Miniature Painting Masters: Victor Hardy

July 14, 2014, 8:00 am

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Hey everyone, I know this one was up on Bell of Lost Souls awhile ago, but I never posted it here since my blog was kind of "hibernating" at the time. I know it has been quite awhile since the last installment, but I bring you a true legend today: Victor Hardy.


I have recently gotten the honor of meeting Victor in person and have even played a few games against him (his Golden Demon winners beat me on the table too). Once I started this series I knew I had to get him to contribute.

Tyler: How did you first become a member of the miniature wargaming and painting hobby?

Victor: It started in the old days, around 1991.  I went to a con called Texas Con and saw people playing 40k for the first time.  My buddies decided to buy the game and we started playing on the dorm floor.  The rest is history.

Gold in Open 2001 Golden Demon

T: How do you approach painting a display model and painting a gaming model differently? (styles, time taken, methodology, etc)

V: I really do not differentiate between the two.  I play my display pieces.  However, I really only paint minis intended to be of display/competition quality. 

Bronze Canadian Games Day 2001

T: Since focusing on the painting side of the hobby more, how often do you find time to play games? Is that still important to you?

V: I play about six games a year—not much.  I enjoy a good game.  Its just hard to find the time.

The winning mini from 1997.

T: How long had you been painting at what you would consider a serious level before you won an award? (Golden Demon or other) and can you take us through a little of your thought process on how you prepared that winning model.

V: The first time I went to a Golden Demon was in 1997 and I won the gold in 40k single miniature:

It was really my first miniature of any quality (low quality by the standards of today) and it took me about two weeks to paint it.  I  had been painting for a few years but I never spent more than a few hours on a mini.  It was this unexpected win that drew me into being a competitor.   Following year, I did not place but both minis were published in the White Dwarf as honorable mentions.

The year 2000, however, I won the Slayer Sword with my Bloodthirster. 

Slayer Sword 2000

 I had spent nearly 6 months on it and it really represented the first mini which I would consider to be a serious miniature and really changed me in terms of my style and interest in the competition.  I learned the most valuable secret of miniature painting with that mini—which still holds true today.   The most important factor in how good your mini is,  is how much time you put into it.   Superior talent, dexterity, color theory and even experience can all be overcome with patience and planning.  The more time you take with the mini, the better it is.  The second biggest secret is water down your paints!!!   In my mind, I had decided that I was going to paint the very best mini I could and would spend whatever time it took to do it.  It paid off with a sword.  

T: What is your favorite model or models that you have painted? This can either be the one(s) you enjoyed painting the most, was happiest with the final paint job, or just really appreciate the sculpt.

V: There is no question what that model is:  Golgotha.  

Golgotha

This piece was my defining work and took over two years to paint. 

T: Looking through the portfolio of your winning models you clearly favor Chaos minis, what is it that draws you to them?

V: Two reasons.  First, Chaos minis are amenable to a stern Gothic/Medieval look.   

I think that Gothic/Medieval Christian art is the most powerful imagery in history. It moves me. I think that the serious "real world" religious references depicted in my minis gives them more force than the strict fictional GW imagery for which we have no real emotional connection.  To convey a sense of ancient evil from the past, I adopted recognizable stylistic elements from the Gothic, Byzantine, Rennaisance time periods and adopted the complex, overwrought style (frescoes and epic imagery) from these periods.   I just enjoy painting these kinds of images.  One of my life’s goals is to do an old school  oil painting in the realistic style of the past.  

Second, I haven’t finished my army yet.  All of the pieces I have painted are intended to be in the same army.  I wanted to paint the very best Chaos army I could.  I am not done.

Slayer Sword Baltimore 2002

T: Having spoken to you before you mentioned how you were pretty involved in the miniature painter community in New York a while ago. Can you briefly explain the attitude of that community? Were a lot of ideas shared to help bring miniature painting forward? All I can picture is the artist community of the 1960’s from New York but with our hobby instead, which, by the way, would be awesome.

V: Competitive mini painting is usually a group thing.  You have a friend that does it, so you start doing it.  Next thing you know everyone jumps in the car and goes to Gamesday, putting the last lick of paint minutes before the competition.  Consequently, different parts of the country have different pockets of mini painters.   Back in the day, the three main groups were New York, Chicago (Haley, Borer, Orteza) and Atlanta (Wilson, Smallings ).  In New York, the major painters were myself, Bobby Wong, Tim Lison, Douglas Hahn and a few others.  At the turn of the century, our little group was dominating the national contest.  Until 2002, there was only one contest for the whole country.  In 2000, I won the slayer sword. In 2001, Bobby Wong won the slayer sword.  In 2002, I won the Baltimore Slayer Sword.  In 2004, Tim won the Staff Slayer sword.  We would all get together in the Spring and compare minis.  At this time, the standard of competition was still growing and changing vastly year to year.   We would not show our work until right before the contest so that we didn’t cause the other person to step up their game.  Then after the contest we would share painting secrets and ideas.  One year Bobby had painted his entire Bloodquest squad but he had told me that he was only entering single miniature.  He suddenly whipped out the whole squad days before the competition and blew everyone away.  I would frequently hang out for hours talking with Bobby and Doug about minis.  Being around other people and having them push you harder in the Hobby is critical to competing at the top level.

Bobby Wong's 2001 Slayer Sword Winner

T: You have won 8 Golden Demon awards of various colors and 2 Slayer Swords over the years. The last time was back in 2006. Why the break in painting for competitions? What are your plans for the future painting wise?

V: Well it really goes to Golgotha. In 2004, I wanted to be the first U. S. competitor to win the UK Slayer Sword.  I put everything I had in painting the Golgotha, spending over 500 hours on it.  I was hugely disappointed when it did not place and one of the Judges told me that it was not considered because the use the overtly religiously iconography on the daemon miniatures was offensive.   After the competition the religious nature of the mini and the disqualification was discussed on the different Hobby websites.  As most internet discussions go, some liked the mini but there were some that mercilessly attacked it for its content.  I guess after the disappointment and controversy, I just lost it.  I just didn’t have any great ideas for a mini that inspired me.  This went on for many years.  I wanted to paint something new but the next great idea never came to me. Inspiration can be a weird thing.   A few years ago this ended.  I started working on a new piece “MaGog” and I know exactly what I want to paint. I have completed the body of the mini and just need to finish the banner work.   I just now need the time to do it.  One day I hope to be back!  

This, however, is the best part of the story about the 2006 UK Golden Demon that was never told.  The people I met were incredible, and among those it was meeting the French that made greatest impression on me.  I had the pleasure of getting to spend the day with:  Jeremy Bonamant (Bragon), Bruno Grelier, Allan C, Jacque Alexandre, and  David Waeselynck.  They had all piled in a van and drove form France—sleeping in the van the night before.  These guys were crazy!  They ranged from a teen ager to a man ns his late 40s—all crammed in the van.  They were so enthusiastic and passionate about the hobby that they were on just another level.  I spent the day talking to them about painting and looking at their work.  It was awesome.  I have so much respect for their work.  Not since the Battle of Hastings did the French do so well on British soil.  The French invasion swept the golden demons and Jacque Alexander took home the Slayer Sword.

Now here is the amazing part.   Bruno Grelier had entered into the same category as Golgotha.  When he saw that Golgotha had been disqualified, he gave me his trophy and asked me to take it.  He insisted that I should have his trophy because he felt I deserved it.  Now think about this. I had never met Bruno Grelier before in my life.  We didn’t even speak a common language.  He gave one of the most precious things a Golden competitor can have (i.e., his trophy) to a complete stranger.  Only someone that is totally  passionate and crazy about the hobby could do such a thing.  I have always wanted to repay this random act of kindness.  I have wanted to win a slayer sword and send it back to him.  Unfortunately, I haven’t won any in a long while.  I have never spoken to Bruno since that day.  I hope to make a comeback and when I do I am going to find Bruno Grelier wherever he is in the world and pay him back with a sword!  One day.   

Bronze 2001 Canadian Games Day

Until next time,

Tyler M.

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Building a Better Casket of Souls: Part 1

July 15, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: REVIEW: The Vengeful Spirit

≪ Previous: Miniature Painting Masters: Victor Hardy

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For those of you familiar with some of my articles on Bell of Lost Souls you'll know that I occasionally have an article titled "Building a Better" where I try and improve on one of GW's existing sculpts. Today starts my quest to make my Tomb King's Casket of Souls more dynamic.

Now to be fair, I have actually been working on this off and on for quite some time, but my ideas have changed since I started and I am finally at a point where you can see the progress I am making. Although I am not sure how many parts this article will have I am going to follow it through all the way to the finished, painted model. 

