Progress on Ork Nobz ... and a Spitfire!

After weeks of not painting, inertia had set in. And trying to get started again was awfully hard. Granted I was tired out after every work day but I was just clinging to every other excuse - watching TV, reading books, playing the latest video/PC games (Diablo 3 anyone?) - to not start painting.

Was I finally fed up with the hooby? Gork (ork pun intended) forbid, of course not! I guess I was just daunted at the huge array of miniatures I have yet to paint. It's easy to say a thousand miles begins with a single step ... yada yada ... but I still looked at my paint workstation with a measure of dread.

Well, I have finally managed to drag my lazy ass bum to the workstation and continue my work on the Ork Nobz from the Assault on Black Reach set. Managed to basecoat all five miniatures and give a combination wash of Badab Black and Devlan Mud. So next up will be the mid-tones.

Ork Nobz (Front view, progress so far)

Ork Nobz (Back view, progress so far)

The following is a detailed look at the miniatures before and after the wash.

Ork Nobz 1 (Basecoated, Before Wash)

Ork Nobz 1 (Basecoated, After Wash)

Ork Nobz 2 (Basecoated, Before Wash)

Ork Nobz 2 (Basecoated, After Wash)

Ork Nobz 3 (Basecoated, Before Wash)

Ork Nobz 3 (Basecoated, After Wash)

Ork Nobz 4 (Basecoated, Before Wash)

Ork Nobz 4 (Basecoated, After Wash)

Ork Nobz 5 (Basecoated, Before Wash)

Ork Nobz 5 (Basecoated, After Wash)

Just this week, I accidentally came across a magazine cum die-cast airplane model offer for just RM9.90 (US$3) at a local bookstore. It's one of those magazine/model publications that seems to be all the rage again in Malaysia and Singapore. Me ... I am not too much of a fan myself but when I saw the model on offer, it was just too good to pass. Moreover, it happened to be my all-time favourite airplane ... the Spitfire. Here are some pictures I took of it.

Guess I am back on the hobby track again, albeit at a slower pace. Hope to do more painting soon.

All quiet on the hobby front

A slew of 'happenings' meant that time spent on the miniature hobby has been ... well ... non-existent. Starting a new job, catching up on Warhammer 40K lore, continuing my adventure in what is IMHO the best console franchise I have ever experienced, and the return of two of my favourite TV shows all kinda combined to ensure nothing got done at the hobby front.

Catching up on my reading

Managed to read two Warhammer 40K books at a rate of one per week. Black Library's Space Marine Battle novels are just nice for a quick entertaining read if you are pressed for time. Having read three books in the series so far, my favourite remains the first one, Rynn's World by Steve Parker.

Playstation 3's most awesome franchise ever

It's about time Steven Spielberg/George Lucas made an Uncharted movie

I can't recommend Uncharted 3 highly enough. It's a freaking incredible ride of console gaming heaven. Naughty Dog, the creators of Uncharted, has kept the franchise on an upward track with each new game in the series surpassing the previous one. Only mid-way through the game, I have been unwilling to put it down long enough to do any miniature painting. Also looking forward to Uncharted 3's new Co-Op mode as it will my son and I some quality time together.

All my free time tied up in a neat little bundle

Supernatural (left) and Mad Men (right)

To top it all off, two of my favourite shows are back with new seasons on satellite TV. Supernatural is back with Season 7 while Mad Men weighs in with Season 5. Looks like it will be even quieter on the hobby front in the weeks to come. Hopefully I will have settled into a new routine in a few weeks time or earlier, with the new job and all, and try to get some painting done.

Working with metal and painting better whites

Chaos Obliterator

Working with metal miniatures for the first time has been anything but a pleasant experience. I found it extremely difficult to glue the small minuscule weapon pieces to the Chaos Obliterator's arms. At times it felt like a hair-pulling exercise in frustration. Thankfully most metal miniatures are being slowly replaced by Game Workshop's Citadel Finecast. Nonetheless, it was good to work on the Chaos Black Legion army again having neglected my Chaos army for quite some time ... even if it was just to assemble and undercoat the model.

Chaos Obliterator ... my first and most likely last metal miniatures

Gluing the weapons on both arms was frustrating to say the least

With some modifications - most likely in the choice of colours - to the cool painting tutorial at Glued My Fingers, I hope to get both Obliterators painted as soon as possible, in between work on the Ultramarines and Orks.

