Tag Archives: Warhammer 40k

Tips and Tricks

Get Started Painting 40K Vehicles — MM 31

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and tabletop gaming. This week we’ll get started painting 40K vehicles.

I’ve learned loads since getting back into miniature painting, but painting vehicles, especially pretty Space Marine vehicles, has always been intimidating to me.

Until now.

Here’s a very easy way to get started with painting your Warhammer 40,000 vehicles, and you won’t need an airbrush.

Get started right with a few coats of spray paint. All this guy needs is some detail work with a brush.

1. Prep

Clean your mould lines, like you would with any other mini. You can assemble as much of the vehicle as makes sense. This Land Speeder came to me fully built, so I prepped it for painting as a whole. You could also paint the vehicle on the sprue or paint each piece, bit by bit. Whatever makes the most sense to you.

One of the cool things about mini painting is that they’re your models, you can paint them however you want.

2. Undercoat

Now undercoat/basecoat the whole vehicle with a spray can. White, black, grey, whichever makes the most sense for your colour scheme.

Death from below.
Death from above.

This guy will be sporting Angels Encarmine colours, which I interpret as a darker take on the Blood Angels paint scheme. For this project, I wanted to try a zenithal undercoat, so I hit it with black on the bottom and white on the top. It seems to have blended well enough in the middle, but some people hit it with a grey coat in the centre of the vehicle for a more gradual blend.

3. Primary Coat

Lastly, I hit it with two coats of the primary colour. Let the mini dry properly between coats, and you’ll end up with a decent looking vehicle that only needs detail work.

Now to pimp my ride.

It’s really that simple, and you don’t need to get fancy with an airbrush. Two thin coats, with a brush, will get you where you need to be from here.

We’ll be back to help you get started painting 40K vehicles in a bit, so see you again in a few weeks.

Aurora’s Black Friday Sale

It’s Black Friday week at Aurora’s Whole Realms Emporium. Be sure to check out the mountain of gear on sale now, perfect for your Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition adventures.

 

Tips and Tricks

Ork Runtherd Black Orc Kitbash — MM 30

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and tabletop gaming. This week I’m kitbashing an Ork Runtherd from a Black Orc.

#Orktober Progress Report

Only a few days left of Ork Kommandos I promised.

Orktober has been great though. My Orks got a lot of love that they hadn’t gotten since the start of lockdown. Things are actually done. Progress has been made. It was awesome.

Black Orc Ork Runtherd

My brother gave me this little guy when he got him in the Warhammer, Shadow of the Horned Rat box. that game? I think it might just be the toughest game I’ve ever played.

The mini has been sitting around in a box for years, and my plan was to turn him into a banner bearer. those?

Choosing to turn him into an Ork Runtherd was a much better plan.

Grabba Stick and Grot Lash

I removed his swords, then drilled through his right hand to fit some wire. The top of his grabba stick is a bit of plastic from a nose spray. You know, that bit that stops you from accidentally spraying it. I wrapped some fine jeweller’s chain around it for detail.

The whip was made with modelling epoxy, which is very brittle. If I remake it, I’ll use wire with only a little modelling epoxy on the end.

Pistol

His sidearm is a pistol from a Dark Eldar mini. I stuck bits of plastic card to it to bulk up the holster and added a single link of chain for decoration.

Painting

Meh, probably not one of my best paint jobs. But, you know what, he’s done and I can move on. I’m very happy with how he turned out, I learned a bunch, and I had fun. That’s all that matters.


General

Ork Weirdboy Kitbash — MM 29

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and tabletop gaming. This week we’ve got an Ork Weirdboy kitbash.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the current love kitbashing, so I took the chance to add a little spice to my army. Happy #Orktober everyone!

Parts

For this kitbash I used the Orc Hunter from Reaper’s Bones range, a bit of wire, and bits from the Gretchin box from Games Workshop.

I love the stabby pose, though the spear is ridiculously flexible.

Body Work

I chopped off the spear and drilled through his hands to accommodate the wire. I then added some plastic tubing to attach the shock prod.

I used modelling epoxy to replace his neck after hacking off the little orc head. Onto the new neck I stuck the head at a cocked angle to make him look more menacing.

Since he looked like a Runtherd anyway, I stuck the whip from the Gretchin kit onto his belt at the back, so now he can fill two roles in my army. Maybe hanging around with all those grots made him really weird.

Lastly, I attached him to a 40mm base and this Ork Weirdboy kitbash was done.

Nightscape: Red Terrors is in Print

Nightscape: Red Terrors, the game of cosmic horror set in post-Soviet Russia, is now in print through Drive-Thru RPG.

In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian government decommissioned several publicly hidden research facilities devoted to ‘arcane science,’ chief among them, PERM Laboratory 37. Recently, due to several strange energy emissions, the location of the PERM 37 facility has been discovered by various parties with an interest in the lab’s inventory of eldritch artifacts.

