War Dog finished, Widowmakers started

Another model finished.  I could get used to this. 

The paint has been flowing well over the last week or two and I've been eager to take advantage of the situation.  Last time I talked a bit about how long the War Dog had been underway, which was good timing since I finished it yesterday and ruined my opportunity to point out that I'd been "working" on it for far too long.  As I implied in that post I took my standards down a notch in the name of getting it finished, but that's worked out for the best.  The photo-realistic recreation of my friend's dog was, in retrospect, an unattainable goal.  While I'm sure there are some paint jockeys who can pull off such a feat, I am not one of them, and clinging to that unrealistic expectation would only have guaranteed that the War Dog would remain forever in-progress.  Instead I took a good swing at reproducing the stinky, currently-shedding-all-over-everything dog in armor-plated miniature.  The result is a model that may not be the pinnacle of verisimilitude, but is a passable homage and, above all else, is finished with a coat of varnish drying even now.  My biggest regret about the model now has nothing to do with the paint but is instead the base.  I was trying out the small slate chips from GW's 40k basing kit and they look very different from the otherwise standard ballast/sand on the rest of the bases.  Hopefully once the snow goes down it will blend in, and I doubt it will be noticeable to anyone else, but it will surely cause a tiny twinge of regret every time I look at it.

Not yet on the painting table.

Fun fact about my collection of Khador: the first I ever bought was a Man-O-War Kovnik.  I got it before I had even played a game because I wanted something to paint and liked the look of it.  A few days later, when I got that first game in and bought in to the game via EV's (or perhaps an ex-roomate's) languishing Khador collection, I suddenly had a Kovnik that was already assembled and painted.  Back in those misty days of yore I wasn't nearly as confident putting together multi-part metal minis as I am now (thanks for forcing me to get better PP), so the Kovnik I had previously bought got cleaned and put back in the blister to wait until I had the skills and desire to assemble it.  A few games later the idea of marshalling a jack had lost its luster, the Kovnik had far less appeal as a pure beatstick, and my painting log was full of things that would see table time like casters and WGI.  Where is that Kovnik now?  In that same blister, probably crying, hoping it will one day get some love.  I've actually been warming on the idea of the Kovnik recently.  POW 15 Weapon Masters don't grow on trees, and its Drive is pretty nice, but I still find marshalling to be questionable at best.  That said, I love the idea of a Kovnik running a pair of Berserkers as a crazy flanking force in a large enough list.

The long journey to painted takes another step.

Fun fact number two: the second thing I bought for Khador was a box of Widowmakers.  They were among the first handful of models I painted.  I should say "started to paint," since they've been in a state of partially completion ever since.  Today, a mere two years later, I decided to finish those models off.  Included in the bunch is the Marksman because why not?  If I'm painting four Widowmakers already then adding another one won't take any longer and will let me use the same paints at once instead of doing it in two parts.  Like the War Dog above, these models are relics from a time when I was experimenting with basing, so they all lack the little slate chip that the more recent additions have.  The Widowmaker leader even has a bit of greenstuffed cobblestones, which I'll probably be covering with snow later so it doesn't stick out.  Applying my scheme has been spotty so far, with all that leather and those black hoods looking odd so far, but I figure they're snipers and a different sort of troop than the WGI, so it makes some sense.  The Doomies do their own thing scheme-wise while still fitting in with the rest, so this batch should do the same.  The best part of this current group is that if I can finish them before I add more Khador then I'll be over half painted for the faction (counting only fully painted, varnished, ready-for-play models and not in-progress pieces).  This may not work out though; in another browser tab I'm debating between Beast 09 and Drago as I put together an order fueled by the tax refund that just hit my account.

In a final bit of rambling, with the Caps (at last) seizing a playoff spot I can almost commit to a tournament in Maryland next weekend.  Now instead of wondering whether I'll be seeing hockey next week I can wonder about whether I'll be seeing hockey in person or on TV.  With the playoff schedule coming out on Sunday I can finally write, in pen no less, on my gaming calendar.  For the next two weeks.