PAGES 1 - 4 ARE ALL ABOUT BLOOD ANGELS! PAGE 5 ONWARDS GETS A LITTLE RANDOM! THANKS FOR POPPING BY!

Quick summary:
Pg 1 - 4 Blood Angels
Pg 5 Tau starts
Pg 6 Kroot starts
Pg 7 Stealth suits & XV99 'Hammer' suit concept
Pg 8 XV99 wip pics & Flames of War starts & Tiger Shark AX-1-0 + Remora Drones
Pg 9 Battlesuit Commander R'Alai & Grey Knight Termies & BA custom Space Hulk team
Pg 11 Tau T13 suits & Imperial Fists started

Below is the original post before all the randomness started!

Hello Everyone,

I've been collecting BA's for about 16 yrs and at the time of going to press the army stood at 10,635pts. Most of the units are painted ok but a lot of them were 2nd hand from either the market or a very well known auction site and were over-painted, i.e they're gacked!

So the point of this blog;

a) Add lots of new shiny things for the Sons of Sanguinius.
b) Redo as many of the older units as possible inc bases and banners for all. (If they're too gacked then they'll remain cannon fodder)
c) Improve on my painting and modelling skills and ultimately end up with a great looking army for me to be proud of.

The story so far. . .



Please excuse the picture quality but it's the best I could get showing the whole army. But you get the idea.

I will endeavour to keep this blog updated regularly with plenty of pictures and info as to keep you and of course me, as interested and motivated as possible!

I'll update the points total in the title as I go so you guys know there's more to look at!

Thanks for reading!

Wow...over 10,000 pts. VERY nice. Ever played a game with the entire army? Bet that would be kinda hectic and not just a little bit time consuming, but fun.

Good luck to you and happy painting!

Damn dude, thats a bunch of Blood Angels.

Emperors_Champion wrote:Hi All,

With the impending release of yet more BA models (Mahoosive Yippee ) I've decided to start this "self-motivational-i'll-be-getting-on-with-it" blog!

So, currently standing at 10,635pts, here's what I've got so far. . .



Please excuse the picture quality but it's the best I could get showing the whole army. But you get the idea.

Great looking army! Get some closer shots of the individual squads and tanks if possible.

That is awesome, can't believe you've got so much. I'm only just starting my blood angels army but maybe one day it'll be this big

Some closer pics would be good so we can see some more of the painting detail. i would especially like to see the librarian dread close up if possible.

bunnygurl wrote:Wow...over 10,000 pts. VERY nice. Ever played a game with the entire army? Bet that would be kinda hectic and not just a little bit time consuming, but fun.

Good luck to you and happy painting!

I did play an 8000pts a couple of years back against my mates Nid Army, took 3 nights but yes, very fun!

Eggroll wrote:

Great looking army! Get some closer shots of the individual squads and tanks if possible.

Only tank I have a pic of so far is this one; http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/114824-Land%20Raider%20Ares.html

I be adding a couple more tanks so will put up more pics as I go.

AlexHeap wrote:That is awesome, can't believe you've got so much. I'm only just starting my blood angels army but maybe one day it'll be this big

Some closer pics would be good so we can see some more of the painting detail. i would especially like to see the librarian dread close up if possible.

As requested, pics of Librarian Dread; http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/159367-Blood%20Angels%20Librarian%20Dreadnought%20%28re-visited%29.html?m=2

Cheers for the feedback guys!

Does not compute. It takes me days to finish one goddam guy lol!

Totally forgot about a few more units I need to get done!

Fast Attack
Baal Class Predator

Elites/Heavy Support
DC Dread/Chaplain Dread (Will use as Chaplain if FW rules allowed in game)
LR Prometheus

Pretty sure thats it!

Anyway I've made a start on the Terminator Assault Squad, The DC Marines w Jump packs and the Sanguinary Guard!

I like to paint one model at a time and if I jump from squad to squad there's less chance of me getting bored!

Sorry but no WIP pics this time as I didn't charge my camera battery but will get it sorted and get some finished ones up asap!

Keep watching!

Well it's been a pretty productive few days, I've managed to keep on top of things and I remembered to charge my camera so I've got something to show you guys.

Firstly the Terminator Assault Squad Sergeant. . .



Hmm. . . came out a little fuzzy I'll try and get a better one.

And the first Sanguinary Guard. . .



And finally my new DC marines. . .



Not the best pics but you get the idea, I'll have a tweak with the camera settings when I get a chance and hopefully my next models will be clearer.

Anyway, over all I'm happy with the painting, I wouldn't enter these in any competition or showcase as my best work, but pretty solid TTS I'd say.

Thanks for reading, I've also got some WIP pics coming up so stay tuned!

These look really nice!

Right then, hopefully you guys are liking what you see so far.

Now for some WIP pics of the next Assault Term and the next Sanguin Guard!

The Term. . .

Undercoat and first wash;


Base coats;



Washes and highlights to follow!

And the Sanguinary Guard. . .

Undercoat;


Homebrew Gold base coat;


Homebrew Gold highlighted and Washed;


Lots more to do on him!

So that's all the update for today, I'm going to get straight back on it (after I've made a bacon sarnie! ) and I'll update soon!

Thanks for reading!

Excellent painting there. I am seeing a number of eras represented in that army shot How long has it taken you to get this far?

Wow nice! Im wondering the same as flinty how long did it take?

Thanks for the comments guys!

As for time span WOW thats going to take some thinking!

Basically my first encounter with the BA was Space Crusade (released 1990/91 ) From then I was hooked and me and a mate picked up a copy of 2nd Ed 40k ('93 ). I remember getting a Tact squad from a market which were already painted and glossy and also an original predator painted in Space Wolves colours which I then repainted with poster paint! (That didn't end well! )

As far a I can remember the oldest model that I still have and in the army today must be either Tycho or Mephiston but I'm at a loss as to when they were released!

But to answer you question, a very long time!

Ok so another busy day at the office!

(Didn't get chance to use fancy light box today so will take proper pics in the future!)

Finished the 2nd Term. . .



And the 2nd San Guard. . . but this morning I set myself a mission to complete the squad, so. . .

some WIP of the remaining 3. . .




And the finished squad completed just minutes ago!. . .



Little fun fact for you, there are 83 gems on these guys! (not really that fun really but I thought I'd mention it! )

Anyway hope you like, next up is this guy. . .



The new Lemartes!

Been looking forward to doing this one as it feels like I'm painting 2 models at the same time. (cause when I finish him I'll be able to field the old model as another Chaplain with Jump pack!)

Thanks for reading, hope you guys find it not too much of a bore

Your guards look fantastic, great gold!

40kFSU wrote:Your guards look fantastic, great gold!

Thank you!

The gold is really simple, I tried the Non-metallic way shown in WD but it went horribly wrong (unfortunate ork crash dummie!) I've never got on with the golds GW do either so I decided to make my own. I wanted something that would have the metallic feel to it but also be able to cover well, after a few trial and errors (and a few more ork subjects) I settled on this;

1st = 50:50 mix of Mithril Silver & Macharius Solar Orange & a little water to help the mix (shake very well)
2nd = Fine highlights of neat Mithril Silver
3rd = Generous coat of Gryphonne Sepia

See simples! I'm no 'eavy Metal painter but this works for me!

wow.
really nice work. your sanguine guard looks awesome.
looking forward to seeing everything together

Nice work mate, love how the sanguinary guard gold

Thanks all for the comments!

So a pretty good night again, got Lemartes done and the 3rd Term started. I've just got home from work as the powers out so nothing can be done! But it has given me chance to take some more pics to 'hopefully' entertain you guys!

So first up;

Lemartes. . .

WIP


And Finished. . .


And for a bit of fun, a comparison between my old and new Lemartes. (I will now use the old as another Chaplin to lead another squad!)


Thought I'd stick up a better (hopefully) picture of the Sanguinary Guards. . .


And lastly for today, my next Assault Termie WIP shot. . .


OK so that's all for today, tonight I am intending to sand and undercoat my next squad of 9 DC marines on foot along with their Chaplain 'Leader' (OOP DC Chaplain) I'll do these along side the rest of the Term squad to keep my colours as varied as I can.

To be continued. . .

Ok so not had a chance to update for a while so I've got a few pics to show you all, most are WIP pics of various squads and things but I have finally finished the Terminator Assault squad.

(soz for pic quality/size/cropping but using the wifes laptop and she doesn't have an editor )

so firstly the Terms. . .



Will get a better group shot of these guys soon.

Also got 3 of my DC marines on foot done. . .



Next up some WIP shots of the Vanguard and also some HQ/Characters that I'll be adding. . .





WIP Death Company / Chaplain Dreadnought (will be my 3rd DC dread! ). . .



and lastly, but certainly not least;

my WIP Stormlord. . .




Loads to do to this one, trying out a few different weathering techniques and also a couple of different battle damage ideas but will keep you posted!

So that's it for now, hope you like and keep the C&C coming!

Cheers!

Awesome

Thanks Doots!

Ok then, so my Stormraven turned up yesterday and I started work on it last night.

This will pretty much put all the other projects on hold for at least the week end.

It's no secret that there are lots of peeps out there that are by no means 'lovers' of this model. To an extent I agree.

So there are a few tweaks that I'm planning to do;

1. Change the cockpit to seat 2 marines, the pilot and the gunner. This will not only look cooler (imo) but it will mean I can then. . .

2. . . reposition/remodel the assault cannon turret! (getting rid of the servitor and his BS3 issue!)

3. I'm going to extent the tail and. . .

4. . . fit a more appropriate 'clamp' to hold the dread. (possibly robbing bits from the valkyrie)

5. Make the guns interchangeable, including the hurricane sponsons. (just personal preference not really a design issue)

6. I intend to magnetise the landing gear so it doesn't look so odd in flight!

Will probably do more (or less) as I go and would love to hear other suggestions/see examples from you guys out there in dakkaland!

So here goes;

First up, a nice shiny box!



Now for some WIP shots of No.1 (2 man cockpit). . .




Basically I chopped out the one seater and robbed a cockpit from a land speeder, it fits pretty well. The hardest part was widening the 'roof' part but I'm happy with how it's going! I'll have to add a few other bits of plastic card and stuff once the seats are stuck in place but just wanted to get some pics up to show you guys my ideas!

To Be Continued. . .

Stormlord is sweet. I cant wait t see the Stormraven conversions. Good luck.

Looking good so far, will be interested to see how it turns out!

How are the Blood Angel symbols? Are they moulded on to the Stormraven or are they seperate?

IronSpectre wrote:How are the Blood Angel symbols? Are they moulded on to the Stormraven or are they seperate?

