Never tell me the odds!

 o/

No, this isn't another Star Wars Legion post. Rather for the second time now I've won an NOCF charity raffle! Ya know, I had been donating to these raffle for years to no avail. Only about $15-$20 at a time and win or not, its always for a good cause. 

After this, yes I will go into that asteroid field!

About a year and a half ago I won a pair of Iyanden Warlocks which now reside in my display case. This time around, I won a Salamanders Infernus marine. It's a great paint job, though I find it a bit curious that a Salamanders' Icon decal was not applied. Or painted on, given just how good the flames are freehand painted onto the other pauldron. 

The Mrs. rather liked the discolored metal of the pyreblaster.

The strangely blank pauldron.

This one however is just perfect!

Nice base too!

And he is off to scour Screech's display shelf of dust bunnies with extreme prejudice!

Nice as this is, I have no use for it other than to decorate my display case. As such I gifted it to Screech who is now the proud owner of his first painted Salamander! I told him that he ought to be a sergeant or something despite the green helmet, to which he replied: 'Like he's ever going to leave the shelf'. 

Can't be risking that pretty paint job with a potential fall from the table I guess. 

Wargames Exclusive's Thank You Miniature

 o/

Easily the coolest postcard that I've gotten in a long, long while!

Long time no post. 

Life is busy, been painting Battletech, blah, blah...you know, the typical real life TM getting in the way kinda thing. I'm still here though and recently received a 'thank you for donating to Ukraine' miniature from Wargame Exclusive. 

He's gotta pretty good likeness to the print above.

Despite the wannabe Next Great Russian Tzar trying to ruin life for literally everybody in the Ukraine, Wargame Exclusive is still soldiering on, selling minis and conversion parts. They're located in Lviv and thus are closer to the Polish border than they are the front lines. That said, they're still within ballistic missile range, so if you're order goes missing you know who to blame. 

Ukraine's national emblem adorns both his chest and shoulder.

Tasteless jokes aside, my two orders with them in the past year have arrived in the usual month or so timeframe. Indeed my first order arrived in a third of the time it took to get some decal sheets from a US based, 3rd party producer from whom I made a purchase on the same day! The latter did however have a bad stroke of luck, apologized, sent discount codes and thus shall neither be named nor shamed on here. 

Once painted, he'll likely join my two NOCF Ukraine raffle warlocks in my display case, as I'm suffering from no lack of Inquisitors and/or Iggy Officers.

Both WGE's casting and (now) 3D printed quality are top notch and I highly recommend their products! Just remember that while shopping for some new toys, to donate some extra funds to help 'em out as their nation slogs thru hell.  

I thought the donations were just to keep their business afloat, but it seems they're passing the funds on to the national cause instead. 

Skitarii Color scheme change and another Surprise!

 o/

As my IG Conscript platoon is/was starting to become a mind numbing slog, I decided to paint something else to break up the monotony. Pleased with the recent performance of my little Admech contingent's debut (before getting all but wiped off of the table), I thought I'd paint another mini up. 

The aura of radiation leakage is working wonders on that little tuft.

However one of the reasons I had stopped after painting just one and a half minis previously was the color scheme was both laborious and just kinda okay looking to me (sorry I don't have a 'finished' pic of that WiP mini handy). 

The mini above however I cranked out fairly quickly & easily once I'd painted over the prior, partial paint job in all black.  

That decal implies a questionable allegiance to the Imperium...

Its principally black, leadbelcher and brazen brass, with red for hoses and a handful of others for minor details which don't warrant any concern for consistency. I washed it lightly with Agrax Earthshade and drybrushed afterwards with bleached bone. It is simple but respectable look I think. 

It would appear that the IG heavy bolter or autocannon gunner died with his weapon...

The uncropped version of the first pic above which was photobombed by our 85lb Australian Shepard and his half deflated soccer ball in the background!

In other news, Saturday morning I was checking my email, saw the ubiquitous 'YOU ARE A WINNER!' and almost deleted the mail out of hand. Luckily my eye caught the NOCF and whoa wait a minute! Turns out I won a pair of Iyanden Warlocks (who's colors are the same as the Ukraine's) in this year's raffle! I've been entering for several yers now at about $20-$30 at a time without ever really expecting to win. 

It's always for a good cause and ya never know, there's always a chance. Well, apparently this year was my chance, huzzah! Here's the full winner's video here. I'll post pics when my new minis arrive which ought to be soon as I just received the shipping notification from the USPS.