I actually really like the GW Casket of Souls model, it has tons of detail, is very flavorful and has aged very well. The only thing I feel that it's lacking is some dynamic movement. The easiest fix for that is with the Tomb Guard that stand watch over it. With all of the new plastic options spread over 3 sets, Tomb Guard, Warsphinx and Necropolis Knights, I had a cornucopia of parts to chose from. It did also help that I built my Knights as Stalkers and my Warsphinx as a Necrosphinx, which means all the Guard bits were unused. 

After a little fiddling around with different parts and placement on the base my 2 guards were set. The next thing I wanted to address was the Light of Death spell this thing unleashes. Think the Ark of the Covenant from Indiana Jones. My original idea was to use the banshees from the Vampire Count's Mortis Engine. I even went so far as to buy the loose bits off eBay and glue them all together. I had seen this done several times on various forums across the internet and liked the look.

Unfortunately I couldn't get past the European look of the banshees. Their armor just didn't fit in with the Tomb King aesthetic. After looking back through my army books I decided to do some kind of floating "ghost" skulls. Skulls are definitely Tomb Kingesque and I had a lot of left overs. One of the skulls, the screaming one, is actually the front to one of their trumpets with a few detail filed off. So began the painstaking process of adjusting and re adjusting the shape and placement of the paper clips that would form the ghost tail of the skull.

They all had to be coming out from under the lid, look awesome, and fit around my existing models on the base without looking to forced. The back one was the hardest for some reason. The green stuff was probably the easiest part of it since ghost tail are pretty amorphous, all I had to do was make sure they conveyed movement and were interesting to look at. Now its ready for painting, which will be done in 5 separate pieces; the Liche Priest, the 2 Guards, the base with skull pile and pedestal and the casket itself with the ghost skulls.

Time to break out the brush.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

REVIEW: The Vengeful Spirit

July 16, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: PAINTING: Tomb Prince Al Ptramose

≪ Previous: Building a Better Casket of Souls: Part 1

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Tyler M here with my review of the latest Horus Heresy novel, The Vengeful Spirit by Graham McNiel.


Let me start off by saying this book is big, clocking in at over 500 pages, which is nothing new for a McNiel novel. Overall I enjoyed it a lot, but there are definitely a few things he could have trimmed out to make it a leaner, smoother story.

This is the first novel to return the focus to Horus and his legion since the opening trilogy which is welcome but at the same time may leave you wondering who certain characters are since it is assumed you come into the story with the knowledge. For me the opening trilogy was last read several years ago, so while I at least vaguely recalled most of the characters there were a few that left me scratching my head as to who they were. Horus' characterization also shifts a bit form what we've seen in his cameos in past books. Gone is the evil, somewhat 2 dimensional personality and instead we see him acting more like a real Warmaster with goals outside of spreading Chaos. He wants to rule the Imperium, not just destroy it, and acts a lot more like how we was in the opening trilogy, but slightly more evil.

It starts off kind of clunky, not slow, but clunky. Almost as if he had a really good idea of where he wanted to take the novel but the process of getting to the planet Molech was a little more amorphous. Like I said, its not slow though, and there is some spectacular action within the first chapter or two involving, the shattered legions and 3 traitor Primarchs! On the loyalist side of things we get to see the Knights Errant preparing to embark on a dangerous mission to infiltrate Horus' flagship and mark a way for a certain high profile executioner to try and take out the Warmaster.

Who are the Knights Errant you may be asking? Well this is the first novel where you really had to have listened to several audio dramas to be able to understand whats going on. Make sure you listen to or read all of the Garro dramas, or at the very least Legion of One, and it seems like getting ahold of Wolf Hunt wouldn't hurt either, although I haven't listened to that one and I was able to figure out what most likely happened in it from the events in the novel. As far as which novels you should make sure you've read before this, preferably all of them, since at this point in the series they are assuming that the reader has been following along and won't really spell anything out for you. Novels with specific references in this though would be the entire opening trilogy, The Outcast Dead, Flight of the Eisenstien and Angel Exterminatus.

Now back to the main story. Once the invasion of Molech properly starts the action really gets going and doesn't let up. From this point forward the book is purely fantastic with so many cinematic moments its hard to keep track. This is the first novel to feature Imperial Knights at all and there are some awesome moments with them but also a few that seem unnecessary and added purely to feature more Knights. The main Knight household on Molech is House Devine and there is an interesting side plot of family intrigue, murder and power struggles there that I enjoyed but in the end didn't seem to have much of a pay off. It seems like none of the backstabbing had an impact on their final contribution to the war effort, which let me say is quite explosive and dynamic if not a little far fetched. This plot line is a continuation of a short story from Imperial Truth, an event only book, but McNiel explains enough of what happened that you don't really need to have read it beforehand. Another element that was slightly wasted was Fulgrim, whom Horus makes seem like is going to play a key role in the invasion, and although I guess he does it still seems wasted, and also some Blood Angels that didn't really need to be included.

Mortarion also gets some cool scenes in here with his Death Guard assisting in the invasion and the return of a character we haven't seen for quite awhile. Unfortunately they are not given much of a spotlight so I am still waiting on the first REAL Death Guard book, because lets face it, Eisenstien was a Garro book. My hope is that Anthony Reynolds is given the task of writing the novel that will focus on Typhon's betrayal and their ultimate fall to Nurgle; he writes fantastic Nurgle stuff.

There are plenty of more intimate moments during the invasion as well, mostly featuring Horus and his  new Mournival, which are all fantastic. This all ends in a spectacular fashion as the Warmaster goes after his real prize on Molech and then even more epically back aboard the Vengeful Spirit. To say the confrontation there is long in the making is an understatement.

There are many tense moments throughout the novel with several returning characters, epic showdowns, and truly nail biting moments as you wonder whether your favorite legionaries will survive to see another story. Although we all know certain characters are destined to survive the Heresy, there are many we are not so sure about and not all of them will make it to the end of The Vengeful Spirit. Other highlights include a group of Ultramarines being very Ultramariney and giving the Sons of Horus a run for their money, some epic titan duels, another Perpetual storyline and some more revelations about everyone's favorite Master of Mankind.

All in all I highly recommend this book and although the beginning may stumble here and there once the story gets going you won't be able to put it down.

Final Score 4/5

Until next time,

Tyler M.

PAINTING: Tomb Prince Al Ptramose

July 17, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Mini of the Week 7/18/14

≪ Previous: REVIEW: The Vengeful Spirit

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Looks like I was inspired by the Mini of the Week last week. My Tomb Kings are really inspiring me at the moment and I've had this guy sitting around for a month or so now just waiting for some paint.

I picked up this guy for a discount at my local store since he was still in metal and not finecast, which was fine with me, the more metal the better.

I didn't have much of a plan when I started him beyond using my army's colors of turquoise and white. I knew his loin cloth straps and shoulder/neck guard were going to be turquoise with a white cloak but his weird leather skin kilt thing threw me for a loop. I really didn't want it to look like human flesh since I thought that was kind of tacky for Tomb Kings so I was kind of stumped. I randomly chose one of my leathery browns, the new Vermin Brown equivalent, and started mixing different paints in starting with a flesh tone but ended up mixing in more black which gave me the final color. This was then highlighted up by mixing in Ushabi Bone.

Since this guy is royalty I made more of his armor into gems then normal to reflect his wealth. It seemed like a simple idea but proved a little bit more difficult once I had to work around his beard and raised arm. I painted the gems around his waist white which was a first for me and I am really happy with how they turned out, I definitely think they are convincing and they were pretty fun. They are just Rakarth Flesh shaded down by mixing in black and highlighted by mixing in white.

Once I was about 80% done with the entire model I decided that the color balance was off since there are no gems on his legs to break up the gold. I don't like to do any sculpting on painted models but I figured this was an easy enough task. The newer Tomb King models have plenty of little stylized skulls all over them and I have recently become an expert at sculpting these after having to do about 20 of them on another project. You can see the green stuff skulls on the nearly done model above. The skull on his base is from Secret Weapon Miniatures and added a nice final touch to break up the sand.

I am pretty happy with how this guy turned out, I feel like he gives a slight Lawrence of Arabia vibe with his white headdress. Like an undead, Egyptian Lawrence. I am always messing around with new photo techniques and put together a quick backdrop in photoshop for this mini. I printed it out and used it as my actual backdrop, its not photoshopped in later. I like it a lot and might use it for all of my future Tomb King stuff, although I will of course still take some photos with a traditional white background for a more uncluttered look.

