The Challenge
“…the objective is simply to complete a group of models that fit together thematically. This could be a squad or a unit.”
For more details regarding this Community Miniature painting challenge, please check out Azazel’s site: https://azazelx.com/2018/09/24/unit-ed-october-2018-community-painting-challenge-also-orctober-orktober/
He’s got a great site, puts out a lot of superbly painted miniatures, and heads up all these cool (and easy) Challenges.
So, let’s get ….
UNIT-ED!
For those following this site, you know that those guys have been a long time coming. Purchased back in 2016 with the re-release of Blood Bowl. My intention was to warm-up with the Dwarf team, so I could do a better job painting my more favorite teams later. Mishaps in priming, choosing the right paint consistencies, etc. plagued completion and are documented in the early posts on this blog.
Back in September, Azazel announced a ‘neglected minis challenge’. The Dwarves immediately sprang to mind. I was having a hard time getting through the Necromunda Van Saar gang at the time and was in a painting slump. I figured why not take a crack at the Dwarves again? Surely I could finish off a few. After all, there was still 1 week left of September!
I pulled the minis out of the drawer, and immediately noticed that they were at several different stages of painting. Ugh. With a strong light, an eagle eye, and some guesswork, I started to sort them into groups of like-painted minis. I then set about painting the ones which were closest to completion. The 7 Blockers (aka Linemen) you see here.
Well, the minis were not as close to completion as I had originally thought, and ended up not getting done in September. Although the seven pretty much had their base colors painted, I still had to unify the washes. Then it was highlights, then base work, oh yea, gems, paint touchups, and bases.
The good thing is that it got them at a good point to submit them for the October challenge. I pretty much finished them last week. I was hoping to get more done, and would have loved to finish a full 11, so that I could have an actual ‘Team of Blood Bowl Dwarves!’. You only need 11 players for a team after all. Though it would be super silly to take 7 Blockers/Linemen, as they are the worst the players on the team. 7 is still more than Azazel’s requirement of “a minimum of 3 models” though. Also, finishing 7 models in a month, is a new record for me.
Here’s some ancient photos, showing a little bit about what it took to get here. I shared the one them on the game board with a friend yesterday, and it was funny to see that I was playing the Dwarves in a re-primed state at the time. Oh, what has to be done, just to get a game in sometimes.
Wrap Up!
7 Blood Bowl Dwarf Linemen done. Who to thank? All of you and Azazel for his irresistible Challenges!
But what about Necromunda?! Weren’t you painting some Van Saar?! Yep, I got a little farther than the initial figure. I started on a small group of 3 of them, but I think they are sidelined for the time being. I’m debating on them being the next in my paint queue or not. I definitely want to get back to them, as they are key to getting some real Necromunda games going in the future. In retrospect, I should have finished some of that gang for a challenge, but sometimes you just have to go where the road is taking you.
Are there more Dwarves? Oh yes, yes indeed. There are a few more Blockers to do and all the positionals (Runners, Troll Slayers, etc.). The good news is that this has spurred me to get out of the painting slump I had for awhile. After the 7 Blockers were done, I tried to get some more finished in time for the October challenge. I wasn’t able to get them completed, but it did allow me to make good headway on them and hopefully I’ll have some more to show in November (is that really tomorrow?!).
All in all, good progress and a good feeling about getting a chunk of this team finally done. Best to all of you and your own painting challenges!
Double Down Dice 
Very nice mate, they have come out very well and I’m sure they will motivate you to even greater things.
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Thanks TIM! I’ll be really pleased when the whole team is finished and I don’t have that nagging “But the Dwarves…!” voice in my head. ;D
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Those are very nice figures indeed! I can see why you’re pleased at getting them done! Like them a lot!
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Thanks JNV! I’ve seen a lot better out there, but these are mine and will do just fine for games. 😉
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Nice bunch and I do like the bases a lot
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Thanks Mark! The idea came from a GW tutorial, pretty easy. I weighted them and added a small magnet to hold the ball during play. Those little tweaks are probably my favorite thing about them.
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Well done mate. Very, very nice
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Thanks IRO!
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Nice work, good to see the team finished – they look great!
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Thanks davekay! Well, the “team” isn’t finished. This is just 7 of 21. But someday!
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Fantastic – I know the feeling of it being a long slog to get a team or gang done but well done for hanging in there and producing some rather fine looking models. Lovely work on the gold and jewels (proof positive that modern sportsmen are overpaid!). Hopefully now you’ve got these done it’ll boost your enthusiasm for getting the rest of the team finished 🙂
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Thanks man! Yea, it definitely has boosted me. I’ve got base colors applied across the rest and washes done. So now I’m just working through some highlights. I’d love to think “I’m close”, but I realize that there is always those last minute bits that come into play. Still, every step is progress at this point.
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They look really good. It’s quite nice to see Dwarf miniatures that are a bit more dynamic than the standard ‘looking grim and/or dour’ pose.
