I went the plasticard route for my 3D chapter symbols ( of course I cast them afterwards in resin but thats neither here nor there ) and they came out all right. Like so....



Definitely pack more of a punch than painted ones IMHO


Oh and I know nothing about ninja swords

The rhino looks great gits but dont recognise it im guessing its a RT rhino? the shading came out great i think and i like the chapter symbol blackhand...o yea thanks to your advice i started my own P&M bout my salamanders

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/339521.page


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Forum ate my post.....

Hey Polari, good luck with your blog! Yes, is a Mark 1 rhino/razorback... in keeping with the theme of my army.

Thanks for the example BLACKHAND. I think I'll go to the plasticard route, though I don't expect mine to be too deep, just enough to set it off from the background and make it easy to paint!



Here is tonight's progress. All green doors and hatches and one of the turrets complete. The front hatch isn't attached yet so if you guys prefer the double doors I can switch them out.

You are getting superb results with the airbrush, especially considering you have not got it very long. Gorgeous Zenithal on that tank, I especially like the front panels which have had the shading flipped to really make them stick out Impressive!

Edit: And you have a new pic directly after I post, goddamnit gits. Looking even better, and I realise it must be the back that has the 2 panels not the front, which shows my knowledge of 40k >< Are you going to use red as the main clashing colour on this the same as on the marines?

That's looking great. You've inspired me to try airbrushing my Grey Knights when they finally come out in April

It's a bit late to try the zeinthal highlighting on my guard tanks though... maybe next time!

Mmmmm lovey!

I personally prefer the 2 plates to the front wedge, especially given there's one on the back already (at least thats what i gathered from the pics! )

Keep it up!

Ifalna wrote:You are getting superb results with the airbrush, especially considering you have not got it very long. Gorgeous Zenithal on that tank, I especially like the front panels which have had the shading flipped to really make them stick out Impressive!

Edit: And you have a new pic directly after I post, goddamnit gits. Looking even better, and I realise it must be the back that has the 2 panels not the front, which shows my knowledge of 40k >< Are you going to use red as the main clashing colour on this the same as on the marines?

Actually Iffy, I pulled a bit of trickeration on you. There are two identical vehicles that I'm painting. The other one has the two doors, for this one I thought I'd experiment with the single hatch... though I also have a set of double doors painted up for it so I can choose either.

So, one vote for the double doors... anyone else have a preference? Perhaps I should wait until I get the other turret painted up so it's a fair comparison...

Another great tank. One question though is this actually Zenithal highlighting or is it colour modulation? Or are they the same thing?

On the door vote I think you should keep both. I like the double plates for the rhinos, but for the razorbacks and especially things like preds I prefer the centred view port. Also it helps to maintain that little bit of variety whilst still appearing as a unified force.

Final question Gits, have you seen the Chapterhouse MK1 up/downgrades for the Mk2 rhinos. If so what are your thoughts on them? Do you think you'd use some to maintain the Mk1 vehicle theme?

Lennysmash wrote:Another great tank. One question though is this actually Zenithal highlighting or is it colour modulation? Or are they the same thing?

I'll be honest Len, I'm not sure myself. I know in some of the videos I've watched it's referred to as zenithal lighting and in others it's color modulation. Whatever it is... it's a pretty striking effect. I didn't do it exactly correctly... but for a first go using the airbrush I think it's working out OK. Next time (if I ever do another vehicle) I'll have a plan going in rather than just making it up as I go along as I did here.

On the door vote I think you should keep both. I like the double plates for the rhinos, but for the razorbacks and especially things like preds I prefer the centred view port. Also it helps to maintain that little bit of variety whilst still appearing as a unified force.

My current thought is to do one of each (i.e. one razorback has two doors, the other has the hatch) for the reason you state. But I thought I'd get the pulse of the group to see if there was an overwhelming sentiment one way or the other.

Final question Gits, have you seen the Chapterhouse MK1 up/downgrades for the Mk2 rhinos. If so what are your thoughts on them? Do you think you'd use some to maintain the Mk1 vehicle theme?

Our Adepticon team debated this a lot as we are doing a Badab War era army with the 4 rebel chapters... and in the end we didn't quite come to a uniform decision (just too much variability in the models each of us had available or were interested in). I chose a hard line interpretation based on my origins in 40k two decades ago... thus wherever possible, I'm using original RT/1st Ed figures... which are luckily still available. Notable exceptions are the drop pods (which didn't exist as models until much later) and my dreadnoughts as the old versions weren't really compatible with the current rules and were God-awful ugly.

I like the Chapterhouse conversion kits. I think that if you put one of these original Rhinos next to a modern, converted Rhino you wouldn't really confuse the two, the new vehicles are just so different than the old. However, if you put a converted, modern Rhino in with a bunch of non-converted modern ones... I think you'd very much have the feel of the older vehicles.

interesting comment above. I am starting to really like these old models! needa find some for my own armies!

Tonight's progress. Airbrushing is basically done at this point save a little blackening around the area where the exhaust pipes will go on the one.

nice

looking very snazzy there Gits. The yellow hatches really 'pop' with the green. Great work. Can't wait to see 'em finished.

You trickerated me good :(

They both look great, it's not a case of the double hatch looking nicer than the single at all.

How were you finding the learning curve with the airbrush? I have my heart set on one for the future as there is no way I could have one in the apt I am living in right now, but its always a worry that I might never get the hang of using one. You seem to be getting really nice results with it after only having it a while, did you go through a lot of duds first or is the learning curve not as horrible as I envision?

Beautiful tanks Gits, your setting the standards pretty high for the rest of your army too

very nice
are those the original las-plas turrets? if so, where can i get them?

Looking good, the yellow really pops!

CalasTyphon216 wrote:very nice
are those the original las-plas turrets? if so, where can i get them?

1993! Seriously though I think Gits already had these. Check out Ebay and dakka or any other gaming swap shop

those look awesome. So how many points are the mantis warriors now?

Thanks everyone. I must admit they came out better than I anticipated.

Ifalna wrote:How were you finding the learning curve with the airbrush? I have my heart set on one for the future as there is no way I could have one in the apt I am living in right now, but its always a worry that I might never get the hang of using one. You seem to be getting really nice results with it after only having it a while, did you go through a lot of duds first or is the learning curve not as horrible as I envision?

The very early stages were a bit rough, only because I was very unsure of myself. Wasn't sure how thin the paint should be, or how to clean the brush, how thick to spray it on, etc. But, I kept asking questions on dakka and watching "how to" vids that I could find on youtube... I did have the one "practice" piece in the form of that old plastic drop pod, but then I finally dove in and started painting models. I started by spending quite a bit of time just basecoating or directional highlighting my sons' necrons and gene stealers. I think that was pivotal in the learning process as it was simple to do & gave good results, thus gave me confidence. It wasn't hard to figure out and very quick... and especially with the Necrons (painted 48 figures) I got a lot of repetition. Even though what I was doing was very simple, it allowed me get familiar with the feeling of the brush in my hand and the use of the control at my fingertip.

Inushi was the next project. Single mini basically basecoated and top-down sprayed like the necrons, but with my first real attempts in the shoulder pad and back pack areas to do some careful pin-point blending. The needle I have is a bit big for this on a single figure, but it got me thinking that I could actually pull it off (it wasn't as hard as I'd feared). I had a lot of trepidation leading into the razorbacks, but I got on the "you tubes" and watched the two most helpful video series 2 or 3 more times over the course of a couple of days, then threw myself at the razorbacks.

I found the blending on the tanks to be surprisingly easy. The surfaces are huge (when compared to a necron warrior or marine pad) and with the videos in mind it was a fairly simple process to mimic the techniques. Air brush paint is also very thin and forgiving, so if you mess up it's easy to give it another go. I think I review the vids one again after starting the process just to get a little more confidence, but that was it.

CalasTyphon216 wrote:very nice
are those the original las-plas turrets? if so, where can i get them?

I found both these vehicles on e-bay. I even have one extra double las turret! They weren't cheap... but about the price you'd pay if you bought a new razorback. Both were new in box, I was very lucky to find them exactly when I needed them. One of the blisters was missing the gunner, but I was planning on scratch building them out of old beakie parts anyway since the gunners are in early Mk-7 armor.

shrike wrote:those look awesome. So how many points are the mantis warriors now?

According to Army Builder... 1167, but it's not a legal list as there are no HQ's and too many elites (and no painted troops to go in the razorbacks). This is just the newly painted stuff of course... I probably have over 2500 points in painted Mantis Warriors, but that's my old stuff which is not up to current standards.

Edit:

Dug out all of the figures that I felt were painted well enough to run with this army. Ignoring the fact that I have one too many elite slots (MoTF will fix this), I have 1610 pts painted with most of that being able to be fielded in a single legal army. I'm using the swapped marines on the right to staff the razorbacks (and ignoring the fact that some are armed with disallowed weaponry). You can see the difference in greens between the two dreads and the razorbacks & Inushi... I'm just not going to deal with that, those figures will have to stand as is. I'll stick with the razorback/Inushi green from now on.

nice group shot!

Looking good.

Hey Gits, would you please post closer pics of your Lamenters you swapped for if you get a chance?

Fifty wrote:Hey Gits, would you please post closer pics of your Lamenters you swapped for if you get a chance?

Here they are. Painted by Solar_lion...



The blue background tints the yellow towards green a bit... but they are a clean yellow color.

What do you use to mix your paints in (color mixes as well as thinning) before putting them in the airbrush?

are those plasma guns by the side of those razorback's? is that old skool or a Gitversion?

@ Fatty, It's an old school original razorback kit, heavy metal baby lol-

@Gits, I love how they have turned out! The only criticism I have at the moment, (which may not be a crit at all if it isnt done) is the bottom part of the front armor plate of the turrets being flat green. Are you going to paint them yellow? If so all good, if not, I would suggest continuing the gradient, for some reason my eye keeps getting drawn there!

Another suggestion would be sponge chipping, I find the effect (with a nice charcoal brown or dark grey) really compliments airbrushing and is ridiculously quick to implement, you could do both razors in 5 minutes, no joke! If you decide to take it further, another round of chipping in a khaki green color in the same areas as the dark chipping, combined with edge highlights along the bottom edge of the chips in your highlight green color will look AMAZING. Even doing an advanced version of the technique, you are prob only looking at an hour of work at worst!

HE

Ramos Asura wrote:What do you use to mix your paints in (color mixes as well as thinning) before putting them in the airbrush?

I mix them in the little bowl on top of my airbrush.

fatty wrote:are those plasma guns by the side of those razorback's? is that old skool or a Gitversion?

As mentioned, those are the original lead/tin turrets... and they do weigh a ton (yep, it's a las/plas).

MajorTom11 wrote:@Gits, I love how they have turned out! The only criticism I have at the moment, (which may not be a crit at all if it isnt done) is the bottom part of the front armor plate of the turrets being flat green. Are you going to paint them yellow? If so all good, if not, I would suggest continuing the gradient, for some reason my eye keeps getting drawn there!

Took me a minute to figure out what you were referring to. These aren't anywhere near done... I'm just trying to finish the airbrushing part of the job. Brush painting is next (currently in progress). I had planned to do those in kind of a bronzy metallic that I was going to do the rest of the metal reinforcing in, but yellow is not a bad idea either. I'll give it some thought.

MajorTom11 wrote:Another suggestion would be sponge chipping, I find the effect (with a nice charcoal brown or dark grey) really compliments airbrushing and is ridiculously quick to implement, you could do both razors in 5 minutes, no joke! If you decide to take it further, another round of chipping in a khaki green color in the same areas as the dark chipping, combined with edge highlights along the bottom edge of the chips in your highlight green color will look AMAZING. Even doing an advanced version of the technique, you are prob only looking at an hour of work at worst!

This is a great idea... but I'm a little unsure about the technique. I've tried it, but can't find a sponge that seems to provide the right size dings. I'll do some experimenting and see what I can come up with.

inmygravenimage wrote:HE

HE??

Done a number of things so far today that have kept me very busy, but almost nothing you'd notice. I'll keep plugging away at it. I have a 3-day weekend and would like to have these done when I go back to work on Tuesday, but that's a pretty tall order. There's still so much to do. Will post a progress shot tonight.

Cheers for the Lamenters.

Gitsplitta wrote:

Ramos Asura wrote:What do you use to mix your paints in (color mixes as well as thinning) before putting them in the airbrush?

I mix them in the little bowl on top of my airbrush.

Aha!
I had considered that, but feared it might somehow damage/mess up the brush.
You just do all of it in there? Any specific order or...?

Pesky magic space phone...
Hey, loving the zenithal highlights - fancy doing a wee Gits tutorial?

Yeah for Lamenters!

Asherian Command wrote:Yeah for Lamenters!

You like Lamenters?*

*Excuse the blatant plugging in Dakka's most popular Blog...

@Ramos: I guess I usually go darker to lighter. I don't usually do the whole thing in one continuous go as it makes the brush harder to clean, so if I'm doing a shading I'll do half, then clean the brush, then the other half. Actually what I did here was a main color base coat and then a dark shade, then a light shade... but that's not quite the right way to go about it.

@graven: I could do a tut, but honestly you want to see this video by ScaleModelMedic... Color Modulation Part 1 . It's better than anything I could put together and they guy is a very good communicator/teacher. My technique is a pale imitation of his.

Did something neat on the back of the vehicles... just a little thing but I like it. Will post status tonight. I hope to get many of the details done, especially around the turret main hull.

The weathering I used on my c.a.t for example was just a simple sprue sponge. Size of dings can be controlled with the amount of paint loaded/ tearing up a few sides of the sponge to roughen it and 'spottify' the coverage. I saw this on CMdante's IG trooper, tried, and loved. Then mixing that secondary lighter color in that is close in tone to the mid/highlight colors is something I tried on the c.a.t and I am really happy with the subtlety it added in.

Seriously though, you are a big inspiration for me to get out the airbrush sooner than later! Great work gits! Are you going to try marines themselves next???

Jesus this log got big!

@MajorTom11: Actually I'll need to do the Iron Clad next because that's the last thing I need done in order to start practicing with the army. I can proxy the troopers for now, though whenever Whalemusic gets them done (he's the builder extraordinare) I'll get to work on those.

Those tanks are beyond awesomely awesome! Wow, I wish I had an airbrush. Such great contrast, colors etc, just wow.

Hey Git,

Iv got to say how impressed i am with the lighting on the tank, it really is beautiful. Love the contrast and shading. Not to say the rest of you stuff isn't equally as good (which it clearly is).

This thread is always full of great new stuff, keep it up! I cant wait to see more.

Thanks bunnygirl. You too can have your own vehicle magic brush y if you have the scheckles for it!

