Sunday, 22 June 2008

022 Drax's Advice Column - Please Help!

Hullo, Dear Readers,

I need a hand with something: what the deuce am I going to put on the shoulder pads of my Hardened Veterans? On the ordinary Guardsmen, the left shoulder has the number "24" (the regimental number) and the right has the imperial aquila - both white transfers on the Dark Angels Green armour:
But what ought I to do for the Vets? Seriously, I don't know, and I'd really appreciate your comments on this one. I have very little imagination, and even if I kept the aquila on the right pad (which would make sense) I haven't a clue for the left one. But I would like to do something different for them.

The only constraint is that I'm not very good at painting small details.

Any offers? - Please help!

- Drax

Saturday, 21 June 2008

021 After the War [a little comic relief]

And now for something a little different...

After a brief exchange with The Inner Geek, I have decided to post the 2nd/24th Cadian Light Infantry's mascot. He's small, warlike and somewhat Napoleonic, and he almost always accompanies the Lieutenant who commands 2 Platoon in battles:

Faithful readers, I give you 'After the War':
And here he is with his master, OC 2 Platoon:
And here's the little blighter in real life:
That's right - After the War* is a scale representation of our own faithful corgi: Cadfael. Cadfael is technically my wife Kate's dog, having followed her over from Chicago, and a few years ago ahe presented me with my own 28mm version, made out of Fimo, a kind of modelling clay that you bake to set.

After the War has appeared on the field a number of times, and although he usually trots faithfully after his master, he has also made a characterful objective marker a couple of times. He has no game rules.

I'm pleased to note that Kate has also made and/or painted some of my scenery too, for which I'm eternally grateful. She takes no active participation in gaming stuff, but it's always lovely to have her with me when I'm painting on a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon. Thanks, Kate!

NB: Kate has her own blog of daily(ish) photos which I recommend, too, entitled 'The Nicest of the Damned': I have blog title envy!

- Drax

* His name is a reference to a song: if you don't get the reference but want to, do an internet search for "Paul Simon" and "After the War". Incidentally, I'm a big Magritte fan, too.

Monday, 16 June 2008

020 Veterans [Work in Progress]

Well, I've been meaning to post these boys for a while now...so here they are. They are as yet unfinished, so do please bear with me; but (a) I'm quite pleased with a couple of the tweaks I've made, and (b) the work-in-progress pics actually serve to illustrate some of my earlier posts (see below).

So - here are some of the mismatched crowd that constitute the 'hardened veterans' of the Cadian 24th:
Firstly, their trusty vet sergeant, who sports a jaunty little greenstuff cap, a power sword and a bolter, as well as assorted grenades. Sadly, his photos were a little disappointing (this model actually looks better in reality - unlike the other pics, which are pretty accurate):
Next - the sniper. Yes, I know vets oughtn't really to have snipers, but I really couldn't resist converting this; especially if you compare it to the old, old one in the A/P hvy wpn squad I posted previously! I love this model - the rifle really seemed to work well without being too chunky, and goes very well with the FW head with eyepiece:

The missile launcher. I love this model, too: it's the normal IG missile launcher but sawn-off, and with the small Space Marine rockets as ammo (on his back, in this case). The purity seal is an early hand-made one, too:

The grenade launcher and flamer vets speak for themselves:

Next we have the vet with the hvy bolter. This one is interesting because it is an example of how I used to model my tripod hvy wpns: on a separate base and therefore interchangable. I have since changed this (as you can see with the A/P hvy wpn squad I posted) to a converted ovoid base - far more practical! Note the ammo box on the hvy bolter and the demolition charge hanging from his webbing.

The wonderful Forgeworld (FW) shotgun veterans models - I haven't even finished making these, but the models are so cool they had to go in!
And finally, two more basic works-in-progress. From this you can note that the DPM camouflage is in its second stage (obviously it's based on British temperate DPM - maybe these days I'd choose something different, but that's what I started off with and I quite like it): it's a base coat of Dark Angels Green, followed by splodges of (in this order) Bleached Bone, Scorched Brown and Chaos Black.
My usual caveat applies here: I'm not in it for the painting! I only use flat colours as a rule, and I can't do faces. I have particular difficulty with 'white' skintones and eyes - that's why so many of my troops look very scared (blanched and wide-eyed)!

A final word on basing and finishing: these models show my old style basing (a flat, untextured dark green base). They are not yet furnished with transfers or insignia and they have not yet been varnished. These might be the models upon which I try out a matte varnish: it's about time!
Hope you enjoyed some of these...

- Drax.