Shadespire, eBay, and "The Project"

It's been a long time.

I have not been posting as much on this blog, because I don't feel like I have had a lot to blog about. I have not really been working on my Warhammer 40k army as much since I started working on my Shadespire project. The project is simple, I am painting my Shadespire set for the purpose of selling it, this is my trial of my painting skills to see if I have gotten good enough to actually begin taking commissions as a way of earning some money on the side. Below are a few of my WIP for my Shadespire set.

I was never good at painting flesh, this is in issue when it comes to the reavers.

I am a big fan of these bases, had a blast painting. Didn't have any green washes or shades so I had to take some regular green paint and thin it waaay down with water to create a somewhat mossy effect on the stone. 

Like I said, I have never been that great at painting flesh, but I feel like I did pretty well with these guys.

Despite my lack of experience in painting flesh, I think I did very well here. What do you think?

I have also opened an eBay store where I have a few older codices, rule books, and other games on sale. Below are a few of these books.

Finally, there is "The Project"
The project is a story I am working on. the purpose of the project is to create a universe that can be turned into a table-top wargame. Over the past few weeks I have been working on races, cultures, backgrounds, and finally on character designs. This includes the design of miniatures using 3D modeling, and speaking to small batch manufacturers to start producing miniatures. I have also been talking to local hobby shops in an attempt to find a starting place from which to introduce my creating into the market. Story wise, character wise as well as universe wise I am not very far, but I have created a few concepts which I want to flesh out a little more.

This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and I hope I can get the support of all of you to help me see this through till the end. I hope I can actually lead this project through to fruition as I have never before worked on a project this big. I will post samples of the miniatures once I actually have the physical prototypes.

If there is anyone who has experience in doing anything like this, and would like to help out then please reach out, I'd appreciate any help I can get with this project.

N7 - Tactical Squad.

Work on the first tactical squad has started, and I gotta say that I really regret building my marines before painting the bits individually first. Noah, the guy that runs the Games Workshop store that I frequent, suggested that building the Marines first, then painting was the best way to do it, however I feel that it makes it too hard to paint all the finer details of the models. Given that this unit is ten man unit, where none of the models are really too different from each other, I feel like we can get away with missing some of the details.

Since I am still trying to grow as a painter, I am using this first tactical squad as a learning opportunity to learn new techniques, and try new things. Just like I did with my first terminators, I am not going to fix the mistakes. Considering that I painted these guys after they were built, and that I was trying different things as I was building them, I can say that there are plenty of mistakes on this first tactical squad. 

If you take a look at the Marine on the far left, you will notice that his armor is darker, and scratched. This was my first attempt at creating a weathered, battle-torn look. I tried doing it on my own with no guidance. Overall, I hate the outcome. The way I tried to achieve the look was by first priming the model, then adding a layer of "leadbelcher". Once the leadbelcher paint dried out, I added a layer of "chipping medium". The role of the chipping medium is to allow for the easier creation of a chipped, weathered effect. The effect is achieved by applying a layer of chipping medium over the paint layer which will be painted UNDER the layer of paint to be chipped. The mistake I made was that I sprayed primer OVER the chipping medium, then painted a layer of "Dark Reaper" over that. when it came time to chip the model, the medium was already under two layers of paint and thus was not chipping as designed. In order to achieve some battle damage I scraped away at the paint layers using an X-acto knife. I also went over board with the use of Nuln oil to create a dirty messy, battle hardened look. After all was said and done, the model just looked dirty and scraped up. 

The one thing I am the most proud of, is the muzzle flashes. The Muzzle flashes that I used for these builds comes from Anvil Industry, which is where I get most of my third party bits, and I plan on doing most of the squad up with these muzzle flashes. 

As I build the remaining 6 members of this Tactical squad I will continue experimenting with weathering effects. My overall goal with this hobby is to get good enough to enter painting competitions. In the mean time I am just having fun with doing what I'm doing. 

If you would like to check out the progress of my army please check out my other social media accounts.

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The Captain is Ready for Battle

I know that this guy is not the best guy ever. I know that the face looks like shit correct, but I am actually really proud of him. He is my first custom figure, kit-bashed from several Citadel miniature bits as well as bits from Anvil Industry.

He is only one more component of my N7 army. However there seems to be some hate about the chapter I have decided to start. Most of this hate seems to be coming from 4chan, so I tried not to let it get to me, but it did. So I will use this opportunity to answer address some of the hate.

If this is N7, why is the armor not black and red?
Because in Mass Effect 2, and I believe Mass Effect 3 you were allowed minimal customization of your armor, including color scheme. The scheme I chose is the scheme that closest resembles my armor in those games.

Also, I was planning on making Tactical Marines, Devastators, Centurions, and Other vehicles in the black and red armor. The Dark Reaper Color would apply to veterans, scouts, and venerable dreads. I may end up just keeping it all Dark Reaper.

Isn't N7 some xenos initiative?
Nope, N7 was the name of the Alliance's special forces group. It is also important to remember that after the first contact war there was still a lot of animosity between humans and other xenos.

