Horton brings it home for the Wildhost :)

Please go to this link for the full e-magazine.
http://dust-devils.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/DustChroniclesV3I1Dec2013Web.pdf

Many thanks to the Dust Devils International for organizing this competition and selecting my plane as the winner.
Looking forward to getting the patch and wearing it proudly on my Legio club shirt :)

Super year end surprise present :)

Der Galland-Zirkus (Horton HO-347 Der Blitz)

With the discovery of VK in 1942, German scientists found that they were able to push the boundary of aviation technology beyond their wildest imagination. With knowledge and experiments learnt from the their first jet engined fighter-bomber, the Me-262, they were now developing VTOL(vertical take-off & landing) capabilities.

This led to the development of the Horton HO-347 Der Blitz. German famed fighter ace, General Adolf Galland was tasked with recruiting the best pilots and training them for this new aircraft. After months of training, the squadron was now ready to take to the air and defeat the enemies on all fronts.

I initially wanted to paint this aircraft because I was bored with my Skaven project (painting 70 clanrats will do that to you). But then the Dust Tactics & Warfare facebook group organized a painting contest. Their timing was perfect :)  http://www.worldofdust.net/tabid/89/g/posts/t/162/Painting-Contest.aspx

Insipration for this model was the Jagdverband 44 fighter unit led by General Adolf Galland. Nicknamed Der Galland-Zirkus (The Galland Circus), their paint scheme was very eye catching to say the least.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JV_44 
 The red and white striped bottom fuselage is definitely attractive. I reckon this was their way of saying "We're the best! Come get us!" The down side to this is it involved a LOT of masking. 4 colors were masked to be exact. I'll share WIP pictures in the next post.

I was also lucky enough to have bought a 1/72 kit of this squadron a long long time ago. Decals used were from this box set.

I'm very happy with how the model turned out. Now I'll do some weathering. But for the contest I decided to leave the plane clean.

 Also painted the pilot but nothing special.

Many many thanks to Carl Lum for taking all these beautiful pictures. You da man bro!!!

Here's hoping that this will plane will bring home the honors for the Wildhost. Thanks for visiting. All comments are very much appreciated :)
Final two pics showing before and after pics, as a comparison.

Dust Axis aircraft Der Blitz

Nothing stokes the painting fires more than a competition. Especially a friendly competition with just bragging rights as the main prize. And in this case, gives me a great excuse to rekindle my first joy of hobbying...building and painting model aircraft.

Dust+painting competition+aircraft = I'm definitely in!!!

For more information about this event please click on the link below. It's being run by Patrick and the guys of Dust Tactics and Warfare Group.
http://www.worldofdust.net/tabid/89/g/posts/t/162/Painting-Contest.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/groups/217969884881551/
http://www.dust-chronicles.com/
http://dust-devils.com/
All those who are interested in Dust Tactics and/or Warfare should join the fun :)

 This will be my entry for this competition, the Axis aircraft Der Blitz. Paint scheme will be revealed later, this is a competition after all :)

This is a really nice kit. It comes almost fully assembled. You just need to snap fit a few parts like weapon options and such. It's also painted in a dark grey primer textured paint so that's good.

The kit comes supplied with 3 variant cards and all 3 are impressive paint schemes but if I'm going to win this then it's got to be something extra special methinks.

Also I want the aircraft to be in full flight mode and think that the retractable rear skids doesn't look to aerodynamic fully extended.

 So some chop chop work was needed. Let's hope it looks nice when done.

Next order of business was to re-prime the model. The original dark grey is too dark for my liking and would make the final color scheme I have in mind darker. I used Vallejo grey primer for this.

I had to airbrush several layers on the top wing to get rid of the Luftwaffe cross.

Tune in next time for more progress.

Lord Imran Kairugawa

Finished the Hatamoto yesterday. Love the pose especially with the naginata.

I've finally managed to paint the Tokugawa crest using masks. Nothing super special but it works I think.

I added the lines on top and below on the banner because it looked too plain with just the crest. The lines on the bottom indicate what level of warrior they are. Ties in with the gold dots on their scabbards.