Hopefully Prince Al Ptramose will be leading my army into victory over my friend's Lizardmen soon, my Herald hasn't fared so well.

Be sure to vote for him on Cool Mini or Not here.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

If you have any questions about specific painting recipes or techniques let me know in the comments and I will be sure to detail them in the future. Stay on the lookout for a tutorial on how to sculpt those skull icons sometime soon.

Mini of the Week 7/18/14

July 18, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Hobby Tips: Choosing the Right Primer, Part 1

≪ Previous: PAINTING: Tomb Prince Al Ptramose

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Welcome back to Mini of the Week, where every Friday I will find a miniature from around the web that exemplifies an aspect of our hobby and share it with you.

Throgg the Troll King by Tupavko on CMoN

I actually first saw this model a few months ago and was blown away by it. Although Throgg has an official GW model (one which I think is pretty good) this hobbyist decided to completely scratch build his own. Pretty much everything on this model is completely sculpted out of greenstuff with only a few details added on from other models. 

This guy really exemplifies what Chaos is all about. Every part of this model is in flux and I imagine he would be absolutely terrifying to meet in real life. Not only is the sculpting top notch but the paint job is just perfect as well. It strikes a nice balance between cold and warm colors with the warm colors emphasizing the disease and corruption flowing through his body. This guy is Fantasy to the core and looks like he just walked out of an Adrian Smith painting.

Be sure to check out more views of it on Cool Mini or Not and show the artist some love if you like it.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

What do you think of this model? If you have any models or have seen any around the web that you feel deserve to be the Mini of the Week feel free to send them to me at mengelart@gmail.com with the title "Mini of the Week" and a brief description of how you painted or a link to where you found it.

Hobby Tips: Choosing the Right Primer, Part 1

July 21, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: TUTORIAL: Sculpting Skull Icons

≪ Previous: Mini of the Week 7/18/14

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No matter what model you are painting they all start the same way, with a coat of primer. Today I am going to take a look at the various options we have for our minis.

Lets start with the basics, EVERY model needs to be primed. Never paint on bare plastic, resin or metal, your model will suffer for it. The paints we use don't adhere very well to an unprimed model and are likely to chip and rub off when used during games.

Now that we got that out of the way lets talk about our choices. There are many companies out there that produce primer including non wargaming ones, but in my opinion your best choices from worst to best are either P3, Citadel (GW) or Army Painter. GW's is the most expensive but generally more places carry it then Army Painter. One of the great things about Army Painter is the wide range of colored primers they produce. Now I'm not saying these are the only 3 you should choose from, its just my opinion and what I use, if you find something that works better for you, use it. Its all about what works best for you.

Once you've chosen your manufacturer you have to pick your color. For beginners I always recommend using black primer, always. Its is much more forgiving then any other color since if you miss a spot it won't stand out like something lighter would. Imagine your beautifully painted Space Marine with a bright white armpit because you couldn't reach in there with your brush? Not gonna be a problem with black.

This guy had plenty of hard to reach spots.

The downside of course is the difficulty with painting bright colors. With all of the high pigment paints (GW's Base Paints) out there now though it isn't as huge of a problem as it was 10 years ago.

So what about white primer you may be thinking? There are plenty of painters out there who swear by it, since it gives you more control over your shadows, but it really is something more suited to experienced painters. Of course it has its uses for the more casual hobbyist as well. If you are painting something that is primarily white or a bright yellow then you may want to take the risk and use white primer. Personally I have never found a white primer that I like, regardless of manufacturer.

One of the few models I've primed white, you can see the chalkiness.

Every one that I have used has been chalky and often adds a fine grain texture to my models that I just don't want. If you find one that works hang on to it! The best white primer I have found is P3's. It doesn't have much of a chalky texture to it at all, but sprays on very thin, so you will need to to do several thin coats.

Of course black and white are the 2 main colors for primer, and for awhile they were king, but thankfully we have more options readily available to us nowadays. In part 2 we will take a look at grey primer and colored primers.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

TUTORIAL: Sculpting Skull Icons

July 22, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: REVIEW: Lords of Mars

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Today I have a quick tutorial on how to sculpt skull icons onto your models. If there is one thing that the denizens of the 40K and Warhammer Fantasy universes never seem to have enough of it skulls.

I recently taught myself how to sculpt these when I needed to fancy up a bolter for a Space Marine. I then perfected it when I had to sculpt about 20 of them for a more recent project which I will be putting up here sometime soon. After you know what you are doing these are a very easy and simple way to spruce up an model that needs some extra detail.

Lets start off with a brief overview of the supplies you need.

You can see some greenstuff, a Space Marine to sculpt on and 3 different sculpting tools.

The first is the old GW sculpting tool which has a dull knife on one end and a flat circle on the other.

The second is a dental pick which I picked up from a local craft store.

The last one is a rubber clay working tool. I bought this in a pack off the internet and its really one of the most valuable tools I use. This particular one is cone shaped, which I prefer to use the most, but the set came with a bunch of other shapes too. 

Also make sure you have a cup of clean water since the greenstuff is sticky and you will want to wet your tools before you use them. So to start of go ahead and mix up a small ball of greenstuff. I always mix way more then I need on accident, and these skulls you a lot less then you would think. 

Looking over the model I chose to add the skull to his right knee pad.

Add a small ball of greenstuff to the model and flatten it so it isn't very thick. At this pint I also work it into the basic shape of a skull, so basically a circle with a V on the bottom that doesn't have a point on the end. Don't be afraid to cut off some of the putty if you put to much on. I used the GW sculpting tool for all of this work, flattening it with the circle end and cutting it with the knife.

Now take the dental pick and poke holes where the eyes and nose go. It will look very simple at this point.

Grab the rubber clay tool and gently widen out the eye sockets. Don't worry about making them to round at this point because we are going to go back in later and refine their shape. You also want to enlarge the nose a bit but not nearly as much and remember that it needs to be in a vague triangle shape. The clay tool is great for this since I can just use its' natural shape to widen the eyes and such.

Now take the circle end of the GW tool and flatten out its' brow so the top of the eyes are almost horizontal. I just gently push down and towards the bottom with it. You can also press the forehead deeper a bit to give the brow ridge some definition, but don't go overboard with it, you don't want a Neanderthal. 

Now take the dental pick and carefully carve the teeth in. I usually do 3 teeth, but you can do more as well. All I do is place the side of the pick where I want the tooth gap and press down, don't use the point. You can also use the knife here if you want.

At this point the teeth are usually to long so I went ahead and cut off the extra with the knife. You may have to reshape the teeth a little bit after doing this.

Now it's time to give the cheek bones some definition. I used he clay tool and gently defined under the eye sockets by indenting into the area just above the teeth. This will leave you with a indented V that point towards the nose. You can also mess around with the shape of the eye sockets by just gently nudging the outside of them with the side of the clay tool into the shape you want.

Last but not least I added some definition into the side of the skull by indenting slightly with the clay tool. This gives the illusion of the skull continuing backwards since thats where the skull would indent for the ears. At this point I also did any last minute adjustments I wanted if something wasn't in the right shape. I also added a small indent between the tip of the nostril cavity and the brow.

Here's the finished model with a brand new skull badge on his knee. You can do this at any shape, just with less detail the smaller you go and more detail the larger you go. This took me about 20 minutes to do from start to finish. Make sure you have the skull aligned properly as you go along. There's nothing worse then finishing and realizing that the skull is crooked in context with what its sculpted on. Hopefully this will help you in adding some more morbidity to your models, because Emperor knows there are never enough skulls in Warhammer.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

If you have any questions about any of the stages or techniques used just let me know in the comments below and I will be sure to answer you. I want to see someone do a Marine covered head to toe in these skulls.  

REVIEW: Lords of Mars

July 23, 2014, 8:00 am

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I recently just finished the second book in Graham McNeill's Mechanicus trilogy, Lords of Mars, and it did not disappoint. Lets take a look.

If you read the first book in the series, Priest of Mars, then you know that the second book had a lot to live up to. Fortunately McNeill delivers and has upped the ante on almost everything. What is refreshing to me about these books is that its a break from the standard battle, followed by battle, followed by battle format that a lot of standard 40K fare uses. It sits somewhere between Abnett's Inquisitor books and a typical 40K novel in that its similar to what has been dubbed "domestic" 40K; basically showing more of the day to day, behind the scenes stuff that we know has to occur for it to be a believable setting, but still has plenty of high stakes action with Space Marines, Titan Legions and epic starship action. Be warned, this review contains minor spoilers of the first book.

