Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Secret Weapon Miniatures: Osteological Goodness


Today I'm going to review a couple of conversion items from the huge catalog over at Secret Weapon Miniatures. These are the Sack o' Skulls and Human Skeletons packs. Below I'm using a Deathwatch Assault Marine for scale comparison.


The Human Skeletons pack comes with two complete skeletons. The skulls are loose and the rest of the parts are on the sprue. I've gotta say, the sculpting on these is great, the attention to detail is impressive to say the least. I took a 400 level Osteology class back in college, it nearly killed me, though a lot of it did come back looking at these bits.

There are visible sagittal sutures on the skulls where the bony plates are fused together, the vertebrae on the spinal columns are detailed, and even the scapula on the the shoulder blades are indented. These aren't just generic bones to stick on a base, these are detailed scale models of the human skeleton.


Each of the pieces individually offer a lot of conversion potential, especially the spinal column/pelvis combo, but like a miniature crime scene you can combine them all too. Here you can see all of the parts put together to form an anatomically correct skeleton.

If you're wondering where the hands and feet are, those are usually the first to get gnawed away or carried off by small, scavenging animals like rodents and foxes. You get enough parts to build two of these per pack.


Next up is the incredibly popular Sack o' Skulls pack. Skulls. You want them. You need them. This pack has all of that and more. I didn't count my pack but it looks like, according to their heading on the Secret Weapon site, that on average you get a whopping sixty-six skulls per pack. These skulls have the same detailing as the ones in the Human Skeletons pack, which yielded another surprise.


You're not getting a bag full of the same skull. Picking around through it I was able to easily identify four separate skull sculpts. I didn't look hard enough though because there are actually five different sculpts in all, there's a detailed photo here. In addition to two sculpts of a 'normal' skull, a third of the skulls has a huge, caved-in area on the side, another with a good-sized hole in the frontal section above the eyes, and the last is missing a large chunk from the maxilla. A lot of these reminded me of the skulls they pull out of archaeological sites where medieval battles took place.

All in all, there's a lot of good stuff to be found within just these two packs. The Human Skeletons pack has all kinds of potential, and not just in the base decorations department. I can see these bits decorating banner poles, heavy weapon barrels, and more. Of course they'd look great on bases too. The Sack o' Skulls is just too cool for words, and you get so many in a pack you can deck out a few squads-worth of figs and still have plenty left over for vehicles and more. So if you're looking for some bony bits to spice up your models, look no further.

I'm sure these won't be the last Secret Weapon Miniatures products you'll see me reviewing here, for instance I've been eyeballing their awesome Rapid Assault Vehicle since its debut, and I'm currently sitting on a pile of their Desert Wasteland bases for a Squats project. Until then, enjoy!

-Mik

Monday, January 30, 2012

Adeptus Mechanicus Master of the Forge on bike

This is my most recent painting project, my Techmarine "Master of the Forge" on a bike. He will be the commander of my techmarine army. The army is themed around apprentice techmarines that are stationed on Mars to be trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Enough background, let's talk about the model.

A lot of people use a conversion beamer weapon on their Master of the Forges, but I wanted mine to be a close combat monster so I kept the servo-harness to get the extra attacks. Plus the mechanical arms look really cool!

The tracked bottom is a plastic small scale German Panzer III tank made by Zvezda. I don't know anything about this model. I found it in the dollar bin of a local store and it was perfect for this project. I removed the turret and added Space Marine vehicle accessories, 2 cut down bolters, a Pegasus Hobbies Chemical Plant pipe for an exhaust, and a lot of Dragon Forge cables.

The Techmarine is a plastic Ad Mech Torso from the marine vehicle accessories sprue, Sgt. Chronus's head and legs, and the standard techmarine's arms and servo-harness. It all fit together pretty well. I had to shorten the axe handle a little and bend the cables coming out of the bottom of the servo-harness, but other than that it all went together easily.



Since my techmarines are stationed on Mars and working for the Adeptus Mechanicus they don't show any allegiance to their parent Marine Chapters, so I paint them in the red uniform of Mars. I don't have a name for this Techmarine Master yet, so suggestions are welcome. I hope you like him.

Michael

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Come on, gives us some more Lord of the Rings!


Last week I wrote down some thoughts about the new Vampire Counts models and their cost compared to other things in life. I sang the praises of the Perry twins who did an outstanding job on designing these HexWraiths/Black Knights.

The Perry brothers have been around with GW since the beginning and have sculpted some absolute classics during their 30 year tenure. This one might be the most famous one:

In my opinion this model has never been surpassed in the category Mounted Knights. The subtle movement in the horse and the position of the rider are so believable, it's just wonderful to look at. But the Perry twins have also been instrumental in designing large swats of great Lord of the Rings models. Yep, those models from that game that we all hated, taking up space in our beloved White Dwarf etc etc. For years now I check out all the new releases and so many of them were done by the two brothers, who also have a very succesful Historial Wargaming Modeling Business. 

