First up the Nasty Nine and Sacrilegious Seventeen (still need ink)
Now joined by the Terrible Tenth!
And on the good guy side, more carriers inspired by Space Fleet concept art
Double hull Letoides Pattern Super Carrier (Letoides being the names of the twins Artemis and Apollo)
Double launch bay Minerva Pattern heavy carrier
Privateer of unknown origin and loyalty with a skull the approximate size of Brooklyn
This is not a Sisters of Battle carrier, taht would be silly because the Pax Imperialis requires that only the Imperial Navy (and the Marines, and the Inquisition) have access to warp capable warships. It is a floating convent where sisters may meditate on the greatness of the Emperor away from the distractions of the mundane world. Of course space is a dangerous place so it does have some minimal defensive armaments.
And finally the Dystopian Wars Japanese fleet is getting some love
The black hull is hide the rough green stuffing. Then some nice industrial gunmetal for the brutal engine. And then pink. For sakura. Just because.
Great use of the DFC station bits. Did you have a stash of the plastic Space Fleet cruisers, or do you have an affordable source for them? I'd love to supplement my BFG fleets with some venerable cruisers if the option exists.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And the dystopian wars "spaceships" are brilliant. Were they ships or trains before conversion?
Maybe it's time I found a new use for the Thomas the Tank Engine My Busy Book minis...
And some more progress! Possible the last big progress for a while since the family comes back at the end of the week.
First off the (as of yet unpainted) battleship:
3x plastic Gothic hulls, a ton of Hawk space station parts and some Dark Angel icons for flair. Hopefully paint will hide the disparate bitz. Counts as an Emperor maybe? An Oberon?
And the whole Olympia Family, from the Hera class all the way down to the Nike
(for the record, L to R: Nike Class Torpedo Destroyer, Aurora Class Fast Cruiser, Artemis Class Light Carrier, Themis Class Escort Carrier, Athena Class Carrier, Minerva Class Heavy Carrier, Letodes Class Grand Cruiser and Hera Class supercarrier. Demeter Class Colonizer in the rear. Not pictured Hestia Class Provider, Persephone Agricultural Ship and Aphrodite Yacht). Note that rumors of the Rhea Class Dreadnought and Gaea Class Leviathan are MYTHS AND LEGENDS, they categorically DO NOT EXIST.
Anyway, now the whole fleet can come over to the Somniare Domus ("Dream House") class Fleet Base Kappa-45 for a tea party.
And with some of the defensive stations around it.
As always more to do... inking, touching up, figuring out how I'm going to store these... But still a very productive and fun holiday weekend.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Great use of the DFC station bits. Did you have a stash of the plastic Space Fleet cruisers, or do you have an affordable source for them? I'd love to supplement my BFG fleets with some venerable cruisers if the option exists.
Sadly all I can say is that I've been stalking ebay for a year and a half, spent too money and gotten luckier than I should have. I think I ended up with 20 of them
(If anyone is looking for plastic Eldar wraithships let me know)
But if you don't mind resin there may be something coming down the pike (whistles innocently).
Automatically Appended Next Post: And the dystopian wars "spaceships" are brilliant. Were they ships or trains before conversion?
Maybe it's time I found a new use for the Thomas the Tank Engine My Busy Book minis...
Good question! The Japanese ships in DW were very much floating locomotives with their battleship being just two locomotives side by side. I'll have to think about some Thomas ships now that the girls are outgrowing theirs
One cool thing about the Imperium is it is SO big there must be whole branches of it we never see or hear about. To whit...
Spoiler:
It was the Quarto Ianuarias when ships broke out of warp at the edge of the Dition System. Soon the broadcasts began.
++This is the IRS Ajudicator of the Imperial Revenue Seizure Fleet, accompanied by the IRS Accessor, IRS Auditor and IRS Appraiser. Your world has been selected for a full review of income, revenue and tithes. Lower your planetary defenses and surrender your balance books. Resistance is futile.++
The Planetary Defense Forces stood down immediately. While technically classed as a mobile administrative center an Accessor-Class' 'purely defensive' weapons gave it the firepower of a battleship.
Nontheless fear spread quickly and by the Sextus Ianuarias the streets were burning. It took six companies of elite Tributum Milite and three squads of the dread Tax Marines to fight their way through the rioting mobs to the Ministry of Treasure and began their review.
After six months Dition was found to be 6% in arrears over the previous four centuries. Banks, palaces, villas and museums were stripped of their assets and everything of value lifted to the waiting flotilla. Every third member of the ruling families and merchant clans were arrested and impressed into the Imperial Guard. And the IRS fleet departed leaving a shocked and frightened world behind.
Bloody tax department gets its own navy now, it is one perverse and perverted place you live Kid! I really like that shot with all the stations, from the big beast down to the little platforms, its impressive how coherent it all looks. Whats next?
"What the hell are those?" The watch officer asked gazing in disbelief at the jump point.
"Their codes check out sir, the Sakura Fleet, a Rogue Trader flotilla out of the Yamato Sector. Carrying a cargo of compact ground cars, and miniaturized vox casters. A long way from home." His ensign replied staring at the green and black cognator screen.
"But... but... where are the crenelations? Where are the steeples? The gargoyles? What kind of ship are those?"
"Roughly equal to a Tyrant class but made of stamped metal plating, standardized reactors and other shortcuts. Short on style but cheaper to build than anything we have."
"Bah, they'll never catch on."
After this weekend no more big projects for a while. I'm moving back to the US this summer and need to downsize. Hopefully I'll find the will to actually finish shading, inking and other touch ups. All the grunt work I keep putting off so I can start something new.
That is amazing stuff you've got there! The space station really works and personally I like the variety of ships - it is a big galaxy after all! By "Wraithships" do you mean these guys: - the ones with the sails? I'm certainly in the market, at least for trades.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Good choice for pirate crew too.
The Olympia Family of ships, and elegant graceful design from before the dark times.
Chaos Escorts, many from the Drakon family, an unholy blend of mechanics and warp energies that cannot exist in normal space. For ages they were confined to systems around the Eye of Terror, the Maelstrom, the Nose of Horror or other warp storms but the dawn of the Dark Imperium has seen them roaming much farther into normal space.
I didn't want to just glue skulls to ships and call them chaos, since the skulls would have to be Gibraltar-sized. I also didn't want to paint ships black since they'd be lost against a space backdrop.
Ah well.
My Skobras. Turned out kinda cute.
My pride and joy, the Hera-Class Battleship.
The disparate parts worked well I think. If you didn't know to look for the 3 hulls you might not see them.
I have just enough bitz to do one more...
Anyway her antecent, the Letoides-Class supercarrier.
Based on Space Fleet concept art and named for the twins Artemis and Apollo.
Another concept art special, the Minerva class. Replacing a set of guns with a second set of launch bays.
The Arbites also get a ship, Themis-Class after the goddess of justice. I forget what she counts as.
Automatically Appended Next Post: One of the first, if not the first miniatures space ship game was called Starfleet Wars (one word short of a trademark suit!) from the late 70s to early 80s. Now produced by Monday Knight productions as Galactic Knights.
Some of the ships in that line were close to the aesthic of the Space Fleet line so they've been adopted into the Olympian family. In keeping with my naming regime they also get Greek goddess names (while the bulkier flying cathedral types got the male god names)
The Aphrodite Class Pleasure Yacht
Spoiler:
The shuttle deposited Inquisitor Danil Ardor aboard the waiting yacht. He shook his head. A pleasure yacht! The very idea of such a thing! At almost a mile across it carried over 20,000 servants and crew to care for a few hundred honored guests aboard. He bowed to young woman waiting in the hanger.
"My name is Veri, welcome board the Angel of Beauty honored Inquisitor. I will be happy to guide you to your quarters."
The Persephone Class Agricultural Ship
Spoiler:
"And so..." Veri concluded, "-shuttles from the Persephone arrive daily with freshly-grown food and freshly-slaughtered meat."
"No reconstituted food?" Ardor asked with a smile. He could get to like this investigation.
"Not for the likes of us, no."
"Sounds wonderful. Fresh food, tour the stars, your every wish catered to. You're very lucky."
The woman looked at him and blinked several times. She tried to regain composure but it was too late. He'd noticed.
"No?" He asked.
She led him down the corridor several meters from the cleaning crew and wandering servo skull.
"You-you do realize we're prisoners here yes? All of us, prisoners in a gilded cage."
The Hestia Class Starhome
Spoiler:
"I come from a merchant clan in the Odation systems. I'm the third daughter, fifth child overall. Not in line to inherit or run anything. So they sent me on this 'tour' of the sector. We flit from uninhabited system to uninhabited system supposedly seeing the wonders of space and studying art and philosophy. In reality we're warehoused. One day my family will need me marry and cement an alliance, until that day I will sit here waiting. Along with 400 other surplus nobles and scions."
Ardor nodded. Why hadn't he seen this! No one had the money or resources to travel for pleasure! Of course there was another motive.
"And if anyone complains too loudly-" she pointed out an armorglass porthole at the grim grey vessel taking up station alongside. "-the Sisters of Battle are here to correct our transgressions."
And the Demeter Colonizer, a battleship-sized vessel capable of ocean-landings and carrying enough materials to start a self suffiient colony on any green-field world and even some brown-field worlds.
Spoiler:
"So that was the plan m'lord. Hijack the Demeter and flee outside the borders of the Imperium. Find some lost world and build a new life for the passengers away from the Inquisition and the Ecclesiacticy."
"I see." Inquisitor Lord Kuroda paged through the data plates, frowning at the burning ships. "The sisters were..."
"A tad overzealous sir."
"And the losses?"
"All hands sir."
"Anyone important?"
"No sir. No one of consequence."
And finally, the big stupid project in all its glory.
First off an old project I never took a painted photo of, Star Post Letham
Spoiler:
Typical of the Star Posts found throughout the sector, Star Post Letham sits at a warp point outside the Carib System. The greatest expense for Licensed Traders is always the days or weeks ships must spend traveling from warp points to the inner worlds, then the time waiting to unload and load cargo before moving on to their next destination. Star Posts like Letham solve that. Assembled at the edge of systems they allow merchant ships to dock, transfer cargo and move on without the wasted weeks moving insystem and back out. Smaller, cheaper system ships then fly a constant circuit between the Post and the inner worlds, freeing up the warp-capable ships. A small navy presence and the Post's defensive arms add to the system's defense.
Then the biggie, Fleet Base Kappa-45, seen here with a small moon in the foreground.
Spoiler:
The sprawling Kappa-45 base (over 15 miles across) serves as home base for sub-sector fleet and can accommodate dozens of transports and system ships at any time. Vast stores of munitions, fuel, parts and personnel allow it to restock cruisers within hours. Its own armament and network of defensive stations make it almost immune to attack, without event taking into account the flotillas of warships cycling through the station at any time.
Spoiler:
Vessels from the Navy, Chartist Traders and other more obscure branches of the Imperium make regular calls.
Spoiler:
Smaller stations orbit Kappa-45 providing additional defense and surge capacity for refitting ships.
Spoiler:
The Kappa-45 system has no habitable worlds or other features that might interest Xenos or other parties. The handful of gas giants provide amble supplies of Mononuclaic and Duonuclaic gas to fuel plasma reactors, the asteroids and dwarf planets provide ore that is processes in-system for repairs. In essence there is no reason for any one to travel there except on fleet business. Even if the rest of the sector were to fall, Kappa-45 could keep dozens of cruisers in fighting condition.
Also finished was a Firestorm Armada station. GORGEOUS MODEL but also an INCREDIBLE PAIN. It was a mixed media of resin, metal and ####ing plexiglass! Interesting idea but a pain to work with, I ended up snapping one of the arms, have to paint up the battle damage... Also should have left off the arms till I was done painting.
Spoiler:
Rarely seen is the Whitestone Fortress, more than twice the size of the other stations it is rumored to be warp-capable and has been sighted in a dozen places across the sector.
I love, LOVE the art deco look and how it looks like Jack Kirby's Asgard or Supertown from the New Gods. Counts as Ramilles or dormant Blackstone.
And one more project for later. The Ark Mechanicus MDCCI-Delta under the command of Archmagos Patrik, seen with the Mechanicus Light Cruiser MDCCI-Alpha under the command of Archmagos Villheim.
kestral wrote: What a fleet! I particularly approve that you included an Agricultural ship. Go Star Frontiers, eh?
It was more driven by the naming regime, once I ran low on warrior goddess types I had plenty of agricultural and hearth goddesses to use.
