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2011/05/24 07:38:25
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 03/09/14 - Malanthropes Ahoy?)
First of all allow me to clarify. This title has caused much consternation elsewhere with people wishing me well and hoping I get better. So, to clarify I do not have any sort of terminal illness so I am not likely to keel over any time soon. What I do have can be described as a Kitchen Sink's worth of stuff to the point where my house just has....STUFF everywhere.
So why Dakka? Well, simply put elsewhere was just downright hostile. Little activity, not very welcoming and ultimately very catty about all sorts of things. That and my friends had abandoned the place a good while ago so it was a bit like a creepy ghost town. Then, while browsing at work (and trying to find things NOT blocked) I stumbled across your gallery. And then your forum. Well worth it. The threads have life and the P&M Blogs also had life. The way forward indeed!
So to start our tale, first let us start of with me. I am an American, stranded in England the past 17 years and currently working as a full time schmuck taking calls for local government. It's not a fun job. I've learned to hate people as they can be ultimately stupid. But it pays bills and that's all I ask. And when I was a young boy, so many years ago a friend of mine brought a copy of White Dwarf to school. Damn those Salamanders. They hooked me. Those lovely acid spitting dinosaurs with tiny Skink attendants....
Naturally I couldn't escape that. I was hooked on Lizardmen. And so money was redirected into them with much pleading from parents. And this hobby continued on. And on. And on. And when I had a significant amount of money....I....er...spent it. So with my other friend who spent to his heart's content we made a deal - Every 1000 points of stuff painted is £50 that could be spent on stuff later on. That way we could actually tackle our mountains of plastic, metal and resin.
I present my mug. It is certainly a mug. Even with a pirate hat. I am also less fuzzy now as well.
So what do I have to paint? Well, we could start listing. I think we will. With photos. You will have noticed the signature. This is by no means all painted. That is the end goal. There is also fluff behind all of these. That will come up later when I have time to type the omni thread. For now you get a list with me saying if it's WIP or finished. And of course the stuff that's finished is not all finished as in many cases I have to finish banners, paint icons and all sorts of niggly little things.
The Imperial Paladins - Loyalist Space Marines
I will confess now that the idea behind these chaps was for their armour to be all mixed and some of it quite ornate - hence the use of the odd Chaos piece here and there as painted right they look antique and even the leering gargoyles look more gothic than evil.
Lord-Captain Artos - Chaos Lord - Daemon Weapon, Bolt Pistol - COMPLETE
The Reavers - 9 Chosen Chaos Marines - Champion with Lightning Claws, 2 Power Fists, 2 Meltaguns, Icon
Squad Tybar - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns, Icon
Squad Tylar - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns, Icon
Squad Khatar - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Weapon, Heavy Bolter, Flamer, Icon - COMPLETE
Squad Lucis - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Weapon, Heavy Bolter, Flamer, Icon - WIP Squad Marix - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Weapon, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun, Icon - COMPLETE
Squad Matas - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Weapon, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun, Icon - COMPLETE
The Soulfeasters - 10 Chaos Raptors - Champion with LCs, 2 Meltaguns, Icon
The Soulpyre - 10 Chaos Raptors - Champion with Power Weapon, 2 Flamers, Icon
Squad Boros - 10 Chaos Havocs - Champion with Power Fist, 4 Heavy Bolters, Icon
Squad Andras - 10 Chaos Havocs - Champion with Power Weapon and Plasma Pistol, 2 LCs, 2 Missile Launchers, Icon
Venerable Martiel - Chaos Dreadnought - Twin Lascannons - WIP The Bound - Chaos Dreadnought - Twin Autocannons
4th Company
Soulfeaster - Daemon Prince
5th Company
Lord Cythrani - Chaos Lord - Jump Pack, Daemon Weapon, Bolt Pistol
The Etherdrinkers - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, Lascannon, Plasma Gun, Icon
Squad Lyria - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, Lascannon, Plasma Gun, Icon
Squad Myria - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, Plasma Pistol, Flamer, Icon
The Dreambreakers - 10 Chaos Marines - Champion with Power Fist, Autocannon, Flamer, Icon
The Foresight - 10 Possessed - Champion, Icon
Squad Hala - 5 Chaos Bikes - Champion with Power Fist, Flamer, Icon
Hala's Hound - 5 Chaos Bikes - Champion with Power Weapon, 2 Meltaguns, Icon
6th Company
Prince Aros - Daemon Prince - Wings, Mark of Slaanesh
Other Companies and Sections
Kharn the Betrayer
Lucius the Eternal
Ahriman
Fabius Bile
Cypher
Chaos Sorcerer - Terminator Armour, Combi Melta
Chaos Sorcerer - Terminator Armour
Chaos Sorcerer - Wings
Chaos Sorcerer
10 Khorne Berserkers - Champion with Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol - COMPLETE
8 Khorne Berserkers - Champion with Power Weapon
9 Thousand Sons - Sorcerer
5 Chaos Marines - COMPLETE
3 Obliterators
Defiler - Reaper, Extra CC Weapon - WIP Predator - Twin LCs, LC Sponsons
3 Vindicators
5 Rhinos
3 Chaos Spawn
The Extinction Angels to date.
The complete Chaos Lord
V Click for WIP Background Development V
Spoiler:
Extinction Angels Notes - Basic background and development
* Renegade Chapter - uses a 'corrupted' Imperial Chapter structure.
* Renegades as of M.34 - Mix of recent armour patterns and older, scavenged armour patterns. Some armour has corrupted - this explains the presence of some of the older or more exotic patterns.
*Unaligned - Worship of particular Chaos Powers is at the discretion of the Company Leader. Some companies have become wholly Cult based, others are largely undivided or unaligned.
1st Company - The Gloried, Veteran Company - Led by Lord Captain Syteros (Chaos Lord) - Unaligned, squads free to worship as they please
2nd Company - The Wrath, Battle Company - Led by The Void Fleshed (Daemon Prince) - Undivided, elements of Khorne
3rd Company - The Sanctified, Battle Company - Led by Lord Captain Artos (Chaos Lord) - Undivided, 'rogue' elements of Slaanesh
4th Company - The Reborn, Battle Company - Led by Soulfeaster (Daemon Prince) - Undivided, elements of Khorne, 'rogue' elements of Nurgle. NOTE: This company has a high number of Possessed
5th Company - Malice, Battle Company - Led by Lord Cythrani (Chaos Lord) - Slaanesh, elements of Undivided, 'rogue' elements of Tzeentch
6th Company - Innocence Consumed, Tactical Reserve Company - Led by Prince Aros (Daemon Prince) - Slaanesh. Corrupted company is predominantly Noise Marines and Slaanesh cult marines.
7th Company - The Festering, Tactical Reserve Company - Led by Bile Priest Kurn (Daemon Prince) - Nurgle. Corrupted company is predominantly Plague Marines and Tzeentch cult marines.
8th Company - The Gorefeasters, Assault Reserve Company - Led by Captain Tarik (Kharn the Betrayer counts-as) - Khorne. Corrupted company is predominantly Berserkers and Khorne cult marines.
9th Company - Obliteration, Devastator Reserve Company - Led by Magister Numinos (Chaos Sorcerer) - Tzeentch. Predominantly Tzeentch cult marines.
10th Company - Glory Seekers, Scout Company - No Leader. Scout company destroyed with initial defection - now consists of squads and warbands from different chapters and legions all vying for favour.
So I got to thinking about how the Extinction Angels operate.
Obviously I have 9 Companies - the 10th company is effectively dissolved and consists of members of smaller warbands, strays from other Legions and chapters and the like - this is the recruitment process. Find favour and a sponsor and they join the Company of their sponsor. I see many of these ragtags being shamed or dishonoured in some way - others perhaps seeking a quicker route to power in a force that does not adhere to millenia of Legion based structure.
Not all these companies should be full strength - as wyomingfox has pointed out. Supplies will run down, infighting and conflict will dwindle their numbers. And of course I have to consider the role of daemons within the Extinction Angels. I see similarities with the Night Lords - Daemons are generally disregarded or shunned. In the corrupted Companies daemons may be more favoured but in the hard-line Undivided companies, or ones where there is freedom to worship as you will (the 1st) I can see Daemons being seen as lesser. If anything binding Daemons and the like seems more a way to supplement forces and counteract weakness. The 4th company is an example of this - with a high number of possessed. I will probably build them to about 60% of their original strength with the majority being possessed - having undergone the rituals out of desperation and possibly admiration of their Captain who had ascended stronger than before.
The Chapter Master will be an example of this 'daemons are weak' viewpoint. I will keep him strictly Mortal, armed with suitable weapons (as an Abaddon counts-as) and pretty much envision him as having cheated the powers by binding the Daemons to his weapons and just siphoning off their power to keep himself strong and revitalised. I see him as being cunning rather than charismatic.
So, in order - the idea of the company strength is as follows.
1st company - 55% original strength
2nd company - 70% original strength
3rd company - 100% original strength
4th company - 60% original strength
5th company - 100% original strength
6th company - 75% original strength
7th company - 70% original strength
8th company - 40% original strength
9th company - 90% original strength
10th company - dissolved
The companies with Daemon Princes (2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th) are clearly weaker. The 1st company seems weak but that's because they'll have purged ALL the loyallists and are quite fractured in structure now and the 8th company...well..it's Khornate. Let's not pretend they don't lop off their own heads when it's quiet.
From the fluff the Extinction Angels are based around the Eye of Terror. And specialise in fighting in confined spaces - city fighting and I'm thinking rapid insertion tactics.
I picture them having tenuous alliances with the Alpha Legion and other Renegades and a particularly antagonistic relationship with more dedicated or pious Legions or chapters.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Daemons
Great Unclean One
Epidemius
7 Plaguebearers
7 Nurgling Bases
7 Nurgling Bases
Beast of Nurgle
Soulgrinder
Yeah, not as impressive but I've traded some of them off for other things so this is what's left.
The Blighted Brigade of Screaming Lord Billy
This was my first 40k army. I keep them about out of love.
Nice work - glad to hear you are not dying (well, at least no faster than the rest of us).
the volume of models is impessive too - looking forward to the Death Guard (FW models are always win).
You should be able to avoid hostilities here, but remember - it is the internet, and cattiness abounds! I do find these forums pretty friendly tho, mainly by the prompt actions of our lords/moderators.
Finally, I like the pirate hat
2011/05/24 08:24:03
Subject: Re:Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (SM/CSM/Tyranids/Eldar/Lizardmen/DE/Skaven/The World!)
There will be more stuff following. But to let people reply now....
I've gone for madness and signed up for not 1 but 2 Tale of Many Gamer things this summer from July onwards - with my Dark Elves (to get to 3,000 points from nothing in 6 months) and my Eldar (to get to 1750 in 6 months at the same time).
So expect a lot of pointy ears too!
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/24 18:01:28
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (SM/CSM/Tyranids/Eldar/Lizardmen/DE/Skaven/The World!)
Liking the scheme for your nids! and the greens on your Nurgle army are a really nice shade and blended well in keeping with the theme, the sorceror is my favorite you've done so far! I can't believe just how many points worth you've got! crazy!
Flesh Eaters 4,500 points
" I will constantly have those in my head telling me how lazy and ugly and whorish I am. You sir, are a true friend " - KingCracker
"Nah, I'm just way too lazy to stand up so I keep sitting and paint" - Sigur
"I think the NMM technique with metals is just MNMM. Same sound I make while eating a good pizza" - Whalemusic360
2011/05/24 19:03:05
Subject: Re:Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (SM/CSM/Tyranids/Eldar/Lizardmen/DE/Skaven/The World!)
@darkkt - The volume is a lot, eh? Hence the title. I'm glad I'm not dying too.
The Death Guard stuff will be in a few months time most likely - after all my other initial projects. I'm going to do them special. They're going to be my Armies on Parade entry for next year as well as parts of my Golden Daemon entries. The hat alas is not mine. It belongs to my local GW manager who is a good friend. That photo is from us all being silly after work (for all of us) and playing Guitar Hero wearing silly hats.
@nerdfest09 - I'm proud of that 'nid scheme. It's a modified one from the WD when the washes were released. Easy and quick but my god so mind numbing in numbers! With regard to the Nurgle stuff? That's my old, OLD stuff. The sorcerer turned out well for how simple it was. Without doing a step by step (as the scheme is basically old and the army retired apart from Apoc games) - Layered Dark Angels Green, Bestial Brown, Snot Green, Goblin Green, Sunburst Yellow, Bleached Bone, Snakebite Leather 'patches' and then 2 washes of Dark Green Ink and one of Chestnut Ink.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/24 19:05:35
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (SM/CSM/Tyranids/Eldar/Lizardmen/DE/Skaven/The World!)
Someone doesn't have a wife . Anyways, four painted armies is something to be proud of. Now you need to start snapping more close up shots of individual models and/or squads. I like what you did with Typhus, great job layering the greens.
wyomingfox wrote: Anyways, four painted armies is something to be proud of.
