Valhallan casts: first squad painted!

Well I finished painting my first Valhallan squad. Meh. I'm so used to painting high quality Games Workshop models that going to casts I made is, well, different. The coats aren't very detailed which was very confusing for me to paint. Also, since the casts had imperfections, they really messed up the way I paint because the final product looks very sub-par. I'm, suffice to say, disappointed at the quality of the models (but hey, it was my first attempt at casting!) but I'm happy with the scheme so far. Not with the quality of the squad because, as I said, it's very sub-par IMO. At the same time, at least I got them done. Only 30 more of these to get done :/

Luckily I already pre-ordered the Cadian battleforce so those conversions will, I promise, look LOADS better painted. I think I'm going to use my casts as Conscripts where I can. For now they are my troops though!

Anyways, onto the pics!




10 points for me :D

Painted Valhallan Sculpt! (finally!)

Well, I have finally got off my ass and painted one of my Valhallan resin casts. When I first got the idea for my fluffy Valhallan army, I wanted to paint them to a very high standard. However, having unprofessional models (ie. NOT Games Workshop), it's incredibly hard to paint very well because there tend to be imperfections where you don't want them. Quite annoying, but such is the price for saving money.

Though, that said, I have to say I'm quite content with the way they look. They are to what I consider a table-top standard and, for my sculpts, that's perfectly fine. But when I start converting Cadians, oh I promise a much higher standard for them!

Now onto the pictures (click to make 'em bigger!)...

Valhallan Casts: A success!

Well tonight I tried my hand at proper injection casting. For those of you wondering what the hell that is, it's simply just sucking resin up in a syringe and injecting it into a mold! Simple!

My first attempt seemed to go sour as the resin felt very rubbery after I took it out. I found out later that that was due to my impatience and the casts actually hardened so woot to that! The second attempt went better, with more parts being filled and my syringe not being totally crapped out afterward! Here are the results (pictures aren't wonderful, but you get the idea)

Note: The flash has been trimmed already, not that hard. Many of the parts, however, need to be fixed with greenstuff. When I say many, I mean primarily the feet and hands which aren't a problem at all. All-in-all, I'm very happy with the way things are going out and plan to do many more casts tomorrow while I'm working on my long over-due Necron Commission.

Anyway, pics:

Still in the mold:


Out of the mold:








I'll take pics of the greens sometime later this week if there is any interest in them!

Warriors of Valhalla

So everyone is getting hyped about the new Guard codex, right? Well so am I and because of it I finally decided to start my own fluffy Valhallan army! I received these gems from Hephesto over at Astro for winning a painting/modeling competition (mostly Vostroyans and Valhallans):









And then I decided to start sculpting in preparation of casting. This is the annoying part: it's really effing cold outside. I mean it is cold to the point that I am getting angry every time I set foot outside. Now I'm no weakling- I live in Buffalo, New York and go to school in Rochester so I'm used to the cold. In fact, winter is my favorite season. But this cold is just ridiculously bitter and very annoying.

Anyways, to prevent a further rant, it's too cold to cast as the resin isn't flowing nor sitting correctly. So in three attempts (which should have yielded 18 new soldiers) I got 3. And not even 3 full ones, but 3 that still needed some hefty GS work to fix 'em up. Well, some time tomorrow night I'll try again and IF it is succesful, expect a very happy post. Of couse, I am going to my girlfriend's grandparent's house for dinner so she may detract quite a bit of time from my plastic crack :p.