One thing I kind of like about BFG is the agnostic view on non-military ships. A transport can be anything from an ore barge, to a pilgrim ship, to the governor's yacht without affecting costs or profile so there's room for all kinds of ships. It's only when they're warships that you have to care about points.
Convoy Q44FS departing Way Stations 17 and 20. Destination Yong's World. 7 transports of various classes including one Q Ship, the SS Azi's Surprise.
Way Stations (these courtesy of Ravenstar Studios) are commonly placed at the edge of star systems near warp points allowing traders to quickly dock, drop off their cargoes, take on new loads and leave the system without tedious days and weeks and traveling insystem and then back out.
These transports (Firestorm Armada) have a great space train look engines at the front pulling 3 cargo pods.
These from a Russian ebay seller are fantastic, great casts and great look. The heavy transport carries vital loads of Recaf and Soder for the thirsty populace of the rimward hive worlds.
The transports take BFG gun ports making this a dead easy conversion for a Q-Ship.
"Ma'am approaching vessel, big one, heavily armed. Should I bring the weapons online?" "Has it send a clearance code?" "We're getting a hail, the ISS Equinox. It's an older code, ma'am, but it checks out." The captain's eyes rolled back in her head as she shifted through thousands of implanted records. "Equinox, wasn't she reported missing?" "It's been a decade since our last Jayne's update. Perhaps she was recovered?" "Perhaps..."
"...nonetheless I can't help but feel a tinge of foreboding."
Overall a great kit if you're building it out of the box. The separate legs puzzled me but they fit in perfectly and the front and back halves of the models slip together nicely too.
The different arm joints are irking. I can see they were done to accommodate the shoulder pads (which look great) but they make arm swaps really hard.
GW also can't seem to decide to how big a human hand should be, so flagellent and even Catachan hands look tiny on them. Not a total deal breaker but another annoyance.
Heads also seem a little different, with the Cadian heads I used vanishing into the necks.
ANYWAY!
The Gang is called the Copz, the idea is they're the bully boys for the local factory boss/mine owner/land lord whoever. They keeps things calm and orderly and if things go south they scream for the planetary enforcers or even Imperial authorities.
I love the dinky little revolvers the sprue has, .38s and spiked billy clubs for everyone!
No one will ever notice his delicate womanly left hand (from a #$%^ing Catachan!) but it still bugs me.
Hopefully I'll get the second sprue done tomorrow.
And double curse your non-standard shoulder joints!
This.
Pain in the backside.
Also, what happened to legs which mate to torsos on a set flat surface rather than having one bit with half a a torso and a third of one leg mating to another half torso and another loose 2/3 leg? Yeah yeah 'dynamic poses' 'models look better than ever' grumble grumble grognard
Finished the last of the boxy transports (Battlefleet Cubist? Battlefleet Brutalist?).
I tried chopping off the fronts of some toy VTOLs I have but the fit wasn't exact. I think reusing the domes works, it reduces the amount of disparate parts.
Still need to add engines and maybe some more grubbings but overall quite happy.
I might add more domes to the sides to give it a bit more bulk.
Helmsman, what in the Emperor's name are those?
Transports sir, 2 heavy transports, a refinery ship and a heavy star galleon.
Yes but, what are they? They look like boxes with engines strapped to the back. Who makes ships like that?
According to Mechanicus records sir, Battlefleet Brutalist.
Some progress on the boxy transports, generally happy but they need, something. Graffiti, more ink, something. Any idea what?
And yes waited ages to use Battlefleet Brutalist. Next up Battlefleets Art Deco and Dutch Colonial.
An =I= shaped space station/dock/prison in deep space just a few AUs from a black hole. In the event of an incident, or incidence of an eventuality the gravity anchors blow and the whole thing falls into the black hole to be lost forever.
Tomorrow... painted Athena-class cruisers from Vanguard.
"You're in for a treat Master Inquisitor, a gathering rarely seen in this sector. No less than five Athena Primes gathered in one place!" Captain Wolfe gestured grandly out the ship's observation dome. "Five of the finest examples of Pre-Apostasy ship building still in service. We can barely build Athenas today, much less these beauties. Built by the master shipwrights of Gotlieb IV - before the incident of course - they were given to what the shipwrights saw as the five pillars of the Imperium."
"Of course" Inquisitor Minorus Ardor replied. He wondered what the 'incident' was. He made a mental note to look that up later.
"With 1.21 gigawatt flux capacitors, pure Troyus dilithium, phased plasma drives in the 40 watt range, blah, blah, blah, no one cares..."
Ardor tuned out the captain's blathering, noting that his servo skull was recording everything. Later he'd have scribes and savants prepare a report about what all of that meant. Maybe he'd even read it. But he was here for another reason.
"Captain it seems only one ship is in Battlefleet colors."
"Good eye Master Inquisitor, good eye. Yes you're looking at the Admiral Franco, pride of the fleet. Has the firepower of Mars-class battle cruiser, served the fleet for over 8000 years. She rarely sees action these days, far too valuable to risk, but if she did she'd give a good accounting of herself."
"And of course there's the mechanicus cruiser."
"Yes... a bit unfortunate that. They call it 141/Delta-13, a name about as romantic as the Mechanicus itself. It's been built, refit and experimented upon so many times you can barely make out the original lines. But it's a necessary evil, these days its crew are the only ones who can still maintain and repair the other ships of this class."
"Yes, sad. And that one?"
"Ah and interesting case that one. The HDMS Charlemagne, given to the Emperor, well to his Custodes at least. They accepted the gift by astropathic message and it has sat in our shipyards ever since. We maintain a skeleton crew and keep it battle-ready should the Custodes ever have need of it. But honestly, they never leave Holy Terra so... It does look pretty though."
So far so good. All 3 ships were in the hands of Imperial organizations permitted to maintain vessels of war. Though Ardor made a note to see if the captain's account of the Charlemagne was true. A fully armed warship sitting idle for millennia? It seemed unlikely to say the least.
"The Lady Agnesia, by contrast has seen plenty of AUs. Given to the Sub-Sector Governor it serves as transportation for him or his envoys as they cross the Sub-Sector on business."
"Good, I'm sure it has proven a worthy vessel. It seems well-protected."
The captain looked at the Inquisitor and frowned. He could see the knife under the silk. "It has a pair of broadsides, they are within the allowed armament for a civilian vessel."
"And a pair of launch bays."
"For passenger shuttles and such, yes."
"Of course. And the last ship?"
"The Silver Eye, given to the Navigator's Guild to serve as mobile training center and exploration vessel. They use it to examine new warp routes and such."
"Those turrets? Lances are they not?"
"Permitted given their mission."
"And two sets of launch bays?"
"Again they need to load and unload personnel quickly... They have no military use you understand."
"Unless the ship also carried fighters and bombers."
"But they would not be permitted to purchase such-"
"Unless they were travelling outside the Imperium no. I would be very interested in what the Navigators are carrying in their hangers. Set course for the Silver Eye, I would greatly like to pay it a visit."
We'll be moving back to the US this summer so in a bit of a rush to get some of these projects done before everything goes into boxes.
Got what will probably be the last Space Fleet Gothic ship I'll buy. But...
Oh NOES! It is bended! Maybe GW will send me another one?
Or I could just bend it back Ah lead, so easy to work with, so toxic. This one got some minor conversion so it could count as a Mars class.
2 Dorsal lances and a front nova cannon.
In an old trade I got an extra set of arms for a Tyrant cruiser (drill ship). Then I saw two armless Tyrants on ebay. Well what could I do? WHAT COULD I DO?
Now I have one more Tyrant... and one armless one
Some Russian transports, a company called Soul Dark. They got some additional minarets from the Vanguard ships.
Time allowing I also have the Inquisition station/dock/prison. Unless of course my girls get ahold of the blocks again to make My Little Ponies.
Did you order directly from soul dark? Are they safe to buy from?
I got a tracking number, I got the package and so far no one's charged any Russian hookers (who I hear from the highest authority are the best in the world) to my card so um... yeah?
And we're back, trying to finish the more ambitious projects before everything goes into boxes. (Look for my garage sale coming later this week).
First off finished my second Hera class battleship. A simple kitbash that only requires three Space Fleet ships (out of print for 25 years) and a $60 Dropfleet Commander space station kit. Oh and a Ravenwing accessory sprue. Easy peasy.
But it does make me so happy. Safe to say no one, NO ONE, else has done this.
This leaves me with some extra engines, wonder what I can do with them.
Monitor? Light cruiser?
Speaking of things no one has done...
Where do you go from a battleship and a ginormous space station?
I think I saw one of these in a movie
The saucer city thing has an issue with warping, as the glue or greenstuff dried it bent upwards. Not sure if I have a solution to that other than tearing it out and making another one... Anyway the Leviathan needs some more gribbling and such but that's the basic idea.
I imagine it counts as 3 Mars Cruisers added together. IE launch 12 squads, 3 nova cannons, 6 weapon batteries.
Did you order directly from soul dark? Are they safe to buy from?
I got a tracking number, I got the package and so far no one's charged any Russian hookers (who I hear from the highest authority are the best in the world) to my card so um... yeah?
Thanks. I saw they were selling recasts of the FWBFG escorts, and I've had some experiences in the past that make me wary of that kind of thing.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Is the Vanguard cruiser the one that looks like a Space Fleet cruiser, or is that the light cruiser? How do the Helios cruisers compare?
So yeah, not a model but some original art from Dark Future I won on ebay.
Never played the game but the Dark Future books are some of my favorites, full of satire and dark humor with characters like President Oliver North. The fact the dude has the Kyo from Kyoto on his shirt is just gravy.
An Imperial Landing craft, something that can carry 1000~2000 point army.
When I was looking the other day I found an old Dakka thread where someone was making a table-sized ship with Pegasus kits, does anyone remember that? I can't find it again!
Also there was a Games Day display years ago with a giant chaos lander where each side was dedicated to a different chaos god? Anyone know where to find pictures of that?
Sweeet, I would love to see you build a landing craft ! No idea on the multi pegasus project, but I believe the chaos lander you are refering to is from the french game day 2004 diorama. Linked page is unfortunately in french, but feature many pictures. Are you thinking of building something this scale ?
It's a project I've had in my head for a while, ideally a landing craft that also serves as an army carrying case (yes stupid).
Unfortunately the Mantic terrain I was thinking of for this seems OOP.
And thanks for the Chaos link, exactly what I was thinking of. I was wondering if it might work better to build vertically like a building or rocket rather than horizontally like a boat or plane.
I've been binging Toy Galaxy's YouTube channel recently; when I saw the Helicarrier picture in your inspiration, the first thing that came to my mind was "Three feet? The GI Joe USS Flagg was 7'6" back in '85. Step up your game, Hasbro."
I think the hold my entire army idea ain't going to work but of the (easy) options I've seen Aurora Dropship, Thunderbirds 2 and the Helicarrier look like the best.
Some more 'vertical' inspiration. Imagine a cross between a castle and an old-fashioned vertical rocket landing and troops and tanks spilling out the sides.
State of the painting table as I hit my last month or so in India.
A while back I tried scratch building some ork ships but never got inspired enough to finish them. Then I picked up some cheap Uncharted Seas minis called the Shroud Mages, some sort of steampunk evil dwarves. finally got around to them and they work perfectly!
The nice thing about Orks is when I have to detail the flat hulls the messiness and randomness actually looks right. So these are mullet ships, business up front and a party in the back.
I rather imagine orks yanking these loose from some space hulk then having to rebuild the drives and hull. Lots of fun to build and paint.
Also got around to painting some AA turrets I've had lying around for a while. Are these even legal in 8th?
Oh and info for a possible final project (or first project back in the US)
Well 2 winners. The easy way is to pick up an appropriate toy or model and mount a bunch of Armored Containers or tanks under it. I'm thinking the Helicarrer or maybe a Galactica model.
The second is a more elaborate scratch build along the lines of the Battletech dropship.
I have some sketches I'll put up later, maybe this will work better for Titanicus...
Of the recent pics you posted, I don't think I've ever seen that Chaos landing monstrosity ...
I think your Hellicarrier concept would be fantastic. And I'm now over at Pegasus in another tab trying to find that Mercury 9 model, which reminds me a LOT of a design that appeared on the back cover of one of the very first Starlord comics (before 2000 AD nabbed them). Probably showing my age there
>Warp emergence detected.
>Unknown vessel
>Mass in excess of 230 mega tons - Possible error - Recomputing... Please wait.
>Mass in excess of 230 mega tons - Confirmed
>Athena Class Cruisers Yuanqi and Dahui moving to investigate.
>Broadcast detected, unknown dialect.
>Access to Xenos Dialect Database Granted...
>Computing... Please wait.
>Translation complete [['ere we go! 'ere we go! 'into the 'ooiniverse!]]
>Ork presence confirmed, all ships break off investigation! Crimson alert! Use of vortex torpedoes authorized!
>Emperor preserve us all
Very cool find with that bird winged ship. I could definitely see it being an Eldar ship. The rest doesn't look very imperial, but to me the wings look suited to a 30k imperial ship transporting important people for the Imperium or something
Syro_ wrote: Very cool find with that bird winged ship. I could definitely see it being an Eldar ship. The rest doesn't look very imperial, but to me the wings look suited to a 30k imperial ship transporting important people for the Imperium or something
They could also work as Aquila Landers or fighters for Titanicus...
I don't know if I'll ever get around to making one but I settled on a design for a company-sized drop ship.
Presenting... The Argos!
The biggest influence for me was the Eagle moon lander, I like the 2 stage idea.
Basically there's a top level full of shield generators, antigrav systems, auspex, cognators, tech priests and Navy personnel. That's valuable and important. Then there's a lower level that's a hex-shaped box full of troops and tanks, less valuable and important. The whole thing drops, rolls over in mid air and lands. The bottom opens and troops spill out, while the top lifts off to get back into orbit. I figured that was a nice Grimdark touch, the important folks get to leave while the guard is abandoned.
Presumably there's a way to retrieve them if they win...
Kid, I'm loving these ship conversions, and your Ork Hulk is fantastic! Is this for BFG or I saw you mentioned Space Fleet further up the thread...please excuse my lateness to the party, I'm just coming back from a long hiatus. If it's for BFG, are the Ork ships cost prohibitive on the secondary market? Or did you just not like the aesthetics of the 'official' GW ships?
I'm really interested to see your 40k scale imperial lander...which will hold how many troops and support vehicles? You mentioned a 1000 to 2000 pt army. I'd love to see what you engineer for delivering Russes, Chimeras, and Sentinels along with all of their infantry.
My buddy Matt has a full Air Cav army, 3 or 4 valks with infantry squads, a Lightning, a couple of Vulcans with Punnishers, and a few heavy support squads for boots on the ground. I'm going to have to share your thread with him, since this lander may be right up his alley.
Thanks for the kind words!
@John - is there an Argos out there? I was just looking for a decent Greek name.
@Fango - For the Orks my issue was always that while the BFG designs are great, all the ships look the same since they're metal. The hulk was so much fun I may revisit the idea after the move and try making Ork ships completely from toys and plasticard.
@Kernal - Thinking about the lander it might be possible by stacking some plastic containers and then adding a ton of gribbles to the outside. Or maybe MDF laser cutting? Or 3d print an 8mm one for Titanicus? Well then I'd have to learn 3d sculpting wouldn't I...
Probably it's outside my current resources, time and storage space especially, but still cooking in the back of my head.
Well I've entered another odd year. I'm back in the US for 10 months or so before heading for my next job overseas.
As before 90% of my stuff went into storage until I arrive at my next job, just as well since Clan Kyoto is in a fairly small apartment for the duration.
This time I was a bit more generous to myself bringing one bitz box and some Space Fleet ships.
Still getting settled so not sure when I'll have more to show off, I decided to get some more Shroud Mages before they disappear and some of the cool Bandai Star Wars sets to make into BFG ships. Obviously they will require extensive conversion such as...
Now for the 'Oh God don't tell my wife or it's over' project. Had some free time last night and those Bandai Star Destroyers were just sitting there...
Stock build but omitted the command tower, probably the most identifiable element.
Fantastic kit, almost no filing, and everything fit perfectly!
Ship one, tentatively the ISS Bandai, will count as an Avenger grand cruiser, though it might actually be battleship sized.
And with her sister ship the ISS Takara.
The Deathwing bits are a bit of an ill fit, much less detailed than the kit or the scale would require. But I think painting will help and the flat surface gives me room for the ship name etc.
The square city in the center is a separate part so it is easy to do more extensive conversions if you're looking to hide the origin of the kit. The hull and deck are also different pieces so you could make a more ambitious 'sandwich' as well.
Such great kits, joys to work with.
I got mine in Kyoto appropriately enough but they seem readily available in the US.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: If anyone makes a 4" Venator I'll be glad to take a crack at it.
Couldn't swear to it but I think the old Titanium series model was under 4".
Making some more stations/defence platforms? I really love that Hawk space station kit, so much fun and interesting multi purpose bits, thanks for convincing me to buy it!
I had a similar idea going with Tropicana and some iced teas brand's caps that fit together. I was going to put a CD between them to make a Blind Tower/astropath relay station. Now it will just look like I was stealing your idea...unlike all those other times when I really was stealing your ideas.
Exclusive new model! Titanicus scale gothic star scraper, with optional landing pad for 8mm Valkyries. Molded in indestructible clear plastic for lighting effects!
The walls are from Trouble Maker games, available from Vanguard minis. They're scaled for 6mm but other than a ladder (which could be another detail really) they're pretty scale neutral.
The two gripes I have are that they come with a gothic window/roof tile that is harder to fudge scale-wise, and while they hold together well at 90 degree angles, linking them straight makes for a poor join. Hence the zig zag patterns.
But a fun kit and a decent price. I've wanted to make some random walls for a while that can serve as space ships corridors or a dungeon maze.
There's several options out now including Mad Robot's Space Police and of course the ever handy 'stick a skitarii head on a Tempustus' plan. So maybe the time has come for my Arbites army...
As for the ebay lot, I hope he's not resin, that would mean it's a recast. I guess I'll see in a few days.
Classic Adeptus Arbites models and Robocop 4 on the TV.
Now to see if my aged eyes can squint down enough to paint
I also find it inspirational to watch a movie while painting ... Here are my District 9 : MNU - inspired Kasrkin
I have to admit the music to the movie really helps too; the first couple of RoboCop movies features a score written by Basil Poledouris,
who also wrote the score to "Starship Troopers" amongst many classic, iconic movies such as Conan (1982) featuring a young Arnold ...
