Citadel Space Santa

"When Santa got stuck up the chimney ... "

Here is another view of the old Citadel Space Santa that I posted up on Christmas Day. I have rebased him in the same style as my other slotta-based sci-fi miniatures (not that I have that many).

I still have a couple of other sci-fi minis to paint, but they will have to wait until later in the year next year. I doubt I will ever get to play with these minis as they either do not fit into any existing canon or I just have too few to do anything with them for Warhammer 40K and such like. That may change if I start playing sci-fi tabletop battles again but that is not very likely - unless there is a sci-fi HotT variation out there that I can use?

Early Citadel Space Marines

I have at long last begun to get back into painting after a long hiatus. The time spent not painting has been very productive gaming wise, as I have been involved in two rather excellent fantasy RPG games (AD&D and Pathfinder) and some long-term discussions about re-developing some old sci-fi stuff with one of my oldest gaming friends, Arlo.

My eyesight has not improved (will be going for a check-up in the next couple of weeks to change my prescription) with the time away from the close scrutiny, and it shows in some of the pictures below with the parts I have missed or gone over accidentally and not noticed even when checking for such errors - ho hum, the camera doesn't seem to lie in these cases.

Anyway, I have also managed to put a lot of pigment onto a rather large bunch of Norman milites, but it will be a short while before they are anywhere near completed. I have also undercoated a handful of clerics for AD&D to go with all of my fighters, thieves, barbarians and magic users that were completed a year or two back., and some old Denizen miniatures for the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Getting back to the sci-fi theme, here are the final painted versions of the first released Citadel Space Marines. I have already painted up a couple as Judge Dredd style heavy troopers, but these ones are painted as Dark Angels (my preferred WH40K troop type). I really like the womble-head style of the helmets, and think that Citadel/GW should have stayed with that style imho.

This figure, although bought as part of the same set, doesn't really fit in with the unit, what with the skull motif on his shoulder pads. I painted him differently, as if he was a baddie. I have also found another bunch of sci-fi style baddies that I bought around the same time that I will add to a menagerie of scoundrels - maybe the crew of a space pirate ship? Hopefully I'll get those painted before Christmas.

This one, with an old style chainsword I have designated the commander of my little squad.

And, here are the rest of the squad - all with the same weapons except for the last chap. Not sure why he was sculpted with a different weapon, but it does add to their individuality I guess.

Finally, here is a group shot of the whole squad. Those space pirates had better beware!

Alex has also been picking up the brushes again and managed to get a few more finished - I will post them up later when the basing is completed.

Grey Knights Terminators

Alex finished off some Grey Knights today. He hasn't really had the painting bug this year so far, but he managed to pick up the paint brushes and get these Space Marines completed. He has lost his painting mojo recently, he said, because he is bored of the ones he is doing and they seem to be never ending. I had to tell him to persevere and so he did. This malaise hits me every now and again too (especially when I have been on a unit for a long time - those Splintered Lands minis just recently), so I know where he is coming from.

Grey Knight Sergeant...

Grey Knight Banner Bearer...

Grey Knight Medic...

Grey Knight Terminator 1...

Grey Knight Terminator 2...

I am hoping he will get some more minis finished soon, and he assured me he will; he has some LotR minis he wants to complete and some Teutonic Knights.

I, meanwhile, am working to finish those Splintered Lands minis. I should have a fair few finished by this evening.

Lord Kaldor Draigo

Here's the next couple of space marines from Alex. First up is Lord Kaldor Draigo. Alex picked this up second hand off a stall at a gaming convention recently at a good price; ready made and undercoated. He has done three-stage shading on this one but I think the shading is too subtle to show up in the photographs - I especially like the way he has painted the face. I think he has painted him as a Space Wolf, thus the bare metal Terminator armour. I am sure when Alex reads this he will sceam at me for being an idiot and let me know what chapter he is actually from, so I will update the post if I have got it wrong.

UPDATE - Yep I got it wrong. He is a Grey Knight!

This next mini is the limited edition one you get from the Assault on Black Reach box set. Again, he got it second hand from a show we attended a little while back. He has painted this one with the block paint and wash method to fit in with the rest of his standard Space Marines. I think his brush work is getting neater and he is making fewer mistakes now; he just needs to start pushing his limits with the 3 stage painting to perhaps a more blended style approach. It will come with time though. It took me thirty odd years to get to where I am (which is not so good) but I didn't push myself, so never really improved after the first year. I wish I had done so as I am now happy with mediocre paint jobs when maybe I could be producing stuff a tad better. I am great at giving the advice but not so good at following it!

Next up should be some more of Alex's figures and then maybe a few of mine.

Vanguard Veterans

It has been a while since I posted last. Last weekend I was working, the weekend before I wasn't feeling too good and the weekend before that nothing was ready to go up on the blog.

Alex and I have been busy and got a few things completed and a few others closer to completion. Over the next few days I will report on Alex's recent output as he has managed to get quite a bit more done than I and there is a bit more of a theme to his work.

First up are some Vanguard Veterans. These are the new resin Citadel Finecast. They came out of the box pretty well except for one slight mould imperfection on a shoulder pad which was put right with a strip of green stuff. Alex moved away from the block painting and 'Dip' with these. He has put on the paint in a 3-Stage process and 'dirtied' the white areas with a light wash of Devlan Mud. They were then dulled down with the usual matt spray varnish. These have been photo'd with each member of the squad getting prime focus each time.