They're separate because this isn't just a BA model. It also belongs in the new DH Codex too, so there are Inq. symbols.


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Beautiful army. I think troop wise I'm not far off what you have, vehicle wise too. But my God paint wise, lets just say I need to get my arse in gear

Will you be adding any more SR or are you saving for his big brother?

IronSpectre wrote:How are the Blood Angel symbols? Are they moulded on to the Stormraven or are they seperate?

Like Lennysmash said, seperate! Not that interesting though as theres only 4 and they are all the same but I'm guessing you're planning to use for another chapter?

Lennysmash wrote:

IronSpectre wrote:How are the Blood Angel symbols? Are they moulded on to the Stormraven or are they seperate?

They're separate because this isn't just a BA model. It also belongs in the new DH Codex too, so there are Inq. symbols.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Beautiful army. I think troop wise I'm not far off what you have, vehicle wise too. But my God paint wise, lets just say I need to get my arse in gear

Will you be adding any more SR or are you saving for his big brother?

Thanks mate,

Yeah would love a T-hawk but just can't justify the 400quid price tag in one go! Keep planning to try and scratch build one but always get side tracked.

I am planning on at least one more SR and will probably do it as DC. Got a total of 10 dreads now for these guys so will need more transport soon enough!

Emperors_Champion wrote:Yeah would love a T-hawk but just can't justify the 400quid price tag in one go!

£399 actually

Besides if you get the T-Hawk transporter you get a set of chapter doors and either 2 rhinos or a LR, Bargain

Have you seen the MK-1 thunderhawk scratch build in the blog section. You could always go for that type. Its a lot more simple shape than the current FW model. Still not easy though of course.

Nice stuff! Looking forward to seeing how the storm raven turns out

Lennysmash wrote:

Emperors_Champion wrote:Yeah would love a T-hawk but just can't justify the 400quid price tag in one go!

£399 actually

Besides if you get the T-Hawk transporter you get a set of chapter doors and either 2 rhinos or a LR, Bargain

Have you seen the MK-1 thunderhawk scratch build in the blog section. You could always go for that type. Its a lot more simple shape than the current FW model. Still not easy though of course.

Would have to be a gunship if I was going to spent that kind of cash! I have seen the MK1 blog but I think if I'm going to commit to that size of project I would have to do the new version!


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OK so quick update on the Stromraven;

All WIP shots (obviously) so it all looks very clean but I do intent to dirt it up a bit as I go!

So, got the cockpit fitting. . .



and got some paint on it. . .



Painted the interior. . .





pieced together my turret. . .



And then came the wings;

originally I said I was going to extent the tail boom to try and 'balance' the craft a bit more but after many, many, many dry fits I wasn't happy with any of my plans (not even using valkyrie bits) and then I realised that it wasn't the tail boom that bothered me so much, it was the postioning of the engines! They're way too far back, so basically I had a quick play with swapping left for right pieces over and came up with this. . .




The engines have been moved well over an inch forward which I think looks a ton better (imo)

So let me know what you guys think and I'll hopefully have more to post soon!

Cheers all!

Ok so I've done a bit more on the Stormraven. Mainly finished building and base coating.

I didn't feel the need to extend the tail boom after I moved the engines but I did feel the tail fin was a little inadequate so I did a little extension. After that I just added a couple of wing lights. (very surprised about the lack on lights on this thing)

With the magna-grapple I didn't really share the same contempt for it as others but I did think it needed something to make it more of a feature so all I did was add a few bits to make it more 'grapple' like.

When it came to the landing gears it was quite simple really, the rear gears actually fit really snuggly together so no magnets necessary. They stay in both when raised and when deployed so I just didn't glue them. The front gears were slightly different but not hard. The housing had to be glued to the hull but that stays there when the gears are up or down so no problem, I did have to magnetise the feet to the middle section as they don't fit so snug but both the middle part and the feet fit fine in the housing. So in total only 4 magnets used! I probably won't deploy the landing gear much anyway cause it looks so much better when raised imo!

Anyway take a look at the pics, let me know what you guys think and I'll try and get some more paint on asap, planning to do lots of weathering, flight markings, hazard lines etc so will hopefully come off as good as whats in mind!

Cheers all, now the pics!. . .

Took a better shot of the Terminator Assault Squad. . .



Oh yeah, and I finished my Stormraven!



I haven't done anything to the base as I'm in the process of rethinking my theme as the grey ash is a bit boring!

Anyway this pic is huge so feel free to zoom in and scrutinise as much as you like!

Cheers All!

Great work on the stormraven, I like it!!

Stormraven looks amazing!

Very nice

Superb work on the stormraven, the additions that you made and the freehand make me want that model so badly!

I really hate it when I miss blogs with quality work in them like this. Glad I found it, the Raven and termis look great!

Thanks for the comments guys! Much appreciated!

Coming soon. . . Another Death Company Dread!

Very nice EC. What parts did you use to extend the tail, are they the Valkyrie tails bits? I cant seem to find anything that fits.

Great idea on the dual pilots. Might use that for my 2nd SR.

atacam wrote:Very nice EC. What parts did you use to extend the tail, are they the Valkyrie tails bits? I cant seem to find anything that fits.

Great idea on the dual pilots. Might use that for my 2nd SR.

Yeah it was just a couple of the tail pieces from the Valk, and I turned the SR piece round cause it looked better to me. (I just ignored the fact that the flaps were backwards )

My god...you've...you've done the impossible...

You've made the Stormraven look cool. I bow before your skill good sir!

GAH! Now that you mentioned the backwards flaps its bugging the gak out of me!

whalemusic360 wrote:GAH! Now that you mentioned the backwards flaps its bugging the gak out of me!

Just think of them as air brakes.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Good call on the Air Brakes tipios! That's totally what I was thinking all along!


Now then, some progress. . .


I've been feeling a bit dreadnoughty recently and with my Librarian making his first appearance on Tues and putting in rather a good show, mainly by nullifying all the Zoanys psychic attacks and then taking out a Hive Tyrant with his Force weapon I thought it'd be nice to give him some friends.

So I got working on my latest DC Dread and I have got him pretty much finished. . .



Hmm, seems a bit blurry!

Anyway, here's one I did about 8 months ago. . .



And here's one I can't remember when I did, it's got to be at least 12 years ago. . .



Now then, what I'm intending to do is repaint the old guy and base him to match the others (with new rim colour as brown) and I'm also going to paint up a banner for each of them (detachable for transit) as I intend to do every unit in my army a banner sooner or later.

So hopefully the next shot of these guys will be (in focus) a nice family portrait with matching bases and lovely looking banners!

Any ideas, thoughts or general c&c about these guys or any other very welcome.

Cheers for looking!

Where'd you get the head from in the newest DCD? Looks perfect!

AoBR Dread looks good, almost cant tell what he is, other then the smokestacks. I'd ditch the smoke launcher from the old dread, it looks big and out of place. Looking forward to the triple threat!

Awesome dreds! The aobr one is completley different to the sarting model.

Great work!

whalemusic360 wrote:Where'd you get the head from in the newest DCD? Looks perfect!

I'll tell you. . . but only if you forgive about flipping the wing flaps on the SR!

Only joking (but really, forgive me! ) It's from a searchlight part out of the 40k scenery sets, I'm not sure which one you get it in as I had most of the sets.

whalemusic360 wrote:AoBR Dread looks good, almost cant tell what he is, other then the smokestacks. I'd ditch the smoke launcher from the old dread, it looks big and out of place. Looking forward to the triple threat!

Yeah I was pleased with AoBR Dread and I might extend the exhausts if I can find some bitz, as for the old dread, the smoke launchers have got to go. I'll probably just peel off the transfers and re spray to be honest, the whole thing is tatty.

Ok , so a quick WIP shot of the old Dread before he goes to the cleaners (for a fresh spray job)



Didn't need too much, I just scratched off the transfers, stuck of some brass etching, based him, re-glued his arm and waist, drilled out the barrels and smoke stacks and got shot of the launchers. Probably won't put new ones on as I never use them anyway and he will have a banner on top anyway.

On a side note, I'm going to re-write the intro post cause I haven't stuck to my original to-do-list anyway so it doesn't really make sense.

Thanks for looking!

I still have one of the old metal dreads. I think he weighs about 5 pounds.

40kFSU wrote:I still have one of the old metal dreads. I think he weighs about 5 pounds.

Yeah they are quite chunky fellows!


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So another quickie!

Got the old dread repainted, first a quick comparison shot. . .



Now a family portrait (with nice new banners for all!). . .



I'm playing a game this Thurs where I'm fielding all these guys as well as plenty of DC marines and chaplains, which means. . .

I need this fella!



Started with a coat of Macharius Solar Orange



Then a generous helping of Baal Red



Then a good coat of Badab Black

I've now washed him again with Baal Red (not so generous this time) and he's sat on the radiator drying (hence no pic) but I'll be sure to take a quick snap of him before I move on.

Thanks for Looking!

Cheers All!

Hmmm interesting base color choice. I've been putting mine off as I have no idea how to make him look how I want him to.

whalemusic360 wrote:Hmmm interesting base color choice. I've been putting mine off as I have no idea how to make him look how I want him to.

Yeah I wasn't too sure where to start either but it has basically come to crunch time now and in order for me to use all my Death Company I need Astorath, and in order for to use Astorath he needs to be painted! (Personal preference! ) So here I am, making it up as I go along but hopefully will come out ok.

So. . . it continues. . .



This is after the 2nd wash of Baal Red. (I may highlight with dry-brushing but I'll wait till later to see.) But I'm happy with how 'red' the orange looks!



With basecoats;

Scrolls/skulls = Dheneb Stone
Armour = Gold home brew (50/50 Miithril Silver/Macharius Solar Orange)
Chains/Jump Packs Vents = Boltgun Metal
Purity Seals = Mechrite Red
Face = Codex Grey

And then. . .



Highhlights;

Scrolls/skulls = Skull White
Armour = Miithril Silver
Chains/Jump Packs Vents = Miithril Silver
Purity Seals = Blazing Orange
Face = Fortress Grey
Wings/Base = Codex Grey

Then the most important part of the entire evening. . . .




































A well deserved break!

So now I've washed the Gold, when thats dry I'll wash the scrolls and vents and while that dries it will leave me enough time to update you guys and enjoy that 'well deserved break'!

Be back soon!

Nice start to your Astorath.......I ended up going bone coloured armour with red trim.....I also replaced the axe head with one out of the Sanguinary Guards box.

