Black/Red painting studio

Battle Masters Chaos Warrior... again!

2012-01-24T18:09:00.000+01:00

I posted this miniature in november 2009, but the halberd sucked so, some time ago I re-painted it. now it's much better! I attempted to do some blending on the blade and I'm quite satisfied about it! I also added some burnt grass on the base (it gives a great "wasteland" taste to the miniature) and took a better picture!
Anyway, more to come!

Sol'Kanar, elven ranger of Cormanthor

2011-12-22T15:20:00.000+01:00

The second D&D character I ever had was a ranger. In those days the ranger was the only fighter that could wield two weapons at the same time and this was why in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons there were plenty of them.

My ranger was, and still is, a wood elf from the Cormanthor forest who even spent some time living in the elven fortress of Evereska. With him I played lots of adventures and also the second chapter of Baldur's Gate saga (Shadows of Amn) and both Icewind Dale games during my high school years and later. After a first cycle of adventuring (and some planar travels) he retired for a while, because i switched to a different kind of characters like spellcasters for some time. Then came 3rd edition rules (Dungeons & Dragons 3.0) and I chose this guy to approach the new game. Lots of tales again. Lots of enemies slain in the name of Rillifane Rallatil.

His name is Sol'Kanar, taken from a legendary creature of the game Magic The Gathering which has nothing else to do with my ranger. I just liked the name when i was a really young D&D and Magic player at the same time.

I chose a quite rare miniature (that came for free together with White Dwarf) to represent him: it is Aenur, the Sword of Twilight from Mordheim, the 1999 GW game. He was a high elf mercenary, kind of a swordsman. I like this miniature basically because of the cape and the sword, i found those things well representing the ranger fashion tipical of Sol'Kanar Fireblade.

I can't wait to play a new D&D campaign with him!

Alexei Draconis, cleric of Tempus

2011-12-15T12:54:00.001+01:00

This miniature represents my very first D&D character which I created in 1992-93 circa when I was just a kid. At that time I used to play with an italian edition of the classic D&D boxed set and its expansions:

In the beginning he was a simple cleric, without any focus: the cleric was just a healer with some fighting skills even if he couldn't use any edged weapon; its "forgiving" nature of priest forbid him to make the blood run. His name is now Alexei Draconis but in the first years was Alex of Dragons (which is kind of a silly name for a fantasy character but i guess that's how it goes when you are 7). With the shift to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules set, this guy became a cleric of Tempus but still he bore a morning star or some other bludgeoning weapon. The axe came with the 3rd edition of the rules. Needless to say that all this memories make me really nostalgic!

Right now Alexei Draconis lives in Cimbar, a city of Chessenta (in Faerun, Forgotten Realms), and runs a big temple of good gods. He's involved as a NPC in my last D&D campaign. I wonder if I will ever make him go to adventure another time with a party of adventurers...
By the way, this miniature is a converted Guard of the Citadel (from Lord of the Rings range by Harlequin miniatures). Quite rare stuff, I guess.

Battle Masters Orc!

2011-12-09T19:54:00.001+01:00

When i bought my Battle Masters box it was 1992 circa and i was just a little kid so i had no skill at all in painting miniatures. After almost 20 years i'm ready to paint all of that miniatures in an old school fashion, like the way they were painted at that time.
This is an orc which i'm going to use for my Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I painted it to make it look pretty much like the leader of the mob so i gave him some bright clothes and a magical weapon. I'm really happy with the highlights of the skin (50% goblin green + 50% sunburst yellow) and also with the GW's Burnt Grass that is invaluable on a rock base like this one.

Last Imperial Guard Tank Crew member!

2011-11-04T13:34:00.001+01:00

This running guy is painted in the same way the previous were. The thing i like best is his green pants. Anyway there's not that much to say about him! do you like it?

Bretonnia: START!

2011-10-24T00:24:00.002+02:00

I must tell you, my dear friends, that i decided to start Warhammer Fantasy Battles with Bretonnia since i have many knights from the 1996 boxed set of a friend. I'm really excited about this because of the painting challenges that are waiting me, I think Bretonnians are a big opportunity of having fun with painting all those amazing heraldries! So stay tuned!

BTW: today I won on Ebay the miniature shown above which is a classic metal Bretonnian duke on pegasus... sweet!

Advancing Valhallan Ice Warrior

2011-10-17T19:26:00.001+02:00

This is the last Valhallan of this batch. Painted as usual, please just note the particular attention for the details. Nothing more to say, he's just a basic veteran trooper.

Another Valhallan veteran

2011-10-11T13:05:00.001+02:00

I love this Valhallan Ice Warrior, the pose is pretty much like "ok: what's going on there?". I find him quite funny and suitable for a static command squad that looks the battle from a second line trench, giving orders or transmitting coordintates to the artillery batteries.

The colour scheme is the usual 34th Valhallan urban camo. Above, the regimental insigna painted on the coat right sleeve.

On the left sleeve it has been painted the squad number. Please note the camo roll this model bears, useful in case of heavy snow.

OOP Commissar into veterans 2nd squad sergeant

2011-10-08T10:43:00.000+02:00

More veterans! This guy is an old commissar miniature, 1996 circa i guess, which i used to represent sort of "improved" infantry sergeant so, because of his veteran status, i thought it could be a good idea to replace the usual Valhallan Ice Warriors sergeant with something more sofisticated. I find it very suitable to Valhallans because of his greatcoat and his peaked cap makes him look pretty well like a hardened commander.

His pistol is a now almost disappeared hand flamer which i think is only available to Battle Sisters and Blood Angels but i'm not sure. Anyway even if this isn't available anymore to Imperial Guard, i chose not to replace it because of the beauty of its aquila marking on the side and the rarity of this OOP miniature.

Another Imperial Guard Tank Crew guy!

2011-10-04T14:46:00.000+02:00

Welcome back!
This guy is basically the same than the previous one, except he is standing instead of kneeling and he's armed with a lasgun instead of a laspistol. It is quite clear to see what i was telling you before about the black "armoured corps" vest, which makes him quite "panzerdivision" looking. Beside of that, his leather helmet and his black leather boots give him a Soviet taste.

I painted of course a squad patch on his left sleeve.

