Holy How To: Marble Flooring

Hey everyone, from today we will have a series of hobby videos produced by the wonderful Steve Herner (@HolyHammerHern), US hobbyist extraordinaire, on his new YouTube channel. Steve is the organiser of the Holy Wars and Holy Havoc events known for their amazing scratch-built tables. You can check out some photos of those events here, or on Steve’s blog.

Short hobby tutorials

Steve has been publishing excellent hobby videos on his Twitter account and has now branched out to YouTube. Head over there, subscribe, like, comment and reap the rewards of Steve’s hobby knowledge.

Today’s post is about how to scratch build and paint marble flooring on a large scale for display boards.

The marble flooring is for the Ruined City of Sigmar table Steve is building for Holy Havoc this year.

The table is sponsored by Ministomp, the store who provided the Games Workshop kits included. Ministomp are an email order service based in the Midwest of the US and provide a full range of Games Workshop products. You can order by email and they run multiple sales and discounts via their Twitter account. Ministomp certainly gets rave reviews from the Midwest AoS scene.

How to Make Marble Flooring

Tools Used

Crescent mount board – black on black
Citadel mould line remover – for thick lines
Router tool – for adding texture
Sculpting tool – for fine line details and surface cracks

Painting Marble Flooring

The video below demonstrates the results after painting. A painting tutorial is coming.

Paints Used

White Vallejo Surface Primer
Scale Colour Flat Black
Daler Rowney White Ink
Daler Rowney Plains Grey Ink
Gloss Varnish

Marble Flooring: Work in Progress Gallery

September 5, 2019 0

How to Speed-Paint Skaven Clanrats

Today is a new video from Troy at Sonic Sledgehammer Studio about how he paints Skaven Clanrats. As I announced previously, I’ve partnered with Troy to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. All part of the plan to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby.

Speed Painting Skaven Clanrats

The Skaven are a race of ratmen without counting, gnawing away at the very roots of reality and chewing at the gaps between realms. An endless tide of furry bodies, gnashing teeth and crude weapons, they are a primal force to be reckoned with, burying their enemies under swarms of Clanrats.

Painting a whole Skaven army can seem pretty daunting, but it doesn’t need to be! There’s plenty of places you can cut corners and get a pretty decent result on the table without worrying about highlighting every strand of fur, and for those that have enjoyed the speed painting and simple techniques in some of the other ‘quick’ videos so far, here’s how I tackle the Skaven. Remember that you can swap colours as necessary to fit your own clan allegiance – green, brown, purple or even putrid yellow all work perfectly well with these same techniques.

I’ll give you a clue: Agrax Earthshade may very well feature heavily in these…

If you do decide to stick to Citadel paints, then after using Bugman’s Glow as the base colour for your Skaven’s skin but before the Agrax Earthshade, just go over with a coat of Cadian Fleshtone and all will be well. 😀

How I Paint Things is a series of simple instructional videos designed to help the newcomer through some of the basics and demonstrate how the very simplest techniques can still give you some great results that’re easily replicated. Aimed at the beginner to painting miniatures, there might be one or two tips or tricks that help even you old hands!

Paints used for the Skaven clanrats

BASES:

Leadbelcher
Mephiston Red
Steel Legion Drab
Rakarth Flesh
Balthazar Gold

LAYERS:

Evil Sunz Scarlet
Ushabti Bone
Liberator Gold
Kislev Flesh

SHADES/DRY:

Agrax Earthshade
Sylvaneth Bark

VALLEJO MODEL COLOR:

Beige Red 804

Further Painting Resources

You can also check him out on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as support him through Patreon and Ko-fi. There is also the hobby section of the site, including the Creator Class and Army Showcase series for more inspiration.

For more Age of Sigmar painting videos, check out Vince Venturella, Mengel Miniatures and Warhammer TV.

And, finally, as always, check out Dark Fantastic Mills for great 3D printed terrain perfect for wargaming. Its super versatile and light so worldwide shipping is inexpensive. Use the “aos shorts” discount code for a further 10% off the already decent prices.