Doots wrote:Nice start to your Astorath.......I ended up going bone coloured armour with red trim.....I also replaced the axe head with one out of the Sanguinary Guards box.

Yeah I'm bit of a traditionalist when it comes to colours (which roughly translates to "I'm bit of a wimp to try different schemes!" ) As for the axe, I may have to follow your lead as I've already bent it twice while painting! It's really flimsy so it probably won't last long!

Stellar work on both Astorath and the DC dread EC. I have 5 of the old dreads myself from various Ebay buys, so if you think the weight of one is bad try the weight of five in your carry case lol.

What's up next once Astorath is complete?

Thanks for the comments guys!

Well I had a game with Astorath, and guess what, his axe broke off! So first thing on the list is to fix his axe, I also have to finish his face (played with a base coated face! )

@Lennysmash, Once I've repaired and finished Asto I'll probably give The Sanguinor a go.

I'll get pics up very soon!

Cheers All!

Spectacular work... the wings on that stormraven look amazing.

I love the dreads

Also how did you get the head on the beer looking so realistic

tipios wrote:I love the dreads

Also how did you get the head on the beer looking so realistic

Plenty of practise!

Emperors_Champion wrote:Well I had a game with Astorath, and guess what, his axe broke off! So first thing on the list is to fix his axe, I also have to finish his face (played with a base coated face! )

No surprise really.......mind you I've now had to pin the wings as well...After three turns of his debut for my BA they fell off one after the other

Astorath is well worth the points though.......especially in the larger games of 2K upwards.....I've even got him in a 1500 jump list and he seems to work well....

Looking forward to seeing more.......

Been a while since I've had time to do anything but I've finally finished Astorath!

I have actually been using him a fair bit too, and he's doing pretty well, I've had him in a 1500pts list along with Mephiston, Lemartes, 14 Jump packed DC Marines (split into 7's and lead by Asto and Lemartes) and 2 DC dreads with Talons and it's a really fun list and very hard hitting.

Anyway, here he is. . .



As always C&C very welcome!

Cheers All

great paintjob throughout your army.

Agreed, you are a great painter.

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments!

Now on to the next project, I did mention a few posts ago that I would probably have a go at The Sanguinor after Astorath but like so many of my plans, that's changed.

I've recently done a bit of trading with a good mate of mine and now I've got a load of bikes, I used to field my bikes and/or attack bikes in most of my games but as my collection has grown and more and more cool stuff comes my way they've been neglected in recent times.

So, I've decided to re-do the 3 bikes that I have already, (the attack bikes will get done also at some point) and I'm going to add in a Sanguinary Priest and also a Chaplain bike (probably elite version to keep the points down). The Priest and Chaplain should bolster the squad nicely and make them a bit more on par with the rest of the BA units.

Unit Composition;

Sanguinary Priest : Bike, Power Sword = 100

Chaplain : Bike = 135

Biker Sgt : Power Fist
7 Bikers : Flamer, Meltagun
Attack Bike upgrade : H/Bolter
= 295

Total = 530 Points

I'll probably field them in combat squads and attach the Priest and Chaplain to each one.

So here's the 3 bikes that I already have, can't wait to rip the torsos off and give these guys a new lease of life!




I should have these guys re-done in a few days and hopefully the Priest.

Keep watching!

Been a while since I updated so here's a few WIP pics of the bikes;

First up, the new Sgt;




Then the Special Weapon dudes, Meltagun and Flamer;






Then a bit more interesting,

The Chaplain;




And last but not least, the Sanguinary Priest;




Obviously still all in very early WIP stages, I'm going to be basing all the bikes this time round inc the attack bikes so any ideas for scenic bases very welcome.

Will hopefully get some paint on these guys soonish but I've been busy with my other hobby of late, mainly DIYing the bathroom!

Keep watching!

looking great, keep it up, very inspiring

This is just awsome! Like how you paint your Death co and gold !

Great work as always. Do you paint the maines etc after you have glued them to the bike or are they just on at the moment for the photos?

Thanks for the comments guys!

taffiarti wrote:Great work as always. Do you paint the maines etc after you have glued them to the bike or are they just on at the moment for the photos?

Yeah they're just posing for the pics for now, I'll paint them seperate from the bikes.

I've just got some more bike bases in the post so hopefully this weekend i'll get some bases made and then get some paint on!

Keep watching!

This is awesome to see! I have a very similar project happening as we speak with my Chaos Black Legion. I have a huge assortment of models collected over the last 16+ years that are in various states of paint/repair.
I am new here so I don't have any pics up yet but they will be on their way soon.
Glad to see I'm no the only one in these shoes! Although I think you are way ahead of me at this point

I just wanted to ask what you were using to hold the bits on those pegs while you paint? That technique looks like it would be very useful for some of my more complex models

logg_frogg wrote:This is awesome to see! I have a very similar project happening as we speak with my Chaos Black Legion. I have a huge assortment of models collected over the last 16+ years that are in various states of paint/repair.
I am new here so I don't have any pics up yet but they will be on their way soon.
Glad to see I'm no the only one in these shoes! Although I think you are way ahead of me at this point

I just wanted to ask what you were using to hold the bits on those pegs while you paint? That technique looks like it would be very useful for some of my more complex models

Just Blu-tack for the plastic stuff, for the metal stuff such as Astorath I actually pin the model to the matchstick with a paper clip to keep them secure while painting.

Be sure give us a heads up when you get pics up!

So continuing (slowly) with the bike squad;

The fresh bases. . .



And some extra goodies to make them a bit more interesting. . .



The next 6 bikes started. . .



And the bases made. . .



A 'normal' guy. . .



And the banner bearer. . .



No actually 'in-game' rules for this guy but I love the look of a biker holding a banner so I just thought I'd make one anyway!

As well as drilling out the barrels and spoke holes I'm also drilling out the exhausts. . .



Well that's about it for now, I've got the next week off work so hopefully between the DIYing and family days out I might get chance to get some more interesting pictures up!

Thanks for looking!

nice work mate!

What a great collection of Blood Angels, every hobbyist's dream.

Great work on the new additions too. Keep us posted how it goes with the bikes.

Hello!

Thanks for dropping by our thread earlier, thought we would do the same - the models are spot on, and it looking at the dates posted the turn around of the models is pretty quick!

We have some bases that you may be interested in, that is to say, we would be interested in seeing your awesome models mounted on them, maybe we can strike a deal

Man, im about drooling on all of your work great job! btw the StormRaven variation i worked on is now done just thought you might want to know.

I clicked the link like "Oh, ok got some blood angels here" looks at first post "SWEET LORD THATS A WHOLE CHAPTER"

Hey Emp, bikes are looking great overall. I gotta say I'm not a fan of that banner bearer, the movement sculpted into the cloth of the banner doesn't really convey any sense of speed. I know you like him though and in the end that is all that matters.

Maybe if you add other squads of bikes though you could try pennants (hope I spelt that right). Similar to the flags you see the old US cavalry carrying in the old westerns, Would be cool to have a whole column of two abreast biker/lancers with pennants waving.

Thanks for all the comments guys, wow, I just checked out the date when I last updated! That's shocking!

@Warmill, thanks for the comments, i'm sure we can sort something with your bases, prob easiest to sort through Graham @ SMG or his club on Thursdays in xchurch!

@Del3ted, popping over to check out your Stormraven now!

@Lennysmash, yeah I see what you mean about the banner, I haven't done anything to the bikes since last update so I will prob revise that!

Cheers All, and i'll try much, much harder to get some more updates up soon!

Right then, as i've been slacking on the painting side of things i've decided to get myself in gear and get sorted. This meant that my spare room (which had become my junk room) had to be sorted before anything else. So, 4 hours and a bacon sarnie later, my junk room was back to my spare room and I could once again see the surface of my painting desk! :-)

Now on to the good stuff.

I've been playing a bit of kill-team recently and after my Sternguards more than impressive performances against the likes of Imperial guard veterans and a Tyranid strike force, I thought I'd get my Vanguard up together and see how they fair. Yes, this obviously means the bikes are yet another project put to one side but rest assured they will return. But for now, the Vanguard.

I've only made slight progress on one man so far but here's a pic:



Should have this guy finished by tonight so keep watching!

Cheers all.

:-)

Fantastic Stuff!

Quick update here, I got my first Vanguard finished. I tried to go a bit different with this squad, I usually keep my models quite clean but I wanted to try a more dirty look this time round. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out although i'm not sure if I went a bit ott with the battle damage!

Anyway, I didn't get time to setup my light tent last night so todays picture is from my phone, it's mainly just to show you guys I did finish him!



I'll get a better pic up soon so you can give better c&c!

Cheers All!


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Ok, so I've got a better(ish) photo. It looks a bit grainy

Anyway, here he is;



Hoping to start the 2nd one this evening.

I think I need more light when taking pictures, hopefully the next one will come out better, so for now, treat that as yet another teaser!

Cheers All.

Didn't get a lot done last night, mainly because I was busy searching dakka for answers to my photography issues. Pretty sure all I need is better lighting, so i'm going to sort out new lamps before my next photo shoot.

Anyway, back on topic, I did at least pick my next subject to work on;

The 2nd of my vanguard:



I'm also going to get these two chaps up together to give me 5 dc marines on foot:



Keep watching!

Very nice! Did you ever get around to taking close up shots of your old tanks?

Subbed

Knightley wrote:Very nice! Did you ever get around to taking close up shots of your old tanks?

Subbed

Didn't get round to that, must of got side tracked (no pun intended, well maybe a little ).

Once I sort out new lighting i'll use a few as test subjects. They're not great mind you, most of them need revamping!

Have no fear I'm in the same boat, all my old tanks need a serious case of simple green dip or burning however at the request of some one I had to take pic's (I guess to show where I've come from painting wise)

Quick update;

Had the pleasure of meeting the guys from Warmill again last night and was very very impressed by their new goodies. (will be ordering soon! ) It does make you want to set up a game and play out the outpost battle from starship troopers though! Hay-ho, all in good time!

Anyway, back to business!

I did manage to get some base coat on my latest dc marines, not much mind but at least the bulk is no done so they should easily be ready for my next encounter. (which will hopefully be tues)

So heres pics of the progress;



Cheers all!


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P.s pics of tanks and updated army should be getting done sunday!

Quick update:

Finished the 2 dc marines on foot. That gives me another squad of 5 dc marines which i'll prob field with my chaplain w P/fist in tues game.



Next up will be a updated army pic!

Stay tuned!

Nice looking weathering! can hardly wait for the army pic

Thought I'd stick up a couple of Army shots to keep us all interested!

This first one is of all the stuff I've done since starting this blog, minus the Stormraven, cause I forgot it! (Actually doesn't look like much!)



Then the whole army together, minus the Death Company Drop-pod cause it fell on my head and smashed! Yes, really! But it needed re-doing anyway so that'll get pushed up the to-do-list!



And last but not least, as requested, close up shots of the tanks. You'll notice most are very plain and without weathering or squad/company markings. Rest assured these are also on the to-do-list!



Hope you enjoy!

Now normally im not a fan of Space Marines, of any kind (CSM being the exception) but this army is freaking sweet!!!

Its inspired me to really build up my CSM army. The goal is to now have at least a unit of everything haha.

Also congrats on being the 1st person to get an exalt from me, im savin them for special thread and this is one of them .

johnscott10 wrote:Now normally im not a fan of Space Marines, of any kind (CSM being the exception) but this army is freaking sweet!!!

Its inspired me to really build up my CSM army. The goal is to now have at least a unit of everything haha.

Also congrats on being the 1st person to get an exalt from me, im savin them for special thread and this is one of them .

Thank you very much, I shall try not to disappoint with lack of posts!

Exalted.
Can believe I only just came across this blog. I'm not a painter so I can't really provide any constructive feedback, but needless to say that's some absolutely great work man. One of the best (and biggest) Blood Angels forces I've seen and you've done a great job throughout.
I love your Stormraven too; whilst your vehicles look great, I must say that your infantry are even better; particularly look forward to more Vanguards.
Great job all round.

Hah after saying what does a 12000 point Blood Angels army look like lo and behold there it is! Very sweet indeed! That's not one of your death company dreads in the GW cabinet in town is it?

Most amount of BA I have seen (that I can remember anyways)

Wish I had the patience to do this kind of work. Kudos for having the classic rhino based vehicles!

Just Dave wrote:Exalted.
Can believe I only just came across this blog. I'm not a painter so I can't really provide any constructive feedback, but needless to say that's some absolutely great work man. One of the best (and biggest) Blood Angels forces I've seen and you've done a great job throughout.
I love your Stormraven too; whilst your vehicles look great, I must say that your infantry are even better; particularly look forward to more Vanguards.
Great job all round.

I haven't done any tanks since the stormraven so none of them really got much weathering/attention . As I re-do them i'll put what I learnt from the SR into doing them. I agree that my infantry are better but then I have done quite a few more!

WarMill wrote:Hah after saying what does a 12000 point Blood Angels army look like lo and behold there it is! Very sweet indeed! That's not one of your death company dreads in the GW cabinet in town is it?

Thanks warmill. No its not my dread in gw. I haven't actually been to a gw store for well over a year. Grahams much closer!



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kenshin620 wrote:Most amount of BA I have seen (that I can remember anyways)

Wish I had the patience to do this kind of work. Kudos for having the classic rhino based vehicles!

Thanks mate. I thought about at some point replacing the rhinos with new ones but nearly everyone who sees them still admires them! Good old days I guess!


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Thought i'd better do this guy seen as i intent to run a full DC list on weds!



Took about 2 hours!

Keep Watching!

Started my 2nd Vanguard Marine and thought I really should try a better method to painting my power sword, after seeing another blog on here doing thunderhammers I followed the link given to the tutorial that was followed, I figured it could work for a power sword so I gave it a go.

This is the link for the tutorial; http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/357667.page

I used the same colours. Let me know what you think. Does it work on a sword as well as the hammers?



Thanks for Looking!

Tbh the sword looks better than the Hammer haha.

Might just be my preferance coming through though.

Good job none the less.

Thanks johnscott10, i am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Anyway, i've been playing with my camera settings;

Here's a better one of Tycho (i think)



And a much better colour match for the Vanguard;



They still look a bit grainy! Any ideas anyone?

looks great so far! as I am trying to start up a BA force, how do you get the reds so ... red?

Crusher050 wrote:looks great so far! as I am trying to start up a BA force, how do you get the reds so ... red?

Thats actually the easiest bit!

I use 'pure red primer' spray paint from 'Army Painter'. It's really good stuff and coats very well.
From there I wash with a generous coat of 'Devlan Mud'.
Once fully dry i pick out the most raised parts with 'Blood red'
Then use fine line highlights of 'Blazing Orange'.

To do the purity seals I just use 'Mechrite red' as the base coat. (Works for touch ups too)

Simples!

looks great! i may try it out on my own marines

Emperors_Champion you probably know this but im still super jealous of your army haha

Great looking collection you've got built up...I'm hoping to get mine around that size some day though I'm trying to collect at least one single model of each unit available. One thing I noticed is your primer or paint is a bit too thick on the models. Especially the Tycho model, lot of the detail on the gun is lost under all the thick paint. Otherwise nice pics and I look forward to seeing more.

Eggroll wrote:Great looking collection you've got built up...I'm hoping to get mine around that size some day though I'm trying to collect at least one single model of each unit available. One thing I noticed is your primer or paint is a bit too thick on the models. Especially the Tycho model, lot of the detail on the gun is lost under all the thick paint. Otherwise nice pics and I look forward to seeing more.

I know what you mean. Tycho was 2nd hand from ebay and I got most of the bad stuff off but the model wasn't in the greatest condition. The melta barrel was missing and a bit of the gun was chipped out. I'm not great with gs.

I'll keep an eye on primer levels.

Cheers!

The lightning sword is fantastic, and thanks for showing the stages of paint
Tycho looks cool, and the Vanguard pose and painting is top

tipios wrote:The lightning sword is fantastic, and thanks for showing the stages of paint
Tycho looks cool, and the Vanguard pose and painting is top

Thanks mate. I'm pretty happy with the sword, the tutorial I followed was for t/hammers but I think it worked well. I'm not totally convinced but I never right off a model before I fully finish him. (which will hopefully be tonight )


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Managed to get a bit more of Vanguard No. 2 done, he's almost there just needs battle damage, dirt and some smoke around the exhausts, plus the base then he's done!



Also got this guy sprayed up;



Going to keep him prodominantly (word ) white so he stands out. Also going to attempt some sort of OSL on this guy as I feel it may be my next step to improving my skills. (Deep breath! )

Quick update;

Painted Vanguard No.2's base. . .



He still needs battle damage and a few finishing touches but I then moved onto his j/pack. . .

I've attempted my first glow effect on Vanguard No.2, This is kind of a trial to see if I can get the effect I'm looking for. If it works I'll go back to Vanguard No.1 and do his pack as well. (plus it will be good practise for when I try OSL )

Anyway here's what I did. . .

Firstly I painted it up to the same point as Vanguard No.1, inc battle damage and smoke [top pic] then,
Washed with Regal Blue [forgot to take pic but you can imagine ] then,
Washed with Hawk Turquoise [pic 2] then,
Painted neat Hawk Turquoise inside [pic 3] then,
Painted neat Ice Blue inside that and added highlights [pic 4] then,
Painted neat Space Wolves Grey inside that and added highlights [pic 5] then,
Finished with Skull White inside. [bottom pic]



So does it look glowing?

Do I need another wash?

Or maybe Gloss Varnish?

Thanks for looking and any advise would be appreciated!

I think it looks like it is glowing, and is very good

tipios wrote:I think it looks like it is glowing, and is very good

Thanks mate, I'll take another pic when I've finished him completely so I can get a proper feel for it.

So weird I was just over at your Dreadlord thread. Looking, well, Awesome!

Looks good

johnscott10 wrote:Looks good

Thanks mate!

Well I got him finished, I think the glow looks pretty good. I'm happy with it. Here he is with his buddy. . .



Also painted the Priests base, [not very exciting!]



Anyway, has anyone got any tips on photographing on a black background?

Every time I try the black comes out too grey and when I try and tweak in photoshop the colour of the model just goes totally wrong!

Thanks for Watching!

Glowy bits look sweet!

Del3ted wrote:Emperors_Champion you probably know this but im still super jealous of your army haha

Thanks mate, looking forward to seeing more of yours!


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WarMill wrote:Glowy bits look sweet!

Cheers guys! Burnt out another laser yet?

Looks awesome now he's finished.

I need to try that glow effect on my raptors, when I finally get round to them , thanks for showing how you did it

Got to agree with Just Dave here, and exalt this sucker.

Awesome army, amazing paintjobs. The Stormraven is making me want to start a Blood Angel army, and I have zero interest in that idea usually.

Also love the jet pack idea, might nab that in the future if I ever have some.

Great stuff, looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks mate, looking forward to seeing more of yours!

ill be posting some death company i just finished soon!

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments.

Quick update,

Just thought i'd show you the next vanguard whos gonna get done;



Also did a bit on my priests bike;



Not sure what colour to go with for the trim. It's either going to black, metal, gold or maybe even red? Hmmm! Any thoughts?

Hopefully i'll have a much better update soon but i've got a list as long as my arm to be getting on with around the house!

Thanks for looking!

Do you have the priest model together yet? it might help flesh out the colors on the bike if there is a color that would work best on the priest.

whalemusic360 wrote:Do you have the priest model together yet? it might help flesh out the colors on the bike if there is a color that would work best on the priest.

Good thinking, i'll get him done first. I really want to keep him mainly white so he stands out but will obviously need touches of red!

Cheers!

Keep watching!


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Ah man new page! Now i'm gonna need more pics!

I love your superheavy tank and am now determined to save up for a FW model with giant assault cannons. In my head it goes something like this.
Ah hello tyranid army.
/turret rotates
I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

I love your assembled army shots.

Emperors_Champion wrote:

whalemusic360 wrote:Do you have the priest model together yet? it might help flesh out the colors on the bike if there is a color that would work best on the priest.

Good thinking, i'll get him done first. I really want to keep him mainly white so he stands out but will obviously need touches of red!
Cheers!
Keep watching!

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Ah man new page! Now i'm gonna need more pics!

I agree with WM. Seeing the priest first would help determine a good colour scheme for the rest. I think if you did mostly white with red trim for the priest you can do a mostly red with white trim for the bike. This way the two should still match but there will be enough contrast to distinguish the rider from bike.

AustonT wrote:I love your superheavy tank and am now determined to save up for a FW model with giant assault cannons. In my head it goes something like this.
Ah hello tyranid army.
/turret rotates
I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

I love your assembled army shots.

Thanks mate, I really need to get the superheavy finished at some point! My mates got an 8000pt nid army and he doesn't like this tank!


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Eggroll wrote:

Emperors_Champion wrote:

whalemusic360 wrote:Do you have the priest model together yet? it might help flesh out the colors on the bike if there is a color that would work best on the priest.

