My Streloks are now done, and I have a lot to say about them. First off, I mentioned previously that some inspiration from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was going to be making its way into my TAK units. For the Streloks, this meant giving them a black armor plate on their chest and pauldron with red markings, inspired by the Duty faction. The reason why this design showed up on the Streloks instead of on the Vet Kazaks, who I thought would also look good with Duty colors, is because I thought that painting the Vet Kazaks with black and red would differentiate them more than I would like. Additionally, if I ever decide to officially give my troops names or callsigns, the Streloks are going to be receiving the following callsigns: Fang (SMG & K-9 antipode), Stalker (Boarding shotgun), and Ghost (Marksman). In S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Strelok is the person who the player character is tasked with hunting down, and he had two friends, Ghost and Fang, and I thought that the names worked too well for me to not use. Two notes that I have about the SMG Strelok: first, I tried a new technique for painting blonde hair. Originally, I would use a straight yellow, possibly with some brown mixed in, but this blend would still produce unnaturally yellow locks. So, this time I tried putting down a Yriel Yellow base coat, and then covering it with a Screaming Skull glaze. I am much happier with the results of using the glaze, as her blonde hair looks much more realistic than what I have produced in the past. Second, I was originally going to paint her tactical rock to look like the rock that the Spetsnaz is standing on (which is some kind of sedimentary rock in my head), but I immediately noted the foliated texture of the rock, which made me think twice about that. I thought that the rock looked like it was probably a foliated metamorphic rock like a schist, so using a garnet schist specimen in my rock and mineral collection, I painted the tactical rock as a muscovite-biotite schist. To accomplish this, I painted it with a basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Gray, then drybrushed some Celestia Gray on, and then drybrushed some Leadbelcher. As for the antipode, I tried a new paint scheme on him. I recall reading in the lore that antipodes have several differently colored layers of fur, and they can independently erect each layer to change the color of their coat when they need to. So, I decided to reflect that ability by giving the antipode's fur a white basecoat, and then drybrushing on some grey and brown to reflect the environment that the antipode currently finds himself in. His tactical gear was painted to match his human teammates, but the way it came out almost makes it look to me like the antipode is wearing football gear (American football, not soccer). Despite this hiccup, I think that this antipode looks much better than the antipode attached to my Devil Dog, so I'm going to be using this template for most of the antipodes that I paint in the future. Finally, as one last bit of trivia, the word antipode does exist. It is a geographic term, and it refers to the place diametrically on the opposite side of the planet from any given point. So, for instance, I am located in Colorado, which has its antipode in the Indian Ocean. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/4NmR13t Group Photo Strelok - Submachine gun K-9 antipode Strelok - Boarding shotgun Strelok - AP or T2 Marksman rifle
After nearly working myself to death doing a painting marathon, I have finished the Dog-Warriors. I'm pretty happy with the Dogface models, but I'm honestly not 100% happy with the transmuted results. I don't know if that's due to the paint job or the fact that I almost did an all-nighter getting them done...probably a bit of both. In an effort to set them apart from the antipodes, I decided to glaze Kislev Flesh over the Celestia Grey basecoat of their skin. My reasoning for this was that I figured that with Dogfaces being human-antipode hybrids, they would probably retain some of the traits of both species, such as the skin and hair color of their untransmuted forms. Unfortunately, my glaze brush is in very poor condition, so I had to use my layer brush instead, and my Kislev Flesh is more viscous than most of my other paints and likes to dry quickly, so I had to make several batches of glaze, which was pretty tedious. Furthermore, Kislev Flesh is another paint that doesn't play well with washes, and I think that I probably should have used Agrax Earthshade instead of Nuln Oil on their exposed skin. I don't think these pictures really do justice to how it turned out, either. However, aside from those issues, the rest turned out quite well, and I think that the results are at least acceptable to my perfectionistic standards. I haven't gotten to give my Dog-Warrior's a lot of good table time, but I do recall them being a major paint in the ass to their opponents in games I've played against myself. So, regardless of my own complaints about glazing, I'm really glad to see them finally getting to hit the table in style. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/AFZQGN0 Group Photo Dog-Warrior A Dog-Warrior B
I have finished my Line Kazaks. These guys are another really nostalgic unit for me, being the first line infantry that I ever had the pleasure of running. And I really do mean that running them is a pleasure; they've always been reliable and pulled their weight for me, even successfully taken matters into their own hands when the situation called for it. And now, for the first time, they have a complete paint job and base to hit the table (and their enemies) with, as well as a modern sculpt. The old ones also look great also, but mine are incomplete and have been retired for the time being. Maybe one day I'll dust them off and finish them. When it comes to the profiles, I think that their releases were very well thought out, and none of these models feel like a non-option to me, especially if I'm going for a pure fireteam. For every Line Kazak, I can not only think of a link team that uses them, but they aren't even particularly terrible options if I decide to go that route. I was expecting this round of painting to be pretty