Diorama Update: The Plague Marine

April 30, 2019 DebbieForsterLeave a comment

I only have one Space Marine left to paint for this diorama now and that is the Khorne Berserker. He needs to be assembled after the Trigon and tank so I know what he is going to look like a bit better.

Today then, I painted the Plague Marine. I rather like Plague Marines, I feel they have an individual flavour to them. I had picked out an old metal one to use, however when he was next to the other marines, he looked too small, so I changed my mind and went for this one instead:

I liked his pose, it will look as though he is going to blast some Hormagaunt to pieces, which is his job! He will need final touch ups and adjustments here and there but for now, he is done.

I have also done some experimenting on the base in regards to texture. More on that soon, when the base itself is all done. I might make that one a tutorial, as it has been a real learning curve for me too.

40K · fan made · Warhammer 40k · Wh40K

Diorama – Concept and ideas

February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 DebbieForster1 Comment

The idea I’ve got for my next diorama is ambitious to say the least. I have never before attempted anything as large as this, or as detailed. If it works, then it might well be the coolest thing I have ever created. If not, well, the less said about that the better.

I am calling it the Ridiculous Six.

It will be based around five Space Marines who are having a few problems with some Tyranids. The idea has been floating around in my head for a long time now but I haven’t had the skill or guts to try and put it together. With how well Ahriman and the Ahrimen went down, I decided to give this a go and see how I get on.

Here are two of the concept sketches that will form the basis of the diorama itself:

R6 concept 1 R6 concept 2

I am not the best drawer in the world but I am sure you get the idea. Fortunately, I have most of the bits I need in order to make this scene. The only things I need to pick up are the Night Lord who is stabbing the Brood Lord in the head and the rippers that the nurglings are going to be battling.

It is going to be an interesting project as the electronics are going to be slightly different as well. I want the Land Raider to have hazard lights and I want it to be spewing out smoke as well – as though the vehicle has crashed.

I need to figure out a colour scheme for the tyranids that’s going to stand out against the Black Legion Marines.

I thought Black Legion would be the best option because not only do I think they are awesome, but the Black and Gold will tie the warriors together rather than having them in their legion ones. I think that these are the ones that get sent in to do stupid jobs in the hope that they will never come back, yet they always do. I shall have to figure out their story as I am working on the diorama.

Like my work? Support me with KoFi: https://ko-fi.com/hereticdeb

40K · Wh40K

The Black Legion.

February 20, 2019 DebbieForster3 Comments

It’s been a while since I posted here. Between the January ‘blues’ and being busy at work, I didn’t feel like I had much to talk about. However, while on the nerd holiday with good friends, I managed to get some painting in and I wanted to show what I had been doing.

Most of you know I am a bit of an Abaddon fan. I don’t know what it is about him, I like like the character and the whole ideal they carry. I also made a miniature of my husband as a space marine for Christmas and then painted it as to his requirements. Black and Gold it was, his reasoning being he would rather be bossed about by Khayon than Ahriman.

He was painted up and looked amazing but we soon realised that he needed some friends to poke about and make fun of. I also happened to have a box of rubrics lying around not doing anything. I built them up during one of our D&D sessions based on our core group of friends.

The first one of which is now painted, pictured here with and then without, the boss;

The person this rubric is based off is gay, which is why he has a rainbow painted on his crest. As I do the rest of them, their individual quirks will become known. Soon, there will be an entire squad of rubrics based on our friends. Incidentally, the friends think this is a brilliant idea as well. Not entirely sure how Abaddon will feel about this bunch of nutters joining him though.

40K · hobby · painting · Painting Tutorial · warhammer

Tutorial: Wet Blending.

February 9, 2019 DebbieForster5 Comments

I was asked the other day about wet blending and how I do it so I said that I would run through how I do it as best as I can. I’ve taken some pictures to try and illustrate the process.

Step 1:

Wet Palette. Nothing fancy, just a take away tub, a sponge and some baking paper:

When adding water to the wet palette, I keep the water just below the top of the sponge. This is my personal preference and it is a case of finding what works for you.

Step 2:

Select the paints you’re going to use. I am painting a cloak on a Stormcast for the purpose of this tutorial and I am going for dark purple.

Step 3

Paint the darkest colour as a base on the area that is going to be blended. Don’t worry if it looks watery or parts of the undercoat show through, this will be fixed when blending.

Step 4:

While the paint is still wet, get the next lightest colour on your brush – not too much of it though – and mix it in the spaces you want to be lighter on the miniature. Try and make the two colours mix without any clear lines between the two.

Step 5:

Repeat this with the lighter colour for the places you want to be lighter. Again, try to do this without leaving any clear lines. I always try to get as smooth a blend as possible.

Step 6:

I also added some darker blends with dark blue because I wanted to add depth to the purple. You can see it in the second image above.

That is how I wet blend. I am aware that this is a tricky skill, or can be, for some and it takes a lot of practice. I’ve popped a couple of examples of what you can do with wet blending, though the limits are just your own thoughts. I hope this has helped!

