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Nice looking work. Always nice to hit a milestone and check off a block of stuff as “Done”.

The Shadowspear (slash SC box) is packed full of cool minis. The librarian is my favorite of the lot, but I don’t think there are any really bad ones. The more tactical aspect of the phobos armor is starting to grow on me personally. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

I agree on the the contrast paints. I think it works really well on fabrics and organics, less on the flat armor plates that make up most marines. Something to think about, before dropping the concept. Use them like a glaze? Basecoat in the normal green you would use, and then put a layer of contrast over the whole thing. Should give you some of the auto-shade/highlight, but as you are going over a more solid basecoat, should negate a lot of the blotchy nature. Something to think about if you have a test model kicking around. I don’t use contrasts on my Ultras, but glaze with old inks, which I’ve found are similar in many ways.

Keep painting and keep safe.

Shadowspear looks great all together. Looking forward to the final shots of the Witch King. He already looks awesome. Plenty of cool stuff to come, too.

@Nev: Thanks! I think the Librarian might be my favorite of the Shadowspear guys as well, although the Captain's right up there. I might try out that Contrast glaze trick at some point; my concern is that it would make everything too dark or that I might as well just stick to my current method of painting green and then recess shading with Nuln Oil. We'll have to see; I do have plenty of Tactical Marines that I really don't care too much about so I could try it on some of those.

@YWS: Thanks! The Witch-King is a fairly iconic villain from the Lord of the Rings story, so it's pretty fun to get to paint him, especially on the back of a Fell Beast. Not sure how quick I'll get back to him though.

Progress on Indomitus has been made. I decided to change up my planned order of painting the units and start with the Outriders, as I'll be using them a lot in games. Here's a WIP of a few short evenings' work:

They're actually very nearly done; just need to add the Ravenwing decals to the shoulder pads, maybe clean up the black a little bit where my initial drybrush made a small mess, and then do the bases.

My entry for the November painting challenge is going to be the Judiciar and Primaris Chaplain from Indomitus, so I'll probably get started with those and the first 5 Assault Intercessors as soon as I finish with these Outriders.

Bikes are turning out good. Digging them in the Ravenwing scheme.

@YWS: Thank you!

Finished my first Indomitus unit, the Outriders. Have some pics:



Decent tabletop standard is what I generally go for with models like these, and I feel like I achieved it. Despite the lack of tail fins or winged fairings, they'll fit in nicely with my existing Ravenwing models I think.

I'm off to a decent start on my Judiciar as well. Here's a WIP shot:

The robe will need some shading and highlighting, but that won't be difficult. Still lots of stuff that needs basecoating, especially all the gold bling and purity seals that are scattered around. I am going to have to scour the internet for good ways to paint the hourglass thingy; it's kind of an important detail and I want it to look good.

I also need to get back to painting my Sisters army set contents, and perhaps get started on the first five Assault Intercessors from Indomitus. So much time, so little to do...wait, strike that. Reverse it. Until next time, stay foxy!

Getting paint down, even a layer, makes for progress. Sure, there might be a pile of shame looming in the corner, but the crusade of a thousand lightyears begins with killing a single heretic. And then the next.

Bikes look good. How hard would it be to slap some wings and iconography on them? Dig up the old RW accessory spure?

I’m looking forward to seeing how your Judicar turns out. I want to start mine, but so many other projects. He might be the first thing I paint in 2021.

I think the Ravenwing does understated well, and these guys are rocking it. All about the viewscreen.

Great job on finishing those Outriders, I am really looking forward once I tackle mine.
Good luck with the hourglass, excited to see how you will tackle it.

You are making it hard to pass up on indominus . Seriously, especially with the Dark angels color scheme.

Outriders look good Zerg going to make a fine new unit for your Dark Angels. I also like how the judge is turning out.

@Nev: Thanks! As far as Ravenwing winged fairings and tail fins, I've seen it done but I've never seen it done particularly well. The tail fins are a little too small for these big bikes, and there's nowhere to really attach wings that it will really look all that great. Of course, I'd be very happy to be proven wrong in this assessment. For me, I'm sticking with the symbols on the sides of the bikes, and on my other squad I've used RW Black Knight helmets and a bare head from the same kit.

