Look What I Did: 2015

This year was a damn good one for me hobby-wise. I painted, I built, I played, I read, I got good news and I surprisingly stayed consistent on this blog and at the hobby table. 2015 was a good one, so join me as I run through the ups and downs of the hobby for me this year and as you prep to get sloshed tonight, won't you? After the jump, a recap of 2015 here at TLA!

Vaneth Jornis Complete (2015 As Well, For Real This Time)

Okay, one more done for 2015. With my group starting a new DnD campaign, it was time to make a new character, and with it, a new miniature. I've had this one from GW's fantasy line for quite a while, hoping I'd be playing a rogue again in the future. Well, that day has come! I kept to darker colors (clearly), using blacks, greys, dark purples and dark-bronze highlighting to the armor, though it's hard to tell in these pics. I kept his face/eyes, daggers and even the highlights on the poison tips of the blades bright to keep the focus on them. Lastly, this was the first model in quite a while where I didn't use static grass for the basing! More pics after the jump.

Undead Protector Complete (Along With 2015)

Just under the wire of 2015 I finished a miniature that I'm not embarrassed about. In fact, I've had this model for years and continue to attempt terrible ideas on it because I like it so much (Anyone know what range this thing is from? I can't remember). This time around I stripped it down with the intent of making this thing something I enjoy so I can stop stripping it and starting over on it every few years. Finally, I have a product I'm happy with. Next time our group plays SoBaH, he'll be ready to roll. More pics after the jump.

Wraiths Complete (Disappointment Is The New Black)

So in an attempt to hit the 100-models-completed mark for 2015, I raced through some zombies in my last post and lastly I was taking care of ten wraiths I have from KoW. I wanted the wraiths to be set apart from the other ghostly member of the army, so I experimented with the ghostly scheme to add something more than just whites and greens. Unfortunately, these turned out terrible, I hate them, and I may never love again. I have some plans in the far future to try and fix them with a few ideas rolling around upstairs, but for now, they'll just hang out behind some taller model. More disappointment after the jump.

Zombie Horde Complete (Shambling To The Finish Line)

The end of the year approaches and, with it, that special time where everyone gets a chance to look back on the last 365 days as they stare up into the sky thinking, "Shit...I didn't do anything." That moment came early for me; about a week ago in fact, while at the hobby table. Every year I make a post for a Look What I Did going over my year in the hobby and like last year, I wanted to count up all of the models I finished in 2015 in comparison to last year. The count was in the high 60's, and while that's better than 2014's total, I wanted to hit the triple digits. Enter, the zombie horde.

The Watcher Complete (Who 'Ya Gonna Call?)

Quick picture dump today as I finished another ghostly model. This time it's The Watcher from the Kingdom Death: Monster Kickstarter. This model is elegant, beautiful and a massive pain in the ass to put together. No instructions came with this guy so the internet had to help me out in putting him together. All in all, I'm happy with how this one came out, but I'm finding myself already bored of this ghost-making technique. I'll likely be moving on to something entirely different for my next model. Anyway, more pics after the jump.

Skeletons Complete (Now With 23% More Ghostliness!)

With a few more Harlequins done, I switched gears again to work on the Kings of War army I got through their Kickstarter, and seeing as how my Necromancer can summon skeletons in DnD, the skeleton portion was an obvious next step. A very easy time with these as unlike most of my projects, very few colors were used and it turned out that basing these guys was the step that took the longest (and I'm still not even close to getting rid of all of this basing flock!). More pics after the jump.

Faces by Matthew Farrer (A Book Review)

As I mentioned in my last book review, I like to read novels that center on the project I'm working on. Unfortunately for me, there are only two novels for the Harlequins (The Victim's Dance doesn't count). So I picked up Faces by Matthew Farrer shortly after finishing The Masque of Vyle and dived right in. This is minimum spoilers country, people. You've been warned... More after the jump.