You’re an agent of one of these factions on your way through driving sleet to the facility. Dusk is falling as you through the broken security gate…

 

Later!


Tips and Tricks

Orktober, and why Grots Matter Too. MM #28

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and tabletop gaming. It’s also Orktober, so it’s time to Waaagh! This week I’ll share what I’ll be painting for the rest of October.

The Goal

Paint 31 Orks by the end of Orktober. Simple.

Oh, and run a company, do adulting well, get enough sleep, and don’t burn out. Hey, if you don’t challenge yourself you don’t get anywhere. Let’s paint some Orks!

The Boyz (and Grots)

These are the models I’m aiming to finish by the end of the month. All are primed and ready to go, some are almost done.

The list includes:

  • 1 Wierdboy
  • 1 Mek
  • 2 Runtherds (1 Kitbashed from an old Black Orc)
  • 2 Nobz
  • 6 Kommandos
  • 1 Ork Boy with Big Shoota (AKA Lascannon, from back in the day)
  • 6 Ork Boys (Kitbashed from old Warhammer Fantasy Orcs)
  • 1 Ork Boy with kitbashed shoota and choppa stabby thing
  • 1 Warboss
  • 10 Gretchin (2 from the latest kit)

You’ll get a better look at all of them in the weeks to come. Some of them already made an appearance in our article on kitbashing Ork weapons.
And Gretchin count, so sod off.

There are two more Mondays left for Orktober, so I’ll post updates then and again on the 2nd of Normalvember. Next week it’ll probably be the Kommandos, unless they sneak off.

What Are You Painting?

We’d love to hear from you and see what you’re painting. I’ll be checking out the #Orktober and #HobbyStreak tags on Twitter for the rest of the month, so please connect with Rising Phoenix Games or myself there.

You can also drop a comment below.

Indie RPGs from South Africa

A bunch of South African indie RPG designers teamed up to create the South African Indie RPG bundle, which includes a bunch of great games from south of the Sahara.

The bundle includes Claustrophobia!, Bullet, Something Wicked, Children of the Fall, Might, and How to Plan a Murder, all at a massively reduced price.


General

MVP Yourself to a Painted Army — MM 26

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and tabletop gaming. This week we’ll look at a great little trick for getting your army painted.

The easiest part of this wonderful hobby is buying the miniatures. You can get loads of wonderful models, some at amazing prices, for just about anything. I don’t know about you, but the hard part for me is getting them all painted. I still have a good whack of metal and plastic from my high school days that are still a pristine gray. That, my friendly Internet blog reader person, is where this blog comes in, and today I’m going to share my little secret that’s winning the war on bland gray.

An MVP Army

MVP stands for Minimum Viable Painting. I swear it does. No need to look it up.

By MVP I mean the fewest number of miniatures you need to paint in order to play a game where all the models are painted. In an RPG, this might be four characters and the monsters for an evening’s worth of encounters. In Warhammer 40,000, this might be a small combat patrol including a squad and your warlord.

I’ve been collecting miniatures for Warhammer 40,000 for years, but recently I’ve been working hard to put together three armies, so I can have friends over to play (when lockdown ends). I’ll show you what I mean with these three races. For Orks, I can put together 10 Boyz with a Nob, plus a Weirdboy warlord, for 163 points. My Genestealer Cults army consists of a Magus and 12 Neophyte Hybrids, for 162 points. Lastly, my Angels Encarmine Space Marines include a Tactical Squad and a Captain, all for 163 points.

The total number of miniatures I’d need to paint if they were all fresh out of the box is 12 Orks, 13 Gene Cultists, and 6 Space Marines. That’s only 31 models.

Start Small

The point is that it’s easy to go out and buy a 2,000 point army, but much better to start with a small one and add to it as you go. This lets you learn your army as you go, is much easier on the wallet, and means you’ll never be demotivated by a mountain of gray.

This is one of the many strengths of the Games Workshop 9th edition starter sets. You get everything you need to play, and it’s the perfect seed for a bigger painted army.

Also, starting small and painting an MVP helps stave off buyer’s remorse.

Don’t Forget RPGs and Board Games

This principle works well for painting up board games and RPG minis.

If you’re a GM, you usually know what the players will face, so you can paint what you need for your next session.

In the case of board games, you can sometimes exclude unpainted minis, or you can focus on the minis that will see the most play. I’ve got a stack of cards for my Dungeons & Dragon Adventure Board Game collection that includes only painted (and pre-painted) minis, so whenever I play the models are all painted. As a bonus, whenever I finish up new models their cards get added to the game; it feels like a treat.

How about you? Do you have any painting tips to help us get through the gray and bring a painted army to the table? Let us know in the comments.


