The Khador Black & Tans - My paint blog

[rvrchamp]

Hello, hello! It's been some time since I've posted any newly painted additions to the Black & Tans, but perhaps through doing a painting blog I can get myself going again. Don't expect too much tho... I've got my teaching credential to get finished, and damn grad school apps just around the corner! This first post will be my "table of contents" followed up by individual posts with completed models.

Stay tuned for some delicious Black & Tan goodness!

~~~~
PP Photo Shoot from Lock & Load 2011 -Awesome Armies: Khador - Black & Tans

TORCH

Black Ivan

Mechanics & Valachev - #17
Great Bears -#18
Widowmaker Marksman - Feb 2012
eIrusk - Feb 2012
Gun Carriage - Complete Feb 2012

[rvrchamp]

Torch -
I was lucky enough to order torch online over Gencon weekend, and man is he a cool kit to put together! I absolutely love the new plastic 'jacks, and have the arms magnitized. There is also something just awesome about a 'jack who wears a gas mask! Sooooo cool! Though, I do not like the silly grenades at all, so opted to use spriggan spikes instead. Since this is a slight conversion I thought it'd be appropriate to rename him.

So... whatcha think of SMOG?!?



p.s. - I gotta admit that I really enjoyed painting the cygnar shield on the base. Actually bases have become the most exciting part of modelling for me lately, but the blue came out really awesome on this one. I'm sorely tempted to paint somethign else blue, but what? Certainly nothing hailing from the Motherland would fly the colors of those damn southerners. Perhaps I'll just have to model more destroyed cygnar shields and 'jack bits on my bases!

[DemonCalibre]

Nice bro!!!!

[thomwill]

nice idea to swap the grenades for the spikes. it was my least favorite part of the model. gonna have to borrow this when torch becomes available.

nice job!

[Svenn]

p.s. - I gotta admit that I really enjoyed painting the cygnar shield on the base. Actually bases have become the most exciting part of modelling for me lately, but the blue came out really awesome on this one. I'm sorely tempted to paint somethign else blue, but what? Certainly nothing hailing from the Motherland would fly the colors of those damn southerners. Perhaps I'll just have to model more destroyed cygnar shields and 'jack bits on my bases!

Basing is one of my favorite part as well. If you aren't doing custom converted models it's the one thing that really lets you have full control to set your model apart.

Also, nice work! This looks great.

[Fiend1981]

I really like the pose. Color scheme is great too.

[PG_Murch]

Very nice and crisp work.

You could try all of the models under e-Butcher, for your need for blue.
Or Cygnar jacks, underfoot, of larger Khador jacks....Beast 09, Behemoth, etc...

[Cleveland]

about the only thing I could suggest is to tone down the Cygnar shield by either roughing it up with blast marks on it or adding washes to tone it down...that blue is really standing out from the 'jack, because of the 'jack's darker paint scheme...

as for Smog, I like how that turned out...

[rvrchamp]

Here's a litte WIP shot of Karchev. I redid his legs using the plastic 'jack ones. It's a drastic improvement I think, though the plastic legs are not as sturdy as the metal ones. I suppose that's the tradeoff you get though for trying to ditch those dang chicken legs.

Stay tuned for more updates (and sorry for the lack of updates for so long!)

KARCHEV WIP

[Gaspy]

I really like them. I agree with above that you should tone down the cygnar shield. the two brightest things on Torch are the cygnus and the red gem bit at the top of the shield. Make sure Torch is the focus.

[rvrchamp]

I really like them. I agree with above that you should tone down the cygnar shield. the two brightest things on Torch are the cygnus and the red gem bit at the top of the shield. Make sure Torch is the focus.

It isn't as distracting in real life, but rather adds a bit of color. Thanks for the comments though!

[rvrchamp]

Updates for the Black & Tans!

While I was at Lock & Load this weekend I receive a lot of compliments on my army, and Aeryn from the PP crew asked to take some shots of them for the online blog. I'll repost the link from the Lock & Load blog as the photos they took are WAY better than anything I can manage with my $15 lightbox. haahaa... man, you notice a lot of stuff under such high magnification! I think I need to retouch those widowmakers and democorps! haahaahaa





Awesome Armies: Khador - Black & Tans

I havent found any of the photos from the grandmaster paint competition yet, but I received three bronze medals. I entered my Eiryss, Spriggan, and my Iron Fang Pikeman (all three categories) and received an award for each. I was deeply honored for all the positive feedback I received over the weekend.

