Monster March 6 - Part 2

 

Greetings!

It's time for the update on the progress the participants of the Monster March 6 have made so far. You could see all the amazing models they pledged in the Part 1 blog post.  It is great to see a really strong start and good progress in the first week!

What is more, more people are joining the painting challenge too! Thank you very much for doing so! Please, remember that there is always a good time to join. Just check the details on how to contact me in this post:

Monster March 6 - Introduction

I would like to take the opportunity to thank a few readers who let their friends know about the challenge and thanks to that we have more people joining! That is awesome, thanks a lot! 

Ok! Let's see what did everyone do last week!

Azazel

Azazel is off to a great start as he has already finished painting his first model! Check out this amazing Monstercrown Orc Juggernaut!

 

Azazel is, of course, not going to stop there and he is already working on the second model! What is more, he is going to be joined by Marouda. That is fantastic and I really like the fact we are getting more and more team contributions!

You should definitely check Azazel's blog. He has just posted about Orc Juggernaut, with more photos and descriptions:

Azazel's Bitz Box - Monstercrown Orc Juggernaut

Can't wait to see what's going to be next! 

Ben

Ben continues with his very unique and creative project of building the Herd army for Kings of War. Each model in the army is going to be converted and has some interesting theme. Ben was very kind to provide a description of what he wanted to achieve with the model that is going to represent the Avatar of the Father. 

The model is Sif, the Great Grey Wolf from the Dark Souls board game. I've taken the model off its 100mm circle base so it can be put on a square base for KoW. 

The sword in its mouth was reeeeally long and I thought it would get in the way of the game, so I shortened it. It has been pinned and to hide the seam I used Green stuff to make a cloth bandage. 

As it will be a unit for my Herd army where each unit has a real-world human element to it, I decided to add a kerchief: a common fashion item for dogs. The trick here though was to try get the kerchief / bandana not just sitting on top of the fur, but underneath. I think the effect came out well

I think that Ben did a fantastic job and it is going to be a great looking model for his very original army! Keep up the great work Ben!

Chris

Chris is very well known for his love for old school, metal models. His entire Kings of War armies are comprised from such miniatures, painted and based in that unforgettable style of Goblin Green painted individual square bases. I am very lucky I had opportunities to play against Chris and admire his armies in real life!

It is thus no surprise that Chris chose another cool, metal model for the Monster March 6! This time it is going to be the one to represent Reanimated Behemoth for his Empire of Dust (or as Chris calls it, Empire of Dirt!) army for Kings of War.

Thanks a lot, Chris! Can't wait to see it on the battle field! :)

coOk_pAss_BaBtridge

CoOk is joining us via Kings of War forum and he pledged a Bone Giant for this year challenge. 

 

Check out more photos of the model here:

CoOk - Bone Giant - KoW Forum

Welcome on board CoOk!

DAM

Dam decided that this year he is going to pledge not one but two Titans! Personally, I am super happy about it because he always provides a lot of very interesting and useful tips on how to build and paint such models. 

This first one is the warlord battle titan Martis Renes. While the second one is the warbringer nemesis battle titan Liberatus Mortis. Both for DAM's Legio Tempestus.

DAM, as usual, documents the progress on his blog. I highly recommend reading his article, as it provides a lot of information regarding the ideas, modelling advice and some photos of his past contributions to Monster March in the previous years:

262nd Death Korps of Krieg - Monster March 6 Pledge

 Great progress and excellent article, DAM! Keep up the great work!

Duncan and Matilda

Duncan and Matilda are painting all the models together and using Contrast Paints for their projects. Matilda is painting the majority of the models at the moment, covering all the large areas. While Duncan focuses on smaller parts and finishing the edges. I think it is a fantastic idea for painting models together and I am sure it also adds to the improved efficiency. So that the models are painted a bit faster than if they were to be painted individually. 

  

Well done indeed! Keep up the great work, you are doing very well!

Eddie

Eddie pledged to painting Halfling Ironbeasts but unfortunately, the models have not arrived yet. That is, of course, not a problem for unstoppable Eddie. He had another model in his collection to get some attention and that would fit in the theme very well. Another Mutant Rat Fiend!