Hey Hits. Nice to see you. Didn't know you followed the blog. That's high praise from someone of our painting and modeling skills... thank you!

Here is today's offering. You'd never know it but I pretty much painted all day. Depressing how little progress I made. Like a dummy I didn't evenly finish both vehicles, so parts are done on one while other parts are done on the other. I liked the recesses and joints with dilute thraka green, worked on the turrets, made cool little tail light deelybobs, adjusted the color of the tank that was too lime green, etc.

OOOoooOOoooo pretty...

One note, though... the yellow lights on the bumper don't fade-to-black quite as smoothly as the red ones... just a little nit picky.

o_O

Very nice!

That'll look awsome on the tabletop!

Very nice! Still totally vote yellow on that front strip of the gun shield!

Love the back end with the taillights and the hazard stripes...however it kinda looks like a face to me. o_O Not that that's a bad thing. =D

Looking good, like the tail end. Will you be adding something to the license plate?

Paint the reg. number of your car onto it!
And paint your car green with yellow doors!

Very nice gits the tanks and group shot look great i think i like the single hatch better though but gotta love the back end with the hazards and the exhaust....not that surprised that im gone for a day and the blog grows another page n a half lol

love the tank but the red bits on the turrent are llooking kind of meh. is that one part that isnt finished? too me it lacks something but i cant put my finger on it

fatty wrote:love the tank but the red bits on the turrent are llooking kind of meh. is that one part that isnt finished? too me it lacks something but i cant put my finger on it

I'm going to agree with fatty on that one. I think the plasma guns should be purple like how you painted Inushi's.

Other then that nitpick, I think it is turning out awesome.

Reminder... WIP shots... not done yet.

I'll do some yellow trim and metallic reinforcing plating next, then we'll see how she looks.

Are you planning on adding any battle damage/weathering etc?

P.s. Iv been watching this thread for quite a while now, and you too kind.

I think so. Even with the details and the nice shading they're pretty plain looking. A bit of weathering would look nice on them... just something I don't have experience in so I have to gin up the nerve to do it.

Sort of like the airbrushing actually.

How about a sign that says "mind your head."

Well if your first attempts at airbrushing are anything to go by, i would say that you don't have anything to worry about when it comes to weathering.

What kind of technique do you have in mind?

Well, I really love grey_death's Sons of Medusa and the weathering he used for them. It's the sponge method... even saw a tutorial he did for it once (off dakka I think). The trick I think, is to get the right sized sponge and to get your beat up areas in the right places on the model. We'll see.

this only gets better and better

Gitsplitta wrote:It's the sponge method... even saw a tutorial he did for it once

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/224015.page#1623877

That's it! Thanks Shrike, got it bookmarked now.

Crazy work Gits! I float into the ether for a weekend and theres almost 3 pages of posts and updates. Awesome! You've definately upped my confidence in getting an air brush.. you're achieving great results... now to find 50 odd practice necrons..

So.. I was making some chain weaponry and thought I'd have a quick bash at the katana idea (mostly as a sh*ts and giggles idea).. you'll probably want to click on them and hit the gallery for some zoom action (kinda hard to see the shaping on the blade). Keep in mind I still need to do a lot of greenstuffing (power node(s) on the blade, end cap of the hilt and possibly detailing on the tsuba). Which tsuba is preference? Then I can put it together and work on the rest of it.

Bits..

Bits with comparison to the normal power swords..


PS - Love the tail lights.

your sword looks nice but maybe a little bit little for a katana. there bigger than a british bash sword about the same lenght as a long sword (correct me if i am mistaken i can't say for a 120%)

Monkey, if yuor going to be casting those, I can think of a few people who might want a few :-P

Those look really good. I like the "clover"-type guard rather than the circle.

fatty wrote:your sword looks nice but maybe a little bit little for a katana. there bigger than a british bash sword about the same lenght as a long sword (correct me if i am mistaken i can't say for a 120%)

Katana is about 1m; the nodachi is about 1.5m. Katan size could differ due to the period they were made and the size of the owner. The Nodachi is a typicale two-handed sword, used vs cavalry, probably best represented rules-wise by relic blades. Still, for minis I suggest the rule of cool

well nodachi's normale size was atleast 2m. considering that the warrior riding the horse would use it too ride down opponnents and then a helper stapped the opponnent dead. katana's where useually between 1,50 and 1,80 m. and thats the complete weapon blade and handel

See this link...

http://swordforum.com/swords/nihonto/choosinglength.html

This is much more in-line with my observations from the historical record and my experience sword fighting.

Checked out the same forum to make sure . I'm 6'2", so 1 m is about right for me - for a 7' space marine they could even be slightly bigger

Gits: what kind of swordfighting did you practice? I did western Medieval (German style mainly).

You japanese sword guys are seriously nerding me out on this miniatures wargaming painting blog.

Similar. Belonged to a Medieval Recreation group here in the states for 15+ years. Real armor but not real swords, use rattan so we can pound on each other without worrying too much about serious injury. Fighting with a katana-like weapon (tsuba and all) was my specialty for many years... so I come at this from a very pragmatic viewpoint. I've never been trained in formal use of a katana, but I know what works, how a sword is supposed to feel and how it moves with your body. Though having a real blade on the weapon does change the dynamic quite a bit.

Ended up a two-handed sword specialist... probably not too far off from what you were working with. However I do know enough about Western great-sword styles to know that my style was nothing close. Our safety regs made most of what you'd really do with a weapon like that illegal (and with good reason).

Fatty: I could understand that.. but don't let the current weapons scale confuse you. The average katana blade that was (and is) most commonly in use is around 26-30inches .. the most common measurement for this is (point to ground) roughly mid thigh height. So this is what I used as the scale for this blade. For a marine this is roughly accurate for length.. I did however make it a bit wider than it should be.. mostly because it's a power weapon and a thiny weeny blade would look a little odd.

Wolf: Eh? Seriously? Once I put the tsuba on and finish it up it wouldnt be hard to cast these up at all. If you thought they were something you could actually use I could totally cast a couple up. Haha.

Shrike: Thanks bud, I tend to agree. My intention was a clover shape becuase it's my favourite (it's also what 'lola' my sword has), luckily gits wanted the exact same thing I did! Thought I'd have a crack at a circular one while I was there.

Khaine: Nice! I've always been interesting in learning western medieval! I've done San-Ryu-Do, Kenjustu and some Kobudo through the shorin-ryu system. It's always interested me how medieval european has been glazed over vs the eastern and more asian styles when in reality they're just as complicated!

Git's: You keen on the clover tsuba also I presume? What do you think of the scale?

theres the catch. i train japanese millitary martial arts or bujinkan and we train mostly teqnicks from before 1600. the funny thing with japanese swords is that they became shorter rather then longer. i believe that the biggest sword was around 3.8 meters (not usable but pure craftsmanship). that might explain why we use differtent lenghts i will ask my trainer about this but your right my boken messuers just 40" its to small for me

Similar. Belonged to a Medieval Recreation group here in the states for 15+ years. Real armor but not real swords, use rattan so we can pound on each other without worrying too much about serious injury. Fighting with a katana-like weapon (tsuba and all) was my specialty for many years... so I come at this from a very pragmatic viewpoint. I've never been trained in formal use of a katana, but I know what works, how a sword is supposed to feel and how it moves with your body. Though having a real blade on the weapon does change the dynamic quite a bit.

Ended up a two-handed sword specialist... probably not too far off from what you were working with. However I do know enough about Western great-sword styles to know that my style was nothing close. Our safety regs made most of what you'd really do with a weapon like that illegal (and with good reason).

Nice! We used real swords though, made acquiring decent armour a priority . Actually, when wearing full plate a one-handed sword gave you a bit of a bruise, but that's about it (we d hold back though - safety first). Maces and axes on the other hands... Eastern weapons were rarely used (though I did practice aikido and shao-lin as well). I've always been a sword-and-shield specialist: up close and personal . Western greatsword (especially German styles) was rarely used in tourneys, for the same reason as you stated: safety regs

Khaine: Nice! I've always been interesting in learning western medieval! I've done San-Ryu-Do, Kenjustu and some Kobudo through the shorin-ryu system. It's always interested me how medieval european has been glazed over vs the eastern and more asian styles when in reality they're just as complicated!

Your cv seems pretty nice as well . I think the main difference lies in the armour: In European styles: getting hit doesn't really matter when it's full-on your plate, so you can afford to take a hit if it means you set your opponent up for the killing blow. Think space marine vs eldar: faith in your armour vs faith in your speed . And for those wondering: I can pull a (short) sprint in my full plate and move pretty quickly as well, it's not like we're lumbering behemoths

Slightly back on topic: Gits, have you considered kama for your mantis warriors? It would fit their imagery and allow for some varation.

Oooo.. starts jotting down kama ideas.. OH and tonfa! Oh Kama mantis tonfa! OMG.

Any chance you can make me a power crobar

I want a power-cane and bowler hat. I have a chaplain called charlie who could really use it. Seriously.

I wonder if there is a possible Preying Mantis conversion based on a Techmarine with full servo-harness?

Progress, slow but sure. I think the turrets are done for now. There's always more little things to pick out but since I'm painting on a schedule I'm going to drop back the detail on these a bit. Really just have the vents, treads and door designs on these to do (oh, and the hand rails) and I think I'll call them done. Weathering will have to wait until I know I've got the rest of the army painted, then I can come back and start adding details to make them special.



@Monkeh: I presume you mean scale of the sword/ tsuba to the marine? I think to look in line with most 40k weaponry, the sword in Inushi's hand should be scaled up about 25-30 percent. Hope that's what you were asking.

@CommissarKhaine: I hadn't. Kind of a peasant weapon aren't they? Well, at least in origin. I guess I'm trying to pay homage to a Japanese heritage without totally losing all relation to imperial norms. They'd be interesting though... kind of mini mantis arms... I'll have to think about that.

@Fifty: Now that's a curiously interesting idea... I had some ideas for a MoTF, and for another charachter using a preying mantis conversion, but I hadn't put two and two together in that particular way... very interesting...

Yellow ftw! Amazing! Sponge weathering of a nice dark brown would take 15 minutes for both though, think about it! Great job bud.

OK MT, you talked me into it.... sponge weathering it is... now rather than later.

I officially declare this thread to ge running riot! Awesome!

well git if you want too go japanese with them why dont you make shuko's and make them as count as lightning claws? its basicly the same with the blades on the palm. and i can see them making a slight mantis like attack with them.

well since everybody is telling there spesciality i am a small weapons expert if i can call myself that. shuko's, tanto's and various metal rods with wich i can poke your pressure points

@CommissarKhaine: I hadn't. Kind of a peasant weapon aren't they? Well, at least in origin. I guess I'm trying to pay homage to a Japanese heritage without totally losing all relation to imperial norms. They'd be interesting though... kind of mini mantis arms... I'll have to think about that.

Yep, used to cut rice abd grass, and then adopted by the ninja since ninja, were, basically, peasants . I felt the basic shape would be a nice nod to the praying mantis's arms. Also, any pick-axe type weapon is highly effective because of it's penetrative (sp?) power.

To penetrate armor you need mass too. Favorite late-medieval weapon was a hammer or axe with a Raven's Beak... wonderful weapon. Beautiful and murderously efficient. Not sure what "weaponized" kama look like in cross-section but you'd have to really beef them up if you were going to penetrate armor with them.

Back to the tanks...

What do you guys think about decals for it? I have a bunch... unit/imperial markings and such, but am not in the habbit of using them. Any thoughts? Not sure I'd even know where to put them that made any sense.

Don't put any on that don't directly relate to mantis warriors. It looks too good, and I fear that they might spoil it.

Gitsplitta wrote:To penetrate armor you need mass too. Favorite late-medieval weapon was a hammer or axe with a Raven's Beak... wonderful weapon. Beautiful and murderously efficient. Not sure what "weaponized" kama look like in cross-section but you'd have to really beef them up if you were going to penetrate armor with them.

Back to the tanks...

What do you guys think about decals for it? I have a bunch... unit/imperial markings and such, but am not in the habbit of using them. Any thoughts? Not sure I'd even know where to put them that made any sense.

I like adding all the decals I can of one number per tank. Like the normal 7, and then the roman numeral 7, etc.
I think it makes them stand out a bit more. Also, if you have Witch-hunters transfers (for some reason) I like adding one (or two) the the mini 'walls of text' to mimic honors etc written on the tank.

I use decals, but I use decal setter (it thins the decals) and then I use a sharp pointed Sharpie to outline the edges and then paint over the decal with real paint. I think the glossyness of the decals are a turn off and the paint makes them look much better.

Be sure to gloss coat your model first if you use decals. Then add the decal with some decal thinner (Micro-set if I remember right). Allow that to dry, do your painting and Sharpying, and seal with gloss coat again (light coat, sharpy markers can run with too much gloss).

After your done, do a dullcoat from Testors..

Here is my crappy rendition on where you could put details


That blob of black is supposed to be Roman Numeral 8. I accidentally did it wrong, so I scribbled it out.
Also, I failed at drawing a mantis head, because I can't draw using a mouse lol.

(the normal 7 could also be behind the other light, same as both 8's, or the roman numeral 8 could be next to the other 8)

Im thinking I might run her as something of a commissar, and give her vengeance rounds or inferno bolts. A canonness is just... a VERY obvious model, so unless you are also fielding a squad of sisters who are her aides/retainers, I would insist on running her much like a commissar.

The fluff for my "chapter" is that a series of forces were sent in to mop up a chaos attack. While there they fell into a warp storm, and not knowing how long they would survive pooled their resources--after they took substantial losses. Several marine companies and SoB were sent in and hardly any made it out at the end. At the end though, they were mixed, and had dabbled in heresy because some level of hybridization of the gene-seed products had occurred and there were a few female proto-astartes. Additionally marines had 'cross contaminated' their gene-seed by borrowing missing parts from the other chapters present. Over the course of the fighting, suits of armor were lost and replacements were obtained through the ritual purgation of traitor suits.

I would say she is a special character that operates outside your FoC, but otherwise acts like an HQ choice. The trick is to make her reasonable. For example, look at the SM characters and try to build them from using one of the basic HQ choices. After taking all obtainable equipment, and borrowing weapon costs from other entries, a space marine captain comes out to 190 points, and lacks the doctrines Vulkan brings, as well as Vulkan's Mantle... So any bonus you give to your custom special character either needs to be taken from whatver book the SoB have, or at least make the point cost appropriate. I have seen people claim that what should have been a 300+ point model was worth only around 125, disregard that it has WS 7 BS 7, T5, already comes with a full servo harness and 3 attacks base, with artificer armor and an iron halo, along with master crafted power weapon and master crafted plasma pistol.... oh, and the space marine is made of awesome and win so he has initiative 6......... I remember VERY well the horrendous attempt that I came across of trying to make a fan-made "balanced" Iron Warriors codex.

