Looking smashing! Owls all the way!

Nice work sirrah! Kantor is looking really good in green and white.

You know I saw a case of Fosters dumped in a back alley once. Know idea where someone would have gotten it to dump in the first place......

Stern guard look good. Pedro looks suitably high tech for the Mentors. Looking forward to you efforts of making the chaplain gain weight.

Thanks for the comments guys. Been tying off a few loose ends with the project.

Finished the SternGuard. Though I was dubious about the reasoning for the new size bases, they do make a huge difference to the overall finish:

















Started two new squads. Bought the new Tac squad yesterday, and they've been divided between a Devastator Squad and the Breacher 'Hard knock' team (The Devastator Sergeant now has an auspex instead of a chainsword. It's holstered on his belt now)







I haven't glued the shield arms on yet, as I want to spray them up and apply hazard striping.

Went to the local car-boot sale today and scored myself a cheap LR Redeemer. It was in fairly ok condition, sadly missing the mounts for the redeemer cannons. However, it did come apart very easily:



The Space Wolf guy at the back was given to me yesterday by one of my longest and best friends. I wanted to do something with him for the Mentors. So he's going to be my Company Champion. As a Mentor who's been seconded to the Space Wolves for a period of time, and come back with all the combat data he's assimilated, complete with furs, etched armour and beer-belly. His combat shield is an old conversion that one of my friends did way back, using an old WHFB Empire cannon wheel. I like the look and it'll be a great dedication to both of my friends:





So that's pretty much it for now. Going to finish my buggy this week, and the Terminator Squad, the 6x6 Suppressor and the few members of the Company HQ. I still have no Captain yet, but I'm in no rush. I'm thinking of having him with a Jump-Pack, just because. Then I can have some of the nice VanGuard Veterans with him.

Nice work going on mate! Really nice... got to admit.. every time I see them, those boarding marines are VERY cool! Especially like that pic you got of them in wedge formation.

The Sternguard look great, excellent colour scheme you have going on as well. I stick everything Marine on 32mm bases now, even Scouts.

And nice score on the Land raider, some of my best hobby memories are of coming home from boot sales laden with cheap and badly painted hobby swag.

@ Magos - Thanks mate. The boarding marines look fantastic. I bought the upgrade kit from FW as I wanted to use current SMs rather than any of the HH stuff. I'm really looking forward to getting some paint on these guys.

@ Thraxas - Thanks mate. I was a bit miffed that GW changed the base size, but, it does make them look so much better. I'll be doing the same, basing everything on 32mm. I enjoyed hunting about the stalls. It was only a small car boot, but I'm dead chuffed with the LR. Being badly painted too means it's already got a nice texture on it for weathering.

Your marines are coming out great!

I am liking what's going on here.

Looking good. I think I have Redeemer mounts

@ Warboss_Waaazag - Many thanks for commenting. They've certainly been fun to paint, and a nice smooth return to the hobby as a whole.

@ tipios - Thanks very much mate. It's a boost having comments like yours.

@ Graven - Thanks buddy. If you have the redeemer mounts, that would be a real help. I had been thinking about fabricating my own, or just mounting them to some old LRBT HB sponson cylinders, and building enclosed sponsons. But the originals would fit better for my plans for the tank.

Not much else to report this morning. Cut up the RT Chaplin, ready for his growth spurt. Thanks to Graven's Mentor remnants , I've put together a SM scout squad, found a Sergeant Telion conversion which I really like, so he'll stay as is, a company command squad, and a Librarian in regular Power Armour, Pictures to follow later. I've also base coated the 6x6 Suppressor, and the shields for the Breacher team.

Man I love the paint scheme you've used on your buggy!

The Sternguard are looking awesome too. Really nice scheme


D

Many thanks evildrcheese, I wasn't too sure of the scheme at first for the buggy, but it's grown on me. I'm thinking of a similar style for the 6x6, as I want it to look practical, rather than an ornate church relic as most SM vehicles are.

So plenty has been done over the past couple of days. I've watched season 6 of 'House'. 'Aliens' has been on at least 3 times too. And of course, a fair bit of p+m'ing too!

Been working on 'growing' up my Chaplin. First step was to cut him up into little pieces:



I felt really bad doing that, but it'll be worth it. He's had slightly flattened balls of GS placed between his waist, thighs and knees so far, then I can start filling in the gaps and sculpting new detail. To bulk his shoulder pads out, I've gone for some homemade pre-heresy shoulder guards:



Two thin strips of card, glued together and held in a clothes peg. I didn't have any PVA, so I used this:



In my house, we glue like men.
Joking aside, this stuff holds my house together! Shower curtain rail, shower head, kitchen kick planks, shelves, screw plugs, the list goes on. A little dab of this, and the Chaplin's shoulder guards will survive a 50 mega-tonne blast!

Having started a company command squad (consisting of a Champion from the SWs, a SW Plasma gunner, the 25th Anniversary SM and one of inmygravenimage's Mentor's) I wanted an Apothacary. I didn't want to spend any money, as I've already amassed a few arms and weapons from the Tac and SternGuard squads. So I made one with a twist:



Using an old DC BA, I added a a few bits and well, here you go. Here he is with the GS added:



He certainly fits the requirement.

And the 'pending' in-tray of troops to paint:



A nice amount of stuff to keep me entertained. Started the Librarian today, and the Dreadnought. Once they're done, I'll move onto a squad at a time. I've found a nice process of construct, prime and paint various items. Whilst I wait for glue to dry on one, I'll go prime some troops. Whilst I'm waiting for them to dry, I'll paint some troops. and whilst that's drying, I'll build some more. Ad infinitum.

The 6x6 has come on leaps and bounds now that its been primed



I'm looking forward to painting this. I'm thinking hazard stripes on the rear, to tie in with the hazard stripes on the shields of the Breacher team. And a camo scheme similar to the buggy.

I was thinking that I needed a Captain. Then looking at the FW Centurion, I had to have him lead this little band. So he's been the main focus today:









The pictures have washed out a bit of the highlighting, so I'll take some pictures in the natural light tomorrow. But he's looking great, and has earnt himself the mantel of command. The green is a base layer of Caliban green, washed with Athonian Camoshade, then layered with Vallejo Dark green, then highlighted with Vallejo Escorpena green. The brass sets him off nicely I think. Just need to finish his base tomorrow.

That's all for now you lucky lot.

Crikey Bash - you're getting a ton of really top stuff done. I need some of whatever youre eating - can't get buggery anything done these days!!!
great great work though

That metal guy is really cool. Show me those ebay searches you little....

Januine - I couldn't say as to how or why I'm getting plenty done. In terms of completion, I've only finished the SternGuard and the LandQuad. But I've got a production line set up, so that I don't have heaps of grey plastic overwhelming me. Though I do have a top tip. Lace your tea with rum. Painting and modelling is much more fun whilst getting stealth-drunk.

LeCacty - Thanks mate. And no, you can't look. The Internet is a bad place, and I'm going to pray it away.

THE POWER OF MALAL COMPELS YOU
Wait... You saw nothing.

Looking good. I like the apothecary. I need to siphon some of your painting mojo. I am suffering a distinct lack of gettin any paint on models.

The captain/centurion looks excellent.

@ LeCacty - Can't be any worse than when I sent money to that TV preacher. Never did get that all inclusive cruise with God.

@ Archer - After a 3 year break, it's the joy of doing something constructive. That, and rum. Alcohol is the answer, but I can't remember the question!

Looking brutal!

Thanks Graven as always mate!

Been a bit of a slow day on the p+m front. After work, I went to give blood at the local community centre:



It's well worth doing, as there's always a requirement. Besides, with free tea and biscuits, why wouldn't you?

Found this little gem on the GW website:



I've been free-handing the Mentor Raptor insignia so far, and they've turned out ok. But I'm a stickler for uniformity, so the transfers will come in real handy, especially on the vehicles. I bought two sheets for now, and a set of 5 jump packs (they're only a fiver, and cheaper than ebay)

Finished weathering the Dreadnought. Excuse the base, as it was still wet when I took the photo. I wanted him to look like he'd been right in the thick of the fighting and loved every minute of it!







Also finished the base on the Captain:





And just to top it all off, a group shot of the army so far:



Not a bad effort. Definitely the best I've produced since 1995.

Next up tomorrow:
Finish the base on the Dreadnought
Start the wash and weathering on the buggy
Paint buggy crew
Finish base coating the Terminator Librarian

That's it for now. I'm off to watch Ren and Stimpy with a mug of tea and a dog that won't leave me alone.

Nice looking models Bash, but wouldn't the Mentors take better care of their venerated heroes than that?

Very nice, and yes for the transfers. Epic beard!

Gitsplitta - You're not wrong mate. I've kind of gone for a '96 hour fire-fight' look for him. He's gone off looking for trouble, considering he's died once already. I like to think of him as the naughty kid who won't take a bath.

LeCacty - I was dead chuffed finding those, as I rarely buy direct from GW, unless it's webstore exclusive, or FW. But just finding them made my day. As for the beard, having shaved for the best part of 10 years due to military service, I'll never take a razor to my face again. Not even if there was a fire. It's at 'Sea-Captain' level. I did get to "Mountain man' at one point, but it needed taking down a bit. I'll try for 'ZZ top' at some point. Maybe for my 40th birthday.

"Dead chuffed" is one of the most british things I've ever heard!

