Empchild wrote:
Migs I love the base for the lady as that took me a few to figure out where that bit came from. I really like the mix of the guard bits with empire. How many point are you up to now and will you be at adepticon showing this kick butt army off?

more than 2000pts!

Not this year, maybe next year I want to get back to gaming regularly first.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Okay!

Managed to get 8 more guys finished and finally kick start 2014 in terms of sharing pictures. iPhone for now - proper shoot sometime in the future.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/legionofplastic/12739065964/



Blogger entry:

http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-emerald-guard-von-lochovs-household.html

You're back! Kick ass!

Thanks mate

Awesome stuff Migs. I especially like the hazard stripes.

An amazing thread and excellent stuff throughout. I really like the way you paint stuff, gritty and realistic.

Your conversions are always fantastic. The only one I don't like is the Nurgle Champion, I personally don't think the head choice works but it's beautifully painted.

Thanks guys. It's always really good to hear the feedback. Positive and negative. It's basically the only reason I share the stuff. To get some extra inspiration to deliver new and exciting models.

Sooooo nice! I love the paint scheme. Eerie and other-worldly. Really captures the gothic mood.

Brilliant work on the Praetorians and those henchmen really look like feudal retainers.

Thanks guys. Your positive feedback is much appreciated as I move on to the next units to add.

Venerable Omegon

A legend interred in a womb of steel

Ancient and impervious

Run!






http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/03/legion-dreadnought-1st-in-death.html

Awesome! But what will happen to the previous model you made?

Brilliant and that's just on the Dreadknight kit can't wait to see what you do to the good knight kit.

Now that is what a drednought should look like! Damn it looks good.

Migs that looks brilliant mate! I love how you've converted that dreadknight! it really looks excellent and totally menacing and quite creepy! with your paint style/skills I am very eagerly waiting to see how it looks! :-)

Gentlemen, Thank you! Keep them coming. The positive feedback really energized me into building this after the henchmen.

I think I need to do another deeper musings entry soon, on where I see the army growing this year and how it fits the original ideology.

Malika - nothing different. He now has a twin brother Fittingly.

Starte painting it last night. Lots of surface area and detail, plus plenty of base, so may be while...

Brilliant use of the DK kit - bye bye GK Baby Carriage, hello Walking Destruction!

Great work as always Migs!

Thanks Lamby,

Did you see the first one?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/legionofplastic/9658971733/

 migsula wrote:
Thanks Lamby,

Did you see the first one?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/legionofplastic/9658971733/

Yes I did - I went back through your blog to find him, after remembering you'd done one before. I've never liked the whole baby-carriage set up, but the rest of the DK kit is great.

Will this new one be in the same colour scheme?
The weathering is great btw!

This new one will be blue like the Marines. I really dig the old Rogue Trader era idea of Marines sometimes having mission specific paint jobs. The weathered white has worked really well with the rest of the army, but I wanted to try the blue to see if I can do it on some other vehicles too and so far it's looking promising. I'm about 60% in to the paint job I would guess. Lots of fun detail to paint and weather. The banner alone is quite an undertaking.

Please.give us more deeper musings. While I don't always comment on.them I do read them and greatly enjoy them!

Five years into the project, two kids, new continent, new job, new and new and new later, still thoroughly enjoying and excited about the "old" subject matter. The original ambition still stands.

"I've decided to throw out all the rules and just paint the way I feel I must and not be afraid of color. The project is inspired by Dainton's art as always, the Legion book and the pale, chilling light of the Moon."

Something has changed too, I have more tools, more tricks and a much better understanding of what I am doing, and it will be a mix of these additions that should keep the project fresh and exciting. The balancing act is between having the courage to evolve things to avoid mannerism and boredom, while maintaining enough characteristics of the original philosophy.

In 2014 I look at my project with these three pairs.


light / shadow
fine detail / raw stroke & texture
sense of material and scale / surprising color play

I play between each pair and constantly try and up the creative contrast they offer. I've recently introduced some exciting new tools:


an airbrush
varnishing with a full range between matt and gloss (Mixing floor wax and Tamiya flat medium)
enamel and other alcohol based metallics

I look at each very critically, brining a new dimension, a new vitality to the work and the three pairings that drive the work these days. I'm really focused at not letting the new tools change the essence of my work, only add to its character. The advent of Airbrush for example, has lead to many armies that look airbrushed from miles away.

Games Workshop has started out the year so strong, and implemented bold new changes that really benefit the hobby it feels, and it has helped energize the project. Looking back and forward to the future at the same time, plenty more of this to come:

"Furthermore, the Legion's rash, eager to prove, outrageously creative and utterly dangerous outlook on things is an immense inspiration, together with Imperial Guard armies of 2nd edition that had many different units and schemes. The relationship of superhuman warrior gods and their guard protégées has endless depth to interpret."


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Knights on the menu and a happy modeler.

The internet is rife with the first painted Knights by hobbyists around the world.

I've just finished the perfect warm up exercise that has painted to one of my favorite models in the army. Quick picture attached, with the final selective matt varnish and weathering film still missing. I will do proper photos with the Big Knight. I want to show off the great rands in gloss, the improved metallics and more subtle airbrushing weathering.

Tonight I will unbox the knight!, and start by building an epic little base as always. I've decided I will build the Battle cannon variety, but I am uncharacteristically torn between picking a color scheme. Looking at three options and curious to hear what you guys think.

Whether I should do the red Mechanicus scheme that has served the Cyclops Battle Automaton and the Skitari so well. They are on the way to a nice little army within the army. I like the red, because it is a very unique way of doing red and highlights the moon light theme so well.

I could also pick a version of the Blue grey I used to do the IG vehicles. It weathers beautifully and is a very nice hue that would go great with big yellow hazard stripes (which will feature on any design I pick obviously) This way the Knight would really fit with the soon to be rapidly growing IG component and still stand out too.

