for Blackstone Fortress ! Yeah ! 

I'm totally nowhere near being able to play with fully painted models for now but that's still one step closer so I'm more than fine. To get the juices flowing, I thought I'd start with a group I could do real fast and with little hassle so I picked the Ur-ghuls.

Dahyak Grekh, Kroot tracker - Blackstone Fortress

Alright people, so here's a new character for BSF ! I've decided to look at the Xenos and prepared both Dahyak and Ammallyn but running out of some colours means Dahyak got to the finish line first !

This is the first Kroot I've ever painted and I have to admit I discover this race and their anatomy as I went. I have to say I quite fancy this understated pose and real pro look of him, there's the strong and silent type quality you find in Eastwood cowboy characters or a certain mandalorian.

Missionary Zealot Pious Vorne - Blackstone Fortress

Hey all ! So as promised, here's another model for my Blackstone Fortress set ! After painting Taddeus the purifier, it only made sense to paint his acolyte Pious Vorne ! I actually started painting them at once but focusing on finishing one after the other near the end.

Chaos Space Marine Librarian

Alrights folks, so an unexpected one today ! There's been a painting challenge on the Oldhammer FB page and the theme is #justthetwoofus, so basically paint a pair of models that have a connection of some kind.
It only took a few seconds for me to realise this could be the opportunity to cross another item off the Realm of Chaos army list so I picked this guy :

Epic Space Marine Army !

 

Hey everyone ! So I've been busy clearing the desk from all sorts of half finished projects to get some closure and free space !

Amongst the long term sources of guilt, my epic force (I'm not painting an army, my armies days are over). This started in 2019 and has been sitting on the corner of the table for too long a while !

It all started with a lot of motivation and the idea was to make the best of the 2nd edition space marine box (thanks to the generosity of a dear friend) and to give it a more modern take.

Ministorum Priest Taddeus the Purifier - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey all, so here's my 4th adventurer for Blackstone Fortress ! 

So far I've managed to keep my promise to paint something for the game every other post and I hope I can keep that balance for long enough !

Squeek ! - Giant Rats and rodents

Hey everyone, nothing real fancy today I'm afraid, since I'm clearing the desk of many WIPs, I found I had 13 rats based and ready and thought I could clear them pretty rapidly if I put my mind to it.

After all, that's the sort of thing a few drybrushes and some highlights should handle easily right ? Well I was actually right for once ! I just had to blue-tack them by groups on some old paint pots and here I was ready to paint a swarm of wait... 1,2, 3, 4...11, 12 and 13 ! Oh my (rat) god this has got to be a sign right ? I'm taking it as one anyway !

Imperial Navigator Espern Locarno - Blackstone Fortress

 

 

Hey everyone, so I'm still feelig good with the Blackstone Fortress characters so I've followed with the Imperial Navigator, Espern Locarno. It's a great figure and quite suprisingly one of the very few to not sport any type of weapon and in a very peaceful pose for someone dwelling in the grim darkness of a far future !
I have to say I'm pretty chuffed abot him because I didn't have a navigator painted until now so I believe it's a nice item ticked off the list !

Imperial Robot UR-025 - Blackstone Fortress

 

Hey everyone ! So new year's all about good resolutions right ? Well there's one I clearly didn't realise last year and it pains me a fair bit : painting the whole Blackstone fortress content !

I had only painted one model so far, Janus Draik, and that was more than a year ago ! Yeah I know...
So with a few lockdowns under the belt and probably a few more coming, I really want to up my coop game capacity and my interest for the game hasn't vanished so I need A PLAN.

Scythes of the Emperor Terminator Specialists

  

 Hey everyone! Happy new year to all ! I wish you all the best for this year and sincerely hope we get to shake hands and push little soldiers on the same table again soon !

Now how best to start a new year ? Well painting some models is definitely a winner and I guess clearing the desk is even better so I've set myself the goal to finish as many projects as I can from the desk and to give myself some milestones for some projects that haven't moved as much as I meant to during 2020, we'll see how this goes !