What! No batreps? What have I been doing?

 Well....mostly, when I haven't been dealing with RL issues, I have been creating and painting.For various reasons I have not had the opportunity to play any games recently.The fate of Khabaal and his warband must remain a mystery for a few weeks more. There are at least two more tales to tell in his story. How will he fare escorting the second two Mumaks, and what will happen when the full Empire Army reaches Minas Tirith? In the words of Hakkim Bahaad we will have to wait and see. 

Maen while, I have completed my new Khabaal model and his faifthul companion Dhalmud 

Here he is. With this close up I can see that his helmet does not quite sit equally on its rim , which is a bit disappointing, little I can do now but file it in the "remember for next time" file in my head.

His new cloak looks nice, the swan remnant from Imrahil's helm can be seen hanging at his neck and overall I am pleased with him.

The individual differences that reflect the adventures he has had somehow help to bring his character to life.

I wish him well in his next adventure, when ever that may be. 

Here's fafthul side kick Dhalmud! I like this figure, it has a nice animation

It has a heroic build and stands out on the gaming board

these are Mierce Freawulfas.I was lucky enough to buy them in an "end of line deal"

I painted them usinga  "dry brush from black up" technique , I was hoping to catch the effect of moonlight reflecting on their fur

I picked out scars with a flesh colour

they were a right bugger to put together and had deep cast lines that I struggled to get out even with deep filing

I made little "ruffs" of fur at the joints

a few light washes to eye area and armpits

they are huge beasts and weigh a ton

probably too big to look good with riders

I am happy with them , they certainly look fierce

Mierce wulfas, part of the same deal

There are ten of them

They are quite nice 

They are slightly too small to carry riders I feel, although I might try with some titchy gobbo types

I painted the kit bashed orcses

the little ones are Wargames Atlantic halfling bodies

They are part of my slowly building Orc "No Two the Same!" Army 

Perry Wars of the Roses Torso and helm, Gripping Beast Anglo Dane axes and arms, Wargames Atlantic orc legs, Hassle-free goblin head

hassle free head, Perry Helm, trunk Oath mark, WA legs, GW orc shield

GB Viking body Perry Helm, Oath mark head Oathmark arms, GB shield

Oathmark body and arms Hassle-free head Perry Helm I dont know where the shield came from but I would like more of them

WA halfling body, Oathmark arms, GW Rohan helmet, Hassle-free face

WA halfling body WA orc arms adn bow, Hassle free head GB Arab cavalry helmet

WA halfling body, WA orc arms, Oathmark goblin head GB Arab cavalry sword

WA orc legs and arse, Oathmark goblin wolf rider torso, WA orc arms, Oathmark Gobbo head, axe a cut down Perry bilhook

Oathmark Gobbo body, right Arm GB Anglo Dane, left arm GB Saxon upper, Frostgrave soldier hand, finger cut from tip of bow, Hassle-free head, Perry helmet

I think of this guy as "the Sarge"

He's not quite officer material, a grizzled veteran 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Burrow Worm for playing Rangers of Shadowdeep 

Carved from XPS with some sculpted green stuff

Finally, here's Bilbo

This will be a Christamas present for my daughter

I suspect he will be used as an "archivist" in Rangers of Shadowdeep

Im going to create a front door step display stand for him

I am very happy that you can see his ring!

Kitbashing

 

Kit-bashing!!

It hasn’t all just been fun and games here in the World of Spleens, oh no, there is also model building, terrain construction, figure painting and of course, kit bashing! Research into which head fits whose body and what axe works best with which shield and what manufacturer has the best figures for which conversion project continues and when the dice stop rolling the hobby knife gets cutting, the green stuff gets stuffing and the glue gets sticking. It’s a positive factory of kit-bash!

It’s compulsive, I can’t help myself, put any two plastic models down next to each other and I am instantly considering possibilities.

Take these two for example.

When I was looking for models to create an Orc War Beast I found these two toys and immediately started to consider the options

The expression on his face alone was worth it!

add some green stuff

 

add some more, some strapping, some large spinal scales and a tail

Large beast projects are fun! Subtle they are not; a razor saw is essential kit and a BIG pot of green.

The rubbery plastic is surprisingly detailed and easy to cut, tricky to glue, I don’t bother, I use large bore copper wire to fix and fill with green stuff.

What do you call a cross between a dinosaur and a rhinocerous?

Rhinosaurus is born

He just needs a wobbly wooden structure tied on with rope and chains and lots of kitbashed orcses to hang from them

Face Off! A SBG ME Ranger stripped of face, arm and some other bits

Face from a Gripping Beast Heavy Arab Cavalry man, use a new blade!

Fix face to head with tiny smear of super glue 

Add a small belt quiver and a blow pipe cut from a spear shaft , small slots cut along its length with razor saw, end drilled out with tiny 0.3 mm drill bit and pin vice and a suitably vicious curved knife-ta dah! Assassin!

The Making of a Hero The leader of my Sothron Empire Battle Company, Khabaal, has had an interesting campaign and has done very well, so I thought it would be a good idea to give him a more distinctive (and better) model. The body is from Victrix Anglo Dane, I want him to have greaves like all my other Easterling axe men, hence the Victrix Carthaginian warrior legs, the axe and arms are Frostgrave Barbarian, the head is

GB Arab I think, the helmet is Victrix Libyan, shields various

Getting the legs in the right position is crucial for the animation and pose of the model. I clip the base around the feet and leave a small piece of base in situ; I can then cut this at an angle if needed to add a bend to the knee.

I line the model up with its feet on a line on the cutting mat to get an idea of what stance the model will have. I do this several times before I cut above the knee at the desired angle and fix in pace with Cyanoacrylate (super glue)

Top tip score the surfaces with the tip of a knife blade, use a tiny drop of super glue with or without a thin smear of green-stuff.

I mount most of my figures on pennies, so I have one near to make sure he does not have too much of a power stance to fit

Cut the arms to fit, affix with superglue, at this stage I am mostly concerned with the correct pose and I look from every angle until I am happy. Any spaces can be filled with green-stuff. 

 

Fill in the gaping hole and shape to resemble a flowing silk sleeve

I cut the helmet off using a razor saw, truly a great investment

 

fix it with a good dollop of green stuff leaving a rim to sculpt and file into a band when cured

His head did not look very natural originally so I added a “ruff” of fur to lift it

From the front I am pleased with his pose, his front foot faces in the right direction, I think he looks convincing.

I will add some more fur detail, a horn for rallying his men, and his swan head lucky talisman and a shield.

I could not really produce a new Khabaal model and not treat his right hand man Dhalmud to the same treatment

The body is Victrix Anglo Dane, nice scale armour, very appropriate for Easterlings I think, these models are also “large for the scale” very suitable for heroes! The arms/axe are Frostgrave barbarians

I shaved his legs of detail and carved a vertical slit in his calves to represent the greaves

I didn’t use this head in the end

I used this one, Victrix viking I think

 I used similar techniques to create the head an fix it in place

I like this guy , he has a nice animation

He looks “chunky” like he can really handle that hefty axe

Bothfigures require some fine filing to remove rough bits 

Top tips

Use a sharp blade

Wait 10-15 minutes after mixing   green stuff before using it

Score every surface that requires adhesive

Be brave! what is there to lose?