First up, please allow me to apologise for not getting a community showcase post up over the last couple of months. For one reason or another I’ve struggled to get into the right headspace to sit down and compile things, which I am very sorry for. On the plus side, this post compiles your wonderful hobby from both May and April in the Community Showcase channel from the official PaintSlam Discord server! So grab a Cornetto, put on some summer beats and enjoy the lovely miniatures below!
Oh man, sorry it’s taken me so long once again to get this article put together. 2022 is a hell of a thing. Well, it’s time to look at what AWESOME hobby the PaintSlam community got up to during the month of February. Let’s dig in and enjoy the amazing miniatures!!
Once a staple on Warhammer battlefields the world over, it is perhaps somewhat rarely seen today. At least, outside of specific Oldhammer projects.
See how it ranks up neatly, even when the model atop it doesn’t wish to. A closely ranked up unit looks wonderful, yet who can forget the hassle of juggling your models around to actually get them to rank up properly? It was like a jigsaw puzzle every time you wanted to set your unit up on the table!
Rejoice in how it sits flat on the battlefield, except when the model is metal and slightly off-centre so it tips over at a gnat’s sneeze. I sure hope you’ve varnished your pewter and lead warriors, unless you’re going for the Terminator look.
The smooth, flat edges juxtaposed against the rough, nobbly top surface. Run your fingers along the length of those edges. Mmmm, smooth. Now run your nail over the top. Mmmmm…. texture…
How lovely your old school models look all grouped together, despite completely disregarding the 6-foot rule.
You grab your PVA glue and some sand, or if you’re particularly posh some green flock. You apply it to the top of the base (not the sides though, you’re not a MONSTER) and paint the whole thing Goblin Green. A quick drybrush with some Sunburst Yellow and you’re good to go! Don’t they look smashing.
Then sit and admire your army, resplendent atop your bright green battlefield surrounded by lush forests, oddly stepped hills and suspiciously cardboard-looking buildings.
Yes, truly the square base is a thing that brings joy.
Have you painted something on a square base lately? Let us know by showing us in the PaintSlam Discord!
It’s the start of a new year, January is well underway and the official PaintSlam21 End of Year Showcase is done and dusted… but we’re not finished with ’21 until we’ve done the official December showcase. So here we are, the final month of 2021 in blog post form! Submissions as always taken from the PaintSlam Discord’s Community Showcase Channel – get in there if you want to join in ready for the first showcase of ’22!
I love all of these! The sisters in particular look amazing, and I’m naturally very much in favour of the trans-tastic standard!
CritonyEntertainment
CritonyEntertainment brings us the usual amazing assortment of Power Rangers themed miniatures! Plus a few heroes from the multiverse!
DarkHanon
Black Templars from DarkHanon. The strong red contrasts really well against the black and white.
fin37
I love these admech robots. They’re so chunky and retro looking!
gardengoth
Gorgeous work from gardengoth. The dreadnought looks so GOOD!
Heavy Metal Wars
Retro nids! I love these so much!
JewelKnightJess
From myself this month comes a Genestealer Cult biophagus, the Bristol Crew inspired by The Young Ones TV show and an awesome werewolf miniature from Anvil Industry.
Mommy Negan
A star wars bounty hunter and snake charmer from the always fantastic Momma Negan.
Pandaemonium_Miniatures
Some wildlife here from Paul, I love the realistic fur tones.
R35T
Check out this awesome Death Guard leader, out to reap some fresh fertiliser for Nurgle’s gardens.
Theelusiveshaun
Some awesome Necromunda beasties here including the adorable Esher “kitty cats”.
Thokamous
Great work from Thokamous as always here, including a couple of nice marine boys.
Torrentstride
What can I say about this awesome Ghost Rider? It’s too cool!
