Storm Wardens Army, Forge World Dreadnought

Here is a Forge World Venerable Dreadnought I just finished up for the Storm Wardens Army.

There is something going on with my camera, as the pictures seem to make the highlights a bit too bright, in real life the contrast is much more subtle I promise.

As others have said, it is interesting working on this project. Trying to make my personal painting style blend with other builders, has been a challenge for me.

I tend to lean towards the darker end of the painting world, and love heavy washes, but this project has made me change some of my old habits and do things a bit differently. I also have been struggling with painting so much silver, and it still seems a bit too dark to me, but I really don't like bright silver.

All in all though, I think it's a great challenge, and it is making me a better painter and builder.

Here you can see the finished plating on the inside of the Black Reach Dred arms, they look nice and solid now.

Here is a shot of the base from Secret Weapon Miniatures. Normally I make my own bases, but it has been a joy to paint these, they really take paint well., and I liked the moss details. Even if you think you don't like pre-made bases, you should try a few and see what you think.

I added the shadows with a dark wash.

I may drybrush some brighter silver on, at least on the tops, but this guy is more or less done, and I am ready to do another squad.

John

The Storm Wardens Vindicator, Part 4: it's done!

The vindicator for the Storm Wardens Projoject is finished! I added a commander with a hand weapon, just for fun, not for play, and repainted the side shields. All in all I am pleased with the end result: an old, battered, no frills, experienced vehicle. If you want to end up with this tank in your collection, you know what to do, top right hand column. If you have already contributed, you are one of many generous wargamers who should be proud, almost 600 people have given to the project, in the end countless lives will be saved all over the world by doctors who we are going to support with all our effort and money. Great job everyone!

Storm Wardens Mini-Drawing: Battle Force Set Winner!

Once again using random.org and the list of contributions, the winner of the Games Workshop Battle Force box set of their choice is,

STEVEN BLASKE of INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

Thanks again to Ron at From The Warp and the folks at Game Vault in Fredericksburg Virginia.

Thanks also to all of you who have pitched in to support the Storm Wardens Project, keep checking out the blogs to see the army coming together, more mini Drawings, and of course, the big army winner drawing.

John

Storm Wardens Mini-Drawing: FTW Battleforce Box Set!

It's that time again, time for a Storm Wardens Mini Drawing!

This week Ron from From The Warp is offering up an awesome prize,

Any Battleforce boxed set from 40k or Fantasy!

The generous folks at Game Vault ( Ron's FLGS in Virginia ) have really stepped up and offered a great prize in support of the Storm Wardens Project.

Winner will be chosen at random from the list of contributors Sunday 7PM PST.

Just like the final army prize, each dollar you pitched in will give you a chance to win. You can increase your chances by tossing in a few more bucks, just make sure you have them in before the winner of this drawing is chosen, and you might win the Battleforce of your choice.

Barter Bucket: Friday, June 25th 2010

The Santa Cruz Warhammer Barter Bucket!

Welcome to the Summer-only, Friday edition of the Bucket! I'm Mik of Mik's Minis, your Bucketeer on this bits trading journey. Let's begin...

It's simple, just send me an email of what you are looking for, or are looking to get rid of to: "miksminis at gmail.com". Please make sure your request is in list form with plenty of detail, the more detail the better. I will then post the requests each Saturday morning. Please have your emails to me by no later than Thursday of that week so I have enough time to get everything sorted out and ready to go in time for the Saturday post's deadline.

If you see an item below you are interested in, or just have extra bits laying about that could maybe help someone else out, please contact the individual directly via their email address. Sometimes they're just looking for a single piece or two, and you would be surprised what great bits you might find laying about just taking up valuable storage space!