Shadowseer Complete (Now Ya' Seer, Now Ya' Don't)

The second to the last piece of this army is complete, and I think it turned out great considering I just kept tossing idea after idea into this thing as I went along. I must admit, having read a Harlequin novel where a Shadowseer pumped narcotics into a large area causing others to hallucinate was a driving force behind this finished product from the transition of colors, to the spotted effects, to the teal hallucinogenic smoke pumping out; it was all new to me as I went along and I'm lucky as hell it turned out as well as it did. More pics after the jump.

Death Jester Complete ('Dem Bones 'Dem Bones)

Another Harlequin down and this time it's the Death Jester. I love this model, I love the concept of the Death Jester in the novels and I'm just a fan of anything grim reaper-looking in general. That said, this model was infuriating to finish as the shoulder half-cloak part of this model does not go place very easily, if you paint models in pieces like I do. Kudos to anyone else who has tried this; it takes some effort. Anyway, more pics after the jump.

Solitaire Complete (Though, All Alone...)

After a short hiatus from the Harlequins, I'm back on track with the next (and easiest) part of the troupe completed. Assuming I ever play 40k again, I wanted the Solitaire, which is relatively easily killed, to not be painted as some grand miniature on the battlefield. I wanted the model to be forgettable and painted like a model that doesn't really matter that much to my tactics on the table, just like an IG basic foot-soldier; when, in actuality, the Solitaire would play an important role in my army's strategy. It's a game of psychology here at TLA! More pics after the jump.

Slaanesh Daemon Prince Complete (So Much Excessive Detail)

One of the things I never thought to get for my Slaanesh CSM army is a daemon prince, just in case one of the characters wins a fight and rolls lucky enough to turn into one. Luckily, when this model caught my eye, I remembered what my army was missing and nabbed one. As you'll see after the jump, this model has an astonishing amount of detail and is surprisingly on-the-nose for a representation of a daemon of excess from a third-party company.

More Zombies Complete (Mooooore Braaaaains...)

This time I've got more zombies up for my DnD character. Seeing as how I read the rules on the Animate Dead spell wrong for months, I've been severely under-utilizing zombies. No more! So having just received my Kings of War Kickstarter undead army in the mail, the timing was perfect. More pics after the jump.

New Fulgrim Finished (Quote The Raven)

My next couple of small projects involve...things without diamond patterns. Needing a little break from the Harlequins I've decided to catch up on some other projects. Namely DnD; my character has embraced the power of the undead and his familiar's new form is a raven. Obviously I had to paint one up (thankfully a friend of mine had a spare raven model he didn't need). More pics after the jump.

Troupe Groupshot (The Stuff Of Nightmares)

Not much to say here, I'm happy with how these guys turned out and there's not much further to go on this army. Enjoy the pics, more of these guys to come!

Final Player Complete (Whew...)

The last of the Harlequin Troupe and I'm very pleased with this one. I think I may have used too much black, but who am I kidding, I'm going for menacing here and I love black. The gem didn't turn out very well compared to the others, but what did turn out great is the hair on this one; I'm very happy with the wet-blending I did to transition opposing colors. More pics after the jump.

Caress Player Complete (This Brush Is On Fiah!)

My brush is on fire, apparently. Another player down, one more to go. This one I tried some wet blending on the hair which turned out better in-person than what you can tell from these pictures. No blade on this Player; this is the only one in the unit that gets a Harlequin Caress which I think turned out great. For what, paint-wise, might be my favorite Player so far, I'm not a fan of the posing and the more of this unit I finish the more I find the pistol-arm for each one in very awkward posing for the rest of the model. Anyway, more pics after the jump.

Another Player Complete (Only Two More To Go!)

Hobby progress is a movin' and another Player down! Now that my hobby room is setup, I've dived right back into the mix and continued with the Harlequins. After this Player, there's only two left before I move to the rest of the army and the anticipation is exciting! More pics to follow after the jump.

Troupe Master & Player Complete (Proper Pics)

Finally moved into my new place and have the hobby room set up. I have a lot more room now, so the lightbox is out and ready to go at all times! So my last progress post just had a quick pic of the two Harlequins I had finished, so for this post I'm pushing some proper pics of the two out to the world. More pictures after the jump.

