Mordheim 2022: Witch Hunter games

Misery is the river of the world.

As a follow up to Eric’s two posts about his experiences playing his Undead warband at the Mordheim 2022 event, I wanted to describe my experiences. As followers of this website may know, of my brothers and I, I do not do much in the way of building models and painting, largely due to mental health issues, which you can hear more about on episode 91 of our podcast. When I attended the Mordheim 2019 event in Helsinki, Ana Polanšćak was kind enough to build a Witch Hunters warband for me to use. After the event, she very generously gifted me four of the miniatures from the warband. For this new event, I decided it would be fun to use those miniatures and explore what has happened to them in the three years that have elapsed since. 

Season's Greetings 2022!

Season's Greetings!

Between the Bolter and Me is about to finish its 10th year as a blog! It was another productive year, continuing our Twitch streaming and podcast, and even participating in an event! As the year comes to a close, we want to extend our best wishes to all of our readers this holiday season! The festive frog servo skull was drawn by Adam and colored in Procreate.

- Adam, Eric, and Greg Wier

Mordheim 2022: Undead Final game

Once I heard the words “Meat Grinder” spoken aloud in a tavern. Did I see who said these words? No. It could have been anyone in that squalid domicile. I knew they spoke of a vampire. Certainly. A no life king that could not be seen via conventional means, the corrupting touch of wyrdstone stealing ever more of what tied it to the realms of mankind. Murmurs told of Reiklanders twisted until deformation, rupturing into bloody pieces. Bands of mercenaries flayed into grisly smears. By 2020 IC, talk of the “Meat Grinder” faded to obscurity, save rumors that even the ratmen of Eshin chittered of a faceless stygian terror in cursed tunnels. And now in the calendar year 2022, the ratmen are gone. I hear people whispering of it everywhere. Perhaps everyone touched by that place has known all along. I am called back to the City of the Damned. I am called to Mordheim.

- Naewen, savant of Thrax

Late last month I got the opportunity to play a fabulous Mordheim event in Houston Texas! While we had an initial post showing some photos from the event, I also wrote one detailing the first three games I played at the event with my Undead warband. I had the opportunity to play one final game at the event, which I wanted to recount in this post. It was against the legendary Jimmy Henriksson (@the_phoenecian), who also took part in Mordheim 2019!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 97 - We go back to the City of the Damned, a Mordheim 2022 recap

Mordheim 2022!

In this episode we are joined by Bill Ford, host of Mordheim 2022, Eric of Eric’s Hobby Workshop and Alex of the new YouTube channel Tabletop Wizards to talk about the recent event Mordheim 2022! We discuss what it is like to attend a small narrative/hobby focused event like Mordheim 2022, and how it does not need to be intimidating. We also detail the warbands we used in the event and some of the crazy and unfortunate happenings that occured in the City of the Damned. We speak at length about things we would do differently if attending the event again or one in the future. We also talk about how YouTube may be helpful to encourage others to try to host their own narrative events. Finally, we talk briefly about what is next for us with Mordheim!

Mordheim 2022: Undead games 1-3

The Undead warband for Mordheim 2022.

Once I heard the words “Meat Grinder” spoken aloud in a tavern. Did I see who said these words? No. It could have been anyone in that squalid domicile. I knew they spoke of a vampire. Certainly. A no life king that could not be seen via conventional means, the corrupting touch of wyrdstone stealing ever more of what tied it to the realms of mankind. Murmurs told of Reiklanders twisted until deformation, rupturing into bloody pieces. Bands of mercenaries flayed into grisly smears. By 2020 IC, talk of the “Meat Grinder” faded to obscurity, save rumors that even the ratmen of Eshin chittered of a faceless stygian terror in cursed tunnels. And now in the calendar year 2022, the ratmen are gone. I hear people whispering of it everywhere. Perhaps everyone touched by that place has known all along. I am called back to the City of the Damned. I am called to Mordheim.
                                                                                                        - Naewen, savant of Thrax

Mordheim 2022: a recap

One of Jimmy Henriksson’s cultist brethren gazing over the squalor of the City of the Damned.