Whatever role the cannonness fills, it should not be a basic runt. Alternatively, run her and her retainers as a command squad, less the apothecary, and she replaces the champion. Maybe run them as an independent squad? Whatever you do mate, I like some non-Standard Template Design thinking. Cheers and good luck with whatever you do.

Hm...

You have me thinking.. do you think there would be a demand for resin "Arrows" "Chevrons" and "X" icons for vehicles?

I think you can find roman numerals and arabic numbers in brass...

I would be sold, especially if it is in some form of brass, then I can just apply that to a variety of models other than GW's.

Same as the chapter symbols I think it would be better to cut them out of plasticard than paint them on or use decals, you could always stick the decals onto a peice of plasticard then cut them out to get the 3d look and not have to freehand the design?

For those of you confused by poda_t's post... he/she (no offense intended, just can't tell) is responding to an early discussion on the blog where I talk about a long-held idea of putting a connoness in the command squad as part of the checks and balances the inquisition placed on the Mantis Warriors during their crusade. Interesting perspective poda... food for thought.

My other comments will have to wait, have a meeting to chair (sigh).

poda_t wrote:Im thinking I might run her as something of a commissar, and give her vengeance rounds or inferno bolts. A canonness is just... a VERY obvious model, so unless you are also fielding a squad of sisters who are her aides/retainers, I would insist on running her much like a commissar.

The fluff for my "chapter" is that a series of forces were sent in to mop up a chaos attack. While there they fell into a warp storm, and not knowing how long they would survive pooled their resources--after they took substantial losses. Several marine companies and SoB were sent in and hardly any made it out at the end. At the end though, they were mixed, and had dabbled in heresy because some level of hybridization of the gene-seed products had occurred and there were a few female proto-astartes. Additionally marines had 'cross contaminated' their gene-seed by borrowing missing parts from the other chapters present. Over the course of the fighting, suits of armor were lost and replacements were obtained through the ritual purgation of traitor suits.

I would say she is a special character that operates outside your FoC, but otherwise acts like an HQ choice. The trick is to make her reasonable. For example, look at the SM characters and try to build them from using one of the basic HQ choices. After taking all obtainable equipment, and borrowing weapon costs from other entries, a space marine captain comes out to 190 points, and lacks the doctrines Vulkan brings, as well as Vulkan's Mantle... So any bonus you give to your custom special character either needs to be taken from whatver book the SoB have, or at least make the point cost appropriate. I have seen people claim that what should have been a 300+ point model was worth only around 125, disregard that it has WS 7 BS 7, T5, already comes with a full servo harness and 3 attacks base, with artificer armor and an iron halo, along with master crafted power weapon and master crafted plasma pistol.... oh, and the space marine is made of awesome and win so he has initiative 6......... I remember VERY well the horrendous attempt that I came across of trying to make a fan-made "balanced" Iron Warriors codex.

Whatever role the cannonness fills, it should not be a basic runt. Alternatively, run her and her retainers as a command squad, less the apothecary, and she replaces the champion. Maybe run them as an independent squad? Whatever you do mate, I like some non-Standard Template Design thinking. Cheers and good luck with whatever you do.

I have no idea what you are talking about, but do you remember that horrible attempt at making like, a 5 chaos god's champion..or something? It had the most abominable rules. Someone math hammered it would take like 20 turns of like, 20 tanks shooting at it to kill it.
[EDIT] Now I understand. My question still stands.

Yeah, I'm with BH. Incidentally, WIP of Mantis Vanguard guy up in my blog (shameless self-promotion...)

Chapterhouse wrote:Hm...

You have me thinking.. do you think there would be a demand for resin "Arrows" "Chevrons" and "X" icons for vehicles?

I think you can find roman numerals and arabic numbers in brass...

If you are referring to squad designation symbols then I'd have to say a definite yes. Especially a set that would match the rhino top hatch/doors, As well as some smaller ones for side hatches/ back doors/ LS and Bikes. Also some Roman numerals for tanks would be good, just the I, V and the X that way people could just make up their own stuff.

The etched brass is great but it can be very pricey and doesn't always give good definition.

If you do decide to use decals, be sure to very carefully (with a very sharp blade) trim all the extra clear material away from the image (some water transfers have at least a 1mm area of clear decal around the image itself), and be damn sure to use micro-sol and micro-set when applying them. It also helps if you put a small amount of gloss coat where you're applying them. Personally, I use a small burst of future floor wax thinned with water applied via airbrush to the place the decal will sit. it gives it something smooth to bond to. Any shine generated by this just gets covered by the sealer coat I do after the decals have been applied (which is before weathering).

The Mantis heraldry could be created out of plasticard as others have said but I think it would be kinda cool to create a spray template myself, similar to the one Eggroll used for his tanks.

On the decal issue I'd try it out, Micro sol can easily be used to remove the decals from the model with no damage if you do decide that they aren't in fact for you. You can get some great litany decals from the SoB decal sheet. Personally I think they'd be superb for a recently returned crusader fleet.

Lennysmash wrote:The Mantis heraldry could be created out of plasticard as others have said but I think it would be kinda cool to create a spray template myself, similar to the one Eggroll used for his tanks.

Now that is a damn good idea

you shoudl totally have a canoness in the command squad, i must have missed that, but its a great idea!

If you do have symbols i would make them with plasticard as others have said, i dont think the decals really do the model justice. Lennysmash's idea with making a cutout for spraying sounds awesome too!

Sageheart wrote: Lennysmash's idea with making a cutout for spraying sounds awesome too!

I can't take the credit its something I've seen on other blogs.

I have always hated decals. I think they are a great idea, but I can always see the invisible paper line around the decal. It ruins it for me. If you can do decals better than I have seen (in person - plenty of pics look fine) then go for it - simple and easy, right?

My vote is no decal. ;P

-But yes Canoness! That would be awesome. I'd love to see how you handle that challenge too. Such a stand out character in a SM army.

@ The Good Green, I know what you mean but by using Micro sol and Micro set you remove alot of that surrounding edge's visibility. Then once the miniature has been varnished it is totally vanished.

OK guys... finally have a chance to weigh in on the decal question.

I had not intended to do the MW symbol in decals, I was going to execute it in plasticard on the round doors (natural since the old symbol was on a yellow circle. However the idea of making a spray template is *really* intriguing... I'll have to put some serious thought into that. I think a simple stencil made in masking tape would do the trick, that way it would adhere tightly and be less likely to bleed through the edges. It had better work perfectly though because there's no fixing it (the doors are gradients too).

My main question (and sorry for not being clearer) is for the accessory markings... numbers, imperial symbols, that kind of stuff. I've done enough model railroad work that I know I can pull off a decal and make it look reasonably good. Chapterhouse's advice is spot-on with handling decals. I'm pretty sure I picked up one of the sheets of cut brass imperial eagles from FW, so those are an option that I really like... but not being very familiar with tanks and such I wasn't sure about the rest. As with the camo on the tranquility vets, having extra little bits can help focus attention away from foibles and mistakes on the model, improving the overall effect. Then again if they are poorly placed they can just make it look cheap and tawdry.

@BBL: I LOLd... a lot.... at that pic! Your valiant effort at drawing a mantis head on the door was wonderful! My only comment is that I would not put a transfer on any gradient surface as touching up the edges by hand would be nearly impossible. So the front and back wheel wells (by the headlights) are fine, but the front or back hatches are not.

@Chapterhouse: I would think so because they'd be so much easier to deal with than transfers or hand painting them. I'd certainly use them if they were available.

I highly approve of graven's Mantis Warrior WIP. You'd all better go see it quick!

To everyone else, sorry for not responding individually but I did read and appreciate your comments. It's all percolating around in my head right now so we'll see how things sort out in there (you can never be sure).


And yes, the canoness has always been... and will continue to be a part of my command squad. It's just too fluffy an idea to let go.

Personally, after the past couple mini's I've used transfers on, I'm ready to call it quits with decals all together. I agree with The Good Green in that, the clear plastic outline left around the symbol drives me up the wall. When it comes down to it, I suppose it's just preference. If you feel confident that you could pull of the symbols and markings by freehand, then I would go that route, especially since you're not going to be able to really soften those clear edges over any of the gradiant lighting. I know I'm a few posts behind in saying so, but your tanks are looking awesome and I'm sure which ever route you choose, you won't disappoint. Good luck, Gits!

On a side note. Noticing your location in Madison, does your love for the green and gold come from your most blatant inspiration:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LNhJJWWBTdo/SIxjApVCElI/AAAAAAAADPw/egJMjQA-cYo/s1600-h/SkyBox_Green_Bay_Packers.jpg ?

Hmm, taping off the symbol could work Gits but as a matter of consistency and ease I would have thought that a template would be preferable. Of course as you've stated you would have to do something to ensure that it didn't bleed.

Obviously Les, Eggroll, Vet Sgt Ezekiel would be good places to start me thinks.

Gits, glad you liked the pic
I didn't assume you would make a mantis transfer, I just wanted to draw one.

Cut the symbol out of thin plasticard to make the spray template, reusable and not as vulnerable as cardboard... You could design (or have someone design) an eps version of the symbol for you, and then you could print out various sizes on a sheet, stick it to the plasticard, and cut out a few variations so you have options for dreads etc too. A bit of work, but at the end of the day, you will have a spray decal template to leverage on the rest of your army, plus an eps version to print onto a decal transfer sheet too!

Moltar wrote:On a side note. Noticing your location in Madison, does your love for the green and gold come from your most blatant inspiration?

If I were to paint a chapter based on my pro football fandom, it would be navy blue and orange... (Chicago's my home town).


A follow up question...

Regardless of method... what symbols/writing/numbers are appropriate where on one of these?? I have no clue.

Usually, you have the squads number and their corresponding Squad symbols nd possibly the Company Markings/ Number.

e.g. 5th Tactical Squad from 3rd Company would have an arrow, a 5 and 3rd companys heraldry/ marking.

Classic versions said imperial eagle with lighting bolts on the side doors and/or front and back, chapter symbol on turret.

For me, I think you laid out your iconography perfectly the first time around, mantis heads on doors, squad markings minimally elsewhere.

Holy mother why didn't I think of it earlier. Gits get in contact with Winterdyne on the transfer front as well. I'm pretty sure he is still creating custom transfers for commission.

I think I found transfers that will do the trick for the squad markings & dug out & primed some of the etched brass double headed eagles.

Tonight's progress... took out the airbrush and painted up Thing 2's Pinewood Derby car for cub scouts. He even worked the airbrush by himself for a good part of it. My contribution was a wide center stripe painted in a gradient from edges to center. Looks pretty neat!

Back to the razorback's tomorrow.

Yep, used to cut rice abd grass, and then adopted by the ninja since ninja, were, basically, peasants .

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sorry but pump your breaks or be a crashtest duummy.

ninja's are not and i repeat are not peasants! they are Samurai who havent taken there VOW of not killing for money. they are just samurai who kill for money and there way of fighting is different. where a samurai would look for a opening in a opponent and kill him the ninja would dash in and out of combat seeking a way too kill.

back on track say no too transfers personally i hate them. but if you want to do brass i read a tread of some guy making obseenly (thats a word) large numbers of titans i belevie he has 4 of them build. but he has a bud that does brass etching.

New avatar to represent my most recent endeavors. Don't worry, The Gitsplitta will return eventually. :-)


Any ideas what color I should make the raised areas around the air vents on the sides? That's probably my last major decision before moving on to detailing. I thought of both silver-metallic and gold-metallic or red. Yellow is not out but very difficult because brush painted yellow will conflict stylistically with the airbrushed stuff, and air brushing those would be a really messy operation. I suppose black would also be appropriate, though I'm shying away from black in order to avoid looking too much like the Salamanders.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. - Gits

Bell of lost souls has decals hidden, and bolter and chainsword.

i would go for gold just like the shouldor pad. it ties them together imho

yeah gold to tie it to the shoulder pad

Keep in mind guys, at the time that these are supposed to represent, there is NO gold chain on the pads... at this point there is only the standard pad (black head w/ red eyes on a yellow roundel).

So... 100 years in the future... gold. Right now, during the height of the Badab War... there's no direct tie-in.

i see what your saying, huh, then im not sure, maybe red since i like red, and it would be a nice way to add another color that'll go well with what you already have.

At the request/suggestion of the maestro, and feeling yhe katana love, here's my WIP for him. First attempt at doing eyes that way; making the wings suitably delicate will be tricky, I'm thinking of light drybrushes of turquoise and violet. Fairly happy thus far anyway :

Big... mucking... sword.... LOVE IT!! :-)

dont know if i already said this once but it would be more realistic to turn the sword 90 degrees too the left. if he would draw it now he would shatter the blade. but otherwise love the eyes it did draw me in the model like this

Meh. Grimdark space future. Sword is made of future metal.

...

Also, I forgot

Glad eyes work

Just for fun I fiddled with one of the pics... shows graven's work off a bit more I think. Love the arm poses by the way... very cool. Eyes are awesome!

Its a bugs life innit?

Miss Dee wrote:Its a bugs life innit?

Cheers gits - I shouldn't take photos on 3 hrs sleep!

Gits, I am using my 2000th post to tell you the marine I am making with your bits will be in a dynamic pose like Graven's or Inushi.

I wanted to make a 2k posts thread, but I didn't want the shame of it being locked.


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PS.
My new post ranking is really funny, and I want you to see it before I switch it to 'Blood Drenched Death Company Marine' or "Stern(?) Iron Priest with Thrall Bodyguard'
Or maybe I'll keep it...

No... you're using your 2000th post to remind me that I STILL haven't sent you your bits!! (sorry) PM me again tonight when I'm home and I'll get them set up to send (along with Inushi and Sage's marine).

And congratulations on 2000 posts!!! Wooo-hooo!!

High five
Also, My 1k post ranking thread died because I didn't feel like doing it anymore, and tons of people kept coming in and saying it was dumb, etc. I may just go write up who was in what place now, so to leave it finished.

Graven: Nice marine, love the shooting pose bud! Gotta be happy with that. What did you use for the sword on the hip? Black templar sheath?
Fatty: Again man.. misconception. Please do some historical reading. On the sword draw, they hang perpendicualr. When drawing you cock the sheath to 45, not 90 to draw as it allows the smoothest arc and keeps a cutting angle.
Gits: On the 20-30% scale thing I'll take some size comparisons next time I'm at home, that's the exact size I was trying to up it by (well I guessed roughly a 5th) so I guess we'll see.

Man, those mantis heads came out nice!

