Hey Dakka! Welcome to my first project blog, my not quite named Imperial Guard Vostroyan Regiment! They have yet to see battle, but that's why we create project blogs, so that projects won't loose steam. Below you will see some of my first experiments with GS, conversions both successful and WIP, and my attempts at painting models before moving onto the next conversion. I'd like to try out some more ambitious vehicle conversions with plasicard and such, so keep an eye out.
Anyway, this is where we stand.
Here is my first squad of troopers. About 95% painted. I have another squad on the way.
Here are the vehicles thus far (minus the WIPLR below and another Sentinel).
Oddly enough, this was the first thing I painted for my Vostroyan Army. Probably not the most useful, but I couldn't resist I'm thinking about naming her The Grey Lady, patron Saint of the Vostroyans. Thoughts?
My ministorum priest with eviscerator. A pretty simple conversion, but I like the way it turned out. Working on the paint...
One of my first conversions. Not sure what role he will play in the army yet. Paint is WIP.
Here is a trooper that I converted from the sniper model. Hopefully I'll have some more snipers made from the bits to show you soon.
Here is a missle launcher heavy weapon team. I must say, I'm pretty proud of this one.
Here is a WIP conversion for a Vostroyan Harker. I'm in the process of trying to bulk him out without loosing all of the Vostroyany goodness under my gs attempts. Not really happy with it so far. Any good ideas?
WIP Command Leman Russ.
WIP Tank Commander. I guess he could go in either the Grey Lady or the LR command tank. We'll see. I think I'll scrap the chainmail on the front. It didn't turn out so hot. I think the chain on the back looks better.
I'm working on some coversion for Snipers, Rough Riders, and Ogryns. More on that later.
So, there they are. CC most certainly welcome.
Cheers,
Rawson
P.S. A big "Thank You" to Luther for helping me figure out the picture problems
Yeah, I had noticed that (see amended post) but I'm still not sure what the problem is. Any helpful hints on adding the pics to the post? They uploaded to the gallery fine. My programming sucks, but the instructions in the post reply dialogue seemed simple enough. Click on image, copy the URL to your gallery pic that you want, hit Alt+p to close the image. Did I miss something there? Is there a Dakka technical support hotline I can call
Excellent, to my mind, gs work on the hats. I am planning to give one or two of the scouts i am working on similar hats, but your skills have proper demoralised me now :-) Did you use a tutorial to help you or are you just naturally good at gs-ing?
Axlbush wrote:Excellent, to my mind, gs work on the hats. I am planning to give one or two of the scouts i am working on similar hats, but your skills have proper demoralised me now :-) Did you use a tutorial to help you or are you just naturally good at gs-ing?
Thanks for the compliment. Small, irregular shapes are my gs speciality. Anything smooth, regular, or easliy recognisable is usually beyond me. What chapter are your scouts for? I was having problems picturing Blood Angels or Ultramarines with furry hats (I'm sure there is an actual name for said big furry hats, but it escapes me).
I started trying to do fur on my space wolves, so the big furry hat is a natural next step I use a pointy exacto blade, the sharp edge/point makes it easy to control the small shapes you're trying to make with the fur. Here is a basic tutorial:
1) Make a small V shape, pushing in and up a little from the sides
2) Repeat step 1 several thousand times
Snarky wrote:Loving the Baneblade tank commander to Vostroyan. The funky turret on your command russ is also a nice touch!
Flying Pooo wrote:Nice army. The priest with eviscerator conversion looks sweet.
DarkStarSabre wrote:Vostroyan Creed is nothing short of awesome. Stout, stubborn and the stubble just adds more character!
CT GAMER wrote:Tank commander looks great.
steeds of war wrote:LIke tanky should use him as a pask in a leman. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! With all of the love that my tank captain is getting, I think I'll have to get back to work on him. I haven't really done anything on him in probably 5 months. I've been painting a pair of ogryns lately. Hopefully I'll have an update pic for you guys soon.
I've been working on the Ogryns for my Vostroyan Army. I was trying to find a way to tie them into the rest of the army without giving them moustaches and big furry hats. What do you think?
Well, I have one more ogryn to finish the squad (what do you guys think of the other two, btw?), and have three more Roughriders being shipped as we speak (more on the roughriders squad later). My next project after that is the Valkyrie for my vets. I'm pumped to get my hands on the Valk, it's such a cool model (and super effective in game). However, it totally clashes with the Vostroyan, low-tech feel, don't you think? I've come up with three options at this point:
1) Paint the Valkyrie up in standard Vostroyan colors and pretend that it fits with the rest of the army.
2) Paint up the Valkyrie as part of an attached, but non-Vostroyan unit that brings high-tech aerial support. This paint scheme would also include the guardsmen inside it think.
3) Try to convert the Valkyrie somehow with propellers and a more old-school canopy to fit in better. I'm not sure this is any better than option 1 for believablility, since the Valk has hovering capabilities, VTOL, and such. I'm also somewhat doubtful about my skills when it comes to that level of converting.
I'm leaning towards option 2, but what do you guys think? Any other options that I missed?
So here's what I worked last night. I had been thinking about the attached airborne unit (see above post) and have worked up some troopers for the veteran squad.
I play Vostroyans (obviously) but I had some standard guardsmen bits lying around from HWSs and such.
I wanted them to be armed with something other than the traditional lasgun, and this is what I came up with (though I want to give some credit to Axlbush for the inspiration ).
Trooper 1
Trooper 2
What do you guys think? Opinions about the attached airborne unit and ogryns above also wanted! Is anybody out there?
These guys are looking great. As for the attached Airborne and Ogryns; it's entirely possible from a fluff perspective. For the Airborne I'd suggest adding backpacks of some kind to make them stand out even more; then again I like my guard to look heavily laden... so I might be biased here.
I thought I'd show you all what I've been up to lately with my Vostroyan project. After the underwhelming response from Dakkites everywhere, I went with my personal preference on the Vendetta/Melta Vets squad. Hence was created the attached Airborne unit to my (now) mechanized Vostroyan army. Here's what I came up with:
Here is a group shot of the normal troopers. I liked the conversion that Axlbush did for his marine scouts, and came up with my own version. I'm working on some fluff as to why they'd be packing autoguns instead of lasguns. Something along the lines of "they are more stealthy than lasguns when coupled with flash suppressors and silencers" or something. I'm still working on the Vet sergeant.
endtransmission: Thanks for the comment! I think I'm going with the fast in, fast out, nothing but the essentials look for these guys. I'm trying to get as much contrast between them and the Vostroyans (who are usually pretty well kitted ). But I'm open to ideas, anyone else have an opinion?
Here are the first two of three meltas for the squad. I quite like how the melta conversions turned out (though trimming the bits off of the regular meltas was a pain). I still need to hunt down another flamer to do the last one.
I've been thinking furiously about a paint scheme for these guys. I was leaning towards something that would really contrast with the Vostroyan contingent, so maybe flat black armor over grey fatigues or something. Thoughts?
There are quite a number of lurkers out there, feel free to leave a post. Actually, I would love it if you would post, especially cc! I started this blog to help me finish a project for once
Well, today was the first day off I've had in a while (well, kind of a day off), so of course I was working on my plethora of 40k projects. I had Braveheart playing in the background, which is always inspiring I got a little painting done, but mostly modeling.
Roughriders aren't the most competitive unit in the game, but I think they are awesome! I've been working on converting some Attilans to Vostroyans. I'm waiting for the 5th rider from GW.
After all the love my tank commander was getting from people, I thought I'd give him a little work. I tried to salvage some of the gs that I had done before, but maybe I just need to redo the whole front. Otherwise, all I have left is to finish up the collar and maybe around the arms. His waist seems to be a bit slim now that his chest is all beefy from the chainmail. Does it need some gs? What do you guys think?
I also finished basing one of my heavy weapons teams. Ready for primer unless I get some good cc about it
Please leave some comments! There have been a lot of views and not a lot of posts so far. I would love to know what you think!
Cheers,
Rawson
P.S. I just won some Finecast Dark Eldar Mandrakes off Ebay for another Vostroyan conversion project. Keep an eye out!
for your Air born unit how about Grey cloth Red shoulders and lids and gloss black chest and back armour, simply so that more of my Fareldians are in the world
in all seriousness this guys look boss your GS skills depress me !
djphranq wrote:You've got some great conversion work! Keep it up!
Mr.Malevolent wrote:A man after my own heart. Love where your going and I must borrow that Priest idea it works so well with Vostroyans
Thanks, guys! It's nice to have some input from people who care about the hobby. My wife is supportive (at least in the fact that she puts up with me) but the occasional "uh huh"s and "That's nice, dear"s don't really do it for me.
I re-ordered the 5th roughrider today. GW sent the wrong one, so I have to wait another week before I get him.
Not sure how much painting or modeling I'll get done this weekend. I just got a text about a combat patrols tournament for tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.
First of all I'm sorry you only just started to get any real cc from the dakkites, they can be a hard bunch to get going and it can be disappointing when you get no comments (trust me I know ).
You're work is excellent and it's nice to see you converting models to add your own flavour to the vostroyans.
I really like the autoguns and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of that myself. So if it's OK I will steal that idea for future use Don't tell Axibrush just claim the credit
Good to see Rough riders making an appearance. They're massively underestimated in the game where many people rely on cookie cutter lists and not tactical ability. What will you mount them on? Cold ones or more traditional horses. I may have some chaos marauder horses if they'd be any use to you.
As for your tank commander.........I like the idea but I'd personally redo the GS on the front (not that it's not good for your first real attempt). Your best bet is to roll a flat-ish piece out and fix it in place where you want the chainmail. Now be brave and leave it alone for 20 odd minutes to start to harden. Take a large-ish pin or needle and dot in the holes for the mail as you did before, this will be tremendously dull and long winded but will result in nice rounded looking links (If that isn't what you're going for ignore this old man and his ramblings).
Its good to see fellow Vostroyan players out there i was begining to think i was the only one.
Your army is coming along well ill be keeping a close eye on your blog.
Consider your missile launcher idea stolen
Automatically Appended Next Post: Your priest is great ive been wanting to add a priest to my army as well ive just been discouraged because there terrible but from a fluff point of view there awsome.
Wat model did you use and wat conversions did you do???
Dances with Squats wrote:
You're work is excellent and it's nice to see you converting models to add your own flavour to the vostroyans.
I really like the autoguns and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of that myself. So if it's OK I will steal that idea for future use Don't tell Axibrush just claim the credit
Paranoia_Agent wrote:Its good to see fellow Vostroyan players out there i was begining to think i was the only one.
Your army is coming along well ill be keeping a close eye on your blog.
Consider your missile launcher idea stolen
Your priest is great ive been wanting to add a priest to my army as well ive just been discouraged because there terrible but from a fluff point of view there awsome.
Wat model did you use and wat conversions did you do???
Snarky wrote:The Ogryns hats look great, but I think they would look even better with a moustache!
Thanks, thanks, and thanks! I appreciate the input!
Moral lesson for the day: stealing is wrong
Feel free to steal, pilfer, and make off with anything that you like free of charge. I do, however, accept kudos.
Dances with Squats wrote:
Good to see Rough riders making an appearance. They're massively underestimated in the game where many people rely on cookie cutter lists and not tactical ability. What will you mount them on? Cold ones or more traditional horses. I may have some chaos marauder horses if they'd be any use to you.
Thanks for the offer! I picked up a box of Empire Pistoleers/Outriders and tried to convert them into Vostroyans. As you can probably guess from the presence of the converted Attilans, that didn't go so hot. However, now I have a bunch of tasty bits and some great horses to mount them on. The horses that come stock with the Attilans are several decades old and it readily obvious.
Dances with Squats wrote:
As for your tank commander.........I like the idea but I'd personally redo the GS on the front (not that it's not good for your first real attempt). Your best bet is to roll a flat-ish piece out and fix it in place where you want the chainmail. Now be brave and leave it alone for 20 odd minutes to start to harden. Take a large-ish pin or needle and dot in the holes for the mail as you did before, this will be tremendously dull and long winded but will result in nice rounded looking links (If that isn't what you're going for ignore this old man and his ramblings).
Yeah, I was thinking I would need to have another go at it. Thanks for the gs tip about letting it sit for a while before hand! I haven't tried that before and it sounds promising. The first try I used a pin, but it was a bit too sharp and created mixed results. Yesterday, I used a toothpick and it seemed to work better.
Paranoia_Agent wrote:
Your priest is great ive been wanting to add a priest to my army as well ive just been discouraged because there terrible but from a fluff point of view there awsome.
Wat model did you use and wat conversions did you do???
He is an Empire Warrior Priest with Great Weapon. The hammer head is removed and I used a spacewolves chainsword for the pointy end. A few other bits thrown on to make him more grimdark and presto! The hardest part was shaving off all of the Sigmar symbols
Thanks again, guys!
Cheers,
Rawson
P.S. Are my pictures broken for anyone else? They were working fine earlier, but now they are intermitantly failing.
Pics are fine for me mate. Was good to check back on this one. The army is building up very nicely. Still jealous of your hats. Rough riders are looking good
all joking aside i'm looking forward to your rough riders, i could do with some inspiration on what models i use for mine, im actually tempted by bretonnian lancers !
Looking good so far, though I can't help but notice that you're doing a lot of work on special units (Ogryns, Rough Riders, Air Cav), but only have one basic squad painted so far.....
Love the Vostroyans, Just started an IG army Myself only differance is im doin Catachan Air Assault. But love the use of gs made me rethink how i could use it. Oh i have some thoughts on your Valk, and how to turn it into a Vendetta.
Makes me wanna start my own p&m blog now. considered this subscribed.
oh one final thought on the ogryns...they either need slowed huge goatees or a big chin beard imho. think taht would look kinda cool. any way looking forward to your next post.
Sorry should have suggested a large relatively blunt needle not pins (find your wife's sewing box and 'liberate' one ....liberation - the acceptable face of theft) or try using the end of fine brass rod.
In this case if you're brave and let the GS harden a little it will produce much firmer and cleaner results. Also for future work consider getting some procreate putty as it does everything gs does and more; allowing you to make sharper, hard edges without the rounding off often generated by gs drying.
Axlbush wrote:Pics are fine for me mate. Was good to check back on this one. The army is building up very nicely. Still jealous of your hats. Rough riders are looking good
Thanks, man!
Fairfeldia wrote:I'm devastated by the lack of Fareldians !
all joking aside i'm looking forward to your rough riders, i could do with some inspiration on what models i use for mine, im actually tempted by bretonnian lancers !
Man, I love the Bretonnians, but the problem I had with the WF stuff was that I couldn't figure out how to make them Grimdark enough. I tried with empire Pistoleers/Outriders and it didn't end well (see above post
alabamaheretic wrote:Love the Vostroyans, Just started an IG army Myself only differance is im doin Catachan Air Assault. But love the use of gs made me rethink how i could use it. Oh i have some thoughts on your Valk, and how to turn it into a Vendetta.
Makes me wanna start my own p&m blog now. considered this subscribed.
oh one final thought on the ogryns...they either need slowed huge goatees or a big chin beard imho. think taht would look kinda cool. any way looking forward to your next post.
Well, I think the guys with paint are a little past the "add some more gs" stage, but I just got one that I've started work on. Maybe he will get a little moustache love. I had also thought about a ogre kingdoms head swap if I ever field a large unit, they have some pretty sweet facial hair. The points cost is a little steep (265 for 5 ogryns and a chimera) for a no power weapons unit. I'm kinda second guessing them in my 1500 pts "This is what I need to field an IG army" list. We shall see.
Thanks for the Vendetta ideas, I'll certainly check it out!
