Tallarn Valkyrie/Vendetta

Well, here’s a great big photo dump showing the start to finish WIP on the Valkyrie/Vendetta I built for my Tallarn.

The cockpit was fully painted before being put into the fuselage and then masked off, to prime the rest of the model. I also painted the interior of the passenger compartment. You can’t see much in there on the finished model, but it is all done.

Flight stand and textured base from Secret Weapon Minatures.

Dry fitted for priming. Then pre-shaded.

Basecoat laid on. The top is Vallejo Model Air Middlestone, the bottom is Minitaire Skull White. I used my Patriot 105 airbrush for this and it got the job done super quick. The Middlestone paint was a bit thin right out of the bottle though and it needed two or three coats.

Moved on to washing in the panel lines and some initial weathering. I laid on a really light dusting of Middlestone mixed with some Skull White to give the panels a sun faded look.

 

To finish it off I added some paint chipping – not much – this thing is kept in good operational condition! I also added decals from several different old model airplane decal sheets, and some rub-on transfers. Painted up the base and done!

The weapons selection only allows the Vendetta configuration. I didn’t want to splash out $40 for the Forge World conversion kit so I did it myself with some spare Razorback lascannons. Cut off the muzzles and rotated them 180 degrees, then cut off part of the lower cabling and added a small plasticard plate for the gun mount. All the weapon options are magnetized.

Pretty happy with how this came out.

DZC Army – Aurum 111th Drop Regiment “Black Scorpions”

I have finally got my Dropzone Commander army past the starter set stage and at a reasonable level and variety for some more involved games. Not knowing how to build a DZC army, I took the default option of acquiring the “Clash” army models shown in the rulebook on page 87, with an eye toward expanding it to the “Battle” level on the same page.

The great thing about painting at this scale is how fast it goes compared to 28mm (for obvious reasons). I got most of this done within a month, which is pretty quick for me. I also was able to compare the build of the plastic Condor to the resin version. They’re pretty close and the resin version has just a bit more detail actually. The only really big difference is the resin model has a molded canopy where the plastic one has a clear canopy.

So, the Hawk Wargames resin models have been pretty good. I have spotted a few bubbles and thin bits here and there, but certainly no worse than most GW Finecast models I’ve worked with and usually better. Another good comparison was the Bear APC resin model. It was two pieces split lengthwise. Once fitted together it looked dead on like the plastic Bear APCs. The other big resin model is the Albatross, a massive multi-vehicle dropship, which kinda looks about as ungainly as its namesake. I can’t say it’s a beautiful design, it’s kinda ugly in fact. But it seems to be a useful model in the game so we’ll see how it goes.

The only metal models so far are the Praetorian infantry. These are pretty clean sculpts with decent detail for their scale. I wasn’t sure how they’d paint up but they came out looking pretty good.

So, pics!

Space Marine Bike Captain (Scibor)

While waiting for some Daemon models I ordered to arrive, I painted up a Scibor SciFi Motorcycle as a ride for my Chapter Master/Captain. It’s much larger than a regular Space Marine bike – the base itself is about 4″ long. The rider is basicallywearing Terminator armor! I used a Terminator left arm instead of the one that came with the model, and added a sword I found somewhere.

The model itself is pretty cool and looks good, though there are some imperfections and blocky bits when you get in close. The foot pegs were broken off and the handgrips on the handlebars were too short and stubby, so I replaced these with the handles of power axes.

It doesn’t come with a cowling, so I cut up the body of a Venom and fitted that on. By coincidence, the panel line on the cowling kind of matches the line on the gas tank, and that helps tie it all together. It’s magnetized so you can see the stuff underneath. I figure Captain Ojin there took it as a war trophy.

The Rift Widens – Bloodcrushers and…

Finally got these Bloodcrushers done. I really like these models and I plan to get 3 more somewhere down the line. I magnetized the icon bearer’s arm so I could switch it out for a sword. The one with the war horn is glued in though. I used Army Painter Dragon Red spray for the basecoat and it came out really nice. For the wash I went with purple instead of brown and that worked really well too.

Next up is another troop of Bloodletters (a “Murder” I like to call them). Nothing special. The banner was done with some stenciling though the skulls don’t look so wonderful up close. But at tabletop distance it looks fine.

I’ve decided that until I have a good-sized horde of Bloodletters (about 40), I’m going to build and paint one murder for each other unit I do. So, up next is a Bloodthirster, and I’ll do another 10 Bloodletters along with him. Maybe I’ll give them green tongues this time.

This is a Greater War Demon model by Ultraforge. I haven’t even built it yet and I really like it. The detail is great, there are no bubbles or flaws in the resin and minimal mold lines and flash to clean up. The fit of the parts is excellent. It even comes with pre-drilled holes for magnetizing the wings (I’ve installed the magnets already as you can see).  It’s also huge, as I think a Bloodthirster should be! It certainly looks like it could chop a tank in half, unlike the scraggly looking GW Bloodthirster. This model stands about 6 1/2″ high on its base, measuring up to the wings. I like it far more than the GW model and I’m really looking forward to making this the centerpiece of my mono-Khorne daemon army!

Once this bad boy and his posse are done, I think I may do another Herald and some more Khorne-dogs!

Vindicated

I finished that Vindicator I was working on last month and got it into a game over the weekend. My opponent, Ian, likes to call them “Fail-cator” since he seems to have such bad luck with them, heh. But mine did pretty well. I blew up an Ork Battlewagon, killed some Killa Kans and a bunch of Ork Boyz. Mulching Orks is pretty much what Vindicators were designed for to begin with. In the end, my valiant assault gun was overrun and blown up by the last surviving Killa Kan of the squadron that charged it (which was subsequently plonked by the angry Marines nearby who stuffed their krak grenades down its gullet).

Here are some WIP pics, some shots of the finished model, and some game pics:

I airbrushed the basecoat on this. Only my second outing with the airbrush and it went a bit better than the first time. It’s not the best airbrush out there, and I wonder what results I might get with a more high-end one. Can’t afford it anyway, and I wasn’t using my own to begin with, but whatever. I got better with the flow control and that’s key. I magnetized the siege shield so it can be removed, and did the usual magnetizing on the storm bolter. I could/should weather the model some more, but I’m feeling lazy. It looks greasy and stained enough from sitting in the motor pool so I’ll call it done.

Here’s a shot of it in action!

You can see this pic and more of that particular battle (the last game of a narrative mini-campaign) in the batrep I posted on the Independent Characters forum!

Overall, I like the Vindicator. That big ol’ pie plate scares the crap out of anyone with any sort of horde army, and makes everyone else spread out. Unfortunately, their threat also makes them a priority target, so the trick is giving your opponent something else more urgent to think about than putting a hole in your Vindicator – easier said than done.

Forging ahead on the Command Squad. I’m almost through the most time consuming part, which is painting the armor and details. The arms and weapons will go much faster.

Planning out my Anglo-Dane army for SAGA next year is fun (thinking about spending money I don’t have of course). Also about to get to work on some WW2 GI’s for Bolt Action. Getting busy!

Decisions, decisions

The year is coming to an end and as I’ve mentioned before, I’m thinking about what to do for next year. December will finish itself out with a Space Marine Command Squad, which will cap off the 40K FIght Club painting challenge I’ve been doing. And then on to 2013!

I’ve got three candidates for my next 40K project. What do you guys think? Which one should I do? In each case I would be building and painting to fill out a pre-determined list – unlike my Marines where I was just building as my whim took me.

Imperial Guard Tallarn – I love the desert theme and I would draw heavily on the British LDRG and SAS, as well as a healthy does of Lawrence of Arabia, for inspiration. I want to make a light, fast, and elite raiding force with Sentinels and Rough Riders on those cool camel/dinosaur-looking mounts that Forge World makes. I also have a mind to convert up some trucks to use as counts-as Chimeras.
Pros: Loads of theme, conversion potential is high, relatively small model count (for IG)

Cons: Tallarn stuff is expensive – it’s not super hard to find, but can be spendy, and the Forge World stuff won’t be cheap. Most of the minis are metal too.

Chaos Daemons – I will admit that I want to do daemons mostly because they’re really colorful! I’ve been painting grey Marines for so long, the crazy colors of a Chaos Daemon army would be a welcome change. As I have some Chaos Space Marines from the DV box set, I could use them as allies too. And I’ve always liked Bloodletters from way back when!