The story picks up pretty much right where the last book ended, with the Sparenza and its crew arriving over the world that contains the remains of Archmagos Telok's ship. As with all series you may spend the first few chapters reacquainting yourself with all of the characters, luckily there aren't as many to remember as say in a Heresy novel. The tone early on sets up all of the weird and strange things that surround the Adeptus Mechanicus and McNeill really does a fantastic job at it. As the expedition makes its way across the planet they inevitably encounter some enemies, which are kind of odd, but at the same time something new for 40K. My one complaint about them is that we don't really get an explanation on what they are, but the end of the novel implies that we will probably learn more in the next book.

Without giving to much away the story progresses with some world changing revelations that I am excited see the outcome of, some great Space Marine and Titan action as well as a fantastic "space battle" that acts as the climax of the book. As far as characters go my favorites are Archmagos Kotov, Brother-Sergeant Tanna, Abraham, Magos Linya and the Rogue Trader Roboute Surcouf. The last one really steals the show for me and I really hope that McNeill plans to write a Rogue Trader centric novel at some point. Although Abraham himself was interesting his storyline was by far the weakest. It felt as though it didn't really have any resolution or purpose and the democratic ideals it represents doesn't really mesh well with what we know about 40K. The one thing that really felt like dead weight was Hawke, the guardsmen who was one of the central characters of Storm of Iron. In the first Mechanicus novel he served some purpose but in this sequel he really does very little and just comes off as unlikable and annoying, which is really a shame. In Storm of Iron I really liked him but McNeill seems to not know what to do with him and included Hawke just to be a "hey, remember this guy" moment. The only other underwhelming element was the Eldar, but it seems they were more planting a seed for a major contribution in the next book, so we shall see.

Lords of Mars really is a fantastic novel since it gets to explore all of the weird fringe elements of the 40K universe, heck, it even takes place outside of the borders of the Imperium. This freedom from what we normally read really lets McNeill go be creative with his characters, settings and situations. With the ending of this book I know where the first few chapters of the final novel in the trilogy will go but as far as where the series will ultimately end, I have no clue, which leaves me very excited to get ahold of Gods of Mars whenever it comes out. Oh, and this series has some of the most gorgeous cover art I've seen from Black Library, just saying.

Overall score - 4/5 

Until next time,

Tyler M.

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PAINTING: Angron Finished!

July 24, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Mini of the Week 7/25/14

≪ Previous: REVIEW: Lords of Mars

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Well I have finally finished my Angron model and got around to taking some better pictures of him.

I decided against adding the second marine to the base that he is killing since I thought it made the whole thing to cluttered and I liked the asymmetry that leaving it off created.

This model was a lot of fun to paint, even if it took me months. I will admit that I lost a little bit of steam once Angron himself was done and all I had left was the display base, but thats how it goes as a painter. Some days you are painting one of the Emperor's sons, other days you're painting a handful of rocks.

The World Eater is a mid-tone of Ulthuan Grey highlighted up through white and shaded by mixing in Charadon Granite (man I love that color). I did it this way so I had somewhere to go with my highlights since if I had used flat white as the mid-tone then I would have painted myself into a corner.

The blue is the same recipe I used for my Ultramarine Tyranic War Veteran I entered into the Golden Demons in 2012. It actually makes me want to paint more Ultramarines, its looks great, is fairly simple and the smurfs were my first army in 40K.

I think his face is one of the best I've done, which is kind of surprising since I don't feel like I spent that much more time on it compared to my standard models. I followed the exact same recipe I normally do so it must be because of the sculpt as well. Forge World sure knows how to pack in the details.

I also took some picture with a white background but I think I prefer the black, it makes the colors pop more. If you like the white background I will post up the rest of them at sometime.

Be sure to vote for him on Cool Mini or Not here.

If you have any questions let me know in the comments.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

Mini of the Week 7/25/14

July 25, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Hobby Tips: Choosing the Right Primer, Part 2

≪ Previous: PAINTING: Angron Finished!

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Welcome back to Mini of the Week, where every Friday I will find a miniature from around the web that exemplifies an aspect of our hobby and share it with you.

Necron Overlord by agent_venom on CMoN

I figured it was time to throw some 40K into the mix with Mini of the Week, which luckily isn't to hard to do. After looking around for only a couple of minutes I found this astounding Necron Overlord on CMoN. Everything about this model works together to reinforce the whole Necron aesthetic. The overall dark color scheme broken up by the neon green OSL (object source lighting) really sells the post apocalyptic alien vibe. My favorite part is the glow coming up around his face making him look really ominous. 

Of course you can't overlook the extensive conversion work done on the base. It's great that its so extravagant yet doesn't interfere with the model itself and instead acts as a framing device. I definitely think of Magneto's escape scene from X2: X-Men United when looking at this, with each of the scarabs moving a metal plate in front of him before he takes his next step. I particularly like the "movement" line coming out of the back of the floating scarab since it solves the question of how do you make it float without a flying base and at the same time reinforces the overall theme and sense of forward movement this piece has. The OSL on this is so great I can't even tell if the gutter on the base has an actual LED in it or is just painted that well.

Be sure to check out more views of it on Cool Mini or Not and show the artist some love if you like it.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

What do you think of this model? If you have any models or have seen any around the web that you feel deserve to be the Mini of the Week feel free to send them to me at mengelart@gmail.com with the title "Mini of the Week" and a brief description of how you painted or a link to where you found it.

Hobby Tips: Choosing the Right Primer, Part 2

July 28, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Building a Better Casket of Souls: Part 2

≪ Previous: Mini of the Week 7/25/14

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No matter what model you are painting they all start the same way, with a coat of primer. Today we have Part 2 of my look at your primer choices.

Last week in Part 1 I went over some basics of the importance of using primer, the best companies to choose from and the advantages and disadvantages of black and white primer. Today I am going to look at some of the other choices of primer colors available as well as a few more tips and tricks.

I recently came across this primer while working on a fairly large commission that required a lot of grey. Luckily for me I found this primer by Tamiya that almost perfectly matched the color I was using. I went through maybe 3 cans while working on the commission and was pleasantly surprised with how it worked. It sprays evenly, thinly and with no dusting, its also fairly cheap depending on where you buy it at. I found mine at a certain craft store that frequently has coupons and discounts. I now use this as my alternative for white primer since it is fairly light and covers much better than any cans of white I have found so far.

This guy right here was primed with Tamiya Grey Primer and then worked up to white. It actually works better since you don't really want to use flat white for your main color since it leaves you no room to highlight. His base color is Ulthuan Grey, which is slightly off white which I can than highlight with pure white. This of course would not work for tricks such as using a yellow wash right over a white primer to get a good yellow color but for anything else that needs a light primer base I highly recommend it. It is also more neutral then white.

The next choice you have is a colored primer. There are several companies that make them, including GW (although their selection is very limited) but I prefer Army Painter due to their consistent quality, vast range of choices and the fact that they color match all of their primers with a regular layer paint. I started using this range for my Tomb Kings. 

Originally I had a white primer since my guys are mostly bone and other light colors like white and gold, but wasn't satisfied with the consistency of the primer. Sometimes I would get a chalky coat other times a really thin transparent coat. Then I decided to try Army Painter's Bone colored primer and all of my problems were solved. It cut out a few steps for me since I no longer had to basecoat the model with bone and was all around a much better primer choice. Like I said, there is a large range of choices for colors, so more likely then not you will find a can that suits your army or project. 

This model was painted using a primer basecoat of the Army Painter Bone and then made yellow by glazes. You can find the painting guide here. This just goes to show that sometimes these color primers are good for more then just the color they are.

Primer Tips

That covers all the 4 basic choices for primer so now lets go over a few extra tips. Make sure you read the instructions on each can, since they will all differ slightly. I have made the mistake of treating each can the same and that can give you bad results if you're not careful. When I first started in the hobby I would just lay my models down on some newspaper to prime them, and while I still do this for large things such as tanks and such I now use a much more efficient method for anything smaller. 

I now use an old spray can that is empty and stick my model to the top of it with some poster tack. This way I can get all angles of the model in one go by turning the can around and also avoid getting any on my hands. Another good method for batch priming lots of models in one go is to find a long wooden square stick and using double sided tape to stick as many models as you can to all 4 sides. This gives you the same ease of use as my spray can idea but you get a lot more done at one time. Of course only do this for plastic or resin models since anything heavier may not stick to the tape when you turn it upside down.

If you miss a few spots don't worry to much, you can always cover them with a thin layer of paint before you start painting. It better to do this then to over spray and end up with to thick of a coat. Now this only covers spray primers, there are also paint on primers (GW's Ceramite White) and gesso, which I have not tried on a model but have heard works well also. By doing either of these methods you are just sacrificing some extra time as well as a possibly uneven coat if you're not careful.