Tips and Tricks

Kitbashed Grot Oiler — Mini Monday 22

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying and gaming table. This week we’re making a quirky little grot oiler for Warhammer 40,000 or Wrath & Glory.

This little guy was loads of fun, easy to make, and is literally dripping with character. And oil.

The Oil Barrel

I guess this grot doesn’t want to be squig food, hiding in that oil barrel like that. The barrel is white metal, which I melted and then poured into a simple mold made from silicone and corn starch. The Crafsman has a great tutorial video on making molds this way. My first attempt wasn’t great, but it looked like a purposely dinged up barrel, perfect for an Ork job.

The Grot Oiler’s Body

The head and arm are from the Gretchin box. I first made the shoulders and knee out of modeling epoxy, then stuck these two bits on. It really helps to have some understanding of anatomy, so references are useful. This part of the build was enough to sell the idea of the grot oiler coming out of the barrel, even though the barrel is solid and there’s nothing more to this little dude than what’s stuck onto the side of the barrel.

Painting

I painted the grot, then used a black wash (watered down black paint) to make him look oil stained.
Who’m I kidding? I do this with all my minis!
I then painted silver on the edges of the barrel to give it a metallic look. A rust paint job would probably have looked even better.

Liquid Effects

Finally, I mixed black paint into silicone and painted this onto the grots base, which was sitting on waxed paper. When this dried, I could pull the whole thing off and it looks just like oil is spilling over the base. This “spill” comes off the base easily and sticks back on again without anything other than the silicone’s natural tackiness, so I can remove the effect when using this mini on the battlefield.

If you enjoyed this little tutorial, or if you have any questions, let us know in the comments below.

General

Ork Gundam Deff Dreads: Mini Monday 18

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying table. This week we’re building Ork Gundam Deff Dreads for Warhammer 40,000. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get stuck in, boyz!

As you may know, I’ve been working on two Gundam Deff Dreads for my Ork army. Let’s check these clanking contraptions out!

Looting Parts

Both Gundam Deff Dreads started out as chibi-style plastic kits of iconic Gundams. The legs, bases, saw arms, and big shootas came from Mech Warrior Clix figures. The heads, torsos, and backpacks were from the kits. The rest came out of my bits box.

The point is, let your inner Mek Boy out and use whatever inspires you. Most things can work for Orks, if you add enough spikes and DAKKA! Mork’s teeth, there’s even a Mr. Potato Head Stompa terrorizing the Internet.

Deff Dread Guncan Tankskrappa

Let’s talk about this build’s concept. Tankskrappa was the first Gundam Deff Dread I did, and I had a very clear concept in mind for the build, which you’ll see in a bit. The issue was that I sidelined a lot of my concept during the build because I didn’t know how to get the look I was going for. I figured things out in the end, and I’m very happy with the final result, but it would have been too easy to cop-out. Perseverance really paid off.

The weapon arms are magnetized, allowing you to swap out weapons.

Big Shootas and buzz saw

Deff Dread Guncan Mek-krakka

The biggest influence on Mek-krakka’s design was problem solving. It was much easier on this build to dive in and figure out the best way to create features like rokkit launchas and rokkits as I went. Mek-krakka has three rokkit launchas and a big shoota, and those rokkits took more of my time on this build than anything.

Experimenting and adding details helped a lot. The rokkits were made from ballpoint pen nibs. I’d tried toothpicks, but they didn’t look right at all. Adding fins to the rokkits near Mek-krakka’s big shoota brought the build together. Without the fins they just didn’t read like rokkits.

By Gork, I spent so much time thinking about rokkits for these two Gundam Deff Dreads I could write another whole post about them.

Mek-krakka, rear view
Lots of rokkits!
More rokkits!

Play It Forward

As you might know, Rising Phoenix Games has published a bunch of Dungeons & Dragons titles on the Dungeon Masters Guild. From May 4th until May 17th, you can get 20% off all our D&D titles, and 100% of the earnings go to community creators like us and our contributors.

This is a massive opportunity for us, so if you’ve been eyeing any of our books, now is a great time to grab them and us too. You can find links to all of our books in this blog post.

 

Please consider sharing this with your D&D friends, but most of all, stay safe and good gaming!

 



Tips and Tricks

Mini Monday #13: Level Up Your Painting in 2020

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying table. This week I’m playing it lazy and sharing an excellent video from Midwinter Minis that will help you level up your painting in 2020. I’ll also add in a few of my own tips.

Guy and Penny from Midwinter Minis share great painting and scenery making tips on their YouTube channel. They’re one of the top mini painting channels, in my opinion, and their 23 Free ways to get better at painting models video (below), is worth checking out.

