Shock! Some Dwarf Miniatures I Actually Like... Well, They Are From Avatars Of War!

These new Dwarf Pathfinders from Avatars of War look really great. No surprise because they're the next in a long line of amazing looking minis from this company. These guys are really setting the standard for GW to follow, particularly in their more 'neglected' fantasy ranges. Any chance of some Wood Elves?

Plague Marine Conversions, Part The Second

For stage two of these guys I decided that third party backpacks just weren't going to cut it, so I delved into by double-Dark Vengeance box and fished out the backpacks from the chosen (which I'll replace with standard chaos ones from GW via mail order). Here are a couple in shiny-white primer, and a few more wearing a base-shade of Daler Rowney Antelope Brown ink, which has proved to be an amazing base-shader (with a littler medium and a drop of water added.

The first test model alongside my version of Typhus from Scibor

The base-shaded 'command group'

Some in white primer toting various weapons 

A bit of base shading done on the Scibor snail

Probably the best example of my base shading approach on a mildly kitbashed Helbrute

Plague Marine Conversions, Part The First

Yes, yes, I've been distracted again, but these Avatars Of War Corruptors of Apocalypse are just too tempting to play with! Here they are in the first stages of conversion into Plague Marines. This was always my plan and I'm pleased with how it's gone so far. The 40k weapons have been straightforward swaps for the great weapons these guys are supplied with, and fortunately it's been easy to clip these down to make a range of nasty looking plague knives. The next stage, which will occupy me during the coming evenings, will be the addition of some extremely festering backpacks. The standard marine issues - imperial and chaotic - are just not right for this job, so I'm planning something that's a cross between exhaust vents and fungi (like those on the Nurgle Daemon Prince...).

Avatars Of War Corruptors Of Apocalypse - Out Of The Box

Ah, new month, new toys. Today I'm doing one of my quick out-of-the-box reviews of the Avatars Of War Corrupters of Apocalypse. As always this is simply a series of photos of the basic parts that come with a set of miniatures - the kind of thing I would find useful if I was thinking of buying something, particularly if I was thinking of easy conversions. And that happens to be exactly what I'll be doing with this lot over the next week or so, as I turn them into my version of Plague Marines. Overall I'd say this was a pretty good quality set. It's the first time I've seen 'warcast' up close and it seems to be reasonable: not the best resin, certainly not the worst. There are a few slightly dodgy areas of casting, although nothing like finecast miscasts. The detail is generally crisp and pleasing and these are suitably characterful models. For a Warriors Of Chaos WFB army these would be absolutely brilliant. I, of course, will be slightly converting them 'John Blanche' style into the 40k universe.