Now, on to this week's bucket!
___________________________________________

heaventouched at yahoo.com has:

• an Imperial Guard Rough Rider squad for best offer

clovisrex11 at verizon.net just discovered the Bucket, and needs:

• x8 Mk. III Iron Armor heads
• Robed bodies
• Sanguinary Guard artificer torsos, running legs, banner, and infernus pistol.
• x2 Glaives Encarmine
• Jump Packs
• Assault Legs
• Sanguinary Guard Power Fist
• Storm Shield from Assault Terminators
• x2 flamers, x2 meltaguns, x2 plasma guns

to trade, they have:

• a bazillion Space Wolves bitz
• Imperial Guard Cadian infantry (partially painted)
• Imperial Guard Cadian Command Squad (partially painted)
• Custom Space Wolves Conversions
  

guido.kreemers at gmail.com is looking for:

• WHFB Empire State trooper head with skull on helmet; a few times
• WHFB Empire Outrider heads a few times

For trade he has:

• Space Marine bits (lots of variety)
• WHFB Empire bits (lots of variety)
• Old Imperial guard Valhallans (a few)

av8hotrod at yahoo.com (SCWH's very own John) needs:

• Sanguinary Guard jump packs with wings
• regular SM assault legs
• Ironclad Dred. right "arm" (don't need the palm or clampy fingers)
• Ironclad Dred. front torso plate
• Forge World Death Guard conversion kit stuff (I know it's a longshot)

he has all kinds of stuff to trade, if you don't see it, just ask:

• tons of minis and bits for most armies fantasy or 40k
• the greatest basing sand in the entire universe
• resin Dred. blood fists and blood talons
• custom bits sculpting (shoulder pads, vehicle icons,etc)
• custom casting (if its pretty simple)
• custom Tshirt printing
• an entire Storm Wardens army (just kidding)
• email him, and he will make all your wildest dreams come true (well, except for winning the Storm Wardens army, you gotta donate and take your chances like everyone else)

jackal at lglogan.com is still looking for:

• Plasma Guns (x2, Chaos or SM versions)
• Chaos Marine Shoulder Pads (x2)
  
• Chaos Icons for Vehicles
• Tzeentch icons (any including the standard bearer icon from the Chaos Marines set)
• WM Protectorate of Menoth Crusader Jack model, any condition mainly need torso, legs and powerplant

For Trade:

• Space Marine Bits
• Chaos Marine Back Packs
• Various Eldar bits/models
• Cadian Platoon
• Cadian Lascannon teams (x3)
  
• Cadian Mortar teams (x3)
  

mike.tess at charter.net needs:

• Catachan heavy flamer model (there are two, both metal)
• Old plastic stormtroopers with the berets
• IG Tallarn models (any)
  

and has:

• lots of Black Library books
• box full of Wood Elf bits

___________________________________________

That's all for today, see you next week! Keep those email requests coming!

Remember, change comes from within...your bits box!

Mik

Blog Chain Reminder, Let's keep it going!

Theres been much talk about the Storm Wardens Project around here but don't forget my first and never ending Blogger prize machine, The Super Blog Chain Give Away!

If you have not yet taken part, please do. We need to keep it rolling along. You can check where it is using the link on the right. (There will be a few more up soon)

A recent awesome prize went unclaimed at Awakening Ynnead, so I asked the host to extend the deadline, I hope someone will take advantage, make a sweet offer and take home the Nid Screamer Killer he is offering up.

Mitch at Ottawa Gamer has a codex or some brushes up for grabs.

Pick up some free swag and pass some other swag along to another friendly blogger. One person's trash is another person's treasure as they say.

Get out there and check out some of these blogs and offer up something, you might be the next link in the chain.

John

Storm Wardens Army Progress, Moving Right Along

Here's a bit of an update on what I am working on for the Storm Wardens Project,

A shot of the work bench, you can see I am working on some weapons for the Venerable dred.

The dred is getting close to finished and I wanted to get him loaded out for battle. I wanted to give him a Multi Melta, and a power fist for Close Combat, this takes advantage of his +1 for both attacks and ballistic skill.

The problem was I only had the cheap looking Melta from the Black Reach dred handy and its hollow, and I didn't want to be able to see the gaps.

I decided to plate it off with plastic card. I used masking tape to make templates, cut them from plastic card and glued them in place. You can see the little dots where I marked where to drill the holes for the mounting pegs. I also drilled out the barrels to make everything look nice. I will also add some other details.

Here is the dred armless, not quite finished.

Devastator squad, not sure if I will add 5 more troops, or give them some wheels, or both.

This is the command squad Apothecary (Without Borders).

Well, back to work.

