February 2025 GHXLIV was announced and I decided it was time to finish off those K’Daai units!
March 30, 2025
I knew I needed to start by sorting out the base of the K’Daai as they’re still just bare contacts below the bases and no way of supplying power to each model.
I decided to make the tray out of foamboard and also setup spots for the corresponding magnets in the tray so the K’Daai would be held down securely.
April 2, 2025
I went back and filled in a few more gaps and air bubble artifacts in the resin casting with Green Stuff, gave everything a good wash with wet Q-tips (13 years of dust, after all). Then I started updating the base coats with a slightly different shade and applied a generous wash.
The exploding guy still had some exposed bulbs as well so they got covered up with Water Effects (still the same bottle from 13 yrs ago, LOL).
Finally got some paint on the Daemonsmith as well.
April 7, 2025
Painting and crafting desk is a bit crowded of late…
After getting the magnet positions in the movement tray I also cut channels for the wires. And I needed to make sure my holes in the bases also lined up with the channels. Still feeling a bit disorganized and hectic, but it’s coming together more-so than it has in years!!
After so many years I also needed to make sure everything was still working. Gladly, 13 years later I have a separate variable power supply so I don’t need to go hunting for 12V batteries!
Placement sorted out on the movement tray and wiring is good.
What the eye doesn’t see… the chef gets away with 
April 8, 2025
Wiring finished and also confirming the K’Daai Destroyer is working as well… excellent!
April 9, 2025
Time to get back to work on the K’Daai Destroyer body… I wanted him to be disgorging lava onto the base, so I needed to start building that up. I also blew out some expanding insulation foam into smoke plumes and took the best of the bunch.
April 10, 2025
Preparing the pieces for the movement tray/sub-base for the K’Daai Destoyer so it matches the one made for the K’Daai/
I also roughed up the edges of the rocky terrain a bit more and wanted more skulls around. I also took the opportunity to cram skulls around the body of the long-dead dwarf so that the static pose wasn’t looking quite so unnatural on the surface it was on.
April 11, 2025
Wrapping up the last bits of detail and trim for the base as well as sneaking in alternate wiring for bypassing the battery housing (thinking about keeping it wired up in the display cabinet going forward)…
All of the components primed and ready for paint!
April 14, 2025
Making the first passes with the airbrush on the body, and also getting the base underway as well.
I started in on the separate armour plates and then checked the model and base together to see how they were looking so far:
April 26, 2025
Was away for a little over a week on a family trip, so once I was back it was time to get dialed-in and get a move-on! Blocking in more colours and starting on a little bit of weathering and shading.
April 27, 2025
Of course being paranoid that something would go wrong with the bulbs or wiring during painting (luckily it wasn’t dropped) I was still checking that the thing was working regularly!
There was enough paint on the model at this stage that I was ready to add the Water Effects for the flames. Although the stuff is still fairly opaque, with the added paint for colour the lighting is already showing through nicely… once cured it’ll be even brighter!
The whole thing is still a bit of a dog’s breakfast, nothing is secured, everything is kind of janky and I have to check and re-check everything to make sure I haven’t messed up. Just a little more paint to go and it’ll be ready!!!
April 28, 2025 - PICTURE DAY
The K’Daai unit + Manburner
The K’Daai Destroyer
And last, but not least…
The Final Entry Photos:
OK, that’s it.. time for something new to work on next
~N