Wednesday 28 February 2018

Weekly War Report #4: Much Completeness



This week past has been a bit odd, real life-wise, and so I've mainly just been concentrating on finishing up some things from the basing shelf. Thus, this week its just a showcase of finished models because its the end of Fractional Progress February.

I did get one game in, my first Fantasy game of the year. I dusted off my Lizardmen for a 2,000 points bout against Matt's High Elves. I got trashed. I'm not a man to blame the dice but the simple fact is the Lizardmen are designed to tear things apart in close combat and my charge rolls were just not ideal. Still, better luck next time.

On to more substantial progress:

Let's start with the smallest thing first because my camera just wouldn't focus on them (the odd blue shadow, however, is just going to be in all this week's pictures, sorry-pardon), a pair of Genestealer Cults Familiars from the Broodcoven box set.

Still, at least the picture manages to capture the one effect on these I'm actually proud of (mostly they're just my standard Tyranids colour scheme but littler) and that's the murky white on the right-hand Familiar's loincloth achieved through drybrushing Pallid Wych Flesh into partially dried Agrax Earthshade over a Rakarth Flesh base. There's probably nowhere else to use this method in the entire army but it came out a treat.

I'm also trying something different for the Cults' bases. Right now they're an adjunct to my Tyranids but I want them to be an army of their own down the line. I'm thinking of a desert world theme and that's what I'm going for here. I think the base colour works but I'm not sure the Rhinox Hide rim works. Still, its the one part of a model that can always be easily repainted.

As to their larger cousins of Hive Fleet Jormungandr, first up we have a model it has taken my simply ages to finish, the Tervigon (again, apologies for that odd blue shadow that keeps cropping up, I can't work out where it came from):



A good boy, a round boy, I'm sure you'll agree. Once again we return to my constant shilly-shallying over whether to undercoat these miniatures grey or bone because this was done with the Zandri Dust spray and the carapace has come out better here than on any other model. However, I had to spend multiple painting sessions getting a consistent grey on the skin. Worth it, though.
I also polished off a small unit of Genestealers with scything talons and rending claws. This is the first large unit I've finished for the Tyranids and I love how the colour scheme works.

The Marines Malevolent Deathwatch Kill-Marine is done.

This was a pilot model and now I have the methods down I really want to step up production on the rest of the unit. The Stormcast Eternal-themed golds are really good, I was surprised to discover. They looked rather thin in the pot but they went on in one coat over the black. It was also nice to get a good, consistent yellow on the shoulder pad. Props once again Pop Goes The Monkey for his excellent 3D printed Deathwatch shoulder pads.

Finally, we have the cutest herald of plague and despair...


the Beast Of Nurgle. I love its silly little expression, its little wave as if its just pleased to see the people its going to kill. This model was so much fun to paint and yet so easy. The different areas of colour are so well delineated. I also tried a new pale flesh method on the belly: Rakarth Flesh, Reikland Fleshshade and a Pallid Wych Flesh drybrush. I think I might try it on my Dark Elves down the line.

Anyway, that's Fractional Progress February done! I've completed twenty-three models and that's more painting than I've done in a good long while.

50/500 Challenge Hobby Tracker

Death Guard and Nurgle Daemons: 1 model / 2 power
Deathwatch: 1 model / 0 power
Genestealer Cults: 2 models / 0 power
Lizardmen: 6 models / 30 points
Tyranids: 13 models / 31 power levels
Total Models Painted
23

Tyranids are now 31 power strong, that's more than halfway to hitting the 50 power target. Obviously, the Kill-Marine doesn't constitute a complete unit and the Familiars aren't worth power levels so those projects are still at zero but that's still models finished so they count.

Sunday 25 February 2018

1 Week Project: Store Opening Terminator Captain



Against all expectation “Fractional Progress February” has been my most productive month of hobby in years. As I write this I have fourteen models completed all the way to the bases and eighteen others going through the slow, slow process of basing (it really is the dullest part of this hobby). That's not to mention all the models I've got something done on.

Its been productive, its been fun and its been really motivating.

So let's try move from Fractional Progress February to whatever theme I pick for March with a good, old-fashioned One Week Project.
Yesterday, the local GW reopened after a refurbishment and so I picked up the special Space Marine Terminator Captain you can only get on such occasions (or by spending stupid amounts on eBay, no thanks). I also got a little stampy card that will eventually get me the even better looking Terminator Chaplain. Normally I wouldn't go for it but a) both the Captain and Chaplain look amazing and b) I'm getting to a stage with the Tyranids where I want to pick up a couple of the large monster kits so I'm spending the money anyway.

