Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Another update! This one is much smaller than the previous one, though. I will attempt to relay progress much more frequently now so that such mammoth posts are not necessary. Anyway, yes, I had a pretty productive evening today and thought I'd share because, frankly, I'm rather proud of it all:

First up, trophies!

I mentioned last time how I plan to make an objective marker of Crimson Tears trophies. As I quite like the idea of them actively seek out heretics and traitors the majority of the trophies (head of the last enemy to fall in a battle) will be those of various CSM. This also provides me with an opportunity to paint things that aren't basically black and white... I think I've decided on how to do it too, which is good. I was considering trying to model a wall with shelves of some sort, but I have no plasticard or experience using it so that idea was floundering. Then, I found this:
http://hitechminiatures.com/14/product/info/16
I figure that arranging them in a circle on the rim facing outwards will look quite good. The budget for this month is already spent though so I'll have to wait to realise the idea.
Anyway, here are the first 2 trophies; one Death Guard, one Word Bearer-



The horns aren't done yet as I'm trying to find some different methods to apply to each one, but methods that I can a) manage and B) have the paints to attempt

Here's a third trophy, an Astral Claw (+ something else I'll get to in a minute)


Does he look Astral Claw-ish enough? I didn't want to just focus on firmly established Chaos Legions so I'll also be looking to do helmets of renegades/traitors like the Claws. I'll take requests if anyone has a chapter/legion they'd particularly like to see represented.


Now, to that other head; what could it possibly be? Well, remember my kitbashed Techmarine? He can have some fellows accompany him on the battlefield for a variety of roles, but I hate their models so I wasn't going to bother. However, he is not doomed to walk alone because whilst looking for more of the Old Factory bases on the Micro Art Studios website I stumbled accross these chaps:
http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/iron-br...tp07-p-313.html
File off the odd looking six packs and there we have it, servitors I wouldn't be ashamed to place on a battlefield. They arrived in the post this morning and I was so excited I primed the head to experiment with a possible scheme. I went with red robes rather than the bone coloured ones my sergeants sport because it has more of a mechanicus feel and I wanted the other robes to be the marines' preserve. Here's a side shot to better illustrate the contrast I've managed to achieve on the robes


Lastly, I found a spare meltagun whilst rummaging for something so Rambo, the new assault marine, could be finished without having to go through the process of paint stripping. He's not quite done, still needs his back pack doing and a wash on his holster, but he is properly based and fully WYSIWYG (actually has all his grenades) unlike most of my 'finished' models. So here's a few shots of the details I've added since he popped up a few days ago:





That last picture represents my first attempt at weathering a gun barrel, how do you think it looks?

C&C as always.


tyrannosaur - thanks very much, I've seen your Raptors (they look smashing, by the way) and I can imagine how much easier a foundation white would make that paint job! I ordered a few of the ones that are supposed to be equivalents of the few GW paints I do use (Skull White, Scab Red, Tin Bitz and Boltgun Metal mainly) including Ceramite White and they should pitch up over the next couple of days. Looking forward to trying them out and hoping they live up to the hype.

Nice update, mate! I really like the head idea. How will you be doing the horns?

Rambo looks nice, especially the base (as you already know I like your bases )
But there are some things you could improve.... Some grey on the model would probably help a lot, the black and white contrast a lot. You should try edge highlighting on the black (use codex grey, or just mix black and white). That'd also add definition.

And the weathering on the gun looks kinda overdone; Maybe do it more subly, with less color on the drybrush.

And I've always wondered about this: do meltaguns actually get carbon on the muzzle? They don't work like normal guns, right?

Other than that, cool mini, as always!

A slightly shorter update this time. I've been working on getting everything I've done so far based properly, adding bits and pieces to slightly unfinished models and just generally cleaning house before I start anew on some fresh stuff.

Chaplain is now re-based and has a back pack. As he's quite defensively posed I thought sticking him behind a piece of wall like he's about to receive a charge would be a good approach.





The new meltagunner for the assault squad picked up a pack and some highlights. It's the first time I've tried the latter so I'd appreciate some feed back on them.






Techmarine is rebased. Both he and the servitors will have these slightly different bases as they feel more right for the models and their role, I've tried to keep them looking gritty and urban, though.

Base on its own



Now, I couldn't completely resist doing something new so I started one of his servitors. Body and base are done, arms are waiting in the wings.


Base on its own.