Dysartes wrote:Looking good so far, though I can't help but notice that you're doing a lot of work on special units (Ogryns, Rough Riders, Air Cav), but only have one basic squad painted so far.....
Yeah, you caught me. I've kinda been unintensionally avoiding more troops just because of their cost. I will need to get around to it at some point, surely. At least Melta Vets are a troop choice
Dances with Squats wrote:Sorry should have suggested a large relatively blunt needle not pins (find your wife's sewing box and 'liberate' one ....liberation - the acceptable face of theft) or try using the end of fine brass rod.
In this case if you're brave and let the GS harden a little it will produce much firmer and cleaner results. Also for future work consider getting some procreate putty as it does everything gs does and more; allowing you to make sharper, hard edges without the rounding off often generated by gs drying.
I've never tried procreate, but I've heard ramblings before. Never that it was better than GS, though! I might have to look into it.
Have a good weekend everyone! I'm hoping to get an update on here before Monday rolls around, and all the comments has got me motivated!
Alright, so I didn't get around to an update until Monday. My most sincere apologies
I didn't get a whole lot done, but here's what I've got.
I started working on the mounts for the roughriders. I didn't like how uniform the horses were, so I've been trying to mix and match with the legs and do some head angle adjustements.
Most came out okay. This one still needs some work. I like the head angle here, but I'm not really sure how to reconnect the reins. Any bright ideas?
I changed one of the lances a bit here with the shoulder from an Empire Knightly Orders lance. It turned out pretty good, imho, but the process severly weakened the lance itself. Which leads me to my next problem. The roughrider captain comes with his lance slung across his back. I would rather him be stabbing something with it, and I have some extra Knightly order lances, but my experience modifying the other lance makes me a bit leary. There are some other options. He comes with a chainsword and bolt pistol, which could both be easily updated. What do you guys think?
The army is looking great, but please give those Vets some more gear, any right minded soldier who's survived the galaxy's worst is going to have a little more than the others! Keep it up.
Fattimus_maximus wrote:The army is looking great, but please give those Vets some more gear, any right minded soldier who's survived the galaxy's worst is going to have a little more than the others! Keep it up.
Now a few people have said that. I'm seriously thinking about it now. I definately don't want them carrying huge packs: I'm invisioning them more in rapid insertion mission than weeks behind enemy lines with no chance of resupply. Maybe I can figure out how to add some webbing or some of the belt pouches...
Chainsword and bolt pistol, or maybe use the horse rearing up and have the captain stabing an ork or tyranid with the lance.
And i would defiantly go with more packs for the veteran squads or maybe make it look like most of there packs and ammo have been stored on top of there transport so they look like the mobile force your looking for.
In my opinion the Vostroyan models are all very well armed and equipped as they are, such as one of the standing models has 7 las packs across his back and belt not to mention grenades and a bayonet.
I feel like the back packs from the IGHWS sprue would look really good on those Airbourne vets, but its your army, so do whatever you think looks best.
Looks good i like the packs, you should also condier using the packs off the chimera sprue if you want them to look like foot sloggers. I think your vets that are airborne need rebreathers imo, the fw elysian heads come to mind again my opinion. at any rate still lookin good waiting to see more.
YoMomma wrote:It might just be because of my love for Vostroyans, but I'm diggin' 'em.
Thanks!
Kazerkinelite wrote:I feel like the back packs from the IGHWS sprue would look really good on those Airbourne vets, but its your army, so do whatever you think looks best.
The HWS backpacks are a bit oversized for the look I'm going for. I have a few, so I tried them out, but the size of them lead me to come up with another option. Thanks for the idea, though!
alabamaheretic wrote:Looks good i like the packs, you should also condier using the packs off the chimera sprue if you want them to look like foot sloggers. I think your vets that are airborne need rebreathers imo, the fw elysian heads come to mind again my opinion. at any rate still lookin good waiting to see more.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm leaving the footslogging up the the Vostroyans I really wish FW would release some IG head packs. I would love to put the Cadian Resperator heads on them, but you have to buy the whole torso and it's dang expensive!
Forgeworld does do the elysian heads just sayin. i think they look cool than the cadian heads any day of the week, i think they are like 12 GBP for twelve head. not too sure hant been to forgeworld in a week or so. Well i got some pilot heads from my Vendetta you could use those too.
alabamaheretic wrote:Forgeworld does do the elysian heads just sayin. i think they look cool than the cadian heads any day of the week, i think they are like 12 GBP for twelve head. not too sure hant been to forgeworld in a week or so. Well i got some pilot heads from my Vendetta you could use those too.
You know, I never really liked the Elysians very much, but I checked out Forgeworld again after you said that they sell the heads (and to see how much their Vendetta Conversion costs) and the Elysians with resperators look awesome! They are still a little spendy at ~$13 for a pack of heads, but that might just be what I need to make an interesting attached unit (as long as I don't make too many more )
no problem, the heads are pretty sweet. and damn the conversion kit i just got some LRLC and slapped them under the wings and called it a day. and snipped the tip off the sight of the lc i and slapped another barrell on the cockpit LC. any way, wheres the new WIPs at?
very nice work , you dont see many vostroyans , and your conversion work on them is first rate. liking the roughriders, i receantly did some napoleonic ones and i had the same problem with weaken lances, but after priming and painting they seemed a lot stronger.
neil101 wrote:very nice work , you dont see many vostroyans , and your conversion work on them is first rate. liking the roughriders, i receantly did some napoleonic ones and i had the same problem with weaken lances, but after priming and painting they seemed a lot stronger.
Thanks for the compliments, and especially the tip on the lances. That makes me feel a bit better that, after all of my hard work, the thing isn't going to fall apart
alabamaheretic wrote:no problem, the heads are pretty sweet. and damn the conversion kit i just got some LRLC and slapped them under the wings and called it a day. and snipped the tip off the sight of the lc i and slapped another barrell on the cockpit LC.
Yeah, I was kinda just price checking the vendetta kit (although what's the point with Forgeworld ). I am seriously thinking about ordering those heads. Now that it's the first of the month, that seems infinitely more possible than it did yesterday
alabamaheretic wrote: any way, wheres the new WIPs at?
Right here, buddy! Though I've been pretty busy at work, I have managed to sneak in a few games and work on the roughriders a bit.
I wanted to keep the original style of the chainsword, with the saber-style curved blade (is it still called a blade on a chainsword?) so I started working up a way to convert the normal IG chainsword that comes with the Cadians. I thought I would remove some of the blade (being careful to leave the chain intact) and carve some sprue to fit the curve I wanted. Then a little gs, and it's perfect, right? Not exactly.
Here's where I started...
The modified Cadian chainsword didn't turn out how I wanted, so I began working on converting the Attilan chainsword (which would also save me a step of attaching the sword to the hand of the roughrider). This is how it turned out. Thoughts? I'm not quite sure if it's done. Do I need to work on where the chain ends towards the hilt, or does it look okay as is?
I like the chainsword but I think it needs a little more work defiantly make it end closer to the hilt otherwise its looking great your army's really coming along.
Hope you get more time off work Dakka needs more updates!
Not too taken by vostroyans in general, but very nice work anyway. The Airborne guys are particularly tasty. However if they are running autoguns they need more magazines to hand The bakcpacks are a good start, but grenades and stuff... you know it makes sense
Regarding the RR reins, I think you will need to carve them away from the horse and replace with GS or equivalent. You could make a couple of flat sheets and trim even strips out of it?
I got a Vendetta! I got a Vendetta!
I know it's not a super big deal (and technically still a Valkyrie), like a titan or something, but I've been waiting a while for this bad boy! WIP in case you couldn't tell. And FYI, the cockpit glass is just sitting on for effect, not glued on before I painted or even included pilots
Paranoia_Agent wrote:I like the chainsword but I think it needs a little more work defiantly make it end closer to the hilt
I think I agree with you. Consider it on my list of things to do, which means it will probably be done by the year 40k.
Paranoia_Agent wrote:otherwise its looking great your army's really coming along.
Hope you get more time off work Dakka needs more updates!
Thank you! Here's an update now!
Flinty wrote:Not too taken by vostroyans in general, but very nice work anyway. The Airborne guys are particularly tasty. However if they are running autoguns they need more magazines to hand The bakcpacks are a good start, but grenades and stuff... you know it makes sense
I've been playing with some of the smaller pouches, trying to get a more "backpack" feel. I'll see what come of it...
Flinty wrote:Regarding the RR reins, I think you will need to carve them away from the horse and replace with GS or equivalent. You could make a couple of flat sheets and trim even strips out of it?
Thanks for the idea. I hadn't really thought of starting from scratch. That goes on the list right after more chain on the chainsword.
So, roughriders, melta vets, and everything else has been playing second fiddle to the Vendetta these last two days. Here's a pic if you missed the spoiler:
I had gone into the local GW to pick up the last of my roughriders squad, which I had to send back because they sent the wrong one, and it turns out that they sent the wrong one again! So while the local GW employee was on the phone trying to figure out why we keep getting blisters labeled RoughRider 2 and contain RoughRider 3, I'm meandering about the store and end up buying the super-sweet Valkyrie kit. I can think of worse ways to spend a Friday. On the upside, they gave me the mislabeled roughrider for free. I'm still trying to decide if I can subtract the value of the roughrider from the price I paid for the Valk in the budget, or if I have to claim it all...
This is what a free roughrider looks like Very similar to a "paid full price" roughrider, but what the hey...
With the Vendetta, I still have a few things to work out:
1) I'm planning on running it as a Vendetta, but do I want to go to the trouble of magnetizing everything so I can run it as a Valk if I want to?
2) Doors open or doors closed? I quite like the idea of doors open, melta vets chomping at the bit to leap out to deal death and destruction. I also like the idea of not having to paint the interior.
Spoiler:
Open?
Or Closed?
3) I need to learn how to paint OSL. I think it will be a bit easier in the cockpit because you only have to use one color, but I still don't really know what I'm doing.
4) Head choice. I could order the Elysian Drop Troop Heads w/ respirators from Forgeworld. They are pretty awesome (and it's my birthday soon! ), and it comes with 12, which would be perfect for my 10 man squad and 2 man flight crew. Or I could use the shock troop heads like are on them now and the Valk pilot heads for the flight crew, which would be easier and cheaper and less awesome.
Well you know my Opinion on it i think you should rock the Elysian heads. well i kinda accidently painted my doors shut soooo... but its up to you. i kinda through a funky camo pattern on my vendetta, i'd at least magnetize the wing guns so you can switch to Hellstrikes or the rocket pods cuase lcsimho are just the shi...well you get the picture. have you thought about plasticard for the reigns then put a bit of gs to make look a tad lthicker? just an odd thought for you. not digging the chain saber, looks "flimsy" to me but it works for your units you could try to gs a proper bend if you want or you can taqke the Attilian chainsword and make a mold for it. well hope work doesnt eat all of your dakka time again.
alabamaheretic wrote:Well you know my Opinion on it i think you should rock the Elysian heads.
Believe me, I'm seriously considering it.
alabamaheretic wrote:well i kinda accidently painted my doors shut soooo... but its up to you. i kinda through a funky camo pattern on my vendetta, i'd at least magnetize the wing guns so you can switch to Hellstrikes or the rocket pods cuase lcsimho are just the shi...well you get the picture.
I think I'm going to go for doors shut. In the pics in the previous post, it seems like a real dilemma, but when I put the tail booms on, you can't really see the doors past the wings anyway, so...
alabamaheretic wrote:have you thought about plasticard for the reigns then put a bit of gs to make look a tad lthicker? just an odd thought for you.
That was kind of what Flinty was suggesting also. I think I'll give that a try.
alabamaheretic wrote:not digging the chain saber, looks "flimsy" to me but it works for your units you could try to gs a proper bend if you want or you can taqke the Attilian chainsword and make a mold for it.
Are you talking about the cadian first attempt, or the attilan prototype? The pic of the Cadian chainsword was WIP, I carved a bit of sprue to curve the tip a bit, but I didn't even take a pic of that because it was so aweful. The Attilan chainsword is beefy compared to a standard Cadian chainsword.
alabamaheretic wrote:well hope work doesnt eat all of your dakka time again.
Well, Thursday I fly to London for 5 days. I am literally home for 6 hours on Monday before I fly to Stockholm for 5 more days. I wouldn't be expecting any updates during that time. I'll do my best to get one or two more up before I fly out.
Well, I've been working on the Vendetta and trying to answer the previous 4 questions. I think I've come to a few conclusions:
1) Magnetize it, baby! A few extra hours work and no chance of regrets.
2) Doors closed. You can't really see what's going on under the wings anyway.
3) Still need to learn how to paint OSL. I think I need to come up with a practice project first to try my hand. Any good suggestions?
4) I'm leaning towards the Elysian Respirator heads, but nothing's set in stone.
..and for the new question:
5) I've been contemplating switching the wings on the Vendetta. I think it looks sleeker, and I don't really like doing things stock, but I'm a little leary of chopping into it without getting some CC about it.
Here's what it could look like from the top (next to the standard construction)
iactually i kinda like the wings swept back looks really good in my iho. well i think i was talking about the one that came witht he rough rider the one on the right...i think. hope your trips went well! looking for more from ya.
Flying Pooo wrote:I really like your Vendetta conversion, great work!
Thanks! WIP, but we'll see where she ends up!
Blacksails wrote:Good looking stuff so far, not enough people who use the other IG lines. Subbed.
Also thanks!
alabamaheretic wrote:well i think i was talking about the one that came witht he rough rider the one on the right...i think. hope your trips went well! looking for more from ya.
Haha! Okay, well we'll see what you think when I get some more work done on it As for the trips, I leave in three days, but I think they will go well! Thanks for all of the comments!
Blacksails wrote:Personally, I'm a fan of the standard Valkyrie construction.
alabamaheretic wrote:i actually i kinda like the wings swept back looks really good in my imho.
The tally thus far: one for, one against. Any other voters?
Sorry for the absence, work trumps 40k unfortunatly.
I've been able to work a little bit since I got back. I'm waiting for lascannon bits from eBay before I can work on the Vendetta any more, but the roughriders need plenty of work, so...
I took your guys' advice and extended the chain on the roughrider chainsword. I can't decide if it needs more updating or if it looks okay as is. Thoughts?
While I was gone, I received a tasty package in the mail from eBay. Huzzah! Vostroyan reinforcements!
It came with the Commander, vox, and standard from the Vostroyan Command Squad, as well as an additional Sergeant and Trooper (minus the end of his lasgun for some reason). While I got them for a steal on eBay, they did not come with the baton hand of the commander, the sword for the standard bearer, or the vox caster for the vox man. The vox is easy, a standard one will do. The commander I'm still working out options for. I don't really like the bionic claw foot. I think I'll put a standard foot on the end of the bionics. I need to figure out something for his hand. I was thinking maybe the bolt pistol left over from the roughriders. The standard bearer is a little easier: I just need to find the right blade to put in his hand. Here are three that I have. Any thoughts on which would be the best?
I also think I'm going to gs away the tears in the standard and make it whole again. What do you guys think?
good stuff like the chain sword looks good as for the standard bearers sword i'd go for first or third one the first one just seems to feel right but i could also see the third one as a badge of honour for being the standard bearer but thats my take on the swords.
alabamaheretic wrote:good stuff like the chain sword looks good
Thanks, man! I'm hoping to get some priming done today on the roughriders. The chainsword is a go!
alabamaheretic wrote:as for the standard bearers sword i'd go for first or third one the first one just seems to feel right but i could also see the third one as a badge of honour for being the standard bearer but thats my take on the swords.
