Hey everyone:

I have been getting back into the wonderful hobby that is Warhammer 40K recently and I thought that I would journal my ideas, progress and completed stuff here.

I see this log as having two goals:

1. Help me stay on task by creating some sort of accountability (as much accountability as the internet can give you ).
2. Open my work up to input and (constructive) criticism. I am inspired by so many hobbyist here and my only hope is that a few of them will stop by and pass on some sage advice or encouragement.

So now that you know my goals, let's get into the actual project and current state of things...


As you may or may not have guessed from the title, my goal is an Imperial Guard army that is WWII themed. Specifically after Easy Company of the 506th in the 101st Airborne as they are seen in the HBO mini series Band of Brothers.

To do this I intend on converting each figure to look like a paratrooper from WWII starting with the plastic Cadians as a base. This includes:
1. WWII American helmets
2. Airborne combat fatigues which involve...
a. Sculpting a new chest piece without the armor
b. Sculpting new arms for every gun position to remove the shoulder pads
c. Sculpting new legs to include the signature paratrooper boots and extra pockets on the bottom of the combat jacket
3. Sculpting new accessories to add character including- packs, entrenching tools, radios, medic bags, etc.

Now when I say "sculpting" I am not implying that I am sculpting from scratch. For many of these items I will be scraping down detail from the current IG plastics and re-sculpting over them or portions of them.

This has been a very thought out project that has taken lots of research (and continuing research). However nothing is set in stone and I am very open to suggestions and criticism (as long as it is constructive). Opinions are fine too I guess...

For an idea of the scale of project I want, take a look at Brother Argos' Project Log. I cannot list how many ideas he has given me for fabrication and creativity. I found his log a few days ago and spent a good day looking over his work. Not to ruin the read for anyone discovering it for the first time, but I was devastated to find out that he hasn't updated the post since August 2009. I sincerely hope that he has just been extremely busy and unable to post and that he will return to Dakka and provide me (and you) with more inspirational work. And if I am lucky, provide me with input.

Now I don't have nearly as much experience or skill as BrotherArgos. I also have quite the limited workspace. To give you an idea just how limited, here is a picture of my room:



The desk in the background is all I have for a work space. Just an idea of what I am working with.

I don't have any pictures of my current project/progress, but since I maintain that project logs are boring without pictures:

Here is the inspiration for this project. I wanted to do a DIY chapter of Space Marines with the same theme. I only completed one squad but this gives you an idea of where I am at in terms of painting.









When I find my camera again I will give you guys an update of my project status.

hey i recommend check out the assualt group they stock ww2 weapons and helmets.

Hey and welcome to dakka, now are you gonning to add the characters in from the show, such as the man himself, Winters.

Also what are you gonning to use for the american m1 helmets, and are you going to give your soldiers the m1 garand rifles they had at the time.

The cadian 45th

Welcome and you remind me alot of my chapters colors!
Is dark green such a popular color?
Well anyway i wish the best of luck to you!

@ Lextheimpaler: I checked their stuff out. Some of it seems pretty good. But their casting quality looks kinda questionable. Also an American so I would like to avoid shipping bits across the pond.

@ the cadian 45th: I am in flux about how much character I want to add to the army. At one point I was debating having every character represented. However I think I will only be using a few that are easily identifiable as conversions. A few of these include:

The man himself - Winters
Bull
Doc Roe
Nixon

@ Asherian Command: I actually mixed the color to give it that good olive army green. I'm still debating how I am going to do the colors for this army. Their fatigues will probably be a very worn looking green/kaki with the standard green helmets. But it is going to take a few test models.

Going to try to take pictures today. I am held up at the moment, waiting on an order of dentist tools to sculpt some more.

Welcome to the club brah... And that painting looks pretty neat and clean I lok forward to what you do with such a limited space

you might want to take a look at these guys (white star chapter of marines) from 3rd edition. this and the ravenborn were my favorite painted armies from that era. the guy did a pretty good job of making them WW2ish.

http://web.archive.org/web/20011209095210/www.games-workshop.com/news/us/events/GT-2001-US/chic-cov/pa_40K_NathanComanse/pa_40K_NathanComanse.htm

warboss wrote:you might want to take a look at these guys (white star chapter of marines) from 3rd edition. this and the ravenborn were my favorite painted armies from that era. the guy did a pretty good job of making them WW2ish.

http://web.archive.org/web/20011209095210/www.games-workshop.com/news/us/events/GT-2001-US/chic-cov/pa_40K_NathanComanse/pa_40K_NathanComanse.htm

Wow they look awesome.

Those do look great have you checked out the Westwind Seperate Head System they do various WW2 heads.....Also TAG mooulding quality is about par with GW as far as I can see, I own quite a few bits of theirs you see.

Well as anyone in college knows, when I say, "...try to take pictures today." What I really mean is, as soon as I remember to and have time to. Two very scares conditionals.

Anyway... I finally got a camera out and my shipments in so the pictures were taken, uploaded and here for you!

First off, my orders:

This is my new collection of sculpting tools. Which in a previous life were dentistry tools. They only ran me $20 when all said and done. My previous tools were old x-acto blades and the cuticle pusher tool from a nail trimming set.



Next are my two magnet orders. For anyone in the US, I have to recommend K&J Magnetics. The shipments come fairly quickly and are exactly what I was looking for. I actually bought the 3mm ones first, and discovered they were TOO big!!! So another 1/16" batch was ordered.




Now on to actually hobby stuff:

So I have already done a few renditions of the sculpted torsos. However, I wasn't 100% satisfied. I had used the standard Cadian chest piece. This required me to file down all the armor before re-sculpting the entire body. Now, after looking at BrotherArgos' thread, I used his idea of sculpting off of the tank commander torso. He also used straps made from plasticard that are glued into grooves instead of sculpting greenstuff straps.




You can see I still have to re-sculpt the front of the jacket to give him a center closing jacket and pockets. Started that before class but waiting on drying.

Just a quick shot of the back to show the straps:




Now I have also done some work on the heads. I am showing only one head, but have done 5 so far. They are in my gallery but this just gives you an idea.



Now here is a few test models to show you what I am going for. I will update you guys on the chest sculpt as I go on. Also these test models don't have the right boots or pockets on the bottom of their jackets:






C&C welcome.

Wohooow! lovely dude looks precise like WW2

Amazing! You must post more I say!