Thanks everyone for all the compliments on my army!

[matagator]

Awesome looking models! Congrats on the medals.. they were well deserved wins!

[rvrchamp]

Hot dang... I need to start painting more Khador!

Well, I did start working on Black Ivan and Harkovitch for the Tale of Warmahordes. He was already built a few months ago, but then he kinda sat on my paint desk. I picked him up and did the base coats last month, and then he sat again (just liek a sad panda). I finally picked him up tonight and did the metals, but I'm fairly sure he is gonna sit for a while longer.

I dunno, I am just uninspired. Black Ivan himself isn't too bad to paint, but Harkovitch is boring. The model is super busy, and there is a lot of boring stuff to paint on him. The pose is a bit static too. I dunno, perhaps it is the hobbiest in me that wants to convert, change, and create something dynamic. PP models don't have a lot of that. /shrug

Anyhow... a WIP shot of the two for this month's challenge.





And here is a WIP shot of my Kodiak conversion. I am not too happy with the spiked shoulder pads, and may try and redo them to be a bit more like the official model. The arms, and fists are magnetized for interchangeability (so if Black Ivan).

[rvrchamp]

Here are a few photoa of my War Carriage too. I've had it for months, but again... that whole "uninspired" thing sorta sucks.

The idea is that the carriage ran over what was left of a troll (I had the extra piece in my bits box). I plan on doing some blood and ugly strings (http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/20...and-stuff.html) for the wheel where the troll was run over. Should be fun.

Anyhow... photos or it didn't happen right?

[rvrchamp]

Slight update... finished up the metals on Black Ivan, and did a wash of the 50/50 water/badab black. This ties in the highlights on the metals and smooths out the black while simultaneously adding some depth to the khaki white. Next step is to do another base coat of Khaki, add a few more washes to the bronze, and do some OSL on the eyes.

Oh, I redid some of the khaki parts to black. My army is predominately khaki/black (hence the Black & Tans) but I felt like "Black Ivan" wasn't living up to his name. Plus the bronze broke up the black too much, so I went over a few areas. I'm pretty happy with it overall.

Oh... I tried to do some work on Harkovitch, but he is such a bore. I dunno... just not exciting.

[rvrchamp]

Updating with some photos of completed models... Some of these have been done for a while.

Photos or it didn't happen!

Mechanics:


Valachev



Some WIP's

[rvrchamp]

Some more...

Great Bears

[Revamp]

Cool colors man. I like the chain mail esk coloring and the highlights.

[rvrchamp]

I've been pretty busy painting recently, and finished up Black Ivan as my January/Feburary Warmahordes paint challenge entry. While it took a lot to get started on him, he came together pretty quick once I actually started working on him. I even got to use him in one game this week, and he did well. I gotta remember about bulldoze though.

I magnetized his arms, but the bear claw required a pin as well (that dang thing is heavy!). I particularly like how the eyes came out, definitely the best OLS I've been able to do so far.

[rvrchamp]

Finished up this beast of a job this month also... WOW, oh wow did it take forever! Seriously, I don't want to paint detached 'jack bits for a while.

Omni 'jack

[rvrchamp]

Phew... I have been busy! Still working on this guy, but it is almost done. I may even be able to finish it for Feb and count it for the Warmahordes paint challenge. That'd be a whopping 30 points for one month.... haahaa Some astute observers may notice the absence of the dead trollblood. I decided it would be too distracting, and went for more barbed wire instead.

As of right now, I need to: finish battle damage across the entire model, paint the horse flesh, paint in the wood grain, paint the boxes & blankets, highlight everything, wash, & then retouch the tan.

Although this baddie isn't finished yet, I've been using it in a few games. Well, I've been using the base in a few games to be exact. Still, invisible horses aside, the gun carriage kicks a whole lotta booty with eIrusk. Fire for effect is the beezknees!

(removed photos as the completed ones are up now)

[Lord Tyrant]

Awesome looking army, man! Giving me some serious inspiration to get cracking on my own Khador. Was the Karchev conversion as simple as it looks? That little extra height makes him look very menacing and I'm tempted to do the same when I pick him up for myself.