Four?
Oh no. There's more. And there will be even more. (I need help. Please. Send help!) That was all I had time to type up this morning before work. There's still the Lizardmen, the Eldar, the Dark Elves, the Skaven and my friends Inquisition and Sisters of Battle to put pics up of.
I do need to get more close ups. I will get on that likely this weekend.
Now to have a much needed break from work. I may even start assembling something and continue on the Dark Elves a bit.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/24 19:21:17
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (SM/CSM/Tyranids/Eldar/Lizardmen/DE/Skaven/The World!)
First a WIP shot of some Dark Elves. Nothing special really. Armour wash still to follow - going to be multiple Badab Black washes, maybe one Thraka Green. There's a lot of metal on these buggers though!
I suppose I should explain more here.
As mentioned earlier I've been insane enough to sign up for not one but two Tale of Many Gamers campaigns at my local GCN club - one for Fantasy and one for 40k.
The rules are as follows.
Fantasy - 500 points the first month, must include a hero and core. No big uniques/monsters/etc in Month 1! Then 500 points a month to a total of 3,000, following proper percentages from Month 2 onwards.
40k - 500 points the first month, must include a HQ and Troop and 1 Elite/Fast Attack/Heavy Support. Then 250 points a month to a total of 1,750, following Force Org from Month 2 onwards.
So for Fantasy I will be painting...
Month 1 - Dark Elves
Sorceress
16 Crossbowmen with Full Command
10 Spearmen with Full Command
Repeater Bolt Thrower
For 40k...
Month 1 - Eldar
Autarch
10 Dire Avengers - Exarch with Twin Shuricats
Wave Serpent - Twin Shuriken Cannons
6 Fire Dragons - Exarch with Firepike
But wait, I've sorted more out!
Whatever could this be for, eh?
(Now I just have to find a spare Terminator Storm Bolter to gut for the ammo case.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/25 21:56:16
Subject: Re:Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 25/05 -Dark Elves)
I like how it looks. Unsure whether to add another black wash and then the green or to just go straight to the green. Any opinions? Should I go darker before tinting or tint to see the effect?
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/25 22:04:50
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 25/05 WIP Dark Elves)
Looks pretty good so far. Might want to do something to break the different metals apart....like adding another black or brown wash to only some of the armour.
I'm considering a green tarnish and will be highlighting over the wash on the edges either way. Hmm. Perhaps another black wash on the chainmail to darken it a bit more?
Update!
Second picture is way too dark.
One on the left has a second black wash on the chainmail and a green wash on the metal.
One on the right has a second black wash all over and a green wash on the metal again.
Concerned the second one just drowns out the green.
Edit: God my keyboard looks awful.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just an update - need feedback folks on which is better of the two.
Time to crack on with Eldar in the meantime
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2011/05/26 07:05:16
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/26 08:19:44
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 26/05 WIP Dark Elves)
Well, so far wyomingfox you're the only one to say! And the darker recesses do seem to make more of a difference (and will probably be better to edge highlight to boot.)
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/26 17:35:36
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 26/05 WIP Dark Elves)
Update: In the end wyomingfox made the decision. Have finished black washing the Spear-elves and waiting for that to dry before doing the green and highlights, then I can go onto robes and flesh.
Camera batteries are dying - boooooo.
And then I have to find and set aside a few boxes to pack things into - one lot of bits for the swap shop, my Delaques for weety and then I have to find one suitable for Brother Anton there.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/29 04:16:47
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 26/05 WIP Dark Elves)
Thraka Green wash. Tints it just enough. Figured that Dark elves don't exactly have pure silvery armour. Having the Realm of Chaos in your back garden probably taints things a little, especially when you decide dark magic is a good idea too.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/05/30 03:00:19
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 26/05 WIP Dark Elves)
Ah. No green involved whatsoever. The green brought about by a 10 pm photo in less than optimal lighting conditions!
Automatically Appended Next Post: One more thing! I've not been doing nothing. Will try to see if I can get photos up today but it might be tomorrow as the camera's batteries are dying and tomorrow is payday.
Have done the metal on the first 10 DE Spearmen and started on the robes.
Also got distracted from what I -should- be painting (Dire Avengers for my Eldar) and started something else... a Wave Serpent. Yellow's not 'smooth' up close but sort of matches with its odd appearance.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Update time folks!
