The horde takes shape

Roll tide roll.

On a whim yesterday I decided to pull out the Orks needed for my prospective 500 point list, just to see what they look like.  Despite counting a number of times, I still wasn't convinced I had all the models to fill the list out.  Turns out I don't, but the power klaw Nob that I'm missing I already knew about, so it's almost like I'm not missing anything at all.  I grouped all the lads up, using a stunt Ork for the absent Mek and the to-be-made Nob, and took a nice family photo.  What pleased me most about this exercise was that all but 8 of the 53 minis have some color of non-primer on them.  I also found that with a bare minimum of repainting I can field a Dethskull slugga mob.  I'm on the fence about this as it's something I'd like to get done, but considering how much progress has already been made on the Evil Suns mob, and how much I have left to do on the whole batch, this may not be feasible.

Who needs detail?

Speaking of progress, things took a tiny hit this week.  My existing can of gloss varnish, a Krylon can, is all but finished.  As such I got a new one a couple weeks ago, this time Rustoleum as Home Depot didn't have any Krylon.  I figured that varnish is varnish, and I'm not so worried about the gloss coat anyway.  Turns out all cans are not made equal.  The new one has a different kind of nozzle, one that allows spraying at any angle.  This is nice enough as I don't have to worry about the stream failing if I move my hand to an odd position, though you can't clean the nozzle by turning the can upside down and spraying like other cans.  The biggest difference is the amount of spray.  The new can is less a spray than a rocket.  My usual 6-8 inch distance between can and model became something like 24-30 inches with the new one.  Overall I was pleased, until I took a look at the finished product.  I'm of the belief that there's no such thing as too much varnish, but I've been disabused of that belief again with this latest batch.  I filled in a lot of detail with the varnish and now things look funny.  I'm hoping that when the Dullcote goes on things will look better, but for now I've made the shoota boys that I spent many, many hours on instead look like I spent a couple minutes.  I'm none too optimistic that this will happen, but ultimately they'll be a small section of a larger mob and should do fine.

The new batch.

I spun my wheels a bit deciding what to paint next, but finally settled on a batch of the recently primed shootas.  I'm fighting my urge to paint them as well as possible and am trying to replace that urge with a desire to paint quickly.  It's a process and will require plenty of effort to implement, but it's something I need to work on.  With this in mind, I'm trying a new approach on these models.  I did the skin with a base of Goblin Green followed by a heavy-ish drybrush of Snot Green, which all the models got.  Then I started playing with washes.  I did the helmeted models with an overall coat of Thrakka Green, then a coat of Devlan Mud targeted into the details and shadowy areas.  The rest of the batch got the same treatment, but starting with the Mud and ending with the Green.  I also did one model with a full coat of both, starting with the Mud.  In the end, they all look pretty similar, so going forward I may do the double total wash, or maybe just the Mud if that looks good when I try it later.  I also started the whites on one group.

As an end note, I got another Warstore email telling me that all my backorders, TDA Chaplain included, have been filled.  My order is presumably on its way now, and might show up on Monday or Tuesday.  Some rough figuring tells me that I'll need another Dread, a box of Kans, a box of Bikers, and perhaps a box of Nobs or Boys.  That feels pretty close to me, even if a lot of what I have still needs to be built.