It Came from the Lightbox: Skabbik’s Plaguepack
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Tag Archives: Skaven
It Came from the Lightbox: Monsters
Kragnos painted up in like a day or two. Very satisfied with him.
These Skaven bastards are what had me jammed up for, like, a month. I bought and built them ages ago when the kits were first released (during WHFB 8E) and never got around to painting them. Decided to do them on a lark, to go with the Saga Skaven I’d painted last year and boy was that a mistake: I had to paint an army of Morats to find momentum on them again.
It Came from the Lightbox: More Saga Skaven
Back in October I got a weird motivation to return to the Saga: Age of Magic Skaven I painted in June. There were some options I hadn’t covered in the first wave, so I padded those out, and then things got a little out of control.
I painted/converted/printed:
- Ratling Guns as Destruction Teams
- Plague Monks with Empire Archer arms as Levies with Bows
- Stormfiend as a Monster (more impressive than the Doomflayer)
- A second Doomflayer (they’re War Machines now)
- Ikit Claw as a my Warlord (I’d already painted a Warlord, but decided he was more impressive)
- Jezzails as Warriors with Firearms (sure, they’re multi-based)
- Wolf-rats from Thingiverse as Mounted Hearthguard
- Spiteclaw on an upsized Wolf-rat as a Mounted Warlord
- Padded out my Warriors (rounding out to a full point of Warriors accounting for 4 models being used by Destruction Teams)
- Padded out my Hearthguard (rounding out to a full unit of 12)
I did break my rule of keeping the army $0 as a result of all of this, though. Most everything came from my Skaven drawer/bitz box, but I did have to buy the Plague Monks, Ikit Claw, Spiteclaw, and a few extra Stormvermin halberds. The Ikit Claw thing is especially frustrating because I’d gotten into my head that I had one and just needed to paint it up but I must have imagined it… so I had to buy one. All told, the 18-ish points of a Saga army cost me about $80.
Oh, also I knocked together 50mm x 25mm pill-shaped cavalry bases for the Ratling Guns and Wolf Rats. I’ve posted it on Thingiverse: 50mm x 25mm Pill Cavalry Base.
It Came from the Lightbox: Saga Skaven
I got a weird bug up my butt about painting up some Skaven to use for Saga: Age of Magic, so that’s a thing I did.
I painted them up in the same style as Spiteclaw’s Swarm, which was different from the way I’d painted up my WHFB Skaven back when. I think it’s kind of a neat scheme: kind of the same except paler and cooler.
I decided to challenge myself by not buying any models for this project: everything came out of the Skaven reserves drawer in my hobby closest. This limited my options: if I’d had 1 more Stormvermin Halberd, for example, I’d have been able to do 3 points’ of Hearthguard and not 2. I didn’t spend a single dollar on this project.
I did lose enthusiasm for it about halfway through. There are some options I’m missing: these guys will be Lords of the Underworld, so I could use a few Destruction Teams, at least one unit of Levies, another Monster, and some ranged weapon Warriors, but I don’t feel like it, don’t have the models, don’t feel like it, don’t have the models/bits (respectively).
All in all, I spent about 3 weeks on this; I’m glad to have it done.
It Came from the Lightbox – Shadespire Skaven
I painted up the Shadespire Skaven over the weekend: I want to give them a try, and there’s no excuse for me to be playing anything in Shadespire unpainted.
It only took about a day and a half’s hobby time. I don’t think they’re particularly noteworthy: just servicable Skaven.
I painted them up with my old approach to Skaven, but with a few differences:
- I went with a pink, pale flesh instead of the yellowed flesh I used to use; I really like this.
- The red turned out much brighter than it used to, I clearly don’t remember how I used to do it, but I don’t know where I went different.
- The grey turned out alright, even though I used VMC and not GW paints
The Stanktini
Because I’m a goof, one of the finds I’m most excited about while digging through the Game Room bins was a pair (one needs stripping) of 1992 Imperial Steam Tanks.
Why is this? They’re tiny. Yes, the wheels are missing, but they don’t add that much height.
No, really. You could probably fit at least one in one of the current Steam Tanks. Like a clanking, hissing Tervigon, you could have a Steam Tank give birth to little baby Steam Tanks.
My first thought was, “This is so small, I bet I could hide it behind cavalry.” I could do this list as a goof, only up the douche factor by hiding those Stanks behind the block of Inner Circle jerkfaces.
Did I mention how small it was?
Later, I was talking about it (because, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m excited about the find), and Eric suggested that it might be small enough to run as a Doom Flayer.
I’m not sure that it is, but it’s definitely right for something ratty that wouldn’t pass OSHA codes.
Cheat Sheets
I got in a game against fellow CGL’r Nick (who I wish had a blog because he’s an amazing painter)’s Tyranids a couple of weeks ago. He’s running a Nidzilla jam that’s all about Tervigons and flying Hive Tyrants Biomancing themselves out the ears.
Because he’s got so many different units with powers that change from game to game, he’s typed up cards that he keeps in card sleeves that he marks with dry-erase markers, Warmachine-style, to track who has what.
This reminded me that 1) I’d done something similar for my Skaven for the 2011 NoVA (printed on letter-sized paper and laminated) and 2) that dang those Chaos Daemons have a lot of stuff that changes from game to game and boy-howdy I need something like that for my Khornate Daemons.
I knocked something together for the tournament last weekend (that I probably should post about), spotted a number of issues, and revised it. Here’s what I’m currently working with. A copy of the page with the Warp Storm table goes on the back.
I’m quite pleased with it.
And, ’cause I mentioned it, I might as well post the somewhat less sassy Skaven cheat sheet.
True Facts about the Naked Mole Rat
(Appropriate because, well, Skaven.)
Rats for the Cure 2013
Somehow, I missed that this year’s Battle for the Cure was scheduled for April 6 until just a few days ago.
It’s something that I look forward to every year, so I signed up and immediately got a bug up my ass about painting something new for it.
I’m a long way away from having a pink unit, much less a pink army, but a new model’s certainly progress, right?
Anyway, I’ve had the BaneLords Blunt-Claw model in my bits tub for a while, so I pulled him out, put him together, stuck a Bloodletter banner on him. Nothing fancy at all.
Hadn’t really thought through that it’d be basically a fat, gross naked mole-rat, but it is what it is.
I’m quite pleased with how the freehand on the banner came out. That’s probably the best freehand I’ve managed yet.
Brood Horror!
I finished the Brood Horror! Woooooooo!
After a couple of false starts, I finally knocked out the Brood Horror. Although I’m sure I could have finished it faster, I can’t help but feel like I got it done in pretty good time.
The ratskin came together pretty easily: I used an airbrush to do the midtone, then backed in some shading, then cleaned it up with a brush before highlighting.
The rashy skin was more problematic. So much of this thing is covered in disgusting, nasty rashes, pustules that I had to do something to keep it interesting. Although my mind’s eye had a much more multi-colored rainbow of diseases, I’m happy enough with it.
Now, I just need to put this stinking, foul thing into some games.
Anyway, behold the photodump!
There’s a tongue that goes in there, but the damn thing kept breaking off. Finally, I got sick of gluing it back in, so I left it out. The hole for it is probably creepier, anyway.
Some of the sculpting is more than a little dodgy. There are some things that are clearly not enormous pustules, and probably couldn’t be anything but rat… but are not very well sculpted. I did what I could; I doubt anyone but me will notice.