I Netflix some type of show or movie. Music usually stirs me to get up and move about. No dancing , just gets my blood pumping.....pump up the Jam......
My Thin Blue Line is getting a bit thicker thanks to a lucky ebay find.
Fluff - The Blue and Whites are a Com/Rel team, dedicated to ensure proper community relations between the Arbites and the public. Which in 40k means showing up in random places, searching everyone and everything and hauling off a good portion of the population as a message to the rest. Everyone is guilty, the question is how guilty. The colors are chosen for high visibility and intimidation.
The Black and Whites however are a Tar/Ex team, sent after a specific target sentenced to execution. They're more dedicated to stealth and firepower.
So I'm trying to turn the new Van Saar into Arbites.
Halfway through model #1 and I already hate this kit. A separate neck bit? Really? AND it's not compatible with any other GW heads? Gun arms in 3 pieces, including 2 halves of the rifle, all of which much line up perfectly?
Does GW hate conversions that much?
The models look great, and with enough green stuff and filing anything can fit anything, but still, this is needlessly frustrating.
I haven't really sat down to examine that kit yet, I had high hopes for some of the bits from it, but that does sound a bit nasty with the neck pieces.
Looking at that gun arm it looks like easy weapon swaps are also out?
monkeytroll wrote: I haven't really sat down to examine that kit yet, I had high hopes for some of the bits from it, but that does sound a bit nasty with the neck pieces.
Looking at that gun arm it looks like easy weapon swaps are also out?
Head swaps are doable with green stuff but the collars make it hard to mount helmeted heads.
Rifle swaps will be really hard, left hands are molded to the guns and they'd have to be cut away from the arms. The arms are on ball joints, which I like, but fitting any other GW arm will take filing, GS and probably not look too good. There are some one armed guns that might work for weapon swaps.
Another issue is that N17 went with the idea that every house has its own weapon style so none of the guns looks like any other Imperial weapon. Orlock and Goliath style is pretty close to the boxy Imperial guns we know and love but Van Saar is more anime/Infinity/bullpup looking.
All the better to sell you FW weapon packs I suppose?
I'm still on the first 5 models which I'd doing stock (except for the heads), I'll play around with the next 5 and have a better idea of what is possible.
Bit of a pallet cleaning exercise last night, raided the bitz box to make a squad of Gendarmerie to supplement the Arbites. These are normal planetary security who man check points, patrol the streets and investigate normal crimes that don't yet rise to the AA's level.
Cadian/Catachan/Empire bitz mostly.
And 2 penal legion troopers armed with crude slug throwers and a very limited supply of ammo. They'll get some mix of grey and orange rags.
Huh just noticed I have 5000 images in the gallery. Some of which are actually painted and based!
Some better shots of the Gendarmerie and Penal Legion.
Also a quick kitbash of Judicial Operative Baud 5-AW, or as the boys in the precinct house call him Bonesaw.
A neuro-chirurgeon seconded from the Adeptus Mechanicus Bonesaw is not only an expert at enhanced information retrieval but also a top contributor to the precinct house's body bank of usable organs. A truly valued member of the community.
It's a thought certainly but really the only way it would be practical would be if someone was selling some Valkyrie engines and wings and I then won the ebay auction.
First off my Van Saar to Arbites conversions, a simple head swap with Skitarii Vanguards.
(counting as Tempestus if I ever use them)
Really happy how they turned out can't wait to put some paint on.
Of course Arbites alone don't patrol the streets, the bulk of that duty falls to the endless ranks of the poorly equipped, poorly motivated and no doubt corrupt Planetary Security forces. But still, someone has to check out the screams coming from that deconsecrated temple right?
Rules wise they're IG conscripts which of course means I need 30 of them
Simple kitbash, Empire handgunners, IG heads and the long flintlock pistols from Empire Pistolliers. I like the scrawny Empire bodies, they manage to look good and hopeless.
Ambulance is a cheap Chinese toy that IMHO has the right boxy shape for low-end Imperial truck.
left to right - A Plan/Sec (Planetary Security) officer armed with a crude slug thrower. Counts as an IG conscript (yes I made 30 of them) he's one of the faceless thousands who patrol the streets hoping they find nothing tougher than a 13 year old with a spray can.
Gendarmerie Trooper - A local seconded from the PDF armed and trained to IG standards, they do the security and other jobs full Judges are not needed for.
Sit/Res (Situation Response) Judge - His squad responds to sudden situations, IE riots and protests with swift lethal force.
Com/Rel (Community Relations) Judge - Specialists in intimidation and shock, they descend on businesses, parks, hab units, basically anywhere and search everyone. They embody the philosophy that 'everyone is guilty, the only question is the degree'.
Tar/Strike (Targeted Strike) Judge - When an investigation identifies a target (or targets) a Tar/Strike team is airlifted to deal with it.
well...seeing the interior shot...i´m with you... but that small tower...get yourself a piece of styrofaom and carve in what details you like...and you´re set...
just saying...
I actually have a few of the small towers, they're great, just knock off the top tower and you can fit a 10 man squad. Easily worth the $5 to have something sturdy that i don't have to carve.
I'd probably gut the castle and use it as a case for the army...
Not yet but i am thinking of ways to convince Mrs Kyoto how much fun it will be to make a dolls house with Kyoto Secunda and her clone sister Kyoto Secunda Prime.
OK self, if you do well on your test Tuesday you can buy two bastions to celebrate.
And if you do poorly you can buy two bastions to cheer yourself up.
Somehow I convinced myself I like this kit... what was a I thinking?
Where the @#$% am I going to store this? How the @#$% am I going to paint it? Will the floors even work? I don't have enough of those little rivet rod things to join them!!!
Yeah the bastion kit is not the most user friendly, especially if you want to do any converting. That being said you seem to have made a good start on it!
You will definitely need some more bits for the floors, you could always just use a piece of plasticard/flat thing and then decorate it around the edges with the plastic floor sections?
I ordered extra floors from Hoard of Bits, but they didn't come with this one little 1mm wide bit that joins the gap between floor sections. I'm sure can do something with plasticard rods or strips but it's another complication and the building already has some weakness issues...
But I shall endure!
This isn't even the most ambitious building I have done...
The ambulance is a perfect size for a 40k van/truck/utility vehicle holding 6 people or so.
The APC is a bit small but could pass for a low-end Rhino/Chimera equivalent.