Fair enough, and I tend to agree. The dagger was a bit wimpy, I think. We'll see what happens
Today was a great day for warhammering; I got to spend quite a bit of time on it. I didn't get to work on the roughriders as I expected, because I ran into a little jam. The Empire Outrider horses that I am using have turned out to be a bit larger that the original roughrider horses. This makes things a bit more challenging when trying to get a good, dynamic pose for the arms. Not to mention that the saddles are different, which makes things even more difficult. So I put the roughriders aside and worked on some other projects.
First, after borrowing a 1mm drill bit from a friend, I drilled out all of the Airborne units' barrels. I'm calling this "What are you looking at?"
Next, I finished modeling some almost done stuff (HW team, sergeant with PF, and a converted trooper) and primed them. No pic of that, maybe once they have paint (hopefully tomorrow!).
I did quite a lot of conversion work today, starting with the standard bearer. This was my first attempt at pinning, and I think it went fine.
Paranoia_Agent wrote:I'd go with the third sword to the right.
Sorry, Paranoia. By the time I saw your comment, I had already gone a different way, but I appreciate the input. I was worried that the slender blade wouldn't pin well, as the 1mm bit would eat it all away
I haven't actually played a guard list so far, so I don't know if I'll run vox casters, but here is a little something I worked up. Sorry for the lack of focus, I didn't notice until all the pictures were already uploaded.
And here is what I'm most excited about: My WIP Commander!
He didn't come with the baton, but I didn't like it anyway. I've begun trimming the bionic foot, as I didn't like the claw thing that the apothicarium put there originally. I'll gs a more normal looking foot for the bionics. The hand is a spare from the Roughrider captain. I'm pretty excited about the way he's turning out! I might do a head swap, because I think he looks a bit pretentious, but maybe that's a good quality in a commander I guess we'll have to see. I still need to gs a pointy finger, but I'm a little stumped. I'm pretty sure a finger of gs won't stick on to the front of the fist, but I don't have a drill bit small enough to pin a finger. Any bright ideas?
good stuff all around! sorry to here about the troubles with the rough riders, I kinda like the COs but i'd like to see what you are swapping it for i thik one of the gasmask heads would be pretty cool. actually gs a pinger should be pretty easy let it hard some then stick it on if it falls off glue the damn thing Vox casters allow you to re roll orders if you fail to issue them not bad for 5 point insurance. Like the vox caster guy looks like hes calling in Artillery support. Drop troops look good did you go with the elysian heads? Stardard Bearer is gonna look boss when painted. Oh if you want or have the time i got a p and m that im working on if you wanna look at it its about my space marine but maybe you can find some inspiration. heres the link. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/381675.page
keep it up its starting to shape up soon you will have a IG army of crazy russains on your hands lol
SkaerKrow wrote:Top shelf work that you're doing here. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the compliment!
alabamaheretic wrote:good stuff all around! sorry to here about the troubles with the rough riders, I kinda like the COs but i'd like to see what you are swapping it for i thik one of the gasmask heads would be pretty cool. actually gs a pinger should be pretty easy let it hard some then stick it on if it falls off glue the damn thing Vox casters allow you to re roll orders if you fail to issue them not bad for 5 point insurance. Like the vox caster guy looks like hes calling in Artillery support. Drop troops look good did you go with the elysian heads? Stardard Bearer is gonna look boss when painted. Oh if you want or have the time i got a p and m that im working on if you wanna look at it its about my space marine but maybe you can find some inspiration. heres the link. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/381675.page
keep it up its starting to shape up soon you will have a IG army of crazy russains on your hands lol
Thanks for the compliments, 'Bama. I'm not sure what the new CO head would be, head swap is just an idea rattling around right now. I'll be doing some other gs work today (I hope) so I'll give the finger a try. Worst case senario isn't so bad I guess As for the elysians, we're in a bit of a budget crunch at the moment. Had a large and unexpected expense earlier this month, so no new toys for now. It's actually a good thing, I think. It makes me finsih the stuff I already have lying around!
Not too much work today, but enough for a post, I guess. A bit of gs work is good for the soul, or so they say...
Ogryn #3. I added a little chin music per all of the comments on the last two ogryn. A little facial hair to tie them into the Vostroyans, but not a droopy moustache. Thoughts?
Also the WIP Commander. I started working on the gs for his bionic foot: it's coming along, I guess. I tried to gs a pointy finger, but couldn't get it to stick at all. So I revisited the pinning idea. I decided to drill a 1mm hole and place a less than 1mm wire in it. That way, I can gs any details lost from the drilling and the finger isn't too big. So far so good!
Snarky wrote:The Ogryns hats look great, but I think they would look even better with a moustache!
I agree, your Ogryans need moustaches (but not on their hats!! sorry Snarky, couldn't resist taking your comment literally ) long, thin droopy moustaches that curl up at the end a la Raseem the Strong in the Arabian Knights (google it!).
Well, here I am again after the summer holiday. My most sincere apologies for the lack of updates (a whole month with no updates! ). Not that I haven't been doing any "warhammering" (as my wife calls it): I've been working a lot on my space wolves. They weren't very well painted or very well WYSIWYG. The wolf guard terminators were the most challenging: they don't give you many power weapons in that box. So, a lot of pinning and converting and scratch building later, at least the termies are WYSIWYG.
Now, on to the Vostroyans (or rather, their Airborne companions)
Looky what I got in the mail!
Thanks, Alabamaheritic for the prodding. I'm super excited about them! I've never worked with resin before, but from what I understand you have to wash them with soapy water first? Any other tips?
I also received these:
An internet cookie to the first person who can guess what I'll be working on this weekend
I hope to have some better updates later today or tomorrow. Thanks for looking!
Right on, to be honest rawson, i have only used resin once and i didnt even know about the washing it first maybe some of the other nice dakkaites can help you out with that. I think ill take my cookie cuase that looks like vendetta parts . Those heads look so good im excited for you.
The only resin tip i can offer is its best to use thin coats cuase the resin will soak up what ever paint you slap on it. Again that was my expiirc with it. reallys light and if you drop em they dont explode as easy so they are durable. Good luck and cant wait to see what comes out.
I've just picked up your blog and I must say it is really nice, especially your autogun conversions! I've been wanting to do some myself for years but never had a good enough idea, thank you!
from the little experience I have of working with resin, it's recommended that you were a face mask and glasses when removing the parts from their sprue as the dust is really bad for your health. There's more info on Forgeworld's website I believe. Enjoy )
Two updates in one day?!?!?! I'm making up for lost time!
butchyboy73 wrote:from the little experience I have of working with resin, it's recommended that you were a face mask and glasses when removing the parts from their sprue as the dust is really bad for your health. There's more info on Forgeworld's website I believe. Enjoy )
Thanks for the tip: I'll check out the Forgeworld site!
M'Kachen's Nemesis wrote:Looks like a Vendetta is on it's way...
I've just picked up your blog and I must say it is really nice, especially your autogun conversions! I've been wanting to do some myself for years but never had a good enough idea, thank you!
It is a Vendetta! And thanks for the compliments.
alabamaheretic wrote:Right on, to be honest rawson, i have only used resin once and i didnt even know about the washing it first maybe some of the other nice dakkaites can help you out with that. I think ill take my cookie cuase that looks like vendetta parts . Those heads look so good im excited for you.
The only resin tip i can offer is its best to use thin coats cuase the resin will soak up what ever paint you slap on it. Again that was my expiirc with it. reallys light and if you drop em they dont explode as easy so they are durable. Good luck and cant wait to see what comes out.
Thanks for cheering me on Here what has come out so far:
I'm trying to make them as sleek as possible. I don't really like the "Land Raider Sponsons Glued Under the Wings" look. Thoughts so far?
alabamaheretic wrote:need to see the "bottom" of it to give my full thoughts on it. BUT TWO UPDATES that is impressive. good luck with the work man keep it going strong.
What you see in the picture is the bottom (Notice that the lascannon barrels are upside down from standard). I haven't totally figured out the top yet, but it will be magnetized so I can run the Vendetta as a Valk if I want to.
Well, today is my day off, and thus resulted in lots of work on the IG army.
First off, I added the pilots and finished up most of the conversion work for the Vendetta wings. A little patching left to do.
I hope to get the weapons load out finished next.
I didn't really work on them today, but I've aquired some stuff for my heavy weapons squad.
As you can see, I'll be using the chassis from Empire Great Cannons for my heavy weapons. I think it fits in with the Vostroyans nicely.
I couldn't resist putting the new Elysian heads on the guys, so here they are:
I think I've figured out a backpack style that I like (thanks to everyone that gave input on that issue!)
It features a cut down tactical pouch for the top and the smaller pouches underneath. I have a bit of GSing to do, but you get the idea.
I'm currently working on a cut down vox for the voxman, so we'll see how that turns out.
Now, here's where I could use some CC. I'm still working on the sergeant, here's what I have so far:
I've got him one handing his autogun (like a veteran sergeant would ) but I need to figure out the left hand. I've come up with three options so far (but am open to more)
I would remove the bolt pistol hand and add the SM scout tactical sign language whatever hand. Cool idea, but the hand itself isn't super realistic looking, so minus a few points there.
The other two options (which is really two versions of the same option) is either an auspex or meltabomb in the off hand. It's a sergeant chainsword arm with a HWS hand on it.
Rogue Wolves wrote:hmm im thinkin maybie the scout hand but i would have to see it with the model to be sure
Fair enough. I'll see if I can give it a go tomorrow. I think I figured out what I dislike about the scout hand. If you make the same sign with your hand, you can see that your index finger is shorter than your middle finger. Also, your bent pinky knuckle is lower than your ring finger knuckle. The hand is too square, imho. Maybe a little trimming will make it better.
Well you can never go wrong with a chainsword, but since they are veterans i kinda like the giant melta bomb could be the demo charge for them...just a thought.
How about having that scout left hand against the side of his helmet as if pressing a vox bead that little bit closer to his ear to help him hear incoming messages a bit better above the noise of battle? I wouldn't encumber him with more weapons or melta bombs. Just a thought )
Brotheralexos wrote:I love what you did with the Bolt Pistol and the Lasgun. Ill have to use that as an Autogun conversion.
Thanks! Feel free to pilfer, I do accept kudos and/or gold bullion as forms of payment
alabamaheretic wrote:Well you can never go wrong with a chainsword, but since they are veterans i kinda like the giant melta bomb could be the demo charge for them...just a thought.
Thanks for the faithful comments, 'Bama. I must admit, I don't think I'm holding up my end of our PMblog friendship. Here's me turning over a new leaf and checking out your stuff. Anyhow, I'm not sold on the chainsword idea, but I'm still considering the melta bomb. I think you and butchyboy might have to fight for it
butchyboy73 wrote:How about having that scout left hand against the side of his helmet as if pressing a vox bead that little bit closer to his ear to help him hear incoming messages a bit better above the noise of battle? I wouldn't encumber him with more weapons or melta bombs. Just a thought )
Thanks for the comment, I do like that idea! I was also thinking about using the scout hand for the crouching guy (the one not shooting in the group pic above). Seemed cool, the crouched down slow advance sign. I might have to hunt down another scout hand...
I've got a spare plasma cannon marine that I'm going to paint up to practice OSL (far, far in the future most likely). I think the Vendetta cockpit would look super sweet with some intrument panel glow. We'll see how it turns out.
I'm hoping to get a little bit of work done tonight, fingers crossed.
Thanks for looking!
Cheers,
Rawson
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hey Dakka,
Not so much done today, but here it is:
Finished up the foreward lascannons for the Vendetta. You can also see the Elysian heads a bit better in these pics.
And fully magnetized. If I want to run a Valk in the future I dont have to spring for another model Magnets are costing GW a boatload of cash Took a decent amount of work to build up a frame inside the cannon housing to mount a magnet. That's what took most of the time. But we're moving along.
look out, big bit incoming!!
Dunno if you have seen this chap's blog thing but his army's paint job is impressive and his Valkyries are inspiring. Thought they might interest you as you are about to start painting yours )
Re: Captain Brown's Elysian Painting Log (Everyone else is doing it so why can't I?)
D.
Red is merely Bubonic Brown base, one coat of Red Gore, one coat of Blood Red (leaving a little Gore visible at the center), highlight of Blood Red mixed with Blazing Orange, final touch of Blazing Orange...very thin Blazing Orange.
Mr Rawson i think you have a problem with funny lil army men that are afraid of their own shadows and have to hide behind giant tanks . any way thanks for stopping by on both my threads your support is always welcome and appreciated.
butchyboy73 wrote:look out, big bit incoming!!
Dunno if you have seen this chap's blog thing but his army's paint job is impressive and his Valkyries are inspiring. Thought they might interest you as you are about to start painting yours )
Thanks for the tip! I waded through the first 7 pages this morning. It's always tough to pick up a PM blog that's well under way (32 pages well under way!)
alabamaheretic wrote:Mr Rawson i think you have a problem with funny lil army men that are afraid of their own shadows and have to hide behind giant tanks . any way thanks for stopping by on both my threads your support is always welcome and appreciated.
Well, if you have to hide behind something, it might as well be a giant tank It was the least I could do in response to your overwhelming support of the Firstborn!
Hey Rawson, love the backpacks. A simple solution but perfectly fitting for the squad. Was thinking about your sergeant there and his options. How about hollowing out one of those heads, and have him carrying his helmet in that hand? Dunno if it that would ruin the effect of the squad as a whole, but it could work. You could use a head from the fantasy range which has the hair blowing in the wind to represent the updraft(?) from the vendetta. Would probably look cool standing in the open door on the side of the big bird too...
Axlbush wrote:Hey Rawson, love the backpacks. A simple solution but perfectly fitting for the squad. Was thinking about your sergeant there and his options. How about hollowing out one of those heads, and have him carrying his helmet in that hand? Dunno if it that would ruin the effect of the squad as a whole, but it could work. You could use a head from the fantasy range which has the hair blowing in the wind to represent the updraft(?) from the vendetta. Would probably look cool standing in the open door on the side of the big bird too...
Thanks for the thoughts! The arm from the cadian command sprue holding the helmet would work nicely as a base. But, the bottom line is I'm too scared to drill a big hole in something so tiny
I'm trying to get a hold of a non-respirator Elysian head for him, I thought that would look pretty cool for the Sarge.
No one likes big tanks . l Well i think your first born are one of the neatest armies i seen on here, don't get me wrong i like conversions. But I also like the using just the regular GW line of Models too. WEll whats on the next to do for the First Born?
alabamaheretic wrote:No one likes big tanks . l Well i think your first born are one of the neatest armies i seen on here, don't get me wrong i like conversions. But I also like the using just the regular GW line of Models too.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it, especially given some of the stuff that's on here.
alabamaheretic wrote:Well whats on the next to do for the First Born?
Up next:
1) Finish the Vendetta. I picked up a 5mm drill bit today to finish magnetizing the wing cannons. Shouldn't be too long now, but painting will have to wait I think. Like I mentioned before, I'd like to do some sweet OSL in the cockpit, but I've never done any before, so somewhere on this list needs to be "Learn how to paint OSL"
2) Finish the last melta gunner for the airborne squad. I didn't want a third guy in the same pose, so I'm working on some conversions for him. I also need to track down some more of the long tactical pouches to finish the backpacks. I have a post on the FLGS forum, but no bites yet.
3) I have a few GS things to finish up. The backpacks of the airborne squad, pointy finger and bionic foot for the general, I've got some plasticard in the tears of the company standard that need GS to finish off, and the chainmail redo for the tank commander.