First, some more work done on the Dark Elves as promised - quite happy with how they're turning out and now just need to twig the cloth to make it mesh (it's supposed to be dark green.) I expect the pale skin tones to help break the overall effect up and will probably try to do the belts and wrapping in a pale grey-white as well.
Only 16 Crossbowmen, the Repeater Bolt Thrower and the Sorceress to go for the first 500 points after this!
I will confess I allowed myself to get distracted as well. I started on my Eldar and as said, rather than focusing on the Dire Avengers I decided to play a bit with the Wave Serpent.
Not too happy with it.
The yellow isn't turning out 'smooth'. The paint itself is quite rough. From a distance it works but up close....it feels rough.
Might do a mix of varnish and sepia wash to try and smooth it over as well as blend it all together at the end.
Note: This is only half done!
And for those wondering about Finecast?
Well, as well as helping the store play with and put together its display model from the list of what they were allowed to have (we chose Azhag - my god there's a lot of flash to clean, greenstuffing to get joints to match....) I did end up being given something by a friend who bought something else.
For me this is a HUGE plus.
The Autarch's reaper launcher...
It's round!
Every metal version I've seen has had the mold mismatched and come out flat or unusable but this? Perfectly round!
Payday tomorrow - time to buy more paints and batteries. As well as get stuff packed up to post off to weety and others.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2011/05/30 18:05:56
Now only a CSM player.
2011/06/02 08:08:51
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 30/05 - Dark Elves! Eldar!)
Just a quick update - I ain't dead! Need to get a few things sorted today to post stuff out tomorrow or at the weekend.
Plans for tonight? Work more on Eldar and Dark Elves.
Do a Finecast review of a Lictor - yes, I folded and got a lictor, simply because I was curious to see how the only model I can think of that has had a 50p price rise in about 15 years came out. (The 2nd edition lictors were £15!!)
Now only a CSM player.
2011/06/02 13:38:24
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 30/05 - Dark Elves! Eldar!)
Really liking the wave serpent. The color scheme is sharp. In regards to creating a smooth finish, your best bet is to put a layer of testors dull coat over the area. It is a thick varnish and tends to go over surfaces well.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/06/02 13:38:54
What I have decided to start posting here is the background and development stuff for my Extinction Angels, especially as I'm switching the Eldar out for them due to common sense - why use this opportunity to paint a smaller, side-army when I've got a far larger force that needs some love?
What makes this even better is that there is next to no established background for the Extinction Angels - the only bit mentioned is the fact that they were involved in the Eye of Terror campaign (so presumably are based in the Eye of Terror) and are currently giving the Black Templars as good as they get in tunnel fighting on a hive world - to me this suggests city fighting being an area of expertise. Or at the very least tunnel fighting.
Extinction Angels Notes - Basic background and development
* Renegade Chapter - uses a 'corrupted' Imperial Chapter structure.
* Renegades as of M.34 - Mix of recent armour patterns and older, scavenged armour patterns. Some armour has corrupted - this explains the presence of some of the older or more exotic patterns.
*Unaligned - Worship of particular Chaos Powers is at the discretion of the Company Leader. Some companies have become wholly Cult based, others are largely undivided or unaligned.
1st Company - The Gloried, Veteran Company - Led by Lord Captain Syteros (Chaos Lord) - Unaligned, squads free to worship as they please
2nd Company - The Wrath, Battle Company - Led by The Void Fleshed (Daemon Prince) - Undivided, elements of Khorne
3rd Company - The Sanctified, Battle Company - Led by Lord Captain Artos (Chaos Lord) - Undivided, 'rogue' elements of Slaanesh
4th Company - The Reborn, Battle Company - Led by Soulfeaster (Daemon Prince) - Undivided, elements of Khorne, 'rogue' elements of Nurgle. NOTE: This company has a high number of Possessed
5th Company - Malice, Battle Company - Led by Lord Cythrani (Chaos Lord) - Slaanesh, elements of Undivided, 'rogue' elements of Tzeentch
6th Company - Innocence Consumed, Tactical Reserve Company - Led by Prince Aros (Daemon Prince) - Slaanesh. Corrupted company is predominantly Noise Marines and Slaanesh cult marines.
7th Company - The Festering, Tactical Reserve Company - Led by Bile Priest Kurn (Daemon Prince) - Nurgle. Corrupted company is predominantly Plague Marines and Nurgle cult marines.
