Warhammer Rescues: Blood Angels Land Raider

On May 14, 2014May 13, 2014 By James CastroIn Art, Games, Random FunLeave a comment

Warhammer Rescue Projects

No one would ever think Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, or any miniatures game is cheap. In fact a lot of board/table top games are pretty pricey (take a look at Fantasy Flight, Steve Jackson, or Fireside Games…they’re pretty high for what’s in the box…) but they usually don’t require maintenance or additions or new pieces. It basically comes down to how you want to spend your hobby money. Do you want to spend $500 on a new video game console, plus $60-$70 for new games to support it, or $500 on a playable starter army and $60-$70 on new units? I’ve preferred the latter recently. But it’s not always easy to shell out $69 plus shipping and taxes for a new unit. Especially when, with a little work, you can get a similar or identical unit for far less! You find them on eBay. They usually consist of damaged, incomplete, or poorly painted models. With the copious bits provided by GW with their sets (Deathwing set for example, it makes Deathwing Terminators, Deathwing Knights, or Deathwing Command squad, so you get a lot of extras) you can take a damaged model or one missing parts, add the extras, and make some nice custom pieces. I’ve found all it takes is some patience, a hobby blade, a toothbrush, and some LAs Totally Awesome cleanser and just about any model can be recovered.

Blood Angels Land Raider

This lander raider was sold as a “needs love” project. Boy was that an understatement. It was originally a chaos land raider and I considered using it as one, however the idea of deep striking one of these things with my lil Blood Angels army was too tempting.

Original Condition:

It was a situation where you wonder who originally bought a $75 model and then didn’t seem to look at the instructions. The top hull was glued on top of the side hulls leaving awful gap clearly visible on the top. Also the side sponsons were glued on upside down.

The entire piece was so heavily glued it took over an hour with a very sharp hobby knife to get it all apart and, yes, some of it was damaged so badly it was impossible to make it look “as good as new.”

It got an overnight bath in LA’s Totally Awesome cleaner (seriously, it’s about $3 for a big bottle, soak overnight, it strips ANY paint off of metal, plastic, resin, without damaging the model. Just warm water and a toothbrush.) then reglued correctly.

After Reassembly and Priming:

I made my retail land raider in the “Crusader” variant due to its high-troop transport capacity, so I had all the “Redeemer” variant bits available. I moved the sponsons up, added some pieces of off a Baal Predator I had left over, and some various other parts from additional Space Marine vehicles. Upon reassembly I had to take some liberties and change the basics of the model. For example the sponson optics were broken and gone so I replaced them with spotlights. I wanted assault cannons rather than heavy bolters so I clipped the barrels off of two extras from my Ravenwin upgrade sprues and glued them to the heavy bolters it came with. There was a gap over the frag launchers I filled with standard poles from a Gors unit. I also had to glued the front door closed as the original hinge was glued to the hull and had to be broken to disassemble it.

Work in Progress:

As I said it was impossible to hide the damage to the model so I “hung a lantern on it” as it were. I wrote it into the story of the model, as though it’s a chapter relic and has been through serious wars, has received awful damage, but the might of the vehicle keeps it going. This was especially true on the left side of the model where the awful over-gluing left major plastic damage to the unit. You can see where I used some corrosion to make it appear as though it is battle damaged.

I used copious amounts of Typhus corrosion and some Forge World weathering powder to show the wear on the sides and the front door.

Nearly Finished Rescue Model:

There are some other little touches I’d like to add but I think it’s pretty table ready now. There are still some gaps that need filling and additional details I’d like to include but it’s worlds from where it started.

Is it the best Land Raider out there? Not by far… but for less than half price of the retail version and made with other additional parts I consider it a salvation of this vehicle’s machine spirit. It may not be perfect…but I think the priests of Mars would approve…

Check out my previous painting posts for more!

Black Reach

Dredtrukk

Warboss with Attack Squig

Boss Zagstruk

Stormboy Nob on Flying Base

Bad Moons Nazdreg

Dark Angels Dreadnought

Dark Angels Standard Bearer

Dark Angels Librarian

Warhammer 40k Scenery

And for more 40k my Kharn illustration posts! Part 1 and Part 2. And my fond farewell to the World of Battle.

Off the Page: Illustrations as Gifts

On May 7, 2014May 5, 2014 By James CastroIn ArtLeave a comment

As an illustrator I’m in the unique position of occasionally being able to give friends some very personal gifts for birthdays and holidays.

While “I made it with my own two widdle hands” might seem a bit juvenile, there really isn’t a better gift I can give than a drawing and all of my closest friends have something I’ve drawn for their walls or offices.