And finally, I am entertaining a cold green scheme. Something that makes the Knight completely independent, a hero of sorts, with enough blue and off-white in there to make him fit in. Tempted by this, yet a little worried that my rag-tag horde is starting to loose coherence too.

Thanks for feedback!

Looooong time lurker here (so much so that I didn't have an account until right this moment), just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed your work over the years.

That and Congrats on getting Shaddes of Grey showcased in Warhammer Visions #2!

Outstanding Migs - your blue/green/yellow blending and weathering looks perfect in the big guy.

Personally I think you should go with either the cold green or the Alpha Legion (as above) scheme on the Knight - there's already far too many House Taranis (and so on...) Knights appearing out there...

I really enjoyed your 'into the depths' article above too - you directly caused me to change my painting style a few years ago when you posted the first Alpharius PIP, and continue to inspire me today.

Thanks!

And good luck with the Knight - it will look awesome no matter what colour you go with in the end.

This is such a cool blog! Very inspiring and impressive! The knight conversion looks so great, but i love the big guy with the plasma!keep up the great work and thx for sharing!

Thank you Gentlemen!

guardian44 - Welcome to dakka! Thanks for the kind words and yes, good to have the old boys finally in the magazine. The pics are a tad blurry and oddly lit I thought, but so very happy to be featured in John's section.

Beautifully done Migs, really great work with the weathering and blending of the blue! looks simply awesome!

Thanks!!

That knight is astounding. Looks awe-inspiring and ancient with the (very well done) weathering.

Cheers!

I started work on the big Knight. Building the base first as always, and trying to out do previous big bases I've done. Assembled a leg too, and what an impressive quality kit it is. I put together a Land Raider last year, the first of the big "new" plastic kits 15 years ago. Games Workshop has come very very far.

Here's hoping the next 15 are even better!

Great work, Migs. The Alpha Legion color scheme looks as though it scales up very nicely. I can't wait to see what you do with the Knight kit.

And I echo the appreciation for your sharing of "deep thoughts"/strategies. The thoughtful way you approach your work has always been inspiring.

Holy mother of pearl! This stuff is great!!

Thanks Kelly!

Some progress to report.

After uncharacteristically reading the Codex, (yet to open the Tyranid Codex) and pondering on how to paint and where to take mine in the drowning sea of freshly finished Knights that is the internet, I've decided that.

a freeblade knight fits my army theme perfectly
I want mine to look much more gothic and detailed than built from the kit
it needs to be really really sinister. Sinister!
I am going to go with the green direction, but a dramatic splash of Black introduced to the scheme. I haven't yet done moonlight black. So I am looking forward to that challenge.

So far the kit has been an absolute joy to work with. Only down side is how very long it takes to build one...

one WIP picture to share:

http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-black-prince-freeblade-knight-in.html

Migs, I adore and love your work. You have inspired me to start up Inq 28 again after a 15 month break.

Love and adoration from Stockholm.

And soon we have HH:3 in our hands, life is good.

The Hydra uncoils : See us Rise....

Thanks mate! Happy to hear that. Please let me know when you have new stuff to share.

Absolutely excited about the FW stuff too. Here's hoping Alpharius is as amazing as the Horus sculpt.

Hear hear!

Well, I have restarted the whole thing in this thread: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/585576.page

Don't have anything painted posted yet, just a few wip-models, keep an eye out if you want.

Wow amazing. Do you use a sponge or brush mostly when you do your weathering?

Thanks. I use both a brush and a sponge. Sponge first, then go over things again with a 000 brush.

Started painting the Knight this week. Oh WOW. It is going to take a while

This thread is tremendously inspiring. I've been lurking in it for years, and no, I have no excuse for never dropping a comment. Everything in this thread is top-notch, but your Alpha Legion are, IMO, the single best example of truescale/artscale Astartes out there. Absolutely dying to see what you do with a Knight.

 RazakelXIII wrote:
This thread is tremendously inspiring. I've been lurking in it for years, and no, I have no excuse for never dropping a comment. Everything in this thread is top-notch, but your Alpha Legion are, IMO, the single best example of truescale/artscale Astartes out there. Absolutely dying to see what you do with a Knight.

Agree, I have tons of Migs work saved for inspiration in my phone hehe.

 migsula wrote:
Started painting the Knight this week. Oh WOW. It is going to take a while

I feel you - making a knight feels like a real labor of love. Can't wait to see yours.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated! Really do hope the knight will be worth your wait!

I've been working on the Knight every night for an hour or few and it's going to brake all records about the amount of time I've ever spent on a single model.

That's not to say I am not whole heartedly enjoying it - just feel the pressure a bit with the new Imperial Guard units (mainly the storm troopers) in transit. The Knight has been a great platform to move to more evolved airbrushing and to learn about oil paint weathering. Oil paints definitely make me excited to build some guard tanks soon, and I have 4 more on the list. Everything else I've learned these past years, is going to be put on display herewith the aim to create a real showcase piece for the Legion project.

Last night I spent 2 hours on the decals alone. I am now roughly at the half point mark and should be able to put all of him together in a few days. That's when the real weathering and "Freeblade" narrative work begins.

Attached is a quick pic of the pale green scheme after carefully "massaging" the first layer of weathering in with oils. I should post another one after decals, the top carapace looks very cool now.

Stay tuned!

*Hyperventilates* OhmygodohmygodOHMYGOD! *fanboy squeal of exitement*

Faster! Moar!

Can't wait to see more, migs!

Beautiful! I love that shade of green.

Looks good so far, Migs. Lovely green.

When did the massaging of the first layer of weathering, do you mean a simple oil wash, or did you use the 'dots' method?

Oils and pastels are the go-to effects for weathering!

Can't wait to see this Freeblade stalking the ruins!

This will become quite something when it's finished..

Everything looks gorgeous as usual Migs. You remain a constant source of inspiration and Legion goodness.