April 3, 2019 0

How I Paint Things – Speed Painting Nighthaunt

Today is a new video from Troy at Sonic Sledgehammer Studio about how he speed-paints Nighthaunt. How to get that army on to the tabletop super-quick and looking good.

As I announced previously, I’ve partnered with Troy to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. All part of the plan to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby.

Speed Painting Nighthaunt

When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, it’s probably got Nihilakh Oxide and Nighthaunt Gloom on it…

Chainrasps form the core of the Nighthaunt army, and these techniques will work perfectly well on other units of the same spectral make-up – add a little more to the capes to paint your Bladegheist Revenants, or less of it to paint up some Harridans. As a method of churning out large numbers of infantry very, very quickly, I don’t think you can beat this, with the added bonus that it’s a remarkably small number of paints and incredibly easy as well!

How I Paint Things Video Tutorials

Remember you can follow/reach me at the following places: https://www.facebook.com/sonicsledgeh…https://twitter.com/sonicsledge

If you like what I’m doing and you’d like to chip in, why not check out my Patreon or Ko-Fi? How I Paint Things will never be behind a pay wall, but anything dropped in the tip jar is greatly appreciated and really helps. https://www.patreon.com/sonicsledgeha…https://ko-fi.com/docwholigan

Paints used for Speed-paint Nighthaunt

BASES:

Balthazar Gold

LAYERS:

Ulthuan Grey

DRY/TECHNICAL:

Nihilakh Oxide
Nighthaunt Gloom
Necron Compound

SHADES/GLAZES:

Drakenhof Nightshade

January 21, 2019 0

How to Paint Celestial Vindicators

Today is a new video from Troy at Sonic Sledgehammer Studio about how he paints Celestial Vindicators. As I announced previously, I’ve partnered with Troy to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. All part of the plan to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby.

Celestial Vindicators

In an army literally built to combat the forces of Chaos, the Celestial Vindicators take this to the next level. Possessed of a single-minded determination not just to defeat but to destroy their enemies, they sweep across the battlefield like a force of nature, battering aside all opposition to Sigmar’s will.

The teal armour of the Celestial Vindicators marks them out as looking quite different to many of the other Stormhosts. Rather than a simple metallic scheme, there’s a bit more work to be done on these warriors, though it’s scarcely more difficult than anything else. Just a little preparation will see you through the time-consuming bits and you’ll be churning out these dangerous, driven heroes quickly!

Remember you can follow/reach me at the following places: https://www.facebook.com/sonicsledgeh… https://twitter.com/sonicsledge If you like what I’m doing and you’d like to chip in, why not check out my Patreon or Ko-Fi? How I Paint Things will never be behind a pay wall, but anything dropped in the tip jar is greatly appreciated and really helps. https://www.patreon.com/sonicsledgeha… https://ko-fi.com/docwholigan

Paints used for this Celestial Vindicator

BASES:

Retributor Armour
Abaddon Black
Screamer Pink
Celestra Grey
Mephiston Red
Leadbelcher

LAYERS:

Ulthuan Grey
Wazzdakka Red
Sotek Green
Temple Guard Blue
Runefang Steel (or Stormhost Silver)

SHADES:

Nuln Oil
Reikland Fleshshade
Coelia Greenshade

DRY:

Skink Blue
Necron Compound

Further Painting Resources

For more Age of Sigmar painting videos, check out Vince Venturella, Mengel Miniatures and Warhammer TV.

November 2, 2018 0

Basics of Brushes and Brush Care

Today is a new video from Troy at Sonic Sledgehammer Studio about the basics of Brushes and Brush Care. As I announced last week, I’ve partnered with Troy to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. All part of the plan to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby.

Brushes and Painting

More than anything else, people ask “What brushes do you use?” In the main it’s Citadel brushes – they’re easy to source and they’re of pretty reliable quality, with an example of such in the video – but when it comes to something specific, I’ll go anywhere for a brush that does what I want!

Synthetics make good choices for brushes you aren’t too worried about knocking around a little bit. They’re generally a bit cheaper than natural brushes, and while replacing them means you’ll probably end up spending about the same amount over a year, you’ll be able to drybrush or stipple away to your heart’s content. Use whatever you can find!