Regardless, the Terminator Captain. I've built him straight out of the clampack save for gluing a Pop Goes The Monkey “Maltese Cross” on the shoulder pad to make him a Black Templars Marshal. It doesn't quite fit, its sized for power armour, but paint should disguise the slight disjoint.

Black Templars are by my favourite variety of Space Marine (and I don't see someone this gloriously decorated as a Flesh Tearer, frankly). I've wanted to do this army for a while and this seems like the perfect opportunity.

On the skills development side of things this will be a good chance to practice highlighting black. I very rarely do full edge highlighting, I much prefer drybrush highlights, but Terminator armour offers a lot of easily accessible, long sharp edges to practice on.

Let's see how far I get.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Weekly War Report #3 (Fractional Progress February week 3)


It's (Not) The End, But...

So, my housemate and I have spent a bunch of time tidying up and spring cleaning the last week so hobby time has been limited. As a consequence I haven't got anything from that big basing shelf picture last week 100% finished. A few are close, most need a lot of basing work, but I wanted to spend what spare time I had plugging away at new things so I could keep feeling that momentum rather than the basing stuff because that always feels like such a slog.

Is that just me? It just feels like every layer takes so damn long to dry. Anyway, so here's what we got for this week:

Gaming

I had my second Necromunda game, this time against Dave J's Eschers in a Sabotage scenario that I won and (mostly) escaped intact from. Hilariously, my Goliath's retreat from the burning chem-still was covered by the underhive's most resilient juve. Armed only with a stubgun and spud-jacker and no statistical or armour upgrades whatsoever it took two Escher gangers and two champions to take him down. It was the sort of epic moment the small scale skirmish format is absolutely amazing for.

Close to Death

The nearest I've come to finishing anything this week are some Death Guard bits a few minor details away from done.

The Blight-Hauler just needs one more pass before I apply the sand. It was a pleasure to paint and I definitely want to get a complete unit of three together in the near future. It also gave me a chance to experiment with dark metallic methods to a varying degree of success. The brass trim is just Balthasar Gold inked with Reikland Fleshshade a couple of times which worked brilliantly whilst the head of the multi-melta and vent grilles were... less successfully drybrushed Runelord Brass. I'll try layering it on the next model.
Actually, I think I'll try layering the Runelord Brass on the face grill of that Plague Marine on the left. Its mainly been a matter of filling in small details and getting the inking done on the golds this week. To be honest, the reason for rushing these through has been to remind myself how I was painting the things so I can go back and finish all my half-done Dark Imperium models.

The Gang Show
I've done all the large, basic colours on the gang as a batch and now its time to take a single miniature and work on the detail methods. I've not got far, just basing and inking the areas that are going to be brass and filing in the mohawk. I don't think I'll go for the Thunderhawk Blue hair on the whole gang. In fact, I might give everyone different hair colours, it'll be a good way to keep the different ganger straight in my head when writing down XP and so on.

Fantasy Woman
Though 40k has been grabbing most of my attention I've been getting in the mood for some square-based stuff and so I dug out Queen Khalida here (who will be a Heirophant using the Lore Of Light in my army). I wanted to try out the yellow method I used on the Deathwatch Marines Malevolent Kill-Marine on cloth so she'd have a rather dirty and degraded once-glorious cape of sunlight gold. It came out rather well.

I am less pleased about the snake at the head of the staff. The orange looked better before I painted in the gold staff, now it just looks too similar. I'll probably repaint if red once I have the golds inked and layered up.

A Bug, Not a Feature
Newly arrived from eBay, the one indispensable element of a Tyranid army (I think): a traditional Screamer-Killer style Carnifex. I've always loved the design and this one was cheap so here it is. Sadly, I'm going to have to redo the back carapace as the ink dried a little funny. This was another big bug I undercoated in Zandri Dust which means the grey skin is taking me forever to basecoat, the alternative of course...
to undercoat them grey and then spend ages layering the Zandri Dust onto the carapace. At this stage I am genuinely resigned to the fact that neither undercoat cuts down the painting time and the choice is purely down to which colour is the majority or the most accessible on model on a case by case basis.