My RevPub co-chair has countless pictures decorating her space, my buddy Mike used to have several originals of characters he’d carry in his massive wallet!

I’m not a portrait artist as such. I did some portraits for money in high school and college but I hate the work. It really stifles my creativity and while my artwork does usually lean on the realistic side, doing an exact copy of something, even of a person, kind of takes the fun imagination out of everything.

Instead I do “insinuations” or “approximations” of people I draw for. Not true portraits, just illustrated versions capturing some essence of their character.

I did this piece a few years ago for my friend Misty’s birthday. Not only did I get to have loads of fun torturing her by not letting her know what I was doing for her, I got to get very creative with the drawing. She loves library work and some of the pictures I saw of her working in the field were of her doing a puppet show for kids. She’s wearing some rain boots (she never gets to wear when it’s raining…) and has a nice stack of books behind her.

This is the most recent one I’ve done for my friend Jessica. Her passion is teaching yoga and she is a superlative Hot Yoga instructor. I started doing little pics (starting with my Turbo Snail) and thought this would be a nice birthday present for her. After some minor Facebook stalking so I could approximate her face (my memory is good but not so good I can draw details from it…I’m not Hannibal Lector…) I came up with this.

I’ve never had someone dislike or respond with anything other than excitement upon receiving one of these as a present. Not everyone can draw, or paint, or write, but everyone has something they can do to let their friends know they’re thinking about them. Be creative for your next presents; modern gifts don’t have to begin and end with the gift card!

Artist Spotlight: Meghann Shike (Part 2)

On May 2, 2014May 1, 2014 By R. PettyIn ArtLeave a comment

Thanks to everyone who checked out Part 1 of our Artist Spotlight on Meghann Shike! We love to spotlight individuals who live their passions – whether it’s art, architecture, film or whatever else inspires them.

Here’s the second part of the interview, and if you’d like more info, feel free to contact Meg at megshike@kw.com!

Rev Pub: When did you decide to be a realtor and why?

I decided two years ago when I bought my first house with my husband to get into real estate because our home selling and home buying process was a nightmare. It was also the first year of our marriage and the first year running my previous business. We were so stressed out, and it lasted for almost a year!

Everyone in our process made a mistake. The problems started four days prior to us closing on our new “dream” home that the IRS did not have our taxes. What does this mean? My husband and I are both self employed. If the IRS doesn’t have our taxes, our lender can’t verify our income, which means we cannot buy a house. The house we were currently living in had already sold. It sold in four days!

So, my husband and I who both work at home (he works in the music business and makes a lot of noise every day), and we live with our five pets and had no place to live in four days. To make a very long story short, we eventually ended up in the house we were trying to buy. However, we do not feel like our realtor had our best interest at heart. Two years later, the home inspector appeared to have missed some things, and the contractors we hired to fix the roof, foundation, and completely gut and renovate two bathrooms was off by 40 percent on his estimate. Needless to say, two years later, some things haven’t been fixed, and we’re living in a house we wouldn’t necessarily have bought had we know it was all going to go down like this.

Rev Pub: What motivates you to help people buy and sell homes?

Today, I am on a mission to make sure your experience is the opposite of mine. When you buy or sell a home with me, your experience will be like riding in a limousine. I will plan and help you execute every detail of your loan, home sale, home buy, inspection, appraisal and closing. My job is to make sure everything goes smoothly, so you can ride along in your limousine enjoying your champagne and strawberries until we arrive at your dream home where you will walk inside, take a deep breath, and smile really big because you’re here, and it was so easy!

What motivates me to help people sell their home and buy their dream home is the stress I felt while selling our previous home and buying this house. Buying a home can be stressful, and it is always emotional. My job is to take good care of you. That means, I will manage all of the details while you dream about how you’re going to decorate your new home when you move in. I want you to leave your current house very happy with the price you received for it, and walk into your new house feeling relaxed and excited about the memories you are going to make in your dream home!

We send a big thanks to Meg for her time and look forward to spotlighting more passionate people!

Artist Spotlight: Meghann Shike (Part 1)

On May 1, 2014April 30, 2014 By R. PettyIn ArtLeave a comment

This month, we’re featuring an artist who has two passions: writing and real estate. In order to do anything well, you must believe in what you do, and Meg is a great example of that. The first post will discuss her writing and the next real estate. Feel free to contact her at megshike@kw.com!

Rev Pub: When did you start writing and why?