Valhallan veteran!

2011-10-01T10:56:00.000+02:00

One more painted veteran! This time a Valhallan Ice Warrior, the one with the rebreather. I already painted this kind of Valhallan trooper so i tried to make him look a bit more different adopting a slightly different camouflage scheme, darker in comparison to the other miniatures i painted last year. also i introduced a fourth level of highlighting and i must say that i really like how it came out, do you?

Look at how the coat colours and the base colours are blended together but somehow the model manages to stand out and look bright!

OOP Imperial Guard Tank Crew, limited edition

2011-09-29T12:40:00.000+02:00

I'm particularly proud of these miniatures: this is one of the three members of the Imperial Guard tank crew that i own. These models came out in 1999 when, with the first 3rd edition codex, you could give tanks a piece of equipment called Crew Escape Mechanism meant to save a D3 members of tank crew in order to avoid losing completely the Victory points of the tank. Very fancy wargear, i wish i could buy this right now for my Russes (i deploy three). These miniatures were available only from GW Mail Order so this made them pretty rare stuff.

I decided to use these three models because i wanted to give my army kinda "survivor" feel, like if it has been deployed for a really long time, so starting from the day this guy lost his tank, i got attached to a veteran infantry squad to allow him to go on fighting.
The colour scheme is a bit different from the other veterans: the trousers are the same but the jacket is, instead of grey-black urban camo, plain black to represent his status of elite tank crew, pretty much like the way WW2 Germans did. In fact in my army i painted tank crews from Leman Russes or artillery with a black vest while the Chimeras' crews just plain olive green (quite Soviet looking).
Anyway, i really love the way i painted the potentiometer on the laspistol! looks like it is glowing in the dark!

Cadian veteran!

2011-09-25T22:37:00.000+02:00

I began to paint seriously all of my guardmen: this is the first of the first batch. the camo scheme is the usual urban camo made of medium grey as main colour and black stripes.

Right now i'm using Vallejo game and model colours and for the grey i combined:

German grey
Basalt grey
Cold grey

Black stripes are painted with:

Black
German grey
Black wash or Lifecolor's Panzer Uniform instead of German grey

Green fatigues are painted with:

Yellow olive
Cayman green
Camouflage green

I'm particularly happy with the red patch of the squad's number on the left shoulder. This make my guardsmen really tidy, very clear to understand who is who on the battlefield!

Command squad part IV

2011-09-22T19:36:00.000+02:00

Fourth and last meltagunner: this one is Animal from Schaeffer Last Chancers. quite rare miniature, out of production of course even if still available from GW mailorder i guess. its rarity is why i've decided to include it in my Valhallan command squad even if it doesn't make much sense to make an almost naked man to walk into a snowy environment. i imagine this guy like a prisoner of war used by the other members of the squad like human shield and/or expendable soldier when the firefight gets tough.

this was the last command squad member so that's all for now! see you in a couple of days!

Command squad part III

2011-09-20T14:39:00.002+02:00

Third meltagunner of the company command squad, classic Cadian trooper! i love these models, i think they are much better them the actual Cadians which are kind of toy soldiers with those huge helmets and that vest quite looking like a skirt. i know, plastic models are much better to convert and i'm agree (in fact you can get great troopers with converted cadians, just swap their heads with something better!) but this classic metal stuff has a lot more of charme.

Orlando's Dire Avenger

2011-09-18T13:13:00.001+02:00

Following the exarch shown some time ago here, now we've got a trooper from Orlando's Dire Avengers squad. I'm not sure but looks like the right arm has been converted somehow in order to keep the shuriken rifle upwards. The left hand bears an imperial combat knife (don't know if catachan or from space marine scouts) painted like a magical/powered/whatever blade. i really like the soft purple gradient.

The colour scheme is the same of the exarch, so blue for the armour and red/green for the crest, representing the craftworld colours.

Command squad part II

2011-09-16T10:35:00.003+02:00

This is the second veteran from my company command squad, this time a Valhallan. The meltagun has the usual wooden finish and the coat is painted with the standard Valhallan 34th regiment urban camo scheme.

He is very similar to the rest of the army which is composed of veterans (i deploy no platoons) so there was no reason to paint him differently. i am not sure but maybe i'll paint a patch on the left sleeve to show his command designation.

Command squad part I

2011-09-13T13:06:00.000+02:00

There are many ways to play an Imperial Guard Company Command squad. Personally, i like to exploit the most the ability of the officier to issue orders like "Bring It Down!" so i chose to equip the veterans that escort my officier with meltaguns.
Since i play Valhallan Ice Warriors, which are made of metal, i would have 4 identical melta gunners so i decided to build up a squad with troopers from many different regiments and paint all of them in the same way to give them some chromatic coherency, even if they are not look alike at all. The first of these is this Catachan melta gunner that has been modified with Space Marines Scouts shoulder pads and some milliput to sculpt a flak armour (previously shown here). i also added a backpack to make him look like a sapper.

I painted him in the usual way, so Command designation on the right pad and chevrons on the melta bombs and grenades. i didn't add any snow, yet.

Orlando's guardians

2011-09-08T15:08:00.001+02:00

Sorry for the huge delay, i had a tremendously busy schedule! i hope to relax and be able to sit back for a while.
These are Orlando's guardians, painted with the usual Kaelis colour scheme. they are the usual plastic guardians that came out in 1999 with the 3rd edition codex.

As you can see every gem on this model has been painted in different colours from the others giving this guardian a really unique feel and a degree of attention usually dedicated only to independent characters.

Following, group shot of the rest of the squad. The colour scheme varies in order to give a heterogeneous feel to the squad

More to come! this time i swear this is the truth!

