They aren't done... but there's a limit to how much extra they'll get. They're supposed to be dusty/dirty but not coated in mud and muck like the tracks on my ork tanks. The tracks are actually one of the things that's really been pressing on my mind lately. I love the color & the idea... I'm just not sure if what I have planned for them will be interesting enough. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see.
A little late but my favourite thing about the blog isn't the beautifully painted models, it's the chat, camaraderie, the banter and the people that make this blog so entertaining (there've been times where I've rofl'd at posts). Without them (and Gits) it'd just be a series of pages of (well painted) models but with them, it's the huge ****ing Titan blog we all know and love.
Thanks Legion. It's never too late to hear a nice compliment like that! The readers have always been the heart and soul of the blog... I'm just kind of a facilitator, providing interesting things to talk about once in a while.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Chipping done on the right side. Have to re-do the airbrushing on the front half of the left storage bin & chip it, but then I think we can call this stage of the operation complete. Probably be a while before my next update. Have an old friend visiting for the weekend and I don't think painting will be on the docket.
Busy day... went to Mad Town where the local FLGS wholes it's annual rummage sale... kind of a gaming garage sale. You buy table space for $15 and put out everything you want to get rid of. While I could certainly sell some stuff, this year I was there as a buyer. Nothing huge... but I did get some neat stuff.
Here's the goods for the day.
Icarus cannon, TFC, two cool little terrain pieces, marine hero on jet bike, another marine hero (templar I think) and a games day SM captain.
Close up...
I figured since all the other bikes in my army are jet bikes, this would give me a platform for actually putting a marine character on a bike as well. Both of the Templars need an arm, but that's a no-brainer. I might turn the other guy into a chaplain or something... he needs a bit of work but is really painted pretty well. Just a neat model though. The games day captain (carrying a huge maul) is a great fig too. Those two terrain pieces are just very fun... they even have a Jawa on them!
So, picked up some very neat figs at very reasonable prices. The fact that the TFC is assembled already is worth what I paid for it.
More grist for the mill... and I just can't pass on a rescue project. However, I did pass on several Mk-1 vehicles... just wanted to point that out.
It does beg the question however.... what's a good character to put on a bike? I suppose I should wait for the new SM dex to come out and see what's on tap.
I unexpectedly have the weekend free... so I'm planning on watching football and finishing the land raider. After which my son has PROMISED me a game so I can use it. Whoopie! Right now I'm shifting my spray booth to another part of the studio... so expect more updates tonight!
Wonderful pal. Loads of detail to ooh and aah over plus all over excellent paint job. I'm glad you enjoyed it, be proud, it's quite the achievement! Off to vote.
It was a great idea Brian, thanks for suggesting it.
@Casey: Thanks mate! It's nice to be done. Hard to believe I spent an entire summer painting nothing but 1 LR and 1/3 of a normal sized squiggoth! OH, and the FW ork guy.
@Gir: Yeah, I didn't want this one to be "show room new". Turned out nicely for my first real shot at weathering (without trashing like I do on with my orks).
@Salted Diamond: Thank you! I figured out how to make hatches when I was working on my rhinos. Now that I have it sorted out... the world is my oyster (so-to-speak). Does solve a lot of problems though. You don't even need magnets if you do it right.
Very very cool, Gits. That paint chipping is spot on. Thats following the same technique as the tutorial in your sig, right? I think I need to experiment with it for sure
Im glad you limited yourself on the dirt. It really adds to the model and the colors are just -perfect-
Thank you sir! I know the Mk-1 is a hard sell... all squished up as it is. But I did my best with what I had. Funny what you can't fit on this hull... like a name scroll (once I decided to put the chapter badges on the doors).
It's still not quite right for my tastes, just the scale of the model. Paint came out real strong though and the dirt help I break up the green quite well. Would love to see you take on the FW Spartan similarly.
whalemusic360 wrote:It's still not quite right for my tastes, just the scale of the model. Paint came out real strong though and the dirt help I break up the green quite well. Would love to see you take on the FW Spartan similarly.
Gods that's an ugly thing. I think if I had my druthers (considering it's a model I'd rarely if ever be able to play in competition)... I'd rather spend my time on either a Glaive or a Sicaran. I like the function of the Spartan... it's just not very attractive. Granted the Mk-1's aren't either, but I'm not having to pay $150+ for them... more like $40... and I can play them in every 40k game.
Solar_lion wrote:Good job. as always a unique piece.. your getting good at the hatches.. nice touch!
Once I figured out a system for doing the hatches, they became pretty simple to pull off. I still need to refine it a bit, but it's getting there. The hinges and grab irons were new adds this time and I like the way they turned out.
whalemusic360 wrote: It's still not quite right for my tastes, just the scale of the model. Paint came out real strong though and the dirt help I break up the green quite well. Would love to see you take on the FW Spartan similarly.
The model shape looks dumb, I just can't get past how blocky Land Raiders used to be, but as always Gits you manage to make it something I'd love to see across the table
@Master Azalle: Thank you sir, that's my favorite bit.
@Yggs: Other than the hatch... I'd finished up painting it and it just looked a little plain. Vehicle like that needs some history. So I added the squiggles with reliquaries, the seals and the banners. Looked much better after that.
@Chris_P: Glad you think so! Don't be a stranger, come back from time to time and lend your opinion. I'd welcome it.
So, the next marine project isn't actually mine. Ice gave me a bunch of his tanks to airbrush for him. He's been waiting patiently for months while I thought I'd do a fairly quick job of knocking off the LR & squiggoth. Well, the squiggoth's not close to complete, but I'm going to break out the Tiger Claw tanks anyway. Nothing fancy here... just some dynamic shading in variants of orange.