After all of the anticipation, planning, converting, and painting, Mordheim 2022 has come and gone, and it was glorious! Hobbyists from all over converged in Houston, Texas to celebrate the skirmish wargame Mordheim. The level of talent and passion involved was staggering, mirroring Mordheim 2019, which celebrated the game’s 20th anniversary. Mordheim 2022 was too large to be adequately covered in a single post, as it spanned three days, and was accompanied with too many excellent people, so we plan to separate our coverage of Mordheim 2022 into multiple posts, including covering many of the games we played, the terrain we played on, and hopefully a podcast or two! This initial post is going to be a short one, including a few photos in an attempt to capture some of the magic of the long weekend. We also wanted to express our thanks to everyone involved in the event, especially Bill Ford (@the_ruin.501) for making it all happen and thinking of us when considering who to invite. Words cannot adequately convey how fantastic the event was, filled with inspiring models and towering terrain, and some of the best people in the miniature hobby. It was wonderful to meet old friends and create new ones, bonding over a shared love of Mordheim. And while the event may be over, our excitement for the game, hobby, and continuing to connect with the hobby community could not be stronger!

Mordheim 2022 Invitational: Zombie painted

A zombie alongside some unfortunates from the City of the Damned.

Just in time for Mordheim 2022, which is only days away, I painted the zombie that was converted earlier in the year. The zombie will supplement the Undead warband I created for the Mordheim 2019 event. I will make sure to let you know how the zombie does at the event!

Mordheim 2022: Elf Ranger

An elf ranger next to Mad Meg!

Continuing on the theme of Mordheim, since the Mordheim 2022 event in Houston, Texas is less than a week away, I wanted to showcase an old model I found when looking through the models I painted before starting Between the Bolter and Me. Specifically, I am referring to one of the Hired Sword models Games Workshop released alongside the other Mordheim warbands, the elf ranger. Although I was not playing Mordheim at the time, I painted the model some 15 years ago simply because I liked the model. Upon reflection, the model is a little wonky, with an odd pose and proportions, but I still generally like the model, and even think the paint job holds up. If I were to redo the model, I would give the elf a smaller sword, more befitting his lithe frame.

Mordheim 2022 Invitational: Mad Meg

Mad Meg with two Sisters of Sigmar by her side.

Mordheim 2022 is less than a week away, and I am happy to say I finished painting another model to supplement my Sisters of Sigmar warband from Mordheim 2019. She is a converted version of the Mad Meg promotional model sculpted by Michael Anderson for the Mordheim 2019 event. I have had the model unpainted for quite some time, and am happy to say she finally has paint on her, and she can join the other veteran Sisters of Sigmar!

Mordheim 2022 Invitational: Choir Member

Into the City of the Damned once more!

 

With Mordheim 2022 rapidly approaching, I decided that I wanted to use my Sisters of Sigmar warband from Mordheim 2019. With this in mind, I wanted to convert a new model to join the warband. Looking over some of Games Workshop’s more recent releases, I realized the vampire from the Exiled Dead warband for Warhammer Underworlds would be a good fit. The model’s tall stature and trench coat reminded me of Alexander Winberg’s Sisters of Sigmar warband, the Choir, a faction of the Sisterhood who stands guard to someone deep within an oubliette within the sanctums of the Rock. For my 2019 warband, I actually converted a member of the Choir, following Alex’s design, and felt it would be neat to create another!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 96 - Blood Bowl Sevens

Sevens!

In this episode we are joined by our friend Brad Smith to talk about our most recent experience playing Blood Bowl. We tried to play Blood Bowl in various forms over the years, particularly after the re-releases in 1996 and 2020, along with a stint playing Blitz Bowl. This time we played Sevens, a variant of Blood Bowl that uses a smaller pitch and less players, but largely uses the core Blood Bowl rules. We chat about how easy the variant is to play and how long games take, along with our ultimate opinion of Sevens.

Painting: Ana Polanšćak Custodian Wraith

The Shadow at the Bottom of the World.