Orlando's Dire Avengers Exarch

2011-04-11T22:20:00.000+02:00

so, as announced, we've got the first guest post!
this is an eldar Dire Avengers Exarch (1993 circa) painted by my dear friend Orlando! the colour scheme is dominated by the usual blue for the armor and white for the helmet. the crest and the cloth have been painted with the craftworlds Kaelis colours, green and red, as well as the rear side of the flag which displays the craftworld rune, while the front side is painted blue with Avengers' rune. as you might imagine, the flag comes from the Dire Avengers plastic kit. it gives a really oriental feel and recalls the way aspect warriors were painted during the early 40k 2nd edition.

the Diresword has been painted with a really smooth gradient from light yellow to wine red (i guess bad moon yellow to gore red) with lots of washes. as you can see there is plenty of gems on this model, painted in many colours.
in my opinion, Orlando painted this miniature in a really proper way, i mean: the way it could be painted in 1993 and i like it a lot!
so i think this is a really great work, in fact this miniature must have won something in some 40k tournament, like best single miniature.
more to come!

Maybe back (from the warp)!

2011-03-31T20:20:00.000+02:00

i'm sorry for this very long hiatus, i had to manage lots of changes in my life. briefly: i changed job and i moved to Switzerland due to this, had to find and furnish a flat, split up with my long term girlfriend and totally changed lifestyle. what a mess!
my new job leaves me a few free time, not enough to keep an acceptable pace of miniature painting so i tought it could be a good idea to host some friends on this blog, just to keep the thing alive and give people the opportunity to show their works and maybe receive a bit of feedback from you guys out there. so, every picture you will see with the label "black/red painting guest" will not belong to me. stay tuned for further update, which will happen soon, i swear!

PS: the fact that i'm pretty busy doesn't mean that i'm going to stop painting :-) don't worry!

Cities of Death campaign map!

2010-12-09T16:00:00.001+01:00

Battle for Tcharkov is gonna finish soon so we are planning a new campaign with the Cities of Death expansion, just to make a little change! this is gonna be the new map, from Googlemaps... most of you will not understand why it is so funny, but hey, what a gag!

Gothic DIY scenery WIP part II

2010-12-03T11:47:00.000+01:00

do you remember this?
well, i made some changes like removing almost all that ugly ball-textured polystyrene and replacing it with more compact stuff. the parts that still show the old styrene are gonna be treated with some filler in order to make them look like masonry work.
i really like the theme of the stairs because they make me remember the scene of the 1925 movie "The Battleship Potemkin" where the cossacks shoot the sailors, even if these stairs are much shorter. also, i really like how the space marine statue looks in the gable. i'm planning to add some texture, like a wire mesh or something, to the circular window that should be a rose window.
thoughts?

Ruined temple part II, still WIP but with some detail

2010-12-01T12:18:00.000+01:00

back to work!
i've added some detail to the temple as you can see. nothing special i know, but i think this extra stuff really contribute to give some personality to this piece of terrain. the space marines statues are 2nd edition miniature that came with the old boxed set 1994, i guess. the skulls on the bases are from skeletons sprues. on the top of the facade there's a simple decoration made with one round base, a winged skull from imperial guard vehicle sprue and some rivets.
any suggestion?

headbutt on the bus windscreen!

2010-11-29T20:41:00.000+01:00

hey!
today i broke the windscreen of a bus with my head so no miniatures painting for a while! i can't believe how much hard my head is!
by the way, i'm ok, so don't even worry!

Ruined Temple WIP

2010-11-27T18:50:00.000+01:00

i've officially started to model my Cities of Death scenery in order to start playing as soon as possible at Killteam.
this first piece is nothing special: just styrofoam front with gothic windows and some lancet arches.

i added on the back the big aquila sculpture that i found in the Honoured Imperium box, just to give the place a "holy" feel.

hand made crater. tutorial on the way. soon, i swear!
i feel there are lots of things missing, especially on the frontage so i'm gonna add lots of details. any suggestion?

Kill Team camo scheme part II

2010-11-25T18:06:00.000+01:00

more Killteam camo scheme! i chose to paint the flak armour grey in combination to the camo scheme of the fatigues just to give this soldier a ww2 feel... just think to Wehrmacht/SS soldiers on the western front in 1944, you couldn't find two men dressed in the same way, so this is what i'm trying to achieve.

the camouflage is done this way:

black primer
catachan green basecoat
bestial brown spots
bubonic brown spots
black wash
50/50 camo green + catachan green highlight
snakebite leather highlight

Kill Team camo scheme

2010-11-24T18:15:00.002+01:00

have you ever played the Killteam mission from Battle Missions expansion?
i never did but as soon as i read the rules i totally got into that so i'm planning a new camo scheme for my imperial guard. this time i want something for a temperate enviroment, just for difference sake, it's boring to paint all the time the same camo scheme.
the idea was to recreate something with a Wehrmacht flavour so i chose these colours. i'm not sure about this scheme so i'm making a lot of sketches. let me know what do you think about guys!

Imperial guard progress

2010-11-23T21:57:00.000+01:00

we are slowly progressing... eheh. what do you think i should do next? i'm planning to remove rough riders because on the latest faq it came out that furious charge doesn't stack with hunting lance bonus so...

Chimera 4A1

2010-11-22T10:50:00.004+01:00

so, the famous stretched Chimera is finally done!
it took me a lot of time to model ad decide how it should look (also because of my laziness) but now it's over.

the camo scheme is the usual one: classic stripes with urban colours. the checker pattern is the designation of command tank (sometimes the company command squad rides this tank, depending on the mission), painted just to make it easier to distinguish (for the opponent) where the squad with different equipment is. the red dragon badge, on the left, indicates the squadron (platoon A). the roman numeral VI indicates the company.

the same on this side. check out the wooden boxes! il like them a lot! on the top i modeled a camo net with some bandage kept hard with PVA glue.

artistic shot I: tank commander

artistic shot II: 1st passenger

artistic shot III: 2nd passenger

which chimera do you like more?

Catachan tank commander

2010-11-21T17:31:00.004+01:00

more catachans!
this is the Leman Russ Exterminator tank commander that came with the old kit (1999). it belongs to Teo and his name his J.A. Tiger (ahah, very A-Team)! obviously counts as knight commander Pask!
personally i'm pretty proud of the aquila sign on the helmet and the specs. do you like it, guys?

Catachan testpaint over!

2010-11-20T19:35:00.003+01:00

this is the final result, i'm pretty satisfied with it. quite similar with GW's Catachan scheme but with more personality in my opinion.
if you are wondering from where this miniature is coming from, well, it came together with a tank commander in the old Leman Russ Exterminator kit (1999). yes, with the 3rd edition codex you could deploy that tank but it was far less powerful than now. it is a leman russ passenger, and should look like this:

how nice! the tank commander is the next!

