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Agreed with all your comments on the cockpit, but hey, turned out good in the end

Lovely distinctive scheme, a squadron of those would look very nice

Very nice work! The reversed wings are a fantastic look and your nose turret works a hell of a lot better than mine did

Regarding the wing gear mounts, could you drill some holes and use them as chaff/flare dispensers?

Love the valkyrie. Do you plan on adding weathering and what-not? Or is it fresh out of the forge?

Love the blue angel tribute on schem.Love it, awsome work man subed.

The model has some light weathering, silvered the edges. I'm not sure if I want to put more on there, I really dislike the massivedly chipped paint jobs. BUT, since I used a dark blue, it is hard to show re-entry streaks from orbit.

I may dirty the landing gear and bottom up a bit, show dust-offs and landings.

Good idea on the chaff pods, I'll see what I can do with those boxes.

Thanks for the kind words.

My Col.Gravis Brand Praetorian Rough Riders have arrived.

AND THEY ARE AWESOME.

Oh boy! Let me see!

Ohh, you big tease you.....

Got started on my Pretorians. I have the bits coming in to make 30 of the lads. I had a full set of 30, plus two mounted Commissars, ages ago. One of the Sgts was even on a Pegasus. Heh. Anyways, I sol doff two sets, kept one for sentimental reasons. Now, I'm goign to build back up to 30. I know the Rough Riders meta is units of 5, but I still want 3x10, because I can.

Have to order heads from Secret Weapon, and horses from some bitz place. Cheapest I've found the Empire Outrider horses is $2.00 each. So, that'll be another $60 (heads and horses). Sigh. With the money I'm spending on this project, I could have put down legions of Battlemechs, scores of Warmachine Jacks, etc. etc.

Oh well. Col. Gravis' Pretorians are so very pretty, and I'll have a set of very unique units.

ONWARDS!

Here's my old Prets in a bath of simple green, and the first stripping pass.





--------

So, now, I'm pondering what to do with my army. While I LOVE Pretorian Red and Black, my army...it is blue. Col. Gravid did winders with blue and white, but I'm not sure what to do, really. I've always had, in the fluff, that there was a group of dignitaries on this ship, sent to announce the reclamation of the planet for Ryza and the AdMech, etc. etc. But, do I theme the group with my army, or go pure Pret red? I'm just not sure. And there's other colors, as well! I could do purple! I could do black! I could do Snot Green!

Any thoughts? FEEDBACK, people. I need feedback.

--B.

PS: I started a Catalyst Game Labs plog, which will be filled with Battletech, Shadowrun, and Leviathans, HERE: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/392895.page

Have it be two half-strength companies that were forced to merge together.

Love the extended hull...helps hide the goofy proportions of the main gun a little bit.

I am really loving the Blue Angels valk. Great stuff.

Well if the dignitary group have representatives from the AdMech, then red makes sense for them. But then I feel that normal cavalry aren't very evocative of the AdMech. Did you have any plans for the actual composition of the dignitaries? Would they have rough riders?

I am agasp at the awesomeness of your conversions. Keep up the GREAT work.

monkeytroll wrote:Well if the dignitary group have representatives from the AdMech, then red makes sense for them. But then I feel that normal cavalry aren't very evocative of the AdMech. Did you have any plans for the actual composition of the dignitaries? Would they have rough riders?

I was thinking more of parade ground riders, normal IG. "We dedicate this planet to the Emprah blah blah blah." <Marching Horses>.

Meant to put on a show, have some Valkyries fly over head, and leave for the next showing. In between, they polish their shoes.

--B.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words.

Life's been hella hectic, but I managed toget my original Pretorians stripped and cleaned up, for the salvage/rebuild.



I ditched my original multi-melta rider in favor of incorporating my mounted commissar as the unit's leader/stand-in for the Rough Rider Special Character.

On, Wildfire! On!

--Brian


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Okay, here's a couple of shots of the Color Scheme, based on the 17th Lancers. This is using my older, kitbashed Pretorians, which got stripped down, etc. So, no, this is no Golden Demon entry. Just an idea of what they'll look like. Col. Gravis' Pretorian Riders are going to be a LOT of fun to paint in this scheme, and I'm actually looking forward to painting. No, the horse is not painted yet.