8th Company - The Gorefeasters, Assault Reserve Company - Led by Captain Tarik (Kharn the Betrayer counts-as) - Khorne. Corrupted company is predominantly Berserkers and Khorne cult marines.
9th Company - Obliteration, Devastator Reserve Company - Led by Magister Numinos (Chaos Sorcerer) - Tzeentch. Predominantly Tzeentch cult marines.
10th Company - Glory Seekers, Scout Company - No Leader. Scout company destroyed with initial defection - now consists of squads and warbands from different chapters and legions all vying for favour.
Of course any GMS Chaos Marines will be going into the Glory Seekers. I just liked the idea of a rag tag company of strays.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/10/28 09:00:13
Now only a CSM player.
2011/06/04 12:55:32
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 04/06 - Extinction Angels fluff)
Wow. That many armies to paint? I thought my Necrons were a lot to paint...
(I am in grief. I glued the green rods on, and decided to change my color scheme, so I undercoated the rods black also. Please, is it possible to acheive the same effect as before? Help!)
Begin the red harvest! We are Farmers! Buh-bu-da-ba-buh-bah-dah!
1650 (2,2,1)
2011/06/04 14:12:41
Subject: Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 04/06 - Extinction Angels fluff)
Yes. That many armies. I have questionable sanity and I know it.
And what'd you glue the rods with? It might be worth having a look online to see if there's anyone else selling similar rods - I know there are cause I looked at it a few years back - if I ever did Necrons I would have blue glowy rods.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/06/04 16:30:06
Subject: Re:Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 04/06 - Extinction Angels fluff)
Alright. What some of you may have been waiting for....
Finecast Lictor Review Time!
First of all, allow me to get on a soapbox.
I chose the Lictor for a very particular reason and that is pricing. A lot of people have issues with the price increase that has come with finecast and seem to be holding that against it just as much as any concerns about quality or indeed resilience of the material and that's just not right.
When the original Lictor was released in 2nd edition it came boxed and came at a price of £10. In time that went up to £12 and by the time 3rd edition was out and rolling the Lictor cost you £15 to buy. Then along came the 3rd edition Tyranids with a new Lictor Sculpt. This Lictor came out for £10. He largely remained at £10 until 4th edition came out and the new Tyranid codex for that edition was released...with a new Lictor. A Lictor which cost £10. The last price increases saw it go up to the £12 mark and VAT over here pushed it to £12.30.
In Finecast this Lictor is £15.50
That's right. In the 15 or so years of the Lictor's existence as a unit type it has ultimately gone up in price by 50 pence. Therefore price is not really an issue.
First of all, let's see what the metal Lictor looked like. Unfortunately for this I was not prepared to dismantle him, or indeed strip him down. I'll explain why in a moment.
This metal model originally came in a blister. The model had tabs of metal and the odd sliver of flash. It's notorious for issues with assemble - particularly with those scything talons, which, if glued on in the 'traditional' way tend to have a bit too much weight for a superglue bond. I wasn't going to reassemble him because he was already enough of a pain in the backside to assemble in the first place!
Let's see what his finecast cousin comes in.
Oh look. A box. Right away this thing is like the 2nd edition ancestor - those came boxed too! The front is your standard pose affair with a bit of photoshop, a slapped on gold banding and the back at least includes the names of the colours used. Well, two of them at least. What does amuse me is the statement of This box contains a Lictor. Really? Are you sure?
In the box is a plastic container thing that we've gotted used to with boxed metals and the Lictor consists of 3 sprues. One for the body and head. One for the Scything Talons. And one for all the rest of the limbs.
First impression time.
There is a huge amount of flash on the Scything talons. That is a sea of the stuff. There are those awkward resin spines wherever there's a slighty spiky bit and some of them - mainly around the feet and the body are quite chunky - larger than the components themselves. Initially these look as though they could be a concern for cleaning up. If those were metal I'd need a hacksaw. If those were plastic I'd still likely need a saw.
There was some bubbling across it but nothing significant from what I initially saw. The worst bit was at the bottom of the torso, where he legs would go.
Looks a bit rough. Especially when you compare it to the same view or a similar one on the metal Lictor.
Metal, for all its issues doesn't bubble. Not the end of the world but it'll take GSing to fix properly. A dab of superglue will not fix that.
Now clipping it off the sprue was ridiculously easy. Remember the first impressions? Didn't need anything more than the clippers. This stuff is soft and those huge blocks of material were easy enough to remove with fingers. Off the sprue the model looks as follows.
