(015) Hobby Progress. Project 001: Imperial Knights (Completed)

I finally finished my Imperial Knights, and it only took me three months!

 

I’m very pleased with how they turned out, I’m even more pleased to have reduced the size of the Unpainted Legion.

 

I have even managed (so far) not to be tempted by any ForgeWorld goodies while they are offering free postage on orders over £100 instead of £250 to celebrate the launch of their new website.

 

 

You can find more photo’s of my Imperial Knights on my Flickr Account:

 

Knight Errant

 

Knight Crusader

 

Knight Paladin

 

Group Shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 239 Models.

 

Currently Reading: 'The Damnation of Pythos' by David Annandale.

 

 

(014) Games Workshop Advertising in SFX Magazine.

I subscribe to SFX magazine, and when issue 265 arrived the other day I noticed something interesting. Right inside the cover is a double-page spread advert for ‘Age of Sigmar’ from Games Workshop. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Games Workshop directly advertising in any third-party media before. I hope that this is a new direction that they’re going in, anything which brings new people into the hobby and raises the profile of table-top wargaming in general has got to be positive.
 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 239 Models.

Currently Reading: 'The Damnation of Pythos' by David Annandale.

 

 

(013) The Unpainted Legion Catalogued.

I have spent two evenings cataloguing my unfinished models. So here it is, the roster of the 'Unpainted Legion' as it stands:

Manufacturer:	Set:	Model/Unit:	Number of Models:
Games Workshop	Chaos Land Raider	Chaos Space Marine Land Raider	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Callidus Assassin	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Culexus Assassin	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Vindicare Assassin	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Eversor Assassin	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Chaos Space Marine Terminator Lord	1
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Chaos Space Marines	3
Games Workshop	Assassinorum Execution Force	Chaos Cultists	15
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marine Rhino	1
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marine Terminator Lord	1
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marine Terminator Squad	5
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marines	10
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marine Forgefiend	1
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Attack Force	Chaos Space Marine Raptors	5
Games Workshop	Sanctus Reach Stormclaw	Space Wolf Lord Krom Dragongaze	1
Games Workshop	Sanctus Reach Stormclaw	Space Wolf Wolf Guard Terminators	5
Games Workshop	Sanctus Reach Stormclaw	Space Wolf Grey Hunter Pack	5
Games Workshop	Sanctus Reach Stormclaw	Space Wolf Blood Claws Pack	5
Games Workshop	Space Hulk	Blood Angels Terminators	12
Games Workshop	Space Hulk	Genestealers	23
Wargame Exclusive	Female Commisar With Gun 28mm	Female Commisar With Gun 28mm	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armour	Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armour	1
Brother Vinni's	Female Standard Bearer	Female Standard Bearer	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Vanguard Veteran Squad	Space Marine Vanguard Veteran Squad	5
Games Workshop	Space Marine Drop Pod	Space Marine Drop Pod	1
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Chaos Space Marine Chosen	6
Games Workshop	Space Marine Terminator Squad	Space Marine Terminator Squad No.2	5
Games Workshop	Space Marine Terminator Squad	Space Marine Terminator Squad No.3	5
Games Workshop	Space Marine Terminator Close Combat Squad	Space Marine Terminator Close Combat Squad	5
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marines	Chaos Space Marines	10
Games Workshop	Space Marine Assault Squad	Space Marine Assault Squad	10
Games Workshop	Daemon Prince	Chaos Space Marine Daemon Prince	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Predator	Space Marine Predator	1
Games Workshop	White Dwarf Free Stormcast Eternal	Free Stormcast Eternal	1
Statuesque Miniatures	SM019 Resistance Specialists	SM012 Lila of the Resistance - Sniper	1
Statuesque Miniatures	SM019 Resistance Specialists	SM011 Rosa of the Resistance - Machine Gunner	1
Statuesque Miniatures	SM019 Resistance Specialists	SM015 Eva of the Resistance - RPG	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Tactical Squad	Space Marine Tactical Squad No.2	10
Games Workshop	Space Marine Tactical Squad	Space Marine Tactical Squad No.4	10
Games Workshop	Space Marine Tactical Squad	Space Marine Tactical Squad No.5	10
Games Workshop	Imperial Baneblade	Baneblade Tank	1
Games Workshop	Imperial Baneblade	Hellhammer Tank	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Techmarine	Master of the Forge on Space Marine Bike	1
Games Workshop	Imperial Knight	Imperial Knight Errant	1
Games Workshop	Imperial Knight Warden	Imperial Knight Crusader	1
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marine Rhino	Chaos Space Marine Rhino (Nurgle)	1
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Chaos Space Marine Hellbrute	1
Raging Heroes	One-Shot Blondie (JB)	One-Shot Blondie (JB)	1
Games Workshop	Chaos Space Marines	Chaos Space Marines	10
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Chaos Cultists	20
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Dark Angels Deathwing Terminator Squad	5
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Dark Angels Company Master	1
Games Workshop	Dark Vengeance	Dark Angels Interrogator Chaplain	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Chaplain in Terminator Armour	Space Marine Chaplain in Terminator Armour	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Dreadnought	Space Marine Dreadnought No. 4	1
Games Workshop	Space Marine Sternguard Squad	Space Marine Sternguard Squad	10