Team Players
And, finally, a little more work has been done on Kill-Team Pellos. Not much, just some more work on the metallics and drybrushing on the leathers. Still, progress is progress as I've been saying all month. 

Thursday 15 February 2018

I remember why I hate Johto


Fuck Johto 2k18.

In all seriousness, for years I have joked about hating the Johto Region and now playing Heart Gold (I played the original the first time) I suddenly remember why.

The tutorial phase is horrible! Its one of those games where you end up running an errand for the Professor to start off. You go off to meet his friend “Mister Pokémon” to fetch an egg because no one is lazier in this fantasy world than zoologists. You get your starter Pokémon (Cyndaquil, in my case) and he sends you off down two Routes without running shoes there and back.

Between random encounters during which I was unable to catch anything because I hadn't been given my pokéballs (oh, Nuzlocke players must love this bloody game) it took me almost an hour to get there and back.

To fetch an egg.

An egg.

I hate Johto. 

Wednesday 14 February 2018

Weekly War Report #2 (Fraction Progress February week 2)


Excuse the drop in picture quality from this morning, its taking me time to work out how to get best results from my best friend's photography set-up (shout out for Matt for the lend of his spot lamp and scenery). So, this past week's hobby: another week of a surprising lot of hobby for a man intentionally taking it easy:

Gaming

Over the weekend I had a couple of games. First, my entrance into Dave J's Necromunda campaign sending my Goliaths to loot the territory of Matt's Inquisitorial Warband. I lost and ended up with about half my gang out of action. Hopefully, this week's game will end with somewhat better results.

I also got to debut my Tyranids on the tabletop, first against Matt's Death Guard in a take and hold scenario where I just about managed to squeak a draw and then against Tom T's Valhallan Imperial Guard where I lost quite conclusively, conceding with a whole four models remaining on the table.

An entire mantlepiece of my finest troops

A big burst of energy over the weekend saw me finish off a lot of the projects I had in progress last time. At time of writing the sand is still drying on the bases so, hopefully, I'll have some, all or less of them finished in the next couple of days. The only things on the shelf not previously showcased last week are these funny little fellas...
a pair of Familiars from the Genestealer Cults Broodcoven set. They were rather fun and quick to paint and I look forward to running them out on the tabletop (I wasn't sure what they were for and left them out of the list last weekend).

Underhive Hustle

For a start there's my Goliath gang. The progress so far is basic and messy and inspired more by a need to get just some sort of paintjob started for my first game than anything else.


The main armour colour for the gang is Stegadon Scale Green because I liked how it looked on the 'Eavy Metal Orlocks in this month's White Dwarf. The rest of the models are giving me some trouble. Surprisingly for big, beefy bastards on 32mm bases these are amongst the most finely detailed and complex models I've ever had to paint. There are so many belts, buckles, metal implants and rivets on them. I mean, I can't argue against the value for money as these ten miniatures account for more than a thousand points and that's whilst pretending the two lads with stubguns and spud-jackers are juves instead of full gangers.

Its A Bug Hunt!

Reinforcements for my Tyranids continue apace with a bunch of units getting their grey layers finished, which isn't terribly visually interesting but here we go...




Its mainly Cults stuff because they were, to me, the surprise breakout characters of the first two games. They were only in there to fill up the 100 power limit but I found them surprisingly fun to use. I've painted their industrial armour using the same method as the flesh on the 'Nids which will probably be the only shared design element between the two armies (except for the models that have carapace).

Now My Watch Begins

Having sent the test model, the Marine Malevolent with the heavy thunder hammer to the basing shelf its time to get to work on the rest of his squad. 
Eagle-eyed readers will notice that one of them has a Chaos Space Marine Raptor head with horns. This is because he's a Black Dragon, a chapter with a geneseed mutation that makes them grow bone protrusions out of their bodies as they age. This team is built around Marines from the shiftier, less trustworthy chapters, the ones other chapters are suspicious of.
They're also joined on the painting table by the Blood Ravens Librarian from the Kill-Team Cassius box set who is probably my favourite sculpt from the unit.

The Big Lad



The Great Unclean One is getting closer and closer to done. There are some small details I'm trying to work out how to do like scabs. I mean, the flesh itself is the darkest grey available from the Citadel paint range so I'm not sure what I could do for scabs since I can't go darker. Skavenblight Dinge, perhaps? Aside from that, progress here has been fractional as I tidy up some of the drybrushing and made a start on the metallics.

