Games Workshop W40K Craters

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I really enjoyed painting my 'lava' bases this week. Completing several each night. The first took around 20 minutes as I played with colours and techniques but the rest took no time at all.

I tended to wait till Heather had gone to bed. Then retired to the study to paint for 45 minutes or so, managing three bases in that time using four layers of different paints and a quick orange wash.

Thursday lunchtime I dropped into Games Workshop and picked up some Citadel W40K Craters. If you have wondered about their suitability for 15mm Sci Fi then be assured they are superb and at under a tenner for 5 substantial, well moulded craters - excellent value for money and instant terrain to boot!


I hope this photo gives you an idea of scale with 15mm figs. You can see the small GZG recon Grav APC is completely hidden within the middle crater. And there's still room for 3-4 bases of infantry!

There's been quite a bit of negative comment about the recently released Citadel 'Blastscape' on TMP and DakkaDakka forums (read here). Don't let this dissuade you from buying their Craters pack. The plastic is sturdy and the definition is excellent - click on the photo above for a larger image and see for yourself. I was certainly impressed far more than I expected to be.


If you find yourself without inspiration for Sci Fi scenery or feel you lack the talent to create your own - these Citadel Craters are perfect - whether for a moon, asteroid, savannah wastes or red planet, they will provide you with instant, quality, versatile Sci Fi or post apocalyptic terrain.

Cheers
Mark

Spartan Assault Troops: Lava Base

OK, still have to finish these 'Spartan' elite Assault Troops but I think the base turned out really well for a first attempt.


There's a thin wash of Citadel orange on the Roman Sand 'rocks', which in normal light makes them look like they are glowing 'hot'. Perhaps 20 minutes to complete the painting: 1st layer is 'Essential' Acrylics Martian Orange, then Citadel sunbed orange and finally Citadel Hawiian T-shirt yellow.

In future if I want to recreate this type of effect, I'll base the figures, rough the edge of their bases with filler (possibly, to be honest the 'rocks' can do a pretty good job of breaking up the outline), paint on the 'lava' in trails or pools and only THEN glue the rocks on to emphasise and frame the lava areas.

Cheers
Mark

Spartan Assault Troops

These are my 'Spartan' elite Assault Troops for FWC - a work in progress. Still have to paint the weapons - possibly an ochre-sand colour to look like plastic/composite camo'd casings; and maybe some flashy insignia on the shoulder plates.

My Spartan Elite
15mm GZG New Israelis

The 'rocks' you see on the base are an aquarium product called Roman Sand. You can buy it quite cheaply from most pet stores in lots of different colours including deep red and flame orange. I chose the black as it looked like bleak volcanic rock. As an experiment, I've mixed PVA glue with a cheap dark ochre acrylic paint from the Royal Langnickel 'Essential' Acrylics range, dropped the 'rocks' on and voila! Instant basing!

It's worth looking out for the 'Essential' Acrylics range, which is superb for terrain and general art projects. The local art shop sells these in 59ml bottles (2 fl oz, in old money) for just £1. Yes, £1. Checking the forums, some guys swear by them for their miniatures too and I'm not surprised when Citadel pots are around £2.25 for 12ml.

The base isn't finished as the volcanic effect of the rocks gave me the idea of trying to paint rivulets of lava flowing between the rocks similar to the picture on the right. See also Gavin Thorne's work on the DakkaDakka forum (Click here). Will it be too fussy for 15mm? Dunno, but I'm willing to give it a go. It may mean having to repaint the visors red to match the terrain.....oh bugger! A lazy painters' work is never done!

Cheers
Mark