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 241 models.


Currently Reading: 'The Damnation of Pythos' by David Annandale.

(012) To Infinity and Beyond!

 

I’ve been watching a lot of videos on Beasts of War’s YouTube channel lately. Those guys are obsessed with Corvus Belli’s game; Infinity. They always seem so passionate about it and I can understand why. The Infinity models painted by Angel Giraldez look absolutely incredible and I love their aesthetic and art style.

 

The last time I started watching their videos back in January I bought a copy of the Infinity two-player starter set ‘Operation Icestorm’. But I never got around to assembling or painting any of the models.

 

 

 

Seven months later and the Beasts of War boys have inspired me again. This time I ordered a copy of the limited edition painting guide book by Angel Giraldez; ‘Painting Miniatures from A to Z – Masterclass Volume 1’. It arrived today along with the limited edition figure ‘Joan of Arc’ from the PanOceania faction.

 

 

 

So this afternoon I decided to take a break from painting my Imperial Knights. I finally broke open ‘Operation Icestorm’ and started to assemble some of the models. The first thing that I noticed is the scale. Infinity is 28mm, just like Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000. But whereas Warhammer 40,000 uses ‘heroic’ scale, Infinity seems to be ‘true-scale’. The difference is significant. The Infinity models look and feel tiny and you start to wonder how you would go about painting them with anything other than a fine-detail brush.

 

The second thing I noticed is that all Infinity models seem to be metal, I don’t think they make anything in plastic or resin. I’m not keen on metal models, or on resin ones either for that matter. But the models I ordered from Statuesque Miniatures recently showed me that metal models don’t have to be a nightmare.

 

Infinity models are however a waking nightmare of poorly fitting together pieces and superglue everywhere miraculously failing to hold anything together except your fingers.

 

I assembled five and hated every minute I spent preparing and assembling them. I tried to persevere, but I couldn’t face any more. I nearly lost all interest in table-top wargaming and assembling and painting miniatures. I have discovered that Infinity is not for me, I just wish that I had discovered that before I had spent so much money.

 

 

 

I have decided to sell my ‘Operation Icestorm’ set on eBay. I’m hoping to raise enough money to cover, or offset, the cost of a starter set for the X-Wing Miniatures game or the new ‘Halo: Fleet Battles’ from Spartan Games. I still want to pick up a copy of ‘Warhammer: Age of Sigmar’ but that’s a lot more models to add to the Unpainted Legion.

 

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 244 models.

 

 

 

Currently Reading: ‘Scars’ by Chris Wraight.

 

(011) Hobby Progress. Project 001: Imperial Knights (Part IV)



I am still working on my two new Imperial Knights. I haven’t put as much time and work into them lately as I would like. I’ve recently had a mild case of hobby burn-out and I’ve also been distracted by ‘Batman: Arkham Knight’. That said, they are marching ever closer to completion, it won’t be long now until they’re finished.

 

I have a long weekend booked off of work at the end of the month and I’m hoping to have completed the Imperial Knights by then, so I can start/resume work on another project. Working on two similar models simultaneously for an hour or so a day has felt really productive. I’m considering moving on to my two half-finished super-heavy tanks next using the same strategy.

 

 

My Knight Crusader will be armed with an Avenger Gatling Cannon and a Rapid-fire Battle Cannon. I’m not keen on the short, tapering barrel of the vanilla Imperial Knight kit Rapid-fire Battle Cannon. On my first Knight I added a muzzle break to the end, with this one I’ve replaced the barrel entirely with the gun from a Baneblade Super-heavy tank.

 

 

 

 

My Knight Errant will be armed with a Thermal Cannon and a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. I like the look of the Thermal Cannon, but it always seemed a bit stubby for the range it has in the game. So I have elongated mine using the two spare Rapid-fire Battle Cannon barrels that I had.

 

 

 

The bottom-halves of both Knights are completely finished. I might add some more weathering powder once the whole model is assembled and then throw on a coat of Purity Seal though.

