Progress is made.

Work has been kicking my ass, and my creativity's ass. I have made some small progress though, like buying the Dark Imperium boxed set (pictures of that will come) and also a new light box for photography. Still getting the hang of it, but I think I'll get there.

So anyway, onto the models!

All right, first things first. I've been working on the the crew for the first heavy bolter team in my Morphean Highlanders army. So we've got the assistant gunner below, made from a mix of GW Cadian bits, Forge World's Cadian Respirator upgrade kit and Victoria Lamb's upgrade kits, both some of her old metal and newer resin bits. The idea I had behind the posing was for him to be rushing back from the resupply truck/half-track with a fresh box of bolter shells for the main gunner.
He's recently been undercoated and so needs to be painted.

Next up is probably my most extensively converted model to date, the commander of the First Platoon for my Highlanders 101st Regiment of Foot. Again, made from a mix of GW Cadian bits, both the standard infantry box and the command kit, and Victoria Lamb bits too. The sword though is made from one of the Executioner Greatswords from the Sisters of Silence kit which I bought online from bitzbox.co.uk.
I was originally a little bit worried since, obviously, the Sisters of Silence are female and generally, women have smaller hands than men, so the fear that the hand wouldn't sync up with the arm was there. And I was proven right too. It was far too small. So I had to basically cut off the hand, then the grip and the sword while also cutting off the hand off one of the banners and then do a bit of filing and shallow drilling to get it all right, but overall, I'm pleased with it.

Then next we have a Ministorum Priest, one of the old ones which I bought from my 'local' (it's about 20 miles away from where I live). I am a little annoyed that these guys have been swapped from the Guard army list to the Adeptus Ministorum list in 8th Edition, but beggars can't be choosers. Plus, I've still wanted to paint one and I've never been able to find the actual one that I want, but still. The plan for this guy is to paint him up like a priest/vicar that followed the Scots Covenanters during The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, so basically just plain black all round, but also adding a little bit more stereotypical Scots flair with him (ginger hair and blue facial tattoos).

Then my last model, my scratch built Recon Salamander. Now, it's nowhere near the same as the actual Salamander model, especially since the official model had sloped armoured around the crew compartment, but in all honesty... I like my version. It kind of brings to mind the Universal Carrier from WW2.
Still currently adding some bits to the outer hull, like the fuel drum at the back along with the pannier full of jerry cans on the other side. I do need to buy the Astra Militarum Tank Accessories kit to cover the tank treads at the front since having just one track guard is just... daft. The crew is currently at a mix of being built and being painted, but I'm quite happy with the result so far.

Morphean Highlander #1

And I have finally finished him. After having him sat unbasecoated for nearly three years and unpainted for one year, lo and behold, here is one of my Morphean Highlanders.

Built with a mix of Victoria Lamb bits (kilt legs, bayonet sheath, which you can't see because of the shadow from the lasgun, and the lasgun barrel), vanilla GW Cadian Shock Troop bits, a few Space Marine Scout biker bits, Forge World's Cadian Respirator kits and Anvil Industries weapon sights.

Another WIP

Well work has been a pain since it has cut my creativity to a huge degree.
But I finally pulled my thumb out and did something.

One of my Morphean Highlanders in... some of his painted glory.

First Update of 2017

So I'm back home now. It was quite a fun end to 2016. Made some new friends at Debenhams, met some very nice people, had a job most of all.
But now I'm back home, job hunting again. *sigh* I hope that this year goes better for me than last year.
Anywho, on to the models.

Now, there was a little drama for me early in January. Basically, since I was away, my parents decided that I would switch from my old bedroom to my sister's old bedroom (a nice switch to a bigger room). Unfortunately, that means putting a lot of my stuff in to storage in a pretty narrow but deep cupboard. Wherein they also put my box of paints and brushes. So, understandably, I got a might bit panicky since I couldn't find them right away. But luckily, after moving some stuff around, I found my box of paints. Huzzah!

First up, I'll give a list of models that I got when I was in Liverpool but not able to do.
I bought:
Legion Primus Medicae in Cataphractii Terminator Armour
Ultramarines Legion Herald
Space Marine Librarian
Imperial Guard Basilisk
Horus Heresy Mark IV Space Marines
Adepta Sororitas Sisters of Battle Canoness Veridyan
Airfix British Forces Helicopter Support
and lastly, Team Yankee British Mechanised Company.