As Halloween draws near, I decided it might be fun to paint a creepy model. After looking through my collection, I found some of Ana Polanšćak’s sculpts from her first Kickstarter (Harwood Hobbies Kickstarter). In the past I painted one of her Blood Fiends and Skull Familiars, along with a small gargoyle. I found the skull-headed ghost she created, a custodian wraith, and decided it would be ideal to paint to celebrate the season!

32, Chapter 7 - Gaslands: Refueled

Gaslands!

For the seventh episode of 32, Eric Wier and Alexander Winberg talk about what they have been working on in the hobby and touch on the upcoming 28 project, SKULLS. The main topic of the episode is reviewing a miniature game of vehicular mayhem: Gaslands: Refueled. They talk about how the game plays, along with how easy it is to pick up, even for non-miniature gamers. They also touch on converting toy cars to fit the post-apocalyptic theme of the game.

The Unforgiven: MKVI Tactical Space Marine

The MKVI “Beakie” models have come a long way since Rogue Trader.

In a quest to continue to paint more Dark Angels, following up painting a MKIV Space Marine, I finally got around to painting the new MKVI Space Marine that we converted a little while back. As always, I used the same scheme I devised when initially painting my Dark Angels Kill Team, replying primarily on Caliban Green (Citadel) and mixing in Glacier Blue (Vallejo Game Color, 72.095) for highlights.

Mordheim 2022 Invitational: Zombie

“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.” H.P. Lovecraft

Later this year we are going to be playing in a Mordheim event with a bunch of talented hobbyists. Although we plan to primarily use our warbands from the Mordheim 2019 event, we still want to build and paint a few additional models. I recently got the Exiled Dead Warhammer Underworlds warband and realized the one armored undead warrior would make an excellent zombie for Mordheim! The model already seemed very suitable for Mordheim, and therefore did not require much modification. I did sculpt a few fish skeletons on the model’s waist, along with the twin-tailed comet on their shield and helmet, since they are some of the most iconic symbiology present in Mordheim.

Boneforest: the Addicted and the Witch

Inhabitants of Boneforest.

If you have been following the work of Helge Wilhelm Dahl, you might have seen that he is working on a miniature game with Nitri Michele, to be released later this year by Hollow Press, called Boneforest! While details for the game are relatively sparse, it seems to be set in a world occupied by the creepy and corpulent monstrosities he has been creating for years (and has released via Etsy and numerous Kickstarters), that is populated by the titular bonetrees. Recently it was revealed that Ana Polanšćak, of the Gardens of Hecate fame, is doing the official painting for the game, and has been revealing new models from the game weekly. Excitingly, Helge contacted us and asked if we would be interested in painting some of the miniatures to be displayed as alternative paint schemes for the game release! Not ones to pass on the opportunity to paint some macabre models, we jumped at the opportunity. We ended up painting two models, one of the Addicted (Adam painted this one), and one of the Witches (Eric painted this one)!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 95: Mordheim 2022 Invitational

In this episode, we are joined by Bill Ford, a talented terrain maker who is hosting a narrative focused Mordheim event at the end of the year. We discuss at length how he got into the hobby and what pushed him to host a Mordheim event. We also talk about how he has gone about planning the event and inviting participants. He also gives advice for those who are just beginning to craft terrain pieces of their own.

Horus Heresy: Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Impressions

A MKVI Space Marine next to a Leviathan Dreadnought.

Earlier this year, I assembled one of the plastic Deimos pattern Rhinos for the Horus Heresy, one of the first new plastic kits released alongside the new game. While I was excited about assembling the rhino, I was most excited about assembling some of the other Horus Heresy specific kits Forge World made that were always entirely resin. One of these models was the Leviathan Dreadnought. I always liked how massive the dreadnought looked, as though it was designed to be a true-scale Space Marine Dreadnought. I even think I have one of the resin kits somewhere in my backlog of models, but due to it being in resin, I never actually got around to assembling it. So when Games Workshop released the plastic version with assault weapons, I was really excited and had to get one.

32, Chapter 6 - Interview with Kevin Rahman, designer of Forbidden Psalm: KillSampleProcess

In chapter 6, Alexander Winberg is joined by game designer Kevin Rahman-Daultrey to talk about his newest Kickstarter and expansion of the Forbidden Psalm miniatures game, KillSampleProcess. They talk about the new game, based on the rpg CY_BORG, before talking at length about his game design process. They also chat about some of his upcoming projects and his love of the film Mutant Chronicles, which he admits is terrible.