That wraps it up for my look at choosing the right primer. As with anything like this there are many other brands, colors and choices out there that I might not even know about so if you have some tips and tricks that I missed please feel free to share it in the comment section.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

Building a Better Casket of Souls: Part 2

July 29, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: The Vault: My Very First White Dwarf!

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For those of you familiar with some of my articles on Bell of Lost Souls you'll know that I occasionally have an article titled "Building a Better" where I try and improve on one of GW's existing sculpts. This is part 2 of my take on the Casket of Souls.

In the last installment the model was ready to paint so I wasted no time. Looking over the model I decided that I had to paint it in several subassemblies to be able to get to all the nooks and crannies. I ended up dividing it up by priest, the base with mound of skeletons, the casket with skull ghosts, and each of the tomb guards. All of them were pinned to a wine cork (I have plenty) so I could prime them easier and also have something to hold onto while painting.

They were all primed with the Bone primer from Army Painter. After thinking about my color scheme a bit more I decided that I should have sprayed the priest and casket black to save myself sometime, but I'll go over why later. 

Since my priest and casket are both darker I gave each of them a thorough wash of Agrax Earthshade. This way all of the details were picked out for me and if I miss any spots in a crack or something, it won't stand out. 

After looking through a few examples of other people's Casket of Souls I decided to paint mine the same way I am painting all of my stone constructs in my army, with a black marble effect. So, first things first, I went and painted almost my whole casket black, hence why I should have just primed it that way to start. 

I will go over how to paint the marble in a more in depth tutorial sometime soon, but essentially it's black and turquoise blended together and painted in a random striation effect. After that was done I basecoated all of the gold parts with Balthasar Gold, then washed them with Earthshade. Unfortunately, it seems like I forgot to take any pictures of the gold once it was done before moving on to the next area, but all I did was layer Gehanna's Gold on top and highlight by mixing in Runefang Steel. I also did a few shadow effects by mixing in some Rhinox Hide, but this was mostly just done on the large flat areas. Now on to the next fun part!

First off, you can see the finished gold in these pictures, although I haven't painted the eagles yet. I needed a break from gold. The ghost skull was a ton of fun to paint. I basecoated it with Ulthuan Grey then washed it in a few select areas with Scorpion Green (older color), and then darkened the shade down in a few even more select areas by mixing in some Snot Green.

 This was done mostly on the skull itself, in any of the "valleys" on the ghost tail and near where the ghost comes out of the casket. I then re-layered it with Ulthuan Grey leaving the green in the recesses and blending it a bit in a few spots. This was then highlighted with White Scar. Finally, I did a glaze of Scorpion Green around where the ghost comes out of the casket and right behind the skull. While I was doing this I also added a green glow coming out from the crack between the casket and its lid.

That's all for now. Next up are the two other ghosts and all of the rest of the model! I will probably finish the whole casket and base up before I start on the priest or guards, but we shall see. It all comes down to if I get bored with one part, if I do then I will take a break by painting a different part.

If you have any questions let me know in the comments.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

The Vault: My Very First White Dwarf!

July 30, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: PAINTING: Plaguebearers

≪ Previous: Building a Better Casket of Souls: Part 2

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Welcome to a new feature on Mengel Miniatures: The Vault. Here I will be taking a nostalgic look back at some of the greater moments, models, books, and various other things from our hobby. Today I start it off with a look back at my very first copy of White Dwarf from September, 2000.

Let me set the scene for you, it was the summer of 2000 and my 11 year old self had just received the 3rd edition starter set of 40K for my birthday in June. I had walked into my local GW months before and was instantly taken with all of the awesome models I saw. I vividly remember going there with my friend and upon leaving saying how I was going to go back sometime soon and buy something, to which my friend responded, "No you won't," and I reluctantly agreed. I thought I probably wouldn't invest the time needed into it and it was just something I thought was cool and would forget within a day or two. Well here we are 14 years later and we can see how that turned out.

When I cracked open my starter set after my birthday I rather enthusiastically started painting the Space Marines as Ultramarines since thats what the demo board at my store had. I recall gluing their shoulder pads on the wrong way and then having to tear them all off to fix it. Sometime within that summer I bought my second model, which I swear to this day was a Land Raider. There may have been some smaller purchase in between that I forgot, but I doubt it. This was a magical summer for 40K since the campaign for the 3rd War for Armageddon was raging across the world's GW stores. I never got enough models painted to participate in the campaign. My first game didn't come until later that fall, but that didn't stop me from hanging around my local store and watching the battles unfold.

This is when I bought my first White Dwarf. Clearly it holds special meaning to me for nostalgic reasons, but it was also just a great issue packed full of content. Times were different back then. Third edition was still fairly new, the most recent codex was Craftworld Eldar, the Land Raider had just been redesigned, 6th edition Fantasy was still a month away, and I could buy a squad of Tactical Marines for $22.99. Well, enough with my reminiscing, let's take a look at issue 248 of White Dwarf.

Check out that cheesy cover, I love it. The first thing you see when you open the issue are all of the new releases for that month. Like I said, this is when Armageddon was going on so the new releases consisted of Orks, Black Templars, Salamanders, and all of the new Steel Legion stuff, still some of my favorite Guard models around. They also do a brief recap of what the campaign is and include a battle result form so you can send in your own battles to influence the campaign. 

Following that is a five page short story written by none other then Dan Abnett. It sets up the start of the campaign and depicts the battle that raged around the still burning Hades Hive. We get some great moments with Commissar Yarrick, lots of Imperial Guard action, and a handful of Warlord Titans marching into an Ork Rok before blowing it to hell. It's great and still holds up today, the only thing that doesn't match current lore are the Warlord Princeps being in a command chair instead of an amniotic tank.

They followed this up with an advertisement for the boxed army deals focusing on Armageddon. Do you guys remember these things? $200 for a whole army and they almost always included an exclusive model. I think they only stopped doing this four or five years ago. I wonder if I can still get that Steel Legion one... 

After this are some new rules for Mordhiem and a hobby and tactica article on the, apparently brand new, plastic Sentinal model.

I thought this was funny, check out the whole nine novels from Black Library! Like I said, different times. Ragnar's Claw was my first step into the world of 40K fiction, I still have never read the first book in the series. 

There are a few pages talking about the new Land Raider Crusader including a copy of its rules since it was not in the Space Marine codex at the time. We then get another five pages of short stories about Land Raiders written by Gav Thorpe, Jervis Johnson, Andy Chambers, and Wiliam King! Seriously, this issue is about 75% short stories and lore, I love it.

There are a few pages on the Orks, talking about them from an Inquisitor's perspective along with plenty of full color diagrams.

Followed by four more pages of lore, this time on the new Eldar Craftworlds. There is a little bit of coverage of a Canadian Tournament after this with pictures of hobbyist's models.

Then we get a fairly large article by Phil Kelly going over how to collect and play with an Iyanden Ghost Warrior army. I still love White Dwarf, but there is enough content in this one older issue to cover about a years worth of Weekly issues today.

A sneak peak of the new and exciting 6th edition of Warhammer Fantasy. I really liked when they did these sneak peaks of upcoming releases a month or two ahead of time, it always got me really excited for what they were working on.

Do you remember the Index Astartes articles, the ones that basically solidified everything that acts as the ground work for all the current Space Marine lore? Well this issue had two of them in it. The first, which you can see above, briefly went over which Marine forces were active in the war for Armageddon and then had three full color pages depicting each Chapter's color scheme. 

The second went over the background for the Black Templars, which up until this point had just been normal Marines with a black and white scheme. From what I understand, a lot of what became the Black Templars' official look and feel actually came from Matt Hutson's personal army. So if you like their zealotry and crusader look you have him to thank.

Another five pages of lore, this time talking about the various Imperial Guard regiments on Armageddon. In the picture above you can see the Salvar Chem-Dogs which I always liked, they just looked so cool.

Behold, all six sets of GW's plastic 40k models at the time!

The White Dwarf finished with an epic 22 page battle report which was four separate games all linked together. This was part 2 of it, sadly I never got to read part 1 from the previous issue, but I still devoured everything in this report. The whole thing is written in a historical narrative style, like how they write about important battles in the codexes, but with maps and pictures. There are a few bits of story scattered throughout, too, to help give it the feel of an actual short story. Then the whole thing finishes off with four pages of commentary from the players. Now that is how you do a Battle Report.

I will just finish off this article with this picture. I always wanted the Mechanicus set but was never able to get enough Skulz.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

PAINTING: Plaguebearers

July 31, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Mini of the Week 8/1/14

≪ Previous: The Vault: My Very First White Dwarf!

