MARK MCKELLAR - HEAD OFFICE
APOCALYPSE SALAMANDERS
COMPLETE
Hi everyone!
Last year for ‘Paint or Die’, I narrowly dodged the bullet by not reading a memo until after the start date, whew! This year I dodged the bullet of painting my Krieg army, and decided to replace my ageing (eight years old) Salamanders army. Unfortunately, the fact that I'm a fool, and easily excitable, meant that with the AMAZING new Apocalypse supplement coming out, I couldn't bring myself to do a mere 1700 point tournament sized army, but a proper 3000 point Apocalypse sized force. I threw the gauntlets down, and several brave employees stepped up to the challenge and are also doing apocalyptic forces. What does this mean? Well, being one of the slowest painters in the chain, a good possibility that I could be out around $7000 if I fail at my task! But I believe that I am going to surprise many people. If you're in any of the western Canada stores, stop by and give me some words of encouragement, or taunt me mercilessly as to my progress. Salamanders HO!
This will most likely be my final update for the paint or die, as I'm heading out to Beautiful British Columbia for the second last leg of the Brother vs Brother Battletour on Wednesday.
The Loyal Salamanders have started clawing their way out of the hole they dug themselves into battling out east.
Well, lets see. I have finished my force commander, and... that's about it unfortunately.
So, as it stands, I've completed 2182 points for my Salamanders.
My goal - 3000 - FAILED
My Requirement - 1700 - Passed
What have I learned?
1-Don't open my big mouth! Because all I'm going to do is put my foot in it.
If I had been smart (sane?) and just gone for the required 1700, I probably would have finished a while ago, and been on my own working on beefing it up. Instead, I have a good chunk done, a good chunk to go, and a personal goal unachieved. Boo-urns!
2-Stick to a plan. I'll admit it, I love to procrastinate, it's like a second hobby linked to my main hobby of painting! As other people have proved, anyone (even myself) could/should be able to finish a 1700 point army in 100 days (10 if you're crazy like Robyn and Arles). I kept getting distracted by shiny / new things, which also are now half finished!
3- My new favorite colour. I had heard this a long time ago from Jay Griffiths, and I now believe it. My new favorite colour is DONE! My army looks decent, and is ready to play on a table.
There will be no site updates, but I plan on continuing to beef out my army (I bought a company box, and the masters of the chapter, so I will fill it out).
Congrats to everyone who has finished, and good luck to everyone (cough...Ward....cough) still plugging away!
Mark out
P.S.: Congratulations to Charles Pierre, a local hobbyist who frequents the Kingsway Garden Mall location for completing his 1700 points of imperial Guard alongside the staff competing. Good job, your models look fantastic!
WEEK 12
Terminators
Vindicator
Scouts
Assault Marines
Finished So Far
Hey there Paint or Die fans!
Well, lets see, I haven't updated in a while, and what do I have to show for it....a whole bunch of half finished models (which I won't show) and a couple of squads of all but finished Terminators (yay!).
What can I say? I will fully admit to being a fool with my "Throw down". I am a slow painter, and when I try to assemble, I get even slower. My goal is to finish two tactical squads today, and the Command Squad, and scouts tomorrow. Also, the Rhino and Razorback are all but done, so depending on my tenacity, they may be done as well.
With 18 days left what have I learned? I had an amazing plan to finish well on time, and would be on track if I had actually STUCK TO IT! I love to procrastinate. I organized my house, cleaned my paint room, read books, did dishes, put a cool Salamander head on what was a finished tank, everything BUT paint when I had set time for painting.
I will pull out all the stops to finish on time, but I am feeling pretty ashamed of how far behind I am.
Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!
Mark
Not much of an update, but today I painted:
-eyes
-gold
-purity seals
-guns
which = two tactical +one Cmd squad all but DONE
more tomorrow
Mark
29 more beakies done!
and to prove they're not the same models, a group shot as well,
Alfred Hitchcock would be proud!
So close...so close...over 2000 points done now! (Well, still need to be based, but you get the picture)
Mark
WEEK 7
Vindicator
Vindicator
Slow and Steady...
...Generally just means slow.
Hi there painting fans. I have to apologize for my lack of updates recently. Between my cross country travels, and witnessing the brutal beat down my loyal Salamanders have received at the hands of the traitorous Thousand So....I mean Blood Ravens, I just haven't thought about updating.
I have finally "finished" a model! I will say painting the vindicator was "riveting" (groan, I know, but there are over 250 of them on the model!). I plan on adding some freehand Salamanders to it this week, time permitting.
A special thanks goes out to Mike Tong, who graciously sculpted 2 Salamanders embelems on my captain for me, thanks a million Mike!
Another special thanks goes out to all the heroes who helped me out by sending me their beaky helmets. So many people sent me, or just stopped by the Kingsway store and left little bundles of helmets for me, with no name attached, thank you so much, I couldn't have made my force without you!
I'd like to congratulate Ward on finally priming some of his army, good job! Now it's at the same stage as some "nearly complete" foreces I've seen! =Þ
(if you think I mean you, I don't, and if you don't think I mean you, I do!)
Good luck to everyone still going strong with their painting!
Mark out
WEEK 3
Titan
Titan
Titan
Hi again painting fans!
Well let's see, what have I done since my last report...I've highlighted my army 2 more stages, and given it all a blue/green ink wash, and.....um.....slacked a whole bunch.
As I mentioned last post, we had Onslaught Edmonton on September 1st, and it was a resounding success, thank you to everyone who attended and helped out, you all made the day a blast!
I could try to blame my pace on this bad case of Nurgle's Rot I've contracted (cough cough), but I think it's more due to people suggesting shiny things to me. (Curses to Robyn Hiller who has already completed his army, ahead of McLovin even!). And with the attention span of a goldfish, I am succeptable to such things. So, here are the pics of the lovely legs of my warhound titan! I may be digging a pit for myself, but I enjoy the challenge! That, and I may be distracting other local painters, which will make me feel less guilty. If you're by the store, let me know what you think of my current madness, and click on my picture and let me know which picture I look more loopy in. =Þ
Ciao for now
Mark (not Gaz, as my last post would have you believe!)
WEEK 2
Starting Army
Aaaahhhhh.... 7 days in.....75 Beaky marines and 15 assorted other models covered in five shades of green!
Yeah! It's funny, so many of the people who are telling me how much they are looking forward to their free Baneblade from me....well, let's just say their armies are no where near being built yet, HA!
For good or bad, I will be unable to paint any more this week after tonight, as this weekend is Onslaught Edmonton! We are going to have a blast, playing games, looking at amazingly painted models (and some sneak peek ones too!) and drooling over the Apocalypse and High Elf books! Hope to see you there!
Well, back to the Salamanders (I think I might even be able to add those extra units to turn this into a proper company if I keep up at this pace!)
