Neraph (take 2)

The Neraph from the starter box. Nothing amazing here. Who knows when I'll actually field 2 Neraphs, but heck, it's painted.

Shredders (take 13 and 14)

These were the Shredders from the Legion box, which I finally got around to painting. Nothing amazing other than it only took me maybe 3 hours of effort total to do both of them.

Bolt Thrower (take 2)

Plastic Bolt Thrower from the Legion box. Definitely like the original metal sculpt better. Also doesn't help that I speed painted this one pretty aggressively.

Hellmouth

Both Hellmouths! Done! I painted the chitin so that it had a different tint on each unit to keep them straight.

Proteus (resculpt)

Such a sweet model!

Scythean 2

This used to be the old Proteus model. But I painted Scythean bits and broke off the old Proteus bits and re-attached.

Kryssa, Conviction of Everblight

Finally got her finished! She'd been sitting on my desk simply waiting for more dullcoat spray to arrive (which finally did) and so now she's really done. Other than the weirdness of attaching her cloak, this model was pretty nice to work on. The cape is a little strange, and without a 360 view of her on the PP website yet, it was hard to figure out. I'm pretty sure I did it just slightly wrong based on the gap between the cape clasp and the back of her armor. However any further shifting would have made her left arm just seem crazy bent backwards. Beyond that though, the sculpt is actually pretty good. I was suspicious of these new plastic models and the detail, but I have to admit that Kryssa came out very nice.

Sacral Vault

This was a beast of a project. So many challenges along the way.

What went well:
* Using the airbrush to do initial layers of stone work, then building up from there.
* Working through details one layer at a time.
* Painting in parts, but doing all the pinning/fitting work up front.
* Not letting myself get too buried in detail work and trying to make it all look great.
* Resin for water effects. Combination of luck and planning brought it together.

What could have been better:
* Spending more time on key parts.
* Paying closer attention on where to put candles at the beginning.
* Not letting it tip over and crash, necessitating multiple repairs.
* Green-stuffing the candles down rather than just gluing them.

Gobbler Tinker

Now this model is one of those rare conjunctions of highly frustrating and highly entertaining. The entertaining comes in the form of the huge amount of character that the model has. The frustrating part comes in the form of getting it put together. Once I finally got it assembled, I painted it separate from the base but had fortunately got a base prepped with holes already drilled for the pins. And even then while I was trying to get it on the base, I managed to bust it apart in two different places. However I managed to get it back together and on the base properly. I will say though that it was worth the effort. The myriad of sculpted details on this model make it really fun to paint. From the wagon full of random parts, to the characterful expression on the Tinker's face, it was all very fun to paint. I'll admit that there are some secluded parts of the model that didn't get painted properly but they are also pretty hard to see anyway. I highly recommend painting this model.

Bone Grinders

So these were speed painted. Seriously, I cranked them out really fast. I used a trick from my buddy Bryan on this. I did basic base coating of the flesh, leathers and fur, and then drybrushed those parts, then washed the whole thing with SWW Sewer Water. Then I did details like metals and bones and such. The whole unit probably only took me 5 hours tops. I'm pretty happy with the result, the time spent, and perhaps most importantly getting these done after them sitting in a blister for at least 3 years.

Blight Wasps

2 units! Done! And to my buddy Mike: HAH! You trolled me into 2 units, and I've painted them. Just wait until I field them and start owning face!!

It's really hard to take these models seriously. I mean really... They're butterflies! But seriously, they aren't that horrible to paint except that their poses are all crouched up. They also required some special work since I needed to seal them before putting them on the flight bases. Otherwise, they are about the same effort as a Harrier.
I gave each unit a slightly different tint, with one being more red and the other being more blue-green. This makes it simple to differentiate them on the table.

Saeryn and Rhyas Talons of Everblight

Let's see how much I write up in 5 minutes here. Loved painted these two. Great sculpts, albeit a little tedious to put together and handle due to the flowing sashes. I went a little out of style for myself and did some OSL on the glow from Saeryn's hand just for fun. Otherwise these are pretty standard for my Legion painting. For not having painted a Legion model for quite some time, I have to say I'm pleased with how these turned out. Sorry the picture tint is off though.

