Back to the office this week, which has impacted hobby so only a minor submission this week, adding a few new players to my College of Shadows Dungeonbowl team.
Added to the roster is a third Skaven Gutter Runner, Git-git Greenstripe - a fast player who can skitter around the dungeon with great agility...but is admittedly a little fragile (Reilly stomped one to death during a recent match!)
https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-paulog-more-dungeonbowl-players-35.html
I enjoyed sculpting the battle damage and trying to get a more dynamic feel to what is a rather static and boxy sculpt, even trying some OSL and 3d printed effects (Translation - yes, I again made the classic Challenge error in being completely obsessed with minor detail on a single model). I also used some new techniques with oil washes over acrylic base coats.; it certainly takes a lot longer to dry and I haven't got it quite right yet, but I got the grungier look I wanted. I'm trying to improve my basing game too and did more in that regard with a slain foe who, quite coincidentally, looks remarkably just like the new Thousand Sons force that Reilly is painting...
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| "All is Dust..." |
While I'm here I'll also post this strange little fellow whom I found lurking in my stash: a Razormouth from the Reaper Black Bones series. I built him as a beastie for Silver Bayonet, but he will be equally at home in the Necromunda Underhive or similar.
Happiest of birthdays to Reilly aka Right Stuff aka The Lad - 21 years old today.
After over a decade of being a diehard Blood Bowler, there was only one kind of cake to make!
Some on-pitch highlights of this coach's career thus far!
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28mm Soldat shown for scale This 28mm scaled apartment complex building occupies a 1 foot square tile and has 5 seperate (and detachable) floors. It was 3d printed* in small sections by Alan on his filament printer last year, after which I then spent some 30 odd hours glueing, chopping and drilling to give it that pristine Urban Combat look. Quite a labour of love in which I took my own modicum of injuries! |
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| The building breaks down into five separate floors - I added framing to the underside of each so that it doesn't inadvertently revert to this state mid-game... |
I wanted a balance of dioramic destruction vs playability, so tried to portray a holdout building in which defenders have cleared the worst of the rubble to keep their fighting positions effective. It took quite a bit of time to do this sensibly (and of course with obligatory research of actual Stalingrad buildings - Alan's high standards require nothing less than primary source evidence, which makes one really lift one's game!). All this took well over a month so I then quietly packed it away so I could enjoy painting it during the Challenge
Undercoated in black, I then got my airbrush into action (with coaching assistance - thanks Marty!) to finally start adding pigment to the project. I really wanted to bring some colour to the table amongst all the usual urban grey wreckage, so went with a timeless brick red vibe with some coloured internal walls. I added floorboard beams and other detritus from scrap balsa. Final layers on the brickwork were traditional drybrush method, while internal floors and walls were stippled to give a bedraggled look.
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| Junkers-eye view of the building |
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| Hail Hydra! (Red Skull was my AHPC VII Character bonus round submission :-) |
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| Skaven team members |
This is the College of Shadows - one of the 2 teams that come in the new boxed set, comprising Dark Elves, Skaven and Goblins (though I added the latter models from our stash, they don't come in the box).
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| Dark Elf players |
Each college has a theme colour and the College of Shadows has adopted (perhaps unsurprisingly) grey. I embraced the colourless tones overall with a saturated green for the Goblins to really leap out, and kept this same spot colour to get a consistent team look. The dungeon styled bases are home made (3d printed) and the dungeon they are standing in is a project you will see more of later on.
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| The Goblins are fun, but..not the most valued players in the team! |
