Blackadder Attempts to build an Imperial Warmonger Titan:
Well a good many of you know by announcing this I have a fair idea of how I am going to proceed with this build but we also know we're gonna be in it for the long haul. Now that FW has released a Warlord (I'll buy the Chaos version when they release it because Chaos and the sculpted organic hulls and carapaces go well together in my opinion) but the Warlord Mars and Alpha not so much; also IMHO. Anyway it's always been in my mind to build a transport companion for my Warlord perhaps a foot taller with ruddy great greaves and threshold steps and Imperium Aquila doors to release a few hordes of grunts. I figure my Emperor titan to be on the order of 80 CM/32 inches tall.
This build will be much more of a static model than any of my previous efforts as I have seen the classic Emperor Titan and they look best with legs spread and threatening and it's just too much work to repeat all the leg articulation.
So this past winter I've been collecting parts and formulating my ideas and with this last Amazon purchase of a 'Sanctum Imperialis' building I am ready to begin the build starting with the greaves and feet.
Thanks for all the replies to this false start, I apologize for failing to acknowledge your interest in this thread.
Lucius Patten Imperator Titan 'Invictus'
So with the blurb ten months ago about my proposal to begin an Imperator Titan I kinda fell flat on my face.
First, finishing up the Thunderhawk monopolized a good deal of my time and learning how to best incorporate lighting in said Thunderhawk and my Warlord engaged yet more time. Then the Presidential election captured my attention almost to the exclusion of all things else. Finally I have returned to normalcy with what I consider a fabulous idea to make a hip and lower torso mount commensurate with an automaton of this magnitude.
So we shall begin with the 'pelvis' which I found ready made on my local Lowes Building center where I purchased about six bucks worth of PVC pipe fittings A compression fitting Tee, a threaded coupling for the connection to the upper torso and two more for the hips connections.
Naturally all this is quite utilitarian and looks exactly what it is, some pipe fittings and there are many titans that follow this procedure and leave the fittings as is. I intend to flesh out the assembly in styrene so as to hide all the piping that will only serve as an armature or skeleton for the model.
In the image below you will get an idea of how much more robust this construct will be compared to the pelvis and hips of my Warlord.
Where as Luteus Vexant has hips trunnions about an inch in diameter 'Invictus' shall have 1.5 inch axles.
The beauty of this ready made construction technique is I shall be able pivot the waist and separate the model easily and hopefully allow the legs to be posed in a walking position as well as the spraddle-legged pose.
Glad to have you Theophony, are you going to build along with me?
Pelvis Engineering Compartment Floor:
This time I'm going to do it right.
Since I already have an idea of how large this titan will be and the fact that I do want a full interior I will be able to plan the layout as I build. None of the hit or miss second guessing I ran into on the Warlord titan
Below are the two pieces of the Engineering base and Pelvis 82 MM square with two center holes for the waist shaft 21 MM diameter. The pieces are 2 MM thick styrene, one of the few time I work with such thick styrene because of the difficulty forming it and the danger of a knife blade slipping and cutting your hand. Extreme care should be exercised when cutting 2,0 MM styrene
Eventually there will be nothing showing of the Tee but the compression fittings that will serve as the hip joint housing and also allow the legs to be removed to re-position for posing.
You might want to try building along with this thread because I intend to offer a step by step tutorial at least for the basic structure. How you detail the model is up to you but I'll show what I consider an Lucius Pattern Emperor titan should look like and you can build your walking turreted cathedral if you wish.
"The Imperator and Warmonger Emperor Titans stand approximately 55.5 metres (182 feet) tall" and hold a company of infantry(I'm guessing about 200 troops?
Judging bu the size of the greaves even on an Emperor the grunts must be stacked up like cord wood.
Can I get an auto append interrupter I've got more to post later.............?
Not joining you with a build right now. My time has been taken up with adeath in the family and dealing with the outcomes of that. I finally painted some figs for the first time in months today, and building has been totally sidelined for the foreseeable future.
I remember the capacity being 100 total, I could be wrong, that would be 50 per leg. I believe there's supposed to be internal stairwells as well to go all the way up to the pilots compartment.
Okay so I had some 3/8 inch box beams (Plastruct) laying about so I used them as spacers to thicken the construction and give it strength to boot. Then if I need to modify it later it will be easier to sand down instead of a solid block.
This all seems pretty boring and I hope to get into the fancy stuff soon. Right now giving this heavy model (My warlord upper body weighs seven pounds) a strong basic structure is paramount.
I agree with Theophony; these things aren't boring, but invaluable info for people considering any kind of titan build. Well, they can check you other threads for the smaller ones as well of course, but it'll be interesting to see how you are going to use your past experience to improve on this design.
Oh, and on a more personal note: congratulations, I've been slowly getting back into the hobby after a 4-year hiatus,and the idea of your Warmonger got me to post here on dakka again. Thanks for that, it was just the nudge I needed
Wow "26334 posts" must be those cold dark Michigan winters that give so much free time
Thanks for all the replies, these Emperor Titans must be popular.
Basic Pelvis Block Complete:
With thsi post the basic pelvis is complete. All that is left is applying the detail. I may bevel the corners and edges to add more pizzazz as I did on the Thunderhawk but all that is cosmetic.
The Epic Imperator is very plain and you can let your imangination run wild with the amount of detail a 3 foot tall model requires. I have a good stock of City of Dead panels left over from my Warlord and I have a Fortress of Redemption to decorate the greaves if needs be.
I used 0.040 thousandths styrene to sheath the pelvis and sanded the edges smooth; there's not really much to say about the step except to take great pains to make your angles square and true. Good enough is never "Good Enough"; that's my motto.
I've wracked my brains trying to come up with a way to manufacture legs that were angled slightly akimbo (about 10%) so my Warmonger can be posed in the classic manner. Most of the pipe fitting models I have seen have the legs parallel to each other and it looks boxy and strange to the artistic eye. Never mind that parallel legs or even legs canted in to a pigeon toed stance are more amenable to a proper walking gate. For a static stance nothing compares to the rock solid look of a spraddled posture.
This realized, getting the proper fittings is out. You have three choices; 90°, 45°, and 22.5° and that's it, so to get the requisite 10° I'll have to manufacture them.
Here's my solution:
I bought two caps and drilled and taped two 1/4 20 NC threads into the caps and short threaded coupling. I purposely made two different angles, one 10° and one about 12°, as once the legs are built I can chose which angle I like better or maybe keep both for a bit of variation. I screwed in two 6 inch threaded rods that will serve as the thigh shafts, thin and strong and able to support the ten pounds or more of the upper body when finished.
Next I slipped two styrene tubes over the threaded rods that will serve as the glue base for all the thigh shaft construction and ultimately the detail of the upper legs.
Found these dynomite compression couplings that are just made for this construct so scrap the rods and the sleeve for the nonce and work on cropping the length of the assembly.
By cutting off the octagons I managed to crop the length by about 30 MM which makes the extreme width of the hips 12.5 inches (31.75 CM) compared to my Warlord's 10.5 inches (26.67 CM) which should be just right for a scale:180 to 200 ft (54 to 61 meter) tall Emperor Titan.
If you thought the Warlord was inspiration wait til you get a load of this.
Oh God I'm In Love:
Look what I just found! Before I started this I had so-so enthusiasm for this project thinking it's worth a shot making a easy to build Emperor Titan that my readers might attempt along with me but that stops now!
I am totally jazzed about this project since I found this head. Back when I began my Warlord finding Dave Smith's Epic rendering committed me to the project. That is what finding this image has done.
When I started this thread I said to myself, "I'm going to make this model as simply as I can just to see what can be done with off the shelf items readily available to the judicious builder.
I planned this so anyone can make one of these along with me.
Here we have about $25 bucks worth of plastic pipe fittings, and model styrene. A $3.50 bottle of conditioner (We just need the bottle and a bit of imagination (Supplied by your's truly ) and a fantastic head image to work off of, all you need is a cheap printer........
So with these parts gathered there should be no problem making the head and hip components.
The next part is a bit of a lark on my part; you're going to need an old beach chair. We've all seen them usually tossed in the rubbish with a broken hinge mechanism but usually two or three still functioning and all we need is two.
Wonder how many times I can quote myself in this thread to kill auto appends
Good find with the compression fittings.
Just waiting to see where you use the kitchen sink since you are using everything else .
I'd be working on building one right beside you if I had the time, but for now I will live vicariously through your build and use it later to try my own.
The large round cylinder just below the helmet where the ears would be I am assuming is the neck/skull joint to allow the head to tilt down. Likewise the flexible conduits on either side of the chin.
Why not call these by their anatomical names. The so-called "Command Bridge is very skull-like.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Jaw Cut Out:
Using my vibrating saw it was a simple matter cutting out the jaw recess in the coupling.
This cut would be really difficult with virtually any other device other than a hand tool and my $25 dollar saw was a tremendous time saver. It took about five minutes to make this cut including the blade swap.
Theophony wrote: So what type of glue are you using n the styrene to pvc? And do you use any heat with it as well or just glue and rubber bands?
Right now I am using the mastic properties of normal Testors styrene glue ((red Label) probably unavailable in nanny state CA) to adhere the materials together. From here on in I shall be using the dissolving properties of Plastruct solvent cement to complete the structure.
Just a few more preliminaries before we begin the basic construction. I want to get this out of the way so I can refer queries to the beginning of the thread on basic construction techniques, not that I think I have all the answers but I do know what works for me and that I am willing to share so bear with me the construction is coming forthwith............
Tools of the Trade:
There has been a few questions regarding the amount of tools necessary to build my projects. I do have a lot of special tools that I need for work. I have been a mechanic all my adult life but to work on styrene models the material being so soft and malleable I find the most basic hand tools are sufficient to perform any of the work you see here.
Aside from the tools pictured here I would add an X-acto razor saw and the small diameter X-acto knife with a goodly supply of the # 11 blades.
When I get into the fine detail work I will break out my Jeweler's files as well but aside from that this is all I have used so far on the Thunderhawk.
You can see that:
A good quality combination square is essential.
A good quality utility knife with a supply of sharp blades.
A medium sized X-acto knife handle with #18 X-acto chisel blade. chisel.
A wooden cutting board is essential as opposed to one of those plastic self healing cutting mats. That's just my preference but I'm a creature of habit.
A 8" sized single cut file.
Home made sanding blocks with coarse and 80 grit sandpaper adhered with double back tape
A 6" scale graded in 1/64th inch and millimeters.
A calculator
Sharp Pencils
I use 'Plastruct Bondene' Plastic Solvent Cement but as the brush is so clunky and thick and the bottle so easy to tip over I refill the Tamiya thin plastic cement bottle; it has a much more stable bottle and a very fine tipped brush. When the fluid level in the bottle gets too low I drop in a few glass marbles to raise the level.
Hey, if you wanna live forever, get out of the modeling game.
Living forever would suck. I look at the mountain of figures I have unpainted and just try to imagine living another 100-200 years . Plus how many editions of Warhammer would there be?
So to while away the weather front I did some work on the neck which I have to admit is coming out better than expected. I sheathed the coupling on 0.040 thousandths styrene to three layers and then proceeded to bevel the rear edges 45° as in the drawing. http://i.imgur.com/Z9duybo.jpg
As you can see below there is quite a bit of cutting to get the 45° bevel in the front edge ............
The forward bevel needs to be refined but is okay for the moment while I make the inner neck mechanism so the head can be tilted down. My previous Warlord has this capability but the mechanism is very clunky and I am hoping to refine it on this model.
Finally I found this collar that will work very well in the scheme I have in mind for the side to side movement of the head and fits into the Emperor design quite well.
Close, a 5.3 ounce Shoprite yogurt container. I plan to use a lot of recyclable plastic in the manufacture of this model.How well I succeed remains to be seen.
Close, a 5.3 ounce Shoprite yogurt container. I plan to use a lot of recyclable plastic in the manufacture of this model.How well I succeed remains to be seen.
Well in true Admech fashion, use everything at your disposal to build the great godmachine .
I'm getting way ahead of myself with this head assembly so I put the brakes on to pitch an update. After scraping my initial idea of how the head assembly can tip forward on the neck I came up with this solution which will give me a lot more cockpit room for the crew. There also is a poetic license taken by the artist who drew the front and side reliefs of the Command Bridge. The huge ear discs that contain the head tilting mechanism cannot function as drawn and are of different sizes in the drawing. Never mind though, I have a solution.
I'll start with cutting the forward neck ring to allow the discs to mount flat to the sides of the neck.
Carving out an outer race for the gimbal head mount pad and gluing on the gimbal bases is what is shown here. The two 0.040th inch discs are 71 MM apart and 56 MM in diameter.
Or Trunnions whatever, These truncated discs will support the head on the neck to allow it to look down in a purely theatrical way as a downward pointing camera would be just as effective but the menace of this skull staring down at it's victim is too good to pass up.
Tomorrow I look forward to killing more auto-appends , and watching this develop further. I totally agree that a camera would give as good of a function, but the shear awesomeness of the titan looking down eye to eye with the person(s) it's about to curbstomp is too good to pass up.
Allowing for the helmet I mounted the gimbals with extended visor mounts made of 0.015 thousandths sheet styrene. As I don't really have a plan for the cockpit, chin or gullet piece all this is subject to change but at least now I understand how the cheek pieces work with the gimbals.
I suppose the best thing is to cut the helmet to see where it falls in relation to the ears (gimbals) and the amount of clearance required to allow the head to lower and raise.
Great progress . At this point my ADD would kick in and I'd make it into a cup holder or something . But since you are in charge I know it will come to completion.
As a side note, in the plumbing section you should find a solvent glue for PVC pipe, it works with styrene also.
Good to know, thanks.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Helmet:
My initial thought was to use a suitably shaped bottle to form the helmet but after experimentation I found that was unsatisfactory for my obsessive compulsive mindset. I opted instead for building up the helmet out of stratified layers of styrene and cutting the helmet out of the resulting block in much the same manner as I did for my Warlord Titan
It's bad enough that I had already go through the identical thought processes in making my Warlord but to have not learned for my previous effort defies logic. :(
I would have shaped it out in foam and coated it in styrene. Or maybe used Sintra board. You really are going all out on this thing, hat off to you sir.
I would have shaped it out in foam and coated it in styrene. Or maybe used Sintra board. You really are going all out on this thing, hat off to you sir.
I'm not sure how to do that carving it out of foam would be a cinch but I've yet to find a mouldable styrene; if you have a source I would appreciate knowing of it.
I have had some success with heat treating styrene sheet material, I have shaped sheet material up to 2mm (80 thou) thick with care and a former, like a foam sculpted head and some time and care you could do it.
Please excuse, but here are a couple examples....
Spoiler:
bonnet(hood) and rear mud guard both from 2mm styrene sheet from Evergreen. Admittedly small scale.
And...
Airship has a internal frame work, then "skinned" the outside with 1mm (40 thou) Sheet material from various sources. I was going for rinkled unfortunately, but with care and patience smooth is possible.
And a bit more accurate..
All body panels and curves you see are formed from 1.5mm(60 thou) styrene sheet. The canvas is 1mm (40 thou) one sheet.
If you would like me to remove my shameless plug from your blog, please just ask. Only put it here by way of example. A heat gun or as in my case a Kitchen Blowtorch, genly heating a little at a time makes it malleable enough to "stretch" and shape it. Maybe something to consider as you get further in the build. The extreme end of this would be when I reshaped a piece of pvc gutter with a heat gun, to form a channel for a sliding door.
I would like to add a disclaimer here, heat treating plastic with a blowtorch is not recommended unless you are a competent individual and take proper safety precautions.
Next (and this is the tricky part because it takes a bit of an eye for roundness) sanding off the excess in a controlled arc movement on the sanding belt.
The rear view shows how much I cut out of the interior so I can add the under helmet detail when the cockpit is complete. I may still remove a lot of the inside material but for now it's sufficient as the helmet is as fragile as an eggshell with out it's interior framing.
CommissarKhaine wrote: Looking good. Won't the back of the helmet tilt up too much if the titan is looking down?
I still have a minimum of 1/4 inch to shorten the helmet, it's easier to cut off than to add on. Right now I don't know where the head will situate on the chest plate.
CommissarKhaine wrote: Looking good. Won't the back of the helmet tilt up too much if the titan is looking down?
I still have a minimum of 1/4 inch to shorten the helmet, it's easier to cut off than to add on. Right now I don't know where the head will situate on the chest plate.
Makes sense, still curious to see how it'll all fit together I can't 'see' it yet in my head
CommissarKhaine wrote: Looking good. Won't the back of the helmet tilt up too much if the titan is looking down?
I still have a minimum of 1/4 inch to shorten the helmet, it's easier to cut off than to add on. Right now I don't know where the head will situate on the chest plate.
Makes sense, still curious to see how it'll all fit together I can't 'see' it yet in my head
So since the helmet looks too small for a seated crew, will the head just be more of a sensor suite and the crew be located elsewhere? If so will the pilot be a living and moving person or will he be in one of the tanks they describe in some of the books where they float in an almost amniotic fluid?
Theophony wrote: So since the helmet looks too small for a seated crew, will the head just be more of a sensor suite and the crew be located elsewhere? If so will the pilot be a living and moving person or will he be in one of the tanks they describe in some of the books where they float in an almost amniotic fluid?
Good question; I naturally assumed my Warlord crew would fit into an Imperator head but never really checked so while I'm waiting to complete the face shield I just tried them for size.....
There's plenty of room; even for a Princep and a few attendees And a cadre of Tech Priests as well.
The scale of this project, man, it's inspiring to say the least. That reference image is quite something too...it's remarkably well scaled. I had to take a second look, actually. So many parts and pieces are the actual GW kits-makes it easier to imagine the size of this beast. (or at least the artist's view of it)
I'm also curious if you plan to do the quad-laser ball turrets in the shins? Interesting concept (to me, at leat )
Actually I'm right now wondering why I decided to remake the helmet let alone worrying about installing quad-laser ball turrets in the shins. Ha!
But yeah the Ork titan and whatever it is to the right of the Imperator do give credence to the scale I chose for this monster although I think the legs are a bit stunted.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Now It Can Be Told:
Now that I have resolved the issue I can reveal why I had to revamp the helmet. It all boiled down to an assumption on my part that the artist drawing the two elevations of the head was a draughtsman. In a proper draught you project lines from one plane to another and ideally there should be a top elevation as well but I accepted the two elevations as sufficient for my 3D rendering. I built my model slightly oversized than the plan as I wanted the 'head' to be larger than my Warlord's head as the finished model will be 10 to 12 inches taller than my Warlord. I blissfully used the side elevation for all my calculations and after laminating all the layers proceeded to sand the contours of the helmet but after the rough sanding was completed I found the helmet dome was significantly flattened.
It did not have the look of the front elevation at all. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed as I had based my interior design and mechanism on the front projection......
Rather than scrap the helmet and start afresh I opted to build on the original to increase the height of the dome which is seen in these two images. It was last night that I managed to glue in the compound curved pieces requisite to obtain a smooth contour; the final pieces to be installed later this morning.
I will endeavor to work harder on my anti auto append skills by wrestling live jaguars until you update next. Either my skills will increase, ......well I just hope my skills increase
It's a bit too early to tell but you know me; I try to make everything movable that is supposed to move. I want a full cockpit for this baby probably based on a land speeder cockpit already committed purchased and OTW from Ebay; yeah I'm going whole hog on this be-ach and yeah plenty of magnets and LEDs.
Wow, lot of replies on this project, it just goes to show, "Give the public what they want." Many Thanks for the interest.
Crest:
The crest seemed a daunting task but after the helmet it was child's play. I began by laminating six layers of 0.030 thousandths styrene last night because 1/4 inch styrene is too expensive and to hard to work with plus 0.030 is what I had on hand.
I then scribed two lines and equa-spaced the drill points with my vernier calipers.
I used my #11 Xacto blade to deepen the drill points and hand drilled 1/16" pilot holes for the scallops.
Spear Head ornaments are tedious but worth the effort. There are probably easier ways to make them but I want mine to have a 3D bas-relief so I made mine out of 0.040 thousandths styrene. Below we see one in place on the helmet and the rest in various states of manufacture. When doing something like this I always make a few extra so I don't have to start from scratch. You never know when you might need a spare. Start by making an undersized template (marked 'T'), trace the points on a piece of scrap styrene, cut them out with scissors (yeah it's that simple,) Drill your pilot holes, Cut the corner holes with your; surgical diagonal cutters, Fingernail cutters, Dikes, what-have-you, use your rat tail needle files to make the spade base compare you work to the finished and make the proper adjustments with you, curved nail file and you're done.
Do you have a set of hole punches? I can't find my other photos, but this is my big 1" hole punch.
I've purchased the set of 11 different sizes for around $15 on eBay a few years ago, but the 1" was separate for about $10. Just line them up where you want it then smack it with a hammer, very therapeutic leaves a nice edge so no absolute need to file.
I've tried hole punches and found them useful in some instances but limiting in size These are rather odd in diameter and I would have found it difficult to get the as exact as I want for this application but thanks for the tip.
Incidentally I have found that this helmet has an almost organic appeal even without the visor now that I have refined the contours.
Funny how these ungainly projects grow on ya. At first I was mildly interested in this project. A lot of people requested I give it a go so for the past few years I accumulated various plastic bitz that looked like they might go on a quicky Imperial Titan that anyone sufficiently motivated could build. I still have baskets of the junk; bottlecaps recyclable containers and the like and I finally solved the pelvis dilemma but until I saw the head for lack of a better term I had little enthusiasm feeling that I had reached the pinnacle of Titan manufacture in my Warlord.
The front view shows up on the image more so than in person that the spearhead gusset on the right side is longer than that corresponding one on the left. that will have to be fixed but overall I am pleased with the outcome. I made my darts a tad larger than that in the computer image as I couldn't translate the drawing into an actual model. But it seems close enough and even as I write this I get the depression of compromise.
When you look at the Darth mask you are thrilled with the evilness of the visage but split the image and reverse it mirror image wise and you will see the resulting perfect symmetry of either the left or right is not nearly as disturbing. We are all different people when we see ourselves in a photograph. With the magic of the computer we can splice together the left and right images of our face and see two entirely different people neither recognizable as ourselves.
That is where I am with this visor. That and the printout I made is too small. The 0.030" plastic cutout I made directly below the helmet assembly seems to be of the correct size.
Also the visor wraps around the helmet so the front view is foreshortened therefor I must allow for that by adding what i estimate a quarter inch (6,3 MM) to each side........
I was wondering how you were going to account for the wrap around and the space lost, guess we will see how that space translates.
As for symmetry, I remember the fact that no ones features are symmetrical, and that my high school art teacher had done a presentation where he took pics of us and then flipped our faces to make us symmetrical (both directions in different pics), it was pretty scary seeing those, totally unnatural. It was a really neat slideshow he put together 25 years ago (I'm getting really old now), and was pretty cutting edge back then.
We're going to experiment with this visor as I don't have an overhead projection so I made the angle gussets flexible until I see how the 'face shapes up.
Note the strips in the foreground. The one with the heavy pencil line glues to the inner surface of the visor. It is slightly scored so it acts as a hinged gusset. It can sustain a minimum of flexing before fatiguing the same as the visor plate. Once I am satisfied with the position of the visor planes I'll reinforce the the back side of the visor to hold the shape.
When I was a kid going to the barber was called, "having your ears lowered." Well in this case the operative word is raised. and bring the ears forward and shorten the helmet.
BTW after having been to the barber, you had "White walls."
Anyway this side view projection shows I need to cut the helmet a minimum of 6 MM (one quarter inch) on each side and shorten the length almost half an inch (13,0 MM) which necessitates re-positioning the spear points.
Looks a lot like Russel Crow's helmet from gladiator - to me, at least. It might be me, but shouldn't the visor be curves for the most part, instead of angled? The only hard angles I see on the drawing are the ones on the sides
Who's your Daddy? I accomplished a whirlwind revamp of the Command Deck aka the 'Head' shortening the rear overhang (Wait, he is talking about the head of this beastie not the loo???) but I did leave the cock's comb alone. (he is talking about the loo!)
Seen here along side my Warlord to give a proper scale.
Seems I may have miscalculated on the size of the Titan. That face is huge compared to the Warlord. Of course I had planned upwards of 36 inches ( 0.9144 meters )but I had hoped to keep it under 33 inches (0.8382 meters ) just so it didn't relegate my Warlord to a minor player. This may not be the case now.
The front view in my estimation is spot on and I shall proceed with the styrene version and make the cutouts on the basic structure. Once I am satisfied with the overall size relationship of the various parts of the 'face' I'll make the details.
The side view doesn't look quite right as there is too much forward projection with the cardboard template. When rendered in styrene wot the extra cheek plates added all will line up as it is supposed to......
At least that is my expectation.
Back from Easter holiday; before I left I started the detail of the chin guard because I might have to put slots in the backing as well as the decorative spear shapes. The slots are ready made aligning points so duplicating the spear point is a cinch.
I used a slightly modified tongue depresor to file the pieces to roughly the same shape and each pair is roughly 2 MM longer that the other S M L respectively
Experience not withstanding, The helmet, visor and chin guard are substantially easier to build and the new neck made out of PVC tubing and fittings make what was previously a nightmare of innovation virtually child's play.
Automatically Appended Next Post: OMG:
Seriously this is probably the most gratifying construct I have done in quite some time.
Experience not withstanding, The helmet, visor and chin guard are substantially easier to build and the new neck made out of PVC tubing and fittings make what was previously a nightmare of innovation virtually child's play.
Out of curiosity: if you'd rebuild the warlord now, would you use the same techniques as the ones you're using for the emperor? Or wouldn't these work out as well?
Experience not withstanding, The helmet, visor and chin guard are substantially easier to build and the new neck made out of PVC tubing and fittings make what was previously a nightmare of innovation virtually child's play.
Out of curiosity: if you'd rebuild the warlord now, would you use the same techniques as the ones you're using for the emperor? Or wouldn't these work out as well?
Head is looking great!
Probably, I made the Warlord's connecting bridge to the cockpit square and had no end of design issues giving it all the movement capability it has. this round neck is just the ticket.
But no, it didn't.... I was working without checking on the so far completed 'Skull' (well that's what it looks like to me) and I got away from the proper relative sizes. and so far it looks okay. The cheek armour under the visor seems about right especially since the large round canisters under the eye sockets still need to be added.
I still have to pare down the nose and chin dart embellishments and I'm having difficulty reconciling the extra wide vertical strip under the nose; it looks too wide to me on the skull but less so on the 2D image. I like it thinner as it give the lower face a more refined look.
I find that going with the flow is always better with scratch-building.
You can have all the designs in the world, measured to perfection. But a creation will always have a mind of it's own and will progress in it's own direction. It's much less stressful and gives better results to not try to strictly stick to the original plan.
What looks good on paper (or computer screen) doesn't always translate to what looks good in 3D. Tweaks are always needed.
Flow like water, Bend like bamboo, hit like a rock... er... adapt.
Sorry, I got 'way too ahead of myself last night and in a fit of inspiration came up with the resolution to the nose and chin gewgaws but also the iron prow boot.
First the boot as I don't know what the interior looks like I got the inspiration to make it a solid floor and use the slots for small arms loopholes,
The floor is 0.040 inch (1,0 MM) styrene which still needs to be trimmed to size but I still left one side not done so you can see the gusset strips needed to spread the floor. 70,0 MM (2.75 inches).
Not sure if you saw this thread - few years old and sadly never finished (or at least not shown here...), but some, possibly, useful techniques in the pages for you?
Ruglud wrote: Not sure if you saw this thread - few years old and sadly never finished (or at least not shown here...), but some, possibly, useful techniques in the pages for you?
No I've not seen it before and there are some definitely interesting ideas here. Too bad the project was never finished. Is the author still active on Dakka?
Certain aspects are reminiscent of my own Reaver Project:
I remember that thread . Not as technically precise as Blackie's, but I did have some spare drop pods that I was planning to do a similar set up. Anyway added that to my subscribed lists for future reference.
After quite a bit of editing I'm back on track With the nose and chin darts pretty much as I want them but of course they are still rough and need to be refined to a more elegant shape. I think it will be better to do these alterations whilst on the head a bit at a time so as not to compromise what is almost satisfactory.
I took the image below so the substructure can be seen. I was in a quandary how to make the flare on either side of the chin until I added the floor which made the whole thing easy plus it gave stability to the chin guard and a reason for being; i.e. a small arms fighting platform. I just made more work for myself as now I need to access and egress this area.
and front view likewise but there is a method to my madness because it is easier to sand and shape things smaller than it is to cut off and replace things with larger.
The chin slits could be manned by one servitor controlling 6 guns . Hardware him in place and let the magic happen. Likewise I think the forward observer spot would be good as well, or at least some sort of camera system and/or spotlights.
It's like working a Rubik's Cube. You have to discard order to increase order. I have figured out the mechanism to pin the side panels back and still allow for the movement and easy disassembly otherwise I could jut glue and be done with it.
My Invictus skull differs from the image in many respects. Some as corrected projection errors such as the wrap around eyes, some as untranslatable 2D to 3D projection discrepancies and some as, "I just think it looks better that way." larger darts on the helmet, shorter and wider chin. Yadda yadda.........
and some with flat out mistakes on my part in building without measuring.
The flat iron flare of the chin in my model is almost twice the size of the image but I like the side view on the image but not the front view so I made the front view conform to the side and, walla, extra wide flange.
The side view is pathetic but it'll due for the nonce. I just tack glued everything together so the helmet tips back and the chin doesn't jut as it should and the visor is too vertical but you can get the idea.
You can see by the images below that as of this time I intend to have the Chin, Visor and Helmet as one piece. This may change after I make the interior cockpit area but I am having difficulty mating the visor to the chin/cheek plates.
Will you be making the round (barrels) that go to the sides of the jaws as weapons or sensors or something else that I'm not even thinking of.....maybe speakers.
Will you be making the round (barrels) that go to the sides of the jaws as weapons or sensors or something else that I'm not even thinking of.....maybe speakers.
Oh yeah, all in good time. You need to savor the build instead of the finished product that will in all probability be relegated to the shelf to moulder under a patine of dust and be gazed at intermittently with a sigh of what might have been had you taken even more time.
Meanwhile ruminate on this for a while. A pretty good approximation of scale/
Will you be making the round (barrels) that go to the sides of the jaws as weapons or sensors or something else that I'm not even thinking of.....maybe speakers.
Oh yeah, all in good time. You need to savor the build instead of the finished product that will in all probability be relegated to the shelf to moulder under a patine of dust and be gazed at intermittently with a sigh of what might have been had you taken even more time.
Meanwhile ruminate on this for a while. A pretty good approximation of scale/
No need to make a base for this beast, just a table where it is standing and a table for the opponent.
Preparing to add the wiring and LEDs some time this weekend so first I needed to know where the eye socket lenses would go and how they would fit. Getting the angles of the base of each lens frame was quite a chore as my sockets aren't 100% mirror images of each other depthwise. Fortunately they are within a quarter of a millimeter the same in socket size about 0.010th of an inch; yeah, I know, I was flabbergasted as well when I actually measured them.
Meanwhile here's an image I found that shows the relative sizes of my Warlord to this new construction although I think the white shirted figure at the foot of the Warlord is too small.
I thought they were half a millimeter different in size at the least......
Subject To Change:
I changed my mind about what to work on last night. I had it in mind to detail the rivets but an idea occurred to me as to how to fasten the visor to the helmet so I went with that.
I used a slip joint slide to fasten the horizontal stabilizer to the vertical stabilizer on my Thunderhawk so I know it will work and as long as it isn't treated too rough.
We see below the result of an hour or so fiddling and waiting for the various glued parts to dry; a slide rail on the helmet and a slot to receive the rail on the visor. The tolerance is snug enough to hold the visor in place but sufficiently loose to allow ease of removal.
Really impressive work so far, Blackadder, but I do have a question - all your reference material seems to be for an Imperator titan, rather than a Warmonger titan. Which is it you're going to have as the end result?
Dysartes wrote: Really impressive work so far, Blackadder, but I do have a question - all your reference material seems to be for an Imperator titan, rather than a Warmonger titan. Which is it you're going to have as the end result?
Good, a question; I love questions.
Truth be know, I googled Emperor Titans and got a lot of different names for these Goliaths. I don't know which class name is correct so I just use them arbitrarily. What I am attempting is an Emperor Titan with a Lucius Pattern motif but rationally realistic armament; no cannons with a three meter diameter bore. I probably will build energy weapons rather than projectile as they seem less comical looking. I want this project to convey a sense of realism that most of the models I've seen of this class do not, at least to my artistic sensibilities.
I want this as a companion piece to my (Dave Smith's design) wonderfully realistic Warlord. I have yet to see what I am striving for; a real looking Lucius Pattern Warmonger (Yes I have seen the epic scale model)
Before I leave for Las Vegas a little something that came to me this past evening. Since I am making a full cockpit interior I'll need a sufficient mount so why not use the mount to simulate a passage thru the neck.
Thanks for the reply; I am back from a tedious 2600 mile odyssey traveling the breadth of the United States in three days in a 16 foot truck trailering a car which was no picnic. It took me a day to recuperate and a day to unload the truck and a couple of days to get my groove back. Yesterday I began again to make pieces for the interior and I hope to have a post update ready tomorrow. Meanwhile thanks for all the posts and the support. I'll try not to let you all down. Worthy of note; I spent three days in Las Vegas and didn't spend so much as a nickel gambling. Somewhat of a record to my mind but I did see the Arizona Meteor Crater which was a life long ambition.
A week ago I was somewhere in Texas, Windmills to the right of me, windmills to the left of me from horizon to horizon.
The tallest wind turbines in the U.S. have been installed in Texas — the Vestas V90 turbines are 345 feet high, and are rated at 3 megawatts each. They are part of the 63 megawatt Snyder Wind Project, a wind farm that’s just been installed in western Texas.
Today I finally put the floor in my Emperor Titan head. a weeks worth of work and damned little to actually show
Sorry for what seems redundant images but the previous ones were without the floor and not able to be handled. Now at least they are held together with gum bands and aside from being somewhat askew are just about right for installing the interior furniture.
CommissarKhaine wrote: Still looking good. Did the techniques used on the windmills provide inspiration? I know I always look at real-life stuff when converting.
No, the windmills were just scenery on my odyssey albeit astounding in their magnitude. They are much too clean and futuristic for the 40K Universe.
CommissarKhaine wrote: Still looking good. Did the techniques used on the windmills provide inspiration? I know I always look at real-life stuff when converting.
No, the windmills were just scenery on my odyssey albeit astounding in their magnitude. They are much too clean and futuristic for the 40K Universe.
Aye, they are more of the tree hugging man you pamby Eldar type thing to have.
Being a "Tree Hugger" (I like to breath Oxygen) I can understand the need for clean electricity but these multi million dollar high maintenance wind farms seem to be far too expensive to generate much good. If we had an effective space program we could have a belt of solar panels in space collecting solar energy and beaming the energy to the Earth in the form of micro waves, converted to electricity with virtually no impact on the environment This was proposed as early as the 1970s and long before the present could have been in place.
But our space program was deemed a waste of welfare money so here we sit in the advent of the new millennium with our finger where the sun don't shine.
Dysartes wrote: It is always depressing that spending on space is seen as a waste, when the military spending of some countries isn't...
When you are the self-appointed defender of the Free World, as the UK also knows well, military spending must have a high priority. However, an aggressive peacetime Space Program should be all of mankind's' priority as well.
A Space Program will benefit the entire World immeasurably.
Wow, Thanks for all the replies. Too bad they weren't related to the model Ha!
Don't Be So Proud Of This Engineering Marvel You've Created
It pales to insignificance compared to the force.
So it's been quite a while since I posted; I've been really busy with community activism. But I did manage to work a bit on the interior. So the best thing to do is to show how it breaks down......
I thought for a second that the mouth was opening like the front of the thunderhawk to reveal the whole bridge. Totally cool how you pulled all that off without giving away any of it beforehand.
Theophony wrote: I thought for a second that the mouth was opening like the front of the thunderhawk to reveal the whole bridge. Totally cool how you pulled all that off without giving away any of it beforehand.
Ha! like I actually had a plan as to how I was going to do this. You give me too much credit; I'm seriously making this up as I proceed.
The_Blackadder wrote: Ha! like I actually had a plan as to how I was going to do this. You give me too much credit; I'm seriously making this up as I proceed.
You mean you didn't get a plan from Baldrick, and removed the turnip?
You mean you didn't get a plan from Baldrick, and removed the turnip?
Totally missed picking up on alluding to a "Baldrick Cunning Plan." I am getting old :sigh:
But no, I study the information as it presents itself (in this case the 'Head') and comes to fruition making the subsequent work conform to that which proceeded it.
I have a surprising amount of luck [As you shall see in the next installment ( A eureka moment in point of fact) ] with this method unconventional as it is from an engineering standpoint.
Rarely do architects and engineers make things up as they proceed; cost overruns would be prohibitive.
I am afflicted with dyslexia and ADHD which in my case gives me a holistic ability to visualize things in my mind's eye but to actually work from a plan is much more difficult.
Were I capable of doing the math I might have become an engineer or architect but following the proper steps in algebra or higher mathematics is anathema to me.
I can very often see the answer on simple algebra or geometry problems but the intervening steps elude me and if you can't show your work; i.e. how you arrive at the answer. The Product even though it may be correct, is unacceptable; at least when I was in school.
Today I might have made a career as a concept designer.
I too am dyslexic, never diagnosed with ADHD, but if you've seen my project logs you could easily see I fit that description. Numbers are easy for me as well, but once the letters start moving into the equations I'm out the door. Call me racist, but numbers and letters shouldn't mix, no 1,2,3 a,b,c soup for me .
Luck is only your mind not telling you how it's going to work out in the end. Your subconscious has already figured it out and the "ah-ha moment" is when you conscious mind catches your unconscious mind dawdling.
But so little actually visibly accomplished. I began this project telling myself I would not make the same mistakes I made with my Warlord but Damn! it's coming out so good that I keep retrofitting more and more interior so I'm back to building inside out again. I had hoped to start on the chest and shoulders by now.
So here's the Landspeeder cockpit that will eventually fit into the head which has a floor ready to receive the cockpit but is just a slab of angled 0.040 sheet styrene so really nothing to see yet. But trust me it is inside.
I notched out the canisters to mount on the secondary cheek armour which is where I am now in the construction so before I glue the on why not take some teaser images to tantalize my loyal readers.
Hopefully I'll have more progress to show next time.
Machine-God I love all the extra details you've put into the face of this beast.
Canisters are looking very appropriate too. Maybe they are filled with mechanical spit to spit at opposing titans if they ever went machino-a-machino
Gold is where you find it as the old saw goes and you find it in the least likely places. I was in a variety store a few days ago and found these Hair bands 4.76 MM (3/16 inch) diameter that are ideal for the canister conduit.
As most of you know I rarely measure when producing my work. Therefore symmetry is a problem for me as revealed in the image below. The face shield is canted a degree or 2 counterclockwise which is readily apparent in this head on image.
The mechanicus might be picky about symmetry, but symmetry in humans is nonexistent. Cheek bones, eye sockets, and the bane of all hairstylists ears are never perfectly symmetric. Some of the most physically hauntingly eirey people out there have very symmetric faces, but even they have discrepancies. I think that the mechanicus would see that as the god-machines personality breaking through to the mortal plane. Besides it's like he's scowling .
I have been a "lurker" on this site for a few years, to get inspiration for my painting and for tips etc. But this thread and project has made me create an account just so I can comment here and subscribe.
I think this project is absolutely epic and I have really enjoyed reading about it so far! I can't wait for you to finish! Good luck with the rest of the work!
I have been a "lurker" on this site for a few years, to get inspiration for my painting and for tips etc. But this thread and project has made me create an account just so I can comment here and subscribe.
I think this project is absolutely epic and I have really enjoyed reading about it so far! I can't wait for you to finish! Good luck with the rest of the work!
Thanks and welcome aboard. You've seen my other threads on this forum, right?
Fun and games boys and girls, fun and games. Thanks to an andante admirer I've a new direction to follow gleaning the best from all info available. I've managed to begin the mid-waist decking and observation platform.
I truly want a railed promenade deck on this beastie and a fully articulated neck as well so letting you all in on the ground floor of this is a bit daring especially if I fall short but this is how I work; off the cuff.
Theophony wrote: Are you going to put a lazy Susan in the belly of the titan. It might help carry some of the weight that the upper body will have.
That is my intent but I needn't go so far as installing a thrust bearing. A simple friction bushing will suffice otherwise the upper torso would move too easily.
I know you will notice the very minor discrepancies, but I did not until you pointed it out. Looks stunning bud.
Probably telling you how to suck eggs here, but what about magnetising the waist to a degree. would locate the waist in different positions but allow it to move still, for the size of it you could easily do 16 positions, like a clock face.
Anyways, shutting up now, please continue, so amazing need more.
just wow.... how big is the torso going to be? ive seen a few people integrate old Vape pen things into exhaust fumes on warlord titans, looks really sweet with some red LED and the steam pumping through.
..........what about magnetising the waist to a degree. would locate the waist in different positions but allow it to move still, for the size of it you could easily do 16 positions, like a clock face.
Actually you give me something to think about. Stability of the upper torso rotating on the axis of the pelvis block by situating magnets on 360° fractional increments of a compass is not a bad idea. Thanks for the suggestion.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Mid Waist Deck:
So today I started with the mid waist deck and already I have an improvement.
Excellent work on tapering in the walls. Did you fil the void in between the angled wall and the straight wall with anything to give it some more support?
jhe90 wrote:That heads already the size of a 40k tank and bigger!
That's a master price of plasticard.
I'll have to find a 40K Russ to compare. I appreciate the confidence
Theophony wrote:Excellent work on tapering in the walls. Did you fill the void in between the angled wall and the straight wall with anything to give it some more support?
Right now the area is under development but it will be sufficiently sturdy to bear the weight of the upper works. I designate the floor in question 'Lower 41' The electronic and avionic section of Boeing Aircraft, a relatively small cramped room below the cockpit of Boeing Aircraft. It shall serve the same function here.
Situated below the reactor bay and the command deck this room contains (maybe) the electronic and navigation equipment plus the Adeptus Mechanicus altar and tech priests. I'll figure it out later once I get the other decks laid out.
And the deck as it stacks up on the titan pelvis block again subject to change as i am not sure how much detail I should add to the top of the pelvic block.
That head you've made is amazing, it's detail like that that can make your end result amazing rather than just complete. Good luck and keep up the good work.
I do think that the head is small, but that is due to being influenced by the size of the Warlord head in the old comic they did about a titan, where a Warlord's head was roomy for five.
Still, this is your interpretation of it, so build it to the scale you're happy with, dude.
That's what they are called in shipbuilding They support the deck beams and are usually curved. In this case I shall leave these flat until I see how the rest of the detail manifests itself.
Since I seriously have no plan at this stage other than the black and white video captures and this beautifully rendered 3D image I shall be taking what I deem best from both.
It would also be a great spot for a vindicare assassin to hang out and take pot shots from . I can just see him sitting out on the balcony sipping back something shaken (cause he's riding on a titan) not stirred, and going all scar face on people.
With the Emperor Titan I have a lot more room so I'm trying something different. A 3 inch to 2 inch PVC reducing coupling which gives a 20° up/down and side to side flexibility.
In the coming days I'll show how this works out but in the meantime I intend to show the interim work for better or worse because once done it will be difficult to reproduce.
This was so much easier than the engineering gymnastics I had to go thru with the Warlord articulation. After stripping down the head to the basic neck components all it required was drilling four holes and threading them with a 6-32 tap. I countersunk the outer holes for flat headed screws.
I then made a collar for the neck to slide into and mounted it into the middle deck forward bulkhead. Not glued because I want to be able to disassemble the model for painting and upgrading. Everything is as close a tolerance press fit as I can make it.
The range of motion is still rather limited but after I get the breast plate detail completed I can increase the range up/down and side to side by I'm guessing at least double.
The Triangular shoulders represent the width of the platform the cathedral superstructure sits on so even with out the legs the yardstick comes up short.
When I first started this project I stated I would be relying heavily of Prefab Bitz so as to make this model more accessible to would-be modelers. I fully expected readers to be able to make their own Emperor Titans following my examples. Certainly there are no big secrets revealed in this construction
The problem I see in most Emperor Titans that employ bitz is a lack of imagination. You cannot use the pieces directly out of the box. Witness below.....
The flying buttresses as they come out of the box have little application to speak of in this area of the Titan but with a bit of judicious cutting and filing they find purpose.
Of course this is all subject to interpretation, You might have reservations about a huge vulnerable door in the front of the chest, I do myself but nothing is etched in stone and I may change my mind in the future but something is better than nothing so I'm going for it at this moment.
I think if someone can breach those doors then the princepts isn't doing it right. I'm sure there's plenty of shields that can absorb the damage before the doors would even budge.
The problem I see in most Emperor Titans that employ bitz is a lack of imagination. You cannot use the pieces directly out of the box.
This is 100% the reason I pass over most Emperor Titan builds. They are usually the same low effort builds. I'd not expect that from you, and am happy to see you call it out.
