While I will be preserving the old intro below for nostalgia's sake, I feel a new intro for the front of the page is necessary. This blog will contain all of my WIP's including my Alcatran 88th Imperial Guard (Lots of pics!) as well as my Tau Swamp Fighters, My (barely) post-heresy Death Guard, and my growing Tyranid Swarm.


Now back to the blog as it all started:


Hi Dakkanauts,

I have decided that if I am to complete the monumental task ahead of me (First new army in 10ish years!) I will need a thread to keep myself motivated, get some feedback, and possibly advice.

My project is an IG army based around the hive world of Alcatran. This world was mentioned as a footnote in the 5th edition IG codex. The Alzatraz reference was immedietly apparent. I envisioned a mix of penal squads along with hive gangers and a well equipped security force to keep everyone in line.

I will be trying a large range of techniques and tools that I have not tried before, from wet-palette blending, to airbrushing, to army painter quickshade. I picked up a ton of tools and models, figuring if I am going to do this then I will do it right.

Wish me luck... I will need it.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Well... I put together my Penal Squad tonight. I think they look pretty decent. I can't wait to put a brush to them, alas that will have to wait for nearly a week because I will be fishing in Canada next week for my father's 75th birthday. (I know... such a chore right?)



That is just a little group shot. The album below has closeups.

http://s1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd369/_RabidFerret_/Penal%20Squad/

That'll be an interesting army to paint. I'll definately be tracking that one.
Good luck!

So I have returned from vanquishing the mighty Coho and Chinook salmon to complete my basecoating.

I decided to try The Army Painter's Qucikshade. I selected the Dark Tone for its purportedly comic book feel.

The two methods I could use are dip or splash on. If I want to go quick and dirty I could just dip or slow and cautious and I could brush it on. Fortune favors the bold... why not! I will dip the minis and report back in 24 hours to give the results.

For reference, here is what they look like pre-dip. There is no shading at all, I merely base coated and then carefully painted in the details. I am sure this would be much faster on simpler models but I like the character of my penal squad.



Man I hope I don't mess this up!

looking good man, will defo be keeping an eye on this one...

Ok... So I think they look pretty good. The eyes though... I went overboard on them. They look pretty crazy. If they weren't a barely controlled group of maniacs this might look odd.

I will probably re-do the eyes. Yeah.

So what do you think? The quickshade turned out pretty good for what it is. Easy tabletop quality, which is what i am going for. I am not using it on any characters or more important models for sure. Not what I would want for display, but in a pinch it is a fast and easy way to get some decent looking models and not have to play with a gray sprue themed army.

Next up are my veterens. Going for kind of a halo ODST meets swat team look for these guys. Time to get modeling!

EDIT: I will be repainting the trim on the bases because it is pissing me off.

I think they look great - other than the eyes. I was imagining orange jumpsuits over blue, but the shade you chose is perfect.

Great job, they look really cool to me. I´m currently working with Penal legion, I might borrow some details from you

Very nice. These are quite a piece. Keep up the good work.

These are great , my type of models cant wait to see more.

Great job.

While there are a few areas of flesh that make it look like the inmates bathed in motor oil, the quickshade generally did a pretty decent job on the skin. The clothes, though, I absolutely love. That guardsman's pants really give it a comic book feel and, I must say, it works.

Stokleplinger wrote:I think they look great - other than the eyes. I was imagining orange jumpsuits over blue, but the shade you chose is perfect.

Yeah orange was my first thought as well, but I see it so much. Most of the penal squads that I see are orange. I figured I would try something different. Also I can see that orange = prison might not have stayed the same by the 41st millenium.

I am glad you like them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

oadie wrote:While there are a few areas of flesh that make it look like the inmates bathed in motor oil, the quickshade generally did a pretty decent job on the skin. The clothes, though, I absolutely love. That guardsman's pants really give it a comic book feel and, I must say, it works.

Yeah, you know I feel the same way about the flesh. I thought about going over it with a traditional flesh buildup and highlight but that would go against what I was trying for. Quick, simple and dirty. I am going to quickshade all the infantry in the army and airbrush the tanks. The eyes still need to go however.

Once this project is complete I plan on either Orks painted more traditionally or BA painted with the utmost care to make a real display worthy army. I am also thinking of a speed painting project: 2000pits of 'nids in 2 weeks. I did that before with necrons and they looked pretty good (Was a Metallic Green, Bone and Silver color scheme).

These guys look great , apart from the eyes the only suggestion I could add would be to add Tattoos as I imagine even prisonsers in the future would keep up the tradition of Jailhouse tats.

Celtic Warrior wrote:These guys look great , apart from the eyes the only suggestion I could add would be to add Tattoos as I imagine even prisonsers in the future would keep up the tradition of Jailhouse tats.

DRAT! A missed opportunity... Not sure how I missed it. I think perhaps in trying to keep this a fast painting style. Thanks for checking them out.

I think the eyes could work if you added bloodshot...edness, if you don't want to completely repaint them. Looking good!

Ok so these guys are more of a cross between SWAT and Halo ODST. They are my veterans there are 3 different melta variants in the squad. I will be using the same process on these. Basecoat, Detail, Quckshade, Finishing Touches. Going to try and get these guys done this week, and maybe get started on my Astropath. (No quickshade on this one!)


Until next time.

Ok, So I just need to base my Vets and they are ready for the Dip. I think they look solid. I am pretty happy with the color scheme. I will be more careful about where my shade pools and brush it out while I still can. I will base them tonight and tomorrow they go in. I will post the finished results once they are dried and anti-shined.



Now I sleep...

Dip is underway. I will post pics in 24 hours.

Those look really good! Can't wait to see what new squad will look like after dip.

I'm liking this! The only thing you could do is drill out the gun barrels.

Tyranid Horde wrote:I'm liking this! The only thing you could do is drill out the gun barrels.

I drilled out the barrels before I dipped them. They are drying right now after the matte varnish. I will post the completed vets soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok so the dip is done. I am happy with them. I think I may do another batch of them soon. Perhaps shotties? Maybe make a couple plasma as well so I can run shotties with melta and lasguns with plasma? hmm...



EDIT: Probably should have used a flash on these. Oops.

Next up I will either work on my Astropath or my foot sloggers. (My mech and foot troops are a bit different.)

Ok so I have completed my first mech squad. I am still in love with quickshade and aside from characters I think I will be using it for the whole army. I like the way these guys turned out. Next I will move on to my conscripts/footsloggers (depending upon my mood)
I also have converted up a pretty fun looking command squad. I will be doing these both at the same time. I will have some progress posted soon.





/cheers

Paint the edge of the base black and dry brush some earth on the pebbles and they'll be good to go!

Yeah I am going to trim the excess off the base on the ML as well. I just was in a hurry to put em up. I painted around the bases a bit with the Penal Squad. If you look at the pic with the three squads you can see the difference. I think I will drybrush the bases though. Probably will do like 10+ squads in one session when I get around to it.

Thanks for watching!

Dude. Heck yes! They are themey and look brilliant and simple.

They are looking good. The main probelm I see is that they blend a little too effectively into the base. I think you could do a quick once over on the bases to help the models pop a bit more.

Flinty wrote:They are looking good. The main probelm I see is that they blend a little too effectively into the base. I think you could do a quick once over on the bases to help the models pop a bit more.

Thanks.

Yeah, I will be drybrushing over these a bit to help the minis stand out.

I really like the look of these,great job. It's a very clean paintjob, I would usually say to highlight the black, but these don't need it.

Pennywise wrote:I really like the look of these,great job. It's a very clean paintjob, I would usually say to highlight the black, but these don't need it.

yeah... quickshade is some amazing stuff. I think I will be using this for any army I do not care to lavish attention on. Tyranids are my next and I plan on doing those in quick succession over a weekend or two.

Well I decided to show what I can do when I am NOT using quickshade by painting up my Company Commander AKA The Warden.

I went for extreme highlights to allow him to fit into the sort of comic book feel I am going for. He was a lot of fun to paint. First time I have tried battle damage on something that is not a tank and also the first time I have painted bloody bandages. He was a blast. The rest of the command HQ will be fun as well. Astropath and Master of Ordinance are ready to go.






/cheers

Hi Rabid Ferret , really liking your work the model without quickshade looks great , a quick question would you be able to tell me which paint / colours you use for basecoating the penal squad before using quickshade as i would like to give this a go on a renegade army.

Great job so far be sure to post more .

~UnDeAd~

This is really cool! The painting is simple yet awesome. The captain looks wicked!

Looking good, i wasnt keen on those halo esq heads but seeing yours painted up on cadians they look good

No problem. The Penal Squad was primed Black and then painted with only a basecoat, no highlights or shading at all.

The colors I used were Mordian Blue for cloth, Charadon Granite for any plate, a 50/50 mix of Adeptus Battle Grey and Chaos Black for any black parts, Chainmail for the metals and a 1:2 mix of Dwarf Flesh and Dheneb Stone for the flesh.

Have at it. I am glad you liked the Warden as well. I am a decent painter when I have the time. This is an experiment in limited time productivity. (Working 40+ hours a week, completing my BA and I have 2 small kids)

Trying to see how quickshade helps me pump out an army with limited time to spend. Thanks for the view.

STAY TUNED:

Up next are my hive gang inspired footsloggers/blob squad. Catachan and Pig Iron parts. (I am starting to hate the Catachan models for their assembly btw...) Should be complete tomorrow night.

/cheers

-Ferret


Automatically Appended Next Post:

SirGordonblixt wrote:This is really cool! The painting is simple yet awesome. The captain looks wicked!

Glad you are a fan of the Warden. I am kind of stoked to get a bit of lore posted on the lot of them. Got something interesting in mind. Thanks for looking!

Hey thanks for the help Rabid Ferret , do you use a wet pallet when painting your models ?

I cannot wait to see your gang inspired footsloggers / blob squad it will be great to see how they turn out , i also am not too kean on the way catachans fit together but once they are finished i am always time i took the time to model them as they always have a great outcome.

Thanks.

~UnDeAd~

This thread is awesome! First up, congrads on your first new army in 10+ years, old gamer here as well and have been filling in holes of old armies to meet new rules (I stopped playing in early '99 and just picked it back up this year so my armies were ranging from outdated to completely obsolete) but I've recently been looking at painting up that Traitor Guard army I've always wanted.

What is this Quickshade you keep mentioning? Is it this stuff?

http://www.thewarstore.com/product39120.html

I've never heard of it (like I said, I crawled out from under a rock again only recently) but if this is what you have been using then someone is getting even more of my money very soon. I've been using the GW washes so far but I'm always willing to try something new.

I've saved this thread and will be back. Consider me inspired.

Love these, they look wonderfully dark and sinister, especially with those bases.
I don't know if it was intentional but the eyes on the penal squad look great an demented (those that are visible)
It may work here but I'd watch out if you were painting eyes onto normal troopers, just connect them to the top and bottom of the eyes. That is all.
Once again love it. Lovely shade of blue.

Imp. Monkey

SO subd...

~UnDeAd~ wrote:Hey thanks for the help Rabid Ferret , do you use a wet pallet when painting your models ?

I cannot wait to see your gang inspired footsloggers / blob squad it will be great to see how they turn out , i also am not too kean on the way catachans fit together but once they are finished i am always time i took the time to model them as they always have a great outcome.

Thanks.

~UnDeAd~

Yes I do use a wet palette. Yeah the Catachans are annoying... They look good so far though. Going to dull coat them and post them soon. Thanks for watching.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:This thread is awesome! First up, congrads on your first new army in 10+ years, old gamer here as well and have been filling in holes of old armies to meet new rules (I stopped playing in early '99 and just picked it back up this year so my armies were ranging from outdated to completely obsolete) but I've recently been looking at painting up that Traitor Guard army I've always wanted.

What is this Quickshade you keep mentioning? Is it this stuff?

http://www.thewarstore.com/product39120.html

I've never heard of it (like I said, I crawled out from under a rock again only recently) but if this is what you have been using then someone is getting even more of my money very soon. I've been using the GW washes so far but I'm always willing to try something new.

I've saved this thread and will be back. Consider me inspired.

Yes this is the stuff precisely. Great stuff. Smells terrible and it is hydrophobic to the extreme so you need to use turpentine to clean it up but it looks great. I tried minwax before and it is not the same.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Imperial Monkey wrote:Love these, they look wonderfully dark and sinister, especially with those bases.
I don't know if it was intentional but the eyes on the penal squad look great an demented (those that are visible)
It may work here but I'd watch out if you were painting eyes onto normal troopers, just connect them to the top and bottom of the eyes. That is all.
Once again love it. Lovely shade of blue.