Llamahead wrote:Those do look great have you checked out the Westwind Seperate Head System they do various WW2 heads.....Also TAG mooulding quality is about par with GW as far as I can see, I own quite a few bits of theirs you see.

I actually was referred to Westwind awhile ago. They have some good stuff, but not quite what I was looking for. I ended up doing my own heads (as you can see from above post.)

@Rose_Mountainz and warmaster40k: thanks for the compliment. Again the completed (but not painted) models you see are using the one of the two first chest sculpts I did. This 3rd sculpt will be much better in my opinion. They will also have added boot detail and pockets. Still a long way to go.

Micro Update: Started work on the chest piece sculpting in GS today. Also getting used to the new tools. I already scratched the first attempt and the 2nd is drying. I have a midterm on Wednesday and a paper due the same day so progress will be slow for the next few days. But please let me know what you guys think and any suggestions you guys have. I am going to be working on a few lists on study breaks so I may give you guys those to look at.

very nice! i think your guys look very WW2 ish...im really digging your sculpts

the only thing is that the proportions are a bit off...the body should be approx 8 heads tall...granted GW minis dont stick to those proportions but i figure if youre gonna make new sculpts might as well make em more proportional

id say make the chest/body pieces a bit longer so they dont look as squat...

awesome job so far!

Looking great (both the marines and the guard!) can't wait to see more, and can't wait to see your vehicles.

Antman677 wrote:very nice! i think your guys look very WW2 ish...im really digging your sculpts

the only thing is that the proportions are a bit off...the body should be approx 8 heads tall...granted GW minis dont stick to those proportions but i figure if youre gonna make new sculpts might as well make em more proportional

id say make the chest/body pieces a bit longer so they dont look as squat...

awesome job so far!

Yah scale is something that I really thought about when putting this together. The first issue was if the helmets were too big. After some careful examination my best SWAG is that they are closely proportional to the scale the IG minis are on.

As for lengthening the torsos: as I have zero sculpting experience before this project, and no art background (business major focusing in finance), I don't want to bite off more than I can handle. That may be something to do if I re-visit this army at a later time. I just don't have the confidence right now to do something like that. Granted I could just slap a sheet of plasticard at the base of the torso -biggerizing marines style- but that doesn't really do it for me. But something to consider. Do you think just putting the plasticard on there would do the trick?

you know...if the proportions are buggin ya then id try to sculpt em right...cuz at least in my experience...if something starts to bug me about my minis it doesnt stop until i fix it.

i ended up trashing a whole deathwing army cuz it was annoying me so much.

its a pretty easy job to biggerize the torsos. I'd chop the torso's through the ribcage. put some pieces of plasticard in the gap and fill it with greenstuff. Sculpting cloth isnt too hard...i can give ya some tips in person if you are game

Well I hadn't noticed the scale until you pointed it out

Haha but really it isn't something that drives me crazy. As this project is developing, I have found that I need to be able to make allowances for what I want to be accurate and what is reasonable. For instance, I was going to convert the heavy weapons (specifically the heavy bolters) to their WWII look-a-likes. But have conceded to using the standard weapons.

However I would love to hear any input you have on sculpting. I really want to come to paint nights but I have a Thursday night class this semester.

Man, this project looks like it's going to turn out great. It's an inspiration to get me going on an IG army and I'm only half way through a paint league.

Can't wait to see more... keep posting

ya for sure man...hit me up if you ever have questions about sculpting or what not (:

Looking good...I always admire those that have the patience and skill to sculpt those tiny little figures..

These guys look pretty cool. Can't wait to see more.

Also, love Band of Brothers, so extra points for that

Well I am taking a break from Bond Valuation and Internal Rate of Return to ponder the structure of my army. I have a few ideas and would love your input on them:

1. Go all airborne with Vendettas and Veteran squads
2. Go all infantry with minimal armor (artillery only, no tanks)

However I have these thoughts regarding the two:
1. If I go all airborne, it fits pretty well with the theme of the army, dropping from the skies and all. However I really like the idea and structure of the Infantry Platoons and the HWS and SWS it gives me (as well as orders). The veteran squads also gives a more elite troop feel, which isn't entirely airborne. Yes I know how baller these men were in combat, but they also had replacements that were quite inept in the veterans eyes. Also, the Vendettas would obviously take a bigger role in the game, which is un-fluffy to me. The planes were more just a mode of transportation instead of actual backup.

2. If I go all infantry, I get the fluffy feel of an airborne army that has already been dropped into the combat zone. Remember that Easy Company only made 2 combat jumps, one into Normandy and one into Holland (Nixon being the only member to have 3 jumps because he was requested for another company's jump). Easy wasn't an armored force, and didn't have any armored transports or tanks attached directly to them, even though they did work with them from time to time (side note: maybe just 1 tank and do it in separate markings to indicate it is an attachment?). I figure I could use gryphons and basilisks to represent the artillery support that Easy usually had.

However in discussions with other gamers, I have heard that in 5th Edition, armor is the name of the game, and I would be quite disadvantaged on the battlefield. This isn't a total nail in the coffin because I am more about having fun and creating a beautiful fluffy army than smashing skulls. However I know I won't enjoy it as much if my painstakingly crafted army is swept off the table consistently.

I will also lack quite a bit of mobility, again something I hear is the name of the game in 5th Ed. My beta of a concept is that I will use Creed (Renamed to Major Winters in my army) which will give me quite a commander and lots of orders. I really like the idea of lots of my squads using the MMM order to get where they need to be. But I also understand that this isn't that reliable and once I get there, it isn't easy to hold positions with the common footslogger.

A compromise might be to mount the army in bare bones chimeras. To me they would represent the Duce-and-a-halves that Easy used to get around when not jumping. Not as fluffy as I would like but it would give me mobility and armor. However I would still like to use it for the common infantry platoon, instead of veterans.



Now there are endless permutations of combining these tactics. I am not opposed to these but would like to keep it as fluffy and coherent as possible. Let me know what you guys think. I hope I have some input to mull over on my next study break. Well back to flash cards and practice tests...

Well after finishing my midterm I came home and got a little sculpting done. I figured I would share the progress with you guys.

I was able to finish the front of the jacket and the two overhangs on the shoulders. I got the idea for the overhang from BrotherArgos. Because the shoulderpads on the Cadians normally cover the gap in between the torso and arm, I added the little overhang to hide it. This should also add to the jacket look.