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 243 models.

 

Currently Reading: ‘Scars’ by Chris Wraight.

 

(010) Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Free Stormcast Eternal.

I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of tomorrow’s White Dwarf a day early. Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one with an internet connection, White Dwarf 75 finally reveals ‘Warhammer – Age of Sigmar’. It also comes with a free ‘Stormcast Eternal’ miniature from the new game.

 

 

 

Free plastic miniatures on the cover of White Dwarf is something I remember fondly from my childhood. In fact my first ever Citadel Miniature was a plastic Warhammer Bright Wizard that came free with White Dwarf issue 186 back in 1995!

 

 

 

 

I started this blog with the aim of documenting my attempt to get the number of unassembled and unpainted models I own under control. Warhammer – Age of Sigmar is one of the reasons that that will probably never happen. The models in the starter set look absolutely incredible.

 

I’ve never had a great interest in Warhammer Fantasy, but this set is tempting me to start. Even with no interest in Fantasy the conversion potential of the Age of Sigmar models for 40k is immense. I can easily see a Khorne Chaos Space Marine Lord, five Khorne Berzerkers and twenty Chaos Cultists in that box, and that’s just on the Chaos side.

 

On the ‘good’ side taking a quick glance I can already see ten Thunder Hammer-Storm Shield Terminators, three amazing Vanguard Veterans, a unique Standard Bearer and a ‘counts-as’ Chapter Master on a Space Marine Bike.

 

I’ve taken a couple of comparison photographs with a Tactical Space Marine and a Space Marine in Terminator Armour so you can get an idea of size.

 

 

 

 

(The Stormcast Eternal comes with a 40mm round base. His shield arm is currently held on with blu-tack so it will be easier to paint when I get around to it).

 

 

 

 

Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 253 models.

 

 

Currently Reading: (Non-Black Library) ‘Broken Monsters’ by Lauren Beukes.

 

 

(009) Review - Statuesque Miniatures.

 

 

Statuesque Miniatures first came to my attention when I was looking for a supplier of 28mm heroic scale female heads. I was planning on building an all-female Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum army, I still might one day, if I can get the unpainted legion under control.

 

In the meantime I decided to buy a couple of complete models from them, just to see what the quality is like and how they compare to other 28mm scale miniatures.

 

All of the models on their website look fantastic and I had to restrain myself from ordering them in bulk. I intended to pick a single figure as a sample, but their prices are so good and the models look so great I couldn’t settle on any one single figure.

 

I ended up buying a set of three miniatures; ‘SM019 Resistance Specialists’. Consisting of;

 

‘SM012 Lila of the Resistance – Sniper’

 

 

‘SM011 Rosa of the Resistance – Machine Gunner’

 

 

 and ‘SM015 Eva of theResistance – RPG’.

 

 

These three models are priced at £4.75 individually, and the set of all three together is discounted to £13.00. I believe that postage is a flat-rate of £3 within the UK. So my order cost me £16.00 in total for three models, which seems more than reasonable to me.

 

I placed my order on Monday evening, it was shipped on Wednesday, and it arrived today, Thursday morning. That’s pretty quick, I wasn’t expecting them to turn up until the weekend at the earliest.

 

Statuesque Miniatures’ models seem to be all metal. In recent years I have become a complete convert to resin and plastic and I have developed a bit of an aversion to metal miniatures. That said I am very pleased with these models, they could not have been easier to assemble. The joints fit together so snugly and flush they’re unlike any metal models I have assembled before.

 

 

 

 

 

Even the mould lines are barely visible, in fact I didn’t even bother to scape them smooth. My only criticism is that on two of the models I bought, ‘Rosa’ and ‘Eva’ the basing tab was wider than the slot in the base it was meant to slot in to. But this isn’t a big problem for me as I will be mounting them on 40mm bases eventually, to match my Raging Heroes models.

 

 

 

The detail is good, very good, but it isn’t as sharp or as extensive as Raging Heroes resin figures. Some people might regard this as a criticism, but not me. Excessive detail on small scale miniatures often makes painting them overly time consuming and isn’t always noticeable anyway.

 

Speaking of scale, they are almost identical in size and proportion to Raging Heroes' figures, and will fit perfectly into my Warhammer 40K setting.

 

 

 

All in all, I am very pleased with my Statuesque Miniatures order. I think that their website is good, their models are great and their pricing and service are fantastic. I will definitely be placing more orders with them in the future.



Current Size of the Unpainted Legion: 252 models.


Currently Reading: (Non-Black Library) 'Broken Monsters' by Lauren Beukes.