Thomas Ligotti's The Clown Puppet "Live"

The following article was originally published on Greg’s music blog, Fine Enough, I Suppose. It concerns the written work of Thomas Ligotti, and the efforts of the record label, Cadabra Records, to bring his work to a wider audience. The outlook of Ligotti’s work is deeply pessimistic, fitting in nicely with the bleakness of the 41st millennium.  

One of the most affecting and memorable live performances of my life was seeing Jon Padgett doing a reading of Thomas Ligotti’s short story “The Bungalow House”, accompanied by live guitar and electronics performed by Chris Bozzone. It was my first introduction to the work of Thomas Ligotti, a contemporary horror writer who espouses a particularly dismal world view, and uses his work as a means to explore this outlook. Padgett, a fantastic author of weird fiction himself, did an amazing job invoking the crushing loneliness of the narrator of “The Bungalow House”. I was utterly spellbound, hanging on every word, caught up in a horror that was far more affecting than the hackneyed violence that is the hallmark of many modern horror tales. I came away from the event as a fan of Ligotti’s fiction, and of Jon Padgett, as well. He read his own story “20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism”, and I was astounded at his ability to take something as mundane as a guide book (the story is presented as a guide to becoming a skilled ventriloquist and beyond), and turn it into something deeply unsettling. This event was hosted by Cadabra Records, who had just released a spoken word vinyl record of “The Bungalow House”, with Jon Padgett doing the reading and Chris Bozzone handling the instrumentation. This event was a live recreation of that release, and the first event of its kind hosted by Cadabra Records. Although it is hard to believe now, this event occurred back in May of 2019, more than three years ago! I have been eager for Cadabra Records to host similar events, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented that.

The Unforgiven: MKIV Tactical Space Marine

Despite the MKIV Space Marine (right) being a much newer model than the Rogue Trader Marine next to it, it retains much of the awkward anatomical elements.

Over the year or two, I have been slowly painting Dark Angels, initially for a Kill Team, but then expanding to painting a variety of Dark Angel models that don’t necessarily fit neatly into a Kill Team, such as a Rogue Trader Space Marine and a converted Lunax7070 model. Having recently built one of the new MKVI Space Marines, I thought it would be fun to paint one of the older plastic MKIV Horus Heresy Space Marines I have had sitting in a case for years, with the hope of comparing its scale to some of the other Dark Angels I painted recently. Look forward to seeing one of the newer MKVI Space Marines painted soon too!

Tutorial: Space Marine Holster

And they shall know no fear.

We were pretty excited about Games Workshop's first “regular” Space Marine release in years with the MKVI Space Marines for Horus Heresy. So much so that we created a tutorial for giving them a smaller, more functional looking boltgun. When building one of the Space Marines, we were dismayed by their gigantic bolt pistol holsters. Out of the box they are so large that they hardly fit on the models themselves. We decided to convert one by cutting it down, and figured it was worth writing a short tutorial on how you can do the same!

Horus Heresy: MKVI Space Marine Impressions

From left to right: Klaasje Akhmatova Bibliognost of the Church of the Red Athenæum, MKVI Space Marine, Primaris Space Marine (modified to remove some of the more glaring Primaris details).

After the advent of Primaris Space Marines, we assumed Games Workshop would never make another traditional Space Marine model. To our surprise, Games Workshop used the rerelease of a new edition of the Horus Heresy to redesign a traditional Space Marine in the wake of years of Primaris releases. We were fortunate to be able to get a set of ten of the new Space Marines, and after assembling one, and converting a smaller bolter for them, wanted to tell you our thoughts about the models.