Rodney’s Tips

Here are a few of my own tips:

1. Paint with a Pal

Painting with others is a great way to learn, make time for painting, and keep motivated. Kim Frandsen (writer of Heaven & Hell) and I chat over Google Hangouts while we paint. We talk about the industry and all sorts of things, and we share our progress live or by sending photos of our work. Kim used to work at a games shop, where he also had to paint minis, so I’ve learned loads from him.

2. Finish Models, Keep Painting

Mini Monday is all about keeping motivated and getting through that pile of plastic. After 20 years, I got back into painting and found it to be a great (and even cheap) way to clear my mind and relax. But why had I given it up for so long? I loved the hobby, and even made it into a career, but I’d started collecting prepainted minis and my grey plastic ones were collecting dust. I realize now that the pile of unfinished models was intimidating.

Now I pick my battles and get models done, and that keeps me motivated.

3. Batch Painting

Batch painting really sped up my painting. By painting squads or groups of similar miniatures, I can turn each step of the painting process into a production line. That way, the minis are ready for the table at the same time and I don’t have to switch tools or paints often. You can literally do your whole army like this, as Brent from Goobertown Hobbies did with his 100 goblins (another YouTube video).

I painted four drow together, before finding four more that needed the brush. Doh!

May 2020 be a great year for you as you level up your painting!


Tips and Tricks

Mini Monday #11: Basing Basics

It’s Mini Monday, where we share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying table. This week we get down to the basics of miniature basing. It’s Mini Monday #11: Basing Basics.

I’ve been tinkering with this basing method since I started painting Warhammer 40,000 figures, and have refined it into a simple method that gives great effects.

The Gretchin on the left has sand from my garden. Sam, on the right, has a larger grain of dirt. You could paint this grey or brown to look like gravel, but it’s good enough for gaming, and that’s the point.

, the main thing you’re looking for when basing your army or figures for roleplaying is consistency. You can differentiate heroes from the rank and file with special bases, but generally, you want a process you can apply to all your figures, to give them unity.

1. Preparing the Miniature

Paint your miniature and glue it to its base. Leave the base for now.

2. Texture

Get sand from your garden and sieve it. You can cook it in the oven for 10 minutes to ensure it’s free of life, then let it cool. I keep my sand in small plastic containers. Mix PVA or wood glue with water, in a 1:1 ratio. Paint this on the top of the base and then dip the base into the sand. Leave to dry.

“Homemade” sand sieved and ready for use. Costs nothing and you can get tons of it.

3. Glue it Again

You can use the same mixture again over the sand when it’s dry to ensure it stays down, otherwise it might come off when you’re painting it. You can also spray the PVA and water mixture onto the base, but I find an old brush works well if the glue is dry: start at the edge and work your way inwards.

4. Paint

When this is all dry, paint the textured base. There are a few options for this. I like to paint the whole base in Warboss Green, from Citadel Colour. Some people like to paint the edge of the base black, or you might choose a sandy tan colour — it’s up to you.

5. Flock

Use small bits of flock to represent scrub and bits of vegetation. Stick this on with PVA glue.

6. Varnish

When it’s dry, varnish the whole mini. Sprays are great, but if you don’t have a spray, you can paint it on using an old brush.

That’s it. This technique is cheap and easy, and really finishes off a model. Doing batches of miniatures together makes waiting for things to dry less of an issue.

You can the blog by purchasing a gargoyle mug from our store.

Paint brushes, water, or regular ol’ caffeine, whatever it holds, it does so in style.


Tips and Tricks

Mini Monday #10: Good Enough

This was supposed to be a post about getting 18 miniatures painted in 18 days. I needed to finish 18 Orks to finish my battalion detachment, and I gave myself 18 days to do it in. ‘Easy,’ I said. And that’s why today’s full title should be Mini Monday #10: Good Enough and the Power of Being Satisfied with the Chance to Try Again.

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting ideas for your roleplaying table. This week we talk about mediocrity, the value of arbitrary goals, and being satisfied.

Here’s my kitbashed Ork boy with rokkit launcha. He’s the only figure I finished in the 18 days.

Mini Monday #10: Good Enough

I’m very happy with the kitbashing I did with him, but not with the paint job. But, you know what, it’ll do. It’s better painted than unpainted.

The 18-day goal was arbitrary, but it was still good for a few things.

Just Your Average Geek

For one thing, it was good to remind myself that I’m no pro painter. This blog isn’t about me teaching you. It can’t be. The only thing I have to give is ion and the determination to keep learning. Rather, this blog is about sharing my discoveries and, hopefully, encouraging you to go make your own, paintbrush in hand.

Flinging Paint on Plastic

I still have 17 minis to go, but the 18 days meant I got closer to finishing them. How long will that take? Who knows!? All I can say is that whatever time I spend painting is progress. If I want to get through that pile of plastic, the only way to do it is to sit down and paint.

Got anything to say? Slap it in the comments below and let’s talk about painting, kitbashing, and the benefits of more dakka!