Well done, Eddie! And thanks a lot for being prepared for any scenario!

Erasmus

Erasmus had a fantastic idea of using one large spider and a few small ones on a single base to represent a Horde of Fiends for his Night Stalker army. I think it is one of the great examples where you can use multi-basing to your advantage and create mini-dioramas. 

Erasmus posts on KoW Forum as well, here is his update on the forum:

Erasmus - Horde of Fiends - KoW Forum

Keep up the good work!

John-Paul

JP not only is doing very well in preparing his model for the challenge but he also wrote a very detailed and very useful description of each stage of his project so far. It is so good that I asked him to allow me to copy it to this update in unchanged format. I am sure many of the readers would find it very helpful in their projects!

Aims

 

The Archfiend of the Abyss and Abyssal Fiend are both fantastic units. In fact I have one of each in the form of a Rakdos miniature from Wizkids (for the Archfiend), and a Shaggoth from Games Workshop (for the Fiend). Now I wanted to add a Mantic Archfiend to my collection, but seeing how the wings attached quickly realized that this could probably be magnetized. This would give me the ability to not only field full Mantic armies, but I can also run two Fiends of Archfiends in a game. This would also help with the waxing and waning of monsters across the lifetime of the game. Thankfully I never think they will become 'useless' in the way monsters in 8th edition WHFB were, but it's good to be flexible.

 

Assembly

 

Of all the kinds of miniatures Mantic produces, it is generally agreed that the resin monsters are among some of their best. Having built the Chroneas, I knew this to be true. They usually come reasonably clean of flash, with only some trimming and filing required.

 The Archfiend model was not much different in this regard, with most of the bits of excess resin that needed removing around non-detailed parts of the model. Once cleaned of these and then literally washed twice in soapy warm water, I quickly super glued together the arms and legs to the torso. Normally prior to drilling and putting in magnets I would not do this, but considering the shoulders of the arms form an important part of where the back piece fits, I wanted to make sure I would get that fit right when testing the magnets. In all cases, the fitting of the parts and gluing them was seamless. I really like how little manipulation I needed to do to get the miniature looking like it does on the box.

Basing

I realized that if I was going to all this effort for the miniature, I might as well make a suitably cool base. For those not aware, I have published pictures of my Forces of the Abyss not only on the Goonhammer website under the pseudonym "Cytoplasm" but also on my Youtube channel "Couple of Dabblers". I went for an ice effect on my multibases which at the time seemed simple yet effective. It is a good basing technique, but now that I have done it many times over I am a bit tired of it, and it has limitations when it comes to monster models. There just isn't much space to place lots of victims in the ice. 

 

I grabbed a chunk of 3D printed ruins, and some old Minas Tirith miniatures from Lord of the Rings the Return of the King (painted by a 12 year old me). I set to work making what you see below. Easy, and plenty of room for my Archfiend to stand.

 

Magnetizing

 

This is where things became tricky. 

The back piece without wings (we can call it the spikey back) was pretty easy to magnetize as it has almost no weight. Using a bit of the Wood Elves' Treeman kit, I made pedestal within the torso of the Archfiend on which I could place a pretty big rare earth magnet. I then glued the counterpart magnet to the underside of the spikey back and it very easily stuck into place. 

Unfortunately, the spikey back piece just didn't quite fit with the model, so many gaps of about 1-2mm were prevalent. I could just hope that painting the miniature would render it less conspicuous, but eventually I gave in and got out the Milliput and Liquid Green Stuff. 

I quickly started lining the edges of the spikey back piece with soft Milliput, then I would place the piece on the model and push to form the impression of the model on the Milliput. Instant fitting! Then it was time to smooth using some tools and then a wet brush. Any remaining gaps that were too fine were then filling with semi-dried Liquid Green Stuff. I would apply a blob of it, fit it again to the model (not pushing too hard as the Liquid Green Stuff didn't need the force). Soon I had a perfect fit!