The Masque of Vyle by Andy Chambers (A Book Review)

Note: This Is A Minor-Spoiler Review

I often like to read novels/information about what I'm painting for a couple of reasons. First it opens the doors to ideas in the painting/conversion process that you previously didn't even know were there. Secondly it keeps me more vested in the project during the tedious lows of every project (as there often are). A certain level of excitement to move forward with a project comes along with some of the 40K novels out there and this book is one of them, despite some disappointment that came along with it. More after the jump.

Harlequin Progress (Quick Update)

With trying to find a new place to live combined with regular life, I haven't had much time to paint. I have managed to finish two more Harlequins, though, and so far I'm happy with the results. (The area where I setup my lightbox is currently without power, so you'll have to settle for this terrible pic.) There's only three more in this troupe and luckily I've finished all of the diamond patterns for the rest!

Until next time.

Harlequin Test Model Complete (@_@ I'm Seeing Diamonds)

Holy mother of... So I finally finished the test model for my Harlequin army and tesus jits that took a while. I'm overly pleased with how she turned out, but the fact that I have seven more to do is pretty bittersweet. A majority of the time spent on the model was with the diamond patterns on the leg, chest and arm, but the rest went by far quicker. Anyway, more pics after the jump. Enjoy!

Hive Fleet Kaiju Complete (Quickest Paint Job In The West)

All three models finished with mostly airbrushing and the most simple of basing terrain. A 750pt army in less than a week that doesn't look half-bad is a home run in my book. In all honesty, I'm really happy (and surprised) with how these guys turned out considering how little time I spent on them. My next project will be very delicate, time consuming and will require a lot of things I haven't tried before, so I wanted to get this army under my belt before I push forward. Anyway, more pics after the jump. Enjoy!

Trygon Prime Complete (Oh, God! Airbrushing Opinions)

And now we have the Trygon Prime, warlord for my quickest army (hobby-wise). I went with a green tone, though I thought it might turn out a little for teal and/or a little brighter. More than anything, though, this army was for learning and for having fun. I ended up having fun making a whole army in less than a week, but I also learned a lot about my airbrush and my opinions on paint for them. More on that and more pictures after the jump.

Shout Out: Our Gaming Group (And My 200th Post!)

I've had this post in editing status for a few years now and realized I hadn't done anything with it about a month ago. Well, being so close to 200 posts, I thought I'd wait and have this be that 200th post. Plus a couple of days ago was National Best Friends Day or some bullshit, so it's a theme or something. Anyway, this is a shout out to my group of gaming buddies. These days we play DnD more than anything else, but our gaming, painting, rule-creating and conversion collective résumé is quite impressive. More after the jump.

Hive Fleet Kaiju 2/3 Complete(Aaaaand...Time!)

Long story short, after working off and on with my CSM army over the course of a couple of years, I wanted to make the fastest possible 750pt list I could. Easy solution? An unbound army with three monstrous creatures, with mostly airbrushing and drybrushing, combined with the simplest of basing techniques for optimal speed. I went with a Kaiju theme from the movie Pacific Rim because....why not? So after the jump there's a bunch of pictures of the two Trygons I finished in only a few hours. Their warlord? That's a post that will be coming soon...

CSM Army Complete (Picture Dump Incoming!)

As mentioned in my previous post, my CSM army is complete. And due to the fact that I worked on it off and on for the past few years, I thought I'd grab all of those pictures and toss them into a single post. So here you go; the entire army in a giant picture-dump post. Enjoy!

CSM Lord Complete (A Bloody Mess)

After a year of ideas and planning, a year of list reduction and reconstruction and 2 years of actual construction and painting my CSM army is complete. I left the Lord for last because...well, it just made sense to me. I'm very pleased with how everything turned out and I'm excited to move on to the next project! More on that later. For now, enjoy the (dark) pics of my HQ after the jump.

Havoc's Rhino Complete (Screw This Chassis)

Finally reaching the end of this project and of course one of the last things I left myself to to do was a Rhino transport... I hate painting these things and after this one I'll never touch one again; no doubt about it. Anyway, this thing turned out great for something I barely enjoyed completing. Probably my favorite of the three. More pics after the jump.

