Space Hulk Tactics Hobby Challenge: One step beyond. (now inc. Space Hulk: The Movie….)

So my latest and final project was to use the terrain I made and some apps on my ipad to have a go a something with a bit of atmosphere:

SPACE HULK: THE MOVIE (ish…)

https://splice.gopro.com/v?id=jj2Njm

I can’t currently seem to export it to YouTube, and at 2.30am I think I’ll try and figure that one out in the morning!

So please go to the link on above (it’s go-pro’s editing app/website, which you can view it in)

YOUTUBE LINK NOW ACTIVE:

….I failed Sam.

I didn’t finish the rules today – life mostly got in the way – as well as my final entry in the Space Hulk Hobby Challenge.

It’s uploading to youtube as we speak – and is far more exciting than a ruleset.

I hope that Warren meant it when he said there was a few hour window after midnight.

I’ll finish the rules soon, but in the meantime take a look at the next post about SPACE HULK:THE MOVIE

So very chuffed to be featured on BoW today! Did a little pyjama dance!

Well Sam said today that he wanted to see my rules…….well I was going to leave it as it is because life has become a bit busy – or rather back to normal.

So most of this project was done during 3 weeks of my 4 weeks paternity leave of my latest child, but the last two weeks have been back to work which has meant little hobby time….

So I have a 6wk old, almost 7 & 9 year olds and today’s diary looks like the following (cos wife will be home with baby):

• 2 sessions of ballet for older girls
• 1 bowling party
• 1 school Christmas Fair
• and a mandatory attendance at my mother-in-law’s local amateur dramatics show in the village hall…..(woot! ahem)

But as Sam has asked, I will do my best to write up some rules whilst sat in the car at ballet etc.

I also have one more idea that will be cool if it comes off.

Phew – I’ve got a day ahead of me!

So despite saying I wasn’t going to do anymore of the mantic terrain for this challenge, I was inspired by the possibilities in the last video and couldn’t help myself – I ended up building my whole box of it all.

This added to the junk terrain makes for quite a substantial board and, with most of the terrain having dual properties for us as battlefield or corridors, I think I’m going to get plenty of use out of this.

Can’t wait to fully paint it up.

And the great thing is that the terrain is all multiuse and can go from corridor layout to 40k battlefield!

I’ve long harboured a desire for a 3d Space Hulk board and have often found myself perusing the wares of internet mdf purveyors for corridor kits and zone mortalis type set ups.

I’m in awe of some of the hobby projects I’ve seen, including John’s BoW build of a full network of corridors. Amazing stuff – but where the heck do you store it when you already have other terrain and junk stored and don’t have BoW’s facilities or an American basement?

I was tempted by trying the idea of building some terrain that could double-up as both “external” battlefield terrain as well an interior for space hulk or space dungeon crawls but wasn’t sure how to go about it. But then when looking at some airbrush stencils I realised that the positive and negative principles of stencils can be utilised for terrain i.e. creating the image of a corridor rather than just the corridor itself (see the following link for some great use of stencils techniques in war gaming http://www.theartistofwar.com/2014/07/tutorial-stencils.html ).

So I set out using some mantic battlezones terrain to create the effects.

First some pictures of the terrain as it could be used to represent external buildings on a 40k battlefield:

Then I moved on to breaking down the terrain and spreading it out but being sure to leave only small gaps between it.

In this way you are creating the corridors and, as a bonus, you could also add a second level of terrain by connecting the buildings with bridges

Lastly when I tried to create the buildings with walls on only three sides with the idea that the inverse of the outside of a building can then actually function as a corridor of a type

So that is three ways to use the same terrain – what do you think?

Video showing the whole process below.

One of the things that I’ve noticed since becoming a wargamer, and a wargamer on a budget, is that you can see potential conversion and terrain potential in all sorts of random objects.

Polystyrene and cardboard packaging are obvious ones, but I find myself grabbing kids bottle caps, interesting plastic cartons, random plumbing bits and plastic pipes from the B&Q (hardware store) throw out etc. Ladies & Gentlemen, I have become a hoarder of trash and it drives my wife mad – she knows I have a dedicated drawer for this junk, but she isn’t aware of the area of the shed for  storing larger items of my “collection” – I have two different kids toy castles picked up from a charity shop for example!