4) Paint paint paint. Roughriders, an ogryn, the airborne squad, finishing touches on the 1st Vostroyan squad and about 75% on the second, the general, tank commander, and standard bearer. Plus all of the armor could use some weathering and damage (which goes on the list of things to learn how to paint with OSL) The weather in Denmark changes so fast I'm afraid to prime stuff on the balcony so I've been putting that off.
Hmmm, this list is somewhat daunting. Better get to work
2011/08/26 15:42:55 Subject: The Firstborn - Rawson's Vostroyans: Vendetta 8/25 Update!
alabamaheretic wrote:
No one likes big tanks . l Well i think your first born are one of the neatest armies i seen on here, don't get me wrong i like conversions. But I also like the using just the regular GW line of Models too.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it, especially given some of the stuff that's on here.
I know there is some pretty awesome stuff on here but i like your painting styles of the first born almost looks like the 'eavy metal team painted them so kudos!.
Yggdrsil has a pretty good tut on osl so check that out. well when i visited denmark it was raining beautiful country though really nice place. thats not a duanting list just break it down in to sections and go from there, that should make your job easier. Good luck with the weathering i never have used the weathering powders yet im sure there is a tut on them too on here or one of the other gaming forums.
Well good luck on your project list! Oh yea i should have pictures up of the power sword i did some time next weekend (the camera i use went on vacation with my mom) so look for that in the future.
Those SM magazine pouches as backpacks looks perfect. Giving models the proper gear they need to fight in a drawn out battle just makes sense and makes them look so much better.
2011/08/26 15:42:55 Subject: The Firstborn - Rawson's Vostroyans: Vendetta 8/25 Update!
alabamaheretic wrote:
No one likes big tanks . l Well i think your first born are one of the neatest armies i seen on here, don't get me wrong i like conversions. But I also like the using just the regular GW line of Models too.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it, especially given some of the stuff that's on here.
I know there is some pretty awesome stuff on here but i like your painting styles of the first born almost looks like the 'eavy metal team painted them so kudos!.
Yggdrsil has a pretty good tut on osl so check that out. well when i visited denmark it was raining beautiful country though really nice place. thats not a duanting list just break it down in to sections and go from there, that should make your job easier. Good luck with the weathering i never have used the weathering powders yet im sure there is a tut on them too on here or one of the other gaming forums.
Well good luck on your project list! Oh yea i should have pictures up of the power sword i did some time next weekend (the camera i use went on vacation with my mom) so look for that in the future.
Your favorite Heretic
Bama
When were you in Denmark? I live in Copenhagen, but I'm originally from Seattle.
Yggs has some pretty slick stuff. I'll have to check out that tutorial. I probably won't get into the powders, just painting chips and scorch marks and such.
Well, here's what I got checked off tonight:
No work on the Vendetta, as I discovered that I was lacking an important tool: a drill. Though I had the correct bit, unlike the 1mm bit that I used, you cant use the 5mm bit with your fingers. We'll have to try that later.
Here's how I went with the Sarge. I tried to get the microbead look going, like butchyboy was talking about, but I really didn't feel like sculpting an arm to make it work.
Thoughts?
And the final melta gunner for the vet squad.
I still need to GS a new thumb, but I wanted a different pose that the other two. The other two are a bit different, but just the legs.
That's it for me tonight. Tomorrow will be hit or miss on whether I get any time to work on the projects. We'll see what happens.
Oh i was in Denmark when i was a kid a long time ago. But any way Good luck with pose of the melta gunner every one is shaping up nicely. Do you have as idea of what you will be doing the jump troops uniforms in, or have not got that far? Keep the motivation coming lord knows i need some to finish my league army or at least get the first 1250 points down.
alabamaheretic wrote:Oh i was in Denmark when i was a kid a long time ago. But any way Good luck with pose of the melta gunner every one is shaping up nicely. Do you have as idea of what you will be doing the jump troops uniforms in, or have not got that far? Keep the motivation coming lord knows i need some to finish my league army or at least get the first 1250 points down.
I was thinking that they should contrast quite alot with the Vostroyans. I was thinking maybe black armor over grey fatigues. I was having a bit of a hard time deciding what color to do all the lenses. Blue seems a little too common, green is what I used for the Vostroyans, I didn't like the idea of red. Maybe an orange? There are a lot of amber colored lenses out there for sunglasses and goggles and such. Thoughts?
Rogue Wolves wrote:see that arm looks good on him and i like the bolt pistol lasgun! i might use that in the near future
Amber Lenses should be cool i think they would look good, or you could do red but i dont think would look at good as the amber ones. You could always do a light blue grey for the uniforms then throw black or ovlive armour over it that might look ok... not sure though maybe we need a test model
alabamaheretic wrote:Amber Lenses should be cool i think they would look good, or you could do red but i dont think would look at good as the amber ones. You could always do a light blue grey for the uniforms then throw black or ovlive armour over it that might look ok... not sure though maybe we need a test model
Yeah, a test model. I can whip one of those up. I'm hoping to finish modeling the Vendetta tomorrow (at least the hard parts ) Maybe after that I can get the paint flying. I was looking at some pictures online and doing a little research: amber lenses make it easier to see in low lighting situations (like the grimdark ). Now I have a sort of logical reason to paint what I want.
Here's how I went with the Sarge. I tried to get the microbead look going, like butchyboy was talking about, but I really didn't feel like sculpting an arm to make it work.
Thoughts?
Hi Rawson, the sarge looks good like that. Now I hope you don't think me pernickety but isn't he missing some armour from his shoulder? I only mention it as I'd hate to think you went as far as priming him and started painting him before you noticed Otherwise, it's all looking good and looking forward to seeing them painted
butchyboy73 wrote:
Hi Rawson, the sarge looks good like that. Now I hope you don't think me pernickety but isn't he missing some armour from his shoulder? I only mention it as I'd hate to think you went as far as priming him and started painting him before you noticed Otherwise, it's all looking good and looking forward to seeing them painted
Yes. Yes, he is. I have some spare shoulder armor from the Valk kit (and it has a skull on it, which would be cool for the Vet Sergeant to have), but I need to router out the inside a bit, as it doesn't lay as nice and flat as the other side. I do appreciate the persnickety-ness, though. Sometimes when you've been working on something so long you loose perspective.
I got a few things done last night: I primed up two test models for the airborne squad (I still need to acquire some Badab black wash for one of them), got some base coat on the third ogryn, and started working on the reins of the roughrider mount that I repositioned the head on. Nothing super post-worthy yet, but I hope to have some good pics soon.
Rogue Wolves wrote:nice im hopeing to see some pics soon!
alabamaheretic wrote:Sooooo wheres the paint
Ladies and Gentlemen! I present to you the most anticipated test model of the afternoon!
It was so hard to get a good picture that represented the actual colors of the model. His face is still a little washed out, but everything else looks about right. Maybe I should really invest in a light box...
Anyway, I would love some CC here. I like how the fatigues came out (I bought some Badab Black special). The lenses came out ok I think. Maybe I need to give a really light Blazing Orange wash over the top. I'm not totally sold on the drybrushed lasgun. I'm open to ideas. Any thoughts?
Hmm looks nice but the only thing is i think its a little far off the Vostroyan colors maybie throw in a red symbol on the shoulder pad maybie or something like that
Automatically Appended Next Post: OH i just thought of something maybie to fit in those models with the Vostroyans you could sculpt some fur around the neckline like you see on those old style piolt jackets. its not too hard im doing one on my commander and i think it would look good on the models you already have
lens look a little washed, Love the OD green! the lasgun looks good but its too clean like it just came out of the factory. Other than that im digging whats up.
That test model looks great, the only thing I would change is the lasgun it's all silver at the moment. Paint the stock black and the imperial eagle gold and it will look a lot better and if you're trying to link them to your Vostroyans do something like the previous poster suggested.
Keep the good work up I'm liking these new airborne imperial guard you're making.
Rogue Wolves wrote:Hmm looks nice but the only thing is i think its a little far off the Vostroyan colors maybie throw in a red symbol on the shoulder pad maybie or something like that
Automatically Appended Next Post: OH i just thought of something maybie to fit in those models with the Vostroyans you could sculpt some fur around the neckline like you see on those old style piolt jackets. its not too hard im doing one on my commander and i think it would look good on the models you already have
Thanks for the ideas, Rogue Wolves. The idea was that the airborne squad was a totally different unit attached to the Vostroyan Mechanized to give them some much needed air support. I was actually thinking about making them contrast instead of tie together, so I don't think the red/bomber jacket thing will work.
Flying Pooo wrote:That test model looks great, the only thing I would change is the lasgun it's all silver at the moment. Paint the stock black and the imperial eagle gold and it will look a lot better and if you're trying to link them to your Vostroyans do something like the previous poster suggested.
Keep the good work up I'm liking these new airborne imperial guard you're making.
Not going for the Vostroyan look, but I think the advice on the lasgun is good. The only thing about the black stock is that there is a lot of black on the model already. Any other ideas?
Brotheralexos wrote:Are the fatigues green or grey? hard to tell. Either way, I suggest a spot colour to break up all the darkness.
Grey actually. Any suggestions on the spot color? I was hoping the amber lenses would be enough, but maybe not. Maybe the Imperial symbols on the gun and chest (the elysian respirator heads don't have an imperial symbol on them) ?
alabamaheretic wrote:lens look a little washed, Love the OD green! the lasgun looks good but its too clean like it just came out of the factory. Other than that im digging whats up.
Ok, maybe I didn't get the best picture after all See above (grey, not green)
maybe you can highlight the grey with an even lighter grey? or you can high light green to give a camo type pattern. have you thought about dark brown stocks for the lasguns? i mean gun companies do man synthetic wood stocks.
Flying Pooo wrote:That test model looks great, the only thing I would change is the lasgun it's all silver at the moment. Paint the stock black and the imperial eagle gold and it will look a lot better and if you're trying to link them to your Vostroyans do something like the previous poster suggested. Keep the good work up I'm liking these new airborne imperial guard you're making.
Not going for the Vostroyan look, but I think the advice on the lasgun is good. The only thing about the black stock is that there is a lot of black on the model already. Any other ideas?
I think the black will look the best but if you're not sold maybe a dark brown, dark grey or possibly even dark blue will work.
Here's my tuppence worrth; why not do the lasguns in camo green. gives a nice contrast to the overall colour scheme and would make sense in an airborne unit (guess who else will be doing the same with his airborne army? ). All in all, it's looking good though I'm sure once the base is done the figure will look even better. Excellent work as ever
Reference the suggestion made by Rogue Wolf about fur collars; I'm pretty sure that Warsaw Pact (yep, I'm that old! ) Special Forces units had combats issued to them that had fur lined collars, also, to tie in with the Vostroyan/East European look, your airborne chaps could concievably have wooden stocks and butts on their weapons a la AK47....yes?...no?...just a thought D
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oops, sorry, I meant Rogue Wolves not Rogue Wolf )
My apologies for the lack of posts here, I've been a bit distracted by a myriad of other things. But never fear, here am I, emerging triumphant over all that besets me
Here's what I have done since the test model (btw, thanks to everyone who gave imput on that!):
All of the Veterans now have their new and improved backpacks! Huzzah! Close to priming now. I think I'll give it a day or two to make sure I haven't forgotten anything (like the Sarge's shoulder pad, which I routered out today)
I started painting the third ogryn and started work on the fifth roughrider, but nothing post worthy yet.
I got a bit hung up on the Vendetta wing cannons, but I think I'm back on track.
As you can see by the gs, my first plan didn't pan out and I had to fill in the gaps. Now I just need to bulk up the mounting bracket that comes with the multiple rocket pods to fit a 5mm magnet, and I'm set!
Emperors_Champion wrote:Nice little blog I've stumbled on!
Great work throughout! Glad I found it!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Rogue Wolves wrote:glad your back, what pouches are those backpacks from its a very interesting idea
The backpacks are made from two different pouch bits: The top section is a cut down SM long tactical pouch, and the bottom I believe is also from SMs (I had a ton of them in my bits box, and I cant really remember where they're from )
I've been working on it for so long, it's kind of weird to have all the modeling done (well, a few seams to GS, but basically done)
It is fully magnetized, of course. I've got some more magnets in the post. I'll get the multilaser and rocket pods up and running when they get here.
Here's what I did to the mounting brackets to make it work: a little extra beef with plasticard and GS in the gaps. Worked like a charm!
I guess it's a little late to be asking for cc, but what do you guys think?
Your stuff is awesome! I like the gun conversion you've done, haven't seen it before now. It looks really good, kinda gives them a World War 2, but that's just me.
alabamaheretic wrote:Looks good man now slap some paint on it so we can ooh and ahhh that too
In due time, in due time
bigmek35 wrote:looks pretty dam cool! great stuff all round Bro!
Why, thank you!
Campbell1004 wrote:Your stuff is awesome! I like the gun conversion you've done, haven't seen it before now. It looks really good, kinda gives them a World War 2, but that's just me.
Thank you as well!
Rogue Wolves wrote:YAY a new update vendettas looking good cant wait to see some painted vets
Well, I'll probably get to painting the vets before the Vendetta (sorry 'Bama)
Extra points for me: Double Daily Post! Anyways, here's what I worked on this evening: Vostroyan Roughriders!
I finally got the fifth rider finished up (but only because my FLGS has been a bit shy on the games, so I've been working instead of playing) Some of the positions are a bit awkward at the moment. I'm not going to attach the riders to the horses until after painting is finished. I'm fairly proud of them so far, it's taken a lot of work to get here. Converting the Attilans to Vostroyans, making the new Empire horses work with the old models, trying to get unique poses from both horses and soldiers. Whoo!
Anyhow, I hope you guys like them. Let me know what you think!
Rough Riders are looking good, Hell paint is paint and i want some paint keep it up. your lucky that your fgls has tables mine is more of an rc car store and moved locations so the table isnt even set up yet.
But ya in other news the camera got back from vacation so pics in the next 48 hours.
alabamaheretic wrote:Rough Riders are looking good, Hell paint is paint and i want some paint keep it up. your lucky that your fgls has tables mine is more of an rc car store and moved locations so the table isnt even set up yet.
But ya in other news the camera got back from vacation so pics in the next 48 hours.
Alright! Alright! The next thing I do is paint, I promise! Looking forward to those pics, btw!
alabamaheretic wrote: Paint paint paint that is all...
I literaly lol'ed. Well done, sir
Rogue Wolves wrote:riders are looking nice
Flying Pooo wrote:Great work on the rough riders.
Thanks and thanks!
As soon as I hit submit, I'm priming all kinds of stuff
Non-picture update: I hope to have some Vostroyan paint for you soon (not tonight though, it's the wife's birthday). I've got the roughriders primed and ready to paint (but not their mounts yet. I had started some work on the ogryn and a captian, so you should be seeing some WIPs of them pretty soon. I just need to base the Airborne squad and then they can be primed. I filled the gaps on the Vendetta with gs, so a little sanding and she'll be ready for priming. You saw the great cannon chassis I'm going to use for my heavy weapons squad. They will get some lovin' when my magnets get here. So much to do, so little time.
Mate, you have an impressive dedication to pressing on with your army! I salute you, sir.
Wouldn't mind seeing some more pics of the roughriders - its a bit hard to make them out in all their glory. The best thing about them, speaking from experience, is those hunting lances are still all unbent!
Well, I had planned a Mega Update for today, but I got suckered into a game at the FLGS
I got some basecoat on the roughriders, a HWT, and an odd trooper, but nothing really to show there yet.
So here's what I did manage to accomplish this evening.
The third ogryn:
He had quite a bit of miscast problems, hence the scarred face and missing eye. But I think he turned out okay all the same. Still WIP on the paint, but made a lot of progress tonight.
And a group shot...