On the front all I have left to do is add the big pockets. Then just touch up some work on the back and make sure the arms will fit with a few dry test runs. After that I should be able to cast the first one. I may then saw the first cast and insert a spacer to make it scale appropriate. Then cast the new spaced one. Dunno, will have to see how it looks.

Anyway here are pictures, enjoy!

hey im diggin the jacket!

i do agree with ya...youre gonna quit the game sooner than later if you consistently get tabled (;

i think that you option of buyin chimeras for your platoons sounds like a plan. but keeping a big blob of 30 men with a commisar is a good idea. they are actually a pretty good unit as they can tie up dangerous units in CC and bubble wrap your artillery.

I second the feeling on the jacket. Your troops are coming along nicely. Are you going to try casting them or model them indivdually?

A question a little off subject, would you be so kind to give your technique for the green scheme you did on your marines? That is the color I have been looking for.

I served with the 506th in iraq and afghanistan. The idea of doing a WWII themed 506th was always in the back of my mind, but i just never got around to it. I like what you have done so far, keep it up.

CURRAHEE!!!!!!

Oppenheimer wrote:I served with the 506th in iraq and afghanistan. The idea of doing a WWII themed 506th was always in the back of my mind, but i just never got around to it. I like what you have done so far, keep it up.

CURRAHEE!!!!!!

you forgot Korea Had buddies in that unit when they were at the DMZ.

The stuff looks awsome and I think your onto something hot. A good idea if you hadn't mentioned it already would be make a set of chests and heads and cast them this will save you time, money, and TONSSSS of energy I really look forward to this.

@ Antman677: Thank you! I like the chimera idea too. However I think I am just going to start building up an all infantry force first. Get in a few games with 500 pts and see how they perform. Then build up from there.

@ Death Korps: I would love to give you the technique. However I can't remember the exact technique. I believe it is under my old thread on the Bolter and Chainsword. But the forum isn't working at the moment. I'll let you know when I can access it again!

@ Oppenheimer: First off, thank you for your service and hats off to you.

@ Empchild: I kinda have hinted at it before but yes I will be casting these sculpts. I don't think I have the patience to individually sculpt a single CCS let alone an entire army! Just got up but will soon be at the work desk. I'll take a few pictures of my casting so far and maybe a few results. They are all in white plastic which makes it very hard to see tho.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Thanks for the props man, I am really pleased with how they are coming out. For the green I first base coat in chaos black spray. Then I paint Catachan Green over all the armor. I really water this first coat down, not to the point of being like a wash, but to where it is very fluid paint. After that coat dries, I go back with Catachan Green again, generally with the same consistency. That usually gives me the coverage you see in the pictures. I then wash the crevices with Chaos Black, and touch up anywhere the wash went astray with Catachan again. For hi-lighting I did a custom mix of Catachan Green and Camo Green. However I think the pot of Camo Green I have is slightly brighter than it should be. Either way just mix it until you are happy with the contrast. I had to try 3 times before I liked it.

For my markings I first lay down a basecoat of Codex Grey in the shape of the icon I am painting (chevrons, spade, squad number, ect.) This lets me sketch out the idea, and it is easy to cover up if I mess up. Once I am happy I go over it with Skull White or Golden Yellow. I try to thin the paints pretty well on these and sometimes it takes a few coats to get it right. However the result is a nice 'chalked-on' look that fits my WWII theme perfectly.

For the rank markings I actually really like your idea and agree with you. The white on the trim might over do it. I'll try the first officer without it, cuz I can always add it later. I'm going to stick with white head vent for NCO's and white helmet for Commissioned Officers. The rank will always be on their left knee. Going to be fun painting the stars on my commanders

Direct quote from my B&C blog

Great stuff here, I am very impressed with the small details you are acheiving with the greenstuff, awesome work!

I was also going to mention that Warlords miniatures have a 101st AB model range in 28mm, if nothing else in may be worth a look see for you.

I am currently serving in the 509th AB battalion out of fort Richardson, and I had a urge to build a modern version of it for 40k, but became sidetracked by my Tau. ( oh well )

An all infantry force is actually alot of fun, and drives your opponents crazy when you put 120+ models on the table at a 2000k game. , invest in mortars they can be incredibly useful in leu of heavier artillery, even with their low strength its nice to put out 3 small blast templates a turn from them W/O los.
I built a "Red Devils " guard army in 3rd/4th ED, that did not have a single vehicle in it, but of course that was in the day when you could choose doctrines fro your army, like airborne or city fighters...ahh the good old days .

But as I said keep up the great work, I can't wait to see more of your stuff, and who knows maybe some day my Falschimjager IG force can lock horns with your 101st, that would be epic.

Ok just finished work on the pockets for the front of the jacket. They are a little glossy from the Vaseline I used to smooth them which makes it hard to photograph. Anyway let me know what you think.



And a bit closer...

Nice work, dude.

ya very nice...if you want to sculpt a couple things in the same area vasoline might not be the best option as it will prevent GS from adhering to the plastic. have you tried spit? it works great as a lubricant (:

can you post a step by step casting tutorial? im curious to see how youre doing it...might like to try it in the future

Antman: I learned everything about casting from this guy's YouTube page.

http://www.youtube.com/XanderXereus#p/c/135DE5CCC89CD7B3/0/jFfXT_Cjpuk

That is all I have gone off of. It's a pretty good tutorial. They sell all the stuff you need at Blick.

And as for spit, I have an allergic reaction to the greenstuff, so if I use spit, my mouth reacts to it. So I just use Vaseline instead.

cool thanks for the linky...

hMm...yea thats not good GS isnt good for your health

i usually spit on my hand or on a piece of plastice and dip my sculpting tool in it so i dont have to lick the tool itself...

but whatever works for you

keep up the good work!

75-80% of my sculpting work is done with colour shapers, which due to their silicone tips (giggedy) require no lube for smoothing over as it doesn't adhere to GS. I'd suggest picking up a couple as they really do make smoothing surfaces a doddle.

BigBadWolf37 wrote:...silicone tips (giggedy)...

EpicWinLol

Love where this is going. Definately can't wait to see a finished mini. Are we going to see some 'Willys' as "counts-as" Sentinels?

I love the idea, lokking forward to seeing more models keep going

Nice stuff!

Well I have to put myself on the casualties list for Easy Company. This weekend I managed to acquire a "nondisplaced lateral tibial plateau fracture" and a minor meniscus tear in my left knee while snowboarding. Had my MRI and X-rays today and the doc took 78 cc of fluid from my knee. That gets your attention!

This means a knee brace and crutches for the next 8-10 weeks. But hopefully more time to work on Easy! Going to FLGS paint night tonight to get some sculpting done. I want to have all my base parts done for casting by Monday, but we will see how that goes.

I have started casting for my torso. I think after I get an original mould, I will try giving them some additional height to see if I like it. Anything to help my army stand out.

I also have come up with a base 1500 list that I want to build to. It gives me all infantry and also allows for lots of tweaking. I'll post it later for you guys to pick apart. (maybe in another thread to get better attention)

Finally I have a priority list of items I need sculpted and cast before I can start producing any models:

1. Torso
2. Legs - 5 sets
3. Arms - lasgun holding arms
4. Missile Launcher Tube - Sculpt to look more WWII
5. Missile Launcher Right Arm
6. Missile Launcher Left Arm
7. Heavy Bolter Shooter Arms
8. Grenade Launcher Attachment - doing something based on this: instead of the drum grenade launcher.

9. Vox-Caster (radio)

That is just the stuff to get my basic army put together. I have probably twice that to sculpt to finish everything including backpacks, packed shovels for belts, missile launcher extra ammo packs, heavy weapons arm etc.

Also another idea I had: drilling my lasgun barrels and sculpting an ejector on the side to have them fire shells instead of lasers. And sculpting/fabricating a .30 cal for a heavy bolter. ( I have always thought the caliber of the heavy bolter was a joke. / )

The helmets are uber cool. Looking forward to seeing this army come to life !

Thanks Dakka_X3, hopefully I should be able to at least cast single models within a week or two.

Progress Update:

Due to the broken tibia and accompanying brace and crutches, getting into my small room has been well... difficult. I managed to bring a little bit of stuff down to a desk downstairs to get some work done.

I managed to select and start working on the legs I will use. It isn't much work that you can see but I figured I owed you guys a little something. I scraped down the boots and filled a few gaps to remove the buckle straps they have on there originally. Post taking these pictures I also started sculpting the front of the boots on. This involves constructing a ridge on the front of the boot, separating the sides of the boot from the tongue of the boot. Don't know how/if I will be doing laces or just filling it in and criss-crossing it with something.

Also fixed a few of the jackets that came up on the right of the figure and centered them.

Here they are:










Also, I have run out of mould rubber. I only really have a solid head mould at the moment. The rest was used for moulds that I no longer use/didn't like. I consider it a tuition fee to the school of casting. However this means another $25 to get some more. Waiting on my next paycheck to grab some and hopefully by then I will have enough done to start everything in a mould.

Also I think I am pretty much done with the arms. Sanded/filed down all the shoulder pads. It's getting exciting now!

All right update time!

I finally picked up another case of the Smooth On mould rubber. (Thank you Blick for the coupon!) That means... more casting!

I poured the 1st half of the torso mould just now. I have a 6 hour wait until it is dry. That brings me to just about 1am my time. But I have a paper due at 8am tomorrow so I may be up then anyway to provide pictures.

Leg sculpts are coming along. Hung up on how to do their boots, specifically the shoe laces. Does anyone have any ideas?

Picked up a color shaper as well, very excited to try it out!

All right I have a substantial update for once!

I apologize for the mini-psudo updates that have been lacking pictures lately. I have been doing work, but not taking pictures of it. I know it isn't as interesting to read about progress as SEE it!

Anyway yesterday marked the completion of my first test figure. This means I have a mould for legs, torso, arms and head. (I actually have all the heads I need in one mould so totally done with heads). The next steps are going to be making the moulds of the other versions of arms and legs...

Let me know what you guys think! I had to play with photoshop so you could see them considering they are all white.











It is hard to see in the pictures but the boots have been finished with laces. I ended up going for scored greenstuff instead of individual laces. It ended up being very easy to do over and over (like 5 sets of legs to do). Arms have been smoothed down. Torso re-sculpted. Heads given helmets.

The GS backpack is WIP. I am looking to give every guy one. This is the WWII paratrooper pack they carried. What do you guys think so far? Here is my insperation picture I am working off of. The size and the finish (should I sculpt seams in the fabric etc.) are the areas I am unsure about. Let me know what you think:





Enjoy!

Sexy. Very Sexy. You should cut the optics off of each Lasgun though. Kinda make em' look more rifle-ey.

Very nice work. All that is missing now is to festoon them with bandoliers and other sundry kit

Lookin' fiiiiiiiiine!
And I agree with Flinty, as a US marine said in 1942 "You never have enough ammo when you can see the Japs. As soon as they're not around, you've got enough to open a gun store."

@metalifan: Thats a good idea. I'll play around with it a bit and see how I like it. Already made the mould for that one tho so I will have to scrape them off from now on .

@flinty + Entity: Yes I will def be adding lots of bandoliers. I figure on just using the standard IG ones because they look enough like normal bandoliers. Also the pack that has the canteen and CCW/bayonet. Will probably re-sculpt the canteen a bit to make it WWII ish tho!

Thanks for the feedback guys, both good ideas.

Finals Wed and Thurs tho so I will be BUSY until then. THen a big gap till my final final on the next Wed. Then I'm coming across the pond to visit London for two weeks, so no hobby progress then either!

Okay well those are some pretty damn well converted guardsmen.

Thanks Carabine! I hope they look good. I can't say for sure how many hours have gone into this project to produce only 1 lonely guardsman but its probably more than I should have given my class load.

After some feedback from my FLGS, I am going to beef up the backpack a bit, add the straps, a second pocket that is on the left side, and some seams where the fabric comes together. Update after finals!

Maj.Winters wrote:

This is my new collection of sculpting tools. Which in a previous life were dentistry tools. They only ran me $20 when all said and done. My previous tools were old x-acto blades and the cuticle pusher tool from a nail trimming set.

where did you get these tools? i've been wanting some stuff like this, but wasn't sure where to get some at a good price. $20 sounds like a reall good deal to me!

-C6

I got mine off ebay for $20, but later found out they sell them at dickblick art supply stores: http://www.dickblick.com/products/wax-and-plaster-carving-tools/

For only $10!!!!

They also sell color shapers: http://www.dickblick.com/products/colour-shaper-mini-sets/

I HIGHLY suggest getting at least one, if not the mini set. It is the #1 recommendation I can make for making sculpting in GS a million times easier.

