Bonus Truck!

November 18, 2022November 6, 2022 DebbieForster1 Comment

I am not quite sure how I got tricked into painting this truck. It was placed on my desk when I was undercoating some other things and it ended up getting done. It was quite fun, and I wanted to play around with some damaged designs – putting battle damage over the top. Considering this was a freebie I just happened to end up with, I think this worked out well. It is going to be used with the Goliaths in Necromunda and was a 3D print designed to carry the crates made by Games Workshop.

The designs turned out well – one with a decal and the other freehand. I felt strange putting battle damage over the top of them, but I think they look alright!

The whole thing was tied together with an airbrush layer of Seraphim Sepia and then placed alongside the other Goliaths in the cabinet!

Forster’s Foundry: D&D Print

November 16, 2022November 6, 2022 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

Another miniature I have painted recently has been for a D&D campaign. The print was done at the Foundry and was designed on Hero Forge – a service that we provide as part of the 3D printing business. It was my pleasure to also paint this character and then see them used in a D&D campaign that I am also playing in.

This time, it was a Tiefling Bard with white skin. Here he is:

He was a fun character to paint – I just hope he survives long enough in the campaign to realise his potential!

figures · miniatures.

2019 – A Year in Review

January 1, 2020 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

A lot has changed for me over the last year and I wanted to have a look back at some of the things I have achieved over it. Last year, I was teaching full time at a primary school. I had a lovely class of children and great colleagues too. Unfortunately, being a teacher means that you have no real time to do anything else. Weekends are spent working and worrying and trying to get ahead of the demands placed on you. Hobby-wise, not a great deal happened in the first part of the year, however I do have a few pictures I can share in regards to what I did:

Night Lords, Ahriman, Tzeench demons and Reaver Titans galore!

The first part of the year saw me trying some new techniques, experimenting with freehand a bit more and working on skills I already had. I left my job as a teacher in May due to mental health and decided to become a miniature painter instead. It is not easy, but I have never been healthier. I went on a painting course and gained insight, and validation, into what I have been doing.

Here are some of my favourites from the previous six months:

June and July saw me working on miniatures for Everchosen, in which I came Third in the Open and Second in the Everchosen category – by one point! I also painted Mephiston for a good friend. I love working on dioramas and want to do more of them in the coming year.

In August I went on a painting course and learned how to use an airbrush – another skill I want to work on in the new year. I also began working on a large commission of D&D scenary miniatures for the local games store, which took most of October to complete.

In November, I painted a lot of Space Marines. Mainly Iron Hands. I also learned how to lighten pictures and so managed to begin taking better ones. I also finished Shalaxi, who is one of the best painted miniatures I have ever done.

December was a quiet month mainly due to illness and travelling and winter craziness, however I did paint the Sisters of Battle boxed set, which was fun.

Going forward, I have a few things I want to work on in the coming year:

Non Metallic Metals
Airbrush techniques
Creating dioramas
Conversions
Painting a whole army!

I have a lot to work on in January and some good ideas to work on too. I am looking forward to it!

40K · Age of Sigmar · figures · miniatures.

Shalaxi and Layering

September 7, 2019 DebbieForster2 Comments

Normally, I wouldn’t blog about Works in Progress (WIPS) as I think it is better to wait until a miniature is done before I talk about it. However I am working on something a bit special I think and it is turning out a lot better than I hoped it would.

Layering was something I have practiced before, both at the Seige Studios painting course and with Gary, but both times have been on swords. I used something similar when I did Abaddon’s non-metallic metals as well, but I wanted to try the technique on something different and see how it worked. I had also seen another WIP of Shalaxi on the internet and so if I got stuck, I would have a frame of reference.

I like the colour blue and have the most experience with it I think, so I picked the four colours and got going. I used Caledor sky for the deep shading, Teclis blue and Temple Guard blue for the mid tones and Baharroth blue for the very light places. Each layer was exceptionally thin and it took a long time to build up the colours so they covered the area and then blend them into place. So far, I have spent 6 hours on the miniature, and I have only done the chest, upper thighs and face.

That said, I think it is already looking pretty special and I really am looking forward to doing the rest of the miniature. It might take a full month at this rate, but it will look good when it’s finished. Perhaps my best miniature yet!