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I realized awhile ago that I have never posted a complete set of pictures of my Golden Demon winning Plaguebearer squad so while I was taking pictures of Angron for last week I decided to snap some of these guys as well.

I entered them into the US Golden Demons last year and these bad boys took home a silver trophy in the 40K Squad category which I was very happy about. This is the first unit display stand that I have ever made and it turned out a lot better then I though it would. I knew I wanted a trench since I feel like that's very 40K and there is a piece of artwork from the Demon codex showing some Plaguebearers assaulting an Imperial trench that I think is awesome.

This was the first mini I painted for the unit. When I staerted on it I had no intention of entering them into a competition, they were just going to be a gaming unit. I got them back when the new Plaguebearers first came out in the summer of 2012. I really liked the new sculpts and wanted to try and update my color scheme. I already had 30+ of the old metal ones all painted up but I had worked on them mostly during 2009 and my skills and standards had improved a lot since then.

Each of them took me about 10 hours to paint I would guess. The longest part is of course the skin and once I got over that hurdle it all went much quicker. I painted them one at a time since they were so time consuming and in the end that worked in my favor since it produced a Golden Demon worthy unit.

I painted these first 3 over about 3 months and then they were left to sit for a couple of months with no work done on them. Sometime in the spring I started to seriously think about what I was going to enter into the competition that year and took a look around my painting desk. I usually have at least one very serious new entry that I devote months to painting (my chaos lord last year), 1 or 2 other slightly less serious new entries and then I look at the stuff I have already painted that year and pick the best.

These guys kind of fell in the middle since they were half done at the time. Over the next 5 or so months I slowly painted the remaining members in between other projects since I didn't want to rush and ruin them.

I really like the pallidness of their skin as opposed to the standard green skin you usually see. Don't get me wrong, I like the green tones too but this putrid white just lets you show off all the sores and bruises more. The second most time consuming part after the skin are the claws and horns since they fade to black. It's a lot of going back and forth with my colors until I got a smooth transition and I always had to look at an older model to make sure the gradient was the same.

Once I had finished 6 of them I decided that the 7th model would be the new plastic Herald model to lead them.

This guy is just pure awesome, everything about him, except for his head. The stock model's head reminds me of the creature from the black lagoon or something like that. It did not fit the Plaguebearer aesthetic at all to me so I did a simple head swap. I picked a head from the regular squad and blended the join with greenstuff.

I think it suits the model and the smaller head really emphasizes how large this guy is. 

I still have 4 more models to paint for this squad for them to even be game legal, but they have gotten a few games in, I just sub in 4 of my older metal guys to round out the numbers. I also have 3 of the new Nurgling bases and I would really like to try painting some of the new Plague Drones at some point. I plan on painting more in this scheme but its all about finding the time to fit them in. Don't worry though, the next one I paint will get documented to make a step by step painting guide.

Be sure to vote for the Herald on Cool Mini or Not here, and the whole squad here.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

Mini of the Week 8/1/14

August 1, 2014, 8:00 am

≫ Next: INTERVIEW: Rob Sanders

≪ Previous: PAINTING: Plaguebearers

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Welcome back to Mini of the Week, where every Friday I will find a miniature from around the web that exemplifies an aspect of our hobby and share it with you.

Autarque Eldar by thomasdavid.tm on CMoN

I actually found this model probably about a year or so ago and just loved it so much that I have had it in mind for this series since I started it a month ago. Eldar models always give painters some great opportunities for extravagant techniques. Whats great about this mini is that it is so simple but so beautiful and well done. Its not often that you see a monochromatic model in our hobby and this one has been pulled off excellently. Teal is a color that is really tied to the Eldar visually and the painter has achieved enough variation between the different areas of the model that it doesn't all blend together but still reads as almost one color. 

The base is also very simple yet powerful. We have the dead Deamonette submerged on the base, which of course is the Eldar's greatest enemy. I also really like how he has used different shades of pink to paint the whole base. Again it is monochromatic (okay, so I guess this model is actually dichromatic, but the colors are separated by mini and base) and also reinforces the Slaanesh feel and goes well with the Teal. The conversion work on this is so subtle and smooth I'm not even sure what's converted, I'm sure some Eldar players out there can tell me. This guy is truly a painter's model and comes as close to art as a mini can get.

Be sure to check out more views of it on Cool Mini or Not and show the artist some love if you like it.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

What do you think of this model? If you have any models or have seen any around the web that you feel deserve to be the Mini of the Week feel free to send them to me at mengelart@gmail.com with the title "Mini of the Week" and a brief description of how you painted or a link to where you found it.  

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INTERVIEW: Rob Sanders

August 4, 2014, 8:00 am

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Today we get to sit down with Black Library's Rob Sanders and take a peek behind the curtain.

This article originally ran on Bell of Lost Souls about a month ago, but I figured I would give it a second life. We all know Black Library has an extremely talented pool of writers who craft the universes we play in and flesh out the characters we love and love to hate.

Tyler M. here with an interview with Rob Sanders. He is most well known for The Serpent Beneath, Iron Within, Legion of the Damned, Atlas Infernal and his newest novel, Archaon: Everchosen as well as numerous short stories and other novels.

Tyler: Lets start from the beginning, how did you first start working for Black Library?

Rob: I honestly came in off the slush pile. I didn’t know anyone at Black Library or have any friends in the publishing business, so it was just a case of sending some fiction and hoping for the best. I sent in a Warhammer Fantasy short story called The Cold Light of Day about a Kislevite whale hunter pursuing a corrupted whale through the frozen seas at the top of the world. A fantastic editor called Christian Dunn contacted me about the story and Black Library’s intention to publish it. Naturally I was thrilled. Christian moved on from editing himself a couple of years ago to write fiction for Black Library in his own right. The Cold Light of Day, however, was my first piece of published fiction still sells as an eshort to this day. Following the short story, Christian asked me to pitch some Imperial Guard fiction for the 40K universe that went on to become Redemption Corps. Since I expected to be working with Black Library in the future I asked Christian if I could spend a day shadowing him as an editor to get a better understanding of things from the publishing side of the process. It was a very valuable day and one of the key things I learned was how very difficult and rare it was to come in cold off a publisher’s slush pile. I’m glad I didn’t know that when I originally submitted or this all might not have happened…

Tyler: Can you explain the process that starts off a book? Do you approach BL with a completely new idea of your own, or do they give you the basic premise (for example, a book focusing on Imperial Fists) and let you come up with the rest?

Rob: There are different experiences for different projects. Most of my novels have involved me bringing a new idea and then a detailed outline to my editors. Occasional projects - like short stories for themed anthologies and fiction connected to specific events - do have a basic starting point, as you have described. The usual process is as follows: idea - run it by the appropriate editor - synopsis - approval and the setting of deadlines - execution - editorial feedback - edits and final draft. I’d be lying, however, if I didn’t admit that marketing concerns and the popularity of specific factions play their role in the process. Space Marines, for example, are understandably popular in Warhammer 40K fiction despite there being a tiny number of them, galactically speaking.

Tyler: What has been the most rewarding story for you to write?

Rob: That’s a tricky question. The honest answer is that the most rewarding story is the one I’m working on at any one time. In terms of response, the Horus Heresy short story The Iron Within and the novella The Serpent Beneath receive a lot of appreciation from fans of the series. It’s always rewarding to hear compliments about your work and I’m thankful not only for the time people spend reading my work but also for the time they spend saying nice things about them in reviews, at events and on the internet. In terms of execution, the novel Atlas Infernal allowed me to explore many interrelated facets of the Warhammer 40k background, while in Legion of the Damned I got to build a chapter of my own right from the foundations. The Excoriators Space Marines chapter has turned out to be very popular among fans. Right now, I feel it would have to be Archaon: Everchosen and Archaon: Lord of the End Times. They presented me with the difficult task of making a character as formidable, monstrous and well known as Archaon engaging for the reader. I found that the key to this lay in some structural choices and it was very rewarding to see Archaon develop as a character that not only has unexpected vulnerabilities, but who you can really root for – despite who he is. The most rewarding aspect is achieving a story in Archaon: Everchosen that not only meets the expectations of those familiar with the character but is also a fresh tale, full of surprises that follows Archaon from his conception to the realisation of his destiny: a destiny I’m working on at the moment with Archaon: Lord of the End Times.

Tyler: In your short story in Imperial Truth you wrote a small connection to Legion of the Damned, is this something you plan on doing in the future? Connecting the 30K and 40K universe in more tangible yet less obvious ways like this?

