Page stall... :-(

Nice army pic...

Hopefully T1's excited about them !!

*deep inhale*

"I love the smell of Lambeau in the morning... it smells like... victory!" (Go Bears!)


Well, I have been tinkering with the dread knight. I decided how I was going to alter the pose to make it more dynamic. Luckily it took only one slight modification to the actual figure. I won't know for sure how it'll look until I get the power weapons back from cutthroatcure but I think I've cooked up something pretty nice. I've also added detail... lenses and such, and re-painted the head area. I'm not exactly sure when it'll be done enough to be worth a picture... but I am making progress.

Haha, I forgot you were a bears fan living behind enemy lines. I was watching that game for my fantasy football league, and the Bears D and Matt Forte came through in style!

Go Bears! Praise Huron and Ditka!

Did you guys see the Aaron Rodgers follow-up commercial with the SNL bears fans? (On the plane?). It's hilarious!!

O.K. This picture gives you some idea where I'm going with the Dread Knight.

Here's where BLACKHAND started...


And here's where I took it...


So, first thing I did was take it off the dreadnought base and get a proper oval base set up for it. It's not attached to the base yet as it's much easier to work with unattached. BLACKHAND had mentioned at one point that I might be able to make the pose more dynamic... so I shortened the codpiece (which you can't see in the original pic because I put that silly fig leaf in the photo... basically it looks Freudian) enough to be able to turn the torso. Then I replaced the large purity seal with one moving in the same direction as the rest of the seals to give the sense of motion to the right (from the DK's perspective), as if the DK had just identified a threat to the right and was turning to face it. I re-positioned bits of the arm so that the sword will be held in a cross body pose, again... to indicate meeting a threat to the right.

Painting-wise I added lenses, cleaned up things a bit and have started edge highlighting. I also re-painted the head area so it is more striking. One of the infantry units has off-white helmets and I thought it looked good accentuated by the black (see inset). Still some detail to add and a ton of red edge-highlighting to do.

Well fist though of it... as this is the first I've seen it from both (were it started and where you took it)

I'm glad the baby carrier was taken out...cant stand that idea.

The arms look better posed now than the pose Blackhand had...But I think you can do a bit more to make it more dinamic and natural. I think it almost looks to robotic as if it has no life in the look and feel of it.

As I find with alot of the static dreadnoght's I see. The way the schoulders mount to the body. makes the arms look to close to the main body IMHO. The way I fixed this on mine was to put some greenstuff spacer on the schoulders to push them away from the body of the dreadnoght and I was able to turn the schoulders some as well to give it more feeling.

As seen in these pic's. Sorry I'm at work right now, I can take a few better ones tonight.

Hmmm, second spoiler link seems to be broken (or perhaps the page didn't load right for me?).

The arms are actually angled away from the body in a way that is not normally found in a dreadnought. So you and I had the same idea Den. I just don't think you can really see it from this angle. I'll consider building them out more though. That dread of yours sure looks great!

Have you considered a shield? also the head looks a little small. But I'm quite keen on the pose!

Well, there are fundamental aspects of the figure that I cannot change... the fact that it's made out of dreadnought bits for example (i.e. the size of the head). Please keep that in mind as you make your comments.

I could probably come up with some kind of shield. Anyone out there play GK? Given this as a starting point... is there anything else that would be appropriate to add? I suppose the shield doesn't have to be functional (i.e. have stats), it could just be a part of the design. My inclination would be to mount it on the gun arm so it would be used properly in close combat.

He needs something up behind his noggin. It's a bit off looking sitting up there all by its lonesome.

Otherwise, it looks pretty damn neat.

Again, not much I can do about that. Also he's the right height, I don't want to do anything that would make him off-sized from a regular DK as that would alter game use.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Well, there are fundamental aspects of the figure that I cannot change... the fact that it's made out of dreadnought bits for example (i.e. the size of the head). Please keep that in mind as you make your comments.

I could probably come up with some kind of shield. Anyone out there play GK? Given this as a starting point... is there anything else that would be appropriate to add? I suppose the shield doesn't have to be functional (i.e. have stats), it could just be a part of the design. My inclination would be to mount it on the gun arm so it would be used properly in close combat.

The Nemesis Greatsword gives it Rerolls to Hit, Wound and Pen, so is generally worth taking.
So really, some sort of non-hammer based melee weapon would be ideal.

Oh sorry... there IS a very cool sword that BLACKHAND did for it... it's just off being painted at the moment.

I think that it looks great. The little touches have improved the overall look. I agree with the different helmet color , breaks up the area nicely. still little more to do ,, like your famous writing on the scrolls ect.

lol, didn't see the "fig leaf" the first view, then deciphered what it was covering from the side shot well he has some steel balls for sure

Okay, so Ditka versus Huron...

in 40000 years maybe Ditka is Huron

<In my best SUPERFANS accent>
Ok.... so the 1984 Bears and the coaching staff are transported in their gear to the year 39,000 and find themselves in front of the Abbadon's entire 13th Black Crusade... And the three combined Tyranid Hivefleets, and the entire Necron, Tau, Ork and Eldar races.... Now, the question isn't who wins.
<from all around> Da' BEARS!
Now the question is, who gets the most kills?
<from all around> Ditka!!!!



I love me some Superfans.

LOL!

6" Ditka or full-sized Ditka??

@Anpu: *pssst* (It's the '85 Bears.) But loved the story!

Well we know they are the real reason the squats are all dead, the got eaten by Da bears, the nids just have better PR in 40k.

Well, my plasma cannon servitor won inmygravenimage's "Great Re-purposing Contest".

As a prize, I've selected this:

Urban War Sabre CLAU


Which I intend to re-purpose... as... something.

I just like it. And it's only one big, rather simple thing as opposed to many fiddly things. Fits better into my "scaling-down" mind-set.


Cheers to graven for putting on such great contest!

He'd make a good centurion depending on size.

Too big, but I think he'd make a good Contemptor.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Too big, but I think he'd make a good Contemptor.

That seems to be on a 50mm base (same base as cents), which makes it about 60-70mm tall.
So it's roughly the same size as a Centurion -or- Slightly larger than, while still slightly smaller than a regular dread, and quite a bit smaller than a Contemptor.

Graven said it was 3" tall. A standard dread is only 2" tall (plus a smidge).

Fair enough, it's obv hard to tell just from photos.
We'll see what comes though.
Whatever you do should be interesting.

WIP 2 on the dread knight. Let's see... I've added some black accents. Brightened up the gold and the purity seals and done the edge highlighting. Boy was that fun.

Well done master gitsplitta! :-) a job very well done dude! and a great choice of prize, that model looks wicked cool :-)

Thanks Nerdy. I think it'll make something interesting... and it's very "convertable".

DK looks great, much more dynamic than it's original pose. I said it on my original blog but I will say it again, the DK build fell far short of my vision for the model. The legs were never bulky enough and the overall effect was of a clanky rigid robot that could be taken out by a strong wind, definitely not what I was going for! There is a "truescale" dread somewhere on Dakka made by someone with much better skills than me that I was trying to emulate, just didn't quite pull it off. Git's paint job has gone a long way to redeeming it though and I really like the swivelled waist.

(Does it mean something that I never even noticed the "codpiece" was um... obtrusive, when I built the damn thing?)

I know it's late in the refurbishment of the Red Knights but this fella is still gathering dust on my shelf



You are welcome to him if you want him, I always thought he would make a kick ass Dread Knight just didn't know how to fit him in the fluff!

Ooooh now that's cool! how big is it? I could paint the gak outta that face lol :-)

Wow what a great cast and sculpt! Very well done BlackHand!

That is *very* cool. I'm guessing that's a 60mm base? You must have done all the up-sized bits and pieces yourself! I would claim that the giant head was actually a holographic projection of the marine inside, used to cause fear in the enemy. That's simple and you don't have to explain a "giant marine", it's just a DK in fully human form. Chapter relic or some such.

Hold off passing judgement on the existing DK until I have the sword fixed up and on the figure and the base done. While it'll never have the beef of a real DK... I think it'll be passable when complete.

That is some great green stuff work BlackHand

He appears to have found some Pym Particles.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
I would claim that the giant head was actually a holographic projection of the marine inside, used to cause fear in the enemy.

That's a cool idea! Would like to see that done in a way to look like it was a holographic projection.
Good work on the sculpting too, Blackhand.

Congratulations on the Win in Graven's Comp'. Look forward to seeing what you do with the prize.

Thanks Dr H! BLACKHAND is brilliant. His regular contributions on dakka and especially on this blog are greatly missed.


Lots going on and for some reason I feel the need to ramble on about it... Lucky you.

1) I'm in the process of painting a necron scythe which will be the last thing I need for my Adepticon army! Wow... finished 5 months in advance! (That is until I jump ship and decide at the last minute to switch over to orkses.)

