Elijah7's "3 Foot Rule" Terrain and Mini progress thread.

[Elijah7]

So, some of you may remember my old blog, detailing my exploits in the 40K world of gaming.  Most won't; that's okay.  I did it then to inspire myself to keep painting and, in the process, may inspire others to do the same.

 

One of the concepts supported there was "The Three Foot Rule", a concept that, as far as I know, was thought up by a friend of mine and which has lived with me for more than a decade.  It goes something like this:

 

 

Having painted miniatures on the table makes for a much more enjoyable game.  For almost the entire game, you see your opponents miniatures at a distance of at least three feet.  Therefore, if you can paint to a three foot standard (and make it look good), why not?

 

 

So, there you have my painting philosophy in a nutshell.  I'm not that great.  Pictures are great but can show off the smallest defects, so don't be too hard on me when I screw something up.  Besides, I'm getting old and my eyes aren't that great.  Neither are my hands.

 

Did I mention that I can be sarcastic and self-deprecating?

 

A few other things: I love terrain.  A good table makes playing a lot more fun.  I have lots of grandiose ideas that I never finish.  You'll see a lot of starts here but no so many finishes.  Gaming should be fun, so expect a bit of (my strange) humor.

 

 

First two things on the table are a complete redo of terrain for my table and the completion of my Legion of the Darned army.

 

Legion of the Darned?  You heard me right.  More on that later.

 

Two of my friends are also working on terrain, so you may see pictures of their stuff here also.  One has a standard gray/black ruined building set-up (though not standard in build) and another is working on a forgeworld.  I decided to make mine one of those mortuary worlds (kind of).  Lots of goth, vegetation reclaiming what it can, graves and statuary, etc.

 

Over the years I have accumulated more than my fair share of terrain kits, bits, and bobs.  One of my favorites was the Pegasus line of gothic buildings.  I start my quest with a little thing I am calling "The Rose Window Building".

 

 

I started by gluing some 1/16 inch plasticard to 1/8 inch brownboard.  This gave the base good rigidity as well as allowing me to glue plastic to plastic.  I used Gorilla glue, clamps, bricks, and anything else I could think of to keep things together while the piece dried.  I then chopped of the edges with a saw to make them neat and clean.  Lastly, I measured out where the columns would sit, then scored the plastic with a linoleum knife to create the cut lines in 'concrete'.

 

 

This was followed by simply gluing my already constructed building to the base.

 

 

I built a little second floor from spare card, as I like second (and third) levels.  You can see it in a later pic. 

I primed the entire things with desert sand spray paint, gave it a sepia wash, then dry brushed it white.  The doors were painted brown.   Lastly, I glued on some grass, lichen, and HO scale shrubs and small trees to create the 'nature taking back' look.

 

 

 

Since I use a green grass mat for my table, it throws of colors a little when I take a pic, but here is the final version.  It fits the three foot rule perfectly, I think.

 

  

 

[Elijah7]

I figured as long as I was up this morning, I would add a little something more obviously marine related.  My (currently) dominant army is a vanilla marine type, but constructed completely of Legion of the Damned models.  All have been converted and painted by me (or pro painters) to make what I think is a neat looking army.

 

I call them "The Legion of the Darned", for reasons to be explained later. 

 

I wanted to add something special to the army, and thought, "What would be better than Legion of the Damned?"  Slow and purposeful, deepstrike, etc., to create fear in my opponents.  But I couldn't paint them up like normal LOTD, could I?

 

So, enter the Fire Hawks.  Supposed original base for the LOTD.  I started hunting down neat things to make the marines from; different heads, bodies, weapons, as well as custom bases and legs.  After all, this was going to be a single ten man unit, not an entire army.  I could do what I wanted.

 

 Unfortunately, as far as WIP progress pics are concerned, I missed the boat with my test figure.  I got completely caught up in the painting progress and took nothing.  I will post shots of the rest of the squad though.

