#programmerminipainting

Yeah, we're still on the train of that dumb idea. I made it as far as kludging the back-branch-bit in to the back-fan-space before my heart started sinking. As mentioned last time, legs are a problem. I've also glued them on two bodies so far, so I might have to just put that part of the plan on the back burner for now.

But arms! We like doing stupid things with arms in these parts. So the muttering to myself started, and I off I compared. Revenant is just a no, way too short as expected, and even if I did like the arm that sword can fuck off. Too many holes. Dryad, while spindly, sort of has the elbow in the right spot. Hmm, the finders could be chopped off, but it needs to be clean. Hello again, not so old friend.

As always, saw does the job. The result is spindly, yes, but then again that appears to be how I roll. Slight jank on the left wrist, but the right one's solid. Probably need to go heavy with some pinning; oh no, how will I cope?

This is gruesome. This is getting stupid. But it was too stupid not to try. I don't think I'll try to hack the original shoulder pads off, but I think I can do something with the hacked off claw fingers. Makes it look a bit more feral I suppose.

I believe it could be said, that it is known that I like Pink Horrors. Frankly, a lot more could be said, which is likely unprintable. But liking Pink Horrors is a solid truth. So why not have more Horrors, this time with different colours? For starters, tiny little ones that could easily be hidden by some grass if their panting gets fucked. Hope it doesn't come to that. But they're tiny, gribbly, and just a bit dorky.

The next ones up, shockingly enough, are Blue. Now, I've had the box for a while, but after finally doing something with it, I can say I'm a little disappointed in their variety. As in, there isn't any. I don't see any options or spares. Now, yes, of course, I could butcher some variety as is my want, but that's not feeling high on the priority list. Maybe if I picked up another box, or if GW decide to do a big Tzeentch box that's not 90% Tzaangors. Hmm, yeah, that's not happening.

So, a pinky for scale. Oh yes, I have more that haven't been done yet. I just need to go through all of the arms so I don't end up with duplicates with what's already done. Design-wise, they all complement each other nicely, but I'm tempted to go a step further and go for the same painting paradigm. I just hope I have less problems than I've had (so far) finding red.

Magic blue, magic blue, whatever would I do without you? Probably nothing different, as I *have* you and still don't paint more. So we have Mr Blue, in his poorly thinned hue to ponder. To be fair I do have a straight from the bottle comparison, but that'll just cause focus issues with the photo and frankly that's too much effort for now.

So, Pink Horrors are the reason I started with the plastic crack. It wasn't immediate, but the pink gribblies in Relic's masterpiece (though maybe less masterpiecely for the lore…) Dawn Of War. Chaos Marines were cool, because they were just psychologically broken. And Pink Horrors? Just so aligned with my brain. While the first models I painted were something else, it was Horrors that I wanted to paint lots of and made the most progress. They're still what I'm most proud of. Every time I look at them, I smile and thinking "that's what I want to achieve".

And then I look closely. Or at the base. And I feel bad again. Imperfections, bad choices and just WTFery of the ugly bases. But no more! As I let the paint-shit bug bite, I wanted to come back to these gentle, docile little creatures. Also, I have all of this basing material to actually fucking use one day. So I did.

After noticing imperfections last time I looked closely, I thought I'd poke around a little bit with some touch-ups. Gone is the horrible black smudge on the cheek, teeth have been cleaned up and all around they've just had a little polish.

And I just love the end result for the bases too much. Fixing, rather than starting from scratch, as there was at least some texture there. A bit of drybrush, a bit of wash, then the magical grass. A few attempts at sorting out the base rim colour, which is still a tiny bit rough but good enough. Can't really see the progress well though.

Treemen, treemen, all so many of the treemen. Well fine, Treelves. And there's a lady Treelf in the box, but that's seemingly just one for the spite champion. And Dryads tend to be more feminine. Treelord, I guess, but with those heels I'm thinking this could very easily devolve into something as dated as the diagnosis reveal in House S2:E13. I know the main character is intentionally obnoxious, but oh was there more cringe than just what was intended at the time.