Pros: Readily available, lots of plastic so easy to convert, wide color palette

Cons: Compared against my other ideas, none that would hold me back

Adeptus Mechanicus – Oh, this would be a challenge. Most of the minis I would have to convert myself, which is not really a problem except that it would take me a long time to do. Of course, the potential for creativity here is very high, and I have seen some truly amazing Adeptus Mechanicus armies out there.

Pros: Lots of potential for cool conversions and scratchbuilds, awesome theme

Cons: Will take a long time to do

So that’s what I’m thinking about. My own ranking is Daemons (because they’ll be easy to get), then Tallarn, then AdMech.

And I’m also planning to build an army for the SAGA Dark Ages historical game. I’ve read the rules and seen some games played and it looks really cool. The relatively low model count is also attractive. Plus I like Saxons and their big ol’ Danish axes!

Considering a conversion

I like converting minis. Always fun to come up with something original. I just finished a Terminator Chaplain which was a conversion based on one I saw on From The Warp.

Although I added a few touches of my own, it wasn’t my original idea and I now want to do one of my own.

My philosophy on minis conversions in general is to make subtle ones that don’t require a great deal of cutting, re-shaping or green stuff. If I can put something together from different parts that comes out looking unique that’s usually where I want to be.

I now have it in mind to try and make a Space Marine Captain for my Rising Suns, and this time, I want to try using some of the Kromlech samurai bits, specifically, the helmet and sword. I’m not entirely sure I like those helmets though – need to see them for real, not a picture. Of course, I could just magnetize the head so I could swap it for a normal looking helmet. I’m sure I’ll use the sword though. For the body, I want this guy to have a jump pack so I’ll use an Assault Marine torso with a commander’s breastplate. I’d like to give him artificer armor so I need to find some bits that are suitably ornate – I’ve looked at BA Sanguinary Guard but they look more Greek than anything else and have blood drops all over them.

Any recommendations for bits?

Forge World Mk IV Ironclad Dreadnought

I’ve finished my “Forge World” Ironclad Dreadnought. I put Forge World in quotes because I bought this on eBay from a seller in Hong Kong and since it didn’t come with any packaging, I’ve no idea if it’s actually a FW model. It was a good cast at any rate, and i had no trouble putting it together save the usual things you have to deal with when working with resin.

I paid attention to the polarity of the magnets and matched them to the other Dreadnought I have. In a pinch, I can switch the weapons between the two for a little extra variability. Pretty happy with the results!

So, pics!

Paint first, then assemble?

One reason it takes me so long to get my minis done is I don’t assemble them completely before painting. Usually, I’ll put them together (if they need assembly) up to the point where I think I’d prefer to paint an individual piece before attaching it to the overall model (for example, weapons). I know a lot of people (most even?) don’t do this – after all, why paint something that’s going to get covered up anyway? And that’s a perfectly good reason too. Time of course, is also a prime factor for almost everyone.

Yet, when I’m working on stuff for my collection, I don’t mind taking the time. I don’t lavish as much attention on the parts that will be covered, but I will see that they are basecoated and washed. Sometimes I will go in and detail things that might be partially covered, so that the transition from the covered to the uncovered area is smooth. Also, sometimes it can be very difficult to get your brush into certain areas of a model if its already assembled. You might not be able to see that area so well once it’s done, but when looked at closely, you can see if it wasn’t done at the same level as everywhere else.

At any rate, I paint this way mostly to satisfy myself and I do enjoy the results.

I think I developed this painting habit when I was a kid building model airplanes, as I have a memory of reading some piece of advice somewhere that suggested painting small items first before assembly. Odd how something like that can make such a lasting impression!

What about you? Do you put your models all together first and then paint, or paint first then assemble?

Rising Suns Land Raider

My 40K motor pool continues to expand. I finished this Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer this month. Lots of magnetized bits on this one, but not as many as the Predator. The sponson weapons can be switched around, and the top deck fittings are removable. I also did a couple of crew models – storm bolter gunner, multi-melta gunner and a commander waving his chainsword around (“Get me closer, I want to hit it with my sword!”)