Catachan testpaint part II

2010-11-19T12:15:00.003+01:00

so this time we've got to think about the lasgun's camo scheme. which is better? black + snot green (above) or black + camo green (below)?

please, let us know!

Catachan testpaint

2010-11-17T21:45:00.003+01:00

new testpaint, do you like it? it isn't finished i know but just look at the camo!

Limited edition Valhallan tank riders

2010-11-17T09:57:00.004+01:00

do you remember these guys? they came for free with che old Chimera kit (1996 circa) with another tank commander (that i don't own)... below, the one on the right. it is still available from GW mailorder while the passengers are gone but i think you can find them on Ebay.

so, i added those guys on my streched chimera and painted it as my command tank

i'll post the whole model as soon as i finish it!

Chimera 4A2

2010-11-12T12:06:00.005+01:00

another tank is done! i'm getting ready for a tournament on sunday.
this is a pretty plain chimera without much conversions. i've armed this apc with a hull mounted heavy flamer and added an old fuel cylinder under that. i've also painted some scorches on the flamer barrel.

i added to the turret a targeting box taken from the old leman russ kit, which fits perfectly the new chimera turret. the roman numeral "IV" represents the company icon (4th company, infantry, 34th valhallan regiment).

as usual the camo scheme has been painted with vallejo german grey and codex grey for the light tone and black and german grey for the dark tone. on the turret the number "4A2" indicates that this tank belongs to the 4th company, infantry platoon A, 2nd squad. the red dragon icon on white background is the squadron (platoon) designation, in the same way of leman russ squadrons. on the rear you can see the army badge.

rear ramp, with tank number and regimental designation.

plastic tank commander from the chimera kit with a Pig Iron head. please notice the wooden casing of the bolt pistol and the extra armour on the turret.

valhallan passenger: that's just a classic metal trooper painted and glued on a support inside the tank.

steel legion passenger: i think it fits well in a valhallan army... and i really like the way i painted the power sword. looks like he is barking some orders :-)

do you like it? more chimeras to come!

Guess what is coming...

2010-11-11T20:51:00.002+01:00

it's not hard to tell...

This is a great day...

2010-11-08T12:04:00.002+01:00

because i've just bought this

Guess what? Vendetta complete!

2010-11-02T18:03:00.005+01:00

finally, another mission is complete! what a satisfaction!
as i already said this model has been a pain to paint but in the end the result is wonderful, at least in my opinion. let me tell you something about this model. first of all there are no conversions except the weapons (check them out here and here).
second: i've also painted the machinegunners but the hatches got somehow glued by the paint while it was drying so i couldn't put them in place but i will for sure, even if i don't pay them.

the colour scheme and the labels layout is clearly borrowed from ww2 aircrafts.

i thought that a white underbelly scheme could be a good idea to disguise the aircraft, preventing enemy AA batteries to hit it.

also, a low visibility identification number on the rear ramp should be useful. on this model there is no standard lettering like on my Leman Russ, because of concealment needs.

Aquila signs on both wings to identify the aircraft as a loyalist vehicle.

scorches and wear on engines and fuselage... and another low visibility identification number.

from left to right: company designation (8th company, recon), killcount, squadron designation (5th squadron).

cockpit.
do you like it?

Vendetta engine scorch

2010-10-31T12:31:00.002+01:00

more suggestions on how to paint scorches. when a Valkyrie/Vendetta uses the engine's afterburners (provided it has some, and it should), there will be a scorch effect on the inner part of both tails due to the flame that comes out of the nozzle.
i think it has been a good idea to paint that in a proper way, which is very very simple: just drybrush a sort of wake with some Scorched brown and the add a smaller layer of drybrushed black above. then give the area a rich black wash and you're done.

How to paint a burned barrel

2010-10-30T15:09:00.003+02:00

really easy but effective tip: painting a gun barrel (or an exhaust tube) in a proper way to represent a burned part is much cooler to see than a gun with a plain metal finish so i'm gonna tell you how to achieve that without much effort. we're gonna pass through 4 steps:

1) wash the gun with a really watered down Snakebite leather

2) wash a smaller area with Bestial brown

3) now do the same with Scorched brown

4) last: give the barrel a Black wash to make everything homogenous

and there you go!

Poll: Catachan Tiger camo scheme

2010-10-29T18:09:00.004+02:00

ok, this stuff up here is for Teo's brand new army: Catachan imperial guard!
i'm doing some tests for the camo scheme. the idea is to stick with a early Vietnam tiger camo scheme, so horizontal black sharp stripes on a green background. the problem is: which green?! the choice is, respectively, between:

snot green
dark angels green

please vote in the poll box! thanks!

RESULTS:
snot green 2
dark angels green 6
neither 2

Black Templars' banner

2010-10-28T22:34:00.003+02:00

Hi guys!
do you remember this Land Raider Crusader i've painted for my friend Teo? well, we added a banner drawn by Teo and painted by me: here it is!
it is done in the oldschool way: drawn by hand on paper, painted, cut and sprinkled with PVA glue... just to make it last!

Vendetta pilots

2010-10-16T14:37:00.002+02:00

Vendetta update: these are the pilots. still nameless.
even if a Valkyrie/Vendetta isn't a fighter aircraft, i tried to give this guys a "top ace" look customizing their helmets: the pilot got a Japanese rising sun design (quite a classic) and the gunner something like Merlin the wizard.

i'm pretty happy with the pilot sunglasses.

...and i really like how the panels and the screen turned out.
that's all for now!

Vendetta camo scheme complete!

2010-10-14T11:51:00.004+02:00

whoa... the end of a nightmare! you can't believe how frustrating can be painting a model this big with a poligonal camo scheme... by hand! so, if you ask me, go for masking and spray paints! let me tell you why this has been a nightmare:

black basecoat
Vallejo german grey undercoat
heavy drybrush with codex grey (or Vallejo basalt grey)
hand drawing of the poligonal spots with watered down black paint
drybrush of the spots with Vallejo german grey

in one word: hellish! basically the problem was drawing neatly on the Vendetta surface all those spots...

if you are interested in, this scheme has been "stolen" from an italian aircraft camo scheme in use during ww2 in temperate/desert areas, so i adapted it for urban scenarios and made it more poligonal.

hope you like it. the next steps are the pilots, weapons and insignas... that's gonna be much easier.
hey, i just remembered that tonight i dreamt freddy kruger!