tedious and time consuming, as is the usual case for line infantry. However, the Line Kazaks didn't take anywhere near as much time to complete, and what actually caused me to take the whole month to do them was being involved in the National Wester Stock Show, followed by the start of another semester of classes. Otherwise, I probably would have finished them in about a week. For the most part, the actual paint job was simple enough that I could crank it out pretty quickly; I didn't have to contend with short sleeves, and they only have arm guards on their left arm. The only real challenge was painting their faces, as the Kislev Flesh that I use has apparently decided that there is no middle ground. Either it's too thick and clumps up on the model, or it becomes too thin to use in the presence of even the slightest bit of water...and as usual, it doesn't play well with Nuln Oil. I honestly should have gone with my instinct and used Agrax Earthshade I was applying the wash to their faces. If the photos don't show up, try this like: https://imgur.com/a/TwvuIHZ Group photo Line Kazak - Rifle Line Kazak - Paramedic Line Kazak - AP Machine gun Line Kazak - Missile launcher Line Kazak - Sniper rifle Line Kazak (Spec-Ops) - AP Sniper rifle, heavy pistol
Finally, after sitting in my miniature cabinet for years, the Antipode Assault Pack is ready for action. Honestly, I was caught off-guard by how useful it appears that antipodes are going to be in N4. Back in N3, the Assault pack had some more complicated rules, but the most notable ones were the fact that antipodes could be put into Retreat! if the handler was incapacitated, and they also had Frenzy, so they'd lose their camo as soon as they drew blood. Nowadays, they have simply been filed under the Peripheral (Control) rule and lost Frenzy, so as long as their handler is alive, I have complete control over them. As such, I expect that the Assault Pack is probably going to be a staple in my future TAK lists so I can take full advantage of their mobility and sensor to flush out and eliminate any annoying camo troops, all for a measly 27 points. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/glforU0 Group photo Antipode Handler Antipode A Antipode B Antipode C
I have the fireaxe men finally ready to go...again. Thanks to some earlier work with the varnish, I wrecked the 112 who is on-foot with yet another Sugar Glaze of Doom, although the motorized seems to have barely escaped the fate of having to be stripped and done all over again. He still has a visible Sugar Glaze, but I honestly rather dislike painting 112s because of how many different colors I have to use, and because those colors don't always like to cooperate with me. In the end, though, I still really like their paint scheme and know that I'm going to be getting a lot of milage out of them as one of the few proper doctors in Ariadna, which usually makes at least one of them an auto-include. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/MNaUPOZ Group Photo 112 - Light shotgun 112 (motorized) - light shotgun
Your entire force is painted in amazing skill. Makes me want to get back into painting regularly again.
In a flash of inspiration, I decided to take a break from my regularly scheduled painting. And now, I present Liang Kai. First of all, I want to state that this particular model is probably one of my favorites of all time, and I am so glad that I waited for the general release version of Liang Kai because the Kaldstrom exclusive sculpt was pretty underwhelming to me. Something about the general release version just looks much more natural to me, I guess, probably because of my own martial arts training. When it came to choosing the color scheme I would go with, I did some research into the colors that Buddhist monks wear. I'd usually seen them wearing some shade orange, but I also learned that they'll also wear yellow or red. These are the colors of fire, which represents truth to Buddhists. Knowing this, I actually had some difficulty figuring out what color robe I would give Liang Kai, as I wanted to use up some of my overabundance of Wazdaka Red, but I settled on Troll Slayer Orange. I like the idea of using that color for Yu Jing armor, and for the regular Shaolin, I imagine that having the same color clothes and armor would not look so good. Therefore, I decided to paint Liang Kai in orange, and save the red for the Shaolin, in the far-off future when I actually have the models in my possession and am ready to paint them. Painting Liang Kai broke some new ground for me. He is the first Infinity model that I primed using a white primer instead of my usual black. The major advantage that I've found so far about white primer is that it makes working with warmer colors much easier. I didn't have to wrestle with the Troll Slayer Orange to anywhere close to the degree that I have had to in the past, and I even found Kislev Flesh to be easier to work with. The downside of using a white primer, though, is that I have to be sure that I actually got paint on every surface that I needed to, and it would be very obvious when I missed a spot. I also tried a new basing style with him, which I need to figure out a proper name for that isn't Blue Ice for what are hopefully obvious reasons. To do this base, I first primed the base white before attaching it to the miniature, then applying a thin coat of Agrellan Earth before I prime the whole model. Then, I put down a layer of Ceramite White, then followed up with a Drakenhoff Nightshade wash, and then a thin layer of Valhallan Blizzard. I then sealed the whole base with a coat of Lahmian Medium. Unfortunately, the lighting seems to have washed out a lot of the details, so all anyone can really see here is white. But it looks much more detailed in person. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/h03RduE Liang Kai
