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Giant robots and spandex clad women...

*Nods approvingly *

D

That Ghostkeel is looking really bloody nice, and the pilot you've chosen for it works well.

Left the pilot out for now, still deciding on how to best do her. I did finally slap on the decals, a mix of older GW ones alongside those from the failure that is DUST. The US decals to be precise. I decided to keep it simple and to the point, I want to preserve as much of the cleanliness of the model as possible. But, my "I'm so lonely!" tendencies shine through yet again, as I couldn't resist adding a pin-up decal to the suit as a minor way of making it stand out from the others in the future. That's right, there will be more of these. I had a blast working on this one, so much so that I've already reserved another over at my FLGS. I'm seriously tempted to try and make the second one in a kneeling pose, or failing that, in a more dynamic pose using the lessons learned from this one.

Nice conversion and a good simple colour scheme to match with just enough of a splash of colour to make it interesting.

Is that minigun on the shoulder from anvil industries?

It is indeed, dunno if I mentioned that before, but once upon a time I ordered a pack of five minigun tractors from them, but ended up turning the tractor units into C.A.T.s and Fire Wasps for Zone Mortalis, leaving me with four miniguns (the fifth was miscast, c'est la vie), but as with a lot of bits, you'll find a use for it..



Eventually

Love the robot with pilot. Always cool to see the human side of giant robots of doooooom.

Still struggling with the pilot, so instead I sat down and had a bit of a rummage through my bitsbox today and pieced together the following for my next Ghostkeel:





I didn't have any more Taurox turrets lying about and I'm not that fond of trying my luck on-line in search of bits, it's never a cheap thing, so instead I decided to go with a healthy dose of "fornicate it!" and instead just forget about an uniform look for the suits weapon-wise.

Another count-as Mauler bolt cannon, this time with an ammo feed and another cable for I don't know, hydraulics? The ammo drum will nicely go onto the back of the suit, I already got that all figured out for a change.

Maybe I can dig out one of those Imperial Guard vehicle sprue fuel drums, the one with the carrying straps on it and attach that to the rear of my current suit. Hrm, must investigate.

Great stuff here! Although flexible ammo cables rock, the barrel makes it look like some kind of flame weapon.

In this case I felt that a barrel would work better than a box, given the miniature. While waiting for Halloween to arrive I decided to see if I could whip up something for my first suit as well:





I still had a dual feed flexible belt left over, so I figured, why not?

I still need to touch up both the belt and the drum here and there, but overall it adds something extra to the suit while at the same time shutting up the people wondering how it could fire.

Really cool. The use of the decals really adds flavour, and the barrels and cable for the mini gun is just fantastic.

D

It;'s looking good. The feed and ammo barrel start to shift the profile silhouette a little more as well, which is good for those friendly-fire incidents!

You were asking about my Mad Max thoughts earlier. I finally published them a couple of days ago:
https://azazelx.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/thoughts-and-reflections-mad-max-ps4/

At the moment, I just don't know when I'm going to manage to make myself go back to it and finish the game. Which isn't the greatest sign for a game.

It was a good read and you're upfront about what you don't like, without being whiny about it like some of the reviewers. I also agree on some points, such as the tedious mine clearing side quest and the balloon mechanic, which feels deliberately drawn out and slow with you having to ride it up each and every time..

But, I still found it enjoyable, but after completing it, feel little desire to pick it up and play it some more at this point, I got most of the unlocks and side-quests done, aside from the annoying races. I think I can safely say, you're not missing out on much by picking it up again at a later point.

Oh right, this place.

Well, I got another Ghostkeel, I'll take WIP pictures of it when I can later this week.

There was also the Halloween event on Saturday, three out of four showed up, the no-show didn't even bother to chime in that he couldn't make it, though the others have assured me that this was bound to happen, again. No real loss I guess, seeing as he was more anxious to play regular 40k instead of the scenario. But, the event worked well enough, though not having as many players meant that the zombies were a bit more challenging to get rid of, the play test group was six strong and by sticking together they managed to keep things going well enough that while they didn't steam roll the undead, they did not have too much trouble keeping them at bay long enough to not get overwhelmed.

Also, they day after, on Sunday we had a monster session of Kingdom Death lasting about 8 or so hours, during which we had quite a bit of progress. So much so that two of the players have pretty much earned the right to get a custom mini of their very own, mainly because they locked down their equipment choices and weapon proficiencies for the time being. I mean, no use in getting people custom mini's when they keep changing their gear all the time.

First up we got Miller (if you're expecting fluffy or coherently named characters, hahaha, nope!), wearing Screaming Goat armour and having a pair of axes that he can dual-wield due to a lucky draw of the cards.



Then we've got Kirimaru, our sole ranged guy who also carries around a harp to affect any mood cards that may be in play. I really like how this one turned out, as he's 100% WYSIWYG. I may just try and see if I can pull a bit of brass wire across both ends of the bow, but failing that, he keeps his bow strings in the pouch strapped to his side.





