Month: December 2020

Completed Sassy Nurgling

2020 in Review

On By Plague GardenerIn Thoughts2 Comments

I’ll try and avoid the obvious summation of the year with a single four letter word. In part I can do this because 2019 was, for me, a staggeringly bad year. Despite it all this year hasn’t managed to be worse. So it is what it is, and here we go.

Games

I managed 16 games this year, which isn’t that bad considering that lockdowns prevented gaming for most of the year. I won 69% and lost 31%, which is about the same as last year. But I’m not sure how much I can learn from that, I played some funny lists and met some in return. The key take away was that I really enjoyed the games that I did have both in 8th and 9th Edition. So I’m hoping for my games next year.

I’m still having problems with super heavies, though I didn’t meet that many of them this year, I clearly still have a lot to learn on that front.

Painting

I painted 51 models this year, so less than last year. But I tackled some big and interesting models this year, so I’m content.

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Completed Plague Champion

Plague Marine Champion

On By Plague GardenerIn Painting & Modelling3 Comments

This is the bonus model that Games Workshop include in the box when you buy Sassy Nurgling. It’s an enjoyable model to paint and pretty simple, though some of it can be fiddly to get at when it’s assembled. I used the same smoke method that I used for Mortarion and I think it works well enough.

Colours Used

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Mortarion completed

Mortarion Part 7 – Finishing

On By Plague GardenerIn Painting & Modelling6 Comments

Wow, finishing, I’ve finally got there. This model really did take quite a while, nearly 7 weeks from making a start to attaching the last tuft of grass to his base. Along the way I did contract Corona, which at first helped me make good progress as I isolated from my family but didn’t feel too bad, but then it really kicked into gear and I did nothing for about a week. Anyway what was left to do.

Before I finished the wings I did attach the head and arms. The head wasn’t a problem, the arms were a bit fiddly but the pipes that link the front of each pauldron to the chest armour guide you pretty well as to where they need to go. I assembled and partially painted the pipes that go from the rear of each pauldron to the tank on Mortarion’s back, glued them into place and then finished painting them. I did the little wheels last, and they were fiddly little things. Looking back I think that I should have glued them on to the pipes before fitting them.

Looking at the model completely assembled I decided that I did want to rust his weapons. I know that there’s some fluff about his scythe always remaining clean but it just didn’t look right to me. And then that was that, the end had arrived. I’ve completed Mortarion!

Steps along the way

Final thoughts

  • This is a really nice model, it was a lot of fun to build and paint. It felt like a bit of a puzzle at times, trying to work out the exactly sub assemblies I would build and paint.
  • Each sub assembly was quite varied to work on, it’s like painting a half dozen separate models. The body is like working on “normal” Death Guard miniatures. The cloak is, for me, an unusual purple. The base is a little diorama with some lovely nurgings on it. The chains give you some more cute nurglings. Finally the wings were, to be, the biggest challenge, huge areas of flesh.
  • If you tackle this miniature give it some thought before working on it, plan if you want to paint it in sub assemblies or just build it and dive in. Seeing it all assembled it might have been possible for me to fully build it and then paint it. Maybe if I were still determined to airbrush the wings they could have gone on separately. But, that said, the sub assemblies worked really rather nicely and were very easy to do.
  • The wings were the hardest part and the bit that I’m least happy with, they’re big and a real centre of attention for the model. I’ve seen some wonderful work on the wings but I tried to play it reasonably safe other than using an airbrush to try and keep it smooth.
  • Looking back I should have had the pipes that link to the tank on his back ready when I attached the arms. The front pipes do really help your locate each arm correctly but having the other pipes would have given me the confidence that they were in the right place. I had no real problem, but I did worry about it.