Feel free to use that one LeCacty, you'll impress all your friends, or confuse them.

Bash, that Dread is awesome!!! great weathering and great look. Actually looks like he has been fighting nonstop since Istvaan!!! Good on ya giving blood. Wish I could but foreigners are banned from doing so over here

Models look fantastic. Really dig the captain. The fist just looks brutal.

Once upon a time I was a whole blood donor. But due to the type of blood I have they prefer me to give an apheresis donation instead. Can do it much more frequently, but it does make me look like a bit of a junky what with needle marks in both arms.....

Januine - Thanks mate. He looks knackered, but still handing out those back-handed chops. I'm made up with him. Surpasses any Dreadnought I've had my grubby mitts on in terms of a finished product. And I can understand the frustration at not being able to give blood. I had to be screened for malaria today before donating, as I have been overseas for more than 6 months at a time. But there'll always be a need for it, and it's one of the few things that I know that will actually benefit someone.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Archer - Thanks mate for the kind comment.
I knew a bloke once who was AB neg. He had to give blood to the field hospital so that they had it for him in case he got injured! But having a rare blood type has it's advantages in terms of donation. I'm a commoner with O pos, so I just get to give whole blood. Bloody cannula looked like a scaffold pole! Next donation in 4 months. Wouldn't want to do it any more often. Your arms must have been terrible after being punctured so many times!

I'm AB neg. When I was younger I gave blood all the time... mainly because they were constantly calling me, asking me to come in. I never figured that out. AB negs are universal acceptors... we can take blood from anyone but can only donate to other AB negs (who can take blood from anyone... ). Never made much sense to me.

It's a funny old world, blood. I've learnt quite a bit in my time as a Medic, but there's always something new and confusing. I'll never quite understand Rhesus positive and negative, which type can go with what. No matter how many times I read up on it, study or talk with a learned doctor.

Looking good bro. I'm A-, do platelet donation (universal donor for that) - they prefer men cos that's monthly. Bit shocked you're going for raptor-mentors not classic-owl

Funny stuff blood indeed - I've spent the last week or so rsearching blood splatter for the genestealers I'm painting. My interenet search history has got to be worrying any nosey agencies peering into my computer lol

Awesome work there mate..... that Dread really does look like he has been knocking "7 bells" out of an unfortunate enemy! The centurian / captain looks mean also! Really good stuff! Not familiar with the Mentors.... but will definetly look them up.... that's a cool chapter symbol!

Thanks very much guys for the positive input.
@ Graven - I loved the Owl shoulder pads you sculpted, but I couldn't bring myself to use them, as I wouldn't feel as if they were my own. I personally prefer transfers and 2D insignia, something I found frustrating with my Death Guard, as GW and FW loved sticking skulls and crap to CSM kits.

Not much done today, as I've been having a movie day. All the Die-Hard films, Black Sea (I'm a massive fan of submarine movies, Das Boot being my favourite eevaahhh), and ended with Deep Blue Sea (which was so bad, it was great!)

Been working on the pre-heresy shoulder pads for the Chaplin. Other than that, that's it.

Looking interesting. Keen to see how you go matching him to the current Terminator scale.

This is amazing.

You made that FW Centurion special. I almost regret not purchasing him now.

Archer - Thanks mate. I've nearly finished pinning and drilling him. Then I'll take photos later of his height and breadth compared to a newer Terminator.

Stormwall - Many thanks for taking the time to comment. I'm glad I did get him, he's a great figure, though the head that was supplied was a little lacklustre for my liking. A simple head swap solved that.

Just a quick shot showing the height added to the RT Terminator Chaplin compared to a new Terminator. I added most of his height increase in the torso, as it seemed so squat and cramped. I'll sculpt a new front for him, as well as bulking out the back and legs. His head will look a little small, but it's such a great looking helmet, I'm loathe to tamper with it.

Excellent work. Never been brave enough to try something like that myself.

I've never tried anything like this before either Gitsplitta, but I'll never know unless I try!

Finished the Buggy. seeing that it's a forward recon 4x4, I wanted it to be filthy. I mean really dirty. But not so much as not to be able to see anything!













I'm really pleased with how it's come out. The weathering powder got everywhere! But it was great fun. I had to remove the cross-bars at the top of the roll-cage, as I couldn't fit the driver in. I left the Mentor insignia off, as I'm waiting for the tranfers to come in from GW, then a little bit of weathering over the top will help fit them right in.

Really has a great feel to it.

Man. You are prolific!

That forge world centurion dude looks awesome! Nice subtle conversion with the chain fist.

D

That's fab. Crusty and excellent!

You should keep the insignia clean and an area around it showing the crew clean the logo off every time they get onboard for luck.

Thanks for the kind comments guys.

So I haven't been totally idle the last week or so. Other than work, I've been hammering out the classic 1999 'Age of Wonders' whilst having the 'Skyrim' OST playing in the background. But I haven't neglected my Mentor army. I finished my Devastator squad:







The GW transfers are a great addition, and make all the difference, rather than having to freehand a non-symmetrical insignia.

I also finished the LR Redeemer. Thanks to inmygravenimage for providing the weapon mounts for the cannons. It's a well-loved and dirty, dirty tank!:











After I took these photos, I've added a Storm Bolter with a scratch-built mount. I'll upload photos of that when it's done.

And a full current army photo:



So not a bad little lot finished in around 5 weeks. I'm in the process of finishing my Breacher Squad (I'll be increasing the number to ten) and their transport.

Bash

Fella that Land Raider looks the absolut business. Bloody fething brilliant!!!

I'm all about the muck. Love it, and glad I could help!

Lovely, lovely Mentors.

Nice little force you have going there. The antennae, weathering and decal work really help add to the realistic feel.

What is up next Bash?

Thanks guys. I'm enjoying making these guys look like they've had to work to garner the knowledge of combat doctrine. No clean Marines in my task force!

As for what's next to answer your question Thraxas, I was up until 3:30 this morning putting the final film of grime on my Breacher squad. Once I've painted the bases, they'll be up on here later today.

So as promised, here is my Breacher Squad:



Sorry about the slight blurriness of this picture. I didn't notice until I uploaded it, and I'd packed away the spotlight and lightbox.


And being inspired by the fun I had with the Breacher Squad, I was thinking about Phalanx formations. I had a dig about and found some brass rod that I had from eons ago. Having a play about, I've come up with this:



I'm thinking about having 5 kneeling as a front rank, and 5 standing behind, one of them being a Sergeant. I got a real steal on ebay and scored 5 knackered SMs kneeling, no doubt being at the whim and mercy of some adolescent horror.
So the Chaplin will have a bit of work done on him tomorrow. I've changed the Librarian's head too, as I have a bit of a plan for him. The Terminator squad will have to wait, as I'm going to tinker around with them. The 6x6 Suppressor has had 2 coats of Caliban green on it, ready to drive around my breacher squad.

That's about it at the moment.

That breaher squad look great in formation - great work again Bash

Thanks Januine. They do look great in wedge formation, breaking their way through whatever happens to be in front of them. The hazard striping went rather well, unlike the attempts on the shoulder pads, hence why they're all yellow. I did add some DA Devastators transfers on, as they looked fitting being a basic explosion shape, but after the weathering, they've kind of gotten misshapen. But in a good way.

Love the breachers, they look fantastic all squadded up!

Thanks Gitsplitta. I'm really happy with their turnout, and they fit in nicely with the army as a whole.

So how do you do your dirt Bash? It looks great.

Thanks mate. I use an variation of sponge and damaged dry-brushes to apply the weathering, and a 'less is more' layering method.That way, you don't carpet-bomb the model in one go, losing detail. I'll do a little 'how to' later on this week.

Breachers look excellent, and I like the idea of ranked groups very much!

You need to get the scouts to clean the land raider, it's filthy! Seriously though it looks great, the shot of them all together looks awesome too.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the kneeling spear dudes.

D

@ Graven - Thanks very much mate. I'm a big fan of massed ranks too. Not that it helps in 40k, but it looks pretty.

@ evildrcheese - The scouts in this army make the brews and get the bacon sarnies in. If, and only if, the tea is of an acceptable hue and taste, then they may rise to the dizzy heights of vehicle wash-down. But thanks dude, I'm still working on the spears, as I may have to GS the hands on, as I want the spear to sit flush with the forearm.

Thought I'd take some better pictures of the Breacher team:









I'll be working on the Terminator Chaplin today, but don't expect earth shattering progress. I get distracted easily!

You need a tea urn in your vehicles like a proper British tank!

The Breachers are looking great, seem like a nifty bit of kit as well.

I am not very well versed on Forge World stuff so is the kit as is or a conversion?

Graven, you're not wrong. What Brit goes to war without the ability to brew-up in the lull of battle!

Thraxas - it's an upgrade kit direct from FW. No conversion work is needed. All you need are the legs, torsos, right arms and Bolters.

inmygravenimage has been awesome in our too-ing and fro-ing of various trades over the years, and after receiving a massive amount of goodies from him this week, I've got enough to last me a good while. Thanks very much mate!

I've finally finished the 6x6 Suppressor:











Here it is posed with it's squad of Breacher Marines:





I've always been a fan of the old-school 2nd ed 40k, so what better way than to make and paint your own banner on office paper!:



And it cut, shaped and attached to the Command squad Standard bearer:



And the rest of the Command Squad. Excuse bases and glossy paint. Some of the guys are in the final stages of completion.