2) I'm really enjoying working on the Exorcists. They're pretty much done save for the power weapons that cutthroatcure is doing for me. (thanks mate!) BLACKHAND's comments got me thinking about trying to come up with some way to beef up the legs of the dreadknight (which is, in my opinion where the apparent frailty of the design resides). However... I'm not sure I have a plan for doing that, nor do I really have the skill and I don't want to screw up the build. I keep wanting to add more detail to the figs and so far, I've resisted. We'll see if I can stay strong.

3) I have some ork bikes that I *really* want to get done, as once they're finished I can consider my two bike squads "complete". (which would be huge)

4) I think I'm going to enter Skalk's "Linear Terrain" competition. Because it sounds fun and manageable... and is something new.


So.... what does this mean for the Mantis Warriors?? I'm not sure to be honest. I'm still in the process of clearing out old projects and models so I can start painting with an unburdened (by guilt) mind. The work on the Exorcists has really gotten me cranked up about working on my own, modern Mantis Warriors.... but that's effectively like an entirely different chapter. Probably come up with a modified painting style and everything.


I think... before I move on... I've got two pieces of unfinished business.

1) I have a land raider, but no terminators to go in it. I have a *bunch* of old metal termies. A model, I must admit... that I've never been all that fond of. I was going to scrap them and build modern terminator suits to work with both armies, but perhaps one unit to accompany the land raider would be appropriate. I can either do a 5-man assault squad, or an up to 10-man tactical squad with either assault cannons or CMLs.

2) The second thing is to paint the two TFCs that go with the tech marines that weety's been painting for me. Not too difficult a task (though I do have to build one of them which I've been told is a PITA).

I'll come back to the early stuff again in time, when my mind and spirit are ready for it. I think however, that it's time to shift gears a bit and get to play with some more modern models. After all, I've been painting the same damn figures for over 20 years!


Thoughts & opinions about the terminators? Assault or tactical?

Sounds like you got a plan.. at least finish what you have started so you can clearly focus on the new without the old staring back at ya!

Gitz,
Your dedication to rehabbing those old miniatures has definitely been a part of the soul of this blog and readership. I am really looking forward to the other projects that you tackle.

Don't worry Anpu, I'm not abandoning my early marines. I have too many great figures and ideas for them to do that. I think you'll like what I do with the modern marines though. I won't make an *entirely* new army... but I'm going to work on very specific units. Vanguard / assault marines, modern terminators, some modern support vehicles, probably a command squad and some characters. Some things that'll really show the chapter in it's new form and highlight BLACKHAND's sculpts. It should be interesting and fun for everyone.

Some old-school things that I will absolutely get back to. I have very few heavies... so you'll see vindicators, predators and two more land raiders! I have another squad of jet bikes to be scoutified... and three of the first land speeders which I plan on turning into an attack bike unit.

I wouldn't think about calling my old army done until everything from the above list was completed... at a minimum!

I'm very much looking forward to you hitting up new SM models. They are imo superior in every way. Not that I think poorly of your work thusfar, just that modern is more my style.

Hey guys, Skalk Bloodaxe is holding a little terrain building competiton... and I do mean "little". One piece, smalll (see details). I'll be tossing my hat in the ring, you should too.

Quoting Skalk...

here's a general idea of how it would go:

- Pieces would be intentionally small. Bases would be no larger than a 40K 60mm round base, but no smaller than a WFB 40mm square base (exceptions- 25X50mm WFB calvary base, 25X70mm 40K bike base, WFB 20x80mm troop base). You do NOT have to use a GW base, I’m mentioning them only for scale ref.

- Timeframe would be 4 weeks w/ a one week 'stress extension' if absolutely necessary for extenuating circumstances, but no exceptions beyond that flex time and I would prefer to not have to use it. On average it takes (me) a few hrs to build and paint one of these. The only reason I'm going 4 weeks is because I want to make sure the latecomers have a chance to enter and finish a piece, also the opportunity to catch up for people that find IRL is suddenly affecting hobby time.

- I'm also thinking about assigning 3 classes for judging- Expert (we all know who these guys are), Normal People (ha!), and special category Lurker. Come on lurkers, I know you guys are out there. Speak up and join the fun!

Important note, no WIP pics here. My opinion is that participation drops when WIP pics are posted. That coupled w/ the 3 judging categories will (hopefully) increase participation.

... and further...

UPDATE- I am working on the rules right now. So long as nothing stupid happens I'll have these up by Sunday at the latest. But I can announce the contest start and finish dates:

Start- 0000 Your time zone Friday Nov 15th
End- 5pm MY time zone (EST) Friday Dec 13th

Start date is a week out because I'm hoping a few more lurkers will emerge from the darkness and join in. Plus I thought it was cool to end the contest on Friday the 13th.

Ok, enough messing around here, I have work to do. Again, HUGE thank you to all that have responded and joined. For you lurkers and new folks, there's plenty of time to join. Just post here and you're in.

I'll be back when the rules are done.

Here's a link to his blog... you should go check that out in any case. Terrain Project - JUNK PILE MODELING CONTEST

Go for it kids! Should be easy and fun & you might learn something!

Terrain building comp? How could I say no!


These competitions seem to be popping up a lot lately.

Official Announcement for Skalk's "Junk Pile" modeling contest. Sounds like fun!

Skalk's "Junk Pile Modeling Contest"

I recommend it highly. He's got 5 different classes so no matter your skill level, you'll have a chance to be competitive.

Well, here I sit at a Super 8 in Green Bay WI only a few blocks away from Lambeau Field... browsing the internet on the lobby computer. Funny thing is this computer has been used before to cruse dakka. Today, wyomingfox and I test our Adepticon armies in the "Rumble in the Tundra", a 40k event that takes place at Curley's Pub IN the Lambeau atrium. (how cool is that) Other than point value and the 2-person per team nature of the event, the rest of the rules are NOT like Adepticon so we me be very outmatched... but I care far less about the outcomes of the games than I do getting a chance to finally practice with wyfox and hang out with our other two teammates (Solar_lion & Yellowbeard) for a day. That and it'll be my first time in a professional football stadium of any sort, which is cool. The funny thing is the TO asked everyone to wear their football gear, expecting I assume... a bunch of packers fans. Everything I brought (outer-wear clothing wise) with the exception of my shoes has Chicago Bears plastered all over it! I'm hoping to cause mental anguish in our opponents.

Odds are that we'll play Solar & Yellowbeard during the day, which would be really fun. I did bring my camera, so with luck I'll have some neat photos and perhaps even a battle report or two when it's all over.

I also have lots of time to kill as I'm used (i.e. programmed) to getting up at 5:30 every morning and wyfox plans on sleeping in until 9.

The funny bit for today will be when I have a chance to go into the pro shop and do some packer gear shopping for the family when I'm dressed in bears gear from head to toe. Hopefully... I won't get assaulted in the process. (Green Bay folks are pretty solid.. I'm not expecting problems, just a lot of razzing.)

Ah well... looks like I've got another hour or so to kill... good time to check out new threads & the battle reports section.

Enjoy your games, Gits !!

And take loads of pics

Have a blast Git. Say hi to the team for me. GO BEARS!

Oh my, sorry..


GOOOOO, WISCONS-[]

Have fun Gits. Photos are always good so I look forward to seeing what you take.


NOW GET OUT THERE AND WHUP EM!

Nice to see that Gits is still painting some amazing models and Blackhand is still the wizard of casting!

Phone about dead. Fantastic experience! Fun! Won painting, came in fourth. Only one point behind third. Couple of tweaks and I think wel'll be good.


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Hi Tont, welcome back!!!

Congrats! Pics or it didn't happen

Well done Gits. Get any piccys?

Grats Gits

Well done, look forward to your round-up later.

Hopefully some batreps later... but as this has nothing to do with marines, I'll just leave you with some teasers...

The venue:


The tournament: ("close" but yes... that's the back-room of Curley's Pub, with a total of 8 TVs showing football, waitress service and a full wall of windows to keep you from feeling claustrophobic). Excellent air conditioning too which helped. I am not in this picture in case you're curious.



The army: Our award-winning army. To be fair I think there was only one or two other armies that were completely painted.


Scythe wing arrives!: These guys had a tendency to all show up at once on turn 2. That proved to be very effective.


Bad boys running wild.: one of wyomingfox's Riptides


I'll give you a heads-up when I have something posted... probably over on my necron thread.

Nice action shots! Particularly fond of the side view of those croissants.

Yeah, I was just schlumphing down in a chair next to the table and all three were at eye-level. Looked so cool I just had to take a pic.

Well deserved painting win.


[Automatically Appended Next Post:
And for your nice finish

Wyomingfox's Tau army is pretty impressive too...

