286: Baharroth conversion

I finished this chap recently. He is made from the Swooping Hawk Autarch with bits of Scourge. 

I have to thank MechaEmporer7000 on dakka for bits advice. I had no idea how sweet the scourge kit is.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/692128.page

285: Centurion Devastators

Here are what I'm going to be taking to represent Centurion Devastators when I feel the need for a ridiculous amount of Grav weaponry.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned previously that I didn't like the aesthetic of the real models, something about Space Marines in armour donning a second suit of armour just to tout big guns didn't really do it for me.  These are the Mechanicum Kataphron Destroyers with marine heads and backpacks.  It was a super simple conversion.
They're mounted onto 50mm bases (which I'm pretty sure is what marine destroyers come with) so you can see they aren't too dissimilar is size for gaming - a little shorter, but wider.
Eventually I need to figure out a way to model their secondary weapons (either missile launchers or hurricane bolters), but that'll be an addition for another time.

I'm sure they'll die horribly and do absolutely nothing in their first game, such is the life of any new shiny model ;)

259: Individual minis: a zombie for the horde

Particularly for 40k, it makes sense to paint a batch at once. Probably a squad, squadron or formation.

It can start to feel like a drag, and standards may slip. Modelling and painting an individual mini is a way to experiment with new time-consuming techniques without it turning into a hassle.

Here's a one. After a particularly brutal defeat (using my Iron Knights against my friend's Death Guard), I rewarded my opponent with an Iron Knight zombie for his horde. I did not have any spare legs, but then zombies don't need legs.



There's greenstuff guts and mushrooms, UHU mixed with paint to give glue-string gore, and some weathering experiments. Kudos to the first person to identify the source of the head.

257: A Storm Talon that doesn't look too bad

A ways back in the dim and distant past I showed you all how I'd converted up the Storm Raven to make it look a little less goofy (in my opinion of course).  I've even stuck to the same naming convention for this post!  Well with the release of the new Space Marines codex and all the formation-y goodness in it, who could resist the lure of a Storm Wing.  All I needed was the little addition of a pair of Storm Talons.

Of course, what had been stopping me buying Storm Talons before was an equal dislike of the stock model as sold by GW.  Just like the Storm Raven, I found it a little too blocky, too deep for its profile, and with a few design choices that I just couldn't make myself like no matter how hard I tried.

Thank you Internet (I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to utter those words ;), there seem to be plenty of others out there that feel the same way and have made some amazing conversions of the Storm Talon.

• Excommunicate Traitoris has made a fantastic and subtle conversion, and one that I ultimately took the most inspiration from.
• This and this conversion really went to town, and retained the rotation of the under-slung assault cannon.
• This more realistic plane variant is really nice too.

There are a couple of conversions that really stand out though for their inventiveness:

• This A-10 Warthog conversion is inspired and if it didn't require the purchase of Storm Raven wings and a Punisher Autocannon from somewhere I would have been copying this heavily.
• Whoever came up with this ED-209 style assault walker conversion was truly inspired.

Anyway, I'm obviously getting lazy in my old age as I wanted to fix up the Talon with as little work as possible.  Its not a perfect conversion, if I had the money and time for lots of extra parts then I'd be doing more, but this is a pretty quick and easy fix (as long as you don't mind that the Assault Cannons no longer rotate.

All the images should be nice and big if you need when you click on them.

 First step is to make the Assault Cannons, add the skid plate from the very bottom of the standard setup, and remove the square tab from the underside of the body.  It's right in the centre of the circular mount for the underslung turret, you should be able to make out where it was in the image.

 Join the Assault Cannons together, add the skid plate, then glue directly onto the circular section of the underside of the body (where the little tab used to be).
I've also constructed the rest of the body so you can see the new silhouette, much more streamlined compared to the image below it of the standard build.

 Engine pods.  I like to mount the wings so they are tapered from the front, I think they just look a bit better that way.

I also mounted the rocket-pods under the wings, to the lower parts of the engine pods.  This required a very small amount of trimming to get them to fit nicely, but it was just a little bit, and just to make the join that little bit nicer.

That's it, all the work I had to do.  Below are a few shots of the completed model so you can see its final silhouette.  I'm pretty pleased.  It still has that compact, punchy feel of the original model that goes so well with its rules, but has removed the worst offenders for silly modelling choices.

 

 

So, what do you think?

245: Lighting a Rhino

Rebuild the searchlight. It needs a little more space to accommodate a standard LED.

I left one wire looking like a cable, and used the brass rod forming the pintle mount as the other connection for the circuit.