The Mass Effect Story doesn't translate into 40k fluff.
I don't expect EVERY aspect of the Mass Effect story to translate into 40k. Obviously the story will be significantly different, but that's to be expected, and personally I enjoy the challenge of creating my own fluff to fit within the pre-existing 40k fluff.

That's that, I am going to continue my chapter, and I will start brain storming on the fluff. Most exciting though, I have also decided to create my own sci-fi story and universe.

Progress on my Captain

Been working 12 hour days at Tesla for about 13 days straight, so unfortunately there has not been a lot of time left for painting. However, I recently got a day off, and after running around getting a ton of errands done I finally had about an hour t sit down and paint. 

Most of that time was spent watching a tutorial video on how to paint parchment, and cloths and other stuff like that, but eventually I did get down. Now I wonder, who remembers this guy right here?

Well recently I started painting him, and this guy was actually the guy I spent some time working on yesterday. Below is how far I have gotten with him so far.

Before I paint the fabric and the scrolls

After painting the fabric and scrolls.

Besides the head, this minis is probably one of my proudest creations. Although I probably should have went with a different head. All I have left to finish him off is to add his backpack with the banner which will read "N7" on it. I also need to work on his power sword in order to add some glowing special effects.

So far his armor is all dark reaper with the right hand pauldron being painted red. This matches the color scheme of the terminators, and the venerable dreadnoughts, all of which are the veterans of my company. He also has a ton of gold on his armor, this is to denote his experience, and time in service as I am making him one of the oldest members of the chapter. His legs are bionic as he sustained massive amounts of damaged over his service. The damage was not enough to land him into a dreadnought, but it was enough for him to have to obtain cybernetic enhancements. 

Not sure what exactly I am going to all him, though, if you have any suggestions for names I am definitely open to them.

Once this guy is done I am going to start on my tactical squad, but I think the Dark Reaper coloration is going to be reserved for Veterans, I think for all other N7 members, the colorations will be Black and Red, with Dark Reaper Helmets for Sergeants. This is not set in stone, but just an idea that I had as far as how to paint the overall army. 

I was thinking of also create a squad of "Reasonable Marines" to go along with the N7s, as in, one of the companies on the N7 corps could focus on Jungle Warfare, and thus could be painted as reasonable marines, again, this is just a thought, and not something which is going to be set in stone, however the idea of creating an army of "Reasonable Marines" is something I have been playing with for a while.

Tell me what you think

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Progress, and future plans.

Damn, I have not posted on this blog in a long ass time, however this should be changing now that things have slowed down a bit at work.

Anyway, lets get to it. 

I have recently continued working on my N7 army, however, I am not too happy with the outcome of my Terminators. I am ok with the freehand on the shoulders (although one of them is incredibly sloppy), I am ok with the shading, and the highlight (but I need more practice. What I am unhappy with, and has really dropped my morale, is the outcome of their helmets. I don't know if it is just really hard, or if I just suck at it, but I can not do white helmets to save my life. I tried on all 4 terminators with helmets, and I failed miserably on all 4 with no indication of improvement on any of them. I guess it's just a question of practice, so I will continue to practice because I want to eventually make commissions my side job. I don't want to make it my full time job, but I would love to make this a side gig to earn some "beer money" as they call it.

Remember the guy on the right? Well the helmets never improved

Above is an older image of the terminators I was working on. Obviously I still need to work on my basing, and highlighting skills. With practice I was able to get relatively good with the highlighting, however, I have not managed to nail down the while helmets, thus I have given up on their helmets as of now and decided that it is best to just finish up the project, move on to the next guys, and try again with another set of terminators later on. 

Struggling with the helmets, but will continue to practice in order to get better at it. For now they will remain as is.

See the picture above to see what I mean about the poor work on the helmets. 

Enough on the terminators though. Let's take a look at some of the stuff I am working on to complete the N7 Army. 

I am still working on my scouts. When the scouts are finished that will bring my army to 20 scouts, however, I have only finished painting 3 of them.

I am planning on getting rid of the the rocket launchers in the scouts, and instead substituting them with anti-material rifles from Anvil Industry, figure it makes more sense wit ha scout squad, and I can just make it serve the same purpose. Really the anti-material rifle is really only there for aesthetic, and when ever it is that I play a game, I will simply make sure to inform my opponent that the AM rifle counts as a rocket launcher, and so we will play by the rocket launcher rules. 

I have also swapped out the original Scout heads for some Anvil Industry heads, because let's be honest, the original scout heads look pretty stupid. 

Here is the one unpainted tactical squad. I need to get them with a shot of the chaos black paint before I start painting them though. I regret assembling them before painting though because now I have to deal with trying to paint all the detail. I will continue the N7 Dark Reaper color scheme on the tactical marines, just like I did with the scouts, and with the terminators. However, I may alter the scheme a little bit to add some flare, however I am not sure what it is that I want to do just yet. 

To lead these guys I have been working on a leader. The boss man of the N7 army is this glorious bastard.