Havocs Complete (More Gets Hot!)

My last unit of CSM infantry complete and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I went with a middle ground, in the purple of their armor, between the pink Chosen and the deep purple Noise Marines, and visually I think it works perfectly with the blue of their plasma weapons and the silver of their trim. More pics after the jump.

Transfinite Emergence Projector & Permutation Servitors Complete (Try Saying That Five Times Fast)

Whew, just like its name, this project was a bit exhausting. I would have had it finished a week earlier, but I ran out of the base coat for the bases and with this army, a lot of paint is required for the bases (all of this is pictured after the jump). I haven't made a habit of progress shots in a long while, but with this one it had so many stops and starts it really didn't bother me to take a few pics along the way.

Never Thought I'd See The Day(Especially On My Birthday)

For the better part of three years I worked on a fandex for the Adeptus Mechanicus, convinced that after almost twenties years of Games Workshop not bothering to make their own, that the fans were the only solution. And we were for a time, and aside from my own, there were a lot of AdMech fandexes out there that I really enjoyed. However, the times they are a-changin'; I gave up on the fandex due to time restraints, but GW seems to finally be listening to their fans (or just looking at Forge World's AdMech sales). Regardless of how it came about, AdMech are finally getting their due and oddly enough on my birthday! More after the jump.

Zombies Complete (Braaaaains...)

Zombies are just plain cool. Movies, shows, games, miniatures; each expressing the awesomeness that is the concept of zombies in their own unique way. For instance, the two zombies I painted up are animated by magic, though not evil magic, so I decided to have their eyes glowing blue instead of an evil red or green. More pictures after the jump.

Immane Complete(Hulk Smash!)

Another DnD miniature finished; clearly I have a fire inside my painting hand. This Goliath is named Immane with quite the story, but that's for another time. With the pictures it's hard to tell, but he has some scars here and there, as well as some black-ink tattoos all over. For a quick paint job, he turned out fantastic. More pics after the jump.

Atrox Completed(Strike A Pose)

Another DnD model completed; I have named him Atrox. With a personality similar to that of Deadpool, he's kind of a silly character, but inhumanly strong and tough. Basically when you roll your stats and you get two 18's, you don't give up those stats, even if you also rolled a 4...which was placed in Wisdom. I enjoyed doing the blood effects on this one, especially on the swords; there is a lot of real estate to play with on those blades. Picture dump after the jump.

Noise Marines Gotta Get Around

Quick update. My hobby table is filling up and I'm trying to get a lot done during this year and that begins with this Rhino for my Noise Marines. Albeit, this was fun to paint at times, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted to paint another Rhino, ever... Which I will have to at some point to flesh out this army, but that's future-Lantz's problem. Let him deal with it. Picture dump after the break.

Cursed Tome Complete (Do Not Open!)

(click to zoom)

Just a quick update today. I manage to start and finish a model in less than 24 hours, which isn't something that happens often, luckily this model was tiny enough and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with each part of it which help immensely in its speedy completion. I also sculpted the little lock on the side of the book; this is a cursed tome for one of my DnD groups that my character is carrying around, but can't open. Not sure if I'll ever need a model for it, but I saw it on Reaper and just had to nab it. I didn't take quality pics with this one with its size and my phone's crappy camera prevented me from getting a good shot with my lightbox, but this will give you an idea. In any case, more posts coming soon!

Noise Marines Complete (Turn It Up To 11!)

Holidays, New Years, getting sick: A lot has kept me from the hobby lately, but I'm back in full swing and this time I've go a full unit of Noise Marines finished up. I have to admit, these guys turned out almost exactly the way I wanted (more on that in a second), but they were really enjoyable to paint as well. This project is also the first time I've really used dayglow pigment en masse as well, which was fun in its own right. More pics after the jump.

Look What I Did: 2014

2014 wasn't without its setbacks, and I certainly didn't get as much finished as I wanted in the hobby area of my life, but the models I did complete I'm very happy with. Below is essentially just a picture dump from all the projects I worked on this year. Enjoy!