Catachan WIP: Sergeant Harker & Friends

Harker is another Catachan character i did a conversion of. The actual model is really nice. But again, the price was a factor in me doing a conversion.

My version of Harker is made from a standard trooper and some parts from the space marine scouts set.

The heavy bolter and arms are from the space marines scout sprue. I chose the head for this trooper as it is the closest to Harker's mohawk hair style.

I decorate his shoulder pad with a sergeant badge. He is not afraid to be identified on the battlefield.

The knife aka Catachan fang on his back is also a bit from the scouts sprue. I think Harker is quite interesting to use in games. His ability to confer Infiltrate and Stealth does open up more options for the army, especially objective missions.

More Jungle Fighters!

The trooper above is sporting the Meltagun. He is dressed in a camo green Muscle T and standard deathworld trooper pants. He appears to be disturbingly happy about toting such a fearsome weapon.

I like the details on this miniature, like his earring and glove.

He also carries his own Catachan knife. I added some kill counters on the blade's sheath to depict the kills for his current mission.

Back view. I still have some highlighting and of course the basing to do. I bought some spanish moss which I'm going to use to base the Catachans.

This fella above is also a Catachan trooper. He carries with him some deadly weaponary besides his harsh language.

He is carrying a demo charge! Enough power to flatten a squad of Space Marines in power armor. If it hits that is..

No bandana on this trooper, but there is a red cloth tied to his rifle representing the blood oath of the Catachans.

I really like the pose of this miniature as its quite dynamic, as if he is readying himself to fling the demo charge at the enemy.

Hope everyone has had a great start to the week! Its the Christmas Week and I would like to wish everyone a Peaceful and Joyful Christmas! Eat, Drink and be Merry ^_^

Catachan WIP: Colonel Iron Hand Straken

I've been working on some more Catachans. A few Catachan characters have also been converted as well. First up was the baddest, most gung ho of them all- Colonel Iron Hand Straken. I do like the GW models, but they were just a bit too pricey for me at the moment.

I converted my version of Straken using a Reaper miniature called Keryx, Cyborg Assassin which I had bought more than a year ago. I cut the top half of the model off to use as Straken's upper torso. I the attached the torso to GW Catachan Jungle Fighter legs. I added on the plasma pistol, Space Marine Scout shotgun and the sword is from the Vampire Counts Zombie sprue.

It was great to finally put paint to the converted model. I like the cyborg metallic look merged with parts of an organic body.

The small skull on the base is a bit from the Wood Elves Dryads sprue.

I gave him a red shoulder pad as I did not want to sculpt the trademark red bandana of all Catachans. The red shoulder pad would be a representative of the blood oath.

Back view of the shotgun he carries as a secondary weapon.

I really enjoyed painting this version of the legendary Colonel Straken. Am looking forward to using him in my battles in the future.

More Jungle Fighters en route next post :)

Back to the Jungle

I recently had an amazing time with my friends for a 40K Apocalypse game. I was playing on the side of the Tyranids in an alien invasion of a human held world. I was however also rightly impressed with how the Imperium performed, namely the Imperial Guard (IG). This has reminded me quite fondly of my first 40K army which was the Catachan Jungle Fighters. Mine came in the starter set with my friend who introduced me to the game playing the Dark Eldar.

Here are some of the Catachan figs I bought extra to complement my army back in year 2001. I think I lost all my battles haha! But it was a fun experience and it was from the Catachans that I finally found my favourite unit in the 40K universe: the Terminators of the Dark Angels Deathwing. I had played Space Hulk on PC and the Deathwing were the heroes facing a never ending tide of genestealers. My 2nd 40K army was thus the Dark Angels :)

But playing against the Imperium has motivated me to revisit my first army. The Catachan Jungle Fighters. I used to play the army without any of the IG tanks and will still stick to this practice. I painted up a few models to get in the mood.

Here's a Sergeant and a normal Trooper. They both have quite a few layers of paint on them. I just painted on top of it all.

It just took the LONGEST time in learning how to paint flesh. It was frustrating just how beautiful the ones in the codex usually are. But I think I have come to a stage where I am happy with the flesh tone I am able to paint up these days. But it took quite a few years lol!

It really brought back a lot of memories painting these miniatures, particularly of the 4 years I spent living in Perth, Western Australia.

This mini of a female Catachan with Grenade launcher was purchased from a brick and mortar game shop called Tactics in London Court of Perth city. It was my favorite haunt in the city and I would go there every weekend, and some weekdays after uni classes :)

I was really stoked to see that the opposite sex is also represented in 40K tabletop gaming.

I learnt alot about painting miniatures and also things about life during my time in Perth. It will always be one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the honor to have been a part of. 

Looking back, I still miss a lot of my friends there. But the busy-ness of work, lethargy and numerous distractions (which should be no excuse really), have seen me not being in as close contact with these very special people as much as I desired.

I have realized when writing this entry that my miniatures have become part of the timeline of my life, tangible reminders through times both happy and sad. They have become in a sense more than just toys.