Further Painting Resources

For more Age of Sigmar painting videos, check out Vince Venturella, Mengel Miniatures and Warhammer TV.

October 19, 2018 0

New Age of Sigmar Painting Tutorials on the site

Hey all, today I’m super pleased to announce that I’ve partnered with my fellow kiwi Troy, of Sonic Sledgehammer Studios, to add a range of Age of Sigmar painting tutorials to the site. As some of you know, I’m keen for AoS Shorts to be an invaluable resource for all aspects of the hobby and so it is great to have Troy’s help to reach that goal.

With over 10,000 subscribers on YouTube, Troy knows what he is talking about! And he specializes in simple, effective and fast painting tips and tricks so you can get a good looking army on the table-top quickly.

How I Paint Things is a series of simple instructional videos designed to help the newcomer through some of the basics and demonstrate how the very simplest techniques can still give you some great results that’re easily replicated. Aimed at the beginner to painting, there might be one or two tips or tricks that help even you old hands!

So check out the new page here. I’ll be adding each new video as he makes them, as well as highlighting them with posts on the home page.

For more Age of Sigmar painting videos, check out Vince Venturella, Mengel Miniatures and Warhammer TV.

October 10, 2018 0

Army Showcase: Oscar’s Stormcast NMM

Today I have an absolute treat of another army showcase: Oscar Lars Knutsson’s beautiful non-metallic metal (NMM) Stormcast Eternals army. NMM is a technique you see on display pieces but Oscar has applied it to an entire army! Now if you are going to Gencon this weekend, you could be lucky enough to see Oscar’s army in the flesh, but if not, check out his website, Instagram and Twitter feeds for all his amazing pictures and commission painting. Oscar even did a handy tutorial video!

For more great Age of Sigmar armies, check out the other showcase posts. And remember that the site is now partnered with Dark Fantastic Mills, producers and purveyors of amazing 3D printed terrain and you can use the code “aos shorts” to get 10% off. The terrain is super light so shipping worldwide is surprisingly cheap. With that said, I’ll hand over to Oscar to talk a little about his army.

Oscar Lars Stormcast Eternals NMM

When Age of Sigmar first came out, I was not hot for the Stormcast Eternals. Warriors who saves the day with nothing more to them than a full servitude for Sigmar and hate for Chaos. It felt lackluster to me, and I turned my attention elsewhere. I started playing Ironjawz as their lore, style of play, and models were superior to any other faction I saw.

When GW began revitalizing their lore through the Malign Portents short stories I began seeing new light regarding the forces of Sigmar’s Finest. They aren’t actually ‘good’, and they certainly had more depth now. The process of dying, being reforged, dying again, had a much greater cost than first anticipated. It truly filled a much needed void and a desire for such a force began to grow.

Another aspect of what drove me to Stormcast Eternals was their capability of displaying a clean and sharp aesthetic. By this time I had just celebrated my first full decade as a commission painter and never really dipped my toe into Non Metallic Metal. It is such a cool technique and as a recent graduate of a five year art degree, I decided the time was right. Additionally, I am not a single model painter, but an army-painter, so the project had to be something bigger than I’d seen anybody do before. But I couldn’t paint each individual model to be a perfect ten as it would simply take too long.

I had to create a style of Non Metallic Metal that was advanced enough to convey its concept, but quick enough to be able to paint an army in roughly six months. It took me a significant amount of time to generate a process that I felt happy with. The research process consisted of studying Ben Comets (Painting Buddah), Riccardo Frizzoni, and Alex Borodenkov, the later being very helpful responding to my questions on Instagram as well as generating a color palette that would be under 10 colors. It really came down to taking a color here, one color there, a certain way of placing the light on certain objects, etc to create my own version of the technique. I didn’t even keep my initial style of painting all the way through. It developed during the project. So if looking close, one can see a difference between my liberators and Paladins in comparison to the later models like the Judicators and Celestial Ballista. It is something that doesn’t really bother me, personally.