 

 

 

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Sick Fire Hawk. Glad to see someone else using the Kromlech legs, too. Love the paintwork and the terrain is off to a great start, too.

 

Who were you previously? This new name change thing is confusing!

[Bryan Blaire]

Elijah is himself, no changes.

 

Looking great on the mini, man, and yeah, that base does make the building look a little funny on the green tabletop, but short of actually giving it a rim of green basing material, I can't think of any other way you could blend it more. Building itself looks great!

[Elijah7]

Always been Elijah7. Sorry if it came across that I was somebody else.

[deathspectersgt7]

Sweet Fire Hawk.

[Elijah7]

Progress on the Fire Hawks: I liked the way the first (test) model came out, so I am working on the rest of the squad.  It's going to be a ten man squad, armed with melta and multimelta.  Since this will be a one off for my army, I am going to do things a little differently by painting all the rest at once.  I built the bodies but that's it; each figure will have the individual components painted prior to assembly.

 

At this point, you can see my progress.  Custom bases have been primed, then drybrushed grey with a dusting of white.  Each base was then marked with where the feet would be attached and a bit of orange and yellow painted on to represent a reflected glow.  I then added some water effects and set them to dry.  With any luck, I will get an ice effect with the light of the flames penetrating/reflecting from what looks like ice.

 

All of the components have been primed tan, since I find it works well when I am painting red.  Basecoats on the bodies are done, as are some accenting and the basecoats on the shoulderpads.  I am shy one of the eagle backpacks, but have feelers out to get what I need.

As an aside, I have to say that I can be easily distracted at times.  A friend of mine, Inquisitor Dean, has given me a number of Grey Knights to experiment with, and I still have lots of terrain I want to build. 

 

As well as more Legion of the Darned.

 

I hope this doesn't get too muddled with projects.  Bear with me.

[Cain21]

I say I like this 3 foot rule, I shall probably use it for all of my terrain.

[lionofjudah]

Great scheme- painting and blog wise;)...loving the kromlech legs as well. I'd wondered how they would look with GW torso/arms and gotta say I dig it!

[Elijah7]

A bit of progress, but other things call out for attention now.  Orange undercoat for the flames on the feet is done, as is the undercoat on the helmets.  Trim and basecoat on the shoulder pads done.  Heads on the backpacks complete.  Snow on the bases complete.  Models pushed around on the board so it looks like even more was done, somewhat like an eight year old moves vegetables around on their plate to make it look like some have actually been eaten.

 

 

Next time: maybe a test Grey Knight or two.  More terrain.  Or more on the Fire Hawks.  Depends on my mood and Motrin.

 

[Elijah7]

So, I got some work on sample Grey Knights done.  Pics soon.  Second building finished.

 

Base laid out the same as one previously.

 

Initial walls up.  I pulled a [really] old piece of GW terrain as a far corner.  I decided against this one but did use another.  Also added a central pillar and a second floor, the latter made from plasticcard I had lying around.  Truth be told, I have a lot of plasticcard lying around, so finding some wasn't really a problem.  Scored the base and the second floor for some concrete lines before putting it all together.

 

Primed 'desert sand', and wash half done.  Shows how dark it is before the drybrushing.

 

First bit of reclamation foliage added.

 

A little more green done.

 

Shrubs added to finish things off.

 

[Elijah7]

More work done on the Fire Hawks as well.  Snow added to the bases.  The water shrank more than I wanted (a perpetual problem due to the humidity in my place) but I still like them.  Glare takes away from some of the effect.  Weapons are also done; simply black, a little grey highlighting, gold for details, then a brush with Ral Partha metallic red wax, something I picked up thirty years ago but I still use.

 

 

Black and gold details done on the backpacks as well.  Highlights and detailing done on shoulderpads.  Red accents, gold detailing, and finelining done on helmets.  Finelining done on bodies.

 

 

 

Thoughts?

 

 

[Elijah7]

 

A bit more progress.

 

Building Three:

 

Prepped the base, Attached the first part of the ruins.

