All posts by Shawn

Necron Ghost Ark

So, last year I promised my friend Mark I’d join his team and go to Adepticon. Mark has been instrumental in keeping my interest in this hobby alive and if it weren’t for his constant badgering, prodding, and teasing, it’s very likely I would have shut down for the duration. I’ll never say this to his face, his head is big enough. XD

Anyway back in 2012,I built and painted a Doomsday Ark. I’m unsure if you are aware, but hat kit is a NIGHTMARE to assemble. It has a mind-numbing amount of parts and I swore I would never build another, but they are so good now. Like scary good. And the Adepticon list we are building calls for 4. Here’s the first:

Ghost Ark   Ghost Ark   Ghost Ark


This thing took hours to build and longer to paint, I’m rusty and I’ve been trying some new things to cut completion time. I opted do not include the ‘crew’for two reasons. Firstly, the 10 mounted warriors are 50+ parts to assemble. 50. Seriosuly. 50+. Second, I didn’t think the paint scheme I designed for my warriors would lend enough visual interest to warrant such suffering in assembly. I was worried I would not like it when it was complete, but I do. I like the ‘openness’ of it.

I built a cool base for it to float over. I used some pine bark for the rocks, but I suck at base design. I’ve never been happy in any base scheme I’ve created save for snow bases. A base redesign may be in order. I’ll try a few things and post my results to get your opinions.

Shawn G. (Soul)

Well, I’m back! Again!

Damn, it’s been nigh a year since I updated this blog. For those still read it, I apologize for my silence. I’ve gotten pretty dejected over this hobby, mainly the decisions made by GW over the last decade, and it really killed my interest in bothering. To make a long story short, my painting is fueled by a desire to play. With all the ass-hattery that GW was throwing around, I didn’t want to bother with them. As a consequence my hobby interest dried up.

I’ve been quiet, but I’ve been watching. I can say, this current edition of 40K is solid. Really solid. It’s like GW started testing their product before release. All the 7th edition books have been fairly balanced. No over the top bullshit (Tau/Eldar/Knights) really to speak of.

With the arrival of the new Necron book I’ve jumped back into the game and hobby. Looking forward to getting into the swing again. Again…

Shawn G. (Soul)

Screaming Skull Catapult Finished!

Screaming Skull CatapultScreaming Skull CatapultScreaming Skull Catapult

This thing was a real joy to paint.

I decided to mount tit on a 120mm round to try something new, and I really like the way it turned out. I used my Dremel to grind out the base slots and added some metal plates so I could magnetize the crew to the base.

It had plenty of fun parts, but also just as many annoying/monotonous sections. Having to do all that bone was a real pain, then having to blacken and highlight all those ribbons was even worse. I can say I did end up saving a lot of time using my airbrush to get the priming and base coats done. Doing that with a brush would have been a nightmare!

Since I’ve been painting again, I can see I’m rusty. These last few things I’ve worked on have not been as ‘sharp’ as the work I’m used to completing. A few more units and I think I’ll be back to full speed.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Tomb King Carrion Replacements

Arkhan's Carrion

I’m not a very big fan of the current carrion models and they really don’t have a place in this Arkhan host I’ve built so I’ve been hunting for some suitable replacements.

I first went with the giant bats from the VC line and they didn’t quite work either. Then the book got re-released and the Vargheist kit showed up and I knew I found my substitute.

Pretty straight up paint job here. I used my airbrush to prime and get the red basecoat done along with the black transitions. I made the hair bone color to add some contrast. They use all but the metallic colors in my army scheme.

I’ve also taken a shine to GW’s texture paint. That stuff makes basing a breeze and it looks better then the flock stuff I was using. Way more visual interest there. I’m debating on rebasing my army with this stuff. It will likely never happen…

Shawn G. (SoI)

Screaming Skull Catapult Mockup

Skull Catapult WiP

Remember that ‘building Jones’ I mentioned? Here’s one of the results.

I picked up a pair of these this year during my lull along with some Tomb Guard. I slapped this together right after grinding the horse out of the Mournghul’s claws. I ‘m trying out a round mounting base with some recessed slots for the crew.

I’ll paint this when I’ve finished the other unit that came out of that building session.

More to come.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Tomb Kings Mournghul (Hierotitan) Complete!

Arkhan's Mournghul (aka Hierotitan)Arkhan's Mournghul (aka Hierotitan)Arkhan's Mournghul (aka Hierotitan)

Here he is. My first completed model in over a year. Not too shabby.

This was the first of my own projects that utilized heavy use of my airbrush. The model was primed, base coated, and faded using my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS.

Since this guy lacks any metal elements I had to stick to the other primary colors in my army being Black/Gray & Red. I wanted the column to be dark so that was done first using a series of Vallejo grays with some white line highlighting. The Mournghul himself was a different story.