Imp. Monkey

LOL I would love to say that the eyes were intentional... They are growing on me though.

I am glad you like them!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

inmygravenimage wrote:SO subd...

/CHEERS!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are my ex-hive gang footsloggers. Any large infantry blob squad that I will use will probably revolve around these guys. Sacrificial lambs to the slaughter. I can already see some major issues with these guys. I never really cleaned up the mold lines, for example. But these guys were quick to paint and after-all this was an exercise in getting a table top quality army not a showpiece.



I think next I may do another IC, the Astropath or Master or Ordinance. Perhaps a tank or two with my airbrush... any thoughts?

Wow they have got to be my favourite of the lot so far , they look so good with those masks on , im not too sure on the tank idea seeing as you are using quickshade but i am really not sure how it would turn out may turn out great , besides that doyou have any ideas of upcoming squads ?

Thanks for update looking great so far.

~UnDeAd~

Finished my Master of Ordinance and forgot my camera. I shall retrieve it tomorrow. I think he is my best model yet. Could be I am just glad do have him complete. You be the judge tomorrow. /tatafornow

Love the idea of this army. The dudes look like cell mates! Great work so far!

Hokay! Here is my completed Master of Ordinance. Yes? No? Ick? F*** Yeah? What is the verdict? I kinda like him. He may be my favorite mini so far out of the completed Alcatran forces.





I am waiting on some more Pig Iron heads from The War Store so I might do a couple more command squad members before I move on to more squads and the vehicles.

The idea of airbrushing my tanks for the first time has me a little intimidated as I have NEVER airbrushed before. Any tips?

I DO have a Forge World Armageddon Pattern Medusa to assemble and paint... hmm


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Element206 wrote:Love the idea of this army. The dudes look like cell mates! Great work so far!

Thanks mate. I am glad you like them. Also... SEATTLE HELL F*** YES! Although Austin is pretty nice. Not sure if I would like to live in Texas though. Way too

Ok my verdict on that model has to be F*** Yeahh , the model looks great and i think that it will really stand out. im not sure about airbrushing but im sure i have seen some great tutorials in the tutorials section.

great work as always keep it up.

~UnDeAd~

nice guardsmen you got. subscribed! I like that vox dude. Big up.

I just went through this thread again, it's inspiring. Really makes me twitch and want to pull out my IG bitz and put a unit together just to paint them... but I have so many other projects right now I'm going to be responsible and resist.

Instead I'll live vicariously through this thread. Looking forwards to seeing more of your work. And thanks for the confirmation on the quickshade, ordering some!

Here is an update! Yay!

Ok so I finished my Astropath. I think she turned out rather well. I stuck with the fluffy green as the robe colors but kept the re-breather from my theme and I stuck with the same shading technique and basing to let her fit in with the army. Also, yes she is blind like all Astropaths. And yes she has a book. In the grim darkness of the future there is still a market for braille!





Next I think I will do my Master of the Fleet. I still need to wait for more heads to become in stock at www.thewarstore.net

Until next time!

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:I just went through this thread again, it's inspiring. Really makes me twitch and want to pull out my IG bitz and put a unit together just to paint them... but I have so many other projects right now I'm going to be responsible and resist.

Instead I'll live vicariously through this thread. Looking forwards to seeing more of your work. And thanks for the confirmation on the quickshade, ordering some!

Hehe thanks!

Light on that Flying Skull looks awesome, you have a really clean looking painting style!

astropath looks great, i like the robes. what mini is she based on?

Calibanite Lion wrote:astropath looks great, i like the robes. what mini is she based on?

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/Cleric/sku-down/65062#detail/14328_G

I am looking at converting a few others. Still need a primaris and a battle psyker squad. Also might convert up a rogue trader and retinue.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Tortured-Robot wrote:Light on that Flying Skull looks awesome, you have a really clean looking painting style!

Thanks. It was a lot of fun to paint.

Getting some magnets from KJ Magnetics. I have decided to magnetize my Tanks, Valyries, Sentinels and any other vehicles that I can.

Also... trying out the airbrush. Testing on a Chimera I planned on soaking in Super Clean or Simple Green anyways. Think I am figuring out the mix ok.

Getting the primer off with simple green is a pain in the arse...

The paint came of nicely though. I think I will soak it some more. Found an old Female Commisar model as well. I think I will be adding her. I will be assembling the ForgeWorld Medusa soon as well.

Plus... the magnets have arrived. How do they work again?

Still here and still reading. The stuff you have done so far truly is inspirational in the literal sense. I've taken your PIP "gas mask" idea and am applying it to a squad of Plague Marines that I'm putting together and I'm absolutely going to get some quickshade as soon as I stop spending $$$ on a few other things I need.

I really like this thread a lot and there's so much here that is good. Really looking forward to seeing where this goes next and also looking forward to showing off the project it helped inspire / support.

WOW good to hear. Let me know when you get it started! I will be watching.

Lookin awsome m8

Just 1 question..

Rabid Ferret wrote:Ok, So I just need to base my Vets and they are ready for the Dip. I think they look solid. I am pretty happy with the color scheme. I will be more careful about where my shade pools and brush it out while I still can. I will base them tonight and tomorrow they go in. I will post the finished results once they are dried and anti-shined.



Now I sleep...

Where did you get the veteran helmets? 0.o Looks awsome and might be just what I need when i start my Harakoni Warhawks imperial guard

Dylwar wrote:Lookin awsome m8

Just 1 question..


Where did you get the veteran helmets? 0.o Looks awsome and might be just what I need when i start my Harakoni Warhawks imperial guard

http://www.thewarstore.com/product29992.html

Pig Iron Productions. They are pretty nice. The legs are space marine scout legs.

I love the prison theme! BTW what colours did you use for the skin?

On the quickshaded minis it was a base of Dheneb Stone (just because flesh over black is a pain) and then Dwarf flesh or elf flesh depending upon the look is was going for. On the layered and highlighted minis it was a base of Dheneb Stone and then dwarf flesh with increasing amounts of bleached bone added with each highlight layer. The final highlight was dwarf flesh and skull white. After the first two layers I did a wash of Khemri Brown and Dwarf flesh.

Hope this helps. Glad you like them.

INCOMING!!!!!

Alcatran pattern Chimeras, a Leman Russ and a Manticore all airbrushed last night. Got me some Tamiya weathering powder and I am going to post some WIP pics as I crank these out. Should have the first batch of pics up tonight.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here they come!

All my tanks freshly airbrushed and ready to go.

The Alcatran Pattern Chimeras are my fav so far. Two have pintle heavy stubbers one has a pintle auto laser (counts as storm bolter) and one has a turret mounted hunter killer missile.

Once these are dry I am going to go to town detailing and weathering. Thoughts?



Manticore



Leman Russ



Alcatran Pattern Chimera w/ hunter killer and rough terrain mod



Alcatran Pattern Chimera w/ improved coms and heavy stubber



Alcatran Pattern Chimera w/ autolaser (counts as storm bolter)



Alcatran Pattern Chimera w/ heavy stubber



Group Shot

i love how old crow turrets look on chimeras

Thank you for this. I saw the Old crow stuff the other day but I did wonder what they may look like in comparison with 40k tanks. Also gotta love Pig Iron, I have the System trooper heads on my old metal scouts, kinda makes them look like Star Wars Imperial jetbikers.

Lennysmash wrote:Thank you for this. I saw the Old crow stuff the other day but I did wonder what they may look like in comparison with 40k tanks. Also gotta love Pig Iron, I have the System trooper heads on my old metal scouts, kinda makes them look like Star Wars Imperial jetbikers.

Yeah some of the old crow stuff works out pretty nice. His gun attachment to the turret takes a heavy stubber barrel nicely for a built in stubber rather than pintle. His models are decent quality, inexpensive and the turrets work well. I have not seen the vehicles up close but the scale is a little smaller I believe.

I made some progress on my Manticore. I think I am going to finish it tonight or tomorrow. So far I am liking how it has turned out. Need to do a lot of work on the ordinance and some detailing. The airbrush really helped me get to the part of painting that I like. Can't beat an airbrush for a fast base coat.

And now the finished Manticore. I am rather proud of how this turned out. I am now in love with Tamiya weathering powder and I think I may have just become a real tread head...







Thoughts? I like the way the orange turned out as a contrast for the fins... I am thinking of using it on my Leman Russ and possibly to differentiate other vehicles. Perhaps as an accent of the Valkyries?

Hi man.
Looks great so far - both your infantry and tanks
Hope you can inspire me to get some tabletop infantry painted!

Those turrets for the chimeras - Crow or what do you call them? - where can one get those?

LordofMuck wrote:Hi man.
Looks great so far - both your infantry and tanks
Hope you can inspire me to get some tabletop infantry painted!

Those turrets for the chimeras - Crow or what do you call them? - where can one get those?

Right here: http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/

Small operation and he can take a while to get your stuff out. Inexpensive though and worth the wait.

Visiting again. I like the conversions on your armor. Your army is distinctly unique and very cool!

My PIP heads are still not here! I ordered them Nov 23rd. Website says allow up to 4 weeks for delivery. Curious if you ordered direct from PIP and if so, how long did it take to arrive? I know it's the holidays and all that, just looking for a realistic expectation. If it took you as long I'll give them until after the first of the year. If they arrived sooner I think I'll send them an email if they are not here tomorrow.

Yeah... this time of year is probably pretty brutal. I got two batches. One from TheWarStore and the other direct. TheWarStore took less than a week and PIP took like 2 weeks I believe. This time of year though... might want to give them some time.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to wait until after the holidays are done. Not sure why that matters seeing how a month passed *before* the holidays, but yeah, I'll give it another week.

Putting thread back on track, what's on deck for your next project? Any sneak peaks? Regarding detail / weathering on the armor, I've always seen the IG as highly utilitarian and adaptive when in the field, and the fluff has a lot of examples of this. I'm thinking WWII diorama details, like dirty hull, impromptu gear stowage, etc. I'm not talking about being caked in mud so much gear that it looks like an Ork Trukk on moving day, just enough to add an add'l splash of flavor to an already amazing force.

Great work on the manticore.

How much were the tamiya weathering powders you got?

I'm looking to pick up some powders, and not sure what brand to pick up. (I've heard of the MiG ones, and now tamiya and FW)

http://www.thewarstore.com/TamiyaWeathering.html

They are awesome. You get a lot of use out of just one weathering powder set.

Been far too long...

OK! Time to get my Medusa going.

I got this little guy from ForgeWorld. After some hassle I got it unwarped and trimmed. Immersing in hot water was needed to bend it into shape. A bit of airbrushing and I have it ready to roll. More to come.









I will be doing the major assembly tonight and I will start detailing tomorrow.

I must saw I've always loved both the Griffon and Medusa models. Seeing this though Medusa h.mortars are now my fav IG tank. Look forward to seeing this puppy completed.

The medusa, it turns out is missing a part... the top hatches. I have them coming from FW. While I do question their quality control, their customer service is great. So I decided to take on another task to keep me busy.

I WILL DRINK BEER!!!!



oh and I will also paint 70+ guardsmen in one fell swoop! Assembly line style. Do I win masochist points for this one?




Remember. I am going for tabletop quality. Reference my Mechanized Squad to get an idea of what the end will look like.



Ignore the bases... I have not cleaned them up yet.

Actually I really like those bases, they look like some far off planet, a nice change from the stone and grass ones you so often see. Plus it links in with the gas masks, they are on a world where the ground is rich in (insert toxic chemical tht would turn ground odd colour) and so must wear the masks. They are looking really good an coming along quicker than my guard (although time isn't on my side with prelims and such...)

Yeah, they are from a prison world called Alcatran which is a forced labor manufactorium. They produce arms and armor to be sent off world. The main planet is a super earth with high gravity, rich in minerals and a choking atmosphere from all the waste and smog. There is a non-prisoner civilian population of over 8 billion people. There is also a prisoner population to match it. Most of the population is in three large hive cities, one of which serves as the prison. The regular infantry of the Alcatran are the normal guarsmen and also corrections officers of the prisons of Alcatran. The Conscripts of Alcatran come from Hive Gangs offered service rather than hard time for convictions.