@YWS: Thanks! Honestly with the viewscreens I wish I had a better brush for painting thinner lines, and a steady enough hand to pull it off!

@Viterbi: Thanks!

@Theo: In the words of then-Chancellor Palpatine, DO IT! The models from the set are fantastic; some of the best Primaris Space Marine sculpts yet IMO.

@York: Thank you!

Finished the Judiciar, but did not do anything with the Chaplain as I had planned for the painting challenge. Oh well, he'll go back to his originally planned place in the Indomitus queue, right after I knock out the first 5 Assault Intercessors. Anyways, here are the final pics of the Judiciar:



I really need to figure out a better way of doing shadows in light-colored robes, but other than that I think this is one of my better pieces (not to blow my own horn or anything). I'm super happy with how he turned out! Truly one of the more interesting models from Indomitus, and mine is fairly unique in that I used the stock head that came with the model!

In other news, my Sisters of Battle Seraphim are nearly done, mostly just a couple of touchups and I need to finish their bases. Here's a crummy final WIP of the Superior (couldn't be bothered trying to get the others to stand up):


And I also got something for my Space Wolves:

This has to be one of the best Space Wolves sculpts yet. A great update for one of the coolest characters in all of 40k lore. He's not near the top of my painting queue by a long shot, but whenever I get back to painting wolfy stuff he'll be something I'll enjoy painting.

I'm really not sure what I want to paint for the December painting challenge. No theme so it's literally anything goes, so I could do something from any of my 40k armies or even perhaps something from Middle-Earth. I'll have to think about this.

Liking the Judiciar. Good detail work on the hourglass.

@YWS: Thank you very much! I'm pretty happy with how the hourglass turned out too.

I finished the Seraphim after having them sit around for literally months WIP (I really need to stop doing that with models; they get kind of grumpy at me ). Here are some pics of how they turned out:


They look pretty crappy compared to a lot of my other stuff, but since all I'm really going for with my Sororitas is tabletop standard they'll do alright. Contrast paints are pretty good for getting an army done quick (don't say it, I know it's been a year and I've hardly gotten any Sisters painted). I've got a buddy who does his stuff with Contrast and while it won't win a Golden Demon anytime soon by golly he gets his gak painted.

My entry for December's painting challenge is the Canoness from the box set, so I've gotten a decent start on her. Here's a blurry WIP:

She still needs the gold and leather basecoated but otherwise she's coming together nicely I think. Easily the coolest model from the Army Box.

I'm also working on the Arco-flagellants from that set:

Contrast paints are really coming through for me here; I'm using Darkoath Flesh for the skin and it looks good if a bit dark. I went with red for the tatters of clothing; I was originally going to go with purple to tie them in with my main army but then I decided that since these are not Adepta Sororitas they should stand apart; the bases will be the thing that ties the army together.

My real final goal for the year is going to be to finish all of the Sisters Army Set models. The only one of them I have yet to start on is the Penitent Engine, and that thing might be kind of a pain considering I've already assembled it. We'll see how it goes.

Sometimes done is good enough, man. New minis are looking good. Here's hoping you can get them all done this year!

Paint is looking good!

I’m also trying to finish the SoB box. Cannoness and seraphim left for me. The Pengine is a PITA in one block. Good luck and try to keep calm working on it. To be fair, its job in life is to be a torture device...

Great work on the Judiciar and good luck getting all the sisters models done.
And as Nevelon said, painting the built PenEngine is not a nice job, but it is doable if you can live with the knowledge that all those syringes are unpainted

@YWS: Thanks!

@Nev: Thank you! Good luck to you on getting your own Sisters painted. They are looking pretty stellar so far.

@Viterbi: Thanks! The syringes on the back of it are mostly hidden down in there, so nobody has to know (and you'd better not go telling on me, either! ).

Quick WIP before Christmas just to show that I'm still alive and making slow progress. The Canoness is actually nearly done, just need to touch up the metallics (been looking around online for tips and tricks for making gold look better, as it's a major weakness for me hobbywise) and base her. Here's how she looks right now:

You might have noticed that between my last update and now I've got a new computer keyboard that lights up. I might need to turn the lights off whenever I take WIP shots on my desk if it's too distracting.