Ah, that sure is swell of yah big guy. BTW, I have 4 rhinos, 3 land raiders, 2 preditors, a whirlwind, and 2 razor backs that could use some of your air brushing expertise as well.
It's been a bit over 50 pages since my last P&M Summary. The completion of the Land Raider seems like a good milestone to commemorate with same.
Lets see... this update begins on March 2nd with an update to the rhino hulls of my razorbacks (as I needed them as rhinos). This in prep for Adepticon 2013.
My rather unorthodox variation of a LS Typhoon.
Completed the quad gun for the Aegis wall.
Finished my devastator sergeant, Brother Scaramanga.
Took a pic of the whole chapter. 4450 pts in 5th, I'm sure it'll be less in sixth.
Couldn't stop fiddlin' with the rhinos...
... and then had to fix the razorback parts and touch them up too.
Painted up a couple of rhinos/razorbacks for Yellowbeard (just the basics).
Took a pic of the Adepticon army.
Shots of our display at Adepticon.
Got a cool space wolf from Alfindrate as part of the GMS.
A pipeline... I don't recommend you do business with this company. I wont again.
Before I go any further, I just want to say to each of the contestants how honored and humbled I am by your participation. No matter what your scores are, if you're elated or disappointed... you're all aces in my eyes. Every last one of you. You took my private passion and made it your own for a bit, and for that... I will be forever grateful. This last month has been so inspiring for me. Thank you!
I'm going to post the results in the original order of the OP, with the big reveal at the end (for those not keeping score along the way). The scores listed here will be aggregates of all three judge's marks. Detailed scoring and commentary will be provided individually through PM to each contestant. I can't thank the judges enough for all their work. Judging a competition is hard enough, but to give each contestant meaningful commentary as well is an amazing amount of effort to undertake. Thanks guys, I'm in your debt. The judges will remain anonymous, however they're free to make themselves known if they so desire.
As a reminder, here were the judging creiteria that I provided to the judges. They were not required to use the entire matrix, but they were required to give a score for each main category.
Snrub ++Honoured Lord, The following attached picts (cleaned and edited for your perusal), taken shortly before the conclusion of the Badab war, show an unidentified chaos marine. All chapter heraldry and unit markings have been scraped off so true identification will be close to impossible. However due to weapon and armour patterns I highly suspect that the traitor in question is veteran sergeant Rathis (now known as "Rathis Headtaker") formally of the Mantis Warriors chapter. After turning traitor Rathis is known to have killed dozens of Imperial soldiers and at least 18 other marines in close combat during the Badab war, 3 of which were his erstwhile squadmates, before he seemingly vanished. Rathis and his veteran squad were one of the Mantis Warriors foremost recon squads and as such Rathis is a consumate ambusher and under no circumstances should he be underestermated.
I will contact you again when i have more information. Snrubarius out.++[/color]
Hive Fleet Lazarus My finished entry, Enemy of my Enemy When is a Red Corsair not the mortal enemy of a Mantis Warrior? When there's a horde of Genestealers bearing down on you and no one else to watch your back
Ovion The Mantis Prince Cornatus A Mastery Level 3, Winged Daemon Prince of Tzeentch in Power Armour, with Ichor Blood, the Gift of Mutation, a Spell Familiar and holding the Scrolls of Magnus. (370pts)
Solar_lion At the end of the hundred year crusade The Mantis Warriors sought out the their once former allies the Astral Claws. Taking their revenge in their new form. A Red Corsair Hellbrute.
Ice Angel & Steve The idea is that near the end of the Mantis Warriors 100 year crusade they were tested and examined by the Inquisition to make sure they were still loyal and pure. This scene is depicting one of those meetings. The inquisitor and his assistant are standing before all that remains of one of the Mantis Warriors Companies.
Bear with me now... as I have a situation to sort out... It was pointed out to me by one of the judges (before the judging actually began) that the original rules for the contest imply that each entry be completed by a single person alone, and we had one entry by a team. He was right... not only in the wording but in my intent as well. It isn't fair to make individuals compete directly against a team unless teaming up is proposed as a possibility in the original rules. HOWEVER (sit down... stop yelling at your computer and calling me names)... neither am I such a consummate d-bag that I'm going to exclude a fine entry by people who were participating mainly to show their support and friendship for me (and they did such a damn fine job that I had to come up with a plan B). Keep your socks on, I've got it sorted.
In pondering things like prizes and trophies, it seemed to me that the winners of this competition would be proving exactly how good they were at painting Mantis Warriors. Perhaps, I thought... an appropriate prize would be something that they could practice their new-found skills on? Thus I set about building 3 custom Mantis Warrior figures to celebrate the achievements of the winners and in the hopes that they would continue to practice their craft at least one more time. (P.S. If you're sick of painting Mantis Warriors and just want me to paint it bronze, silver or gold & make a little trophy out of it... I can do that too!) OH, and Mrs. 'Splitta is making cooking of course. One tin each for the winners!
So, without further delay... the winners of the Mantis Maker Competition... 2013 edition!
The Bronze (Heavy) Medal goes to Giraffex for his IA-style Mantis Warrior with a total of 586 points!
Gir wins a custom built, Badab-era Sternguard so he can practice his yellows!!
The Silver (Heavy) Medal goes to Commander Cain for his awesome robot slaying Mantis Warrior with a total of 608 points!
CC wins a custom built post-crusade Vanguard marine so he can come to really and truly appreciate my building skills and thank God that HE doesn't have to build these things! This figure made possible by BLACKHAND and his awesome sculpting skills and the good folks at Chapterhouse for the shoulder pad.
