Painting: Gates of Antares - Ghar: Outcast Disruptor cannon

This week’s post is about the Ghar Disruptor cannon that came with the Ghar Outcasts as part of the Ghar Starter set.

As ever the paints listed are from the Vallejo Game Colour range unless otherwise stated.

Disruptor Cannon

• I started by undercoating with Halfords Black. I decided to use this undercoat instead of white as I feel that there are more black areas than white. 
• GW Ceramite white was used on the cannon's legs, weapon shielding and Outcast's flesh.Then several coats of watered down Dead White (72.001) were used on the weapon shielding and legs 
• Outcast was washed in Army Painter Strong Tone, then once dry, drybrushed with Dead White (72.001) (yes once again I forgot the bonewhite stage and you can see the difference in the first photo with the two models together) 
• Black (72.051) was used to tidy up the line on the legs, cannon, Outcast spine support, straps and wrist/ankle clips. The solid areas of black were then dry brush with Stonewall Grey (72.049) 
• GW Mephiston Red was used on the eyes, spine support power cells, ankle/wrist cells, leg power cells, cannon power cells and the power cell at the top of the back.

That's the model done, now the base.

• As the base had been sprayed black I just glued sand to the main area of the base, that, when dry, painted Charred Brown (72.045), drybrushed with Plague Brown (72.039) and then with Bonewhite (72.034). after which Static grass was added.

Loader

The loader was done in the same fashion as the other outcasts:

• I started with Halfords White undercoat 
• Then covered then all in Army painter Strong tone. As mentioned in my last post this really helped bring out the detail 
• Black (72.051) was then used for the majority of the ammo cartridges, belt, bag casing, claws, wrist & ankle clips 
• GW Ceramite white applied directly onto the armour (the "nappy" like thing between the legs), and the ammo bag. Army Painter Dark tone was then used on the eye recess. Dead White (72.001) was carefully painted over the same areas 
• GW Mephiston Red was applied to the eyes, and the nodes on the wrist/ankle clips 
• The flesh of the Outcast was then drybrushed with Bonewhite (72.034), then Dead White (72.001), finally GW Ceramite white was drybrushed on areas I wanted to stand out; like the face and hands. 
• The areas of Black were tidied up then dry brush with Stonewall Grey (72.049) 
• The strap to the ammo pack was painted brown and then I went over with leather 
• I then tidied up the areas of white using Dead White where other colours had accidentally come in contact with it. 
• Next I coated them in all over in Matt Varnish (70.520), then used Gloss Varnish (70.510) on the areas painted red. 

Now onto the base.

• I painted the main area of the base with several coats of Charred Brown (72.045), and painted the lip/side Black (72.051). 
• Then I glued sand to the main area of the base, that, when dry, was painted Charred Brown (72.045), drybrushed with Plague Brown (72.039) and then with Bonewhite (72.034) after which Static grass was added.

That's the Outcasts from the starter box complete; only the battle suits and flitters to go...

Painting: Gates of Antares - Ghar: Outcasts

So as mentioned in my last post I have been working on the Gates of Antares Outcasts. These are from the starter set I mention a few posts back.

I can tell how excited I am to paint a model by how quickly it gets to my painting station and is finished. As an example these Outcasts jumped ahead of 20 Soviet Infantry for Bolt Action and the 6 Battlesuits from the 2 player Gates of Antares starter set, all of which have been started yet not finished. 

Now the Outcast unit does come with a disruptor cannon and loader; the loader has been completed along with these guys however the disruptor cannon has not, so those will be in another post.

Anyway, I digress, on with how I painted these Outcasts. Now I wanted a sort of Albino look to them so thought I tried to apply a similar theme to that I used on my Shaltari.

As ever the paints listed are from the Vallejo Game Colour range unless otherwise stated.

• I started with Halfords White undercoat
• Then covered then all in Army painter Strong tone. This really helped bring out the detail which I struggled to see when they were in their unpainted state, and so allowing me to defrentiate between the areas.
• Black (72.051) was then used for the majority of the weapon, belt, spine support, claws, wrist & ankle clips
• GW Ceramite white applied directly onto the armour (the "nappy" like thing between their legs), plasma grenades and casing areas of the weapon. Army Painter Dark tone was then used on the weapon casing and the eye recess. Dead White (72.001) was carefully painted over the same areas
• GW Mephiston Red was applied to the eyes, power cell on the weapon, trigger on the grenades and the nodes on the spine support 
• The flesh of the Outcast was then drybrushed with Bonewhite (72.034), then Dead White (72.001), finally GW Ceramite white was drybrushed on areas I wanted to stand out; like the face and hands.
• The areas of Black were tidied up then dry brush with Stonewall Grey (72.049)
• Now two of the Outcasts have protrusions on their weapons, I was unsure as to what this exactly is I assumed it to be a scope of some sort and painted it as such, using Magic Blue (72.021) on what I believed to be the glass on the scope; a small curve of Dead white (72.001) was added to it.
• Next I painted the teeth Plague Brown (72.039), then, once dry, covered with Army Painter strong tone.
• I then tidied up the areas of white using Dead White where other colours had accidentally come in contact with it.
• Next I coated them in all over in Matt Varnish (70.520), then used Gloss Varnish (70.510) on the areas painted red and the weapon "scope".

That's the models done, now the base.

• I painted the main area of the base with several coats of Charred Brown (72.045), and painted the lip/side Black (72.051).
• Then I glued sand to the main area of the base, that, when dry, was painted Charred Brown (72.045), drybrushed with Plague Brown (72.039) and then with Bonewhite (72.034). after which Static grass was added.

There we are, 6 Outcasts done.

Out of interest, for those of you that read and enjoy my blog posts, what do you prefer: my step by step guides with pictures of each stage or this bullet point guide with the end result picture?