Arco-Flagellants are getting there as well, also mainly just needing touchups on the metallics:


That's the power of Contrast paints for you. Makes blocking in and shading certain areas a total breeze. They work very well on more textured surfaces like cloth; less so on smooth surfaces like Space Marine armor or vehicles, although I actually did find a neat trick on YouTube that I might try on some of my shelf-guarding Space Marines that involves using Contrast paints similarly to how Nev mentioned to me earlier. But that will be a project for next year.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Nice progress.

I’m getting close to done with my canoness as well. For being the Boss Lady she actually has less detail then I expected. Not a lot of fiddly little purity seals or roses or anything. She does have big details, and everything in layers, which makes getting a brush to places frustrating.

Good luck with her.

I also only put paint on the end of the syringes that were visible and am quite content

Canoness is looking good and yeah, Contrast paints are amazing for small organic/mostly cloth minis like the arcos.

The Canoness looks good so far. I, too, have been struggling with metallics. Be sure to share whatever technique you come up with.

@Nev: Thanks!

@Viterbi: That's ultimately what I'm doing with the Pengine. Nobody will see the rest anyways.

@Josh: Thank you! I ended up mainly just replacing my pot of Liberator Gold; I think my previous one was bad as it never did seem to mix very well and I've had better results with this one.

Well, time for my final minis of 2020. Got the Canoness and Arco-Flagellants done in the nick of time, so here are some pics.

First, the Canoness, my entry in the December painting challenge:



She turned out alright, I think. One thing that has been frustrating me a lot is how I seem to constantly miss spots when I make passes with Contrast paint, requiring some touchups later. And touchups are not as simple with Contrast as they are with traditional paints. Also, I'm not sure but what they rub off easier, so maybe I better start varnishing my models (something I've been too lazy and too afraid of ruining my models by having varnish frost up on me to do yet).

And here are the Arco-Flagellants:


I'm pretty happy with these, considering how little time I really spent on them. Just goes to show the power of Contrast paints on models like these, although I did have some more "missed a spot" problems (and even looking at these pics I saw a couple of spots where I missed ). Still, for getting an army on the table quickly and to a decent standard, they are pretty great.

And rounding out this blog update, here's a WIP of my Penitent Engine, the final model from the Sisters of Battle army set:

Mostly just got the silver metallics done, plus some gold on the syringes on the back (not visible in this photo). I had hoped to get this thing done this year, but it'll have to wait and perhaps be one of the first things I finish in 2021.

My next post, which I'll probably do tomorrow or Saturday, will be my annual "Year End Review" where I'll show off my hobby progress (or lack thereof) for the year.

Nice work. For the PEngine, getting the silver metallics done is like 3/4th done with it.

Looking forward to your summery.

@Nev: Thanks for the encouragement!

Well, it's that time again, perhaps a bit late but that couldn't be helped. It's time to have a little trip down memory lane and see what ol' ZergSmasher got done in perhaps the worst year in most people's memory. You might have expected me to get a lot done what with the pandemic and lockdowns and lack of tournaments, but unfortunately I'm what they call an essential worker so if anything I was even more busy than usual all year, and therefore much more tired, and it definitely impacted my hobby progress for the year. At any rate, here's what I did get painted (please excuse the cluttered desk in the photo!):

For the year 2020, my grand total of painted miniatures was 47. A very disappointing figure for sure, but as I said it was kind of a tough year. Here's the breakdown of what was painted:
DARK ANGELS:
Asmodai
Lieutenant in Phobos Armor
Judiciar
10 Infiltrators
3 Eliminators
3 Outriders
Predator Annihilator
ADEPTA SORORITAS:
Canoness
Dialogus
10 Battle Sisters
5 Seraphim
4 Repentia
Repentia Superior
3 Arco-Flagellants
MIDDLE-EARTH SBG:
Tom Bombadil
Goldberry
Somewhat less variety of stuff than in previous years, but that is partly because I sold off my Tau, Death Guard, and Chaos Space Marines armies. And I have absolutely no regrets about doing so; I am now truly a loyal servant of the Emperor, with no more filthy heretics or perfidious xenos to tempt me away from his light. Actually in point of fact I still have a few more Chaos models left to get rid of (Daemons mostly but a few CSM stragglers also); those will probably be sold to my FLGS sometime this year assuming nobody in my local gaming group wants them.