Keep an eye on the progress by hitting the links in the mini blog roll on the right.

Remember, anyone can still win this army and all the extra goodies that come with it, so join the Storm Wardens Project.

Give a few bucks, you will be helping out Doctors Without Borders, and you never know, you might even win a new army!

John

The Storm Wardens Vindicator, Part 3

I promised you all that I would spend quite a bit of time on the dozer of the Vindicator, since that is such a dominant part of this model. So here's the finished front of the dozer blade.

I kept the logo, muted though it is, under the mud and grime still visible. The foes of the Storm Wardens will run the moment they see that lightning bolt race up to their stronghold.

Here's the rest of the model, pretty much finished up. I am adding a tank commander, once he is on, I will give the model a final inspection. I am still not sure about the shields on the side but I have some time left.

I stayed away from highlighting with boltgun metal, instead hightlighted the blue with scrorched brown, which worked really nicely.

The weathering is just how like it for this model, not too bad but certainly not new out-of-the-factory either.

We have had some comments from supporters of the Storm Wardens Project that noticed that the models don't all look alike in terms of blues, weathering, shading etc. To me, this has always been a project where every participant could put their own take on the job, within a set of parameters. I feel that makes the models more special and unique.

Comments are appreciated AND yes, I did remove the freehand on the back door, it didn't look good. I still need to blend that door a little

We are about 3 1/2 weeks away from announcing who the lucky supporter will be that will get an incredible army. We had received an incredible amount of support and when it's all over, you will all realize that together all the war gamers have created something special that is going to help Doctors Without Borders. Thanks for that.

If you haven't given yet, head over to the Storm Wardens picture on the right top. if you don't have money, tell people about our project and support us this way. If you have already given, cheers for that!

Mike

Storm Wardens Mini-Drawing: Land Raider Winner!

Using a random number generator and pulling from all the Paypal payments on record, (which are quite a few, thank you very much)

This week's winner of the Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit on the sprue (without box or assembly instructions) from John Shaffer at Games Workshop via Dave Taylor, is

William Schmidt from Patchogue, NY

That new ride is going to look so cool parked in front of your house.

Keep an eye on the project blogs, this army is coming together and we are getting pretty excited, and there are more mini drawings in the near future.

John

Storm Wardens Project Land Raider Mini Drawing

Time for another Storm Wardens mini drawing. This week's drawing comes from John Shaffer at Games Workshop via Dave Taylor and is for a Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit on the sprue (sent without box or assembly instructions)
This mini drawing will take place Sunday June 20th 7pm PST, and the winner will be announced Sunday night using a random number generator from all the Paypal payments on record.

Remember, if you are chosen for any of the mini drawings, you still have a shot at the big army drawing. Sundays drawing will include all contributors up to the 7pm PST time of selection.

You can make sure you are included by using the link on the top right of the page and if you gave a few bucks earlier, it couldn't hurt to throw a few more in to increase your chances of being chosen.

Good luck and thanks for your support!

John

Barter Bucket: Friday, June 18th 2010

The Santa Cruz Warhammer Barter Bucket!

Welcome to the Summer-only, Friday edition of the Bucket! I'm Mik of Mik's Minis, your Bucketeer on this bits trading journey. Let's begin...

It's simple, just send me an email of what you are looking for, or are looking to get rid of to: "miksminis at gmail.com". Please make sure your request is in list form with plenty of detail, the more detail the better. I will then post the requests each Saturday morning. Please have your emails to me by no later than Thursday of that week so I have enough time to get everything sorted out and ready to go in time for the Saturday post's deadline.

If you see an item below you are interested in, or just have extra bits laying about that could maybe help someone else out, please contact the individual directly via their email address. Sometimes they're just looking for a single piece or two, and you would be surprised what great bits you might find laying about just taking up valuable storage space!

Now, on to this week's bucket!
___________________________________________

clovisrex11 at verizon.net just discovered the Bucket, and needs:

• x8 Mk. III Iron Armor heads
• Robed bodies
• Sanguinary Guard artificer torsos, running legs, banner, and infernus pistol.
• x2 Glaives Encarmine
• Jump Packs
• Assault Legs
• Sanguinary Guard Power Fist
• Storm Shield from Assault Terminators
• x2 flamers, x2 meltaguns, x2 plasma guns

to trade, they have:

• a bazillion Space Wolves bitz
• Imperial Guard Cadian infantry (partially painted)
• Imperial Guard Cadian Command Squad (partially painted)
• Custom Space Wolves Conversions
  

heaventouched at yahoo.com is playing Imperial Guard musical chairs:

• he is looking for pretty much *anything* Imperial Guard
• for trade he has other Imperial Guard bits, and a converted Rough Rider squad

av8hotrod at yahoo.com (SCWH's very own John) needs:

• Sanguinary Guard jump packs with wings
• regular SM assault legs
• Ironclad Dred. right "arm" (don't need the palm or clampy fingers)
• Ironclad Dred. front torso plate
• Forge World Death Guard conversion kit stuff (I know it's a longshot)

he has all kinds of stuff to trade, if you don't see it, just ask:

• tons of minis and bits for most armies fantasy or 40k
• the greatest basing sand in the entire universe
• resin Dred. blood fists and blood talons
• custom bits sculpting (shoulder pads, vehicle icons,etc)
• custom casting (if its pretty simple)
• custom Tshirt printing
• an entire Storm Wardens army (just kidding)
• email him, and he will make all your wildest dreams come true (well, except for winning the Storm Wardens army, you gotta donate and take your chances like everyone else)

jackal at lglogan.com is looking for:

• Ork Kannon with crew x 3
• Ork Zzap Gun with crew x3
• Ork Power Klaws
• Ork Big Choppas
• WM Protectorate of Menoth Crusader Jack model, any condition mainly need torso, legs and powerplant

For Trade:

• Space Marine Bits (Just ask he may have it)
• Various Eldar bits/models
• Cadian Platoon
• Cadian Mortar teams (x3)

mike.tess at charter.net needs:

• Catachan heavy flamer model (there are two, both metal)
• Old plastic stormtroopers with the berets
• IG Tallarn models (any)
  

and has:

• lots of Black Library books
• box full of Wood Elf bits

___________________________________________

That's all for today, see you next week! Keep those email requests coming!

Remember, change comes from within...your bits box!

Mik

The Storm Wardens Vindicator, Part 2

OK, I was able to do some night work on the Vindicator. Using the FW modeling book, I added oil paints and ground up pastels to add mud/sand underneath and oil leakage up top at the engine outlets. Also soot on the exhausts. Not much else to say, here are the images. if you have questions, leave a comment. If you want this tank when I am done with it (a couple of weeks), enter your contribution in the Storm Wardens Project on the right. All money will go to Doctors without Borders. Your good deed for today and many, many thanks to all who already committed!

I have never done free hand painted and I am a little embarassed about it. Give me some constructive criticism.

And one more shot

Halfway done! Go Doctors without Borders!

Mike

Some Finished Storm Wardens, Blood Talons

I think these are done for now, some last details were added and the Secret Weapon bases painted.

First the Captain, leader of the detachment.

He started life as a metal Dark Angels figure which I removed lots of stuff from with a Dremel tool. The shield was fantasy chaos and then modified to match the chapter symbol. The iron halo was from a plastic servo skull.

Up next is the Land Speeder, shown with most of the weapons mounted and not codex legal. All the weapons are removable, and there is also a heavy bolter. I got rid of some of the fiddly bits and smoothed it out quite a bit.

2 models down and plenty to go.

I have also been messing around with some Blood Angels stuff, here is some in progress pics of some Dred. blood talons.

These arms are from the Ironclad Dred. , after steeling these you have plenty left for the Ironclad.

I trimmed off the ribbed part on the right arm, to match the left.

I used these Nid claws from a Gaunt.

I cast up some fists, but these are the same as the plastic ones. I used a file to notch the fingers to take the claws.

I will fit them to the arms with a little spacer, and they will go to my Death Company Furioso, for some close combat devastation.

last, a test of a Dark Angels assault marine with a new winged jump pack

don't hate, I still love them even with a broken codex, and the new Twilight/Blood Angels, emo, sexy vampire trend is fine, but I still dig the original goth, inner struggle of the first angels chapter.

John