I only had one more color in my palate so his body had to be red. I was not too big on a solid red body so I added some transitional fading effects to his most exaggerated elements: his shredded abdomen and claws. I added some color to the talons and gave him wispy white hair for contrast.

I really like the way he came out and I think he’ll fit in perfectly with the rest of my army.

Feels good to be back in the saddle!

The Mournghul (aka Hierotitan) WiP

Mournghul WiPMournghul WiPMournghul WiP

Since my discussion with my friends Juan & Robert on the glories of the High Elf army in Warhammer Fantasy, I’ve had Tomb Kings on my mind.

I haven’t touched this army since Oct 2011 when I finished Arkhan, but I have been collecting stuff for my eventual return. I knew I needed to get rid of that silly pyramid I was using for my Hierotitan, but I never found a suitable replacement and then my Thokt Necron project put my TK on the back burner for 2 years.

I fell in love with the Mournghul (I know there’s no ‘h’ in there but it needs one) when I picked up Monstrous Arcanum from Forge World and the model did not disappoint! I wanted this piece to replace my pyramid, but that horse under his left hand had to go.

Have I told you how much I love my Dremel?

2 hours of grinding removed the horse and after fishing around though the few TK scenery pieces I had I found the perfect fit; one of the ruined Egyptian columns from Armorcast. I had to saw off the column to change its direction so the piece gets to utilize all that nice texture on the shattered side of the pillar. He’s also pinned in two places for stability.

I can’t wait to paint this bad boy, but I got a building Jones that I just have to satisfy…

More to come so stay tuned!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Well, I’m Back…

Greetings viewers (if anyone still even reads this blog),

It’s been over a year since I’ve updated Glaven. Sorry about that people. I’ve been in a terrible rut that has all but eradicated any hobby interest. I think I’ve played 4 games of 40K this year…

Anyway, I went over to a friends house to discuss the merits of the High Elf army and how they function and I felt the spark return! I actually have an itch to build and paint again!

I’ll be taking it slow so I don’t burn myself out again, but I think things are going to go back to how they were.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Dark Angel Commission – Ravenwing Template

Ravenwing Attack BikeRavenwing Attack Bike

This bike came out really well. I love the way black looks glossed, but I think this is a little too much. I intended to only place a satin varnish on it and used the gloss accidentally. I’ll touch it up with a 2/1 matt/satin varnish via airbrush here once the original coat is dried (I can still smell it).

Now that I have the template hammered out, I can focus on fine-tuning my method so I can replicate it efficiently. I have 12 bikes, 3 more attack bikes, and a Master of the Ravenwing to do for this phase of the commission.

Shawn G.

Daemons and Resin bases – Why do you hate me so?

Well I’m still trying to pin down what I want to do next. I wanted to do daemons. Not because they are really good ATM, I don’t bandwagon armies. In fact I have a full Tzeentch Daemon horde for fantasy that I could just use in 40K if I wanted to bandwagon. No, I wanted to paint a whole new daemon army using all the new sexy plastics. I even picked up some new resin bases from Dragon Forge to mount them on. Those plans may be dashed…

Daemonic troops, as a whole, have delicate little ankles and pinning them is difficult to say the least. If you are not careful you can end up drilling through the leg or, if using a dremel, melting the plastic from friction. Even if you get them mounted, the ever-present fear of breakages is a serious concern. When the do break, they will break above the pin section leaving the whole leg, ankle and some of the shin still attached to the resin base. So irritating!

While I try to figure out what to do with my commission payment (2000pts of Tzeentch Daemons), I dug up some of my old CSM from my Iron Warrior days and started to kick around the idea of painting CSM again with a new scheme. I have not abandoned the Tzeentch daemos, but the idea of mounting 30+ horrors that I know are going to break and piss me off just seems unwise. If this army takes root, and it looks like it will, I’ll splice the daemons in via allies and still get to paint some of the new stuff.

Dragon Forge Bases

First up, here are the bases I got from Dragon Forge. They are from Jeff’s Desecrated Lands line and they are sexy as hell. I first tried painting them black with a orange glow, but that ended up looking like crap. These are airbrushed using the same colors I used for Dave’s Vet Contemptor (Deathwing colors) and the cracks are filled with Tamiya gore. I’ll post a tutorial on this technique later. I gave the bases a black trim to accentuate the detail.

CSM Template WiPCSM Template WiP

Here’s my template model. This guy kind of painted himself on Saturday. I especially like how the eyes turned out. I’ll have to experiment more with that look. This scheme looks good but needed polish. That’s where the 2nd marine came in.

CSM ChosenCSM ChosenCSM Chosen

This is the same scheme with more bone color and red as a contrast. The red is highlighted strangely (elf flesh) and I love it! Looks good on the base as well. And easy to pin…

I’ll be working on these as well while I work on Dave’s Dark Angel commission; I think the next two will be a sorcerer and a dark apostle.

Shawn G. (SoI)