Good thinking, i'll get him done first. I really want to keep him mainly white so he stands out but will obviously need touches of red!
Cheers!
Keep watching!

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Ah man new page! Now i'm gonna need more pics!

I agree with WM. Seeing the priest first would help determine a good colour scheme for the rest. I think if you did mostly white with red trim for the priest you can do a mostly red with white trim for the bike. This way the two should still match but there will be enough contrast to distinguish the rider from bike.

Yeah, working on the priest first now as will prob be easier to workout the best way to go with the bike. Hopefully get him done this week but mega busy at home at mo. That gutterings not gonna put itself up!

Really digging the jump pack engine highlighting, very boss!

Knightley wrote:Really digging the jump pack engine highlighting, very boss!

Thanks mate, glad you approve!

OK update time!

Soz for pants pics but my niece has borrowed our decent camera, so i'm using my phone. On the plus side, she's borrowed it to do a photography course so I've told her to take plenty of notes so she can teach me how to use it properly!

Anyway,

Not much progress with the priest, in fact after having last week "off" to get my guttering, faciers(spelling?), sofets(spelling?) and rendering done the whole hobby thing pretty much grinded to a halt! But I've been back to work this week so I'm well rested! and ready to get rolling!

Here's a quickie of the priests current state;



As you can, not much from last update. He's kind of on the back burner at the mo as a mate has been trying out a few ways of stripping plastic minis. He found a good, non-toxic method online using Dettol.

Basically just soak in sealed tub then use an old toothbrush or similar to scrub off the paint while still in the Dettol. He did emphasise 'still in the Dettol' as water makes the paint go quite gluppie! So the next few pics shows the first few steps of me trying this method.

I picked my first 5 candidates from the best of the worst gacked models. (The pic actually makes them look a lot better than they actually are!)

The 3rd pic shows the bits I'll actually be stripping, 2 of the j/packs are fine and the other bits I have loads of new bits lying around so i'm not bothering to strip. (plus plasma pistols are getting made redundant in my army, too many )



So i'm going to leave these guys over night and probably through the day as well and hopefully i'll have some decent results to show you!

Now for something a little different!

WARNING! THIS BLOG IS ABOUT TO GO A LITTLE RANDOM!

I was going to start another blog but I've done so a few times with various projects and I don't have enough time to put the effort into all the projects that I start so the blog just runs its course and gets lost.

I've noticed that a lot of fellow dakkaites tend to just put all their stuff, no matter how random or different in one main blog. So that's what I intend to do.

Some bits will seem a little random and some bits probably won't be of any interest at all. But hopefully most of what I post will keep you guys coming back to check up on me!

So, to start the randomness off, I've started a Tau force!

And here's my first test piece;



I didn't actually intend for the colour scheme to be as close to the 'normal' colours but after a few washes here and there and me not really paying attention to what colours I was actually doing it turned out to be almost the same. So basically I liked it and went with it!

The last pic shows fresh sand, this is just because I used an old base for the tester as I didn't expect me to like him enough to actually use him, but he turned out better than I thought so now I have to tidy up his base!

Next up, this guy is inspired by MW2 killstreak rewards! I've made him a little laptop so he can call in air support.

Note; his left arm is just blu-tac'd on and he needs a little gs to remodel his hands!



Hope you like, as always c&c very welcome and indeed encouraged!

Stay tuned for more randomness and of course more Blood Angels!

Lovin the updates. Tbh, the Angels that are being stripped actually looked fairly decent to me haha.

As for the "random" part with the Tau, I dont blame you for keeping it all in one location, easier for you to update and easier for me to find haha.

Lovin the Tau and the laptop.

Hopefully once university starts again I can get some supplies I need/want to then expand on my Chaos army which will then I have a blog of my own stuff, both Fantasy and 40K.

Anyway keep up the good work

Thanks mate, glad you like!

Trust me those angels needed strippin', but they do look ok'ish in the pic! Just hope they haven't melted in the dettol!

will hopefully get the rest of the tau squad built this week then get some paint on over the weekend!

Stay tuned!

Tau's looking good, nice weathering. The laptop chap is a great idea

Great looking Blood Angels, I want too see the Dreadnought in the center of your army in the first few shots

Laptop Tau trooper, " AH sweet, there is a new Battlefield game coming out now!

Thanks guys, appreciated!

@Nightfall, I assume you mean the Librarian Dread, here he is:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/159367-Blood%20Angels%20Librarian%20Dreadnought%20%28re-visited%29.html?m=2

Congratulations, sir.
Your painting and conversions have finally returned me to the Blood Angels, after a time of dalliances with homebrew chapters and unclean xenos.
I shall exalt your thread as soon as this is posted.
I hope this thread ends up more exalted than Archaon.

4oursword wrote:Congratulations, sir.
Your painting and conversions have finally returned me to the Blood Angels, after a time of dalliances with homebrew chapters and unclean xenos.
I shall exalt your thread as soon as this is posted.
I hope this thread ends up more exalted than Archaon.

Thank you very much! I'm glad I have inspired your return to "The Greatest Chapter Of The Universe!"

So quick update,

First up the stripping!

SAFETY NOTE; WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!

I started to do this without gloves and after about 5 mins my fingers were as wrinkled as if i'd been in the bath for an hour! (So that can't be good!) Also, even though it's non-toxic, it stings like hell in any cuts you may have! So get yourself a lovely pair of marry golds!

Anyway,

1st pic shows the gooey mess I got home to, this is after about 24 hrs. As you can see the paint is starting to wrinkle and lift.

2nd pic shows the same models after about 10 mins of brushing with a stiff paint brush. Notice the lovely grey plastic and the now dark, murky dettol!



Most of the paint has come off nicely and i'm very very happy with the results. I've decided to go for another 24 hrs to see just how clean I can get them, and also to see how much the plastic can cope with!

CLEANING; I was told not to use water to clean them off, I tried it anyway, just to see. Basically the paint just solidifies very quickly and you end up with very smudgy models. So don't use water!

When I get home tomo night I shall clean them off in clean dettol and leave to air dry.

I'll post the progress!

Now then,

I also got these little fellas built;



Tonight I'm going to try and get a couple more FW s built so I can get some paint on!

Thanks for Looking!

I love this thread. i'am now wanting to go and by some death company. you're painting skill are off the chart and you yourself are a badass

KingOfTheSwords wrote:I love this thread. i'am now wanting to go and by some death company. you're painting skill are off the chart and you yourself are a badass

Thanks very much! Not really sure what makes me badass but i'll take it!

The DC box set is probably one of the best! I've had 3 so far. You get loads of extras, well worth it! The san guard box is also very good!


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Quick update;

After another 24hrs in the tub, a quick brush over to get the most stubborn paint away and a quick rinse in clean Dettol, pat down with tissue, here we have . . .



5 cleaned Assault Marines ready for a new lease of life. Well I'm well impressed with the result and I hope you are too!

Hmmm... how long will it take to strip 6000pts of Blood Angels??

Anyway, moving on, here's my next 2 FW s, the squad leader and another grunt;



The basis for this squad is that they've just taken an objective and now they're taking up postions/scouting the location.

The 2nd squad of FW s I intend to have attacking an objective so will be lobbing grenades, charging in and so forth.

Anyway, a quick family shot of the 7 minis I've built so far. (minus sand/flock and gs)



I think I'm going to do the bases desert style, i think it will fit with the colours, but thats for later.

Thanks for looking, stay tuned!

Another quickie!

Some more FW s, the guy on the left has positioned himself for a good sniper shot and the dude on the right is a tad curious about some crappy technology he's found!



And this guys just stood there having a look!



The next couple planned are some bloke with binoculars and one patching himself up!

Stay tuned!


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Tonight I've built the final 3 FW of squad 1.

Left = wounded/resting grunt, he'll need the most gs of the whole squad so will def be a challenge for me. I'll be wrapping his left arm in a bandage and have it being held by his right arm. (fingers crossed it goes to plan)

Centre = standard looking dude just popped over a rusty wheel and having a scout.

Right = look out guy. Rifle resting on his thigh.



Hope you like!

Next up, drones and gs!

Little update;

Got a couple of gun drones built this morning, I'm sure when the new codex is out I'll probably swap the drones around a bit but for now at least I think gun drones are probably the most useful.



Also got my gs 'ing done this morning, I'm actually really surprised how well this went because for me at least, gs has always been one off the trickiest parts of this hobby. I read somewhere here on dakka that veggie oil was a good lube to use so the gs doesn't stick to your tools. This worked very well.

I know some of you more experienced gs 'ers out there will be thinking "er. . . you've just put a few tiny bits on. . . no biggy!" but seriously, it's a giant improvement on my diabolical first attempts!

Anyway, the first 2;

Left = squad leader with tiny bit in right arm pit.

Right = Laptop dude with new thumbs and tiny splodge in arm pit to make the arm fit better.



Next up, the bandage guy, this one had the most to do. It's far from perfect but I'm happy with how it went. Plus any really dodgy bits I'm confident that I'll be able to fix/cover up with the paint job.

New waist, knees and bandage around left arm, held by right hand.



Next up, sand on bases, then tomo when every thing's dry, I'll get some paint on.

Pretty sure I'm going to go desert style for my bases.

Thanks for looking!

Those tau are looking awesome how long til there's 12000 pts of them? Very characterful! I always had a soft spot for tau, they're the nearest I ever got to a whole army.

I use dettol to strip my minis too. The only thing that I would add to your comments would be that I have found a tooth pick to be invaluable for those hard to reach places. I also found that warm soapy water works quite well for the final rinse. It just can't be cold.

Really like the look of the Tau force. I love an army when each individual unit has character. I look forward to seeing this al done

Loving all the different poses of your tau

Thanks Warmill, 12000? Can't see that! Probably 1.5 to 2k pts!

@taffi, good point, a toothpick/cocktail stick is useful! I'll also try water again on the next batch. As for the Tau, I didn't actually intend to do them all as varied as they are but after I did a couple I got right into it!

@tipios, Thanks mate, a lot of inspiration comes from your thread amongst others!

Update coming soon!

Tau paintjob is looking great

Thanks Major!

Update time,

Actually had a game on sunday, my Orks vs Imps. We played a battle mission which gave all Troop types the without number special rule. (when the squad is completey dead they get put back in reserve). This didn't actally happen too often as with both Orks and Imps the squads can be pretty large.

A couple of shots; (this is in my roof, I don't have dodgey 80's sauna stylie wood gladding throughout my house! )



The Orks won this one!