I love the new avatar, and the Iaido katana drawing mantis warrior. Always nice to check up on your progress.
You really do have quite the following

what a quater turn is 90 degrees right? let me see a full circle is 360.. half is 180... quarter is 90 so yes we trun it 90 degrees too the left before cutting or if we draw it the way the mantis warrior holds it we have the sword up much higher (and i hate to draw it like that). and what does this mean perpendicualr? finally a english word i dont know.

and too be honest i doesnt mather how manny books you read all styles have a different way of drawing but this perticulair case its in real life imposible off course in our imagination everything is possible.

@monkeh what books did your read i like too read them as well. and do you train yourself? if so what style i think that could explain a lot. not trying to pick on you just curious thats all.

@monkeh: it's the sheath from a Hordes Legion of Everblight swordsman. Got a couple more kicking about somewhere.

@fatty: perpendicular is straight up and down.

Having the sheath like that worked well with the arm/hand position I was going for. The other rationale for having the sheath that way is that, quite simply, it shows off the detailing to its best!

I'll try to get some more detailing done tonight.

Perpendicular line is line 90 degrees off another line, like so:
l_
l
Think corner? But, Gits excellent stuff, though do ya have to make 2 pages in just 2 days? I keep having all this backtracking it has me trying to catch my breath! But, cool work etc. etc. Lord Kaesar II has hereby spoken, blah blah blah. Excellent stuff.

LOL! Yeah, the thread has kind of assumed a life of it's own. I really like that though. It's fun to see people take things in their own unique directions & put their spin on things. Besides, right now I'm up to my neck in cub scout stuff with the kids so updates will be few for a couple of days at least... so if there's other stuff to talk about (like graven's cool MW), all the better!

graven's mantis warrior is awesome! would be nice to get some more pics of it so we can really see the wings.

club scout stuff, sigh, the good old days. haha, hope it turns out well for you gits!

Hey, got to use my airbrush to do some cool painting on Thing 2's car... so there's a gaming tie-in... and more practice with the brush. At this point that's worth it's weight in gold to me! I needed a break anyway. I don't suppose it looks like it but I've been spending almost every free minute at the painting table on those two tanks and my family was paying the price. Needed to spend some time with the kids doing something else... just for sanity's sake.

but sanity and warhammer doesnt go together!

So... kind of an off-the-wall question...


Are any of the blog visitors going to Adepticon in April??

Solar_Lion, Ice Angel, a friend of his and I will all be there as "The Wardens of the Maelstrom". Is anyone else planning on attending? It'll be my first non-FLGS 40k event of any sort in 20 years of gaming... so I'm kind of excited. Would love to get together with folks at some point. Since I'm a "big-event newbie" I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice people have. I'm signed up for a couple of classes and the combat patrol tourney on Sunday (still have no idea what army I'm going to bring for that). But really, would just love to meet everyone in person.

Beuler? Beuler?

I read that FW is going to have a booth there, and you can order models and have them bring them, so now I really wish I was going :(

I thought about that... there are some things from FW I need to get, but I've heard the lines are HUGE... I don't want to blow my whole day standing in line when I could pay $20 and have them delivered to my doorstep. I'm paying a heck of a lot more than that to attend the event. Seems a poor choice of how to spend my time. Rather be playing pick-up games or sitting at the bar with comrades.

I think Jason from dice roller (Not on here) will be going and afew others who helped do operation: Killzone

Wish I could, sounds like fun, but contractual obligations keep me where I am.

Gitsplitta wrote:OK guys... finally have a chance to weigh in on the decal question.

I had not intended to do the MW symbol in decals, I was going to execute it in plasticard on the round doors (natural since the old symbol was on a yellow circle. However the idea of making a spray template is *really* intriguing... I'll have to put some serious thought into that. I think a simple stencil made in masking tape would do the trick, that way it would adhere tightly and be less likely to bleed through the edges. It had better work perfectly though because there's no fixing it (the doors are gradients too).

Git,

This would would well for future Rhino/Razorbacks:

Step 1 - Cut out a Mantis Head in plasticard
Step 2 - Prior to attaching doors, gradient color.
Step 3 - Mask off all of door.
Step 4 - Hold Template on center of door, cut out masking tape, and remove the center.
Step 5 - Paint center.

Alternatively, you could reverse and paint the base in a green gradient for the mantis head, then go back and mask off only the head area. I'm not sure how detailed you want the head area to be, and how much freehand you're planning.

Got it... thanks Heff, I may well give that a try. Though I always have shows the tanks with the doors on, they aren't attached yet... just sitting there.

I would love to go to Adepticon, i dont know if ill have the time or the money! but if i do go, ill make sure to find you there gitz!

I, too, would love to go.
Alas, tis not to be.

Perhaps next year Ill manage...


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Aha! and A bit of progress!

I (mostly) finished the blade for the Power Katana Concept!


(Blade is washed with Delvan mud to bring out detail)

There is a considerable hamon on it (you might just be able to see it- it comprises a good 50% of the blade) and power gubbins are glued on. Im going to file and shape the gubbins, so they are smooth on the top, more like the current power sword bits.

Next up are tsuba designs and tsuka.

Wow this is a long thread!

You really did a great job with these Mantis Warriors, Gitsplitta! The tranquility pattern marines are my favorite!
This is making me want to start up a marine army!

Jump in, the water's fine!! (and thanks, they're my favorite too)

A bit of progress tonight. Painted the treads on one of the tanks. Hope to get the other one done tomorrow as well as the intake vent borders.

Here's where we are at the moment. If I'd have made my stencil a little smaller so the hinges weren't involved it would have worked better. Anyway, turned out OK. I'll do the other door with this same stencil and then re-do it for the other tank. I did take step-by-step photos. Not sure if this version worked well enough to call it a tutorial really, just more of an experiment. I opted for red borders on the air intakes as that was how I did my original MW vehicles all those years ago... and it carries the color of the eyes and plasma guns nicely.




Edit" Woah! Ramos! didn't see your update with the photo... sorry bud. Very nice. It looks a little cutlassy rather than katana-like. Perhaps the curve transition to the point is the issue?? Should be angular transition from the blade edge to the point. Can you try adjusting this & then we can take another look at it? Might be the width of the blade in relation to it's length too, though that's something we wanted to increase to make painting effects more plausable... In any case, really nice work... Clean and crisp, nice job!

Tank looks great Gits, the mantis symbol came out great

Agree with Blackhand. I really dig the contrast red used on the air vents. It looks awesome with a little bit of old school flair.
Haha and thanks for having my back over at B&C with those mold lines.

Nice job on the Mantis head...

love it Git

Ooooh.... tank's looking awesome!

Gitsplitta wrote:
Edit" Woah! Ramos! didn't see your update with the photo... sorry bud. Very nice. It looks a little cutlassy rather than katana-like. Perhaps the curve transition to the point is the issue?? Should be angular transition from the blade edge to the point. Can you try adjusting this & then we can take another look at it? Might be the width of the blade in relation to it's length too, though that's something we wanted to increase to make painting effects more plausable... In any case, really nice work... Clean and crisp, nice job!

Ya the proportions are gonna make it look a bit wacky, but I see what you're meaning about the tip.
I freehanded most of the shape, tweaking it with file, knife, and sandpaper. I loosely (very verrry loosely) based the curve to that of a katana I have sitting in my room.

Ill try doing a really sharp angle cut on the tip, see if I cant get that edge we want.
Will update later tonight.

Outstanding stencil work, it turned out better than my first few attempts

Looking good! I like the red parts, they fit in nicely and act as a nice spot colour.

the razorback is looking good!

It looks great dude, you just set the bar higher for yourself, awesome!

All it needs is that sponge weathering to tie it all together now

The tanks look fantastic Gits! Forgive me for not wanting to crawl back into the archives of this thread, but did you airbrush the green? I think the tones of the green turned out well, from the looks of things you may have sprayed more than one tone....really turned out nicely. I am also a fan of the yellow side hatch and the mantis icon. The placement of your colors look well thought out and perfectly executed. Finally, someone that shares my philosophy on detail vs. time management . I dont think its neccessary to hit every detail either, often times in the past that is how i burned out so quickly on painting. I feel lately im able to accomplish more simply by overlooking subtle details of the models. Eventually I would love to come back to the character/vehicle and finish it in its entirety, but further expanding my army or starting a new army are much bigger incentives to me . I can also relate to the task of suddenly painting mech instead of figures. Its a completely different animal. Ive got 5 tanks ahead of me before I can consider the 1st wave of my Blood Angels basically finished; tanks are really tough to paint in my opinion. Even with the assistance of an airbrush/spraygun/spraypaint they are still are time consuming project. I look foward to more of your work....keep it up!

How are your boys silver skulls coming along? Did you get them any new 40k models for the holidays?

I also find myself wondering if Tyranid Scything Claws might play a part in some conversions...

OK guys, thanks for all your comments & I will respond later but I've been up to my neck in cub scout pinewood derby stuff all day (and all day tomorrow) and I wanted to get a quick "how to" up for you. This is based on the second door where I modified my technique a bit from the first and it was much easier and turned out much better.

Step 1: Take a piece of masking tape large enough to cover your area, then draw your design on it.


Step 2: Cut it out with a very sharp hobby knife...


Step 3: Place your "stencil" on your surface and burnish the edges of the stencil so they adhere tightly to the surface. The extra tape here is to cover an error in the cut.


Step 4: Airbrush on your lightest color. Go slowly and with low pressure! If it takes you less than 5 coats to get up to full coverage you're putting on too much too fast and are likely to get bleed through!

I should mention that the less you fiddle with your tape, the better off you'll be. In my first go-round I actually masked off the black when I painted the red, then removed that... masked off the red areas and painted the black. I think the removal of the masking over the black areas probably weakened the overall stencil adnerance which caused far more bleed through on the first try than on the second. I also applied my coats much heavier and faster, which kept the paint "liquid" longer allowing it to bleed more readily. If you spray lightly, the paint essentially dries on contact which greatly decreases the odds that you're going to get it moving beyond the tape edges.


Step 5: Mask over those areas you want to remain the lightest color.


Step 6: Spray on your next darkest color, same rules apply as in step 2.


Step 7: When dry, carefully remove tape stencil and viola! Not too bad.


Step 8: Clean up the lines, cover the over-spray and bleed through (hopefully not too much) and you're all set! The less crap you have on your surface (these doors have a lot of extraneous crap on them) the easier this will be.


There you have it! Worst part is cutting the design cleanly into the tape. Figure that out and you've got it licked.

Well, off to go set up a race track... will check back in tonight when I'm done with my chores.

Next up.... sponge weathering or... "How Gits can screw up two weeks of work in 15 minutes!".

Fixed the tip- I think I got it more katana-like.
Sharpened it a bit too, and this lets ya see the full hamon area

Looks great Ramos. I think it will be even better wielded by a mantis warrior!

Thanks for the "How to"!

I used to do some of stencil work in high school...sigh, so long ago...anyways, when making a stencil out of tape, I always found it easiest to cut the design out if the tape was placed on a sheet or piece of glass. Then, once cut out you can easily remove the stencil from the glass and place on a canvas or tank in this case.

@Ramos: looks much better.... and the sharpening helps as well., helps give it definition.

@Moltar: I put the tape on a cutting pad and did my cutting there. Here's a pic from the first run (give a minute to upload it)... O.K. added two new pics to the tutorial above. That shows the early steps. It's just always clumsier for me when I cut something out than when I draw it in the first place... never quite works the way I want it to.

i think the "give" in the cutting pad maybe making it difficult. The benefit to doing it on glass was that it resisted against the pressure caused by using the blade and it is a smooth surface, opposed to cutting on wood or something else. I think that would help you cut it out more cleanly. Unless, I'm stupid and the pad you're referring to is more like a hard plastic cutting board.

Digging the taping tutorial! good job man! Looks sweet!

Thanks Mukkin'!

@Moltar: No you're right... my cutting pad is a stiff kind of rubber thing you can get at most hobby shops, but it is designed to give a little under the blade. I'll have to try it on glass and see if it makes a difference.



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Element206 wrote:The tanks look fantastic Gits! Forgive me for not wanting to crawl back into the archives of this thread, but did you airbrush the green? I think the tones of the green turned out well, from the looks of things you may have sprayed more than one tone....really turned out nicely. I am also a fan of the yellow side hatch and the mantis icon. The placement of your colors look well thought out and perfectly executed. Finally, someone that shares my philosophy on detail vs. time management . I dont think its neccessary to hit every detail either, often times in the past that is how i burned out so quickly on painting. I feel lately im able to accomplish more simply by overlooking subtle details of the models. Eventually I would love to come back to the character/vehicle and finish it in its entirety, but further expanding my army or starting a new army are much bigger incentives to me . I can also relate to the task of suddenly painting mech instead of figures. Its a completely different animal. Ive got 5 tanks ahead of me before I can consider the 1st wave of my Blood Angels basically finished; tanks are really tough to paint in my opinion. Even with the assistance of an airbrush/spraygun/spraypaint they are still are time consuming project. I look foward to more of your work....keep it up!

How are your boys silver skulls coming along? Did you get them any new 40k models for the holidays?

Hey Element, thought you deserved a proper response...

Yes, that's airbrushed. My first serious attempt at doing gradients or zenithal lighting techniques... whatever it's called. I usually try to paint the detail that's modeled, out of respect for the sculptor if nothing else... but I have a hard deadline with this army and it's approaching fast... and I'm way behind where I need to be. So I leave some details to the imagination. Plus these things would probably have been sprayed as-is with most gear in place, so I suspect this is a more realistic "tank" paint job than if I'd have picked out a bunch of details for special painting.

They're Doom Eagles actually. He's working on his Telion counts-as right now. He's also starting a Necron army and while I've been doing a lot of the painting with my airbrush, he's currently painting his Nightbringer the old fashioned way.

Excellent tutorial mate. Always impressed about how you are prepared to try new techniques; it's very inspiring, and is actually encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone, with (I think) really positive results. On a side note, try a ceramic tile instead of glass maybe? Similar use but somehow seems safer!

tiels is there something they cant do?
thanks Git for the tut looks great i am going too try that. its better than my oke i m gonna paint this on that hopefully it will look good style.

Thanks for the tutorial gits, given me quite a few ideas now on what to do for my marines. Now if only I had some masking tape, lol

On a side note I agree that a cheap ceramic tile is preferable to glass. Then again I am heavy handed and frankly don't trust myself! Plus the Mrs would not be happy if the hoover were to break (again) due to my modelling influence

Ramos Asura wrote:Fixed the tip- I think I got it more katana-like.
Sharpened it a bit too, and this lets ya see the full hamon area

My only beef with the power katana bit is that the tip looks a bit too rounded off for me. almost sabre-ish as opposed to a bit more of a squared off edge that I would expect from a katana.... it could be just from having a wider blade than I'm used to seeing though.