I also want to give the stockings and glove things it appears to be wearing a sheer look, so they are see through. I am not sure how I will do this just yet, but I have plenty of time to work this out.

figures · miniatures. · Wh40K

Hull GT and an Army Showcase!

July 22, 2019July 22, 2019 DebbieForster2 Comments

On Saturday, I went along to help out at the Hull Grand Tournament. Mostly, my role was to watch out for people who wanted drinks and snacks from behind the counter. However, I was also asked to have a look around and pick out six people’s armies that I thought had been really well painted. They would be short listed to go into the final ‘best painted’ contest, which would be judged by all the players. This was a very difficult thing to do as I know everyone put in a lot of effort into making their miniatures look great. I did go around and take pictures of as many people’s miniatures as I could and here they are (there are a lot of them!):

This yellow delight was painted by Gary at http://www.the-vanus-temple.com/ His army ended up being voted the ‘Best in Show’, which is very fair. Go and have a look, his work is amazing!

I couldn’t vote for this shiny blue army, as I painted it!

This last picture is 1800 points work of Space Marines in one tower. We named it the Power Tower!!

I had a really great day while I was at the GT. I didn’t play, but I did get most of a Night Lord painted and enjoyed the atmosphere and speaking with the players as well. Seeing everyone’s army was also really cool and I was sad I couldn’t vote for more people!

Maybe next time!

figures · hobby · miniatures.

What’s on the table?

June 21, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

I have a few projects I want to wrok on over the next week or so and I thought I would lay them out here so I have a bit of focus and a list to wrok through.

Nagash:

Not new Nagash, I love that mini and have it in a box somewhere, but I have always wanted the old Nagash. My first ever miniatures were undead, in about 1997, but I never had the opportunity to have old Nagash. So when I was presented with him, I was thrilled. He does however need some work:

His base, and he, will be stripped, reassembled and completely redone – watch this space for this project!

The Warpsmith:

This was a give away prize I did ages ago that I really need to just get on with – I want to start him today.

Mephiston:

This is a present for a friend’s birthday. I want to get him done this weekend at least.

The Stormcast:

This is the other half of Soul Wars and shall be painted for sale. I am not enthused by the miniatures as yet, but I am sure I will find passion for them by the end. I do not think they will be as thrilling as the Night Haunts, but that might be because I love undead things.

The Warp Talons:

I have no idea what to do with these miniatures as yet. I picked them up at the Warboot for a very good price. I have no idea whether to make them Night Lords, or Black Legion, or what I am going to do with them.

And then there are other projects I hvae that need to be finished off, like my Kill Team, the Mini Reaver’s base and maybe even assembling some of the other miniatures that I have kicking about.

Either way, I certainly have a lot to be getting on with!

40K · figures · fine detail · hobby · horus heresy · miniatures. · painting · Warhammer 40000 · Warhammer 40k

Sevatar.

May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

Finally, I am able to post my thoughts and comments on painting this amazing miniature. You all get to find out who won and which mini belonged to who.

First off, congratulations to Office, who was entry A. He was judged the winner.

I’m going to post the pictures of my efforts again as a reminder and then talk about what I learned:

This is the first time I have done layered blending like this. I used a lot of thin, very thin, coats of paint to gradually build up the lighting on the ceramite. You can see it in the bottom picture clearly on his leg and shoulder. This counted on me knowing where the light hit the armour and was a challenge for me to make consistent over the entire mini. There are spaces where I could have been more consistent with it, but now I know how to do this, I can refine the technique when painting other miniatures to a higher standard.

I am exceptionally pleased with the lightning, I think that looks neat. The metallic bronze of his armour trim worked well too, though I am not convinced the game colour paints are as good as I first thought. I’m going to try a few others out and see if they are better.

The base of the miniature looks dark, which is something the judges have indicated to me in their feedback. I agree with them. The colours blend together and the detail is lost in this case. If I were to do this again, I would change the steps from silver to dirty bronze and maybe change the pipe colours as well.

This does not mean I am displeased with the result. This is by far the best miniature I have ever painted – that includes the multitude of Ahriman/Ahrimen and I’ve learned a great deal as well. It was a massively positive experience and I would do do again.

Sevatar is now going to go and cause some trouble in the cabinet with the Ultramarines along with a couple of his Night Lord buddies that I have also painted up.

This leaves me with one question. Office, Game for a rematch?