That's all for now, make a noise if you see something you do or don't like


Mr Merlin - thanks, as usual. Usually I do bone/[parchment with a bone coloured paint (surprise, surprise) sepia wash and then re hilight up to almost white. I picked up the Devlan Mud replacement Agrax Earthshade along with a few of the other new GW paints this week so I might try and use that instead of the sepia wash and see how it affects the look. Alternatively I I might go for a dark grey approach, almost like with my bases. I figure those horns might be daemonic and why would daemons have human coloured bone?

For the weathering, I agree with you. It doesn't look quite so overdone in person, but macro pictures will always show things up. It hadn't actually occurred to me that a meltagun might not get a charred barrel, the tutorial I was following used a flamer and a multimelta, so I didn't think anything of picking up a melta to play around with.

Finally, as you can see on Rambo, you have badgered me (in a good way) into casting aside my laziness/fear and actually attempting some highlights on the black armour. I think they look alright but they were surprisingly time consuming. Not sure I'll be going back to do them on the others just yet, but for all models going forward I guess I'll keep it up. I appreciate your continued support of this thread.

Great use of white on black. The red also is very striking and looks great.

The great basing project hit a bit of a snag recently as I found out I didn't have as many regular sized bases as I thought. So while the requisite number are taking their time finding a route to my desk I decided to crack on with some other stuff. The Sternguard squad is now up to eight and a half members (someone's missing an arm), all based and with a fair few trinkets/accessories. Everyone's seen them in various WIP states already though so they are going to get another update only when they're finished.

What have I been doing? Well, the lone armless servitor wasn't proving much use to the techmarine so another was constructed and both were provided with arms (sort of):




Now they each have only one claw at present because the other two were slightly malformed and as I happened upon this cheap little kit http://blightwheelminiatures.vendder.com/bionic-arms-and-servo-arms I figured there was no point in repairing the existing ones. So they are just waiting for its delivery before they are fully complete. as you can see, though, they are done bar those two hands(? tools? utensils? what do you call the appendage on the end of a servitor's 'arm'?)

While I ran out of regular sized bases I did have two large ones knocking around. So I painted them up too.




This one is for my floundering scout project. I don't game at the moment (and I can't see it happening in the immediate future) and even if I did I'm not sure scouts would really feature in a list, so they are more a display piece than anything because I like the idea of them. I've decided that they will be 3 to a 60mm base with 2 aiming at something and 1 in a spotter/sentry pose. Because this projects has floundered for a little while I've given myself a diktat that enough scouts for a minimum sized squad must be painted before I can start on any other squads

The next large base is for the dreadnought that will eventually get started. It was pretty fun to paint as there are a lot of details to bring out,like the chain and cables in the rubble, with plenty of metallic parts to contrast with the shades of grey.




Then for fun, and as a reward for myself I ordered a few bits to make a boarding/siege marine. It's sort of backfire as rather than being a one off it's kind of inspired me to build a whole unit... I've spent this month's budget already though so those FW chain axes and the boarding upgrade will have to wait! He's only mounted on the scout base because it already has a couple of pins in it and wasn't being used by anything else.






White Ninja - cheers fella, I do like praise

These look really sharp. The black and white rocks.

Really cool update, mate! I love the dred base and the siege marine looks great as well!

The great basing project is back on! They all pitched up a couple of days ago so I will be able to keep pushing forwards. I've managed to prime the top part and as soon as I get my paint order (more primer and greys) I will be right back on track to getting everything I've done so far based.
Here are the bases in all their glory:

That's forty standard infantry bases, one dreadnought base (because I have always fancied a Siege Dread from FW and when my tax rebate comes I may take the plunge), one 40mm hero base and what is apparently a biker hero base (it looked awesome so I got it, loads of details to paint like bullet casings a skull, cogs, cobbles etc.). It should be a little while before I have to buy anymore.

In the absence of the bases I messed around with a few bits and pieces to kill time.

Item 1. Missile Launcher scout:





I put a lot of effort into his fatigues as I wasn't too happy with what I did on the previous two. I think I'm satisfied with how these have turned out.

Item 2: Scout bits:



Boredom + lack of satisfaction with simply a shaded grey cloak = this. Not sure it looks amazing, but it's my first attempt at camo so I can't be too displeased with how it;s turned out. There are also the heads for the remaining three scouts required to fill the 2 60mm bases.

Item 3. Pads for my siege marine.


The Right one is an Anvil Industry medieval pad and the left one is a Dark Angel Veteran pad. The intention was to help bulk him out and stylistically look like he's supposed to be a storming a breach, trench or fortification. You might also note that he's from the IV rather than II company. I figured that the II, as the main battle company, should be relatively codex adherent with proper tactical squads and a devastator squad alongside the assault marines; thus, any specialist assault units will be drawn from other companies and I figured that the IV could be the all out assault specialists.

Item 4. Assault Squad #2 begins:




The wings are so badly cast on that head.... There is one line for the first 2 and the third doesn't seem to exist, so it's largely freehand and I'm super happy with how straight the edges are as painting straight lines is usually a cause of major frustration for me. This squad is going to be kitted out as though they exist to kill Chaos marines; that means plasma pistols on the two that can have them and the sergeant. Unfortunately that's kind of the limit to tailoring wargear, but as you can see the bolt pistol has been swapped out for a Heretic Pistol by Anvil Industry (two plugs in one post, I should be getting paid for this!). To me it has a more brutal look than the standard bolt pistol and the shells look like I imagine Vengeance rounds do. The ammo feed looks a little long for a pistol, I think on future ones I'll trim it down. This guy can always claim he was conserving ammo until they get close.

Item 5.
Messing around with Vallejo Pale Grey wash. I bought this a while ago and it's been sitting there as I haven't thought of an obvious use for it.I finally decided to have a little mess around and this is what I got
My Sternguard's very own apothecary (more of him when I finish the sternguard. There are literally two accessories left to paintso that shouldn't be too far off now). Those are Cadian medic bags in case anyone was wondering.

Now this could be an alternative way to do Aquila's, though I'm quite fond of my way with the harsh black lines breaking them up. It also gives possibilities if I ever want to paint a Crimson Tear who hasn't just stepped out of the Drop Pod/Thunderhawk.

40kFSU - cheers, I've found that Ceramite white topped off with some Vallejo white is now giving me an even stronger white than before and with 5-6 coats rather than 10+.

Mr. Merlin - Thanks mate, dunno when that base will actually end up with anything on it! The parts are all there but I've got to finish other things before I make a start. Being disciplined is really hard... The siege marine is a bad boy. Because of him I have been eyeing up the Forge World Boarding upgrade and Chainaxes as well as the MKIV Ironclad and appropriate Siege armaments. It;s a good job the government owes me hundreds of pounds because with those new Apothecary models I's not sure I'll be able to hold off on making an order.

Ha, that bunch of bases is badass! You need to do a tutorial on how you do these and post it in the tut section!

Also, I like the cloth on the scout and the the new siege marine. Good jobs!

You overwhelm me with your flattery Mr. Merlin. I've decided I will do just that.

To anyone else who views this log at the moment I apologise for all the pictures vanishing. I had no idea about the photobucket bandwidth limit. I'm going to look into some alternatives to get this up and running again quickly.

I'm still here people. Life's starting to get a bit busier after a couple of fairly slow months so my updates might get a bit less frequent from here on out. Order of business:

1. The great basing project - it's stalled again. The mold release was being particularly stubborn on some of the bases I bought which slowed me down a bit and then the restock of my greys is taking forever to arrive so progress on this front has been limited.

2. Chaplain #2 - Now although the absence of adequate quantities of grey paint means my Scouts and my bases can't continue just yet it does mean I can crack on with some of the many things I have lying around primed but otherwise untouched. Enter Mr. Angry's non-plasma armed brother in arms:


He's still very much WIP but I thought I'd made significant enough progress on some areas to share it. His skull face and the shoulderpad are my favourite part sof the model thus far. He won't stay one armed forever, but he wont be getting that horrible powerfist arm that he comes with. At the moment he's set to get a bolt pistol; after all, one of the Second Company's Chaplains needs to have a gun that won't jeopardise his health.

His pack isn't WIP though (unless you count the little hole I need to cover up with something after misjudging how quickly the drill was going through metal...)



3. Dreadnought - because you can never have too many competing projects I decided it would be a brilliant idea to make a start on the dreadnought. At first I thought I'd just do these two items as they were similar to some of the things I was doing with the Chaplain

However, that soon turned into an entire arm (which took a surprisingly long time to paint!).

The black still needs highlighting and the swords on the two angels require a bit more attention, but they're basically done.

4. I kind of finished off the siege marine too and made a bit more progress with the Sternguard (one day I'll stop adding bits and pieces to them...) but there's not enough change for photos of them.

5. Tutorial! Upon Mr. Merlin's recommendation and requests elsewhere I have created a tutorial on my urban bases for those whom it interests: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/448429.page

That's all for now. C & C as always.

It's that time again: update!

It's been a pretty good two weeks for getting things done. I'm trying really hard to rein in my ebay trawling (the voice in my head has started screaming 'you have enough!' at a deafening volume) and not start painting new things. To that end that Chaplain I started by accident has been done. Honestly, I think he's the best thing I've ever painted and I'm so pleased with how he turned out. I also got back to my ongoing Scout project, made serious headway with the bases and finished off a few models that have been waiting for minor details to be done. That last part means that my Sternguard are actually finished! Or they were until I noticed the cimson tear drops on some of their shoulder pads looked a bit naff... so they are back to being almost finished. Still, there's nothing like pursuing perfection, eh?

1. The Chaplain
Well this guy feels like something of a triumph for me. I didn't have to tidy up too many of the highlights, used a metallic that wasn't either Boltgun Metal or Tin Bitz, tried my hand at a jewel, took a different approach to bone effects so that they were more distinct from parchment and so on. The results?





I don't think it's going too far to say he's my new benchmark in terms of what I'm capable of.

2. Slightly less radical but important for staying with things and finishing them off are these scout legs. They're all done as are some heads so once I get the torsos and guns done I can finally tick the six man squad of my list (until I acquire/construct a Telion counts as and up the squad to ten).


3. The bases, oh the bases. Here is a pile of what I've gotten through. I used about ten or so before I had the idea of taking a group photo so mentally insert those to the picture to try and understand how mind numbing my painting sessions have been at times this week.


The details have been pretty fun to paint and here are some shots to show the level of detail on these bases, but the various layers of grey are not entertaining when that's all you do for four days straight.




I still have these to do as well, though I might need to take a little break from bases before I tackle them.


4. This guy had to make way in the melta squad for the second melta marine so he's been shunted into the plasma squad. For his inconvenience he got a shiny new crusader helmet, a slight repositioning and some highlights.


This fellow you've already seen a sneak preview of but here he is in all his glory; the Sternguard Apothecary Novitiate (because special forces guys tend to end up in situations where they need some running repairs done).




I'm not sure what the blue stuff is, but I assume marines run on more than just blood, besides, it would have been boring to do two sets of red vials.

Then there's this guy, tasked with carrying around the squad's ammo. He doesn't have a scope because his chin prevents it being placed where it goes on all the other bolters. I shall have to think of a way around this. But other than that he's done. He's actually a slight reworking and thorough repainting of an earlier model.





Group shot of the unit before I set about making all their insignia super pretty rather than slightly rubbish.


So, that was what I've been doing, hope it all meets with approval. Until next time my friends.

I really like the bone and cloth on the chaplain, well done.

Your bases look really good with some paint on them btw....

sockwithaticket wrote:Then there's this guy, tasked with carrying around the squad's ammo. He doesn't have a scope because his chin prevents it being placed where it goes on all the other bolters. I shall have to think of a way around this. But other than that he's done. He's actually a slight reworking and thorough repainting of an earlier model.

I actually discussed this on another forum in regards to my own project log Marines. My suggestion, and it's what I do to achieve the posings on my own models, is wrist re-posing. You can probably fix your scope issue by slicing off the hand at the wrist and rotating it a few degrees. Obviously would have been better before you had painted him, lol. You can probably do it behind the wrist ring, which will minimize the damage to your paint and be easiest to fix.

It's been a little while since I've checked in here, came down with a nasty bit of food poisoning last week so although I was confined to home for a bit doing anything other than lying in bed with a bucket was out of the question. I had an insomniatic spell over the weekend, though, so I've made a fair bit of progress with my Plasma assault squad and will promptly show it off. I finished off the last few bases too, but you're probably all fed up with photos of those by now and it barely seems worth it for the few I had left.

1. Sergeant-
For giggles I decided to magnetise this guy, it's the first time I've done it and it made me have to concentrate on what I was doing like never before. The issue of matching up polarity and making sure both sets of weapons consistent with the were novel considerations and the latter was certainly very challenging; there was much cutting, cursing and gap filling.. For maximum plasma and anti-CSM-ness his main load out is PP and PF, the alternative being BP and PW. He's still quite WIP, though his body, base and pistol arms are done.






Just to show that I bothered doing the Lense and the barrel (which will only happen in rare instances, I have far too much to paint and build without getting bogged down drilling a company's worth of barrels).


2. The wonder twins. Again with much cutting, cursing and gap feeling I have created my two plasma pistols wielders as sort of the mirror of each other and made them as MK. IV as possible with the bits I had lying around (only one pair of MK. IV arms unfortunately so they were shared).










3. Head Taker - I've mentioned before that the head of the last fallen enemy gets taken as a trophy by the Crimson Tears and I had this fancy pair of legs sitting around, it made sense that a particular marine would be allocated the task of taking the head as a sort of sacred rite and what better place for him than this squad?. With his pose I've made it look like he's having to respond to an attack after having finished the rite, clearly it was begun a little too hastily. This is my first proper attempt at blood/gore so some feedback would be appreciated.





Close up of the blood on the CSM helmet as you can;'t really see it in the other photos.




4. Wing face - I finished him. Not much else to say really.



Group shot of the squad so far:



So that was me, hope you enjoy.

Mr. Merlin - glad I can always rely on you for some positive feedback I am actually really happy with how the bases have turned out despite being from a few different companies I think they've all come out looking fairly uniform. I was worried about the bone and cloth for the Chaplain as I used new recipes for the first time, but I do think they've come out rather well and the bits on his shoulder pads are particular favourites of mine,

Veteran Sergeant - believe it or not the wrist was already reposed I just did it quite poorly, it was probably at some stupid hour of the morning when I was already sleep deprived (damn you, episodic insomnia!). I really don't want to break him so I may just move it further up the bolter to where I usually place it. Alternatively, he's an ammo runt who generally fires with one hand whilst on the move, no one is expecting him to hit anything so why bother with a scope? Cheers for dropping in with some advice , though. If I'm ever feeling less lazy than usual I will certainly bear that last tip in mind.

*Big sigh*
I've been trying very hard to finish units/individuals before I start new ones, but you know what they say about good intentions...

I have done a little bit more work on the Scout Squad and the Plasma Pistol Assault Squad, but not much because one small ebay win kick started a project I'd had booked for that indistinct date 'the future'; the project being an objective marker, more on that in a little bit.

As far as the Assault Squad goes all I've done is a bit of pad work, but you've seen my pads before so I didn't bother taking any pictures.

The Scout's are now more or less fully formed, they have torsos attached to their legs and one even has a head.


I did the cloaks in three different styles almost by accident and I'd like to see which method people think is best. I'm leaning towards the one on the right. Also I'm wondering whether it will be worthwhile adding a camo pattern to these cloaks? My first attempt is somewhere on page 2 of this thread I think and it looks ok, probably doesn't bear much greater scrutiny than a look from 12 inches away, but not much else. While I can freehand certain things relatively well I think really good camo is a little bit beyond me at this point and I don't want to spend the time doing something I won't be entirely happy with. If anyone thinks I'm being unduly harsh on my previous efforts/too lazy, do pipe up and give me what for.

Now then, the thing that's been taking up my time: an objective! Possibly because all the greys and whites I painted this week were getting a bit dull I went rooting through my box of 'future projects' that will bring the company up to full strength and I happened upon my obejectives bag. 45 marines and nothing to fight for? That can't be right. An objective was due! Here are the constituent images, I'll explain them further below:







Can you tell what it is yet? [/Rolf Harris mode]

Traitorous guardsmen are attempting to bring unholy hell to the city they are besieging by summoning demons of their chosen God, in this case Tzeentch, to run through the streets, leaving mayhem and bloodshed wherever they go. I chose Tzeentch for a few reasons: it presented me with an opportunity to paint a brighter colour than I'm used to, I don't particularly like Nurgle or Slaanesh and I already do too much red to be interested in doing something Khorne related. I've used the symbol of Chaos undivided as I imagine that to be a constituent part of summoning rituals, with the icon of Tzeenth and the actual words intoned determining (as far as possible) what pops out of the warp. I've tried to make the Chaos star a little untidy whilst still being recognisible so it looks like blood daubed on the floor. The whole thing is meant to look like an ad hoc shrine with all the skulls having been brought there and heaped for the purpose (can't take credit for that, the base is, as ever, a resin one, I've just added a couple of bits to make it look more like part of a ruined city.). I settled upon a blue horror rather than any other demon of Tzeentch as I actually have blue paints and because it is these guys' first summoning, they're hardly going to be calling a Lord of Change to battle!

So that brings started/ongoing projects up to 4 now with Scouts, Assault Squad, Dreadnought and this. Whoops.

Still, this one will be a welcome change. Thoughts everyone? (Anyone?)

Oh look, internet access! Didn't get much of that over the last few days..... been travelling around Skye.

How'd you do the cloth on the scouts? I like the loof of the third one, it has lots of depth. Is it drybrushed or layered?

Also, the base of that objetive marker is kick-ass. Your bases always look nice for some reason, kudos. However, I think the skulls are a little too yellowish. What color s did yuo use?

New update everyone, it's quite small as I'm currently combining a work experience placement with my job, but there has been progress.

I've done all the skulls on that objective base, which was a task and a half I tell you:



I also finally found room in my monthly hobby budget for these amazing parts.


They've enabled me to finish those servitors that I've had kicking around for a few months now bereft of a secondary tool/appendage due to some miscasting/my being clumsy with a penknife.Here they are, now able to cut into things as well as grab them.




Hey, Mr.Merlin; wow how did you cope? It's sad, but even when I go travelling I have to check into an internet cafe every 3 days and look up the news or something, otherwise I feel cut off from the world.

I started with a standard basecoat then one highlight job and gave them a pretty heavy black wash. The one on the left is just that, the one in the middle came out a bit darker anyway but I also put some matt varnish on because the wash had dried a bit shiny and the one on the right has been layered back up with the original highlight colour. I definitely think it looks the best out of all of them so I guess I'll just have to suck it up and take the time to get the other two looking like that.

Cheers for the words on the bases, I just dumb-lucked into a good way of doing them I guess. Yeah the skulls I had painted in that photo were just Army Painter Skeleton Bone, they were by no means finished, as you can see in the pictures above I have actually done more to them now. I washed the Skeleton Bone in GW Agrax Earthshade and then drybrushed a highlight of Vallejo Bone White which is lighter than the Skeleton Bone.

I really appreciate your continued feedback, by the way, it's good to get it from someone who consistently views what I'm doing.

Yeah, I think the skulls look much better now.

Where did you get these parts?? I could really use some of these myself! (they look neat on your sevitors btw.)

greetings from the tiny and rainy Portsoy, where they have only the slowest of internte access (took me a minute just to view my subd threads! )

Merlin

So this thing happened recently, 6th Edition, you guys might have noticed. This hasn't had a massive impact on me as, for the moment at least, I only collect. That said I do try and make sure what I'm collecting is game legal and at least reasonably effective on the table. I think the most obvious thing to come out of this is that my army needs an alternative HQ to the Chappies withtheir now AP 4 weapons and that all future power weapon choices for squads and characters will have to be considered carefully.

Now, I've been combining work experience placements with my job for the last couple of weeks so I've not done a lot of actual painting to be honest. That said I have begun the four remaining members of the plasma assault squad. They have legs



and their close quarters armaments



I also got around to finishing the primary weapon set of the sergeant and so my first powerfist with the new(ish) power weapon scheme. I was a bit unsure about it at first and it was a time consuming process, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result.





While I might not have gotten much painting done since the last update I've been doing a bit of modelling and, unusually for this log, I'm going to share some of my unpainted WIP's.
Firstly, here's a flamerback turret I've knocked up:



Not the most difficult kitbash in the world, but pretty effective I think. This should be destined for a future Command Squad or counts as Death Company transport in the future.

Secondly, my Chapter's counts as Tycho. I've been lurking on the BA part of this forum and the members there all seem quite excited by Tycho for 6th Ed., it made me think about the character and the place he might have in my force. Aeons ago I owned the Tycho miniature and he was one of my favourites. Alas, he's long been lost to the warp and I don't really want the stock model for my current force, I feel the Crimson Tears deserve their own equivalent.The buzz around him at the moment plus stumbling upon the perfect bit for Dead Man's Hand (FW Apothecary in Mk. 2 armour's chainsword arm, minus chainsword) made me want to give it a go. Obviously you can have normal, functioning Tycho or DC Tycho, but I want both so I've knocked the two up. Can you tell which is which?
1.


2.



Unfortunately, I only have the bits for one and I can't decide which to build until such time as I can get duplicates of the combi-melta and Dead Man's Fist, though I am leaning towards the DC version.

Quite a lot of waffling for so small an update, so I'll stop now. Over and out


Mr. Merlin - Excellent, the base colour is surprisingly yellow but it's amazing what a wash and a drybrush can do!