Maj.Winters wrote:I got mine off ebay for $20, but later found out they sell them at dickblick art supply stores: http://www.dickblick.com/products/wax-and-plaster-carving-tools/

For only $10!!!!

They also sell color shapers: http://www.dickblick.com/products/colour-shaper-mini-sets/

I HIGHLY suggest getting at least one, if not the mini set. It is the #1 recommendation I can make for making sculpting in GS a million times easier.

awesome; thanks a million for letting me know! i am ok at GS-using, but i think a wider variety of tools would really benefit me.

keep up the good work, btw! these guys are looking great and unique.

I have to say that I am loving the american GI look for your guard, keep on going and I can't wait to see a full unit of these guys (especially painted)

Lovin itt so far But ery awesome

Coooooooll Work men!!!!!!!!


Keep it on!!

Gruß Thomas

Really nice looking minis and casts, i haven't seen anything like this done before to this quality. Have you tried using colour shapers? they are great and much easier to use than metal tools. They give much smoother results.

Keep up the good work,i look forward to seeing more.

LoL, Sorry, just read that you have got the colour shapers now, how are you finding them?

very nice, i'm a big fan of Band of Brothers

Quick update from across the pond! Relaxing in London for my last day of vacation here. The weather has been amazingly good so far (however now it's proper London gloom and cold). Stopped by a few GW stores over here. It is scary how many there are here compared to California. Bought and read Cadian Blood and Flesh and Iron (loved Cadian wasn't wild about Flesh). Probably going to pick up the Tank IG book for the flight home to read! Either that or finish off "The Longest Day".

Anyway in regards to the models and posts:

@Hits_the_spot: yah the color shapers make a WORLD of difference. I can't recommend a tool more than this one, even for first time GS sculptors. I am getting them from Blick which is an American art supply store. They are usually in the paint brush section of the supply store.

I plan on getting some solid work in when I get home. My GF lives in London so I will have a lot of extra time when I get back to CA for the summer :( sad for me but it means more pictures and progress for you! I have a set of legs sitting in the plasticine for the first round of rubber. Then I think I am going to sit down on a day and knock out a few torsos, at least enough for the first unit. Maybe have a full squad done within a week or two after I get back?!?!

About to go visit the Churchill War Rooms! Not my GI's main man but still as a WWII buff I love it!

nice project you have there, and i look forward to see what you'll make next, if you want you could remove the optic sights on the lasgun for a more garandy look,
Oh and promise me you'll listen to sabatons new song "screaming eagles"

You'd love the War & Peace Show down south in England during June. Huge 'ol Re-enactment show. Massive WW2 emphasis.

And I think the Screaming Eagles group are there this year...

These are looking great .
just spent the weekend running around in my 101st gear.
i like the musett packs youve put on them. are you gona convert some of the lasguns so thet look like m1 carbines and thompsons ? .
and a leman russ as a sherman with guys riding on it ?

Well despite the hot weather and serious jet lag issues I have made quite some progress today.

When I got home two days ago, I poured the 1st and 2nd halves of my 2nd pair of legs.

Today, I realized that pouring the moulds one at a time was lengthening my process (and at 6 hours to cure, was not something I needed). So, I set up and poured the 1st half of the remaining 3 leg sets. This will bring me to a total of 5 legs, one of which is kneeling. I should have time to pour the 2nd half some time tomorrow.

++NOTE: if you are pouring more than 1 mould of the rubber, or resin for that matter, make sure you don't take to long. To get the best detail, the rubber has to be as fluid as possible. To ensure this, I poured only enough to cover all the details in each mould before filling it up the rest of the way. This way the more solidified rubber was just covering more rubber, not obscuring detail.++

Also I have been taking time to cast a torso or two whenever I have a spare 20 minutes. The way I see it I can't really make too many of those.

Put the final outer layer on the backpack, it is much bigger now and fits the scale I think. I just need to add pockets and straps and it will be ready for casting. Also started first level of GS on the entrenching tool (aka folding shovel).

That pretty much just leaves me to finish casting the arms, of which I think I have 3 sets of lasgun and 1 sprue of laspistol, ccw and grenade arm. Hopefully I can get that all done in one day.

Now, that is quite a wall of text you say, where are our pictures?!?! Well unfortunately I had been borrowing my girlfriends amazing camera. She is spending the summer in London, and has her camera with her. So unless I can find my digital camera (has been AWOL for 2 years now), I may have to make do with my iPhone camera or perhaps borrow another one.

I'll keep you guys updated on everything tho and always welcome comments, ideas or any WWII related discussion!

yo so much great stuff on casting here...you inspired me to buy a starter set from blick...hopefully soon ill be casting some of my own inquisitorial stormtrooper torsos from elysian minis...ill have to meet up with you at aero so you can tell me if my mold is goin to work or not

Defiantly! I have much more time for the hobby now that it is summer. I am going to try to make paint nights a regular thing. I can't cast in the store (mixing chemicals inside = bad). But I will be there sculpting and hopefully painting soon! Always happy to help with any experience I have.

Nice Marines Brother (ps. Thats about the same amount of room i have )

All right gentlemen, progress has been good!

Since it is hotter than hell in downtown LA right now I have moved my hobby table into our living room (only room with AC) and have set up watching Band of Brothers for like the 20th time while working.

I have all the leg moulds finished. And then ran a set of the legs. I am pretty happy with the results. A few toe bubbles that I can either just plug with GS or add extra vents. I have cast up enough legs for a whole first squad!

Also finished 2 sets of arms. But running really low on rubber which may mean I need to put the new moulds on hold until I get more.

Going to start working on heavy weapons teams with them lying down.

Also, what do you guys think of basing? I was thinking doing a blend of hedgerows and city fight. Possibly doing a city like Carentan as a display board. So guys running over broken brick or through muddy fields.

So far looks really cool .

I think the Carentan base idea could work well, as long as you don't make te bases too different, otherwise they would look as if they are in two different locations.

Well I am almost too embarrassed to put these up but I figured you guys would want to see some sort of progress. Again these are taken via iPhone so very very dodgy. However you can see that now that I have the moulds finished, things are coming along nicely. Enjoy.

beautiful!

just hope youre wearing a mask of some sort all that resin looks dangerous

It is actually just plastic, not resin. But I am working in our living room with the AC blowing past me, so any fumes are dispersed... so cancer slowly I guess

oh...that stuff from the kit is really just plastic? not resin?

its actually the dust thats the worst...it gets in your lungs rips it up and doesnt leave...and causes cancer O:

OK. So I found out that my school library lets you borrow digital cameras for free! So I went on by after work and picked one up.