There is also an Ultramax Security Division of Alcatran located on its small moon Ophan. Some of the worst criminals in the sector end up here. In the minority of imperial planets that do NOT have a death sentence, one of the most severe penalties that may be imposed on the most dangerous offenders is to be sent for multiple life sentences to Ophan. This moon has a mean diameter of 16km and is almost entirely hollowed out with the prison filling the empty space created here. It is hard to see where the moon ends and the prison begins. The Penal Squads of Alcatran come from Ophan and represent the one chance that anyone has to leave Ophan alive. The veteran squads of Alcatran come from Ophan as well. They are the highly trained corrections officers that deal with the sector's worst prisoners on a daily basis. They conduct extensive zero-g training and excel at boarding operations due to their lockdown training. If there is ever a security breach on Ophan, the artificial gravity is cut off along with the power. The veteran correctional officers then secure the facility using their zero-g training skills and thermal vision. At close range during boarding operations, urban warfare, or other close range skirmish an Alcatran Veteran Correctional officer can be nearly as effective as the Astartes in a firefight if, less adaptable.

Looking good. Like the color scheme.

Beer looks tasty as well. :-)

im really impressed with the way they turned out post dip.
great work keep it up.

That really is some great fluff. The way you describe Ophan it instantly reminds me of Crematoria in the Riddick Universe.

Love the troops colour scheme too, did you say you dipped them? Which shade?

All but the command squad were dipped in The Army Painter Quickshade Dark Tone. It has been a test in how fast I can get stuff painted while keeping a reasonable tabletop quality. Glad you like the fluff BTW.

The horde progresses. It is rough to paint so many at once but I am in the home stretch and I want to get the army complete. Painting a high model count army can be brutal.





Getting the base colors in and now I will be moving on to detailing. Finally the dip. I am learning a lot of shortcuts to speed this up too. I am doing all my Melta gunners together, then my Plasma, then Flamers, then Sergeants etc.

I like how your guardsmen look. Like the blue and the color scheme overall. Good luck on the mass production line. You seem to be having a better go at it then I ever have.

I have to say I laughed out loud when I saw your beer and Guardsmen post. You are insane. I am in the process of the "assembly line" w/ 56 of my Plague Marines (I finished 7 of them for a game, the rest are in progress) and the tedium of bronze bronze bronze bronze bronze *drink beer* bronze bronze bronze bronze bronze *sleep* bronze bronze bronze bronze bronze *go to work* bronze bronze bronze bronze bronze... it's enough to drive you mad. You know exactly what I mean.

Your work is inspiring and amazing. The PIP heads I bought didn't work out for the Plague Marines but they look amazing on my Traitor Guard (a collection of Necromunda, old IG, Bloodbowl, etc models) and after a while I'll share some on them on my blog.

Looking forward to seeing where this next step for you goes. Good luck. Remember to go outside every now and then. And sleep. Sleep is good.

Can't sleep... clowns will eat me.

Yeah they are coming along well. The hatches that were missing for the Medusa is here. I have told myself that I will be finishing the guardsmen first. I am nearing completion on this army (At least what I currently own for it) and I want to get cracking on my Death Guard while i throw down some games.

I also have had this nagging desire to make a BA Descent of Angels list with StormRavens, Dreadnought Drop, and Baal Preds. Tax return check is inbound! Hmm...

On a side note I will be graduating and getting my BA: BSM this week and I will have a lot more time to work on my stuff. This has been a good experience so far and I want to continue it while showing what I can do when I have the time to not quickshade!

Anyways, time to work on the guardsmen.

Rabid Ferret wrote:Can't sleep... clowns will eat me.

*shudder*

Thanks. Now I need therapy.

Finally... I am done with the painting of these guys. That was a huge amount of guardsmen to churn out for me.

Here they are before the dip. I will post the after pics when they dry and I get some Anti-Shine on them.




The brightness is a little out of wack. I will try and get a good photo of the group when they are complete.
All I have left to do now is the Kasrkins, the Command HQ, the Ratlings, detail the tanks, the Autocannons, and build and assemble my Valk/Vendettas.

Until next time...

Been a while since I posted. Sorry. Got my BA finally and I am out of school. Hopefully I will be posting more frequently now. Still CoD: Black Ops calls my name from time to time...

The 72 guardsmen I painted in one go are done (have been for a while now actually ). I think that they look pretty damn good. Almost better than the first batch that I took a lot of care on. The I am learning to control the quickshade more now.

Here are the Platoon Leaders and some special weaps.





A reminder that there is no shading or highlighting involved in ANY of these minis and they were painted FAST.

More shots of the infantry





Finally I got the Leman Russ done as well. If you remember how it looked freshly airbrushed



VS now nice and weathered with Tamiya weathering.





All of the sponson weapons are complete as well.



Finally an army shot of my progress so far.



As you can see the army is coming together nicely. I have the 4 Chimeras to finish (Should be all in one batch) a Medusa, a pair of Valkyries/Vendettas to do and more.

I also plan on adding a few more Leman Russ' tanks, a trio of Hydras and a trio of Hellhound/Banewolf/etc. I am even entertaining rough riders and sentinels...

What do you guys think of this model? I think it fits in well with the army.



Do rough riders have a place? Are they total crap? what say you?

Until next time Dakkaites! Many es for you! Cheers

You're my hero.

Awwww

Thanks.



I just noticed I forgot to paint the periscope glass on the Leman Russ... I will wait till my Chimeras are done I think.

Personally I think from a fluff point of view Rough riders definitely have a part to play. I can't imagine a force without a fast recon or flanking element. Game-wise no idea I'm afraid.

On the rest of the army absolutely stunning progress mate, you certainly are a braver man than me to take on a foot slogger guard army.

Finally where is that bike from, its fantastic. I may have to pick one up just to paint for display.

Those guys look great; far better than any of the ones I've spent ages painting. I think I need to revisit the grand painting plans, thanks for the inspiration

Loving the Penal Legion and Hive Gangers, it's amazing that just a simple head swap can completely change the look of a model range.

Lennysmash wrote:Personally I think from a fluff point of view Rough riders definitely have a part to play. I can't imagine a force without a fast recon or flanking element. Game-wise no idea I'm afraid.

On the rest of the army absolutely stunning progress mate, you certainly are a braver man than me to take on a foot slogger guard army.

Finally where is that bike from, its fantastic. I may have to pick one up just to paint for display.

The bike comes from http://www.maxmini.eu/store/

They have some great stuff. I am really thinking of getting a unit of these. They just look so damn cool and they fit in with the look of the army perfectly. Otherwise I was thinking of converting some actual riders. They are bleedin' expensive though


Automatically Appended Next Post:

endtransmission wrote:Those guys look great; far better than any of the ones I've spent ages painting. I think I need to revisit the grand painting plans, thanks for the inspiration

Glad you like em. Quickshade does a fine job shading minis that are painted in a base color. I recommend using a brighter color than you want the final product to look like because it darkens the model quite a bit. Take a look at the pre and post dip minis to see what I mean. I am considering using this technique on Lizardmen, Beastmen or Skaven. I am debating on a fantasy army. Some of these I would use the quickshade and on others I would not. I am also considering Dwarves, WoC or empire...

Yes to quickshade: Skaven, Lizardmen, Orcs and Gobbies, Beastmen, Vampire Counts, Tomb Kings

Maybe to quickshade: Empire lots of models and I have seen some good results here http://www.thearmypainter.com/gallery_presentation.php?GalleryId=71&Gallery=Hobby%20Hero:%20Warhammer%20Empire%20Army , Daemons

No to quickshade: Warriors of Chaos (Small model count usually), Ogre Kingdoms (Large models and small model count reduces the usefulness), High Elves, Wood Elves, Dark Elves (Although quickshade Dark Tone might look good!).

It is a pretty cool product though. Check it out.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Snarky wrote:Loving the Penal Legion and Hive Gangers, it's amazing that just a simple head swap can completely change the look of a model range.

Yeah it can make a world of a difference. Torso swaps as well... you can find lots of simple and easy ways to make guard look unique. Glad you like em!

Rabid wrote: I am really thinking of getting a unit of these. They just look so damn cool and they fit in with the look of the army perfectly. Otherwise I was thinking of converting some actual riders. They are bleedin' expensive though

£7.70? That's ridiculous and whats more they're still the same models as 20 odd years ago. I got 5 of them when I was younger for £10. They used to be only £4 and GW used to have sale day where you could pick up loads of things at half price or less. Then of course they became chronic douches.

Anyway I digress, have you seen another recent thread on dakka regarding jetbikes. Back in the RT days guard used to have speeders, not sure about jetbikes but its not such a stretch. I'll try and grab the link for you in case you want to look into it as an option.

I was even thinking more around the lines of Death Korps of Krieg ones from FW. Otherwise I am not sure of what I would convert from. I have seen everything from pistoliers to cold one riders converted into RR.

Lennysmash wrote:Back in the RT days guard used to have speeders, not sure about jetbikes but its not such a stretch.

They did indeed have jetbikes and normal bikes. I can kind of understand why they lost the jetbikes, losing the landpseeders was a bit of a push, but I've no idea why they lost bikes...

I quite like the Tallarn rough riders that Forgeworld do as they look much more menacing than horses in gasmasks.

Rough Riders:

Game Wise: The camps seem to be fairly divided, some people think they're crap, others dont leave home without them. I myself think they have a place in my horde army, but if you're going for something super-competitive don't bother.

Modeling Wise: I'm modeling mine with scout bikes. Pretty cool stuff.

That's... about it

You are a machine. I am beyond impressed. The quality and detail you achieved in that short period of time on such an insane mass of troops is nothing short of amazing. Your IG ranks amongst some of the best I have seen on Dakka so far.

This entire thread is 100% win every time.

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:You are a machine. I am beyond impressed. The quality and detail you achieved in that short period of time on such an insane mass of troops is nothing short of amazing. Your IG ranks amongst some of the best I have seen on Dakka so far.

This entire thread is 100% win every time.

Wow... High praise! Thank you. It has taken a lot of discipline. I went through about 30 beers and 1/2 a season of Star Trek the Next Generation painting the infantry..

I am working on four chimeras next. Gonna post some progress shots on these tonight.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are the 4 chimeras as they stand. All airbrushed and ready for detailing. Going to complete them as a group.

Oooh! NextGen, nah its got to be DS9 Season 4 onwards

I've just started looking into the old crow stuff again, it really does blow me away. I'm looking at some of the lighter grav tanks as counts as speeders for my marines. But as we said earlier IG used to have speeders as well so you could easily come up with some in house rules for adding some to your own force too.

I am currently brainstorming ideas for my Psycher Battle Squad. Not sure how they will end up. Also there will be a few 'counts-as' special characters that I will be adding to the army. I will be tying in a rogue trader and his entourage to the mix. Word has it that he has an "arrangement" made with the planetary leadership for "assets" human or otherwise. In return he hunts down escapees and brings in hard to catch criminals as well as acting to boost the Planetary Defense Force in times of need. It has been rumored that he one was a "guest" of the supermax division of Alcatran on the moon of Ophan...

seeing all those well done chimeras with awesome turrets brings a tear to my eye

Do you mean the tamiya weathering powders? If so, how areyou using them, it looks really nice!

I am using one of their three pigment sets. It includes 'mud', 'sand', and 'light sand'. I am using the built in applicator. One side is a fine horsehair brush and the other is a sponge tip like you would find in a makeup kit.

Ok so I have been sporadically working on these when I get time. The four Chimera transports are nearly complete. I did my usual weathering method for this army: Tamiya Weathering Powders and a rust wash along with a thinned down Devlan Mud.







I cannot seem to get the photos to look right... They look better in person. I wish there was a way to show that on Dakka however. I think I need to do some photography tutorials. Of the models that I have currently, I need to finish my Medusa and I need to build and paint my Valkyries/Vedettas. Last will come the command squad. This is so far the largest army I have been able to focus on. I have around 140 models painted and climbing.

I am picking up some Orks for a new project I think. I am torn between a Deathskulls Kan Wall, a fast striking Blood Angels formation, or a Loganwing low model count army. Any thoughts?

I also want to add some more to this army. Looking for a good PBS to convert along with a Primaris. I need my Comissars and I will be adding some more Hive Gangers for my Tarpit. I also need more armor. Thinking of a trio of Hellhounds and a couple more Leman Russ variants. Really would like some Hydras as well. Thoughts?

This is your best way to improve photo quality. Cheap too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/eSecure-Photo-Light-Colour-Backdrop/dp/B003I6AJY0/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IAE90EUAJJXMX&colid=TPU53SU2C99E

More armour would be good, would you be adding the old crow magic to those tanks too?

