The Titan Walks

Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally done. Canis Rex, my Mars Pattern Warhound Titan, is finally finished after about nine months of constant work. There are new pictures of it posted in the Other Models section right along with all the other ones I've posted. Head on over and check it out!

Not content to rest on my laurels, I've already moved on to my next project. Right now, I'm working on my third and final Ultramarines tactical squad. But more importantly, I'm taking pictures of every step as soon as I finish it. When this squad is done, I'm going to use the pictures to make a tutorial on painting space marine armor the way I do. Stay tuned, everyone. The tutorials are finally on their way!

Finecast, Titan Lasers and Necron Rumors

Well, it looks like the Army got in the way of things again. After three weeks of working out in the field, I come back to see that a lot has changed in the hobby. What's this Finecast stuff all about? Games Workshop is moving from metal to resin? As soon as I heard about it on 40k Radio, I ran straight for my local Games Workshop store to check it out. From what I've seen between my local GW store and the spread in White Dwarf, I think that the Finecast range shows a lot of promise. The real test, however, will come when I convert and paint up the Ultramarines Honor Guard to fit in with my Knights Bellicose.

I've never been one to rely heavily on rumors, but all the talk on 40k Radio, Bell of Lost Souls, and everywhere else on the internet seems to be pointing towards a re-release of Necrons in the August / September timeframe. I'll probably never play them but I'm still excited to see them get a new codex and new models. I've always thought that the current models were too flat and too plain for a painter to show off any real skill. When the re-release happens (if the rumors are indeed true), I'll definately be getting the codex and I might even paint a Necron or two for a painting challenge.
So, after drooling over all those new resin models, I decided to get back to work on what I was currently working on (which just happened to be resin anyway). I sat down at my painting table and fed my addiction to painting, trying to get back what the Army spent three weeks taking from me. I was able to completely finish the turbo laser arm on my titan and am now about halfway done with the plasma blastcannon. I have pictures posted up in the Other Models section so head on over and check them out!

As far as the painting goes, I've finally hammered out a painting schedule. With the unreliability of my work schedule, I can't post actual dates of when I'll have squads done or pictures posted but I can tell you what order I'll be working in. As soon as I finish the plasma blastcannon, I'll have a working titan. With that, I'm finally going to switch back to my Ultramarines after not touching them for almost a year. I'll do a squad of them (my last tactical squad probably), then an Eldar squad (Dire Avengers) and finally another titan weapon. After that, it's rinse/repeat. I'll do an Ultramarines squad, then an Eldar one, and then the final titan weapon. With the titan finally done, I'll just be going back and forth on the Eldar and Ultramarines until both armies are completely done. Then, and only then, will I start working on my Knights Bellicose. Maybe if I get bored, I'll start up a squad of them or maybe paint a few captains. Most importantly, however, I want to finish my two current armies before I start another one. Otherwise, I'll never finish anything.

Out in the field, I did some writing and figured out how all the officers in my Knights Bellicose are going to look. Here in the near future, head on over to their page to see just how I've planned them out.
Keep checking back for updates on the Knights Bellicose and to see the rest of my titan weapons! I should be updating those things pretty soon!

The Titan is Almost Done

It's been a little while since my last update and I'm proud to say that my titan is nearing completion. The Other Models page has been almost completely overhauled to show all the new images that I've added. Head on over and check them out!

I've learned a lot in the painting of the head. Through painting my Princeps and Moderati, I was able to reinforce some of the ideas I came up with when painting my servitors. I think I've gotten a lot better at painting flesh and cloth. All the new techniques I've used on the Titan are going to go a long way towards making my Knights Bellicose look spectacular when I get that project off the ground. After the titan is complete, I plan on adding all these new techniques to the tutorials and posting them all in the How To section. It'll be good to finally start giving you something that you can get some real use from.

Titan Update and New Model Post

I just finished a major, major step on the Titan and have taken a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. The only things left at this point are the head and the weapons. Things should be getting pretty interesting very quickly around here now. Also, I posted pictures of my Space Wolf which may be the most important model I've ever painted. If you do nothing else during your visit to my blog, I ask above all else that you head on over to the Other Models page and see my Space Wolf.

Review: GW Painting Books

Pretty much since they were published, I've owned Games Workshop's "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures," "How to Paint Space Marines," and "How to Make Wargames Terrain." They seem to have served me well so far. A few days ago, however, I rounded out my collection of painting books with "How to Paint Citadel Tanks" and "IA: Model Masterclass Vol. 1" in the hopes that they'll give me some cool new techniques to use on my titan.

I have to say these two books have taught me so many new techniques to use for my larger models. I already knew the basics, but these have shown me how to weather my vehicles so they actually look like they've been used. I'm a little too far into my titan to be using stuff like that now, but I'm definately going to use some of these new weathering techniques around the barrels of the titan's weapons and things like that. Not only my titan, but all the future vehicles I make are going to look so much better because of these two books.

Additionally, the IA Masterclass book has a very detailed section in the beginning explaining what products they use and where to get them. Instead of using the blanket statement about how they only use GW products (the other painting books are guilty of that) the Forge World book explains what products they use to finish and convert their models. They even say where to get plasticard! I've always had such a hard time looking for that stuff and they've answered all my questions.

So if you've ever needed help with your vehicles and larger models, turn to "How to Paint Citadel Tanks" and "IA Model Masterclass Vol. 1." They'll be a big help.

Model Pictures Update

With today's update, everything I have painted is officially posted here on the blog. All future updates will be of things I just finished or tutorials that I've just written.

I have to say that the stuff I posted today is not my best work. I've learned more about a lot of techniques (not the least of which is painting flesh) and so I think that if I were to do them again, they would come out better. Fortunately, I have another unpainted titan crew, so after the titan is done, they'll get redone and look a whole lot better! But enough of my complaining. . .

I've decided that since I need to paint models specifically for any tutorial that I do, I won't be doing any tutorials until after the titan is completed. If I'm really lucky, I can take pictures as I paint my third tactical squad and turn that into a tutorial. Until then, however, look for another titan update in the near future.