40k Blog Types

There are several distinct types of 40k blog in the 40k blogiverse aren't there?
There is  Faeit 212 a rumour site giving advanced news of what GW is planning.
There is From The Warp a mainly tutorial site focused on painting. If you want to learn something about painting this is the place to go. Then there is BOLs. editorials, tutorials, mini dexes, several forums. Its the one site that has everything. Then there are the personal journeys through the 40k hobby. What niche does your blog fit into?

Photgraphing models

A post is not a post without a picture of some sort. Many 40k blogs post pictures of models finished or in stages to completion. Many blogs show extremely high quality images of the subject models of the blog. What do you need to make great photographs of models? In this blog Artificer's Workshop makes no claim to be an expert photographer although the images shown on this blog have, in the humble opinion of this blogger, improved since its early days. Partly this has been a better camera.  The original camera was a 1 megapixel Olympus, this has evolved through a 3 megapixel Fuji finepix to a 14.1 megapixel Canon IXUS which is the current camera. The canon makes sharp close up images easy to create.

The camera is obviously only one element in the creation of an image. Light boxes and dedicated lighting to eliminate shadows and give clarity to the model clearly have been used in some highly professional images published elsewhere. Here in the workshop we are amateurs. There is no room to store dedicated lighting or a light box here, so. Daylight is preferred and ideally diffuse sunlight has been found to be best. If diffuse day light is not possible then diffuse artificial lighting works sort of, the more lights ordinary lamps available the better.

Next there is the background for the image. A plain uniform neutral backdrop will direct focus to the mini. A more complex backdrop could enhance the model or perhaps tell a story. Perhaps the difference between a portrait image and photographic art for the model.

Here at the workshop both have been used, with no especial rhyme or reason previously. In the absence of a light box 2 pieces of art shop thick white card 3 foot by 2 foot have been used to give plain backdrops for "portraiture" while bits of scenery and lately some scifi scenery images have been used to try to create a bigger picture. The sentinel was photographed as shown with sunlight coming from the right across the model. In the composition of the photograph the natural light is incorrect for the light sources seen in the backdrop image. A quick transposition of the left and right in the image or the end of the desk that the model is resting on would sort that. The window and the sun are obviously immovable.

The floor that the mini is standing on is also important. Here there are only 4. The first is the neutral card base. The second is the road seen in the above picture and there is also the paved floor seen below from the warhammer movement tray set. Finally there is the incorporation of the mini into a bespoke bit of scenery. Some investment in scenery and bases will clearly improve the quality of the "art" type photographs bearing in mind that the lighting in reality and apparent in the backdrop needs also to be aligned for true versimilitude.

 

Allies for Sisters of Battle and head transplant

The reintroduction of allies to 40k has given a reboot to the Imperial Guard collection. Unfortunately the previous incarnation of IG collected was of an abhuman dregs of humanity hive rejects cannon fodder battalion. This contained Ogryn, ratlings and ratkin, penal legion and Chem Dogs. Probably not the sort of company that a righteous witch hunting Sisters of Battle Canoness would willingly ally together with except in extremis. The sisters were probably more likely to hunt down and exterminate that sort of force along with the planetary governors who thought it a good idea to assemble. Hence the need for some more IG minis to be recruited. As a starter a Steel Legion plasma cannon armed sentinel has been recruited and painted.

 To make the base a bit different, instead of the usual sand, bits of slate have been glued down to make an assembly of stone that the sentinel is marching across. The best way to get slate is not to buy from the GW. Instead find an old roof tile, take a hammer and pound it to pieces. Otherwise some redundant slate used to decorate driveways and flower beds can be handy.

 Finally the head transplant has been coming on. Its beginning to look cool?

Sister Superior Head Transplant

Back to the Sisters of Battle. Instead of a Retributor squad a third SoB troops choice squad has been commenced after coming across some sisters on sale on ebay for a reasonable price, and at a considerable saving on the GW price for these metal minis. Bring on the plastic SoB that have been rumoured to exist this past year. 

By co-incidence all of these minis were sisters without helmets and it seemed a good idea to try to have a sister superior with hair rather than helmet. But she had to be the standard Sister Superior as one of these was going for a reasonable price on ebay. So a bit of transplant surgery was required to adapt a spare Immolator plastic head for the. Here are the steps accomplished so far.      