Dragged into Turbolasers 94: The Kroot stalk into Kill Team and Warhammer Underworlds wishes it was Mordheim

In this episode, we chat about some of the new models Games Workshop previewed at the Summer Skirmish preview. We focus primarily on their showings for Kill Team and Warhammer Underworlds. In the first half of the episode, we discuss the excellent looking Kroot warband alongside the surprisingly disappointing Imperial Navy Breacher models. In the second half, we shift to talk about the Hexbane’s Witch Hunter warband for Warhammer Underworld: Nethermaze. In addition to talking about the quality of the sculpts, we also touch on how they will be excitedly received by the Mordheim community.

Tutorial: Converting an Umbra Pattern boltgun

From top to bottom: Primaris Auto Bolt Rifle, Umbra Pattern Bolter (MKVI HH marines), converted Umbra Bolter.

Over the years I have converted multiple more realistically-scaled boltguns, including a SMG styled one based on a Delaque flechette pistol and one from a Primaris heavy bolt pistol. I even created a tutorial showing how to convert a boltgun scaled to suit a Sister of Battle. Despite all of these conversions, I never actually made a tutorial showing how to create a boltgun variant for Space Marines. With the recent release of the Horus Heresy MKVI Space Marines, I thought it would be a great opportunity to take one of the new beakie marines and convert their Umbra pattern bolter to be smaller and ultimately more sensible.

32, Chapter 5 - Steve Rowlinson + Folk Horror

“an environment built, not for man, but for man's absence." J G Ballard.

In chapter 5 Alexander Winberg is joined by hobby enthusiast Steve Rowlinson and they discuss folk horror and how it creeps into games like the Weald. We also talk about community creation and the peculiar kind of person who is attracted to all this strangeness. And of course, we round it all out with a good chat about folkhammer, where Warhammer meets folk horror and everyone is strange.

WilhelMiniatures: Forest Dweller

The Forest Dweller next to the ancient Slambo.

Helge Wilhelm Dahl, of WilheMiniatures, is hard at work on a board game called Boneforest with Nitri Michele, published by Hollow Press later this year. Excited about the prospect of playing a game in a world filled with Helge’s creepy creations, I found a Forest Dweller model I got from his Etsy store a while back, when I was painting some of his bone tree models. This unsettling fellow deserves to be painted, I thought!

Horus Heresy: Deimos Pattern Rhino review

The plastic Deimos Pattern Rhino next to a Primaris-sized Dark Angel.

The second edition of the Horus Heresy was just released, and with it is the promise of GW releasing plastic versions of many of the Forge World Space Marine vehicles, removing many of the assembly woes of their resin counterparts. The first of these releases, alongside the boxed game, was the Deimos pattern Rhino. I always liked the Deimos design, due to its similarities to the original plastic rhino kit, but never bought one because it was a resin hybrid kit, building on top of an already dated plastic rhino (released in 2002). With this new plastic version of the Deimos, I jumped at the opportunity to get one, and in turn see if they were able to improve the basic plastic rhino from 2002!

A Study in Scale: Deathwatch Artemis

The 54mm scale Deathwatch Space Marine towers over all of the other Space Marines models I currently own.

Earlier this year, we converted and painted a Dark Angel in the style of Lunax7070, based on parts Lunax7070 cast in resin for us. If you are familiar with his work, you would correctly predict that the Dark Angel we created was massive. We got a few comments on social media suggesting that the model was so large that they were likely similar in size to the famed Deathwatch Space Marine Artemis, released in 2001 for Games Workshop’s short-lived 54mm RPG. This got us to wonder, how do they compare to each other? Fortunately, I had an unassembled copy of the model that was gifted to me years back. It stayed unassembled due to the time-consuming frustration of metal models. This seemed like the ideal time to get the model out and assemble it!

32, Episode 4: Drachenfels

The start of Warhammer Horror.

For the fourth episode of 32, Eric Wier and Alexander Winberg talk about the 1989 horror classic Drachenfels by Kim Newman, of the Anno Dracula fame. We chat about the novel’s interesting place in the Old World, and how things have both stayed the same and also changed in the Warhammer world since it was first written. We also talk about its unusual characters and interesting plot structure: a jailed playwright and vampire from Bretonnia creating a dramatization of the defeat of the dreaded Drachenfels.

Oldhammer: Olden Demon 2022 Knight

Empire Knight next to Slambo, warrior of Chaos.

