New Kit Bashing Opportunity

I saw this new box set of Frost Grave Cultist knights and thought they could make great orcs. Sure enough, they are ragged with brutal weaponry, very orcy.

 They also have corroded, pitted armour and weapons, which again makes them ideal for Goblin folk.

 I went back to my old favourite heads for these figures, the Warlord games plastic orc ones. Not only did they look the best but they had a ball neck joint that fitted perfectly into the new Frost Grave torsos.

They stand a little straighter than other plastic sets so could make good Half orcs. The first in the line here uses the head and arms from an Oathmark orc set, just for variety.

Amongst the new cultist set was this nice cloaked torso. This is too nice to waste on orc filth, so I turned them into warriors from Cardolan.

 The flowing robes looked great for a ranger type character. 

Sean Bean lives and fights again!

The War Against Chaos

As noted in Wargames Illustrated, my hobby work area was a bit cluttered to say the least. It looks more like a fine artist's floor than a hobby table. 

Well, all that is about to change! My wife and I got to doing some talking and a cunning plan was hatched to order some more storage boxes that could be put up on the wall. 

The first plastic box experiment had worked so well for the Vallejo style bottles, that the idea of buying a few more seemed to be a great idea, getting all the dropper bottles off the work top and on the wall.

It was by chance really that I found this type of storage box made for a great paint rack. It's clear so you can see through the sides too to help you locate colours. It also keeps the paint by the top of the bottle, with the paints laying horizontal in the storage.

On getting back from a Roleplay meeting, I found my wife had put them up for me as a surprise and filled them. 

 

I had a few more dropper bottles to add from the Chaos horde, but the hobby table was looking a lot clearer.

 It might take a bit of time to get used to the new system, but at least now I can see the actual paint colour rather than search through a sea of white lids.

Finding the odd straggler still hiding in plain sight, he will soon be categorised and processed don't worry.

Originally the paints were stacked in rows of three, meaning nine paints could be stored. However, on messing around with them, I found by stacking them three,two,three,two, ten paints could fit in the space. This looser formation also meant the pots were looser and easier to get out.

For the first time in many years the clouds of Chaos start to pull back to reveal a clear sky.

A wall of paint is revealed in the gleaming sun. The last bastion of clutter wars.

There is still a way to go, but this is a great start. I have to admit the clutter had started to affect my painting a bit. There was so much on the table with unfinished projects that I had gone a bit snow blind with it all. 

Having a place to store half my paints off the table, will guarantee a free working area clear of bottles in the future.

Look! See there, a figure has entered the clearing...get him!

Orc variants

I thought this was interesting, I bought an orc war leader and compared it to one from an old war chariot. It's obviously a Nick Lund sculpt and has been tweaked to stand alone as a figure on foot.

It's just interesting to me the extra sculpting that has been done. I've had the chariot figure from the early 90's. 

The new guy looks bigger with his eagle claw shoulder pads and his extended helmet horns. He is also sporting a new shield and sword on his back. In fact his entire back has been resculpted to incorporate the new items. Old school charm, Nick's sculpting style isn't everyone's taste but I have grown to love it.

 

UPDATE: Right so I've done a bit more digging and we have some answers...

The Orc generals war chariot was released in 1986 with original figure. Seven years later, the newer, tweaked figure was released.

So seven years difference, it was obviously had too much character to just leave on the chariot.

The base clearly shows a later 1993 mark. 

 

Back on the Bots!

Madness took me today and I picked up some Autobots that have been lying around for ages. After their less than successful unavailing at a wargames day, I was a little put off creating any more.

 However it's a topic I hold dear and so I'm sure they will appear again. Just the joy of crafting characters from bits and bobs is enough to ensure I'll do more in the future.

 I used a bit from my hearing aid supplies to finish off his back and close some of the many gaps left in the toy. Any little gizmo or grebbly is always worth keeping and storing safe, the day will come when you'll be glad you kept it.

This character is one of the coolest I've painted so far, he carries strong manga vibes.

I now need to give him a name that sums up his sleek look. I'm quite proud of his pistol which was created from plasticard. He is an actual mini toy rather than a keyring. I kept the nice Autobot symbol on his head and this helped to determine his overall colour scheme.

I quite like the fact he has energy vents on his legs, it adds a little more contrast to the black body work.

I think due to the vents on the back of his legs for speed and his red, molten colour scheme, I think Quick fire would be a good name for him. He also has a pistol which gives of law enforcement vibes. I'll have to find a good vehicle mode for him now that suits his new character.

Wide load gets his alt mode. I kit bashed this vehicle together from tank tracks, a gun and a broken Micro machine vehicle. It has the same huge wheels that I modelled the robot with.

I forgot I had this picture of him being assembled. You can see here there were a lot of gaps to fill to turn this toy into a playing piece.

Gundabad Orcs

Four new bases of dirty orcs emerge from the woods and close the river. Their black and white banners mark them out from their Mordor brethren.

 

The tatty banners are made from torn up wet wipes, coated in PVA glue.

I have a couple left over, so I'll need to paint ten more to first another warband.

Here are them all together so far, six bases.