My point is this: my feeling is that because the Perrys have been so involved in LOTR models, that range has become really beautiful, realistic looking and very dynamic. A lot of models have this great movement to them. I just reread an interview with David Rodriguez, the famous Spanish model painter who has won 12 Golden Demons and 2 Slayers. He says he loves painting LOTR models because they look so historical and realistic..
Anyway, here are some examples of great models in the LOTR range:










All of these models have outstanding body position and dynamic flow. The horse riders are great and the Troll Chieftain in a real classic, actually a Perry Brothers model.
Now, LOTR started out as a skirmish game, which gives the models a bit more breathing room; they can stick out over their base, since they don't have models right next to them. In the War of the Ring they solved it by creating larger movement trays with more space in between; why not? Fantasy is really stuck in the movement tray line up and that really hinders the development of some cool rank and file models.

When it comes to the centerpieces of the armies, GW is really pulling out all the stops lately in the Fantasy Range, but now I hope that they will start to create some more dynamics in the plain ranks. We all know the Chaos Warriors and High Elves really suffer from units that almost look the same, model to model. It would be nice if they would look to LOTR and copy some of that realism over into the design of new models....Empire would be a great way to start changing course.

just my humble opinion..

Mike

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Barter Bucket: 1/28/12


The year, 2012. From out of space, come runaway bits, hurtling between the Earth and the moon, unleashing unlimited modeling opportunities. Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn. Strange new models rise from old bits bins. Models of savagery, super-science, and sorcery. You can burst your bonds to model for justice. With your companions, McCutty the knife and Princess Super Glue, you can pit your talent, your creativity, and your fabulous Sunsword, err, imagination, against evil!
_________________________________________________
mddunsmore at gmail.com is in the market for:
  1. LoTR Mines of Moria starter set. These are parts that might be left from building the other models in these Vampire Count Kits
  2. Scythe weapons from Hexwraiths
  3. Flying Banshees from Mortis Engine
They have to trade:
  1. LoTR Mines of Moria starter set
  2. Servo Skulls of any variety
  3. Vampire Count bits: Flying Banshees from Mortis Engine, Scythe weapons from Hexwraiths
maleagant at juno.com is looking for:
  1. WHFB Dogs of War Ricco's Republican Guard Pikemen, x6
  2. WHFB OOP plastic Empire Handgunners, x7
av8hotrod at yahoo.com is after:
  1. WHFB Drongs Slayer Pirates, not command
  2. WHFB plastic Marauder Horseman heads and torsos
  3. and is still looking for the OOP Land Raider box, yes just the cardboard box.
_________________________________________________
The Bucket is a place to trade the stuff (models, parts, bits, and the like) you have laying around and are not using to get the stuff you do need. No more buying whole sets for just one model, no more buying overpriced single bits. Whether you're outfitting an entire army, or just need a single combi-weapon for a character model, this is the place to be.

Send us your email request by Thursday for it to post that week, the Barter Buckets posts every Saturday. Emails go to miksminis at gmail dot com. Please keep them simple and concise with enough details for us to knwo what you're looking for. Please limit your requests to a maximum of three items for needs and three items for what you have to trade. This keeps the Bucket itself compact and efficient, and helps your chances of getting exactly what you need. When you do track down the item(s) you're looking for, or have a successful trade, leave a comment below that week's bucket to let us know!

The Bucket itself runs on the cooperative spirit of our gaming community as a whole; gamers helping other gamers. Remember, change comes from within...your bits box!

Friday, January 27, 2012

SCWH Honor Roll #48

Welcome to the SCWH Honor Roll now brought to you with love and care direct from Lantz from over at TLA, MWC and HoP!

The Butcher's Bill - Tau Broadside Conversions
Die Vincis - Vampirella Complete (translated to English)
Recalcitrant Daze - Defensive Walls
Apocalypse 40k - Scratchbuilt Eldar Nightwing
Jinn's Minis - Gundam Themed Diorama
The Art Of War - Imperial Defense Battery Complete
Spiky Rat Pack - Space Pirato Cpt. Gaga Complete
Mordian 7th - Heresy Era 1k Sons Whirlwind Complete
Winterdyne Commission Modeling - Death Company and Lamartes PIP
Ten Inch Template - Necron Kitbashes
Midwest Monster Lab - Hades Vampire Lord WIP
Fuzzbucket's Mini Mayhem - Pre-Heresy Terminator Medic

Lantz: I don't even know where to begin here; clearly it's been a busy week. My favorites this week are JM's Gundam...I'm not sure. It's amazing regardless. I have a weak spot for Gundam-related stuff. TAOW's Defense Battery now has a fresh coat of paint and looks snazzy. Anyone who has eyes and is alive needs to check out TIT's Necron Kitbashes; amazing. Finally, M7 has a pre-heresy Whirlwind that is simply amazing. Check 'em all out.