Apothocary:





Company Champion. I love this guy. He was originally built by a friend of mine, and I wanted to use him. I like to think that he was seconded to one of the Great Companies, and in his quest to garner the knowledge of the SW's fighting style, he adopted some of their traditions. And a love for Fenrisian ale, hence the big belly plate!:





Veteran. This is the 25th Anniversary figure. I hated the generic plasma pistol, so I GS'd a replica of the original artwork. It's not brilliant, but it works for me:





Veteran:



And the Command Squad with the Company Captain:



Next on the list, a Chaplin with Jump pack, and an Assault squad to go with him, a Tactical squad and another Devastator squad. Fun, fun, fun!

That banner is awesome. Do you pre treat the paper or just let the paint have its way?

Graven is a top notch bloke, I've done many a trade with him, he truly is a great man.

Digging the 6x6 its a very grim dark tank by my standards

Smashing stuff mate. Love the classic rt vibe you're channelling

Thanks guys. To answer your question Archer, I just used the paper as it was. No special pre-treatment. The only down side is that it has perfectly sharp edges, but I like it. It was fun visiting my youth again,

It looks fantastic. If you wanted jagged edges your could try tearing it or go cut some sheet metal with some scissors so they are blunt as you can and hack the hell out of it.

The breachers and command squad look excellent.

I especially like the standard bearer and his standard. Is that something you just printed off and weathered?

D

Wonderfully cool stuff. Love it!

Thanks very much guys.
Archer - thanks for the tip mate. Though as its only cheap office paper, I wouldn't want to abuse it too much. Though if I make another banner, I'll definitely consider sheet metal.

evildrcheese - Nothing special. Just a pencil, ruler, paint and transfers. Made a bigger template than I'd need so that I had room for error when cutting it down.

Anyone else getting an "old school," vibe off these marines? (Nevermind, if I had a higher reading comp than a potato, I'd see you wrote about that when you made the banner! )

This is probably one of my favorite blogs to follow. Really love the yellow bolters, it is a nice accent color.

The the apothecary an oldhammer model? He looks like it!

Stormwall - many thanks for your kind comments. I'm glad you like the yellow. I was a little dubious at first about it, but It's much nicer than black. As for the old-school vibe, you'll find it a plenty with me. 2nd ed 40k was my first and favourite incarnation.

LeCacty - You're not wrong friend. He's original Death Company. I remember buying a set of these, as they looked amazing on the box. I then proceeded to paint them with red torsos, and blue limbs. Horrifying.

Haha! I know that feel! I found my old Macragge bugs a while ago... *shudder*

It's funny how you look back at the amazing figures you had as a kid. I remember buying a Necromunda Bounty Hunter, the one with the cowboy duster and hat. He looked amazing. I painted him with a purple coat, as I had a moment of insanity and wanted him in a Chaos army. I had around 6 or 7 armies of various SMs, consisting of about 10-12 figures each, as I'd get bored of the paint scheme, or it looked like crap. So many Christmas presents wasted! Oh well, that's just the life of a very young gamer.

I try very hard to not look into the past at all the great models that were misplaced, abused with poor paint and generally could have been better used now. But where would I be without the learning curve?

And it's that that time of year again. Halloween, Bonfire night, Remembrance weekend, and the run up to the festive season. My favorite time of year

And on these cold autumn nights, I've been hunched over my painting table like an ancient scribe, the flicker of a dodgy 60 watt bulb illuminating my work until the early hours. So there's plenty to show off.

First off, my 10 man Vanguard Veteran Squad, armed with power-lances and shields:



It's been a bit of a struggle getting this together. I'm having a drama as I've unwittingly bought some knock-off FW Boarding shields. I've emailed FW and attached photos next to the genuine ones I bought. But I've kind of got there in terms of basic fabrication. I'm using GK nemesis blades for the spear-points. I'm GSing the right hand, which I'll round to once I've had some more GS come in. The brass rods make fantastic shafts (stop giggling) and add real stability.

Next up, 2 out of 4 additional Dreadnaughts. I'll have 5 in total. 3 will be regular, 1 Venerable and 1 Ironclad:



This was all out of a lot I scored on ebay. It's a bit of a shame that the owner sold them off, as they weren't badly painted. And I've always enjoyed the Lamentors scheme. But now they'll be Mentors, so not so much of a bad ending.

I couldn't resist this guy:



Enough said.

And my Terminator squad. A bit of a rag-tag mob, but even in this sorry state, they've already made me smile, just because. Though I'm still not decided on a scheme for them yet, as the fluff and canon state that they're basically the same colour-scheme as the rest of the Chapter, but I want them to be slightly different. May go for all green, with white helmets and shoulder-pads.



Another Devastator squad:



And some armour. A Predator and a Razorback;





A Tactical Squad. Finished the base coat:



A little bit of conversion work on some oldhammer SMs. I've started with a simple head-swap on a SM Captain. Found an old head from Scibor minis, and it worked well:





As I'm not really building to any army list, it's fun just knocking out units here and there. My Terminator Chaplin is driving me up the wall, as I've only finished one leg. But he'll be finished eventually. Not this year.

And to top off the picture-spamming, I've finished the project for this last week and a half. My Assault Squad and Chaplin w/ Jump-pack:

















I wanted to do something different with my Chaplin, as I really didn't want to paint him all black. So I mixed it up a bit. Still obviously a Chaplin, but with a little bit of uniformity.

That's it for now kids.

Loving your work, great chaplain! Looking forward to the La-Mentors

Looking great as always Bash. Lovng the VV with the power-pikes. Cracking stuff. Have to get us a wee BloodBowl match at some time. My Skaven are finally begining to level up..... ish!

Nice take on the chaplain. The white and black looks really cool and he's still clearly a chappy.

EDC

I love the headswap and the lances.

Also, what do the shields look like? Can you post images?

@ Graven - I see what you did there!

@ Januine - I'd love to play Blood Bowl sometime. I'm sure we'll work around the time differences. I've got my Orc team, the 'Stompa-bay Freebooterz' up and ready to get pasted!

Thank you all for the great feedback and comments.

Stormwall - for your perusal, this is the dodgy gear I got off ebay. I'll be much more vigilant next time:

Genuine item is on the right as you look at it:


As you can see, the knock-off on the left is heavily warped.




As you can see, it's not good stuff. I could just heat them up under the hot tap and re-shape them, but that's beside the point. They're knock-off, and I don't do knock-off.

Wow, what a cavalcade of cool!

That banner is unreal. Love it, I do miss the old paper banners. They are looking really awesome.

Thanks Gitsplitta as always.

Space wolverine - many thanks for commenting. As nice as the plastic banners are, paper banners will always be timeless. It's all part of the fun.

All looking great!

Nice start on the Captain, and the banner rocks!

Ouch. I personally have no problem with recasting GW and FW just because they can take the hit but those are just insulting!

l'd never say I'm whiter than white. I'll take a cheaper copy over an official product most times, as long as it's almost true to the original. A few of my Transformers are copies, as the originals can cost insane amounts. But when I'm expecting an original, then there's no excuse for that pile of gak. Heard back from FW today. They've asked me to send it in. They'll either help secure a refund from PayPal, or send back the set if it proves to be original.

Well, if that fails tell Paypal it's a forgery. You will be refunded and they request the item is destroyed.

How you destroy it is your thing. (Chopping them into damaged thingies for bases is still technically destroying them lol.)

Yikes. Scary ebay experience. You'd think if they're going to the trouble of recasting to sell then they'd make a good job of it!

I assume it was listed as genuine and you were expecting FW items?

EDC

Yep. Listed as unpainted and unassessmbled. Nothing else. No mention of reproduction or third-party casting. No photos of the actual item, just stock FW website pictures. They've got a tonne of FW listed, including most Primarchs. But all far cheaper than the RRP. Should of seen this one coming a mile off.

I haven't been idle since my last update. Job change, selling off Transformers to feed my 40k bug and planning for the festive holidays to name a few. But I have finished a couple of projects for the Mentors:

First up, the Predator. I changed the front, as I don't like it looking like a Rhino with a turret and sponsons. I prefer the flat amoured look of the old Predators I did for my DG. I had to shorten the sponson arms as the previous owner had mullered them.







And the Tactical squad are finished:





So though it's not a massive amount in terms of quantity,it's been a good week or so in effort to polish off.

That Tactical squad is really good looking. I always loved the Mentors scheme and I love to see it done well. Excellent work

That Pred is excellent Bash. I may steal the idea of modifying the front.

Many thanks War Kitten. They've been great fun to put together, and I certainly feel that my enthusiasm has shone through with these guys.

And you're more than welcome to borrow the idea Gitsplitta. I just sanded down the front, and added a square of plasticard and a few home brewed rivets.

That predator looks awesome with the modified front. Really stands out in a I am a battle tank sort of way.

Cool stuff Bosh. I agree with Git on the predator front too. Those subtle alterations make such a huge difference.

Love the update!

First of all, I wish the people of France all the very best in these tough times. We're all in this together, and together we'll stand.

So I've had a mad building day today. Dug out loads of oldhammer guys, and got to work. Now, they look like they've been involved in some sort of bus accident, as they've all got GS neck braces on, but bear with me. Once they're painted, it should, SHOULD, come together:

These guys will be my second Vanguard Veteran Squad, and another Chaplin with Jump-pack. Just because. They've all earnt the right to be veterans, as they're all pre-2000:







Finished fabricating the Terminator Squad:



And finished the first set of 5 'Canaanite' Vanguard Veterans. Don't know why I chose that name, but I liked it. Bit of biblical history chucked in.



I changed the Librarian around, as I wanted him to have a different look without being bare-headed:



And just to finish off the update, I've started the base weathering of the two Dreadnaughts to make up 'The Old Gods' Dreadnaught Squad:

Love the vanguard vets... excellent name.

Busy boy indeed! Very cool stuff mate. Love the lancers.

Thanks very much guys.
The Vanguard Lancers name came about after perusing ancient phalanx armies. So they're now the Canaanites. I'm really looking forward to getting them primed and painted. I'm still working out a scheme for the shields.

I thought it would be nice to have some MKVIII ish armour, as per the Mentor fluff. Adds a different look. Besides, those oldhammer figures looked too good to be left alone.

Those Canaanites are looking promising. Nice work

So Bash, I've never really understood why you chose to do the Mentors. No offense intended to what you're doing with them because you're doing em amazingly but they don't seem to have much fluff going for em. Is it just the color scheme or what?

Love these Mentors.

To be honest LeCacty, it's just an easy way to get back into modelling and painting. I've never had a proper loyalist Space Marine army. Besides, I've never been a fluff-nazi, so I just pick and choose what I like, or make something up as I go along.

And thank you Stormwall. Glad you like them.

Sorry for the barebone comment, my PC blew up yesterday. I now have a little chromebook from my family to do me in the meantime.

I don't suppose you'd mind sharing your yellow recipe that you put on all your weapons? I have some mostly teal and green marines who could use a great spot color to paint their bolters.

If you don't mind of course?

Oh, cool, was just curious!

@ Stormwall - no bother at all mate! Just a couple of thin layers of Iyanden Darksun, Gryphonne sepia wash, then a quick highlight with Vallejo Sun yellow. That's it. Nothing glamorous.

@ LeCacty - no worries mate, anytime!

Nice update Bosh. That Pred is nice.

I'm loving that Librarian conversion, the mace looks amazing, is the horse icon from a Fantasy kit?

EDC

Really curious where you are going with the collar/gorget addition to the marines. Customised Mark 8 armour by chance?

EDC - thanks matey. The horse icon is from the Scion kit. It's just a banner topper that seemed to fit.

Archer - I was thinking that it would be nice to have some MK VIII ish armour types in there, as I liked the idea in the fluff. I'm hoping they'll work out once the basecoat is on.

Just a small update this evening. Finally got a refund from PayPal over the fake FW shield set. Bought a new one from FW, so now I can start to finish the Canaanite Squad. Here they are in various stages of completion:





I'm chuffed with how they're turning out. They certainly look ready to slug it out like the warriors of old.

Made a trade in the Dakka Swap shop. Got my grubby mitts on the new BaC Tac Squad. I want to use them for the Mentors, but not as regular Mentors. So they'll be Star Scorpions. They were only presumed to be lost in the warp, and as the Mentors are all secretive and clandestine, it fits that they may be hiding brothers as they are the founding scions and are relics in themselves:



I've got a used sheet of Red Scorpion transfers somewhere in here, so I'll be using them rather than the raised shoulder pads from FW.

And I've finished 'The Old Gods' Dreadnaught squad. They just needed the bases finished:



Thats all for now kids.

Those dreads are looking good, as is the Canaanite squad.

Thanks War Kitten. I enjoy having knackered up Dreadnaughts. They've certainly earned their pay war-fighting.As for the Canaanites, I'm really looking forward to weathering them up. They're going to look mean and dirty.

Love the way the spearmen are turning out!

The BaC squad and the Caanites are sweet!

Can you buy those shields simply by themselves from FW? I wonder if they are expensive... I want to make a roman themed Phalanx sometime.

Those Dreadnoughts look fantastic. Also excited to see how those Calth Marines look in Star Scorpion livery...

Thanks guys. It's great getting positive feedback.

To answer your question Stormwall, I don't think FW sell the shields separately, but with the amount of bits you get with the set, there's plenty to utilise elsewhere, without worrying about wasting money just to get the shields.

Nice dreads. The shield and spear dudes are gonna be great, can't wait to see them painted.

EDC

Lovin' the work Bash, I bet those spearmarines will be a nightmare to rank up in close combat though

Really like the Canaanites. Such a great looking unit. Did you ever see a guys "Sons of Sparta" golden daemon entry many moons ago?

@ EDC - me too buddy. I've always preferred painting over building, so it'll be great to get some paint on these guys.

@ Knightley - they're already a pain in the arse just trying to get them to rank up as a squad, so in CC, it'll be interesting.

@ Archer - no I haven't mate, but thanks for the pointer. I'll have a look on google.

Awesome work! Those phalanx guys are really cool. Are you worried about the spears breaking?

Thanks LeCacty. The spears are pinned, so they should survive the rigours of transportation and CC



Had an evening of Dreadnaught delight. Which sounds really wrong. But nevermind. Started the Venerable Dreadnaught:



And here's where I got to:



Need to finish the GS, and add some rivets

Got the other half of my trade today. A Contempter Dreadnaught from BaC. He'll go with the Star Scorpion project:



Finished the lances for the Canaanite Squad. Looks like they needed them to fend off that spoon. I haven't eaten a plastic toy for some time, so there's no need to worry fellas. For now...



Finished 'The Old Gods' Squad. Well happy with these. The dirty buggers:



I'll wait for a few more weeks before taking an army shot. There's so much I want to get finished before getting them all together.

Man, that "Old gods" squad looks great all finished up. Love the hazard stripes on the power fists and the up-armoured sarcophogas plates. Definitely look ready to wreck-face.

Thanks brushcommando. They're certainly my new favourite squad for my Mentors. I've always loved Dreadnaughts, ever since I first saw the 2nd Ed metal versions. They'll be causing havoc, or, knowing my luck, they'll be toast by turn 2.

Dammit I need to get BaC... But I also have to wait for the new, inevitable epic boxed set... Decisions decisions...

The Epic boxset will be well worth the wait. I may have to get both the Epic and BFG sets, as my Mentors will want to expand beyond 28mm 40k!

Loving those dreads man...

Thanks Gitsplitta.

I'm well into day two of the great 'Dreadnaught drive'!

As seen yesterday, I started the Venerable Dreadnaught. Working concurrently with that project, is the Ironclad Dreadnaught. I'll start with the Chainfist:





A relatively simple amalgamation of sprue, guitar wire, SM Chainswords, and a plastic Dreadnaught Right arm. It's growing on me. It'll look better once it's painted. I also wanted a meaty Hurricane Bolter for him, as I felt that being an Ironclad, this guy means business:





Still needs a bit of work to even it out, as it looks slightly lop-sided mounted on the Dreadnaught. But it's coming along. Once the GS has set, I'll filll the gaps, and add some wires and gubbins, including a brass rod to the mounting point. Here it all dry-fitted for now:



A mate of mine at work found me browsing Dakka on me iPad, and it transpired that we've been working together for 6 weeks, and he's as much as a geek as I am! He rushed home and grabbed me some classic Sternguard Vets which he had from way back. They'll need stripping, but they're complete. I'm dead chuffed with these guys. I did have them once upon a time, and it's great to have them again. They'll fit right in with my elite heavy Mentors:



Finished the GS on the Venerable Dreadnaught and had a re-jig with the Spotlight. Just need to do the rivets, but I'll do that with the Ironclad:



So that is pretty much it for now. I'll have an update tomorrow.

I just love me some dreadnoughts!

You know it Graven! I've always wanted lots of them, and as it stands, I have 6 so far for this project. I would like to have a squad of each varient, so that is something that will very much be on the cards.

That first dread is just FIERCE!

The Dreads are fantastic. I have 4 of them for my Iron Hands and am getting jealous you have 6......

I think there is nothing that says Marines to me more than lots of Dreads, a classic design and these all look great.

How did you find the plastic Contemptor to work with? Any issues?

Those Sternguard sculpts are modern(ish) classics as well, look forward to seeing some paint on them.

Thanks guys. I'll be adding more Dreadnaughts over the next few months. Thanks to my son, I have another big project in the planning phase to add to the Mentors, however, I'm keeping tight-lipped until after I've finished the remaining units.

To answer your question Thraxas, the plastic Contemptor is fantastic. It's easily converted and re-posed. It's brilliant. I can see this being use heavily for conversions, as it's far more cost effective and less worrying than converting a FW variant.

Not much of an update, just a quick picture to show how the Mk8 armour looks once it's been base coated. It's much better now, and doesn't look like they're wearing GS neck collars. I'm much happier with them now.

What? You didn't want them to look like this??!

Haha! That's exactly the look I was aiming for!

The squad looks like they're coming along nicely. I love it!

Loving the dreads. The 'old gods' and the new. (see what I did there?).

Are those Sternguard metal or finecaat, I got them in finecast and was pleasantly surprised despite all the horror stories I'd heard.

EDC

Thanks guys!

To answer your question EDC, the SternGuard are metal. I've only one Finecast figure in my project, which is Pedro Kantor. I don't mind Finecast, but it's scarily soft, but it's far superior in detail to metal.

That Mk VIII armor does really good once its been coated. I especially like the guy just to the right of the one with the axe. Has a sort of retro feel to the pose.