And from that game, came a new little task:

My mate wants to give his vets j/packs but doesn't want to fork out for the FW ones, nor does he want them to be too complicated to make himself (cause if they are, he won't ever do them ), so I had to come up with a mega simple design that uses as few parts as poss, here's where I got to;

1) obvious start, a SM backpack, I chose the one with the extra vent in the centre to add to the j/pack feel:


2) lop off all the vents (except the centre one)& the skull:


3)Chop off the bottom just below the rivets.


4)Stick the ball vents back on but repostioned. Then flip it over and heh presto!



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So that's where i'm at with that. I was going to add some coils (guitar string) and possibly other gubbins but like I said, if it takes more than the minimum effort to make, he probably won't! I haven't had a chance to see what it'll need to fit yet but i'm sure that won't be too much. Might even look completely wrong so we scrap it anyway!

So anyway, a little more Tau:

Got the 1st FW squad sprayed and ready for paint. I'm using Army Painters Leather Brown Primer;


After having so much fun doing all the different poses I went back to the Stealth suits to base them and give them a little extra character;

Left: Repositioned this guys leg to be stepping up on a rock.

Centre: Kept him the same cause was pretty happy with him.

Right: He's now a lefty!



Also got my basing scheme figured out, used the drone bases as testers. Very happy with these;



So that's it for today, as always any c&c very welcome!

Thanks for looking!

Nice idea for the jetpack

You are now the pose king nice work on the steath suits. I've got some of those to make, because I like the look of them.

Finally those bases look great, I may have to get some grass like that, to fill up the dreadknight base.

Thanks tip, hmm, post king! Might have to make myself a crown!

here's a prize for pose king. You got along way to go before you get a post king prize

Oh pose king! That does make more sense! I really should get my eyes tested! (I'll just keep it quiet that I actually work in an opticians! )

But I shall enjoy my shiny gold cup!

Nice jetpack conversion EC. I'm enjoying the pics of the tau but you really should refocus on the BAs

Also, nothing wrong with wood panels, they work well in the house and on the side of cars!

Nice work there mate,the Tau have definately grabbed my attention.

Thanks Egg!

Cars with wood? I've heard of people referring to their cars as sheds but that's another level all together!

As for the BAs, never fear, it doesn't usually go more than a couple of months before I get fired up with them again. Plus now i've found Dettol I don't have to buy anymore assault squads! (well not until the 5 I have have been redone at least)

Welcome aboard shing!

TRAITOR!
Can't wait to see the Tau painted.
Don't sweat the strip ALL of my models have seen a strip at least once. Most are due for another soon, it's a problem.

Emperors_Champion wrote:Thanks Egg!

Cars with wood? I've heard of people referring to their cars as sheds but that's another level all together!

As for the BAs, never fear, it doesn't usually go more than a couple of months before I get fired up with them again. Plus now i've found Dettol I don't have to buy anymore assault squads! (well not until the 5 I have have been redone at least)

Welcome aboard shing!

Heh, I think the big station wagons they had back in the 70's and 80's had wood side panels for decorative purposes. They looked god awful but I think they were the closest thing you could get to an environmentally friendly car back in the day. It might have been an American only trend too.

@AustonT, traitor?. . . Hmm, yes probably! At least it isn't Chaos! Hoping to get some paint on the FWs this week!

@Eggroll, yeah forgot about those station wagon things. Pretty sure we never had them over here, know what you mean though!

A a quick pic of what I got upto this evening!

2k of BAs vs GKs. First time i've come up against them with their new codex. Figured i'd be mullered if I took lots of infantry, so I took 6 dreads! Did the job nicely, played std setup with annihilation rules. I managed to wipe them out to the last man!

This was definitly a high light!



At this point his LR was already wrecked, his Rhino was Immobilised and his dread (you can just see his base at the top of pic) was wrecked too!

After that Assault phase there were no more terms and about 4 PA dudes left!

Thanks for looking, stay tuned!

Todays update:

Got the basecoat and first wash on the next 3 FWs;



Also started building my kroot, the one 2nd from left doesn't have a left arm because I haven't decided what I want yet.


The 1st one is holding a SM helmet which i've hollowed out, scratched up and put a hole through his eye! I imagined him to have ripped it off a marines and after chewing on some lovely brains, he's kept a souvenir! Nice!

And this is my tester kroot, pretty happy with it. Looking forward to getting him based (basing always changes the overall feel of models to me).





Well that's it for now, hoping to finish the 3 FWs tonight and get the sand on the kroots bases.

Thanks for looking!

That game with all those dreads looks like a laugh

Kroot is looking good. Nice move with the SM helmet

Some amazing work in this thread, really inspiring.
Your Astorath looks very good.

Looking really good! I'll definitely be using your Dettol trick on some second hand marines I've got (tried oven cleaner - didn't work out so well...)

Also - love both your weathering and 'glowy jumpack' techniques. When I eventually get my Lamenters off the ground, I'll definitely be borrowing some of your ideas.

Subbed!

Cracking job with the FW and kroot mate. I may need to enlist your talent to help me come up with some cool bases for my Ravenwing project.

Spread the word Detoll is great stuff left some plastic minis in for 4 days and paint fell off with no damage to the mini.

Thanks guys for the comments, really do appreciate the feedback!

Ok, so quick update!

Finally finished the first 4 FWs; (best pics I could get with my phone, proper cam returning soon! )





Also started my first 2 drones;



Should hopefully have these finished tonight!

Dug out my old objective markers, the 1st and 3rd look a bit too imperial to use for Tau but i'm going to repaint/rebase the centre one to use as an army specific objective marker,this looks suitably Tau, properly cause it's made from Tau bits!



And just a quick kroot pic to show I put sand on them!



Probably get some more kroot built tonight also!

That's it for today!

Stay tuned!

Update;

Finished my drones!





Started my next 2 FWs!



And built another kroot!

Not sure which head position I prefer, any thoughts?

Position 1)


Position 2)


Thanks for looking!

Second one is cool as it has a little narrative to it. Its kind of funny to think about a primitive kroot trying to suss out an auspex.

I would go with 2 as well for the same reasons

Another vote for 2. I really dig the satellite dish, whats that made out of?

Thanks guys, number 2 does seem the obvious choice. Sorted!

@WM360, the sat dish is mainly made from FW imperial sentry gun legs, defiler bits and a couple of tau gubbins. The dish itself is a LEGO radar!

Thanks for looking, update coming soon!

Yeah head 2

Nice weathering on the FW and drones!

Thanks tip, good to see progress on your dreads!

Time for a little update!

Got my next 5 kroot built, which gives me 10 out of 20 so far.

First up we have the 'confused by auspex' dude, and a rather boring looking patrol.



Next up 2 more boring dudes!



Then we have the shaper;



I gave this guy new toes and an extended beak, i'm not particularly happy with the toes but i'm going to scrape in some nail features before painting. I'm also not sure if the beak makes him look too 'chickeny'? I'll sharpen it up once the gs has cured and if I still don't like, i'll lop it off!



So that's 10 kroot. The poses are getting a bit static and unimaginable now so i'll get this lot painted before I start the next 10!


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I then got thinking of my next squad, pathfinders. I'm not a big fan of metal (although from what i've read, it's still better than finecast) and I didn't want the same old poses as everyone else so I figured that i'd managed to convert most of the men in some way anyway, so why not make my own, so here goes!

Firstly I needed a rail gun. I checked out the gw ones and they look like smaller ones of the XV88 version.

So I came up with this:



Hmm, ok I guess. I liked the twin barrel thing but the over all look wasn't bulky enough. It needs to look more powerful than a pulse rifle.

So I jumped ahead a little and looked at a future squad I have planned, the sniper drones. They have rail rifles that don't really look like the XV88s (basically no twin barrels). There is also a rather nifty std drone to sniper drone conversion tutorial here on dakka that I remembered seeing. So armed with this new info I came up with this:



I like this a lot more. It's bulkier, about the same length as a pulse rifle and with my countless spare carbines/rifles and grenades and also a different colour pattern planned, it was settled!

So, the first dude, kept this guy fairly simple to make sure the rifle fit properly:




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Then I got a bit more creative with the next two. Note the addition of an extended antenna (which has since been added to the 1st dude), I figured that pathfinders would have long ranged comms.

Left: This guys taking cover behind a large rock and long grass (to be added )

Right: This guys taking aim for a crack shot!



A couple more of aiming dude!





Next up I wanted to give my squad leader a pulse pistol (not legal but just for modelling purposes), I came up with this:



After fiddling for a couple of hours, I wasn't happy. I went for dinner and came back to it with fresh eyes. I still didn't like it. I scraped that idea (although I have kept it to one side as I intend to revisit the pistol concept when I model some pilots!).

I then made these two;

Left: squad leader with scanner.

Right: normal dude with carbine + marker light addition.



So that's were I got to with the pathfinders!


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After building 5 pathfinders, I wanted to play with some drones, I kept with the same rail gun design and looked at how I could 'beef' up a normal drone to look more like a sniper drone, here's a very early wip shot (so early it's being held with blu'tac)



And finally, I got some painting done, my next two firewarriors!



So that was my weekend, mixed in with the f1 gp and the rugby world cup I had a pretty busy one!

Thanks for looking!

Got another game in last night.

3k pts. Std setup, Annihilation rules.

Blood Angels (me) & allied Dark Angels (Mike/El'johnson) vs Grey Knights! (Shaun/yet to join dakka)

This was my force (Plus the stormraven that was still safey in the case underneath).



And a few highlights:







Game finished Angels of Death 13, GKs 7.

Anyway, back to the Tau.

Now then, I know i've only just said "i don't like metal", but thanks to Mike/El'johnson i've got a bit of a predicament. Basically he found some Tau bits at his which included these:



They do look cool, hmm. . . Shall I use these instead of the ones I made?




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I'll keep the plastic men though! And i'll prob keep the carbines but redo the markerlights.


Hmm. . Kind of ruins my sniper drone design!

Could you not use the metal ones for an elite squad or something, and keep the rest how you made them?

The metal ones do look cool, but it's always nice to have your own designs.

The Tau look awesome, i love the varity of positions.

When is Laptop FW getting a paint job, hehe. Next step is someone with an ipad

@tipios, agreed that it is cool to have own designs, only issue i've got with doing an elite squad is that would mean I go further with this army than I really wanted to. I only intended to go maximum of 1.5k pts and with all the units I have planned it means only 1 of each type really. But i'll keep them to one side. I never bin anything (much to the wifes annoyance! ).

@Mordain, thanks mate. The plan is to get the last 4 FW dudes done this weekend so stay tuned! ;-)

Anyway, I think i've settled on using the metal ones, but the carbine/markerlight combo really needed some work.