Thanks for the tip about the lighting.

Yeah I think I will be using some more Old Crow bits. What do you think I should use as my Hydras? I am considering some unconventional stuff...



Gatling turret from Armorcast.



Missile turret from Old Crow



Support turret from Old Crow (I would use the Gatling version)

Which of these do you like the most? I am trying for something non-standard to go along with my Chimeras.

I was just thing of the same question UnDeAd, the texture of the base paint looks really nice.

I like these figs A LOT, I like the painting style on 'The Warden'. Looking forward to seeing more stuff!

hmm, I think the Old crow support turret is too small, you need to be going for Anti-aircraft and that is more anti-infantry.

Same with the Gatling Gun, it would make good anti-aircraft gun but I don't think it matches the profile very well.

Finally the missile turret is good not really the same kind of system but it matches the profile of the Hydra best I think.
If you had the autocannons from the Bastion you could make a fair conversion along the lines of a rifleman dread. I'll see if I can get you a link.


EDIT:
Here you go:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/352102.page

Well... I found this guy and I think I may pick these up. Especially considering I think the fit the base of the other kit that Maxmini has for the Medusa.



Goes well on



Which fits snugly into the back of a Ghimera/Basilisk. I think I may get some Basilisks and these turrets for some convertible hydra/Medusa/Basilisk fun!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
BTW the Sandbags are separate and usable in terrain making.

Also TY to Lenny for the linkage. I like dakka dreads.

I almost went with the missile turret for mine, but much prefer the tactical missile turret. The other two turrets you posted don't really ahve the right ability to elevate to act as an AA vehicle. I also made use of Old Crow's excellent range of random RFAC barrels

So I have not posted in a month... Sorry. New puppy has been keeping me occupied but I am back on track to keep posting and complete the Alcatran Guard army.
Not much to look at today. Just a quick VERY shoddy pic from a VERY WIP Autocannon HWS.



Only thing I have experimented with this one is using the airbrush for the base blue. It worked so well that I have used it on my forthcoming Ratlings and my Stormtroopers. I ended up buying the Maximini Medusa Kit and the Hydra kit so those will be on their way soon as well. Also picked up a Demolisher. I hope to have this squad finished in the next day or two.

TTFN!

It's good to see you back on this project! I referred to it just today on another thread (re: dipping models). This thread is still 100% win.

HWS is done being painted and has been dipped tonight.

Here is how they looked before they got the dip.



I used a brush on method for the dip. I got carried away and brushed one of the loaders off of the base... he is drying separate from the others now. They look pretty good. I am nearly done with the dipped infantry now. I just have my storm troopers and ratlings to do. (low priority for sure!)
I think my next step will be to work on the Hydras and Medusas. Then I have a pair of Valk/Vends and a LR Demo and I am good to go. Brainstorming a Marbo conversion as well. I am thinking of going for a Riddick/ Jack from ME2 sort of bad-ass inmate to use for this mini. Any thoughts?

Ok, got the AC squad dipped and matte varnished. They look decent I think. Probably better in person as my photography skills are still lacking.





I also built the chassis of one of my new converting artillery pieces and I test fit the Hydra and Medusa carriages I got from Maxmini. They look nice. Both need a lot of work as is to be expected with resin but I am already impressed with the quality of these kits over FW. I will post some pics of these as I work with them and give you an idea of the quality and assembly of these kits. They fill the gap of Hydras and Medusas in the line without making you sell the farm at FW. From my work with resin so far I am curious as to hot the Citadel Finecast minis will work out. Anyways, more to come. It is good to be back on this project.

I'm always amazed at how good this stuff looks after being dipped. Especially the way that the skin remains decent looking...maybe I should try it...
What do you use?

Imperial Monkey wrote:I'm always amazed at how good this stuff looks after being dipped. Especially the way that the skin remains decent looking...maybe I should try it...
What do you use?

I use The Army Painter Quickshade. For the Alcatran 88th Regiment IG I used Dark Tone which is the black shaded version. They also have soft tone and strong tone which provide different levels of shading. I use their matte varnish as well. If you do not use some kind of dull-coat they will be VERY glossy. I have seen some remarkable results from the Strong Tone but I have not personally used it. I HAVE tried minwax and similar floor varnish products and contrary to what people have said there IS a difference. The viscosity and the pigment of the Army Painter products are more suited for miniatures use.

An upside to the dip is that it protects the miniatures as well. I am not a dip-only kind of guy. This was a project to see what a clean painting style combined with dip on a horde army could produce and I am quite pleased with the results. Thanks for watching and commenting!

This thread has been amazing from the start. I've referred back to it many times in other threads for things like PIP heads, dipping, conversion, etc. I really enjoy your work and respect your craftsmanship.

Looking forward to more.

Rabid Ferret wrote:

Imperial Monkey wrote:I'm always amazed at how good this stuff looks after being dipped. Especially the way that the skin remains decent looking...maybe I should try it...
What do you use?

I use The Army Painter Quickshade. For the Alcatran 88th Regiment IG I used Dark Tone which is the black shaded version. They also have soft tone and strong tone which provide different levels of shading. I use their matte varnish as well. If you do not use some kind of dull-coat they will be VERY glossy. I have seen some remarkable results from the Strong Tone but I have not personally used it. I HAVE tried minwax and similar floor varnish products and contrary to what people have said there IS a difference. The viscosity and the pigment of the Army Painter products are more suited for miniatures use.

An upside to the dip is that it protects the miniatures as well. I am not a dip-only kind of guy. This was a project to see what a clean painting style combined with dip on a horde army could produce and I am quite pleased with the results. Thanks for watching and commenting!

No, thank you. I've been wanting to do a horde tyranid army but have not looked forward to all the figures...this has solved my problem!! Strong tone would probably be best for Nids though...

Imperial Monkey wrote:

Rabid Ferret wrote:

Imperial Monkey wrote:I'm always amazed at how good this stuff looks after being dipped. Especially the way that the skin remains decent looking...maybe I should try it...
What do you use?

I use The Army Painter Quickshade. For the Alcatran 88th Regiment IG I used Dark Tone which is the black shaded version. They also have soft tone and strong tone which provide different levels of shading. I use their matte varnish as well. If you do not use some kind of dull-coat they will be VERY glossy. I have seen some remarkable results from the Strong Tone but I have not personally used it. I HAVE tried minwax and similar floor varnish products and contrary to what people have said there IS a difference. The viscosity and the pigment of the Army Painter products are more suited for miniatures use.

An upside to the dip is that it protects the miniatures as well. I am not a dip-only kind of guy. This was a project to see what a clean painting style combined with dip on a horde army could produce and I am quite pleased with the results. Thanks for watching and commenting!

No, thank you. I've been wanting to do a horde tyranid army but have not looked forward to all the figures...this has solved my problem!! Strong tone would probably be best for Nids though...

I would agree with that. I find soft tone too light and dark tone works better on armor/clothing. The strong tone is best for a more organic look for nids.

Cheers for reminding me of the Old Crow stuff. Have you seen any full scale shots compared to a Chimera about? The dipped guard look great and the pig iron heads really are well executed. The assembly line would drive me crazy...er. For the psyker battle squad some Neromunda Wyrds and Redemptionists or Cawdor may just be what the doctor ordered!

Ok! Getting rolling on the Hydra/Medusa hot swappable model. Using a standard basilisk kit and a couple fine kits from http://www.maxmini.eu/store/index.php I will be making a kit that I can swap out when I want to change my artillery loadout.
I will be doing a bit of a step by step on these and going in to more detail than I usually do in my assembly so that you can see the quality of these kits and see for yourself if you might want to go this route.


First things first, resin kits need to be cleaned and any mold lines and flash needs to be removed. Washing them is important because any mold release chemicals can interfere with the painting process.




But WHAT IS THIS! MY GUNS ARE BENT! oh noes... Oh wait. This happens all the time with resin and is easy to fix.





What you need is a sink full of hot water and an ice bath. Dip the gun in the hot water and hold it for about a minute and then carefully bend it into shape. When it is fixed, dunk it in the ice bath to set and...





VOILA! Back on track and good to go!





First step of the assembly process is to assemble the basilisk chassis but do not attach the gun carriage. The gun carriage will be used later on as the base for the Maxmini AA Turret.





Then I trim the carriage flat to accept the round base for the AA Turret.





Ready to attach...





and there it is!





Here you can see what it should look like assembled. I am not gluing it down yet as I want to be able to reach everywhere with my airbrush. The top pair of guns is unglued as well for the same reasons.





Another angle.





I also am cleaning the Medusa. This piece has many more parts as it also includes the carriage. This one I have cleaned and I will paint before assembly to allow me to access the underside of the gun and the parts in the carriage.





Resin is somewhat fragile... Nothing a little Zap a Gap cannot fix but it is still irritating.



I am happy with these kits so far. If I really feel the need to field all of these pieces at once I can get a pair of chimeras and use the hulls. I don't foresee fielding 2x Hydras and 2x Medusas soon unless I really want to whip out the For now 2x Hydras along with my FW Armageddon pattern Medusa should be plenty.

More to come soon. I will be airbrushing and finishing this piece shortly. /cheers

that turret looks to big compared to the rest of the hydra

I think its a pretty good conversion

General Ian wrote:that turret looks to big compared to the rest of the hydra

TBH I think it is a little large too. It would have looked smaller if I could recess it into the chassis more. This is the price I am willing to pay for a Hydra I can convert into a Medusa however.

I have to agree, it does look a bit large. But it's so cool! Scale is always an issue in this hobby. I can think of... 6 different scales for Autocannons that I own.

Update! Woo hoo

After a bristling weekend full of eating newbies for breakfast... (It was Free Call of Duty: Black Ops weekend on steam! Oh yes my K/D went up a LOT this weekend!)

It is time to get back to the Alcatran Guard. We would not like them to go without artillery support now would we? So I brought out the old Airbrush.



I use an Iwata Revolution CR airbrush http://www.iwata-medea.com/index.php/products/cr and the smallest and quietest air compressor I could find (1/6 hp).

And I got to spraying. Same style as before. First the base coat. (I take care not to color over all the black as the darker blue adds some natural shading.)



Then I do the second color of the camo pattern. I just freehand this as I like the faded organic edges it produces.



The colors are much more vivid then they will be in the end. The final result after all the steps will be similar to my other tanks.



The difference here is I will show each step of the process. It makes for a very nice look and it is relatively quick. I apologize again for my poor photography. I think I need to research photography a bit.
Next I will do some pre-final assembly painting, put it all together and then get on to weathering. Until next time! /cheers

EDIT: My apologies for the crap quality of my i-phone pics...

Sorry for no updates in a while... camera is broken!

Here is the culprit


My 5 month old Siberian Husky pup Mishka.



She thought that chasing the cat all over my office would be a fun thing to do. The cat trying to get to the high ground, knocked the camera off the desk and now it is kaput. I will need to wait a week to replace it. Any recommendations on a good digital camera for macro photography? (IE for minis)

Gaaahhh! Sorry to hear about your camera. It is still so bizarre to me why we keep what were once wild animals in the same dwelling we use for shelter and security. How did this madness start?

Back on topic (ha) I use a Canon PowerShot A480. You've seen my pics and I openly admit I have no idea what I am doing, I just turn on the macro, adjust lighting a bit, and click a few pictures.

Out of interest, how do you upload iPhone pics to dakka? Just for quick wips it would be quite handy.

inmygravenimage wrote:Out of interest, how do you upload iPhone pics to dakka? Just for quick wips it would be quite handy.

I copy them to my PC and then upload to my photobucket account and then link from there.

UPDATE: My in-laws are loaning us a camera to use until I get my replacement. Its a Canon Powershot G9. Looks promising. I will try it out tomorrow I think.

Your dog is so cute!......what? I love dogs.

Btw your guard army is amazing, I can't believe you painted all of them that fast....I've had my guard since 2003 and only have 40 guardsmen 1 CCS, 1 Russ, 1 basilisk, 1 sentinel and half a valkyrie painted....to damn lazy.

Wow... this Canon Powershot G9 is amazing.

So here is the progress. Some paint chipping and the majority of the basecoat is complete. So far I have:

The FW Medusa

The Maxmini Medusas

Closeup of the Maxmini Medusa gun. You can see the simple chainmail over black chipping that I have been using here.

and the Maxmini Hydras.

Next step is an application of rust with a watered down Tin Bitz and detailing. Then I will wash and weather with Tamiya Weathering Powder. Stay tuned!