I also got a bit of work done on this Captain. Very much WIP (in case that wasn't obvious)
alabamaheretic wrote:Looking good so far! I actually like the one missing his eye give him some character. Keep it up man.
Thanks, Bama! I'll do my best to keep it up. Somehow I'm working on my day off, but I'm still hopeful to get something productive done today (40k productive, not work productive )
Thanks for looking!
Rawson
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hello again!
Even though I was working for a good part of my day off, I still managed to get a few things done on my Vostroyans.
Now, before anyone accuses me of not painting anything, here is the work I've been doing on the Roughriders.
Not a lot finished with the paint, but I got distracted by some more modeling. As you may have noticed, there are only 4 roughriders being painted. The fifth I'm playing with some ideas. Here's what I have worked up:
I like a little variety with my roughriders, I think it fits the Vostroyan theme. These are Empire Pistoleer legs. Add some GS fur for the boots (done) and some flares from the jacket (not done) and you have some potentially cool roughrider legs. There are a few problems, mostly with scale.
It doesn't look so different in the picture, but it feels different IRL. Is it worth the work, or should I just go with the standard legs? What do you guys think?
While I had the GS out for the Roughrider legs, I finished up my commander and standard bearer.
I think the finger turned out really well! A little sanding, and finito! What do you guys think about the bionic foot? I'm not totally sold on it as is. It seems to need something more. I thought about some rivets on the toe. Do you think that would do the trick?
I did some trimming and sanding on this guy today. I'm not totally satisfied with all of the transitions from metal to gs, but I don't think I can really do any more work, which leaves us at a bit of an impasse. Any thoughts?
Quite a few opportunities for CC here. I'd love to hear some
Have you thought about adding a metal plate to the commanders foot then add the rivets? Kind of like a capped boot? I am unsure of the legs as of now i would like to see them on bodies and on horses to make a good decision. On the flag well you could add cuts to make it battle worn I guess.
Sucks that you had to work on your day off. Oh yea when in doubt throw some paint on it.
Well, not much painting to show off, but I have been basing like crazy!
I've also started the base for the Vendetta. I wanted to do something kind of cool, and well thought out. Here's what I have so far:
I'm thinking about adding some elevation under the sandbags. What do you guys think?
Cheers for now,
Rawson
Automatically Appended Next Post: Well, I'm making up for my week off: Second post for today! Burning the midnight oil here
I finished up the Commander's bionic foot. I added some .64mm rod as rivets on the toe. Convincing enough? Here's a close up: what do you guys think?
Here's an overview with the completed pointy finger. I also greatly disliked the giant skull and crossbones, so I marred the surface enough to blend into the rest of the hat (and skewered my left index finger in the process). I did a bit more work after seeing the picture (as I could still see some skull resemblence).
Ready for priming?
Well, it has certainly been quiet around the Firstborn PMblog lately. Here's what I've been up to:
I've entered my Vostroyan Commander into the 40K Single Miniature Painting Competition and I'm actually really excited about it. The competition aspect really makes it easy to spend a lot of time on a model. He's shaping up to be one of my best painted models ever!
The front still needs the most work out of anything. Face has work left, greatcoat liner has work left. There's still so many little details to work out! I'm thinking I'll paint the sash white, the medalion mostly boltgun with gold trim and a green gem, and the powerfist some sort of silvery color. I think the PF's a little too hidden to do anything really cool. The two things I haven't figured out colors for are the glove and his moustache. Any thoughts there?
Simple receipe, but I like how it turned out. Blood red, heavy Gryphonne Sepia wash, blood red highlights. I really like how the greatcoat liner turned out here! I'm trying to get it as crisp on the front side, too.
I'm pretty happy with how the feathers and frogging turned out. (Except for that mold line that I didn't see until now! )
Any CC out there? It would be greatly appreciated, especially with the Single Mini Contest in progress
I'm really liking your Ogryns and that missile launcher team is great. The cloak on the Vostroyan Commander is great, I really like how you've painted that. Everything else looks good but it is still very WIP when it is finished I'll tell you how much I like it. I would paint the glove a greyish white or a Dark brown and the power fist silver and if you want you can paint a bit of gore on it.
Hey Rawson,
sorry i haven't been here in a minute, have you thought about a grey or a peppered stache? love how the coat came out. the power fist i think should be either white, silver, or even red (to match the coat). but thats my thoughts on that looking forward to see more.
havent been on here for a few days and commander is looking good i like the jacket but i agree with pooo i think you need to be proud of having a powerfist as it kind of just gets hidden in there
Flying Pooo wrote:I'm really liking your Ogryns and that missile launcher team is great.
Thanks, man! It's always nice to have some compliments, especially for the ML team. Those guys have been flying a little under the radar for some reason.
Flying Pooo wrote:The cloak on the Vostroyan Commander is great, I really like how you've painted that. Everything else looks good but it is still very WIP when it is finished I'll tell you how much I like it.
The main receipe for the jacket wasn't so hard:
Rawson wrote:Simple receipe, but I like how it turned out. Blood red, heavy Gryphonne Sepia wash, blood red highlights.
The liner design was a bit tougher technically. It's just skull white over primer black, but the detail was challenging for me. I tried to leave as much black showing in the design as I could, and then cleaned up the lines with more black after. I flattened (instead of pointed) a Fine Detail Brush to get the smallest painting surface I could and touched up the rough parts.
alabamaheretic wrote:Hey Rawson,
sorry i haven't been here in a minute, have you thought about a grey or a peppered stache? love how the coat came out. the power fist i think should be either white, silver, or even red (to match the coat). but thats my thoughts on that looking forward to see more.
Hey, good to see you! I was also thinking grey, but I think I'll wait until I have the other details done. There'll be a lot of white and grey on this guy and I don't want his magnificent moustache to get lost Thanks for the coat compliment!
Rogue Wolves wrote:havent been on here for a few days and commander is looking good i like the jacket but i agree with pooo i think you need to be proud of having a powerfist as it kind of just gets hidden in there
Thanks, buddy! I also think the PF is a little too subtle, but I wasn't ready to do a resculpt, so in the jacket it stays. I breifly thought about trying out some OSL on the PF, but I have yet to perfect that technique (or even try it ) I have a plasma cannon marine primed to try it out, but he's pretty low on the painting list right now.
I got a bit more painting done last night after my last post. Worked on the sash and the medalions and medals and such. Base coat on the bionic leg and powerfist. The picture doesn't do justice to the sash or purity seal. Someday I'm going to need to invest in some photography equipment...
I still need to highlight the green on the purity seal, add some depth to the gem, and paint his pistol (at least I think it's a pistol next to his powerfist). I was thinking I'd paint the cord around his neck red and white braid. I still haven't decided how to go with the glove: I'm kind of leaning towards leather. I figure that there's a lot of red on him already and a white glove means he doesn't get his hands dirty. I was also thinking about putting him on a bigger/better base with a little more height. I think it would look a lot better, but I'm a little afraid of messing around with him at this point. Thoughts?
On to the problem:
Yesterday I found that I was missing more than just the baton for this guy. He is supposed to have a sword sheathed at his side, which I also don't have. You can see the two knobs used to attach the sword. Now, since I didn't figure this out until I'm halfway done painting, I have to figure out a solution. I could just paint the knobs gold, and the rectangle white and hope nobody notices, but that seems lame. I could try and attach something else there, like a purity seal or holster or something. Any bright ideas out there?
A few more details done here. I like how the cord turned out (and doesn't look too much like a candy cane, I hope...). I got the first round of paint on the glove. I'm not happy with it yet. It still looks...flat. I think the wash didn't do as much as normal with a lack of recesses for much of the glove. I'll have to get better at blended highlights, I guess...
A few things left to do: The aforementioned glove work, highlights on the gem and purity seal, embossing on the pistol butt, final detailing on his face
Now we have two problems:
1) I still haven't come up with a clever solution to the missing sword issue (see above), and I haven't heard anything from the Dakkites yet either.
2) There is a problem with photographing my work: I see it 10x bigger on the computer screen. There's a huge mold line on his glove! Of course, I couldn't have noticed this earlier. That would be far too easy to fix. Ideas? Do you think it would look like a seam if I filed off the mold line on the fist part? Or should I just bite the bullet and file it all off and repaint the glove? Leave it?
X) Not exactly a problem, but I still haven't made a decision about the base.
CC would be great on this guy, especially since he is my entry in the Single Model Comp. Any opinions out there? Bueller? Bueller?
Commander is looking mint! And on the missing part... Honestly it took me a while looking in the pic to notice the little knobs. I'm sure you can find some sort of bit to cover it up. You could definately try a purity seal. Another option is one of those holstered pistols. Even a pair of binoculars. Some grenades. Try out a bunch of stuff with a little blu tac until you find something you like. Or you could just leave it.
Oh and definately clean up the mold line. This mini deserves the attention!
Barksdale wrote:Commander is looking mint! And on the missing part... Honestly it took me a while looking in the pic to notice the little knobs. I'm sure you can find some sort of bit to cover it up. You could definately try a purity seal. Another option is one of those holstered pistols. Even a pair of binoculars. Some grenades. Try out a bunch of stuff with a little blu tac until you find something you like. Or you could just leave it.
Thanks for the feedback. I've spent probably 8 hours with this guy about 6" from my face, so it's hard for me to have an objective view
Barksdale wrote:Oh and definately clean up the mold line. This mini deserves the attention!
Deep down I knew I had to get rid of it, but there was part of me that was hoping someone would say "Nah, you can barely see it"
Mr.Malevolent wrote:Oh my its been a while! I like where youve been going with your First Born. That Commander looks awesome by the way.
You know you're always welcome here, Mr. Mal Thanks for the compliment! I'm actually really greatful for the painting comp, it's forcing me to stretch my limits with this guy
Power Fist looks good from what i can see of of it. The blank spot where the sword is supposed to go i guess you can just put a purity seal there. I do not know if it would be easier or if there is no chaos icongraphy you can use one of the swords in the scabbard from the Khorne Berzerker set. Just a thought. like alweays looking good, the bionic foot came out good with the rivets. Would love a tut on the jacket just so i know how you did it (so i can paint better) at any rate keep it up!
Dude i've looked at it a few times and i still can't see the knobs for the missing sword. But if you feel the need to put something there can i suggest a telescope from the fantasy range? Sure theres one floating about somewhere, maybe with the steamtank? Fits in well with the vostroyan style.
As for the glove, starting again is probably a must since you've already spent so much hard work on it. For the colour i think a lighter shade might help the model "pop" I'd almost suggest going for white since its certainly a strong spot colour on the model already and would create a line when combined with the sash and the inside lining of the coat
alabamaheretic wrote:Power Fist looks good from what i can see of of it. The blank spot where the sword is supposed to go i guess you can just put a purity seal there. I do not know if it would be easier or if there is no chaos icongraphy you can use one of the swords in the scabbard from the Khorne Berzerker set. Just a thought. like alweays looking good, the bionic foot came out good with the rivets. Would love a tut on the jacket just so i know how you did it (so i can paint better) at any rate keep it up!
Thanks, man! The bionic foot was my first time doing rivets, and I think the turned out pretty good (imho, of course). Eventually, I want to go back and add more rivets to my Leman Russes, but that is a bit scarier.
Here's what I did for the jacket:
Rawson wrote:The main receipe for the jacket wasn't so hard:
Rawson wrote:Simple receipe, but I like how it turned out. Blood red, heavy Gryphonne Sepia wash (or four), blood red highlights.
The liner design was a bit tougher technically. It's just skull white over primer black, but the detail was challenging for me. I tried to leave as much black showing in the design as I could when I painted the white liner, and then cleaned up the lines with more black after. I flattened (instead of pointed) a Fine Detail Brush to get the smallest painting surface I could and touched up the rough parts.
Axlbush wrote:Dude i've looked at it a few times and i still can't see the knobs for the missing sword. But if you feel the need to put something there can i suggest a telescope from the fantasy range? Sure theres one floating about somewhere, maybe with the steamtank? Fits in well with the vostroyan style.
As for the glove, starting again is probably a must since you've already spent so much hard work on it. For the colour i think a lighter shade might help the model "pop" I'd almost suggest going for white since its certainly a strong spot colour on the model already and would create a line when combined with the sash and the inside lining of the coat
A telescope... now that is a very interesting idea. I might even be able to scratch build one (since I can't think of any that come closed).
And with the glove: Thanks for the encouragement. I just needed a little prodding to do it right.
Rawson wrote:Deep down I knew I had to get rid of it, but there was part of me that was hoping someone would say "Nah, you can barely see it"
I'm still looking for the "you can barely see it" guy
one thing that i think will make his face pop a little more is throw in some highlights or drybrushing on his hair that way it dosent look like he just died his hair unnaturaly black, if you get what im saying
Automatically Appended Next Post: p.s. powerfist looks better i can see it now!
Rogue Wolves wrote:one thing that i think will make his face pop a little more is throw in some highlights or drybrushing on his hair that way it dosent look like he just died his hair unnaturaly black, if you get what im saying
p.s. powerfist looks better i can see it now!
Yeah, I still have work to do on his face and 'stache. Right now it's just basecoat and wash. Highlights on both and the eyes left. I've kinda just started painting eyes and the proximity of his hat add a bit more challenge so I've been putting it off.
More work done on the Commander tonight. I think I've just about maxed out my ability on this guy, so any CC on the painting would be most welcome!
I got the highlighting done on the gem, purity seal, moustache, and his boot. I also added eyes (that I'm satisfied with but not wowed by) and got rid of that pesky mold line on his glove.
I still need to figure out how to cover up the knobs for the missing sword. Here are the options that I came up with:
They are arranged from left to right in order of my favorites. I think the feather purity seal would look really sweet and match the feathers in his hat. The pouch I would trim off the smaller side pouches and attach it so that the medalion hangs straight down. The regular purity seal and sword are kind of mundane, but they are options I guess. Axlbush had a great idea for a telescope (which I still think is the best option), but I think it's a little outside of my abilities (and if not my abilities, then my time and motivation constraints ) Opinions? Options I missed?
The basing issue is still on the table, no input from anyone yet. I was thinking about putting him on a 40mm base and add a little height to give him a bit of presence. Thoughts?
Its a bit hard for me to comment cos i still can't see the knobs but unless i've missed it the dude hasn't got a sidearm. Why not just add a holster. Bit boring, but i reckon with your decent GS skills an extended holster would look cool. Personally, i would use the forgeworld tallarn laspistol. Not sure of the scale but it looks elongated.
Looking good anyway, mate.
Ooh ooh! Forgot to ask, have you added a wash to the face? It looks a little pale to me.
Rogue Wolves wrote:what i think would be cool is the sword sheath with maybie a gs feather seal in it
Thanks for the idea. I definately like that option more than just the sword. Something to keep in mind...
Axlbush wrote:Its a bit hard for me to comment cos i still can't see the knobs but unless i've missed it the dude hasn't got a sidearm. Why not just add a holster. Bit boring, but i reckon with your decent GS skills an extended holster would look cool. Personally, i would use the forgeworld tallarn laspistol. Not sure of the scale but it looks elongated.
Looking good anyway, mate.
Ooh ooh! Forgot to ask, have you added a wash to the face? It looks a little pale to me.
Oh, believe you me. They are there He actually does have a side arm, though it's even more discrete than the power fist. All you can see is the butt and the tip of the barrel. The powerfist is covering most of it.
I did give the face a wash, but you're right: he still does look pretty pale. I think I'll give it another round, but I'll have to be UBER careful now that the eyes are already done.
