"This is Coruscant calling..." - Astropath Syl Moor



Although Citadel have only ever produced male Astropaths, it goes without saying that there must be female psykers with the right attributes for the function. Indeed, the ancient crone-like Astropath Moma Parsheen is a notable character in Ian Watson's 'Inquisitor' novel.

 

My latest Astropath, Syl Moor, is an attempt to redress the balance. I envisage her as one of the more inately talented Astropaths in the service of the Imperium - able to comprehend and intepret messages, rather than just repeat them parrot-fashion.

 

Speed Painting Challenge - Tech Priest Zon

On Monday, Orlygg over at Realm of Chaos 80s resurrected the Speed Painting Challenge - a simple competition from the good old days at GW shops and Games Day: grab a model and paint it in an hour.

I usually take 3-4 hours per model, so condensing this down would be a significant challenge. In order to get a model done in an hour, I decided I needed to develop a strategy.

1. Model Selection
This is key; picking an Eldar Harlequin with lots of frills, jewels and different textures is no good. You want something relatively plain and simple. My choice was Rogue Trader era Tech Priest Zon. Although he has some nice details, he essentially only has 3 key areas to paint: tunic, skin, leggings/feet.

Under Orlygg's suggested guidelines, undercoated models with base texture are acceptable.

2. Paint Selection
You're going to need a trim, accessible selection of paints. Most importantly, don't bother with anything light or with high transparency. Dark, high pigment paints are the order of the day - you really want to transfer the paint onto the model in one pass, rather than building up lots of layers.

The selection of paints I planned to use.

So with my strategy in hand, I had the perfect opportunity to try out the challenge as my wife went for her run last night. She usually takes an hour - could I complete Tech Priest Zon before she returned?

Melnibone Begat Bethmoora Begat Eldar...

After painting a fair few Ash Waste Nomads, I decided I wanted to paint up something entirely different last night (a change is as good as a rest, right?!). On examining my shelf of pending figures, I realised that I hadn't yet painted my Eldar Prince I converted up for the Inq28 movie character challenge over at the Ammobunker forums. Given that the deadline was the end of March, I figure it was high time that the figure saw some paint.

 

As a reminder, my figure was based on Prince Nuada - the villain in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army:

 



 

 

Here's my fully painted 40k interpretation, Eldar Corsair Prince Eldric Nuadra:

 



Ash Waste Nomads - Ready For The Underhive

I know I'm a week late, but I'm very pleased to say that my Ash Waste Nomads gang is ready for week 2 of my Necromunda campaign. The gang isn't complete per se (I still have the other two Marauder Nomads, a couple of conversions and their crawler to complete), but it is a playable starting gang of 9 models.

Here are the two latest additions to the gang: Haytham, a heavy with a plasma gun; and Juda, a Juve with nothing but a knife and an autopistol.

Yee-Haw! Dakka dakka!

I have to clarify - my Ash Waste Nomads are not cowboys! Just because they wear broad-brimmed headgear (in most cases), that does not mean they belong in a Western. I had to refute that accusation last night during a game of Necromunda...the same game where my opponent identified a target by saying "the one in the hat". Seven out of my nine gangers have hats, and the remaining two still have headgear...sheesh!

 

...On reflection, perhaps cowboys isn't the worst thing they could be...

 

You'd be correct in surmising from the above, that I started a new Necrounda campaign last night for the first time in far too many years to remember. Unfortunately I made the cardinal sin of taking to the underhive without a fully painted set of models (7 painted, 2 just undercoated). I had however, managed to get my heavy stubber-toting Nomad finished just in time.



 

'Strong' Galal with his big gun

 

Boys In The Hood & Wasteland Wanderers



After the fast pace of output in January, I took a little break from painting at the end of Feb, partly enforced through the kids' half-term week off.

 

Over the last couple of evenings I did get opportunity to sit down and put paint to a couple more figures. First up is the next Astropath, this one from the Talisman Timescape expansion.