Thanks brushcommando. They do look a lot more coherent now they're base coated. And as they're all oldhammer figures, they have some great poses. Much like your great retro P+M blog!

Sooooo, so much for keeping my mouth shut!!!

My eldest son is obsessed with dinosaurs. And after trawling through youtube, we found the entire season of these:



My boy was awe-struck, and that gave me an idea. Using a 1/40 scale T-rex that we found at our local toystore, I had a full weekend putting this guy together:











This fella is massive! And suits a SM rider perfectly. The GS is a little rough, but once it's dry, I'll file and smooth it down. I'm waiting on some TL Las-cannons to mount on the leg panels, and this guy will be ready for priming. These guys will be joining the Star Scorpion contingent, as what better way to get lost in the warp, than to land on a world full of giant lizards to ride on and smite whatever hapless foe happens to get in the way!

Well eldar would approve, star scorpions are practically exodite marines anyway

That is just awesome.

I was so tempted to post the main dino riders theme here, lol.

Thanks guys. I've thoroughly enjoyed a change of pace. There's nothing cooler than space men on laser gun dinosaurs!

Very interesting stuff Bash. Dinosaur huh? I like it!

Thanks Gitsplitta! My son was doing backflips when he found out I was adding dinosaurs to my army! He reeled off so many, I had to look them up to know what they were. That boy scares me with his knowledge. I've ordered 3 Velociraptors to make a small counts as bike squad. They'll be having power-lances similar to the Canaanite squad.

That's absolutely cracking Bash. Armour plates look great

Cheers buddy. They're just GW cardboard cut into squares, folded in half, and I just cut out some armour like shapes, then folded them out. Much easier than trying to do the same with plasticard. My skills just don't stretch that far. GS them on, and fill the gaps.

I'm not gonna lie --That's pretty awesome! I didn't see what the T. Rex counts as... Land raider?

I had the same thought. Having it count as a LR. I'm sure it could happily eat 10 Terminators. It would just have to wait 6-8 hours before deploying them through the rear hatch!

Ah I love dinosaurs. I was that kid back in the day that new them all. You need to have a pachycephalosaurus.

You totally need an Allosaurus as well.

Me too Archer! Though my dinosaur knowledge has somewhat dimmed, my enthusiasm hasn't. It doesn't help having a 7yr old that's a dinosaur nut! As for additional dinosaurs, I've been instructed that I have to add a squad of Velociraptors (which I've already ordered 3, but he doesn't know yet!), a Diplodocus, and Triceretops. So that's on the Star Scorpion list of to do's.
I'll certainly suggest an Allosaurus Stormwall, and no doubt that will be gladly added to the list!

I've finished the first five members of the 'Canaanite' Vanguard Squad:









They've come up nicely. Well happy with them. I'm working on the last five members, so another week or so, and they'll be done.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've just noticed my blog has passed 20'000 views! Thanks guys!

They look so cool! Nicely done Bash

Thanks War Kitten. I'm particularly pleased with the weathering, especially on the shields.

Loving those guys - really great result. 40K Mentor(al) hoplites. sweet!

Those Canaanites look AMAZING. Definitely my favorite unit of yours so far. Also, on an unrelated note, I'm a little sad you changed your avatar pic as I will now have to stop reading all your posts with that Sergeant's voice... lol.
"But why us?"
"Because there's no one else here lad. Just us."

They look great and you get so many views because your stuff is so awesome.

Soon he will rival the P and M blog of Gitsplitta. Maybe someday

Wow!

They look amazing, best unit so far.

Shield and spear dudes look awesome.

The Dino rider is balls to the wall amazing. Have you considered running it as part of a SW detachment? The T Rex and raptors could easily count as thunder wolfs.

EDC

Wow! It's not often the Internet makes me smile, but you guys have done just that!

I felt a bit bad changing my avatar brushcommando, but I flippin' love Christamas, and Colour Sgt Borne will be back in the new year!
As for matching Gitsplitta's blog, I couldn't keep up with that man's painting and modelling speed. He's a machine! I'd need a good millienia to get to were he is now!
EDC - I did think about having the Star Scorpions run as SWs. Definitely something to consider. I'll be having my first game in the new year, after a 4 year hiatus. So excited!

I think they look excellent Bash. Very menacing and formidable looking. Look fantastic together as a group too which is always nice.

Thanks Gitsplitta. I'm hoping to have the remainder finished by the end of the weekend, as they've been a pain to get together and it's only right to get them finished.

Wow, they turned out really good! I love the detail on the shields and shoulder pads. Lances turned out great!

Spacewolverine - Many thanks matey. The shields were great fun weathering. They've turned out more or less as I wanted them too. I did consider making them a bit more elaborate, but I decided that with the amount of wear I wanted to show through, it would just end up looking too busy.

Good luck with your first game Bash! It's (usually) the best one!

I sure hope so. It's going to be against a very good friend of mine, whom I've known for decades, so it'll be a great event. We're booking a table at Warhammer World, then get some scoff and beer at Bugman's. Extortionate, yes. A bloody good laugh, it will most definitely be!

Let us know how it goes!

It's been a busy few weeks in the Bash household, but somehow despite the numerous Christmas parties and hectic work schedule, I've still managed to finish a few bits and pieces.

I've picked up these guys for my Star Scorpion force:



They're too good to pass up. And they make a nice alternative to regular SM Scouts.

I finished the Oldhammer Captain:



And I've been picking up a few ancient RT SMs too:



I added a Sanguinary Guard jump pack to this Librarian:



And I've finished the Star Scorpion T-Rex:











I had a ball painting this beast, and it was great changing to something organic. I went for a similar skin pattern to the Jurassic Park T-Rex, My boy thinks it's fantastic, with the las-cannons added onto it, making it a serious war-machine.

At the moment on the production line, I have:
10x Terminators
The rest of the Canaanite Squad
Terminator Librarian
6x Oldhammer Vanguard Veterans (Just need to matt varnish and finish the bases)
2x Old God Dreadnaughts
5x Sternguard Veterans
1x Contemptor Dreadnaught
10x Mk IV Tactical Marines
5x Mk IV Recon Marines
Oldhammer Terminator Captain
10x 2nd Ed Marines
2nd Ed Rhino
Razorback
RT Librarian
2x RT Marines

So lots and lots to finish. I'm hoping to add some more FW goodies to the list in the new year, namely tanks and whatnot. But for now, I've got plenty to work with.

Plastic and dinosaurs, that's a tittle! And some metal to boot.

Nice queue, will keep following.

Great looking stuff Bash. That librarian is one of my all-time favorite models. Fantastic job on the T-Rex!

That dinosaur is beyond awesome bash. Cracking stuff!!

Love the dinosaur and the captain.

Rt models are always a treat though.

Thanks very much guys! The RT stuff is always nice to paint up, as I gaming and painting just after it changed to 2nd Ed. I should have some more updates throughout today, so keep an eye out!

Excellent work Bosh. The Dino rider captain looks fantastic painted up.

EDC

Thanks for the kind remarks guys. I've tidied up a few loose ends today. Starting with the Oldhammer Vanguard Veterans:







They've fit right at home with the new SMs.

I've finished the Razorback too:





And as it's been a while, an Army shot. I've left gaps for the additional squads as they are completed:



That's it for now. I may update through the week. If not, then there'll be a picture dump at the weekend.

What is the name for your captain model by the way?

Is he a named RT or a random 2nd-3rd edition metal? I see him all the time on ebay but of course when this blog makes me want him...

Nothing. :(

Your MK8 conversions are stellar and I love the oldhammer vibe. The army shot really shows off how big this project is now!

Nice to see everything laid out there Bash. That's a decent body of work!

@ Stormwall - I have no idea what to call him, or what model name he had. I just decided to do something with him, as I found some spare Scibor minis heads to use up. But thanks for great comments. This project really has grown way out of control!

@Gitsplitta - Thanks matey, as always!

Those marines came out really well!

The army looks spectacular all together. Had any thoughts on what the T. Rex could sub in for?

I do love a good force shot. Looking really good Bash.

EDC

Mighty fine shelf you have there sir!

Thanks very much Gents! To answer your question Archer, I suppose it could be a counts as LR. But to be honest, I didn't really think about it's gaming value. I just went with an impulse to build something completely different!

Aye, agree with everyone that the army is looking great together. As for the Lascannoned T-Rex of doom it is great, cracking idea and execution and a nice reminder of the Dino Riders toys of my childhood.

Good luck with that painting queue too.

Not a huge update, but one of the units ticked off the to do list. I've finished the first of 3 Terminator squads. I went for a slightly altered version of the Mentor's livery, as I like my Terminators to stand out, but still remain in sync with the rest of the army:



That's it for tonight. I've almost finished the Canaanites, so they should be up here by Saturday.

Looking good as always. Really like the oldhammer guys.

Those termies look really good. Can't wait to see the next two squads.

The terminators are excellent. The sharp shading on the white works really, really well. How did you do it?

Really keen to see the last of the spear marines.

Thanks guys. Archer - Just a steady hand, and 3 thin coats of Vallejo foundation white over a white primer washed in Nuln Oil. Nice and simple!

Very nice indeed. Still needs more owls though.

Haha! Duly noted Graven. I found an awesome small owl that you sent me:



I think it works well with this Captain I've just put together. A little mascot for the army.

Good lad, you are forgiven

That owl is freaking amazing!

Not gonna lie, I am peanut butter jealous. Now your avatar just needs to hold an owl.

