Switch Theme:

Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit  [RSS] 

The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/09/29 00:37:07


Post by: dsteingass


That looks damn nice! Rivets will strengthen it and those puny muhreen weapons will just bounce off. Besides, a riveted scorpion tank? come on man!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/09/29 20:58:36


Post by: shasolenzabi


Oh yeah! that does look nice and beefy compared to the Predator tank! I still have a LOT of super-heavy/heavy and normal to light tanks, I went with the Stalin ideal that "Quantity has a quality all it's own" Hence my tank collection as big as it is.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/01 20:46:55


Post by: Dr H


And so, after much planning (and running about Skyrim to try out a load of new mods)...

You wanted rivets. Here's some rivets:


One of my bulbs has gone, so you'll be getting high-contrast photos until I get a new bulb.

There's a few more details I want to add before it's painted.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/01 23:24:30


Post by: dsteingass


St. Rosie bless you my son....


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/02 05:54:15


Post by: Camkierhi


Now that is one very spectacular model. Just beautiful.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/02 21:34:13


Post by: shasolenzabi


The rivets are working out very nicely!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/03 20:17:17


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Chaps.
I didn't mention it, but these are the water-filter bead inna' drilled divot style rivets. I thought the clean design called for round-head rivets.

Progress on the modifications has proven to be much slower than the building on the kit as I've been going back and fourth over possible additions.
I've had a look through my collection of bits and the majority just don't fit the model's design.
Either too boxy,
too curvy,
too spiky,
not suitable for the "clean" look (too clutter-y),
or not something I can rationalise would be needed; e.g. I thought about adding a towing chain, but when you have hands you don't need to tow something with a chain.

Tau items were the closest to the design I have, but I couldn't see anywhere to position any of the bits that didn't look "stuck on" for the sake of it.
Eldar, Tyranid, Ork and Space Marine stuff just didn't look right.

Many things also interfered with other elements of the tank's design (getting in the way of the defence lasers, line of sight from the various "eyes", or just making the thing even taller...).

And then I came across the Necron bits, and one piece (of many) in particular... the simple scarab.
What better for a walking spider/scorpion tank, than it's own personal grooming repair walking bug.

But to have a repair bug, it needed damage:
New bulbs are incoming, but in the mean time I've found an old "yellow" bulb to make the photos slightly less high-contrast.

To the right, as you look at it, of the scarab will be painted as if it's just been welded (or similar).
Kept the rest of the damage fairly low-key. This is meant to be heavily armoured, the majority of incoming fire is either going to do nothing or kill it. For those in-between, it'll be repaired by the scarab. So the only damage left will be too minor for it to bother repairing.

I have plans for a little flag/banner to hang from the bull-bar at the front, and that'll be pretty much it before painting.

In other news; I've opened my Etsy shop so that I can sell things "legitimately". Still got to work on filling the "shelves" and creating a look for the shop, but open for business.
The Mini Details of DrH - Etsy Shop


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/03 21:17:53


Post by: inmygravenimage


Looks damn fine mate. I like the scurrying beastie! Etsy store is neat idea, will you be putting your resin goodies up?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/03 21:36:11


Post by: Dr H


 inmygravenimage wrote:
Looks damn fine mate. I like the scurrying beastie!
Ta. It was a good 15-20mins of just deciding which way round to have the scarab. This way it looks more like it's own separate entity.

Etsy store is neat idea, will you be putting your resin goodies up?
For the things I'm trying to sell it seems to make more sense than a general ebay shop. Etsy is more handmade artwork focused.
I may put my casts on there. But they'll have to be in groups (rather than individual) as the fees for selling make small prices worthless, especially if they don't sell quickly.
Either way, for things like that it'll be much cheaper (for everyone) to just contact me through DDakka... that reminds me to poke my swapshop thread.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 12:38:55


Post by: Solar_lion


Big beast for sure. need to put a recognizable figure next to it, so we can get a true scale idea just how big.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 16:19:43


Post by: Dr H


 Solar_lion wrote:
Big beast for sure. need to put a recognizable figure next to it, so we can get a true scale idea just how big.
Did you miss the Space Marine standing underneath this tank in the top photo here:

Or that it can, just about, step up onto a basic Rhino chassis.

The front end of the tank can be posed quite a bit lower though as you can see here:

He could still walk under the tank though, if it let him...
Posed like this, the top of the "body" of the tank is about 9cm from the table. The gun of the turret is 16cm from the table. How tall are the GW knight titans, or at least the height of their guns?

Also, the purpose of that last picture is actually to show the added banner at the front. Should be good for a simple piece of (Mad) Scientist propaganda.

With that, it's probably about ready to paint.
Time to pour over references to pick out a scheme for this beasty.
I'll be back soon...ish


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 20:18:15


Post by: Red Harvest




Second photo down. Some odd sort of Pr0n. Fortunately they cannot reproduce.

Progressing nicely, but it looks like the tachikoma practically assembles itself.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 22:48:35


Post by: Dr H


For once you've had a dirtier mind than I, Red'.
If I had had that thought, I'd have positioned the "tail" differently.

Yeah, the kit was a joy to assemble. Everything slots into everything else, the fit is tight and neat, and with all the polyethylene joints it can be pulled apart to paint and reassembled easily.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 22:56:41


Post by: Solar_lion


Thanks for the scale shot.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/04 22:59:06


Post by: Camkierhi


It's a really great looking kit, and looking at the prices it is pretty reasonable for the money. If I were to get one it would probably be for conversion which would almost be criminal I think. Might take inspiration and scratch up something similar. Been thinking of doing a sand spider walker for my orks for ages, this may be the push I need.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/05 00:02:38


Post by: Dr H


Not a problem, Solar'. It really is a big beastie. Although far from the largest model I've built.

Cam': Yeah, I got it on a good deal from hobbylink Japan. Cheaper (~£35 I think) than it is now (~£40) http://hlj.com/product/KBYKP-259#
For the amount of model you get, it's a nice price. Considering the quality of the kit, it's great.
I'll be keeping an eye out for any Kotobukiya kits in the future, they have impressed me.

Once I start painting I'll show all the sub-assemblies and you can see how easy it would be to swap out pieces for conversions.
There's little need to chop something off as most joints can be disassembled easily due to the PE.

However, any conversions would probably have to be permanent, as making something that would fit as well as the kit parts would be difficult...

...But not impossible. I would go as far as using Oyumaru to make exact casts of the pegs for any part I would swap out and then build that peg into the replacement.
Or (I've not measured) there may be standard plastic rods that would fit the holes, making it really easy.

However, I'm such a fan on the design I couldn't bring myself to do any major changes to my only one.
If I got another...

There's not a huge scope for doing anything internal to any of the parts due to the joints and structure filling the sub-assemblies. But then, you could work with them.

Good to see it inspire though.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/05 02:21:20


Post by: dsteingass


That's amazeballs! Could you be assed to take some close-up shots and do a quick how-to of the technique for all the little riveteers to aspire to?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/05 06:14:14


Post by: shasolenzabi


Ah, Cron walker then! good choice!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/05 14:44:09


Post by: Dr H


dsteingass wrote:That's amazeballs! Could you be assed to take some close-up shots and do a quick how-to of the technique for all the little riveteers to aspire to?
Of the rivets?
Not a problem.

First find a water filter:

Other types are available.

Open it up and remove the contents.
Then separate the contents into the black carbon gravel and the white-ish beads.


Then follow this:

You may also want to tidy up around the rivets once the glue has set, they can get a bit messy with excess glue.

shasolenzabi wrote:Ah, Cron walker then! good choice!
Well not necessarily Necron in origin. I've not written any fluff for this yet, but I feel it's going to be The Scientist's invention. But with access to Necron technology he can add a repair scarab.
I've also still to create some rules for this thing.
Apparently, the main gun is supposed to be the same calibre as a Leman Russ tank, but is a shorter barrel. So I'll use that as a basis.
The 12.7mm Gatling guns, I don't know what to base on, possibly the Space Marine assault cannon.
Then there's defences against laser-guided weapons, smoke launchers, spotlights (those are the square blocks on either side of the body), and the manoeuvrability and armour rating...

Anyway, it's disassembled for painting, I said I'd show all the pieces:

Primed since then.
Still considering paint scheme; thinking of white with either orange or purple at the moment (also with large sections of hazard stripes)...



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/05 15:42:29


Post by: dsteingass


Fantastic tut! Thanks! You can do some gnarly weathering on white paint jobs- the contrast colors becomes the key then.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/06 20:36:25


Post by: Big H


Love that cockpit detail no one will see ! You should do a cutaway version revealing the interior, but then you'd need to scratch build all the piping , wires engines etc etc !

It actually looks very 80's Rogue Trader. I approve !


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/06 22:31:53


Post by: Dr H


dsteingass wrote:Fantastic tut! Thanks!
No problem.

You can do some gnarly weathering on white paint jobs- the contrast colors becomes the key then.
That you can.
Still contemplating scheme...

Big H wrote:Love that cockpit detail no one will see ! You should do a cutaway version revealing the interior, but then you'd need to scratch build all the piping , wires engines etc etc !

It actually looks very 80's Rogue Trader. I approve !
Thanks Big'. It's not the first time I've built and painted something that'll be hidden inside a model... and won't be the last. At least I now take photos of the hidden things.
A cutaway would be cool. Not today though.

While I procrastinate on the paint scheme I've had a play with my 3D printing pen:


It'll take practice (as most things do), but it's never going to be a replacement for straight lines.

And yes, I was a bit over-ambitious on the first attempt.

After some trial and error I settled on heat and speed settings; I've got it towards the top end of heat so that the plastic flows more like a glue that just an extruded plastic (would be useful for other applications), and the speed is almost at it's slowest.

