Hobby Objectives 2014/2015

Hi all,

Doc here to set out my hobby objectives for the year and finalise my painting points for 2014.  Last year I didn't set any objectives but got 4 months into the year and realised my rate of buying was significantly outweighing my painting progress.  At this point I decided to introduce painting points from 1st April 2014 and finally blogged about it on the 10th May.  The original post can be seen here.

In a nutshell the introduction of painting points worked in terms of slowing down my spending! However, I still haven't been that productive imo on the painting side and I will explain why in more detail later.

From the 1st April 2014 to the end of the year I achieved the following:

27 X 25mm round base models ( 11 enforcers, 2 pts for 6 objective markers, 14 death guard marines)
1 X 40mm round base model painted ( Enforcer leader)
1 X 60mm round base model painted ( Thunderwolf Space Wolf Lord)
2 X Character models painted ( Inquisitor and Rune Priest)
3 X Tanks or bigger (Imperial Knight, Eldar flyer, Contemptor Dreadnought)

I note I have not showcased all the death guard stuff I've done something I will sort in the first few weeks of 2015.  All in all not a bad list you may say however, I started all of the following and not finished them:

Land speeder storm
5 scouts
5 sniper scouts
Defiler
Forge fiend
Warp talons
Sternguard
SM bikes
2 X Drop pods
1 X manufactorum tile
2 X realm of battle tiles
Calas typhon

This list might not be exhaustive but it illustrates a clear problem no focus!  I blogged about this earlier in 2014.  So objectives for 2015 are to get some of the above finished!  I can rack a lot of painting points by finishing started projects.  This should then allow me to play some games with my death guard as space marines in 40K.

I also have a list of not started but purchased for 2015:

15 iron armour death guard marines.
Legion devastator squad
2 x storm talons
1 x tesseract ark
1 x storm wolf

I have two big things I would like to purchase in 2015 a spartan assault tank and a cerastus knight Acheron.  These will both require a significant number of painting points but I am aiming high.

Blog objectives are simple for me a minimum of 1 post a month from me I have worked out 5 blog posts based on upcoming projects and events.

Lastly gaming objectives for 2015:

2 more games in the return to code40k campaign
15 games of 40k
4 games of warhammer fantasy

I start 2015 with a -£23.50 hobby fund but I am confident this will turn round in short order.  I'm interested in particular what projects other code members intend to get after this year and in general how other hobbiests go about planning a hobby year.

That's all for now folks please comment with your thoughts?

Cheers

DOC

Forgemas 2014 - Pre Heresy Death Guard Mortis Pattern Contemptor Dreadnought Showcase

Hi All and Happy New Year,

My forgemas entry was completed a couple of weeks ago but with family time and other commitments I have not got round to putting it up here.  I feel this model is my first model where all of the techniques for weathering I've been learning in the last few months have been put to use on one model.  I use sponge weathering first attempted on my Imperial Knight. Weathering powders both wet and dry.  I also used weathering liquids for the first time to apply a rust affect to rivets.  The idea with the weathering liquid is to show where the water would run and create a rust streak.   I'm really happy with the finish and glad the forgemas event came along to get this model finally finished!

Anyway on to the pictures:

As always comments and constructive criticism is most welcome.  This model has added a further 10pts to my painting points total (shown on the right hand side of the blog)

I have lots of projects up and running so will be looking at a high number of posts from me in the coming weeks.

Thats all Folks

Doc out

Forgemas 14: Sevrin Loth and Honour Guard Part 2

I have completed the base coats of the main colour areas and done some of the shading on the yellow. Unfortunately I thought I had taken more photos throughout the painting process, but I can only find these 3.

Here is Loth.

I am happy with the way the armour is going. I may need to but a thin blue glaze over it to tone it down. I am always worried that my highlights look too much so I normally ER on the side of caution. This time I am going a bit brighter to see how it works.

The honour guard are also going well. My only criticism of the kit is that the legs are a bit plain. Maybe GW will upgrade the command squad kit or release a specific honour guard kit which has a bit more blingy models. I know the current standard kit is available but that is specifically Ultramarines.

Finally I have started the banner.

Forgemas 14: Treasures from the Lions Vault

Say what you will about the first legion, but when it comes to big shiny toys, we've got lots of stuff hidden away!

As some of you know, The Dark Angels are my favourite army. I collected them when I was younger and started collecting them again when I returned to the hobby years later and since I've been back I've wanted a dirty great centre piece to my army. Something to throw down on the table and let my opponent know I was serious (this probably explains my love of imperial Knights tbh.....). 

Anyhow....

Fellblade......

Wow. Wanted one since I first saw it on the forge world website and after a busy year decided to treat myself at this years Warhammer Fest. Unfortunately they had actually sold out by the Sunday but offered to ship new one with no postage charge if I paid on the day. Which saved me the hassle of carrying it around all day!

Honestly - when this arrived I was kinda sceptical about being able to assemble it with any degree of quality..

Because it's frankly massive..

But I've persevered, cleaned it all back, washed and primed the surfaces and attached magnets to the side sponsons to help with transport etc and over the last coulple of weeks have made some serious progress in getting the colours down. However the size of the model is making life slow going, any amount if time spent working on it seems to just get lost and after a painting session (I only really get a couple of hours at any one time) nothing actually seems to have happened.

Ultimately I'm treating this beast 1 section at a time, completing each piece and then moving onto the next. The turret is now basically finished apart from weathering powders and such and the side sponsons are about as complete as I can get them. I've started to work on the main body now and will update with my progress in a week or so .....

Thanks for reading :) 

Tom

Forgemas 14: Sevrin Loth and Honour Guard Part 1

I only have one Forgeworld model (the Grey Knight Dread from last year’s tale), which was a gift from Hypaspist many years ago which came to me assembled and base coated.

This tale will be a bit of a learning experience for me on how to manage Forgeworld models.

I placed my order and waited a week for the bits to turn up. I was very surprised with what I got. Along with Loth and the guard’s bodies I got a complete command squad. When you factor that in then the price of Loth is quite reasonable.

The first thing that I did was clean off the excess resin and checked that the parts fitted together correctly. Then I cleaned the parts using warm soapy water and an old toothbrush. Once they were completely dry I started to assemble them. I have decided that his time I will leave the arms off the models so I can paint all the chest plates and other normally hard to get to details. I added some extra purity seals and also i am using some spare sternguard bolters.

I have also put Loth on a larger base (40mm). I think it gives the character models a bit more presence.

Once they were assembled I gave them a black undercoat.

After the undercoat I have them all a light dry brush in a dark grey. This brings out the details of the model and gives them a subtle edge highlight. Loth was given a base of Ultramarines blue.

That is it for part one, I have got a bit further with the models but I will save that for part 2.