Zuriel

It's been a while since I finished a Privateer Press model. Almost 5 months actually. Getting Zuriel done feels like a real success. I've been painting, but all DZC stuff lately, so to step back into Legion was a refreshing experience. Why? Well quite frankly, the scale is more pleasurable and painting Legion is always a refreshing break because I can play with color options a little more freely than my other projects. Zuriel here in particular was a lot of fun cause he's big and posed well. It's also a morale boost since he'd been sitting on my desk for quite some time before I got around to even priming him. Once I started putting paint on him though, it went fast and joyfully.

Battle Report: Lylyth3 vs Skarre1

Sometimes you just gotta proxy the new hotness.

My list: Lylyth3, Succubus, Blightbringer, Ravagore, Naga Nightlurker, Shredder, Stinger, Warmonger War Chief, 2 Shepherds, Spell Martyr, Warspears (5+UA).

My opponent: Skarre1, Skarlock, Nightwretch, Kraken, Darragh, Tartarus, Bane Thralls (10), Bane Knights (6), Mechanithralls (10), Necrosurgeon, Saxon.

No scenario for a third time, although I think given my tactical retreat during the game, I suspect that will come to an end now. My real aim anyway was to test out the Blightbringer. On paper I've been very disappointed with it, but in the spirit of practical experience, I decided to proxy it and try it out. After all, it's a pretty cool looking model but it's not cheap. So what did I discover? Well first is that being able to put the Ravagore animus on the Blightbringer is pretty hot. The blight effects for the template are a little tricky to deploy effectively. The no-spells one would have been more handy against Cryx if I could have gotten it somewhere that would have made a difference. The bonus STR/ARM one is sort of easier to get in place when there's a good target to take out first. I also like that template with Ogryn since it makes them even more tough. The Concealment template has a bit of Skornegy to it though since it grants Concealment to ALL models, including enemy. However overall I have to say that I was pretty happy with the performance of it, and having Escort from Lylyth to get it up to SPD 6 was very handy. I definitely want to proxy it a couple more times before I make up my mind on getting one or not though.

Lessons learned: I really enjoy playing Lylyth3. I played a much better early game this time around too which made me feel better. And trying out the Blightbringer just reinforced my mantra of practical experience over theorymachine.

Games this year: 34

Shredders (take 11 and 12)

It's been a while since I finished a lesser beast, and since my paint queue hit a weird log jam, these got done. Whee!

Absylonia Daughter of Everblight

This project seemed to drag on forever, and despite not being completely happy with the end result, I can honestly say that the added depth of color I did in the final shading of skin seemed to make a bit difference.

Neraph

This isn't my best work by a long shot. Not even in the the the parking lot of the mall across town from the ballpark of it. What it is though is finished. This Neraph model really is a fantastic model, but it suffers from a couple key challenges that impede normal army painting. First, it's plastic with rough places for mold lines to be cleared from. Second, it's challenging to put together and properly "gap fill" all the places where things don't fit tight. Third, it's got a complex form for painting when it's fully assembled. Put all these things together and it makes it rough going since it would be easier to paint in parts, but that becomes a logistical nightmare since the proper gap filling requires serious work that would then have to be painted over.

All that said, I'm happy with the results. I should have used the airbrush but for some reason my airbrush and I have been fighting a lot and I just decided not to increase my frustration on that front. I will say that the one piece I'm happy about is how the base worked out. This got it well up and above and disguised the flight base quite nicely. I'm looking forward to fielding this just to see how it looks on the table up high like it is. And being plastic means it's far more stable than the Angelius conversion I did ages ago that turned out quite top heavy.

Nephilim Bloodseer

I honestly can't believe it's taken me this long to finish this model. For some reason I was just not super psyched to paint it. I took a couple shortcuts getting it done, perhaps the most significant being that I didn't put a rune on him like all my other beasts simply because I couldn't find a good place to put one.

Harrier (take 6)

Nothing special to say on this one. One of these times I need to field a list that includes all of my lesser beasts just for kicks.

Blighted Bather

This was an amusing model to paint. If I'd opted to not fully assemble it I could have easily spent way more time on it and done a much better job. However once she was fully assembled it became difficult to hit all the tucked away spots with a brush. Still though, It really was a fun model to paint and will make an amusing alternative to the normal one. I might even get a couple more grunts for the unit and then I can field 2 minimum units.