Actually Wolf, Ramos did change the tip towards the more angular style from the original. It may still need some shaping yet... though I wonder if the thickness of the blade at the point where the tip starts isn't a bit thicker than it is at the base... which might be contributing the that "rounded" appearance.


It's certainly not an easy task to try something new. I aways seem to be procrastinating in my attempts when I'm not sure of where I'm going or how things work out. But eventually I get up the nerve and give it a go. Having a good tutorial has always helped me in finally making the decision to try something new so I figured it might help some of you as well.

I should mention that the less you fiddle with your tape, the better off you'll be. In my first go-round I actually masked off the black when I painted the red, then removed that... masked off the red areas and painted the black. I think the removal of the masking over the black areas probably weakened the overall stencil adnerance which caused far more bleed through on the first try than on the second. I also applied my coats much heavier and faster, which kept the paint "liquid" longer allowing it to bleed more readily. If you spray lightly, the paint essentially dries on contact which greatly decreases the odds that you're going to get it moving beyond the tape edges. (Note: This paragraph has been added to the tutorial).

Do you guys think my tutorial is worth adding to the "tutorials" section of Dakka, or should I just leave it here?

Add it to the tutes section if I were you Gits. I'll tell you why cos in about two weeks it will be lost in the middle of 'The Beast' (my nickname for your blog). This way it'll be far more accessible.

Done, linked in my sig.

wolfshadow wrote:

Ramos Asura wrote:Fixed the tip- I think I got it more katana-like.
Sharpened it a bit too, and this lets ya see the full hamon area

My only beef with the power katana bit is that the tip looks a bit too rounded off for me. almost sabre-ish as opposed to a bit more of a squared off edge that I would expect from a katana.... it could be just from having a wider blade than I'm used to seeing though.

Played with it a bit more and neatened it up, mostly making the tip there more sharply angled.

I think is always gonna look a little "off", as its a great deal thicker in proportion to its height. Today Im gonna see if I can find some rod for the grip, and knock out a tsuba or two as well.

Well, rubbish photography as usual:

But happy, at least, with the wings:


And side views are on bloggit. Don't want to clutter Gits' thread much more!

@Ramos: Does not need to be perfect... and you're right, the increased depth of the blade is going to mess with the overall look. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the tsuba and handle.

@graven: What are you talking about, those are MUCH better photographs than the last set! An the MW looks great! Also the whole "Weeping Angel" thing is just wonderful... and you've done a bang-up job on the figure too (see graven's bloggit for details).

I love those heads.
And your photos are better than mine. :-)

Ramos, i like that model,just find it a bit too green haha. I feel like it needs a bit more to bring out the model.

Might be a stupoid suggestion as it is a bit thin, but have you considered cutting a power sword in half lengthways, leaving the power node on.
Then thicken up the back end with a thin strip of green stuff.

Been away a while, personal stuff, but looking amazing so far.

Only criticism of gravens mantis warrior is the chapter symbol on the right shoulder, shouldnt it be on the left??


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Damned blog post eating beastie got me again....grrrrr

dantay_xv wrote:Only criticism of gravens mantis warrior is the chapter symbol on the right shoulder, shouldnt it be on the left??

Depends on the era you're talking about. Early 40k had the chapter symbol on the right pad (see my tranquility snipers) as the left pad had the campaign studs on it. Some point later (not sure when), GW switched it and put the chapter insignia on the left side.

No worries, just I saw the gold chain on the left aswell, so assumed it was new era, still a beautiful model.... Blackhands bits look amazing, you are MW's should really stand out at adepticon

Minus any brilliant suggestions on your part... Razorback #1 is finished minus the weathering/sponge pitting. Kind of plain front and back but I don't have any great ideas. I'll order the larger imperial symbols in brass and put them on the front and back doors, that should dress it up. Only weathering to go... just don't have to time to fiddle with these further. The other one is done save the stencils on the doors.

Nice paint job

Looking very good Gits.

The yellow really does make it pop on the table. I love the stencil work.

classy.

Simply love it. I agree about the front seeming plain but I to an't quite put my finger on it. Those Eagles you mentioned may well be the way to go. That airbrush may be the best thing you ever bought!

I hope the people you fight against appreciate your army on the table top as much as the Dakka community does.

I agree the front looks a bit blank. An imperial eagle and some weathering should clear it up. Have you considered buying a blank transfer sheet and printing mantis warrior insignia onto it?

well normally i am not a fan of clean tanks but i have too say this. why not skip the weathering the model looks great and all. and after you added the brass it wil be in my eyes almost perfect. something is never perfect is my moto.

but i understand that weathering is a big part in MW fluff because of there crusade but these tanks are part of your "new" force right? wouldnt they repaint there tnks after they came back?

@Matt.Kingsley: Thanks!

@wolfshadow: Thanks too! Yellow was not my idea but I agree it works well.

@taff: I think I'm agreeing with you on the airbrush... that and my wet palette. And thank you, though the Dakka community is to a large degree responsible for this army... I'm just the one who gets to show off the finished models.

@shrike: That might be a wise decision. I've done that for model railroading but not 40k, don't see why I coulden't. I have a little tweaking to do, if I can find my old model railroading rub-on stencils I'll but some small numbers on the sides of the tank (back corners by the rear door) and brass Imperial eagles salted around here and there. I think I'm going to take a look at where they put markings on say, a WWII vehicle and pattern these after that. Give it a bit of a retro feel.

@fatty: Actually the army I'm working on is not representing my "new" Mantis Warriors. Our Adepticon team is supposed to represent the 4 Badab War chapters at the time of the Badab War... 100 years before my Mantis Warriors Penitent return from their crusade/exile. My new Mantis Warriors typically don't use tracked or wheeled vehicles. As these are supposed to represent vehicles being used during the rebellion, heavier weathering is probably the most appropriate state.

yeah in thoughed so. oke my bad on the "new" force. but that will be epic the 4 chapters.
so who are they?
mantis
lamenators
and? somebody? anybody? help

Executioners & Tiger Claws. See Ice Angel's thread for his fine, fine work on the Tiger Claws. If you look in my gallery in the "Great Marine Swap" section you'll see a couple of early versions of Solar_Lion's Lamentors (which look great).

Don't know how competitive we're going to be but we're going to have an awesome looking, very fluffy force!

Fluffy force for the win!

Tank looks great Git, I'm impressed you tackled the tanks so early. They always seem to be one of the last things I paint when working on a deadline like this. Are those your only tanks you have to do?

Great paint job and the stencilling ahs worked really well. If you're after things to clutter the bare areas up with I would recommend coming up with squad/company/chapter/campaign/all of the above markings to plaster all over it (you might need to use a brush for that though )

In the middle of tackling several peices of armour and 2 dreads over the next couple of days myself., Rhino, RB and PRed, AOBR Dread, Regular Dread.... Its daunting to have them sitting in front of me though. But I want to get them done. Gets me closer to having a tabletob useable force.

Goal is to have around 12-1400 points done in about 3 weeks.


Having a deadline, as Gits mentioned... evn a self imposed one... Is daunting.

IceAngel wrote:Fluffy force for the win!
Tank looks great Git, I'm impressed you tackled the tanks so early. They always seem to be one of the last things I paint when working on a deadline like this. Are those your only tanks you have to do?

Yep. What I have left to do... 3 drop pods (2 dreads, one infantry), Iron Clad, 10 tac marines, 2 sternguard, 1 highly converted MoTF. I wanted to get the razorbacks and Iron Clad done as soon as possible so I can start practicing with the army. I can proxy everything else until it's painted. These two razorbacks are a big hurdle... with them out of the way I get more confidence for the drop pods and everything else is well within my comfort zone. I'll be using the airbrush on the tac marines which should move them along quickly. Still a long way to go in two months... God help me. I may have to re-write my list at the last minute to adjust to what's painted.

@Flinty: Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I must admit that the whole concept of squad/company/campaign markings are very fuzzy to me. Would have any idea what was what (arrow for tactical squad?).

@wolf: You've got your work cut out for you. I typically don't build my stuff until I'm ready to paint it. Keeps me from feeling overwhelmed and I can approach each build with a clear head and fresh ideas. I also don't play unpainted figures so for me that all fist together nicely.



OH, and that stuff about being done so I can move on was BS. I added some vehicle numbers (rub on transfers) and brass imperial insignia. Looks much better. Wish I had the larger etched brass bits for the doors but they'll have to wait a couple of weeks until my order arrives from England. I'm contemplating wire hand rails, grab irons and antennae but I'm just not sold on any of it yet... will have to ponder my options. I'm currently looking up some old photos of the British FV 423 APC which is one of the vehicles I think the old rhino chassis was based on to get ideas about rigging & enblems. Found a great shot from the 60s of FV's rigged effectively as razorbacks! Fun stuff. I'd post it but I'm not sure if it would get nukked by the Dakka Gods as not being gaming related (though I think it is in context). If you want to check it out, here's the link to the pic on the web...
http://www.armyrecognition.com/images/stories/europe/united_kingdom/light_armoured/fv432_30mm_gun/pictures/FV432_30mm_gun_tracked_armoured_infantry_fighting_combat_vehicle_British_Army_United_Kingdom_001.jpg

More later...
Gits

Gitsplitta wrote:
Yep. What I have left to do... 3 drop pods (2 dreads, one infantry), Iron Clad, 10 tac marines, 2 sternguard, 1 highly converted MoTF.

Maybe you should look at this a little differently. I mean that's only 13 guys and 4 little vehicles!

Doesn't that sound better? You can get this done in NO time. You will only get better with the airbrush. I mean you did two razorbacks in what, a week?

Well, the stuff I'm working on was all trades... So they came assembled and primed. I'm just going to get them done to basic standard, as I dont have any weathering supplies as of yet. (I lean to the realistic weathering/military modelling side of weathering)

Basic standard for vehicles for the 5 that I have shouldnt take too long... Prob about 4-5 hours of work for everything especially if I work assembly line style... IE 1 color at a time for all of the vehciles. Only problem is vehicles EAT paint. takes a whack of paint to do all of the vehichles.

IceAngel wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:
Yep. What I have left to do... 3 drop pods (2 dreads, one infantry), Iron Clad, 10 tac marines, 2 sternguard, 1 highly converted MoTF.

Maybe you should look at this a little differently. I mean that's only 13 guys and 4 little vehicles!

Doesn't that sound better? You can get this done in NO time. You will only get better with the airbrush. I mean you did two razorbacks in what, a week?

Ice is right Gits. 13 guys? pfft! I paint 13 guys in my sleep. Granted, it takes ALL night of sleep to paint them...

Gitsplitta wrote:Minus any brilliant suggestions on your part... Razorback #1 is finished minus the weathering/sponge pitting. Kind of plain front and back but I don't have any great ideas. I'll order the larger imperial symbols in brass and put them on the front and back doors, that should dress it up. Only weathering to go... just don't have to time to fiddle with these further. The other one is done save the stencils on the doors.

I have one of those!

Man, if that's not a Predator I don't know what is

If you check the Marine codex I'm sure that all the squad entries will have the right symbol marked for their type. Single or double headed arrow for tactical squads, Crossed double headed arrows fro Assault, skull for command, triangle for devastators. Then you can go crazy with campaign markings, stolen from your favourite contemporary force or just made up out of geometric patterns

IceAngel wrote:Maybe you should look at this a little differently. I mean that's only 13 guys and 4 little vehicles! Doesn't that sound better? You can get this done in NO time. You will only get better with the airbrush. I mean you did two razorbacks in what, a week?

Hmmm... I do feel better. Actually it's been two I think but still, that's lightening speed for me. Taken me two weeks just to get one tranquility sniper done.


Update: Got the antennae on and have the gunners/commanders built. just waiting for the green stuff to cure before priming and painting. Stole a couple of torso's from my RT era jet bikes for that duty. Have the classic "drive me over there so I can hit something with my sword" pose on one of them!

Gotta say Git, that razorback is looking nice. Impressive insignia as well.

Can I just say Gits its been a bloody pleasure to watch your progression as a painter this last year. Gives hope to the rest of us. Keep up the good work.

@ImperialMonkey: Thanks IM, They've turned out far better than any vehicles I've ever painted before... so I'm content. Did a bunch of new techniques, experimented... learned things... all good.

@Lennysmach: Thanks my friend, I appreciate that, especially from an artist of your caliber. It's been quite a ride from this end too. Couldn't have done it without all the help and encouragement I've gotten on Dakka. Cheers mates, and thanks!


Well, NOW I think I can say that minus the weathering that I'm still not sure if I have the guts to try... the tanks are complete. Giving the final varnish to the second razorback as I type. I shrunk the stencil a bit so it fit in-between the hinges on the door, that helped out quite a bit. At this stage however, I don' want to post a picture of them. I still need to paint the two gunners and I might do the weathering on them.... but I don't want to spoil whatever "wow" factor there is by posting 95% done, 98% done, then 100% done photos in rapid succession. I did put everything I have painted up for my Adepticon army, including two surrogate tranquility snipers that I can use if I run out of time (they just don't have combi-meltas). I must say it makes me feel better to see it all together on the table.

Maybe tomorrow, we'll see how things go.

3.30 in the morning? Just watched the Jets lose to the Steelers and somehow I knew there would be activity on this blog.

Glad you got the second tank done now. Looking forward to seeing it in full battle mode with a gunner. Feel free to enter "smug mode" at that point as I suspect you will be receiving some great feedback on them if the first is anything to go by.

Yeah, I've decided my favorite Bear quarterback is the third stringer... at least he put some points on the board. This was the match-up everyone wanted... Packers and Steelers. Should be a good game, hope the Packers are up to it.

Even the first one looks different with the little extras I put on it... nicer though. Wish someone made brass unit insignia... or at least rub-on transfers... they're a lot easier to deal with than the regular water transfers. Maybe I'll take my lunch tomorrow and dig around the hobby shop to see what I can find. Might be a sheet of regular military transfers that have some useful things on them.

Nice work on the tank Git! and top on the icon I never thought of using felt or material would turn out so well.

I was cleaning out some bits today and found a wing that might look good for your single engine jump pack guys, it's an old wing form an Eldar ship in BFG


It has those vein looking bits and is double sided should be easy to cast and turn into a 4 wing configuration let me know if it's of use I can mess about a bit and send something to you with the sgt?

Gitsplitta wrote:Wish someone made brass unit insignia...

What's stopping you making one? Surely all you need is a sheet of thin brass and some tin-snips. Or check out the local design colleges you may be able to strike a deal with some to produce a few sheets for you using their CAD wizzy-ma-jig (its a real thing).

Disclaimer: Sorry if the aforementioned ideas are not practical/ possible /sane I was just spit-balling.