Baneblade WIP (part I)

2010-10-11T11:16:00.003+02:00

so, first of all i'm gonna convert the crew. the baneblade model has many hatches so i want to exploit their "potential" the best that i can.

on the turret there are two hatches, one for the commander (here shown without fur and medals conversions) and another one for the second in command/gunner/whatever. everyone on this tank wear ushanka caps and gasmasks (Pig Iron heads) to give a Valhallan flavour to the crew.

adding some armour on the heavy stubber will make the gunner much happier!

demolition cannon gunner checks everything out there is ok... or maybe he is simply waiting for some targets getting into range!

final notes: Baneblade cannon is still missing because it's gonna get some magnets as well as side sponsons... someone said Hellhammer?

that's all for now!

Heroquest wizard!

2010-10-08T11:46:00.003+02:00

this was the last of the heroes i had to paint. i kept this for last because the right arm, the raised one, was broken so i had to replace it with an imperial guard tank commander arm which turned out to be quite good, even without the glove.
the paintjob with a decent light is quite good but i don't know why the picture didn't turn out really well. probably i should use a light diffuser and give this miniature a bit of matt varnish.
i was also thinking about adding some stars on the shirt, would it be good?

Heroquest Barbarian restyling!

2010-10-06T10:50:00.005+02:00

lots of time ago i painted three of the four Heroquest heroes, but the Barbarian was quite fragile: the sword was already broken and glued when i bought the game so, when it got broken again, i thought it would be good to do a bit of restyling.

i used a sword blade from the GW Skeleton sprues and then glued it on the hilt. instead of painting it plain metal, i chose a neat colour gradient in order to make it look like a magical, red-hot, sword. i'm quite satisfied about it. can't wait to play all the Heroquest expansions with my friends!

Baneblade tank commander

2010-10-04T17:01:00.004+02:00

finally back!
this is my new Baneblade tank commander, still nameless. it's just the basic kit, with a Pig Iron head and some sculped fur and medals. do you like it? charge!

Scotland time!

2010-08-06T00:06:00.002+02:00

so, i'm finally in Edinburgh! in reality it's already the third week of stay and i must say that i'm really glad to be here: the town is nice and the beer is delicious!
i could not bring the baneblade with me (too bulky for the luggage!) so i'll paint some infantry that you will see soon.
by the way: if someone out there is from Edinburgh, let's get in touch for a 40k chat, a beer or a walk!

Graduation gift (better: i love my friends)

2010-07-02T21:40:00.002+02:00

as you may already know i recently graduated in mechanical engineering. well, above there's a picture of what my friends gave me as a gift. I LOVE YOU GUYS!
i've planned to build this pet in the next two months, when i will be all alone in Scotland... it will be full of conversions, unique!

Panther approaching!

2010-06-16T15:55:00.006+02:00

2nd FoW post.
this time we've got a original Battlefront tank, scale 1:100. i've planned to deploy this beauty with my SS panzergrenadier kompanie, as regimental support or something like that.

Battlefront tanks are really detailed, the hull is made of resin, while tracks, weapons and other details are metallic. note how resin makes the Zimmerit finish realistic.

as i previously said, this model will represent a Panther A from some company of the 2nd SS panzerdivision Das Reich, active in Normandy, after D-Day. it will follow Cobra rules. i gotta choose a camo scheme for it, any suggestion?

Hexagonal bases!!!

2010-06-08T18:09:00.004+02:00

do you remember those hexagonal slottabases that came with Talisman's miniatures, back in the 80s? well, i have them! i bought them at Gateshead Gaming. i'm planning to use them for my Dungeons & Dragons miniatures, in order to spare my round bases for 40k. what a blast from the past!
[in the picture: Aenur, the sword of twilight, still WIP]

Fixing a Catachan lieutenant

2010-05-27T22:31:00.002+02:00

this miniature belongs to Teo. it has been bought used and hadn't got any ammo belt down the boltgun so i fixed it for my friend with a spare ammo belt from imperial guard weapons platform.

Flames of War: first post

2010-05-14T22:57:00.005+02:00

i always liked ww2 militaria, films, books and whatever else since when i was just a kid. some time ago i found in my home this 1:72 Wehrmacht models, bought a pair of years ago when i went to London and i visited the Imperial War Museum (which is a really neat place to go if you are a militaria fanatic). i decided, even if they are too big, to use them like test models to learn how to play FoW, so i bought some spare bases and painted them: this is what i did.

in the picture above there is a command team from a german grenadier platoon, the equivalent for an imperial guard platoon command squad. it is a simple rifle team but i guess in the game i'll make it count as SMG/panzerfaust team or whatever else. these miniatures represent pretty well the basic german grenadiers who invaded Poland and France back in 1939-40 so i painted them codex grey as this was the early war uniform colour.

on the right side of the lieutenant helmet i painted nazi germany national emblem, an early war feature that disappeared due to war economy. the base has to be completed with come static grass i have not yet bought.
i can't wait to paint a whole army!

PS: as i said these are not official FoW miniatures. i used Italeri models. their scale is 1:72 (25mm) which is pretty different from the official 1:100 (15mm) but i don't care (for now).

1st birthday!

2010-04-29T10:08:00.003+02:00

i'm 2 days late but i just don't care, i'm sorry for no posting these days but try to understand me: i'm next to graduation, it's spring (which is a really nice season in italy) and i'm happy. so wish me good things and please be patient, i'll come back, don't know if soon or not but i'll come back for sure. i promise i'll try to update the blog as much as i can! see you soon, friends!

