Projects of Shame

 I saw this concept mentioning by somebody and I immediately thought it would be a good mental hobby push for me.

It's a bit of a different look than just the "lead mountain". 

The Projects of Shame can be defined however you like for your own needs, but for me, they are generally projects that fall into basic description of “a project, large or small, that was a major motivation but has lingered for too long of a time, and I would be totally embarrassed and or dejected if I never finished it.”

 

Here's my list:

-Warhammer Fantasy Empire “Company of Honour” unit. This was a unit described in the 6th ed Uniforms and Heraldry of the Empire supplemental book.  This was an obsession for a while and I did a lot of miniatures research, eventually buying lots (and lots) of figures from multiple manufacturers in order to build this regiment.  I still have not tackled this.  

-US Rocketeer Corps.  This unit is considered a “project of shame” for me because it was really the very first “non GW” set of figures I ever purchased, and at the first Historical convention I ever attended.  Update: complete!

-Warhammer Fantasy unit of Dwarf Spearmen.  I originally purchased a blister of 4 dwarf spearmen from a hobby story in Germany back in 1996 and then could never find more spearmen. I always wanted to recreate that famous unit painted up green and yellow in an old white dwarf.  I've finally acquired enough of them (with a healthy quantity donated by Le Coq Fou!) and I'm almost complete.  Just need to paint a banner, and find the musician figure, and this unit will be done.

-The Epic Blood Angels army – FINISHED!  (further work is just “adding more units” to it.).  Still need to take some pictures and post here.

-Trafalgar ships for Form on the Admiral's Wake. Same story. Bought these a long time and then it languished. 1/3000th scale.

-War of the Roses.  I’ve been thinking, planning, and slowly purchasing stuff for WotR.  The only reason I haven’t tackled it is because it’s a pretty huge project especially in 28mm. With Nevermind the Billhooks, I have finally started this project, so that's good. 

-Chaos Army.  I’ve painted the major set of models that I’ve been always wanting to paint. From my perspective, this is no longer on the list of shame.  Now I can just slowly add to it.

These were my big ones. I'm slowly making progress.  This post will be here to remind me what I should focus on without getting too distracted by other shiny things.

Empire Cannon, Mortar, and some flags

 I'm trying to put a lot of focus on painting up Warhammer units and figures that are either "half done" or I've had for a while and always wanted to put on the table, but couldn't because they weren't painted. 

These two units are right up there. I have had two Empire Great Cannons painted, but only one with crew (and the crew were poorly painted), and the Empire Mortar has been primed since 1995, but I never got around to painting it. 

I'm happy to say I've finished repainting one of the cannons, and the mortar is fully finished as well. Soon I'll finish re-painting the other cannon.  These aren't my best pictures, but good enough for now.

Some folks in the Crown of Command FB group were asking for details on how I painted the crew.  From my notes:

bases were GW Warboss Green, drybrushed with GW Flash Gitz Yellow.  This is a close enough approximation to the original Gobin Green/Sunburst Yellow that we all know and love.

The beige smocks/tabards/shirts were Vallejo Model Color (VMC) US Field Drab, then highlighted by adding VMC Green Ochre, then add VMC Buff for final highlight.

The black was VMC Black mixed with a little GW Mephiston Red (never go with straight black - need some depth).  Highlighting black can be tough, so I just added a little VMC Green Ochre to this to get some basic highlights on the extreme edges.  I usually try to use colors from the rest of the model /palette to tie it all together - black will usually be a reflection of the color of the clothing nearby. Be careful or it turns to grey.

For the red, it's GW Mephiston or VMC Flat Red, then adding VMC Vermillion for highlights, then final highlight a light touch of GW Wild Rider Red (it's almost orange). 

Flesh - Reaper Master Series Fair skin (i think 9047), then a thinned wash of Army Painter Soft Tone.

I also finally got around to hand painting some banners for two of my Empire units, the Swordsmen and the Halberdiers. 

Eltharion

 One of my guiding themes in my current hobby projects is going back to my favorite GW battle reports or pictures from White Dwarf or other books, and trying to either recreate the shot, or play the scenario. 

This, of course, requires collecting and painting the figs!

One of those figs is Eltharion, the High Elf Prince on a Griffon, that appears in the starter scenario of my beloved Warhammer Fantasy Battle 4th edition boxed set.  Eltharion was included as a "standee" - card-stock picture of the character that represented the figure, along with Grom (goblin chariot), Orc Stone Thrower, and Elf Bolt Thrower. 

It occurred to me the other day that I had all of those actual miniatures painted, except Eltharion. I was close!  I scored a huge deal when I purchased an entire high elf army at a flea market, and Eltharion was included.  He was already painted and needed some fixing (tail broke off, properly pin the wings, etc.), but it was a perfect start. I didn't need prime him and I could quickly paint over the existing paint job without losing much detail. 

I think I spent more time repairing the model than I did painting it.  Anyway, here he is!  Now I just need to finish the rest of the High Elf army and I can re-fight the Battle of Maugthrond Pass.

Sylvaneth

 I have a small and growing Sylvaneth army for Age of Sigmar.   I'm using that army as a chance to get comfortable with the airbrush and making heavy use of drybrushing and washes.  Speed is the name of game with that painting project.

The big centerpiece is the Treelord.  This guy was not too difficult to paint, believe it or not.

Necromunda Redux

 Back in the 90s, one of my favorite games was Necromunda.  We played that game a lot. I had a large Orlock gang, but my color choices weren't great for that gang.  Plus, the Orlock's had some of those...subpar plastic miniatures available to them. 

Not only that, but the 90s "red era" plagued the Necromunda painting and scenery that was displayed in White Dwarf.  There was a disconnect for me with Necromunda, the Underhive, and these brightly painted gangs.

Fast forward 30 years (yikes!) and there's a niche area of the hobby that took the inspiration of Blanchitsu style painting and super-charged it with the deep dark areas of 40K.  Combination of the Inquisitor game setting with Necromunda - Inq28 (there's also AoS28 - love that too). 

I was fascinated by this style of painting and thought if I ever decided to resurrect my Orlock gang and "fix" the horrible color choices, I'd try it in that style.  And it's a chance to heavily convert figures, too.

Here is my foray into this style of hobby.  I took two of the horrible plastic sculpts, converted them a bit, and went to town.  I really enjoyed this - although it's trial and error and I am quite the novice.

US Rocket Corps for In Her Majesty's Name

 I'm very excited to finally have these miniatures painted and available for gaming.  It's been a long journey with these figs.  I started the hobby with Warhammer and was only aware of Games Workshop.  Then my best pal introduced me to historical wargaming, and I attended Historicon for the first time (probably back in 2002 maybe?). Not only did I wander around in amazement, I saw these Pulp figures by Bob Murch and I immediately had to have them.  I didn't know what I would do with them, but I wanted them. 

Then they sat in my pile of shame for...decades.  Until now! Once we started gaming In Her Majesty's Name (IHMN), I knew I could find a use for them.  Pulp is not Steampunk, but the look and style of these figs work close enough, plus there are rules for a US military company, and I could definitely use rocket-packs.  Anyway, I painted them up a few months ago. Here they are.  The sculpts are amazing and they were a joy to paint.  It took almost no time. They basically painted themselves.

Test of Honour Warbands

 I finished up my two warbands for Test of Honour.  These figs were a real joy to paint.  Love the game, love the figs.  And now I'm slowly building some Japanese scenery to add flavor to the tabletop.

Here's the pics!