If you’re a Warhammer fan of a certain vintage, you’ll have fond memories of colours like Goblin Green, Titillating Pink, Ultramarines Blue, and Snakebite Leather. There are a few paint ranges which offer the same colour range as recreations, but in this video I want to talk about Nostalgia ’88 by Warcolours. (Affiliate link)
This is a range of colours designed to replicate the 80s range of Citadel Colour paints. They come in 20ml flip top pots that look very familiar to the original ones, and have a very similar smell and consistency to those classic paints that many of us grew up using. Warcolours also state they have a 99% colour accuracy to the original range.
Therefore these should be of interest to hobbyists who grew up with classic games like Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Rogue Trader, Space Crusade and Heroquest. If you have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table painting small lead heroes and powerful monsters, read on…
Warcolours very kindly sent me a sample set of 18 of their paints to try out, specificially the following colours:
01 – Bronzed Flesh 08 – Enchanted Blue 10 – Swamp Brown 13 – Hobgoblin Orange 17 – Goblin Green 21 – Ghoul Grey 23 – Electric Blue 24 – Red Gore 27 – Titillating Pink 39 – Salamander Green 42 – Marine Dark Blue 43 – Space Wolf Grey 44 – Blue Grey 48 – Striking Scorpion Green 51 – Ork Flesh 52 – Serpentbite Leather 54 – Hawk Turquoise 68 – Amethyst Purple
One of the things I really like is that they currently have a wide range of the paints from the era already available beyond what I’ve got to test here, and they have even recreated some of the classic paint sets of the era such as the Creature and Monster paint sets.
In order to test these paints I thought it would be very much appropriate to paint some era-appropriate models with them, so I picked out some classic 80s Wood Elves!
These guys have been around the block a few times! For the painting process for these I also streamed live on my Twitch Channel, if you’re fast you might still catch the VOD to watch me using these paints in person!
Above you can see the unit musician, snapped at the point where I’d finished applying base coats ready to be shaded. The nostalgia paints used above are Goblin Green (tunic), Salamander Green (leggings), Serpentbite Leather (boots), Gore Red (harp), Hobgoblin Orange (hair), Swamp Brown (pouches, straps), Bronzed Flesh (skin, harp strings), and Marine Dark Blue (sword grip). The metallics shown are citadel’s Leadbelcher and Screaming Bell.
Most of these colours covered very nicely with two thin coats. I was pleased with the solid and vivid colours from Gore Red and Goblin Green in particular. Serpentbite did take an extra layer to get a flat coat, with Salamanders Green requiring the most layers to build up the colour.
This is where I noticed a strong similarity to the paints these attempt to replicate – they are rather transparent even over a few thin layers. Unlike most contemporary paints you will likely not be able to paint directly over areas of another colour easily, so you will probably want to take your white paint and clean up any areas before applying the next colour.
The red notably had the same properties as the classic paint of showing any dark colours through quite obviously if not painted over a clean white base. Whilst in a modern paint this could be considered a flaw, I believe this is a deliberate choice in retaining the accuracy of these paints and their original consistency and coverage.
As with the paints of the 80s, these do work best over a white undercoat. The natural transparency makes the colours pop brightly against that base colour. I would not recommend using these over darker base coats unless you’re happy to apply a few more layers to build the colour up or want a less vibrant appearance.
Above, I applied Guilliman Flesh to the hair and skin areas from the Citadel Contrast range, and Agrax Earthshade over all the other areas. The shade did flow nicely over the Nostalgia paints, retaining much of the brightness of the colours. As you can see above this simple technique gives you a pleasing effect that would be perfectly acceptable for gaming with.
And here you can see the full group of 5 miniatures. I re-highlighted with the base colours for each of the areas, then mixed in lighter shades such as hobgoblin orange into the red to highlight. Some of the top highlights were done with citadel colours where I wanted a more specific look. Overall I was impressed by the brightness and accuracy of the Warcolour collection.
Of course, Newer painters without the nostalgia are likely to wonder what the fuss is aboute, given the convenience and coverage of paints such as the Citadel base paints or Vallejo’s Game Colour paints. But for folks like me who have very fond memories of those classic colours, the nostalgia ’88 paints are very much worth a look at if you’re missing the feels and smells of those bygone years!