Green Energy



Finally, some Death Guard. First off, I'm continuing to progress with the Blight-Hauler which now has a start made on its metallics. The silver that's on there is basically finished sans a little highlighting and the rather flat Balthasar Gold will be worked up to bronze. Looking at the photo I realise I have actually missed an entire bit of trim on the top of the left wheel arch which I'll have to go back to and I do need to fill in some more areas, like the spiked on the weapons, silver.
And, having proved to myself that these methods work on a large scale it was time to apply them to some man-sized models with the Easy Build Plague Marines. These are really cool models but they are so encrusted with details that I keep finding things that I missed like the fly symbol on the champion's right kneepad.

Hell, if nothing else, posting all these pictures really makes me notice the mistakes I've made in time to fix them, eh?

Finished Models (at last)


Admittedly, these ten models have been waiting to have finishing touches applied to them since Christmas but they are done and they were finished this year (yesterday, in fact) so for the sake of my own morale and self-satisfaction I am counting them as the first finished models of the year and the first finished model of my 50/500 Challenge.

To start with, let's count the big fella as #1: a Hive Tyrant armed with monstrous scything talons and heavy venom cannon in (my interpretation of) Hive Fleet Jormungandr colours.

The colour scheme is based on the drawn art of Jormungandr from the Tyranids Codex and not the example model which looks completely different for some unknown reason. I picked it because it was simple and could mainly be achieved through drybrushing. Admittedly, my own laziness meant this took three months to paint but the actual method was quick enough and I've been able to effectively mass produce a good chunk of my army in the last two weeks.
He is accompanied by a small Warrior brood armed with rending claws (the best can openers), devourers and a barbed strangler.
And, finally, we have a small Fantasy contingent as a rank of six Skinks armed with javelins and shields stalks past. These were an experiment for me. Until now I've been painting up my Lizardmen from a white base but I saw a Warhammer TV video that built them up from Macragge Blue which gave me a much better finish on the Sotek Green skin. I painted the shields Daemonette Hide for a lark and I think it really works as a contrast.

Now, as to keeping score:

50/500 Challenge Tracker
Lizardmen: 6 models / 30 points
Tyranids: 4 models / 13 power levels
Total Models Painted
10

Tuesday 13 February 2018

Its The End, But... Star Trek Discovery season 1


(SPOILERS, very obviously...)

I didn't think Cadet Tilly could be more endearing than when she said “Fuck” on screen but then she opened a conversation with “I'm really high...” having inhaled groovy volcanic ash with an Orion.

On a more serious note there was something about this episode that made it feel we were getting back to Star Trek being Star Trek. They ended a very action heavy and shooty season with an unconventional negotiated peace and a speech about facing fear and second chances. Between this and booting Evil Lorca into an artificial sun a couple of episodes ago it feels like the production team were very consciously bending the format up to breaking point before jettisoning the very things that were breaking it.

Not that I hated the series before now, far from it, I adored this run (DS9 is my favourite Star Trek so that probably tells you why).

And just to push the point home, in the final moments of the episode, the Enterprise turns up. This was either a very good idea or a very bad idea depending on how (or if) this plays out at the start of the next season.

On the one hand this series has spent so much time establishing its own style and soul that I'd hate for it to open its second season with fanservice. Yes, even if it gets us Michael and Spock interacting at last, though I admit I'm not clear on whether Spock would be on Enterprise at this stage. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see an extended take on the character of Captain Pike beyond the stern father figure the reboot movies had Kirk projecting all his sudden daddy issues onto.

Eh, we'll see.

As a last note, I am obscurely glad that Michael is reinstated as a science officer instead of just returning to the command track. I don't doubt part of the logic is that no way is Starfleet so forgiving as to put the woman who started a war anywhere near the centre seat but it is also probably meant to speak to development on Michael's part. I like the idea that she's returning to science and exploring the wonder of the universe after all this slaughter.

Also it means Saru still has a job since for some reason they decided not to make him captain, which is a pity. I absolutely think Doug Jones could carry the role and the way Saru has developed over the last few episodes into a more confident leader.

Also, just to place my bets now, I fully expect the Prime Universe version of Lorca (or the Mirror Universe version of Tilly) to make an appearance around about the mid-season break in the next run. 