40K · figures · Twitch

Twitch Stream: Take One

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

Part of the Paint-a-thon on Saturday was streaming the event via Twitch. I have never done anything like that before. Mostly because I hate the sound of my own voice and always feel I come across as a moron. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be and it got me thinking, ‘maybe I should make a channel of my own.’

So I did.

I have used a single camera today to film and stream my first painting session via Twitch. It was a lot of fun and I got a lot done as well. I managed to clean Sevatar in preparation for assembly. I also cleaned a Warp Smith too. I have base coated a Master of Possession as well. Have a WIP:

The stream went well and some available friends dropped in to say hello and chat while I painted away.

There are certainly areas for improvement:

1 – Move the camera so people can see what I am painting clearly.

2 – Ensure both cameras are working properly.

3 – Create a layout to show who I am while I am working on things, maybe include contact details.

4 – Remember to keep talking while concentrating on painting.

5 – Experiment with different times for the stream, as there are people all around the world who might be interested in what I am doing.

There are bound to be more things that will change as I work though, however I enjoyed the first stream and I shall certainly do more.

Here’s the link to the channel: twitch.tv/heretic_deb

40K · figures · hobby · Wh40K

Sevatar off is on!

April 11, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

A few days ago while going about my daily twitter perusing, I was challenged by a friend. I cannot remember the exact wording but I do know that this was not the sort of challenge I would back down from. The miniature that was settled on was Sevatar. I’ve recently read Prince of Crows and am on a bit of a Night Lords kick at the moment so I was only too happy to use this as an excuse.

Today, I picked up the miniature while on a jaunt to Warhammer World for no reason whatsoever…

Now you too have seen First Captain Sevatar’s bits…

While I was chilling out over food and a beer, I realised that an impartial judge was going to be needed to inform us which would be the winner. It was suggested that we needed celebrities to do so. Using the joy that is social media, I tagged a few authors who might be interested expecting nothing in return. How wrong was I!

Gav Thorpe was the first to respond, saying that he would be happy to help. Bees followed shortly afterwards, as did Dr Dave. The last two shocked both office and myself…

This was a surprise to both Office and myself. Neither of us expected this sort of celebrity response. After a quick natter with Office, we have decided on these details:

Battle of the Bastard!

Deadline: 31st May.

Judges:

Gav Thorpe, Bees, Dr Dave, Aaron Dembski Bowden, Disarmonia.

Miniature: First Captain Sevatar.

May the best painter win!!

40K · figures · Uncategorized · Warhammer 40000 · Wh40K

Abaddon the Despoiler.

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

Some of you may be aware that I have a bit of fondness for Abaddon. I didn’t to begin with, there was a time when I painted over the Abaddon part of Abaddon Black, but those days are long gone and I have seen the error of my ways.

If you have not encountered my unending enthusiasm for the character, you might want to head on over to http://www.abaddonandteal.wordpress.com for some of the stories I have told about him. (Warning: contains silly)

So, when I said I would rather like to paint the miniature and get myself a Black Legion force, some friends said I should wait, he was getting a new miniature – that was eighteen months ago and a patient woman I am not.

I ended up with this guy and for a long time, he was my best painted minature:

The Wargames Exclusive miniature was a beautiful mini to work with and far better than the old Abaddon by Games Workshop. I will not put a picture of him here.

So, I still waited in hope of a new one but I had this guy as a back up. He went out, wrecked a few faces, a wall and a tank in one game, and utterly annihilated in another one.

Then new Black Legion miniatures started to be announced. I was very excited. People around me commented on it. I contained it as best as I could.

When the new Abaddon was announced and revealed, I may have exploded a little. Here is why:

First off, he is stomping on a baddie! Awesome.

Second, LOOK AT HIM! The details on that miniature are everything I wanted them to be.

Third, he has three head options. I put up Horus face because it’s my favourite, but you could have screaming mad Abaddon, or face covered by a rebreather Abaddon.

There is battle damage to reflect that the Chaos/Traitor Legions haven’t got access to the same resources as the Imperium and he has been in there for ten thousand years. The Talon looks wicked and the faces on Drach’nyen are still there.

Above all, he is huge. He should be huge. He was always described as huge. (Although Tarik Torgaddon was taller for those of us who remember such details.)

For me, it was everything I wanted from a new Abaddon Miniature. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on him and painting him up. Soon, Abaddon will be the best painted miniature I have, again.