Quite a list. And I plan to do even more stuff this year. If my budget allows me.

So let's get cracking.

First up is a model that I've had sitting on my desk for well over a year now. It's a freebie model I got from The Assault Shop when I ordered some metal sandbags from them last year. Since I bought the sandbags from their WW2 US range, they sent me a model of a WW2 US Marine Corps trooper with M2 Carbine.

Much better quality photos with my new camera. I'm proud of the camouflage on his helmet (even though you can't really see it that well in this light) and also the stubble I gave him, which is basically watered down Eshin Grey applied to his face. Simple.

Next up is the first Space Marine of 2017.

These pictures were shot a little later in the evening, hence why the flash was on in the first one. I had a little problem when he was being sprayed (as in, the wind knocked him off his perch and knocked some of the sand off of his base). But I've got some foliage that I can use to cover those bits. Unfortunately, the model is not 100% finished. I don't know where my sheet of Raptor decals are or whether they have been binned (I fucking hope it's not the latter). So... yeah.
I do love the Mark IV kit though. It's such a nice kit, so sleek and easy to use. And the pieces REALLY fit together well with other Space Marine armour kits.

And last but not least, some WIPs.

The first one is the Basilisk kit which I am converting in to a Recon Salamander for my Imperial Guard army.
And the second one... well. I'm keeping that one under my hat.

Thanks for reading guys. See you next time.

Morphean Highlanders WIP and a few painting WIPs

I shall get this out of the way first: my laptop fucking sucks!! I really hope that if I get this apprenticeship (for lack of a better phrase for it. It's complicated) then I can save up money to buy a new one. 

Anyway, between job searching, the lack of money from being jobless and the general feelings of not being good enough to have anything good happen (thank you, anxiety and stress), I have not been as productive as I would have liked, but over the last few months, I have had sporadic moments where I've been able to accomplish things. Some things.

First up: We have the a group shot of the Imperial Space Marine model, painted in the colours of the Raptors chapter, on the left, the sergeant for my first squad of Morphean Highlanders, with torso, legs, head and sword from Victoria Miniatures, while the laspistol is from the Forge World Cadian respirator upgrade kit, and the trooper on the right with the legs and bayonet from Victoria Miniatures (again) and the torso and arms from the vanilla Cadian Shock Troopers kit and the head and backpack from (again) the Forge World Cadian respirator upgrade kit. 

As of now (September 5th), I have painted two more models for my Morphean Highlanders, one carrying the vox-caster and a normal Guardsman. It is a pain when you try and paint tartan but put the wrong colour for the stripes first. So... blegh.

 Next up is my retinue for Lion Rampant, made from the Perry Miniatures 15th century Mercenaries box and the Mounted Men-At-Arms box.
The composition is as follows:

• 6 Mounted Men-At-Arms, with my leader (6 points)
• 6 Men-At-Arms (6 points)
• 12 Foot Serjeants (4 points)
• 6 Handgonnes, the official rules of which are included in Wargames Illustrated issue 330 on page 62 (4 points)
• 12 Crossbowmen (4 points)

So 24 points overall. Still yet to play a game with them though. Plus, since the date of this photo being taken, I have started painting them.

And lastly, we have the best example ever of me pulling my thumb out of my arse: I have put the greenstuff for the plaids on my Morphean Highlands. After sitting for almost half a year half done on my desk. The ones at the bottom are for my first infantry squad while the one sitting in the pin vice is for my Heavy Weapons team. He'll be the loader for the heavy bolter since, if you can't see it clearly, in his left hand, he's carrying an ammunition box.

The soldiers are, once again made from a mix of parts from Victoria Miniatures (the legs, weapon barrels (curse me desire to have a unique force) and heads), Anvil Industries (weapon sights), Secret Weapon Miniatures (the backpacks) and Games Workshop and Forge World.

Expensive for one squad, I know. But goddamnit if I don't want them to look great in the end.

So goodbye until next time.

Trip to London Photoset 2 of 2

As promised, here's the second photoset of my trip to London in May. And here is where the bad quality photos are shown. And believe, these ones were the better of the photos I took.

 British 25-pounder howitzer, in desert colours as used by the British 8th Army during the North Africa Campaign

 Various WW2 Russian infantry weapons, with PPSH-41 varieties (top), scoped Mosin-Nagant (middle) and SG-43 Goryunov medium machine gun (bottom) 

 Sherman tank

 Katanas surrendered to Royal Navy officers by Imperial Japanese Army officers. Only the middle sword is an authentic katana, the rest are copies

 German Flak 88mm

 Nose art from the Royal Australian Air Force Avro Lancaster heavy bomber 'Old Fred'

 One of the casings of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

 British Ferret armoured car in United Nations livery (or "just fucking shoot me" paint job)

 Humber Pig armoured car as used by both British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary during The Troubles

 German built twin-linked BOFORS anti-aircraft gun (I think)

 Soviet built T-34 tank (again)

 One of the gargoyles, in the shape of a tiger, on the roof of the Natural History Museum of London

 (Not sure if it's really clear) Another gargoyle of the Natural History Museum, this time in the shape of a pterodactyl 

 The reproduction diplodocus skeleton in the foyer of the Natural History Museum

 The animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex in the dinosaur wing of the Natural History Museum

 Model of a megalosaurus (or possibly allosaurus) head

 Reproduction of an allosaurus skeleton (I am positive that's what it is. I really should have made notes)

 Reproduction of an iguanadon skeleton

Animatronic models of a pair of deinonychus

 Reproduction of a skeleton of a camarasaurus

 Taxidermy model of an American Brown Bear

 Taxidermy model of a red panda (my favourite animal)

 Memorial to Frederick Selous (1851 - 1917), who contributed many exhibits of animals to the museum

 Plesiosaur skeleton, as discovered by Mary Anning (1799 - 1847)

Statue of King George V (1865 - 1936) in Old Palace Yard, Westminster

So that's all the photos. Hoped you enjoyed them. I'd have taken more, but as I said, my old camera is complete crap and these were the most salvageable ones.

Trip to London Photoset 1 of 2

So earlier this year, May 10th to be exact, I went with my father down to London. He had to go because of a job interview with the police, and he took me along because... well, he thought it'd be a nice gesture, which it was. During the trip, I took my camera with me and, regretfully, I forgot to upload the photos on to my laptop.
Until now.
Now, I did originally try to put these photos on to my Tumblr blog but, well, it's the same issue with the Rhodesian Brushstroke camouflage tutorial I made: Tumblr just refuses to let me post photos. So I'm doing them here instead. Now, I've got 50 pictures, so I'll be splitting the photos up in to two groups, and since they were done on my old camera, the quality will be a bit... well, crap.
Captions will be included at the bottom of the photo (or pair of photos) but don't expect a truly accurate caption.

  A dreary morning over the Thames, with Westminster and Big Ben to the left and the London Eye to the right.

 The 15-inch guns from HMS Ramillies (closest) and HMS Roberts (furthest)

 Harrier VTOL jet (top), V2 Rocket (right) and Supermarine Spitfire (bottom)

 WW1-era British Army Field Gun

 V-1 and V-2 rockets

 Soviet built T-34 tank

 Scale model of a WW1-era battleship (possibly British or German, can't remember which)

 German Uhlan's (I think) uniform at the outbreak of WW1

French Infantryman's uniform at the outbreak of WW1

 French 75mm Field Gun, WW1

 Various types of grenades, mortars and close combat weapons used by British and German forces for trench raids during WW1

 German trench mortar

 (From left to right) German, French and British attempts at body armour along with modifications to allow observers to watch No-Man's Land safely from the trenches (above)

 Royal Navy cannon used during Gallipoli landings

 Uniforms worn by Axis forces in the Middle East during mid-WW1. (left to right) Possible Austrian/German infantry uniform, French infantry uniform, Turkish officer's uniform

 "The rifle that armed an empire." The Short -Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE), various makes with bayonets

 Artillery howitzer, possibly either British or German

 Captured German weapons and equipment

The bottom front of a Mark IV 'Male' tank. Just behind it is the tail of a (possible) Sopwith Camel biplane.

 Rear view of Mark IV 'Male' tank

 British built variant of the Maxim machine gun, the Vickers

 British weapons of WW1: (from top down) SMLE with rifle grenade cup, SMLE with bayonet, Lewis light machine gun, ammunition pouches, Mills bombs hand grenades.

 Uniforms and equipment of German Stormtrooper (sturmtreppen). At the bottom is man portable version of MG 08 and to the right is the fuel cannister for a flamethrower.

Late war uniforms: (left to right) American infantry, British infantry, French infantry.