Blast From the Past: Part 1

Happy Holidays everyone! One of the joys of the holidays is going back home and sorting through my many bitz boxes I collected as a teenager. Its pretty much like going on a shopping spree where everything is free. I also came across several painted models from the past and I thought I would take pictures and share it with everyone so people can see where I started out.

Commission News

Thought I would wrap this all up into one news post for today. I have updated my Commissions Info page with examples of each level of painting service that I offer. Hopefully this will give people a better idea of what they can expect, but remember, nothing is concrete, I can always do something completely different if you want.

Not Once, Not Twice, but...

Three times now on Games Workshop's website! This time its my Astral Claws tactical squad. Go check them out, the GW web team did a great job of compiling my pictures to make them look like a whole unit. Thanks guys!

Games Workshop

Tyler M.

Galleries Added

Short update today, I have added galleries to the blog above. I made one for each of my armies plus my commissions and random models that I paint. Now you can peruse my miniatures at your leisure without having to dig through all my old posts, plus I think there are a few pictures in there that have never been on this site before. You're just going to have to look through all of them to find them.

For those of you who are considering commissions I hope this gives you a better idea of what to expect.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

Painting Class

Just a heads up to anyone who follows this in the Austin, Texas area. I am going to be teaching a beginning painting class every other Thursday at the Dragon's Lair starting Dec 1st. Even though its for beginners I will most likely have time to share some more advanced tips and techniques with you if you would like. If you are in the area I hope to see you there.

For everyone else, expect another Astral Claws related update soon.

Tyler M.

Long story short...

Finsihed up some more of the models for the client who had me paint the two dwarfs. In this pair is another dwarf and a halfing (hence why I was trying to go for a short pun in the title...).

The Tyrant's Legion

I felt like I needed yo give myself a little hobby boost so I decided to paint up this guy as a test model for possible Tyrant's Legion additions to my army.

Clearing Space

While I was looking through one of my old cases for my Space Marine Battlefleet Gothic fleet (which will appear on here soon) I cam across some old models. These were guys that I had just painted for fun and had never been a part of any army.

Second Times a Charm

I made it on again! Today my Ogre Firebelly that you saw on here a few weeks ago is on Games Workshop's Whats New Today page. Not only that, but it is used as the picture on their homepage to link to the blog article:

Be sure to check it out and remember, you can still vote for him on CMoN, lets try and get him up to a 9 :)

Games Workshop

Cool Mini or Not

Tyler M.

Whats New Today?

My Tomb King Herald, that's what. Be sure to check it out on Games Workshop's website and remember you can still vote for him on CMoN.

Games Workshop

Cool Mini or Not

Tyler M

Astral Claws

I have finally finished the last member of my first tactical squad, my army is now game legal!

Challenge Accepted

Well today Games Workshop announced the Dreadfleet painting competition on their website. With my copy already on its way to my door step this seems like the perfect opportunity to flex my painting skills some more. Originally I wasn't going to spend a whole lot of time on these models, but why not. I feel like it is going to be slightly hard to really make your ship stand out from another unless you drasticly alter the paint scheme (which I don't want to do) or do some crazy conversion (again, don't really want to do) but maybe I can make some cool display base?

Now the only question is, do I want to make the hour drive down to the nearest GW store to enter in the store competition by October 29th? Is it worth a certificate...I think so.

Tyler Mengel

Charity 2: Electric Bogaloo

Newbold Challenge is running another competition to support the fight against childhood leukemia. I didn't place in the last but apparently came close so I thought I would give it another shot. This time the entries can be anything, from a painting to a mini and beyond. Check out the gallery here and be sure to enter something to help a good cause.

Until next time,

Tyler

Commissions

As promised here are some pictures of the commissions I have recently finished.

The Shifting Sands...

Hello everyone, yet more Tomb Kings to show off today. I actually finished this unit of spear men about a week ago but just got around to taking pictures. Slowly but surely this army is growing, now I just need to learn how to play Tomb Kings and 8th edition.

Ogre Firebelly

Here he is, the big guy himself, the Ogre Firebelly I have been painting for my GW application. Not much to say about him, I hate taking pictures of models. I need to get some better photo equipment.

The Contenders

As promised here are some of my other models I am thinking of using for my application. I noticed how they switched the amount needed from 6 down to 4, which I think is very nice as it allows me to only show off my strongest models. Two of these entries will be the Chaos Lord and the Firebelly which are both being painted just for this, here are some choices for the other two.

