Traitor Guard Renegade Ogryn Berserkers

Well guys and gals, I finally got my Ogryn put together.  Still a few things left on the to-do list, to include some basing and mold line cleaning, but these guys are almost ready for paint.
There are a few more things coming down the pike for this traitor guard, so STAY TUNED for some great stuff like Vendettas, more custom psyker builds, and lots of great painting tutorials as this army progresses along.  I am attempting to complete one squad per month, and fit in other "How To's" along the way.
More progression pics to come!  Enjoy!
Be sure to send in some ideas on content that you'd like me to cover in the new year!

How To Cast In Resin Part I

The Tools:
     Each month, I plan to cover, in-depth, "How To Cast Resin" miniatures.  A few things to know in the beginning are the tools of the trade.
#1)  The mold:
     Molds can come in all shapes and sizes, but a good, long lasting medium for molds is silicone rubber.  I will cover more about silicone mold making in a future post.  Unitl then, check out this site for excellent wargaming molds:
          hirstarts.com

#2)  The pressure pot:
     A pressure pot can be acquired from any tool vendor on the net (see links) and will likely need to be modified right out of the box.
Pressure Tank Spray Gun with 1.5 mm Nozzle 2-1/2 Gal. Pressure Pot & Spray Gun with Hoses
Pressure Paint Tank Pot
Grizzly H6330 2-1/4 gal. Paint Tank
Here's mine:

Some additional parts you may need, depending on which tank you purchased:
          a) Ball Valve
          b) Pressure Regulator
          c) Gage and misc fittings to adapt all of these together
#3)  The resin:
     A no-brainer here, but I will provide some links of where to find good resin.
http://www.jgreer.com/casting-resin.htm
http://www.smooth-on.com/Castable-Epoxy-Res/c1295/index.html
#4)  Postage scale:
      Most resin will be mixed either by volume, or by weight.  Either way is accepted, but a more exact way to measure is by weight.
UltraShip 55 lb. Digital Postal Shipping & Kitchen Scale
Digital Postal Shipping Postage Bench Scales 35 lbs

#5)  Cups and mixing containers
     You will need a stock of paper/plastic cups and stir sticks/spoons to mix your resin up in.  Keep it cheap here, because nothing gets re-used in this department.
#6)  Optional Step:  Vacuum Chamber
     I use a vacuum chamber to degas my resin prior to pressurizing.  I know a lot of people into resin casts that do not perform this step, but for me, I already have the chamber for degassing silicone and it only takes a few extra seconds to do.  I got my setup on ebay from a seller named pvac-1526.
Here's setup if you're curious:

Hopefully this is enough information for those interested to get a good start on tools and equipment.  Stay tuned!  Any comments?  Feel free to post!

Renegade Traitor Guardsmen Begin

Well,
As you've seen from some of the previous posts, I am working on a renegade militia force.  Today I thought that I'd take the time to post some WIP photos of them!  Enjoy!

How to create a chain link fence. II

Ok, so we're back with Part II of the fence building guide. 
     Items Required:
           1) Wire pliers
           2) Thin gauge wire
           3) Gray paint/primer for fence posts
           4) A heat source to bend the posts (optional) ***Use caution melting plastic!
The process:  Use a lighter or other heat source to bent the posts where desired.  Place the posts in the terrain piece you are working with and then prime them.  Take the thin gauge wire and wrap the fabric around the post at the desired location.  Bring the two ends of the wire together and twist them tight with the pliers.  Cut off the excess and repeat.  That's it!  Simple, quick and dirty fences to spruce up your wargaming terrain.
Pics below.  Enjoy!

How to create a chain link fence. I

Ok, So part one of an easy tutorial on how to make a chain link fence for your tabletop board game.

     Items Required:

            1)  A bolt of mesh fabric

            2)  A handfull of hollow plastic sucker sticks

            3)  A bottle of "Stiffy" Fabric Stiffener

            4)  Primer and two shades of gray paint and boltgun metal.

And now, the process.  Cut a length of fabric that is suitable for the scope of your project.  Next, cut the height according to the scale of your model.  For this you may wish to Google pics of people standing next to chain link fences to get an idea of the scale.  Next, brush "Stiffy" on the fabric fairly thick, and later remove all excess with a paper towel by blotting or dabbing and be careful not to wrinkle the fabric.  After the "Stiffy" has dried, prime the material.  Follow the primer up with a dark shade of gray basecoat.  Then drybrush a second, lighter shade of gray atop the first coat.  Finally, lightly drybrush boltgun metal on top of the grays.