And for fun, here’s a more modern (as in, mid-2000s… practically yesterday!) Wood Elf Spellsinger which I painted again using mostly these Warcolours paints…
On this model I did a little blending with the warcolours paints, such as the Hawk Turquoise of the spite being mixed in with a little swamp brown to aid the transition between colours and to create various shades of grey for the staff which was base-coated in Ghoul Grey. The colours mixed well. You may recall paint mixing was very common in these early days before the Citadel Colour range had 300+ colours!
In all, I can say I was impressed with the range in that it really achieves what it sets out to do. Everything about them feels like using those paints from childhood, for better and for worse. If you’re after that nostalgic kick and want to recreate that experience of painting with the old paints – especially for those working on Oldhammer armies like myself – they’re definitely worth your time.
Newer hobbyists used to the properties of more recent paint ranges are likely to be somewhat befuddled by them though. But then, that’s literally in the name of the product. Nostalgia ’88 – if you have the nostaglia, go for them! If you don’t, well, I guess we’re spoiled for choice these days for fantastic paint ranges so use what you’re happiest with!
Summary:
Focussing on accurately replicating the paints of the 80s, these paints succeed at what they are designed for. They bring the good, and the bad, of the era back to your painting desk. Give them a go and you’ll enjoy them – as long as you have the nostalgia!
And so we come to the final day of 2021, and what better time to look back at the year as a whole with one huge Community Showcase, where members of the PaintSlam discord picked two pictures/models/units from their year and tell us a little about it? This is the written version of the showcase, but you can actually watch the full 3 and a half hour live streamed version right here:
If you want to take your time to admire the images up close though, this article is the perfect companion to the stream! Why not listen to the stream and zoom into the beautiful photos below for a closer look?
So without further ado, let’s take a jump into your favourite works from 2021! And remember to get involved with PaintSlam22 starting TOMORROW!
ALEXANDER
There two are the models I am most happy with this year. Finishing my 2k marine army has been my main project. Both of these let me try different colour schemes within the same army. Was also fun making a custom head for the techmarine by cutting two in half :3
BELZÉBÉE
It’s so hard to choose…
I think first it will be the Skeletor color themed sorcerer from HeroQuest. It’s one of my fav minis, my fav game (look at my username). This mini is a big improvement for me, managing the light, practicing a more cartoonish effect.
The second is also a sorceress, kitbashed from AoS Slaanesh minis, for my King of War army. Same thing, I did a very good job with cartoonish effect (and managed to freehand an easter egg).
CALLIE
First choice was easy: Galadriel, Lady of Light! A really understated model and a really simple paint scheme but a character I utterly love, and over all despite the lack of technique or detail I’m really proud of her.
Second I’ve gone for Leia Organa. This FFG sculpt isn’t the best, and neither is my painting, but none of that matters. It’s Leia, it’s Carrie Fisher, and both the character and actress are amazing.
CEE THE DORK PHOENIX
Two group photos – my Blood Bowl team inspired by old black and white Hammer Horror movies (apologies for the photo, I had to cobble together a set-up from what I had to hand with most of my life in cardboard boxes!). It was weird, having a pallet with only black and white paints on it, mixing them to make many shades of grey. And the neon green colour as a spot colour on the eyes.
Also, my Escher gang, with various Pride hair colours! These two teams are my first and last fully finished models of the year (Edit: Escher first, Blood Bowl last – just seen the pictures are reversed!).
CHAOSFORM
Jumped on New year, new army a little early but that’s alright
COMMISSAR LEWDFANG
My favorites from this year are:
The Chaos space marine Exalted champion kitbash Anja the Hound that i planned for a long time.
The Spire tyrants for Warcry was great for skin tone testing and training and it all turned out pretty good.