Mike's addition for this week's Honor roll is:

Mike:  I really like this Necron Lord from German blogger Aleatorblog. Check it out, it's good stuff!


As always: if you care about your fellow bloggers and their work, please link the Honor Roll on your blog. Grab the jpg from this post and use this link underneath:
http://santacruzwarhammer.blogspot.com/search/label/honor%20roll

Much appreciation!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hordes of Vormond: a (slow) work in progress

I like giving my armies a name and a little backstory. It's not like I am obsessively living in a fantasy world, it's actually helps me with the modeling part of it. I stay more motivated when I give myself some visual and contextual guidance. I started it with my Guard Army, The Bishkek 2nd, and then started a Vampire Counts Army, about a year ago. It took me a long time to come up with a name and chose Hordes of Vormond. Vormond really came from Roermond, a city in the south of Holland where I went to high school. I like getting in a name that somehow relates to my own life.

Anyway, here's a rolling update on the Hordes of Vormond. At this point it's about 1500 points points and with the new releases I couldn't help but add some stuff to it. Pretty soon this army will be at tournament strength. I want to give you a quick portrait of the new additions, some of it still on (long term) progress:

Bat Swarm. I got these guys in a barter bucket deal and they were completely destroyed. I created a little Graveyeard scene and added the bats to it. This was a quickie, but it sure beats bats on wire sticks
Krell and Kemmler. I painted both of these up last week. I got Kemmler 4 months ago on Ebay. I had never seen this model before and noticed it in the 1996 Warhammer Battle Book. After I got him, he was stripped but his staff was beyond repair. I forgot about him until I read the last White Dwarf...there he was! I painted him up in a similar scheme but I found him pretty impossible to do well. Game wise he is an animal.
Krell is a great model, thank you Juan Diaz
Bloodknight in progress. He has been that way for a while. I am a little initimidated by these guys. Notice the headswap. Visually there will be no Vampire in my army and rules wise, only the bloodknights will have the Vampire Rule. I like the idea of humans wanting to ally themselves with the Vampires. The humans in Vormond are like that. I am pleased with this little paint test and will paint the rest like that.

This hexwraith I just finished, using the LOTR paintscheme for Undead. It's quick and easy and looks great AND since they are ethereal, they should be a duo tone, I think. The sculpts by the Perry Brothers are really, really good.


And a testmodel for the Direwolves, I have had this one for a few months

So that's it, the Hordes are growing, slowly but surely..its great fun to have some armies in progress to fall back on when you want to do something different. I can recommend it, start hording!

Mike




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Defenders of Makkum have a General!


I finished the general of the Defenders of Makkum. He is painted in an a-typical style for me and I try to copy Dave Taylors clean way of painting. My usual approach is much more gritty but now I want to challenge myself and try to come up with some clean work.

I want my Knights to look like the Warriors of Ulric with the more Northmen like look that I imagine for the army. Not too much ribbons and hankerchiefs, instead that real warrior look.

I went for a Black and Yellow scheme for the barding and a red and blue for the rider. I enjoyed painting the horse a lot. Going down the legs, I spent a lot of time on the fur right above the hooves.


On my last post on the Swordsmen, some readers wanted to see the movement tray terrain placed in the back of the unit instead of the front. I shot a picture of that set up.


At this point I have finished 25 swordsmen, one wizard and the general. I have to leave the Defenders of Makkum for a while and focus on some different projects. I am working on some updates on the Hordes of Vormond, my Vampire Counts army, and I have to paint a Leman Russ for my friend Daniel in Singapore. Oh yeah, my Ogres are also asking for some attention. Lots of stuff coming up!


Mike

Sunday, January 22, 2012

My Favorite Model #2: Donoghs Afghan diorama


Here's a new installment of My Favorite Model, a series that asks all of you to think about your favorite model. it might be your first mini ever or the one you won that great game with....as long as you feel it's your favorite one.

Here's our reader Donogh, who models realistic 20mm War in Aghanistan models. Take it away Donogh:

"A year or so ago I raised the issue on my blog of using casualty figures in games, irrespective or scale or period - and there was a lot of support for their use.  In modern games especially, though also in some sci-fi games like Stargrunt or Tomorrow's War, treatment and escorting of casualties is an important aspect. Sometimes the rescue of a wounded soldier represents the main objective of a scenario (and I am a scenario-driven wargamer to the bone!). Keeping track of who's been wounded or killed can be important if your favourite system doesn't just remove figures entirely.