Thanks very much guys! I've finally finished the Canaanite Vanguard Veterans. They've done me very proud:











They've been a worthwhile endeavour. It's only taken nearly 2 months to get them finished, but it's been fun. Slight difference in the spear blade colouring, but it works (somehow!)

They look cool. Really cool. I think the slightly different spear tip is a good choice. Adds a nice spot colour to draw the eye.

Thanks Archer! They've now taken their rightful place in the cabinet along side the ever growing army. I'm nearly at the 100 figure mark!

Continuing with the Dino-Rider/Star Scorpion attachment, I've started with an old metal Lizardman Stegadon to make it into a Styracosaurus counts as Predator:

Whilst stripping the paint, I counted 5 different colours. I'm surprised there was any metal underneath!



Started making the baby cradle seat to mount on the side of the weapon harness. Using an old SM bike and rider, plus some great shaped sprue:





And I started on the turret:



So a lot of fabrication still to do, plus working through Tyberos and the Terminator Librarian, along with the Ironclad and Venerable Dreadnaughts.

Your vets look fantastic! Wow... You get to play those you'd better darn well take some photos of them in action and share them with the rest of us!

Gitsplitta, there's no worry there! I'll be making sure to document their performance with plenty of pictures!

Excellent!

Termies and spear dudes are looking wicked. Really exciting to see how the Pred turns out.

EDC

goregous stuff once again Bash!

Thanks very much Gents. The Canaanites were a lot of fun to put together. I may make another unit in the distant future.

As for the Dino-predator, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

Merry Christmas/Festive season/Winter Holidays!

Just got an awesome supply drop from Anvil Industries. Some great looking torsos and legs, and some very nice jump packs. This will be for my next set of Vanguard Veterans. Not sure what helmets too use, but I'm thinking of some domed helmets, similar to the HALO Spartan type. I felt that though my army has progressed in the direction I'd like it to go, I fancied some uber-high tech looking guys as per the Mentor fluff.



That's pretty much it for the next few days. I hope you all have a fantastic winter holiday, and a cracking new year!

Happy new year, you handsome Devils!

Finished the Librarian today.









I'm still a bit rusty on the whole OSL, so I may revisit the staff later on, but for now, he'll pass for table top use.

Very cheery and colorful, I like him!

Nice job Bash. Love the richness of his robe. Happy new year fella

Lovely, very festive! He looks grand, hope you've had a good season.

Hope you're all enjoying the new year! I've been very slow in picking up the momentum with the Mentors, with Fallout 4 contending for my attention, but I'm slowly doing bits here and there. I finished my Mentor Terminator Captain aka Tyberos:





He was great fun to paint, especially the blades on the Lightning-chain-power fists.

I will say I have a huge amount base coated. It's just the getting round to tying off loose ends that I'm struggling with.

Nice work Bash. I just love that figure...

What are those claws from? They look suitably brutal.

Thanks guys,

The claws on Tyberos are part of the model. He's from ForgeWorld. Retails around the £20 mark, or $35 for you guys down under.

Nicely done Bash. I just love that model

Thanks War Kitten!

Not much to report today. Just finishing off odds and ends, though I'm at a loss as to how I'm going to fit anymore figures, let alone squads, on the army shelf! I may have to relocate them temporarily.

So onwards with the finished articles. First up, a First ed Rhino:





This was an eBay rescue, but in great condition and thankfully, not caked in paint.

Next up are the 30k Recon Squad. Great fun to paint and the cloaks were a challenge to tie in. I took a slightly different approach and painted the faceplates of the helmets white, as with the amount of weathering I wanted to apply, the Star Scorpion badge would be heavily obscured. So it's just an easy way to make them stand out slightly better:













The photos are quite dark, so I'll have to fix my spotlight and get some more light on these guys. But I'll do that at the end in a big group shot.

Next up, finished Ironclad and Venerable Dreadnoughts:





So the 'Old Gods' are all done. Like I said, once I've gotten together a few more units, I'll setup a full army shot.

Nice work all around Bash.

Love it! Especially the first dread's freehand.

Lovely to see such impressive resuce work and a bit of classic mentor love

And so, after a bit of a break, I'm back with some new goodies. I've decided to have a rest from GW based models, though I will be returning to my Mentor army in the future. For now, I've picked up some 1/35 scale battle tanks, namely Israeli tanks. Two M51 'Super' Shermans ( from Dragon and Tamiya respectively) and a Merkava Mk IV from Academy.





The Dragon M51 has some really nice extras in there, such as a machined barrel and working suspension. I've also got metal linked tracks coming, which will give a really nice 'heavy' look as the tracks sit on the top rollers.





This is the Tamiya M51. I created the foliage from GS. Looks similar to the Sherman Firefly from 1944. It's not true to life, but I'm not trying to create exact replicas of the real thing. I'm just enjoying modelling something different for a change. The kit is nowhere as good as the Dragon version, but it's simplicity makes it an easy kit to put together quickly, and also, I'm much less wary of trying new weathering ideas on this.





This I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with. I got it for a steal from eBay, as it comes with the resin upgrade kit and ball skirt for the base of the turret. And it's big. Massive for a 1/35, as are most modern battle tanks. A lower profile compared to a Sherman, but much wider and longer.

And not to forget, I did knock together some Mentor assault marines. Haven't decided what role they'll play, but they look mean:



That's all. Now, where's that glue...

The tanks look amazing. Love some more realistic work mixed into the sci-fi stuff.

excellent work on the tank Bash, and those assault marines are looking might fine up in the air like that!

Good to cya back, bro.

Those assault marines are looking pretty sweet, as is the tank. Good to see you back at it.

It's been a while. Nearly a year if not a touch longer. But I've not been idle. Well that's a complete lie. I've done sod all when it comes to P+M'ing. Buuut, I've caught the bug again, so I decided on some Drop pods. I wanted ten. Now, GW want nigh on a small mortgage for said vehicle. I don't want to pay that amount for solidified dinosaur souls, so I've gone about it in a different way. A far cheaper, more enjoyable mess of a way.

Enter, the humble plant pot...






Rinse and repeat ten times...



And starting the base coating process



So with all of the items as you'll see, the cost was 1/10th of what I would have paid for proper Drop pods. I'm not looking for any Golden Demon, so these are rough and ready, but they serve their purpose well.

Things I have learnt whilst making these:
1) Glues guns melt skin as well as glue, plastic, clothes, table cloths and varying incandescent materials.
2) A Dremel melts plastic as well, which if it wasn't for my beard and glasses, would have been mightily uncomfortable.
3) The mess is incredible
4) When glue dries on my clothes, I look like I've shamed myself



By the way, hi everyone! Again

Bash

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!

You're back, and in style!

Thanks graven!

It's been a hell of a shift in terms of real life, but I'm now in a position where I can actually dip the proverbial into the obvious with a new project!

Ayup lad ! Tha lives just darn t'rurd fom me! Nice work matey !
I like your pods, i made a whole load in a similar way but from used takeaway coffee cups !

Haha! I didn't think I'd be living too far away from someone on here! I'm still getting used to the dialect (I'm from dan sarf innit) but I'm really enjoying up North. If you're about in town, I'll be frequenting Barnsley Models and Games, and obviously GW as and when, so give us a shout.

I hadn't consider coffee cups. I did look at various plumbing type bits, but the plant pots were the cheapest idea I found in B&Q. Though I may have an idea that could use said drinking vessel.

 Bash the Bosh wrote:
Haha! I didn't think I'd be living too far away from someone on here! I'm still getting used to the dialect (I'm from dan sarf innit) but I'm really enjoying up North. If you're about in town, I'll be frequenting Barnsley Models and Games, and obviously GW as and when, so give us a shout.

I hadn't consider coffee cups. I did look at various plumbing type bits, but the plant pots were the cheapest idea I found in B&Q. Though I may have an idea that could use said drinking vessel.

Haha, the ex wife is southern *shudder*
I don't get to Barnsley much, but Doncaster or Rotherham GW is a possibility, to be honest I do the majority of the gluing and painting and my boy does the gaming, we go mainly to the GW outlet at Dinnington, but with the good weather coming have been know to have games days, bbq's and beer at my house. Either way, you're welcome if at a loose end!

https://youtu.be/mfrl1QwHCS4

That's where I got my idea from , but I'd like to see what you come up with !

It's been a few productive days. I've been steadily finishing off the last few units that have been sat in their base-coat underwear for the best part of 18 months.

First on the tick list, the Star Scorpions Terminator Captain:



Followed closely by the Terminator Chaplin, who's waiting for his base to cure before it can be painted:



Then the Anvil industry figures, who've been christened 'Sky Crew' for their blue armour. Again, waiting for bases to dry before paint application:



And the Mk IV Star Scorpion Tactical squad:



As for future projects, I'm finishing the last of 2015's units, which is a five man Terminator squad with TH/SS, another 10 man Tac squad, and five RT Marines that just happened to glue themselves to 32mm bases. Most are in base-coat stage, with the exception of the Company Commander, who is still very much naked.

In terms of whats next after all that, another 3 Tac squads, a Triceratops (counts as Predator), and three of these little beauties...



Yes they're big, but wolves just wouldn't look right for Star Scorpion Thunder Cavalry. So I've picked up three Velociraptors, and I'll be hacking at limbs and building prosthetic ones and adding various armour plates to tie them in with the LR T-Rex. I'm going to have so much fun with these!