CRAFTYBANANA
My PaintSlamming feel off a cliff in the second half of the year (life happened), but I still got through some minis I was pleased with. In particular, the Custodes Command Bros here came out surprisingly well for a glorified coat of Leadbelcher and generous use of metallic sharpie, and the Cold One/Drakespawn Knights were great fun to paint, even if they were too pointy to properly photograph in my tiny flat.
DAD_MECH
My T’au Riptide is the biggest single model I’ve painted so far, and had a lot of fun with it. a real centrepiece for my cadre! also recently painted the Ironstrider that I had on my pile for about a year, with a sneaky lil pathfinder on the base. purple is the stealthiest of all the colours after all!
DARKHANON
Diffcult to choose – highlight was to finish the Conquest Magazine Collection but that aside – I really love my new painted Knight and the two Sisters here 👀
FIN37
Dragon Princes as they were a unit i thought i would never finish due to how fiddly the models are and they turned out better than i expected, also marking the first time ive freehanded anything and it wasnt a disaster.
White lions as they were the first unit i finished this year after id decided on my original goal to fully paint 2.5k of High Elves, so they showed me finishing units is actually possible. plus they’re awesome.
GIRATON
Tau and Owls!
The Tau Kill Team was my final project of the year and was so satisfying to do as I felt it was the peak of my efforts this year. My best highlights and colour balancing IMO.
For image 2 its the models that featured Owls I did this year, which was a fun mini theme I happened to do. I wanna fit in more on my models.
GUILTY
Excuse my terribly messy desk and terrible photo quality. I’m so proud of how the insert for this came out! Also it was super fun to paint over the clear plastic!
GURT
The only two I’ve actually finished this year are my Christmas minis so I guess I’ll pick them haha I only really started getting my mojo back towards the end of the year so I’m hoping to get more done next year and be more involved with the community too.
HEAVY METAL WARS
Easy choices for me this year… the Rogue Trader Space Marine with shuriken catapult that I painted for the Paintslam Golden Oldies month seemed to be appreciated by a lot of people. I enjoyed the whole process of building and painting and it features one of the first banners I ever did by hand. Eldrad Ulthran, on the other hand, is probably the best miniature I’ve ever painted and I hope I can kick on from here and improve further.
HOUSEFIREHAWK
I painted this guy up as a display piece, because i wanted to see how far i had come as a painter. i still have the original model i painted 15 years ago and suffice to say, there is a distinct difference 🙂
Painted this guy up very recently and very happy with it, i loved the model, the sculpt and once i got past how violently bright the orange was i loved that too! definitely my favourite model ive done in this hobby 🙂
JACK
These two are probably my favourites of this year, although gluing the ~300 skulls to Nagash’s base was a lot of effort
JAMIE
I entered my first ever painting competition this past weekend, and I couldn’t think of a better demonstration of my overall hobby progress in this past year. I’ve gone from painting a few times a month, to a few times a week, now to a few hours a day and I’m quite literally living my dream. I’m so proud of these models, and I’m even more proud to say that I actually won in the Arcadian Brush comp at PAX U with this Rasputina model. The robot was entered at the advanced level, and while it didn’t place, I’m really happy with how it turned out! Between the contest and my minis being used for the Castle Panic kickstarter, I have so many awesome benchmarks of growth for me to measure this year personally and artistically. I’m trying to grow my following on Instagram, so if you like what you see, I’d be flattered if you’d follow :mischaLove: (www.instagram.com/jamiedaggers)
JB
Seems my hobby peaked at the first model of the year with Venom.
JIM1810
I think these are two of my favourite this year, the ‘Commissar’ was a gift for a friend while the wizard is obviously planting a flag
JUNIPER
My two coolest projects from the last year: my Knight Repentia and Sisters unrepentant!
The knight was a big centre piece for my sisters army, the idea is that its a colossal version of a normal anchorite. It was kinda the end point of messing about with the SoB range after getting started with the Unrepentant sisters way back in summer. That lil gang aint nessisarily my best painted minis, but i love the freehand graffiti on the statue. Hoping to fine tune those skills in the coming year 😤
LEGAL-E-TEA
Figured I’d introduce myself with an early-, mid-, and late-2021 sample of my work. I’m not great, but I’m quick.