I've blu'tac'd the metal rail guns in place to get a better feel for them.



Much better I think!

I also set to work on a better carbine/markerlight. Thanks to El'johnson I have a much better idea of what they're supposed to look like...



Note the addition of the extra cabling.

And a top veiw (soz for blurryness, still having to use phone)



So, much, much happier with these new versions, I will be adding 3 more Pathfinders to max out the squad + a Devilfish transport at some point. (Just realised they are compulsary)

Also got these through the post...




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Didn't do too much to these, they were fairly well built, changed the poses a little, drilled the barrels, swapped the antenna to same side (yes i'm really that picky) and turned the shoulder pads the right way round!

But that makes my stealth team a more healthy 6 men. Going to work on their colour scheme this weekend.

Thanks for looking guys, as always any comments, good or bad are welcome!

On the models the metal ones look very nice. Looks like you gona have to use them

Oh my god what has he been doing to those poor metal rail rifles??? If you want we could cut out a bunch of the rail profiles for you to convert up some carbines.

@tip, yeah they do look good! Will need straightening though!

@warmill, think he found these at the bottom of some random bits box, they do need some tlc! I might call upon your services to make me some markerlight markers, just some discs with Tau style etching around the rim! Will keep you posted!

Cheers guys!

Emperors_Champion wrote:@warmill, think he found these at the bottom of some random bits box, they do need some tlc! I might call upon your services to make me some markerlight markers, just some discs with Tau style etching around the rim! Will keep you posted!

Like this perhaps?

@wamill - Nice bases. Gona check out your website now

Looking good buddy nice to see those bits going to good use. Still no sign of a HQ choice !!!

El'Johnson wrote:Looking good buddy nice to see those bits going to good use. Still no sign of a HQ choice !!!

Nah, going to get all the stuff i've got finished first, then I'll sort out hq!

@warmill, those are nice but I was thinking something a little closer to these (the black ones);



So on to this weekends progress!

Got my pathfinders fully built;



Also built 2 more FWs to max out the squad;



And I got a bit of paint of my kroot, skin, guns and bases to get these fellas started;



And finished my next 2 FWs;




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Also decided that my death company drop pod had been sat in a pile of bits for long enough!

The damage (sorry for any distress this pic causes) :(



But 15 mins later . . .



All the hinges will need some work to repair properly and a few pipes were lost so i'll replace as well.

So then I figured, if i'm re-doing a dreadnought drop pod, then why not re-do another dreadnought!

This guys next;



Made a little progress, removed transfers, drilled barrels & exhausts, scraped oop smoke launchers and securely based;



And lastly, I rebuilt my dettol'd Assault squad, now with added BA bits and melta loadout!



Thanks for looking!

*has a small heartattack from the first pod picture* Arrrgh! that's just a knife to the heart.. looks like you where lucky with getting clean breaks though.. if you are unlucky that resin can just pulverize in impact. looking good though

The Dread Pods are a bit, well, sucky to put together in the first place, so I am extra impressed at the repair job.

I love the mini dioramas you have going with your tau: the kroot trying to sort out the auspex, the firewarrior field dressing his wounds, etc. Keepit up!

Cheers,
Rawson

Thanks guys for the comments, yeah I was lucky to get clean breaks in the pod, plus the fact the hinges are broken meant I didn't have to put the doors inbetween the two base parts. This meant I could line up those parts much easier and generally build the whole thing a lot easier because of the lack of weight. If I ever get a 3rd i'll prob just brake of the hinges first and rebuild!

Anyway, had another game last night, was supposed to be 2.5k game with me (BAs) & allied GKs vs El'johnsons DAs. But the GKs had a pressing engagement (I think they had to rinse off their poncey silver suits ) so we made it a 1250pts game with Annihilation rules which saw the BAs take the fight to the DAs.

It was a quick fight lasting just over an hour and ended 6 - 1 to the BAs.

And after that I managed to get a little more work on the Tau done!

Realised I hadn't gs'd this guys shoulder after his gun transplant so sorted that!



And started my next 2 FWs! The squad leader and. . . . * drum roll * . . . The laptop dude! Ta Dah!



Should have these finished tonight!

Only got the 2 FWs left to do now but need to get some spray. So will prob do the kroot first and possibly figure out what i'm doing with my stealth suits!

Keep watching!

Update time!

Re-did my Tau head as it was far too bright for my liking, much more muted now. Not overly impressed by how it turned out so may revisit at a later stage, anywoo, snap shot:



Finished my squad leader:





And the laptop dude:






Also started my stealth suits, did a quick colour test on the shoulder pad:



And took a pic of the 3 main colours to see how they compare:



Pretty happy with how the purple fits with the orange and green. Might even do a spot of orange on the stealth suits to really blend the force together!

Any c&c welcome as always!

I am LOVING the laptop guy! What are you going to run him as? My only criticism would be about the way his gun is attached to his back. It looks a bit unnatural.

Did you hack up and reposition those stealth suits? They are probably the most dynamic poses I've ever seen for those guys. Well done!

Keep it up!

Cheers,
Rawson

Rawson wrote:I am LOVING the laptop guy! What are you going to run him as? My only criticism would be about the way his gun is attached to his back. It looks a bit unnatural.

Did you hack up and reposition those stealth suits? They are probably the most dynamic poses I've ever seen for those guys. Well done!

Keep it up!

Cheers,
Rawson

Thanks mate, the laptop dude's possibly my fave so far. know what you mean about the gun. I tried just lying it on the floor but didn't really work, also considered leaving it off altogether but looked lost without his gun. At the mo i'm planning to just use him as a std FW but who knows, when the new 'dex is out I may be able yo use him as something cooler!

As for the stealths, I have chopped the legs on most of them, just to put a bit more of a dynamic look to them.

Stay tuned for more paint!

The laptop has come out mega cool!! love the detail!!!! nice job

Thanks tip!

Ok, so only got a bit done last night. Got 3 kroot painted. Just need to finish the bases. I like them but may be a little dark. But as always i'll reserve final judgement till the bases are done!



Thanks for looking, c&c welcome and appreciated!

Emperors_Champion wrote: I like them but may be a little dark. But as always i'll reserve final judgement till the bases are done!

I think they look great, not too dark at all! The quills are particularly good, imho.

Keep it up!

Cheers,
Rawson

Nice work man, love the blood angels!

@Rawson, thanks mate, yeah the quills did turn out rather nice if I do say so myself!

@lips, more Blood Angels coming soon, I promise!

As for the tau, I got some more kroot painted. These guys only need a few finishing touches such as the SM helmet, the auspex and the bases. Should have them finished tonight!

But here's a couple of pics to show the current progress. . .





So not much progress made this weekend but i'll try and make my next update more interesting!

Quick update:

Finished the kroot,



And here's a quick pic of the FW squad,



Still 2 more to add to this squad to max it out.

10 more kroot to come.

Hope you like!

I like alot

I confused myself Some how previously i managed to read your Tau section of your blog while totally missing the BA part. So yesterday when reading through your BA part i was astounded at your awesome work. I was going to ask your secret about such smooth red paint, but luckily you answered it a page or so later (Army painter pure red foundation) That was the main problem i had with my whirlwind, that the read was not smooth. I will have to barter with my wife to get a can

Then i cam across your Tau, and i was like ... mm this is great but i am sure i have seen somthign similar before, that was untill the Laptop FW turned up and it clicked that i had seen it before here. lol.

Looking forward to the next BA update, its giving me inspiration for my own Red (but not BA) Marines

@tip, thanks mate!

@Mordain, I've done that a few times myself on other peoples threads! Glad you like my BAs too and really pleased my FWs are rememberable!

I've just dreamt up a killer Hammerhead conversion, just hope I have the funds and the skill to pull it off.

Keep watching!

Nice!

Thanks lips!

So I only got a little progress done this weekend but rather a lot of brain storming!

First up the progress, nothing too exciting but here are a few pics anyway!

Got some more spray so i've undercoated the pathfinders, the last 2 FWs and my objective;



I've also picked up some metal (yes I know) sniper drones from ebay. I know I was going to make my own (possibly still might) but I got them for a great price. I've started to clean them up:



And I started on my next 10 kroot;

Left one is kneeling & aiming.
Right one is (will be) enjoying a nice snack!



And these two;

Left one is running.
Right one is in a fighting stance.



So like I said, not much progress but it's something!

Now then, i've been thinking a lot about my Hammerhead conversion. Basically i'm going to merge the Hammerhead kit with the Dreadknight kit and come up with the. . . .

XV99 'Hammer' Suit!

I intend to mount most, if not all of the weapon options so I can field it in normal 40k games (just selecting which weapons he'll be using before the game) and apoc games with a custom datasheet allowing him to use them all!


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In std 40k i'll run him as a normal hammerhead as he'll still have thrusters so will look fine moving as a skimmer. He obviously won't be as badass in hand-to-hand as proper walkers but Tau vehicles do actually get to attack in cc anyway. Plus as he's just a hammerhead i'll mainly use him as a fire base. Just a much cooler looking one (hopefully). I'll also.stack on the upgrades so he's harder to shoot and keep him alive as much as poss. He's going to be a big target so i'm sure he'll get lots of attention from enemy fire.

In Apoc though is where he'll really shine, my initial thoughts are;

Heavy Walker!

Ws=4 Bs=5 S=6 Front=13 Side=12 Rear=11 A=4 I=3 Ld=7

All weapon options.
3 Structure points.
2 Shield drones.

I'm thinking about 300pts?

How's that sound?

As for modelling i'm thinking;

Looking left.

Left Arm mounted ion cannon (aiming left, fist down).

Right Arm mounted Rail gun (at ease facing slighty out and down).

Shoulder mounted burst cannons. Burst cannons barrells to rotate.

Underslung seeker missiles.

Chest mounted missile pod?

Drones in shoulders like pads?

Hmmm. . . So many thought!

So before I continue I would like to send a ma-hoo-sive virtual nod to fellow dakkadude "tipios" for his all inspiring dreadnought thread, which if you haven't seen yet, make sure it's on your 'Things to do before you die' list!

So, thoughts?

I love the idea of the tau walker defo got to be done now ( and I'll be checking) weapons options seem wicked. Stat wise seems reasonable altough I would reduce the WS down to the standard 4 and 300pts seems a little cheap.
Compaired to the Imperial Guard bane blade at 500 pts your looking at a simular number of weapons but with a none scattering Str 10 heavy weapon thats hitting on 2+ with the BS 5, same structure points and the ability to take 2 hits on the drones effectly giving you 5 structure points, only thing you would be lacking is the armour.