It's about the length of a Chimera but a bit thinner and shorter.
And certainly both will look fine buried in rubble, tipped on their sides or otherwise turned into scatter terrain. Even parked they'd work fine, blocking LOS to models and shielding tanks.
For this project some of the trucks will get my generic civilian brown livery, and will get white with a sign saying 'Inconspicuous White Van - Nothing to See Here, Move Along'.
The APCs will get the livery of Planetary Security, the local law enforcement who are the first to show up and get slaughtered by the bad guys.
Oh and they came with these...
I was momentarily tempted to use them as statues for some bizarre memorial but ended up binning them. Life's too short.
The trucks are cool, like them a lot. Where are they from?
The APC's I like, I would use them as scout vehicles, smaller units of men needing a smaller vehicle to skip around in.
And the guys I think I would maybe make them into some whakey vending machine, paint a screen where their face should be and make it look like it dispenses something. just a thought.
I would just like to say that if I ever said or implied that the Bastion is a good kit and fun to work with I apologize profusely...
What pain in the tuckas.
And because of a missing 2mm wide part I have this gap I'll have to cover with card but the card won't sit right because of the texture on the floor and ARG!
Nonetheless the Chief Justice approves.
Also got a small outbuilding with left over parts so there's that.
How about putting the card strip below rather than on top, creating a run-off channel type of affair? My bastion kit is buried under a ton of junk presently, not sure what the underside of those floor tiles is like.
What about using round styrene tubes, and thicker tubes at the rectangular sections? The gaps underneath might look more natural? Plus, you get to paint rust! Lots and lots of rust!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Or would a flat zip tie fit in the gap?
Note the elaborate conversion to turn them into proper autocannon Chimeras for Kreig!
While I was working on these I noticed this
The 'new' Chimera is 10 years old? 10 years?
Which also means it's been 10 years since GW refreshed the IG.
Anyway with these and with my new secret plan for the Fortress Precinct it seems I many have an army. Probably not a viable one, but a 40k army all the same.
Lots to do of course, rebasing, base painting, inking, highlighting... and finishing the models. But it's getting there.
Not bad for 'why don't I pick up 6 or 7 models and make a kill team'
I found a copy of the movie Hardbodies in the bargain bin last week and remembered it was a bad movie for acting and plot, but we loved it when it came out in the Infantry because it had a lot of pretty girls in swimsuits. And then it struck me that this was more than 3o years ago. The 90's were just 3 or 4 years ago? What happened to my 80's?
Nope- not even that much plot! Basically a lot of shots of a beach in California, young guy tries to teach old guys how to pick up chicks (who are so vapid and desperate that they fall for it)- typically early 80's T&A flick. _Very_ popular with a barracks full of GI's with the 'just got out of prison' haircut at a base near a small town that hates them. Closest most of us ever got to a pretty girl was the TV screen, and 'VCRs' were the newest thing!
Kid_Kyoto wrote: So... just out of curiosity, any way to improve the BS of a fortification? Stragies, psychics, orders, whatever?
I've decided Games Workshop rules are like the weather in New England - if you don't like them, just wait a little while, they'll change. Speaking of old time, there was a time when I thought it worth the trouble to memorize them all.
Textured bases are my new favorite thing in the multiverse. Seriously, I have not even tried to base an army in ten years, and I just did 60 models in a night.
The cages at $5 a pop will make nice scatter terrain or something to put behind a truck. Maybe hang from the Fortress Precinct? Throw some flagellents in and bob's your uncle.
Just started watching the 1984 version of Nineteen Eighty Four, I imagine Imperial Law as looking like that one paper but Brazil in practice.
Automatically Appended Next Post: As for bikes...
The only good rules I might use are Death Riders, in which case I'd use Empire Outriders once of my favorite kits of all time.
But I'll have to take a look when the bikes come out.
Bit of work on some other shelf warmers today, Bullgryns and 10 more Van Saar.
Lord have mercy! The soles of his feet are 2 separate parts? Does this accomplish something? I recall Ogres have this too, is there some technical reason?
Well it certainly can't get any worse than-
ARE YOU #$^*ing KIDDING me? The CIGAR is a separate bit? That's smaller than a pencil lead! Why? For mercy's sake why?
None of the arms are pose able they can only be glued to one specific torso and only in one position, the armor only fits on one specific torso... but you made the cigar and soles of the feet separate...
Feh.
But the results are decent enough.
And will look even better with the shields. Which the instructions tell you to glue on before painting... because they assume we're all triple-jointed gold demon winners...
Also starting my second box of Van Saar to Arbites conversions. This one should have some more interesting variations.
Looking at your Centaurs, I am shocked you didn't just pick up 1/54 scale WWII Universal Carriers and add some 40k bits. These are $11 on eBay at 1:54 scale, and the Centaurs are pretty much a straight copy of these.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh. Forgot to say, your stuff looks great though! Really motivating to see that many well converted models.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Once I dropped $$$ on OOP Arbites metal I figured I may as well make a GW compliant army.
Otherwise I'd have gone with Anvil or Mad Robot who make better and cheaper space cops.
And the Centaurs were about $20 a pop on bitz sites since I just needed the treads and hull.
More than fair enough, I can't say anything though... I have spent far more on 20 brand new Tallarn Rough Riders than I would like to admit. I love the old school cool feeling of your army though, I can't wait to see a group shot when it is "done" (because projects like this are never done haha).
It is so frustrating when building something and all the screws are different sizes needing differ screwdrivers/heads. It certainly looks like you persevered thought. It's a real shame about those model kits allowing no creativity, we wouldn't have gotten to see that cool space hulk if weren't able to be creative.
OK not to harp on the Bullgryns but harp, harp, harp...
You can fit 4 of them in a Chimera so they're sold in packs of... THREE! The kit has 3 weapon options, 2 shield options and optional suits of armor, and makes a special character!
Was all this really necessary? Couldn't they just add some mismatched armor to the base bodies, then have the shields and shoulder pads? Do we really need the ripper guns and grenade gauntlets? It just seems the kit needed a good hard look before they made the sprues, it could easily have had 4 or 5 in the box.
Don't get me started on the odd number hotdogs per package versus rolls in a bag!
More seriously, in this case it may be an oversight or catch-up on GW's part- they have tried to make a lot of their other IG kits more flexible to get people to keep buying them.