 Lamby wrote:


When did the massaging of the first layer of weathering, do you mean a simple oil wash, or did you use the 'dots' method?

Oils and pastels are the go-to effects for weathering!

Can't wait to see this Freeblade stalking the ruins!

Oil wash applied very carefully and selectively and then going back once the spirit has evaporated and carefully nudging the oil in the right place, around rivets, streaks... It really does feel like massaging.

I do still consider inks, washes and pigments just as instrumental as the oil will be. The oil just gives you so much more control, smoothness and time!

You may have to wait a while But given you guys enjoyed the WIP, maybe I will post some more as I go?

Thanks for all the comments guys!

More WIPs? Yes please, I'd love to see how you tackle the medium of oils.

Any particular reason (besides handling) that the pieces are still on sprue?

More WIPS would be great. Mainly just to see how the carapace changes.

I'm keeping the armour parts on the sprue for handling while painting and also because there are like 15 of them to lose

Interesting looking green. Maybe a bit too subtle?
Not that I'm complaining

Well, no matter what it'll turn into something gold. You must bless your brushes with holy water.

love your dread knight thing Migs ! well tbh i love everything you do so lets not be too choosy ;-)

the knight titan is shaping up to your usual meticulous standards , hazzard stripes are looking pretty perfect, interesting to see your painting on sprue - i got fed up building mine after a week lol its all in a bag now - waiting for paint inspiration to come back .

Imperial Distractions arrive!

Took a night off from building the Knight. Could not help myself. Imperial Distractions first batch arrived. 4 sets of Storm Troopers, their Codex, a Baneblade and and a Tauros.

I have to let you in on a secret. I've been slowly building not one, but two very very detailed and lovingly crafter Inquisitorial Retinues. One is the "Good" finale for the +I+ trilogy (albeit your mileage on good may vary) and the second one is Rosethorn Redux, return of Inquisitor Eisenhorn and friends. Legion friend included.

I love working on stuff that I have such a passion, but slowly over a long time, collecting each part carefully and having enough time to contemplate and tweak. The overcoat from the new Storm trooper kit was the final missing piece for the big man himself.

Speaking of the new storm troopers, stunning work Games Workshop!!

Neil Cheers mate. I think the parts come off the spur tonight and it's time for another WIP - if I can stay disciplined

Guardian Thanks man. The Armour trims on the knight are off white and the green stands out quite distinctly against that reference!

 migsula wrote:
Imperial Distractions arrive!
... I have to let you in on a secret. I've been slowly building not one, but two very very detailed and lovingly crafter Inquisitorial Retinues. One is the "Good" finale for the +I+ trilogy (albeit your mileage on good may vary) and the second one is Rosethorn Redux, return of Inquisitor Eisenhorn and friends. Legion friend included...

O Migs - you tease!!!
Eagerly awaiting both retinues,especially Rosethorn Redux - your Rosethorn now diorama was an inspiration back when I first returned to modelling... and another Legion mini - inspiration taken from Pariah perhaps... I hope!

*Has an apoplectic episode in a corner from pent-up exitement for all the awsome*

Yeah, I know, sorry. I will try to start sharing some of that stuff as soon as the Knight is done.

M

So I settled on what to do with these Storm Trooper distractions. The first impulse I had had upon seeing pictures of the rumored release was to think they would make great Mechanicus troops. The Legion was always going to be about themes within themes, a philosophy that has held true from the very fist models and units. The little Mechanicus Continent has grown to be one of my favorites and offers a great space to explore. Count as allied space marines, it already contains the Cyclops dread automaton and Skitari Centurions.

I've always been annoyed by the disparity between rich Mechanicus fluff, intelligent tech assassins, elite military squads and operators and then all things Mechanicus in miniature form coming across a bit lobotomized. While it fist servitors perfectly, not the shock troops of Horus Heresy books or my own imagination. Mechanicus being an esoteric organization that doesn't fully understand yet alone reproduce the technology it has makes for a beautiful back drop for the imagery in the grim darkness of far future!

I am going to create a unit that fits what I think would be the Warhammer 40K outcome of a technologically superior organization creating it's Speznats, bionic warrior adepts on an industrial scale.

PS. after this assembly detour, I was back painting the Knight last knight, and will do my very best to finish it first.

Cant wait to see these admech soldiers!

Phheeeeeewwww… It took what felt like a small eternity and I still can’t call him finished, but I have pictures to share.

I feel a great sense of achievement and excitement, despite what was an odd journey of direction changes and experiments. I started with an image of a black skull mask and bone motifs, but wasn’t feeling the faceplate at all. I then painted another helmet and decided I do like the bare head the best. I feel like I failed the heraldic hero look, but got a very bad ass war machine.

I still need to work on the base, the exhausts and little washes here and there for the metallics. But not before I take a brake with the next exciting thing. (picture below the Knight pics)

I really enjoyed the airbrush, oils and my new set up. I learned and fine tuned many new effects here, that I want to apply on tanks and more manageable sized projects in the near future. Being able to add just the right amount of gloss / matt as a final finish is something I’ve dreamt of for a decade. Pledge floor wash mixed with the wanted amount of Tamiya flat medium and airbrushed exactly where needed does the trick perfectly!




full set: http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/04/raphael-freeblade-knight-eternal.html

Hope you like him!

PS. Next comes my take on the new Storm Trooper Kit. I've always struggled with all thing Mechanicus looking too lobotomized. It fits servitors well, but not the breadth and depth of great fluff and many facets of the organization that is fast becoming it's own detachment in the project. I really enjoyed reading the HH series book about Mechanicus civil war, with Knights, techno-assassins and aspects of the organization I want to play with.

When I first saw the new models, I instantly thought they'd make a wicked Mechanicus unit. Imagine the best trained and equipped, fully augmented, Skitari shock troop. These are counts as Imperial fist scouts. I'm building a detachment of "Sentinels of Mars" to round out the army to 2000pts and the Golden Throne Grand Tournament in August. I want the army to look good, but also work very well.