I was inspired to do something with this image:

My friend made me a downed helicopter scene....




....and I use this particular figure (or pair of figures really) as the centre-point for a few scenarios; there's something quite emotive about them. A soldier supporting a wounded comrade - probably sacrificing combat effectiveness to care for his buddy.
I'm not going to suggest that every wargame needs a heavy dose of stark realism, but I hope there's room for this sort of mini-vignette in a one-off game.
My blog is Land War in Asia. Please come visit!
The wounded model with comrade is from Britannia Miniatures 20mm Afghanistan range of Americans."

Thanks Donogh, interesting stuff. Readers, make sure to check out his blog-it's a great read!
Mike

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Barter Bucket: 1/21/12


The year, 2012. From out of space, come runaway bits, hurtling between the Earth and the moon, unleashing unlimited modeling opportunities. Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn. Strange new models rise from old bits bins. Models of savagery, super-science, and sorcery. You can burst your bonds to model for justice. With your companions, McCutty the knife and Princess Super Glue, you can pit your talent, your creativity, and your fabulous Sunsword, err, imagination, against evil!
_________________________________________________
mddunsmore at gmail.com is in the market for:
  1. LoTR Mines of Moria starter set. These are parts that might be left from building the other models in these Vampire Count Kits
  2. Scythe weapons from Hexwraiths
  3. Flying Banshees from Mortis Engine
They have to trade:
  1. Dwarfs from Battle for Skull Pass
  2. Space Marines from Battle for Macragge
  3. Lots of stuff including Chaos, Imperial Guard, Space Marines, terrain, and more. Just ask.
maleagant at juno.com is looking for:
  1. WHFB Dogs of War Ricco's Republican Guard Pikemen, x6
  2. WHFB OOP plastic Empire Handgunners, x7
av8hotrod at yahoo.com is after:
  1. WHFB Drongs Slayer Pirates, not command
  2. WHFB plastic Marauder Horseman heads and torsos
  3. and is still looking for the OOP Land Raider box, yes just the cardboard box.
_________________________________________________
The Bucket is a place to trade the stuff (models, parts, bits, and the like) you have laying around and are not using to get the stuff you do need. No more buying whole sets for just one model, no more buying overpriced single bits. Whether you're outfitting an entire army, or just need a single combi-weapon for a character model, this is the place to be.

Send us your email request by Thursday for it to post that week, the Barter Buckets posts every Saturday. Emails go to miksminis at gmail dot com. Please keep them simple and concise with enough details for us to knwo what you're looking for. Please limit your requests to a maximum of three items for needs and three items for what you have to trade. This keeps the Bucket itself compact and efficient, and helps your chances of getting exactly what you need. When you do track down the item(s) you're looking for, or have a successful trade, leave a comment below that week's bucket to let us know!

The Bucket itself runs on the cooperative spirit of our gaming community as a whole; gamers helping other gamers. Remember, change comes from within...your bits box!

Friday, January 20, 2012

SCWH Honor Roll #47

Welcome to the SCWH Honor Roll now brought to you with love and care direct from Lantz from over at TLA, MWC and HoP! We've got a lot of completed work this week and I must say it's top-notch work!

The Butcher's Bill - Khorne Ogres Complete
Die VincisM.E.R.C.S. Project PIP
Mordian 7th - Eye Of Magnus Complete
Ricalopia - "Grimm" Cryx Reaper Complete
Recalcitrant Daze - Looted Wagon WIP
40k Hobby Blog - Chaos Bloodletters Complete
Eye Of Error - Razorwings Complete
Excommunicate Traitors - Wolf Guard Terminators Complete
DuEnDe Miniatures - Laser Grenadiers Complete
El Arte De Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Defense Battery Tutorial
Apocalypse 40k - Eldar Pegasus Super-Heavy Scratchbuilt Flyer WIP
Mister Justin - Happy Monk PIP
Master Owen War Hammer - Khorne Irongut Test Model Complete

Lantz: The holiday projects are clearly coming to a close. TBB has some amazing work showing the conversion and painting process all in one post! EoE has a couple of beautifully painted Razorwings. But not everything is coming to a close this week; EADW40k has an amazing tutorial on his Imperial Defense Battery that's worth a look!

Mike's addition for this week's Honor roll is:

Mike:  After finishing the Tamurkhan Forgeworld Book, I am eying the new Chaos Dwarfs eagerly. Here a good news post from the Emperors Codex


As always: if you care about your fellow bloggers and their work, please link the Honor Roll on your blog. Grab the jpg from this post and use this link underneath:
http://santacruzwarhammer.blogspot.com/search/label/honor%20roll

Much appreciation!