The triple-croissant pic looks great too

Your combined armies are a stunning sight ! I'm not surprised you earned a prize

Thanks for the welcome Gits! All awards for you guys were incredibly well deserved! Amazing work.

The riptides and drones were done by a professional. The rest was done by wyfox himself... and he did quite a nice job too!

^ agreed! Beautiful work.

I don't recall seeing anything (though I assume there probably was something about it here), but have you seen the Mantis Warrior Chapter Tactics and what do you think of them?

Hi Ovion, sorry I didn't answer your question promptly.

While I think I've printed down the change... I haven't had a chance to look at it yet. To be honest, IA rules aren't allowed in any of the FLGSs around here (which includes nearly all the tournaments) so while I may find it interesting... it doesn't have any practical value to me. I'll try and make a point of taking a look at those rules however and make sure I comment afterwards.

Well, if it helps (if you haven't yet / to seperate it out) here you go:
I think it's interesting, Hammer of Wrath and Move Through Cover, and an alternate Discipline to choose from.

I agree. I like it because it's not only very fluffy but practical as well. They took away the infiltrate rule, but given the new meta, some of the 6th edition rule changes and the lack of sight-blocking terrain on most tournament tables, I don't think that's a big loss.

I could see the combination of move through cover, hammer of wrath and furious charge to be very powerful. The Divination table is great too. Used that last year when i was playing Dark Angels at Adepticon and I was really happy with it.

I envy folks who can use the IA stuff. Sounds like it would add a lot of color.



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I guess I didn't really address this from a fluff perspective. Yes, I find this to be very in-line with how I believe the Mantis Warriors would be, especially after decades of crusade had thinned their numbers to the point where every loss would be truly important. Srike hard at vulnerable targets... then get the heck outta Dodge.


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So... I was bored, but didn't want to get into a major project. Decided to do the scribbles on the purity seals on the Exorcists. 50 purity seals later... I'm done with one squad and in the beginning stages of a major project.

I hate you all.

Nah, you don't hate us Gits! without us..... well,..... something?..... but anyway they look great with some squiggles and bases! the hard as nails guy with no arm is good :-)

Well yeah... I don't *really* hate you all. But when you encourage me to do squiggles on an army I intend to sell, I dislike you... at least for a few seconds.

I did get 2 of 3 infantry squads done last night. Probably get the third done tonight & will start on the dread & dreadknight. I suppose I should buckle down and jump into a new/existing project. I'm kind of spinning my wheels here as I wait for swords and Necron bases and general inspiration.

I have plenty of models you can paint Gits!

I don't really care for your infantry Git. The one arm look just doesn't do it for me. Now the models that have two arms, they look much better.

I know some Eldar that you can paint!

"Armless GK SM"

WHAT THE FLAGNAR!

Ok.. seriously they look great!

PS.. They look great. What do you think you'll get for these.. might want to post a new and improved Army shot!

Well, they aren't done yet (obviously, you guys are SO very observent)... so I have no idea. I'd like to open the bidding at my break-even point but I don't want to discourage bidders if its too high.

BTW, the bat rep is up from one of last weekend's games at Rumble on the Tundra if anyone's interested in my Necron exploits. Written by wyomingfox with pics and a couple of minor comments by me. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/564260.page#6269746

I hope you're using a Micron pen, Gits.

Oh yes, nothing else will do.

Checked the Batrep, looks like you had a nice game !

I'm quite surprised by the board, however : there wasn't much scenery on it, it rather looked like an open killing ground, encouraging armies to pound at each other from the other side of the board...

There was a lot of "forest" terrain on the board, which with G2G grants a hefty 3+ cover save (and we rolled 2 Iron Barks), However, each forest only had 2 or 3 trees...so nothing that would restrict LOS. Unfortunately, most boards only had 1 LOS blocking terrain, which was usually a single massive piece of scenery.

So... I swung by one of my FLGSs for something to do over lunch. Picked up some of the new "Technical" paints... some of the gallons of Sepia wash I use. I wandered into the consignment room and wandered out with this (see below) for $25. Needs hands and some kind of weapon in the left hand... but I think I can swing that easy enough. I'm open to suggestion from any of you GK players out there. Looks like he's got some kind of flamer thing on his other arm.

So why am I buying things for an army that I'm supposedly trying to get rid of??

Wow Gits, I really need to visit Madison and hit up that shop you haunt. The deals you find there are unreal.

Lots of youngsters and big time tournament players... both of which have high attrition in models. I just couldn't pass it up for $25. Half price. Yes it needs hands and a weapon, but I think I have hands that will work somewhere and can probably pick up an appropriate weapon for a few bucks if I keep my eyes out.

Common load out is an incinerator (what is modeled) and just the hands (ie doomfists) as they are S10 as is. Very cheap and very deadly.

Well gits. I like this new project.

Might have some spare ndk bits actually, I'll rummage later and get back to you! also, play gks. You know you want to...

My wife will kill me if I keep this army... and then I'd have to buy a bunch of foam to store it safely and at least 1 more rhino for the third infantry squad. I do have a very nice, custom made rifleman dread that I got from Major_Tom though the body he built has all kinds of Iron Clad bits on it that don't really suit a normal dread (or a rifleman for that matter). I won't deny there is a lure to having an army with two monstrous creatures after seeing how effective they can be at Rumble last weekend. I've actually played a GK army with two of these before and it pretty much ate my lunch.

That shot does show that BLACKHAND actually did a pretty darn good job with his proxy. It's about the same height and by and large a similar width... it's just not quite beefy enough in the limbs and a bit too vertical in it's design. It is close enough however that I don't think anyone will have an issue with it on the table.


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I suppose I could just switch out the current arms on the Exorcist dread for the dual autocannon arms. Painting up the extra arms wouldn't be a problem at all.

Whyfox nailed it for loadout. The sword is good too.

Love what you're doing Gits but I'm sad not to see a sea of green. Are you taking a break from the Mantis Warriors at the moment?

Not on purpose... but I am making a point of trying to finish up outstanding projects... of which the exorcists are one. I need to feel like I'm making progress in my hobby life, I just can't keep painting with no end in sight... it's very demoralizing.

Should I make a new blog for them? Even if I keep them, I don't expect the army to grow too much beyond what I've got already. The second DK, a rhino & changing the arms on the dread will probably be the end of it. Doesn't really seem worth an new blog (which is why they're here).

I just figured everyone might have been a bit bored of the same-old-same-old & would enjoy something different.

You can get a visual on the doomfists here:

http://hoardobits.com/cgi/hob/shop.pl?cat1=Bits&cat2=Warhammer 40k&cat3=-Grey Knights&cat4=>GK Dreadknight&page=&view=02252013-1-12

Got it. Thanks wyfox.

"doomfists" ... the guys at GW are SO corny!



So, what do people think? Do you want me to finish up the Exorcists here or should I start another P&M blog for them?

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving these lads and enjoying the visual break in your blog. It's just I wasn't around for a bit and I wasn't sure what the situation was. For all I knew you had benched the MW. Definitely keep the Exorcists here and keep working away. I completely get that you need to work on something that has light at the end of it's tunnel.

P.S. I still wana try out that concept I had for your Mantis Warrior close combat weapons. I'll see of I can pick up the bits on ebay tonight.

I like seeing the exorcists here... wish I had the cash to take them of your hands, once they are done that is.

If you keep the Exorcists you can always Ally them with your MW to get more variety when you feel the need......

.... I understand the "wife finding out" issue though, I often have packages containing models delivered to my work so that my wife doesn't know about them.

Having a standard DK might make it easier to onsell the Exorcists as well so good find!

Keep them, and keep them here! it's all about keeping your options open

I'd keep them here. New blogs are for long term projects or if you need to tap a different audience - neither of which seem to be the case here. IMHO of course

Update: All of the purity seals on the infantry and the dreadnought are done. I took the twin linked autocannon arms from Major Tom's dread, braced them a bit and adjusted them so they'd fit on the dread body. I may do a rivet strip or something around the bracing, but it was really necessary to keep the barrels parallel and clean looking.



I'm hoping to have these painted by tomorrow. We'll see.

But he's not keeping this army for himself folks

Nice build, and I'm unconvinced about need for rivets (sacrilege, I know).

 inmygravenimage wrote:
But he's not keeping this army for himself folks

Nice build, and I'm unconvinced about need for rivets (sacrilege, I know).

Sure he's not.

Its only a matter of time till gits sends it to me . Naw that one is staying on the shelf.

Finished!

Ooo I like the base against all that red! Good job, gits!

Thanks Moltar!

Well, I arranged for a game at my FLGS this evening. There's a 1500 point tourney coming up and everyone wants to practice with their army. I didn't want to tip my hand on mine, so I threw together a 1500 pt. "confidence builder" space marine army. My Mantis Warriors with a little help from their friends, The Exorcists. What's the plan?? Line the vehicles up, trundle forward and cause mayhem. The dreads and tech marine sit in the back with the quad gun and provide anti-aircraft support as well as taking down light vehicles and such.

Should be easy pickins for a competitive list... but a lot of fun for me to play!



I'll take my camera and get some pics (hopefully).

Awesome work on the Dreadnought and that army looks enviably stunning. Hope you have fun!

$25 is half price for the dreadknight for you? lol, that's 1/4 the $ for me! but it'll fill out the force a bit with the other custom one and the dreadnought which is looking good dude! I love the autocannon arms!

Well, I just looked at the GW web site and it's listed at $54. I thought it would be a bit higher to be honest, but I suppose it is the smallest of the monstrous creatures and GK is an older army now and not the top of the heap from a supply-and-demand perspective.

I could have used my Exorcists last night however. Turns out I was facing a demon list led by a major demon of Nurgle that I didn't succeed in putting even a single wound on (not for lack of trying).

Here's a teaser.

The glory that is weety... my Tech Marine group. Thanks Weets! Got one more old tech marine an 3 servitors coming your way (eventually... probably after Christmas).

That girl's got mad skills. Looking forward to those bat reps.

Lol, that armour line must've been pretty scary !!

And I just love the Adepts of Mars as a group ! They look awesome ! The consistent paintjob helps in smoothing the generational discrepancies

Started my next Mantis Warrior project. Decided I'd better get my two TFC's done since the tech marines that go with them are finished. One new, one used. You can see the used one is missing some parts. I *think* can make the end cap piece... but not the little deely-bobs on the barrel. If any of you out there have any of these pieces that you somehow wound up with and don't need... please PM me. It'll save me a lot of hassle and make my life easier. I have cash and things to trade.

Thanks!

Could you press mould it with Oyumaru?

Wetty's done a bang up job on those techmarines and servitors. They look superb.

Great army shot of the Mantis Warriors and Exorcists too.

I went ahead and built the barrel end cap. Worked out pretty well. I didn't have just the right sized rod for the barrels (mine was a bit bigger) so mine has 3 barrels rather than four, but it gets the idea across and I don't think anyone is really going to notice. I could try press-molding the support thingies but they're so fiddly and I'd have to cut out the backs somehow... just not sure it's worth it. I'll dig around in my bits, maybe I can find something else mechanical looking that will give the correct feel without being exactly correct (like the barrel end).

Pics later... camera battery ran out of juice.

It's a variant mark of the other thunder fire cannon. It's quality has never been fully tested by the mechanicus and is the only test mechanism in service currently.

Brialliant Theo! Another take would be that in the fluff, the Mantis Warriors are supposed to be very resourceful and have always had issues with re-supply (because of being so isolated), therefore are the masters of keeping what they have working. Might be that the gun was damaged in combat and the techs had to come up with an alternate system of repair when they didn't have the proper parts? Or taking advantage of your idea... that it's an earlier version of they gun that they've been able to keep working all these years.

I mean... I've seen the TFC on the table like maybe twice, and I was wondering why the two sculpts were different, and was thinking, "well maybe GW had a variant sculpt at some point."

To be fair, I didn't read the text above it, I just saw pictures (I was browsing on my phone).

Here's the TFC build... the mocked-up one compared to the complete one. Looking back on it now I think there are ways I could have done it better... but it's got the right feel and the right shapes in the right areas, so it'll do.

Oh wow, seeing those models Weety painted all together is amazing - with a nostalgia road-trip to boot.

And your army shot before is wonderful. I must actually get back to painting minis one of these days...

Looks tidy to me bud, nice job! Apparently thumbsup is like my favourite thing ever tonight.

Can't help but notice that that thunderfire cannon is dedicated to Nurgle.

Good work fixing it up Gits. Should look good once it's painted up.

Looks good. Fix looks like it'll work out fine. Put some paint on them and some git magic and it'll look great.

I wouldn't usually post a pic at this stage, but it does show how my build looks once you can't see all the discreet bits. Primed and first layer of paint...



I expect these will come together very quickly given the paint job I have in mind. Hopefully simple yet effective.

You could also camouflage one of them , tall grass covering it or just paint it camo.

Also after clearing my gaming table for the third time my mantis entry that went missing has finally returned home from his mission. He was under a building that I had built, actually inside the square part of the necromunda tower. those mantis guys know how to hide

Yeah, Tranquility TFC lol !!!

Also, you made a great job in converting the barrels !

@Theo: Well, the Mantis Warriors *are* supposed to be very stealthy... you shouldn't have been surprised by his ability to elude you for so long!

@Yggs: Back vile demon! (makes sign of cross with fingers) Back to the pit from whence you came! There will be NO tranquility TFCs!!

Good job on the cannon.
In a way, I prefer the 3 barrelled gun.

I suppose I could have made the barrels a bit longer so it looked more like the other gun. I put them on before I did the collar so when I was attacheing them they looked longer than they ended up appearing. Still, I think it'll work just fine. Really hoping to make major progress on this tonight. The kids are off of school for the rest of the week so I'm hoping for some good painting time with no homework to struggle through.

Of course then I'll have to concoct a special techmarine based list. I think I can do it with one (non-allied) list. 2 MoTFs, 2 Tech marines with 2 servotors each & 2 TFCs should all be able to be fielded in the same list. Add a bunch of dreadnoughts for fun and flavor and it should be a very fluffy and fun list (if not particularly competitive).

Yeah, but the 2 different guns reflect the MW ability to scrap together what they need. In 100 years they are probably pretty resourceful

Fix works a treat. I'm actually thinking I prefer three barrels to four.

Whoa, let's talk about this tranquility idea. I think its brilliant! You could have it on a larger base with some tall grass, perhaps have it pointing down shooting the subterranean rounds. Then give a tech marine a custom servo arm sniper rifle.

Oh wait, a tranquillity techmarine! Awesome. I can't wait to see it.

Gitsplitta wrote:@Theo: Well, the Mantis Warriors *are* supposed to be very stealthy... you shouldn't have been surprised by his ability to elude you for so long!

@Yggs: Back vile demon! (makes sign of cross with fingers) Back to the pit from whence you came! There will be NO tranquility TFCs!!

See below

IceAngel wrote:Whoa, let's talk about this tranquility idea. I think its brilliant! You could have it on a larger base with some tall grass, perhaps have it pointing down shooting the subterranean rounds. Then give a tech marine a custom servo arm sniper rifle.

Oh wait, a tranquillity techmarine! Awesome. I can't wait to see it.

Ha ha, see, Gits !!!

You won't stem the tide for long !! (Can you say that in English )

Yep, that's perfect Yggs.

Meh, weety paints all my tech marines now... I'll just have to comission one in tranquility camo to get you apes off my back.

Deal

That may solve the techmarine issue but that still leaves Git to paint one of those thunder fire cannons yellow. I suggest the three banger gets a yellow job. It already is custom and out of the ordinary, mine as well go the extra step and hit it with some yellow. I GUARANTEE! I'll like the yellow one more then the green one.

Metallics are on and first wash is complete. One more wash and I'll varnish the dickens out of 'em to try and prevent the paint from chipping off (big, heavy metal models).

A tranquility TFC would look really cool but I dont think they have enough armour panels to make it work

Tried the next step (using one of the new special effects paints) and nearly ruined the model. The verdegris is not thin enough for a wash, it's a thin paint but not thin enough to let the undercolor come through. This is the effect *after* I panicked and worked feverishly to get some of the excess paint off to expose at least a bit of color underneath. I suppose this could work as a lining agent... but don't make the mistake of using it as a wash like I did.

Whoah! that new paint is pretty extreme isn't it! the look is good and will be useful, but like you said, it obviously (now anyway) isn't a wash! it'd look fantastic on statues and terrain I think! just something else to add to your arsenal of methods right Gits! :-)

Damn Gits , that new paint really isn't subtle! Thank you for the warning, I had just bought a pot and was fully intending to use it as a wash...

Still the longer I look at it...the more I am liking it.

The tech marines weety painted for you look amazing....

Yep, I'll get the guns done over the holiday. I'll try diluting the paint on the next one and see if I can get it to behave & will report back. It's a very effective paint... but without any instructions on how to properly use it, it can be disasterous. Makes me leery about using the other special effects paints I bought.

Those tech marines need a reason to be fielded. I think these guns will give me the excuse I need.

Iron Hands can get you that heavy techmarine list, Gits.

Neat! Are the covered in the SM dex, or do I have to buy an i-pad so I can then buy a suppliment to check them out? (which ain't happnin')

There will be a print version in a month.

Check the 40K cache, Gits.

I like the effect >_>

BUUUUUUT I could see how it wasn't what you were trying to achieve.