Larry was a speed paint in half an hour – his blend is less than perfect!

I use wet blending for the base of all the galaxy cloaks I paint.

40K · warhammer

Warhammer Club

January 23, 2019 DebbieForster1 Comment

One of the aspects that I truly enjoy about my job is the ability to shape and influence young people. It is a true priveledge to be able to guide and shape young minds and hopefully leave them with positive experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

I have never hidden my interests from the children in my class and although some of them are a little ‘what do you do that for?’ they all understand how important it is to have aspects of your life that are not just work or playing on Fortnite.

When two of the boys, one in year 6 and one in year 4 came up to me and asked ‘Could we do Warhammer in your class at lunchtime, I practically jumped for joy and agreed. There was no bribery involved. I had toyed with the idea of joining the school alliance before and so now I had the motivation to do so.

Games Workshop were very helpful in arranging the pack to be sent to us and it arrived just before Christmas. The club started properly in January and we now have more than 2 members. 7 lads aged between 8 and 11 are now fully enjoying what it means to assemble and paint miniatures. So far, we have undercoated the figures we have been sent in Abaddon Black. Yes, I have shared who Abaddon is and they were all suitibly in awe! We are not yet at the stage of learning to play yet but I am sure we will get there very soon.

Even better, was when these lads have gone into GW on their own and brought miniatures that inspire them. I have a mix of Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40 000 so far and I can only see that growing. To be able to inspire them to want to do this in their own time is a power I never sought to have and is humbling in many ways.

Of course, I am unable to share pictures of the children, but that does not mean I cannot picture their work and share it. Here is our efforts pictured together, along with a couple of intruders!

40K · fun · hobby · miniatures. · warhammer · Warhammer 40000 · Warhammer 40k · Wh40K

January Open Day

January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 DebbieForster2 Comments

The trek to Warhammer World is never a hard one, or that far. It’s a couple of hours away at most. We bought our tickets for the Open Day at the Vigilus day and off we went yesterday for another day of exciting reveals and fun. I met up with some lovely people from the Internet and actually played a game!

I am unsure where to start, so let’s begin with that game. Myself and Dave teamed up to play against Chris’ Necrons. I have never played against Necrons before; not hard, I’ve not played all that much. It was a fun game however.

Ahriman, his friend and some demons squared up against some necrons. It started off well, destroyers got destroyed and the battle progressed. However, Death Hex, a much needed spell, was failed by Ahriman and the tides of battle turned.

Before everything had a chance to go horribly wrong however, the Legion of Dave and Fondlechew dropped in. They soon realised they were in the wrong place (era) and hastily departed.

To cut the tale short, Ahriman decided to try and be a hero and went after the warlord. His glory was cut short when the warp said ‘No’ – Perils of the Warp is a huge hinderance to his escapades, though he did float up to the tall part of the board and look mildly cool. The best part of the game was when the Changeling warp bolted one of the Necron Lords and turned it into a Chaos Spawn. Hilarity ensued when the Chaos Spawn started attacking the remaining necrons… It wasn’t enough though. We lost the game in the end. It was a lot of fun though and that is what counts.

The other fun news was the released and the amazing atmosphere that was going on. There is always a buzz at these events and from the moment I met up with friends, new and old to the moment we left, it was fun. I painted Larry, a chaos warrior, in half an hour and he looked decent; pictures to follow.

I also got to meet Josh Reynolds and David Guymer, who signed a book for a good friend of mine in Canada. Both of them were very nice fellows and approachable, reminding me that the authors of the books I love are also people. I have nothing to fear from them and running away is just silly.

Last thing I am going to leave you with is this image of one of the released. The Dark Apostle is exceptionally exciting because Black Legion but… and I am sure you will have seen this on the internet already, this is the really exciting thing. I have circled it just to make sure you all see why I am so excited.

tumblr_pkvyy6pcpv1ueu0eqo1_500

I do hope the Boss is going to turn up…

40K · hobby · painting

Goals and Dreams

January 2, 2019 DebbieForster10 Comments

I did a post like this about writing a little while back and thought that, seeing as we are in the new year, I would do one for hobby as well. I am a bit more focused on painting than I am writing currently and so I think I will switch to this one for the time being. That does not mean I will stop writing, not sure I would ever be able to do that but it doesn’t mean I cannot work on both!

Goals:

To learn how to create Object Source Lighting when I paint.

Enter Golden Demon with another bonkers diorama.

To push for more commission painting work

Improve on what I am already capable of

Speed up and solidify the three levels of painting I currently offer.

Enter local painting competitions

Dreams:

To be able to get enough commission work to stop teaching.

To win Golden Demon – or at least place.

To win any competition for painting.

Not that long a list really but it doesn’t need to be. I have my mind set on doing this and I will get there, I just need to stay focused and ensure I keep working at improving myself all the time. If I do this well enough, for long enough, things will start to happen!