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.

SO! A blog. First for me, besides that one involving a Thunderhawk that never quite made it from the planning stages to the third dimension (the printed plans look rather forlornly at me every time I move them, which is fairly often. One of these days...). Yes, I know, the main force of this tour will be the guys everyone either hates or loves, the men who like blue a bit too much, the Ultramarines! Now Kaesar, you may ask, why Ultramarines, the most used/ cliche force in the history of tabletop wargaming? Well, they were my first army, and I fell in love with that sea of blue. And what better company to support than the Second! Yes, I know, the most original work since Vanilla Ice. Yes, there will be some daemons, yes, there will be some corruption, but these will still be the stone faced stonewall Jacksons they always were, with the exception of a completely offcolour chapter master, Kaesar II, from which I derived my current identity.

Another of the ringers featured are the Imperial Guard, a (roughly) impenetrable bulwark of humanity, the last defense against the nasty denizens of the galaxy. There is, however, a twist. Instead of being led by the heroic, valiant captain or general who doesn't retreat even in the face of impending death, they will be led by a Rogue Trader, who has had some... rogue... trading... in his days, giving me a good background for having a Lord Inquisitor on my crowded desk, as well as some Tau from the An'ar'ka sept (Aren't I just the most original guy in the room? My sarcasm's off tonight, sue me). However! No pictures will be supplied of them right now, as I wasn't feeling very motivated to shoot them as well.

And, as for updates, they might turn out to be a bit... sketch... if you will, as I lead such an active, busy, and social life (these days, that's actually approaching a bit of truth, believe it or not). Come on, this is what I have to work with:

Anyway, just to show you proof I mean business, here's an overload of pictures showing my current Ultramarines force! With the other armies to come... some time... And no, I currently have no big group army shot, as I tried and couldn't get the right lighting, which is another thing you'll have to deal with here- weird lighting.Anyway, I believe some pics were promised...
Chapter Master Lord Kaesar II

Chaplain Essoses

Honour Guard (not yet completed)

Terminator Squad (to be refinished)

Terminator Sergeant ___, aka "the Kidder" (I haven't an idea how my originality has been on the overdrive so much today)

Sternguard Squad (beware: this squad is far from completion, and likely will for some time yet)

Sternguard Sergeant Demarkes (the most complete of my Sternguard so far- he just needs a suitable base)

Dreadnought Dissartes

First Squad, Second Company: "the First and Last," led by Sergeant Larkyses


Second Squad, Second Company, led by Sergeant Michael (because they're bad![ly painted])


Third Squad, Second Company: "the Knights of Eternity," led by Sergeant Septurnus

First Assault Squad, Second Company, led by Sergeant Alonius

Bolter Scout Squad, Tenth Company (no named leader or squad name for them until they do something more than die )

Sniper Scout Squad, Tenth Company (no leader for them until Telion and completion)


Motor Pool

Tank Sergeant Chronus (to be refinished as well, after looking at his mug more closely)

Land Raider "Steadfast" (real story behind its name)

Predator

Whirlwind (doubles over as one of the rhinos; guess which and you win!)

Rhino 1 "Purty Stonewall"

Rhino 2 "Untested"

Land Speeder (yes, those are kill fins)

Land Speeder Typhoon


Well, that's all the basic pictures for now (more can come showing individuals, freehand, markings, etc. when the time comes) and more will, hopefully sooner rather than later, be coming in, courtesy of yours truly and my newest piece of high tech, a Droid that takes better pictures than my dusty camera (And I beseech the Omnissiah to have mercy on my blasphemy against one of your sacred gifts to Man, etc. etc.). Comment if you are so inclined, and, as per usual, leave all the holding back of criticism and give me as full a torrent as I need until I get better, which will certainly take quite a bit of work. Until next time, this is the ever listening, ever watching Lord Kaesar II.

And now for another exciting and fast paced installment of this pictorial blog etc. etc.! Thanks to everybody for your critiques and comments (i.e. nobody)
I still haven't got my Imperial Guard pictured, or else I would have posted that. However, I do have some progress. Though you know nothing of this yet, force markings have been applied to all of my current under construction squad of Imperials (a rather complex design, I may add- olive wreaths surround a skull) and numbers are presently being changed to reflect the new personnel placement.
Additionally, in a spontaneous decision, I have freehand inscribed Sergeant Demarkes' name onto his shoulder label, a feat I am proud to say I accomplished, with such little space. Certainly some cleaning up and possible fixing will be in order, but that can be saved for later. Now, for the first real update!