Here are my finished Dozers, and boy do they have a history behind them! I have had the older sculpts for years, the old rifle Dozer and the Akrylat-Kanone sculpts; both of which I had decided to retire when the newest sculpt was released. But then I got the idea that I could take the old rifle sculpt and paint him in my USAriadna scheme, which would 1) remove a miniature from my retirement shelf and give it a purpose besides collecting dust, and 2) give my USAriadna one less miniature that breaks with their theme. However, it remains to be seen if the old Akrylat-Kanone model will receive a similar treatment, although I have thought about it. The updated model has his own history as well. He started out with a similar paint job to what he has now, but because I didn't know what subtlety with varnish was at the time that I painted him, I was forced to strip and repaint him. However, he didn't look that different from how he does now, and the only major difference between his first and current paint job is that I gave him my TAK camo pattern on his pants. Because he is going to be shared between my TAK and CHA, I tried to create a scheme that would fit in with whoever he was working with that day, which is why he got the camo (to fit in with TAK) and a tan backpack and flat green shirt (to fit in with CHA). Needless to say, I am very happy to have the dozers finished. I consider them to be auto-includes in all of my lists for any engineering needs that may crop up during my games, and the worst case with taking them is that they end up sitting in their DZ watching a corner all game. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/qdv8YCo Dozers
And the sequel to tonight's entertainment: the Kazak Doktor. Honestly, not too much to say about her. Her paint scheme was simple enough that I was able to paint her alongside my Dozers. I think the only really notable thing about her is her hair. I've discovered that I have to get creative to paint blonde hair, which usually means that I have to break out the Lahmian Medium and prepare a glaze. This time, I gave her a yellow base coat and covered that with a Karak Stone glaze, and then an Agrax Earthshade wash when it came time. The goal that I was trying to accomplish was to make her hair a slightly different color blonde to my SMG Strelok, which wasn't hard to accomplish at all. Gameplay wise, the first doctor unit that I ever used was the Kazak Doktor, so I'm pretty happy to have her ready to go for nostalgias sake. Her predecessor has been pretty reliable when I needed him, so I hope that she follows in his footsteps. I expect that she's also going to be seeing more action, as she is linkable with Line Kazaks, and even gets all the bonuses of a pure link! Apologies for the somewhat fuzzy photos. I didn't notice that the camera didn't focus on her until I had already put everything away. But I think that the quality is still good enough to see what I did. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/vHIsig6 Kazak Doktor
Over the course of about a single evening, I was able to get Col. Voronin painted. Painting him was pretty simple, as I was able to replicate his hair color without any trouble at all, and he didn't get a camo pattern. The reason why I decided against giving him any kind of camouflage was because, as a high-ranking officer of his temperament, I thought that it would be more fitting for him to be wearing a clean green uniform. Grisha, his antipode (assuming I recall his fluff correctly) was also considerably simpler to paint than previous antipodes because he only needed a single color drybrushed onto his fur, whereas most antipodes usually get two colors. I also noticed that his skin color was a bit darker than previous antipodes, so he also looks pretty unique among my antipodes. Overall, I'm really happy with how the duo turned out, and although I have to get past the size of their silhouette, I think that Voronin might make for a pretty solid lieutenant, especially if I remember to bring someone with Chain of Command. Guard combined with Sixth Sense is going to make him rather difficult to assassinate if I position him correctly. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/xyddok7 Col. Yevgueni Voronin
Next to be completed is the Ratnik. I had honestly been dreading the time when I got around to painting him because of my experience with the Blackjacks, which I found to be quite unpleasant to paint. However, I ended up getting a flash of inspiration for how to paint the Ratnik that I thought would look pretty cool and unique, so I actually kicked him to the front of my painting queue. The idea that I got was to feature Nurgling Green as an accent color as I hadn't used that color prominently before, and since the Ratnik is explicitly stated in the lore to be who TAK calls in when they're decide to chuck subtlety out the window, making him stand out wouldn't be that big of a problem. I also liked the idea of giving him a completely red faceplate. The only problem that I encountered was that the Nurgling Green contrasting with the Wazdaka Red and Castellan Green made the Ratnik look like bionicle (the Bohrok Lehvak, for those of you who might be interested in knowing). But I was able to fix this problem by putting some camouflage on his pauldrons and freehanding some Wazdaka Red accent stripes to break up the Nurgling Green. So far, I'm happy with where the paint scheme ended up. I just wish that CB had released a sculpt for the AP Spitfire loadout so that I could get them both done at the same time, but I also suspect that the chances of another Rantik being released are pretty slim. Hopefully I can work out some kind of role for the Ratnik to play on the tabletop because I don't recall him being a popular choice in TAK due to the Vet Kazak eating his lunch. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/Gvb6pFS Ratnik- Heavy shotgun
One challenge with Ariadna is their camouflage seldom lends itself to a lot of contrast. Having to find colors that pop is part of the fun in my experience with miniatures, and while a few units in camouflage are fun for the texture and patterning, they do feel uninspired if one is painting them in enough quantities. I like the bright green on this one in particular (and by the way, I think the dull bronze hue on the tank in the back works great!). I'm still making up my mind on your selection of red on the headpiece, but I do like it better than the gold that Corvus Belli used in their previews. While CB's just makes it look like some kind of delicate space-helmet type glass, I feel like the red you use implies more of a hard armor plate befitting something to protect the pilot's head.