Rob: As an author working in all three key Warhammer settings - the Horus Heresy, Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy – it’s always tempting to make connections. Any piece of fiction should have a textual unity, with all elements working together to make a single vision of characters and events in a designated time and place. If you fail to achieve that as an author then the narrative begins to fall apart for the reader under the weight of its own contradictions and meandering preoccupations. When you have a number of pieces of work in the same setting – even separated by great time – it can be a great opportunity to make those connections. It gives the readers of a series the same important impression of unity that rewards their commitment to a greater body of work. When I was writing Hands of the Emperor it made sense to bring in Demetrius Katafalque from Legion of the Damned not simply because I wanted to (that wouldn’t have been a good enough reason) but because it made sense that he would be on Ancient Terra at that time and in that place – given what readers knew about him from Legion of the Damned. I’d like to return to him one day.

Tyler: One of my favorite stories from you is Atlas Infernal, I know you have written a short story about Inquisitor Czevak since then, but can we expect another full novel featuring him?

Rob: I really enjoyed writing about Inquisitor Czevak. I feel he offers something different in the Warhammer 40K universe. With the Atlas Infernal itself and his ongoing rivalry with Ahriman of the Thousand Sons, Czevak’s tales seemed also to lend themselves well to short stories or ‘short trips’. In Shadow Play he finds himself wrangling with Lelith Hesperax and her Dark Eldar, in Necessary Evil he is foiling Ahriman once again on the daemon world colony of Perdition’s Landing and in Czevak to the Dark Tower Came he is investigating apocalyptic events on the Imperial world of Savignor. My schedule is quite full at the moment with projects for Black Library and other publishers but ultimately, yes, I think that Czevak more than deserves another full length adventure.

Tyler: Atlas Infernal brings up an interesting aspect of writing in the 40K sandbox. In the novel there is a Techmarine from the Relictors chapter who are declared Excommunicate Traitoris at that point, but in the lore that didn't occur until after the Eye of Terror campaign, which has since been retconned back to before anything happened. How as a writer does stuff like that affect you?

Rob: Well, you said it. It’s a sandbox and you’re playing in there with toys that routinely pass through the hands of other authors and background writers for a constantly evolving setting. It’s inevitable that toys are going to get moved around. Does it bother me? No – it kind of goes with the territory. Do you need a slightly thicker skin and the skill to move with an ever changing background? Yes. It’s a balancing act - like working on the deck of a ship. As well as concentrating on everything else you’re doing, you have to re-orient gently with the rolling pitch of the vessel and the changing sea.

Tyler: Are there any plans for a full length Horus Heresy novel for you in the future? If so, can you give us any hints?

Rob: As you know, I’ve been writing Horus Heresy fiction for a while and it’s been very well received. What you come to learn from working in all three settings and in coordination with other authors, editors and games designers who also work within those three settings is that there isn’t a queue as such in which you’re waiting for your turn. A lot depends upon who is working on what and when – and don’t underestimate the importance of emerging background from other sources like games and miniature development. Schedules don’t always fit and sometimes the things you want to write about – for one reason or another - need to come later on. A good example of this is the novella Cybernetica - that I actually wrote a number of years ago, but will actually be coming out this year. To answer your question but without going into it too deeply, I’ve had Horus Heresy opportunities offered to me that I’ve decided against in favour of other Horus Heresy opportunities that suit my interests more. Simple as that.

Tyler: In Iron Within you created one of the most memorable Iron Warriors characters since Honsou and the gang, are there any plans for you to revisit Warsmith Dantioch in the future?

Rob: Barabas Dantioch is one of my favourite characters and Iron Within – despite being a short story (albeit a rather chunky one) – really seemed to chime with Horus Heresy fans. His trials continue in Dan Abnett’s Unremembered Empire but absolutely, I’d love to write more about Dantioch.

Tyler: What other Black Library novel, series or author inspires you most right now?

Rob: Great question – and one which cannot fail to get me in trouble with someone somewhere! Let me put it this way. There are a great number of BL authors whose work I especially appreciate and who I personally like. They aren’t necessarily the same people, all of the time! In terms of inspire, I’d say different authors for different settings. I’d have to go with some old favourites. Kim Newman (writing as Jack Yeovil) for Warhammer Fantasy. The short story Ignorant Armies is still, for me, one of the best in the canon. For Warhammer 40K I’d say Dan Abnett. I read the Eisenhorn series in preparation for writing Atlas Infernal and really came to admire the trilogy.

Tyler: One thing I hear a lot is how important it is as an author to continually read other people's works, what are you reading now and what are your all time favorite books? (from any genre)

Rob: One reality of being an author is that you spend most of your time writing your own novels rather than indulging in the pleasure of others. There are, of course, times when I get to read other Black Library novels as part of that process but I should really make more time for such pursuits simply for pleasure. This also applies to authors writing in the same genre or works in other genres. I’ve had a soft spot for crime fiction since my own was selected for the televised final of the UK’s largest writing competition. I’ve won a literary fiction writing competition and some of my favourite literary authors tend to stray into science fiction territory like David Mitchell (Ghostwritten and Cloud Atlas), Margaret Atwood (Oryx and Crake and The Handmaid’s Tale) and Kazuo Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go). At the moment, however, I’m reading some fantasy – George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, to see what all the fuss is about! (I hope Rob doesn't get to attached to characters :) - Tyler)

Tyler: Your latest novel is Archaon: Everchosen (which I am very much looking forward to getting my hands on), how does it feel to take on such an iconic and important character in the Warhammer Fantasy setting?

Rob: I’m really enjoying writing about Archaon. Archaon: Everchosen is out now and I’m working on the second part of the duology - Archaon: Lord of the End Times – as we speak. I also wrote a ten thousand word Archaon short story called Archaon: The Fall and Rise, which accompanies the ebook version of the novel. It’s fantastic to write about such an iconic character. As a dark warrior, chosen of the Chaos gods and the doom of all the world, he is very much my kind of character. Naturally such a character comes with challenges. He has some wonderful background, including his acquisition of the Six Treasures of Chaos, and I worked hard to ensure that Archaon’s story felt epic while not feeling like a shopping list of items to collect. Another challenge was making Archaon a character that the reader not only wanted to follow, but could feel for and root for. My aim in both novels is to make the reader want the end of the world as much as Archaon does. A further difficulty was putting someone as deadly as Archaon in peril. The stakes have to be high and the foes epic in order to justify Archaon being in danger. Ultimately, to assist with these challenges, I decided that Archaon’s story needed to be told right from the very beginning – literally from his dread conception. The novel not only takes in a great expanse of time but there are also few Warhammer novels that could claim to travel so far in the setting. Archaon: Everchosen takes the reader on a journey across the globe, visiting distant lands on the other side of the Warhammer world.

Tyler: Can we expect to see more novels from you in the Fantasy setting?

Rob: I love that I’m one of the Black Library authors that moves between the Fantasy, Warhammer 40K and Horus Heresy settings. After completing Archaon: Lord of the End Times, I have more science fiction stuff lined up but it would be great to return to Warhammer Fantasy.

Tyler: Any final thoughts?

Rob: As well as my fiction writing you can find me active on my blog which includes features, reviews and games oriented about my Warhammer fiction. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the more the merrier over there. You can find and follow the blog here. To keep up to date with fiction releases, events and the blog you could also click LIKE on my Author Facebook page and / or  FOLLOW on my Twitter page. Thanks for reading.

Rob Sanders is the author of six science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as numerous short stories, novellas, audio dramas and comics. His fiction has appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list and has won national writing competitions. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.

What is your favorite book or story from Rob Sanders? I personally can't wait to read Archaon: Everchosen.

TUTORIAL: Astral Claw Symbol Freehand

August 5, 2014, 8:00 am

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Today I take a look at how to paint the Astral Claw symbol freehand. Although this is specific to one chapter the basic principles can be applied to most basic freehand.

Back when I started my Astral Claws I didn't have the option of sculpted shoulder pads and putting a transfer on a rounded surface is more trouble then its worth. This left me with only one option, I had to paint the symbol on all of their shoulders.

To start with I made sure I had a picture of their symbol on hand while painting to be consistent but after awhile I was able to do it from memory.

First you want to make sure you have all of the surrounding areas are fully painted including shading and highlights. I usually do all of my freehand last.

Next I blocked out the basic armature of the claw's arm using three black lines. The one in the middle should be slightly shorter then the outside two. This is a good idea in general for any freehand. Always block out your basic shape before starting on filling anything in. At this point if I need to adjust I don't have as much to paint over, this is also when you make sure your design is centered.

