Now With 50% More Camo! (40K)

One of the things I've learned in this project is the tight integration of craft supplies with the GW hobby, as well as unique consumption patterns. For example, almost nobody ever buys two bottles of Vallejo paint. Why would you possibly want to do that? With 40K, it takes half a bottle to paint a tank, so if you've got a few vehicles, it's totally reasonable to buy a couple bottles at a time, which is what I've been doing this week. This is why we let Vallejo and P3 paints get down to 2 bottles (lately down to 1) before re-ordering, but Citadel paints get a restock when they hit three, and even then we get outages. Foundation paints curiously sell slower, but I think it's because customers haven't been educated in their use (yet). Add airbrushes, like we'll be seeing from GW this Summer, and paint consumption will accelerate even faster. GW is counting on it.

Second, there is a brand loyalty that is logical, and not just kneejerk like I once thought. I've got a paint set already, fairly complete and comprised primarily of Vallejo and Reaper Master Series paints. I've probably spend a couple hundred dollars on this stuff. Nevertheless, I bought $70 worth of GW paints this week because I wanted to use their painting guides. It doesn't hurt that I've actually come to like the GW paints. I'm a hack painter. I don't thin my paints, mix new colors, blend, layer, stipple, fold, spindle or mutilate my paints. I paint straight from the source and GW paints are the easiest for this. All this talk of dropper bottles and advanced technique is like me talking about performance characteristics of super cars: useless knowledge that will never see practical application. Just give me a bottle and a brush.

Now what I've been up to:

The six, 10-man Tallarn squad boxes came in today. I was beginning to wonder if this would be one of those embarrassing projects where I had a completed army, except for those 60 or so men I needed.

The box sets are metal and are disappointing. This is because I can only use 7 of the 10 figures, as I'm not using rocket launchers or melta guns. Still, they're cheaper and much easier than buying little two or three man packs, which I may have to do once I finish my inventory. Plastic sprues with modular weapons are a giant leap forward, in case anyone had any doubts.




My camo ratio is all about packs of blue-tack. This is 50% more blue-tack than the previous chimera, meaning more camo. I think I like the first one better, but I wanted more red and less gray. I'm hoping that when I reverse the paint scheme with the basilisks, it won't be too noticeable or jarring.




Camo adds two hours to the project. Accessories add about an hour and a half, including installation.