And here's the two of them side by side:



I also stuck together the Phoenix, which is a bitch to build without instructions. Thankfully there's an illustrated guide or two out there on-line telling you where all those tiny little hands are supposed to go on the wings. Also, that moustache, feth that thing. I am positive that's going to break sooner or later due to poor handling or general play.



But yeah, with that thing finally stuck together we can finally hunt it, meaning we'll soon have a new building in our settlement and thus, new armour! I've already told the others, seeing as I did both their mini's and the Phoenix, I would very much like to have dibs on the first set of Phoenix armour, as right now I'm still strutting around in the most basic of armours one can craft. Magical sword or not, when they hit me, they hit me good. So, once when we get around to it, this is what I'll be after:



Top square is left open for my magical sword.

I am LOVING the ammo barrel and feed, really adds a lot of character to the Ghostkeel - I demand MOAR.

Hey Brook - have you seen these?



Specifically the Hulkbuster. With a bit of kitbashing, it'd make for one hell of a Mech, and they're quite inexpensive as well. (And yes, I have one on my desk after seeing them the other day!)

Frankenberry wrote:I am LOVING the ammo barrel and feed, really adds a lot of character to the Ghostkeel - I demand MOAR.

I haven't forgotten, I just had a busy week after halfway through our depot had a fire, meaning the rest of the week was a chaos unlike anything I've ever seen. Thus, didn't have much time to pick up the brush just yet. So far though, I've only managed to get the first layer of grey onto the armour.







When I find the time I'll do another layer, redo the black parts, wash the panel lines black, redo the grey where I was sloppy and continue onwards from there.

I've also been slaving away at Kingdom Death stuff, which I hope to get done two weeks from now. Still horrendously WIP, but slowly getting there, Miller:

Azazelx wrote:Hey Brook - have you seen these?

Spoiler:

Specifically the Hulkbuster. With a bit of kitbashing, it'd make for one hell of a Mech, and they're quite inexpensive as well. (And yes, I have one on my desk after seeing them the other day!)

Ooh, I'll have to do a size comparison with a Devastator Centurion suit, because I got three of those right now as my go-to count-as Myrmidon Destructors with conversion beamer stuff.

Just did a quick search, they're €15 around here, which isn't bad at all for pre-paints that actually look of a good quality for a change. I wonder if it'll fit onto a 40mm or 50mm base?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh right, there's also Betrayal at Calth coming out next week, I'll be picking up one of those as well, because one can never juggle too many projects at once, am I right?

Either Imperial Fists or Ultramarines are the main choices and I really like the Legion rules of the Imperial Fists (I mean, who doesn't like BS5 bolters and re-rolls in challenges?), though seeing as I can't paint yellow even if my life depended on it..

He's a decent size. I don't have any built Centurions, but hopefully this will help. Much more Thanatar/Mecha than Centurion.




I'd be buying 4x Calth this week, except my usual go-to place in the US is playing a little bit of sillybuggers, and feth paying twice the USD$ price here in Aust. You could always do the Imperial Fists in a different scheme as either Crimson Fists or Templar Fists sub-chapters of the IF legion?

Pffffffffffffffffblt, he's big.

Maybe if I'm going full Mechanicum once my red book finally arrives I'll use it as a Thanatar or the like, it has enough room for plasma mortar somewhere.

I'm going with one box for now, moderation and a budget and the last month of the year looming and all that.

Chances are I'll stick it all together first and slap on paint a decade from now anyway, as much as I like the Legiones Astartes army list, it's a low priority compared to the Solar Auxilia and Questoris Knights.

So uhhhh, this is also still a thing.

I've been occupied with work and yeah, Fallout 4 for quite a bit. But after getting some new paint yesterday I decided to paint up an Ultramarine (not shown in great detail, because man I suck at highlighting) and I also powered through the Knight Warden, which is now done, aside from the carapace-mounted rocket launcher.



So yeah, crappy picture, I blame the bad weather for the poor lighting and totes not my lack of photography skills, but the family is slowly coming together.

From left to right: Hammer of Wrath, Vae Victis and the Eternal Warrior.

Next up, Void Reaper, the second Paladin, which I hope to get done next weekend when I've got time off.

Seeing as I'm a person of pure evil and such vile repute I decided that a lump of coal would be too good for me (I mean, I'd just stick it in the furnace where once a human heart used to beat), so instead I decided to special hobby punishment and made a small order with Raging Heroes, making use of their Black Cyber Discount to get a Jailbirds mecha and Nepharya (in metal).

As previous experiences have taught me, French companies make lovely miniatures, they're just a bitch to stick together.

So, after an evening and part of a morning spent swearing, here's the tech priest, in all her annoying to assemble glory:



I decided to stick her onto a 50mm base for added stability and well, you can hardly expect her to go onto the 28mm base that came with her. She'll be a future HQ for my allied / future main Mechanicum force, when I get around to building that Ulator. To explain away her size and height I'll just say she's got the Abeyant upgrade as well.