I then filled in the arm of the claw with black paint. I know it's hard to see since the picture is kind of dark but I also added the "fur" texture on the outside.

Now that the arm is done I moved onto the star. You want to work from the back to the front on your symbol. Since the arm lays behind the star I painted it first. The star is basically a "T" with an "X" going through the cross point. You want to make sure the "X" lines are shorter then the "T" lines. Once I had the bare lines down I made them into triangles which forms the star itself.

When I painted the bulk of my force Ceramite White didn't exist yet so I had to do a layer of Dheneb Stone first (the step before) followed by a layer of white to brighten it. Now I just use Ceramite White and cut out a stage.

Now we have the fingers which are just oblongs with a point on the side facing towards the center. You can see the placement of the fingers above, but like I said before I recommend that you have a copy of the symbol on hand to reference. 

We are almost done, all that's left is to separate the nails from the fingers with a simple white line. If you can make it rounded then go ahead and do that as well. While I am at it I also paint a white line to separate the back of the thumb from the arm since they are both black.

As a final touch I went around the edges of the black where it touched the blue with a thin line of Kommando Khaki to help separate the two since they are both fairly dark. This isn't necessary if you feel like the black is popping enough from the blue, but I thought it helped.

That's it! Now you have a shiny new Astral Claw symbol to decorate your marines with and enforce the Tyrant's will. 

For the Tyrant!

Until next time,

Tyler M.

REVIEW: Ravenwing

August 6, 2014, 8:00 am

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Gav Thorpe returns to the helm of the Dark Angels chapter with the first novel in the Legacy of Caliban series, Ravenwing.

When I first read Angels of Darkness I was blown away with how good it was. It was one of the first books that dealt with the Heresy in such a direct manner via the Fallen Astelan and started to shed some light on that most mysterious of times. Of course now with the Horus Heresy series some 20 books in with 2 full novels and a novela on the Dark Angels themselves it has lost a bit of its impact, but nonetheless Boreas' tale raised a lot of interesting questions about the chapter and its ideology. When I heard that Gav Thorpe was continuing his Dark Angel tale indirectly through Ravenwing I had high hopes and it fell kind of in the middle.

This story takes an interesting format in that it primarily follows three different main characters, a new recruit to the 2nd company, Annael, a tactical marine of the 5th company Telemenus and the Master of the Ravenwing himself Sammael. The story opens on an entirely random and unimportant battle within the context of the story. It is used mainly to set up the characters and the unique way in which the 2nd company fights and interacts with the other companies. We get to see all the new toys in play here with the new flyers and land speeder variants introduced in the codex but luckily they are merely there. They don't really play much of an important role and actually the Thunderhawk takes over as the primary air support as the story progresses.

Things get interesting when Sammael receives a distress call from Piscina IV and Boreas. The 2nd and 5th companies arrive to investigate and not much has changed since the end of Angels of Darkness on the planet. They discover all of the bloody aftermath and the involvement of the Fallen within the chapter keep. This is where the 3 different characters really come into play. Sammael is of course fully indoctrinated within the inner circle and privy to all of the Dark Angel's dirty secrets where as Annael knows the bare minimum he needs to operate within the ranks of the 2nd and Telemenus knows nothing. We get to see the way the chapter works to achieve its goals of capturing the fallen while keeping the vast majority of its' warriors in the dark on what is really going on. This conflict provides the real meat of the story as we see the different factions almost come to blows on several occasions due to the secrecy. To be honest this seems like a horrible way to run a chapter and it astounds me that apparently the basic line trooper doesn't even know that the Heresy happened at all and knows nothing about the traitor legions, only that there are some rogue astartes. It seems to me that every other Space Marine chapter out there in the 41st millennium is fully aware of the Heresy all the way down to the lowliest tactical marine. They must think the Dark Angels are complete dullards whenever they have to fight together. This isn't really Gav's fault as it is something established within the fluff which makes no sense like how no one knows about the Grey Knights (except apparently Sammael's entire command structure does know about them seeing as how they are mentioned).

After picking up the trail of the Fallen they are lead to a rogue space port that Astalen used to frequent which leads to some interesting combat as we get to see the Ravenwing use their bikes within an enclosed and confined space. The combat is your standard fair and nothing really stands out in my mind from it. Like I said before the main meat of the story comes from the conflict caused by the secrecy. The rest of the story as a fairly straight forward Space Marine book with out much of the depth and anguish we saw from Angels of Darkness. 

Gav seemed like his main goal was to explore the way that the differing elements of the chapter interact and how the Ravenwing operate in environments that you wouldn't normally consider to be bike friendly. In this regard I would say he was highly successful and I really hope he continues to follow at least 2 of the characters in the next 2 books in the series. At the end of the day Ravenwing seems to be about the equivalent of a Space Marine Battles book with some interesting mechanics layered on top. 

Not the best book I have read recently from Black Library and it failed to live up to some of the potential it had but still plan on finishing the series.

3.5/5

Until next time,

Tyler M.

PAINTING: Lysander

August 7, 2014, 8:00 am

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Today's model is a Lysander I painted for a client about a year ago. This was the first finecast Lysander I had painted and it was a bit fiddly. 

When I was approached to do this model I had a little bit of knowledge on how to paint him since I had painted a Lysander back when the model was originally released.

I had painted the yellow using a technique I had found online where the main color was actually Bronzed Flesh with a Yellow Ink wash over top. When the new paints came out a few years ago I decided to tweak this technique using the new Yellow Glaze. This led to the painting guide for Imperial Fists I posted on here awhile ago.

I had swapped out the Bronzed Flesh for a Bone spray paint and the yellow ink for the glaze, but essentially it was the same, you can find the whole breakdown for it here.

Seeing as how he is a center piece for the army and not just a line trooper I took the technique and developed it a bit further. I added in more highlights after the glaze with White Scar and added in some zenithal shading with heavily watered down Dark Flesh.

You can see it best in the picture above. It just required some very watered down paints and one or two more glazes to help blend it all together. The rest of the model was painted in a much more traditional manner. All of the dark areas were given a coat of black before being painted. I decided to paint the shield a bone color, similar to my original model. In these WIP photos you can see that the right shoulder pad is still yellow. About halfway through the client told me he wanted it to be red, which was simple enough. This got the same zenithal shading as the yellow but I used black instead of Dark Flesh. 

This model also gave me a chance to practice my freehand lettering, which is still somewhat of a challenge to me. Although, I have to say I am better at it now then I was a year ago. It's something you just have to keep working at to improve, plus it doesn't help that I have bad hand writing.

I really enjoy painting dark, almost velvet looking red capes and luckily the client liked the look on my older model so I got to do it again here. It's painted with a base of Khorne Red which was shaded by mixing in black and highlighted by mixing in Ushabti Bone. I shaded it so dark that the Khorne Red is almost the second or third lightest color stage in it.

There is also a freehand black Imperial Fist symbol on his red shoulder pad, which is outlined in gold. Unfortunately it looks like I forgot to get a good picture of it. Having painted this model with both the metal version and the finecast one, I would without a doubt say I preferred the metal one. The details were much crisper and better defined, where as on the finecast one some of the finer details had a weird ultra crispness to them that actually did more harm than good. It made the model feel almost delicate when he should feel hulking in his terminator armor.

I really enjoy painting Imperial Fists though and I hope to work on some more in the future. With the glaze technique it really cuts the working time in half and still looks just as good.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

Mini of the Week 8/8/14

August 8, 2014, 8:00 am

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Welcome back to Mini of the Week, where every Friday I will find a miniature from around the web that exemplifies an aspect of our hobby and share it with you.

Tamurkhan by Karol Rudyk on CMoN

This mini is just stellar, and I wouldn't expect anything less from Mr. Rudyk. For those who do not know he has won the UK Slayer Sword multiple times, most recently with his Savage Orc on a Wyvern. I can only assume this is one of his entries for this year at the brand new Warhammer Fest. I will be honest and admit that one of the things that amazes me so much about this model is simply the fact that you don't see it painted very often. It really is a great sculpt from Forge World and it has been done justice. 

Everything on it is just so crisp and smooth. The colors all pop so well and the custom swamp base really helps to frame the model. The banner he is carrying is beyond crazy and I highly recommend you check out the rest of the pictures on CMoN. I know I usually go on longer here, but I feel like this model just speaks for itself.

Be sure to check out more views of it on Cool Mini or Not and show the artist some love if you like it.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

What do you think of this model? If you have any models or have seen any around the web that you feel deserve to be the Mini of the Week feel free to send them to me at mengelart@gmail.com with the title "Mini of the Week" and a brief description of how you painted or a link to where you found it.