Come the Apocalypse...

That's apparently what it'll take for me to update this thing.  In any event, I'm not dead; I've just had a great deal going on.  New job location, new house, new son, new codex(!), etc.  Life is busy, but that's why they call it life I suppose.  In any event, here's some pictures of what I've been up to.  I may not be blogging, but life couldn't keep me away from the game!

The New Hotness.  I had to get in on this right?

I also had to get rid of some of those damn brass etchings that I had laying about...

And some more brass etching...

Here they are with a bit of paint.  Prime black, base with Knarlock Green, go over with Snot Green.  No idea
what the new names for those colors are.  Something appears lacking, yes?

"The New Hotness" doesn't come on a standard sized base, the way God intended.  GW in their infinite heresy
decided they would go with wonky 50mm bases.  Dark Arts Miniatures, the lads who made my gorgeous resin
lava bases don't have an equivalent.  So, a bit of cork and some assistance from my lovely daughter and I had it
sorted.

A closer look.  I was skeptical at first about what I was going to do, but after my daughter asked if she could help
They've become my favorite bases in the whole army.  Parents will understand what happened here.

It's wasn't all infantry.  Part of The New Hotness includes fliers, so here's mine.  I'm not a fan of the original kit,
so I had to borrow liberally from the internet to get a conversion I was happy with.

Drop pod fins for wings, removed the lower rear stabilizer, magnetized the weapons on the outside of the engines,
switched out the over-sized assault cannon for a converted land speeder version.  You know, the simple things.

Again with the brass etching, again with the non-standard base size that needed cork and my daughter to render aid.

There's probably a bit of highlighting yet to do on this guy, but frankly I got tired of painting Snot Green at this point.  If the Easter Eggs in some of the above pictures haven't been clue enough, I sold off my Tzeentch Daemons after their new codex dropped (and I absolutely did not like the way that new book played) and replaced with them with something else sinister:

An ancient Necron Dynasty has awakened, and they are pissed.  But it's not what you might think.  They were pretty cool dudes, but someone left a hatch or two open in the tomb, and now they're all corroded and even their ceramic has seen better millennia.  

Giving the new paints a go (Prime with Army Painter Brown, base with Rakarth Flesh, layer with Wych Flesh.  Metallics done with Warplock Bronze, Hashut Copper, & that new Oxide Technical Paint.  Use that stuff folks, it's so easy it feels like cheating.  Giving the textured paints a try on the bases as well.

So now we're all caught up.  I can't say I'll be regular, but I can say you'll see more of my Necron project log.  I'll likely have a few posts on the new paints and new techniques I'm trying out (tried a bit of sponging on the ceramic as you can see).  I won't win any painting contests with this army, but I'm having fun again and I'm testing my hobby skills.  And for me, that's what it's all about.

What's New Today?

Apparently we are.  Or, more specifically, Aerion & CVinton are.  This gorgeous tank that was converted by CVinton and painted by Aerion has a brief mention on Games Workshop's Blog.  While they may not be shameless self promoters, I am certainly the proud owner of their excellent collaboration.  Good show lads.  Good show.

Ignis Rex

I have written and deleted a half dozen witty blog posts about this Land Raider but, in retrospect, none of the them have been sufficient.  I'll stop stumbling through my futile attempts at prose, and let the pictures speak for themselves.  Before I go, however, there are three things you need to know about it:

1) This tank was built & converted by CVinton (look here and here) at Dark Future Games.
2) This tank was painted by Team Snake Eyes' very own Chaplain Aerion.
3) This tank is ridiculously awesome.  I am in awe of the artistic ability on display by the two individuals above. Enjoy.

Photoshop compilation of "before" photos.  This is how we received the tank from CVinton.

Photshop was used to make "color tests" before putting paint to model.

Photoshop "color test" of right side.

Crewman photo:  Forgeworld Salamander shoulder  pad and close up of CVinton's sculpting work.

Front Grill.  Yes, the eyes ARE  following you...Heretic!

Front Profile

Left Profile.  All hatches are fully magnetized.  Not pictured are the Flamestorm Cannons
that can turn this Crusader into the Redeemer variant. 

Left Side Sculpting

Right Profile.  If you don't love the dragon mouths on the Hurricane Bolters, you're
either not alive or not human.  True story.

Right Side Sculpting.  "Ignis Rex" is likely horrible latin for "King of Fire" or "Fire King".
We were also pleasantly surprised that CVinton sculpted a fire imp or some such
into the flames at the bottom of the tank behind the Smith figure.

As you might have deduced, there is more to come.  While we did manage to acquire CVinton's beautifully converted Ironcland Dreadnought (Seriously?  It's crushing a traitor guardsman in it's claw, how cool is that?) alas, we are not taking that to Adepticon this year, so it's not a priority right now.  I did manage to get my scaly claws on Bray'arth Ashmantle (that wasn't a shipping mistake CVinton, the Emperor was trying to tell you something...) and he will be serving as my personal HQ choice at Adepticon's 2012 Team Tournament.  Stop by our table this year in Chicago for a closer look.

Army Showcase: Salamanders Heavy Support

I'm happy with everything here. A speed-loader with four Thunderfire rounds in it? Yes please. GW really made a winner with the Thunderfire Cannon model. The Land Raider (made awesome by Aerion's mastery with the paint brush) speaks for itself, although I'd like to see the Forge World doors switched around. The Salamander head pointing to the rear of the tank bugs me a bit. I'm not sure how to go about popping the doors off without snapping the resin (made of gold, elfin magic, and the sweet sweet juice of a woman...or at least they must make their resin like that due to its outrageous cost...) Chapterhouse Studios (link on right column) was my friend when building this army. If you are thinking of building a reptile themed force, do not leave home without them.