So 3 samurais done and I need one more to get my 125 points buntai ready for battle this weekend. This will be my list.
Hatamoto Leader (level 4)    38 points
- naginata, naginata bujutsu, powerful

Samurai A (level 3)       27 points
- kenjutsu

Hatamoto B (level 4)    32 points
- kenjutsu

Samurai B (level 3)      27 points
- kenjutsu

Comes to a total of 124 points. Why 125 points? It was a number suggested by good friend Mark. At 100 points there's not much you can get from the Bushi Buntai. The FoC is rather restricted if you want to have level 1 and/or 2 Ashigarus so I'm going to try an elite all samurai list. I'll be vulnerable to shooting so I'll stick close to cover until the time comes to close into combat :)

Wish me luck. Am going to need it as I'll be going up against the dreaded Warlord Arzmi Killalla!

Lord Umari Kairugawa

Just couldn't resist painting another North Star samurai although I'm in the midst of my Skaven project.

I wanted this model to look darker compared to the one I painted earlier and I'm not quite happy with the final outcome.

I wanted black to be the prominent color but I think the dark red cloth ....for want of a better word, disrupts the overall effect I was looking for.

But it is another figure done so at least it's something. I still haven't decided on a crest for the back banners and that's the reason it's still not there.

My 2 samurais protecting a village from some rowdy bandits in a recent game :). Suffice to say, heads rolled.

Them Skravens are tight yoo = digging your own grave

Legio Malaysia is holding our second Army Throwdown event which kicked off yesterday, 8th October. This time we've made it a Warhammer Fantasy theme. For more info about this painting event please check here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yTDA0JJUpw-0IqsYNmJV4N8EHJwjB4Ten6jJR0vDk3M/edit

I've decided to do Skaven, yes I'm an idiot but I got these models when I bought the Island of Blood box way way back in 2011. I'm not going super crazy with this project and will be using 2 IoB Skaven sets with some Stormvermins and Gutter Runners. I will have 156 models which should be doable considering we have until February 14th next year to complete it. That's 18 weeks. That's 7 models per week...Doable methinks. 

I've decided to use cork boards as my bases. Make it into a town pavement look. I'll be making these look bright greyish to contrast with the skaven which will most probably look dark, as befits their theme. I'm thinking of going with Clan Mors but haven't actually decided. It'll come when I actually start painting them.

The bases are made from mdf strips cut into regimental sizes. The cork I bought at Daisho for RM5.00 per set. You get 8 pieces per set. The bottom of the cork is sticky, which was a really nice surprise as now I don't have to glue them to the mdf. Time saved. But I did have to carefully cut the mounting tabs of all the rats. I believe its worth the effort because I will not have to go through the glue sanding and waiting to dry process. Yes, this could have all been done prior to the start of painting as per the rulespack but I've been lazy and distracted by Saga and Ronin. 

My first unit will be a core clanrats of 40 strong. 

Japanese rural building

I was researching the net for more samurai models to get when I stumbled upon this site.
http://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/t1828-my-alternative-japanese-mordheim
I never planned to make terrain/buildings for playing Ronin but the steps taken by Lilljonas to build his buildings seems doable enough so I gave it go. And here's my journey to making my first ever building for this hobby that I enjoy so much. Which really is a feat because all my friends know I'm just a lazy bestard when it comes to terrain.

Step 1. Keep it simple and follow the instructions. As much as possible I followed how Lilljonas did his building with some very minor tweaks in terms of materials and the roof. For the walls I used foam board glued to a placticard base. In hindsight I should've used a stronger material for the base as it warped when the glue dried up.
Step 2. Glue all wooden structures and such.

I used ice-cream stick and pre-cut balsa strips for the lower walls and windows. Then I completed the base by gluing rubble and sand.
Step 3. The roof.

This was made using some cardboard I had lying around. I didn't follow the cut straw style as I know this would be time consuming and opted for the old wash towel technique.

Not too bad if I do say so myself :)
Step 4. Painting and drybrushing and some weathering.

I used Army Painter Warpaints and Washes primarily for this project. Also their tuft.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I truly enjoyed making this house/building. More to come as I'm planning on making a full town to play Ronin :)

If you guys want to see some hardcore master terrain building skills check out monsier Scott's blog.
http://scottswargaming.blogspot.com/2013/09/victorian-terrace-completed.html
This Victorian Terrace building he built puts my rundown house to shame hahaha.

Cheers everyone. Thanks for reading.