Duelling Paintbrushes: COMPLETED.

Day 13, and as predicted, Clan Skitterklaw is now utterly complete - bases and all. Here's the proof:

Clan Skitterklaw - all 1000 points of it.

Painted and based, Warlord Skveek Skitterklaw

He's also painted and based from the other side. Amazing!

Next time you here someone bitching about how long it takes to get an army table ready, point them this way, eh?

And I've started the next instalment of the clan. Which looks like this (roughly speaking - I'm tempted to reconfigure it to get some Jezzails in somehow.)

Lords (440pts)

• Grey Seer (440pts)
  Skaven Spells of Ruin, The Screaming Bell (200pts)

Heroes (110pts)

• Warlock Engineer (45pts)
  Doomrocket (30pts)
• Warlock Engineer (65pts)
  Brass Orb (50pts)

Core (245pts)

• Clanrats (90pts)
  • 20x Clanrats (90pts)
    20x Shield (10pts)
• Clanrats (155pts)
  Doom-flayer (55pts)
  • 20x Clanrats (100pts)
    20x Shield (10pts), 20x Spear (10pts)

Special (60pts)

• Gutter Runners (60pts)
  5x Gutter Runners (60pts), Two hand weapons

Rare (150pts)

• Doomwheel (150pts)

• 
  
  

Of that, I've painted the five gutter runners (the old plastic ones - Greg had some for some reason and donated them to the cause)

They run in gutters, and go squeak.

And of course, the Rat Tank/Doom Wheel has been started. The Vulcan kit is an odd combination of simple and fiddly. Some parts are very simple, but others are annoyingly fiddly. If I was making this as a model, that'd be awesome, but as a wargames piece, it can grate a bit. The springs for the suspension especially. Each one has a single brass wire, four tiny coil springs of two sizes, and two plastic flange-y-things. I got sick of all the springs and built them with just the two outer springs rather than the two inner smaller ones with the bigger ones outside them. I also lost a brass wire, and some springs, so one suspension arm is typical skaven bodge work. Okay, possable suspension is pretty cool, but the tank model is not heavy enough to actually activate the stuff, and it sits wonky anyway. Sigh.

Here's a pic anyway.

Duelling Paintbrushes: The end.

October 23rd, the last day. Duelling Paintbrushes are laid down, the banjo music fades, and it's time to survey what has been done...

Well, most of it. I am staying with my parents while my sinuses recover from surgery, and I left the marauder unit and marauder horsemen unit behind. I also didn't bring sand or my camera, so bases are not finished, and I had to use my mother's camera. This is a strange experience - she has what is effectively my camera, but five years newer. It's superficially the same, but does almost everything differently and takes some getting used to. I cannot get decent photos out of it the way I can get them out of mine.

Sigh.

Anyway, I have now completed ten Nurgle marauders. These guys were converted from Flagalents back when the plastic ones first came out, and oyu cpuld (briefly) order them in a sensible box of twenty, rather than the traditional GW over priced box of ten. They are now painted. The other half of the regiment was half painted already, but I have not yet gone back to finish them off.

I have also painted my Jugger lord ay last, along with a Berserker champion from Reaper, who I intend to use as a hero in marauder units. Because he is very, very shouty.

I'll get better photos of everything involved in Duelling Paintbrushes when I get home next week.

Duelling Paintbrushes: Day Seven.

Day Seven. The Khorne Marauders are completely complete, down to their bases. I've bought some chain, but not yet added it to the dog's collars or connected them up to the dog handler's hands.

They've also had their baptism of fire in a game against Greg yesterday. I took 2500 points of chaos, all of which was Nurgle apart from the marauders. I also took several illegal items because I've only played about five games of 8th edition, and just didn't realise. Greg took 2500 points of empire, and used the Kislevites as a detachment of halbardiers because he didn't have enough of them to use them as anything else.

The Marauders were the last of my units to be destroyed, and my Chaos lord has earned the new name 'Lord McWailsondetachment' for his continued efforts to singlehandedly remove every Kislevite model from the game (he didn't quite make it - three fled off the table without being killed!)

I also took a box of half finished chaos conversions, which Greg looked into, which resulted in him demanding I finish the Marauder horsemen I'd converted and started many moons ago. This is what they looked like this morning:

And this is them this evening, now finished (although I think I forgot the corpse's hair, and I must replace the missing back-banner).

I've also spent some time with the Jugger Lord. His jugger now sports spiffing collars, and will soon sport a spiffing, throne style saddle.

Duelling Paintbrushes: PFH Ishoo For: Khorne Marauders

Sometimes you just NEED a horde sized unit and you need it now. Painting a unit that size can be a very daunting task, but it needn't be! With a few speed painting techniques and a good run up, you can burn through regiments faster than you think! Is it quick you ask? Well, it's Day Four of Duelling Paintbrushes, and I am almost finished painting the whole 32 man unit. How hard you ask? Hippo level.

They won't win any prizes, but they will win battles, and they will win them fast. Well, they would if it was anyone but me using them. As it is, they'll be crushed ignominiously everytime I use them...

Duelling Paintbrushes: Day Two.

Day Two. 21:10. My eyes are going. I've been painting non-stop for about two hours. I've remembered why I never finished the unit when I first started painting them several months ago. Khorne are boring to paint. But there are another seven of them completed. Just two more batches, and one of those includes the unit fillers, which are much more interesting to paint.

I've taken photos for a PFH ishoo on these guys, but I honestly cannot be bothered posting it now. Maybe tommorow.

Duelling Paintbrushes: Day One

Day one. Despite my opponent's cheating (he failed calendar reading 101 and started yesterday) I remain confident. Mostly because all he managed to do in that day was undercoat and base his stuff. In my first day I have completed the first batch of Khornrauders, apart from basing which I always do at the end. So, seven down, twenty-five to go. Also I have started to convert up a Khorne lord on Juggernaut, using the Avatars Of War Netherhound (a sort of Chaos Cerberus). He'll do double duty as Arbaal the Undefeated, who is not very impressive, but will add colour to the mighty Gates of Kislev battle.

Here's the first batch of Khornrauders:

In keeping with the Nurgle part of my Chaos army, I'm using somewhat more 'muted' colours than the usual Chaos schemes. I'm also using an odd skin tone since these guys are half-beastman due to their fanatical worship of their blood-thirsty god.

And here's the Jugger Lord. There'll need to be a bit more work on him, especially the shield, and the saddle.

In the next thrilling instalment of Duelling Paintbrushes, I intend to provide a full Painting For Hippos write up of the Khornrauder technique. It's not quite as much fun as painting Nurgle, but it's fairly quick.

Coming Soon: Duelling Paintbrushes.

Greg of the Hoodling's Hole has challenged me to Duelling Paintbrushes!

The rules are fairly simple:

• Start painting on October 10th.
• Finish painting on October 23rd (the day of the Status Bellum Tournament)
• You must paint a unit of 32 figures (or equivalent with unit fillers)- Greg will paint the Kislevites I converted for him, I will paint a unit of Khorne Marauders I built some time ago and never got round to painting.
• Time permitting, you can model and paint any number of matching characters to go with the unit.

When he proposed the event, Greg assumed I would easily defeat him due to my much faster painting style, so we added the bit about characters. Then I found out I'd be going to hospital on the 19th, which might just even the playing field.

Needless to say, I will keep you all updated on the status of the challenge.