5/20 pictured: Notice the solid shell bolt carbines, more advanced comms on the leader and shoulder targeting systems actually tracking the warriors sights.

I...well...damn. That's a knight!


Oh, and the stormtroopers are cool too, I guess Be nice to get a few more shots of them

absolutely beautiful!

The almost chalky palette and paint chipping/weathering effects make the whole thing remind me of an early-renaissance fresco, which is a very good thing in my book! I think you’ve also managed to make the knight seem extra large (and perfectly in-scale with the infantry) by using relatively small heraldy, fine decorative details (the tiny checks!), and sensitive detailed weathering. So many great details here. Very clever asymmetrical eagle crop on the tabard banner (which seems very appropriate for your theme, with the eagle only revealing one of it's faces). The chipping on the white trim is so nice. And I absolutely love the specific shade(s) of rust you’ve used — the colors on the roof vent panels look so great with the muted green. The only thing I’m not quite sure about is some of the metal seems a bit bright to me (the hips mostly) but that may be just because you’re not done yet.

The stormtroopers are looking great too. I really like the idea of exploring Mechanicus imagery beyond the servitor/robed-magos continuum, which I agree can get a bit monotonous.

Thanks for the feedback!

Spot on with the metal toning down. I still have about 20 details/areas/nuances that need to be worked on eventually.

The knight looks incredible

Consider the idea for those "scouts" stolen.

Fantastic work

Sweet I was hoping youd pick some Storm Troopers up!

The Knight is incredibly well-painted, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm a tad disappointed that you didn't try and change up the posing a bit. With how much conversion there is in all your stuff and the incredible talent you've displayed, I was hoping you'd change up the rather static pose that the kit has. A lumbering pose with a lot of movement would have been nice.

Now those Stormtroopers really make me want to scrounge up the cash to buy a box. They are brilliant models from the get-go but seeing the conversion work you've done on them has really inspired me and given me some great ides for my own Legion auxiliaries. For the guy second to the far left, did you use one of the heads from the Dark Angels Knights? I absolutely love the way he looks. I like your idea of using them as Scouts as well; they've definitely got the look.

Thaks gents!

Bob, the pose is pose able. If the legs are too static, then yes, I did not move them and I do agree with you that they could be more dynamic. GW made it very hard to do, but as with the Dreadknight kit, if I do a second knight the legs will move to give me two really different looking ones The pose has grown on me though. The static split seems to really suit the old hunchback.


Praetorian Kill Team RSX-317
elite of the Skitari elite, led by Decanus Gore is on the painting table.

under moonlight as ever
need to fit both Legion and Sentinels of Mars detachments visually
need to paint at least 20 of them
back to impact, strong shadow and light - where the Knight as such a big object was a challenge
Test trooper done.

Really like the de-saturated primary green of the Freeblade, there's another one getting around the Internet that's a dusty pale blue that's nice too.

I think the posing issue is basically the kit's fault, it's so big (compared to 40k 'humans') and iconic that even with the Knight's people are showing with changed legs don't look that different.

Your weathering is beautiful, and I really like how the decals look like they were painted on and weathered with the rest of the machine - again, while the Knight kit's 'issued' decals are fantastic, there are far too many Knights getting about the Internet with decals that don't integrate with their paint scheme.

The red on that Praetorian is stunning! How you keep that level of finish up on 20 of them is beyond me!

Eagerley awaiting the final force... Cheers!

God, I love that pink!

Thanks guys,

Lamby - thanks mate! Totally agree on the decals. Really important to blend them in. I often paint new detail over them even and always weather them and wash them down when needed. I really like the Knight Decals, for the purpose of this project I cheated one of my principles. I try to avoid using black as black anywhere else than the darkest shadow on a black area of a model. I find actual black on models highly unrealistic. I did try and very carefully wash over the black of the decals here.

 migsula wrote:
Thaks gents!

Bob, the pose is pose able. If the legs are too static, then yes, I did not move them and I do agree with you that they could be more dynamic. GW made it very hard to do, but as with the Dreadknight kit, if I do a second knight the legs will move to give me two really different looking ones The pose has grown on me though. The static split seems to really suit the old hunchback.

Fair enough. The model looks good regardless.


The new stuff looks great. I'm really liking the paint scheme on the Stormtroopers. The balance between the gray and red is a really nice contrast.

The test praetorian looks great!

Some beautiful work, i think I’m falling in love with your style.

Thank you!

Love the red arm, just need some balance (as has been said) - instead of adding red or chevrons to the other arm, what if you did the opposite (left) half of the chest plate red - you already have a red right arm and right knee pad!

Anyway, as you said (over on your blog) - "The red arm stays because I like it!" and that's the philosophy we all should aspire to, both with our own models and others - we all like different things, which is what makes following other's art so interesting!

That Knight is really nice, that colour works incredibly well.

Those bolt carbines on your Mechanicus Stormtroopers look excellent. Really brutal. Really liking the choice of colours you've gone for in painting them up. Suitably sinister.

The knight looks good, especially the stripes and checkering! And I really like the test storm trooper

Thanks guys! Hoping to have the first 6 painted after this weekend

migs, as usual your work is stunning...

Knight looks great, with the almost-dull light green, and the highly-contrasting details - plus your technique...

And the Skitarii are just awesome. My favourite piece is the Heavy-Bolter wielder : that's just a terrific idea !

Can't wait to see more !

Thanks Yggs! Much appreciated

Planning the year ahead,

2014 has so far been the most overly double booked and hectic year of my life. Luckily most of that has been fun things trying to all happen at the same time. Out of a busy work & home life a little window is left out for the hobby and after a very slow start, things have picked up nicely.