Painting: Dropzone Commander - Shaltari: Ocelot

I'm currently working on my Gates of Anteras Ghar but they aren't ready for the a blog post yet so instead I'll post about my Ocelot that I painted in June as part of the DZC escalation I ran.

Details on how I painted it are below

Like always colours are from the Valejo game colour range unless stated otherwise.

• I started by undercoating white using Halfords white primer.
• I then liberally smothered the model in Army Painter Strong Tone
• Then once the Strong tone was dry I drybrushed several times with Bonewhite (72.034) 
• I then drybrushed Dead White (72.001) several times
• The pads were painted Electric Blue (72.023)
• Then the Particle cannon, transport nodes, leg joints and leg points were painted Chainmail Silver (72.053), then coated with GW Nuln Oil, once dry I lightly painted the areas Silver (72.052).
• Next I drybrushed all over with GW Ceramite White. 
• The canopies were painted with Black (72.051)
• The models were then cleaned up where needed. After which they were coated all over with Matt Varnish (70.520), followed by Gloss Varnish (70.510) which was applied to the black canopies, and the Particle Cannon

Miniatures: Gates of Antares - Ghar Starter Army

As I mentioned a few posts back I got into 3 new gaming systems; one these was warmachine (now trying to sell as I still don't get on with it), another is Bolt Action, (as mentioned in my last post) and the third is Gates of Antares (those following my blog will have realised I own nearly all the Warlord games rulebooks)

The decent into this game started with seeing some models on a website that caught my eye, then a demo by a friend who I knew owned it. Next thing I knew I had bought the 2 player starter, which I split with my friend Grum. What's the logical step that follows a 2 player starter set, an army specific army starter set of course!

That's what I'll be reviewing in today's post:

I deviated from my usual online store and despite Warlord dangle various discount codes I chose R K Studio Wargaming as they had one of best prices around and I was trying not to spend too much money. Now I must admit I was reluctant to use them as I hadn't heard of them but I thought "to the hell with it, Paypal will protect me" and placed my order.

The great thing about their site other than there price is live stock levels! so if you can order it then it's in stock! a plus in my books.

The communication was good, as was delivery, receiving my items the same week I placed the order.

Anyway, enough gushing over an online retailer and onto my review on the Gates of Antares Ghar Starter Army.

The packaging

The box was a lot smaller than I was expecting, which I was initially perturbed about but soon can to enjoy as it slipped nicely into my wargaming cupboard.

The box is made of sturdy card and unusual for Warlord pictures the models on the front and sides instead of artwork.

As you can see by the picture above the front picture reflects the contents. On the sides of the box shows each unit on its own.

The back of the box contains fluff about the Ghar, what the box contains, instructions on how to build the battlesuits and a picture of some battlesuits

Well done Warlord! this is a great design!

The models

Inside the box was a blister (above) that contains 6 Outcasts (6 different poses & 6 bases), 1 Disruptor cannon (consisting of 5 parts (3 legs, 1 arm on controls and the other arm) plus a base) with loader (with a base) & 4 flitters (consisting of two parts (head with the eyes and the rest of the model) each plus flight stands and bases)

The Outcast models are detailed and dynamic, I'm looking forward to painting them

The Disruptor cannon is detailed although the pilot seems to blend into the model, I'm hoping that when I paint it the detail will come out. The accompanying loader has great detail, also looking forward to painting him

The Flitters are also detailed, looking like giant robot mosquitoes.

Battle Armour

Assault Squad

Then there are the battlesuits made up of:

6 Battle armour sprues: Which consists of 19 pieces (4 parts for the body, 1 for the head (3 varients to choose from), 3 parts for the claw weapon, 4 parts for the arm with the scourer cannon, 6 for the legs and feet

3 Assault sprues: These also consist of 19 pieces in essentially the same way as above although they have a plasma claw and Disruptor discharger as their weapons.

The detail on these models is enough to enhance them to allow enjoyment to an experienced painter and yet being basic enough that an inexperienced player wouldn't be put on painting them.

The building of the models

 As you may have seen in the picture in "the model" section the Flitters were attached to a hefty strip of metal.
The first Flitter came away easily, however it also resulted in the snapping off of one of the wings as they are a thin strip of metal. After tidying up the model, removing excess flash and tags I glued the head on then the broken wing, which went on and stayed there.
The remaining three were removed with care.

The Outcast themselves had a fair amount of flash, tags and some mold lines, all of which were removed with ease using a sharp craft knife.

The Disruptor cannon and the loader needed a little tidying from flash and tags, but nothing compared to the Outcasts and Flitters.
However building the Disruptor cannon was a bit of a pain. The legs went in with ease and glued quickly, the arms however were difficult. They are a small piece of metal that needs to fit into a small gap. If, like me, you have sausages for fingers I recommend the use of tweezers, as I still don't own any I struggled on until they fitted and were glued into place.

The Battle armour and Assault Squads came away from the sprues easily, I then glued them together after a little removal of excess plastic from where they came away from the sprue.
I ran a little mass production line on each sprue: removing, cleaning and gluing the body, then attaching the "waist" of which the legs were glued into.
While the glue dried I removed the feet, weapons and head from the sprue. I tidied these up then glued the relevant parts together.
I then moved back to the body and glued the feet on, let that dry for a minute before gluing the feet to the base. While that glue was drying I glued on the weapon arms and the head.

As I mentioned in "the model" section there is a choice of 3 heads. I chose one head for the leader models (1 in each squad - total of 3) and a different head for the remaining models.

The entire box set was built in one evening during a football match from the Euro 2016 competition!

Once again, Well done Warlord this seems to have everything right about it! Keep up the good work...now to get painting.