Hi, he's looking good ) I was going to suggest an ornate holster too but if he has one already then the sword and purity seal get my vote (for what it's worth ) As to basing him, I think a 40mm base and a bit of raised groundwork would be a great idea; heightens (pun intended!) the sense of drama that his pose evokes. Keep up the good work
butchyboy73 wrote:Hi, he's looking good ) I was going to suggest an ornate holster too but if he has one already then the sword and purity seal get my vote (for what it's worth ) As to basing him, I think a 40mm base and a bit of raised groundwork would be a great idea; heightens (pun intended!) the sense of drama that his pose evokes. Keep up the good work
Alright, that's two votes for sword/feather seal. Thanks for the input! As for the base, that's exactly what I had in mind! It might affect game play a little, but who cares? Cool before rules, I always say...
Rogue Wolves wrote:I think it would be perfect for the look of the vost. they are more fantasy looking then 40k anyway right?
Maybe more fantasy looking than other armies, but I wouldn't say more fantasy than 40k.
Sorry for the lack of updates, everyone. I haven't had a whole lot of spare time the last few days.
A few nights ago I got some paint on the Airborne Squad. Nothing too spectacular, but a step in the right direction.
Here's what I've been working on today: the new and improved base for my Vostroyan Commander! It was quite fun to construct actually (internet cookies for anyone who can spot all the bits). Some sort of technical platform to stand on and survey the victories from and a few sprue bricks to tie it into the rest of my army. Removing the Commander from his slot base and cutting off the tab from his feet was one of the scariest moments of my life A little damage done, but nothing catastrophic.
I hope you like it. I have to finish this guy up soon, the 40k single mini contest ends Friday!
Thanks for looking! As always, CC treasured and loved for all time.
"A little damage done but nothing catastrophic"!! bet that's what the apothecary told him before they gave him a bionic leg!! Do I get an internet cookie for spotting a 40mm round base?
I'm really liking your progress on the commander and the airborne IG. Can't wait to see the commander fully painted. The parts used in the base are a 40mm base, a coil from the SM devastator plasma cannon and the other coils are from a flamer?, a rhino door, some sprue and some plasticard.
Flying Pooo wrote:I'm really liking your progress on the commander and the airborne IG. Can't wait to see the commander fully painted. The parts used in the base are a 40mm base, a coil from the SM devastator plasma cannon and the other coils are from a flamer?, a rhino door, some sprue and some plasticard.
Thanks, man! I'll have the commander up by Friday certainly. Nice work on the bits spotting, but you have to share the cookie with Butchyboy; he spotted the 40mm base (I'm actually not sure where the coils you think are from a flamer come from. They're left overs from some other project long ago. They might be off of the multi melta from the AOBR dread, but I'm not sure)
I got a little bit more done this evening after everything cooled down.
I've still got some highlighting to do on the bricks and touch up the bullet marks. Any other suggestions?
And this is about what it will look like when he's finished:
base isnt too bad my only thing is maybie put some grey rocks or broken plaster near the spure to look like rubble( if thats waht you where going for ) as a mixture of those 3 together looks very nice base defenatly makes him look more comanding keep it up
I am definately liking it! Are you going to paint the rocks or is it pretty much done? Have you fixed up the area with the knobs stocking out yet? If so which did you decide? Oh and pics of it please!! I can't decide if I like the feather purity seal thingy or the 3 little pouches. Did you try attaching them using some blutac to see what looks best?
Hey mate well done on making the base. I like it but can i suggest dirtying it up a bit. Looks a bit too clean for a warzone and those colour cables are a little too....colourful.
Maybe you could give the grill and the cables a lick of gryphonne sepia? Thats a technique i'm really keen on at the moment. Obviously this is just my own opinion mate, take it or leave it.
Hmm, my status now says Navigator. Is that your common aircraft variety, do you think, or should I go hunt down a bandana?
I agree with Axlbush, I think the base looks a bit too clean too. I also think it might be a nice touch to have some sort of stencilling above the cable connections, possibly using either IG decals or even some warning labels from a jet aircraft decal set. Finally, it might be an idea to have a thin line of weeds i.e. green flock, along the edge of the structure where it meeets the ground. Even without these suggestions he looks (oh dear, pun time again) outstanding....groan )
Almarine wrote:Just so you know mate, the medallion is a crux terminatus. Space marine battle honour, means they can wear terminator armour.
Thanks for the heads up. I went with a different option, but it's good to know these things.
Rogue Wolves wrote:base isnt too bad my only thing is maybie put some grey rocks or broken plaster near the spure to look like rubble( if thats waht you where going for ) as a mixture of those 3 together looks very nice base defenatly makes him look more comanding keep it up
Barksdale wrote:I am definately liking it! Are you going to paint the rocks or is it pretty much done? Have you fixed up the area with the knobs stocking out yet? If so which did you decide? Oh and pics of it please!! I can't decide if I like the feather purity seal thingy or the 3 little pouches. Did you try attaching them using some blutac to see what looks best?
Axlbush wrote:Hey mate well done on making the base. I like it but can i suggest dirtying it up a bit. Looks a bit too clean for a warzone and those colour cables are a little too....colourful.
Maybe you could give the grill and the cables a lick of gryphonne sepia? Thats a technique i'm really keen on at the moment. Obviously this is just my own opinion mate, take it or leave it.
butchyboy73 wrote:I agree with Axlbush, I think the base looks a bit too clean too. I also think it might be a nice touch to have some sort of stencilling above the cable connections, possibly using either IG decals or even some warning labels from a jet aircraft decal set. Finally, it might be an idea to have a thin line of weeds i.e. green flock, along the edge of the structure where it meeets the ground. Even without these suggestions he looks (oh dear, pun time again) outstanding....groan )
My fine gentlemen (along with AlabamaHeretic, Flying Pooo, Barksdale, and everyone else that gave CC or encouragement)
You have my most sincere thanks on your spectacular CC. I have incorporated almost all of your ideas, and I think the final product turned out far better than I had hoped. I give you:
Finishing touches for Barlov include: feather purity seal, mithril silver highlights on all of the metal, drybrush his hat, another round of sepia wash for his face (and corresponding highlights)
For the base: Additional rubble, sepia wash on the decking and cables, plus an addition badab black wash on the "colorful cables", my first real experience with chipping (I am quite pleased with how it turned out), a decal from the baneblade transfer sheet, and some dead static grass along the sides and in the rubble.
He has been a real labor of love. I think I have about 20 hours into him now. I hope you enjoy him!
He looks fantastic, Rawson, well done. Can I make one final suggestion? Nothing major but I think that a very fine sprinkling of your base gravel on the top of the sprue/bricks and on the top of the decking would tie all your basing elements together. Otherwise, jsut stand there and admire him ) me, I ain't got time to admire him, got 400 points worth of Elysians to paint for a patrol competition in 4 weeks!! Help!!
Btw, where's the competition being held that your entering him for?
Rogue Wolves wrote:see i knew that feather would work nice job on him
I tried it with the sword as well, but it wasn't the right shape and didn't fit well.
butchyboy73 wrote:He looks fantastic, Rawson, well done. Can I make one final suggestion? Nothing major but I think that a very fine sprinkling of your base gravel on the top of the sprue/bricks and on the top of the decking would tie all your basing elements together. Otherwise, jsut stand there and admire him ) me, I ain't got time to admire him, got 400 points worth of Elysians to paint for a patrol competition in 4 weeks!! Help!!
Btw, where's the competition being held that your entering him for?
Thanks for the compliments, Butchy! I'm really happy how he turned out (except how his glove looks in the final photograph ) Your earlier CC on the base was really helpful! Now that the compitition is over (or will be in about 2hrs10min) I can think about final details in a calm environment BTW, the painting comp is here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/391153.page
rawson i expected better from you . nah, everything looks fine really like the purity seal feather thing fluff wise he looks like a young commander (hardly any grey) but it looks awesome so all and all good job now on to new stuff!
Well done completing the model, mate. It must be so satisfying to finish a model completely, something i never manage to do! Let us know how the judging went.
alabamaheretic wrote:rawson i expected better from you . nah, everything looks fine really like the purity seal feather thing fluff wise he looks like a young commander (hardly any grey) but it looks awesome so all and all good job now on to new stuff!
Rogue Wolves wrote:soooooooo rawson whats next on your vostroyan table of goodness hmm?
Great question, guys. I'm in Stockholm right now for work, but I'll have some time when I return on Tuesday evening. I certainly have a lot of unfinished models floating about: roughriders, airborne squad, standard bearer, HWTs, troops, a leman russ, etc. I supposed I should finish some of those things...
Axlbush wrote:Well done completing the model, mate. It must be so satisfying to finish a model completely, something i never manage to do! Let us know how the judging went.
Yeah, I know it's been a while. I've had the paint out a little bit this last week, but nothing really to post about. (Now comes the list of excuses)
Spoiler:
The wife and I were in Stockholm for 4 days last week for work, then time to catch up with things from being gone. Yesterday was my buddy's bachelor party, plus we work weenends. To top it all off, I'm trying to learn Danish.
Hopefully today I will be able to relax some and get some painting done...
Thanks for looking, even if there's nothing to look at
Axlbush wrote:Hey Rawson, where you originally from, pal? Assumed you were a dane.
Honorary Dane only I live in Copenhagen but I'm from Seattle originally. Headed back for Christmas (and to pick up some eBay goodies that would only ship to the States )
well damn, i knew you were a busy man but didnt think they would swamp ya that much. well i dunno about norway but in germany all you need to survuve is how much a beer is wheres the potty and i need a suasage and bread tourist mode go. thats actually reallly cool you are trying to learn the language then you will be able to watch the tv and know what the hell they are talking about unless you get sky tv. any rate hope the bachleor party was well an even left to smile and remember but never speak of again are they new vostroyan goodies?
Well, I promised an update tonight, and far be it for me to break that promise.
Not so much work going on these last few weeks, I had lost most of my motivation somewhere in the morass of life. To regain it, I tried to get a little perspective and vision for the Vostroyans. Hence, I unpacked everything that I had (well, everything that was inspiring, at least) and put it on the table. And voila!
It actually worked quite well, both as a motivator and get an accurate idea of just how much painting I have left to do I worked some on the squad on the left. Right now they are the bane of my existence. I got them second hand off of eBay, stripped them, and repainted them. Of course, the stripping didn't go as well as hoped, and a lot of the detail is lost. I plan on spending as little amount of time as possible to get them to tabletop standard, especially now that I have 4 brand spanking new squads waiting for me back in the States.
I've got the horses for the roughriders primed and based and three preliminary colors that I plan on working with. Codex Grey, Kommando Khaki, and Bleached Bone.
These are just basecoats, so all three will get progressively lighter. I wanted white horses, but at the same time, I didn't want them all to look exactly the same. Thus, start with three rather light colors and build from there. I was doing a little bit of research today online for the color schemes for the manes and other possible markings. I haven't quite figured out what color to paint the saddle blankets. I'm thinking red would be too much, given that that is the primary color of the roughriders garb. Any other thoughts?
Now that Unluckyguardsman has started another painting/modeling contest, I'm going to have to come up with another entry. If only I could figure out what it should be...
" Hence, I unpacked everything that I had (well, everything that was inspiring, at least) and put it on the table. And voila!" Always a good idea to get the troops on parade when your stuck for motivation. Did that the other day with my Blood Angels, completely distracted me from my Elysian-styled Drop Troops and stripping paint from various older models and a second hand old school Predator ) Always good to get a perspective )
I love the muzzle brake on the Baneblade; is that part of the kit?
"I haven't quite figured out what color to paint the saddle blankets." Why not reverse the colours of the Company Banner; white with a red trim? That may clash with your horses being white but if they were greys, it might actually contrast nicely
"Now that Unluckyguardsman has started another painting/modeling contest, I'm going to have to come up with another entry. If only I could figure out what it should be..." Surely your standard bearer...
butchyboy73 wrote:I love the muzzle brake on the Baneblade; is that part of the kit?
I replaced the normal baneblade barrel end with the hellhammer cannon, so, technically, yes it is part of the kit
butchyboy73 wrote: "I haven't quite figured out what color to paint the saddle blankets." Why not reverse the colours of the Company Banner; white with a red trim? That may clash with your horses being white but if they were greys, it might actually contrast nicely
Now that's a thought...
butchyboy73 wrote:"Now that Unluckyguardsman has started another painting/modeling contest, I'm going to have to come up with another entry. If only I could figure out what it should be..." Surely your standard bearer...
alabamaheretic wrote:i agree with butch! do the standard bearer!
Duely noted, gentlemen, though UG just got back to me about the rules (preferably start something new for the contest)
Rogue Wolves wrote:ahh an update what legs do you plan on using on those rough riders
Good question. I had that one set of outrider legs that I Vostroyanified, but I haven't decided yet. At least 4 will be the standard roughrider legs. I'm planning on adding more roughriders someday, so I will probably just use the attilan legs and save the outrider ones for later...
well there's the answer to your query; build and paint a Roughrider figure for the competition! Be good to see a really well built, converted and painted Rough Rider (no pressure, eh? D )
After much deliberation (and contemplating a roughrider entry) I've finally decided what I shall enter in the contest: The Vostroyan Sniper Sergeant!
Based on the Vostroyan vox operator with a few not so difficult conversions. It's almost like a metal kitbash...
The easy part was adding the moustache. I mean, come on. What self respecting Vostroyan walks around without a moustache?
And a few bits from the Vostroyan snipers blister: the backpack with camo netting and the long las barrel make for a sweet sniper! He actually works pretty well since he lacks the ubiquitous furry hat, the same as the other Vostroyan snipers.
I'm planning on my first attempt at OSL with the auspex hanging from his belt. Hope you enjoy him!
I too like the use of the hellhammer cannon on the end of the baneblade's cannon- I have several times considered going back and retrofitting it as such, but maybe next baneblade (which as every tread head knows, it's just a matter of time). Still some very nice Vostroyans! Though not my favourite army, I still like a variation from the standard Cadian Imperial force.
thats a tough looking sergeant you got there buddy i think if your snipers did have hats it would be those crazy ones with ear flaps like what you have on your ogryns. just a thought or two for ya...but i say dont worry about that hat in mother vostroya real men need no hats
Huzzah! 200 posts! Thanks for all of the comments and encouragement from everyone!
Lord Kaesar II wrote:I too like the use of the hellhammer cannon on the end of the baneblade's cannon- I have several times considered going back and retrofitting it as such, but maybe next baneblade (which as every tread head knows, it's just a matter of time). Still some very nice Vostroyans! Though not my favourite army, I still like a variation from the standard Cadian Imperial force.
Thanks for the compliments! While they are a mechnanized unit, I think it will be a while before I pick up another super-heavy. She makes a nice centerpiece and I have a few more other things to acquire first. Like more than one chimera...
Rogue Wolves wrote:thats a great looking model to enter a competiton with
dsteingass wrote:That is badassery sir! good hunting!
alabamaheretic wrote:thats a tough looking sergeant you got there buddy
Thanks, guys! I'm pretty excited about how he turned out with just a few hours of work. Not such a busy weekend coming up, so I'm hoping to get some good work done on him.
Rogue Wolves wrote:is that a customized model as its really dosent look familiar to me
He's based off of the vox operator from the Vostroyan Command Squad with some conversions thrown in. You can check out the GW site and see a stock one...
alabamaheretic wrote:i think if your snipers did have hats it would be those crazy ones with ear flaps like what you have on your ogryns. just a thought or two for ya...but i say dont worry about that hat in mother vostroya real men need no hats
The men on Vostroya who wear no hats also have no ears because of frostbite
i would actually like to see a vostryan commisar...hmmm well lets get through the awesome sniper first. Oh your gonna be proud i put some paint to some warriors today
dsteingass wrote:I built my Baneblade with the Hellhammer muzzle brake on the barrel too.
