Big Guys For Mordgrave (or Frostheim)

The new Blood Bowl teams include a lot of very good sculpts. I bought the ogre team, mainly for converting the four ogres, but also because it comes with a load of gnoblars who might be useful for something later on (probably as a larger monster's lunch).

One of the ogres looks like this:

I decided to convert him into a mercenary for Mordheim, or Frostgrave. This involved giving him an Empire greatsword, a hand from a Fantasy Battle ogre and a shield from a Sigmarine. All the rest of him came off the Blood Bowl sprue. I hadn't realised that Blood Bowl models seem to be smaller than the usual size, but it didn't really matter in the long run. The ogre got a crest left over from some Empire scenery, and was ready to run amok in the mean streets of the city. I gave him quite a jolly colour scheme.

And from slightly higher up...

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Last year sometime, I bought a rather battered Warhammer Glotkin and converted it into a Chaos Knight. I was left with the two Nurgle champions who ride the Glotkin, neither of them in a complete state. The soldier guy was missing a foot and some other bits, so I did some converting. He got a new head off a Plaguebearer, and new weapons from a savage orc and an ogre. The peg leg was just a bit of sprue.

Here he is with paint.

I'm not generally a big Nurlgle person (I'm smaller and less plague-ridden) but I like the skin effect, which is done by working up from a red undercoat. He can join the less-hideous members of the chaos warband, wobbling along behind them. Perhaps he is the ogre's arch enemy.

The Tribe Goes To War

 Here are some more fighters for the Van Saar/Fremen of Dune tribe. The guys on the left and right are Infinity models. The guy in the middle is a conversion made from random bits that I got in a sale of broken models: GW assassin chest and head, Eldar Guardian legs, Genestealer cultist left arm and (I think) a right arm from Infinity.

Here's the entire horde:

Assuming that I don't go mad and make them a worm to ride, I think that's this project finished. They look pretty decent to me, and they could make a nice Necromunda gang or a good bunch of chaos minions to back up the marines, if they ever see action. I've enjoyed making them and I'm happy with the results.

And here, out of interest, is what happens when I drink too much wine and have a look in the bits box. This model has the body from a Lord of the Rings plastic elf, arms from a Dark Eldar, and a head made by sticking a skull onto the front of a random Necron bit. Hmm.

Adding paint hasn't exactly clarified things.

More Worm-Surfers

This time, we're back to Arrakis to look at some more worm-surfing Fremen types, largely based on old metal Necromunda Van Saar guys.

First up, three soldiers. They're unconverted.

I'd forgotten how little these models actually are. The two gangers are about average for 28mm models of the day, perhaps slightly smaller, but the juves are genuinely weeny. I wonder if the Van Saars were meant to be particularly small people?

Here is another juve, and a heavy. The heavy was once a colonel in the Imperial Army, and uses the Spice as the secret ingredient in his fried chicken sauce.

The last couple aren't Necromunda models at all. On the left is an old metal Vindicare Assassin, who is blending in with the surroundings by (a) waving his guns in the air and (b) looking like someone who's come to a fancy dress party as a space assassin. He's huge compared to the other models, but his outfit means that he fits in quite well. Perhaps he's been sent by the Imperium to sort out the others and nobody's noticed him yet?

The other model is an old eldar scout with a new head from Statuesque Miniatures. I could see the Fremen wearing long coats for camouflage, like the dusters in Wild West films.

Van Saar Spice Enthusiasts

 As a change from all the Carnevale stuff, I painted a couple of science fiction guys I've had lying about for a while. This week, the trailer for the new film of Dune came out (I refuse to say "dropped", as I'm old), which reminded me that I had a few potentially deserty types in the heap of unpainted lead.

The first is an old Van Saar Necromunda model. I got this ages ago, minus its head and one arm. I gave it a female head from Statuesque Miniatures and a knife that looks as if it was made from bone (in Dune, the knives are made from the teeth of sandworms). After all the Carnevale models, her head looks huge compared to her body - it's actually pretty standard for 28mm. She got a black suit, with heavy weathering on the lower legs. The eyes were washed blue to reflect the effect of eating space spice.

The second fighter was an old Privateer Press Khardor marksman. I've had this model for ages: an identical miniature from the same set was in my first Necromunda gang, the Terror Bird Cavalry. His long coat looks like the sort of loose thing that might help with desert camouflage, and the bits of his outfit that can be seen have a suitably complex look. While everything in Dune looks a bit retro to my mind, I gave him a glowing bit on his rifle to show that he's a science fiction person, and to draw the eye.

These are very much test models. I've got some more old Van Saars coming in from ebay, so I reckon I'll paint them in a similar fashion.

Vampires of Venice, Part 2

This week, more of the undead have flocked to the Serene Republic of Venice, thirsting for blood and Conettos. First up, we have a "standard" vampire.

I really like the movement in this model, although I'm slightly puzzled as to why she's only got one sleeve. The miniature originally had the coat partly open, to reveal enormous cleavage. Now, I've no problem with Ingrid Pitt and all that, but if your principal weakness is in your chest, it seems foolish to give people a really good shot at it. So, I closed the coat up with a bit of green stuff, prude that I am.

It's hard to see, but her coat was painted with a stippling technique to suggest old, cracked leather. I like the technique, invisible as it is!

The next guy is a slightly drab thrall with a crossbow. He came with the Kickstarter. As with all these models, he's nice, but I've painted him in rather muted colours to show his low ranking in the vampiric hierarchy. Lucky him.

And finally, some terrain. For the first time in about six months, I went to the local gaming shop, where they have a lot of the Nolzur's Marvellous Miniatures models for Dungeons & Dragons. These are cheap and pretty decent, and the terrain they make is very nice. I bought, among other things, a very nice fountain. It had a few mould lines, and I had to cut off the trident of the man on top (Neptune?) because it was so bent, but overall I really like the model and think it will do well for both Frostgrave and Carnevale.

Vampires of Venice, Part 1

 Magical Venice is a dangerous place. As well as violent criminals, deranged aristocrats and hungry fishmen, there are vampires and their minions. I painted up four of the vampires as the start of a new gang. I've had most of the models for a very long time.

This is a "standard" vampire. She's a really nice model. For the reddish-purple of the dress, I used a black undercoat and successive thin layers of a Privateer Press paint called Malevolent Magenta (seriously). For the very top highlight, I mixed a little red into the colour. I'm not sure what the model is doing: perhaps shrugging. 

"Yeah, I'm a vampire. So what?"

Next up is a human minion called a thrall, who the vampires can drain for additional hit points in the game. This one has a crossbow for a bit of ranged support.

Like all the others, she has rather unwholesome, sickly skin. I mixed a medium-level grey into the base flesh colour, and added a lighter flesh tone for highlighting. 

The next model is one of the three brides of Dracula. In Carnivale's background, the three brides explored the world, learning magic from different places, and this is the one who went to the mysterious East. She's called Miriam, which doesn't really suggest being a vampire or from the East, but what the heck. She's equipped for combat with, er, a robe that she's only just wearing and some flip flops. 

And finally, I painted one of the very old metal models left over from when Carnivale was owned by Vesper-On games (the others are resin). This little guy (at least compared to the others) is a Newborn Strigoi, a vampire who has only recently turned undead and has gone somewhat feral. It's a nice sculpt, but was hard to assemble and paint. He should provide some additional cheap punch to the gang.

So that's where we are with the Venetian vampires. More to follow soon!