Friends often ask me how can I get so much stuff done, and I usually give them a little speech about the benefits of exemplary self discipline and not owning a TV, but it has recently come to my attention I actually paint really fast. We've been exchanging emails about models painted in three hours and people hate the clock and approach results as a compromise, while I realize spending more than 3 hours on an infantry model, even to "showcase" standard is rare to me. Or I should say unnecessary.

Why I might be quite efficient deserves another entry. There are distinct reasons for it. Instead I want to tell you I now have a specific goal to "finish the army" and real reason to worry about getting side tracked.

The Golden Throne Grand Tournament, 2000pts of Warhammer 40K Northern California style is the first weekend of August, and I've got my ticket and plan in place.

Left to do is:
build and paint 14 more Skitarii troops
build and paint a Skitarii Attack craft (the small SM flyer)
build an paint a legion drop pod
paint the legion librarian (new arms since you last saw him)
detail and paint the Display Board

That's a chunk of stuff by August. But should I pull it off, I would have well in excess of 3000pts of beautiful Legion models to play with and expand for years to come. It will also give me an army that should perform well on the battle field, provide I learn to play this edition first. Those of you who play and or follow the tournament scene are aware of a pretty sad state of "meta" or current trend in army building called "death-stars", where 95% of top armies are made of the most abusing single unit you can build that takes benefit of all the re-rolls available and more often that not, insane battle brother ally benefits.

So hopefully, I get to finish the force, learn to play (ie. at least 3 practise games) and enjoy the tournament: ie. do not get totally smashed, shredded, pinned and instant-deathed by some barely painted death-star.

The reward, or possibly the plan buster, is of course, the Good and final installment in my Inquisitor trilogy. Something I've been working on for a good few months, on an off, in my head, and bits box, slowly putting stuff together and tweaking it.

There's a good deal of self created pressure. This needs to be as good and better than the first two, really different and an insane ode to Games Workshop's massive leaps in plastic material quantity and quality since starting the original "Shaddes offe Greye" group six or seven years ago. Pretty sure I have the ingredients, but with yet another "big painting idea" on how to do it things can also go very wrong

Migs

Wow this all seems very interesting !

Indeed, 3 hours for a single model is "lightning-fast" to me, so I'd love to hear (read ?) your take on why you're so fast...

As for the games & tourneys, then I can only wish you dedication in painting the force... And some nice success on the field !

Lastly... I'm pretty piqued by your hint about the end of the Shaddes Offe Grey trilogy... Hopefully there are not 50 of them (see what I did there ? )

I've been getting a ton of Mechanicus ideas recently. Seems like the flyer is going to be something more ambitious too. More like a flying automaton/robot And I am building a new Magos... when really I should be more disciplined. First 6 Skitari Infantry are nearly ready though.

That is without question the best Knight Titan I have seen so far, amazing job!

Thanks man!

Wow. Well, I just read this entire blog over the course of four days' free time. I appreciate what you say--at various points--about lacking free time for the hobby, but this just was too riveting to break away from. I've been on Dakka for a while, sporadically, but have just gotten onto the P&M Blog this year. I am actually thinking that this is where I need to be spending more of my time. I have found more like-minded people here than on the tactics forums, and there is much less of the snarky arguing and petty spam-building mentality here. Certainly there is none in your army, which is a force built around an idea, and has more character than any I've ever seen.

In short, thank you so much for sharing all of this. It's a true blog, and your sharing of your philosophy about the hobby, modelling, and art is just as appreciated as the fantastic conversions and painting that you share. I love the "written word" components, and I completely agree about needing that back story, the role-playing, imaginative component, to give an army some depth. It's very long, but I am really encouraged by the journey it shows over the years.

I have been in the hobby for about 8 years now, and have seen some ebbs and flows in my creative energies and ability to commit time to the hobby (and gaming) but this past year and a half (I also relocated--new country, new job) has been the dryest spell I have encountered. It's been discouraging, because I have (too many) projects sitting there, staring at me, but my hobby area is a mess, and I can't seem to finish anything. So, it's been great to see you push through those periods of busy-ness and distraction and to see the fantastic pieces you are producing right now, and the renewed enthusiasm you have for the models.

Again, I'm just fresh off reading this entire blog, so there's too much I would like to say at this moment, but just to share some of my thoughts with you:

- I love the "scaled up" Alpharius--that's what drew me to to this blog in the first place. I think it fits perfectly with what we read in "Legion" and even the novella in "Primarchs" with the Alpha Legion all being almost indistinguishable from one another...and huge. Tremendous work making them look as uniform as they do, as well, especially with the breastplate.

- I really dig the idea of exploring the "whole realm" of the Alpha Legion, which you have obviously succeeded with, from the auxiliaries to the Mechanicum. The Operative's full tool kit of waging war and/or spreading instability or confusion is really coming together.

- The Inquisitorial Retinues are amazing visually, and I can't imagine how many hours of conversion work they represent. They do seem to me to be a departure from the Legion, though, and I have no experience with Necromunda (would you use them for that?) and have not played with Inquisition, so I feel I can't appreciate the grimdarkness of them fully. I do completely see the Blanche influence there, and I think (or know, given your publicity in Visions, etc.) that he would admire your skill and efforts there. I think you've really captured the technique, and the dirty yet detailed look that he paints. (Like Johnny Cash's voice: "sharp like a razor, slow as a steam train") So, awesome work there!

- BUT I'm really glad you're back to the Legion force, and huge congratulations on getting it to a size that you can play with! With the amount of time you spend on each model and unit, that's a pretty tremendous achievement. I'm hungry to see more Legion blue, though, and so am looking forward to seeing the new vehicles for sure, and absolutely love the "Death Head Dread."

So, I'll leave it there for now, but I really wanted to convey my appreciation for the thought and time that you have put into this hobby, and into sharing it with people here in this blog (and in your other Legion of Plastic blog, which I will try to follow as well!). You've got my head spinning, have raised the bar of what I think I could do personally, and I am trying to get my courage up to start a blog of my own, if only for the accountability factor. So, thanks--this was a fantastic use of limited free time!

Those tempestus really looking good migsula

By the way, do you already have the Horus Heresy Extermination book? Lots of new info about the Alpha Legion which might be rather useful!

 Malika2 wrote:
By the way, do you already have the Horus Heresy Extermination book? Lots of new info about the Alpha Legion which might be rather useful!

Seconded ! Also lots of cool rules for them !

[edit : links to those awesome products (got them early with the whole Collector's Edition ) :
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/THE_HORUS_HERESY_LEGIONES_ASTARTES:_ISSTVAN_CAMPAIGN_LEGIONS.html

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/THE_HORUS_HERESY_LEGIONES_ASTARTES:_CRUSADE_ARMY_LIST.html

]

And also (ready for pre-release !) :

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_II_SHOULDER_PADS.html

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/New_Stuff/ALPHA_LEGION_MK_IV_SHOULDER_PADS.html

I hope the rest of the Alpha Legion FW releases are a LOT better than those!

Well at least you don't need to either freehand or waterslide those pesky Hydras anymore

 Yggdrasil wrote:
Well at least you don't need to either freehand or waterslide those pesky Hydras anymore

That's true, but the way Migsula has "Scaled Up" the Alpharius models means that these shoulder pads wouldn't be the right size for his marines anyway.

Actually, I have been really thinking about this fact more and more since reading this blog, where this issue has been discussed at some point. Last night I held up a generic Imperial Guard (okay, now Astra Militarum) model next to one of the "out of the paint set" box Space Marines and they were basically the same size. The Space Marine had bigger armour, but that's the only reason he was bulkier. So, I've got to concur that I think that the Space Marine models by GW are completely wrong in their scale, and it's starting to bother me. Of course, I've got dozens of painted Blood Angels right now that I'm not going to try to "scale up", but I've got a vague sense of disappointment that I will probably take some time getting over now. Oh well. I recognize that it would be impractical for GW to try to change this now, but they really don't look like 8-foot super-humans at all.

I actually think that these shoulder pads would work well on the new Scions--they (again) look just about as big as Space Marines and have plenty of Armour, so it wouldn't look out of place to have those bulky shoulder pads, with the Hydra image.

 pantheralegionnaire wrote:

 Yggdrasil wrote:
Well at least you don't need to either freehand or waterslide those pesky Hydras anymore

That's true, but the way Migsula has "Scaled Up" the Alpharius models means that these shoulder pads wouldn't be the right size for his marines anyway.

Actually, I have been really thinking about this fact more and more since reading this blog, where this issue has been discussed at some point. Last night I held up a generic Imperial Guard (okay, now Astra Militarum) model next to one of the "out of the paint set" box Space Marines and they were basically the same size. The Space Marine had bigger armour, but that's the only reason he was bulkier. So, I've got to concur that I think that the Space Marine models by GW are completely wrong in their scale, and it's starting to bother me. Of course, I've got dozens of painted Blood Angels right now that I'm not going to try to "scale up", but I've got a vague sense of disappointment that I will probably take some time getting over now. Oh well. I recognize that it would be impractical for GW to try to change this now, but they really don't look like 8-foot super-humans at all.

I actually think that these shoulder pads would work well on the new Scions--they (again) look just about as big as Space Marines and have plenty of Armour, so it wouldn't look out of place to have those bulky shoulder pads, with the Hydra image.

This is accurate, but I've always given them the benefit of the doubt because they're all standing all bowlegged. If they were standing more straight, they'd probably be a bit taller.

I'm also really disinterested in true-scaling all my models....

Not only that, but the proportions of GW's Imperial Guard models are rather chunky, I mean look at the Cadian or Catachan and put those models next to FW's Krieg or Elysian models...

Ha! Bowlegged--awesome. Those Marines really need to work on their posture.

That's interesting too, about the FW models being different (I'm assuming slightly less chunky from context?).

It's not a big deal, really, but I do think that these Alpharius models are really impressive, and their increased stature is definitely one reason why. I'm assuming that the heads & helmets on these Alpharius models are regular-sized GW ones? There's the "Desert Alpharius" model which is different for sure, but some of the components are standard.

That part of that conversion that really impresses me is the elongating section of (what? plasticard?) in the center of the lower leg--how did he get that in there so perfectly? When painted, I can't see any sort of joint or anything. Pretty awesome.

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed about the first Alpha Legion pads, but expectations are definitely mounting for Alpharius. He should be the right size too The Space Marine kits remain the biggest missed opportunity. When GW eventually faces the inevitable and makes a stunning "true-scale" marine kit and starts updating the entire line, it will not only be great for the aesthetics but also a massive best-seller and bottom line boost.

All the 7th edition news have gotten me both re-ergized and defocused... cannot wait to see the book and assess if my allied plans and army list performance would still work with the new rules set.

Until then, here are the first 6 Skitari released:

http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/05/skitari-operatives-first-six-are-done.html

They look great as always.

I think if I had to pick a favourite it would be the one with the hood. Painted up he just looks menacing and very Mechanicus.

They're great, and seeing the Magos in the midst of the very dynamic and aggressive poses of the Skitarii makes his relatively still pose look commanding rather than static. So they make him look even better to me too--he doesn't need to be moving all over the place; he can just chill there and wiggle his tentacles.

Beautiful! The whole contingent looks amazing together. And I'm very curious to see what your flying automaton ends up like.

44 pages of pure inspiration. Brilliantly converted, and brilliantly painted. I always can't wait to see more.

Is it possible to get an army shot?

Thanks guys!!

Yes, I think an Army shot is due soon! Latest for the August tournament

 migsula wrote:

Yes, I think an Army shot is due soon! Latest for the August tournament

Now that will be a great sight to see.

 migsula wrote:

Yes, I think an Army shot is due soon!

Would be great to see... I always prefer it when people paint whole armies/groups instead of single miniatures.
Especialy when painted to a high standard like yours, it looks magnificent, and reminds me why I'm in the hobby after all.

Always great work. Can't wait to see what else you come up with!

What did you use as the arm socket on the centurions? The part that is on the inside of the missile launcher arms

I agree - nothing like a whole army of miniatures built and painted with passion. It's such a different ball game to doing individual models or small groups. Which I've obviously done too, but I do think doing a whole army is an exercise in stamina and constant creativity foreign to many.

Speaking of stamina,

The guys at Paint Water Diaries did an interview with me recently. It gave me a good opportunity to ramble on how and why I do things. Their site is well worth checking out.

Here's a link to the interview:

http://paintwaterdiaries.com/kitbash-corner-interview-migsula/

Hope you enjoy it.


Pariah-Miniatures I don't remember, need to take a closer look today. I think I used a combination of leftover bits from the kit and my bits box.

Nice wee read there. I love that picture of your modelling desk. Such a nice piece of furniture. Also, after recently picking up the Inquisitor Rulebook I can see why it's such an inspiration to yourself and others. It's fantastic.

You tease at a potential Eldar project... we must know more!

Nice interview ! You're a star now migs !

So, 7th edition is here - and it looks like a cleaned up version of 6th with insanity for army selection and a deck of cards to greatly impact game play.

Reece and crew jumped the gun and have a good early review:

http://www.frontlinegaming.org/2014/05/24/7th-edition-warhammer-40k-review-the-good-the-bad-and-solutions/

Thanks, Migs, for sharing both articles. The 40k one is especially interesting to me because I am definitely one of those who hated 6th and thus might hate 7th even more... So, I'm interested to see how your tournament in August goes--please let us know, and take photos. Some lucky dudes are going to get to play against your army. The detail in the conversions and your painting might distract them, giving you a tactical advantage.

On another topic, is there somewhere--or even another blog--where I can check out your Crescent guard? They look awesome, and I am very intrigued by your scale-up process, and the idea of doing an entire army of them is amazing!

Thanks!

The Crescent Guard stuff can be seen at my Dakka Galleries. Or my Granny's attic

If GW ever redesigns the Space Marines to their deserved glory, I think I'll do a second take on them.

Thanks man! I had not been over to the Gallery yet, so it was great to explore your work there too. I really love the scaled up Crescent Guard Marines, and it is crazy to think that they are sitting in an attic. I

took some screen shots of the WIP photos you have of your work in scaling them up, trying to clean some of the technique. So...you use Terminator legs and arms, yes? What thickness of plasticard do you use for the insets? And how do you cut the plasticard insets that you use so precisely? I can't see any marks or indentations at all on your finished models, and that is obviously really important.

Anyway, I have absolutely no experience with plasticard, but you have certainly gotten me thinking...

So a rather long silence, and what other choice is there than to come back in style?

http://legionofplastic.blogspot.com/2014/08/its-been-while-from-nothing-to-epic.html

good to see you bag, migs...

very nice board...
love the nasty, rusty look...

is that your hand in the pic???
i have the back of my hand, and the knuckles of both hands, tattooed, too...
i am not looking forward to the pain of getting the back of my other hand done, but needs must...

cheers
jah

The paint style on that terrain is marvelous. You all need to make some paint tutorials on that one, I would never paint terrain the same again!

That game looks so amazing — truly inspiring.

Looking great Mig, would've been a pleasure to watch

Worth the wait, man. Thanks for sharing the photos--it's great to see such beautiful models getting some time on the tabletop. But better to see the tabletop graced by works of art, as opposed to spam/cheese lists. I visited Nottingham for the first time this summer, too (not to game, but for an Open Day) and I had a summer in the UK that definitely inspired me to keep painting too, winning the "silver daemon" at the local GW shop in Oxford. Nothing close to what you're doing, but I actually talked you up both in Nottingham and in Oxford. So, thanks for being an inspiration.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated!

The trip to Nottingham and Denmark was inspirational to say the least. And I'm back to working on stuff in a nice state of exhaustion and excitement.

7th Edition Warhammer 40000 seems to have spiraled in to a release cadence and data-slate sanity where it is close to impossible to keep track, or even know how to build an army. Just as I had my Legion guys ready, the new Grey Knight book mixed things up again. Not complaining, mind you, just acknowledging I'm too busy and old to keep up.

I am how ever excited and focused as ever to pushing the project to new heights.So very thankful of all the new models. Having just seen a vast range of unbelievably cool models in Europe, it's exciting to see that the coolness in my own cabinet, at army scale, can stand proud! The sheer intimidation of a full squad of "art-scale" Space Marines and all the adjacent craziness keeps me going with this particular labor of love. The Knight came out quite nicely too.

So next,

I will finish painting the Librarian. He is going to a very sinister, warrior shaman direction. Every bit the super warrior a space marine is, but with clear, sinister, mark of the witch, and master of forbidden lore. Hoping to get this done soon to show you.

I also need to find the stamina to paint 4 more Mechanicus storm troopers, to finish the squad of ten and reward myself with more esoteric Mechanicus characters. Fabricator Captain Siimon, desperately needs a new model, and the old one will be demoted to his aid.

To enable new additions, I just ordered way too many models and some terrain from Forge World and Games Workshop, and am now fighting a pretty cool Space Wolf idea to not get derailed. That might include Horus model and some Gal Vorbak into Wulfen work.

...and then there is Aquila Illuminati - part 3 of the trilogy.

I'm grateful for the blog and all of your comments. Humans are social beings after all, and it doesn't help to have all of my modeling friends the wrong side of the atlantic. Lets see if I can get you pics soon.