The Gold (Heavy) Medal goes to none other than Nerdfest09 for his outstanding Mantis Warrior Terminator with a grand total of 690 points!
Nerdy wins the first and only... post crusade Gitsplitta Mantis Warrior Terminator in existence! This model foreshadows things to come and there's no one I'd rather see it go to than the winner of this competition. Also brought to you with the help of BLACKHAND and Chapterhouse. Fantastic job Damo, you really set the bar high.
"But what about our intrepid brothers-in-arms?" you say... "What justice awaits Ice Angel and Steve after creating this masterpiece and earning a whopping 638 points??!!"
Ah, well you see... Ice and Steve are MY brothers in arms too... from multiple Adepticon campaigns past. I know what they play and what perhaps, they might enjoy.
For Ice... Captain, oh my Captain... a limited edition Mk 7 Captain model... I think he'd look mighty fine as an Ice Angel!
Steve is a bit trickier... but Steve runs Space Wolves... and I think I've got a figure he might enjoy. It's a Scribor Celtic Sci-Fi Warrior. Very Space Wolfy... very cool.
... and.... now I can't find it. Even though I had it in my hand yesterday. You guys will have to trust that I'll take care of Steve ASAP. *sigh* The best laid plans...
Anyway... thank you everyone for hanging with me for over a month! Contestants, judges and observers... you were all wonderful!
Winners including Ice and Steve... please PM me and let me know if you have any nut allergies!! It will impact the cookies you receive from the misses!
Night all... it's late and I need a drink.
Gits
Made a GMS marine I owed inmygravenimage for several years, Deathwatch heavy weapon scout Uncle John Grabowski.
Could not pass on a stunning SW army.
Nerdfest09 made this awesome artwork of a Mantis Warrior.
Then won the Mantis Maker competition (the two were not related). Yes, there were cookies involved.
Finally... the Mark-1 Land Raider.
(I could still use a vote or two in no one minds...)
That's it! Quite a busy 50 pages. Hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Just a thought about the land raider. You have the sides worn and torn to within an inch of their lives and very mucked up, but the cow catcher blade on the front is still pristine along with the radiator behind it.
1-i wrote: On page 500 can we have a video montage of the army. Maybe have a catchy song to go with it, possibly a member driven contest?
I'm not sure I know what you mean by a "member driven contest" 1-i. Can you be a bit more specific?
I'm open to anything.... hell, 500 is probably a year away at least. Probably more as there's won't be a Mantis Warrior painting frenzy this year leading up to Adepticon.
My long term plans are still to work on at least one more land raider and some terminators. Those are big holes in my army that need to be filled. There's nothing I've seen in the rumors about the new SM dex that makes me want to go out and buy any of the new models... so I just think I'll keep plodding along as originally intended. After the LRs and termies... I've got a Storm Raven and two Storm Talons that I'd like to paint. THEN things loosen up a bit... for now however, I'm still working on the basics.
I try not to think about how many points I have unpainted (or needing to be repainted).
I have a ton of stuff I'll probably get rid of eventually. Many thousands of points to be sure. I'd guess close to 10k... no wait... more than that for sure. Problem is I'm always holding out hope that I'll get to it all eventually... so I can't bring myself to get rid of it. Sad part is that no matter how much I paint, I never really make any progress vs. the huge pile of things waiting to be painted. Everything I do is just a drop in the bucket.
That's why I want to stick to my guns and focus and the land raiders and terminators. If I can knock out 2 LRs and two squads of termies... that would be significant movement towards that particular part of the great, unbuilt horde. I've engaged Ifalna, Ramos and weety to help me with my orks and certain parts of my marines... but funds are limited so over the years it's just been a character here, a unit there. Still, progress is progress. I suppose what I should do is spend some money on a nice display case so I can show off some of the best of the best. At least that way I get the satisfaction of being able to look at the summation of all that work (aside from when I'm not getting my *ss kicked on the gaming table).
Surprisingly I don't have enough terminator bits to build the miniature I had in mind. I'll buy the stuff I need in a week or two and give it a bash. There might be something worth casting if it goes to plan. Got a funky powerfist conversion in mind for instance.
I definitely think you should get all your stuff on display, if you have enough room to display it all it might help you push forward. It's like writing a list and crossing things off as you do them, but prettier.
Thanks SL. More in this summary than I thought (which is a good thing).
Man, I'm frustrated. I'm going to enter graven's re-purposing contest and I have what I think is a neat idea using a figure that I absolutely love but never thought I'd have an excuse to paint (given my back-log of 40k figures). However... my current plan required two different figures, one I have... one I don't. A friend of mine has been kind enough to agree to send me what I'm missing, however it hasn't arrived yet (though it is in the mail) and until it arrives, I'm kind of stuck. Aaaaargh! So frustrating...
Nah, it's OK graven. I got the second bit yesterday & it won't work with the first bit. So I've re-thought my original plans and now I have to go out looking for a new first bit. Best chance will be tomorrow over lunch. Once I get bits that work together, it should go together pretty quickly.
Working on a gun servitor for inmygravenimage's re-purposing contest. Here's the build. Re-purposed parts are the body (from a D&D figurine) and an Epic land raider. I designed it to look like a tiny engineering vehicle.
I did. It's in my gallery or you can check on graven's thread. (Can't cut and paste from my phone.)
No idea, it's made of crap resin, maybe it is a bit translucent. The reason there are three mechanical bits instead of one large robotic arm is because the damn thing fell apart while I was working with it. I can't remember who makes these but is bought five of them and they're all junk.
So... as brilliant as my little concoction is... I'm left with a problem (for the competition anyway). A servitor is just a normal model, which means it resides on a simple 25mm base. The thing I've created completely covers a 25mm base, leaving no room to do anything that will gain me any basing points.