 Saw off the head with the GW saw.

 Remove as much of the neck as possible with craft knives and the GW clippers

Cut a notch in the neck of the plastic head.

 Blue tack the head in place to see how it looks. The next step is to rebuild the neck with green stuff.

Summer Weather and 40k Alfresco

One thing about England especially these days is that there are always plenty of rainy days even in the summer. At the moment there are only 2 seasons. The cold and wet season which lasts 8 months and encompasses winter and most of autumn and spring and then the warmish and wet 4 months of the year for summer and a bit of spring or autumn (fall if american). This applies to all except the south east corner of England. Down there there is a local bubble.

So what to do when it is unexpectedly really nice outside. Obviously since we get so few good days these should be enjoyed, and not only with outdoor sports; with 40k as well. In the past on odd good days the wargaming table has been disassembled and re-assembled outside for a battle in the sun. Does anyone else do this?

This weekend was a painting weekend. So here is the garden table suborned for painting. The hazards were the wind; tissues for wiping brushes under the book and sunburn and sunstroke it was so hot. As the afternoon progressed the table was dragged more and more into the shade seen in the top right corner.

The advantages were that the paint dried extremely quickly so successive coats could be applied more quickly. And to paint the paint had to be thinned otherwise it dried much too quickly as was found on one panel of the armoured sentinel. On the table was the Forgeworld Greater Daemon of Khorne and a Steel Legion Sentinel The steely clarity of the sunlight picked out flaws, details and omissions (drat) on the minis easily. Viewing minis in direct sunlight is an experience that is worth repeating hopefully during this summer.

Inquisitor Karamazov Finished and 150th Post!

The Inquisition is one of the best bits of fluff in the 40k lexicanum. So it was disappointing that the Daemon Hunters Codex became obsolete. And so did some of the previously collected minis. The Grey Knights codex, however can be built either way. A hard as you can make it Grey Knights force, or a fluffy mitt hiding a vicious iron fist Inquisitorial force. The latter appeals to any Inquisitor hiding within. A recent reading of the Grey Knights Codex revealed that an inquisitor's retinue could ride in any of the transports. This includes razorbacks.

Here is the finished Karamazov ready to take his place as the HQ choice of the re-nascent Inquisitorial force.

Greater Daemon of Khorne Progress

The legacy moves on. The colour of the torso and limbs is now close to the base colour planned. The armour edges need need highlighting and shading down and the wings are just starting. They are intended to be back at the end of the day. the level of detail on the forge world sculpt is truly amazing so only the armour has been painted. Other The flesh if you can call it that for a daemon is the result of 3 washes - ogryn flesh x2 followed by Leviathan purple. The wings are adeptus battle grey diluted down 6 to 1 to give a dark grey wash. Next for the wings will be black and red washes before highlighting.

From a gaming perspective who should win - the greater daemon or Karamazov who is almost finished. A duel seems a good idea. 

Inquisitor Karamazov Progress

Karamazov on the painting table today after the main components which had been painted individually were glued together. While White Dwarf often recommends assembly then painting it often is easier to paint discrete sub components and then paint. For Karamazov these were the legs of the throne, the throne its self minus the engine and exhausts, Karamazov him self and the 2 servitors individually and also the multimelta gun.

Karamzov is the sole finecast mini tried so far. As previous posts have indicated this has been a disappointing first finecast mini. Yes some detail is nice and sharp but there a plentiful mould lines and flashing to be trimmed off. The quality of the moulding seems no better than the previous older metal minis. Perhaps GW is using the same moulds hence the same casting problems remain. Perhaps minis that a originals in finecast come out better.

Why choose Karamazov over Coteaz for a Grey Knight's Inquisitor. Coteaz at 100 points is half the price of Karamazov and allows the use of multiple henchmen war bands as troop choices. In a Grey Knight force expendable IG stormtroopers are of limited value when terminators and purifiers can be taken as troops choices. Karamazov is a complete army by himself. A close combat monster with  a master crafted power weapon, WS 4 strength 5, wounds 4  and a 2+ save. He is also shooty with a master crafted multimelta and to cap it all he can bring down artillery in the form of an orbital strike. Whats not to like.

Here are the previously blogged images of Karamazov showing the amount of flashing and the poor fit of components: