Pulp City bystanders

As mentioned in my last post, I've got the painting bug back :)

My first post challenge painting was on 9 normal folk for Pulp City, who will be wandering the streets whilst the super heroes create carnage around them. The new version of pulp city has citizens affecting  the game by being secondary objectives that the supers can interact with. I found 3 really nice packs from the reaper chronoscope range and so I bought them and decided to paint them immediately. 3 children, 3 student types and 3 ladies involved in the world's oldest profession.... Although they also wouldn't look out of place In a nightclub queue.

Taking my cue from Eddy's work, on his citizens, I've kept the painting pretty simple - base coats plus washes. They are now ready to be saved/terrorised on the mean streets of pulp city.

More pre-heresy salamanders and pulp sci-fi

More pre-heresy salamanders in the shape of 10 pyroclasts. These chaos are  choice only available to salamander armies and come with a special flame projectile gun that can either be a flamer or a short ranged weaker melta gun. Always nice to have options...... And they have artificer armour too. This means that they have sculpted flames and so don't need my crudely daubed flames in their shoulder pads.

I couldn't find a decent decal for their right shoulders, so they are currently blank. I may add one if I find a decent one at some point. I really like the draped salamander skin over their face, which feels like a nod to historical Naptha throwers?

Next up is the stuff I needed to get the pulp sci-fi figures ready for a game of 7TV or pulp alley. First up is the brightly clothed lass who will join the ships crew on the "goodie" side. Then I added my evil overlady and her bodyguard chap. First one from bombshell miniatures, the other two from crooked dice, who make 7TV, and I think they're based on old Blake's 7 baddies, but as I was a bit young to watch it, I'm not entirely sure ;)

The painting challenge that I joined has now finished and it has been the best thing that's happened to my shelves of holding in years! Now I don't play in tournaments, there hasn't been the impending deadlines of tournaments to encourage me to get things done, so Ic an often sort of flounder round and not really achieve anything. The painting challenge has reminded me that painting can be pretty quick if you want it to be and I was amazed how quickly I could get things to table if I tried.

In the three months of the challenge, my total included a dreadball team of 8 figures, 20 saga figures, 45 HH salamander marines, 3 dreadnaughts, 10 Royal Navy marines, 16 pulp Sci fi figures, 4 other miscellaneous 28mm figures and 2 pulp city powerhouses. I'd normally struggle to do that lot in a year the way I've been going....

So the shelves are looking barer and I've reminded myself how much fun it is to get stuff painted, so a win all round and whilst I won't be able to keep that sort of pace up, hopefully my painting progress will be better than it has been. I'm looking forward to joining the challenge again in November and I'd recommend you lot do the same - it's very clever in that it sets each painter against his or her lead mountain, not against everyone else, so is nothing but encouraging.

Pulp City powerhouses

As a break from all the heresy salamanders I've been doing, I painted the new "powerhouses" that I treated myself to as part of the Piulp City kickstarter.  The new resin casts were just wonderful and so I couldn't do anything other than paint them immediately.

They are Amok (the red one) and the other one is a stand-in..... You see, the crew I have needs a nature based hero and the old "father oak" metal sculpt didn't really do anything for me. But seeing this chap, who is supposed to be a recently revived Neanderthal, I couldn't help but think that he'd make a great Nature chap, more akin to the spirit of Herne the Hunter. So I bought him in all his resin beauty and I'm jolly glad I did :)

Having one powerhouse was plenty..... But I really, really liked the look of Amok. So I trusted myself to another one. Here he is with a pirate for scale.

I kept to the standard red scenes, so don't be surprised to see the rest of the martial arts themed crew that he hangs around with cross my painting table so I can use him more.

Here they are in an action pose too

More pre-heresy Salamanders

I'm on a roll!

After finishing the 30 bolter chaps, I wanted to treat myself by starting on the support for them, so please find herewith a heavy support unit

5 chaps with Volkite Culverins, nasty weapons that are based on old school plasma tech and so fit the salamander theme and as they aren't available in 40k, I was sold!

I followed the same painting plan as my previous chaps, so they should fit in nicely, with some weathering to the armour and heat damage to the guns.

Next up is a talon of dreadnaughts. One of the things that I like about 30k is the fact you buy vehicles in units, so these three are one elites choice.

Lots and lots of weathering in these chaps.... Possibly too much, but it's all a learning experience!

Bought cheap on eBay, two of the, have had their front plates removed and replaced with venerable dreadnaught fronts. I then used contemptor heads for them as I have converted a couple of my contemptors up.... Which you should see soon.

Multi meltas for two of them to keep with the salamander theme (heavy flamers too, naturally) and one to provide longer range support with autocannons and a missile launcher.

Finishing things later than hoped.

I finally got to finishing the current batch in the queue. Sadly I'd hoped to finish them earlier this week and already be onto something else but circumstances did not permit.

Onto something new next week. I think after Urn's post about his Salamanders I need to get a wiggle on otherwise I'll be the only GoG with an HH force that doesn't actually have any infantry in it.

This is all building to be something truly cool. The Silverback's Death Guard look brilliant and them coupled with Urn's Salamanders have set the bar pretty high quality wise. When all of this stuff gets to the table it is going to look amazing!!

Salamander marines - bolters ready!

Finally, here they are. My first 30 marines, all bolter armed. I decided that I wanted these boys looked campaign weathered, especially given the salamanders history of drawing the more gritty and drawn out conflicts that other legions shun as having less glory. Washes and black sponging gave an effect I'm pleased with.

The colour scheme was broadly snaffled from the FW website where they have some salamanders holding autocannons and I felt that the way that the bare metal face showed their veneration of the blacksmith's art. Lots of brass and black sprinkled round and the mud splashed up their legs.

Moulded shoulder pads for the Mk IV's and decals for the Mk III's, with painted flames on the other shoulder pad.  I've discovered Tajima grass tufts on eBay and they are fantastic - I can't see myself using anything else from now on so a few more sets could well be ordered.

I've taken the opposite approach to Eddie and gone for the bulk of the grunts first (although I did forget the sargeants) so it's off to the fun stuff for me now :)

Next load complete....nearly.

Today I got to put the final Matt varnish coat over the army painter gloss for the Magos and his Castellax buddies and the two Praetors.
Gotta be nearly 500pts finished all bar the basing which I should finish early next week.

Then on to the infantry! The thought of painting 90+ marines isn't the most thrilling prospect but I'm going to be disciplined and just get stuck in!

As an incentive I shall day-dream about the lovely things I have to make and paint after the marines are done. At the moment in the paint queue is:

Sicaran Battle Tank
Contemptor Dreadnought
Avenger Strike Fighter (ridiculously excited about this!!)
3 Scimitar Jetbikes
3 Rhinos

Still to put together:

Ferrus Manus
Fire Raptor
6 Thallax
2 more Castellax
Another Thanatar (oh yeah baby!!)

This all should keep me going for a while!!

TTFN

Mythical creatures - something a little different again

These are mythical creatures in two senses of the word. The first is that they are a mermaid and genie (modelled as a sea elemental) and the second in that they came to the lead pile a few years ago now and so their very existence was questioned.

I picked them up at Warfare a number of years ago and finally got around to painting them as part of a mythical entry to a bonus round in the painting challenge that I've joined. It's helped me get a tonne of stuff done so it's been great :)

Simple paint schemes for both, with some roiling water under the elemental. Perhaps they'll be scenery or objectives in a game if I get the marines from my last post out for a game.