I can either eat the basing points, or create a display base of sorts for the comp, then a normal base to transfer it to after the competition is over. I do have an idea for a display base... sort of... vague idea anyway. But it kind of rubs me the wrong way. Seems to me the model should be in it's final (playing) form for judging, not some mocked-up thing to snag a few more points.
Casey's Law wrote: I don't think any casual gamer would crucify you for using a slightly bigger base.
Casey has a point, but it does matter if this little guy might ever see play at AdeptiCon or one of the local tournaments Gits tends to enter at his FLGS.
But I'm behind the 25mm insert into a larger base idea, I've done that with an older terminator model I have, and I feel you could do it more justice than I could!
More progress on the servitor. The large yellow areas on the sides of the track will be hazard striped. Decided to put him into a prisoner smock as if transformation to a servitor was punishment for his crimes. No idea how that fits in with the fluff... but it's good enough for me. Still quite a bit more work to do, but I'm getting there.
Progress is slow as I'm feverishly painting nids for Thing 2's b-day. Did I ever mention that I really hate painting nids??
My only critique would be the left eye. As a servitor, he doesn't have much personality, and while eyes on minis are a pain in the arse to paint, I think if you painted the flesh tone over the top half of the eye, so only half the pupil and the bottom half of the eye is visible, it'd go a long way to make it look as if he is a mindless servitor.
Also totally in the fluff to re-purpose criminals as servitors. Hell in the Tyranid Imperial Armour book the Inquisitor in the book gets turned into a servo skull to serve out his like 150 year sentence .
For those of you who don't know... moonpie is one of my Adepticon team mates who's been living the life of an internet recluse until recently. His up in some cave on a hill top in Ohio somewhere... probably with a Browns flag for a door cover (which is why he rarely has any contact with the outside world).
Welcome to the 21st Century my friend. Don't mind the electric lights and the flush toilets... you'll get used to them eventually.
Now... you're going to have to get the hang of pimping your own work on someone else's blog. Believe me... I'm a pro at it. The most important thing to do is make sure you include a link to whatever it is you're trying to pimp so that other people can go there!
I don't eat nearly enough paste to be a Browns fan...
Thank you for linking for me. There is no better place to pimp than your blog apparently. I tried to link it, but my bone club was of no help, so I quit.
I will eventually drill the barrel. WIP means WIP..
moonpie wrote: I don't eat nearly enough paste to be a Browns fan...
Thank you for linking for me. There is no better place to pimp than your blog apparently. I tried to link it, but my bone club was of no help, so I quit.
I will eventually drill the barrel. WIP means WIP..
Why don't you base your new dude?
Hey! There is no paste eating needed to be a Browns fan, just dedication to drinking away your sorrows
Lovely utlility servitor. It only needs a yellow warning light on a pole. Unless you want it to be flattened by a speeding Land Raider, which didn't see it
A little bit more progress. Hazard stripes on the side and a lot of work on the head. Even though I can't enter Nerdfest's competiton... I wanted to participate in spirit... so I've vowed to do the best that I can on the face & head.
That's looking really nice, matey. There's still 5 weeks left to enter, btw, folk, with prizes for every completed entry! link in my Sig (shameless self-promotion ahoy!)
inmygravenimage wrote: That's looking really nice, matey. There's still 5 weeks left to enter, btw, folk, with prizes for every completed entry! link in my Sig (shameless self-promotion ahoy!)
Well, I've been up all night painting Nids for Thing 2. They're done (well, done enough). I have about two hours to either sleep or not before I have to get rolling in the morning.
Yeah Gits that is a servitor who just serves buckets of greatness :-) I like the attention you have given his head! shame you don't feel like entering the comp as I think you'd be a great entry, maybe next year? but for now I think you've done a job worth being proud of although I'd love to see some more images *hint hint* :-)
Problem is Damo... I feel that each entry to a competition should be unique for that competition. I'd be double-dipping if I entered it for both graven's and your competitions. You're right though, it would be a good fit for either.
Sometimes... you just have to admit that you need help..... (no, this isn't a personal thing so don't worry about it getting "uncomfortable")
I did (finally) admit that I'll never get all the figures that I & my kids own painted. Just ain't gonna happen, especially as I've recently decided that I really do need to spend more time with my kids doing other things.
Problem is that I know that those boxes and bins of figures are all sitting there... so no matter how much work I do, its just a drop in the bucket. Just takes some of the fun out of the painting because I know that no matter how much I do, I'm really not making any progress. So, I've been taking steps to solve my problem... because I really do want to absolutely love my painting time again.
1. Engaged Ramos Asura to paint my 3 or flyers. They're beautiful and I *finally* have some flyers to play with. Whenever he's got the time and interest to do some more orks... their'll be something waiting for him. I've got this fun idea for an ork/necron list and I'm *really* close to having everything for it. Just need to build one more necron flyer & a few ork bikes.
2. Engaged weetyskemian44 to do all my tech marines and servitors. She's bloody fantastic and this way I make progress on my marines without her having to worry about matching my green (which is all-over-the-board anyway to be honest). I've got an idea for a tech marine based force (fluffy, not competitive) but with weety's work as it's focus it should look amazing.
3. Engaged a friend locally who's just getting started in commission painting to work on Thing 2's Nids. There isn't all that much left to do, but getting it done will be a load off my back & he knows Nids, which puts him one step ahead of me in the "making it look right" game.
4. Benefited from the extreme generosity of Nerdfest09 who's offered to paint a few ork figs for me (out of friendship). He's so good... and an awesome person.
5. Went through my sea chest where all the NIB stuff is stored and pulled out several things that I just don't think I'll ever get to. Giving them to Nerdy by way of saying "thanks".
So, I'm now "making progress" on 3 different armies and have reduced my back-log of models a bit. While all of these represent fairly small percentages of the greater pile of unpainted minis... they're considerably more than a drop in the bucket! Yes, it's costing me some money... but I decided it was better to spend money getting miniatures I already owned painted up, then spend it on new minis that I may never have the time to paint on my own.
The next step (aside from continuing the above commissions) will be to address some old armies. This I'll have to do myself.
1. I've got a neat, GK army that I picked up from BLACKHAND. It needs to have the power weapons re-painted, some of the vehicles finished up and be re-based. Then I think that'll get sold.
2. I've got piles and piles of old eldar (my primary army for many, many years). Much metal, painted (most not very well). I'd like to keep some kind of Eldar army *for fun*. Maybe an Inyaden build around a wraith knight, then divest myself of the rest.
If I can get all of the above taken care of over the course of the next year... I'll be a very happy Gitsplitta & will probably have a much happier hobby life as well. I'll still be painting my own marines and orks of course... but my overall goal of reducing the 40k clutter will be a major focus. As far as my painting goes... you can expect to see a variety of ork bikes, finish the squiggoth, maybe even a second one. For my marines... Mantis Warrior terminators & another land raider, two TFCs. Necrons will get another flyer and I'll be working with Thing 1 on getting him going on the airbrush so he can work his way through some of his own minis.
So, there you go. Kind of the "master plan" for the next 12 months. We'll see how it goes.
Farming things out has been a huge help for me to cut through my modeling junk as well. It's nice to give good people money (or models) rather than buy more models to the endless backlog.
Have you ever used the GK army? I forgot you had it to be honest. I've had a bunch of GK models since the launch, never played them.
whalemusic360 wrote: Farming things out has been a huge help for me to cut through my modeling junk as well. It's nice to give good people money (or models) rather than buy more models to the endless backlog.
Have you ever used the GK army? I forgot you had it to be honest. I've had a bunch of GK models since the launch, never played them.
Once or twice. Only time I really played them was when SL and I were play-testing our adepticon armies for the year before last. I "threw together" a GK/Necron team for us to test our armies against with just the models I had (no flyers at that time). We tabled our Adepticon armies by turn 2 or 3.
Once I get them finished, I wouldn't *mind* keeping them... but really... how many armies do I need?? I bought that Space Wolf army too. Have to figure out what I'm going to do with that. I might finish off an all-wolf allied contingent and then sell off the remaining bits to re-coup my investment... or I might keep it all in the hopes that the 6th edition dex will be a fun and viable one. No telling at this point.
It's always nice when you can clear some hobby stuff and refocus a bit. Sounds like you're going about it all the right way. Hopefully it gives you more enjoyment and you can go back to the old-school method of adding things one bit at a time... until it all builds up again. I've been doing some clear out and cutting down too, must be something on the air.
Good luck indeed mate. I find I cannot bring myself to offload stuff en mass, I pretend that it's an investment for the kids' future Re: fluffy not competitive, I'm pretty sure that you can do a fierce triple-tech HH army that's brutal. Be quite nice for an early-era MW force.
Gitsplitta wrote: I think under the new dex, the best you can do is 1 MoTF, 2 techs & 3 TFCs. I could be wrong though...
Unless you're limited to 1 MoTF per codex and the 'unlocked' techmarines in the primary detachment only, you can probably do something along these lines:
Primary Detachment:
1 MoTF ---- Unlocked Techmarine
1 MoTF ---- Unlocked Techmarine
Gitsplitta wrote: I think under the new dex, the best you can do is 1 MoTF, 2 techs & 3 TFCs. I could be wrong though...
Unless you're limited to 1 MoTF per codex and the 'unlocked' techmarines in the primary detachment only, you can probably do something along these lines:
Primary Detachment:
1 MoTF ---- Unlocked Techmarine
1 MoTF ---- Unlocked Techmarine
Primary Detachment:
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Secondary Detachment:
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Allied Detachment:
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
Secondary Allied Detachment:
Master of the Forge
>Techmarine
Thunderfire Cannon
>Techmarine
For a possible total of 20 Tech Marines
That's only 1640pts aswell, so you have 360pts for the required 6 troops choices.
Conveniently, 6 basic scout squads is 330pts, leaving 30pts for gear and upgrades!
Just 2, being both 'main' (primary+secondary) detachments need to be the same, as do both Allied detachments.
I'd think Iron Warriors for the primary (FnP 6+ and IWND, as well as +1 to Blessings of the Omnissiah rolls on all the main Detachments Motf and Techmarines) would be best.
Not sure on the secondary though tbh.
Maybe Raven Guard, for Scouting Thunderfire Cannons.
@Ovion: Thanks for the tutorial Ovion! Not just on the tech marine thing but on the whole FOC and allies thing. I'd never really had that all mentally sorted before, but I think I do now. I don't think I'll actually do *all* of those tech marines, but it does give me a lot of flexibility to use the ones I have plus a few more if I just can't control myself.
On the massive tech marine list just use scouts (servitor a or aspiring tech adepts) and build a 2500 pt army using the rest of the points for your fortifications. Bless the forts with your techmarines, or use defense lines for more firepower or anti air.
Wow, mobility scooters in the far future have certainly evolved. So many great touches on this piece, I especially like the broken jewellery clasp on the rear
@Vik: I don't know... I don't make the rules, I just paint the figures. I would imagine that the guns (heavy bolters, plasma cannons or multi-meltas) are fitted onto the servitors specifically when they're being deployed in battle. In peace-time, I image they get retrofitted back to some kind of mechanical arm. I guess you'd have to read the 40k fluff to know more.