So inspiring, and so brilliant and so bloody vast.
And completely agree with the sentiment above. might as well stick some cardboard boxes hot glued together if you are not going to make the effort to add the beautiful detail achievable.
I'm Afraid my Warlord will be hopelessly outclassed by this new addition to my Titan Stable which I project to be half again taller than the Warlord. About 40 inches tall or one Meter if you are into an inhumane system of measurement.
Sitting at the computer having these two staring down at me is a bit disconcerting. Almost accusatory in their gaze seeming to say, Get busy and finish this up.
On either side of the head are two balconies that I feel give purpose to the garish ornamentation yet still retains the Gothic flavor. True to my word I am attempting to make the build and ornaments as easy as possible so those so inclined may follow along building their own Emperor Titan.
Blackadder, why not making a sketch of how you want the titan to look like in the end?
It doesn't have to be super detailed or have any artistic quality, but just to see the proportions of the torso and the legs, the width of the upper cathedral, etc...
Just to gen an overall idea of the overall proportions of the titan. A front view should be enough to give you the idea.
Vintersorg wrote: Blackadder, why not making a sketch of how you want the titan to look like in the end?
It doesn't have to be super detailed or have any artistic quality, but just to see the proportions of the torso and the legs, the width of the upper cathedral, etc...
Just to gen an overall idea of the overall proportions of the titan. A front view should be enough to give you the idea.
Wow, Italy, my first reply from Italy I think; I love the cosmopolity of the internet.
There are so many sketches, drawings, and 3D renderings on line that the physical proportions are etched in my mind. but as I add detail I find I have to alter previous work a smidgen here or there. and a drawing isn't always helpful, witness the FW Warlord Titan were they made the legs too short!
In my 'standard model' rendering for the Battle Titan genera I got the proportions wrong as well. Only the physical model in the flesh...er... styrene seems to work for me proportion wise:
That last pic is even worse than the diagram of the ne t generation Enterprise. At least Picard and the crew had 1 bathroom to use, the Titan doesn't have any.
Theophony wrote: That last pic is even worse than the diagram of the ne t generation Enterprise. At least Picard and the crew had 1 bathroom to use, the Titan doesn't have any.
I thought that was what the 'void' generators were for
On either side of the 'Head' there are these side galleries. I'm a bit disappointed in these but I shall probably leave them as they are because I'm tempted to put dual guns or lasers in the windows instead of my initial idea of stained glass.
Still to come on these galleries are the ball turret gun mounts and lots of skulls and stylized eagles, but for now they will remain removable to ease amenability.
The above image probably mimics the drawing best and I feel my solution to what is under the 'head' is better that the nondescript python-like cable conduits in the video I assume just put there to fill the void.
Note the serendipity of the curved corbels which allow the head to swing side to side without interference by the galleries. Purely accidental I assure you as I'm not sure that the Emperor titans have that capability.
As with the Thunderhawk, once I began to personalize this construct I've begun to warm to it's intrinsic majesty and ignore the obvious impracticality of the monstrosity.
I'm still stunned every time I see an update on this thread. I know you have the skills, but each addition just makes this better and better and always exceeds my expectation. I see where you are going with the design, but constantly I'm blown away.
I know I joke along, but I just wanted to let you know how privileged I feel to be an onlooker of the construction of this beast.
After butting my head against the wall for the past few days I came to the realization I've run out of ideas for the front of this beastie. I've tinkered with CoD panels and cut and pasted said panels in various positions and nothing looks right.
Fortunately I have the rear elevation to fall back on, when in the doldrums work on something else, is my motto; too bad I quite forget it all too often.
Always look at things from other angles. You turned it around to see your next target area, I constantly turn my figs upside down to see them differently. It might be because I'm dyslexic, but I've always found looking at things a different way gives me better perspective.
It could also be tunnel vision at times when we get too focused on one item which throws us off. I just learned in an active shooter class that if you get tunnel vision you should shake your head side to side real quick to break the tunnel vision. I've been trying it with stressful situations since and have had good success in regaining my focus.
That's actually an old Art trick. The human brain is wired to see and interpret Symbols, and so things like figures or mechs can quickly get locked into a 'This is a Person/Robot' block in our head, preventing us from thinking clearly about how they actually look.
Turning them upside-down/backwards/sideways lets us break that symbolic interpretation, and see the shapes/colors/patterns for what they truly are, so that we can more effectively consider our options.
The Warmonger seems to be even bigger now I see it in comparison with the spider walker, wow!
And I would be tempted to model the Skitarii with some shotgun-type weapons for close quarters fighting inside the titan itself barring the one with the sniper rifle which would have a blast shooting from his own balcony..
whalemusic360 wrote: FW has shown a Titan guard upgrade kit, should be out soon. It's based on skatarii.
Ha! FW offer an upgrade kit on ten plastic figures that cost 33 bucks. The upgrade costs £19 plus shipping.
Plus tell me why you cant order FW resin kits from Games Workshop distributors at a US shipping rate? We all know FW gouges the excrement out of us on the overseas shipping charge and I just answered my own question.
So I'm watching these Youtube videos how to paint Skitarii and they are quite involved what with the spray painting with grey primer and then gunmetal silver and washes etc. A marvel of tenacity and patience........
and I look at my Warlord and Thunderhawk and to my unpracticed eye I see very little difference between all that work and the relatively simple Flat Black Primer and rubbed in Graphite powder.
Just to keep you apprised of my lack of progress in a physical sense at least. I have found why I have hit a wall design wise and I shall be making corrections this weekend. Most of my problem was two dimensional thinking.
On the painting front I have cranked up the old airbrush because these Skitarii figures are too finely detailed for painting with a brush. Even the youtube tutorials with so-called pro-painters show heavy brushstrokes that are unacceptable to me.
I began with the Dune Crawler which was not my fav anyway so I used it to practice on. It is not coming out to badly but I think the Airbrush can do better.
I managed to find a Belisarius Cawl on ebay unencumbered by the other two models in the kit which I also have no interest in and spent Saturday evening assembling it. It is ans extremely delicate model full of threadlike plastic parts and I have my doubts of it's survivability on a game board
Fortunately my Belisarius Will be a display companion piece for my Emperor Titan and reside in the completed interior Command center utterly safe from the vicissitudes of beer swilling 40K combatants.
Yet perhaps not from Martini Swilling judgmental old farts.
Subbed.
.
.
. But since you are in charge I know it will come to completion.
awesome. Even smoother and better than I thought it would look.
and death to auto append
. Well hopefully you win big in Vegas and come back with money to burn on titan building 
Dang that is HUGE! 