First up is what I used to call a 'womble head', but I think Games Workshop prefer the term 'Beaked' helmet. I think I'll still call them Womble Heads as it keeps me in touch with my youth and the first set of Space Marines I ever bought...

This chap is the sergeant of the squad - noted by his red helmet...

Next up should be some more of Alex's WH40K stuff, as well as a few LotR and Brytenwalda figures he had lying around that he has now finished. My stuff will be presented after I have put up Alex's figures, so hopefully the next few days will have them all displayed.

Warhammer 40K - Elites and Command

Here are the last of the Space Marines that Alex finished over the last few days. First up is Captain Sicarius, a metal kit ...

Here is a plastic kit sergeant ...

And finally a couple of metal Tyrannid Hunters ...

He got a couple more kits for his birthday which he is busy working on at the moment. The box set I was most concerned about was the Vanguard Veterans as they are produced in the new Citadel Finecast resin. I have heard many bad stories about these on the internet, but his seem to have escaped the majority of issues (miscasts abound apparently).

As and when he completes them, I will get them photographed and up here on the blog as usual. These may be a little while though, as next week he is off to the child minders for a week, so he won't have access to the paints like he has had for the last couple of weeks. That said, he has almost finished some historical miniatures and one or two more Bretonnians, so will no doubt have a few more entries on here very soon!

Warhammer 40K - Light Attack Vehicles

Alex was busy too yesterday; he managed to finish off an Attack Bike and a Ternminator. I have classed these both as light vehicles as they are not standard Space Marine suits. Alex bought the Attack Bike a few years ago when we went on holiday to the Lake District, and the Terminator was a freebie on the front cover of a White Dwarf magazine a year or two back.

The Ultramarine symbol on the Terminator was done freehand - I don't think he needs to use the water slide decals that come with the models any more.

Hopefully there should be another entry later on today, as Alex has more space marines and I have some other minor bits and bobs finished and ready to go up on the blog.

Space Marine Tactical Squad

These are the other seven members of the Tactical Squad that Alex painted. The other three are Black Templars (see previous post) and these are Ultramarines. Alex's force is going to be an Ultramarine force but he is going to include the occasional unit from other chapters to make up the numbers (and because he wants to paint Marines other than those of Ultramar.

Here are the final two from the squad...

Next up should be his officers and a few other specialist troops.

For his birthday, he got a squad of Vanguard Veterans from me, and he has used some of his birthday money to get himself a Razorback. I daresay these will be painted up in record time.

The Vanguard Veterans are the first of the new Citadel Finecast miniatures that we have bought. We have heard some rumours about how widely differing the finishing on these is (with many miscasts), but it looks like there was only one minor air-blister that put a bit of a dent in a shoulder pad of just one of the marines - easily remedied with a bit of green stuff. The improved quality of the resin does make a difference to the look of the minis, but I am not sure, personally, whether that justifies the extra cost. Still, Alex loves them and that's what matters in the end.

Black Templars

I should have put these up yesterday afternoon, but a bout of insomnia has left me at a loose end this Monday morning (02:45 local time!).

Alex has finished off a stack of Space Marines over the last week or so, and I will be showing them off as and when I get them photographed and cropped for inclusion on this site.

These come from a Tactical Squad set of plastics. He painted the other seven up as Ultramarines, but got bored with all that blue and decided for a bit of change by painting these as Black Templars.

A shot to show off his free-hand shoulder designs...

And from the other side...

I will try to get the rest of the squad up on the blog later on today.

Meanwhile, I started on those Splintered Light minis and finished off a handful of old Citadel Chaos Fighters. Hopefully these will be up on the blog in the not too distant future.

Warhammer 40K - Combat Squad

Alex has been off school for a week or so now, but his output on the paint station has been amazing. He has attended a one-day gaming session at school and now joined the gaming club (see previous post). Anyway, to mark his entry into the club, he tidied up his first ever Space Marines.

These were from a starter set I bought him from the GW in London's Oxford Street on a whim when he was quite a few years younger. These are painted in his style from then, but he just tidied up a few areas where he went over the lines so to speak. They are a far cry from his later stuff (see earlier and later posts), but it is nice to see how his painting has improved over the years.

There will be several more Space Marine entries over this week as Alex has finished up loads of the ones he has in his lead and plastic pile (not a mountain yet as he is still young!), and I am actually off work (some actual holiday/downtime) looking after the kids for a week.

I have also been busy, but not to the same scale as Alex, so I should have an entry or two over the next few days too.

Space Marines

Alex finished off a bunch of Space Marines over the weekend. First up is the Emperor's Champion. Apparently he should be painted like a Black Templar, but Alex did him like an Ultramarine to fit in with the rest of the army he is building.

Here are four photos of his Veteran Squad - focussing on different members of the squad each time. I need to get a tripod and remote release for the camera soon, so I can keep the shutter open for longer and thus get more in focus within each shot.

Alex has almost finished quite a few others; a starter squad of four identical marines with a heavy weapons specialist and a tactical squad. He also has a few other one-off minis likeTyrannid Hunters, a sergeant figure and a bike rider. It is his birthday soon, and he has requested one of the troop carriers, either a rhino or similar, to complement his army. I have to say, they do look rather good on the table.