This also allowed a better inspection of the cast as being on the sprue hid some parts from proper inspection.
Turns out there were more bubbles than I thought and cleaning up the model - which is ridiculously easy for the record- revealed yet more curious flaws.
First, the most visible and obvious issues.
As well as the under part around the waist being all bubbled there's this with the neck section. That is some wierd deformation right there. It was easy to clean up - though admittedly due to the material being soft and thankfully is hidden by where the head goes on the assembled model...but it's still disturbing. It's as though its cracked and crumbled before setting, so I ended up with a cobblestone effect in the material there.
There's also bubbles in the tail - these were obscured by the sprue when it was in place and again, these are fixable by green stuff. What I did notice is that I started to scrape the mold line away from the tail that some of the material seemed discoloured and almost hollowed out - this is true. Lo and behold, there are bubbles within the cast itself. If I had say, scraped a bit more away there would be another bubble or two for my collection.
The back carapace also has similar issues.
Notice that oddly discoloured 'rectangle'? That's another crumbled bit of sorts. Compared to the metal lictor...
Well. It's somewhat perturbing. A method of production that states to bring out sharper, more crisp detail that's smoother is actually a bit more rough than the metal counterpart.
I also decided to compare detail - with the head and the scything talons.
Now first up, the head.
There was practically no real difference there. Apart from yet more bubbles. No 'secret' details that metal couldn't fully bring out as they went on about in this month's WD. If ever there was a candidate for that is should have been the Feeder Tendrils - nadda. Not a bloody thing.
The scything talon yielded more interesting results.
Now...I don't know what to call this.
More detail? I mean, sure, the fleshy tendon bits are certainly more detailed and there is a lot more there....but that's the thing. The metal has 2 gaps. Finecast has one. Where there is a second gap you can see the tendons taut. Finecast just has a fleshy mass there. Is this a miscast? And added feature?
I'm baffled.
Overall I have to confess - Finecast is meh.
Do I appreciate the lack of weight, the ease of assembly (it reacts very well to super glue) and indeed the conversion possibilities (as I can easily cut into the legs and alter them to make this Lictor look as though leaping)? Yes. That's part of the idea with it. I can pose this lictor easier. I don't need to pin it or balance it just right to make it glue together. And it will survive tilting over.
But the detail is not more crisp - in fact the bubbles in the casting process made it worse. And this is a pattern I've observed - models with large areas of 'smooth' seem to be more vulnerable to the bubbles and miscasts. This means Marines. This means Eldar. This means Tyranids. This means Elves.
Areas with a lot of rough on them seem to get away or indeed benefit from the sharper detail - but a lot of this is lost with the base undercoat.
If I were to give the material a rating out of 10?
I'd give it a 6 at best. There are issues with heat. It doesn't seem to be casting very well. Though it is very flexible this is not a constant throughout. There are still parts that are brittle - often sharper edges.
At least I don't have to buy any more Lictors.
This fellow is my 6th, not including the 2 2nd edition ones being chopped up to make Venomthropes.
But this doesn't bode well for the other Tyranids - the Hive Guard, Tyrand Guard or Zoanthropes. Large flat smooth areas....yikes.
Now only a CSM player.
2011/06/04 17:17:39
Subject: Re:Painting Til I Die - The Dakka Edition (Update 04/06 - Finecast Lictor Review)
You Sir, are definitely running a true swarm. Just looking at the pile of bits for 20 more Genestealers on my project table I don't even want to imagine assembling 107 of them. That list of nids is truly daunting and inspiring, especially considering how many of them are painted.
Thanks for doing such a detailed review on models I actually care about and would consider buying. As I'm not a Marine player, reading the multiple reviews about the large flat areas on marines sometimes having issues meant nothing to me since Nid models tend to have much complex surfaces. Looking at your multiple detailed pics I can see that should I buy some finecost, uhh sorry... finecast models I'll make sure to open the box first. As much as I love working with GS, I'd rather keep it to a minimum so I can just dedicate my energies to conversion work rather than "repair" work.
Looking forward to getting updates regarding how long it's taking you to repair all the little details.
Thanks for the side by side comparison, DSS. It does sorta put Finecast in a better perspective. Obviously, GW is going to do whatever they can to promote this new wave, but I appreciate your user review. The only finecast I've seen done in a similiar review was with a new and old Coteaz mini and he actually looked better off in Finecast, but with this lictor.... I wonder.