Ghazghkull Thraka - Bad Moonz version - Completed

My hat's off to the Games Workshop sculptor responsible for making Ghazghkull Thraka such a joy to paint. Full of many fine details, the Ork Warboss had a nice combination of organic and metallic parts to paint. Photos were taken with an on loan Nikon D60 DSLR camera. Ghazghkull Thraka lacks some decals as well as washes and paint chips on the armour, but it is essentially done.

Ghazghkull Thraka without his 'iron jaw' on but ready for Waaaggh!

My grandpa ... what sharp teeth you have.

Side shot highlighting the Big Shoota.

Right shoulder armour lacks a tad of wash for shadows ... another item for the to-do list

Wires, wires, everywhere.

Yet more wires and other 'whatchamacallits'.

Side shot of the Powerclaw. 

Individual wiring colours on the Ork Warboss's left arm was a chore to do.

Ghazghkull Thraka gets his 'iron jaw' on.

Front profile of a fully assembled Ghazghkull Thraka

Right-sided profile of a fully assembled Ghazghkull Thraka

Left-sided profile of a fully assembled Ghazghkull Thraka

A fledging army
With Ghazghkull Thraka finally completed, the mood is set for the rise of a Bad Moonz ork army. It won't be long before a green tide sweeps over all that the dead emperor holds dear. With Thraka as the honourary leader (his Bosspole still retains the red colour of his Goff Klan) of the Bad Moonz army, surely the Imperium of Man is at an end?

Ugg and Ogg have a bossman at last.

My trusted LG Phone Camera VS a Nikon D60 DSLR
There could only be one winner ... need I say who. Unfortunately I won't have access to the Nikon D60 as much as I would like to ... meaning most of my blog pictures will still be taken with the LG phone camera ... but on rare occasions I might still be able to borrow the Nikon for some shots.

Front picture - LG Camera Phone (left), Nikon D60 (right)

Back picture - LG Camera Phone (left), Nikon D60 (right)

Ghazghkull Thraka - Bad Moonz version - WIP

Bogged down in details ... that about sums up my progress with Ghazghkull Thraka. This model has an insane amount of little details like wires, pipes and whatnots. So far, all I have managed are basecoats for a good portion of the model as well as some washes here and there. There is certainly a lot more work to be done before it looks half-decent.

What do the game rules say?
Technically, Ghazghkull Thraka hails from the Goff Klan which means his armour should have been painted with patches of red. Here, the warboss is wearing 'honourary' yellow armour since my army of Bad Moonz orks have decided to throw their lot behind G.Thraka and let him lead them. However, can G.Thraka be fielded in yellow armour during a game? Help ... anyone?

Citadel Finecast ... a noob's first impression

Till now, I have only ever worked with plastic miniatures, though that's not really saying much for someone with less than six month's experience in painting miniatures. As Games Workshop seems to have decided Citadel Finecast is the way forward, more miniatures will be resin-based. So now seems a good time as any to try my hand at dealing with these resin miniatures.   

Looking for a reasonably sized miniature in which to tackle this new material, I decided on an ork warboss, and who better than Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.
   

Washed and cleaned up ... in all its unassembled glory.

The good ... 

• As repeated in many other websites ad nauseam, details on the resin miniature model is fantastic. You can't really appreciate the level of detail these models have until you have worked with plastic. It's going to be a joy to paint such details.
• Parts snapped off very easily and cleanly from the sprue. And on occasion, it seemed to be the better option compared with removing them using plastic cutters.
• There seemed to be less mould lines on the resin model. 

... and the bad.

• Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles. It may just be a case of bad luck but the resin model I worked with had lots of imperfections in the form of air bubbles that formed during the moulding process. Fortunately, the bubbles did not damage any major detail that could not rectified using Game Workshop's Liquid Green Stuff.     

Currently, Ghazghkull Thraka lies semi-assembled and ready for an undercoat of Chaos Black.

To make this project a more productive one, I plan to paint five Ork Nobz from the Assault on Black Reach set together with Ghazghkull Thraka. The Nobz are a step ahead in the painting process with their black undercoat all done up.

Let there be Waaagh!

Khorne Berzerkers are ready for war!

After what seems like forever, the Khorne Berzerkers are finally finished. Highlights comprised Blood Red for the armour, Chainmail for the metal parts and Burnished Gold for the gold parts. Weapon tassels were washed with Thraka Green (on top of a Mechrite Red basecoat) and highlighted with a mixture of 1:3 Scab Red:Fortress Grey. Basing was inspired by GameWorkshop's Warptainted Lands colour scheme while a Black Legion decal was applied to the zerkers' left shoulder.

Can the zerkers be improved upon? Most undoubtedly. But for now, I guess I will leave them as they are. A wash of Devlan Mud was in the works but I decided against it at the end. A detailed 'How to paint Khorne Berzerkers' as well as colours used for the base will be posted in an upcoming blog. 

View from all angles

A detailed look

 With these new additions, the Black Legion army was soon looking for trouble. 

Courage and honour?

Ugg and Ogg in trouble?

Well, based on that last picture above, it seems like the lovable Ugg and Ogg  are in serious trouble. They need help. So I will need to start my Citadel Finecast project soon and get Ghazghkull Thraka into the fray. I plan to use 'Heavy Metal's Masterclass guide to help paint this massive Ork Warboss. 

It has been a crazy week hobby wise ... but I am loving every minute of it.

The first step

As the old saying goes, a thousand miles begins with a single step. Having finally taken the plunge into the the world that is Warhammer 40K, I must say I am enjoying the hobby greatly. I ain't no spring chicken, in fact I will be approaching my own mid-life crisis of sorts soon, but I say one is never too old to have a hobby involving miniatures. Kudos to Games Workshop and the Black Libray for having created such a wonderful world where there is only war.

Its only fitting that my very first miniatures be the Ultramarines. They are the first miniatures I have ever painted in my life so there is plenty of room for improvement.

Currently, I am also in the midst of painting two ork boyz. I have only managed basecoats and a wash. I have yet to paint the various layers of skin, armour etc as well as highlights, so more updates on that later.

These miniatures were suppose to be a practice run for me before I started painting an Assault on Black Reach (AOBR) set that I got for me and my son. But things don't always go as plan. I have been hijacked by the call of Chaos. Project AOBR is now officially on hold as I begin down the path of damnation.  =)  I will be posting progress updates on my Black Legion army as the days roll by ... feel free to comment and provide tips for this old dog thats trying to learn new tricks.