Mathammer: Basics

2010-04-21T20:58:00.003+02:00

let me begin with this: luckly, there's not a right way to win at wh40k. personally i really enjoy to have a nice time with my friends when i play with "toy soldiers" but, of course, no one wants to lose games all the time and i am no exception.
every player, when it comes to list making, asks himself what unit he should put in or which piece of wargear suits best a possible combat with a designated enemy. some simply choose the most expensive options, others always use the same bone-crunching combo that their codex allows.

well, this article wants to be something different. some time ago, while i was passing from one defeat to another, i worked out this method which is a simple probabilistic analysis of what is more likely to come out with a roll of dice.
let's say you want to know how likely is that your space marine kills an ork, ok? in order to understand how much this event is likely to happen you simply have to make a little maths but don't worry, only some products or divisions :-)
space marines has BS4 so hit on 3+, bolter has S4 so wounds a T4 on 4+, bolter's AP is 5 so no armour save is allowed. on a D6 a roll of 3+ happens in 4 cases on 6 so we use a fraction to say this: 4/6= 0.66. we can say almost the same for the 4+ roll: 3 cases on 6 so 3/6=0.5

let's put this altogether:
if space marine shots 1 time we have: 4/6*3/6*100= 33.33%
(as you can see i multiplied by 100 to have a number in percentage)
if space marine shots 2 times (eg: target within 12") we have: 2*4/6*3/6*100= 66.66%

you can apply this approach with nearly every weapon and target in the game, there are some tricky issues i'll explain in next posts.

i hope i've been clear, i explained the question in the most straightforward way i found. i don't know if any other player wrote on this issue before, so if this is not that piece of news, please tell me. thank you.

PS: of course to apply this method you've got to know, at least vaguely, which enemy will stand before you.
PS2: BIG WARNING, this is a method with which you can know the average behaviour of a weapon or trooper against a given enemy. if you are lucky/unlucky with dice the "statistic prediction" may not work! also: the more dice you throw, the more you'll stick with Mathammer results.

and yes, i'm a nerd.

Fantasy Monday #3: Heroquest Evil Sorcerer

2010-04-19T20:25:00.005+02:00

"Skeletor" is done! i'm not completely satisfied about this miniature but i don't think i'll strip it for now. i really don't like how the skull turned out, vallejo bad moon yellow doesn't provide a very bold coverage, which is bad. i will use a different approach next time... maybe i can try to give it a wash. i'll see what i can do to fix this fantastic miniature, it's a shame that i painted it this bad.

Black Templars' custom painted hatch

2010-04-18T00:08:00.004+02:00

not that much to say: a nice way to make your rhino unique: templar cross with the (Navarre) crusade badge.

One more Chaos Space Marines scheme

2010-04-15T18:42:00.003+02:00

do you remember this? well, today i tried to paint it but i sadly realized i have not got any colour close to that very light green so, together with Michele, we planned to switch to another green, the dear old Goblin Green. this is the plan, i'll paint one test miniature asap. do you like it? i do, it reminds me all those old orky miniatures... 1993-94 circa.

Battle for Tcharkov objective counters

2010-04-14T17:29:00.003+02:00

this is the first surprise i was talking about in the previous post. not that incredible thing, of course, but these counters are quite useful when you play a lot of Seize Ground games. they simply are some 20mm round bases, painted with Battle for Tcharkov campaign factions' logos.

Upcoming stuff

2010-04-12T20:52:00.003+02:00

sorry for the lack of posts: in this period i'm quite busy with my last exam befor graduation (hard to believe!). i've got some stuff in standby on the workbench, waiting to be finished:

Vendetta: undone paintwork
Heroquest Evil Sorcerer: same as above
Demolisher: converted turret is almost done
Scenery: i'm drawing a lot of things
Surprise #1: 40k campaign related
Surprise #2: WHFB related. yeah, that's right, Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

so, please have a little patience and wait, thanks!

Gothic DIY scenery WIP

2010-04-09T12:58:00.004+02:00

gothic wall section, still wip. all that arts history back in the high school wasn't wasted time.

Powerplant WIP

2010-04-07T20:57:00.003+02:00

we need a bunch of urban scenery for our campaign (Battle for Tcharkov) so yesterday night i began making one building for this purpose. it is (would be) a power plant but many details, like coils or cables, still lack. above, the entrance with the pediment. Demolition Man for size comparison.

interior's overview: pile of rubble and collapsed wall section

external view, featuring the chimney

war-torn windows

Fantasy Monday #3 (wip): Heroquest Evil Sorcerer

2010-04-05T22:21:00.002+02:00

it has been a long time since the last Fantasy Monday so it's time to re-start! it will also be a smart thing to do to break all this sci-fi painting, i don't wanna get bored by my imperial guard so soon.
this miniature reminds me Skeletor from the cartoon HeMan (maybe names are different in UK or US editions, dunno) so i'm gonna paint it like that dude. for now i finished the skin.

Vendetta camo scheme update

2010-04-04T17:50:00.002+02:00

ok, i completed the first step of the scheme choosing the method i like best but i now realize it looks a bit too dark so i'm gonna break the spots, making them smaller, with more codex grey and then i'll see how it will look

HELP: Valkyrie testpaint

2010-04-02T11:35:00.002+02:00

dilemma: which spot is better? hollow or solid? please tell me!

Tank crew lasguns

2010-03-31T09:35:00.003+02:00

just a quickie: tank crews have always downsized weapons, even in the real world, so i converted 2 cadian pattern lasguns to a shorter version, similiar to the one you find in the tank accessories sprue, with different muzzle and stock (this is fixed, the real tank one is foldable).

Sentinels' pilots

2010-03-30T15:13:00.003+02:00

Even 34th Valhallan has it's own recon operatives. the colour that identifies them as recce squads is beige (bubonic brown), so they bear beige berets on the traditional olive uniform, common to all 34th troopers.

i used Pig Iron Militia Heads to represent old Valhallan heads. the gas mask is quite suitable for them as personal protection for hostile (frost) enviroments.

in this set there are 3 type of different berets: i used the one with the forage cap to represent the squadron sergeant (first picture, above).

i painted the instruments details like a screen and a gem or something like that.

you all know i am an accurate guy: every pilot has regimental insigna on his right shoulder.

Sentinel magnetic weapons

2010-03-25T21:44:00.002+01:00

the first Sentinel kit had only one weapon available: the multilaser. so i had to convert (and magnetize) the autocannon.

i used an autocannon from the cadian weapons platform kit and i shortened the barrel because it was looking too long, then i added 2 targeters, one of these from devastator's kit.

