Tyranid Carnifex

Here are some pictures of a carnifex I've just finished. It didn't take too long to do and I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I still can't figure out how to achieve a smooth finish - I keep ending up with a rather grainy/powerdery effect (much like the Howling Banshees - see previous post). Any suggestions would be much appreciated!







It's been a good week for painting (holidays do help) but I'm stuck for what to tackle next. I've got the Orks from AoBR (as well as two mega-armoured nobz I bought last week) to do which are reasonably easy to paint, there are just a lot of minis (20+). Or there are some Eldar Guardians (which I've already started) but I'm struggling to create a deep enough yellow for the Iyanden colour scheme I want. In a recent White Dwarf, there was a yellow effect for a Bad Moon Ork (using Iyanden Darksun etc.) which I could try. Does anyone have a solid method for a good yellow colour?

I'm sure I'll make it past what is clearly a difficult decision...thoroughly enjoying the painting side of the hobby at the moment.

Howling Banshees

Here are some pictures of the Howling Banshees I've just finished. Whilst the pictures pick up every little detail (good and bad!) I'm pretty pleased with the result. My ony issue is that the paint on the metal minis seems to chip off far too easily (compared to the plastic ones). Does anyone know how to solve this? I'll try some 'ardcoat (unless there is a cheaper, effective alternative).

Any comments would be apprecitate - particularly how to achieve a smoother finish for the armour (my method involved drybrushing/overbrushing the armour to ensure the base colours and shading came through).

My next project is a carnifex painted in the Leviathan colours.

Lord of the Rings battle report

Finally managed to win a game at the weekend! It made up for all of the defeats I've suffered with my Warhammer and 40k armies recently. Below are the army lists for the game. I was playing with the Isengard army which performed admirably. The scenario was the 'To kill a king' one from the Legions of Middle Earth book. Saruman and Eomer were the designated 'kings'.

Isengard

Saruman
Lurtz
Uruk Hai Captain (shield, heavy armour)
Warg Riders (x6, some with bows or throwing spears)
Uruk Hai Warriors (x11)
Beserkers (x3)
Uruk Hai Scouts (x8, bows)

Rohan

Eomer
Boromir
Gimli
Warriors of Rohan (x22, some with throwing spears, bows or shields)
Riders of Rohan (x15, some with throwing spears)

My wargs managed to take out the first wave of riders (6 of them) on the charge which enabled them to aim themselves at Eomer fairly early on. My archers were typically off target and, since they were led by Lurtz, I forfeited their bows to charge into some of the Rohan warriors mid-way through the game.
I finally found the usefulness of Saruman by carefully hiding him between the Uruk Hai and then unleashing command and sorcerous blast as often as I could. This dispatched Boromir and Gimli with ease (Gimli lacks the will to defend against this for more than 2 turns) and it was left to the wargs to take out Eomer.
I'm not really sure where the Rohan army went wrong, it seems that an Isengard army is very hard to beat, no matter what the opponent.
Perhaps I will expand the army when the War of the Ring is released in a few weeks time.