I found the best method (for varying values of "best") was to keep the pen as upright as possible so that you can move in any direction; pushing forward doesn't work out well, as you might expect.

A paper surface is good as the plastic sticks to the paper and allows you to draw the shape. If it doesn't stick in place you end up dragging the extruded plastic about the place rather than drawing a line. The paper did curve up as the plastic cooled, but once the plastic is peeled off the paper (comes off easily with no problems) it appears to sit quite flat.

The final structure is pretty solid. Holding the tip of the pen to an existing piece of plastic just before extruding the next piece melts them together and forms a pretty permanent bond.

You have to stop extruding before moving the pen away, but even then you end up with lots of little strands. These can be "cut" off with the hot tip of the pen though. I may need to investigate the creation (or acquisition) of a hot implement for smoothing the prints.

Could be the start of some interesting things.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/07 01:40:59


Post by: dsteingass


Wow! So fracking cool! If I had that, I'd lock myself in my basement and just make
Spoiler:
these


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/07 04:26:20


Post by: Camkierhi


Cool.

One idea would be to try it on silicone molds. Making hollow pieces. Also would be interesting to see if it is hot melted enough to take a texture from below.

And I use soldering iron's a lot for heated sculpting tools. My best is a gas one, has a very variable temperature and I have several different tips.

I can see massive potential in these, but just like 3d printers, it will depend on results. You can get a 3d printer for couple hundred pounds, but for our purposes it is really of little use because of the level of finished detail. You have to spend a lot of money to get good results. I really hope that some practice and you will find that this performs as well as we hope. Be very interested to see how you get on.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/07 05:54:52


Post by: evildrcheese


That giant robot is super cool. Ultimate props for painting up the cockpit even though it can't be seen, it looked super cool.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/13 23:22:19


Post by: Dr H


Apologies for that long wait, been doing behind-the-scenes things for the Etsy shop and making a present, thinking of another present, and planning the build for the LoER terrain contest...

And scratching my head on the paint scheme for the tank... more on that below.

dsteingass wrote:Wow! So fracking cool! If I had that, I'd lock myself in my basement and just make ...
Yeah, with patience and a steady hand (and the right setting on the printer) those could be done. And so could wrought iron gates/fences. Much potential, but really tricky to do something neat straight off.

Camkierhi wrote:Cool.

One idea would be to try it on silicone molds. Making hollow pieces. Also would be interesting to see if it is hot melted enough to take a texture from below.
It can be turned up hotter to melt the plastic more than I've been using (not tried it on full POWER yet), not sure it'll go far enough to make it runny enough to fill moulds though. I'll have to give it a go at some point though.

And I use soldering iron's a lot for heated sculpting tools. My best is a gas one, has a very variable temperature and I have several different tips.
I had the same idea and tried out a "spare" soldering iron we had. It works... kind of; not really hot enough to melt the plastic without touching it, too hot to use with long contact (long being seconds).
Good for getting rid of large errors, but not easy to really produce smooth, rounded shapes.

However, I've also discovered (as it's not mentioned in the packaging, booklet, or anywhere else) that the filament I have is ABS, not PLA, and therefore can be smoothed (dissolved) and glued with poly cement (and therefore other solvents). Good for getting rid of the fine strings you get as you pull the printer away from the melted plastic, and for smoothing rough/sanded parts.

I can see massive potential in these, but just like 3d printers, it will depend on results. You can get a 3d printer for couple hundred pounds, but for our purposes it is really of little use because of the level of finished detail. You have to spend a lot of money to get good results. I really hope that some practice and you will find that this performs as well as we hope. Be very interested to see how you get on.
Ja. These are much cheaper than a full 3D printer, but are not going to replace them as the way they produce the extruded plastic is different (there'll be no building up a shape in thin layers); different tool for different jobs.
I'll keep experimenting with it (some has been done on the present I mentioned, but can't show yet) and practising with it, and we'll all see how it goes.

evildrcheese wrote:That giant robot is super cool. Ultimate props for painting up the cockpit even though it can't be seen, it looked super cool.

EDC
Ta. If someone has taken the time to design and cast a piece, the least we can do is paint it. And photos mean we can always look back at it.

And on that theme (the tank): I have started painting...

Don't get excited though, it's just the base coat.

Going to paint the majority of it in an off white (highlighting up to white), and the black areas are going to be a charcoal grey or similar.
Then I'll go over those in the more exciting colours.

But I have 2 presents to finish/start before the end of the month, and I've been slacking.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/14 20:50:17


Post by: inmygravenimage


You're very patient. I want it to be massively garish.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/10/21 13:46:58


Post by: Dr H


Ta Graven. If I can make the planned colour scheme work out in a way that pleases me, it'll be "bright" indeed.

Sadly, no progress on the tank. Presents take priority, and one is done.

I'm showing it here as it's relevant to the 3D printing pen I showed in here; using and expanding on the parts you've seen here, as well as a new and more interesting use for the pen.

Those of you that have followed my other thread (making money with modelling) will have seen me make quite a few earrings. Up until now, the owner has been "storing" these and her other earrings in a block of polystyrene foam (in spite of a perfectly good jewellery box), so I thought I'd make a stand to serve the purpose of the poly-foam.
She likes butterflies (as I found out when I made the previous earring/pendant set) so the "practice" 3D prints were with something like this in mind; if they turned out useful, I'd make use of them.

Previously you all saw the raw, first attempt at the printing and we discussed smoothing rough edges.

As I mentioned, it turns out I have ABS filament and so can smooth most things with solvents; the soldering iron method has some use, but is not very subtle.

One thing to point out about printing things out onto a flat surface is that you end up with one flat side and one rounded/rough side.
Since then I used the pen to add more material to the flat side to make the pieces even on both sides.
I then smoothed what I could with a combination of soldering iron and solvent.

These were glued to the main body of the stand and then I used the pen to add more details to tie the "wings" to the stand.
The heat required to melt the ABS is hot enough to melt plasticard and, so long as you avoid touching the surface, this means the printed material is firmly welded to the surface; important for possible modelling use. And both being styrene based, can be glued together with poly cement as normal.

Then I wanted a handle of sorts at the front and try out a different use for the pen.
The above technique makes use of a flat surface to "draw" the print on and anchor the extruded plastic to. This new technique makes use of the 3D side of this technology:
As the filament is fed through the pen it is heated, melts, and is then pressed through a die to extrude a length of molten/softened plastic, as it cools is hardens. With the right balance of speed and temperature you can "draw" in free space. You need a single point of contact to a solid object so that you can move the pen with respect to the print, but from then on you can branch out in any direction and create a 3D object (from a long thin line).

For the handle I embedded 2 metal wires into the body of the stand and proceeded to print around and over them, allowing the extruded plastic to twist and curl. I wrapped and overlapped the strands to create an interlocked structure strong enough for a handle.

This technique would be good for electrical arcing for SM Librarians, KFFs, and other mages/weapons/etc. for 40K and other games.

Painting though, caused me problems. Not because of the material (it takes paint perfectly fine), but what colours to use.
I started with bright colours, mainly red (to match the felt on the base) with blue and green parts in the "wings" to enhance the butterfly idea.
But it looked like something that comes from poundland for a 5 year old girl to keep her dolls happy. Not wrong if that's what you are going for, it was not what I was going for.
So I went over it all with metallics and decided to make it aged to get as far away as possible from the girl and her dolls.
But I kept the underlying colours in the many recesses to give it and interesting look, a hint of colour, and not just plain, boring metal.

And I also made some simple earrings (not involving the 3D printer) to match the pattern on some cloth that the recipient is sewing with.

That leaves us with this:

Better than a block of polystyrene anyway...

I have a sculpture to finish off by the end of the month and then I'll be back on to the tank.
I also need to catch up on my followed blogs...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/03 16:24:27


Post by: Dr H


Right... So... Bit of a gap there.

Besides having some presents to make and the usual procrastination, this paint scheme has been beating me down; trying to come up with a suitable base colour and then achieving it on the model has been a pain to the point of sapping my enthusiasm.

I got to this point on the main body:

Streaky finish, imperfect blending, but generally the right colour.

Then I thought: I've had enough of layering on paint (should have airbrushed), it's going to be weathered, covered in markings etc. It'll be fine in the end.

I mentioned I was going to add orange. I spent ages deciding with the help of paint (the windows program, before using actual paint on the model) where the colour should be added and finally got around to adding it to the model... and promptly diverged from any plans I had tried; you can't substitute for a real 3D object.

And this is how the scheme is going:


That's looking futuristic already.
I need to touch up around this so that'll work into smoothing the base colour anyway. I just needed to move forward on the model.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/03 16:31:50


Post by: shasolenzabi


I am liking the yellow markings, gives it a SW vibe so to speak.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/06 00:36:40


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'. Yeah, I wanted to paint-job to match the futuristic design of the tank, and I went through so, so many pictures in my "inspiration" folders and Google (which added even more pictures to my folders) and found myself drawn to the white/orange schemes.

There will be many markings etc. and weathering over this; see my Wave Serpent for an idea of what this entails.

And so, the orange is tidied up and I re-painted the light areas with more cream and less white, and without bothering with subtle shading. Instead, I opted for each facet of the shape to be a different shade (so the top is lightest, the sides slightly darker, and the bottom darkest). With all the markings and weathering breaking up the surfaces, a subtle blend (as I usually go too subtle anyway) won't show up, so why bother.

This is how it looks now:


I think next I'll reproduce this on all the other pieces and see how that looks before deciding on what else to add and avoid it looking a mess once it's put back together.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/06 06:55:55


Post by: shasolenzabi


 Dr H wrote:
Thanks Shas'. Yeah, I wanted to paint-job to match the futuristic design of the tank, and I went through so, so many pictures in my "inspiration" folders and Google (which added even more pictures to my folders) and found myself drawn to the white/orange schemes.

There will be many markings etc. and weathering over this; see my Wave Serpent for an idea of what this entails.

And so, the orange is tidied up and I re-painted the light areas with more cream and less white, and without bothering with subtle shading. Instead, I opted for each facet of the shape to be a different shade (so the top is lightest, the sides slightly darker, and the bottom darkest). With all the markings and weathering breaking up the surfaces, a subtle blend (as I usually go too subtle anyway) won't show up, so why bother.

This is how it looks now:


I think next I'll reproduce this on all the other pieces and see how that looks before deciding on what else to add and avoid it looking a mess once it's put back together.




Looking damn fine Doc!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/08 23:51:10


Post by: Dr H


Thanks again Shas'.

Slowly progressing through painting the various bits and pieces. Next up to get the design on is the first section of the legs:


The black areas were going to be just a black to grey blend, but I'm now thinking of doing them in metallic, possibly with my polish-able paint as many of these parts are going to be rubbing against one another so that may produce realistic wear patterns...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/08 23:52:32


Post by: shasolenzabi


Sounds cool, and the work so far just keeps getting better


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/09 01:33:34


Post by: dsteingass


Wow man! Very cool! I love the orange stripeys! Great idea with the paint!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/09 07:02:38


Post by: evildrcheese


This is looking pretty amazing already.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/09 09:14:05


Post by: Red Harvest


Anakin's Skywalker's starfighter. The ETA-2 ? That is what the paint scheme reminds me of. Not that I watched any of of those movies, I just have a nice papercraft version of the ship that I may one day build. Very stylish looking on the Tachikoma. Good stuff.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/10 21:19:39


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'.

Thanks Dave. Getting the scheme to this stage has been quite an ordeal (relatively speaking; 1st world problems).

Thanks EDC.

Thanks Red'. Yeah, that's the same idea for a scheme. It's fairly common when you look at futuristic concepts.

More legs...



There's a few competing ideas for the knees, so no orange on them yet.

Onwards...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/10 21:42:27


Post by: shasolenzabi


IT STANDS! That is looking cool with the legs added Doc!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/12 21:05:17


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'.

And now it has feet and "eyes"...

I painted the feet with half orange in a different way for each foot; left, right, front, back.
As they are all interchangeable, this means there is no right way to arrange them and can add some variety to a very symmetrical model.

Arms are next to be in progress.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/13 21:24:09


Post by: shasolenzabi


That is coming together so lovely!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/14 19:56:36


Post by: Solar_lion


Truely.. What a great design and placement of color.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 06:31:09


Post by: inmygravenimage


Looks amazing. I keep expecting to see it amble past the Ghost In the Shell trailer...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 06:57:06


Post by: evildrcheese


Looking good so far, intrigued to see what you do with the knees.

Are you gonna reveal some of your ideas or just surprise us with finished knees at some point.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 14:26:51


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'.

Thanks Solar, Good to hear that.

Thanks Graven'.
GitS trailer is a bit hit and miss for me:
Looks lovely; nice designs, very pretty.
But, borrowing a bit too much from the anime. I don't mind the occasional nod to something as a homage, but the trailer at least, seems to be made up of all homage and little originality.
And, as I suspected, there's no effort to make the characters sound "original"; Scarlett sounds like she does in all her movies, and Bato just sounds weak compared to the anime's voice actor.
And because of the Major being Scarlett and not the Major, they don't seem to be referring to her, in the film, as anything other than "Major" as if it's her name. It's just a little thorn in my side. She's not going to be the Motoko I love.

Thanks EDC.
Nothing concrete, the initial idea was to do the knees in yellow/black hazard stripes, but I'm still not sure if it will match the scheme or if it'll make it look too "construction" and not military.
The easy option is to add an orange triangle to match the rest.
And lastly, a triangle of a contrasting colour. I'm still debating on what and where and whether to add a complimentary colour.

So, with those options, I'm holding off until I've got the "basic" white/orange scheme done all over and will see what might fit.

Update:
You nearly got this update last night but Dakka's gallery seemed to be having issues so I gave up to do it today.
...Although the photo seems to have uploaded anyway, so that saves time now.

It has arms:


Tail in progress.
Turret to be started.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 14:41:40


Post by: Gitsplitta


That's pretty darn cool looking Dr H. Paint looks great too.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 17:51:20


Post by: shasolenzabi


Tachikoma big brother! that tank is awesome assembled like that so far!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/15 20:43:12


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Gits'. The photos are being kind to my paint at the moment; some areas are not as smooth as they seem.

Thanks Shas'. Here's a bit more...

Tail on:


The orange/"white" lines need tidying on that last section, which I shall do in a minute while I work on the turret.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/17 17:07:49


Post by: Dr H


And turret on.



This is the extent of the planned paint scheme. I now need to have a think about what next.

There's various small details that need paint (e.g. the smoke launchers), and some places that I'm considering warning markings (red lines, hazard stripes), beyond that I want to think about the possibility of complimentary colours and then it'll be transfers and then weathering.

Thoughts are welcome...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/17 17:58:05


Post by: Gitsplitta


That's very "Ghost in the Shell"-like.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/17 18:19:16


Post by: shasolenzabi


Loving the GiTS:SAC model with a very "Clone Wars" style scheme, it works well together! Looks awesome altogether with the tail mounted heavy cannon and legs, and the arms/weapons.

Super-heavy walker-tank for the win!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/18 06:30:10


Post by: Camkierhi


Looking fantastic bud, as has been said paint job and model really blend well together, great job.

May i suggest, go for hazard stripes, but make them very fine. not 40k 4 foot wide style. Thinking our military aircraft here, you have hatches and hard points marked up, but its for ground crew, not to be seen from 5 miles, as we do with 40k stuff.

Also looking at your colour scheme, I think a light electric blue would go well for accent colour.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/18 14:14:51


Post by: Dr H


Gitsplitta wrote:That's very "Ghost in the Shell"-like.
Thanks. Future-tech' is the aim, if only to match the design of the model.

shasolenzabi wrote:Loving the GiTS:SAC model with a very "Clone Wars" style scheme, it works well together! Looks awesome altogether with the tail mounted heavy cannon and legs, and the arms/weapons.

Super-heavy walker-tank for the win!
Thanks Shas'. That reminds me; I still need to come up with rules and fluff for this tank... That's almost a project on it's own.

Camkierhi wrote:Looking fantastic bud, as has been said paint job and model really blend well together, great job.
Thanks Cam'.

May i suggest, go for hazard stripes, but make them very fine. not 40k 4 foot wide style. Thinking our military aircraft here, you have hatches and hard points marked up, but its for ground crew, not to be seen from 5 miles, as we do with 40k stuff.
Ha. Yeah, I am leaning towards "functional" hazard stripe use. We're on the same page.

Also looking at your colour scheme, I think a light electric blue would go well for accent colour.
Interesting. I'll look into it. May be too "cool" for the scheme, but might be good for the repair scarab...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/19 09:40:56


Post by: Red Harvest


Mighty fine work. The more I see of this, the more I want to get the Infinity version of it.

Hazard stripes...meh. Definitely go for the signage though. Maybe research the appropriate Japanese characters/signs? To keep it in character... which segues nicely to...

Scarlett is like John Wayne. No matter the movie or role, he was always John Wayne.

Looks like the CIA ( MI-6 for you guys?) has "redacted" some of your photos.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/19 21:44:20


Post by: shasolenzabi


Well, if you have an old copy of Chapter Approved volume 4 they had the Vehicle Design Rules, or VDR.

Old of course, but still adaptable to today
Each Hull point for vehicle counts as 3 health
Armor had costs based on how high it went, 14 being the more expensive of course!

Super-heavy Walker, Armor: F-14/S-13/R-12, two long barreled assault cannons(arms), Range 36, etc.

Tail Battle cannon

Just for starters, you can add other things like the amphibious, warmachine, does it carry a squad? I wish I could dig mine out


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/20 22:10:10


Post by: inmygravenimage


I hadn't really twigged how scorpion-like it was going to be- I feel like it needs 8 glowing green eyes...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/20 22:19:10


Post by: Dr H


Red Harvest wrote:Mighty fine work. The more I see of this, the more I want to get the Infinity version of it.
Thanks. Didn't know Infinity had a big version, I've seen the little ones you've done.

Hazard stripes...meh. Definitely go for the signage though. Maybe research the appropriate Japanese characters/signs? To keep it in character... which segues nicely to...
I may do some Kanji (I believe the word is) at the "tank-art" stage... you did all know that there was a tank-art stage, didn't you? It fits between the signs/markings stage and weathering stage.

Scarlett is like John Wayne. No matter the movie or role, he was always John Wayne.
At least she's nicer to look at...

Looks like the CIA ( MI-6 for you guys?) has "redacted" some of your photos.
Ha. That was just to hide some distracting things in the photos that drew the eye away from the model. (more-so than the usual wip photos)

Thanks Shas'. Yeah, similar things to what I've been thinking. Just a matter of getting around to it.

Early work on the markings (some tidying required).
The laser-guided defences are done.
Pin washes for the few panel lines.


To do:
Smoke launchers,
The black shapes on the rear (didn't like the hazard stripes around their edges, so they are going solid colour),
Tidying,
Transfers (I've already dug out a selection),
Tank-art (to be decided),
Weathering,
...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 inmygravenimage wrote:
I hadn't really twigged how scorpion-like it was going to be- I feel like it needs 8 glowing green eyes...
It is a bit scorpion, yes.
As for eyes, not green (some are red), but there are plenty:
On the front face of the body there are 5,
Then the white blob on top has a trio,
There's another blob on the bottom of the tank,
Around the hatch are three sets of trios (front, left and right),
And there's 2 triplets of eyes on the turret,
And a final trio on the main gun itself...