@Ruglud: Yeah, that worked out decently. Amazing how much of this figure was me sweeping up the debris on the floor of my studio and sorting through it to see what bits and pieces might be salvaged. The ultimate re-purposing I guess.
Very creative repurposing of the brawler gits , in the future drunks are turned into servitors, guess it makes the streets safer. Those servitors by weety are stunning as well.
Hey Gits! That model looks freaking GREAT!! love it, from the danger stripes to that great plasma gun. What was your technique for the osl? looks like airbrush but i could be mistaken. its so smooth! My only thought is perhaps the glow would reach his face or at least chin? Either way, who cares, its a fantastic, fun, and inspired mini! Grats and good luck!
@Dee: You should put a link to your blog in your sig so people can easily check on it. I thought I'd commented on your new pics (which are great) but I guess my phone ate the post. Not the first time that's happened. Here's a link if anyone else is interested to see what Dee has been up to: Miss Dee's Charcarodons (or Space Sharks) I don't know what a "CHAVS" is though... you're going to have to explain that one.
@Theo: Thanks mate. Mine looks brutish next to weety's models but I'm just glad they're all in my collection.
@Vik: No problem.
@bebop: You've got it right... just a bit of airbrushing. A skilled painter once told me that you need two clear shades of difference between the inner and outer glow to make it convincing. In this case, the outer glow is provided by Vallejo Air "light sea blue", the next pass was concentrated on the coils (no overspray) and was 50/50 blue & white, the final pass was mostly white with just a touch of blue and was limited to the center of the main coils (on the top only). You really need to have your brush clean so it's spraying as fine a line as you can manage for this. A little random over-spray in the wrong direction can just kill you. OH, and don't forget to mask off whatever's behind the object your spraying!
My thanks to the good folks At Spikey Bits for showcasing our teams on their excellent blog. You can find them by following this link: Spikey Bits Blog
Well, these aren't Mantis Warriors exactly but I thought I'd show you what I'd been working on. Picked up a GK army from BLACKHAND a couple of years back and finally decided to finish it. BLACKHAND did most of the hard work... I'm just kind of tidying up. First off was to properly base the minis and work on the rhino. The power weapon arms (along with several attached to terminators) are getting shipped off to Cutthroatcure for his fine handiwork painting the power weapons. After much himming and hawing I decided to stick with what I know and make my "style" of base. Have a different grass than I usually use and picked what I thought was the most complimentary color of lichen for shrubbery. Made very good progress on the rhino, though BLACKHAND gave it a good start.
I think things have turned out well thus far. Looking forward to seeing this all come together.
Bases look great Gits, look forward to seeing the power weapons getting their due. Are you going with a blue glow or something more complimentary to the red?
Was their a specific coloring you were looking for, i was thinking of just sticking with the blue effect, but if you have a different color choice, let me know and ill add it to my pallete
Supply drop from Nerdfest09... well, not so much supplies as wonderfully painted models.
And I need an opinion. Keeping in mind that these minis are being painted for sale... so I want them to look nice but I don't want to dwell on them. Here's the state of the rhino at the moment. It's basically done... I might to some minor detailing, but just a bit. My main question is should I leave it plain like this or do some edge highlighting to make it pop. It's not really the time involved with the edge highlighting that I'm pondering, it's that since the marines don't have any such highlighting... I don't want the rhino to look out of place. But then again, it's an entirely different kind of thing so that fact that it's painted slightly differently might not matter.
Some little scribbly writing doo whackys on the black parts would look beaut. Maybe some runes or glyphs too considering the Exorcists are fairly anti-deamon.
@all: I agree that those a good suggestions to spruce up the model, I'm just not sure its either necessary or prudent to put all that extra work in when it may not gain me a higher bid, or might perhaps even decrease the number of people interested in the force because it's too specific. This way, they get a nicely painted army that they can take in any direction they want.
Next up... finished Exorcist dreadnought. I know this isn't the optimal configuration for a GK dread, but it's what I had on-hand by way of arms and it IS a legal configuration. I'd like to be able to say that the army is 100% battle ready when I'm done.
Gitsplitta wrote: @all: I agree that those a good suggestions to spruce up the model, I'm just not sure its either necessary or prudent to put all that extra work in when it may not gain me a higher bid, or might perhaps even decrease the number of people interested in the force because it's too specific. This way, they get a nicely painted army that they can take in any direction they want.
That's exactly how I approach the painting of models I'm going to sell. Make them look nice and clean. Keep them legal and leave room for the new owner to add their own markings to tie them into their army.
Dread' looks good, but the head does look like it needs something.
Anyway, wicked looking army Gits but if I'm honest, seeing red in this thread just confuses me!
I see a few bits that need attention like the dreads helmet (as WM already mentioned), also the wax on the purity seals looks a little flat. Apart from that though I think you have done a great job.
Love the dreadnought's basing btw, those yellow patches look awesome. Reminds me of one I saw a year or so ago that had flowers on, not very grimdark but man did it look good..
Well, it's still mostly your work BLACKHAND, I'm just kind of touching things up around the edges.
I'm working on the land raider now. It needs quite a bit of TLC but I think I'm making decent progress. Pics when I get enough done to make it worthwhile.
If it is the same Cannon I sent with the dread then it is the metal one that comes with the Space Wolf Dread Character. Not sure if it came with drilled barrels or if Gits did it.
Ok so not only did you risk messing up a very nice looking assault cannon by drilling 5 barrels that are really close together, you risked messing up a very nice looking assault cannon by drilling 5 metal barrels that are really close together.
I'd like to claim superiority over both of you because i collect guard and therefore have no barrels to drill. However I've modified the lasguns to be autoguns... So yeah, I'm a barrel pleb.
But that means i can be GOOD too! I'll just glue 6 lasguns together in a circle and have lassault cannon.
At this point, I've only painted necrons and orks...
I don't drill the barrels on my necrons... their superior alien technology doesn't need such things (ie, most are already drilled).
I don't drill the barrels on the orks either...their superior alien stupidity doesn't need such things... (ie, mostly they just shout BANG! loudly...)
EDIT: When I do my space marines, I'll be drilling the barrels.
Barrels are there to be drilled. Like filling gaps and removing mould lines, it's necessary and quite pleasing to do.
I even spent some time considering how and where to drill holes in Shuriken Catapults. Decided in the end that the required slot wouldn't show on that scale.
I love their new chapter tactics, all sneaky & savage
I'm glad they gave those chapters some love ! (well, not really "love" for everyone, as some chapters are less favoured than others.... But hey, I guess they did have fun designing them !)
No, I'm sure no one at any branch of GW has the slightest interest in this thread. I don't say that out of spite, I just don't think there's much here that would interest them. I'm not that good a modeler or painter & I deal mostly with 20 year old models (which don't generate revenue).
Sorry gents, as the hobbying faithful... you're all I've got. (and I'm very grateful for you!!)
Gitsplitta wrote: I'm not that good a modeler or painter & I deal mostly with 20 year old models
Wha-what? How does 409 pages of beautifully painted and maintained Mantis Warriors = not a good painter/modeller? You've refurbished more old marines/tanks then most people will ever see, let alone own and you've refurbished them to a stunning degree.
You've also mastered painting yellow. How does that qualify you as not a good painter again.
Take a look at my work compared to the work of the people who are usually featured by GW in their various media forms... no comparison. I'm good, but I'm not that good. Frankly... just take a look around dakka. There's a whole echelon of artists above me... and another one above that as you get into the serious competition professionals.
Don't get me wrong Snrub... my ego delights at your praise and my skills have certainly improved over the years, but I'm a realist at heart.
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(It's not my artwork that has driven 409 pages... it's the wonderful community here on dakka and the relationships we've built with each other. The models are just a catalyst for conversation.)
Sometimes you know Gits, it's the 'everyman' painters that are better than the 'professional' painters. You can see something from France or Spain and it will look like a photograph and be simply mind blowing in it's execution but then when you see what hobbyists do with the passion to learn and produce things for their own force & collection and you can see the love and care and effort they put in to every model! and that keeps me around for much longer, it's like the car world, you can marvel at how good a concept car is but a garage restored car 40 years old will more than likely be the one that you drool over :-)
I think you're being incredibly modest here Gits. As some one relatively new to your blog I learned a lot as your own skills progressed from the first few pages up till now. And ok, you may not make GS sculpts, but the figures you put together are incredible and dynamic which can be something easy to feth up if you're just attaching legs-torso=head-arms without thinking of the over all effect!
I don't know how many times I re-positioned the sgts I'm working on now before they got to a pose that i thought was good for a dev sgt. All your models show (concsiously or not) a level of vision to the over all look and feel which has helped me improve my modeling / army building / army cohesion.
Don't sell yourself short! I love seeing your work!
If you ever have a marine looking for a new home, I'd love to swap. I'll have to get better quality pictures up of my Angels of Vengeance and my Blood Knights >.<
Yeah, I got ya nerdy. I'm not trying to be self-deprecating or falsely modest... but there are entire levels of talent above mine. We hobbyists do OK though. It's not our profession, so we have to work it in around the edges as we can. That's a far cry from someone with formal training who's made the commitment to make it a profession.
I've been continuing to work on the Exorcist Land Raider... do you guys want to see it as it is (WIP) or should I wait until its done?
Art, your painting abilities are more than solid. Additionally, you have the ability to 'see' where you are going, either with paint or conversions, and then execute AND complete.
You are in the top one percent at this point, with 'elite' painters being in the top tenth of a percent.
I'm just forever grateful that you are not posting on CMON or other 'rating' places, in an attempt to somehow 'prove' yourself.
Thanks guys. I'm lucky to have friends and supporters like yourselves.
Well... here's the land raider. It's kind of a wierd WIP. Usually I do the whole model to the same step and then move on to the next. This is anything but. Some elements are finished (assault cannons, doors, frippary), some have just got a base coat. It's all over the place.
I'm playing with the side guns a bit... and have been thinking about an unconventional design element to add to the LR body's paint job... but this simple design matches that of the rhino, so I'm not quite sure which way to go. There will be a black section on top under the rearward hatch... and the multi-melta really isn't painted yet, neither is the engine or the ablative armor in the front.
Looks good man. Loving the scheme and the chapter choice.
I don't know if you were looking for physical additions to the LR, but you could always do some runic markings on the black panels. Exorcists often cover themselves in Daemon warding script.
It's quite possible that they would extend this to tanks.
Just to add to the Gitsplitta trumpet blowing. While you may not be able to rank yourself amongst the professional painters, compared to the rest of us "hobby" modellers you are one of the best there is.
Every model you make has a level of perfection that many strive for and the effort you put in to bettering yourself really shows.
Also, unlike the pro-painters, we can learn how to improve our own modelling from watching your efforts and reading your extremely useful tutorials.
I salute your modelling and your humbleness ... now back to work, we want more...