Painting better whites

Based on advice by bloggers such as limp, vuel, snake88 and ron, I decided to alter the white painting process slightly to improve the smoothness of the whites and reduce chalkiness. Using Astronomican Grey as the basecoat, then washing it with Badab Black before painting Skull White in a couple of thin and watered down layers resulted in better looking whites.

Painting whites: First try (left), second try (right)

Painting more whites: First try (left), second try (right)

There is room for improvement, but that's solely due to my lack of skill. With three more Ultramarine Terminators to paint, I won't be short of practice so hopefully I will get better at painting the whites.

Other Ultramarine Terminators in various stages of completion

Progress on the Orks

Only managed to basecoat three out of the five Ork Nobz I have assembled from the Assault on Black Reach (AoBR) set and that's simply not good enough. With free time at a premium, I have to somehow find a more efficient way to paint up my son's Ork army faster. Short of 'sleep-painting' (heh heh ... wouldn't that be a sight for sore eyes), I am hoping experience will equal faster painting.

Front view of Ork Nobz - basecoats only

Back view of Ork Nobz - basecoats only

Outside of the AoBR Orks, I have 5 Ork Burnas and 5 Ork Lootas being lined up for assembly. Budget constraints seem to be turning the emerging Ork army to an infantry heavy one. Oh well, unless our local hobby stores start accepting Ork Teeth as payment, I guess it will have to do until more moolah comes my way.

Using a magnifier to make painting miniatures easier

Being short-sighted can be tough on the old eyes, especially when trying to paint miniatures. In addition to a lamp, I have found the magnifier to be yet another indispensable tool in a miniature painter's arsenal. While many painters can comfortably paint without the need for a magnifier, the use of one - in my case anyway - has greatly reduced eye strain. Nowadays, I rarely paint without it.

With a magnification of 2X, miniature models become easier to paint.

Magnifier set up at a perfect angle for painting.

Having used the magnifier for more than four months now, I wholeheartedly recommend using one, especially when more often than not, you find yourself placing the miniatures close to your eye to get at fine details. With the magnifier, you can keep the miniature at arms length and reduce eye strain.

Bought for a rather expensive RM50 (US$16)

Manufactured by Pro'sKit Tools, the foldable magnifier was one of the cheaper versions available. While I did contemplate buying a head-mounted one with switchable lenses, I finally decided against it as those were retailing for double to triple the price.

Book of the Week: Star Trek Titan - Orion's Hounds

Not being a big fan of Star Trek characters like Captain Riker and Deanna Troi, I was a bit hesitant to read the Titan series, and ultimately decided to do so only because I am a completist when reading books. But that being said, the story lines in the three Titan books I have read so far have been rather good. Trek Trivia: An interesting angle to the Orion's Hounds book is that it deals with the alien encountered by the Enterprise in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Assault on Black Reach - First painted model

It has taken a long time but I have finally finished painting a miniature from the Assault on Black Reach (AoBR) set. While better late than never, I do have mixed feelings with the end result.

Ultramarine Terminator (Front and Back view)

Ultramarine Terminator (Side views)

I was reasonably happy with how the blue armour turned out, but I kinda messed up the whites. Based on the pictures shown in the AoBR manual, the Games Workshop team painted such smooth looking whites. One reason could be that I did not follow the advice given in White Dwarf No.359 which suggested layers of a mixture of Space Wolves Grey and Graveyard Earth before ending with pure Skull White. As I am in a hurry to paint as quickly as I can (before AoBR becomes yesterday's starter set), I just went with Skull White --> Badab Black Wash --> Skull White.

Does anyone know of a quick way to paint smooth looking whites? Any suggestions are most appreciated. At least I have three more Termies to practise on before I attempt to paint the Ultramarine Terminator Sergeant.

Other progress on the AoBR set included assembly and undercoating of the vehicles i.e. the Ork Deffkopters and an Ultramarine Dreadnought.

Deffkopters and Dreadnought primed for paint.

Book of the Week - The Red King
Taking a short break from Black Library books to indulge in some Star Trek sci-fi stuff I have had in my collection for a long time.

At the moment, I am trying to reconnect to the Star Trek reading materials by jumping in to the series in a chronological order. At the moment, I am at Star Trek Titan - The Red King by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin. I am a fan of the authors' earlier work i.e. Star Trek Excelsior:Forged in Fire.

As always, thank you for reading and have yourself a good week.