LENALEVELSUP
Let’s try this again without accidentally posting something appropriate to my work but definitely not appropriate to here XD
While I didn’t get much painting done, I did finish this metal Harlequin troupe and I’m very proud of them
LIL MEK
MOMMY NEGAN
NEDPATRICK
My favorites: The first is a goblin alchemist that I found on Etsy. I tried to push myself and used a lot of techniques that I learns this year, such as layering. The unit are some naiads for Kings of War. This was the first time I used my airbrush to lay down a base coat for a bunch of models.
PANDAEMONIUM_MINIATURES
Hard to choose as I managed to paint a lot this year, but the satisfaction of stripping my awful paint jobs from age 13, and restoring and repainting my HeroQuest set is a definite hobby highlight (project still ongoing!)
PETE (SIPPSTER) SIPPITT
My 2 offerings. Finally finished my Stardrake to lead my SCE army, was really pleased with the final colour choices. My ork Kill Team was a big progression for me, new skin recipe was a success & these models were a good representation of my #Orkaday project of 31 orks in 31 days
PYRO
Okay, so, sitting at a grand total of 6 painted minis this year, i didn’t have a lot of choice for what to show off but… These Deathwing Terminators are just some of the best things i’ve ever painted. And given that while i only painted two this year (The sergeant in the middle and the in the back left) I didn’t base any of the squad until 2021 so Jess said it counts. Also, i’ve included some picture in picture of the blood remains of their enemies I put on the bases, just because i’m particularly fond of those two (and blood effects are fun). The CSM is supposed to be a Fallen (and he can’t get up) and the colours for the head is based on a Baron of Hell from doom.
The Librarian (which, like the terminators, is also from Dark Vengeance) is just, in my opinion, my best paint job ever. I’m so happy with how the blue armour turned out, and that robe is also looking amazing, (also, while you can’t see it, because the hood makes it hard to take pictures of it, It’s also the best face i’ve ever painted.). I’m really looking forward to the day I get to push him around a tabletop casting spells at people.
STARCOBRA123
Here are my favourite painted minis of the year (bit mixed on the Judge Dredds basing because I wasn’t too sure how to I wanted to do it maybe I should of done it desert but I can always change it)
THEELUSIVESHAUN
The single model I’m most proud of that I painted this year is the Ravenwing Master on his trusty destrier, B’aikh I kitbashed. It was an idea I’d had for a while and was extremely fulfilling to see come to life. I was also happy to finish a little painting project I started a few years ago but never got around to finishing until this year, my Metal Gear inspired Assassins.
THEPOSHGOBLIN
Really pleased with how the Runelord ended up, one of my first minis back after 20yrs our of the hobby
Really pleased with Morathi; the first time I worked on a mini on this scale
TIM CHOPPER KELLY
TORRENTSRIDE
Alarielle was a model I’ve wanted to paint since I joined the hobby, but always felt extremely intimidated by. But, having bit the bullet, she is easily one of my favorite models I’ve ever painted, no contest.
Since I only showed off one mini I’ll pop ghost rider in here 😂
VOODOO
I’ve done a fair few units and pieces of scenery etc
However looking back I love my recently completed Khorne team and while Throgg hasn’t seen any use so far I’ve adored the mini for years so it was nice to be able to get him painted
Throgg was just a lovely model to paint and a chance to mess with flesh tones and red contrast paints
The UniKhornes scheme was a replication of the Corpse Grinder Cult I’d painted with the Necromunda Uprising release
Aaaaaaand…. breathe! That’s it! PaintSlam21 is officially capped off and finished, with a nice ribbon and bow around the package. How did you get on with your hobby log? Did you impress yourself with how much you got painted? Let’s do it all over again in 2022 with PaintSlam22 – I look forward to enjoying another awesome year of hobby with you all!
Loading Comments...
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