Dang. I hate it when I do something pretty cool (imho, of course), and then find out that someone else has already done it. I wonder if this is what Christopher Columbus felt like...
alabamaheretic wrote:i would actually like to see a vostryan commisar.
Rogue Wolves wrote:wow i think that alabama had a great idea i think a steampunk looking commissar with a fuzzy hat and a mustache would look awsome
alabamaheretic wrote:or even better a female vostryan commissar RSJAKE makes a damn fine female commissar might want to check him out if you dont wanna scratch build
That's something I've thought about before, but Commissars always come from a different world than the units that they are attached to. I think it would be more along the lines of the problem I had with the ogryn: how to make a non-Vostroyan unit (or in this case, person) tie into the rest of the army. I've thought about picking up a steel legion commissar because of the gas mask (it ties into the Vostroyans with the masks, I guess). The biggest thing is that I don't have any Commissars in my army list right now, and I'm trying to get this army playable. I've heard rumors of an upcoming combat patrols tournament at the FLGS. I definately have 500 points...
alabamaheretic wrote:Oh your gonna be proud i put some paint to some warriors today
oh a commissar you might want to consider is the DKOK he looks cool but is forgeworld only. just a thought. but still the whole vostroyan commissar would be pretty cool.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hey, over 10k views! I must say, I'm pretty proud of the Firstborn at this moment!
Here's a little taste of the fluff I've been working on for the new painting competition. Each entry is only required to have "a few sentences of fluff", but I got a little carried away.
Spoiler:
Petr Ychenko crept along the outside of the old, burned out warehouse. Soot and char from the wall left dirty, black streaks on his jacket as he advanced and he had to step carefully to avoid the glass covering the ground. Above his head once were many high windows, though currently there was little more than gaping holes. This wall had that in common with the rest of the Rigsdal factory complex. This town had been conquered and reconquered so many times during the war it was a miracle that there were any buildings left at all. Through the lingering odor of burnt steel and rockcrete, Petr could smell something sharp and acrid. This warehouse probably had been used to store the raw chemicals used in the manufactoriums further into town. Judging by the extent of the fire damage, it had been a good idea to keep them out here away from the other buildings.
The town had been abandoned by the Imperials three months ago when it was deemed to be of no strategic value. The tertiary power generator had been critically damaged in the last battle for Rigsdal. Under normal circumstances, this would not have been so grievous a loss. Of course, the destruction of the primary and secondary power generators in prior battles changed that significantly. With no power, the manufactoriums were of little use and the Imperial forces had deployed to other, more valuable locations. Now that the fish-faces had moved in, High Command wanted to know why and was scrambling to recover any lost tactical advantage. The phrase “conditions now sufficient to re-occupy Factory Complex: Rigsdal” had been used in the briefing. Petr had snorted, earning him a glare from Lieutenant Tolshev.
As the Vostroyan sharpshooter approached the corner of the building he moved more cautiously. The entire corner of the warehouse was collapsed, leaving only a heap of rubble where there once was a nice wall that gave lots of cover. Petr eased himself down and slithered up far enough so that he could see over the top of the mound into the square beyond. He slung his longlas over his shoulder and squeezed between a length of twisted steel beam and a large chunk of rockcrete. He had an excellent view of the square which would soon be crawling with Tau. He checked his chronometer: 0437. In position with 23 minutes to spare. He retrieved his magnoculars from his belt and began his surveillance.
As one of the only infantry units in a mechanized company, Petr and his snipers were often dispatched as a recon team on infiltration missions. In most Guard units, these types of missions would be given to the elite commandos, the best of the best. In the 104th Vostroyan Mechanized, they were given to anyone who was quieter than a Leman Russ.
Finally got time to properly view this thread Lots of helpfull things for me here 'coz I'm planing to start my own 40k army based on IG and Tau models. Love the way you make bases btw and the way you alter mundane IG models by adding stuff like this new backpacks - very refreshing
Rogue Wolves wrote:Nice fluff on this guy cant waite to see him painted
alabamaheretic wrote:great fluff
Glad you guys enjoyed it! I hope to have a bit more about Petr Ychenko soon
storag wrote:Finally got time to properly view this thread Lots of helpfull things for me here 'coz I'm planing to start my own 40k army based on IG and Tau models. Love the way you make bases btw and the way you alter mundane IG models by adding stuff like this new backpacks - very refreshing
Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad my hobby meanderings are helpful to folks now and again
Here's what I've been working on:
A little paint on the Airborne Squad. I'm pretty happy with the base color of their visors (a 1:2 mix of Graveyard Earth and Blazing Orange) and will continue to build up to some sort of yellow to simulate polarized lenses.
Two things that I'm not sure of:how to go about highlighting the shoulder armor (it's a big rounded piece), and what color to do the respirators. Any ideas would be most appreciated.
I've also got some base colors on Petr.
Nothing overly impressive yet, but you get the idea.
forgot about the lovely airborn models. the visor looks fantastic color wise and there should be a nice color combination between the red vost. and the green airborn models
Lens is looking good my friend the squad of snipers is looking good too. well i gotta go to my lab and slap a coat of paint on something to keep up with you.
Rogue Wolves wrote:forgot about the lovely airborn models. the visor looks fantastic color wise and there should be a nice color combination between the red vost. and the green airborn models
Thank you, thank you. Sorry about the poor pic quality, the airborne fatigues are actually grey. I didn't bother setting up enough lights for the WIP pics.
alabamaheretic wrote:Lens is looking good my friend the squad of snipers is looking good too. well i gotta go to my lab and slap a coat of paint on something to keep up with you.
dsteingass wrote:The mustache is epic! I like how in their fluff they make fun of troopers without a proper Firstborn Mustache.
Rogue Wolves wrote:this guy seems to be coming along quite nicely
Thanks, guys!
Viktor von Domm wrote:absolutly... does he even have a sort of wrinkle on his forehead?
He surely does! I'm actually quite fond of that wrinkle...
Viktor von Domm wrote:one nitpick tho.... would you be able to make the dots of the eyes a tad smaller?
Maybe his big eyes are why he's such a good shot! You wouldn't want me to take that away from him now, would you, vik? I'm a bit afraid to try the eyes again; they're probably the most nerve wracking part of the model for me. I'm just glad he seems to be looking in one direction
Viktor von Domm wrote:oh and what paint is that metal... loks like copper and how did you achive the look there? shoulders and wrist for example? in the long run i may need this style^^
Pretty much everything I do is simple: in this case, shining gold with a gyphonne sepia wash. Sepia wash is my best friend. I use it on just about everything
Yet another really simple but effective conversion, Rawson, well done )
One point, personally I think he would have looked better with a more muted colour scheme. Maybe Dark Angel Green for the coat and burnt umber or russet reds for the jacket piping and cuffs; as I say, just an opinion, he still looks great.
Your drop troops are looking excellent too. I wish I had your patience to carry out similar conversions on my "Elysian styled" drop troop army )
Keep up the good and inspirational work
butchyboy73 wrote:Yet another really simple but effective conversion, Rawson, well done )
One point, personally I think he would have looked better with a more muted colour scheme. Maybe Dark Angel Green for the coat and burnt umber or russet reds for the jacket piping and cuffs; as I say, just an opinion, he still looks great.
Your drop troops are looking excellent too. I wish I had your patience to carry out similar conversions on my "Elysian styled" drop troop army )
Keep up the good and inspirational work
Thank you, butchy! I hadn't thought about doing a different color scheme for my snipers, but don't worry, the Gryphonne Sepia hasn't yet made it's appearance on the jacket of Petr Ychenko. That should mute it down considerably. Great CC from you always!
Thanks for the comment on the Airborne squad also! I'm not having so many troops like them in my army, so i can afford to spend a little extra time on them. If I was doing a whole army of these fellows, I might reconsider my plan
i liike the slight frown the wrinkle suggest too!!! it makes him such a character^^ shining gold... my paint to buy list yet again grows^^ maybe i will go to gw soon^^
sepia...hmmm.... for me it is currentlydevlan mudd but sepia is growing on me too... warm contrasts it provides... and on my recent tank it made a guest apeariance as a hint of rust even....
oh and one question.... how the heck do i pronounce "Ychenko" ???
and i totally see your point of view here on the eyes issue^^
have you by the way ever heard of micro pens? this could be a helping thing for such ocasions...
and to tell you the truth one day the vostroyans might hav me led to your thread anyways^^ cause i like their style^^ so it was this moment or some later on^^ but inevitable ^^
Viktor von Domm wrote: have you by the way ever heard of micro pens? this could be a helping thing for such ocasions...
I have, but I never thought about using them for eyes. I've only seen people use them for hardlining stuff. Great idea! I'll have to check that out (also to see if they're available in DK)
Viktor von Domm wrote:and to tell you the truth one day the vostroyans might hav me led to your thread anyways^^ cause i like their style^^ so it was this moment or some later on^^ but inevitable ^^
Gotta love the Vostroyans...
Viktor von Domm wrote:and thanks for the insights on pronounciation^^
My pleasure...
Viktor von Domm wrote:and gruffy sure fits him well^^
Ha! Thanks.
I got a little bit of painting done on Petr this evening. Mostly the base with a few other detail-y things thrown in. I'd take a picture...but I'm going to bed instead...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hi Rawson, I've just been collecting reference pics for my forthcoming Valkyries (roll on the 14th Nov, so gonna be like a kid at Christmas! ) and, remembering you have a Valkyrie I thought I'd send you this link;
http://cosmos-chaotica.de/zigor40k/index.php?page=valkyrie and recommend you check out pages 18 onwards of Captain Brown's Elysian Drop Troop blog.
What news on the Firstborn front? How's thon sniper coming along?
Rogue Wolves wrote:I use macro pens of all sizes they are great for a bunch of stuff, i'll have to try it on eyes though i'll tell you how it goes
I'm gonna see if I can find some here. If I can find one small enough, I'd like to try and do some wood grain on the stocks of the lasguns...
butchyboy73 wrote:
Hi Rawson, I've just been collecting reference pics for my forthcoming Valkyries (roll on the 14th Nov, so gonna be like a kid at Christmas! ) and, remembering you have a Valkyrie I thought I'd send you this link;
http://cosmos-chaotica.de/zigor40k/index.php?page=valkyrie and recommend you check out pages 18 onwards of Captain Brown's Elysian Drop Troop blog.
Thanks for the tip! The Vendetta is up next on the painting block I think...
butchyboy73 wrote:What news on the Firstborn front? How's thon sniper coming along?
Well, here he is:
I think he's about 95% finished now. I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at OSL (speaking of which, I was in Oslo last weekend and saw a tourist manual with the title "I <3 OSL" I got a good laugh out of it) I thought the tau bit on the base was fitting, given the fluff that I wrote for him.
Now it's just the last few details. CC is always greatly appreciated, but especially now, since he's being submitted in a painting contest
Viktor von Domm wrote:cool OSL effect on the display and the gun...that really looks functioning....one almost expects some flickering right there^^
Thanks, Vik! As my inaugural OSL post, I appreciate the compliment! I've done a bit more work around the rim of the auspex itself, so I hope I haven't screwed it all up
its great to see another person interested in vostroyan! I have been collecting models in preparation of making such an army (after I finish painting my marines and Hibernicus). Definately subbed. I did the same priest conversion you did on page one not too long ago. I have had great luck adding fur trim to my commissars, techpriests, and preacher cloaks. A very simple conversion, but they look great. I'll post some pics later on this week of them.
He looks very nice.
Great job at your first OSL attempt; you've managed to pull it off. I'm still to scared too try OSL.
There are some areas that look like they could benefit from a wash to add some depth (backpack and gold areas), but he looks more than ok as is.
Great work man!
Flying Pooo wrote:He looks very nice. Great job at your first OSL attempt; you've managed to pull it off.
Thank you!
Flying Pooo wrote:I'm still to scared too try OSL.
Nah! I'm not that hot of a painter and I can "pull it off". I picked this guy specifically because the OSL area would be very small and not so complicated. Give it a go sometime soon!
Flying Pooo wrote:There are some areas that look like they could benefit from a wash to add some depth (backpack and gold areas), but he looks more than ok as is.
Great work man!
So, the gold has several sepia washes. I was debating highlighting with gold again (which would bring out the depth), but I didn't know if that would be too bright.
With the backpack, I think it's too dark for a sepia wash. Badab black maybe?
Hey Rawson,
He's looking good! Can't help but think he looks like Daniel Day Lewis in the Gangs of New York )
CC now; I think it's probably the lighting but the brown on the stock of the lasgun and the rucksack etc look too samey (is that a word?) though I do like you're idea of using macro pens to mark on the wood grain on the stock. If that doesn't work you could try putting a coat ot two of satin varnish (or even gloss, not sure how that would look in this scale) on the stock to differentiate between the brown of the wood and the brown of the leather.
One other thing, and again, I'm probably being ultra picky, would be a dusting of...erm..dust to weather the broken Tau carbine and you're onto a winner. I think this guy trumps your Vostroyan Commander. As always, these are just my opinions; you're work is something to be quite proud of and will be just as good without my suggestions being put into practice )
I gotta agree with butchyboy - you can see the improvement between this guy and your commander. Been away for a while so its good to catch up with your efforts. I seem to have missed your fluff too. Will go hunting for it
if we are all starting to pick on you...well i think the highlights on the rucksack, pouches and the boots could be a bit smoother... i only say this as i think you are able to fix that and you will feel all the more proud about your model after doing that!
im sure you plan on doing it since your not all the way done but i think a nice highlight on the browns and then a highlight on the net would give the gear some nice depth
butchyboy73 wrote:Hey Rawson,
He's looking good! Can't help but think he looks like Daniel Day Lewis in the Gangs of New York )
CC now; I think it's probably the lighting but the brown on the stock of the lasgun and the rucksack etc look too samey (is that a word?) though I do like you're idea of using macro pens to mark on the wood grain on the stock. If that doesn't work you could try putting a coat ot two of satin varnish (or even gloss, not sure how that would look in this scale) on the stock to differentiate between the brown of the wood and the brown of the leather.
One other thing, and again, I'm probably being ultra picky, would be a dusting of...erm..dust to weather the broken Tau carbine and you're onto a winner. I think this guy trumps your Vostroyan Commander. As always, these are just my opinions; you're work is something to be quite proud of and will be just as good without my suggestions being put into practice )
Viktor von Domm wrote:if we are all starting to pick on you...well i think the highlights on the rucksack, pouches and the boots could be a bit smoother... i only say this as i think you are able to fix that and you will feel all the more proud about your model after doing that!
Rogue Wolves wrote:im sure you plan on doing it since your not all the way done but i think a nice highlight on the browns and then a highlight on the net would give the gear some nice depth
Thanks for the comments, guys! I know it takes some effort to give good CC, and I really appreciate it. I bought a micron pen (or at least the Danish version of one) today and plan on having some time tomorrow to work on Petr.
Axlbush wrote:I gotta agree with butchyboy - you can see the improvement between this guy and your commander. Been away for a while so its good to catch up with your efforts. I seem to have missed your fluff too. Will go hunting for it
Thanks, Axlbush! One can never have too much encouragement
nah, that shouldn´t make you fall in...real uc is from stupid geeks...like when you were on the playgrounds as a child and unprovoked someone told you that you stink...??? that is UC for me....mostly when someone is able to at least say why my models might suck i am willing to see some grain of useful information...but rest assured we are not talking about your sniper here^^
Rawson wrote:Hey Dakka! Welcome to my first project blog, my not quite named Imperial Guard Vostroyan Regiment! They have yet to see battle, but that's why we create project blogs, so that projects won't loose steam. Below you will see some of my first experiments with GS, conversions both successful and WIP, and my attempts at painting models before moving onto the next conversion. I'd like to try out some more ambitious vehicle conversions with plasicard and such, so keep an eye out.