Got to agree with you about Azazel’s challenges being a great spur to move on with projects.
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Thanks Argentbadger! The new Blood Bowl minis caught a lot of flak at the start. Probably just old-timers who really liked the older minis. Nostalgia is what it is. There is a lot of stuff that I just love, but people don’t understand it, so I can relate.
For me, I think I like the newer minis better overall. Scale is really important to me in the game, and the older Blood Bowl minis were all over the place. Looks wise, most are pretty good. They went a little crazy with the beards on the Dwarves. People probably either love or hate the jumping Troll Slayers with beards sweeping the ground. I could’ve done without the gems, but adds a point of interest I guess. Overall, I think they are good enough though, especially for a team I don’t really like to play.
Something interesting struck me the other day, with those menacing helmets….one could probably paint them up in a darker scheme and make a Chaos Dwarf team as well. You’d need a minotaur, and the other pieces, but it would be cool to see someone do that. I won’t, as I already have a nice set of Chaos Dwarf minis, but would be cool.
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These look great – a very clean finish to them. I think you were working on these when we first started talking via the blogs. I remember suggesting Redemptor Gold or whatever it’s called as a paint option. And now they’re finally done, and looking sweet!
As for the models… they’re pretty nice (I have a set, still boxed) but it would have been nice to see similarly Dwarves that didn’t look like they would be tripping over their beards!
Still, it’s cool to see them done and looking so good. Now it’s time for the next batch or 2 or 4 to get finished. 🙂
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Thanks man. Yep, you suggested Retributor Armor waaaaay back. Around the same time, I also saw it used by Rob Knipe. I tagged you both in the post, where I finally ditched Vallejo’s crap gold.
Model wise, these could have turned out much better. With the multiple stripping/priming/repainting, I think some ended up with too many layers on them and lost detail. Others got a little butchered either from assembly or dis-assembly. Keep an eye out for an upcoming Troll-slayer who will be sporting a real scar.
Overall, I think they are fine for tabletop, and I don’t have anyone knocking down my door to play Blood Bowl, let alone a Dwarf team in Blood Bowl right now. Otherwise I might consider doing a better job. I’m mainly looking forward to finishing these up and moving onto other projects. Oh, and thank god I don’t have to paint a freakin army of these!!
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They really do look great regardless of how many layers and what’s gone on before – no bones about it. I’m keen to see you get the whole team finished now – both because they look ace and also so you can get that huge satisfaction and momentum that comes from completing a project. And because I want to see the completed team. 🙂
Just work on the regular ones in pairs and trios and you’ll find that they’re not nearly as painful or overwhelming to do as when you’re working on 6 or 8 or 12. Also:
Got a death-roller? Work on that now for November.
Got the Ogre or Star Players? December!
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Thanks man, that’s some mighty praise! Momentum is still going, so no worries there. I discovered the ‘3 at a time’ trick with Necromunda. Still not sure what works best for me and Blood Bowl. In some ways, getting base colors across the whole team is more efficient, but also can be more of a drag. Something I need to give a lot of thought on, before I tackle the next team.
At the stage the Dwarves are at now, I’m hopping between the lot of them. Finishing bits here and there. I think at this stage, working on the lot is probably easier, as there is a lot of stop-and-go onto the next mini.
Hey, don’t give away my secret Death-Roller! 😉
What’s in December? I’m not sure what I’ll be working on then, could be back to Necromunda at that point.
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For the early stages, I can do a dozen or so models at once. Broad basecoats and the like. After that, when you start to zero in, I drop to 5-6, then 2-3, then 1 at a time.
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I think I’m still finding my stride. Been all over the place in the last few weeks. 3-4 is about the magic number. Can get base coats down, and not overwhelming when I move into the latter stages. Plus at that number, I don’t get too bored. As long as my notes (or memory) are good, then I should be able to pick up where I left on anyways.
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Well worth the wait. They’ve turned out really nicely. I also like a lot of the new B.B. minis. Not all of them by far and other companies have also seriously upped their game and I’ve found quite a few of non GW sculpts to have surpassed both the newer and older models now (to my eye at least).
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Thank you, BtH! More of them to come.
Yea, I’ve really liked the minis that Gaspez-Arts has put out. It’s cool how they aren’t directly competing with GW, but kind of compliment what they haven’t released so far. I also still like the Willy Miniatures quite a bit, and now they are the perfect size to mix in with the new GW ones!
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I’ll admit that I went in on the recent willy miniatures vampire kick starter and the upcoming Greebo games lizards look truly epic.
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I’ve been really close to backing the Willy Kickstarters, but talk myself out of it at the last minute. Mainly because it’s a lot of money. I’m still pretty interested in their Chaos Pact team and the Chaos Warriors for the Chaos team though. I could see me backing a later KS and doing some add-ons. Their Vamp team looks really good, but it’s one we never seem to play.
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