Blue: Necron Abyss, Midnight Blue.
White: Codex Grey, Skull White, watered down Black Ink, Skull White.
Flesh: Bronzed Flesh, Flesh Wash, Bronzed Flesh. Chin strap is Vermin Brown.
Boots: Chaos Black, Dwarf Bronze.
Lance: Scorched Brown, Dwarf Bronze, Flesh Wash.





I also formatted 30+ hard drives, and did some cleaning/organizing in the basement.

--Brian

Test scheme looks good, sure the bunch of them will look great finished.

And I'm assuming you were supposed to format those drives

Progress is my Middle Name!

Well, one of them. The first one is "Slow".



Anyone know where I can find a good, non-airbrush, tutorial on painting horses?

Thanks!

--Brian

They're looking nifty Brian, though I'd be lieing if I did'nt say I was looking forward to seeing what you do with the new ones

Wooooo! Another good night of painting, got the horses primed, washed, brought back up to neutral, and then some highlights thrown in, as well as the initial black coat on all the tack and harness.

Here's a shot of all the riders and horses. Began touching up the "Commissar" as well.



And here's a closeup of a mostly done horse and his finished rider.



Hooray, PROGRESS!

Thanks to Kanluwen, Manchu for pointing me to GW's horse tutorial, and Empchild for some valuable advice!

--Brian

Briancj wrote: Began touching up the "Commissar" as well.

That's never going to end well.


Sorry....tried to resist...temptation far too strong.

Looking rather fetching so far.

When I think about yoooouuuuu, I touch my "Commissar"! Whoa-oh-oh! Der Commissar's in town, wha-oh-oh!

Etc.

Miss me? No? Oh well.

So, I pushed to finish the Lancers last night. The camera, as always, shows you just how awful of a painter I am, and everything I've missed. But they satisfy my three foot rule for tabletop quality, and I'm okay with that. the snow is a mix of 2:1 white glue:water, with Woodland Scenics 'snow' flock mixed in. This produces one of those cornstarch-and-water-like non-Newtonian liquids, which is then brushed on to a textured base.

Onto the horror show.












Horse butts are inherently funny. Yes, I know that this is not a legal weapons load out for a unit of Rough Riders.

--Brian

So, apart from doing some touchups on things, I'm not going to do any major project work on my army for a bit, and turn my attention to some very portable, but characterful, gaming tables. Secret Weapon heads and some horse bitz for the remaining Pretorians will be ordered next weekend!

Instead, let's look at some fluff. Back on page one, we saw a timeline for the system. Now, let's take a look at the system itself...

Cygnus Solarii System
[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/A]
[Segmentum Tempestus, Redactus Sector]

Accurate as of: 1/997999.M41

Cross-Reference: Gryphonne, Gryphonne IV, Tyranids, Biel-Tan, Knights Gryphonne, Chaos Worlds, Hive Fleet Leviathan, Adeptus Mechanicus

Military & Governance:
Imperial Fleet Presence: Minimal
Closest Marine Chapter: Knights Gryphonne
Prefix Inquisitorial: Unstable
Estimated Warp from Terra: 79 Months



CS I – (pre-heresy “Mons Copia”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/a]
[delta-tau class Death World]
Population: 0 (abandoned)

Military & Governance:
Aestimare (Value): F021
Governor’s Capital: None
Planetary Garrisons: None
Imperial Garrison Strength: None
Garrison Standard Draft: None

Production:
Tithe Grade: Aptus Non
Exports: None (Known Promethium Deposits)

Summary:
Formerly a large Promethium Mining Complex, this planet was abandoned during the Warp Storms that ravaged the system.



CS II – (pre-heresy “Morbus”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/b]
[delta class Dead World]
Population: 0

Military & Governance:
Aestimare (Value): Z000
Governor’s Capital: None
Planetary Garrisons: None
Imperial Garrison Strength: None
Garrison Standard Draft: None

Production:
Tithe Grade: Aptus Non
Exports: None

Summary:
Formerly wreathed in a toxic atmosphere, this world is now a barren, lifeless rock, stripped of 80% of its gasses by the Warp Storms. Recent signals have been detected, which may be of Necrontyr origin.