 

The Wings were a completely different story. These had no problem fitting. Wonderful! However, the single magnet was no match for the heft of the wings. Shaking the miniature even a little would cause the wings to fall off. I could see much ruin in my future if I let this stand (or not stand as the case may be). 

It was time to get more magnets.

Using some much smaller rare earth magnets, I drilled three holes around the edge of the torso, at points least likely to be obvious on the sides (that are covered by the arms) and then one at the base of the head (where I needed the back piece to firmly sit). I then drilled corresponding holes onto the wings' back piece.

 

This was the most tedious part. 

I would drill, dry fit the magnet, think that it was a good fit and super glue the magnet in. After waiting for it to dry (don't want the magnets flying out!) I would place the wings and then realize that actually the magnets were not flush and now the whole thing had major gap issues and wobble. Much sadness and disappointment, before I cracked all the magnets out, drilled deeper and did it all again. I did this about 3 times over until I got it just about right. I say just about because in the end I just decided the 0.5mm gap was fine and that my Milliput and Green Stuff would finish the job. 

 

 

There were major gaps between the wings and the arms, but this was pretty easy to remedy, and once I did the wings finally sat on very snugly. I am now confident these will not fall on someone's Basileans.

Extra 'sculpting'

 

As is always the case, one makes more Milliput than needed, but actually I did need it. I wanted to make the inside of the Archfiend at least look like something. Much like opening a Rhino tank is fun to see a well painted interior, I used the Milliput to create some fleshy tissue. I don't think demons rely on the regular physiology of mammals, so trying to make vasculature and a heart seemed a bit much (a good excuse at least). Instead I filled in all the gaps around the Treeman piece, put some Milliput on the underside of the back pieces, and set about making muscular striation patterns so that it looked like fleshy muscle. I then got particularly bold and tried to make some ribs around the chest... hopefully they become more obvious when painting.

Basecoating

 

Basecoating was quite quick. I used up the last of my Macragge Blue spray on the Archfiend, and then some generic matte white spray for the base. I have to spray my bases white for the Forces of the Abyss as the ice effect goes on top. It just means I'll be spending excess time painting the ruins. The blue for the Archfiend just makes painting the blue skin much easier. I'm already on my way to being done!

 

 

I like to think now the Milliput and Green Stuff are not so noticeable! 

Very impressive JP! Many thanks for taking time to document the steps of your project!

Kristoffer/Hektor/Gottfrid

Kristoffer and his sons, Hektor and Gottfrid, are making a very good progress too! Their chosen models are assembled! Here are some words from Kristoffer describing their achievements last week:

Both Hektor’s and Gottfrid’s minis were already assembled but they’ve been spray primed and started painting. Hektor’s look kind of strange now but we have a plan for making the flames green involving transparent yellow spray paint. We’ll see how that goes… My big troll has been placed on a cliff to be somewhat playable with all the overhang from his really big hammer. Gottfrid’s got the same idea elevating his also on a cliff.

 

Kristoffer's Giant, very intimidating one for sure!

Hektor's Chroneas. I really like this model!

Gottfrid's Muster Captain is ready too! The new Halflings range is really good!

And a family photo :)

As you can see, the models were primed and some first layers were already painted too. It is great to see them next to each other as that gives us the better appreciation of the relative size of each of them. That giant is huge! 

Well done! Great start of the projects and perfect pace towards the successful completion!

Luca

Luca joined the challenge just after Part 1 post was published. He has pledged 3D printed models to represent a Drakon Lord and Drakon Riders!

Here are some words from Luca regarding the hobby in general and a bit about his project in particular.

I'm really excited for this project as I've always been in love with fantasy dragons since I was a kid. My passion for dragon miniatures really kicked off when first saw the wood elf forest dragon at the local GW store back in the late 90s. I desperately saved my pocket money for ages to afford it.

I started and stopped painting that dragon on multiple occasions but my adolescent focus struggled to sustain such a big project. I always felt a pang of disappointment whenever I saw it unfinished on the shelf.  

Now with a bunch of new tools and tricks under my belt and and slightly larger attention span I am ready to finish my first dragon! It's great to have some extra motivation in the form of this monster March challenge and a small tournament coming up in a few weeks. It will be a centrepiece for my Elf army that has a strong dragon theme and flavour. 