Thunderfire Cannon #1 is finished. Keep in mind the tech marine is weety's.

Dan nice tfc you have. Nice rescue on that verdigris. I just bought some on Wednesday, haven't even popped it open yet, thanks for th heads up.

Wow that green is vibrant.

Shame about the verdigris. Kinda puts a damper on the rest of the TFC.

Oh HELL YEAH! that looks awesome Gits! I really love what you've done with that model, the painting is so good all together with the verdigris and bronze colours setting of the Mantis green like a boss! well done for bringing it together so so well!

That looks great Git's, the green stands out really nicely. I like the little MW symbols as well they really add a touch of class.

Looks awesome man. Love the contrast with the barrel and the red control screen - you don't see so many red ones.

It even debuted on the table yesterday. Blew the hell out of some a couple of groups of gaunts & a ripper swarm before finally getting taken out by a Trygon Prime. So, not a bad first time out. Looking at it, there's some touch up that needs to be done, but probably not enough to post another pic. Just me being finicky.

One more to do. Nice to be back in the saddle with my Mantis Warriors again!

Thanks for the comments guys! I always appreciate it VERY much. Keeps me going when things get tedious or repetitive.

Nice cannon you have there, Gits.

Interesting issue with the new paint. If the pigment is really that strong then you can probably get away with watering it down quite a bit (and maybe add something to break the surface tension of the water).

Good save and looks great with the mech' chap.

Nice work Gits

Seem to have rescued the verdigris nicely, and as others have said the contrast 'tween the metals and the green is lovely.

Agreed, that pops beautifully.

Somehow that mantis green is really jaring with the rest of the model.

Agreed.. If your worried it's too Vergis, I say no with the green cover. Thats where your eye is drawn too!

It works.

The green cover only seems jarring to me in the top image - where it seems to have a "shine" to it - like the photo was taken after a gloss varnish, but before the final matt varnish. The rest of the cannon and tech priest are very dull/realistic in comparison - hence it stands out/potentially jars.

However, the second and third images are fine - matching the overall intensity.

I suspect it is a photographic non issue

What type of micron pens do you use Gits?

Re-visited the cannon. Added some chipping as I'm wanting to do this on all my vehicles/machinery & hoping it might make the cowls look a bit more in tune with the tarnished bronze. Also changed the lighting set-up for the photo a bit in hopes that things will look better. Comments, votes, flames are all welcome of course. This is an equal opportunity P&M thread.



@wyfox: Micron 005, .20 mm

Time to drop in again and comment instead of lurking! Love the Thunder Fire Cannons Gits, your conversion is well done, as usual. Not sure if I missed it earlier but why don't you have all the bits for the second cannon? I used the new verdigris paint myself the other day and found similar to you that it doesn't really wash and a bit of wiping and additional dry brushing. I feel your pain with the GKs, I bought some Crimson Fists myself to touch up & sell on and I'm already thinking of keeping them as I have always had a soft spot for them. Keep up the good work, as always I love your thread.

Thanks Reaper, I very much appreciate your thoughtful comments. Much better than the mindless drivel I usually put forth.

I bought the cannon at a gaming "garage sale" that's held at my FLGS every year. I didn't at the time, realize how many parts it was missing... still, I got a decent deal on it and fixing it up was satisfying.

I should get to the verdigris on the second TFC one of these next evenings. It'll be interesting to see if I can tweak the application a bit so it works better. I'm assuming it's not designed to be a wash... more of a lining agent... but I should do my best to make both guns look relatively uniform so we'll see what I can do.

Love it xx.

I thought the first attempt looked pretty good but now you've had another go I have to say the latest version is much better.

Thanks Dee & monkeyh. I do get the "jarring" comment because even weathered... the deep green of the cowel is quite incongruous against the tarnished metal of the rest of the gun. There's not a hell of a lot I can do about that without a complete re-paint... which I'm not doing.

In hind sight... I could probably add a couple of green touches here and there on the gun which would help tie things together... but at this stage of the game the necessary airbrushing is out of the question.

I like all of it except the verdigris- especially on the first pic in your post a few above this one, it seems to have pooled only on the lower half of the tip of the cannon. And seems to pool in the lower parts of all the cogs/wheels as well.

Not sure if that's just a side effect of the paint, or maybe it's totally intentional... I just think your weathering is better without it.

Although the more I look at it, the more it's growing on me. Absolutely love the green panels and the weathering on them, of course!

Part of that... actually a large part of that... is that I had to dry-brush over the cannon, which was mostly blue after I got done with the verdigris application in order to bring back some of the metal color. I may go back and line-in some of the verdegris again on the upper creases in order to balance things back out.

Chipping looks good. The top of the barrel with the lighter vertigris fits better with the cowling IMO.

excellent work gits, I just think the black barrel part needs some attention too. It looks too clean compared to the rest.

Yeah, I've been contemplating that as well Theo. I'll have to ponder that a bit more, see if I can come up with a creative solution.

Looks awesome Gits! Only thing I could suggest is a bit of weathering dust on the white parts of the mechanicum symbol? With everything else so chipped and weathered that part looks fresh from mars. A tiny suggestion though....

Well San, this is one of those "rolling projects" that I know at the time that I'm finished with it that it's not really done... I'm just sick of looking at it. With prompting then, over the next couple of weeks I usually go back and fix this and that until it's either better or been done to death and just needs to be set aside.

I'll fiddle with this a few more times & try and address the good points everyone's made, then it'll be time to set it down. Besides... I have a squiggoth that needs finishing and a second one of these TFCs that I don't want to have to spend a month to finish off!

Great work Gits, as for the new verdigris from GW I had the same effect - also watering it down also tends to make it crack which is really not helpful - If you can get your hands on Modelmates Verdigris you will definitely be satisfied - they have a blueish shade and a greenish shade. Both products kick ass

I'll keep my eyes out for it Armorum, thanks for the tip.

In talking with a few other folks around here, I think the way it's supposed to be used is as a heavy pseudo-wash... then you dry brush the base colors over the top of it to bring the metal colors back. That's what I ended up doing on mine just on instinct.

Totally fair enough Gits.. I got a few things on the go like that too

TFC == That Cannon

Thought for the day... Eight flyers are significantly better than six!

And a teaser from today's tournament.




So, you'd think this has nothing to do with marines. HOWEVER... I took second & with the discount offered to tournament participants and my prize money... I picked up a box of centurions at a very significant discount!

Oooh, now I am VERY interested in what you could do with Centurions.

I experimented a while back with building a cross between a Techmarine and a Dreadnaught to use as my Master of the Forge, didn't pan out but the possibilities.....

Also thought you could easily fix the whole "Where are the centurion's arms" question by scratchbuilding mini Dreadnaught style arms and end up a real "missing link" style suit hallway between a Termie and a Dread.


Sorry, just my two cents

So, I thought I've chat a bit about the tournament yesterday... even though it really had nothing to do with my Mantis Warriors. Please forgive the OT nature of this post, but this blog is my main way of communicating with my dakka friends.

Had a wonderful time at a local tournament yesterday. 3 rounds, 1500 points. The missions were interesting as they weren't quite standard & seemed to progress in point value... so the first mission had the fewest possible points, the second and the third the most (potentially). I liked it because if you didn't kill it on the first game, you still weren't out of the running battle points-wise as no one got all that many points in game 1. Placement was decided by win/loss record with battle points being the tiebreaker. Each side also had a skyfire nexus in each game, so there was plenty of AA fire available, even if your army/codex didn't normally have it.

I picked an army that I thought would be fun to try. At first glance it looked very DB-like... but as things washed out it wasn't as overpowered as you might think.

My list: "Gitsplitta's Flying Circus"
Orks
HQ: warboss on bike
TP: 4 nob bikers + painboy
TP: 10 grots
FA: 3 dakkajets w/ extra super shoota & flyer ace
Necron Allies
HQ: vanilla overlord
TP: 5 warriors in night scythe
TP: 5 warriors in night scythe
HV: doom scythe



So... at first glance it looks very nasty with 6 flyers, but keep in mind all those flyers are AV10 or 11. The dakka jets can be brought down by anything stronger than a las gun. So, I'd hoped it would be fun and off-putting for my opponents... but not completely overwhelming.

Game 1 was against a deathwing terminator army. I flew around... killed off his few normal marines and generally shot uselessly at his terminators. On turn 3 he held both of the primary objectives, by turn 5 I held them both & by turn 7 we each held one... yielding a tie. I didn't lose any planes but they obviously weren't overwhelming. Fun game the way it swung back-and-fourth.