The Forge World Nurgle Chaos Dreadnought. 

I think this guy is going to make the cut. He has one of my highest scores on CMoN, was painted up for a past application to Forge World and was featured on the Games Workshop website as a runner up in one of their painting competitions. He shows off my ability to paint larger models as well as vehicles and my attention to detail, because let me assure you, there is a ton of detail sculpted on this guy.

Armaneus Valthex

Valthex is another favorite of mine. He is 100% converted so it also shows off my ability to make convincing and cool looking conversions (which I know 'Eavy Metal doesn't do often, but sometimes they do). I feel like he also has a lot of effects on him that are good for this application; glow effects, power weapon effects, and free hand on the cloak and shoulder pad. I would retake the photos of him to try and get more of him in focus and be more evenly lit.

Astral Claws Veteran Sargent

It will either be him or Valthex, not both, as they are both Astral Claws. This guy again shows off most of the same effects as Valthex with even more intricate free hand. I would fix the mold line on the top of the sword and maybe add something to his base but that's all.

Tomb Herald

This guy most likely won't be chosen. I already have two Fantasy entries and he wasn't painted to the highest standards. My Tomb Kings army is mostly table top quality with a few gems in it. The only reason this guy is being considered is because he currently holds my highest score on CMoN. I think that has more to do with the conversion then the paint job.

So those are my top contenders for the last 2 spots. Which ones do you guys think should make the cut?

Let me know, and be critical. Feel free to give suggestions on way to improve any of these models to make them worthy of sending to GW.

Until next time,

~Tyler Mengel

Champion of Nurgle

The other day I finished my latest model, the new plastic Chaos Lord of Nurgle from Games Workshop.

Herald to the Kings

Now that I have your attention let me introduce you to my latest model. This guy is my Tomb Herald that I showed off unpainted in my last Tomb Kings post.

A Tale of Four Necrons - Part 2

So I have finished my Necron project for the time being. If you remember from the first post I was given the task of coming up with 4 unique paint schemes for a Necron army using warriors as the model.

Charity

No new models today but I do have some news on a charity that is being hosted by Newbold World. They are hosting a small painting contest for Reaper Miniatures with cash prizes for the three best models. They are also going to donate a matching amount of money to Children with Leukemia as well as £1 for every entry submitted. So if you have some Reaper Miniatures and want to try your hand at a contest as well as help a worthy cause then head on over to Newbold World to submit your pictures. I have entered my Thief and Exiled Knight mini, although the competition already looks pretty fierce.

Here's a link to the gallery.

Until next time,

~Tyler Mengel

Blood on the High Seas

Today I finished up the last of the pirates including the captain. Without further ado, heres some individual pictures as well as group shot.

Exiled Knight

Hello everyone, it is time again for the next installment of my Reaper miniatures that I have been painting in between projects. This guy has been sitting on my desk for a month or two now and I have been very excited to work on him.

A Tale of Four Necrons - Part 1

I was recently hired to come up with a color scheme for a client's Necron army. He wanted it to be metallic but still different from every other Necron army out there.

Argghhh, The Dead Be Restless Tonight

I am pretty sure that this has to be one of my favorite commissions so far, these guys were so fun to paint and  models I would not have purchased on my own. I had never even heard of the miniature company, Black Scorpion, you should go check them out, they have a lot of wonderful pirate and old west minis.

Liche Priest

Here is the Liche Priest I promised. Finished this guy a week or two ago and just never got around to taking any photos of him.

Astral Claws Sargent

Well it has been awhile since I have worked on these guys, but after coming back from vacation I needed to make sure my skills hadn't gotten rusty and I didn't want to risk messing up a client's miniature, so here he is Sargent Numas.

From Beneath the Sands...

I have finished the first set of miniatures from my first foray into Warhammer Fantasy, the Tomb Kings!

Commissions

Just finished up a few commissions today. I keep meaning to take pictures of the Sisters of Battle, as I have finished 19 sisters and a repressor tank at this point, but keep forgeting. Next time I meet the client to give him more freshly painted models I'll take a group shot, although that won't be for a few weeks.

Welcome to the Jungle

Okay, so its not a mini, but its hobby related.