 I put the LEDs in brass tubes. This mostly stops light scattering through the plastic. I suggest that getting a pipe cutter (maybe from a plumbing supplier) is best for cutting brass pipe. The bevelled ends on the headlights are a bit trickier. I drilled out a scrap of wood so that the pipe fit in the hole. Then used a hacksaw. The wood stops the pipe collapsing as you saw it. There is still a fair amount of clean up required with needle files afterwards.

The bevel on the headlights helps to hide the LEDs from some angles of view, and helps them to project light cones.

I used the whole interior of the Rhino as a battery and switch compartment. The back door and top hatch are magnetised for access.

The paint on this model came out insufficiently metallic for Iron Knights.

Third Company Tactical Squad Cygnus can see where they are going.

The searchlight gives a high angle, which casts decent shadows.

241: painted Treeman Avatar of Khaine

Here's the steps I've managed so far, he's not quite complete, and unbased, but I'm really happy with how its going, and I'd be very willing to see him on the battlefield, all I need is an Eldar army for him to go with :D

Skipped a step here, but it was only the basing of yellow, then progressive drybrushing of Fiery Orange and then Blood Red to build up the graduation of the colour.

234: Converting a Treeman Avatar of Khaine

As soon as I saw GW's new treeman kit, I just knew that it would make an absolutely fantastic alternative model for the Eldar's Avatar of Khaine.  The old Avatar model, despite being quite a good model when released, is really showing its age compared to the newer items, and for a simple painting project, the Forgeworld model is a little more money than I can afford/spare.  Conveniently, the model was released just before my birthday, so Mrs. G., being the superstar that she is, picked me up a kit.

232: A slinking return

Hello again...

It’s been too long, no excuses, life and all that.  I’m sure you’ve all experienced it at one time or another.  Anyway, I haven’t exactly been dormant on the hobby front, just not got around to blogging about any of it.

What have I been doing?  Well I’ve been getting involved in a fantasy campaign with some of the guys over at the Beard Bunker which has been a lot of fun, and I’m getting well and truly into the more narrative side of the game.  To whit…

He’s just one of the models that I’ve been converting to fill out my force.  I built him to be an assassin what with the “cloak and dagger” and all, and the skull helm I had the idea of being a kind of death mask that he wore.  He is of course pointing to his next victim.  Problem is, now he’s built I have to admit he’s looking a lot more like a Grey Seer to me than an assassin.  I’ll just have to see where things take me.  Nothing to say he couldn’t be an assassin who gets a little too enamoured of his warpstone and ends up heading off down the path to becoming a Grey Seer.

Anyway, I hope to be a little more regular, and have some ideas for a few special articles for the Hochland Gazette, namely from the letters section, making wild claims about the infestation of the Darkwald forrest by what appear to be giant bi-pedal rat men.  There may even be references to Albrecht of Nuln and his heretical proclamations.

Toodles, Andrew

229: Riptide under Construction

I really should have posted about this guy earlier as I've been working on him for a while now, but for whatever reason I've always forgotten to take a picture, so here he is, almost finished and ready for painting.  It's not entirely evident from the picture, but he's pinned and magnetised to his base, which uses spare parts from my Storm Raven.  The toothpicks are there to build up tracks either side of the main vent part to make it look like its crashed and skidded along the ground.  Once its covered in basing material and built up, I'm hoping it'll give a nice effect.

You may also be able to see the disc of a magnet on the underside of one of the arms, I've placed them in the same place on the other arm, as well as in a place so that the shield/sword thing can be magnetised between the two arms depending on how I feel he should be armed.  The arms will be glued to the body though in a fixed pose.

You can just about make out the squad of Firewarriors behind him that'll form the minimum Troops and HQ component for this allied detachment.  Looking forward to getting these guys painted up with a quick and lightly coloured scheme so I can test them out on the board.

More updates on this one should be coming soon.

 - Andrew

218: My Painting Table

I'm almost finished my current job, and in fact it'll signal the end of an entire career for me, and the end of a journey that started when I was 8 years old in a hospital bed, but that's probably a story for another time.  On the upside, I'm going to have the month of August off work, so should be able to make some good progress.  It's not all gravy for my hobby though as I imagine I'll also be a little busy, with a 10 day trip to my wife's family retreat in Northern Sweden, replacing the kitchen in our flat, a lot of training and finally my first OD triathlon on the 25th August and a half marathon in September.

