Monthly Archives

January 2026

A photograph of a glass mason jar held up to starlight.

Character backstory: Sanctioned Psyker Redflax

by SCG January 23, 2026

written by SCG

I’m under the weather these past few days, grappling with some sort of virus. Assuming I don’t get around to writing something new over the weekend, here is something I wrote in late 2024, fleshing out a little backstory for my character in our Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy RPG group. Have fun puzzling out what was redacted!

We’ll reach our group’s three year anniversary this May, which is a little shocking to realise, but in fairness to the story our GM has planned out, we have done a spectacular job of going off-mission and generally doing ridiculous things.

January 23, 2026 0 comments 6 views

MaxDakka ork conversion (something really stupid pt.2)

by SCG January 16, 2026

written by SCG

I left you hanging back in Orktober 2024, and for that I’m sorry. I was held hostage by my own bullshit life. The good news is I did actually finish that model; he was converted and painted that same month, and has even been entered into a couple of competitions!

Do check back on that original post if you want to learn about how this conversion was put together (it involved a lot of different resin parts, but wasn’t really all that complicated). Today I’ll mostly share a few work-in-progress photos, talk about what I remember of the painting process and the choices I made, and share a gallery of the finished model from different angles.

January 16, 2026 0 comments 56 views

A blurred photograph of books on a shelf.

Life Eternal / Heaven Fell

by SCG January 9, 2026

written by SCG

Last December I found myself driven to try writing some fiction for the first time in years. I also rejoined the SFF Chronicles forum, and found they were running a writing challenge of unusual brevity: just 75 words! This was my entry. I had a clear concept, but found it challenging to convey it in so few words. I was very impressed with what other contributors achieved.

‘Thus technology permits life eternal,’ the mogul concluded, audience rapt.

Wealthy volunteers stepped forward. The success rate was acceptable. Bodies were discarded, brains stored, minds uploaded. Business boomed. Stock prices climbed as a turbulent climate declined.

Others were at the gates. Their complaints, manifold. Their exclusion. Civilization contracting. Children without hope. Whatever drove them, they were legion.

Walls crumbled. Security absconded. Technological heaven fell. The mogul’s own body was discarded, more crudely than his designs.

January 9, 2026 0 comments 63 views

Painting in progress. Most of the model is complete here, although the central figure itself is absent.

Painting Da Red Gobbo

by SCG January 7, 2026

written by SCG

My partner and I have many traditions around the Christmas period. Decorating a tree; letting our cats get covered in pine needles; eating too much… the usual stuff. We also have some slightly more unusual traditions, such as hiding tonttu around the apartment for one another to find, and painting overpriced Warhammer commemorative miniatures together. Over the last five years, we’ve done Da Goff Rocker, Terminator Chaplains, and several festive versions of Da Red Gobbo and his squig, Bounca.

Da Red Gobbo is a slightly weird character for Warhammer 40,000, although that is in the context of a setting where the most famous named characters are silly shit like Ferrus Manus (cod Latin for “iron hands”, and this is the grand-daddy of the Iron Hands chapter) or Roboute Guilliman (so basically Robert Guillaume/William, or abbreviated in UK English Bob Bill). YouTuber Arbitor Ian recently did a fun video on the origin of Da Red Gobbo, who is essentially somewhere between a mythic revolutionary figure for downtrodden workers and slaves, a parody of internecine factional strife, and an anarchic Santa stand-in. And people say Warhammer 40,000 is too serious. Shout-out to the commentor who dubbed him “Leon Grotsky”!

All right, that’s the intro out of the way. Let’s talk about the model.

January 7, 2026 0 comments 73 views

The painted buildings sat on my paint desk. Detailed descriptions of them can be found in alt text in the gallery at the end of this article.

Building & painting epic-scale MDF scenery

by SCG January 1, 2026

written by SCG

During Death Year 2025 I acquired some TTcombat MDF terrain: an epic-scale industrial construct dubbed the ~~Ashworks Foundry~~ Ashford Pressureworks (I’ve written and said this name many times and still cannot get it right – senility is clearly setting in). I believe this is discontinued, though it’s still available via 3rd party sellers if you’re interested.

I believe it’s designed for TTcombat’s own game Dropzone Commander, which I’ve not played (interested, you know, but it involves a lot of resin, plus getting stuff from the UK is non-trivial these days) and is 10mm scale. I play Legions Imperialis which is 8mm scale, but what’s 2mm between friends?

January 1, 2026 0 comments 94 views