I have finished the first 5 squad members. That is they have all the kit and equip they are going to get. I have even started on priming (which I am doing with Gesso and the jury is still out on it). I botched the mold for a few of the equipment bits so I am currently re-doing them. I also have to wait to make a mold of the heavy weapon arms and such. However by the end of the week I should have all the molds I need to create 99% of my army.

I am quite proud of how the pack turned out. It took quite a while to get a size I liked. I even managed to do buckles using the edge of my xacto knife. The canteen is just a normal Cadian bit with the bottom filled in to make it GI. And the shovel is the heavy weapon shovel cut and folded with a pouch sculpted over it.

Anyway here are the pictures, hope you guys enjoy. As always, comments and criticism welcome:

Now this is some outstanding work! Keep it up and I can't wait to see what the five look like painted

Really nice work sir. Looking forward to seeing more.

Nice looking stuff, subbed.

Looking good

Very well done mate, they are looking awesome.

Very nice models.
Would you perchance be interested in doing some molds for commission?
Whenever it would be good for you of course.

Very nice stuff here! I like the torso's I might have to use one of the earlier suggestions on taking the top off of the lasgun "for a more garandy look".
Can't wait to see more!

@Disjointed Entity: Molds of these models? No I will not be doing any molds of these for anyone but myself. Sorry, but I don't want to deal with the IP hammer that GW loves to swing. They said for personal use I was ok but selling anything involved with this project is a No No.

@ Stretch: thank you, the torsos took a lot of effort and I am quite proud of them myself. I have to play around with the guns to see if I like the top off look. Haven't done it yet.

Thanks everyone for all the support. It really helps when I have a lot to do or get discouraged.

Anyway the past two days have been crazy. My mom's company had a design install that I helped with. Pulled 20 hours in the past two days (and the second day was only till 5pm). Needless to say, no work on Easy was done. However today I have some time before fathers day BBQ.

I have already cast all but 2 of the remaining accessory sets for this squad. Should finish the rest today. I have found it is easier to leave the unattached pieces so that I can clean each piece before gluing them on, that way I get all the mold release agent off every bit of it. I had some issues with that the first time I primed.

Also going to start making the heavy weapon mold. I think all I need are the missile launcher and heavy bolter (which will be a custom built .30 cal). The mortars are close enough to not convert.

I also dug through and found all the bases I have that aren't attached to anything (and some that were but were easy to snap off!). I think I have enough to finish a whole platoon with 2 squads. That is what I normally try to use for a kill team game. So I will hopefully have enough to toss around the table.

Also, going to check on the gesso primed models. I had very high hopes for this process but so far have been severely disappointed. If it doesn't seem to be working, I think I will just strip em and re-prime with spray. As I live in sunny Southern California, weather isn't usually a problem for me when it comes to priming (only slightly bragging Also may break out some paint pots which have been dormant for 2+ years and see if any of them still work. I hope enough do to just get a simple coat on the guys so you can see more details. All white figs are just too hard to see!

Anyway Happy Fathers Day to all you dads on Dakka!

Hmm.. On the heavy weapon front, if you're wanting to include Lascannon in your force you could look at doing a scaled down 57mm AT gun style mount. Wheels on the front and hitching mount on the back with a big blast sheild.

I'm pretty sure that the US Airborne had access to air-droppable versions.

OMG OMG OMG those models look absolutely fantastic! i've always wanted to see some ww2 style warhammer minatures. heroic scale is ok, but FOW scale is just terrible.

Incredible work! All the attention to detail is really paying off (the rucksack is ace) and I can't wait to see what the boys of Easy company look like when you start adding a bit of paint.

Are you going to be by Aero any time in the near future? I'd love to get a look at these in person.

Kudos!

@dark6spectre: thank you, I am glad you like the scale. I had a few suggestions to correct the scale, but I figured I wanted to match the standard GW IG scale, just with WWII attire.

@GitSmack: glad you noticed the detail on the backpack. Took me ages to get it the way I liked it. But now that it is done it is the piece I am most proud of to date. Hopefully getting some paint on these guys soon.

Also going to try to be by Aero within the next week or so. Once I have my Kill team group ready I will be trying to throw together a game at any chance I get. Then just building up from there!

Well I have given up on the Gesso priming. It just wasn't giving me results that were worth dealing with all the extra hassle. I just stopped by the FLGS and picked up a can of grey spray primer as well as a bottle of the new Gretchin Green and Badab Black. I am assuming that all of my paints are long dried up and worthless.

As I find myself more on top of the modeling aspect of this army I turn towards painting. I have always enjoyed painting, and put effort into making my figures look as good as possible, even the RAF guys. That being said, this is a guard army and a infantry guard army at that. I am looking for a simple quick formula to make the olive green that the 101st wore. My simple beta idea is to simply hit the fatigues with Gretchin Green and wash with Badab. If that turns out to work it will be a miracle!

Going to do some searching but I welcome any suggestions for formulas!

i dunno man...youre models are so nice and you spent so much time and energy on them i feel itd be a bit sad to see a rush paint job on em.

Badab black is good for dirtying up stuff...wont be good for shading green.

id suggest...

basecoat: catachan green + a bit of brown (scorched or calthan)

1st shade: same brown
2nd shade: brown and black

1st highlight: catachan green
2nd highlight:catachan green + a bit of bleached bone?

dilute the paint a bit and youre good to go...

when i first started back up again i rushed through my deathwing army and hated the results...wished i spent more time on them...

Oh I don't plan on rushing this paintjob at all. I plan on painting to my highest quality. Even on the RAF. I was just hoping that the simple technique would work out for me.

Looks like I have to start re-purchasing some paint. Well I will try to have the squad finished and primed before Wednesday. I have to strip the models I primed in Gesso. It really didn't work at all.

Ok I'm posing a question to all you sculptors/fabricators out there: How should I create the radios from WWII?



As of now I just have the box made of plasticard. The part that is stumping me is getting the detailing such as the recesses modeled. I'm thinking sculpted GS or maybe cutting out sections of plasticard to finish it up. But really I am open to anything. The stupid thing has been staring at me for the past 3 weeks and I can't figure it out in a way I am pleased with.

Just trim down a Vox-Caster. Cut all the extra stuff off of the sides so that it's just a box with an antenna.