Where was I? Oh, yes, Treelves. To add to the existing menagerie, well technically they already added as they've been sat in a big box for a while but whatever, we have two Tree Revenants and one Spite Revenant. No tack today, straight on with the glue. I say glue, but I'm still brewing the sprue-goo and using what there is to try to have room in the pot. Things weren't set fully at time of photography, so the jury's out on whether it worked better than previous attempts at gap filling.

I may not have multiple boxes, unlike their larger brethren who represent the 4th largest count of Warhammer models in my collection (fuck I have too many Dryads), but just getting through a single box this year might do me some good. We're going for baby steps at the moment, with the usual small and targeted hobby sessions. This time we covered some tongues, nails and teeth. Not much, true, but something that makes a big difference in my eyes.

I'm taking the same approach as with the Pinkies of old: simple base-coat with some built-in shading magic, pick out enamel and ivory with some bone and wash, lovely tongue shade, then do the jewellery lightly. Still half of that to do, but they're at least taking shape. And I want to continue and do more, even if it's bit by bit.

Seriously, the white tack is intentional today. Not just failing to prep or running out of time. I did run out of time, but only due to some faffing and simultaneous clean-up that's not quick. No, the tack is because I don't know whether I'm going to end up with shooty or stabby undead--space-elf-robots. I'm aware of people magnetising, and while that's almost as much of a fetish as pinning is for me, there's some other optional styling bits that make 'guard more distinct, and I'm not magnetising those bits.

As is my want, I see an idea and think I could do something similar, or just batshit over-the-top, never-gonna-work level of reimplementation of the idea. The latest "inspiration" was a frankly gorgeous Exodite Wraithguard that smooshed some Sylvaneth bits. Can I find that inspiration again as a proper reference? No, of course not. But some further rummaging uncovered some interesting, and some very lore-reasoned, takes on the concept.

Probably the most common mashup I've seen has been with Kurnoth Hunters, generally using the body of the hunters and slapping on arms, weapons, and head from the Wraith kit. Now, while I think some of those are executed very well, I have a couple of issues in trying to replicate them.

Firstly, size. As you can see, the hunter has a few vertical measures over the wraith. True, the Wraith has a rather short and stubby torso, but even the legs just have a different scale to them. Plus there's the whole base size difference as a simple marker.

Secondly, Wraiths are in boxes of 5, Hunters in boxes of 3. While we're not exactly as money-is-no-object stage, we are looking to lean more on spares, so that leaves alternatives open. At the very least, get a better ratio out. Not a flier this one.

The next one I've seen some example of is using the Tree/Spite Revenants. I've seen mixes of approaches, one that pulled a 50/50 body split of the two kits, one that used the non-elf part of the revenant and fudged the wraith in to it. I don't hate this one, but I feel there's still a scale issue. Yes, bases again, but also the legs again. Dunno if I can make this one work, though I have enough revenants to try.

Lastly, my original spares-based thought: Dryads. You can see where the thought originated, what with the big sticky outy bits on their backs, bit lump of stuff at the back of the head. I have plenty of spares for this, but the initial piecing together didn't really look right to my eye.

Yeah, no, fuck making any sense in these witterings. Today, the comedic Tzeentchian gribblies that I'm finally doing something with. I mean, not much, but paint! Some paint! Something!

Fairly standard priming yawn for starters. Coverage was good enough, and as we're leaning on speedpaint rather than washes it'll be fine.

Well it fucking would be had I not ballsed up the gap filling again. I'm still not keen on how these were sliced to fit on the sprue, especially as the standard Pink Horrors work nicely with their modular design. Oh well, they're only troops, not exactly centrepieces.

Magic Blue, Magic Blue, never a bad time to be using you. So rich you be, filling my heart with glee. Could any other tone give such delight, with subtle warmth and a touch so light?

Hmm. HMMM. Not sure if it's the photo, or my application was a little less smooth for Highlord Blue, but it looks a little rough. The final colour looks good though. Hmm. Good?