[rvrchamp]

Awesome looking army, man! Giving me some serious inspiration to get cracking on my own Khador. Was the Karchev conversion as simple as it looks? That little extra height makes him look very menacing and I'm tempted to do the same when I pick him up for myself.

Ya, the conversion wasn't too bad. I used a hairdryer to soften the plastic legs for a more dynamic pose, and built up the base with procreate resin terrain putty. Be careful with the leg though, as that is a lot of weight on a very soft point. I had to go back and cut the leg (after painting) and brass rod it as Karchev kept drooping over. I havent had any trouble since, but it was pretty bad.

[rvrchamp]

Here are some photos of the completed deal. Boy did I hate painting this monster! I don't know why, but it was a total pain in the rear. I finished up the 3 solo models is about 1/4 the time. Megh, it's done right? I like how the quartering came out (thanks to daemoncalibur for the idea!) and the halving on the horses. NOt including the winterguard model shooting out of the back has caused some drama as people either don't believe me that it has a third shot, or I forget entirely.

Like I'd lie... haahaahaa

[rvrchamp]

Here's my new buddy, eIrusk. I've been playing a lot of games with him lately, and been having a lot of fun. Fire for effect is loads of fun and makes Khador shooting loads better. I'm also loving martial discipline. There's just something rad about moving through your own dudes, and not blocking LoS with a unit of Man-o-War shocktroopers in shield wall.

These photos came out sorta crummy though... so sorry. My painted him in a quartered armor scheme, eith one shoulder/leg painted tan, and the rest black. I think he looks much better in person, but hey... photos or it didn't happen right?

[rvrchamp]

Here's grandpa! I have been somewhat reluctant to use this guy for ages because he wasn't painted, but the Bay Area Open motivated me enough to get him all done up. He went super quick, and I really liek the way he came out. I used the German sniper from Enemy at the Gates as inspiration, as you can probably tell. Initially I was going to paint his hair brown or something, but since everyone calls him grandpa I decided to go with a silver look.

Sorry again for the photos... I couldn't get lighting to work with me, and my iPhone camera is really showing its age.

[grimni22]

wow that gun carriage looks amazing! keep it up dude!

[DC23]

Love the Gun carriage too! Color scheme is way too cool!

[nosrek]

What size magnets/drill bits did you use for the omni jack?

Some guys in my store have been showing off their magnetized ret jacks, but many of them are pretty wobbly, how is yours? Any specific magnet that would be stronger to prevent the wobble?

Love the paint scheme, bases, and the battle damage on the jacks. Look forward to more inspiration as I attempt to come up with a paint scheme for my small khador army.

[rvrchamp]

What size magnets/drill bits did you use for the omni jack?

Some guys in my store have been showing off their magnetized ret jacks, but many of them are pretty wobbly, how is yours? Any specific magnet that would be stronger to prevent the wobble?

Love the paint scheme, bases, and the battle damage on the jacks. Look forward to more inspiration as I attempt to come up with a paint scheme for my small khador army.

Thanks for the compliments!

I actually just magnetized my buddies ret jack tonight (the Banshee/Daemon/Sphinx kit), so I know exactly what you're up against. I use mainly 1/8th size rare-earth magnets in the fists/arms/ect, and sometimes larger magnets when possible (such as torso connection points). The general rule is to use the most and largest magnets at each connection point possible. I've found the 1/8th magnets to be the best all-round magnets for size/strength, but, again, if you can use a larger magnet without destroying the model go for it. No matter what though, you NEED to use at least two magnets at each contact point, ie two in the fist and two in the arm where they connect (for a total of 4 magnets at each connect). Doubling up magnets at each connection point substantially increases the strength of the bond and vastly reduces the "wobble" you're talking about. Also, be sure to make each magnet sit flush within each connection point. If a magnet sits up even a slight bit, it'll result in a wobbly connection.

Also, and this is sorta obvious, make sure to test & retest the polarity of the magnets. I've made the mistake a few times of effing up the polarity fields and had to rip out the magnet to turn it around. If possible, mark the correct side and use a guide to test pieces before glueing them in place.

I've also found the best way to drill the magnet holes to be by incrementing the drill bit size one step at a time. Start with your smallest drill bit, and drill the test hole to the correct depth (mark the drill bit with a marker using the magnets as a ruler for correct sitting depth). Then use the next size drill bit up to drill the hole slightly larger. Keep doing this all the way up to the proper size. If you skip a drill bit size it'll make the process go faster, but ultimately the trouble of over-torquing and possibly breaking the piece you're drilling into isn't worth the saved seconds. Just be patient and take it slow. For example, it too me nearly 2 hours to magnetize and glue my buddies ret jack tonight. You know the saying; "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right."