A total of 29 "eyes".



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/22 21:26:05


Post by: Dr H


And onward with some transfers.

Various small touches all over, but none that really jump out (which is the point).

I found some brilliant ones for the lifting points on the knees, I actually had some transfers that say "lifting area"... with arrows. Extreme close-up below.


It's not all plain sailing though. Some of the photos I took for this showed that I have some more touching up to do, and you will notice that some of the transfers look a bit "weathered"; this is what happens when you use very old transfers, they can get a bit brittle. But they were going to be weathered anyway, so going with the flow.

More tidying and then looking into some tank-art...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/22 23:04:36


Post by: Solar_lion


Awesome.. Right about the ' Clone war' look. I couldn't place it till it got mentioned.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/23 06:41:19


Post by: shasolenzabi


Oh that looks so lovely Dr.H, outsanding work!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/23 09:39:05


Post by: inmygravenimage


Epic use of transfers, as always.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/23 10:51:15


Post by: Ruglud


Well, that is stunning. You know how to pick a great model AND get the best out of it...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/24 06:50:45


Post by: Red Harvest


 Dr H wrote:
Red Harvest wrote:Mighty fine work. The more I see of this, the more I want to get the Infinity version of it.
Thanks. Didn't know Infinity had a big version, I've seen the little ones you've done.

This, the Maghariba Guard https://catalog.infinitythegame.com/haqqislam/ver/280481-0584-maghariba-guard#menuAnchor
That's an 80mm base it's on, so yes, big.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/24 16:10:49


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Solar'. There's just something about a white/cream and orange scheme that says "future".

Thanks Shas', Graven', and EDC.

Thanks Rug', you make me blush.

Red Harvest wrote:...This, the Maghariba Guard https://catalog.infinitythegame.com/haqqislam/ver/280481-0584-maghariba-guard#menuAnchor
That's an 80mm base it's on, so yes, big.
Only 80mm, this wouldn't fit on anything smaller than 200mm.
Thinking of that, what size base does a ... I'll just google that...
Really!
An Imperial knight can fit (ok, it's bipedal and this isn't) on a 170mm base... AND is only 8inches tall! AND a Warhound titan is only 10.5inches!
I don't know why I'm still surprised at how small GW models are anymore, but I always imagine them larger in photos (by at least 50%).

In the pose I have my tank, the top of the turret's aiming device box thing (that's the technical term ) is 7inches. And as I said, it has a larger footprint than the Imperial Knight.
I may have to tweak some of the descriptions in my fluff a little... Fluff is in progress btw.

Also, rules:
How does this grab you?
HAW206 prototype, Superheavy tank. 300pts
Battle cannon (turret) 50pts (R = 72", S = 8, AP = 3, Ordnance 1, Large Blast)
Gatling guns (arms) 30pts (R = 36", S = 6, AP = 5, Heavy 3, "Rending") x2

Night vision 10pts
Smoke launchers
Laser-guided defences 15pts (affects missiles and markerlights, not yet decided on how yet)

"Agile" rule (some kind of dodge for aimed attacks, like "Jink" maybe)
"got legs" (like "crawler" so not affected by difficult/dangerous terrain)
"got wheels" (can move quicker on smooth terrain e.g. roads)

WS - 4
BS - 4
S - 8
Armour; F=14 / S=14 / R=11
I-6
A-2
HP-4

All that for 405pts...

Thoughts?
I'd rather it be overpriced than overpowered, so maybe up to 455pts?

And I've done some freehand.
Shock! Horror! I actually didn't do a pinup this time. I couldn't really see anywhere to fit a nicely-sized one... so instead...


This is the word Testation, in kanji graffiti. 暴走の証明
Meaning; The act or power of disposing of property by testament or will.
Somewhat relevant (in a perverse way) to the Army of the Second Law.
But more importantly, it is the title of the GitS episode that the tank appears in. A nod to where the model originates.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/24 18:10:33


Post by: shasolenzabi


Very nicely done! on the stats, the points value the free-hand, all very nicely done!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/25 06:00:34


Post by: oldravenman3025



That's one sweet looking walker. Two thumbs up.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/25 06:56:26


Post by: evildrcheese


Points and stats seem appropriate.

Freehand looks great.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/25 11:15:10


Post by: Red Harvest


I think Japanese pin ups are called Gravure. I'll leave it to you to ask Mr. Google if I'm right

Needs a Hello Kitty somewhere on it.

Kidding aside, it looks fantastic. I'd not worry too much about rules for it. I suspect the rules to the 40k game are going to have some drastic changes.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/26 23:03:33


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'. Good to hear on all fronts.

Thanks Ravenman'.

Thanks EDC.

Red Harvest wrote:I think Japanese pin ups are called Gravure. I'll leave it to you to ask Mr. Google if I'm right
Google... awaaaaaaay... Ooo, there's a few hours I'm about to loose.

Needs a Hello Kitty somewhere on it.

Kidding aside,...
You may joke, but something like that is still a possibility.

...it looks fantastic.
Thanks.

I'd not worry too much about rules for it. I suspect the rules to the 40k game are going to have some drastic changes.
If I don't do rules for these things as I do them, they'll never get done, and then this army will never be playable (however unlikely that is ever to take place).

I wanted to get started on some things for Christmas (so as to not have to rush it at the last minute), so pausing for a little bit.

Have a large lump of fluff to keep you going:
Spoiler:
Planet Aniaros Primus was covered with a variety of difficult terrains; from soft sand dunes about the equator, to rough and broken rocky plateaus to thick, uneven jungle and huge bogs. Name a type of terrain that is hard to traverse, and it was there. It was also positioned in a very important intersection of several space-lanes. Controlled by the Imperium, it was a home away from home for a battalion of Imperial guardsmen; there, just so the other races didn't take control.
There was nothing else of note on this planet, or in it's system; a lone planet about a small white star. No interesting flora or fauna, militarily speaking. No valuable mineral deposits. Nothing but the (admittedly variable) difficult terrain. The planet was safe because it was so uninteresting to everyone.

A lone landspeeder skimmed the tops of the trees, the green-upon-green canopy stretched to the horizon in all directions. Both occupants dozed as the craft flew a set patrol course for the umpteenth time. Nothing changed, nothing was ever found. The planet was tidally locked to it's star and moved in such a uniform orbit that there were no day/night cycles and no seasons. Sensors on the craft scanned the surroundings and recorded logs that were remarkably similar time and time again. The ecosystem was in such a perfect balance that it would be fascinating to someone interested in that kind of thing (as would many things), but in an age of war there is no such person.

After their 12 standard-hour shift had finished, they returned to base, passing the next shift at the boundary fence. The occupants only looking forward to a proper kip, they left the craft in it's hangar for the servitor to download the data and service the craft. 3 hours later, they were stood in front of their superior trying to come up with excuses to why they didn't notice when the craft's sensors signalled a reading 9 hours into their shift.

The reading was a single, simple electronic signature; that which might originate from a vehicle. This piece of excitement did occur on occasion, when a sensor was in error, or a random tree may have fallen over, or one of the occupants of the craft snored too loudly. However, error was ruled out and the current shift was roused after about an hour of attempts to contact them. They were directed to the area to see if a tree had fallen over and to then continue with their route.

Seven hours later, when the second landspeeder didn't return, the following shift was sent with specific instructions to find the missing craft. This type of excitement had happened only once before, when a snoozing pilot had shifted position and his knee had hit the controls, sending the craft into a dive.

It wasn't long before the search crew radioed in a report of a column of smoke and an electronic signature not far from the apparent crash-site. They were ordered to investigate the signal and report back immediately. When no report was forthcoming and the landspeeder could not be contacted the base commander was informed and a plan of action was proposed; a ground-based unit would investigate the area in question as they couldn't risk loosing any more landspeeders if there was something (natural, artificial, daemonic, etc.) knocking things out of the air. You can't be knocked out of the air if you are not in the air, was the rationale.

Unlike anywhere else in the galaxy, there was no shortage of volunteers for the operation; boredom will do that to people. Within 2 hours the unit was complete, as was a second unit that would accompany them (many volunteers, you see), and they set off to the last known coordinates of the landspeeders. They would take at least 2 full 24 standard-hour "days" to reach the area and another day to find the one known "crash" site.

The jungle floor was sparse of plants due to the density of the canopy, but it was dense with discarded branches, twigs and leaves. The ground was uneven, rising and falling by meters within the length of a groundcar. The trees were too close for most tanks to be of use, so the men had to march on foot. As expected, they found nothing for 3 days.

On the morning (as designated by time, as the sun never sets in this area) of the 4th day the men picked up the scent of burnt plastic and metal, and scanners finally picked up a signal for an inorganic mass ahead. 30 minutes later they spotted the wreckage of the second landspeeder through the tree trunks, highlighted by the light falling through the hole in the canopy that they must have left.

The occupants were dead on impact, the craft was bent and twisted, but it was noticed on many of the surfaces the signs of gunfire; bullet-holes peppered the craft and were of a calibre comparable to that of an assault cannon. This was no accident, the men spread out to form a cordon about the crash site, looking outwards. Men from the second unit started patrolling the surrounding area. In spite of the density of the trees, visibility is generally good in this jungle; the rough terrain can be seen to stretch for 100 or more metres in all directions, only split into vertical lines by the multitude of tree trunks. Every man scanned his field of vision for anything that was not a tree.

After a short while the patrols found markings indicating movement, scattered with gun casings. The markings were confusing though; They weren't the tracks of tanks or wheeled vehicles. They were "footprints", but not of infantry, the feet were large enough for a man to sit in and the depth indicated the weight of a tank. Some trees had been knocked aside, but not in any straight paths. Whatever this was it could navigate between the trees.

Both the Eldar and Tau use walking constructs in warfare, but no matches could be found on record or memory to the footprints the men could see. They found no other tracks, was this... thing working alone? Were there more? and most important of all, where was it? Thoughts also turned to tyranids as clouds moved in overhead, casting a dulled lighting over the men. They felt exposed.

One of the scanners took that moment to pick up another signal, to the east. The men formed ranks and split into their respective units. They moved quietly, alert to danger, towards the signal. It was inorganic, like the earlier signal, but the cloud cover meant it was more difficult to make out shapes broken up as they are by the trees. The eyes began to play tricks on the men, helped by shadows in the gloom. Soon, it became apparent that there was a shape ahead; low and wide. The units spread out and moved in a pincer movement upon the shape. As they approached, it was noted that a couple of trees in that area had been knocked over. They readied their weapons and continued to approach.

A break in the clouds above sent a spear of light through the break in the canopy and revealed a scene of carnage... the crash site of the first landspeeder. One of the greener recruits fired into the wreckage reflexively, he got a firm talking to by his sergeant and the men relaxed a little and moved to secure and study the site.

It was different to the earlier site; the pieces of wreckage were smaller, there were no signs of gunfire. This craft had exploded and many smaller pieces could be see stretching off into the distance indicating that it had broken up in flight. The surrounding area yielded no clues this time.

The men followed the path of the wreckage in a hope of finding the attacker's position. They remained alert, but found nothing. Then it happened...

There was a whoosh, a thud in the distance, and then an explosion that sent men flying in many directions, not all of them were whole men. There was panic, they ran in all directions; the men that had not seen much fighting ran towards the threat, those that had seen a great deal of fighting ran the other way (there's a 6th sense that tells you when you're on the loosing side in a fight that hasn't started, and it's time to regroup... elsewhere).

Then there was movement between the trees. A few men spotted it at first, and more caught sight as lasgun fire was directed that way. There was something large, very large, moving this way and that. It was possibly twice the width of any basic tank and seemed, to those that had seen one, almost the height of an imperial knight titan. But it moved and changed direction impossibly quickly on the terrain.

As it got closer the colour could be made out; it was mainly a light, creamy-bone colour, with areas in bright orange. It's shape seemed to morph and twist as it navigated the ground. This time the men saw the flash and heard the thud before the whoosh and explosion. Another group of men were scattered across the leaf litter... in bloody chunks. Those still alive retuned fire to no apparent effect.

Closer still, and the shape became distinct; it was spider-like. Long legs extended from it's sides and it had 2 appendages at the front that were waving about erratically. Behind it's "body" was a tall domed shape that was obviously the turret. The thing, now identifiable as a "walking" tank was doing anything but walking... it was hopping, skipping, jumping, and running between the trees, it's legs dancing across the rough ground in a way that could only be compared to the multi-legged tyranids. But this tank was heavy, it would demolish any tree that got in it's way without slowing down, and it was big; the legs were long enough that a space marine could walk under the body without needing to duck.

Now it had got into small-arms range, and the men could hear it talking as it closed the distance. What they heard was a childish voice that had a robotic/synthetic undertone, and it was saying things along the lines of:
"Are you part of the test?"
"I didn't know I'd have playmates"
"You must be target practice, right?"
"I thought I'd get closer to try these..."
With that, the tank aimed it's arms towards the men, 3-fingered "hands" opened up and a pair of 3-barreled Gatling cannons spun up and fired into the throng, tearing men apart.
"Hello, am I doing good?"
Close up, the tank had the appearance of a scorpion; the arms out front spreading death as efficiently as any claw, the legs (only 4) steepled out to it's corners giving a solid firing base but moving fluidly, and a long tail curling up from the rear of the body and tipped with a main gun suitable for any tank, ready to sting it's prey.
"Ooo, is that what I think it is?"
One of the men had aimed a missile launcher at the tank, the guiding laser played across the tank's body. Suddenly, rods emerged from the top of the tank and lasers danced around the surrounding area. Before anyone could stop him, the missile launcher fired and the missile began an erratic flight as it tried to lock on to the many laser sources. It nearly hit several trees and then one of the tank's lasers fixed onto the bearer of the missile launcher, all the other lasers moved to focus on him and the missile duly followed. He ran, but he didn't get far.

The massacre continued for a further 5 minutes. The men were now running and hiding for their lives; any thoughts of fighting back had been replaced with surviving and escaping.
The tank had also changed tactics. It was now standing very still, surrounded by the bodies of the fallen, and pivoting on the spot whenever someone moved from behind a tree. It seemed to be able to see in all directions as men tried their luck when the tank's back was turned, only to be caught by fire before they reached the next tree.

It soon became a stalemate as those that moved didn't live to tell about it.
"Oh, I love hide and seek... lets see here"
The tank would push over a random tree and then gun down anyone that was exposed.
"Are you still there?"
Working outwards, the tank was creating a clearing in the jungle.
After about 20 minutes there was a clearing large enough to land a Stormraven, and the tank wandered off having not found anyone for 5 minutes.
"Booooooooooooooooooored"
After the noise of the receding tank had faded, 3 men crawled from their hiding places. They made their way back to base as quietly and as quickly as possible.

Days later, the men reported to the commander and he contacted the high command asking for backup.
Due to the report only mentioning a single tank, that had not shown any sign of greater forces, and had not threatened the base of operations, the backup received was less than had been expected: Large squads of guardsmen were better used in full battles, the space marines were too busy to go searching a planet for one tank and due to the terrain no vehicles were of any use. What arrived, months later, was a lone assassin.

His papers, that he handed directly to the commander, stated that he was "the best" at what he did, and had declined a "holiday" on Catachan to come and hunt a tank. The commander was dubious of what this assassin would achieve, but as the tank had not shown up since the massacre, he wasn't going to argue with a face like a mountain.

The sniper headed out into the jungle in a tight-fitting bodysuit that seemed to be made of the stuff of shadows; not black, that would stand out, but it sucked at the light that fell on it. As soon as he passed the first trees surrounding the base, he disappeared into the gloom. He carried a huge, scoped rifle. Powerful enough to penetrate the thickest of armour and accurate enough to hit a man in the eye from over a mile away... in the right hands.

It took at least a month of searching for the sniper to find the tank. He had been tracking it for 12 days so far. It had moved from the jungle where the massacre had happened, north into a more mountainous region with fewer trees, but more shrubs and bushes; ideal for the sniper.
He observed the tank at first, through some basic binoculars, noting it's mannerisms.

The tank was moving about the terrain, seemingly at random. It had mentioned "testing" during the attack, and so the sniper assumed that the tank was just being tested in varying terrain environs. He swapped his binoculars for the scope of his rifle to get a closer look and to start getting a "feel" for the tank's movement.

Linking to a variety of satellites in orbit, the scope of his rifle adjusted automatically to air density, humidity, wind, and even gravitational variations. His mind was also linked to the scope so that he could process all the data and pick the perfect shot.

He zoomed in to get a good look at the tank, searching for weak spots, as he came to consider the white dome towards the front of the body of the tank it swivelled and 3 black dots, in a triangle, came to "look" straight at him through his scope. The sniper quickly zoomed out to see the whole tank and noticed that the turret had also rotated to point at him. He moved, as swift as a tyranid, and gained as much distance as possible from his position... which exploded as a shell landed where he had been hidden seconds before.

Finding a ridge, out of sight of the tank, the sniper moved to another hidden position that the tank couldn't trace him to by extrapolation. He then had time to think about what had happened; The tank had only noticed him after he had started using his scope. It wouldn't be len-flare or his movement, his kit was too good to give away his position like that. The tank had to have access to the exact same satellites that his scope did; it had seen the uplink and triangulated his position. Had he known this, the sniper would have used the same trick to find the tank. He would have to do this the old-fashioned way from now on.

Switching his scope into "dumb" mode (it would only act as a simple lens scope now) the sniper repositioned again to get a view of the tank. It had moved to examine the crater where the sniper had been spotted. As predicted, the tank then followed the path taken by the sniper to the ridge, it looked about briefly and then moved on apparently giving up on searching.

The sniper followed the tank's movement and continued to study for weaknesses. Judging by how quickly the tank can react, he would only have one good shot at disabling it before retaliation. The sniper noted the position of the hatch, on top of the tank, and from that looked for places to penetrate into the operator's cockpit. As large as the tank was, the shape and size of the main body was only large enough for 1 or 2 crew. The best point he could see to attack was next to the headlight/spotlight. At the point it was attached to the body it was likely about head-height and roughly central to the possible cockpit; attacking at just the right angle the bullet would penetrate at the join for the light (rather than having to penetrate an unknown thickness of armour) and pass through one or both of the crew. He waited for the perfect angle...

The sniper let the tank move further away, this would give him time to fire a second shot into the armour affording a second possible chance to kill one of the crew. But without his satellite link neither shot would be as perfect as he would normally achieve. He also did not take his aiming drug, further harming his chances, as if the first 2 shots did not disable the tank he would have to move quickly to avoid return fire. He took a breath, and squeezed the trigger...

The first shot struck true, the tank flinched and popped smoke. The sniper's second shot was blind into the smoke. He saw the sparks of the glancing bullet through the smoke, and then the tank emerged from one side of the cloud, facing his direction, and immediately fired it's Gatling guns. The sniper dived behind a rock he had chosen for cover, the surrounding area was raked with gunfire.

In a break of the fire, the sniper repositioned to his secondary position, where he may be able to get a third shot. As he turned to reacquire his target he saw the tank had closed the distance, running and leaping over the terrain; it was well practiced indeed. He took a quick shot, and the tank dodged the shot, again the bullet glanced off the armour harmlessly. The tank returned fire from it's Gatling guns. The sniper ran for the cover of some trees.