This is also what’s so fantastic about army painting; A tough beginning to push through means I will improve. It’s such a rewarding process that shows clear progression. It also helps to strengthen very important character traits such as discipline and patience. The biggest reward is here now that I can finally put them on the table and play a full 2000pts game against some fun opponents.

My list for GenCon is a bit of a mixup. It truly was a blessing and a curse they released the Sacrosanct Chamber when they did. It’s awesome the models came out early enough for me to include some, but that also mean I could only have a handful of them ready for the conventions. It goes as follows:

Hammers of Sigmar Stormhost

Heroes:

Celestant Prime

Knight Incantor

Vandus Hammerhand

Gavriella Sureheart

Lord Relictor

Battleline:

X5 Liberators

X5 Judicators

Artillery:

Celestial Ballista

Other Units:

X5 Decimators

X5 Protectors

Endless Spells:

Everblazing Comet

Prismatic Palisade

X1 extra Command Point

So what is next? Well, I’ve had my eyes on Aventis Firestrike ever since he emerged on Twitter “leaks” from Games Day. I’ll be sure to pick him up. I may also get some Evocators riding the Celestial Dracolines. Those models are just simply amazing. In addition, I already have Astreia Solbright primed and ready to go, and she would definitely lead the pack, either as herself or a regular Lord Arcanum on Celestial Dracoline. However, most exciting is my next army project that is already… “cooking…” But you have to wait a while to find out what it is.

Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who’s supported me and this project on TGA, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. A special thanks to Jonatan Englund and the Honest Wargamer crew (check out their podcast and live Twitter streams if you haven’t).

Celestant Prime

Knight Incantor

Vandus Hammerhand

Gavriella Sureheart

Lord Relictor

Liberators

Judicators

Celestial Ballista

Decimators

Protectors

Everblazing Comet

Prismatic Palisade

July 31, 2018 0

Army Showcase: Douglas Fazzani’s Deepkin

Today is the first in a quick run of army showcase posts, with some great Age of Sigmar armies popping up again at Throne of Skulls. Throne of Skulls is traditionally an event which pulls some great looking armies and Douglas Fazzani (@dfazzani) received a best painted nomination for his fabulous Deepkin. This army is a great demonstration of how a striking bold colour scheme, almost abstract in concept, with top quality basing produces an amazing overall army effect on the tabletop.

For more great Age of Sigmar armies, check out the other showcase posts. But for now, I’ll hand over to Douglas to talk a little about his army.

Douglas Fazzani’s Deepkin

I like to take new armies to every tournament I go to and try and improve a bit of painting that I feel I’m lacking in for each one.

This time I wanted to improve my basing. Normally I paint the army then panic and slap some texture paint on it, which looks ok but won’t win me any awards. I was originally going to do a stormy sea crashing against rocks for the Daughters of Khaine (and went so far as to make some bases) but then the Deepkin were announced and it was obviously destined to be!

The majority of the painting is done with an airbrush (something I’m still learning to use). The bases are made with 2 part epoxy resin using wooden base blanks and Overhead Projector paper to make a mould.

Deepkin Heroes

Eidolon of Mathlann

Volturnos

Tidecaster

Soulscryer

Soulrender

Akhelian Morsarr Guard

Namarti Thralls

Namarti Reavers

Leviadon!

July 27, 2018 0

Army Showcase: Brad Glover’s Skaven Army

Hi all, with all the news and releases coming out for Age of Sigmar Second Edition, I didn’t want to forget to post this Age of Sigmar army showcase on Brad Glover’s amazingly converted Skaven army. Brad did rather well in the painting competition at the Games Workshop Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament Heat 3 (9/10 June 2018).

As you can see, Brad’s army is full of amazing conversions and scratch-builds using parts from Kharadron Overlords, Clan Skryre and Freeguild. The vehicles in particular are just absolutely crazy – exactly what you think of when you picture Skaven war machines. Make sure not to overlook the work Brad has done on the foot-troops too. Brad’s work shows that you are only really limited by your imagination 🙂

You can find Brad on Twitter, more Army Showcases on this site, and more UK tournament hobby coverage over at ProPainted Podcast. If you know an army that should be showcased and displayed for a wide audience, you can get in touch with my through this site, Facebook and Twitter.