Monday 12 February 2018

Tyranids first (and second) impressions


This past weekend my Tyranids took to the field for the first and second times. They did so closely supported by a Patrol Detachment of Genestealer Cults to make up the numbers (and who I had also never used before). The first game was against my friend Matt's Death Guard and the second against Tom's Imperial Guard. I lost both games but lessons were learnt.

For a start, I need more small things. The list I used included a unit of twenty Termagants, two units of ten Genestealers and a unit of ten Gargoyles. The Termagants did reasonably well in both games. I wasn't previously planning on using them as a deployed unit, the models I've been painting were originally planned as just something for my Tervigon to spit out and I didn't think the Tervigon would be much use with only a pool of twenty to generate. Contrary to my expectation they performed marvelously so it looks like I'll be trawling eBay for more of the cheap little fellows so I can have a unit to set up and plenty for the Tervigon to spit out.

The Genestealers did very well against the Death Guard, finally destroying my eternal nemesis the Blightlord Terminators and even took his Lord Of Contagion down to one wound (a personal best) before I got tabled. Obviously, against Guard they were shot to pieces and of the twenty only three made their contact with the enemy. I have plenty of spare Genestealers thanks to Tom donating an old and long unused Tyranids army to the project so fifteen man (insect) units are definitely something I'm going to work on.

Similarly, taking Neophyte Hyrbids at maximum unit strength would both help them survive and give me more shotguns. The two heavy weapons and two special weapons slots are nice but in a ten man unit you do start taking them off rather quickly. Plus, with only a Patrol Detachment to fill (I don't see the Cults running to a complete army in the near future) a large unit is preferable to two small ones.

I like having lots of psykers! In the army I had a Hive Tyrant, a Neurothrope and a Genestealer Magos. Usually I confine myself to a single psyker but between what I had to hand and the fact its a pretty common character rule in the army I ended up with the ability to manifest five powers and deny three.

I really need to remember that Shadow In The Warp is a rule that exists, however.

Less of a lesson learnt and more a lesson I already knew but had not power to exploit: I need to get burrowing units to exploit the Hive Fleet Jormungandr command stratagem that allows me to set up Infantry unit in their tunnels. That said, I would have lost the game against Tom one hell of a lot sooner if not for the enhanced cover saves from Hive Fleet Jormungandr's inate ability.

I love my Venomthropes but they don't love me. I need to put some real thought into how to best exploit them. They are not really combat bio-forms, I am beginning to feel. Rather than charging them in I need to work out how to best exploit their short range Toxic Miasma and Toxic Lashes abilities. My instinct, especially with an army like this, is to rush headlong into combat. An effective tactic against the Death Guard, to be sure, as it neuters their heavy firepower but Imperial Guard have a hell of a lot more guns and lose a lot less Ballistic Skill when firing Overwatch. I may start looking into some of the Heavy Support bio-forms but that will be after experimenting with the burrowers. Tom is very good at managing his backfield to minimise the places I can deep strike into.

Lictors are fantastic. I have to remember I have one in reserve and they are a bit of a glass cannon but they are fantastic character assassins which is what they were always intended to be.

As to the Genestealer Cults: what I took was pretty much just to paper over gaps in the main detachment. I had no Tyranids Heavy Support so Matt lent me a couple of Leman Russ and an Armoured Sentinel. There's no way I can describe two Leman Russ as a bad power level investment but I feel they'd work better in synergy with more Cults infantry. As it was they were useful but pretty much fighting their own battle separate from the rest of my army.

My Metamorph Hybrids didn't make it to combat in either game and I'm obscurely glad, to be honest. They have so many weapons options and I have no idea what half of them did. I need to have a sit down with the Cults list and properly learn at least some of the basic weapons do for this army.

I love the webber, by the way, which is worth its weight in gold against Plague Marines. Rolling to wound against Strength instead of Toughness is fantastically useful.

Imperial Guard shooting is my nemesis now, which is fine because its meant to be, and I really need to work on neutralising that advantage.

Whatever else I might have learnt (or not) from these games I've learnt that I really enjoy playing Tyranids. The Cults I am less sold on but I admit the spread of units I took for the Patrol Detachment wasn't the best combination or particularly representative of the army's main tactics. The Tyranids are fast and vicious when they get into close combat which is my favourite phase of the game. I need to concentrate a little more on shooting just to keep the enemy busy in the turns before I start clashing them up with talons and claws but I feel I am starting to get a handle on things. 

Wednesday 7 February 2018

Weekly War Report #1 (Fractional Progress February week 1)


It makes an awful lot of sense, knowing me, that the moment I decide to take things easy hobby-wise I end up doing more painting in a single week than I managed in the whole first month of the year. If nothing else it proves that shorter, more frequent hobby sessions are doing me more favours than trying to block out an entire evening for this stuff.

Nothing's finished (and I still haven't done the basing on the Hive Tyrant and Tyranid Warriors) but I have got a surprising amount of stuff done:

Hormagaunts and Genestealers

A friend once told me that the two most important attitudes an artist can cultivate are “good enough” and “screw it” and I'm starting to get it with the Hormagaunts. They were an experiment in undercoating with Zandri Dust spray and the finish came out all wrong. The grey flesh took layer after layer, the ink and drybrush didn't take quite as well on the carapace as I'd like... and I'm done trying to fix them. They're Hormagaunts, they're small, there'll be two dozen others and no one is going to look at them as individuals so I'm just going to do a final pass on detail work and call them done. You can see in the singular example how the inking has splodged here and there, especially on the gun. I'll fix what I can but I'm calling time on them and letting them be what they'll be.
The Genestealers, who were undercoated grey, came out a lot better even if it did take a layer or two to get the Zandri Dust to take on the carapace. Between them and the still-incomplete Hive Tyrant and Warriors I feel I've definitely nailed down the colour scheme for Hive Fleet Jormungandr even if my interpretation of the artwork violently disagrees with 'Eavy Metal.

Tervigon
Yes, I know there are some parts missing from the middle legs. I bought this one off eBay and I think that's why I got it for such a discount. As you can see from the base, this one was also undercoated Zandri Dust like the Hormagaunts and somehow the carapace has come out a lot better. I'm genuinely unsure why, especially as I didn't have the trouble with the grey flesh I had on the Hormagaunts, either.

A little more experimentation is due so for the moment I'll try undercoating the small stuff grey and the large stuff Zandri Dust and see how it goes.

Plus, literally all this model needs is some tidying of the grey around the gill things on the legs and I can start basing it.

Deathwatch Kill-Marine

A single test model, this one, as I tried out the methods I'll be applying to the rest of the army and road tested the first of the 3D printed shoulder pads from POP Goes The MONKEY (that is actually how he spells it). This one used a Marines Malevolent shoulder pad which fit perfectly over the shoulder connector, took the undercoat relatively well (it needed a little touching up) and the detail is crisp and easy to follow with a brush. It looks practically indistinguishable, as you can see, from something GW would produce.

I also think I've finally cracked yellow, a colour second only in infamy to me to white itself.

Myphitic Blight-Hauler

This is a pretty typical example of what I'm getting done in spare moments on busy days: getting the larger areas of models blocked out. So the Blight-Hauler now has all its green and flesh areas finished and when I have more time I'll go back and do the more detailed work like the silver metallics and brass trim and so on.

Also, its nice to be working on this model because it is so damn adorable.

Great Unclean One
Significantly less adorable but no less fun to paint is the Great Unclean One, again mainly just having finished the larger areas that I could achieve mainly through drybrushing. Actually, what I really like about the Nurgle Daemons and the Tyranids is how well they take to my drybrush-heavy techniques.

I'm not convinced the Screamer Pink guts work as well against the grey flesh tone as they do on the green-tinged flesh Warhammer TV used in their painting tutorial but I'll wait until I have them inked at least before I decide whether to repaint them or not.

Beast of Nurgle
Finally, and back to the cute side of Nurgle, this has been my favourite model to paint from the whole batch. It was a bit of a nightmare to put together because the connectors are so non-standardised and the manual is no bloody help but the finished product is so very worth it. It was also a good test model for some new methods I wanted to try out to diversify the look of the Nurgle Daemons like the Rakarth Flesh / Reikland Fleshshade / Pallid Wych Flesh method on the underbelly.

Other, less visually interesting, progress
I've built a Goliath gang for a friend's Necromunda campaign and I'll be having my first game this weekend; my Imperial Knight arrived from eBay as well as an alternate head piece for it from Shapeways so I'm going to start working on that conversion in the coming week; and, I undercoated my Adeptus Custodes Captain-General Trajann Valoris and a Furioso Dreadnought.

So, all in all, a successful first week.