Hear that rumbling, rushing, screaming sound – the sound of something hurtling towards you with terrible inevitability? That’s the sound of the end of month deadline to add something to my Skaven, racing out of nowhere and bearing down on me inescapably. With not a lot of year left ahead of my self-imposed deadline of seeing my Skaven army to completion by the end of 2019 I turned my attention to the Doomwheel – perhaps the craziest of all the crazy contraptions employed by the ratmen – and finished it in time, although only by the skin of my teeth (with a few frantic late-night painting sessions to boost him over the finish line).
Before we look at the pictures allow me a moment to bitch about the kit which, although the finished model is great, is a real nightmare to assemble. It dates from an era when kits were becoming increasingly complex, and components need to go together in a very specific combination for it to work. On the other hand the parts aren’t numbered and the diagrams leave a lot open to interpretation. Add the fact that I decided to build and paint the entire thing this month and there were a few moments of teeth-gnashing, a bit of muttering and a whole lexicon of swearing before it was finished. That said it’s probably a good thing that I set myself a target and just knuckled down and cracked on with it, otherwise I’d probably never have finished it.
Anyway, enough moaning – it’s done and I’m rather pleased with the end results. As it’s a big kit I’ve used larger images than usual, give them a click and you’ll be able to see them full size (I’m always thinking about the health of your eyes you see!).
Sadly the Warlock Engineer who sits at the controls is damn near impossible to photograph. I did put a fair amount of effort into him, and I think he’s looking good, but he’s really only visible in the hand so if you only see my miniatures via this blog you’ll have to use your imaginations! You can just about see him – and his rat “engine” – in here though.
Suddenly realising that the banner needed to be painted, with mere hours left in the month, was a suitably hair-raising moment for Halloween! Luckily you can’t go wrong with a few Skaven sigils, and my freehand is just about up to coping with them (which is a relief as there’s the Battle Standard Bearer still to paint for next month).
And with that one done we have just four models to go, and two months to paint them in. Onwards and upwards!
November 1st, 2019 at 8:34 am
I actually played the free game for a bit on my phone😂
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:15 am
Is it any good? I’m not generally keen on playing games on my phone but I’m a sucker for crazy contraptions (hence my love of Skaven and Gobbos alike!)
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:26 am
Was one of those one touch make the speedwagon jump type games. Contraption looks cool but the game itself is boring after the first few tries. I am now playing freeblade and a deathwatch game seperatly. Having fun
November 1st, 2019 at 11:12 am
Hey mate, totally unrelated to the skaven article but I wanted to thank you, reading you blog encouraged me to participate in this year dreadtober and I painted my first big model ever! Thank you for your inspiration and dedication to the hobby
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:14 am
Well done, things like Dreadnaughts are a lot more challenging to paint than they’re generally given credit for. It’s always a good feeling to add something like that to your collection, especially when you’ve pushed yourself to paint it. Dreadtober is great for things like that – this year is the first time in a while that I’ve not managed to paint something for it (although this doomwheel actually fills a similar slot now I think about it). Thank you for the kind words and positive feedback as well, it’s the creativity and enthusiasm of other hobbyists that really excites me about painting miniatures more than anything else so it’s always really nice to hear that I’ve inspired someone else in turn. 😀
November 1st, 2019 at 1:44 pm
Nicely done as always and I do like the banner.
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:16 am
Thank you! Yeah, I thought the banner came together well despite the slightly frantic rush I painted it in 😀
November 1st, 2019 at 3:58 pm
Lovely work on an infernal machine.
Cheers,
Pete.
November 2nd, 2019 at 11:29 am
Thanks Pete – you can’t beat an infernal contraption or two!
November 2nd, 2019 at 12:16 am
It really is a fantastic Model, even if it is a frustrating kit. Came out great! I know what you mean about those bits that you can’t really find a decent angle to photograph from.
November 2nd, 2019 at 12:06 pm
It’s an excellent model isn’t it – still one of my favourites from the Skaven range. And to give it credit where it’s due, it may have been hard to build and photograph but it was nice and easy to paint. 🙂
November 2nd, 2019 at 2:13 am
What an awesome piece/model. Made all the more better by your superb painting skills. I can imagine it was a bitch to put together though so you did well
November 2nd, 2019 at 12:28 pm
It was a monumental nightmare to assemble, there are quite a few bits where I had to jury-rig things together or just jam them in and hope for the best. That said I’ll give myself a pat on the back that I don’t think any of it is that obvious now it’s done which is the main thing, and I’m pleased with the results – even if by the time I was halfway through I was inventing new swearwords so I didn’t have to keep repeating myself 😀
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Haha new swear words!!!
November 5th, 2019 at 8:44 am
Well mate you never cease to amaze ! bloody nice little motor ,I need one to face the morning traffic in on the way to work ! I’m glad you put it together as I’m not great with instruction let alone them being vague .
November 5th, 2019 at 10:29 pm
Thank you! Aye, this would be a way to commute in style eh!
November 6th, 2019 at 11:19 am
Excellent work mate – it’s a cracking war machine, but I bet it’s a bitch to build & paint!! Nicely done sir 🙂
November 8th, 2019 at 6:47 am
Cheers! It’s a great model and I’m really pleased with it (now that the damn thing is done anyway!). In better news I’ve just started assembling Thanquol and Boneripper and that model goes together like a dream 🙂
November 6th, 2019 at 8:56 pm
Very cool. Love how weathered and beaten up it looks and the banner is very nicely done.
November 8th, 2019 at 7:08 am
Thank you! I love painting rusted, tarnished metal, it’s very satisfying (and of course it works nicely for things like Skaven). As for the banner it was a bit of a rushed job but that’s probably helped cement its authenticity, I’m not sure I’d recommend “do it in a hurry” as a painting technique (and it certainly wouldn’t work for something like High Elves!) but you can’t go wrong with some hurried scribblings for the Skaven! 🙂
November 6th, 2019 at 9:04 pm
Such a great kit and I love the continuing yellow scheme. Looks excellent.
November 8th, 2019 at 7:10 am
Cheers! I must admit part of me keeps worrying I’ll find something at this late stage where the yellow scheme just doesn’t look right with the model (silly I know) but once again I think it suited this one nicely.