The dragon was 3d printed on an anycubic photon mono with the model from broken anvil miniatures. I try to update my Instagram account weekly with my progress through hobby projects. Linked below:

https://www.instagram.com/miscreant.miniatures/

 

I've attached a photo of the 3d print and base that will be the Drakons lord for my KoW Elf army. 

I've done a few practice models on the Drakons rider regiments and essentially used the same models from Broken Anvil. 

I have them painted up to a table level but my goal is to get the guy looking extra flashy as he will be a bit of a centre piece for the army. 

I've attached a photo of the other Drakons to give an idea of where I'm up to in the project. 

 

The models look absolutely fantastic and I can't wait to see more photos with further progress! Keep up the good work!

Michael Smith

Michael spent time properly preparing his fantastic model of a Rhino to represent Mammoth in his Kings of War army. This is the stage that does not produce spectacular effects, as it is all about filling the gaps between the parts. Michael worked on the base for his model as well.

I am sure, however, that everyone would agree that it is very important foundation for the successful project. I must also say that I really like this model, even in its unpainted version!

Well done Michael!

Mikes

Mikes is using every single moment available for painting, usually when his family is asleep :) I admire his determination! He has made some good progress on his second Treeherder:

Looking good Mikes! I like the glowing eyes a lot!

Sceleris

Sceleris is progressing with his model at his usual pace, which means he is on the right to complete the painting of his model soon!

Here is the photo of the model with other Giants:

Sceleris often posts on KoW Forum in the monthly topics dedicated to painting challenges, so I encourage you to have a look at some of his other works there!

Sceleris - KoW Forum

Well done! Keep up the good work!

Vince

Vince participated in a few editions of the Monster March in the past. It is great to have him back for another round! 

This year, Vince came up with a very creative interpretation of the theme. Instead of a single model, he decided to paint the Horde of Knights for his army in Kings of War. This is a type of a unit with the largest foot print of a base in the game! And if you want to go for the full model count, you need 32 knights!

Vince has his own blog where he wrote more about the project for this year and his previous entries. Check it out:

Vince on all things Kings of War - Monster March Again

Wilberforce

Wilberforce focused on preparing and assembling his new model of Halfling Harvester. It is good to know that the model is actually easier to assemble than it looked like! It is, indeed, a very interesting concept and I am sure Wilberforce is going to have a lot of fun painting it!

Wilberforce has his own blog too so you should definitely check it out. Here is the link:

The Joy of Painting Badly

Keep up the good work! 

Zac

Zac was told about the Monster March by a friend (thank you!) and decided it is exactly the right motivation to paint a model of a legendary Lizardmen general, Kroq-Gar on his ferocious mount - Grymlok. It does bring back some memories for sure!

Fantastic model and a perfect choice for the Monster March challenge! Well done Zac!

Swordmaster

I have a few plastic mages from the old sets of Island of Blood for Warhammer. I thought I should use them and when I painted one to be included in my Palace Guard regiment, I decided I can use another one to represent a hero. However, instead of another Archmage, this time I thought it would be a good idea to represent Argus on his Altar of the Elements.

In the game of Kings of War, Argus needs to be on 50x50mm base so I wanted to do something to represent four elements and tie the model with the colour scheme of the army. Hence, I decided to model the base with some similar elements I used elsewhere. I happened to have four identical lion heads, so I thought the elements can be represented by painting them in four colors corresponding to each element.

I started with the base but I have not finished it yet. I will need some more time on lion heads as they are now a bit "flat".

Many thanks for all the photos and projects descriptions everyone! It is really great to see so many fantastic models being prepared and painted. I am definitely inspired (as always!) and it gives me a lot of motivation to keep going. Hopefully, even picking up the pace!

Keep up the good work everyone! Keep your own pace, the one that makes you feel comfortable and happy! Channel your inner Bob Ross :) 

I am already looking forward to seeing the next stage of your projects. Perhaps our merry band of painters will be joined by even more people next week too!

Cheers!