Game 2 was against a foot Taudar list (actually, there were MANY Taudar lists in the tournament... 1/3 at least) w/ battle suits, war walkers, bikes & a wave serpent. It was nip-and-tuck but I was generally losing in the face of huge infantry squads, battle suits and the skyfire nexus... however I managed to route his eldar HQ and some dire avengers off the skyfire nexus (and off the board) and thinned out the infantry enough that I could push forward with my biker nobs to claim the center objective and walk or drop my Necron troops on two others, securing a 1-point win. Hardly an overwhelming victory... but a fun game & I'll take what I can get. I think I lost 3 of 6 planes.

Game 3 was against another (mostly) foot Taudar list w/ riptide, suits, bikes & a wave serpent. I couldn't believe it but we were actually on the second table, battling it out for 3rd. Justin had his own AA and combined with the skyfire nexus was really handing my my *ss. 3 planes came on, fired once, then were shot down on the following turn. The quirk in the mission was called "meat grinder". When you lost a unit, you rolled... on a 5 or 6 they come back in continuing reserve. The turn I lost all three planes (turn 2 or 3) I got two of them back, then on turn three I rolled in all 5 planes (or it might have been turn 4 when they all come in automatically... can't remember). My bikes had pushed into his rear and taken out the wave serpent... and 5 flyers and the nobs all hitting his line at once was just too much. I did try and play it smart by not killing his units that turn, I spread my fire out so I could weaken them (i.e. they couldn't resurrect if they weren't dead) & took a chance on killing them the subsequent turns where the resurrected units would have less chance to have an impact. Justin also got unlucky in that he didn't manage to resurrect the units that would have helped him the most. When all was said and done, I won the (kill point) mission something like 15-9. The irony here is that the only army to get completely overwhelmed by air-power was the army that was really well set up to deal with it...



So, I won 2 out of 3 games and managed to get enough points in the third game to sneak into second place.


It was very fun. All my opponents were great. We all know how good the Necron flyers are. The dakkajets are *really good* vs. light infantry & armor, decent vs. MEQ & nearly useless vs. terminators... especially when your opponent is rolling well above average on his saves. They are however... a lot like Japanese Zeros... shooty as heck but basically rice paper over a balsa wood frame.

All in all, a really fun day topped off with being able to snag a great prize for myself. Hard to argue with that!

Congrats

Congratuations - sounds like a fun day and a cool prize to play with

Grats Gits and cheers for the battle report!

Congratulations on 2nd.
and clever thinking on the thinning of the ranks without killing entire units, I like that.

Seems like you had a good fun !

And your list looked fun, a bit flyer-spammy, but far from "overpowered"...

Nice job on the weathering of the TFC too... I just hope the other one will be a Tranquillity one

Bit of a side project to report on. I've always wanted to make my rhinos as versatile as possible... which means building them so I can field them as every variant (rhino, razor, whirlwind). Here's my whirlwind conversion made from some FW tarantula thingie. You can see the rails have gotten all busted up. Had to happen eventually. They lasted a lot longer than I thought they would.



The base is simply a set of hatches with thin styrene sheet over the top and a hole cut into it to accept the missile pods.



Should be fun to paint!

That works out quite nicely, Gits. Pity that the railings broke. Suppose there's no real way of avoiding that save leaving the model to display on a shelf :/ It'd probably be difficult, but maybe an upgrade to a heavy gauge wire bent into shape might last longer. For the truly mad you could even solder little lengths of wire to where it connects to the crossbars.

Always the option of leaving them off, but I rather like the look of them to be honest
Any thoughts on repairing it or is it not worth it?


And congrats on the tourney! Glad my babies proved useful! ^^ Pity they weren't as effective as you'd hoped, but still- for a cheap flying set of guns, i guess you could do worse

They were great Ramos , and people loved your paint job!

That WW launcher looks great . Fits the theme nicely.

Works well.
Shame the rail broke, I liked them too.

The thingy is a Hyperios Air Defence Launcher and is better than a whirlwind.

You do realise that your conversion is actually a Whirwind Hyperios which is an actual FW model, you can find it in Imperial Armour Aeronautica.

LOL! Leave it to me to reinvent the wheel....

Ah well, I'll be sure to build the bottom part of it so I can use it as either a Whirlwind, Whirwind Hyperios, or a Hyperios Launcher.

How's THAT for multi-functional building!!
*smug mode... ON*

Looks great Gits! :-) and that's what war does to your rails mate! the use of the Tarantula turret fits nice doesn't it! you are a little creative genius aren't you!

Thanks nerdy! A friend of mine has metal molds & cast me two sets of peuter holds... but their pretty fragile (though much less so that the plastic). I'm pretty good at working with metal & am thinking I may fabricate some holds out of brass wire as previously suggested.

The youngest and I are playing in a Toys for Tots benefit tourney at the Madison FLGS. I've named our list "Better Lucky than Good". We'll see how she does. I'm not sure what kind of lists we're going to face, but I know the other attendees include 2 Aard Boyz champions and multiple traveling tourney regulars... so it should be a very educational day (and fun).

Stay safe everyone, especially if the weather is unfriendly in your neck of the woods!

Gits

Good Luck!

Good luck, may the dice be in your favor , its or a good cause anyway

Be lucky, have fun

 Gitsplitta wrote:
LOL! Leave it to me to reinvent the wheel....

Ah well, I'll be sure to build the bottom part of it so I can use it as either a Whirlwind, Whirwind Hyperios, or a Hyperios Launcher.

How's THAT for multi-functional building!!
*smug mode... ON*

Sounds like a great idea

Good luck in the tourny

Some pics and pseudo-battle reports up on my Necron blog. You can get there from the link in my sig.

Gitsplitta, I don't see a link to the necron blog in your sig.

Stupid me... no wonder no one's commented. It's fixed now. "A Doom Eagle/Necron Oddesy" will get you there.

Thanks Ice!

Love that whirlwind conversion, looking great

Thanks RiTides! Be nice to get that little bit finished off. Not all that practical but something I've been wanting to do for a while.


I have a favor to ask (yes, another one).

As you know I've been working on BLACKHAND's old GK army, the Red Knights or more recently... Exorcists. I've gotten the power weapons back for Cutthroatcure (who did a fantastic job BTW) and am at the point where I can start final detail and assembly. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the army... sell or keep it, however I have some options when it comes to organizing and equipping the squads that I'm unsure about. I also have some other models that might work nicely into a GK army. I do have the codex but I've never been good at sussing out all the little nuances. I was wondering if any of you out there who were well versed in using GK would be willing to give me some army/army list building advice so that I make the most of the models I've got. Even if I keep it I don't plan on adding a ton (won't be a never-ending project like my MWs or orks)... but if I'm just a few figures off of having something pretty good, I'd consider the additions. In general though, I'm hoping to make the best out of what I have at hand.

Please respond by PM if you're willing to help with some advice. I don't think hashing out the list here would be particularly productive. Come to think of it, oftentimes hashing out lists over on the right part of the forum isn't always that productive either.

Thanks,
Gits

Thanks Git

As soon as I get things sorted, everyone will be able to see the fruits of your labors. You did an amazing job, thank you my friend!

Anytime buddy, if you ever need help, i promise it in a quicker manner. LOL

You did yeoman's work... Much appreciated!

Sorry Gits for the laziness, but : could you remind us of what the army is at the moment ? Models, tanks, etc...

Hey Yggs... completely missed your post. Which army? The one Cutthroatcure's been helping me with?



On another note...


Remember this guy?



On a whim I entered him into a painting competition associated with the charity tournament I was in last weekend. It went away to the competition being held somewhere else in town, then came back in a few days with a nice gift card as a prize for winning best 40k miniature. Now, for all I know it might have been the ONLY 40k miniature... but what the heck. I'll take it!

Used this and the deep discounts my FLGS is offering to get a box of centurions for half price. Second week in a row I've been able to do this so now I'm up to my neck in "marines inside marines".

That Thunder Cannon looks awesome, and I love the idea of the multi-purpose Rhino. I have done that with one of my IG Chimeras, will be doing some more!

You know stephen, it's just the most practical way to go about it. I'd LOVE to have a whole stable of rhinos... I just don't have the time to paint all those hulls, so I'll make the most of the hulls I do paint.

Thanks by-the-way!


Anyone have any ideas what to do with 6 centurions?

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Hey Yggs... completely missed your post. Which army? The one Cutthroatcure's been helping me with?

Erh... The GK army you mentioned 3 posts above ?

Ah, yes.

1 terminator IC (glaive and flamer)
5 terminators w/ various gear
10 purifiers (4 flamers)
16 GK marines (mostly glaives)
dread (assault cannon/ML & twin auto cannons)
DK (large psycannon & sword)
DK (doom fists, flamer)
rhino
land raider redeemer

Also have an inquisitor, two AdMech servitors and 2 or 3 servo skulls.

You know what this GK army really needs to make it pop?

A Thunderhawk Gunship.

--B.

I'm sure he is accepting donations

Thanks Brian..... *sigh*

If I sent you two storm ravens and a chapterhouse SR conversion kit, would you build me one?