I have been writing as long as I can remember. I grew up reading Stephen King and Michael Gruber’s, The Good Son, and watching all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies well before I should have been allowed to be reading or watching any of these. These did two things for me. First, they scared me in the best possible way. Second, they allowed me to disappear into this world that someone else’s imagination created. That’s when I became addicted to writing. I have always wanted to be able to use my imagination to create a world so believable you can slip into it just by turning the pages of my book. Before you know it, hours have gone by and you didn’t even notice because you were so entranced by my writing. While I have been writing all my life, I really got serious about writing in grad school because I learned how to write a novel. I spent the next year after graduation writing my first novel, which is far more writing for my own pursuits than I have ever done in that short a time period.

Rev Pub: Who are your favorite authors and why?

Stephen King: His imagination is astounding and never ending. IT was a pivotal, formative moment in my childhood. IT helped me fall even more in love with Stephen King than I already was. Rose Madder is another one of his books that I really enjoy and feel is a complete world in and of itself.

James Patterson: At this point in time, James Patterson produces, on average, seven books a year. His books aren’t crap either. Believe me. I’ve read a lot of crap. These days, he’s writing all of them with a co-writer. They’re still fun novels and characters to jump in bed with for an afternoon, and when you finish, you only have to wait a month or so for another one. I appreciate that he’s got the creative and business sides of his business rockin! Not all creatives are capable of this.

J.K. Rowling: The detail she creates in her world is incredible. It’s so easy to slip into her imaginary world and live there until I run out of pages. Not to mention the fact that her books are just fun. They got adults reading more and got kids reading for the first time. Both of those deserve major respect.

Rev Pub: What motivates you to write?

What motivates me to write is a need and desire stronger than any other I have felt. Writing is what I have felt called to do since I started reading. I want to give people a world to slip into for an afternoon. As adults, we forget to use our imagination. Sometimes great authors remind us to stop and live a little. I want to be one of those authors. I want you to be able to pick up one of my books and disappear for in a world that is so real it makes you forget about everything on your to-do list.

Rev Pub: Do you have any advice to others on how to work in time to write?

My advice to others if you want to write or whatever your true passion is you just have to do it. If it’s that important to you, just do it. Everything in life that’s worth anything takes work. Writing is the same for me. When I wrote my first novel, it took a year and was my primary focus for that year. I got up every morning, worked out, and then sat at my dining room table/office and wrote for hours.

I will also say, if you want writing to be more than a hobby, then you need to consider it as important as your job. Good writing habits require discipline like getting good at your primary profession does. Also, you have to practice jumping into the writing mindset quicker and quicker. It used to take me hours to get into the mindset and get into the groove cranking out chapters. Today, it takes less and less time. You also have to welcome the moments of inspiration when they come. For me, this means when I see something on the news that’s particular grotesque or ‘effed up that might be inspiration for a future book, I stop and make a note to put with all my other notes. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the mood or if I’m at a party. If you want to write or do something creative, you’ve got to be ready to receive these creative inspirations whenever they come.

Off the Top of My Head: Painting 40k Scenery

On April 9, 2014April 9, 2014 By James CastroIn Art, Games, Random FunLeave a comment

Wrahammer 40k and Citadel Scenery Painting

Official TableTop Day has come and gone but those of us who play table top games every day can be a table top day. 40k isn’t usually thought of in the same realm as “table top games” even though it truly is. I consider it almost a “table top lifestyle” as it really starts to seep into your thinking and, for an artist, your aesthetic.

Painting canvas isn’t something I do well or enjoy, unlike my RevPub Player 2, but I do love to paint models. and as I said in my Nazdreg post I love to create bases. One of my other favorite things to paint is scenery. Games Workshop/Citadel release some great-looking scenery for 40k. I love the little details and terrain pieces, especially rubble and ruins, and it’s fun to try to test some painting techniques on them.

These are from the Urban Barricades set and I painted them last year. With some of the new technical paints out now I’d like to maybe add some new touches to them, but I think they came out pretty well, at least well enough to be table ready!

I love this one with the Space Marine bike.

All the little skeletons and pieces are great small details.

This one with the door and unexploded ordinance is also wonderfully detailed. I like the bullet holes, battle damage, and debris in these pieces.

Over the holidays Citadel released some new technical paints that got me pretty excited. Yes I’m lame enough to get excited over technical paints, but I like to paint, I have a lot of fun with scenery, and I’ve been waiting for these kinds of paints to be available.

One of my favorite scenery pieces is the “battlescape” piece with the dead trees, craters, and the wrecked Rhino, complete with combat damage and customizable doors.