Further details to follow.  Stay tuned.

Traitor Guard Psykers: Before & After

TerraiNation III

Ok, so here is the progression of the terrain project I started for my new store.  A lot of the detail work is now finished but there are several more items left to be addressed, for example, pouring resin for rivers and pools and finishing the weathering effects to show more signs of wear and abuse.  There are a lot of rust effects done already, but what is to come are a few more effects with oil paints and several of my custom diluted ink washes to achieve the effect I am looking for.  The theme is really starting to take place here.  Please let me know what you think!

Tweaking Forge World Resin

     If you have been in the hobby for a while, chances are you have come across something built by Forge World.  If you have made any purchases yourself, you may have been very surprised to receive a freezer bag full of delicious resin whose contents are severely warped and twisted.  I am here to tell you to have no fear.  There is always a way out of it.  Follow along as I show you how to right a couple of warped Hydra cannons.
1) Notice the barrels of the guns are curved very badly.  Now, your first instinct may be to bend the gun but please follow along for now.  Do not ever try to bend your expensive resin without first heating it, it will snap.

 2) Grab an old pot from the kitchen and fill it with enough water to properly submerge the part you are trying to fix.  A quick depth check before putting this on the stove will ensure that you are able to reach the affected area.
3) Heat the water to a boil and CAREFULLY dip the affected parts into the water for about 15 seconds.

4) Quickly and again CAREFULLY bend the resin to your desired shape while the heat remains, and VIOLA!  Your resin will now shoot straight and true.  For the Emperor!

TerraiNation II

So, I managed to get a few other parts of this massive terrain undertaking completed tonight.  Here are the steps in order:
1) After the build, I rubbed a foam type gap filler putty in the major gaps which were later sanded when it dried.
2) The entire building was given a rough coat of paint.  For this I just wanted a fine dusting so I used the Games Workshop stuff, but there are some dashboard paints out there that will really give you some grit.
3) The building and surrounding hill were primed black.
4) The building was painted using the darkest color of rust in my own personal rust paint set.  After this, a custom TTG Studio wash was then applied with an airbrush.
5) Resin sand was then mixed with chestnut ink and spread liberally around the rusted bits.  Notice the pipes... Again these are Hirst Arts.  Cool Stuff.
6) Hairspray was then applied to the building.
7) I got out the airbrush and began to paint the concrete area and the terrain around the building.

The concrete effect is attained by using a type of concrete patch and crack filler(found at Home Depot) spread thinly on top of the foamboard.  I used a triad of gray paints to make the contrast from light to dark.  A quick wash of TTG Studio "Black" to give it some depth and there we have it.  The dirt around the hill will need to be much darker brown for the overall theme of this board which I have decided to make a toxic waste dump.  This waste dump has now become a playground for Nurgle.  Eventually I will add little nurglings around in some resin pools but for now this is all the time I have had.  Let me know what you think!

Things to come...

Things are about to get interesting with the addition of the new Hirst Arts Hulk molds.  Look for a 3D Space Hulk to come in the near future!

TerraiNation

First up is a set of pictures of one of my recent terrain builds.  This is part one of a 8x12 gaming table all done in 2x2 squares. 

 Here you can see parts of the process.  Notice the gaming hill in rear with a Hirst Art's pipe coming out of it.  You will see where this is going in the finished photos.  So far, the plan calls for 3 bastions and some cities of death bits for the foundation.  A lot of plaster was used to blend the building into the cutout of the foam insulation which is then glued onto a piece of Masonite.  The tools of the trade here are your typical hobby tools plus a foam cutter and a putty knife for the plaster.  Follow me for more on the build.

Hello and welcome to my blog.

Welcome all to my blog.  I thought I'd introduce myself and what it is that I do.  First off, I have been an avid Warhammer 40k player for about 12 years now, and I enjoy building and painting miniatures.  I decided to start this blog because I think that you will find my posts to be informative and hopefully they will motivate you to get out and build those armies and get them painted.  I would greatly appreciate all of your feedback and criticism.