I just looked it up, and apparently the dossier artwork and CB's own paint job are a little bit different. Thinking about what you said about my choice of red for the head, I chose that shade because I have two pots of Wazdaka Red and am trying to make the most out of my accidental purchase. If anything, I think that I could have made the flat plate at the very front of his head a different color, but I'm not sure what would work best because I already have a good amount of green and gray localized in that area. The camouflage that I give my Ariadna does tend to cut down on contrast quite a bit. I am honestly looking forward to being done with my TAK and moving on to other armies, where I can play with the colors more.
The Kazak tactical junk squad known as the Frontoviks is now complete. Seriously, I think that the designers who made these sculpts intentionally made every single Frontovik in the box put their foot on some kind of tactical rock or tactical box just to mess with us. However, it did give me the opportunity to try and experiment in painting granite. To accomplish this, I started with a base layer of Celestia Grey, then dabbed Abbadon black and Emperor's Children over it before covering it with a wash. Unfortunately, it didn't achieve the look I wanted it to have, so I will have to try again on another suitable model. Regardless, the models were still pretty fun to paint, and I decided to be a little bit more loose with my usual TAK scheme. The Frontoviks lent themselves very well to being painted to reference the Freedom faction of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, which tends to have more saturated green in their uniform, with black knee and shoulder pads. The only real annoyance that I had about painting the Frontoviks was that the engineer was missing the ankle pads that the rest of his team is wearing, and I initially couldn't tell what he had strapped to his back. I was told that those tubes were a light rocket launcher, but I thought that they didn't look right to be a rocket launcher. So, I did some research and concluded that they were his D-charges in the form of a pair of Bangalore Torpedoes. Gamewise, I haven't been able to play very often, so they haven't gotten to prove themselves yet. However, the times that I did bring them, they performed to my expectation. I think that the Frontoviks will make great backup for a Vet Kazak point-man, and the engineer will probably be good friends with the Ratnik when I feel like using him. If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/HkgPJiD Frontoviks - Group Photo Frontoviks - T2 Rifle (Left), T2 Rifle [Engineer] (Right) Frontovik - AP Spitfire Frontovik - AP Sniper rifle Frontovik - Heavy rocket launcher
As I come within striking distance of completing the milestone of having a fully painted TAK army, I have finally given the Veteran Kazaks what they deserve. My very first game was played with a single Vet Kazak, and while that game was never finished because we ran out of time, that first model did its job and got me into the game. Since then they have always been on-point whenever I fielded them, taking on the toughest challenges and reliably coming out on top. So, needless to say, this is a very special troop for me, and I think that I have given them a paint job that is worthy of them. Following my theme of referencing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in my TAK, the Vet Kazaks were painted to look similar to a Freedom exoskeleton. This meant using light orange (Fire Dragon Bright) and a saturated green (Loren Forest). I wasn't sure that using these colors were going to work, and it did take some experimenting to find something that didn't make them look like a Yu Jing HI. I also put some Loren Forest on certain small parts of their armor and helmets, with the intention of breaking up the dark green that still dominated the miniatures. In the end, I am very happy with the results, and honestly wish I'd worked out this color combination earlier so I could have used it on more TAK units. If I were the drinking type, I would make a toast to the Veteran Kazaks now that they're done. But, since I'm a total lightweight and can't stand the taste of anything remotely alcoholic, I'll offer a virtual one here. Here's to the Veterans of many games: За вас! Here's to getting me into Infinity: За всречу! Here's to carrying the mission, no matter the danger: За ваше здоровье! And here's to the next round: На посошок! Now I need to go sleep off my virtual hangover... If the photos don't show up, try this link: https://imgur.com/a/wG271BV Veteran Kazaks - Group Photo Veteran Kazak - T2 Rifle Veteran Kazak - AP Machine gun
@Scribbler Thank you for the link to your photo album. You can go back to "fix up" your previous models but maybe going forward is the best option. Take what you have learned and use it on the remaining TAK units you have left. Are you going to get the new Patchers or is Kosmofloat not on your Ariadna sectorials?
Congratulations! Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment – you've got a beautiful TAK army there! I'm excited for that final group shot once you've painted your last model :)