 

Primed, painted, first greens on.  Angle one.  As you can see, I used a chunk of old GW terrain as the back corner.

 

Second greens (the trees) added in, front angle.

 

Back angle.

 

Progress on the Fire Hawks.  Nearing the final assembly.  Most of the painting done; flames started in yellow.  Still missing one last hawk head backpack, which are a pain to track down and relatively expensive for how much people actually use them.

 

 

[helterskelter]

I really like the way you've done your buildings! Strongly considering getting some terrain and using your nature technique on them, looks pretty funky. Also, fire hawks, big win! I cant remember seeing any for a good long time so its good to see some

[Elijah7]

So the flurry of activity on the Fire Hawks is coming to an end.  I an still working on a lot of terrain, but I have some Hive Fleet Leonid work I need to get done, as well as the commission Necron stuff.

 

By now, you've seen how I have done my building pieces.  Rather than fill your browser, I'll give you a few shots of finished pieces as they come along.  I have ideas terrain other than buildings, and will be adding them as things come along.

 

First up is a building I'm calling the high peak.  Doors in front and, as always, a second floor.  This second floor is scratch built out of plasticard, and is more than big enough to hold a ten man marine squad.

 

 

 

After finishing the first green step, I really didn't like the bare look of the back end.  I pulled two old GW rubble pieces and painted them to match, then carved some pink insulation to resemble the columns and painted it too.  Throw in a little more greenstuff, some little trees, and the ruins have a definite base outline while still being wide open.

 

 

 

Last up is the Fire Hawk squad.  Everything is now done except for the sergeant's backpack.  I thought/hoped to have one from a magnanimous donor, but it never showed.  I may have another coming in from a closer source, so wish me luck.

 

[GodEmperorOfMankind]

Wow, excellent stuff here. looking forward to seeing more!

[Elijah7]

Sarge is done, thanks to a very generous donation from a friend: one of the original Ultramarine special character eagle head backpacks.  Might do something special with the cloth in the future, but things are complete enough now for me to bring them out for a game.

 

[Elijah7]

 

Something a little different this time around.  I came upon two marine statues I had done for my original terrain paint scheme (concrete grey) and decided to upgrade things a little.  One of the things that bothered me was the elevation of the piece, so I changed things a little. 

 

Here is a shot of the 'before'.  Metal statue on a concrete base with a little green stuff added in.

 

I picked up a couple of building corners (from Dust Tactics, I think) at a bitz dealer, scored some plasticard for stone walls...

 

And presto, a statue base.

 

Here's a shot of the two statues on their new bases, all nice and primed in a tan spray paint.  The next few shots simply show the progression of the statues as I washed, drybrushed, added green, and added trees.  First one, then the other,

 

The last detail was to draw a bunch of cracks with my favorite, .05 micron black pen.  Two guardians of the city of the dead done.

 

 

[Elijah7]

A little something off the mark this time around. InquisitorDean (whom you may remember from his hamster themed Space Wolves posted a while back) and I have gotten in a few games against Orcs, Necrons, and Chaos. We don't always fair well. But during the process, he did some house cleaning and gifted me a bunch of Grey Knights.

 

I immediately dropped all other projects, distracted as I was by the new shiny things in front of me, and jumped right in on yet another project I would never finish. I dug up what Grey Knight crap army components I had lying around as well as an old codex, and set to work.

 

Then Nurgle struck.  As well as the holidays.

 

I eeked out two test figures, which I like a lot.  Not really traditional, but close enough to pass muster.

 

 

During those (rare) games, I discovered that my razorback worked surprisingly well for me.  A fluke, perhaps, but seeing as I have never been a number cruncher when it comes to lists, I go with what works.  I culled together enough parts for two rhinos, bought some vindicator bits to make them look more 'tanky', then added custom treads and a bunch of skulls so they would blend in with the rest of the army.  I am thinking of naming them 'Rocco' and 'The Count', an arcane reference to 20th century television.