I got those bits from blight wheel miniatures http://blightwheelminiatures.jumpseller.com/ . They've got some cool stuff available, they're based in Monaco, though, so the shipping costs aren't great. Still they are great parts, really well cast and pretty much unique. I certainly haven't found any equivalent parts from other companies.

Ha, welcome to Britain where even in June/July (and probably August at this rate) we continue to enjoy endless rain and grey skies. It's also the land of rubbish internet if you stray from major towns and cities. The drop off in broadband speed is insane if you're even 20 miles away from one, that's if you can even get broadband, I know many areas are still on dial up!

Hope you're finding some enjoyment in this green and pleasant land (assuming you haven't moved on).

The British summer, it's fairly well known to be a synonym for rubbish weather and this year it's really gone all out . I can barely remember a day over the last few weeks where it hasn't rained incessantly. As such when I had a couple of days off this week, which I'd completely forgotten about, I was largely confined to quarters as it were. Still it's not all bad because my pile of primed and part painted plastic got some love, unfortunately this was largely at the expense of the Assault squad who simply got their helmets finished. On the plus side I gave the scouts some much needed attention, I fixed the cloaks of the three I last showed off so that they are more or less the same and I actually finished one entirely! Here he is:





It's worthwhile noting the lenses at this point. While I was doing his it occurred to me that I'd not done the lenses properly on the two other finished scouts nor on my Sternguard, so I sat down for a couple of hours to remedy this. Having done so I was ready to finally complete one of my three scout kill teams:






I imagine that the missile launcher guy is getting ready to pop an enemy transport while the other two keep watching the perimeter.

Oh and here are some Sternguard just to prove I did their lenses too (so many lenses, and I still need to do some on their heads :wallbash: , another unit I'll never finish it seems...)



The other major thing I did was make a start on my very first dreadnought. Even way back when I first started the hobby I never owned a dreadnought despite wanting to, so this is quite big deal to me. The base I did as part of the great basing project already, but everything else is new. I didn't know how much i was going to get done in my time off so I was taking pictures after every small milestone, hence why I'm starting with just the feet on the base:






This is what he should end up looking like, hopefully the pose gives some sense of motion. It's quite hard to not make dreads look static. I'm going to magnetise the arms as I've got enough alternatives lying around to turn him into an Ironclad, a Furioso or arm him with assault cannon and missile launcher. The purity seal looks like it could do with more of a wash too.



Lastly, after the fun I had knocking up a Tycho I thought I'd have a stab another character and settled upon Gabriel Seth. There's no real reason for him to have a death mask head other than I've got 5 of them and I think it's be cool if I gave them to all of my BA special character counts-as models.




Obviously he needs a ton of work but I think for a basic pose that'll do. His sword needs to be swapped for a chainblade thus giving me an excuse to buy the Kromlech Rippers, y'know after I pay for my holiday, car insurance, road tax, rent etc... I'd also like to draw attention to his wrist plate. I shaved that done from a storm bolter to cover up the mess I made hacking it off his arm. I had no idea how tricky that would be, in fact the next time my brain suggests something like that I'm just going to veto it. As a final remark, you wouldn't believe the amount of pinning wire running through those arms and the weapon, it's easily one of the fiddliest conversions I've ever done.

That's all from me this week. C&C at your leisure.

Why am I the only one commenting on these?

The scouts and the sternguard look good, what I like most about them are the lenses. Well done.

Also looking forward to seeing your Gabriel Seth model.

these look realy good

I have what I consider to be a pretty significant update this week.
1. I painted my first ever Dreadnought
2. I finally took some pictures of my finished Sternguard. Some of you will know how long these guys have been knocking about on my work desk so to finally get them on here in finished form is a big deal.

Before we get onto them, though, here's Dreadnought Uriel. I started him last week and I enjoyed painting him so much that I used every spare moment I could muster this week to work on him. I'm really pleased with how he came out, the only blemish being the magnets, but, given that drilling holes for them went drastically wrong, simply being stuck there over my repair work will simply have to do. Particular personal highlights for with this model are the power cables on the lascannon, the freehand tear on his sarcophagus icon and using a piece of etched brass for the first time:








Sternguard time! They've actually been finished for a little while now but my camera does not take group shots very well and I was too lazy to think of a way round this until now. I say they're finished, clearly they aren't highlighted like my more recent work and I will go back and do that at some point, however, I really want to get up to a half company of marines before I go on holiday late in August (incl. these guys and the WIP assault squad I have 40 + Chaplains and Techmarine). Anywho here's a group shot:



And here they are in pairs to get around the terrible group shot and show them all off:











Laden down with equipment, ready for anything, just like an elite fire-team should be.