Here is a WIP conversion for a Vostroyan Harker. I'm in the process of trying to bulk him out without loosing all of the Vostroyany goodness under my gs attempts. Not really happy with it so far. Any good ideas?
P.S. A big "Thank You" to Luther for helping me figure out the picture problems
i like what youve done, ive done mine just a bit differently using the scout of the land speed storm gave him some fur and painted him up... compared to a guardSMEN hes completly bufffed up!!.
i tried to create a vostroyan fur hat but failed miserable, if you wouldnt mind could you give me some tips one hod to make them out of green stuff?
thanks
@Viktor - the modeling was simple just lifting of the arm and moving the left hand (which you can see up more ) so he looked tank ...holding up a hvy bolter !!!! like a true Vostroyan !!!.
I dont have any Wip left unfortunatly asm y camera wiped itself when it got corrupted when i did demitri , but i used the same tool, one a found at my local hobby store, i ahvent found the tabe for the packet but i believe it was from privateer press so its very usefull since all none vostroyan models i feel inclined to put fur on their shoulders !
it looks just like a needle point, i just placed a thin layer down his back and just picked at it till i got a good consistency.
but i do have the WIP for my Commander
after many hours of toiling, scraping and filing and green stuffing...... i present Sebastion!! leader of the Glorious Imperial army !!
guess what model he came from!
fully painted after many a nights toil.
and where my harker model came from was the gunner of the land speeder storm which i converted into a scout sentinal with rocket launchers, or in friendly games, a special weapons team transport
the men on it are the only ones i havent placed fur on the normal guardsmen shoulders, as i was unable to get the sweet vostroyan models, but now i have two full squads of them, but im still painting them
Eziekiel: I appreciate the counts-as Harker input, but it's gotten a little out of hand here. Feel free to start up a PM blog for your Vostroyans.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
Eziekiel wrote:i tried to create a vostroyan fur hat but failed miserable, if you wouldnt mind could you give me some tips one hod to make them out of green stuff?
thanks
Totally! Someone else asked about this same thing earlier in the blog. You can find my mini tutorial on page 1. It's not the most helpful tutorial in the world, I'll try and document the process better the next time around.
Viktor von Domm wrote:any progess you want to share by the way?
Ask and ye shall receive!
Here's the latest on Petr:
The To-Do list (not that I take every little bit of CC ever given, but you guys had some great thoughts!):
Flying Pooo wrote:There are some areas that look like they could benefit from a wash to add some depth (backpack and gold areas)
Check! Highlights on the armor. I think I will add a bit of weathering to it still: a few scratches and dings...
butchyboy73 wrote:I think it's probably the lighting but the brown on the stock of the lasgun and the rucksack etc look too samey (is that a word?)
Check! Yes, my photography leaves much to be desired, but the observation is still valid. Lots and lots of Badab black on the rucksack to get a different tone from the rest of the leathers and the longlas stock.
butchyboy73 wrote:though I do like you're idea of using macro pens to mark on the wood grain on the stock.
Check! Woodgrain with the micron pen with two washes of Gryphonne Sepia to blend it (though I'm not super thrilled with the way it turned out)
butchyboy73 wrote:One other thing, and again, I'm probably being ultra picky, would be a dusting of...erm..dust to weather the broken Tau carbine and you're onto a winner.
Check! A little dead grass and a light drybrushing of Kommando Khaki.
Rogue Wolves wrote:i think a nice highlight on the browns and then a highlight on the net would give the gear some nice depth
Check! A very light Sepia wash on the netting. I rather like how it turned out! See below for the browns...
Viktor von Domm wrote: i think the highlights on the rucksack, pouches and the boots could be a bit smoother...
Not quite a check, but I did a little bit of work trying to blend them a bit better.
5.5/6! Not too bad
Again, I have to thank you guys for all of your great comments! I think Petr is coming along very nicely, and the excellent CC has played a big role in going from good to great!
I also worked on the Vendetta base while the seemingly infinite washes that I applied to Petr tonight were drying.
Not the most impressive picture in the world, but you get the idea of what I'm going for.
the base looks like you are going for a trech scene here... i like where this is leading^^
the backpack is much better looking... tho on the boots there is still some harsh highlights... also check the backpack again... some bristles are stuck to it...
and if you have devlan mud i would aply to the handle of the sword a bit... the white is just too flat atm...
the idea of mkaing some scratches to the metal works...that is sounding very promising...also the new pics show the metal in a nice shade of light... very warm looking... that is what i really like on those models... they have the air of something form beyond of time on them...well actually i have to get me one of those snipers on my own one day... these are very fine models and your work does them the deserved credit!!!
oh and i saw just now the lines you did on the wood!!! splendid looking!!!
Viktor von Domm wrote:the base looks like you are going for a trech scene here... i like where this is leading^^
the backpack is much better looking... tho on the boots there is still some harsh highlights... also check the backpack again... some bristles are stuck to it...
and if you have devlan mud i would aply to the handle of the sword a bit... the white is just too flat atm...
the idea of mkaing some scratches to the metal works...that is sounding very promising...also the new pics show the metal in a nice shade of light... very warm looking... that is what i really like on those models... they have the air of something form beyond of time on them...well actually i have to get me one of those snipers on my own one day... these are very fine models and your work does them the deserved credit!!!
oh and i saw just now the lines you did on the wood!!! splendid looking!!!
vik
Rapid response medal to Vik!
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm pretty happy with how he's turning out. I'm glad you like the woodgrain, I wasn't sure about it yet.
Thanks for the eagle eyes on that bristle (though I think it was actually a strand of static grass). I'm not sure I ever would have seen it
and I promise: I'll get around to fixing those highlights on the boots , and I'll see what I can do about that dagger hilt. It was sort of an impulse color choice, and I think you're right: it doesn't really mesh with the rest of the model
was a pleasure^^ and a rapid response medal and eagle eyes mentioning in the same post is quite the gratification^^ you sure know how to keep your followers on your trail^^
as for the hilt... i have used just off white or even dheneb stone as a base and then spilled^^ much devlan mud above to get a nice nutshell looking wooden effect... maybe you should try that here too... splash it over the white and see what comes out...
ohhh ... sory bout that rawson :S still bit new to this !, the valkryie base looks awesome, if ur looking for a good way to base it, making a paste of of the gw sand and pva, and spreadding it out, gives if a very good battlefield muddy look and painting it in Charadon Granite with some lite brusshing of Khemri brown would do the job !!
and your sniper looks B E A Utiful, and the osl is great!
Rogue Wolves wrote:your models looking great man and i like where your going with this base
Thank you, RW!
Viktor von Domm wrote:was a pleasure^^ and a rapid response medal and eagle eyes mentioning in the same post is quite the gratification^^ you sure know how to keep your followers on your trail^^
as for the hilt... i have used just off white or even dheneb stone as a base and then spilled^^ much devlan mud above to get a nice nutshell looking wooden effect... maybe you should try that here too... splash it over the white and see what comes out...
And just so you know, those awards are more presigious than internet cookies Your CC has never been wrong before, I think I'll try this one out as well
Eziekiel wrote:ohhh ... sory bout that rawson :S still bit new to this !, the valkryie base looks awesome, if ur looking for a good way to base it, making a paste of of the gw sand and pva, and spreadding it out, gives if a very good battlefield muddy look and painting it in Charadon Granite with some lite brusshing of Khemri brown would do the job !!
and your sniper looks B E A Utiful, and the osl is great!
Long forgotten, my friend! Thanks for following the Firstborn! That's sort of how I do my bases, except I don't mix the sand and PVA glue and I don't paint it either. I used to paint my bases, but I think they look more realistic with real sand on there.
dsteingass wrote:The Sniper is more-epic-er than before!
excellent, excellent, excellent ) he's looking great now. Well done Rawson, inspiring stuff. I agree with Viktor, the wood grain looks really good, very effective. Keep up the good work
ONLY JUSY FOUND THIS NOW??? Subbed as soon i saw the Baneblade, but all of it is seriously good work. And awesome job on the commander and sniper too! Maybe one day I might start my own Vostroyans.... (looks off into distance)
butchyboy73 wrote:excellent, excellent, excellent ) he's looking great now. Well done Rawson, inspiring stuff. I agree with Viktor, the wood grain looks really good, very effective. Keep up the good work
Thanks, Butchy! BTW, I was going to swing by your pages (you know, to return the favor of the great CC) but you don't have any! ::gasp:: What are you working on over there?
The_Solitaire wrote:ONLY JUSY FOUND THIS NOW??? Subbed as soon i saw the Baneblade, but all of it is seriously good work. And awesome job on the commander and sniper too! Maybe one day I might start my own Vostroyans.... (looks off into distance)
Thanks, man! There are definately pros and cons to the Vostroyans. Namely super cool but all metal (though not OOP like everyone says on eBay)
Viktor von Domm wrote:if it weren´t for my modesty i would actually sig that:
"Thanks, Butchy! BTW, I was going to swing by your pages (you know, to return the favor of the great CC) but you don't have any! ::gasp:: What are you working on over there?" Why Rawson, I'm too poor to afford pages of my own, sir <tugs almost non existant forelock, turns out holed filled pockets and shows socks with toes and heels worn out ) >
Truth is it's never occurred to me to set up a page of my own efforts. I have been fairly busy recently with painting 400 points worth of Elysian STYLED drop troops (used Cadian Shock Troops and Kaskrin figures, 28 of them all told) and 3 smart, in my own humble opinion, markers for a patrol competition this weekend at my local wargaming club, St Aidens Warriors. I have high hopes of brining home a new wooden spoon for my good lady to stir my porrige with )
As they, my drop troops combat patrol, are all but done I'll take a few photos and stick them on the site somewhere and you can get your own back, CC-wise )
I may start a blog for my Elysian STYLED drop troops once I get my grubby paws on some Valkyries. Though it would be all about the trials and tribulations of making an army with second hand, paint stripped and pre glued figures. Something I haven't come across yet online (I'll bet I recieve about 10 links to sites that deal with all of the above )
Any update on how the voting has gone on your commander figure yet?
Eziekiel wrote:MOAR!!!!! hows the rest of the sniper's squad going??
Haven't worked on the squad so much (okay, I just got them out for that pic to stand next to Petr). I've actually been painting the steeds for the roughriders a little bit over the last few days. On the one hand, it's going well because I'm taking the time to mix up some good colors for the highlighting. On the other hand, the size and complex shape of the horses are making it a bit difficult to get nice clean lines. I'll post some pics soon. Thanks for following!
Eziekiel wrote:are you doing the horses a generic browny colour or doing some darker lighter tones with blending ??
Well, I wanted all white horses, but I decided that that wasn't so probably, so I'm doing different light colored base coats (tan, cream, and grey) and layering up from there.
Just checked over you whole blog , i have missed a load of cool stuff, Your Vost are great matey , and the vendetta is excellent , although i too also like my wings backwards ,
its the spit fire homage i think ;-)
Love your sniper sgt and your custom cadians too, great work all round matey.
neil101 wrote:Just checked over you whole blog , i have missed a load of cool stuff, Your Vost are great matey , and the vendetta is excellent , although i too also like my wings backwards ,
its the spit fire homage i think ;-)
Love your sniper sgt and your custom cadians too, great work all round matey.
Thanks for the compliments, neil! Hope I can keep you well supplied with awesomeness
Automatically Appended Next Post: Well, I haven't been painting so much lately, but I've been getting some things done at least. Here are the latest WIP pics of the Roughrider steeds. They aren't turning out exactly how I wanted, but I'm still pretty happy with them.
hmmm... still basecoat only so we can only speculate how they will turn out... but i think they will be at least a tad awsome^^ still they need some brass details...you won´t feel good if the leatherworks on those wont have a bit of bling around them^^
Rogue Wolves wrote:some rather nice color choices of horses for your vostroyans if they had been too dark i dont think it would look right but it looks fine so far
Thanks!
Viktor von Domm wrote:hmmm... still basecoat only so we can only speculate how they will turn out... but i think they will be at least a tad awsome^^
Well, it's been a few more layers since the basecoat, but the comparison pics were taken under different lighting, so it might be a bit tough to tell... And I'll settle for a tad awesome
Viktor von Domm wrote:still they need some brass details...you won´t feel good if the leatherworks on those wont have a bit of bling around them^^
You mean, like, add some rivets? What a strange suggestion from you, Vik
dsteingass wrote:I love painting grey horses, it always really pops when ridden by soldiers in drab colored fatigues.
Yes, I think the red and gold of the Vostroyan 104th fits quite well into the "drab fatigues" category
Viktor von Domm wrote:
What a strange suggestion from you, Vik
yep... i must be out of my mind...*shakes head in wonderment...*
Well, it must be contagious, because I certainly went to town with the riveting tonight. I have always wanted to add more rivets to my old Leman Russes, and (with a little inspiration from Vik and DST) I finally got up the nerve to start carving into the tanks. Here's the strategy I used: drill 1mm holes where the rivets should go, clip a several mm length of .025" rod, glue into hole, wait until dry, clip off excess.
I started off with some practice (no need to get too far ahead of myself )
Here's the holes
Here's the rivets
and here's the rivets drying (or, as I like to call it, the Porcupine Pattern Leman Russ )
Now I just wait until tomorrow and trim off the extra length and "Voila!". We have a freshly riveted turret!
I've been using clippers to cut the rivets and trim them, which causes a bit of deformation, but it cleans up pretty easily.
i hope so too^^ there is no stopping once you became a lover for rivets^^
love the Porcupine look already... once trimmed this will be simply stunning and i bet a million you love it too... and in the end you will marvel how the tank has looked before as the look then with rivets will be as if it is literally questoning your beliefs in non riveted tanks^^
leaque of extraordinary riveters! join us now...! recruiting lines (or should we call it rivetinglines) are open 24/7^^
and i bet the riveting methode would work well on saddles for your horses too...just a hint
I'm thinking about naming her The Grey Lady, patron Saint of the Vostroyans. Thoughts?
Any helpful hints on adding the pics to the post? They uploaded to the gallery fine. My programming sucks, but the instructions in the post reply dialogue seemed simple enough. Click on image, copy the URL to your gallery pic that you want, hit Alt+p to close the image. Did I miss something there? Is there a Dakka technical support hotline I can call 
With all of the love that my tank captain is getting, I think I'll have to get back to work on him. I haven't really done anything on him in probably 5 months. I've been painting a pair of ogryns lately. Hopefully I'll have an update pic for you guys soon.
Sorry, Fairfeldia. No Royal Fareldians here, but thanks for the vote of confidence! I'll see if I can get some paint on these guys this weekend.
Moral lesson for the day: stealing is wrong 
Thanks for the gs tip about letting it sit for a while before hand! I haven't tried that before and it sounds promising. The first try I used a pin, but it was a bit too sharp and created mixed results. Yesterday, I used a toothpick and it seemed to work better.
The bakcpacks are a good start, but grenades and stuff... you know it makes sense 
I'll do my best to get one or two more up before I fly out.
) long, thin droopy moustaches that curl up at the end a la Raseem the Strong in the Arabian Knights (google it!).
I'm making up for lost time!
It was the least I could do in response to your overwhelming support of the Firstborn!
) The weather in Denmark changes so fast I'm afraid to prime stuff on the balcony 
Blue seems a little too common, green is what I used for the Vostroyans, I didn't like the idea of red. Maybe an orange? There are a lot of amber colored lenses out there for sunglasses and goggles and such. Thoughts?
Here's what I've been up to:
