Last Month I was busy taking care of things at work, that my hobby blog was neglected.  I did get around to do some hobby work for the Independent Characters podcast for their Hobby Progress Challenge.  Last, I attended the LA Battle Bunker (RIP) the week it was down sized by Games Workshop.

 



With the economy being in such bad shape, it was only a matter of time before Games Workshop started to close its Battle Bunkers around the country.  I managed to get in a game with Blake 'Big Nasty B' of Life After the Cover Save fame, before the Bunker was closed down for good. Blake just so happens to stand as tall as a Space Marine in full power armor, interesting.     

 

IC Hobby Progress Challenge '13

It's a new year and I'm up and running.  This year begins with me accepting the The Independent Characters 2013 Hobby Progress Challenge.  It's a contest held by Carl Tuttle and Geoff Hummel on their podcast website The Independent Characters.  The challenge is simple, create a 1850 competitive list, then build and paint your army to match.  You can also forgo starting an army from scratch, and instead do additions to your existing army.  Every month you have to finish a unit or character and submit before and after pictures of the miniatures you are entering.  For every entry you put in, you get a chance to win a prize.  For the full details visit the IC's on their site and read the contest rules there. 

My first entry will be my Vulcan He'stan, who has been sitting around primed and ready for months. 

 

 

 

 

My second entry is a unit of Sternguard with combi-meltas and heavy flamers.  This unit takes parts from several different sources.  The marines helmets are from Maxmini, while the sergeant's helmet is from Forgeworld.  The weapons are from Custom Minis.  I put everything together with Gorilla Super Glue and some green stuff. 

 

 





 

 



 

Here's an Sternguard update.  I finished adding Dhener Stone on the white area of five of my Sternguard.  I still have to finish the rest of them, and paint up Vulkan He'stan before the end of the month.  The pressure is on. 

 



 

 

The finished Sternguard squad.  I still need to find some cross decals so I can use them for the right shoulder pad markings. 

 

 

 

 









 





Blood Angels Space Marines

I was given a combat squad of Blood Angels assault Marines from Blake (BnB, American Steel) from Life After the Cover Save to paint.  I was glad to receive the marines, and look forward to completing them.  I had to add some bits to complete the miniatures.  I also felt the Sergeant needed a more imposing heroic pose, so I included a banner pole in his left hand.  I will be painting up a LAtCS banner and attaching it to the pole.  I also elevated him above his men by using some cork tile to give the Sergeant a bit more height.  I airbrushed the primary red colors, and will be using my brushes to finish off the detail work.  I plan on using oil paints to shade the models after they have added the decals and a layer of clear coat. 

I received a bucket full of my old miniatures in the mail, you have to love parents.  I started playing 40K during the Rogue Trader days.  Back then it didn't matter what your marines looked like, because they all shared the same stats.  There weren't any rules differentiating the chapters.  I had always wanted to run a crusader army with different units identified by their chapter colors.  So I did that, and the following are my attempts to seeing that vision come true.  The models bellow are 1st generation plastic Mark 6 Corvus Armor, with Mark 7 Aquila Armor arms and weapons.  The plasma guns are 1st generation ork plastic plasma guns.  Yes, that's how old they are, orks had plasma.  Here's the kicker, all the single miniatures are made of lead. 

 Space Wolves Grey Hunters

Blood Angels Assault Squad

Blood Angles Assault Squad Battle Banner

Blood Angles Tactical Squad Battle Banner 

 Ultramarines 1st company

Ultramarines Veteran Sergeant

Ultramarines Captain

Ultramarine Rapier

Space Marine Independent Characters

I have been working on some of my space marine characters.  Here are my count as Ultramarines Vulkan He'stan, and Ultramarines Kayvaan Shrike. 

My Vulkan He'stan's The Gauntlet of the Forge was inspired by Master of the Forge.  I recommend visiting MotF if you are interested in some good easy to follow green stuff tutorials.