If you want to keep the points level imo I would drop the structure points to 1/2 and the drones and drop the WS to 4. If you want to use as described I suggest a pts value more in line with 400-450 ish.

Open for discussion what does everyone else think?

P.S. Of course I may be a little biased here concidering I'll be on the receieving end of this bad boy.

Keep up the good work

All very good points mate!

300 does seem cheap doesn't it. Tell you what, i'll wait till i've got the main parts built and we'll check the size, see if its worthy of 3 stucture points. Although I really don't mind whacking it upto 500pts!

Cheers mate!

I haven't been in here for a look in a while!

You've gotten waaaaay more done than I have in the last bazillion years!

I'm kinda jealous of your blood Angels and how nice and uniform they look!

I like the sound of the your DK hammerhead project. Filling the chest gap with a missile launcher sounds wicked can't wait to see this one started

@frogg, Thanks very much and welcome back!

@tip, thanks mate, looking forward to starting very soon. Should be getting the DK kit and Hammerhead tonight so I'll def me making progress even if its just more planning!

So I finally made a start on painting my stealth suits, only the one mind and it still needs a few finishing touches but here he is;





That's all folks!

Digging the Stealth team!

Edit: included wording for another person who is also doing tau, but having time constraints...

@ Knightley, Thanks mate, if you liked him i'm hopeful you'll like this guy . . .

Got busy this weekend, really busy! I did intend to put up lots of WIP pics but I've had the last few nights to myself so I just knuckled down and cracked on with my latest project.

Anyway, hope you all like. (Pics are still not great as using my phone still) :(

The XV99 'Hammer' Suit!









Still got loads and loads to do, mainly add more detail to the 'jetpack' such as vents or antennas? Loads of gs'ing to do to fill gaps. Need to devise a way of attaching the burst cannons and so on and so on!

But thats him so far, I'm pretty happy with him. I'll probably post a few of the WIP pics in a little collage later on.

Thanks for looking and let me know what you think!

Woah. Great work here sir! That tau fire warrior holding the computer screen is epic. And the other pondering about life..too cool. Yet another amazing thread ill be watching. Thanks!

I was waiting for a great Tau conversion from the Dreadnight, and here it is

That is fantastic work. Counts as anything or is it just for the awesomeness?

That suit is bananas

You were right, I do like it. A lot

dam it! My phone won't load the pics. I'll have to wait 2 weeks to see the tau walker

Awsome is all I can say keep up the good work cant wait to see it on the table

@bebop, Thanks and welcome!

@Flinty, Thanks mate, in std 40k i'll run him as a normal Hammerhead and select which weapon loadout he'll have before each game and with the 'jetpack' enabling him to move as a skimmer but in Apoc he'll have his own Datasheet giving him walker rules and all weapons!

@Dust, bananas are good so I thank you!

@Knightley, Cheers mate!

@tip, 2 weeks! Bummer! Well i'll hopefully get a lot more done on him by then and who knows, he may even be finished!

@El'J, coming to a table near you soon . . . real soon!

OMG! I've managed to see the pics now, and I have to say AWESOME!! What an amazing idea!! Can't wait to see it painted.

Thanks tip!

Got a little gs'ing done last night, i'm not great with this stuff but hopefully after a little more filling and probably plenty of sanding i'll get it looking pretty seemless! (if not i'll just paint on lots of battle damage! )

Torso, around neck and arms:



Shin pads and jetpack:




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Bottom of shins look really bad in that pic but they're not that bad!


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Thought i'd stick up a few pics of where I cut the main hull to make the basic torso shape. All pretty self explainatory so I'll just do a quick slideshow!


















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Slides of how I bent the left leg!









Also how I got the burst cannon barrels to spin:





Drilled a hole in each piece, the holes were the same size as pin. The fat end of the pin actually fits through the barrels which made it a lot simpler to put together.



Then glued the pin into the base of the gun. Leaving a slight gap between the base and the barrel. Also ensuring no glue got on the pin in the barrel section.



And lastly, a quick pic to show the pieces that make up the jetpack!



So that's it from me today. Will hopefully get a little more done tonight!

Stay tuned!

Only a quickie today!

Did a little filing on the jetpack, not going too great tbh. I'm probably gonna try milliput to see if I can get a better/smoother finish! Any tips on gs'ing would be greatly appreciated!



Also got a first coat on 2 more stealth suits,



And just to keep the randomness going, I started my FoW!



That's it! Told you it'd be quick!

Tonights plan is watch Thor, then get on with the XV99s base!

Stay tuned!

Woo good to see some FOW I just got round to priming my brits this weekend! You gonna be bringing that beast down the club? It's pretty epic.

@warmill, oh yes he'll def be down at some point in the not too distant future but like all my stuff, he'll need to be fully finished before he sees the light of day!

Hopefully i'll get my FoW stuff done fairly quick otherwise they'll end up in a box for ever more getting pushed aside for other projects on the never ending to-do-list! But i'm sure you guys know all about those lists!

Idea for the burst cannons you could place them in housings such as...
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/ :: \
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Don't know if that helps...

The XV-99 is looking very nice indeed! It's going to be amazing to see that with some paint on it!

Emperors Champion: The Tau are looking great, particularly the hammer suit. FWIW I was going to make some rules for a Super-Heavy/Tau Walker if you're interested?

THe XV-99 is pretty neat, but PLEASE try and make a different head for it! Also, more sensors!

For what its worth, I put your suit into the old VDR calculator, came out at 400pts. The program is a little restrictive so that is at BS4, weapons as listed, agile walker/skimmer, and can deepstrike. Add a small price hike for bs5, gundrones, codex upgrades and whatnot, and i think its a really good buy. Also, fantastic conversion btw.

edit: i also only gave it 2 structure points as that's where i would guess it at.

Just found this whole blog. Great stuff all around. Makes me want to work harder on my Blood Angels. JAWSOME!!

Can't believe I haven't be on here since October!

Evaelc wrote:Idea for the burst cannons you could place them in housings such as...
--------
/ :: \
-------------
Don't know if that helps...

I get what you mean, I may have a few bits lying around to try this!

logg_frogg wrote:The XV-99 is looking very nice indeed! It's going to be amazing to see that with some paint on it!

Thanks mate, unfortunately between work and family, the XV99 hasn't progressed at all. An issue I intend to rectify very soon!

Just Dave wrote:Emperors Champion: The Tau are looking great, particularly the hammer suit. FWIW I was going to make some rules for a Super-Heavy/Tau Walker if you're interested?

I've kind of got the rules sussed but I'd be very interested to see what you come up with. It would also be good to get another persons version of the rules so I don't make it too over-powered! PM your rules or post on this thread if you like!

Kepora wrote:THe XV-99 is pretty neat, but PLEASE try and make a different head for it! Also, more sensors!

I played with a few ideas for the head but this version seemed to fit and look the most natural. What kind of thing did you have in mind? Or maybe I should ask, why do you dislike the current one? Let me know I can always tweak it!

Agreed I need more sensors!

DarbNilbirts wrote:For what its worth, I put your suit into the old VDR calculator, came out at 400pts. The program is a little restrictive so that is at BS4, weapons as listed, agile walker/skimmer, and can deepstrike. Add a small price hike for bs5, gundrones, codex upgrades and whatnot, and i think its a really good buy. Also, fantastic conversion btw.

edit: i also only gave it 2 structure points as that's where i would guess it at.

I haven't heard of the VDR calculator but all of what you've said sounds pretty decent. I think 500pts should be a decent/fair enough price but I suppose I really should play test him to find out!

Iandroid wrote:Just found this whole blog. Great stuff all around. Makes me want to work harder on my Blood Angels. JAWSOME!!

Thanks landroid, I've got loads more ideas for new/improved/refurbed units but I've really got to get on with my Tau for now. But keep watching as my thirst for the red stuff is near boiling point!


Well thanks guys for looking and for your comments and ideas. Hopefully now things are settling down again from all the crimbo/new year chaos I should be able to make more regular updates and progress!

Here's a few pics of my current progress with the Tau. . .

The Firewarriors;



The Kroot;



The Stealthsuits;



The Pathfinders;



Objective Markers / Stratagems;



1 of 2 Remora Drones (Base to do);



So a little progress but still not much since October. I've completely forgotten how to use my camera and my PC died recently so I'm using the wifes laptop with different software to what I'm used to.

Hopefully I'll get the pictured sussed for my next update.

Thanks for looking and stay tuned!

You return!
And with exciting things!

Dude, that hammer suit is amazing! Straight out of gundam!

@ Disjointed, thanks mate, glad you like!

@rowen, thank you, i'm not that familiar with gundam but i'm lead to believe it's a good thing!

Right then, i've got quite a few pics today. Most of which were taken before crimbo but I never got chance to upload.


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First up, WiP pics of the ever popular XV99!

Most of these are just little snipits of the bits and bobs that i've done to the XV99 included some 'attempted' gs'ing and building up the base. I think most of it came out ok and hopefully they'll be of some interest to some people!

(Where i've painted black is so I can see how smooth/bumby my gs'ing is! )

Neck




Left arm


Right arm


Burst Cannons



Jet Pack






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Built up the base with a little cork, the end result will hopefully look like the XV99 has shot down the speeder mid flight and the earth has mounded up as the speeder crashed.









Then all the bits undercoated


And last but by no means least, the first signs of some paint!




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And a bit more recent work

Got my 2nd remora drone on it's way,



Painted the bases, just needs some flock!




I also built another base recently!

Here's a little hint to what's coming soon. . . . Very soon!



Well as always I hope you've enjoyed your visit and keep the c&c coming!

Stay tuned!

this makes me happy cant wait to see... also i love the guy i imagine he;s thinkin auwwww mah arm

@dakkagrot, thanks mate, I like to spread the happiness!

So I got a little more done!

Finished my 2nd Remora drone:



And flocked the bases:



And a completed shot in skimmer mode (std 40k games):



I have 12" inch poles for them to sit on when in flyer/apoc mode/games!

Hope you like!

How big are those drones? I've never seen one before. Scale shot?

Rawson wrote:How big are those drones? I've never seen one before. Scale shot?

I'll do a couple of scale shots this weekend! Gives me a good excuse to play!

As requested, a little comparison shot of the Remora Drones. (with standard gun drones, obviously! )



And next up, their big brother!

I got this guy for an absolute steal on ebay, I got him ready built and although I've cleaned him up pretty well there are a few places that still look a bit crooked and gappy.

But I gave him a nice new paint job and I'm rather pleased with him!

Front View;



Top View;



And a nice family shot;



I hope the pics look ok, one day I might get the hang of it!

Thanks for looking!