Hey gits, sorry to go slightly off topic but did you have any recommended videos for spray painting? I took a look through the thread but couldn't find anything (it's jut so long!!) but I'm sure that I have seen one somewhere.

@Len: No problem, couldn't manufacture the detail wanted myself. I could probably just stencil it if I wanted... just not sold on where the markings would go. Will give it some thought.

@taff: Here's the link to the post where I make my recommendation, wayyy back on page 82. Hard to believe the tanks have generated about 10 pages of blog and they're not even done yet! http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/2430/289929.page#2330028

Cheers for that Guts. i doubt I'm the only one inspired to try it out. Lets hop I can do it justice!

10 pages for 2 tanks? About par for the course for this thread I think given how much you've achieved and asked on it. You do say it has taken a life of it's own....

Imagine how long it will get when you finish the remaining models and add any write up you may o for the event your working towards.

Oh man an Adepticon write up may need its own thread! That's going to be massive.

Glad you volunteered Ice! *grin* You're the best writer amongst us anyway...

Boss 'eadbreaka wrote:You know, is it just me or do the Chapters that came out twenty years ago have more character than the ones we're stuck with today?

the game in general had a lot more character. it was a cluster feth but the lore was there.

You got that right brother. I remember a time when people from different gaming groups (usually just groups of friends at that point) couldn't play each other because so many house rules were needed to fill in the gaps that you were effectively playing different games. The stories and imagery were fantastic though... that's what roped me in.

taffiarti wrote:3.30 in the morning? Just watched the Jets lose to the Steelers

why would you still follow the NFL when the saints are already eliminated
why did they loss twice against teams they humiliated before why damn you gods of football.

you know its really hard trying too follow the NFL here in holland...

Some of us have nothing better to do

I fear that our green and yellow razorback of fun is driving off the road and into the depths of OT...

I think this is what you guys were waiting for...

Gorgeous Gits, just flat out class.

Small case of the "Drive me closer, I want to hit him with my sword"s there, but very nice!

They look great. But on a side note dose anyone know where i can get upgrade kits to make the new rhinos/razorbacks, and land raiders, look like the older look? I ask because im looking into makin my space wolfs pre-heresy.

Fifty wrote:Small case of the "Drive me closer, I want to hit him with my sword"s there, but very nice!

That's what I thought too, but awesome job still!!!

superb Git really nice also nice group shot. just one question is it me or the photo's but those transfer numbers look a little tipped you know what i am trying too say. it looks like left is higher up then right.

and now a funny note: It woulld be awesome if you fight tyranids bug fighting bugs its briliant

@BLACKHAND: Thanks my friend!

@Fifty: I told you that was coming...

@Brother Captain: RJ: Chapterhouse has conversion kits for rhinos

@Yggs: Yes, it's a classic, had to do it. Actually if you look closely he's got Apothecary specialist training, and his chainsword is named "The Amputator"... so he's just keeping it handy in case there are any casualties to deal with.

@fatty: Quite possibly, though I did my best to try to get them even. Harder to do than I thought. Getting the little triangular eagles lined up was a bugger too as they kept gluing tight before I had them lined up right. The other brass details worked out nicely though.



There's still room for additional markings and insignia if I want, but at this point I'm not going to push it & will wait for something to make itself apparent. Now, is everyone still gung-ho for my attacking these things with a sponge to give it some pitting?

I dunno... that airbrushing job is pretty nice. Be a shame to chip it up. I think some mud or dust along the bottom near the tracks would be sufficent.

Gitsplitta wrote:@Fifty: I told you that was coming...

Just read back. So you did

Looks great Gits, first class. I think the amended Stencil on the second one adds a really nice and subtle difference between the two as well.

Lookin' good gits! Very nice indeed! Who would have thought green and yellow on a tank could be sexy? You did! The numbering transfers really add to the overall feel too man. Well done!

Might want to touch up the studs on the shoulder pad of #397. Aside from that incredible paint job bud! Really nice.

I still really like the 'rear bumper' effect you have going on there. Ties in really nicely with the rest of the yellows and doesnt feel out of place at all. Ace!


*jumps in corner to hopefully not sidetrack tanky goodness*
Small update on the katana front.. finally got around to photo'ing the complete katana.
My hand.. oh and a sword. Note the strong life line, unbroken relationship lines ensuring I live a rich life. Apparently.

Katana with marines as reference, also a yellow lid! (I theme my backdrop to match the tanks)

Katana with existing weapons as reference. Used the 2.5-3 hand length rule for the hilt but this may be a little too long.

It is not off by too much IMHO.

@ Monkeh... Outstanding work!

You should totally talk with either Maxmini or Chapterhouse about producing those large scale.

Gitsplitta wrote:I think this is what you guys were waiting for...

"drive me closer..."
nice work though!
and I agree with ^. You should go get those mass-produced.

Great work on the sword. I can see why people think they should be mas produced.

Monkeh wrote:Lookin' good gits! Very nice indeed! Who would have thought green and yellow on a tank could be sexy? You did! The numbering transfers really add to the overall feel too man. Well done!

Thanks Monkeh!

Might want to touch up the studs on the shoulder pad of #397. Aside from that incredible paint job bud! Really nice.

Yeah, the gunners fell prey to the "I've been working on these damn things for 2 weeks and I'm sick of looking at them and just want to be done" syndrome. I'll go back in and touch him up.

I still really like the 'rear bumper' effect you have going on there. Ties in really nicely with the rest of the yellows and doesnt feel out of place at all. Ace!

Yeah... that kind of just happened as I was looking at the figure trying to sort out what I was going to do with the ass end. Happy with it though.

Small update on the katana front.. finally got around to photo'ing the complete katana.

I really like the way that's looking Monkeh.... I'm thinking it could even be a bit larger? Perhaps 1 or 2 mm longer & maybe a touch thicker along the blade, just to make it a bit more substantial than a normal sword? Really looks good though and I love the tsuba!

@taffiarti: Thanks! IA claims lots of individuation and variance in symbology in the chapter so I think it's consistent to have each squad render it's own interpretation of the chapter symbol on their conveyance.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Latest addition to my Mantis Warrior forces (through the Inquisition of course)... Yggs' Brother Tanaerum of the Achylsian Reavers and the incredible letter he sent with it!

!

Great work Git. Keep it coming.

Wow love the paint job on that marine wish i could paint like that lol

Cant wait to read the letter!

polari wrote:Wow love the paint job on that marine wish i could paint like that lol

Me too! Ygg's skills are exceptional.

Updated original post with letter...

Great work on the tanks Gits! While i never say no to weathering, i dont feel that your tanks need it, they look great s is. Its really down to yor preference. (Though some dust like on Thing 1s Doom Eagle tanks would look good)


Ygdrasils marine is awesome, looks lovely on that basing scheme as well. And the fluff is top-notch, very characterful.

It was pointed out to me on another forum that none of the rest of my Mantis Warriors are weathered... so it would be odd to weather these alone. It's a valid point.... and while I may eventually weather my entire army, it's not going to happen before Adepticon. There are some subtle weathering and chipping techniques that I've seen (once again from ScaleModelMedic) that I think would fit in nicely... but again, They would stand out.

That being said... I had planned on heavily weathering/damaging the Iron Clad (part of it's fluff) and the drop pods by nature would be beat to hell. So I may revisit these eventually with a more subtle weathering style just to make them look a little used. The fact that the sternguard and Venerable Dread have immaculate armor is not unreasonable given their status within the chapter (i.e. their equipment would likely get priority when it came to repairs and maintenance).

Speaking of deathwatch- a college I visited yesterday had the sign- "WARNING! This site is protected by deafwatch security". I laughed.

Hey shrike... it's like... almost February.

Think your avatar needs a new hat!

(and that is funny... must be orks pretending to be deathwatch)

I was planning to just keep it until someone mentioned it...here's your cookie!

I got rid of my hats this afternoon, having given up on waiting for anyone to complain...

I should have stuck it out a bit longer.

WHOOP!! Love it! Thanks shrike!

I need to get my Gitsplitta avatar back up and running... but I think I'm going to give him a little facial re-paint first. My lenses have gotten better since then and I think I can give him a little more facial definition. I like little project that, or getting Yggs' marine based, etc. as "recreational projects" before I attack the next major Mantis Warrior project.

Gits, your tanks turned out superb, man. Sorry, I know I'm late in saying so, but due to the rash amounts of misspelled words that appear when I type replies from my cell phone, I have been halted from saying anything.
Yggs did an awesome job too. Must be nice to get a package like that in the mail.

Yes, especially since we'd feared it lost in the warp. Took over a month to get from France to the US... go figure. I knew I had to do something interesting with the base though.

I guess he went to you swimming... I cannot think of any reasonable other reason why it took so long...

[edit : I forgot to point out something : ]

Gitsplitta wrote:It was pointed out to me on another forum that none of the rest of my Mantis Warriors are weathered... so it would be odd to weather these alone.

Wait... Do you mean you also flood another forum with your awesome things?!? Your writing output was already awe-inspiring, but now it's unconceivable...

No, I don't. I have a thread on three other 40k forums (one is our local FLGS board) where I simply post the finished product in hopes of encouraging others to pick up the chapter. Threads can't be compared, my heart and the soul of the Mantis Warriors lie with Dakka.

Gitsplitta wrote: Threads can't be compared, my heart and the soul of the Mantis Warriors lie with Dakka.

Wow, nicely written...

Do you say

my heart and the soul of the Mantis Warriors lie with *insert current forum name*

on the other threads as well?!?



Bad Git!

Not my style Yggs. I'm a one-forum guy. ;-)

Fair point on the weathering. Definately look into doing the army after Adepticon Gits. The brightness of the marines really lends itself well to some weathering, I think you'd do an awesome job!

Speaking of awesome jobs! Ygg's, man, again you blow me away with your wash/paint style. I love how vibrant your marines end up. The contrast in them is ace and your blues are (as always) kick fethin' ass! Nice work man! Love that report/letter. What templates etc did you use for it?

On the katana, it's scaled to be (as close as I could get) the right/accurate size for a marine (if standing upright), glad you like the tsuba.
Thanks for the comments everyone.. I really don't think it's good enough to be mass produced as it was just something I played with while waiting for DC universe online to load. But it wouldnt be too hard for me to cast a few copies when I get some new materials if people wanted some.
Gits: Extra size you say eh?! TO THE BATCAVE! *skitters back into the darkness*.

LOL Monkeh! (Just make sure you save a few of your casts for me eh? I'll make sure they get properly shown off...)

Gitsplitta wrote:...my heart and the soul of the Mantis Warriors lie with Dakka.

I seem to remember when you started this (or maybe T1's) thread, that you "might as well post it here as well", or something to that effect.

whalemusic360 wrote:

Gitsplitta wrote:...my heart and the soul of the Mantis Warriors lie with Dakka.

I seem to remember when you started this (or maybe T1's) thread, that you "might as well post it here as well", or something to that effect.

True, it raises something in the deep recesses of my memories too!!!

Ha ha, Git, reveal your true face!

Nope. This thread is entirely Dakka through and through. Re-read the OP if you'd like. I started it while I was in GA waiting for my uncle to pass... so there was no "might as well" about it... it was therapy for a week of waiting for a loved one to die. Might have said that referring to one dakka thread from another, but everything was here first... and most things are only here (Doom Eagles, Nids, Bad Moons are here and on local board... sort of, I forget to update that one).

Boy you guys are touchy! Hadn't realized that posting the finished results in a couple of other places was so controversial.

Stop Poking Me!! (Or I'm gonna tell mom!)

Hey, no worries, there's no problem with that!!!

Well obviously you edited the original post.....*Pokes Git again* Clearly Yggs and I cant be mistaken for a single sentience of something almost a year old. *Sharpens poking stick*

that letter was awesome!!! ggreat fluff and well donne! model is sick too, but that letter really ties it all together

One of the nice things about the in-between times is that I take the opportunity to get caught up on alll the little projects that build up over time. Getting Ygg's marine based, working on an ork that's part of the basing for one of WM's marines, and working on my Pedro Kantor figure which has been waiting patients for months on the shelf. As a result I thought I'd show my progress for the evening on Pedro. I may finish him this time round or not... but after being just hammered trying to force out all of these figures at a high standard it is really liberating to be able to just relax and take my time with one.

Definitely like the work so far and didnt realize how much detail was on that model most of the ones have been so drowned in paint very nice work gits

ooooh!


Good Start on Pedro.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be using Pedro's rules for my CM but I'm debating on how hes going to look.

Love the colors on Pedro. Looking good so far.

Are you going to leave his fist belt buckle?

Also, Gitsplitta is back! Though off angle a bit.

Looking good so far. Have to say that figure is really nice to paint, a great cast since its not too busy but is still distinctive!

I do really like this figure. Not as insane as the Calgar fig & enough non-decorated areas to actually make the decorated areas stand out. When I cleaned the chapter insignia off of him I apparently missed the belt buckle. At this point, I think I would do so much damage to the figure removing it that it wouldn't be worth it. If I just don't paint it so it stands out, and maybe put a bit of the camo pattern through it I think that for all intents and purposes it will disappear from view. It's amazing what a little black triangle can hide. He'll ultimately get re-based to something a bit more grandiose... but this base will do for now.

I don't like the look of the metallics on this figure and am instead considering going with grey tones. I don't think I'm up to real NMM (just don't want to try it at this point since this is a "recreational" figure for me)... but grey tones if done well can be convincing enough.

Yes, I did update my avatar back to a proper Gitsplitta, though with an rather Quintin Tarantinoesque perspective. I did give him a bit of a facial re-paint... re-did his lenses, eye and touched up his teeth and jewelry a bit. I have a more straight on shot if people prefer, but a pic of Gitsplitta & his pet "Spot" seemed like a fun twist. It's funny how crude my paint job of him looks to me now... at the time I thought it was quite good. Gives me hope that I may actually finish my orks some day as I don't have to paint them to the Mantis Warrior standard to have them look really good on the table.

The new angle is quite weird, but we'll get used to it without doubt!

If your GS-fu is up to it, a skull would cover it nicely.

I still have to double take on the new pic, reminds me of Cains pic.

I'll see what I can do... maybe I can make a little skull press-mould for it.

Hmmm... well, (pertaining to my avatar) I can go back to a simple shot easily enough... just thought this was a fun change of pace.


I looked over my Adepticon list again today. My God there are bloody few models in it. Every unit is stripped bare-bones minimum... uugh. It'll look great but I'm really concerned with it's playability. Need to get that Iron Clad built so I can start play testing it.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Santobell wrote:Nice work on the tank Git! and top on the icon I never thought of using felt or material would turn out so well.