Anyway, a couple of years ago when I replaced my ancient PC I took it apart and saw the “potential” in it that this Space Hulk hobby challenge has brought to the fore….

Hobby steps:

• Strip PC keeping interesting looking  bits
• Hide said bits in the shed for 2 years
• Dust off PC bits, pat yourself on the back for the visionary genius you showed 2 years ago – yes indeed it IS perfect for Space Hulk
• Prime black
• Dusting of grey primer for texture
• Zenithal spray of silver
• Add minis
• Make requisite pew-pew sounds!

Here are some pictures of it in various states of set up, but the video is where you will get most of the info and detail.

So I got a cheap airbrush a year or so ago, and though I remain very much an amateur user, I’ve found it invaluable for getting down basecoats and using zenithal highlights to set the ground work for more detailed, traditional brush painting.

I have a massive pile of tyranids that I picked up in a bring & buy sale a few years ago but have been too intimidated to touch until recently when the arrival of Kill Team gave me the incentive to paint a few up as a trial.

I wanted quick, easy, and in contrast to some of the tyranid schemes you see, something that looked organic and natural – so I broke out the airbrush and was pleased with the results on some warriors and gaunts.

So in keeping with the Space Hulk theme, and getting genestealers painted up quickly, I’ve tried it on a genestealer with the steps and techniques below (and also include a video of the whole thing).

Paints used:

First step was to prime – here I went for a black base with a strong white zenithal prime for contrast between upper and lower surfaces

Next step was to get the base coat down – in this instance Army Painter army Green. It’s a fairly thick paint so the video shows me thinning it down for airbrush use.

Then I started on some highlight colours, Game Air Dead Flesh, Burned Flesh and Goblin green. The idea was to get a mottled effect, so this was done at random over the carapace, focusing on the visible upper surfaces, making sure that there was some overlap for blending purposes.

The effect is OK, but a little stark, and needs both some shadows and a filter to pull it together, so the next step is washes.

I also used this as an opportunity to try out a technique for home made washes that I first saw on the Luke’s APS youtube channel. Effectively Pledge Floor Polish and artists inks allowed me to make 750ml of wash.

In the following picture I have used a black wash for shadows and then a brown wash to warm the tone back up a bit.

Once dry I used Army Painter Matt Black, with a dry brush of Game colour Warlord purple for the claws, and then to tie the scheme together, used an Army Painter purple tone wash on the head.

So there you go, a second quick and easy way to paint up your Space Hulk genestealers and all the above steps are covered in the handy video after the pictures

When opening the Space Hulk box it can be quite intimidating – the marines seem doable, but the volume of genestealers can be overwhelming for newbies and veterans alike.

Its the age old problem of getting something to the table asap but having it look good too! When you multiply this by the number of models required to field a horde army such as the genestealer’s parent codex in 40k, the Tyranids.

Having to paint that many gaunts could leave you feeling a little……gaunt ….(sorry)

Not to fear as I have found a recipe for getting genestealers to the table using only washes and 1 paint – and I hope you agree that it looks pretty good!

This is the final effect:

Unfortunately I forgot to take more pictures of the process so you’ll have to rely on the following video alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7jXQWmKA9U

So the video in the first project entry wasn’t showing properly for some people so I thought that I’d follow up with some still photos.

As a said in the video, these were some of the first miniatures I painted after the 7th Edition Dark Vengeance set, and as I had yet to accumulate at grey plastic mountain at that point I had time to spend painting them and practice some techniques.

Plus, as these were likely to just stay as game pieces rather than being incorporated into a wider 40k army I thought I’d also go off piste – enter the Blue Angels!

I’m a huge motorsport fan so actually used the famous Gulf Racing colours for inspiration

And some examples of some of the bad guys! I experimented a little with trying to apply some gore and goo – the goo being hot glue coated in nurgles rot – whilst I added a gloss varnish as I liked the idea of a wet glistening carapace.

These genestealers were actually incredibly quick and easy to paint, using only washes and dry brushing – my next post will give you a tutorial of how to do this.

Whilst I was really pleased with how these originally came out, my painting skill has improved since then, and I would love to have another go at painting such beautiful and iconic models!