Goblin Skaven Slaves. Part 1.

Copyright: Goblin image by8Hungry

*Squeek*


"Green things, your time has come to serve a great-great cause. The Great Horned Rat calls his children to war, and all those that hear the call must answer! Forward...and feel the lash!"

So I have read about (and occasionally seen) on the web "counts as Skaven slaves" units made up of other models. Popular options might include models that look raggedy enough (Empire flagellants) or fit neatly into Skaven lore. Good examples of the latter would be Goblins (as small, or smaller than your average clanrat) and Dwarves ("hates, HATES them we does", said in best Gollum voice.)

When a colleague cleared out his attic and offered me some WFB models he found I offered to take them. What I got was 2-3 boxes worth of old Goblin archers, Spearmen and Orcs, about 35-40 of each. Can anyone identify what edition they are?


At the time I wasn't really sure what to do with them. While Squeek and Snikch were drying today I decided to get out the greenskins. Despite having recently said that I would try to avoid doing large units for a while I immediately wanted to see if i could make these guys into a unit of slaves.

Goblin spearmen

Goblin archers

Some immediate problems presented themselves:

1. Every single model was based at a diagonal. Therefore every single model faced sideways when ranked-up.
2. As an old set, each model was identical in pose and main armament (spear and shield). Great for goblins, not so good for slaves.
3. Spears...a forest of ramrod straight, identical spears. Most sources I read say don't bother with spears on slaves, so I certainly didn't want all of them like that.

So, after opening my bits box and getting out my tools I decided to see what I could do to make them into the rabble I wanted.


Here is how I spent my afternoon.

A.) Cutting each gobbo off their bases with a craft knife, I then filed down the feet and bases and glued them on facing front and center.

B.) I removed 70% of the original goblin shield and replaced them with shields from the latest style clanrats (triangular) and previous generation clanrats (circular).

C.) I clipped, chopped and glued my way through an assortment of spears, hand weapons, pouches and banners to try to vary the unit somewhat.


Here are some examples:

So guess what? I FAILED to make the unit the way I wanted it to...

I think the problem is that even doing all that, the body position is just too static...
...and they are ALL like that, so you can't escape the feeling of immobility that it brings. Also, it would be too time consuming to do something with the shield arm on models where I have removed the shield, but right now those arms just kind of sit there looking weird.


Finally, they look too well-armed (and a little too LONG-armed in some cases) to really be slaves.


What to do? Four possible solutions come to mind:

1. Try mingling some archers in there to mix things up a bit.
2. Add a couple of packmasters.
3. Add some rats to some of the gobbo bases.
4. Create some kind of unit filler of a reasonable size. This would break up the visual profile of the unit and add some appropriate Skaven "DNA" (a spare rat ogre holding onto chains running to the gobbos?)   

Any ideas out there that might be simple to do for a relatively inexperienced modeller like myself?


Cheers,


*Squeek*

Deathmaster Snikch Finecast Update, Bubbles,and More!

*Squeek*

Managed to get some early work done on Queek Headtaker and Deathmaster Snikch, as well as some assembly on Scar-Skath.

I hadn't worked with any Citadel Finecast before this, so I was very interested to see how this new material would be to work with. 

• Would it live up to GW's claims about crisp detail?
• How would the moulding be?
• What kind of preparation would be necessary?

Well, first impressions upon opening Deathmaster Snikch and Queek were a mix of the good and the bad.

First, the good:

-Detail is quite good.

-Easy to glue.

-Easy to file.

That's about it.

Next, the bad:

Bubbles...

-Bubbles. Some significant detail lost from the casting process meant lots of time working with Green Stuff to fill in unsightly gaps. Maybe I was just unlucky, but these missing chunks seemed to be in particularly obvious places - not something I have ever noticed on metal or other plastics. 

Sure, I have seen plenty of gaps between parts before, but these were whole areas missing on limbs etc.

-Fiddly to remove from the sprue. (Lots of bits that take a bit of time to work out whether they are part of the model or not.

-Thinner areas of the material felt very prone to breakage. (I didn't do anything extreme to see if they were!) A case in point being the Deathmaster's cape.

-Detail didn't seem that much better than metal or regular plastic to me. In fact, some fine detail was broken or miscast.

Hmmm, not so good to my eyes, but what do you think? Let's take a look at the Deathmaster first...

(Sorry that these are a bit difficult to see. I don't have time today to edit the photos with arrows and pointers etc.)

Notice the hole in the leg, above the knee.

Missing material in the center of the cape.

Rats head on the bottom facing us (just above base) is deformed and missing

 On Queek Headtaker, nothing quite as serious, but still annoying considering GW's claims to amazing detail...

Front legs of the rat on the base - at right - miscast/ partly missing.

MASSIVE ISSUES? DEAL BREAKERS?


No. 
In fact, some might argue they are all part of the hobbyist's life. 


That is fine, but as GW charges (I seem to remember) significantly more for these than their metal equivalents, I can't think that the quality being worse would be acceptable to most people. Personally, I want to paint and display/ wargame, not patch and fix. 
BTW, although many people say that metal has less detail, it doesn't seem to be a huge difference to me.


...but maybe I am just disappointed at the time of writing from having to get busy with the Green Stuff...

(It was still sticky at the time of the photo, so I will file it a bit tomorrow.)


Anyway, I also started to work with Scar-Skath, from the Banebeasts range, who I am planning to use as a "counts as Vermin Lord". If you remember, this was the model where I didn't receive a base with the kit when I received it from Maelstrom Games (but I did receive the run-around before everything worked out just fine.)


Note the replacement Micro-Art base that in the end Maelstrom kindly sent me.

 And although I had to greenstuff some gaps on Scar, these were gaps between parts, not filling in chunks of missing model!


What have your experiences been with Finescast and resin models in general?


Cheers,


*Squeek*

Skaven reinforcements - completed!

*Squeek*
Following a very quiet Christmas (in painting terms at least...) I spent some of last week working on more Skaven Clanrats to reinforce my current core units. I managed to finish these up tonight.


By themselves, 15 clanrats don't add up to much. However, put them with my other Clanrats and I am now up to about 135 Island of Blood clanrats. Not a huge number by some standards, but enough for three units of 45,  which I don't think is too bad. (I also have old, 4th generation clanrats, but I prefer to use them as slaves as they have an even more subhuman and degenerate look to them.)

I tried one or two new things this time around:
Firstly, a more extreme highlight on the edges of cloth items. I wanted to see how this would look from "Tabletop distance". Actually, I don't think it looks too bad! Here is a close-up:

Detail: Blood red edge highlights on cloth.

Secondly, as you can see in the unit images above, I have kept in a couple of Clanrats using different colours to add just a touch of variety among my units. In this case, the Blood Red used could mean they could be from Clan Mors or possibly Clan Moulder (I wonder what their stories are? Renegades?) What do you think?


Thirdly, I followed a different process for rust. Usually I use a very watered-down Blazing Orange wash. This time though I used a very watered-down Vermin Brown and then (for some models) stippled on a bit of (again watered-down) Blazing Orange. Kudos to the My Wargame blog for the tip. You can see how it turned out below on the clanrat's blade.

Detail: Vermin Brown and Blazing Orange rust washes.

Next project is decided...
...Queek Headtaker!
My first ever Finecast! Looking forward to finding out with my own eyes (and ratty fingers) what working with this new material is really like...

*Squeek!*

Out with the Old...in with the?

*Squeek*
Ah, 2011...
...What happened in 2011?


Well, not a lot when it comes down to actual WFB battles, but quite alot if I just think about painting my Skaven army. I'm not a prolific painter, mainly due to having a job that seems to involve quite a lot of travel, but I did manage to finish up a few pieces and projects:

1. Two Island of Blood Warlords. (Guide here.)
2. Another unit of Clanrats. (Guide here.)
3. A Screaming Bell/ Plague Furnace (Dual-use conversion guide here.)
4. Hellpit Abomination.
5. Gutter Runners.
6. Plagueclaw Catapult/ Warplightning Cannon (Dual-use conversion)
7. Warhammer Chapel.
8. Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboard.

So where is the Chattering Horde now in terms of battle readiness? I spent a bit of time the other day getting everything out and this is what I ended up with. Not sure how many points this is - and note that I didn't lay things out in formation as they would be for a game...

Doooooomwheeeel!

Clanrats

Heroes and Lords

Grey Seer

Warlord with Banner

Battlestandard Bearer

Clan Eshin Gutter Runners

Artillery: Plagueclaw Catapult and Warplightning Cannon

Jezzails

Slaves

"Push the Screaming Bell - push for victory!"

Hellpit Abomination

Rat Ogres

Giant Rats

Plague Monks

Gutter Runners

Forward! Yes, Yes!

So what about 2012? Well, still plenty to do that's for sure!

• Scar-Skath (counts-as Verminlord)
• Doom-Flayers.
• Stormvermin. 
• Deathmaster Snikch.
• Squeek Headtaker. 
• Nightgoblins (counts-as slaves) 
• Plague censer bearers. 
• Warp-grinder weapon teams. 
• Poisonwind Globadiers.

I must say that next I am tempted to take a break from large units. This might take the form of either a couple of characters or possibly some unit fillers (the thought of painting 50-100 Goblins fills me with dread, although Night Goblins might be fast as  I could work straight off a black undercoat...) It would also be nice to try characters in order to practice doing some detail...

 And my New Year's resolution? Get some games (and hopefully some wins) under my belt. Do you have a gaming resolution? If so, what is it? 

Cheers,
Squeeek! 


P.s. All the discussion about a new Tau Codex also means that I might get distracted too, so I had best crack on with my warband!