STOMPA!!!!!!!

Before Xmas, I dropped a few (not) subtle hints to my partner that I would like (desperately wanted because I'm a massive child) a giant, stompy robot for Xmas and then proceeded to direct her attention to the Ork Stompa. Initially she laughed me out of the room, but come Boxing Day and the traditional visit to the In-Laws, I lucked out and unwrapped my new painting project for January. So after finishing the the Elves for LOTR I felt this to be an adequate palette cleanser.

It took me days to build on-and-off and it will likely take me until the end of the month to finish painting, but I am certainly looking forward to getting on the table to cause some terror to my regular opponents. One has already declared a trophy hunt so I've got that coming my way.

For ease of painting, storage and transport, I've magnetized a lot of the components. Both arms, the head, all the rockets and the smoke stacks are magnetized. For the arms I see this making transpor and painting especially, a much easier task.

Wouldn't be me if afew fiddly additions weren't included. Whilst the Stompa kit includes a commander and a few grots, I fancied something a little different. The kit commander was swapped just because I like this guys hat.

Finally a little stability for the big guy, I wanted to fit him with a base. I also feel it gives a bit more of a diorama look to the finished piece, but an extra inch of height to keep him head and shoulders above the other stompas doesn't hurt.

A New Alliance for the New Year

Happy New Year folks, I hope the Xmas period was fun and full of food for everyone. With the festive season over and done with in Real-World work I finally have some time to kick back and enjoy my hobby time. I've built up quite a backlog of part-finished projects as well as stumbling into half a dozen new ones so I should have a few good months of art and miniature to keep me occupied.

First things first though, I've finished my Last Alliance force for the Lord of the Rings. I felt this was a nice change to my usual painting queue. Not necessarily brighter, but cleaner. Shiny armour, crisp edges and and all round sense of nobility about the army.

The Elves were a bit of a relief. As anyone that knows me will tell you, I am NOT a fan of Elves (bunch of skinny weirdos that wash and eat salads) I'm more at home with the Goblin masses, but I really enjoyed painting something so different to everything else I had done. Gold for example was something I hadn't painted in any amount for a long time, so it was pleasing to see the final results turn out as they did.

Here's a group shot of the Heroes and Banners;

These lads will be taking to the field in force at the end of the month for Into The West 2019 so I'll hope to see a few familiar face for the third year running.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to paint something grimy and covered in rust

Naughty or Nice? You Decide!

This'll be my last post for 2018. December's bookings in work have finished and it's been a hell of a ride. That said, I've been doing the best I can with trying to get some painting and gaming in and with the team efforts in work from everyone I don't feel cheated at the lack of hobby this month; I've seen friends, had a laugh, got the shopping done and survived another Christmas season in the service industry. I'm pretty good right now!

I have been able to work on a little project in the evenings though. I decided to paint up a model for Model Box's December contest. I liked the model I got and I felt like doing something a little Christmasy. In the New Year I might paint up some friends for him, perhaps another Mordheim Gand for my long awaited next campaign.

What do you think? C&C always welcome.

See everyone in 2019. Have a good 'un!

The High King

It took me a while to get these done, but I think the time was well spent. These old school LOTR Elf models are a lot nicer to paint than I would have thought. Though I think part of this is due to the colours involved. I don't paint gold very often and not in such large areas when I do. It's rewarding to see these come out looking as good as they do.

Another batch of Elves to finish the army for "Into The West" in January and then it's back to painting some Orks again I think.

The Kings of Dakka (WIP)

I've been showing off my progress of these lads for while now and I'm happy to say that I've finished building the Mob of Flash Gitz. May I present the Self Proclaimed Kings of Dakka! (to be painted)

Complete with ammo runt, big guns and snazzy bits the Boys are finally ready for the painting queue. I'm still grinding out some more Elves for Lord of the Rings, but once they're out of the way, it'll be time to paint these guys for the new year.

Flash Gitz have been one of my favourite units in the Ork fluff and and the new rules has not only made them useful again, but potentially devastating! Part of me wants to expand the mob to 10 models, but that's a job for another day, right now I just want to get these lot on the table so they can show off their super-sized fire power! Expect further updates from these guys over the coming weeks along with anything else I'm working on.

"Look at my flash!"

A Spot of Painting

Decided to get my act together this week and finished off another page for New Wasteland Fairy Tales. This Is by no means a quick project, but I'm always super happy when I manage to finish a page. It makes the whole thing finally look finished, even though I've sold so many copies in black and white over the last 5 years I promise the revamped colour version will be something special.

Work continues on my Flash Gitz too. Git number 3 with his Gretchin "helper".

May get the mob of 5 built before Xmas if I'm lucky, but some more comic pages need my attention more right now.

A quick shout out to Oakbound Studios this week, who are embarking on a kickstarter for their collection of miniatures for Goblignomic Wars. We here at Grinning Loon towers always love to see some Goblin themed projects in the works and this one has a few friends contributing. Phil Hynes has put stuff forward and there are lots of other cool looking minis on show. So go put some kickstarter money their way ;)

I Been Busy, Honest!

So work has gone into high gear as we enter the Autumn Internationals Rugby and then Christmas to follow. Hobby time regrettably has been put on the back burner. Thankfully I've been able to squeeze some painting time for my Last Alliance army.

But the big news for me this week has been the new Ork Codex. And it is AWESOME! In light of my favourite unit getting a massive boost in the rules I've began work on a Mob of retro style Flash Gitz.