Finish It Complete! All Painting competitions finished!
It is done! All painting competitions are one hundred percent complete!
This has been a long time coming. So many things to paint. There were a lot of difficulties, like the tiny details on all the Legion minis, the colors on the Necromunda girls, and the sheer volume of the Orks. But I worked hard and budgeted time, and it paid off.
Without further ado, here’s the final project: The Nicassar Dhows!
These Dhows are painted in the same color scheme as the “official” scheme shown back long ago when GW sold these, but elevated with Turbo Dork paints. They don’t photograph well, but let me assure you they are SHIMMERY.
Of course, these Dhows are magnetized to their bases to allow them to do… this!
Adding the Dhows to the Orbital I painted previously lets me field a Caravan if I wish. Basically a much worse version of the Blackstone Fortress, but also cheaper.
With this, the Finish It competition is complete!
Here is the whole Finish It challenge.
Wait a minute… that’s not my normal work table. That looks like…
WHOA! That’s a lot of minis! In fact, it’s ALL OF THE MINIS I PAINTED THIS YEAR!
Oh, yes, this is pretty far away. Zoom and Enhance! (or just take more pics)
Here’s Q1. The Space Marines are: Chapter Master Perseus (painted BEFORE the competitions but during January), Captain Valerien, a unit of six Intercessors, and a Redemptor Dreadnought. Above them, a Warboss in Mega Armour, five Meganobs, Ten Ork Boys, and a unit of Squighogs plus a Trukk that should have been in Q3 but looks better here.
Q2 starts in the middle with the Necrimunda Escher gangers and friends, then above with the Orks, a Beastboss, ten Beast snaggas, eight Lootas with two Spannas, a Deffkilla Wartrike, three Warbikers, and a Trukk. Below, from Q2 orks, a Shokkjump Dragsta, 10 Nobs, a Big Mek with a Shokk Attack gun, 20 Gretchin with two Runtherds, and a Trukk.
This is Q3 with the first 1/2 year competition. Above, 10 Flash Gitz, two units of 5 Stormboys, and 10 Kommandos. In the middle, the All the Same competition Minotaur, the Color Competition Lieutenant from the Star Cyclones, and the Carthaginian Elephants. Below that, the 1/2 year competition Legiones Astartes Sons of Horus, consisting of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Fast Attack, Rhinos, and Kratos tanks.
Finally, here’s Q4 and the 2nd 1/2 year competition. The orks were seen better above. The Finish It competition is eight Tau Wardens, two Tau Messengers, eight Tau Transports, a general purpose Orbital, an Air Caste city, an Orbital with four Gravitic Hooks which can be combined with four Nicassar Dhows to make a Nicassar Caravan, and of course the Dhows and their magnetic bases. Below that, the 2nd 1/2 year Solar Auxilia, which consists of two sprues each of: Infantry, Support, Dracosans, Leman Russ, and Leman Russ Exterminators.
There you have it! That’s a year of painting! Slightly more if you count Perseus. Am I done?
HAHAHAHAHAHA NOPE!
There’s a super secret project I’m working on! (don’t get hyped, it’s small, but it is secret!) Additionally, I am planning out next year; this won’t be at AFK, as my pile of gray doesn’t line up with the competitions anymore.
Speaking of AFK, here are the minis due by the end of the year in the cases, ready for judging:
You’ll notice that the Orks are so numerous they don’t fit on one shelf!
Next, the Super Secret Project, and a timeline for 2026, in which we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Fourstrandshobby.com!
Color Study – Turbo Dork Absinthe and Pearly Gates
For the final project of my Finish It painting competition, I decided to paint my Nicassar Dhows in the “official” scheme from the GW website back when they were sold, but a little elevated. The scheme is bone and teal. To make this a bit more fancy, I turned to the Turbo Dork line of shimmery iridescent paint. Specifically, Absinthe and Pearly Gates.
Having never used these paints, I decided to do a color study. I undercoated several Space Marines with Wraithbone, Grey Seer, and Black. The two non-black colors had shading, and the black had highlights as seen below:
From left to right, Wraithbone, Wraithbone with Nuln Oil wash, Grey Seer, Grey Seer with Nuln Oil wash, Black with Slapchop highlight, Black with stark white highlight, and Black.
I painted these seven models one side Absinthe and one side Pearly Gates. The density of the paint was extremely low so each model got 2-3 coats until it was smooth. Here are the results:
Undercoating matters quite a bit. I found that shading is significantly reduced. The thin paint works better as a top coat for an existing color. Not shown is a study on the Absinthe over Sybarite Green which works well.
Next: I finish the Finish It!
2nd 6 Month Challenge Complete – Legion Imperialis Solar Auxilia Leman Russ
These little guys have taken a back seat as I attempted to get ahead on other projects, but they finally got onto the front burner. The final entry for the 2nd 6 Month challenge – eight Leman Russ Battle Tanks!
…and here’s the whole 6 moth challenge!
Next: twenty Gretchin and two Runtherds, then four Nicassar Dhows and that will complete all challenges! Plus, a surprise addition!