As always, feel free to leave any comments, criticisms, or anything else you care to leave behind, minus of course a burning bag of grox gak. I should have my second installment "The Imperial Guard" up shortly enough, after which I will eventually be posting "the Xenos, the Daemons, and the Ordos" whenever it suits me. Tune in next time, same blue channel, different blue time.

They look a bit lumpy, maybe it's the greenstuff but I think it is because you need to thin your paint a bit more.

I'm digging the bone areas on some of the helmets

yeah man... a few layers of this paint to build up a solid colour is better then one thick layer to try and get coverage... keep at it though man... the army is coming together very nicely

Well... how many months has it been? Regardless, I'm back, for a time being. And yes, my paint has, at times, been rather thick. It's all part of a learning curve, which I will illustrate sometime when I have the day light to better show my endeavours. Today I bring you some newest works, as well as some done a while ago but not pictured. Newest work courtesy of girlfriend being out of town for the weekend and no big parties to keep me otherwise entertained, of course.

First: the better prototype for some darker, grittier Ultramarines


Drunk Squat (will count as regimental standard for Imperials- boost morale one way or another)


Sister Seraphim (second, more heavily armoured version)


Now here's where it gets interesting- the stuff I've been working on this weekend

First off, a Creed with minor changes to instead be a commissar (camera doesn't quite capture it, but in place of his left hip pistol is a holstered book). I was looking at him, wondering how he would fit into any real application (will have a Creed in a footsloggers force but will be using the twin pistoled Empire duelist to fit with the army's theme), and then I thought "Hey! A useless sword and a trench coat? How about a commissar?" And so with that, I set out to change his coat's colour, change his second pistol out, and give his facial scar a little work. It doesn't quite show up too well here, but it's more defined on him than previously.


Next is some experimentation I've been doing in the lines of OSL in an interesting way- on the robes of the components for my (to be completed) psyker battle squad! I was giving them purple robes, but, while visualizing various psychic attacks (who doesn't do that sort of thing?) I wondered, "Wouldn't it be easy and cool to show the power through their robes, as though channeling psychic energy caused some change in the colour of those robes? Let's call it psycho-sensing or something like that." And there it was, and here it is:


Now, a couple of months ago I started to get really into army list building, seeing about making some potentially viable builds. Lately, I've been back at it again, with one list (seen here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/403431.page) detailing a footslogging Imperial guard (still looking at the logistics of acquiring the parts for it), another giving me a good idea of what to do to finish my mech IG (with work underway right now to magnetize the sponsons on my LRBT, build that dusty chimera, and turn a basilisk into a griffon), and the most vital, a Space Marines build that looks good on paper and uses most of my standard scale Ultramarines. Getting to the point: for this SM list, I've dusted off a chaplain and rebuilt a cut off arm as well as adding a new, storm bolter arm, complete with start at changing a SW bracer into a Tyranid one.


Next is a Necron Destroyer Lord I got off eBay, as well as ~12 Necron warriors. This would be cut and dry, were it not for the lack of arms on him. So, I've been building a left arm with the option for a warscythe or staff of light, using magnets to switch them out. And a resurrection orb will be involved too, of course. Sure the new Necron codex may make him a useless build, but it's not as though I was looking for much use from him anyway.


Now, one of my more favoured creations: the next true scale marine, holding a bolter in his hands. He's been very work intensive, due to my realism-based building method (his right arm was cut into 3 parts to completely rebuild/ reposition, while his left comes from a SW arm cut at the shoulder and a Tact. hand, as well as a chest plate that's rather intricate but may lose visibility), as well as very time intensive, but that's just due to my nature to let things dust until I turn spontaneous mode on. So, here's a nice and poorly shown fruit of my labours, who'll be the first in my first tactical squad for the red company (third company, following the designation of my still WIP ts Chaplain).


And last but most certainly not least, a picture which may aid more in teasing than anything. In Cadian Blood, an IG based book by Aaron Dempski-Bowden, the captain of a Raven Guard chapter, while seeing the Imperial Captain (or colonel, it's been a while since I read the book) dons civilian clothes and presents a manner with a grace quite unlike what would be assumed of killing machines. Anyhow, this got me thinking: it'd be cool to have a true scaled space marine in a suit, looking rather clean and well mannered. So, making some measurements by eye throughout the process of sketching, bit-finding, and laying the first spot of green stuff, I present you with Sergeant Striker (his PA form is intended to find use as Straken as well as SM sergeant).


Edits to the first post made for the convenience of everyone, as I'm sure very few people want such an explosion of pictures an excited collector like myself puts into the mandatory first post.