Vendetta cockpit lascannon

2010-03-23T14:21:00.002+01:00

the final weapon of my Vendetta is done! i must say this has been a little bit tricky because of the hollow case of the weapon. i decided to fill it with milliput, flatting it with the weapon flat side, then i left it to dry overnight and then carved both part as usual, gluing magnets to place.

Adjustment about magnetizing weapons

2010-03-19T15:47:00.003+01:00

magnets are expensive so you should use the least of them unless you are a millionaire. since i am a poor italian student, i used only 2 to magnetize the hull heavy flamer of my demolisher. the problem with this method is that the weapon rotates, which is silly.

a really smart idea (which is not mine but Orlando's, thank you bro) is to make a pin to prevent the rotation. so simple...

how to customize a Leman Russ #4: fully magnetized weaponry

2010-03-17T12:15:00.003+01:00

quite a painful work, meanly because of all that plastic shaving (gotta pass the vacuum cleaner on the floor). the trick is the same i used with valkyrie weaponry: make grooves, be careful, glue the magnets, let the glue dry and you're done. this is the result.

the heavy flamer is totally compatible with the hull mount, that of course can house many different weapons.

side sponsons stick to the hull thanks to 2 magnets each: pay attention to keep them parallel to the hull.

that's all for now, any question?

Leman Russ Exterminator 500 (command tank)

2010-03-15T15:09:00.002+01:00

finally i made it! when GW put out Apocalypse i had the idea to build and paint a whole tank company, wondering about how the command tank should look. well, i guess it must look as this!
this Exterminator is led by Knight Commander Zhukov (Pask) so it is full of kill and honour markings, a scroll, commander heraldry, custom weapons and many extra fuel tanks. in addition to this i painted it with a custom camo scheme with a different pattern (check out Leman Russ 511 to see how different) in order to make it look like coming from an older batch of production, but, of course, i used the same colours.

in the lower right part there's a yellow aquila marking from an old transfer sheet: it is meant like an honour badge or a command designation

on this side i applied the same badge painting it half spoiled... decades of war aren't bodywork friendly.

i put an extra lasgun on the back... you never know what's gonna happen when you are bailed out of the tank.
so? do you like it?

Imperial guard progress

2010-03-14T20:23:00.004+01:00

as you can see there's not much progress because i'm keeping changing armylist so i may replace things i paint with others unpainted... in any case this is the progress.
in this moment i'm painting the Exterminator.

Exterminator WIP, the pilot

2010-03-12T17:36:00.002+01:00

made with the trunk of a tank guy and the sentinel pilot's head... he's looking where to bring the big guns!

Exterminator WIP, turret is done!

2010-03-11T16:38:00.002+01:00

another part of my favourite tank is finally done. this is a standard exterminator turret (1999) modified with two autocannon magazines (as seen here), a bit of riveted extra armour plating (made with 1mm thick plasticard), some jerrycans from battlefield accessories set, space marines scroll and, the final touch i love, bretonnian decal. i assembled the searchlight like the Forgeworld one, with poor result but in the end i do like this turret.

Winged space marines = crap

2010-03-10T23:36:00.004+01:00

maybe you all guys will find me kinda unpopular but, come on, i really can't take seriously an angel winged space marine, only Sanguinius could be. astartes are not like that, they are tough, twin hearted die-hard bastards... this miniature seems a drawing from some Magic card! please take back all those dear old 2nd edition miniatures!

Exterminator WIP, check out the Ace Commander

2010-03-09T16:08:00.006+01:00

do you remember the Valhallan Tank Commander? well, i painted it and i'm quite happy to say he will count as Knight Commander Pask, but of course with another name: (captain? marshall?) Zhukov. actually he rides an exterminator and in two battles behaved pretty well. you'll see the rest of the tank ASAP!
the colour scheme is a crossover between german and soviet ww2 tank crew uniforms, with the black furred jacket (worn over ordinary olive green pants) showing he belongs to some tank elite corps (like soviet guards or waffen ss tank division). i'm really satisfied about the details i sculpted, they turned out pretty well in my opinion!

Valkyrie magnetic weapons update

2010-03-08T19:27:00.002+01:00

just a quicky: i did the same as lascannons with rocket pods

a really easy conversion indeed, given you have the tools

How to magnetize your Valkyrie/Vendetta

2010-03-04T17:09:00.004+01:00

the best thing about the Valkyrie is its versatility so, in order to exploit it best, i magnetized all its weaponry and this is the result.

with my dear old Minicraft drill i've milled a circular groove (is this correct?) and then i glued the magnet, paying attention to keep it perfectly horizontal: this step is important, if the magnet isn't flat then the weapons will be skewed (and will of course suck).

as you can see the twin linked lascannon is scratchbuilt: i used, for the wings weapons, space marines razorback's lascannons and 2 other lascannons from cadian weapons team. they are long the same and with a bit of care you can make them look very similar.
i used this magnets (s0201n), bought on www.supermagnete.de, check them out!

the only tricky thing on this issue is that you must never get mistaken about magnets polarity: make north stick with south and viceversa, otherwise the magnets will repel each other!

next time i'll show you how to magnetize the central lascannon so stay tuned!

kitbashing a plasma gunner

2010-02-27T18:51:00.003+01:00

the plasma gunners saga continues! this time i made one taking bits here and there and above there is the result. legs are from tank accessories sprue, flask from cadian weapons platform, arms are from catachan guardsmen, plasma gun from space marines' sprue and head with fur beret from Pig Iron. i must sculpt the shoulder guards!

Chaos Space Marines test schemes

2010-02-26T00:50:00.004+01:00

my friend Michele is starting his first 40k army: chaos space marines. we're planning together how they should look like. waddayathink? the first is my favourite.

a big thank you to Bolter&Chainsword guys that made this possible.

Valhallan plasma gunner, part II

2010-02-25T18:50:00.003+01:00

this is the finished plasma gunner: i added a small stripe of plasticard and then drilled it, i'll paint it to make it look like a heat exchanger. also, i glued an adapted heavy bolter tripod to make this plasma gun look like Forgeworld's one. previously i tried to add a scope but it made the gun too bulky so i discarded this option.