Your ideas are right along those line: instead of having complete specialty figures, have a base figure that you can customize (maybe even magnetize) so you can use those expensive models in multiple roles.
Some work on the Chief Justice and some of his associate justices.
Empire Bright Wizard, Volk or something the high priest, and two old artillery engineers soon to be two officers and two priests.
Needs inking but this should work.
Also got the Champ Industries bases, as someone said they're a hair bigger than GW bases but fine for my purposes. Should make up an IG squad this weekend to test.
Yeah when I think about all the times I did a bitz order because I needed a gun or some other small thing, then I looked on Thingverse and even without printing whole armies and fleets it looks like I could find just about any bit I need.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I should note the white girl is a bones figure for scale, not Shapeways.
What do you mean the $50 Leman Russ kit does not have a heavy stubber or dozer blade?!?
For #$%^ing real?
You include tow hooks and loops but left off two vital options?
Half the damn box is empty air, AND you made a tank accessory sprue already, why not spend the extra 25 cents on plastic and throw it in!?!?!?
(note - I know the answer, because you can charge $15 for it)
But is the small number of folks who'll go and mail order the accessory sprue worth the lost good will?
(note - I know the answer to that too, GW has always shortchanged people on options and I'm still here decades later, and yes I thought about it for about 20 seconds)
ARG!
Edit - Oh FFS no Hunter Killer Missile either? Yeah, yeah anything can be scratch built if you've got the time but still...
Was the tank sprue included at some point and then removed? I don't remember being this annoyed when I built them years ago.
Miguelsan wrote: Did you make the I yourself or shopped around for one to suit your needs?
M.
The big I is from Shapeways, the links a page or two back. The guy also has other factions. Too big for the side of the bunker but it'll fit on the roof.
More minute progress on the motorpool and the Brute Squad.
Nothing too impressive yet but bit by bit...
Happy with how the tank commander is coming along. Yes it's another "Drive me closer, I want to hit them with my sword".
Fun night of watching Sherlock and building space ships. Ultraman and Yamato kits from Bandai. Always such a pleasure to build their models, everything just fits so well!
I'm not sure what the Jr Yamato ships are supposed to be, all I can find online is ''Wave Motion Experimental Ship Ginga" which seems a fine name. They're basically Yamatos but with a dome in the center which I'll just assume is the rose garden and conservatory.
They're 5" long so battleship sized for BFG, the Apocalypse class fits, prow nova cannon, dorsal weapon batteries and side lances. I could have done more to 40k-ize them, the prows are separate so is the bridge so easy to add angels and skulls. But I like them as is.
The 2 retro ships are Ultraman models, probably count as Tau.
The last one is some successor ship to the Yamato, 2 wave motion guns AND it wears an aircraft carrier as a hat Probably Tau too, maybe the Explorer Class.
Nice. And yes, Bandai kits are great, those and Kotobukiya in particular, so satisfying to put together (even if I don't put them together in the intended configurations ).
Do like the successor with the carrier hat, it's important to have a flashy hat for those big engagements.
I just hope they make more variants with a destroyer as a hat, a submarine and of course a cruise liner for important diplomatic missions.
The kits are VERY Japanese, not just because everything fits together perfectly, but also because each part has a unique connector, so on the rocket there are 3 identical boosters, but each has a different tab so there's no way you could accidentally put the top booster on the left side or whatever. It wouldn't make a difference mind you, but it would be wrong. So it can't be allowed.
In Japanese, different and wrong are the same word. I've never found a more telling example of language reflecting culture.
(Hindi having yesterday and tomorrow as the same word comes close)
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Lord Borat's mass conveyor and some Bandai kits.
Yeah, I also Googled that, and didn't find it.
I re-searched on just "mass conveyor" and was able to figure out which model it was. For how it's described in the fluff (12km long), the model should be significantly larger than a BFG Battleship (8 km long).
If you scale the ships, it should be basically twice the length of an Imperial Cruiser. The UMC cargo blocks should be sized 6 weapon blocks wide and 3 weapon blocks tall. An Apocalypse-class Battleship should be able to fit inside the cargo area of a Universe-class Mass Conveyor.
BFG scales have always been totally inconsistent. Planets are tiny compared to ships. Ordnance is gigantic. Escorts are also relatively big when compared to cruisers or battleships.
Just picked up Proxie Miniatures brick walls. He made them for Hero Clix but I see a lot of uses for 40k.
You get 14 walls, each about 1.5"x2" and they fit together Lego-like.
The doorway bit is small but it could work, you can always add battle damage and make it a hole.
The window is a perfect height for a fire port.
The ruined wall actually has a set of bricks that fit perfectly if you want to restore it. Otherwise you have a pile of bricks for dressing up terrain!
I give 5 bricks out of 5!
Now I just need a few hundred propaganda posters to hang on them.
When I saw the pics in the gallery (This Week section) I thought at first you were casting the wall sections with Linka molds. They are very similar in size and look, are scaled for HO/OO trains, so about 20mm. Very usable for 28mm gaming.
I've bought things from Proxie before too though- very nice things.
Looking forward to seeing what you make with these- with the bricks that fit the 'ruined' section, I would think it would be pretty straightforward to make a superhero smashing through a wall vignette.
@Meer Cat the walls are going to pretty basic L shapes, easy to scatter on any table and make cover/LOS blocking etc. And they're a handy place to hand propaganda posters!
Counts as Victory Class Battleship (nova cannon and lances). Not sure about the lances on the side... Might chop them back off. Like how the eagles fit though.
Chaos Despoiler class. ISD bridge to change the lines a bit.
My friends, the question should not be, can we make a Hellhound and paint it like a fire truck.
No.
The question should be, how can we not make a Hellhound and paint it like a fire truck.
F-451 Squads are a vital part of any Arbites Precinct charged with locating and incinerating proscribed texts, and when necessary, their owners. Teams of Firemen are carefully selected for both their inability to read the written word, and their disinterest in learning how to do so.
Left over bits from my Centaurs and bunkers, a bits order for the lower hull and tracks, and one Diet Coke bottle cap.
Well it’s a good thing that it’s AOS now and they are no longer Horses but are now Hworyseas or sum such thing . I still have 4-5 copies of all the battlemaster horses like those to paint up . At least mine are in yellow and blue if I remember correctly.
, just gets my blood pumping.....pump up the Jam......