So anyway, on to my hobby goals for the year 2021:
1: Paint at least 100 total models. I need to shrink the pile of shame if possible, and that's only going to happen if I get stuff done. 50 a year is just not going to cut it.
2: Paint all of my Indomitus Space Marines. Got started on them in 2020 (4 done), but there's still plenty more left to do. Won't be too hard of a goal, as I'm very much looking forward to most of the models.
3: Get my Sisters of Battle fully ready for tournaments. Whether or not I'll actually get to go to a tournament will of course depend on if they can get a handle on the COVID-19 situation, but I want to have a tournament-ready army of Sisters in case I am able to go. That's going to be a tough one, as I don't actually own all the models I need yet (still want to pick up a couple more Exorcists and perhaps the Triumph of St. Katherine), plus I've got a lot of unpainted Sisters that need work.
4: Get a full army from Middle-Earth done. I've been wanting to get some non-40k stuff done for a while now, but the motivation isn't there. Even my little "crisis of faith" from a few months back didn't really get me doing other stuff, so it's high time I did some non-grimdark stuff for a change.
5: Paint some non-GW models. I've got plenty of candidates, ranging from Infinity to Guildball to Star Saga, plus some actual scale models and stuff, and I've thought about picking up Star Wars: Legion as a side game.
6: Learn to take better photos of my models. This may necessitate purchasing or crafting an actual lightbox, but my current photos just aren't cutting it, particularly on my Sisters of Battle. I'm proud of my painting even if it's not going to win me a Golden Demon anytime soon, and I want to be able to show others my models as they truly appear rather than have their colors look drab and uninteresting.
7: Work on my bitz boxes. I've got so many bits sitting on sprues from kits I've built. Consolidating them into boxes will allow me to toss the sprues and boxes and therefore reduce the clutter in my apartment.
8: Paint more than I buy. I'm going to try to keep track and actually reduce the pile of shame rather than grow it, although I will definitely be picking up some new stuff when it drops.
Bonus: Play some games that aren't Warhammer. I'm calling it a bonus because it will depend on whether the world can open back up, but I'm hoping to maybe try some new games. And I hope to play some more casual games of 40k instead of always playing as if it's tournament prep (my local group is fairly hardcore!).
We'll see how I can get on with these goals.

And finally, as per tradition, here are my top 5 favorite things I painted in 2020:

5: Sisters of Battle Canoness:

Had a ton of fun working on this lady (indeed on all of my Sisters stuff); the reason she isn't higher is because I don't think I did as well as I could have on her. She's passable at least and a very cool sculpt.

4: Dark Angels Predator Annihilator:

Vehicles are fun to paint. I don't really do as many of them as I'd like, but maybe that's because they haven't been all that competitive and I mostly play tournament-style games.

3: Tom Bombadil and Goldberry

These models were so much fun to paint! Two of my favorite characters from the Lord of the Rings books, and the sculpts for the models are amazing; like they leapt straight from the pages of Tolkien's work.

2: Ravenwing Primaris Outriders

I was so excited when I found out that GW was releasing Primaris Bikers, and doubly so when I heard that they would be Ravenwing when taken in a Dark Angels army. I'm super happy with my paintwork on these guys too; they'll fit right in with the rest of my Ravenwing.

1: Sisters of Battle Dialogus

Okay, this is probably the least crummy of my photos of this model, but even it doesn't do the model justice (like my other Sisters pics, the purple looks very washed out). I may not use this model in games much, but I'm still very happy to have painted it and it's probably my best work of the year.

Big shout out to everybody who's been following my blog! Without your support, I wouldn't be motivated to keep doing it. I'll try to do a better job of regular updates, but sometimes life happens and I'm not able to post as often (or I just don't have any progress to report). Thanks for bearing with me. Here's to a better year in 2021!

Nice work for the year and good set of goals. I forgot to pick my top 5, will need to go back and do that.

“Improve my photography” was one of my goals for a while and two things helped it out. One was just using a white balance tool in a paint program. But once I started using a light box, I didn’t even need to bother with that any more. The other was the box.

