The Neverness Hobby Chronicle

 

Continuing on from Part 3 I added the old Citadel Color called Sunburst Yellow (my favorite yellow paint) to the yellow areas on these models. I then painted the noses, and a few knuckles, "red" using the method that Warhammer TV presented in a video called Tip of the day: Goblin Noses. The results were pretty satisfying. I next painted the guns and metal things using an old craft painted called Metallic Pewter by Delta Ceramcoat for their Gleams line. It's a bit thick but is easily thinned but I prefer it over Citadel's Leadbelcher, although it's an OK analog. 

Metallics on the guns.

Next, I used Bloodletter to darken the recesses on the yellow areas but I found that this was a bit overwhelming so I added another layer of Bad Moon Yellow and I then highlighted it with Folk Art Lemmonade. 

After the Lemmonade highlight.

When I first applied it I thought that the Lemmonade might be too intense, but when it dried I decided I liked it. I dunno, going to think about it a bit more, and if I ultimately decided it's washed out then I will kick it back with a yellow ink. I decided not to add any black patterns on them mainly because of their size. The simple solid yellow does the trick well enough I think, and with their stature in the ork organization (as it is) I doubt they'd get anything more ornate anyway. 

Close up on the Lemmonade highlights.

And after a few touch-ups these guys are done! Time for their glamor shots. And with the snow and mud that I have outside currently we are going to stick with the red top of my toolbox. 

And there they are! I do think I will do one more pass of the Terracotta Brown that I use on the rims of their bases, as they currently look rough. But other than that, once the weather gets a bit warmer I will spray a protective coat on them to help reduce chips. 

 With holidays, family stuff, work and artwork taking up the majority of my time this, I did find a few fleeting moments in December to slap some more paint onto the grots. Pressing forward with these guys, I went ahead and moved on to the next stage which was to apply Tesseract Glow over their Gretchin Green Foundation Paint basecoat. 

Next came the layer of Applebarrel Kiwi,

This is followed by highlight of Sunburst Yellow,

I followed that up by picking out the clothing items that are going to end up yellow. I used Firey Orange for that basecoat. Also I picked out their eyes using Khorne Red and base coated their teeth with a brown. 

 

No, he's not a force ghost...

Every gathering of grots need someone to boss 'em around, and my Bad Moon Grots definitely need someone to boss them around. I went searching for an appropriate candidate on eBay and found a deal that included both of the miniatures below* 

A disarmed Gorkamorka Slaver.

Plastic Runtherd from current grots set.

You might notice that the Slaver is missing his right arm and the Runtherd is missing his grabbing stick/ grot prod attachment. 

Inspired by the recent Ork vs. Ork game that I played, and needing to get these guys off my table, I decided to kill a bit of time by base coating the flesh on these grots. I used Caliban Green for this, which turned out really dark on top of the black primer. 

Normally I would use my twenty five year old Goblin Green for this next bit but for some baffling reason an old Foundation Paint from around six or so years ago called Gretchin Green leapt into my hand. Odd thing, I didn't buy that to paint greenskins with, but because I thought I might use it on Bolt Action miniatures. I was about to put it back when it occurred to me that this is a thicker paint than that old Goblin Green and should coat really well over that dark Caliban layer. And...wow, this turned out great!

I recently bought some 2nd hand grots. And yes, I already had a bunch, why did I want these? Well, this particular range was released as part of the Gorkamorka line as Rebel Grots. A year or so later they were incorporated into the 40k line with the transition of the 3rd Edition of that game. For some reason I never got any of these while they were readily available. And with my plan to divide and expand my Orks into separate divisions themed around the clans, it makes sense to have some corresponding grots.

I thought it might be neat to show how I prep the bases on metal miniatures like these.

As with a lot of metal miniatures with slotta-bases, often times there is a gap remaining. It is often wise to fill in these voids to avoid the appearance of strange dips and holes next to their feet.

An unprepared grot.

I have found that the best way to do this is with PVA glue. To be specific, I use Elmers Multi-Purpose Glue. But before you start dumping your sticky white goo into the hole, you need to prevent that stuff from oozing all over the place. A small strip of clear tape (I used Scotch Magic Tape in these examples) along the bottom of the slotta-base does the trick.

Magic Tape applied.

Next I start filling it with PVA glue. Ultimately this will dry clear in time, but it also shrinks. Sometimes I have to apply glue a few times before I am happy with it.

Fill it with glue!

I have ten of these grot buggers drying now. I will likely need another round of glue before I can apply the gravel. A few models had some bigger rocks added to their base to help create a feeling of environment.

...What is the plural form of an assembly of Grots?

Primed and ready....for paint!

My Dreadtober project is now finished, and with a few days in October to spare! Hooray!

Finished and ready to Waaargh!

Now, this Deff Dread was the original, circa 1988, Ork Dreadnought. It is piloted by a gretchin. The original idea was that in a cruel experiment a Pain Boy and Mek Boy would partner up and stuff a grot into one of these things, and the crazed power-tripping grot would wreck everything in it's path. The next Ork Dreadnought models came out in 2nd edition and featured an Ork Pilot, and was also bigger to accommodate the large passenger. The 3rd edition dred would only get bigger, and with the current plastic model the size difference is quite laughable! In fact, the grot concept is back in the form of Killer Kans, and we all know, they rock, and they are bigger than this original model. But I don't care, as it still does what it does, and I have it on the proper sized base. I decided that when I paint these (I have two of them and they are both armed the same) I will do them in Bad Moon colors. Maybe the extra wealth of that clan can afford the 'miniaturization' of technology?