My my, it's been too long since I visited your thread Gits. Gotta say I love the latest stuff, that Whirlwind looks awesome! I am also looking forward to seeing what you get up to with those centurions. While they look a little odd straight out of the box they do have potential. I was considering getting some and turning them into Ad Mech robots.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Thanks Brian..... *sigh*

If I sent you two storm ravens and a chapterhouse SR conversion kit, would you build me one?

Maybe when I finally finish MINE.

*chuckle* Where do you think I got the idea?!

@CC: Thanks mate. Been really dragging my heels lately on the P&M front. Been playing a lot though. I guess it's good to remind myself from time to time why I bust my a$$ painting all the time.

Centurians are good for fun painting, and converting!

Things to keep in mind!

Centurions with the grav gun and missile launchers are all the rage in the army list section, they need some transport though like an LR or even a Thunderhawk.....

I've faced ML/TL LC centurions before. They were formidable to say the least!

Finally motivated myself to start completing my Grey Knights now that I've got all these fabulous force weapons painted by Cutthroatcure (who is taking commissions by-the-way).

First up... the purifier squad!



So nice to be making headway again!

They look great Git's and those force weapons are amazing.

They are cracking indeed - what next?

Great looking squad.

Why... a Strike Squad with rhino of course!

Looking good Gits. The various little splashes of colour match up really with with the gore red armour. Plus it's just nice to the old grey knights models in action.

Thank you Snrub!


... and the second Strike Squad. I'll get 4 more guys from whalemusic360 to finish the squad off properly.

That's clearly a purifier squad, with counts-as crowe on the end

Look up 'Prolific' in the dictionary, and there's a picture of a mekboy named "Gitspitta".

Well Anpu... keep in mind I'm not completely painting each one of these... just fixing up the force-weapon arms after sending them to Cutthroatcure for blade painting then attaching them to the already painted figures.

I only *wish* I was that fast!

I should have a terminator/paladin squad coming up here next. Might be a day or so as I'll be busy at work & with Christmas hard upon us. They also need a bit more work than the regular infantry.

Looks amazing. The blues breaks up the Red well.

Meant to ask, do you need parts for termies? also, making more from regular termie torsos isn't too heinous a chop job, for what it's worth. I smell a paladin death star!

Well, in working with you and whalemusic360, I've got some decent ideas about a list. WM drew up one at 1850 for me, far from optomozed (from a "if you owned all the GK figures" perspective, but very nice given what I have & does use most of the figures in my little force. It'll also let me play with the two DKs (the only monstrous creatures of any sort that I own aside from a C'Tan shard).

I still have a lot of work to do on the DKs... even the one that's painted is going to take a bit of fiddling yet. But... it's getting there. Be fun to paint the army and then play it a bit before deciding it's final fate. I'm a lot more attached to it than I thought... but I'm still not sure I need yet another marine army... I've already got 2 with the ability to play my MW as BA or DA, and none of them are particularly competitive. So it's like... what color armor do I want my guys wearing when they get their *sses kicked... red, green or grey?

At least the two additional chapters are fairly distinct & have elements that my main army does not.

Those look awesome, Those squads really pop!

Thanks for allowing me to practice Gitz

inmygravenimage wrote:Meant to ask, do you need parts for termies? also, making more from regular termie torsos isn't too heinous a chop job, for what it's worth. I smell a paladin death star!

Sorry I missed your post graven. The list that WM drew up for me actually uses my GK termies as Paladins. I'm not certain I need any more just at the moment, though there may well be better wargear configurations to field them with. It would be really fun to do a terminator apothecary for the squad though & maybe a guy with a banner (they have a fancy banner as an option... don't they?). I know it's not always points-effective to run them... I just think it would be a real hoot to build and paint them!

Cutthroatcure wrote:Those look awesome, Those squads really pop! Thanks for allowing me to practice Gitz

They'd be languishing on the shelves without your help Ctc... I owe you a big one!

More projects for Git... Keeping ya Busy!

Everyone; Merry X-Mass to you and Yours

@ Gitz you want some resin terminator bitz?

@Miss Dee: I think I'm OK Dee. I've been squirreling away bits to make my MW terminators out of. Really the only GK termie I'd be interested in adding is an Apoth and I might see what's available officially (GW or FW) for that first before I think about a conversion. Thank you though, I appreciate your generosity!


As the world turns, and many of my friends reach the international date line before I do... I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my readers who celebrate a Merry Christmas! To those who don't, a happy holiday season and joyous New Year! Each year, one of the things that I'm thankful for is this blog, the people who make it happen (Yakface, Lego and the dakka crew) and all of thewonderful people spend their prescious time supporting my hobby efforts and sharing their own. This blog and the people who frequent it are true source of joy in my life. Thank you!

Be safe, be thankful for what you've got even when times are tough... and try to help someone out less fortunate than you. Simple acts of kindness are never meaningless.

Merry Christmas!
Gits


As for me... I'll be up late tonight working on a Dev Squad and some Yarmgrils (sp?) for Thing 2. Ho, Ho, hoooooooo-boy... I'm gonna need some sleep.... feel free to post here or message me to try and keep me awake! I'll thank you for it.

lol, merry Christmas Gits, :-) I too am thankful; for your blog as it's a constant source of uplifting and wonderful people! with yourself being the grand Poohbah!

I always wanted to be a Grand Poobah... thanks Nerdy !

That's Ymgarl, Gits

And thanks, Xmas dinner is due in 3hours, so we're pretty up to our necks in food, foie gras, oysters, snails, and all the other crappy things we French like to eat to celebrate

Merry Christmas pal!

 Yggdrasil wrote:
That's Ymgarl, Gits

And thanks, Xmas dinner is due in 3hours, so we're pretty up to our necks in food, foie gras, oysters, snails, and all the other crappy things we French like to eat to celebrate

`

Yeah, but we let you off some of that stuff because you do cheese too

Merry christmas all, including Pooh Bear

Yep... fine cheese and wine pretty much wash away any cultural imperfections I could think of.

Gorkspeed to you as you work on those devs and Ymargls

This blog is a breath of fresh air. Merry Christmas

Thanks mt!


Glad you think so Feasible, please don't be a stranger! And Merry Christmas!

Hope you got Thing's toys done

I'm guessing the boys are starting to bounce around just about.....now

Merry Chrissy Gits and all. Safe travels on those snowy roads.

Merry Christmas gits

hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday and got loads of awesome loot

Thanks guys! (nice to hear from you again alabama!)

Decided to put off the Ymgarl's for another day. However I did clean up and assemble an entire dev squad and an AoBR captain for him to paint. I actually looked at 4 different hobby stores for the Dev squad he wanted but no one had one, so I dug though my stuff and managed to cobble together a full squad with sergeant... plus the cappy for good measure. That should keep him entertained for a while.

We pretty much had a perfect Christmas morning here. 4" of fresh powder last night, tons of presents to open, fire in the fire place... no where to go. Hard to beat that on a fine Christmas morning.


I scored some great Kromolech swag. Unfortunately what got sent wasn't *quite* what was ordered... but I'm sure we can sort that out. The quality of what came was top notch though. I just love their work... especially their orks.

Thing 2 got his Devs, Thing 1 a box of Tomb Blades. So we all had a wee bit of 40k in our Christmas! This is the first year in a while I didn't paint anything for them... but they didn't seem to mind and Thing 2 is really jazzed about his space marine scheme... no complaints from me!

Have a wonderful day everyone!
Gits

yea sorry i been scarce as of late gits been busy with work and my own hobby adventures. lurking but not commenting ill remedy that.

awesome score on the 40k loot! i do like the kromolech stuff very awesome my personal favorite krom stuff is the Russian orks.

man sounds like you had a perfect christmas morning.

Merry xmas you fantastic old bugger

*creak* *groan*

"Eh... did someone say something?" "Where's my prune juice?"



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Well, I did actually get some work done on Christmas day. The kids were busy playing with their toys and my wonderful wife was snoozing on the couch. With Dr. Who on the telly all day I toiled away and just about finished all my GK terminators. Just need to do their eyes. Hope to have a pic for you tonight.

Boy... this army is getting close to being finished up. Kind of exciting actually.

looking forward to seeing them Gits. sounds like a great xmas day!

If you put your glasses on its in the pantry next to the others you got during the year. :-P

Prune juice: a warrior's drink.

Also, excited that you're excited - means you might keep them!

Just dont drink all at once or you will be sat on the loo all day

Finally finished the GK terminators / paladins. Shame... the technique I used on the eyes looks really good IRL but doesn't show up at all in the photograph.

They look very nice Git's, turning out to be a very nice army you've got there.

Nice work Gits', they look really good.

Thanks guys! Yeah, just my commander and the two dread knights to go. I think it'll be respectable.


