Bitz and Pieces

Bitz... Don't you just love em! They are small, expensive and in some cases a real turd to get. I had heard that Games Workshop, used to have quite an extensive Bitz collection on offer through their site a couple of years back. This unluckily is not the case anymore.

Now I am stuck to scouring the internets for such things as Aspiring Champion bitz, Icons, Poles and other assorted pieces. On my journeys, I found a couple of good online stores and a couple of decent Ebay stores as well. These include:

The Combat Company: They are an Aussie store with quite an assortment of bitz plus other things. I picked up a bunch of Aspiring parts and also 4 brushes for $20AU. They arrived pretty damn quick so I was happy.

Bitz Box: Not a bad site. Very well priced and arrived quite quickly. The downside is they usually have very little in the way of stuff I'm looking for. I also posted a request on their forums, which was subsequently ignored as well.

Hoard-O-Bitz: Very good little ebay store, postage was a little rich, but he had stuff I just could not get elsewhere.

Window-Box: Another good Ebay store. The owner was nice enough to even put them in a little plastic box. I could just feel the love! :)

Now the last thing I need to mention is the Army Painter Red Primer I bought. What a bastard that was! I started out by laying on so much paint, one of the models looked like they needed to go on a diet. I then got half way through can and the pressure fizzled out on me! Not happy jan!

StarCraft 2 Launch

I know this has nothing to do with Warhammer, painting, modelling, etc. Though this is the biggest event since... Well... StarCraft. I was lucky enough to go to the StarCraft 2 Launch in Brisbane, Australia last night. Over 2000 (would've been funnier if I had the chance to say OVER 9000!) people turned up and damn was it fun!

They had a Sound Alike contest, Best Dressed comp, Trivia Contest and Q&A with SC2 Producer Kaeo Milker. We also snapped up our pre-order copies of SC2 (collectors editions of course!).

Primer Time

I have just started on my Khorne Berzerkers. They were primed with Chaos Black primer by Games Workshop, now I want these to be red. The choice I currently have is to paint them all manually, which is quite a daunting task or I could buy a colour primer.

Games Workshop only offer white or black primers (base coat). This is great if you happen to want your models to be black or white, or you just happen to be doing a couple. If, like me, you wish to do ten or more models, then what about using a competitors offering?

Army Painter have a slew of colour primers on offer. These come in around 16 flavours, and will be great for the mass painter or lazy bastard.

It's All In The Brush

Two things I have learned over the past couple of months of painting are, thin your paints, and buy decent brushes. When I first started out I bought a pile of cheap 0/00/000 brushes from the local craft shop. While they do the job, they last about as long as a snowball in Hades.

They will bend, spread and curl so quickly you could swear they are related to Twisties. While I only have a couple of decent brushes, I do have a list of what brushes are extremely good.


The brushes that I have are:

The Army Painter Insane Detail: While not a long laster, it is as the name suggests. The most insanely insane of insane detail brushes! Actually I really don't know how insane it is vs other brushes of this type. All I know is that it works quite well for my ultra small painting jobs. Though it does need to be constantly cleaned and repositioned regularly.

Citadel Fine Detail: This was originally given to me by my local Games Workshop dealer GamingDragon. I have to say that for a cheapo brush these are really nice. They maybe aren't up to the top line brushes, but the difference is also double or triple the price.

P3 Fine Studio Brush: This I haven't tried yet, though at close to $15 I hope it was worth the money.


Some of the best brushes on the market are.

Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky
Winsor & Newton Series 7
Escoda Kolinsky Sable
Reaper Master Series

While most of these brushes are extremely expensive (Da Vinci, Winsor, etc). They will last for years if looked after, and in the long run cost you less.

Sven Would Be Berserk About These

Erik the Viking was a pretty crap movie. Though the real highlight of the film was Sven the Berserk, and his old dad dishing out goodly advice about berzerking. Anyways, the point here is my Khorne Berzerkers.

I bought them as a bulk lot off my Son's friend. though most are in need of some TLC. Over time I will paint the whole lot. What way, I really don't know? I've found some rather useful guides, I just need to pick the one that I feel is right.

The choices I have are:

Tinweasel Khorne Berzerker
Bolt and Chainsword Khorne Berzerker
Theforce27 Khorne Berzerker
GirlPainting's Khorne Berzerker (my fave)
PenguinPainterz very quick Berzerker guide

While I would love to use GirlPainitng's guide, it may be a bit beyond me at the moment. I'm thinking of using PenguinPainterz red with Devlan Mud and maybe Badab Black? I have so many of these models I may just fart around with them and see what I come up with.

I See Dead Robotic People!

Maybe not the best choice of headline, but I'll definitely be having nightmares about little plastic robots after my next task. My son wants me to base coat his new Necron army with Games Workshops Tin Bitz. Oh the fun!



This is just a small sampling of the 30 or so models that need to be painted. Though, after this it's going to be nightmares about little Khorne Berzerkers, which I'll get onto shortly.

Chaos Obliterators (the first chapter)

Here's the other Obliterators that I painted. I used no guides, just based it off pictures I'd seen. For my first ever Miniature paint jobs I'm quite happy with the end results.

Chaos Obliterator (GAH!)

Okay, this is not only the third model I have painted. It is also the third Obliterator I have painted. Chaos Obliterators are hulking monstrosities from the Warhammer 40K universe. They look cool, though they are a pain in the arse to put together!

Obliterators are sloppy to say the least. They are made of metal, so you see lots of flashing (slaggy bits that you have to snip off) and other imperfections like bad fitting bits and mold damage. Did I also mention they are a nightmare to put together? Ahh yes I did! With metal models you need to use super glue, which means you glue it, then stand there like a statue getting cramps in your hands holding it in place. Only to let go and see the bastard thing fall off again. When you're doing this with tiny little guns, knives and the such you're frustration levels hit all time peaks. Your anger finally boils over when that wee little knife you've been holding in place falls on your dark carpet, and you have to crawl around like a fool looking for it.

Anyways, you've gone through the frustration of putting this together, now comes the fun part. Painting! For this model I used a guide from a fellow Blogger Glued my Fingers. I did take some minor liberties over his style. For one I find it so much easier to leave the arms off, do them separately, then glue them on after the painting is done.

Here is my end result...





While it is no Picasso, I did put a lot of effort into this pain in the bum model. The biggest issue is chipping. My son usually dips his metal models in dishwashing detergent for a few hours, maybe I should have done the same? I was constantly having to patch up black chips during the painting process and finally threw down a coat of Games Workshop's 'Ard Coat to stop the chipping. Hope you like and if you do want to paint an Obliterator, I recommend Alvin K's guide that I linked to earlier in this post.

Justin

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my first ever Blog. While I am new to blogging, I am also new to the wonderful world of Miniature painting. Here I will chronicle the destruction of lots of little people, creatures, vehicles and buildings by my own shaky hands.

Enjoy and hopefully someone will have a look at this tiny little hovel at the farthest reaches of the internet one day :)

Justin