Just in time for chilvers_industries Olden Demon 2022 painting competition, I finished painting the ancient sergeant model from the Death on the Reik line of models I selected earlier in the month! I decided to base the paint scheme on a piece of John Blanche art, giving me the opportunity to practice painting yellow, along with my freehand.

Oldhammer: Olden Demon 2022 Dark Angel

Space Marines have come a long way since the 80's!

I selected a Rogue Trader Space Marine for chilvers_industries upcoming Olden Demon 2022 painting competition. Although I wanted to start painting the model weeks ago, it took me a while to find a 2nd edition style backpack for the model. Eventually I was successful in getting one via eBay and was able to start painting! I decided to paint the model to fit alongside the other Dark Angels I have been painting over the last year or so. Although the scale is quite different to new models, with a similar paint scheme, I figured the model would fit in, and be a good testament to how GW models have changed over the years!

Dragged into Tubolasers 93: The Horus Heresy, plastic and beyond

The Horus Heresy!

In this episode, we are joined by an old high school friend, who is well read in terms of the Horus Heresy, to discuss Games Workshop’s newest rendition of the setting: Warhammer - The Horus Heresy. We talk a little about the history of the Horus Heresy in miniature form and how important it is that this new edition has recreated many of the classic Forge World models in plastic. We talk briefly about whether we think the new game will be successful in getting new people to play the Horus Heresy, or simply bolster peoples’ 40k armies. Finally, we predict what Games Workshop will do next with the setting, in terms of new models, and talk about what models we would like to build and paint in the future.

Oldhammer: Olden Demon 2022 model selections

A Rogue Trader era MKVI Space Marine (left) that will be repainted, next to a MKIV and Primaris Space Marine.

It is that time of year again, and chilvers_industries is holding Olden Demon 2022, a painting competition that asks you to paint an old metal model, making sure to paint the base the nostalgic Goblin Green (as was prevalent in the 90s)! We participated for the first time last year by painting an old Space Ork emulating the style of Nicklas Pilhlstrom. This year both Adam and Eric decided they wanted to try to paint something, and spent some time deliberating on what would fit the theme. After painting a Rogue Trader model last year, Adam decided on painting an ancient knight from Warhammer Fantasy Battles, from the Death on the Reik line. When looking through an old case of miniatures, Eric found an old MKVI apothecary Space Marine, which was actually from the second blister pack we ever purchased in our youth. Seeing the model rekindled old memories, and with the upcoming new plastic MKVI marines, it seemed an ideal model to repaint to a higher standard. Now that we found the models, we just have to paint them before the end of May!

The Unforgiven: painting Lunax7070 Space Marine conversion

Omniscient.

Last week we finished building a Space Marine based on a converted cast of one of Lunax7070's true-scale Space Marines. Having finished the model about a week before the second annual Smash Bash entries were due, we realized we had just enough time to paint the model for the competition! For such a short turn-around time, we decided the Dark Angel dry-brush scheme would be an ideal choice to get the model painted quickly. I am happy to say we finished the model just in time!

Building a Lunax7070 Space Marine: Dark Angel

And you scorch the land.

Over the last few months, we have been converting and building a true-scale Space Marine from a multipart resin cast from Lunax7070. After extensively modifying the basic components for the legs and body, we created a silicone mold, allowing us to cast the modified pieces multiple times. Having completed this first part, we wanted to actually build a Space Marine out of some of the cast pieces, as a proof of concept. Although the components had been modified to help with the assembly process, it still took quite a bit of effort to build a model, and I wanted to talk about the process here.

Dragged into Turbolasers Bonus Episode: Thoughts on Necromunda Ash Wastes and the plastic Horus Heresy

Necromunda is expanding to the Ash Wastes!

In this bonus episode, we chat about the upcoming Necromunda Ash Wastes game and the new edition of the Horus Heresy. We talk about the new Ash Wastes Nomads warband and their insect-riding Dustback Helamites. We also speak sadly about how awful the new Orlock vehicles look, fitting alongside the previous Orlock gang models. We move on to talk about the upcoming Horus Heresy game, and how they used it as an opportunity to redesign the basic Space Marine, this time with MKVI armor.