He is still a work in progress, as I try to acquire new bits, but he is going to be Chapter Master Shepard of the N7 army. He is about as tall as a primaris marines because of the bionic legs, but he is a regular ol' Space Marine. At the same time though, I was considering making him a Sgt for my custom assault squad, not 100% sure though. Leave a comment with your suggestions! and don't forget to follow us on

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Pathfinders - My Custom Assault Squad.

As I have mentioned on my Instagram, and on my other gaming blog, and on my Facebook page, I have been working on a Mass Effect themed army of space marines. Although the aesthetics are not 100% mass effect, they have still been incredibly fun to paint. The best part of the project is not even the painting, it has been discovering all the third party bit manufacturers that I have been using to create a truly unique army.

As I went on creating my Mass Effect Themed army, I came across a set of "Wings" that I thought would be a good substitute for jump packs for an Assault Squad and so I purchased a set of 5. The wings were from puppetswar, and although they look alright aesthetically, I have not had the best experience with this supplier, a big part of that being scale. I also bought a two handed flamer weapon from Anvil Industry, and an assortment of Space Marine bits from eBay.

This is the "wings" jump pack I got from puppetswar

And this is the heavy flamer from Anvil Industry

Later on I will make a post discussing the quality of third-party suppliers, but for now here is what the trial "Pathfinder" Looks like.

I was hoping the wings would be bigger, but as I said, scale has always been an issue I have had with the puppetswar bits.

Done with the Terminator - Starting on the Scouts

I finally finished working on my Terminator Sgt, and although I have 3 more terminators to go, I decided I would take a break from them. Since I got my Anvil Industry heads in the mail I have been dying to get started on my scouts.

Let's be honest, the stock Scout heads makes the scouts look like their fucking retarded. So for that reason I decided that I was going to go with Anvil Industry or Puppetswar heads.

Look at this shit. Guy at front and center is shitting his pants, while the asshole to his right is playing some fucking Oculus Rift. Big chinned motherfuckers. Also is that their hair? or their helmets?

Before we take a look at my Scout WIP, here is a look at my Terminator.

I went with a blue power sword, while trying my hand at the lightning effects. I am pretty happy with the result. I also like the end result of the muzzle flash effect. Now that that is out of the way, let's go ahead and take a look at the reason why we are here. Brother Garrus, my Scout WIP

Still need to do several things, such as drill a hole for the barrel, add tall dry grass, and a bunch other things. Please leave any suggestions in the comments. Thank you.

N7 Terminator Sgt - WIP

A glimpse at my workstation 

I continued to work on my N7 Terminator Sgt today, and I would say he is about 90% close to being done. So far I am just waiting for my paints to arrive, some white scar and other such paints for highlighting my guys, and getting the correct "white" color for their helmets. I'm also looking for some washes, and other such paints for the Sgt's power sword to create a glowing effect. Anyway, here are the images of this WIP.

This is where I left off last time.

The N7 Insignia is not the best, but I am happy with the turn out. I enjoyed painting that. 

For some reason the leather straps were a pain in the ass for me to do, I think the front of them turned out alright though. The back...not so good, but I figure..no one is going to look at em from the back anyway.

Here he is in comparison with the other Terminator I finished, the one I didn't really like. The finished model sure lead to a lot of lessons learned as far as painting.

And finally this is the state he is in at the moment. Needs some highlights, but over all I am happy. The muzzle flash is from Anvil Industry

N7 - Terminators Squad - WIP

I am continuing my work on my Terminator Squad. This squad has technically been in progress since back when I first got "Assault on Black Reach". I only ever finished the Dreadnought that came with the set, along with the tactical Squad, but I never finished any of the other models, including the Terminator Squad. Back in December 2016 I got back into the hobby after my supervisor showed an interest in it, so I ordered a "Start Collecting.." set of Space Marines from Games Workshop.

I was originally going to go with Ultramarines, but ultimately decided I wanted to create a unique, custom chapter for myself. That is when I decided that I would go with an N7 theme for my chapter. I have also ordered some bits from third parties (Anvil Industry, Kromlech, Puppetswar, and others) which I will use on later models since I have already built most of my current models. I also plan on writing some sort of back story as to how this chapter fits in the over all 40k universe. Anyway, here is my work in progress for my Terminators.

The Squad.

I have been focusing on my Sgt. I finished one of the other Terminators, I am not pleased with the outcome of the other guy, but instead of fixing him I am just going to leave him as is. The point is to have something to look back on, in order to make note of any changes as far as skill, and also to learn from my mistakes as I progress in the hobby.

Side view showing where the N7 Logo will be painted on.

Front View

Other side view of the Terminator Sgt.

One last look

I also plan on using some 3rd party bits as I build my over all N7 army, this here is some "Muzzle Flashes" I bought from Anvil Industry which I plan on using with some of my models.

First N7 Terminator - Done

First N7 Terminator is done, the rest of the squad is still WIP.

Here he is still a WIP

Showing the WIP next to an unpainted WIP

Final product side

Final product other side

Final rear....although I just noticed areas I need to improve