I'm sure many of my fellow gamers out there also have their share of memories as well with their minis ;) 

I leave you with a quote from George Bernard Shaw that has always been in my heart. And my excuse to maintain that inner child lol! Have a great week ahead everyone!

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

-George Bernard Shaw

WIP: Failed Experiments

I'm trying my hand at making some failed genetic experiments for terrain purposes. As the title suggests, some of my attempts were also of the failed variety lol! But nevertheless, I will press on and try other methods. I'm also open to any suggestions on how to do this better.

(Picture from Google Images)
My inspiration came from the above pic from the movie Aliens. The failed alien hybrid experiments looks really creepy and would add a lot my ongoing Space Hulk Voidscream board and terrain project.

The Plan

The plan is to use some of these small plastic containers to place an alien organism or genetic experiment gone wrong. I would then fill this with a liquid to enable the object to appear suspended inside it.

I decided to use a pack of Woodland Scenics EZ Water granules for the liquid.

So I heated up the water effect granules. So far so good. And then I waited for about a minute or two for it to cool and then poured it into the plastic containers shown earlier.

Apparently the liquid is still really hot inside and melted one of the plastic containers and warped the other. Otherwise, the product worked great. After just 5 minutes, the liquid hardened to an amber like state. It also semi melted one of my experimental subject models. I'll still keep the melted containers to use as terrain. Not gonna waste anything here.

Back to the drawing board for the liquid then, ahaha!

I did manage to assemble and put color onto more failed experimental subjects for further testing. But first I will show you the first casualty of my folly..

I just added some greenstuff onto some extra zombies I found in the bitz drawer.

I then painted the poor thing. And after being dipped into the EZ Water, it was damaged, but in a gruesomely cool sort of way.

It looks like its coated in some sort of slime.

It also does not look too happy lol! I will use him as a specimen that had spilled out of its containment unit.

Here are other subjects:

First up, a victim with a face hugger type organism on his head.

He's also made using an old zombie and greenstuff. The operating table he is sleeping on is a calvary base.

They tried to remove the organism but it was filled with acidic fluids and the subject expired.

A malformed hybrid of human and alien DNA.

Again this a zombie mini with greenstuff to give it a more alien look.

I gave it a quick paintjob. I'll not be dipping this one into EZ Water though lol.

The above pics reminds me of the internet meme about the chicken that died fighting hahaha!

I also added a spare genestealer scything talon on its right arm to represent the mutation.

The specimen in the alien containment vat. I just need to find a better liquid to suspend it in. Suggestions welcome :)

I hope you have been entertained by my adventure into terrain making. It was quite a fun experience and I learnt some lessons again.

Have a cool and relaxing start to the week everyone! Cheers!

WIP: Space Hulk Voidscream

The Voidscream is actually a long standing project. Because of work and real life stuff it remained a concept or imagination for the longest time. I decided to really have a go at it now. I made quite a few errors on the way as I was not familiar with the material. I paint more than I make terrain, and more than half my painted stuff are not even based lol!

I am still working on the project, and made my first test piece of one of the first sections of the 6 by 4 feet gaming board.

I used a plastic board and just stuck knitting squares on it. I wanted to do terrain that was fast and cheap, cos of work and its demands. I glued the knitting squares using PVA glue onto the plastic board. But it didn't really stick well. I think there was either not enough glue or the surface area of the knitting square did not have enough contact with the board its glued on. So I just stapled it on for a bit more holding power. the staples also look like the handle of the deck plate itself, so it worked out okay haha!

Added a Black Templar's Dreadnought for scale. I dumped additional glue on top of it to get the squares to stick. Not a good idea as the glue dried in clumps on some parts, obscuring the grid of the deck plating. Lesson learnt here.

I primed the board black and sparingly sprayed some silver spray on it to give the metallic look. I went for the Silent Hill (after the siren) effect with rust and decay. Also to cover up the clumps of dried glue lol! Riptide here for scale again.

A closer look at the surface of the board. My Flesh Tearers Dread there for eye candy ;)

Something's not right here. Motion sensors detect movement...multiple contacts!! For the Emperor!

Foul xenos!! Nooooo!!! (The Flesh Tearer fought bravely to the end, and the denizens of the Voidscream have claimed another victim).

Quick Fluff
The space hulk known as Voidscream is a twisted amalgamation of the lost and discarded parts of the galaxy; wrecked starships of a myriad of races, chunks of long dead planets, asteroids and assortments of space debris. This unholy union of metal, rock and even flesh is many miles long and is home to beings of arcane and ancient origins. Who knows what denizens now inhabit its innards? It has traveled in and out of the empyrean for centuries, and the warp has changed its very constitution. It is alive in a way, and it brings with it death and destruction whenever it appears in the lands of the living. There are individuals who seek the Voidscream, for if they can survive the terrors within, they will come into possession of artifacts of great power. That is the ultimate prize, worth any risk....even the death of worlds.

Hope you have been entertained somewhat. I'll be making terrain for the Voidscream as well. Like the command bridge, science lab and other stuff.

Take care all and stay healthy during the monsoon!