The base was basic Mournfang Brown then dry brushed with Longbeard Grey and Praxeti White.

The trees were the most difficult actually, I started with more Mournfang, dry brushed Praxeti, shaded with Biel-Tan Green, and glazed with Waywatcher Green.

The Rhino I painted in Macragge Blue, then used the Typhus Corrosion + Ryza Rust combination shown in the technical paints video released late last year. I also used some Forge World rust weathering powder to give the impression of the rust running off into the terrain.

The craters I plan to add some water effect mixed with some combination of Moot Green and Skavenblight Dinge to make a murky green with a bit of oil. I’ve got an extra arm from an Ungor kit and some extra chaos bits so it’s not just the imperium showing the damage in this piece 😉

Once the piece is completely finished (I’m still testing the water effect…) I’ll post an update!

Check out my previous painting posts for more!

Black Reach

Dredtrukk

Warboss with Attack Squig

Boss Zagstruk

Stormboy Nob on Flying Base

Bad Moons Nazdreg

Dark Angels Dreadnought

Dark Angels Standard Bearer

Dark Angels Librarian

And for more 40k my Kharn illustration posts! Part 1 and Part 2. And my fond farewell to the World of Battle.

Artist Spotlight: Ron Knight

On April 1, 2014March 31, 2014 By R. PettyIn ArtLeave a comment

We are very excited to post our first Artist Spotlight! Once a month, we will feature an artist who creates amazing, original art and inspires those around them.

This month, we bring you Ron Knight, and we thank him for his time and work! Don’t forget to like Ron Knight Art on Facebook!

Artist Ron Knight — Painter Ron Knight, Smyrna, TN and “Stay Strong”. Photo: ©Ron Knight Art

Basics: I use mainly stretched canvas and acrylic paints. From time to time I will stray; for instance, I just did a painting on a saw blade for a friend, and I’ve done a few oil paintings in the past couple of years as well.

RevPub: When did you realize you wanted to paint? Do you remember your first piece?

I first noticed I had a knack for painting at the age of 14. We did a few painting projects in art class, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My mom actually posted my first real painting I did on Facebook not long ago. Yellow and red skyline with silhouettes of trees with no leaves painted on a table leaf. The trees with no leaves has become one of my signature works. I have quite a few of them now, and typically if someone requests a tree painting, that’s what they want.

RonKnight first piece — Ron’s first real painting, which led to his signature tree-with-no-leaves works. Photo: ©Ron Knight Art

RevPub: What is your favorite piece so far?

My personal favorite of my pieces is one of my oil paintings titled “The Dream”. This piece is 5ft wide and 4ft tall, so it’s rather large to begin with. This is the only piece I’ve ever done that took longer than 5 hours. It was on my easel for two weeks. There was quite a bit of thought behind the piece which you probably wouldn’t think just by looking at it. It’s one of only a few completely abstract pieces I’ve done.

I have to say one of my newer pieces “Stay Strong” is a very close second favorite. It’s a personal reflection piece for me.

Ron knight the dream — “The Dream” by Ron Knight. Photo: ©Ron Knight Art

RevPub: What inspires you?

Music more than anything. Sure, I’ll see a painting I like the color scheme of and mimic it from time to time, but music is what drives my paintings. All of my works have a “flow” to them as I like to say. I am very textured with a lot of my work, and they tend to have rhythm in the paint itself. I often will make playlists for paintings if I know the person well enough. I don’t typically dance, but when I’m painting all bets are off. Not exactly doing ballet, but I can become very fluid myself while painting. It’s something I truly enjoy and become lost in.

RevPub: Do you ever have creative droughts? If so, how do you fight through them?

ABSOLUTELY! There are times I just wait it out. There are times I force it and just grab a brush and start painting. Those tend to be very interesting pieces!

RevPub: What advice do you have for those just getting started or considering painting?

Don’t get frustrated. Not everyone will like what you have to offer, but for every one that doesn’t, there are 5 that will love it! Try many different techniques and styles; it keeps it fresh (at least for me it does). Confide in other artists! They will inspire your creativity more than almost anything. HAVE FUN! Not every stroke of your brush will make a masterpiece. It takes practice. Find a place (like for me Jerry’s Artarama) that sells a wide range of supplies. You do not want your first paintings to be with high-end materials. Mainly just because you’re still figuring what works for you. You wouldn’t buy a Nissan GT-R for a 16-yr-old who just got their license. Same idea here, this way if you waste the paint, it’s not too big of a loss in your wallet.

Revenant Publications

Category: Projects