On that note, last year my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she's OK now, but to celebrate this fact, my family are all running the Great North Run (biggest half marathon in the world) to raise money for Cancer Research UK, if any of the readers would care to make a little donation, it would be greatly appreciated, my justgiving page is:  http://www.justgiving.com/a-gosling

Anyway, that's enough unloading from me, onto the modelly goodness:

211: Off to Blog Wars 5

This weekend, I'll be attending Blog Wars 5, so I'm posting up my list for anyone who might be going to get a look at and be ready for.  Blog Wars is 1850pts, and a Special Character is required for your primary force.  Your special character counts as a scoring unit in the games, and gives up an extra Kill Point when he dies, so is pretty important.  I hadn't read those bits of the rules pack last time I went, so thought I was being really clever that time taking Trazyn the Infinite, as he counts as scoring.  Of course when I did read the pack, it made my choice a little less useful.

A StormRaven that doesn't look too bad

At least that's what I think...

We've all seen the jip that the StormRaven gets on the internets, along with most of GWs new marine kits and for a lot of them I'd probably have to agree.  Most of what I've seen recently has the potential to be really great, but somehow GW has managed to mess things up (that chin gun on the StormTalon for instance).  Well despite all this, I've loved the StormRaven for a while and this Christmas found one brand new for £41 in HobbyCraft so just couldn't pass it by (I justify it as a Christmas Present to myself).  Once I had it in my clutches, I sat down with the sprues and spent a while trying to figure out how I would alter it to make it look at least like it might be able to fly.

I don't like these bits (image from GW, used without permission)

Secret Forgeworld miniature revealed

from:  JD's Blog

I'm sure like everyone else out there, you've seen many of the pictures from the Istvaan diorama that Forgeworld produced for Games Day this year.  There's a few more below for you just because they are so very pretty.

Its currently on display at Warhammer World in Nottingham, in the case next to the main building entrance so that everyone can check it out.  If you are there, take the time to look at it as it really is beautiful and a fantastic piece of work.

from: Wargaming Hub

from: thegreatcrusade.co.uk

While I was looking at it something caught my eye and I just had to chuckle.  I got some pics to show you all too.  The pics aren't the best as it was a pretty bright day, behind glass and the light is kept low in the show cabinet to preserve the colours of the minis.

This is the left end of the diorama, in amongst the traitor legions:

That's a heck of a lot of legion troopers, but wait, whats that?

Wait a minute, there's something funny in that doorway, some kind of commander model perhaps?

Definitely a different colour, could it be a model that hasn't been released yet?

You've got to be kidding, I'VE FOUND WALLY!!!

Red and white stripy shirt, check!  Blue trousers, check!  Beanie hat, check!  Yep, its definitely Wally.

Touché Forgeworld.  I'd say that's on a par with a rick-roll :D  I did drop Forgeworld a line to ask about him and it turns out I'm the first person to spot and inform them of spotting Wally.  Woot!

I've included a full resolution image from my camera below so you can zoom in yourself if you want to double-check.

Cheers - and happy spotting, Andy

TFP: Badab Project competition (2)

Through Excommunicate Traitoris I'm now involved in this competition and charity project from The Fallen Princes.  Go have a look and I'll see you when you are back...

What a great idea!  Anyway, I've volunteered myself for a trooper (that was all that was left when I found out about this), and am going to be giving my guy a Raptor's heritage as they are a Badab chapter and their colour-scheme is similar to my current flavour of the month/year, One Force.  So here are the first, in progress shots of my marine:

Magnetising self-help

I'm a little late with my post today, but here it is.

There are loads of posts out there on the benefits and ways to magnetise your models.  I'm not going to try and repeat anything in these as its pointless, instead I'll try and point you to a few that I've taken inspiration from in the past:  Magnetising Predator, Valkyrie, Speeder bases, Screaming Bell, Tervigon

What I'd like to add, is a little tool I've created for myself, to help me keep my polarities aligned correctly, so that no matter when I've magnetised things, they should always be interchangeable from whatever range I've used.

First Marines for One Force

The Forgeworld MkII armour is just fantastic.  In the pictures on their website, I never thought the MkII armour looked very good, I far preferred the MkIII as well as the MkIV and MkV, but when I finally got to have a look at them in person, I realised just how nice the MkII is and had to get some.  These are the first of what will eventually be 30 Tactical/Assault marines for One Force.

Casting hands

For my One Force marines, I bought the Forgeworld tactical marines, but wanted to model them with lots of combat weapons as well so that I could realistically use them as assault marines as well with magnetised backpacks.  The problem I had is that the tactical marines left hands are all sculpted to be holding bolters, so I needed a lot of left hands to replace them with.  Rather than buying even more parts just to get the left hands, I decided to have a go at casting/molding some up myself to see how useful a technique it can be.