Dragged into Turbolasers 92: Inq28 at Adepticon 2022 with Witchhammerstudio

War has come to SAMMAHS2.

In this episode, we are joined with the wonderful Witchhammerstudio to talk about their experience at the first Adepticon since 2019, Adepticon 2022! We talk at length about the Inq28 showing at the convention, including his stellar SAMMAHS2 game board of floating sections of rock, rusting machinery, and moldering fortifications. We discuss some of the Inq28 games they played, and how everyone found each other in the first place! We end the episode talking about Golden Daemon’s return to the United States at the convention.

Mold making: Lunax7070 Space Marine

A completed mold and the mold release that ensured each half of the silicone molds separated when pouring the mold.

Earlier this month, I started converting the components of one of Lunax7070’s True-scale Space Marines. After adding ball-bearings to some of the components to help with posing, I decided the model would be a good candidate for creating a two part silicone mold. Years back, when I first attempted resin casting, I created a series of posts describing the process, from the initial attempt to some tips to make the process easier. It had been quite a while since I made any molds or did any casting, resulting in this attempt not going as smoothly as possible. In the end, however, I was able to create a mold that will serve my purposes!

The Unforgiven: Dark Angels Kill Team Sergeant

The Crimson Blade.

Last month I built another Dark Angel for my growing Kill Team, but rather than using another Primaris Space Marine, I used one of Paul-Friedrich von Bargen's 3D printable Space Marines. Although the model was pretty quick to build, being that it was primarily just a 3D print, it took me a while to get around to priming and painting it. When I did finally get out a brush, I followed the same procedure I did for the other models, which centered around drybrushing/stippling to achieve the green. The model fits nicely alongside the other Primaris-based models, making me consider building and painting a few more. Regardless, that is one more Dark Angel painted!

Building a Lunax7070 Space Marine

A diorama of an Astral Claws Dreadnought and Space Marine created by the talented Lunax7070.

Despite our efforts to steer clear of building more Space Marine models, in favor of exploring more esoteric facets of the 40k setting, we often find ourselves still working on projects pertaining to them. Just last month we slightly converted one of Paul-Friedrich von Bargen’s MKV Space Marines! When we convert and paint Space Marines, we always try to use it as an opportunity to explore scale and anatomical form in some way, usually by creating True-scale Space Marines. Over the years we have done relatively simple conversions using Primaris Space Marines as a foundation, all the way up to sculpting the majority of one from an assembly of chopped up pieces. One of our favorite hobbyists, Lunax7070, has a similar style and has spent the last few years building an array of Primarch-scale Space Marines of many different Chapters, from Iron Hands to Luna Wolves. Recently, Lunax7070 surprised us with a stunning diorama of an Astral Claws’ Dreadnought alongside one of its power-armored brethren as a thank you for gifting him a few old Forge World books. Being able to see some of his creations first-hand is truly breath-taking; you can easily get lost considering what obscure pieces he spliced together or what weathering techniques he used to create such a remarkable slice of Warhammer 40,000. This reminded us that a while back, Lunax7070 sent us one of his early casts of his iconic MKII Crusade armor, which he has used to build most of his Iron Hands Space Marines. Inspired by the Astral Claw models, we decided it would be fun to finally build the resin cast he gave us!

28 Presents: International Women's Day 2022

Happy International Women's Day!

 
Happy International Women’s Day! Like last year, to celebrate IWD and Women’s History month, 28 created its second special issue, 28 Presents: IWD 2022 special. At 89 pages, it is 34 pages longer than last year, featuring 27 incredibly talented women who take part in this miniature hobby! Do yourself a favor and download the new issue, along with 2021’s issue if you haven’t seen it yet.

Dragged into Turbolasers Bonus Episode: New Eldar models in 2022!

The Eldar in 2022!

In this episode we are joined with an old high school friend and Eldar fan, to talk about the newly revealed Eldar model range. We discuss the new renditions of many Eldar classics, like the Avatar of Khaine, and Phoenix Lord Maugan Ra, and speculate on what might be coming in the future.

