Palatine Hive Challenge Update - Helmawr Gang Complete

 So next up is the main man; the Helmawr Clan leader. Another limited release figure, this was a Jes Goodwin sculpt and in fact the second time I've painted him.
 As you can see he's brimming with detail and is a complex and busy figure to paint. Having acquired a second copy of this sculpt, it's safe to say the first was definitely a recast as theasy second one in comparison is vastly superior in casting quality.

 I said it two years ago and I'll say it again now, he's definitely one of my all time favourite figures so painting it required no room for error.

 I'm really happy with the end result actually and equally satisfied that I now have a completed Confrontation gang, albeit a rather small one but hey, I ain't bothered. Plus I shall be taking these guys to BOYL 2017 where hopefully they'll be involved in some kind of game.

 So with another project squared off, next up will be (and I've already begun) resuming probably my longest ongoing army project. Stay tuned....

Palatine Hive Challenge Update - Helmawr Confrontation Gang

  So I've spent the last couple of weeks pushing the Helmawr gang on for the Palatine Hive Facebook page challenge. And a bit of a challenge they have been. It's all be a case of getting the right colour scheme with this lot as I've rambled on about in the previous post on this project.

 Personally I think these unreleased guys aren't quite as good sculpts (all by Roy Eastland) as the limited edition one. There is one more that I don't have but he's my least favourite so I won't be losing too much sleep trying to track him down.

 So the final post will be the big man; the Helmawr leader. He was originally the first guy on the list but due to a bit of ill planning and indecision on colours, I fucked him up. In fact, opting to get these gangers out of the way first has made life easier for paving the way for the leader and I certainly feel there's now less to fear.

Palatine Hive Challenge - Helmawr Confrontation Gang

 Howdy. While I'm in the finishing touches of my Orctober submission, I thought I'd make a start on another project that I'm aiming to have completed before Christmas; the Confrontation gang challenge issued by Colin on the Palatine Hive page.

 I've already made a start on both Bratt and Venator gangs but I thought I'd opt for something from scratch so I decided on a Helmawr gang.

 First up is the LE3 Clan Hive Ganger model which by the look of it was the least trickiest of the Helmawr lads to paint.

 And it proved to be so. Once I'd established a colour scheme, he was pretty straight forward. They're all quite busy figures so it was crucial to get the scheme just right and not flood it with too many colours. Bratts you can get away with it but not so here.

 So now comes the real challenge with the other fellas but it was important to get off to a good start and give myself a platform and I'm looking forward to the next ganger with an Orcy post sandwiched in between.

Confrontation Venator Leader - the last paint job of my 30's?

 Hello there, Rochie and I have taken a bit of time off from our collaboration, both turning our attention to other projects for now....
 This has been a long term idea of mine but due to not owning any of the scarce Venator figures from the Confrontation range, the plan has been shelved....but no longer!  I was fortunate to acquire a couple of Venators the other week, much to my long awaited delight. Only four different figs were ever sculpted up and there was no leader among them so the plan was to make my own. And here he is.

 His main body consists of one of the bounty hunters of the same range. I had to sclupt over his dodgy bermuda shorts that he started life with though. Thankfully I had a spare body minus a head lying around from a conversion I'd made back in the 90's.

The head is from one of the Necromunda Redemptionist deacons, while the arms are from a commissar; the left one requiring a bit of tweaking by repositioning the hand. The commissar's chainsword wasn't salvageable so I had to nab one off a Van Saar leader. I wasn't finished yet and after considering making his noose out of wire but bottled it in the end and painstakingly removed one from a redemptionist.

 With a potentially hectic work schedule ahead this coming week, I was keen to finish him before then and now it looks as if I'll be in my 40's by the time I paint whatever is next on my list. At this rate it'll be his two gangers that arrived a couple of days ago.

Confrontation Bratt Ganger

 Up this time is the first Bratt ganger to join the leader I painted last week. Though not as crammed with detail as his leader, there is still plenty to paint on this one. This guy, along with the other Bratt ganger I possess (currently being painted now) are both limited editions and can be fairly difficult to get hold of.

 I decided not to go with a colour arrangement that exactly matched the leader and like Harlequin troups you can get away with the use of colour in different areas. There is undoubtedly a technical term for this but it's getting late and I can't really think straight.

 Rather unimaginably I have gone for the smiley badge which the only other two painted examples of this fig have both had.

 So two down, one to go. Then it'll be a case of trying to get hold of the remaining unreleased Bratt gangers.....

Don't hold your breath.

Confrontation Bratt Leader

 I've been waiting a long time to get this project started. Not having any of the required figs didn't exactly help either. Thanks to Steve Casey aka Bridgend Steve, I have acquired this wonderful unreleased Bratt Leader fig plus the limited edition gangers.

 First up is the leader who I've been after for ages.  What an impressive sculpt he is! A Jes Goodwin intricate detail fest that ranks up there with the Realm of Chaos Champions when it comes to difficulty level. I haven't painted a figure as testing as this one for quite some time. It took a lot of working out what colours to use on him. In the end I just made it up as I went along. I had pretty much every paint I generally use opened in front of me at one stage.

 It felt pretty rewarding once he was completed but it was a constant challenge and not for the faint hearted.

 Next up will be the gangers who I'm very much looking forward to starting.

Confrontation Helmawr Leader

 I acquired this limited release gem recently and he's rapidly becoming one of my favourite figures of all time. Unfortunately his power axe was a bit miscast so I had to do a bit of work on it.
I am planning a Helmawr gang among many other projects so look out for more gangers making an appearance over the next few weeks.

See how the lower half of his power axe has been miscast.

I managed to do a repair job using milliput.