Would you like an army shot once the commander is done (probably today), or would you rather wait until the two DK are finished too? (could be a while)

Yes indeed.

Thank you my friend!



Captain Blackhand of the Red Knights:

Looks good.
A nice red to go with your nice green.
Good scroll work too.

very cool gits

Red Knight army to date...

Small but terrifying.

Army looks great, mate. Bases contrast nicely to the red armour.

Great Army so far !!

So... is it a keeper ? Or still planning on selling it ?!?

Well, to be honest I'm still not sure. There are two Dreadknights to go along with it that are both on hold temporarily because I can't find the parts to finish either of them. They're really what attracts me to this army as I don't have any other army that has any of the new-style monstrous creatures and I'm kind of tired of getting my *$$ handed to me by them. Aside from that it's a pretty army and much different in look and codex from my other two space marine armies (vanilla/BA/DA & space wolves).

That being said... it's yet another marginally effective SM army. How many do I need?

Not the least issue of which is that my wife expects me to sell it & while she doesn't badger me about it... she does refer to it as "the army your going to sell". She's been so supportive of my spending large sums of money on this hobby over the years that I'm reluctant to pull the rug out from under her.

However, no matter what I do with it... I'll finish it and keep it for a while so I can have some fun playing with it first. Thankfully, WM and graven have helped me understand the army better and put together a decent list given the figures I have. So, I'll have my fun in any case.

Your exorcists / red knights are very cool. And rule of cool always wins! What I want to see next is you model the exorcist special character (giant with power maul iirc).

Btw I accept that tolerant wives must be nurtured, just make sure it's so pretty she wants it

What parts are you missing?

@graven: Problem is that according to the new SM codex... Exorcists are an Iron Hands successor chapter. Apparently the connection to the GK came out of some Black Library book with very questionable provenance. I've done a bit of poking around on the net about non-standard GKs and the opinion I see frequently is that the various units often take their cue from their leader, oftentimes adopting elements of his heraldry (very medieval).

So, if Captain Blackhand has red & black colors in his heraldry, all of his followers could follow suit.

Which makes me wonder... I could paint one hand on each marine black to go with the theme.
Thoughts??


@Brian: Well, BLACKHAND made his custom DK a beautiful sword blade, but the hilt is wanting. The real DK I picked up for cheap is missing his doom fists (silly name). I had hopes of just snagging some robo-toy for cheap and hacking off the hands and sword hilt... but finding said toy has proven much more difficult than I anticipated.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
*creak* *groan*

"Eh... did someone say something?" "Where's my prune juice?"

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Red Knight army to date...

 Gitsplitta wrote:
That being said... it's yet another marginally effective SM army. How many do I need?

Not the least issue of which is that my wife expects me to sell it & while she doesn't badger me about it... she does refer to it as "the army your going to sell". She's been so supportive of my spending large sums of money on this hobby over the years that I'm reluctant to pull the rug out from under her.

However, no matter what I do with it... I'll finish it and keep it for a while so I can have some fun playing with it first. Thankfully, WM and graven have helped me understand the army better and put together a decent list given the figures I have. So, I'll have my fun in any case.

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up on your plog, particularly these highlights

Your wife is a wise woman. I think after playing it a few times you'll feel it plays close enough to your other armies that it's no great loss to sell. Looks great, too!

Great force Gits. Love the red knights - you just don't see them done in that colour.

That was BLACKHAND's idea... I agree with you though. Very refreshing from the usual.

I think an appropriate name for them would be...
"Grey Knights: The Order of the Black Hand"

Puts them in context as loyal GKs, but defines them as a unique entity. Even had an idea on how to do a kind of home-made sponge stamp in the shape of a hand. Something of appropriate size to put on the vehicles.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
That was BLACKHAND's idea... I agree with you though. Very refreshing from the usual.

I think an appropriate name for them would be...
"Grey Knights: The Order of the Black Hand"

Puts them in context as loyal GKs, but defines them as a unique entity. Even had an idea on how to do a kind of home-made sponge stamp in the shape of a hand. Something of appropriate size to put on the vehicles.

What about "The Grey Knight Brotherhood of Nod"
Basically the same thing, but nerdier.

<--- vacant look


How about... "Cavalieros Mon Petra"? In essence... Knights of the Black Hand. (any of you Portuguese speakers out there are welcome to correct this as needed)

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Even had an idea on how to do a kind of home-made sponge stamp in the shape of a hand. Something of appropriate size to put on the vehicles.

If you get that to work, I would very much like to know how.

I love the idea of the black hand iconography. Having one of the hands on each miniature painted black could be cool, too.

I agree RiTides. Wouldn't be too difficult to do either. Probably just a one-day project for the entire force.

The Brotherhood of Nod is from the Commander & Conquer Tiberium / Tiberian series.
The Black Hand forms the core of the Brotherhood, and is also a secret order within it, doing all the dirty work behind the scenes.
The Black Hand was also a secret serbian group formed way back when.

^Also a very major group of antagonists in Vampire: The Masquerade.

Brotherhood of the Black Hand eh? The Brotherhood of the Knights Carnelian approve

I'll say it again, I really enjoy playing GKs. They're pretty fierce, sturdy, and you do get a lot of bang for your buck.

I like the handprint idea a lot

Wouldn't surprise me of some of those weren't the original inspiration for his name / the army's name. OK... Brotherhood of the Black Hand it is!

Goddam I had forgotten all about Nod! My nick originally came from the Serbians and the whole starting World War 1 thing (as well as the BlackHand being a being a black ops faction of the space faring Nomads in Infinity)

Can't say how proud I am that the Red Knights are being named the Brotherhood of the Black Hand, cool to think of Black Hand armies popping up all over the world Let the rebellion begin!

All things considered, I would perhaps go against the grain and say I do think you should sell the army. You're definitely raised some good points to support that course of action - and besides, how else are you going to afford that Thunderhawk?

Glad you approve BLACKHAND. You've been a constant source of inspiration for me and I've kept you in mind as I've worked on finishing up your army.

I managed to cobble together a new sword hilt. Quite pleased with it actually. Not quite perfectly lined up but you'll never know it when it's firmly in the grip of the DK.

That's very, very tasty indeed. Have you considered using Dread hands for the NDKs? I have a NDK hammer on one of my GK dreads and TBH the scale of the hand is very similar. You could use blood claws for extra gripping/scale, maybe (I have some spare)?

I did consider that actually. Was pondering my bits collection and I do have a pair of dread arms that end in hands. I'll finish the DK with the sword first... then ponder my options.

Then ponder some more and then second guess yourself then get us to re evaluate and then you'll realize you are right all the time anyway when it comes to modeling!

Finished the first dreadknight! One more figure to go!!

wow... my son went wow with me seeing that sword too...

love the red knights of yours...they are a dashing bunch for sure!

happy new year gits, whenever it hits you

cheers, vik


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one of these days I need me a dreadknight for my own IG to play around with...^^

Hell yeah! that really makes the model! the blue is just perfect to bring it all home imo! not to mention it just looks badass!

Ch-ching! Ironclad hand? and nice use of frag cannon!

Thanks Vik (and your son), Nerdy & graven. It was a true team effort. BLACKHAND designed the sword blade (including the skulls at the center of the quillons). Cutthroatcure painted the blade (along with all the other blades in the army). I designed the sword furniture.

Just to remind everyone, all the hard work on this army was done by BLACKHAND... he conceived, designed and painted most of it. I just picked it up when he decided to sell it and put the finishing touches on it. It's been a *very* satisfying project.

For example: here's a pic of what the DK looked like when I got it (minus the fig leaf).

It's a lot easier to "play" with the paint jobs when most of the hard work is done already.


So... I'm getting very close. A few late additions to the "to do" list. I discovered a couple of extra psy-cannon terminator arms. After a bit of finishing work, I'll swap one of them with a storm bolter on a termie. I also picked up enough appropriate GK from whalemusic to finish off the second strike squad. So there will be 4 more guys painted. OH, and hopefully a GK terminator Apothecary too if I can find the parts (WM is helping me there too).

ROFL... a fig leafed Dreadknight.... now that is what I call PC LOL...

I thought the groin plate was quite phallic... just seemed appropriate.

looking good gits...happy new year man

wish you and yours the best this year so eat your cornbread black eye peas and greens (i guess spinach is ok cause it is a green but its supposed to be collards turip or mustard greens)

any way take care

I'm torn, looking at that Dreadknight. The problem is that it is extremely well executed, I mean beautifully executed, but I really don't like the creative direction you took with it. It's an aesthetic preference on my part rather than any failing on your part. That said, it's a real showstopper of a conversion with creative uses of a lot of bits that normally sit in peoples' boxes forever (frag cannon, I'm looking at you). I'd like to see a rear shot if you have one.