Progress... of a sort

Well going back to work after a week off certainly puts a dampener on things, still managed to finish off the Eldar, although I certainly need more practice at painting gems as they didn't come out quite as I'd hoped.
He still needs a coat of gloss varnish on the gems (and of course his base finishing...).

Got some better pics of the Escher ganger as well.

Have just about finished another Escher ganger repaint but haven't got around to photoing her yet, not so happy with her skin might repaint it.

Anyway that's it for now.

 Good Hunting!


Cap'n Smyrk

Sister Act (and Space Elf)

Following in on from the Escher leader she is now joined by a ganger bringing her crew to a mighty strength of... well... two.

This is my favorite of the Escher models, dunno why, she just is. Again its a touch up of an ancient slapdash paint job and I think better than my first attempt.

Anyway here she is, some quick shots before the light fades too much, I'll try and get some better photos later.

And here she is with her leader.

Finally an actual Rogue Trader mini, still WIP, needs his gems painting and some varnish, he's a test model for my Eldar minis.

Til next time,

Cap'n Smyrk


Inspiration grows from the barrel of a gun.

First Recruit

So as promised we have something physical!

Although its not actually a Rogue Trader mini...

Nor is it completely new, being a sprucing up of the fairly basic paint job I did on an Escher ganger back in my misspent youth.

Anyway here she is. Sorry the pics aren't great, my camera's not the best.

I was never the best figure painter and most of my more recent hobbying has been with real-world military model kits but I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Its certainly an improvement on any of my earlier efforts.

Obviously still need to finish up her base once I decide how I want to that, then maybe do a similar update to some of her sisters.

Til next time,

Good Hunting,

Cap'n Smyrk


For a warrior the only crime is cowardice.

The Life and Times of Julius T. Smyrk

I suspect that my interest in old school gaming comes from a bit of a different route than many of its other proponents on the net.

My introduction to the world of Games Workshop and its various mythos came in 1991 when I convinced my parents to buy me a copy of White Dwarf that I had more or less randomly picked up off the shelf in the news agents. This was issue 140 (I still have it along with many other classic issues). I remember being fascinated by the weird and wonderfully creatures and machines on display in its Golden Demon round-up.

From this simple beginning I continued on to the common entry route of Heroquest and Space Crusade. However although I own the original Rogue Trader rulebook (now somewhat battered) my primary interests within Games Workshop have been around the periphery firstly playing Epic scale with the second Space Marine box set (and later Titan Legions) before moving on to Necromunda.

As such I didn't really play either of the core games during this period and eventually other life pressures and general disillusionment with the direction of GWs games meant that I left the hobby.

I still kept one eye on the goings on despite not playing or collecting anymore, but increasingly the modern take on the 40K universe inspires me less than the less refined but more open Rogue Trader era.

Now my move back into this era of gaming has been very much inspired by the wave of 'Oldhammer' and Retro gaming blogs and threads I have encountered across the net in the last few years.

So its more a case of buying things that I wish I'd bought at the time but never did rather than seeking out figures I once owned and subsequently disposed of. Consequently I don't have an existing collection of figures from this era so have started essentially from scratch.

Hopefully I might actually have physical to show next time.

Cap'n Smyrk


So it was in the beginning; so ever it shall be. - Credo of the Iron Hands

These are the Voyages...

These are the voyages...

Ok enough with the Star Trek references and I'll get to why I've gone against natural luddite tendencies and finally entered the world of blogging.

I am starting a collection of classic Warhammer 40k miniatures (mostly Rogue Trader era) mostly off ebay. Inspired in part by others efforts such as Tales from the Maelstrom and the Fawcetts Avenue Conscripts.
My intention is that this blog will form a show case and (knowing my attention span) give me the incentive to work on this modelling project. My plan is to include both my attempts at the painting of the miniatures and hopefully some associated terrain projects (including my own renditions of some classic Rogue Trader pieces). It may well include some Necromunda stuff and maybe even the occasional fantasy piece but I mostly plan on concentrating on the Rogue Trader stuff.

This is mostly a one man hobby project and combined with limited available space means the gaming element may prove a bit sparse but we'll have to see.

Anyway that's probably a big enough wall of text for now next time I'll go into the background to my interest.

Good Hunting,

Cap'n Smyrk



Blessed is the mind too small for doubt. - Commissar Groden Bevro