Hey, I'm glad to hear that you are just as distractable as I am. I, too, have to battle impulses to go in a bunch of directions at once. The satisfaction, as you said, of seeing a fully painted force come together is very satisfying, however. I am happy to say that my Blood Angels are finally approaching that point, and it certainly is nice.

Looking forward to pictures for sure, and I would really love a group shot, including the Knight, of the whole force. Take a picture of that cool cabinet, while you're at it, please!

Exactly. That's why this project is so perfect, it's the perfect excuse to go super wide and model all manner of units and sub themes. Not sure if Space Wolves fit in though

Yes, a group shot is in order soon, isn't it?

Ah, it just makes me laugh. Space Wolves probably DON'T fit in, but that's not a reason not to work on them. At the moment I am working on:

- Finishing my Fantasy Dwarfs
- Putting together new Fantasy Wood Elves, including converting and putting together a mixed unit of old metal Dryads, Tree Kin, and 2 old Metal stages of Treemen into a new unit of Tree Kin.
- Totally converting an old metal Orion model
- Painting Sanguinary Guard who have been sitting with basecoats for about 3 years
- Converting a Dark Angels Apothecary from a Forge World Kit
- Making 40k terrain boards out of wood, old terrain, etc.

I mean, that's the fun of the hobby! It's a hobby, and the game gives us a great excuse to do it, and some guidance and inspiration, but part of what I love about this P&M blog, and your stuff, is that you're not limited by the game. Structure is good, but I think it's great that you are getting excited about some Space Wolves.

Anyway, thanks, and yeah, give us a group shot or two!

I've been getting somewhat excited about Space Wolves - and skimming through the new Grey Knight and Space Wolf codexes, gave me an idea to quite possibly move to the "count as direction" from GKs to SWs, as my army structure was seriously hosed by the changes and disappearance of Inquisition units.

The real dilemma is the two Dreadknights that I love and would like to include. One option might be to make the "Sentinels of Mars" (Imperial Fists rules Mechnaicus units in the army) the main detachment, and try an ally Grey Knights and inquisition and see how that goes. There is a new GK detachment that only requires one troop unit and gives you up to two DK.

Any ideas and opinions welcome! I've been overloaded with the amount of rules, detachments and options and can't quite possibly see the forest for the trees.

At the same time, working on the Librarian. Warpaint, alien runes, skulls, feathers, a grimoire, and hopefully the end result will be an intimidation warrior mystic. Part classic Space Marine imagery, part tribal shaman and a little bit of samurai vibe thrown in. The end result obviously need to fit in the squad.

I also "primed" the trench network with Tamya paints and opened my Forge World imperial stronghold tile to find it cracked. I glued it back together and will see if it holds, or if I need to try and see how FW customer service treats me.

Pictures of something finished this weekend. Until then:

Oh Migs the Librarian teaser is killing me. The green runes under the blue are crying out for a closer inspection.

It feels weird commenting on your dakka blog these days.

That's awesome! I really like the photograph, too, as it accentuates the "moonlight" effect you were going for--which, I must say, has definitely worked!

The Terrain also looks good--perhaps you need to stage a "whole army with Terrain shot?"

Thanks for the pictures!

XX Chapter of Adeptus Astartes does not maintain a Librarium. However, they do employ the weapons of the warp, esoteric and arcana, forbidden lore and far seeing arts.

This is the work of a legion Warrior Mystic, psychic masterminds and warrior gods as individualistic and creative as chaos. Each mystic has an apprentice if a worthy candidate is found, and millennia of lore is passed in secret, verbally, in remote planets and webs of the galaxy.

Mystic Alpharius, master of the farseer, brother of the moon, student of the old one and leader of Stealth team Argolith.

Warrior Mystic Aplharius by migsula, on Flickr

Simply stunning. Really like the work done on the cloth on each mini.

Beautiful! It's crazy how you so seamlessly combine almost monochromatic painting techniques with such bright, rich colors.

Is the apprentice (or familiar?) headless, with the servo-skull on his staff serving as his own severed head? If so, very weird and cool.

Thank you gentlemen!

Beautiful! It's crazy how you so seamlessly combine almost monochromatic painting techniques with such bright, rich colors.

That's much of the essence of the project captured right there.Why I think it works so well and is important, is that these models look like they fit in a very realistic terrain and "world" in terms of 40K, but stand out from the terrain as a good looking army should. Much of my old armies lacked any spark when in the scenery.

Talking of terrain I am massively excited about some new terrain I've been working on. It's ridiculous how fast, easy and good looking terrain can be produced with an airbrush.

The Chronodaem, is one of the original five models made for this project and indeed has detached his skull and put it in position of better view and stature.

I love your desk, too, man. Thank you Gladding McBean & Co. I actually took a screen shot of it (off of your Legion of Plastic blog) and sent it to my wife. With my current nomadic existence, it might not be possible to have such a beautiful work space, but one can dream. Someday...

I also really like the yellow spot color--on the Legion markings, and also on the knee pad. It doesn't seem like it should work with the overall color scheme but it does.

Thanks for the photos--like I have been saying, I'd love to see all your Alpharius models together with the army. The TruScale element also just begs to be explored more with my own hobbying. It's amazing that you are using GW 40k scaled Librarians as humans. Pretty fantastic.

Damn, that is one impressivle evil motherbleeper! And indeed, the colour tones you achieve are inspiring.

Heaped with well-deserved praise.

 migsula wrote:

The Chronodaem, is one of the original five models made for this project and indeed has detached his skull and put it in position of better view and stature.

*shivers

Nice touch!

Hello guys!

Big news and a heads up that I've started an entirely new project.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/616075.page

This one won't die, but will slow done for a little while. I see the Legion as something I will always come back to, something I really love, but it's time to play with Resin now

Clicks on hyperlink...

Aaaaaaargh Vlka Fenryka !!!

Go check it out guys! I posted the first pictures today and there is a TON of character on the way....