That LR is looking nice. Git, you to hard on yourself realism or not. You do work that is worthy of a good note, and you are an excellent chatting mate along with great wisdom in the realm of painting. Be a happy git, and enjoy what you have done git; I would love to play against your 20 year old epicly painted army any day. It is better than most of my click who just run the bare bones plastic army.
I *am* a happy Git! Really guys. I'm comfortable in my painting skin. Didn't mean to give the impression that I was fishing for praise. (not that I don't love it)
If I was doing these for myself, I'd load up on detail... but I'm planning on selling them and I think... think... they'd be more marketable with a solid paint job but less detail so the buyer has room to tweak them.
Of course... that all might change if I fall in love with the army in the process of painting it. I am *really* enjoying painting modern figures for a change.
Not a lot to add except - nice raider and though you may not realise it, you ARE being modest. I own some of your work, so I feel qualified to say that
Actually a layer of gloss coat will probably do a lot to even out those brush strokes. Worked nicely on the rhino which looked much better after varnishing.
For the record Gits, i didn't mean to put you on the spot like I inadvertently did. Everyone just kinda jumped on the Gits-is-great bandwagon (and rightly so).
Anyway, back to business.
I like the Redeemer. The bright shiny metal parts make a nice contrast to the red armour.
Land Raider is finished. I know, there's a ton of stuff I could do... but I've fooled around with this far more than I intended. Whomever's getting this is probably going to get a bargain.
One teeny tiny thing though, on the front of the tracks there is an orange splodge. I don't its paint or some camera lens flare thingy.
Unless of course it's gore from the shlub they've just run over.
There's me looking really close at the picture trying to see this orange spot and wondering if Snrub is seeing things and then I see that you've updated the picture...
Looks good. What I find with painting to sell, is that so long as you enjoy the process it makes it worthwhile, even if the person who buys it is getting a good deal.
Well then, I'm in good shape. Have really enjoyed working on the modern land raider and rhino. Has let me play with a color I don't usually get to work with and mess with the new models, which are great!
I've got a single marine to paint up and then I need to find the missing part to BLACKHAND's custom built dreadknight. Once that's done, I'm just waiting for the power weapons to come back from Cutthroatcure (thanks again mate).
Nice to be closing in on the end of this project! Before attacking the last item, I'm tidying up the infantry. Mainly making the green on the purity seals pop a bit and touching up the areas where the sword arms came off the marines and pulled off some of the paint. Also needed to paint one last guy. Now that the infantry's all sorted, it's on to the dreadknight!
Gits I dont know why youre down about the Land Raider. You did an excellent job. Huge difference between 1st post and this post! Don't knock yourself short here. You said it yourself, youre painting it to a certain standard then selling it. It might night have all the bells and whistles you normally put on but it looks superb brother.
It was my thinking that any model created after the fall of the Berlin Wall burned your hands like garlic to a vampire.
What color did you highlight your red with? I find red one of the most stubborn colors to highlight, because you can't just add white and call it a day.
@Master Azalle: Why thank you good sir! I have come a long way. Brings to mind the story of putting an infinite number of chimps in front of an infinite number of typewriters and eventually they'd write the complete works of William Shakespeare... (or was it Wilma Shakespeare? I can never remember...)
@moonpie: Yeah, me too. I must be losing my ju-ju.
The edge highlighting is the P3 color "Khador Red". (really more of an orange) The broad highlighting on the body of the tank is just GW red over GW Mech**e Red (sorry, the name is painted over) foundation paint.
Mechrite Red. Allegedly the "replacement" color is something like Mephiston Red, but it really isnt. It turns out way lighter. From my experience, the "new" foundations are nothing like the old ones, sadly :/ Just an fyi if ya didnt already know.
LR and the rest of the Exorcists/Red Knights look ace. Definitely looking forward to the Dreadknight and the completed power weapons!
If I were to do this for myself... I'd make a whiter mix and so rather irregular highlights here and there, focusing on the corners. I haven't always done it that way but I have played around with it and it gives a nice effect. Also, I've been playing around with a white second edge highlight of metallics (bolt-gun metal), that works nicely too.
I found the missing shoulder!! Work on the Dreadknight can commence!
In doing so, I had to completely empty one of the shelf sets in the man-cave. While we were doing so Thing 1 and I took his Doom Eagle army and decided to lay it all out for a photo op. Over 4000 points, nearly all playable in a single double-FOC list!
You can see the paint levels are all over the board... but most of it at least has SOME paint on it & a lot of it is completely painted. I haven't seen him this excited about 40k in a long while! Now you guys know where all MY original Mk-1 vehicles went to!
Well, the idea (when we started) was to get him an army without spending a ton of cash. So we looked through all of my old stuff & took it from there. Solar_Lion & others donated some models too. Of course back then I didn't think I'd be re-vamping my marine army so I didn't think I'd need the old vehicles. Silly me.
This is the perfect opportunity for an "accident" to occur involving a certain silver and red space marine army.
A particular tank (or 4) may go inexplicably missing and wind up re-purposed as a Blood Raven Mantis Warrior chapter vehicle a few weeks later. Could claim you brought them at an op-shop or somesuch.
Happy Halloween everyone! As your days-gone-bye cultural attaché’ I have a special treat for you to mark this most auspicious holiday. The debut of this music video was a genuine cultural event for the MTV generation. It shows Michal Jackson at his peak of power, influence and talent. No other artist at that time could have pulled anything like this off. It was ground breaking for both MTV and the music video industry. It's worth noting that this video was directed by John Landis... director and writer of most of the movies starring the Saturday Night Live crew in the '80s & '90s and more topically, "An American Werewolf in London" which to this day remains one of my favorite horror films.
You guys will have to trust that I'll take care of Steve ASAP. *sigh* The best laid plans...
