Dreadfleet - 3 ships

The remaining 3 ships are The Swordfish, the Bloody Reaver and The Heldenhammer.

All three a challenge, particularly the latter two, both for assembly and for painting.

Heldenhammer's sails being red with gold insignia, I went for the Mephiston Red that I used to base the recent wargs with.

The other two have white insignia so I used white spray for the front hoping to fill in the sail colour round it leaving the white showing.

The Swordfish has black sails so it was OK to spray the back of its sails black.

The Bloody Reaver has purple sails so red should give me a good base.

We shall see how all this turns out.

Dreadfleet scenery 5

Just the wind gauge, whirlpool and rulers.

Photos taken in the light of the new desk light (Birthday present from Heather and co).

Perhaps it's not quite bright enough for modelling but, as it's LED, it gives a fairly white light.


The whirlpool is the other side of the wind gauge. Cheapskates!

Dreadfleet scenery 4

I revisited the Giant as I realised he was not surrounded by water.

While there, I darkened the lower area with Kabalite green and the lowest with Ork Flesh Wash.

I also gave it a light dry brush with white.

The Leech Wyrm and Bone Hydra were fun to paint with plenty of detail if you want to go that far with scenery.

I've experimented with various washes on these two including Guilliman Blue and  Drakenhof Nightshade over the white undercoat.

I think I'll give that ripped sail a bit more shading and highlighting.

Dreadfleet Scenery 3

As you can see, I've been busy.

Why GW give you these two identical pieces, I've no idea.

Perhaps it's buried  in the rules, somewhere but I've tried to make them look a little different anyway.

I even considered cutting one down the middle and green-stuffing a new part for each half but decided to wait till I've got into the game before doing so.


The blue/green look is supposed to go with the supernatural theme of the game though I don't think Thraka Green on Fenrisian Grey is up to the mark

Not really much to say on the rest of these except that I think that the Thraka Green wash with a little Mournfang Brown in it looks OK for bleached and well salted wooden wrecks.

I like the Dark Angel Green for the castle here and the green roofs better than the red ones on previous post.

I think they suggested Dark Angels Green for the large castle in the previous batch.

I might get around to it.

The rusting wreck is a dwarven one, the sea giant also shows that the technical paint, Waystone Green, which blobs and congeals, could also do with some help and the dragon is one of the dirigibles.

Next up, The Bone Hydra and the Leech Wyrm, the dwarf dirigible and the four other small sailing craft.


Lastly, the three larger and more complex ships; The Heldenhammer, The Swordfish and The Bloody Reaver.


That's the next three weeks taken care of!

Flaming Scimitar colours

I've added a PS to the Flaming Scimitar post as I thought about it afterwards and realised an error in the colours I listed. The base colour on the sail is Vomit Brown but that only shows in he sail recesses. The body of the sail was then painted with a Vomit Brown/Bleached Bone mix with Bleached Bone highlights.

Dreadfleet scenery 2

 Again, just showing a little progress.

Photos taken late in the day with the sun about to set and dust from the Sahara high above.

Thus you might notice a pinkish hue.

He was previously known as Red Hue but his politics have  moved to the right.

Dreadfleet scenery

To show that something is happening, despite birthdays and various invasions by little people, here's a start on the Dreadfleet scenery - one volcanic island.

Photo taken late in the day so not much to see.

I decided against 'dappling' the cliffs with the same colour grey that they were painted in (as suggested by WD).

Instead, I mixed plaster filler with a second coat of grey and when that was dry, gave it another coat to stop the filler rubbing off (perhaps mixing in glue might have helped)

Result is a rough surface that takes to dry brushing well.

Dreadfleet - odds and ends

Work in the shipyards has to stop as Miriam Karlin has blown her whistle again.

The kids are arriving soon so all the paint pots, brushes, glues and kits have to hide like the shoemaker's elves.

Just to show I've made a little progress alongside The Flaming Scimitar, here are some of the  measuring sticks (rather better than the cruddy red junk you get in most of their games!) weather gauges etc.

John's Bag End

John's Bag End which must surely be complete now.

An excellent job John.

All made out of Ticky Tacky!

That down pipe is a lovely touch made from a bendy plastic straw and a small piece of medical kit.

All John's work is made from odds and ends which would be called junk in another's hands.

Is this before the door was painted green or is that yet to come?

Just needs a wood pile in that out shed or perhaps some garden tools.



Terrific work.


Not GW but too good to be hidden away in Magna Carta or where ever it is you live.

Dreadfleet - The Flaming Scimitar

This has been the most complex of these Dreadfleet models, so far, and it really is a beauty.

I've painted it as well as I can manage yet it deserves better.

Games Workshop gives you  plenty to complain about nowadays but there are no complaints here.

It's an imaginatively sculptured delicate little craft.

Too delicate to take part in games, perhaps?

I've kept close to the colours suggested in White Dwarf 382 but simplified things a little.

Some of the washes seemed pointless and one actually spoiled the look and required a dash to the wash basin to get rid of it, smartish.

It's captained by 'the self styled Sultan of the seas, the Golden Magus', according to the rule book and is aided by elementals, djinns released from shattered jars when they are needed.

Here, she is carried through the waters by spirits of the deep as her sails billow with the breath of a Tempest djinn and the two headed fire efreet (close cousin to the Balrog?) wields its flaming scimitars and awaits enemy craft.

I am surprised at how good the main colour of the sails looks as it's 'Vomit Brown'.***

Purple and gold go well together too.

The detail on the sails deserved better than I could manage.

One problem I had was that the holes for the masts needed drilling out or filing a little.










*** Thought about it afterwards. The base colour is Vomit Brown but that only shows in he sail recesses. The main colour is Vomit Brown/Bleached Bone mix with Bleached Bone highlights.

I'll now do a few of the game tokens and scenery pieces before going back to Middle Earth.

Warg Riders again

I just like these rocks, fresh off the drive.    

A couple of 'wasteland' tufts used too.




Blue and purple..

And it was the spearmen whose back-packs are a puzzle.






              TO THE BOATS !

Warg Rider 2

The fellow who put these together, not only made them difficult to paint, but also, could have switched orcs around more giving more variety.

I've tried to give variety in dress between all of them and between them and the other 12 riders I have.

The previous ones had no purple or dark blue on them.

There was nothing I could do about the poses without sawing off arms.

The decided 'brewers' on the right hand spear was my fault.

Perhaps super glue is a better adhesive to use on thin repair jobs like bows and spears than plastic cement as the latter does leave a weak area.

After painting, the spear mended with plastic cement bent and I'll have to do some more repair on it.

I'll try to get a shot of the bowmen in retreat as I'm still puzzled by the back pack or hair-do that some of them wear.

There are few back shots about, of any GW models, so I always try to give one.

Just waiting on some sunshine!