CS III – (pre-heresy “Basilica Est”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/c]
[Destroyed]

Summary:
This Hive World was destroyed when the planet exploded during the Warp Storms. The resultant asteroid field may have debris of value.



CS IV – “Requiem” (pre-heresy “Sempronia”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/d]
[delta-tau class Death World]
Population: 114,000 (estimated)

Military & Governance:
Aestimare (Value): A999
Governor’s Capital: Bastion Primus
Planetary Garrisons: 114th Gryphonne (remnants)
Imperial Garrison Strength: 25,000 (estimated)
Garrison Standard Draft: None

Production:
Tithe Grade: Aptus Non
Exports: None

Summary:
Requiem is an arctic/desert Death World which has been settled by refugees from Gryphonne IV. It is unknown as to the strength and size of the Imperial Contingent at this time. Ruins on the Planet are being explored for technology. Pre-Heresy survivors who have formed an “Imperial Cargo Cult” are being indoctrinated and trained as Conscripts for the Planetary Defense Forces. Some level of Adeptus Mechanicus is on-planet. The now-fleet-based space marines chapter Knights Gryphonne has dispatched units to the area.

Moons: Gladius, Spatha, Pilum.



CS V – (pre-heresy “Formositas”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/e]
[delta-gamma class Gas Giant]

Summary:
This planet’s ring structure appears to have been blown away by the Warp Storms. Navigation through this planet’s orbit is dangerous. No moons survived the Storms, it is unknown what happened to the 15 moons listed in the Imperial Archive for the system.



CS VI – “Limbo” (pre-heresy “Fomeus Prime”)

[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/f]
[delta-gamma class Gas Giant]

Summary:
A Gas Giant whose moons have been locked into a stable orbit around the massive ring structure. The moons and ring appear to be mimicking the symbol of Chaos, Undivided. No Chaos activity has been detected, but the moons require a greater investigation. Surveillance has been deployed by the Imperial Fleet.

Moons: Genialis, Abdomenus, Avarus, Animositas, Heresy, Crudesco, Dolus, Proditor



CS VII – (pre-heresy “Malus”)
[Imperial Reference: 947392784/sde/19.241.88.1/g]
[delta class Dead World]
Population: 0

Military & Governance:
Aestimare (Value): Z000
Governor’s Capital: None
Planetary Garrisons: None
Imperial Garrison Strength: None
Garrison Standard Draft: None

Production:
Tithe Grade: Aptus Non
Exports: None

Summary:
This is the furthest planet from the central sun, a barren, lifeless rock. A small Research facility was located here, according to the Imperial Archives, but it was found destroyed. An Adeptus Mechanicus survey team was unable to determine the cause of the facility’s destruction.

Hey, that's great fluff (especially the 8 'stable' moons)...

Where did you get those nice planetoid pics ?

Trolled the internet for various public astronomy images, then photoshopped them to my needs.

--B.

Hello hello there. I didn't know you had a blog......*looks at your sig*...wow that makes me sound dumb...

Nice Lancers. I'm a fan of anything on horseback, and they are not badly done at all. Let me get a pic of the first horse and rider mini I ever painted and that's what bad painting looks like. Seriously though I really like 'em, especially the white markings on the horses.

Kudos on the fluff too. I don't have the knowledge nor attention span for anything nearly that complex.

Thank you. In truth, the fluff above is a lift of a template for Imperial planets found on the internetz (older books had so much more low-level-detail information), which I then filled out for each planet.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sometimes I get an idea in my head, and it won't go away. I have to knock it out, or it'll derail everything.

Today, that resulted in this. An Earth Caste Tau Hammerhead. The goal was for the overall model to keep the same dimensions as an actual Hammerhead. But, the Burst Cannons are way, way off. No, the weapons are not magnetized, either!







Now, back to your regularly scheduled mostly IG plog.

Now that I like.

And horse butts aren't a legal load-out for rough riders? They're only allowed the front of panto-horses? These defense cuts are getting kinda silly now.

So, to the two of you who read my plog, I have two questions.

1) What colors should I paint my Tau Walker? Blue and grey/white are RIGHT OUT.

2) What should I do with the Stormlord/Shadowsword superheavy chassis that I got for free?

--Brian