A tree behind him exploded in a shower of splinters and fire, the sniper fell to the ground'; shoved by the shockwave. Ears ringing and with his back feeling like it had been scattered by a thousand red-hot knives, he pulled himself up and ran on to find cover. He waited for any signs of movement and when he sensed none he peered from the shadow of the tree. He could see the remains of the shattered tree and beyond, the rocky terrain.

Over the ringing in his ears he heard a child-like voice behind him.
"What are you looking for?"
He turned, but was too slow, a huge hand pinned him against the tree, the barrels of a Galting gun pressed into his stomach. He felt ribs crack and heard the tree creak under the pressure. He couldn't breathe as he looked up into the 3 black eyes in the large white orb. The eyes rotated this way and that, regarding him.
"It's a good thing that there is no one in my cockpit. You could have hurt someone"
The pressure increased and the sniper felt his heart beating in his throat. The surroundings became grey and then black and the last thing he saw were those 3 black dots.



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/28 13:48:08


Post by: shasolenzabi


Nice story for the scorpion-tank!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/11/28 14:26:36


Post by: Gitsplitta


LOVE the kanji graffiti.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/20 00:49:36


Post by: Dr H


shasolenzabi wrote:Nice story for the scorpion-tank!
Thanks Shas'.

Gitsplitta wrote:LOVE the kanji graffiti.
Good to hear. Thanks.

Right, so the Christmas presents are done and will be shown in the other blog after Christmas.

Progress on the tank will resume here soon, but in the mean time...

I've published my first mod for Fallout 4 (first for any game actually).

It's a cave system underneath the Coastal Cottage settlement (interior cell, so not actually underneath) filled with raiders, loot and surprises.

It can be found:
For PC
- http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/20715/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Ffallout4%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D20715%26preview%3D&pUp=1
or
- https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/3330304

XBox
- https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/3330375

And PS4
- https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/fallout4/mod-detail/3330818

For those of you that don't know how modding games works; this entire cave system, the entrance and the raider that holds the key, do not exist in the base game.
I have used a program (similar to that the game creators used to make the full game) to arrange and modify assets from the game (items, walls, bits of rubbish, everything and anything) to build what you see here.

Anyone out there can download the file I have uploaded and add this to their own copy of the game.

It gives me a similar buzz to physical model building, and I consider it just as creative.

And I have a video up on YouTube that shows my VATS gunslinger character running through it.
You can actually see how I play the game too; striking from the shadows. A "Fair fight", what's that?



Tank soon.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/20 01:08:13


Post by: Ketara


Question is, was it programmed by a terminally ill scientist?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/22 14:34:52


Post by: MagosBiff90


Must... contain.... brain.......

Walking..... tank...... tooo... beautiful!!!!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/22 16:23:17


Post by: Theophony


So me being a complete gaming noob on any system, can that MOD work on an XBox one? Not that I have one....but maybe Santa drank too much this year and one might fall off the sleigh and down our nonexistent chimney without a name tag on it .


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/22 19:09:04


Post by: Scarper


Hey Dr. H! Got lots of catching up to do for this blog, some amazing things in the last few pages. Just wanted to say I absolutely love the fluff piece you wrote for the latest tank - was really engrossing, and an interesting setting too. The child-like voice is really creepy - any chance you had some inspiration from Portal and the like?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/23 14:05:15


Post by: Dr H


Ketara wrote:Question is, was it programmed by a terminally ill scientist?
It's possible. But I've left that vague in my fluff as to whether it was built or found by The (Mad) Scientist.

MagosBiff90 wrote: Must... contain.... brain.......

Walking..... tank...... tooo... beautiful!!!!
Glad you like Magos. You see what you miss out on from being away.

Theophony wrote:So me being a complete gaming noob on any system, can that MOD work on an XBox one? Not that I have one....but maybe Santa drank too much this year and one might fall off the sleigh and down our nonexistent chimney without a name tag on it .
It can, Theo. I've released it for all platforms and it seems to be compatible with many other mods with few problems.

Scarper wrote:Hey Dr. H! Got lots of catching up to do for this blog, some amazing things in the last few pages. Just wanted to say I absolutely love the fluff piece you wrote for the latest tank - was really engrossing, and an interesting setting too. The child-like voice is really creepy - any chance you had some inspiration from Portal and the like?
Thanks Scarper. Glad you like the fluff too. Yeah, in addition to the GitS anime Tachikoma personalities there is the Portal turret quote "Are you still there?".

Batō wrote:Amazing work!!!
Thanks.

No tank update, but I've finished the settlement at Coastal Cottage.



and speaking of mods for Fallout 4, this is my current mod list:
Textures:
- .44 Magnum Retexture - Exodus
- Assault Rifle Retexture AR-51 - Devious_Methods
- Better Ammo Boxes Overhaul - Devious_Methods
- CC's Improved Vanilla Holotapes - ClearanceClarence
- Enhanced Blood Textures - dDefinder
- EoW Pre-war books Retexture - Emissary of Wind
- exShinras Better Brick Textures - exShinra
- Eyewear and Mask retexture - Castell
- Fallout 4 HD Reworked Project - Halk_Hogan_PL
- Fallout Texture Overhaul PipBoy - Gorgulla
- Faraway Area Reform (LOD) - SparrowPrince
- Gauss Rifle Retexture - AlexScorpion
- High Resolution Texture Pack - Valius
- More Realistic Pipe Weapon Textures - AlexSlesh
- Optimised Vanilla Textures - Myst
- Retextured Chems - Ben Ephla
- Retextured First Aid Kits - Ben Ephla
- Scratchmade New Combat Shotgun and Rifle Textures - Millenia
- Scratchmade New Double Barrel Shotgun Textures - Millenia
- Sharp Shacks - Jah
- Tookie's Textures Grass and Plants - Tookie Jones
- Vivid Fallout Landscapes - Hein84
- Vivid Fallout Roads and Bridges - Hein84
- Wasteland Creatures Redone - DOOM
- WET - SparrowPrince


Crafting:
- 1x1 Craftable Foundation pieces - DDProductions83
- Better Stores - Blazeda59
- Business Settlements (standalone) - Tamayo831
- Craftable Floor Patches - Takeanumber
- Craftable Glass Stuff - DDProductions83
- Craftable Pillars and Support braces - DDProductions83
- Craftable Ramps and Rails - DDProductions83
- Craftable tall walls and Spacers - DDProductions83
- CWSS Redux v2 - steve40 and Flipdeezy
- Do it Yourshelf - dinozaurz
- Rags of the Old World - Zaldir
- Half Width shack walls - CitizenRandom
- Homemaker - Nova Coru
- Immersive Vendors - Xgrufijury
- Lore Friendly Posters - Dhegonus
- OCDecorator - McFace (Geoff Dow)
- OSHA Unapproved Safety Signage - BlandSauce
- Snap 'n Build - ad3d0
- Thematic and Practical - 5ike
- Where did I put that - OctaviusSentibar
- Window Floor and Roof Boards - Necrocytosis

Others:
- Armor and Weapons Keyword Community Resource - Valdacil and Gambit 77
- Armorsmith Extended - Gambit 77
- Better Settlers - Thom293
- Clean Power Armor HUD - Haruka34
- Don't call me Settler - a1a3a6a9
- Improved map with visible roads - mm137
- keyNuker - Iyravega
- Ponytail Hairstyles - Azar
- Regent - Billyro
- Targeting HUD Enhanced - Yukichigai
- Uncapped Settlment Surplus - IDontEvenKnow


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/23 17:37:38


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Dave. I certainly enjoy a more ramshackle, overlapping, confused layout to my settlements.

I think that next, I'm going to fill the interior of the Castle's walls with something similar.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/25 10:25:23


Post by: Dr H


Just a quick Happy Christmas / Merry Holiday to all my readers.

Normal service will be resumed once I've got over the hangover...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/26 13:49:22


Post by: Solar_lion


Funny ... I just enjoy shooting things in Fallout .. hummmm.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/26 18:55:57


Post by: Dr H


 Solar_lion wrote:
Funny ... I just enjoy shooting things in Fallout .. hummmm.
It's worth a look, Solar'. The interface takes a bit of getting used to (it's not great), but with practice, taking advantage of a few glitches, and learning a few console commands, the settlement building can be quite fun.

Happy Boxing day.
This year's loot included:
A lamp (because I wanted light from another angle).
Xuron Corp. Micro-Shears. (So I no longer need to use some old, dented, wire-cutters).
2 sets of Yato needle files. (I can get very specific when asked what I want for Christmas).

Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently books.
Iron Maiden Beer glass (with beer to put in it).
Various sugary treats, and some trousers. (I have a sweet tooth and holes in my trousers).

Until next time.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2016/12/30 09:36:57


Post by: Camkierhi


Still managing to resist the Fallout thing, did 3 back when, but have managed to hold out on 4.

Nice haul, good tools are always a real blessing.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/03 14:02:27


Post by: Gitsplitta


Wasted most of my week off playing Fallout 4.

Wait! What am I saying... "wasted".... bah!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/03 18:10:50


Post by: shasolenzabi


Planning on a fallout 4 style village?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/03 22:01:03


Post by: Dr H


Happy New Year!

Cam': I don't play many games, but Fallout 4 is the latest addiction (previously being Skyrim, FO3 / NV, and Oblivion. Alternatives being Gran Turismo and Wipeout). I always have one game on the go.

Ja. Look forward to trying out the new tools.

Gits': Yeah, I've been bitten by the bug again as I bought the DLCs in the Steam sale.
Indeed, not wasted. Just look above.

Shas': I should look at making more Fallout items if noting else. Maybe more iconic items than the bathroom furniture.