Cheers for looking, all feedback appreciated.


Merlin - because you're awesome? Cheers, I'm pretty pleased with them. They indicate to me that I am progressing as a painter, which is gratifying in the extreme. I washed Seth's torso yesterday evening with a few other resin bits and pieces but I probably won't be able to prime him for a bit because it's now 25-30 degrees outside with fairly high humidity. This country! It was about 12 degrees and wet a week ago, which is also not good for priming, and now we have this It's probably for the best, though, it's not like I have a lack of things to be doing without chucking a character onto the painting pile.

elliot - cheers fella, always nice to see a new face on here with positive things to say.

Really nice work mate. Keep it up!!

Cool ideas that are really well implemented there mate.Two stand out points for me are the smooth whites(something i can never achieve properly)and the robes which rock.The pig iron heads look great for the scouts and the creativity is great.Keep it up mate.

The lenses and blue bits on the drednough look great, and the Crimson Tears color sheme works really well on him too!
However, while the black parts are very nicely highlighted, some of the other lolors lack definition.... your red and white seems to be only a single color each, without any shading or ighlighting, and the metal only got a wash. You really should highlight these parts (well, not the white; how'd you highlight that anyway? ) The dred would look even better then!
As for the Sternguard; loving the dynamic poses and clean paintjobs, well done. The reds here could also use a highlight though, and please drill your barrels .... it really adds to the realism of the models!
Bases are looking as good as always!

Already waiting for the next updates, mate! And could you give us some shots of the whole army? Would be awesome!

Hey everyone I've gotten a bit more done on two of my projects, how exciting. Been a bit more pushed for hobby time this week as with my car insurance coming up and a whole bunch of people quitting at work I've been taking advantage of the opportunity to work some extra hours and keep myself flush. That said the scouts are now so far along that they may have to relinquish their title as permanent desk ornaments (and the objective may take it up, though I did paint a whole arm of the blue horror). Once I get the original scout up to current standards I'll have game legal squad to post. Until that happens, here they are out of their natural environment of city ruins.



The other thing I did was get these guys to 90% completion. Pads and the appropriate freehand are all that's required for them now and one that happens I'll have 43 finished marines plus 6 scouts. That half company is getting so close I can almost taste it. Before that though they must strut on the cat walk:

I tried for a "come at me bro'" pose with this guy who cares not for shooting enemies of the Emperor, I'm not sure it's quite gone that way but he's pinned now so it'll have to do.


This pose was looking a bit awkward 'til I stuck the tiny shield on, now, at least, I can pretend he's saying something like "go on, hit the target and see what you win. *Chainsword to the face*"


En garde! Ever seen someone fence with a chain blade? Me neither, but I imagine someone in the 41st Millenium has given it a try


"Oh no, I appear to have fallen on you chainsword first, terribly sorry" Dynamic posing with static legs is hard.


Group shot:


That's it for this time, thanks for looking. C&C if you want.


THE3FALL3N - thank you, I certainly intend to.

shingouki - Cheers, mate. I tell you, Ceramite White is a godsend. It's no good on it's own and it does take 3-5 thin coats but as a base to put another white over it is spectacular. Glad you approve the modelling side of what I'm doing too, I know marine armies can look very samey so I'm trying my best to do interesting things with mine.

Merlin - Damn it man, stop pushing me to do better, it's very time consuming! I agree that the red should be highlighted and that I'd have no idea how to highlight the white, but I really like the dull, smokey look the metals get from a simple black wash so I'm not sure I'll change that for the most part, though I will look into how to highlight gold/bronze for the crux..
Most of those Sternguard are actually quite old now, I think I built them all before I owned a drill I'll go back and do them, you'll note that the scouts had their barrels done Glad for recognition of the posing, it took me long enough to get i tall done.
Speaking of highlighting red how does this look?

It's quite subtle, but I like it. Importantly it's a paint straight out of the pot which will guarantee consistency for the future.
I think I'll do an army shot when I get to the half company, if you can wait that long

Really liking what I'm seeing!

Nice and clean paintjobs as always, sock. The red highlights are looking good!