Painting Flame Bearer models from Mantic Games for Kings of War Vanguard

The next models to hit my paint table for Nick's New Year's Painting Challenge and my Abyssal Warband are some Flame Bearers from Mantic Games.

These models are considered grunts in the rules and will not only give me cheap troops, but also give me some ranged attacks for my warband.

I wasn't sure about the flame on these models, but I think it turned out well and adds some nice color to the models.

What do you think?

Painting Lower Abyssal models from Mantic Games for Kings of War Vanguard

I've shown off the models I got from the recent Kings of War Vanguard Kickstarter and now I want to actually paint some of them.

A fellow YouTuber that I watch, IDICBeer 40K, has a painting challenge going on that I will use to keep me motivated on this project.  I don't really have a deadline to finish, but I plan to work on the models from the Abyssal Warband until I get them all painted.  I might take a week or two for other projects, but I'll keep plugging away at these until they are finished.

First up for this project are the Lower Abyssal models.  These serve as grunts in this warband and will serve as cheap cannon fodder.  They were also test models for the color scheme.  I like the look and will use this color scheme throughout the warband.

What do you think of the skin tone?  That is kind of the defining attribute of these models.

Painting Tin Men Fleet from Ravenstar Studio

A few years ago I painted a fleet of ships for a charity auction at a game convention out East.  I volunteered to paint another fleet this year and was give a fleet of Tin Men ships from Ravenstar Studio.

These ships have a robotic crew, so I wanted to make sure they had a look that matched that idea.  In my head, this group of ships has been assigned a guard post in a distant nebula and have been stationed there for millennia.  The constant exposure to the corrosive elements in the nebula have taken their toll on the ships and they show the wear and tear.  (I know this may not make scientific sense, but it sounded good in my head).

The ships have interesting designs and I was happy with the paint scheme.  I hope whomever won them at the auction enjoy them and put them to good use.

Painting a Balrog for Lord of the Rings

I've had this Balrog model sitting on my shelf, half finished, for many years.  With the release of the new edition of the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, I thought it was time to get this painted for use with my Moria Goblins.

I did a little modification by removing the flames from the back of the model.  I just used modeling putty to fill the gap and then molded it to match the rest of the lava like surface.

I'm very happy with the results of this model.

I picked up some Frigian Ice Trolls from Battle Valor Games a while ago.  I finally got around to painting these up.  These are great looking models that were easy to paint.  I went with a blue paint scheme to fit the ice troll theme.

I will use these for a variety of games and a couple different armies.  My Frigians (Norse-type warriors) will ally with them for sure, but I can also use them in a beastmen army or they can just serve as monsters in other armies.

Painting Stompas from Games Workshop

Epic Warhammer 40,000 holds a special place in my heart.  The models are fantastic and the scale allows you to play truly "epic" battles.

With the new release of Adeptus Titanicus from Games Workshop, I decided I need to dust off some of my old models and paint a few things up.  The new edition uses a different scale and currently only has Imperial forces (loyal and traitor), but I figure I can use my old models and make some adjustments to use Orks and Eldar as well.  I will probably just use the rules as written and substitute some appropriate Ork (or Eldar) models for the battle.

First up in this project were a few Stompas that could serve as knights in Adeptus Titanicus.  These can also just be used as themselves in my existing Ork army that I can use for Epic 40k, LaserStorm, Future War Commander, Horizon Wars, or any other game I decided to use them with.

Kings of War Vanguard - Unboxing the Giant Pledge

You may not know this, but I really like miniature games.  I have a lot of miniatures.  I mean A LOT of miniatures.  I'm sure that if you are reading this blog, you also have your own collection.

My problem is that even though I already have piles of miniatures, I can't seem to turn down new miniatures.  When Mantic Games announced their Kickstarter for Kings of War Vanguard, my ears immediately perked up.  I ended up backing at the Giant pledge level which gave me models for 4 factions and an awesome giant model.  There were about 100 models all told, plus a variety of terrain.  As it turns out, there are some really nice models included.

I still have not played the game, but I am currently working on painting the abyssal war band.

Here is a sneak peek at my paint scheme.  Videos on how I paint these models will be posted in the future.

Below are videos showing off the models that came in the Kickstarter.

Unboxing the Abyssal Warband and Giant Model

Unboxing the Nightstalker Warband and Blaine Mercenary

Unboxing the Basilean Warband

Unboxing the Northern Alliance Warband

Unboxing the Scenery Pack

Painting Stone Walls from Mantic Games Terrain Crate

Terrain is an important aspect of any miniature game.  I have a reasonable collection of 28mm models and I'm always looking for things to add to my terrain collection.

Several months ago, Mantic Games had a kickstarter for several Terrain Crates.  Each option gave you terrain for a different table top theme.  I went in with a friend and we got 3 of the crates.

The first models from these crates to hit my paint table are these stone walls.  Linear terrain is great because is breaks up line of sight and movement without taking up a big footprint on the table.  It can also provide models a defensive location (maybe with some bonuses) depending on the scenario being played.

These models are well detailed (if a little bent) and will work for a variety of games.

Building a better paint rack

If you've painted miniatures for long, you probably have collected lots of paint bottles.  I've got more than I would like to admit, but still not as many as some of you.

Either way, I needed a better way to store them.  I want to have them easily accessible and still be able to see what color I'm grabbing.  I used to have a couple of MDF paint holders which were great, but as my paint collection has grown, they are full and I want to get more paint in the same space.

My wife gave me an idea about using cut PVC pipe for my bottle of Army Painter and Vallejo paints.  This doesn't work for GW's pots, but I don't have a lot of them so this works for the majority of my paints.

I cut the PVC into 1 3/4" lengths and glued them together.  These hold about twice as many bottles as the MDF holders I previously had, but take up the same amount of space on my shelf.

This is an easy project that anyone can do.

Army Showcase - Epic 40K Space Marines

I've always been a fan of Epic Warhammer 40,000.  The models are great and you can play massive games in this scale without losing the ability to maneuver.

I've got a fair amount of models painted for my Space Marine army and after watching an army showcase video on a fellow YouTuber's channel, I thought I would show off my army.

Here you can see my painted Space Marines.  I need to paint more for sure, but this is still a nice looking force (if I do say so myself).

Predators 

 Dreadnoughts

 Razorbacks

 Devastator Squads

 Land Raider and Terminators

 Bikes and Attack Bike

 Assault Squads

 Tactical Squads

 Land Speeder

 Hunter

 Rhino

 Vindicator

 Whirlwind

 Commander

Sub-Commander

I will do another army showcase soon showing off my Epic 40K Orks.

Paint Pathfinder Models for the Rolling Meeple

A fellow YouTuber reached out to me and asked if I would paint some models for him and his wife to use on their channel for play through videos of The Pathfinder Adventure Card Games.

They picked out the models and had them shipped to me and I put some paint on the models.

I think they turned out pretty well and I think Kyle and Katrina were also pretty happy with them.

Pathfinder Model Sneak Peek

Painting Pathfinder Iconic Character Harsk

Painting Pathfinder Iconic Character Lini and Droogami

Painting Pathfinder Iconic Character Damiel

Painting Pathfinder Iconic Character Adowyn

Do you trick out your board games?