I recently bought a sketch a day book to try and keep me motivated in the two dimensional arts, where I started. Well I did this one earlier tonight, don't know why I picked a Lizardman, but I just felt like it. I didn't look at any referance photos while drawing it, so forgive me any mistakes. This each day is only half a page, and the whole book is the size of a paperback novel, so I'm a little limited with what I can do. Anyway, enjoy.

~Tyler M.

P.S. I finally fixed the links on the side of my blog so go check out the rest of my artwork and the Badab War Veterans blog.

Night Elf

Just finished up the Night Elf model from Reaper that I was talking about in past posts. I'm not as fond of the model as I was with the last one, but I still think it has a lot of character in it. This was my first go at painting up a woman to a professional standard. You have to be a lot more subtle with your highlights on the face to make her look softer. With men you can be more drastic. Anyway, enjoy.

And as always, remember to vote on Cool Mini or Not link

~Tyler M.

The life and times

No pictures today, sorry, just a quick update to let you know whats going on.

I am currently working on a commission for some Sisters of Battle. I have to paint them to match models that are already done for the army, so its unique trying to match a pre existing painting style. I am pretty happy with them as well as the speed that I am getting them done at. Why can't I paint my own armies this fast?

Anyway, I should have some pictures of them up here sometime soon, they are only table top qualitybut I get to play with characters later, including Saint Celastine. :)

I am also toying with the idea of starting a Tomb Kings army for Fantasy right now. I have yet to paint or own a Fantasy army, so I'm leaning towards it.

I also just purchased some pretty high quality display models to work on that I'm excited about. I'm thinking of making it into a diorama, although I don't really want to convert the model, its too nice already.

Well back to painting, I have so many projects calling my name, Sisters, Nurgle, Sons of Dorn, random display models, the on Tomb King model I have...

The Joker said to the Thief...

Finally finished a random Reaper mini I bought awhile ago. I have been working on him on and off between other projects. I got him and one other Reaper mini just to broaden my portfolio of finished miniatures, they can't all be from GW.

I'm rather fond of him. I think he is a pretty good sculpt, full of character, very cheap too.

I added the base to him. He already had a bit of cobblestone sculpted around his feet, so I just extended it out to the edge of the base. I also decided to add a rat and sewage drain to give him more a sense of being in a real place. I imagine he is in some port city in a desert climate (hence the sandstone base).

The other mini I bought is a female Elf mage, expect to see her painted up like a Night Elf.

Until next time, enjoy. Don't forget to vote for it on Cool Mini, Link.

~Tyler

Double Post Saturday!

Well its a double post today. I finished this guy awhile ago and just never took photos of him. I thought it would be a good idea to post some pictures of non 40k models on here. Enjoy.

Be sure to vote on Cool Mini or Not. http://www.coolminiornot.com/280660

~Tyler

Armanneus Valthex Completed

I have finally finished my version of Valthex. Now I am only two tactical marines short of a legal force.

Progress...

Some progress on Valthex. I finished working on his main body before the other parts of him so decided to start painting him, this will also make it a bit easier for me to paint him. Enjoy

Armanneus Valthex

Time for another update. No new painted models today, just some more progress on Armanneus Valthex.

Start of something new...

...with something old. Welcome to my new blog for all things miniature and hobby related. I am currently in the middle of several projects, all of which are 40k related. So I thought I would make my first post sort of a greatest hits of some of my favorite mini's from the past few years. Enjoy.

To kick things off here's a selection of models from my Deathguard and Nurgle Demon armies. 

 My first model for my demon army.

 Plague Ogryn

 These zombies are from Mantic games. They are great sculpts, I recommend them.

 This guy was featured on Game Workshops web page a few weeks back. Took my time painting him.

 The Grand Daddy of my Nurgle army.

Yet another fantastic sculpt from Forge World.

Next up are my Sons of Dorn. These guys are my oldest army I still own and use. They are in the process of being updated so they no longer look like they were painted by my 16 year old self.

 This was one of the first new models I added to the army in several years.

 Updated scout.

 Gotta love the Space Hulk Terminators.

 I found a use for the old Captain Cortez model, replace his head and hes not half bad.

 One of my new Veteran Sargents

 Captain Agamon of the 4th Company (AKA my army)

 This guy was painted 7 years ago. He was in White Dwarf :)

And another converted scout. Have to make those old metal sculpts different somehow.

And last but not least my current passion. The Astral Claws.