I am actually staring at exactly what you have suggested. It does look sorta like what I am going for, however considering how much effort I am putting so much effort into this, I kinda wanted to go for something that actually resembled the radio, not just a slimmed down vox-caster.

Actually that radio looks rather a lot like a boxier jerry can. Can you do anything with the Guard tank accessory cans? Rectangularise it and add a whip aerial?

Also on getting a good green I can recommend using the Knarloc Green foundation paint as a base.

I find that Catachan green highlighted with Camo Green works very nicely for a good Earthy-Green

one thing which occurs to me is to get a solid plastic box of some sort, the size you want, and then etch out the lines. of course, this assumes you have a dremel or decent etching type tool, and might be more trouble than it's worth.

i think i might also go with a re-tooled vox-caster. but i often try to work with what's available and do the simplest way, rather than making things from scratch (which others might b more skilled at)

@Maj.Winters.

I didn't mean the molds of your Screaming Eagles, if I presneted you with a sketch or source image of a mold I would like made, would you be willing?

from what I can see, very nice work!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
forgot to ask, are you going to use the Flames of War dice for your 40k game?

this is an awesomely big task you've undertaken! and I sincerely hope you keep it up as everything you've done to date looks fantastic! great modelling work and they just look so cool, can't wait to see more! I do have one slightly off topic question though, could you pm me and let me know what colours you used and method for those space marines because i really like them too!

Hey everyone thanks for the support! Sorry I haven't been updating or doing much work lately. I had a series of out of town friends drop by last week which ate up all my time. However I was able to discuss the hobby with two who seemed quite interested. One lives quite far away but the other is just away for the summer. Hopefully he will be drawn in and I will have a local gaming partner. I sent him off with Cadian Blood, Titanicus and Horus Rising to get him into the 40k Universe.

I have started on the painting stage of the first squad. Just a simple camo green basecoat at the moment. It took two coats to get it to a nice solid covering. Now I think I will start working up to lighter shades by adding Kommando kaki. I work over a grey primer basecoat, which after using both black, and white primer, I have found to be the best. It doesn't darken your colors too much but you can still get nice solid coverage.

Also about to pick up on the heavy weapon mold for the missile launcher. I have done a little fabrication on the .30 cal. It took quite a bit of measuring to come up with a scale I liked. Still stumped on the radio tho. I am really resisting doing a slimmed down vox, but at this point I don't know how to get the results I am looking for!

@Disjointed Entity: Send me a PM with specifics. To be honest tho, just getting my own work done is almost more I can handle with work.

@SoloFalcon1138: I actually don't know what the Flames of War dice look like. I have the old red and black GW dice from ages ago and have been using them. However I am not the biggest fan of the small dice so am open to getting a new set. Plus I have yet to make an example of the worst rolling die in the set, so they haven't performed well.

@nerdfest09: Sure thing on the marines. I know I wrote it down somewhere, I just have to find it. I will also give you the link the the WIP thread I had going on Bolter and Chainsword. I talk a lot about the progress of that squad and the hobby behind it.

Long time lurker first time poster.

Iv'e been keeping up with your project for a while now and just wanted to say what a great job your doing.

Thanks to google for helping me find this blog lol

Being a big Band of Brothers fan, I was actually thinking of doing the same thing, with an E-Company themed IG army, but after seeing what you've done so far, I wouldn't do it any justice.

Apart from Winters, are you going to have any other models based on Easy soldiers in your army?

@ Shutdowncb: Thanks man, glad you like the progress! Don't be discouraged tho. I say go for it. As much work as this has been it has also been an amazing amount of fun and experience. 6 months ago I would never have thought I would be sculpting, molding and casting a whole army. It's amazing what a little google research can get you.

As far as other characters, yes I do want to include a few here and there. I think if I ever include a commissar, he would have to be Lt. Spears (for his infamous rumored shooting of a drunk soldier). Shifty is also another one I want to model. Perhaps as a sniper. However I just want to have him standing at ease with his classic M1 cradling stance. Doc Roe is another I want to do. Nixon might make an appearance as well.


On a minor update. Did some work on the company before work today. Did the first test cast of the missile launcher. It turned out perfectly as far as I can tell which is very exciting. Should be putting it on the fig tomorrow. Also been casting bits for squad 2. Almost totally done with legs. Working on arms, heads and accessories.

As radio you should be able to use the catchan vox caster.

Antman677 wrote:
...so i dont have to lick the tool itself...

but whatever works for you

BigBadWolf37 wrote:which due to their silicone tips (giggedy) require no lube for smoothing

metallifan wrote:Are we going to see some 'Willys'

metallifan wrote:Sexy. Very Sexy.

OH GOD! You guys are killing me!

How about some of these as chimeras ?
http://www.militaryissue.com/product_info.po?ID=8509&product=Kits&category=land&subcategory=Vehicles

Regarding the vfox issue, I just recalled that the old Cadian metal Vox was pretty WW2-ish. The vox itself was contained in a haversack rather similar to your casting efforts. I think the Vallhallan Comms guy on the GW "Guard collectors" page might beusing it as well. Can't seem to find a better pic though.

Hey guys, moving to a new place so have had to put the hobby on the side for a bit.

@ Techpriest_V and Flinty: I actually have one or two of the Catachan voxes laying around. I may have to look at those and see what I can come up with.

@ P4NC4K3: All good blogs have copious amounts of sexual references.

CURNOW: I actually found this guy's blog and fell in love with the transports he made. If I make any Chimeras, they will look like this for sure.

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122112&page=3

That is if I can pull it off!

All right brothers, and update:

The past few weeks I have been either moving or in post-move recovery. I was moving not only all my stuff, but also the GF's since she is out of the country for the summer. Needless to say, lots and lots of organizing and lifting. However, one nice side effect (other than not living in a closet anymore) is that I found my long lost digital camera. And by long lost, I mean I haven't seen it since my post-high school europe trip... 5 years ago! After a few smacks to get the display working, the thing seems to have hibernated quite well. It isn't a great camera, but it means I can take pictures without having to go borrow one from the school library.

I finally got some work done on the army and it is really exciting to see stuff start to come together! Without further delay, here is Easy Co. as it stands now:





I apologize for the awful lighting, but hopefully you can get the idea. I have finished the skin and bones for the first squad. At least every model has a base. The first squad is in painting stage. The rest is simply a process of casting, cleaning (soap+water+toothbrush) and trimming flash. Had I known that I had to hand scrub every piece, down to the grenades, I may not have ever started this project. But it's not what we do that defines us, but how we do it. And I figure since I got myself into this mess, I better do my damndest at it.