As for the mecha, it'll need a really, really thorough cleaning first. I mean, gak, those parts are greasy. I have never had resin parts that greasy before, I hope that the usual rinse and cleaning with washing detergent will do the trick! After that, a lot of moldline removal and the like, because quite a few parts appear to have been spawned by a misaligned mold, or have moldlines in the most annoying of places. The feet in particular appear to have detail eaten away by excess gates / flash.

Also not looking forward to sticking it together, it's going to require a fair bit of pinning, as the connection points are quite small and fragile looking. As for what to use it as, dunno yet, maybe I'll snatch up another two when they're on sale again and use them as Myrmidon Destructors or the like.

On the bright side, the models do look nice, so I got that going for me I suppose.

So yeah, more or less got this bitch together:



It did indeed involve a lot of pinning and cleaning, it still feels somewhat odd to the touch, so I hope it takes a coat of primer or else I'll have to bin it, because I've got no idea what else I could use to clean it.

Left arm is still not glued in place, just dangling there by its pin, as I need to look into something of a replacement for the feth-ugly missile launcher block it has now. I wonder if I've still got a Sentinel rough terrain mod lying about somewhere..

Cool stuff. Any idea of a paint scheme for the mecha priestess thing?

EDC

Nice work, Brook. I can;t believe that they sent out that particular figure with a 50mm base, either.

I decided to replace both arms with something a bit more fitting for what I had in mind for the suit to begin with, turning it onto a proper mining rig pressed into service as emergency can-opener.







Head of the model is from Statuesque Miniatures, the weapon mounts are from the Centurion kit, the melta barrel and bit of debris the suit is standing one are from the Calth Contemptor.

However, as it is, the kit is a pain in the arse to clean and assemble, plus not exactly priced well enough to compete with other stuff as a valid option for my Mechanicum army (hell, even a box of three Centurions is cheaper than two of these!), so it'll be just that, a one-off model for special events and scenarios.

evildrcheese wrote:Cool stuff. Any idea of a paint scheme for the mecha priestess thing?

I'm looking into that, but red robes for sure, green eye lenses, boring old boltgun metal for the tentacles of love and the mechadendrites, probably gold for the priest itself, a nice warm colour to go with the robes and contrast with the boltgun metal. But we'll see I suppose.

Azazelx wrote:Nice work, Brook. I can;t believe that they sent out that particular figure with a 50mm base, either.

Yeah, 60mm would've been way better imho, especially the way the render is posed, not something you can pull off on a 50mm base.

If you are having troubles getting the resin clean, generally warm (not hot, but pretty toasty) water with dishwashing detergent should do the trick. The mold release is most likely an aerosolized form of vaseline, so a reasonably gentle degreaser and some warmth to thin the vaseline a bit more will do the trick. I use Simple Green in my ultrasonic cleaner (which gets warm) but I don't know if you can get that across the pond.

The Statuesque heads look fantastic too! Great choice on the new arms as well.

I got me a set of Jailbird infantry last week and I tried the cleaning shebang again, with hotter water this time around and a wee bit of detergent, but wow, after giving it a long soak and a thorough scrub with an old toothbrush under a running tap it´s still awfully greasy to the touch. Really makes me wonder what company they asked to do their resins, but this isn't something I like to work with.

An ultrasonic cleaner is something I'll look into next year for sure, they aren't that expensive and seeing as I'll be planning on buying more resin from FW next year, it may be a better investment, both for the overall quality of the kits and my own sanity.

Anyway, did some fething about with resin and plastic today, here's the result:



A Jailbird from the command set, with a sawn-off shotgun and chainsaw from the Wargames Factory survivor boxed set. The fist clutching the chainsaw is from a Kingdom Death sprue, I don't know which one, CBA to check in all honesty, but all in all those hands are a good match for 28mm heroic scale miniatures.

I guess this is another miniature for a future zombie scenario I suppose, or I could press it into service as the veteran sergeant for my Deathworld veterans, replacing Harker when the points are a bit leaner. The original idea was to make a dismounted version of my Jailbird mecha pilot, but after fiddling around for a bit, I like this arrangement better, plus this is about the only head in the set that I genuinely like and isn't screaming "WOOK AT ME, I AM A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE ONE OF A KIND BUTTERFLY LOL LOL LOL" or something.

Looks very nice! You might rotate the shotgun bit some, to have the barrel line up with the bit in her hand more. The webbing of her hand should be nearly touching the hammer/release there at the back of the barrel.

Crappy WIP shot of my zombie-hunting ganger:



And Wehrkind, yeah, the more I looked at the boomstick the more it started to grate on me, so I decided to replace the sawn-off with a spare laspistol I had left over from a FW upgrade pack or something. It'll receive a black wash for sure, it's a bit too bright green for my tastes, but other than that, I am liking where this is going. Now if I'm brave enough I'll also add something to the torn top and take a stab at something akin to a tribal tat on her left arm.

She's also gotten a name, courtesy of the Dark Heresy name charts, two D100 throws later we've got.. Fatal Jaine.

She looks good. I'd love to see you pull off a nice tat as well.

Looking good, and aptly named!