That Tactical squad is looking gorgeous.

Thank you War Kitten. I am a big fan of the BaC Mk IV Marines.

Just a couple of army shots showing the fruits of my labour since the summer two years ago...





It's not as impressive as some, but for someone who paints in 6 months blocks with a gap year, it's of a fairly good standard and size!

One more Tactical squad to go, and then it's onto to these dinosaurs that I've been hoarding...

Actually Bash, I think that's very impressive. Great looking array of really interesting and varied miniatures.

Thanks Gitsplitta, I'm pleased with what I've managed so far. It's with the high level work on Dakka that I judge my own stuff against. It's what makes this project worthwhile.

Done a bit today. Managed to finish another Tactical Squad, those pictures will follow tomorrow. For now, I've just been playing about with my counts as Predator, using an old Lizardman Stegadon for the basis:



Spent most of the day just trying to get this thing to stay together. Pinned, milliput and superglue, two elastic bands and a couple of bookends to hold this calamity in place. It's like they didn't even bother to try to line anything up when it was designed. A complete sod of a job to get right, but it's now in a position to be worked on and tidied up with GS and the bits I want to add to make this work.

As for the armament, I've cobbled together an autocannon:



Much easier to build! A dual cannon from Ramshackle miniatures, and some bits from a LR Redeemer and a Leman Russ storage container so far. I've built a baby cradle for the operator (just in shot of the first picture) with the cannon sitting the other side of the Dinosaur. Plenty to work with tomorrow.

Peace out kids!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Started work on the Stegadon. Now the milliput has set, and it would take a small controlled explosion to break this, I have started adding the more fun stuff to it:



Started in the baby cradle for the operator:





I filled the gaps and pinned and GS'd the cradle to the dinosaur:







Once it's all set, then it'll be onto adding a bit more structure and detail. Fill in the gaps and add skin texture and armour plating. But as a basic framework, it's coming together.

I find that hilarious.... in a good way!

Keep it up man... just loving the dino-marines!

Nice to see you back at it Bash! Those dino-marines look sweet.

Thanks very much gents, it's a fun project and nice to do something more organic than paint boxs and cubes.

Started the base GS stuff work on the Triceratops:







It's starting to come together now, and looking a lot more wholesome. More work than the T-Rex, as I'm having to sculpt an entire chassis rather than just adding a few bits here and there. More to come, most likely tomorrow? Yeah, tomorrow.

Loves and hugs

Finally finished fabrication of the Triceratops counts as Predator:







Just need to start painting this bad boy!

The nice thing about having a busy mind, is that I can have multiple projects running side by side. So I started on my eBay rescue LR today. After tidying up the top cover and the sponsons, I decided on doing something a bit different with it. Looking at WW2 German armour, I decided to go with zimmerit on the panels. I started by blanking off and gs'ing the front:









So plenty done today. I've got to wait for a supply drop from Royal Mail for more GS and Milliput before carrying on, but for now, I'm happy to leave it for a day or so. In the mean time, I've got another squad of Tactical marines, a RT shoulder mounted Lascannon to add to another BaC squad, and another eBay rescue Rhino for a Vindicator conversion, but not just any conversion, so stand by for that when it comes to fruition.

Loves and hugs

Continued with the Zimmerit on the LR today:









After some thought, I decided on making a skirt for the front fender, similar to the ones fitted to the British Army's Challanger 2:





And in between curing times on the LR, I got a start on the first of the Velociraptors. I cut the neck into three parts, and built an armature to apply skin texture once my GS arrives:



Tomorrow, I'll have a look at dry fitting some bionics to this guy, mainly the right leg and arm. But for now, that's your lot.

Ta ta

You're a patient man. Deranged, but patient

Brilliant conversions!!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
You're a patient man. Deranged, but patient

Graven, it's not often the internet makes me smile, but you achieved that today!

@Aetare - Many thanks friend!

What a wonderfully eccentric and creative blog you have running - I need to go back now and read from page 1 to discover everything you have here

I think though so far on the few pages I backtracked on, the T-Rex is my favourite - oozes character and feels so true to the original ideas behind 40k (going back to Rogue Trader)

Thank you Ruglud. This blog has been a right mish-mash of ideas and themes. And the T-Rex is my absolute favourite thing I've put together.

Finally finished the Zimmerit on the LR:









It's been fun, though slightly mind-bending towards the end. That's pretty much it now for the fabrication part. I'll get a base coat on this tomorrow, and should be well on the way to looking quite coherent. That's everything for today.

Looking good dude.

Really love the Triceratops, amazing idea and execution.

EDC

Many thanks EDC.

Got a tonne of stuff done today on the Raptors. It's a start to sort of finished story in pictures. First up, parts gathering:



Then starting to piece it all together:





Then it was a case of seeing what fit where:







And then armouring up all three of these beasts:







And just to top off today, I started on the riders, who are pretty much the same configuration as the 'Canaanites' that I built way back when:



A really productive day in terms of building. And because I've gotten so much done with these guys, I'm starting the next build project tomorrow!

Now, where's that takeaway?

Lots of love

Terrific blog Bash! And some really great creative builds. I'm particularly taken by the Spear Marines- once I'd seen your original breaching team, I saw those notched shields and thought to myself "you could do a heck of a phalanx with those", and then bam! two pages later that's exactly what you've done.

I look forward to seeing how the cyber-bio-dino's come along!

Many thanks for taking the time to look Meer_Cat

The Dinosaurs are on hold at the moment, as I've, in my usual style, have found something else to capture my attention!

Having looked at SM Vindicators, and seeing that as lovely as some are painted, they all pretty much follow the same idea. I wanted something a bit different. Being a bit of a tank nerd (I have a world of atanks to thank for that), I love the look of the 'SturmTiger' that made its debut in the late '40s. Taking that idea on board, but keeping in touch with the basic chassis of a Vindicator, I set to work:

Starting off with an eBay rescue Rhino, and a 15mm copper pipe straight junction







As you can see, I wasn't kind with the dremel!

Then, it was building the superstructure. Now I don't build in the traditional sense. I like to just see how it goes. Nothing is accurate or perfect, but if it stays together, then, it works:









Having butchered the sides, I decided on making some spaced armour:







The superstructure slots in nicely and is held in by the spaced armour:







Then came the gun fitting. The barrel is held in with a bouncy ball sized lump of milliput, and pinned in place with spare spruce. I would show this, but it's ugly. So I won't. You'll just have to imagine the horror of of what's underneath the plasticard!



So after dry fitting, the barrel was fitted in the position I liked best:



I've still got to build the mantel and shield, so that's tomorrow's plan, but I had a crap tonne of resin bits from 'Ramshackle Games', so I put them to use:





So tomorrow, I'm building the gun mantel and shield, then gap filling and building the small crane that sits on the back of the superstructure to hoist shells into the tank. I'm thinking of building a stowage bin to sit on the top of the rear top hatches, what do you guys think?

That's pretty much it for now.

Mwah

I really like that. The rear hatch on the turret is aces. I would give it a dozer blade so it still has the Vindi aesthetic.
Also, I'm off to Bovington this summer. TralalalalaTANKS!

Ooo, Graven, you lucky boy! I got to train at Bovington driving what was then known as a 432 Armoured Ambulance. Garbage to drive, but built forearms of steel. Will you be seeing Tiger 131 whilst you're there?

I'm think of a dozer blade for the Vindicator, not sure what would be a good look. Any ideas?

For the mean time, built a storage rack and pasted Zimmerit on the front and sides of the superstructure:







Added some gas vents in milliput on the muzzle, and gapped filled. For all intensive purposes, this beast is finished.

That's a pretty cool little conversion for the Vindicator. I love it! If I wasn't so bad at everything to do with conversions I would consider trying something like that for myself

Maybe just a scoop in between the tracks/lights? So quite low key.

I am seriously excited, haven't been in 21 years! And this year they have the King Tiger! One for the serious treadheads, me, my dad, and my boys are stupidly up for it Having the whole summer off (bloody teachers ), we're driving down to Dorset and hopefully enjoying some sunshine (he said, looking out the window at a dreich Glasgow summer's morn). I'm also planning on taking the boys on a day-trip to York for the Railway Museum (6 hrs on trains, round trip, to look at trains...)

I tried low key, Graven, but it just grew:









I'm still in two minds about the 'wings' on either side of the blade. Do I cut it down?

Just finished putting together another 45 blokes as well:



I'm a very lucky boy, because the missus' dad has his own miniatures business, so he's casting me up a load of Mentor's shoulder pads, as I've now ran out of transfers, and I can't find anymore. So that's a big help.

Do it properly. Mentor Legion are owls. None of this raptor head lark

Also, Love the giant dozer blade of DOOOOOOOOOM (ahem). Horde looks immense, btw.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Do it properly. Mentor Legion are owls. None of this raptor head lark

Also, Love the giant dozer blade of DOOOOOOOOOM (ahem). Horde looks immense, btw.

Giant Dover blade of Raptor poop shoving +2, +3 vs. cold blooded lizard types . Someone must keep the stables clean

Awesome work by the way .

Thank you both. I'm pleased with how the dozer blade has turned out. I've used the dremel to carve teeth into the front edge, so I'll show that tomorrow.