Still working on fabricating the radio and the machine gun. I have a fairly crude version of the .30 cal, but am now realizing that although I went through great effort to make sure it was "true scale", GW miniatures are not... this makes the .30 cal look like a pea shooter. So I have to beef it up a bit which means a few purchases need to be made. I think I am going to do the barrel out of brass tubing that they sell at the student store here for the architecture majors. I hope it will be easier to drill the cooling tube holes in without bending it. The plastic tube I have been using was too small/frail to be drilled easily. Does anyone know if standard pin-vise drill bits will handle brass tubing?

I also had an idea for the radio. Since my problem has been making those recessed grooves, seen here:



My idea is to take an extremely thin piece of plasticard such as some .016" clear sheet I have, then print and trace the grooves onto it. Then carefully cut it out with an exacto. This just came to me so I'll try it soon and let you know how it goes. Hopefully I will be able to get the clean groove look I am going for. Then I can add the clasps and stuff after with GS which shouldn't be nearly as hard.

Until next time, enjoy and as always, criticism and ideas welcome!

Really nice work Maj. Winters..don't you just hate it when your carefullt crafted casts don't quite work out and you have to GS the holes and bubbles out of them, bane of my life I tell you

Looking great! If you want to make grooves, use thick cardboard ( the one with a shiny side, you'll find it in shirts when the'yre still packed). You can easily make an indenation on the shiny side, creating grooves.

Awesome work!

How will you do your vehicles? Would be awesome if you got some WW2 variants too!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman_variants

way to small but my favorite WW2 tank, the donald duck:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DD_tank


Anyway, seriously great!

@BLACKHAND: You name my deepest tormentor. After all my test molds and practice, I have gotten fairly good at setting up my molds so there are minimal bubble prone areas. And if I do have an area that is bubble prone (most recently the toes on the leg casts) I have a few tricks I use to clear those up. But yes, nothing drives me crazy more than seeing a huge chunk of my soldiers head missing.

@CommissarKhaine: Oh I will def have to give that a try if my plasticard idea falls through. I want to try to stick with plastic just for future casting purposes but I think you might be on to something. I'll let you know. I plan on trying it sometime today.

@manoknok: Thanks! As for vehicles, I probably won't have that many. Since it is an airborne army, it is going to be almost 100% infantry based. However as I get into the higher point range, I may start adding armored division attachments. In that case I have quite a few ideas. I don't really want to use a different kit. Plus the new IG vehicles are sexy. My whole premise for this army has been to make a WWII looking 40k army, not a 40k scale Flames of War army, if that makes sense. I have some pretty sweet ideas for when I do start rolling out the armor tho. I have a whole folder of saved ideas. I think it would also be fun to throw in a few of Hobart's Funnies: bridge layer, mine flail or crocodile.

So no work today which hopefully means a good bit of 40k progress. I just did 4 injections (however I am beginning to think I should re-do my head mold as it has given me trouble the past 3 times). The weather is a bit overcast today so I don't know if I am going to prime at all. May just work on painting that first squad. I will keep you gents updated as I go!


+++Minor Edit/Update+++

Did some shopping yesterday for plastic rod and supplies. I am about 50% done with the new .30 cal which is looking amazing! After hand drilling 48+ holes into the barrel I hope it does! Also decided to go with the stripped down vox caster. The details are just too small for me do use any of the strategies. It isn't the cutting or drilling that is hard, it's drawing a template small enough to satisfy me.


+++Goal+++

Setting a goal to have the entire first platoon built by the end of tomorrow. Ambitious I know but I finished the mold for the vox caster so I now have all the molds I need. Just a matter of dedicating the day to lots of casting, clipping, cleaning and gluing. I'll try to do updates as I go. Wish me luck!

All right, I begin fulfilling my pledge from last night: finish assembling the first platoon of Easy company. As it stands here is what needs to be done:

Casting:
5 more torsos
7 more heads
8 sets of arms
8 equipment sets
3 vox casters

All pieces need to be cleaned in soap and warm water, have flash trimmed and holes filled with GS. Voxes need to be magnetized in case I decide not to use them in any games. I need to magnetize the 2nd Missile Launcher loader to the base.

All in all I think it is a manageable task. In between castings I also have the .30 cal to work on which shouldn't be too much more work. I have just the final details to add before making the mold.

+++ Update +++

Finished torsos, arms, equipment and vox casters. Just need to cast heads. Almost all are at least cleaned and just need to be clipped, have mould lines removed and be attached. Also found out that the plastic I am using isn't actually plastic, because plastic model glue isn't working on it at all! Kinda frustrating!

Should have the platoon done by Thursday for our FLGS's paint night!

Hey guys, thought I would post a status update at least so I can hold myself accountable to get this work done.

I am very close to having all the platoon assembled and based - ready for priming. Just have a few grenades, spades and packs to glue on. However my GF is back and school has started so my time has been capitalized. Also, I was previously working on the living room table. With my GF moved in and our other roommate here I can't really spread out there. My desk is dedicated to school. This leaves me without a solid workspace at the moment. However I do have a plan. In my room I have a King sized bed I got for free that is, to be honest, a huge waste of space. So I have it up on a few sites to sell. With some of the proceeds I plan on grabbing http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70176519 and http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40178591. Not a bad trade off. This way I will have a dedicated 40k workstation 24/7. Considering I won't have to move my portable workstation, set up, work, clean up and move out every time I want to do some work, I hope it will lead to some more spontaneous working. When logistics of modeling takes 15+minutes, it is much easier to just jump on COD MW2 and play a few games.

Anyway no real substance yet. I want to make sure this project doesn't die like all my other ones have. Also been really interested in the terrain articles GW has been doing on their site (welcome relief to all that fantasy). Hope to do a hedgerow/Carentan table in some way or another at some point.

Anyway any encouragement or ideas are always appreciated.

PS: anyone have experience getting a friend into the hobby? I have a friend I got into the Horus Heresy books and he wants to know more. I would love a gaming partner that is nearby and already a friend.

Hey beck...glad you moved out of that closet

if you want a friend to get into the hobby show him some really nicely painted minis in person and play a demo game with him - make sure its a small game, you know the rules really well, and make sure you let him win (;