Paul-Friedrich von Bargen's 3D printable Space Marines

MKV Heresy Armor next to a True-scale Dark Angel.

With the advent of relatively inexpensive, high quality 3d printers and 3d sculpting software, more people are experimenting with creating their own unique models. In particular, recognizing the demand for better-scaled and proportioned Space Marines, a host of people are creating “True-scale” Space Marine models. These eliminate the need for extensive Primaris conversions to create models that fit alongside the other 40k model ranges. Not all of these are created equal: some do not take the opportunity to fix the anatomical issues inherent to classic Space Marine models, and just copy the GW design, but make them bigger. Paul-Friedrich von Bargen, or bolterjugend.idstein on Instagram, recently started creating 3d printable files for different Power Armor marks, starting with MKIII Iron Armor, before creating MKIV and MKV, along with Terminator armor. Importantly, he corrected some of the more egregious anatomical issues with the classic GW Marine design, such as giving the models a proper abdomen. While you can get his 3D printable files to print them yourself, not having a printer, I contacted him directly to get some of his MKIII Iron Armor Space Marines. To my surprise, he sent a lot of additional printed models, including a single MKV Heresy Armor marine! With this post I wanted to talk a little about the quality of the models and show one I built!

The Wier Cult: Wilbur Whatley commissioned a piece of art for us!

The Wier Cult.

It is amazing to reflect on the progression of Between the Bolter and Me, now that we are approaching 10 years! It has grown substantially over the years, branching out into a podcast, a Twitch channel, a YouTube channel, and even a growing Discord group. Although we primarily started blogging to share our creations and thoughts, we quickly realized the best part is connecting with others who have shared interests. It is building and connecting with a wider hobby community. We have tried to do this in different ways, like holding hobby challenges (Death Guard, Bonereapers) and showcasing some of our favorite hobbyists each year. Ultimately, we just enjoy chatting with other people involved in the hobby! While we hope that we impart to others a fraction of the inspiration we get from these interactions, it can sometimes be difficult to know if we are having an impact, particularly with the decline of blogging and the faceless aspect of podcasting. Recently, this niggling thought was silenced by our friend and fellow blogger Wilbur Whateley, when he gifted us a piece of artwork he commissioned Roberto Cuevas Guerrero to create, featuring the three of us as Tzeentchian cultists! It is a fantastic piece, fitting Guerrero's signature style using the sharp contrast of black and white to emphasize all of the fine and often unsettling details he incorporates. Getting such a thoughtful piece of artwork was really touching and we wanted to share it with all of you. Now we just need to find a place in our respective hobby spaces to frame and hang the artwork!

Left at the Bottom of the Garden: Hoodie Crows

A pair of delightful hoodie crows!

Last month, I painted Deirdre, a small ghost model, created by Andrew Rae of Statuesque Miniatures. It was a fun process, and it encouraged me to consider painting some of his other creations like Left at the Bottom of the Garden, a series of lost and abandoned toys. I settled on painting a pair of adorable stuffed birds, the Hoodie Crows!

Dragged into Turbolasers Episode 91: Mental health and miniature wargaming

Gretchin, better known as Greenstuff Gretchin, joins us to speak about the incredibly important topic of mental health. Mental health is something that affects everyone, but is not often discussed openly, despite how it can envelope our lives. In the episode, we talk about how mental health impacts everyones’ personal hobby journeys, both positively and negatively. We touch on how it can be difficult to acknowledge if you are struggling and to find the appropriate help, and how support can sometimes be lacking or out of reach when you do seek it. Finally, we talk about how supportive the hobby community is, and encourage people to reach out to ourselves and others if they need support.

A look back: Notable Hobbyists of 2021

Shortly after the turn of the new year, we reflected back on all we accomplished in 2021. Having finished this, we turned our attention to the more exciting topic of considering what hobbyists and artists inspired us most throughout 2021. Like in past years, there were an astounding amount of hobbyists producing fantastic work, which made it difficult to acknowledge everyone we wanted to. Furthermore, we purposely did not choose hobbyists that we featured in previous years, although many of them are still creating incredible work, so we would encourage people to look back on our selections from previous years!