As for today, I've been playing in the Terminator reclamation yard:



Managed to cobble together a full squad with a chop shop of old and new hammer figures. Decided that the assault cannon needed to be BIG, so the spare contemptor varient:







So that's been the entertainment for today. More tomorrow friends!

Those guys look familiar If you manage to salvage any of those round lipped 40mm bases can I steal them? I'm a couple short.

I thought you'd recognise them!

As for the bases, of course dude. I'll chuck them in the post for you if you can remind me of your place of residence.

This is a bit of a long post, but I wanted to make sure that what I was getting myself into would be worth the effort. So the story is thus;

I wanted a Sicaran. I couldn't afford to buy one, new or used. I don't have the skill to accurately build one from plasticard. But, I'm a dab hand with a glue gun and scissors. And the recycling bin was full. Of cardboard.































So as you can see, for a tank made of garbage (and a few 5.56mm shells) and lavished in milliput, I don't think I've done too bad a job. It'll not win any prizes (except maybe 2nd place in the bi-annual cheapest ever Sicaran wannabe competition), but I'm happy with it.

Now, onto my favourite. Sad Ken:









Love this tank. And again, I'm pleased with the end result.

And I finished the Zimmerit LR:











So that's the armour done, then it's just a case of now tying off the smaller units:



Yep, that's all so far. Give me credit, I've spent three weeks making a tank from trash!

Bash

Love the Sicarran, Bash- what a terrific combination of scratch-building and use of 'found' objects! I look forward to seeing more.

Thanks Meer_Cat

It was a random burst of impulse that I actually carried through until the end. I'm very pleased with it, and surprisingly, it went together quite well. I didn't have to be exact, that's the joy of being able to gap-fill any differences.

Another exciting development, I'm going to be fielding this merry band at Warhammer World in August, facing off against a combined army of Black Legion 1K Sons and Dark Eldar. We're on the Tau research facility table. So not only will I be playing my first game since circa 2011, but you'll all get to see me have my arse handed to me royally!

I'm constantly amazed that people can so casually build amazing scratch build vehicles. Amazing work!

The Sicaran turned out especially awesome.

EDC

Thanks EDC,

It's the stuff I've seen on dakka that inspired me to just, well, give it a try. And to be honest, it was great fun. And sadly, left a bit of a gap now, as whilst waiting for other projects to dry, cure or just having a break, I had the Sicaran to work on.
But that just means I'll have to find something else to get into mischief with!

Excellent assemblage of random !

Thanks Graven.

Not much to report on, just tying up the last reaming units for this army, then I'll finally be able to settle on what I've achieved with this project.

Just about done with the TH/SS Terminators:



And a fairly recent picture of the army box. Not including the Sicaran at this point, but I'll do a full army shot once it's all done:



And an older picture of my painting space. I've never really had one before, so the missus squared this away for me and I couldn't be more grateful. She's a diamond, that one!



That's it for now. Three more squads of infantry, one squad of Terminators, the Company Captain and the Triceratops to go!

Quality Ikea furnishings there!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Quality Ikea furnishings there!

I have the missus to thank for that. She took me to Leeds to have a butchers at the ikea store there. Such an odd experience, but we came away with some good bits and pieces.

I use The same desk. You can get a shelf unit that goes on too too. My missus' idea likewise.

That's a quality idea, I didn't know there was a shelf for it. Though saying that, I was a bit overwhelmed by just how much stuff IKEA actually sell, and there were too many bodies pressed together going in the same direction for my liking. I think I'll be able to convince the missus to go on a late evening adventure back to IKEA!

You will never be short of natural light at that desk ! Great spot !
Cracking work all round mate, I like what you come up with !

It's living in sunny Yorkshire that's makes it matey! And thank you for your comment. I've been really enjoying this army again, though between you and me, I've got something new in the pipeline. More details to follow...

Yo bash, here's mine in situ:

Hope that helps

It certainly does help! Gives me an idea of how I want mine setup.

Probably better than that

It's been awhile, but the last few weeks have been taken up with real life business. But, saying that, I've finally deemed the Mentor project complete. It's hugely satisfying seeing them laid out, and thanks to the missus' dad, I was able to photograph them on his gaming table, which just made my day.

















That's it. I've a few ideas for later next month, but once I've got a solid plan together, it'll no doubt be as random as this one.

What a great Army Group Bash- congratulations! So much that I like here:

-The Dino-riders
-The scratch built Sicarran Tank
-What looks like a WWII German troop carrier halftrack wedded to a Space Marine land-speeder- awesome transport
-The dune buggy scout car conversion (what kit is the basis for that, or is it a total scratch build?)
-Old School Rhinos in copious quantities

But especially the scouts- well painted, well posed and well-photo'd

Congratulations on your completion!

Always awesome to see someone's army on full parade. A true labor of love with tons of character and conversions everywhere .

Looks great - go space teachers!

Thank you to all of you for commenting.

To answer your question Meer_Cat, the scout speeder is a basic SM Landspeeder, with a scratch built roll cage and card fendsrs built up with milliput.The Landspeeder Storm is just that, kitbashed and built into to a BOFORS Quad Tractor. Both were great fun to put together and some of the first vehicles I worked on for this army.

It’s that time of year, when I finally give in to some hair-brained scheme that I’ve cooked up at 3am, when insomnia and the heavy drinking neighbours next door decide to loudly resolve their relationship problems.

Now, I play World of Tanks on the Xbox, and have done so for the best part of two years. I enjoy it, I think it’s a great game, and a great source of inspiration for someone like me. So....







This is my T-34-88. Now before anyone says so, I know it never existed. But, I love it. It’s great fun to use. And I wanted to build a one.





Cheap. That’s all I’m going to say. Cheap. Thin. Awful plastic. But it’s not terrible, because it’s cheap. But I don’t just build from the box, so I decided to add a few extras.



I bought a resin T-34-85 turret, a Tiger 1 Mantlet, and a really nice aluminium Kwk 36 L51 8.8cm gun. And a third party track set, as I really, really don’t like styrene tracks. All this cost double the actual tank!

Getting started, I had a go at building the turret and hull sections:



Despite the awful plastic and gaps, it went together reasonably well. The turret ring only needed a few mm shaved out to fit the resin turret. The turret itself needed a decent amount of remodelling to get it to look the way I want.



The gun was a different story. Brilliant quality and fits like a dream. Same for the mantel. Great quality and very nice to use.



Once fitted, it took a bit of sculpting and using some parts of the box kit to finish the turret.



I had to scratch build a bustle for the turret. I don’t have any photos of the actual build, but it’s not that exciting. I just need to add some external HALON extinguishers. So in all, it’s been a fairly easy build so far.

Other projects include:



A IDF Sherman M51 platoon. I apologise for the busy photo. But all will become clearer later. I’ve reclaimed a previous build that I did a few years ago, another that has been sat in the box for years also, and an ebay rescue.
I also have an M50 Sherman which will be a HQ tank for the IDF. Don’t ask which unit or brigade, I have no idea yet! Oh yes, there’s plenty more to build if you look close enough.




I’ve finally gotten myself an airbrush! Dead excited to use this. It’s a beginner set, but I feel it’ll be more than adequate for me.


What else have I been up to? Well I did paint up a sad looking Fallout figure that I found in a charity shop:











The figure didn’t turn out too badly. I used some really, really old 1/72 Stuart tank transfers which were great for this.


So a long post, but I do hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve done so far. As always, feel free to offer comments or criticism, it’s always welcome.

Bash

Excellent to see you back old son! And you bring this old treadhead much joy with your antics

It’s always a pleasure, Graven, to get back in touch!

I’m pleased as punch to start modelling again. And something different to tackle. I too enjoy tracks and engine oil far too much for my own good!

Bash! Love the new tanks and especially the Fallout armor! Very cool stuff man.

A pleasure as always Gitsplitta! Many thanks!

Tank and fallout mini are looking good! Would you mind sharing where you got the alternative tracks from?

Welcome back Bash! Like how the heavy build is going, but the Israeli Sherman up-guns are looking fun too- more, please!

Your girls old man's board looks really good with your marines on, is it a historical board being ruined by Sci-Fi stuff ???

The T34-88 looks cool matey, excellent idea for a semi no real vehicle ! But whats with all the 1:35th Shermans ? A genuine historical project or converts to 40K ?

Wow! I’m genuinely blown away by the replies! Thank you all!

@CommissarKhaine - The set I’ve used is this:



It’s designed for Dragon kits, so it took a little studio engineering to get them to fit to the suspension.

@Meer_Cat - Thank you very much kind Sir. The Israeli M50/M51 is my favourite tank, very closely followed by the Tiger 1 and the IS-7. I’m really looking forward to getting these started, so you’ll be kept closely informed



I have this as my main point of reference. It’s a fantastic book, and full of IDF archive photos that really help get a feel for how these Shermans served way beyond their sell by date.

@Big H - The father in law’s board is fantastic! I did feel a bit guilty shunting an 1812 French Division out of the way to make way for the Mentors, but it was worth waiting to be able to photograph them on such a nice surrounding.
The 1/35 Sherman’s are going to be a semi-historical project. I’m too impulsive to build from a photo, as I find too many different elements that I like. So they’ll be relatively accurate, but not too much

Got the road wheels installed on the T-34-88, and they’ve set nicely. I’ve also started building the tracks. They’ve not been set on the sprue in the best way, as they take a lot of cleanup. And after having to install 72 links a side, it’ll take a while.



Enjoy your day, and I’ll have more to share later on!