A little progress here. I added the rust layer to the artillery pieces. This is a simple watered down wash of Beaten Copper that I dab around the edges of the rivets and any chipped paint. I pull the brush downward after this to simulate the rust running down the vehicle and staining it from the rain. There are still details to complete and 3 more steps to the weathering process to complete but these are almost done.







Hopefully I will crank these out in the next few days. Then I have my Vendettas to work on and another LR.

looking good, those maximini medusi turned out really really well. Where do you get beaten copper from, that looks great.

Imperial Monkey wrote:looking good, those maximini medusi turned out really really well. Where do you get beaten copper from, that looks great.

It is a discontinued GW paint. You can get an equivalent Coat d'arms Beaten Copper and it is just about the same though.

http://www.blackhat.co.uk/coat_darms/

Rabid its equivalent because the coat d'arms paints are the old GW paints, lol.

Great to see the medusa painted, and the quality of the maxmini guns looks awesome. Did you have any issues with them at all, warped, miscast, anything like that?

From my experiences there were less casting problems than Forgeworld. The resin seemed tougher though and took more heat to bend the barrels than FW resin has in my time with it. The guns are a joy and really fit well with the chimera base. One complaint i had was the mounting for the AA gun. This was more loose than I would want and it is a bit top heavy and so it falls over. Fixed this with a bit of drilling and the introduction of a metal rod into the model. Still rotates fine but stays on now.

I would buy from Maxmini again.

Thanks for the info on Coat d'arms. I did not know that it was the actual same friggin paint!

TY for watching!

I decided to throw together a quick video as a test for the future. Its just a quick bit I recorded to show how the modular artillery works. It was a bit of a learning process but I like the result and I think I can work with this. If you guys like it I will make some more.

Anyways here is the link:



And a few photos of the progress on the artillery





90% done now. Need some detail work... port glass, text on the nameplates etc. but you see where they are going. I built a bit if a light box so I hope this gives you some indication of improvement in my photography skills I hope to finish these this weekend and get going on my Vendetta conversions.

/Cheers

All I would say is it ended a bit abruptly

The intro was good, showed some good work and not too long which is important, sound and clarity again good work. I would say be careful about the dakkadakka.com text at the beginning, the youtube guys are a little funny when it comes to things like that sometimes, check with some of the youtube stalwarts for a definite yes/no on that one though.

All in all nice vid Rabid, I look forward to more.

Yeah I agree that it stopped quickly. It was really a test run for figuring out the video software, youtube editor, my new camera etc. I need to close up videos better with a brief outro or wrap-up.

Next up: Vendetta conversions with nose art!

Ideas for the art:








Thoughts? I am leaning towards the Sister and the Bug Hunter one, although I may use different art for the bug hunter. May ask an artist friend of mine to do a gas masked girl for the nose art. Thinking it through.

Bughunter is pretty cool and with a few tweeks could easily be made to fit the 40k-verse, I don't think the Sister image would be very fluffy, though it is funny.

I'd have to say the third image is the closest if you are going for an homage to the nose art of WW2 bombers.

HTH

Hmm... thanks for the input. I will dwell on this while I paint the cockpit and pilots. Perhaps inspiration will strike me in the meantime. Something that fits the prison theme or the gasmasked industrial theme will fit too. Time to surf for ideas.

Here is the interior detail for the cockpit of my Vendettas. Still deciding on a paint scheme and nose art for them. As far as the pilot and copilot I decided to stick to the unified scheme I have used throughout the army thus far.






I will be masking off the cockpit and using the airbrush for the Vendettas. I plan on trying some new techniques on them. Wish me luck!

I am using that Hydra conversion for certain!

Aside from a couple missed mold lines on the gunner's arms, looking pretty snazzy.

Imperial Monkey wrote:I am using that Hydra conversion for certain!

Yeah its pretty sweet to have these hot-swapable. Maxmini does great things. I love some of their conversion parts. I hope they avoid getting into any legal brawls with GW. Have you seen their rapid response Chimera conversion kit?

Rabid Ferret wrote:Yeah its pretty sweet to have these hot-swapable. Maxmini does great things. I love some of their conversion parts. I hope they avoid getting into any legal brawls with GW. Have you seen their rapid response Chimera conversion kit?

Could be wrong but isn't it Chapterhouse that produce the Chimera conversion kit?

Oops! Yep Lenny you are right. Its Chapterhouse... who IS in a legal battle with GW. So if anyone wants these they should get them while they can! I am thinking about picking up a few for Arbites! (Counts as shottie vets)

http://www.chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&category_id=4&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=118

Vendetta progress is going steady. I have airbrushed the Vendettas and am moving forward.





I went with a blue with a grey underbelly scheme to fit in with my army color scheme. I am really loving my airbrush. Large models like this just scream for it.

Twin-linked lascannons will be attached to the hardpoints and a simple conversion...

makes the hull mounted twin-linked lascannons. I want to do scenic bases for these two models. Any ideas there?

Sleep is calling me. Until next time!

Nice work on the Vendettas. I would go for the Sister, purely for the comedy heresy value

Definately go for the scenic base. The thing is massive and lets you do all sorts of over the top things showing off what Vedettas do best

For example:

Thank you for the praise Flinty. I really love the Vakyrie model. The detail is righteous and I love how easily customizable it is. Your vendetta base is sweet. I think I need to do a mini diorama for it... what to do for it is up in the air though. As far as the nose art goes...
God I love the Sister... good call. I will run with it. Heresy be damne*BLAM!*




--<<Transcript Ends>>-- Subject: Rabid Ferret (Alias?) executed for heresy by Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Martina Copren on 3.657.987.M41

Treetops. The vendetta is coming in low, skimming just over the trees to avoid radar detection, so low it's ripping leaves and small branches from the tree... which exposes an ork trying to hide in the tree hoping to grab on to the landing gear as the valk passes.

i like it Nowlan.

Colonel Hall Moore: So your men call you 'Snakegak'?
Pilot Bruce Crandall: That's an affectionate appelation from my comrades-in-arms, sir, 'cause I fly lower than snake gak.

Mini update tonight. I just wanted to share the paint chipping style that I will be using as part of the weathering of my Vendettas. I figure that any impacts that might chip the paint will likely be grazing along the direction of travel. I will later be adding rust and a wash to tie it all together.

Here is what to expect:


As far as the base goes I am toying with a mini-diorama for each. I think I will incorporate the crashed Aquilla lander from the AoBR set on one and perhaps a skulking ratling in the other. Thoughts?

The all black ones on the left look like convincing grime streaks. I'm not sure I'm sold on the shape of them for paint scrapes from impacts. It seems to me, that if debris were to strike the craft, it would bounce/deflect at an angle similar to the angle it impacted (angle in = angle out).

What you've done looks more like paint flaking that would be caused by cracking paint being peeled off by high speeds.

Nowlan wrote:What you've done looks more like paint flaking that would be caused by cracking paint being peeled off by high speeds.

Ill take that explanation!

as far as grime streaks, I will be using a similar style to rust/rain weathering but in a different direction> (downwards by gravity)

Well, on an aircraft, grime streaks are often caused by fluids leaking, and being carried towards the rear of the aircraft by the wind resistance / momentum of the aircraft. Its common around the flaps, aileron, rudder, elevator (basically any control surface), maitenence access points, and engines.

Hmm... I will be using that. Thank you!

Been over a week since my last post. Progress is slow as usual.

Made some good headway on the Vendettas though. My weathering is done and I have detailed the engines, some lenses and the Aquila on the front of each. The wing weapons are on now and they are real Vendettas finally. Finally I glued the canopies on. So far I am really liking these models. They are a lot of work, as there is so much detail but they are fun as well.










My next step will be some scenic bases for both, finishing any lenses and targeters, and adding decals including the custom nose art for each. Do you guys think I need a contrasting color on these? Perhaps the orange I used for the Manticore?

Just put in my pre-order for Raging Heroes Kapitan Ivanka Kurganova... Kind of excited.

http://www.ragingheroes.com/collections/complete-collection/products/kapitan-ivanka-kurganova-28mm


I will try and use all of my skill on this one, going for a real display quality piece. Definitely going with the Gas Mask as it fits my theme. Hoping I can make it swappable because I think they did a fabulous job on the face of this mini. Female faces can be tough to do right and I think this looks top notch.

Was in the mood to do something better than tabletop quality so I have started work on one of the two bodyguards for my fluff command. Still a WIP but I like him.






I also wrote some fluff for him. This soldier, Gol Endrin, is a veteran of decades of war. He has been scarred and wounded countless times. Originally from Harakon where he first served in the PDF, he was recruited into the Harakoni 73rd and sent to fight against the Tau. The 73rd suffered over 90% casualties in the Tawka Offensive and was combined with the Vardan 505th Rifles to continue the Tawka Offensive. After five years of grueling struggle to take the Tawka system the 505th celebrated the conquest of the Tau. Gol kept his field promotion to Sergeant after the actions against the Tau. The 505th was diverted to Boucheroc to combine with the remnants of the Vardan 722nd. When the 722nd was decimated at Boucheroc against the ork invasion the 722nd was combined with the Vardan 831st remnant to form the Vardan 902nd Rifles. There he stayed for ten years fighting the orks in a bloody war of attrition until finally he made a mistake that landed him in Alcatran. Disobeying orders he refused to retreat from a hab block that was housing refugee families, he shot his commanding officer and took command of his platoon in a daring mutiny. Leading three squads that he had served with for over a decade he held the hab block until the civilians made it safely out. His squads sustained heavy casualties in the action and he was punished for wasting The Emperor's Military fighting men and disobeying orders. In light of his service record he was given a life sentence at Ophan rather than summary execution.

Not six months after arriving at Ophan to join the prison population his record came to the attention of The Warden of the Alcatran 88th who felt that Gol's talents were not to be wasted. The Warden 'requisitioned' Gol to serve as a bodyguard in his personal entourage. While he appreciates not being in a cage like an animal, Gol has a difficult time with the practices and methods employed by the hive gangers and other low-life scum that serves in the regiment. When he takes issue with the actions of another guardsman in the regiment he does not keep it to himself and he is not afraid to use force if necessary to keep the men in line. This has earned Gol a bit of grudging respect from most of the men and has made a mortal enemy of a select few. So far no attempt on his life has succeeded and each one has resulted in the badly beaten inmate returning to Ophan for good. Sgt. Gol Endrin has found a niche that he fits in the 88th and he is willing to fight to protect his position. This may be the best chance he gets to being a free man. After all the years of fighting he longs for peace...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I used the face tutorial on Awesomepaintjob.com's youtube channel.

Les you rock. Anyone who has not seen his stuff check it out. I have learned a whole bunch from this talented painter's tutorials and his work is always inspiring.

looking good. Really good. Maybe I should stop trying to do the eyes....

Thanks. Doing the eyes I have noticed leads to the minis looking like they are a bunch of nutters. I think I will not be doing eyes on my minis from now on. There is not really a need for it.

I dunno, when got right (my ratio is now down to about 1 in 15 models) it can give it a real shabang. Y'know?

Heh I can see that. 1 in 15 I would say is the proper ratio of normal people to crazy gits. This holds true in my group of friends at least...

I have to say that that is one of the heads I really feel deserves having the eyes done. It, like the other new ones has fantastic detail that has to be brought out... that's how I feel anyway...

Just spent the last half hour looking through the thread, all i can say is super super job . Your "tabletop" quality puts most to shame. I have really wanted to start a new army and after reading this I think Guard is out of the running for me. So much extra's to make it look this unique I don't think i have the resources or patience for it. Your choice in scheme and fluff is great btw, and the new Ivanka with gas mask will be the cherry, cant wait to see it.

Wow, this army is looking incredible. This is the second really good looking army done with dip (the other is a Skaven one on here somewhere) - might have to take another look at it!

OMG! I can't believe I've missed this thread for so long!

Awesome work from start to finish!

Glad I found it!

Imperial Monkey wrote:I have to say that that is one of the heads I really feel deserves having the eyes done. It, like the other new ones has fantastic detail that has to be brought out... that's how I feel anyway...

Hmm. I might try and tackle that. If you look earlier in the blog you see how successful that is though.

Deathshead420 wrote:Just spent the last half hour looking through the thread, all i can say is super super job . Your "tabletop" quality puts most to shame. I have really wanted to start a new army and after reading this I think Guard is out of the running for me. So much extra's to make it look this unique I don't think i have the resources or patience for it. Your choice in scheme and fluff is great btw, and the new Ivanka with gas mask will be the cherry, cant wait to see it.

I am glad you like my work! It has been a labor of love and is very much WIP. I am stoked to get the Raging Heroes Ivanka model and I cant wait to paint it. Guard is a fun army and there are SOOOOO many options for making them unique from Maxmini, to Scibor, to Chapterhouse, and secret weapon. There are many heads and weapons to use and so many kits that mesh well with them that it is really easy to make something different and fresh. The biggest headache for guard is the massively high model count. Plowing through those rank and file was the hardest part about it. Thanks for watching!

Hatticus wrote:Wow, this army is looking incredible. This is the second really good looking army done with dip (the other is a Skaven one on here somewhere) - might have to take another look at it!

Dip can be a handy tool. The Army Painter line is better than floor varnish from experience. The pigmentation and finish is better and it seems to run into the right recesses. It really helps when you have a horde to paint.

Emperors_Champion wrote:OMG! I can't believe I've missed this thread for so long!

Awesome work from start to finish!

Glad I found it!

Thanks!

Damn good paint job simple and very impressive

There is a web sit squadron.com that has decals of old military planes. They have heaps of those pin ups there and would probly be about the right size for what your looking for. Go the big grinning mouth from the old spitfires. Lol

So I finished Gol and moved on to the Master of the Fleet. I took this opportunity to use a different color scheme and I really like how he is coming along. The sword is still early on in progress.





I have always loved this mini and I think it has so much character. I was looking forward to painting him and I have had the unpainted mini for almost a decade before deciding to incorporate him into my Alcatran Guard as a regimental adviser.

This blog is really something. I'll enjoying coming back to see future updates. Keep up the good work!

And here is the completed mini...

Looks great like usual my only thing is what is his role in this color sceme wise as the others are blue being the security and what not (plus i love the blue comic looking sceme waay to much)

I really wanted him to stand out from the rest as he is part of another organization. He looks good with the others I think mostly because the base ties him together.

Here goes what I have so far on fluff for him.

Captain Tarun Ranulf is a very old and very callous Imperial Naval Officer. He is bitter, taciturn, and cutthroat in his dealings with others. He does not tolerate weakness or faults in his men and he is extremely distrustful of the Inquisition for what he sees as a great injustice against him. Once Ranulf was a proud and arrogant Vice Admiral commanding a moderate sized fleet in an offensive into the Damocles gulf against the Tau. Working with a young radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Fara Minos, Vice Admiral Ranulf helped to subdue and contain a Tyranid Prowler Vanguard Drone with the intention of using it a beacon to guide an arm of Hive Fleet Gorgon against the Tau. Needless to say the plan backfired when the drone regained its connection with the hive mind early and the Vice Admiral's fleet was cut to ribbons by the enraged hive fleet. In the carnage Tarun Ranulf attempted to save himself by abandoning his fleet in his flagship Bellum Deus .

Meanwhile Inquisitor Minos ordered the self destruction of the Retribution Class Battleship Searing Light in the heart of the hive fleet with its entire payload armed. For the actions in this event Inquisitor Minos was regarded as a martyr and an example of self-sacrifice to the Emperor. Vice Admiral Ranulf's allegations of the Inquisitor's plan to use the xenos as a weapon were suppressed and following an investigation of the incident Vice Admiral Ranulf was demoted to Captain and assigned to oversee the prisoner transfers in and out of the Alcatran system.

She has arrived! Can't wait to get started!

lookin foward to seeing your next model and some time you should take a group pic as i'd love to see

Loving the fluff for your sergeant - his paint job is also top notch.

The Navy Captain also looks excellent - I think you aren't doing yourself any favours by posting such a large photo though. What's that coming out of the ground at his feet? Looks like one of those Termite mining vehicles is about to surface

Fluffwise for the captain it's an excellent piece with only one thing I dislike - the self destruct of the battleship is rather similar to Dominus Astra vs Hivefleet Behemoth. Any way you can tweak that?

I want a group shot too!! Group shot NOW!!! XX

Definitely can tweak that. Where is the fluff of the Dominus Astra versus Behemoth? I wonder if I have read that and somehow regurgitated that fluff or if the idea is so cliche that I did it. Either way I can do better. Hmm... I will do said group shot. And thanks for the tip on not using such large/zoomed photos.

Rabid Ferret wrote:She has arrived! Can't wait to get started!

Can't wait to see what she looks like in the flesh -so to speak- I couldn't find a female commissar that had the look I wanted, so I made my own, just as I was about done, I found the same one you got. Pissed me off to no end, mine came out pretty good, but I might get the one you got as a second commissar, so open it up! We want pictures!

And show some more Henry's!

Hello Again Dakkanauts!

I am getting ready to come back into updating my plog. I am recovering from a spinal surgery, specifically a T7-T8 Laminectomy to remove a calcified mass for those who know what that means. For those that don't... I had a bony protrusion that was poking into my spine and needed to be surgically removed before it could cause further damage to the spinal chord.

I went from being perfectly normal to nearly needing a wheelchair in one month. Started with numbness in my big toes and when it spread to the feet I went to my doctor. 7 MRI's, 2 CT scans, and 2 surgery's later and I now have the mass removed from the spinal chord and I am starting the healing process. It will be a long one and I wont know how much feeling and use of my muscles below the waist will return for up to 6 months to a year. Right now I am 29 and now walk with a cane my feet are numb and have limited mobility and my left leg is numb below the knee. I have good days and bad days. Bad days I am mostly in bed and have degrees of numbness from the waist down. Good days all but my left foot is numb and I can walk for a while without the cane.

Lesson to everyone: If you feel numbness in your body, even a very small part of it, that lasts for more than a few minutes go see your doctor right away. If I had been faster I might have avoided spinal chord injury and some permanent nerve damage. If I had waited longer I might have been in a wheelchair...

Anyways, enough about my issues

I am finally about ready to return to painting again and finishing up the last of the Alcatran 88th in my queue. Specifically the Raging Heroes Female Commissar - A few more command squaddies - A LR Demolisher - As well as s few other ideas that have popped into my head for conversions and addtions.

First a few WIP shots.

Command Squad - Note the gent in the tattered robes is not the Sgt. but a bodyguard for the Command HQ - A particularly nasty fellow in my fluff. If you have read any of Dan Abnet's IG books, think Rawne mixed with Cuu. Not as murderous as Cuu but certainly not someone to mess with.

Comissar Kathrina Von Eberhardt. Fluff to come. So far just to say that she is considered to be extremely lucky. When asked about her fortune she merely replies "The Emperor Protects".

Techpriest - I love this model. I don't care if they are crap in game... He will go along nicely with the Titans I plan on scratch building.



Also, I saw these on Puppetswar recently and I think I HAVE to get them! http://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=84 The gunner looks like he fits in perfectly with my Alcatran troops! I think I will convert these using a chimera base and the wheeled conversion kit from Chapterhouse studios.
|
|
V




I am also looking to make some ratling proxies. I am thinking cloaks, probably green stuff sculpted and some dynamic poses with some custom rifles.
Lastly a Marbo.



What do you think about the head? I think it may be a starting point.

Anyways, give me some feedback and let me know what you think about options for the ratling proxies and Marbo. Know of any cool bits or conversion ideas that might fit my theme?

Thanks for reading.

Ive gone through this whole thread and let me say "WoW!" Its got a lot of nice conversions and alot of labors of love Im hoping my Tanith half this good once i can get around to them again. I know the pain of the IG though, Tons and Tons of models to paint (i dont run chimeras; only platoons +vets) but at the end of the day, its fun to see the army function in its full glory on the table top.

nice update, i really like that bodyguard.. and where did you find that marbo head? i think its perfect!

@SwampyTurtle Thanks! I appreciate it. I will be taking a look at your Tanith in a minute.

Rogue Wolves wrote:nice update, i really like that bodyguard.. and where did you find that marbo head? i think its perfect!

Its from the Kromlech range of minis. http://kromlech.eu/ Iron Reich Chem Troopers Heads you can get them in the states at www.thewarstore.com

You can also buy direct via their eBay store. Their ork stuff is amazing.

Thanks Ferret, and yea i've only ever seen their ork stuff, which is great!

inmygravenimage wrote:You can also buy direct via their eBay store. Their ork stuff is amazing.

Rogue Wolves wrote:Thanks Ferret, and yea i've only ever seen their ork stuff, which is great!

Just got a twinge of wanting to start up a Gorkamorka campaign...

OK quick update as my back is freaking killing me. Spinal surgery not fun. >.<

WIP on the female commissar. A lot of work remains to be done but you can see where I am going with this. The metals are not finished and a lot of the details are not complete or cleaned up but I like the look of it. I feel like my brushwork is sloppier since my hand has been shaking a bit since the surgery. I hope its just the narcotics...



What do you think?

I think you with the shakes is still streets ahead of the likes of me! Good stuff mate.

First off, let me say good luck with the recovery! I had some issues myself a few years ago, but mine was a bulging disk. I had a couple of steriod epiderals, and I can never stop doing my stretching, ever! But I had/have the numbness too, I'm just glad I didn't get as bad as your sounds like it did. I feel for you!

Rabid Ferret wrote: Know of any cool bits or conversion ideas that might fit my theme?

If I may plug mayself...I have these heads that are heading off to get cast as we speak. I had been planning on using them myself, and have more made at a later date for sale, but if you like the look of them, I can have more made sooner. let me know what you think!


I'm not sure they fit perfectly with the look you are going for...but who knows?

Also, the Commissar Looks great! Love the colors!

@inmygravenimage- Thanks mate. I appreciate the encouragement. I have been very bumbed out about not being able to paint and now having the pain and shakiness. I hope it gets better.

@RSJake- Yeah it's been rough. Laminectomies are no joke. Been a long recovery process and I have a long way to go still. My wife accidentally bumped my incision on the spot where the bone has been removed the other night. It was like hitting your funny bone but for my whole body from the waist down... Scares the crap out of her and woke us up. I screamed something that was like a mix of explitives mixed with the screams of a raging silverback gorilla.

As far as the heads go? I really like them. I would perhaps be interested in one for a one off model if you wouldn't mind an extra casting. I just need to figure out what to do with it. Either for a Marbo conversion or as part of a unique eversor assassin conversion... You should see about doing one with a commissar style hat, I would totally get a few of those. I could really easily see using greenstuff to turn the eyes into lenses. Great stuff. You can never have too many skulls in 40k! Thanks again for watching.

You made me cring with your description! Ouch!

As for the heads, I should have added "lenses" to the eye sockets! D'oh! I had thought about it at one point, and then it slipped my mind. I can add them post-production though. And a German Officer hat? I can do that! I'll sculpt one up and see what you think!

Nice, that will go along great with my power blob of raving lunatics. I have a few good body ideas to go along with that. I can't wait to see them.

Lenses on those eyes sounds good. Be great for home-made assassins, too.

Ok Here is the progress on the Commissar 95% complete. I noticed a few issues that I will be correcting... and I need some varnish. Otherwise I like it. Black is a pain to paint.

I have that same model as my Lord Commissar for my Elysians. It's a fantastic sculpt, but I personally prefer her without the gasmask.

Great job on the rest of the details though. How did you do the blood splatter on the sword? I might want to replicate that on my sergeants and HQs' blades.

Joshh wrote:I have that same model as my Lord Commissar for my Elysians. It's a fantastic sculpt, but I personally prefer her without the gasmask.

Great job on the rest of the details though. How did you do the blood splatter on the sword? I might want to replicate that on my sergeants and HQs' blades.

The secret weapon for the blood is Tamiya Clear Red. It is glossy and thick. You can mix a little black ink to make darker gore or leave it as is to look like fresh blood splatter. Awesome paint.

Great work. My only niggle is, as you've noted yourself, the visor. It seems a bit uniform, and the gold eyes just aren't doing it for me. What's the plan? Outstanding overall nonetheless, though.

Screw you guys, I like the visor as-is.

inmygravenimage wrote:Great work. My only niggle is, as you've noted yourself, the visor. It seems a bit uniform, and the gold eyes just aren't doing it for me. What's the plan? Outstanding overall nonetheless, though.

KilroyKiljoy wrote:Screw you guys, I like the visor as-is.

Haha. Now what do to.

My hope with the gold was to emulate this:
Dead-link removed... bah humbug!

If not that then my ideas were one of two things...

Either something like this:

Or like the visor on this Mech:

What say you? I am kind of leaning towards the Earth/Sky Chrome... Do you think it would look weird if it is the only NMM?