Anyway, I've been AWOL from DDakka for a while. Christmas/New Year week knocks all my regular internet-ing off and it takes most of January to catch up.
As I said, I've downloaded all the DLC for Fallout 4 as it was cheap (enough) in the steam sale. So I've been having a look at the new things that that has added, updating all my mods and fixing a few conflicts.

I've not be totally slacking on the modelling though, see below:
I wanted something ironic on the banner and ended up with a happy face to hang on the front of a death-machine. A bit obvious, but I like happy acid faces.

And then I thought I'd start the battle damage with the area being repaired by the scarab. Not breaking any moulds, but I took photos of each stage so why not show them...

I wanted this side to also have some matching kanji so that it didn't look like the tank had happened to be damaged on the one side that didn't happen to have something carefully painted on.
I didn't want to do the same characters and again, threw in a joke; The full phrase means "It doesn't hurt", but the damage obliterates the "doesn't" part leaving "it...hurts".
For those that don't read kanji, it's just some markings, for those that can it'll be a mixture of confusion (of why that would be written on a tank) and amusement (if they get the joke).

I also tried to make it look like the scarab is part-way through welding the damage. I may come back to it later.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/03 22:11:47


Post by: inmygravenimage


I love the scarab's work. I could stand for the scarab itself to be brighter/glowy. Tank itself is exquisite.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/04 14:18:37


Post by: Gitsplitta


That's a really cool touch to an already fantastic piece!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/06 14:49:58


Post by: Dr H


inmygravenimage wrote:I love the scarab's work. I could stand for the scarab itself to be brighter/glowy. Tank itself is exquisite.
Thanks Graven. I'll look into it, but I don't know if I can make the scarab much brighter, as that means lighter and on a light background it may make him blend in more rather than stand out. He may also get a gloss finish to make him stand out too.

Thanks Gits' and Shas'.

Well, that can't be the only damage that will show on this tank... so I've added a little more:
This is chips and worn edges,

Next, is to darken the actual damage I added, add some depth/dirt to the chipped areas, maybe some scorch marks, and some general dirt etc...

In other news; my continuing mission to hoover up any and all free bits from the members of DDakka has resulted in this drop from Scarper:

Many of these I don't already have in my rather modest bits-box.

And to show my limited knowledge of GW products, I see...
One metal Catachan chap with a flamer who will shortly be taking a bath in brake fluid.
An assortment of SM body pieces, 2 with a leg each, a few with heads (one chaos),
One set of legs (chaos-like),
A selection of heads (one nice spiky chaos one),
A bunch of arms, shoulder pads,
A few arms with weapons (some chaos some not), 2 bolt-pistols, hammer, sword, a couple of powerfists, and 2 mutated arms,
A few weapon bits, including a large bolter-like thing, flamer, Tau burst cannon, missile launchers,
A couple of handlebars (handy as I already have one bike frame with nothing else),
A collection of smoke launchers,
A pile of track pieces,
A chain,
A couple of odd pieces (one of which may be an ammo box),
A hatch,
A head on a spike,
A box that looks like a tiny house,
Some chaos adornments,
A few flat detail pieces,
and a Dreadnought front plate,

Looks like I can add a chaos marine or two to my army.

Thanks Scarper.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/06 16:26:48


Post by: Gitsplitta


Walker is looking fantastic. The damage adds so much character to the piece.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/07 00:07:45


Post by: Red Harvest


I like things shiny and new, so I'm ambivalent about the battle damage. It is well done. The little repair drone is a very good detail.

Scarily enough, even though I have not played a Games Workshop™ game in over 7 years, nor purchased a Games Workshop™ product in over 12 years., I can still identify pretty much all of those bits. The persistence of memory can be a bit surreal, no?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/10 12:04:37


Post by: Camkierhi


Walker is looking stunning, I am a bit up and down on the damaged paintwork, I really liked it looking clean, but you have done an excellent job with the damage so far and it adds a lot to the piece, Not sure how far you are going, but at the moment it clashes a little for me, the clean beautiful paintwork and the damaged areas don't quite match, some oil streaks coming from joints and the odd bit of dirt in the crevasses would sell it.

Nice haul of bits from Scarper, lots of combinations possible for the good/bad doctor.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/10 12:46:38


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Gits'.

Red Harvest wrote:I like things shiny and new, so I'm ambivalent about the battle damage. It is well done. The little repair drone is a very good detail.
Yeah, I know. There's a time and a place for both. This fits with the theme of the army; Vehicles are rare, stolen or repaired from the battlefield, maintained but not religiously. The soldiers are easily replaced, renewed, always fresh. So all my vehicles will show dirt and damage (but not to the extent that you may see in an Ork army, for example), and all the troops are clean.

Scarily enough, even though I have not played a Games Workshop™ game in over 7 years, nor purchased a Games Workshop™ product in over 12 years., I can still identify pretty much all of those bits. The persistence of memory can be a bit surreal, no?
Ha, once indoctrinated, always a gamer.

Thanks Cam'. I'm well ahead of you there...





I'm going to call him done (for now) and start thinking of the next project...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/11 04:35:16


Post by: Red Harvest


 Dr H wrote:
... and all the troops are clean.

Reminds me of something from Sharpe's Rifles (or one of the books or TV shows). Some officer commenting on how dirty the soldiers were. Sharpe's response was, "Yes, but their rifles are clean." Priorities.

 Dr H wrote:
Red Harvest wrote:Scarily enough, even though I have not played a Games Workshop™ game in over 7 years, nor purchased a Games Workshop™ product in over 12 years., I can still identify pretty much all of those bits. The persistence of memory can be a bit surreal, no?
Ha, once indoctrinated, always a gamer.

I was a gamer long before I heard of Games Workshop™, and I suspect that I'll be a gamer long after Games Workshop™ is gone. I just have a good memory. It's often a curse, believe me.

Back OT. What a fun model to build that was, no? The color pattern is very effective.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/11 06:43:09


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice. Really excellent work on the walker, loving the repair scarab.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/11 06:52:08


Post by: inmygravenimage


I love the deranged internal monologue. Although in retrospect I wish the scarab had a tiny laser tail too


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/11 14:54:43


Post by: Gitsplitta


LOL! That's wonderful Dr H! Outstanding job on the mini and brilliant presentation! Voted!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/11 19:37:35


Post by: Scarper


Looks beautiful! Do you worry about the articulation damaging your paintwork at all? Really like the monologue, as before. I think the battle damage is just right too - not overdone

Glad you liked all the bits! Hope you can find use for some of them.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/13 00:19:33


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Solar'.

Red Harvest wrote: ...Priorities.
Well, a few dings are not going to slow down a tank. But a ding the size of some of those would take the head clean off a troop.

I was a gamer long before I heard of Games Workshop™, and I suspect that I'll be a gamer long after Games Workshop™ is gone. I just have a good memory. It's often a curse, believe me.
Oh how I wish for a good memory. Part of dyslexia is poor memory. So I make notes instead (mainly about how I wish I had a photographic memory ).

Back OT. What a fun model to build that was, no? The color pattern is very effective.
Yeah, it was a really pleasing model kit to build. The way it fit, very minimal gaps, can hold together by friction.

Sadly the hinges for the hanging armour plates on the body broke long ago and have been re-glued many times.
That seems to be par for the course with plastic hinges though, no fault with the kit.

Thanks Red'.

Thanks EDC.

inmygravenimage wrote:I love the deranged internal monologue. Although in retrospect I wish the scarab had a tiny laser tail too
Doesn't everyone have a deranged internal monologue?

Ha, would have been nice. I'll remember it (note it down on my long list of things to do... now)... and back.

Thanks Gits'. With the pose-ability of the model I just had to have it "animated" for the photos.

Scarper wrote:Looks beautiful! Do you worry about the articulation damaging your paintwork at all?
I did, and that's why I used a polish-able paint (Humbrol Metalcote) for the jointed parts; and rubbing and wear should only polish the paint more... in theory. I'm not planning on changing it's pose often anyway.
Also, most of the major joints don't have visible contact points, so the issue is mainly non-existent by design.

Really like the monologue, as before. I think the battle damage is just right too - not overdone
Thanks.

Glad you liked all the bits! Hope you can find use for some of them.
I'm sure I'll find a use for them. Thanks again.

As for what I'm doing:
Planning.

Going to knock up a cardboard test piece of my first (and if it works, only) design for the airbrush hood.

This should give me a pile of cardboard off-cuts that may give me inspiration for what to build for the LoER terrain contest.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/14 16:38:24


Post by: shasolenzabi


Love the images with the word and thought balloons! adds something from the fluff to it!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/15 21:43:54


Post by: Ruglud


Gorgeous work - although the scarab needs a blue and white paint job to be a proper astromech


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/16 22:36:22


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'. Couldn't resist.

Thanks Ruglud. I didn't think of that, well it has blue and silver, so nearly there.

In other news; check my other blog, designing an extraction hood for airbrushing...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/01/17 03:45:17


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Those were funny!

And I love the paint and weathering on that tank too, cheerful yet scarred.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/06 14:13:42


Post by: Dr H


Thanks KK.

News of my demise has been greatly exaggerated!
If you haven't heard any news, that just goes to show how exaggerated it has been...

To ease back in to things we have the pilot that I'm pairing with the above tank.

She's been primed and black for ages now, so it's time she got a lick of paint.

First though, her tab was a very loose fit in the slot-base and so I've puttied her in and by the time that's cured I may have decided on a scheme.


This will be the only way to tie her to the tank, so expect the inclusion of colours from the tank.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/06 21:50:58


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Solar. Just an evil virus (cold) that has kept me away.