I was cleaning out some bits today and found a wing that might look good for your single engine jump pack guys, it's an old wing form an Eldar ship in BFG


It has those vein looking bits and is double sided should be easy to cast and turn into a 4 wing configuration let me know if it's of use I can mess about a bit and send something to you with the sgt?

Hey Santobell, I was going through my blog trying to decide if there was enough material for another "best of" post and I ran into this post from you. I'd missed it completely... please accept my sincere apologies! I'm very sorry. In answer to your question, let me get one of the jump pack guys built and painted... then we can take a look at it and see if there's a good opportunity for your metal bit.

I really like the new angle. Almost looks like he is rushing past a fallen warrior on his way to battle (or to find his statue again)

OK, I've decided it's time for another summary post as there is at least as much new material as was in the first one... so bear with me guys.


First up... re-paint and re-basing of sniper scouts (20). Still have elements that are over 15 years old (pads), but they got a major upgrade.



Objective made for my army by Solar_Lion:



Finished the CCW for Venerable Dread:



Tranquility veteran for GMS:



Tranquility veteran for my army:



Tranquility veteran sergeant for my army:



inmygravenimage's Sgt. Tonbo:


Tranquility mug made for me by beezley1981:



Brother Inushi for GMS trade: (first airbrushed marine)


And his story...

The Iron Torch Incident

Darius Stone, Scoutmaster of the Mantis Warriors strode purposefully though the halls of the Imperial Space Station “Iron Torch”, his brow furrowed and his mind half a sector away where his charges fought a savage beast of an ork called “The Gitsplitta”… whatever that was… and his mindless hordes in one of the endless “Waaaghs” that threatened the Imperium. At his side, Sergeant Inushi, a former pupil and now full brother in the chapter matched his pace… It was clear from the relaxed and confident facial expression that the young man failed to fully comprehend the complexity or peril inherent in their current circumstance. He was one of the brightest in the first crop of scouts that had been provided to the Mantis Warriors upon their return to Imperial Space. His physical prowess, mental acuity and fierce devotion to the Emperor made him a perfect candidate and he did not disappoint. Within the first week of training he had established himself as squad leader amongst the cadre of scouts, and when he at last became a full brother of the chapter, the fact that he was chosen to lead one of the newly constituted tactical squads surprised no one. Like most young men however, he was head strong with a tendency to shoot off his mouth with the same ease as his plasma pistol… never considering that the situation (or gun) could over-heat and cause a sudden crisis.

“I don’t understand why we’re here Darius, this is a waste of time!” said Inushi to the Scoutmaster.

“We are here my brother, to give a full accounting of the ork cult you found on CygnusX-328.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that!” snapped Inushi, “What I don’t understand is why we have to be here in-person. I gave a full report to the Captain and he filed it up the chain-of-command. While we waste our time in this station stuffed to overflowing with doughy, vacuous and utterly useless Imperial bureaucrats our brothers are fighting and dying without us! We are still far too few to sustain a campaign like this while key personnel are sent to satisfy the curiosity of Imperial bean counters!”

The calm and confident visage of Inushi’s countenance had now been replaced by one of fierce zeal mixed with mild disgust.

Darious answered in a calm and measured voice. “Allow me to remind you, young brother, of the reasons for our summons. The “Bug Boy” cult that you uncovered in Gitsplitta’s Bad Moon clan is unlike any other orkish entity encountered in this sector. It has used it’s contact with our chapter as a focal point for their natural ferocity and creativity. They have begun to emulate our chapter, our ways of battle, even going so far as to strip the dead of their gear or mounting raids on our supply lines and outposts for the singular purpose of equipping themselves. As a result they have become a much more effective fighting force than a typical ork mob could ever achieve. All of the ork’s natural fury and cunning combined with superior weaponry and tactics. It is nearly unprecedented in the annals of Imperial history and a cause for great concern.”

“Nearly?” asked Inushi.

“Yes, well… I remember attending an Ultramarine security briefing roughly two centuries ago while I was studying under Telion. Intelligence had come to them of an entire ork warband who dressed and were loosely organized as if they were Dark Angles. At the time the information had not be confirmed, but perhaps it was an indication that a new phase of orkish evolution has begun and the beasts have added functional mimicry to their already long list of instinctual skills.” answered Stone.

“Understood” said Inushi “but I still don’t see why they had to pull us out of the field to conduct their investigations. Everything we know is in the report. What can they possibly gain from bringing us here? Why is our report on the subject not simply accepted as fact?”

Stone stopped, spun and caught his young companion by the bicep… bringing him to a sudden and less than dignified halt. Inushi, surprised and somewhat irritated by this sudden assertion of force by his old mentor, tried to pull back… but Stone’s fist might as well have been made of ceramite, for Inushi could not dislodge himself from the Scoutmaster’s grip. When Inushi met his gaze, a feeling came over him that he hadn’t felt since he was a scout… deep respect, devotion tinged with love… and fear.

“Because, my son… we are Mantis Warriors." Said the Scoutmaster through a clenched jaw, lowering his voice so that only Inushi would hear. "Everything we do is suspect. We have been forgiven on paper but most of the Astartes who fought against us still live, and still view us as traitors to the Imperium. We were sent into the Maelstrom on crusade not to eliminate the Astral Claws but to be eliminated ourselves, so the Imperium would be rid of us without the embarrassment of a formal purge.”

“Yet you survived.” replied Inushi in a hushed tone.

“Aye, we survived.” Stone’s words were guttural… primal in their tone like the growl of a Fenris wolf. “But we are not forgiven… not by those who’s blood was spilt on the fields of Badab , not by the Imperial technocrats who gained power from our banishment, or by the single-minded members of the Inquisition who will seek any excuse to send us back into oblivion. Remember it is He whom we serve, but we must treat with “them” to survive for His service.

“Damn the Inquisition!” Inushi blurted out much too loudly… “Faithless bastards hiding in their citadels and passing judgment on faithful servants of the Emperor, all to preserve their own lust for power.”

“We’ve earned this fate boy!” Stone’s cold rebuke struck Inushi to the core. “And if you don’t learn to mind your tongue you will do yourself and our chapter irrevocable harm!”

Cowed for the moment, Inushi fell silent and contemplated his elder’s words. Stone released his grip and moved forward brusquely while Inushi fell in beside him. At length they came to a pair of ornate, arched doors nearly 10 meters high. “The excesses of the Inquisition never cease to amaze me.” muttered Stone almost unconsciously before deciding to take his own advice and keep his mouth shut.

As they approached they were met at the door by a woman with a blonde top-knot. “Are you ready for your de-briefing?” she asked.

“Aye” said Stone.

“Very well then, follow me.” she said and together the trio entered the vault-like room.

…

After many hours of what felt more like a trial than a debriefing, Stone and Inushi found themselves returning through the long corridors to the shuttle which would return them to the "The Green Menace", the Mantis Warrior frigate which had brought them. Considering what had transpired over the last several hours it had gone about as well as could be expected. With Stone to guide him, Inushi kept his temper in check and stuck to the facts, even amidst the veiled (and not so veiled) threats and innuendos of that golden-haired bitch of an inquisitor. Unfortunately Stone had been able to glean very little about what the Inquisition knew or was looking for during the debriefing, but he couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. Considering how hostile an examiner the inquisitor was, there were areas of weakness in Inushi’s testimony which even Stone noted, yet they were not pursued. Whether the inquisitor wasn’t as smart as he thought, was blinded her clear hatred for the Mantis Warriors or had some other, hidden motive he could not be sure.

They finally arrived at the hanger doors. The security check point was designed to allow a single person entry or exit at one time. As was his nature, Stone led the way, anxious to be quit of the station before any other unfortunate circumstances occur. As he stepped into the bay he heard a loud hissing sound from the expulsion of gas followed by a resounding clang of metal on metal just behind him. Hidden bulkhead doors had dropped from pockets in the ceiling separating him from his young charge.

...

The bulkhead had come down impossibly fast. Even with his heightened speed and strength Inushi had no chance to get through before it closed. Inushi instinctively reacted to this threat as he would any other. He dropped and spun, kicking out from the bulkhead as he reached for his katana & plasma pistol and leaping into the center of the corridor where he could maneuver and fight. The hallway however, was empty… even the servitors had disappeared.

“Sergeant Tano Inushi of the Mantis Warriors” the inquisitor’s voice rang out from hidden speakers and echoed throughout the hallway. “You are here by charged with the crime of herasy for calling into question the will of the Emperor in the guise of criticizing the Inquistion.”

“You lie!” he cried to the walls and empty spaces.

“Play the tape.” said the disarticulated feminine voice.

From the hollow depths of the station his own words came back to damn him…“Damn the Inquisition!” “Faithless bastards hiding in their citadels and passing judgment on faithful servants of the Emperor, all to preserve their own lust for power.”

As the echoes of his foolish words reverberated through the empty hall, two large sections of hallway wall slid silently into the floor, revealing two full squads of Adeptus Sororitas bearing flamers and meltas… all leveled at the young marine.

“Submit to judgement or be purged where you stand... and your precious Scoutmaster with you.” echoed the Inquisitors voice.

-finis-




(Now Ice has Inushi woven into his own fiction, but since he's thoroughly woven in as a charachter, I cant post it here... suggest you check out Ice's Ice Angels blog for that. However, WarOne did write a very nice piece of fiction also concerning Inushi, so I present it for your enjoyment.

“Submit to judgment...”

The words rang against his ears as Sergeant Tano Inushi awoke from his disturbed sleep.

“or be purged where you stand…”

Inushi wished he choose the latter course of action now.

Fully alert and standing up again, the fallen Mantis Warrior looked around his confines. The brig he now occupied for the last several years was his home now. Gone was the days of his former existence with his fellow warriors, fighting in the Emperor’s name and delivering swift justice to those who wronged him or his mentor, Scoutmaster Darius Stone.

“We are Mantis Warriors….”

“We are not forgiven….”

“We’ve earned this fate….”

Inushi replayed the final days of his freedom day after day, every morning he awoke before the Inquisition came down to torture his mind and body, looking for any tiny crack to excuse themselves for more arbitrary punishment on his person.

Inushi dared not strike back. He knew he was valuable to them in more ways than one. His continued existence allowed his friend and teacher to still live…or so they say. The Scoutmaster could be dead by now, as years have ticked away while his pupil had been captive to the whims of the capricious Inquisition.

Sighing, he stretched his bruised muscles and began to perform basic exercises in his spartan cell. The daily routine kept his body in shape despite the minimal room, and allowed him some emotional respite as he pummeled the walls of his cell with scabbed fists. His spirit and body were hardly broken despite the strain levied on him after innumerable days locked away.

The one side of his cell where he could peer out was perpetually kept dark. A trick of magic or technology Inushi could not say. Men came and left through the darkened portal, perhaps watching him every minute of every day. He himself could not penetrate the dark depths.

He didn’t even know where he was.

Performing his final hundred stomach crunches, the space marine then sat up and assumed a cross-legged sitting position, folding his arms and closing his eyes as he began to meditate in the final minutes before the next round of punishments began.

Images flitted by in his semi-conscious state, each one copious coming into perfect crystallization in his mind’s eye.

He remembered the first day that the Mantis Warriors found the promising youth on his home planet of Nihaze III. They took him and the other recruits aboard their Battle Barge, Endless Redemption.

The months blurred by as recruit after recruit was deemed unworthy, either dying or being inducted into the serfs that would service the marines for the duration of their lives.
Finally, only Tano Inushi remained standing, alone amongst the crop of young men that had succeeded in becoming a scout.

Years then progressed as surgery, indoctrination, and training honed the reckless young Mantis Warrior into a perfect killing machine. He learned under the wing of his beloved Scoutmaster Darius Stone. He learned the tortured history of his fellow marines and the path of redemption they were imposed on, and he learned the depths to which select chapter mates succumbed to their “Battle-haze,” a flaw in the geneseed that granted them greater senses and strength, but at the cost of their will.

It all culminated into the celebration that took place where Tano Inushi stood at long last was considered a full Mantis Warrior, and placed into the Tactical Squad that he would one day lead when the prior Sergeant fell in battle.

Then the fated day came when the Inquisition took that all away from him. They overheard his heretical words against the fate they imposed upon his chapter. They took him away and sealed him in this cage. They gifted him with pain every single day. Their laughs and accusations marred the mind of Inushi, tempering his stoicism with well hidden fury he fueled in the dark pit of his mind of the day he would finally be released-

The cell door clinked, and swung away into the dark void. The sergeant opened his eyes and sighed. Standing up, he turned to face the bleak prospects of the day, the trudging trio of guards along with the Inquisitor who would mete out his daily punishment. It didn’t matter who was the Inquisitor who stepped through that door, in Inushi’s head they were all the same blurred torturer that had cast him into this hole.

Today what strode through the door was one man who stepped through the blackness into the metal cell. He held in one hand something long and thin wrapped in cloth. The other hand rested on a holstered plasma pistol.

“Sergeant Tano Inushi of the Mantis Warriors,” the Inquisitor stated. “You are free.”

All the emotions drained out of the stunned marine as he gaped at this man. Looking more closely at his features and power armor, he noticed for the first time that this weathered and seasoned servant of the Emperor was not one he had seen before. Composing himself quickly, he narrowed his eyes and scoffed.

“Free? You’re mocking me. This must be yet another penitence I am being tested with now. Am I right?”

The Inquisitor shook his head and tossed the wrapped cloth to the marine, who caught the item gingerly. Still eyeing the man, he undid the cloth covering...

And felt the touch of familiar steel to his hands. Inushi jerked his eyes downward.

His katana was once again reunited with him.

Inushi slumped to his knees, reverently holding his favored weapon. With tears in his eyes, he looked to the Inquisitor questioningly.

“Your imprisonment has been hereby revoked by me, Heth Fernix. You are now taken under my wing for the duration of this Crusade. Here, you may need this. It’s not your original weapon, but I hear you liked to use plasma pistols.

The Inquisitor unholstered his weapon and handed it to the kneeling Inushi, who accepted it as he rose, his mind racing with the sudden turn of events. One question did sprout in his thoughts that he had to state.

“Deathwatch?” queried the young marine.

Again Heth shook his head no. “I am afraid we don’t have the time to go through all the pomp and ceremony for you to be inducted. Suffice to say, you were brought to Macharian VI for a different purpose. Take my hand, as you may get dizzy from passing through the null light barrier.”

Inushi took the man’s hand and stepped into the blackness after him. A wave of nausea passed through him, but he clenched his teeth and overcame the momentary sickness.

A great hanger loomed all around him as he came out of the depths of his cell. Something was not right. He was marched down a corridor to his enclosed room all those years ago when he last saw the outsides of his imprisonment. A few steps more and he spun quickly to see where he was entombed for four years.

His cell was nothing more than a giant metal crate.