 

They are assembled, but the weather has been too cold to prime these two properly.  Most likely I will be distracted by another shiny object and never get back to them, but I hope for the best.

 

 

[Elijah7]

So where the heck have I been?  Real life.  I did find time to do a little painting, finished some terrain, and got some models built.  For those of you interested, watch this space for more details.

[Brother Sgt Kartr]

I want to learn how to paint stone like you! I wanted to paint my Marines to look like white marble when I started my re-paint project, but couldn't figure out how to get that stone look.

 

Now I see your amazing terrain and would love to know your technique! Maybe the store will let me practice on all of their unpainted stuff...

[Elijah7]

Coming soon to a thread near you:

Two gravcannon additions, because reasons.

The Scooby Doo Space Kook terminator squad.

The bike squads from Hell.  Literally.

Predator: Resurrection.

What happened to those buildings?

[Elijah7]

Sneaky gits.

 

 

First project for the resurgegnet LotD painting quest was to repurpose some scout snipers I had messed up a while back when I was constructing my Steel Jackals,  I've always been a fan of marine snipers, although they don't seem as effective now as they used to be.  As stated before, my LotD army harkens back to the original model concepts, where they were more of an undead space marine concept and had lots of exposed bone bits.  I pulled some skulls from one of the newer GW skeleton boxes and replaced heads. 

 

I shaved things down a little as you can see, but the project isn't a major one and I wasn't going to spend a lot of time on them.

 

Paint scheme is simpler than normal, as my hands are a little irritated that I am trying to paint again: black with highlights, and small bits of flame where the cloaks are burning.  Skulls will be painted as normal.  I tried out a traditional frick of dark crescent and white dot on the lenses as I expect such bland models to need a little more attention to details.

 

 

By the way, I was able to finish a bunch of the buildings and picked up a bunch more because I am a glutton for punishment.  Pics on those later.

 

[Elijah7]

In the journey of a thousand miles, the hardest step is the first.

 

Unless you are building a 40K army.  Then the first step is the easiest;  I've started that thousand miles journey a dozen times at least, and stopped for a nap or ice cream after the first dozen yards.  It doesn't mean I don't actually finish things though.  That being said, here are the most prominent of the LotD projects I have lined up.

 

 

A Cassius I picked up on ebay, that will be turned in to a Centurius.  Why?  I always like the concept of Centurius, and the Casius figure is a good starting place and didn't cost me a mortgage payment.  Completion factor: 1 out of 10

 

Wile digging through the wasteland that is my basement 40K section, I came upon the remnants of an OLD school predator.  Just too neat to pass up.  I found an old school rhino in pieces, repurposed the tracks so maintain a cohesive look with other tanks, and promptly stuck it in the project box to collect dust.  It needs bits and bobs.  Completion factor: 3 out of 10

 

Speeders.  Who doesn't love them?  From the scrap heap I pulled three speeders and immediately started modifying so they looked sort of old school.  Modelling not finished, but remember what I said about the journey of a thousand miles?  I'm a good hundred miles in on this one already.  Completion factor: 3 out 0f 10.

 

Scooby Doo rears his doggie head.  If you ever watched the old, original Scooby Doo, you might remember Space Kook, a skull headed ghost in an astronaut suit.  I never know where inspiration might strike, so....I slapped some skull heads on some Calth terminators I had wedged under a table leg to keep it from rocking, and presto!  A star was born.  Completion factor 1 out of 10.

 

 

Supplemental marines.  Why do I need more?  Because I am good at designing armies with critical flaws.  Like plasma. So I dug out some lascannons, grav cannons, etc., mixed and matched with metal Legion of the Damned bodies as well as stuff I've picked up an the Interwebs, and once again, Presto!  These were the last things to go under paint before I took some down time, so I see these as the first to get finished.  Completetion factor: 7 out of 10.

 

 

 

There are other things in the musty box that need work, but I have to start small.  Marines first, then some modeling, then some more paint.  Unless, of course, the heat doesn't break soon.  Otherwise, no priming.