This kit looks to be a newer version of the box I use. Just plug in “light box photography” into amazon and it brings up a whole bunch of options. Sure, you can make your own out of a cardboard box, some parchment paper, and a couple of desk lamps, but you’ve know that for years and haven’t done it. Or that was my case. This will cost less then a box of marines, and MASSIVELY improve your pictures. Bonus points for getting one that comes with lights and everything folds up neatly to tuck away when not in use. While I use a point and click camera, for a while the one on my phone actually had more megapixles. The really important thing is having enough light and holding it steady. Just bracing on a box works wonders, but the light box I have came with a little tripod with an adapter for holding phones.

Looking forward to seeing how you do in 2021!

Nice haul, Zergsmasher. Nice work wrapping up the Canoness, and I agree that the Dialogous turned out sweet.

For one thing thanks for being one of the essential workers you guys had a rough year. 47 is not a bad year plenty of people don’t get half that done and they don’t have your job. Your picks for the year are all standouts in my opinion, that predator looks sweet! As for next years goals my guess your going to reach them.

PS if you figure a way to get better pics let me know. I use my iPhone a overhead painting light and either white paper or some grey canvas I painted. Looking forward to seeing what you do in 2021.

47 models that you can be proud of is a fine yearly total.

I agree with Nevelon-- a folding lightbox is a simple but effective way to take better photos. I use a Foldio, but pretty much anything would work.

@Nev: Thanks! And thanks for the light box suggestion, I'll shop around and see what I can find. I'm a little concerned that my cheap camera just doesn't have detailed enough settings. For white balance, it gives me Auto, and then Daylight, Cloudy, Flourescent, and Incandescent. No manual option at all that I can see. Like I said, it's a cheap camera that has gotten some scathing reviews on some websites (didn't see that until AFTER I bought it on an impulse at Walmart, of course ). Maybe I need to find a cheap/free program to do post-production on my pics; a pain in the ass, but perhaps necessary.

@YWS: Thank you!

@York: Thanks, and you're right. I'll let you know if I can figure out the photo thing.

@Josh: Thanks!

Time for my first regular post of 2021. Nothing finished to show just yet, but progress has been made on my Penitent Engine:

Most of the colors have at least been basecoated now, other than a few small and/or hard to reach details. This model is turning out to be a bit of a PITA with all the little hoses and cables and stuff. And to think, my planned competitive Sisters list will be running several Mortifiers (based on the same model as this). Hoo boy, I can hardly wait to paint those...

I've also gotten started on some Assault Intercessors from Indomitus. I'm doing the green power armor a little differently than I usually do (and thus counting it as a new trick for the monthly painting comp, New Tricks); what's different is that I started by doing the whole models in an all-over drybrush of Warpstone Glow, then an all-over wash with some thinned-down Dark Angels Green contrast paint, and highlighted with several drybrushes of increasing brightness, focusing the last on only the more extreme areas. Here's where they are at after the last drybrush:

I was a little sloppy with some of the drybrushing, probably because I'm not terribly good at brush control with it, so I may go back with some more thinned-down Dark Angels Green to fix it. I'm already planning to add a few specific recess shades with that color to really make certain recessed areas pop.

In other news, I may have a little more time to paint for the next couple of weeks. I started feeling a bit sick the other day and realized that I could no longer taste my food (or smell it), so I went in to get a COVID test and quarantined myself. Fast forward to this morning, and I get word that it came back positive. I have COVID-19. But don't worry, I think so far it's a very mild case. I had a fever, but it seems to have broken. Maybe this is Nurgle's punishment for selling all of my Death Guard last year or something. Either way, I'll be quarantined for a while.

Quarantine time is hobby time! But seriously, get well, and take care of yourself.

The photo app on my Mac laptop has a little magic want for white balance, although it’s been a while since I’ve used it. I’m pretty sure there is also one in PhotoScape, which is a free program I use to make the collages for my entries, etc.

Pengine is looking fine. One nice thing about all the fiddly details it has, you don’t notice almost any of them at arm’s length. Marines look pretty good, but they are dark, and in a bit of shadow, so hard to be objective.

Your drybrushing experiment is quite intruiging. Be sure to post lots of WIP photos.