I've ordered from this site before, and they seem resonably priced with a decent selection. http://www.kjmagnetics.com/

Hope this helps!


... and a few photos of my recently completed Kodiak. He's got a little bit of green stuffing to fill in gaps, but is pretty much done & ready for paint.You can see how I did the magnets too. Just remember, each gold magnet is actually two (one sunk beneath the one you see).

[maskedman1]

Thanks for the compliments!

I actually just magnetized my buddies ret jack tonight (the Banshee/Daemon/Sphinx kit), so I know exactly what you're up against.

Thanks Dan! Mine was definitely easiers to build.

[rvrchamp]

It's been a while, but I am finally getting around to posting up photos of the stuff i have finished recently. This Spriggan was done in a SUPER rush for Lock & Load, and I was able to finish it to about 90% in only 2 days! He preformed excellently, propelling me to 6th place in the speedmachine tournament. I lost only one game, and that one was lost at 1 second left on my opponents clock. Double spriggans are super deadly... haahaa

So ya, anyhow here are the photos. I tried to make him a bit different from the other one I have, and think I succeeded marginally. You can only do so much with a big metal kit.

[rvrchamp]

I have had these guys for AGES & AGES! They too were painted for L&L, and were part of the mad dash of stuff completed to 90% in 48 hours. They were done up for a Sorcha tier list, but I slept threw the Blood, Sweat, & Tiers tournament... oh well, I got in a bunch of Iron Arena games, and they've been a PITA for my opponents.

[rvrchamp]

More of the L&L stuff... this bad boy was painted exclusively for the Speedmachine tournament where I did quite well. My list was pretty bland, but it was a tough cookie to crack considering the time limit. The increased mobility he provides to the 'jacks is superb, and the option to throw out some ranged dmg is phenomenal as well. My list was as follows: Harkevich, Black Ivan, Spriggan, Spriggan.

My suggestion is not to fixate upon broadsides, but don't forget it is there either. Pop it is you've got a chance, otherwise wreck face with melee attacks.

Harkevich

[rvrchamp]

I bought these gals the NIGHT they were released, built them up super fast, and then didn't touch them for a while. I suppose I was intimidated by their sculpts as they're slightly small scale wise. I was also quite unexcited by painting them as I tend to stick to the same paint scheme once I've started an army (something I'm sure you all have noticed throughout the years). Anyhow... I had fun with trying to get new poses out of the girls, and did something exciting to the bases. I dig them, and am looking forward to wrecking face with them soon!

[rvrchamp]

Oh my... what a series of updates huh?

So pretty much every Khador player has this unit, and I'm willing to be I was not the only one who didn't want to paint them for the longest time either because of their terrible sculpts, or because there are so dang many Winterguard to paint at once. I did the entire "deathstar" at once, and although it took forever, I think it was worth it to get everything done. Still, there is a reason everyone has one of these units. They're just that good. haahaa

*Oh, I tend to paint my infantry with varied skin tones, including those associated with people of African descent. The photos look like bunk (thanks iPhone), but they look great in person.

[rvrchamp]

The Deathstar isn't complete without everyone's favorite Khador solo...

[rvrchamp]

Phew... I really should let these photos back up like this!

Anyhow, eSorcha. I painted her for the Blood, Sweat, & Tiers tournament at L&L. Although I slept threw it, I am happy to have her completed. She is a ton of fun to play, and although the photos SUCK, I think she came out quite well. The quartered color scheme on the armor gives her a definite "medieval" feel.

[rvrchamp]

Well, that pretty much brings everything up to date with what is complete... phew!

Here are some WIP's of other stuff on the paint table. Conquest is pretty much ready for paint, and the idea of his base was to show him stomping around making lots of destruction. I tried to make the trench look like he stomped it into the ground (like an impression of a foot print). There will be some debris on the inside, as well as some Cygnar troop equipment for scale purpose (shield, trencher helmet/gun, ect). I don't know when I'll start painting him... but soon i suppose. Oh, he is fully magnetized too! The guns, arms, torso, hands all articulate. It ook about 30 magnets, but it was well worth the trouble.

I hope ya enjoy them!