Valhallan plasma gunner WIP

2010-02-24T22:06:00.003+01:00

as i said many times, classic imperial guard range is stunning but it lacks many things: about valhallans, one is plasma guns. this is a wip sculpt, based on a lasgun from which i removed muzzle and replaced it with a plastic space marine plasma pistol muzzle, then filled gaps with milliput. as i said it is still wip.
if you have any comments or suggestions, i'd be glad to read some!

Self celebration

2010-02-23T21:20:00.002+01:00

hard to believe, i've been interviewed by Ron for his blog, From The Warp!
check it out!

how to customize a Leman Russ #3: Exterminator autocannon magazine

2010-02-17T21:22:00.005+01:00

in 3rd edition we imperial guard had the possibility to deploy the Leman Russ Exterminator so in 1999 GW released a quite nice model that, many years later i bought on ebay, just for collection. well, with this 5th edition codex it seems that Exterminator is a nice choice for many reasons so i'm planning to add it to my armylist. the only bad thing about this tank is the excessive smoothness of the turret. to break this feature i added autocannon magazines on both sides, previously drilling a housing. this is the result. i like it, yeah.

Uriah Jacobus WIP

2010-02-15T19:07:00.005+01:00

does anyone remember?
i love this miniature! even if i don't play sisters of battle nor demon hunters i bought it just for the pleasure to paint it! i plan to use it like an astropath even if it really doesn't fit the role but who cares? i don't like the actual one so...
if anyone cares: in Italy we call him Urina Jacobus.

Valhallan tank commander

2010-02-11T23:53:00.004+01:00

i always hated the fact that there are no plastic Valhallans. really. i was so angry when it was clear that the "plastic greatcoats" were a fake rumour (remember?) that with the mere willpower i learned how to sculpt :-)
in this pic i converted the standard plastic tank commander to a brave Valhallan tank ace, adding some fur here and there and also a bunch of medals and a bionic eye. i really can't wait to paint it. needless to say, it is the next work i'm gonna do.

Navarre is done!

2010-02-09T22:45:00.003+01:00

so, this is Black Templars' Marshall Navarre finally painted and ready to kick some xeno scum. the armour has been painted with a black undercoat, shining gold drybrush and burnished gold highlight (on the edges).

the claws are painted with: scab red, blood red, fiery orange, golden yellow.

do you like the cape? it represents the space marines' old wargear piece: the adamantine mantle. i undercoated it with gore red, then painted the polygonal scales, most of them are quite hexagonal, with blood red and then the final highlight on the folds with blazing orange.

Veterans' sergeant

2010-02-07T15:12:00.006+01:00

i always thought that for veterans squads the standard sergeants are unsuitable so i've planned to use for mine any miniature that represents upper levels officiers like lieutenants or commmissars. in this case i think i'll strip this amazing commissar miniature in order to paint it with the veterans' scheme. by the way it really deserves to be unpainted since it really sucks in my opinion.
what do you think?

more Navarre progress

2010-02-05T13:39:00.004+01:00

i've finished the red, white and gold parts. got to finish the base, the leather, the iron halo and the metal.

do you like the claws?

and the adamantine mantle? it is now complete with a really soft highlight of the blood red made with Vallejo's equivalent of blazing orange.

Navarre progress

2010-02-04T16:36:00.003+01:00

i've painted the adamantine mantle for this black templar war machine, quite nice in my opinion

Giving the veterans a more veteran feel

2010-02-03T12:04:00.003+01:00

how can you make some classic metal guard miniatures look like really hardened veterans? simple! glue on them a bunch of space marines' pouches! above i show you a small selection of what i did yesterday

First batch of veterans finally painted!

2010-01-31T22:23:00.004+01:00

this is the first part of my imperial guard mixed Valhallan/(classic) Cadian veterans. their scheme is a bit lighter than the testpaint because i made a softer highlight. i really like the combination of olive greens and greys. if you like, i'll post a tutorial about painting wood.

look at the meltas' muzzles: i've managed somehow to get a burned effect with a nice method explained on Citadel's "how to paint Citadel tanks" book: after painting metal, wash with watered down snakebite leather and then with bestial brown (and also with schorched brown if you want. i didn't), finally wash with very watered down black in order to merge the previous layers of paint. i find this method quite successful.

final goodie: a better pic of demo-charge dude.
that's all for now!

there's nothing better than a democharge ready to be thrown

2010-01-26T22:45:00.004+01:00

this is the valhallan democharge veteran finally painted! the scheme is the same of the other veterans previously shown... what else? i really like this mini!

what's your regiment, soldier?

2010-01-23T12:56:00.004+01:00

in the next imperial guard army list i'm gonna deploy 2 veteran squads each with 3 melta gun so, as my veterans are quite heterogeneous (classic cadians & valhallans mix), i've planned this: both squads will have 1 cadian and 1 valhallan meltagunner, the remaining 2 will be a converted catachan and another model i have not yet chosen (is this sentence correct? sorry for my english). this time please check out my former catachan guy!

first thing i did was putting those shoulder pads (from plastic space marines scouts box) to make him look like a muscular cadian, then i've filled the gaps of the vest with the dear old milliput and lastly i added details: cadian backpack (from cadian weapons team) and the pistol holster on the backpack (tank crew kit) after having removed with a modelling blade the knife on the left side of backpack. last but not least: the eagle on the chest is from space marines captain sprues. so? waddayathink?

Marshall Navarre wip

2010-01-21T15:07:00.003+01:00

as you can see this is a model from the black templars sword brethren box, counts as a marshall, so i'm painting it golden for Teo.

Counts as Emperor's Champion

2010-01-18T23:40:00.002+01:00

this model has been created by Teo long ago when he didn't own the standard Champion, so he modeled a proxy and i quickly painted it... just a nice blast from the past. dunno how he managed to convert that two handed sword suitable arms.

Tcharkov campaign is starting!

2010-01-17T19:43:00.004+01:00

of course it is! today i've created a brand new blog for its development: Battle for Tcharkov!

i'll soon upload the rules!