“How…” Inushi began to question, but was cut off by the Inquisitor.

“Gyro-stabilizers kept you from knowing when we moved your cell around. You’ve been in over a dozen different prisons over your tenure in that cage. Rather ingenious as we have had problems keeping space marines captive for long periods of time, especially when those said marines were actually threats to the Imperium rather than misguided or misled souls. You I judged were one of those souls.”

The Inquisitor swept his hand across the length of the giant chamber. Flying transports flew about and running Imperial Naval men ran across the deck of the mile long hanger. Over a dozen massive doors were bare and open to the recesses of space. All the hanger doors that Inushi could see were positioned in orbit to view the massive planet below.

“I was brought here…” questioned the Mantis Warrior. “This is Macharian VI I assume? Why was I brought here to Macharian VI?”

Fernix turned to meet the taller man eye to eye. His look was one of determination and resolve. “I brought you here because you deserved a second chance. The Inquisition is not always right in who they condemn as heretics. Thankfully, I learned of your imprisonment before embarking on the Crusade. I pulled up your files and found your record impressive. Thus I called in some favors from within the organization and got you stored aboard the first wave of transports that came to this planet.”

The Inquisitor never broke his stare, keeping Inushi pinned in place. “You skills are needed. You were a fine scout within the Mantis Warriors, and a far better marine once you were inducted into their ranks. The Scoutmaster I talked to personally gave you a high recommendation despite your mouth…”

Inushi drowned out the Inquisitor. His mind tunneled as he conjured up an image of the man that was his mentor, his friend, and in everything but the biological sense, his father.

He still lived. And with that one final doubt cast aside, Inushi knew what he had to do.

“…so that is why we need you…”

The marine snapped back to reality. “Heth Fernix,” interrupted Inushi.

The Inquisitor closed his mouth. He nodded for the sergeant to continue.

Inushi kneeled. “I solemnly swear under the light of the Emperor’s grace, and upon the honor of my chapter, I pledge myself now and forever to serve you in any capacity you command. Task me with whatever you may desire to do to me, so long as I continue to serve the Emperor I will not falter nor fail.”

At last, Inushi understood what his mentor had spoken of as the Mantis Warrior’s duty to absolve themselves of the taint of suspicion. Their traitorous actions during the Badab War had forever marred the chapter in the eyes of his fellow man. Each one of the marines would always stand on a precipice of doubt and insecurity so long as others viewed them differently. The chapter as a whole continued not only to fight for the honor of the Emperor, but also to earn the respect of others who didn’t see them in the same way.

Inushi swore to himself he would prove his loyalty to the Imperium, even if it meant doing it one person at a time.

Heth took a moment to judge the marine. “Very well. I accept your oath of loyalty. It wasn’t needed, but I thank you for speaking what I saw in your heart. You were misguided…but now it is time to bring you back into the Emperor’s light.

“Sergeant Tano Inushi. You were naked with nothing but a loincloth and your resolve for such a long time. Now you have your weapons to carry in the Emperor’s name. I will also give upon you a suit of power armor. I will also restore your status as a sergeant once more. You will be given your own squad of men and command over them.

“Now then…” the Inquisitor said, motioning for Inushi to rise. “Enough of the pretty words. We have a task to perform in service to the Emperor. What would you like to know?”

Sergeant Tano rose. With his mind clear and his doubt and fury dissolved into mist, he began to question the Inquisitor about the nature of the Crusade…



Razorback 397: (first airbrushed vehicle)



Razorback 705:



That brings you up-to-date!

Gits

Lookin' awsome Gits.

so stoked to see where you can go with the airbrush.

Surprised you didn't show the marine I made and you painted. It was at least 50% responsible for the GMS! That's right, I'm blaming you for that.

Epic Epic!!
Geez... every time I come back its another hundred pages of new stuff xD
Great to see the Mantis Warriors are getting on nicely, Im especially impressed what ya did to those old razorbacks!!


I popped my PK on a test marine today, and took some pics.
The sword is rather big, however only a few fractions of an inch longer than a vanilla power sword.
I did a simple oval tsuba, wiith a sunflower one currently in progress. The sword still needs a bit of cosmetic work, mostly on the tsuba and handle, however here are a few comparison/progress shots:
(a note: the tsuba might need to be sanded down some more... i dont know, but it might be a bit too big around in relation to the sword)

Ramos, that is fantastic!

I think the size works out well, especially if you give the marines some nice two handed poses. Excellent work!

whalemusic360 wrote:Surprised you didn't show the marine I made and you painted. It was at least 50% responsible for the GMS! That's right, I'm blaming you for that.

That one should have been included in the first summary. Didn't want to repeat the same pics.


Ramos, the sword is beautiful! Have a couple of suggestions... but they're relatively minor: 1) you might consider making the blade a bit thinner, just to take a little oomph out of it so it looks more like a katana in comparison to the marine. 2) I would lengthen and perhaps widen the handle a bit... it's very small when compared with the blade.

Beautiful work though... really top notch!


And a special treat tonight: Inquisitional Supplement Squad Alpha (which I mis-spelled on the photo) In my army these marines will be used as tacticals rather than full Deathwatch, reflecting my chapters loss of it's "center" during the crusade & the need for the Inquisition to "keep a vigilant eye" on the chapter as it seeks to reestablish itself in the ranks of the Adeptis Astartes.


And I even have two marines towards the second squad...

Roll Call:
(L to R, back row)
Brother Tanaerum of the Achylsian Reavers by Yggsdrasil
Brother Fwuapuu of the Ice Angels by Ice Angel
Brother Solomon of the Sons of Talidha by Sageheart
Brother Felix of the Sons of the Ouroboros by battle Brother Lucifer
Brother Cestus of the Doom Eagles, by Thing 1

(L-R, front row)
Sergeant Crixis of the Lamenters by Solar_lion
Brother Pendrake of the Sinners by an00bis
Honoured Brother Thanatos of the Sons of Hades - Evocati Echelon by Lennysmash
Brother Navarro of the Omega Raptors by FITZZ
Brother Gretar of the Salamanders by Gretar

'Dats hawt!

nice work to all involved!

The back row have very similar colors, look good together. The Bravo Squad Heavy gunner is on the que. Got moved back a bit due to starting a new army, but its there, rest assured.

Yeah, it's a beautiful looking group. Can't wait to find to time to get a Rhino converted and painted for them so they have proper transport.

I'm sure Bravo Squad will come together in time. I have a couple more marines coming in that I know of, and still owe people for their contributions so I can be patient. Funny that the second squad is going to be all plasmas too!

looks ace. beautifull work off all participants of that squad. the participants know who they are (i dont )

I love your Inquisitional Allies squad Gits. Would it be possible for you to make a roll-call image, with the marine names and donor chapters? I'm currently building a homebrew chapter myself, so this sort of stuff always intrigues me.

The Inquisitorial Squad is looking great!!! The basing really helps in tying them together...

Ramos, your katana-wielding dude is awesome! The blade is large indeed, but it looks even better, IMHO!

I will.

OK... I know all of the "authors" of the figures... but like an idiot didn't write down all the chapters and names. I'll go thought the GMS thread and see if I can't suss some of that out, but if those of you who contributed would shoot me a PM with your marines name a chapter, I would greatly appreciate it and will add a roll call right beneath the photo.

I will be painting the underside of the bases white so I can inscribe the pertinent details of each one for posterity.

Freaking awesome!!

Thats one badass squad Loving the plasma death theme as well!

My sword is bigger than yours = Sword envy.

"Roll Call" added below ISS-alpha photo. Please provide missing data if you can.


Continued to work on WM's ork and did a little work on Pedro as well. Kids and I have survived a week without my sweetie (who's been traveling for work) so I'm pleased to be able to make some progress during this time).


OK guys, I need a head. Needs to be human & plausible as a marine head, needs to have mouth open as wide as possible though if it's open at all I may be able to modify the figure to my needs... will not be a living human so something slightly disfigured (like a zombie) is fine (actually preferable) as long as it's not chaosed up. I have a specific idea for the objective marker that will go to Adepticon with my army. If done right... it will be very gruesome... but very cool.

Anyone have an extra of something appropriate or can point me to a bit that can be purchased from a merchant?

I have one from the chaos lord box if you want it.

What do you use to thin GW paints down for an airbrush.

Going to do a Storm Raven for my Sons of Medusa

Hey Miss Dee, can you take a quick photo of it? Don't want to waste your time having you send something that isn't quite right.

I haven't tried that yet, but I've read that you cut them 1:1 with distilled water. I just picked up some distilled water myself so I'll be experimenting with it over time. Will let you know if I figure it out. So far I've been using the valejo air paints as they're good to go right out of the bottle (and the nature of the dropper bottles discourages the formation of lumps in the paint which can really screw up your airbrush). Diluting regular paints is supposed to work fine though.

Your sig sound like the ending bit from the Babylon 5 TV series... is that it?

Gods Gits.... that squad is absolutely beautiful!
Bar none THAT is the finest example of the GMS thread.

Miss Dee wrote:My sword is bigger than yours = Sword envy.

Im certainly gonna keep this one's blade unaltered, mebbe cast a few for my guys

As to your "tweaks", Gits, I could probably manufacture another relatively quickly now that I know how to. Ill probably keep the hamon the same width, but cut down the back of it-essentially moving the whole sword forward. the power gubbins would then be right on top of the hamon, prolly what you're looking for if you make the power-field painted area the hamon like you were talking about.
As to the handle, I didnt want to make it too super wide, as that is a 1/16 inch rod, and i didn't want to have to have you drill a huge hole in a marine's hand. It is, however about 2 marine hands high (for best reference check the side profile shot of the sword next to the orange marine), and I will likely add another few millimeters to its end. I just sorta cut it with no real measurement

A few questions for you now:
1) Do you still want a texture on it, eg. the cloth wrapping?
1a) if so, what kind of pattern?
2) What is the maximum size of hole you would want to/are able to drill for it?
3) Do you want any sort of special endcap for the bottom of the handle (eg. skull, imperial eagle, simple metal cap)
4) Anything else I haven't touched on? You are pretty much the "client" here, so I wanna make sure you're happy with it.


EDIT: A head?
I have marine heads (the sergeants open head from the Tac Squad sprue)
Though That seems like itd be way to obvious an option for you not to have thought of it... hmm...

Ramos, your sword is awesome, it looks very good! I do agree the handle has to be larger.

those pictures are great, it is nice to see how far your army has gone! And the marine i sent you is Brother Solomon of the Sons of talidha chapter!

picked up distilled water? here is how you do it your self
:
1) tab some water (just regular drinking water)
2) boil it for 5 minutes
3) put it in a bottle while hot and try too leave as much air out of it

and presto you have distilled water

if you want pure water boil destilled water again for 5 minutes.

That's not distilled water. That's sterilized water... different thing entirely. To get distilled water you'd have to boil the water and collect & condense the steam that comes off of it. That's distilled water. Distilling removes both biological *and* chemical impurities... boiling alone does not do this. It's why whisky stills have the copper coil, the coil condenses the alcohol vapors and cools/condenses them onto a liquid again.

Its close to this head scar over right eye, and mouth open, or I have some deathwatch heads with a wide open mouth.

and yes its from the end of the Shadow war.

Not quite what I was looking for... think... "died in unbelievable, screaming agony of body, mind and soul". It's possible the right human skull would work too, though if there were still flesh on the head it would be a more effective scene... depends what I can find. But thanks Miss Dee, I appreciate the offer.

Ramos Wrote:

As to your "tweaks", Gits, I could probably manufacture another relatively quickly now that I know how to. Ill probably keep the hamon the same width, but cut down the back of it-essentially moving the whole sword forward. the power gubbins would then be right on top of the hamon, prolly what you're looking for if you make the power-field painted area the hamon like you were talking about.
As to the handle, I didnt want to make it too super wide, as that is a 1/16 inch rod, and i didn't want to have to have you drill a huge hole in a marine's hand. It is, however about 2 marine hands high (for best reference check the side profile shot of the sword next to the orange marine), and I will likely add another few millimeters to its end. I just sorta cut it with no real measurement

A few questions for you now:
1) Do you still want a texture on it, eg. the cloth wrapping?
1a) if so, what kind of pattern?
2) What is the maximum size of hole you would want to/are able to drill for it?
3) Do you want any sort of special endcap for the bottom of the handle (eg. skull, imperial eagle, simple metal cap)
4) Anything else I haven't touched on? You are pretty much the "client" here, so I wanna make sure you're happy with it.

1) If possible, for our purposes a simple spiral down the handle (like it was wrapped with a leather strap) would be fine. It's not the right kind of wrapping... but a real lacing pattern on the handle would be a tall order and would probably be completely lost in the course of painting and modeling the sword. However... here's a URL that shows a traditional wrapping pattern... http://www.swordsoftheeast.com/ProductImages/hanwei/samurai-swords-SH1001-japanese-swords-for-sale-katana-handle.jpg

2) Have to wait until I get home and look at my drill bits, but I think the two main issues are that it should be small enough that you can comfortably drill a hole in a marine's closed fist to fit the sword, yet large enough to balance with the blade in perceived size. I don't want something that looks like one of those ridiculous anime swords with the immense bladed and tiny little handles.

3) I don't think so as it would interfere with my ability to slide the handle in and out of a drilled hole.

4) No, you're doing a beautiful job... I'm just sitting back and marveling at it all...


As to the heads... see my note in line 1 of this post.


Anyone know what the current 40k date is?? I'd like to add it to the group photo above.

If you want distilled water, phone your local high school or secondary school and ask to speak to the science technician. Offer them £10/$10 to fill up the biggest container you can find with distilled water. They'll probably refuse to even accept your money, and even if they do, at least you know it is going in the science petty cash. That is practically charitable donating!

Gits, I love the fact that Thing 1 painted one of your marines in that squad. He only owes you, what, a couple hundred more until you are even?!

would mixing medium work to thin it down a bit?

Fifty wrote:If you want distilled water, phone your local high school or secondary school and ask to speak to the science technician. Offer them £10/$10 to fill up the biggest container you can find with distilled water. They'll probably refuse to even accept your money, and even if they do, at least you know it is going in the science petty cash. That is practically charitable donating!

Gits, I love the fact that Thing 1 painted one of your marines in that squad. He only owes you, what, a couple hundred more until you are even?!

LOL Fifty! Yeah, his *ss is mine for a while. I'm just waiting until he gets good enough, then I'm going to have him re-paint 3000+ points worth of my eldar. That will keep him off the streets.

I just went to the grocery store and spent a couple of bucks on a gallon of distilled water which will last for a very long time... just look in the bottled water section and it should be there. Yes, medium is made to dilute normal paints... just didn't want to assume you had access to it as it is fairly specialized.