Finish It – Tau Orbital City and Defences
Long ago I won an ebay auction for some leftover bits from a Tau Orbital box. From them, I cobbled together two stations; one to be a Nicassar Caravan, magnetized to hold four Nicassar Dhows, and another with the leftover bits.
Additionally, I managed to snag a Forge World Tau Kor Caste Orbital City. All three of these were one “project” for the Tau fleet “finish it” competition.
The Orbital City is important enough to have a real T’au name like a capitol ship. Kor’shutto Y’eldi’retha directly translates to “Air Caste Orbital City Winged Ones University/Temple,” but more accurately tranlsates to “Air Caste Elite Pilot Academy.”
Basically,
…but for Tau.
The Orbitals were cobbled together from pewter bits and pieces of Tau Drones, as well as Tau Battlesuit Drone Controllers.
Next: I finish the 6 month 1/2 Army challenge with eight Leman Russ Battle Tanks for my Legion Imperialis Solar Auxilia! After that, four Nicassar Dhows to finish the “finish it” challenge and twenty Grots with two Runtherds and I am done with all of my painting challenges!
Year Long Painting Challenge – 3rd Ork Trukk
Only 20 Grots and 2 Runtherds to go!
Next: Tau Defences including an Orbital City!
Double Update: Year Long – Ork Nobs and Finish It – Tau Transports
It’s been a bit busy, so I’ve had this project done for a bit. 10 Ork Nobs with Power Klaws and two Ammo Runts:
Those have been done for a week. These, however, have just been finished. The Finish It challenge continues with my Tau Transports:
Sadly, of the ten transports I originally primed, two were so laden with bubbles from the resin casting process that I abandoned them. Because I acquired these secondhand through eBay, I have no recourse. Oh well.
Next: an Ork Trukk to get it off my countertop, and then some Tau Orbitals and an Air Caste City!
Finish It Addendum – Tau Orbital
Long ago I ordered a bunch of Tau Battlefleet Gothic stuff including a partially used Tau Orbital box set. For those who don’t know, each box has two tops, two centers, and a variety of arms of which each center can hold four.
I used the center and one of the tops to make my Nicassar Rig. However I had a bunch of leftover bitz for a long time. For the Finish It challenge, I flexed my dormant conversion skills and took a Tau Drone piece and a Space Marine Melta Bomb to finally use up these leftover parts to make this:
She’s an ugly baby and she’s not optimized for the best play, but it can put out a lance and a squadron of attack craft while also having two shields, a Tracking System, and another HP to make it moderately durable.
This will be painted at the same time as the other Tau defences such as the Orbital City and the Nicassar Rig. Next: the Ork Nobs that are currently in progress and then Tau transports!
Q4 Finish It! – Tau Wardens and Messenger Escorts
For the Q4 challenge, the purpose is to finish an unfinished project. Long (LONG LONG LONG) time fans may remember when I first began painting my Tau Kor’or’vesh fleet. It all began with a forum post made by an unknown user named Tyberius:
As you can see above, this wonderful person made this (and many other) sheets for Battlefleet Gothic Ordnance. There is another version with blue instead of red but I liked this one better.
This led me to my color scheme for the Tau: Maroon/red, gray, and bone.
Sadly, my ambition got the better of me. My scheme was incredibly complicated, requiring black pin washes and edge highlighting over the entire model. Plus, I got it in my head to label each ship with a unique name in both T’au AND Engilsh! Hand lettered! The detail was exhausting. I gave up after completing the capitol ships and the Castellans. The Wardens, Messengers, and all other support models fell by the wayside.
Until now. Behold! The first installment of the Q4 Finish It challenge!
This concludes the portion of the fleet with this color scheme. The transports and orbitals will be painted the standard Tau Ochre with a brown pin wash and a simple highlight. Additionally, there will be four Nicassar Dhows, whose paint scheme I have not decided on yet. I am considering the fine line of paints from Turbo Dork, whose glittery sheen is stunning!
Next: Orktober begins with Ork Nobs! Following that, I’ll pick up on the Tau with ten Emissary class transports!
Year Long Painting Competition – Shokkjump Dragsta
Only 20 Gretchin, 2 Runtherds, 10 Nobs, and one Trukk, and this challenge is complete!
Next: the 4th Quarter “Finish It” challenge begins! I’ve got 8 Tau Wardens, 2 Messengers, 4 Nicassar Dhows, 10 Transports, a Kor Air Caste City, and a custom built Nicassar Rig that can be transformed into a Caravan by attaching the Dhows with magnets! That’s why I’ve been working so hard to get ahead for the 6 month challenge and the Q4 for the Orks! Despite how far ahead I seem, all three challenges are going to be a photo finish. Stay tuned!
6 Month Painting Competition 2 – Solar Auxilia Support
This 1/2 year painting challenge is 80% done, just have to do 8 Leman Russes in three months!
Next: Ork Shokkjump Dragsta that I can hopefully finish before the end of the month so that my 4th quarter “Finish It” Tau will have some breathing room!