Great stuff. Take your time and keep kicking ass.

I'd be more concerned with the nmm blue against the other colours. Just more depth in the gold, or nmm gold.

Read through all of this, and I must say, I really like what you did with the maxmini kit, got one of those myself about 6 months ago, put it together on a chimera, then lost motivation, thanks to you my guard are right back on schedule!
Oh and, sharp looking Vendettas

@privateherbert24 : That is awesome to hear! I love that my slogging through all of these guard and my dedication to getting the army complete has inspired you. It was looking through all of the amazing p&m blogs here on Dakka that inspired me to push forward. Do you have WIP stuff up on here? I'm going to check it out if so.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ooh Oooh also had my first battle with the Alcatran Guard!

It was 2000pts Spearhead deployment kill points.

I took Comissar Lord
CCS with all. Full advisors and vox+plasma in Chimera
PCS w/ 4x flamers in a chimera
30 man p-blob
Penal Squad rolled Psychopaths.
Pcs with 4 flamers in Chimera
2x infantry squads w/ ACann and Plas in Chimeras
2x Vets with 3x melta
2x Vendettas
2x Medusas
Leman Russ bt w/ las + Plas sponsons
Hydra

He had a Flesh Tearers list with

Gabriel Seth and Corbulo in a maxed RAS 2x Melta footslogging
2x RAS Melta in RB with TL-LC
Drop pod with MM Dread
2x Baal Preds
Storm raven with Furioso with BT and RAS with S. priest
10 man RAS w/jp thunder hammer, meltas

I deployed first and he seized the initiative.
First turn saw him advance and he dropped in the MM dread and opened fire on my Chimera with acan/Plas inside.
Vehicle was stunned
One Valk lost a TL las and the other was stunned.
Pie plates of artillery take 1/2 of his death star.
One Valk immobilizes a razorback.
pie places annihilate the squad inside.
Leman Russ firing danger-close accidentally glances a chimera and kills three blob squad members. Comissar sentences gunner to ten years hard labor for terrible gunnery skills.

His turn two saw him fail reserve rolls except one Baal pred shows up from outflank. He pull up by my artillery.
Gabriels squad charges and annihilates the penal squad leving him in the open in front of the power blob.
he shoots his TL las from the RBs and stuns a medusa.
Baal Pred shoots to no effect into the side of the medusas.
MM dread explodes chimera leaving 7 surviving members of squad exposed
RAS squad with JP charges them and kills them.

My turn two sees my Melta vets jumping out to fry a razorback and the Baal Pred. Razorback explodes. Baal Pred takes no damage.
Power blob used FRFSRF! Under 12" means 25x3 shots. 42 hits and 13 wounds ended up with 7 saves and then 3 dead marines.
Leman Russ blasts the RAS JP squad dead to a man.
Vendettas pop remaining razorback. Medusas annihilate surviving marines.
Massed fire sees GS squas down to 7 guys includng Corbulo.

His turn three. Gabriel Seth charges blob squad. From her it gets less interesting.

Long story short, Comissar kills GS in combat and the power blob wears down the marines. After three turns of combat. The Comissar, sarges and two troopers are alive.

Storm raven came on t5. Got popped in my t5 by Vendettas now roaming the board unchallenged.

Turn 6 and I tabled him. Still had more than 1/2 my army left. Pretty solid first game.

Some funny things to note... I should not fire blasts danger close... My scatter rolls are terrible. Also my Comissar with bs5 fired her bolt pistol three times scoring am1 each time.

All in all I had fun and it was my first game in years.

Alcatran Guard Record: 1-0-0!

Congrats on the victory!

And if it's not to late, I like the blue-ish chrome look for the goggles.

Also, I did up one of the skulls with a captain's hat! Let me know what you think! It's still a WIP, I plan on putting lenses in the sockets, and I still need to add a neck.

I LIKE IT!

congrads on the win Rabid Ferret ,

Alot of people advise against taking the LC just because "its a bad pay for what you get" model. I however disagree! Ive had Ibram Gaunt (my LC) charge and take on dreads, marines, orks, and other horrors of the galaxy and come out on top. I think the best way i use my LC is to blob a 30 man squad then take a LC with a camo cloak and sit in cover. The camo cloaks bonus to ALL 30 members of the squad makes them VERY hard to shift.

FRFSRF is amazing and one of my most used orders. I dont use chimeras so its a must in my guard army or im dead. I like the list alot and for a moment thought the marines had you. ultimatly the win was very well played. that SR coming in T5 was really bad luck for him.

swampyturtle wrote:The camo cloaks bonus to ALL 30 members of the squad makes them VERY hard to shift.

The camo cloak gives the bonus to the whole squad?????!!!!!!!

Rabid Ferret wrote:

swampyturtle wrote:The camo cloaks bonus to ALL 30 members of the squad makes them VERY hard to shift.

The camo cloak gives the bonus to the whole squad?????!!!!!!!

Indeed

Hello Dakka!

I am back now with a new/old army of mine. Death Guard!

I am resurrecting a plog and army that I have not touched since the end of 2010 and never finished, mostly because painting 150+ IG got in the way. I will repost some of the content from the original plog and add new as I work on the army. Feedback is appreciated.

--<<<OLD CONTENT REPOSTED TO MAIN P&M BLOG IN RED>>>---[/b]


Hi Dakka!

I got inspired and decided to start a Death Guard army to work on alongside my Alcatran IG army.

Unlike my Alcatran army however, this army will be more focused on overall quality and less about getting models painted fast. No quickshade allowed!

I envisioned this army to be be an elite, low model count plague marine army. I am going to try and make it semi-competitive while keeping it pretty fluffy. I am going with a heresy era color scheme... white and green while keeping the later Death Guard's level of corruption.
Something like this!:


The first model I wanted to work on is my Demon Prince. He is going to have wings and warptime and be a kind of standard CC monster. Rather than use wings I wanted to do something like a heresy era jump pack however. To that end I decided to go with a set of turbines from an A-10 Warthog Snap-Tight kit.

I will be cutting it down to size and sculpting green stuff to make it meld into his back. My model will start with the standard Demon Prince of Nurgle model and build from there.

I also wanted to redo the head extensively. I am not a big fan of the stock head and I wanted to do a sort of gas mask on the model. Something demonic looking and connected to a barrel of Emperor knows what on his back. The head will look something like this with more cables and tech/steampunk parts.

World of Warcraft Geist is Copyright of Activision Blizzard

Bases are resin cast "Infected" bases from Dark Art Miniatures http://www.darkartminiatures.com/
Pretty sweet. Fast shipping to the US. They look nice.

I am going to get started! I hope to have more WIP shots as I keep going.

---<<<NEXT POST>>>---

The engines are clearly way to big for the model... amirite?
I am thinking of cutting them here. I like their diameter but the are too long.

Hmm... I dont have a power saw or even a good cutting guide. Jeweler's saw may have to do.

---<<<NEXT POST>>>---

A LOT more greenstuff work to do and some guitar wire and other bits, but it is starting to look like something...

[/color]

So that was all I ended up doing with my DG... The Demon Prince is still not done, but I have sculpted some more recently and I have added tentacles to him on the arm that has the sword on the original sculpt. Its a little over the top but I like it. I also have some terminators! Very WIP. I am about 50% done with these guys. A lot of bronze/patina and rusty chains/chainmail/bolters to go but I like what I have so far. You can see the white and green Death Guard colors tarnishing into a bone white and dark green. I am trying to paint first and then mount them on a finished base to see how that goes. Some folks have recommended that to me. I will be pinning them to the Dark Arts resin bases.






So that's it. What do you think?

they are awesome !

one comment: it's a real petty that you didn't remove the mould lines completely.. it's not that big of a deal and it takes one minute longer but it makes your mini look and 'feel' real..

Yeah I noticed the mold lines on the heavy flamer termie after I took the photo. I cleaned up a bunch of lines but I think I missed him.

I need to take my time more and look them over before spraying. Thanks for checking it out.

Looking good!

Holy Crap and update...

Wow. Far too long. Avengers and business trips are to blame.

I went to AMC Theatres 2012 Leadership Conference where I saw The Avengers 3 weeks early. OMG IT ROCKS SO HARD!

Then I went to CinemaCon in Las Vegas. Watched 10 mins of The Hobbit in 48fps. Mind blowing. Also got to see Oliver Stone, Ang Lee, Martin Scorcese, Tim Burton, Jerry Bruckheimer, John Lassiter, Jefferey Katzenberg, Johnny Depp, John Travolta, The Rock, Charlize Theron, Sacha Baren Cohen and many more in person.

Followed by releasing The Avengers in my theatre and lo and behold: Biggest opening weekend of ALL TIME!

So yeah, not much time for wargaming. Also back surgery, blech.

But now I have content! Death Guard Termies are done. They look a little washed out in the photos. I think they look way better in person but that is how it goes. What do you think?

+







Hope you like em! More to come. Rhinos and Death Guard troops.

Welcome back! Congrats on surviving the back surgery! Sounds like a bunch of good and one length of suck.

Yeah... the back parts of two vertebrae are gone now... its pretty nasty. Open spinal chord and all with only skin and muscle to cover it. When my wife rolled over in bed and bumped me there it was like getting hit in the funny bone from the waist down. NOT FUN!

Thanks for checking out my plog.

In other news! I am making a gaming table. I am considering putting up a tutorial if it goes as well as I hope. It will be 6x4 with locking casters for easy moving and will have a shelve setup for terrain and other storage underneath.

Here are the materials set aside for a free day.

And the secret weapon for ultra sturdiness! Simpson Ties!

More to come. I will post plans and tutorial if it turns out to rock.

Hello Dakkanauts!

Just checking in to tell you that the table is done! A lot of work but MAN is it sturdy. Attached some locking casters to it so I can roll it around and it is ready for a gaming mat or realm of battle. I can't wait to start playing on it. Handy storage shelf underneath for terrain and such too.





Would anyone be interested in the plans or a tutorial for this? Cost was around $170, but that is a hell of a lot cheaper than retail options. What say you?

Please!

Nice looking Guard stuff you got there. I have some Vostroyans and vehicles saved up for a later day and I like some of the ideas you have in here.

LOVE the FW Deathguard stuff and the conversion on your daemon prince.

Also, mark me down for wanting plans on that table!

You should write up a full Dakka Article about the table.

Ok! I will do a full article and tutorial for the gaming table. I will get it started now and hopefully will have something done by the end of the week.

Real quick, just posting parts list for the gaming table. Hoping having this as a visual would help.



Article to come...

Excellent! Something worthwhile to use my Lowe's gift carn on! Looking forward to the plans!

Just got back to Dakka myself, glad to see you're here. Excellent DG as always, and man that is a monster of a table. What's the structural point value of it? Ha.

Looking forward to more of your work. Welcome back.

Ok! Article is done. I hope people get some use out of it. It is a fantastic table.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Rabid%20Ferrets%20Ultra-Sturdy%206x4%20Rolling%20Gaming%20Table

Crashing now for need of sleep

So I am kind of bouncing around army to army now... My latest project? Tyranids. I played them in the long distant past and I felt like having another go. Here is what I have painted so far.





26 Termagants of tabletop quality. Very fast to paint. I used The Army Painter Purple on them as a base and then washed with Druchii Violet. The bone is Zandri Dust with sepia ink heavily washed and then feathering with more Zandri Dust.
Have a bunch more nids to assemble and paint. Not like I don't have enough projects as it is... What do you think about the scheme?

I really like the scheme. It's been a long time since I've seen anyone paint anything purple on a Tyranid.

A couple of quick teasers of what I am working on. FW Death Guard Dread. Also... he has no feets! He will have feets. Don't you worry. Also more blood, rust and goo.

Im really liking the paint work on that dread! a nice mix of colors that I like seeing in chaos armies

@RogueWolves Thanks, glad you like him. Hopefully in 6th CSM Dreads won't be so friggin' pants-on-head crazy zomgshootanythingthatmoviesevenmylittlebuddies! and well... actually useful.

I am trying for a look that is somewhat between the grimy post heresy colors and the pre-heresy white and green scheme. Also the patina on the bronze will tone down as most powder pigments do when I seal them. It should look more like it does on the termies when the sealer is on. There will be some rust pigment added to the silver as well.

I must honestly say im a sucker for those who do nurgle and dont use green as the main color ( like in your case ), its not that there is anything wrong with green nurgle, because thats what he is, its just a personal preference, and its more challenging to get a convincing non green plague which i respect

Oh man. You know how much I like Nurgle themed stuff. Great job so far, looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Rabid Ferret wrote:Hopefully in 6th CSM Dreads won't be so friggin' pants-on-head crazy zomgshootanythingthatmoviesevenmylittlebuddies! and well... actually useful.

You forgot 'zomgRAGErunintotheopentowardsclosestenemyandgetblowntobitznextturn!

Uh... yeah. I wouldn't put too much hope on that one. I'm not sure about 3rd or 4th Ed because I was gone for those, but 2nd Ed started that insane Dreadnought rule and I have to say I stopped playing them because of it. I have... maybe 10 of them? All display models at this point.

Welp... new chaos dex should be out in the next few months and that should bring with it some changes. Hopefully chaos dreads become viable again. Also I heard that plastic plaguebearers are imminent as well.

Oh my god... 6th edition Nurgle Daemon Allies. SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

T6 MON bikers with FNP that wound on a 2+? Yes please!

I hear you loud and clear. I am so getting some of those. I'm going to exploit this so much that I'm going to embarrass myself.

Sadly, Dreadnoughts are still subject to RRRRAAAGGHHHrunrunrun so I'm likely not going to spring the points for shooty guns and instead kit them out for the most disgusting OTT CC brutality the rules allow me to do.

Ok, Just about done with two/three units of Hive Guard for my Nid army. I was a little worried about how larger bugs would look in this scheme but I am pleased. Still WIP as I have a little detailing to do but these are 95% done. Note the PVA drying on the grass tufts. Lots more to come. I think the big bugs will be rather quick to do in this scheme. Now what to start with... Tervigon? Trygon? Tyrannofex? Choices choices...

I really think that the two purple-and-cream 'nid armes I've seen, highlighted with bright green, make me really shudder. They look ALIEN, which is what they should look like. Non-terrestrial in any way, shape, or form.

Excellent work.

Glad you like them. I was torn between an earthen, toned-down scheme and something bright and alien. I decided on the latter and I couldn't be happier. It is simple to paint so I should be updating this army pretty fast on the blog. Just started a bunch of 'stealers and broodlords. All these psychers are going to be nasty as hell now that I can use Biomancy, Telepathy, and Telekinesis. Some brutal powers and my broodlords will be taking them. Healthy buff considering how lame the old BL powers were.

Biomancy has the potential to be a game-breaker w/ the Broodlord and I love that.

Paint scheme is solid and absolutely horrible (in the good way, you've achieved a disturbing and unsettling look here, it's fantastic!)

Finally got tired of cruddy looking photos and I decided to make myself a light box. Cost me under $40 and I think it looks great so far. Still fiddling with it but I have high hopes.

Here is the light box

And a few test photos

Compared to my old photos of the same mini.


Wish I would have done this sooner...
The mini in the new photos look exactly like it looks in person, while the old one looks washed out. Glad to have this new tool in my kit!

I love white nurgle schemes! Absolutely what I look for in plague boys, and your light box has worked a treat!

Light box is a huge improvement. Do need to experiment a bit w/ the lighting, the torso seems a bit dark in a couple pics. But great job. I am really going to have to do this myself. I've posted over 1,600 pics since joining Dakka and I still do nto have a decent light box. I have a good setup, but the lighting is always harsh and the focus is often just a bit blurry.

Your work is excellent as ever. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Ok,

Working on some terrain for my urban board. Got a Zuzzy gaming mat on the way... taking forever and a day to get here, as usual I hear. Anywho, this was just a style test for some urban ruins. Looks pretty good and I have some ideas about other pieces including a refinery, toxic waste dump, sewers, arbites precinct and more.

Just a taste so far. Was a blast. I forgot how much fun making terrain is.





Any other ideas for fun terrain pieces?

I would say go take a look at any of the League's threads. There's a LOT of terrain-push going on in them.

More shots of my Tyranid swarm in progress. Two genestealer broods with broodlords that just got nastier due to better psychic powers.. same about no charge from outflank though.

Terrain looking great! Could you give a full 'report' on the Zuzzy mat? I've heard fantastic and horrible things about them.

Liking your Genestealers as well!

I really cant see very much difference from the two photo's. The lighting is a little better with your box. Its a good looking model either way.

Largish update this time.

Broke out the airbrush to do some work on my Trygons when I realized I could do some fun stuff with my Rhino's as well. For the Trygons I started by base coating the carapaces and claws with Mournfang. I then did the gradient coloring on the talons. still very WIP but I see the potential. I think I am still going to use feathering for the carapace but I now have a nice base to work from.

As for the Rhinos... I wanted to keep with the light color I have started with the Death Guard. I decided to do some layering using the colors I used for the Trygons and as I experimented I came up with this wicked bruised look for the tanks. Again they are WIP but I am liking the base color.

Also, primer mishap on my Forgeworld Death Guard marines... DAMN IT!!!! To hot and humid and my Army Painter Skeleton Bone came out chalky and powdery. Soo into the dip they go until I get the motivation to scrub them with a toothbrush and start over. I am going to just go with a white undercoat and then use the airbrush next time. no chance of messing that up!

Mmmmm Nurgley! - And oh yes, they ARE holding plague knifes and bolters in one-hand. Homage to the old USR True Grit!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:Terrain looking great! Could you give a full 'report' on the Zuzzy mat? I've heard fantastic and horrible things about them.

Liking your Genestealers as well!

Thank's Skalk. Sure thing on the mat. Bloody thing was supposed to arrive today. It did not. I will give a full report when it arrives. Ordered it in April BTW.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Deathshead420 wrote:I really cant see very much difference from the two photo's. The lighting is a little better with your box. Its a good looking model either way.

Appreciate it. Less of a headache to get a good photo at least. Much less tweaking in PS to get things looking natural.

I have unboxed my Zuzzy "The Wounded City" mat and I am going to review it a bit as I work on it.

First of all, it feels like a quality product. It was very well packed in a long square mailing box and rolled up with packing wrap around a cardboard tube to give it form. The mat itself is latex with a VERY strong latex smell. I actually like the smell but if you do not like the smell of latex it is overpowering.

The mat itself is a thin sheet, about the thickness of a Halloween mask and it has a bunch of details packed in from cracked concrete to exposed bricks (which makes more sense than exposed skulls GW...) there is a lot to look at. I washed the mat off with a damp towel and stretched it out on my table. Originally I was going to spray the mat but everything I have heard has said to not prime it. Instead I will use the company's recommended method of 'scumbling' on the paint. I plan on dropping by my local craft store and picking up some artist's acrylic paints to use on the mat. I will be making a black wash for it as well to bring out the details.

One thing to note is the mat took a VERY long time to arrive. Ordered May 18th but arrived August 2nd. It is a great product but a heck of a wait. More to come as I start to paint this beast!

Wow and I thought waiting 1-2 months for FW was long

Yeah... It was pure agony waiting for it. Poor communication on their part too. Thankfully their product quality and design is light years better than their business sense.

That is awesome! You've already confirmed a few things that I've heard about them, such as it takes a very long time for the item to arrive and has a very strong chemical odor when it arrives. Have also heard they are completely worth the wait. I'll be watching yours evolve. I'm still a potential customer for a 4X6.

PM me and I will send you the small sample they gave me.

Love the transitions on the trygons, very unusual.

Quick WIP post of my Tervigon's gribbly egg sacs. I am painting these with the Airbrush and using Screamer Pink, Emperor's Children and Vallejo Game Color White.

Basecoat is Screamer Pink 4:1 with Windex
First highlight is Screamer Pink, Emperor's Children 1:1:3 with Windex
Second highlight is Emperor's Children 1:3 with Windex
Third Highlight is Vallejo Game Color White, Emperor's Children 1:1:3 with WIndex
Final Highlight is Vallejo Game Color White, Emperor's Children 2:1:3 with WIndex

Got a nice gradient effect. Going to do some washes and detail work on the veins and whatnot, and cleanup overspray with Xerus Purple.



Whatcha think?

I think it's really gross. In a good way

Thanks! Looking for a suitably nasty mix to represent the fluid spilling out...

Played a 2000pt game with my Nids today against Marines. He was using the FW chapter master that gives stealth.

I Used

2x Tervigons - 1 HQ 1 Troop w/ sacs and adrenals, Dominion and Catalyst
2x Broods of 26 Temagaunts
2x Broods of 7 Genestealers with Broodlords w/ Scything Talons and Biomancy (Rolled Warp Speed and Enfeeble had one witchfire each that are useless)
3x Broods of 2 Hive Guard
2x Trygons w/ Adrenal Glands
1x Tyranofex with Rupture Cannon

I came in with this list pre-written as a take all comers list.

He took

1 Storm Eagle
1 Storm Talon
1 FW Chapter Master (Forgot his name..) he gives army stealth instead of Combat Tactics.
9 TH/SS Terminators with Lysander (In the Eagle)
1 Aegis Defence Line w/ Quad Gun
2x 10 scouts with Sniper Rifles
1x Tactical Squad with ML and MG w/ Razerback TL LC
1 Thunderfire Cannon

He wrote this list after I made mine using flyers (I had little to deal with flyers) and scouts for the 4+ to wound MC's.

Deployment was Vanguard
Mission was The Scouring

Ended up winning 13-1
Held All 6 Objectives, got first blood and linebreaker
His only VP was for a Warlord Kill

New Tyranid Swarm is now 1-0-0... Like a boss!

Posted a question to YMDC too about this game.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/472338.page
If I am correct it should have been a 13-0 Victory.

I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Rabid Ferret wrote:Played a 2000pt game with my Nids today against Marines. He was using the FW chapter master that gives stealth.

I Used

(pretty standard, Nid list)

I came in with this list pre-written as a take all comers list.

He took

(tailored jerkface)

He wrote this list after I made mine using flyers (I had little to deal with flyers) and scouts for the 4+ to wound MC's.

(words)

New Tyranid Swarm is now 1-0-0... Like a boss!

Posted a question to YMDC too about this game.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/472338.page
If I am correct it should have been a 13-0 Victory.

Kudos to you for beating the jerk. Read the YMDC thread and there may have been other shinanigans...

Briancj wrote:I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Hear hear.

 Briancj wrote:
I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Gotta love moments like these!

Briancj wrote:I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Galorn wrote:

Rabid Ferret wrote:Played a 2000pt game with my Nids today against Marines. He was using the FW chapter master that gives stealth.

I Used

(pretty standard, Nid list)

I came in with this list pre-written as a take all comers list.

He took

(tailored jerkface)

He wrote this list after I made mine using flyers (I had little to deal with flyers) and scouts for the 4+ to wound MC's.

(words)

New Tyranid Swarm is now 1-0-0... Like a boss!

Posted a question to YMDC too about this game.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/472338.page
If I am correct it should have been a 13-0 Victory.

Kudos to you for beating the jerk. Read the YMDC thread and there may have been other shinanigans...

Briancj wrote:I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Hear hear.

Rogue Wolves wrote:

 Briancj wrote:
I cannot begin to...scratch that.

THANK YOU for kicking the out of some guy who WROTE A LIST TO TAKE YOU OUT.

Justice? SERVED

Gotta love moments like these!

Yeah it was a brutal beatdown. I was scared of the sniper scouts picking on my MC's but he wasted their shots on some FNP Termagants and my 'Stealers. The stealers then ate their face anyway and the other squad got ripped up in an avalanch of big bugs. The Storm Eagle got popped by a rupture cannon that I plopped at it on a whim because I did not have a lot of target saturation to worry about. I figured with 2 shots each with a 16.66% chance of getting that lucky 6 it was worth it. Str 10 is nothing to sneeze at.

Tyrannofex paid for itself in spades. 265pts took out a 300pt vehicle and by all rights should have toasted a 560pt deathstar.

860pts that can get popped out of the sky? Can you say all your eggs in one basket?

Wow, that's a bag well and truly douched. Kudos, amigo!

I got productive this week.

Finished my Nurgle Dreadnaught. He is bloody and oozy disgusting. I am very happy with him. I think the blood turned out great. Yes it IS dry.

I figured anything worth doing is worth overdoing!

Poor S.O.B.



Also I am further along on the Tervigon. Not taking long really but I have only worked on it in short spurts. What do you think?

Nurgle Dread looks excellent! Really like the vibrant colors and stark distinction.

Teasing some progress on my Tervigon. Really fun to paint. Listening to audio dramas has been helping too!

I know I have said it before, but I *really* like the colors you are using. Bright and vibrant with that "we don't need no stinking camouflage!" attitude. Well done.