I've also spent most of the past 3 or 4 days rearranging my room...
Started with finding homes for the latest acquisitions,
But they overflowed their boxes and needed a couple more boxes,
That meant rearranging the shelves to make space for the extra boxes,
This led to rearranging the models that share the shelving,
3 models required fixes during this,
Some of the larger bits and my new airbrush extraction hood needed homes elsewhere in my room,
This meant rearranging under my desk and one corner of my room,
This led to rearranging the 4th corner of my room,
Which led to rearranging inside the wardrobe that sits in the that corner...

So the majority of my room has been slightly rearranged, creating slightly more room, but not looking drastically different.

This is how the pilot is looking now.
Her face and the blue (to match the seat inside the tank) are done.
The brown areas will be the light bone colour of the tank, with some orange trim (again to match the tank).
Her boots and gun holster will be a dark grey (to match the interior of the tank's cockpit).
And her hair may be pink... will leave this until last to see what matches the overall look (because this is important when picking your manga hair).

She's a tricky one to get a good photo of...



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/07 15:23:17


Post by: Dr H


Body done.
Just hair and base to do.





The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/08 05:34:18


Post by: Camkierhi


Excellent, she certainly has a figure!, Was going to say maybe a bit of blue, looks spot on.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/08 06:09:29


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice work on the pilot.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/08 13:47:13


Post by: Solar_lion


yeah the blue looks great.. yeah that's what I was looking at!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/08 15:30:42


Post by: Dr H


Gits', I somehow knew you'd say that.

Cam'; She does indeed. A "model" in more than one sense (hence the current title; model pilot)
Ja, I wanted the blue to tie her in to the tank's cockpit and it's blue seat (see below).

Ta EDC.

Here's some more angles for you to get a better look at the "blue bits", Solar.

My first Infinity miniature is done.
I quite enjoyed the painting on this one. Seemed quick and easy and didn't become a chore (probably because it was quick).

Here she is, all the angles and a few shots to show how the scheme ties to the tank:


With that ticked off the list, the only question is... what's next...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/08 21:23:21


Post by: inmygravenimage


She's one fine lookin lady!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/10 17:10:34


Post by: Solar_lion


nice color on the hair. Blends in really well.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/10 21:02:34


Post by: Red Harvest


The Szalamandra pilot. A very old mini, but a goodie. And a good choice as the pilot of the tachikoma. Nicely painted. And really I like the mini much better than some of the newer pilot minis. (Link, sure... https://catalog.infinitythegame.com/yu-jing/ver/280390-0628-guijia-pilot#menuAnchor ...Pigeon toes. meh.)


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/11 00:40:45


Post by: Ruglud


What a cheeky little update that was


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/02/11 22:50:48


Post by: Dr H


Thanks all. Glad you like her.

Solar_lion wrote:nice color on the hair. Blends in really well.
Ta. Yeah, I thought that the colour worked well.

Red Harvest wrote:The Szalamandra pilot. A very old mini, but a goodie.
I didn't know anything about the mini' when I got her, as she came all the way from Gits' (together with a bunch of other random mini's). I did a bit of research before painting to get a feel for what's what: as she's just a single-piece metal model, I didn't build her, and not being in the Infinity "zone" myself (and therefore inexperienced with the models), I didn't know what bits were what.

And a good choice as the pilot of the tachikoma. Nicely painted.
The small size of her compliments the tank nicely, and there's a "you and whose army?" look to her in front of it. Reminds me of the common thing in fantasy / Sci-fi images of a hot girl standing in front of their "protector". But she doesn't look quite so helpless as they often do in those pictures.
Thanks.

And really I like the mini much better than some of the newer pilot minis. (Link, sure... https://catalog.infinitythegame.com/yu-jing/ver/280390-0628-guijia-pilot#menuAnchor ...Pigeon toes. meh.)
Oo yeah, not a fan of that pose. Not sure what they were thinking when they made that.
Good pose for a zombie, not for a hot girl.

I am currently working on a couple of terrain pieces, but as I intend to sell them they'll appear in my other blog soon...

Stay tuned.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/03/07 14:59:55


Post by: Dr H


I'll show this off here; another Fallout 4 settlement build.

This time the Castle. Keep your Diamond city, this is the Pentagon city.

When I first visited the Castle I wanted to fill the interior courtyard with buildings, but was disappointed when just "fixing" the walls brought me close to the size limit for the settlement system.
I didn't let that stop me though; console commands were used to raise the size limit, again and again...

I started by planning out the walkways at ground level, attempting to keep to the pre-defined npc routes. I then build buildings around this network of paths. These expanded upwards and/or other buildings were placed on top and walkways were added to join them all up at all levels.

Then I had to decided what all these rooms were going to be. This was tricky as I'd created many more areas than I could imagine. But mods came to the rescue with many more jobs for settlers to do, and with a few storerooms I managed to give all the areas a theme.

Quite a long video (there's a lot going on), but come and see the sights:
A Minuteman museum,
Restaurant and bar,
Shops shops shops,
Barbers,
Information post,
Workshop area,
Minutemen radio post (as found in the game, but expanded),
Clinic and Surgery centre,
Farm and Botany centre,
Large Bathroom/Shower/exercise area,
The General's quarters and command centre,
Intelligence centre and data storage,
Residential areas,
Railroad safe area (this is my railroad / Minutemen character),
Reactor room,
Gun range,
Depot,
and more...

The final size is over 10 times that of the vanilla limit. It really pushed my PC to it's limits, so forgive the frame-drops.

and you get to see my first character at the start of the video.



In addition to that, this is my updated mod list:
Spoiler:
Textures:
- .44 Magnum Retexture - Exodus
- Assault Rifle Retexture AR-51 - Devious_Methods
- Better Ammo Boxes Overhaul - Devious_Methods
- CC's Improved Vanilla Holotapes - ClearanceClarence
- Delightful Dead Fish - 83Willow
- Enhanced Blood Textures - dDefinder
- EoW Pre-war books Retexture - Emissary of Wind
- exShinras Better Brick Textures - exShinra
- Eyewear and Mask retexture - Castell
- Fallout 4 HD Reworked Project - Halk_Hogan_PL
- Fallout Texture Overhaul PipBoy - Gorgulla
- Faraway Area Reform (LOD) - SparrowPrince
- Gauss Rifle Retexture - AlexScorpion
- High Resolution Texture Pack - Valius
- More Realistic Pipe Weapon Textures - AlexSlesh
- Optimised Vanilla Textures - Myst
- Retextured Chems - Ben Ephla
- Retextured First Aid Kits - Ben Ephla
- Scratchmade New Combat Shotgun and Rifle Textures - Millenia
- Scratchmade New Double Barrel Shotgun Textures - Millenia
- Sharp Shacks - Jah
- Tookie's Textures Grass and Plants - Tookie Jones
- Vivid Fallout Landscapes - Hein84
- Vivid Fallout Roads and Bridges - Hein84
- Vivid Fallout Rocks - Hein84
- Wasteland Creatures Redone - DOOM
- Water Enhanced - Jmane2009


Crafting:
- 1x1 Craftable Foundation pieces - DDProductions83
- Better Stores - Blazeda59
- Business Settlements (standalone) - Tamayo831
- Concrete walls with Window Glass - Cartman1975
- Craftable Balcony Supports - DarthWayne
- Craftable Floor Patches - Takeanumber
- Craftable Glass Stuff - DDProductions83
- Craftable Pillars and Support braces - DDProductions83
- Craftable Ramps and Rails - DDProductions83
- Craftable tall walls and Spacers - DDProductions83
- CWSS Redux v2 - steve40 and Flipdeezy
- Do it Yourshelf - dinozaurz
- Eli's Craftable Flower Pots - Elianora
- FAC Paintings - Foggypath
- Half Width shack walls - CitizenRandom
- Homemaker - Nova Coru
- Immersive Vendors - Xgrufijury
- Lore Friendly Posters - Dhegonus
- Minutemen Morale Pack - EvilViking13
- NorthlandDiggers - Ludvig08
- OCDecorator - McFace (Geoff Dow)
- Old World Plaids - LupusYondergirl
- OSHA Unapproved Safety Signage - BlandSauce
- Settlement Objects Expansion Pack - ccmads
- Snap 'n Build - ad3d0
- Thematic and Practical - 5ike
- Vertical Power Conduits - Daedragon
- Warehouse Shelves for Components and ammo - Cartman1975
- Where did I put that - OctaviusSentibar
- Window Floor and Roof Boards - Necrocytosis
- Working Table Lamps - FrauZockinsky

Others:
- Armor and Weapons Keyword Community Resource - Valdacil and Gambit 77
- Armorsmith Extended - Gambit 77
- Better Cooking Stations - Steve40
- Better Settlers - Thom293
- Bugfix for Dismissed Companion Endless Babble - spacefiddle
- Coastal Cottage Cave - DrSPH
- DEF_UI - Neanka, Valdacil, Old Nick, ParasiteX, Sekoms
- Don't call me Settler - a1a3a6a9
- Elevator Button Fix - Seb263
- English Strings for Fallout 4 - Seraphiel
- Full Dialogue Interface - Cirosan and Shadwar
- HUDFramework - Registrator2000
- Immersive HUD - Gopher
- Improved map with visible roads - mm137
- Power Armor HUD - Gopher
- Power Armor Materials AND Paints - Mcgan
- Ponytail Hairstyles - Azar
- Realistic Ragdoll Force - dDefinder
- Regent - Billyro
- Settler Sandbox Expansion - Axle356258
- Targeting HUD Enhanced - Yukichigai
- Uncapped Settlment Surplus - IDontEvenKnow
- Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch -
- Valdacil's Item Sorting - Valdacil
- Vault-Tec Workshop Overhaul - PMB
- Workshop Spotlight fix - ccmads
- X-01 Invisible Flashlight Remove - Castell
- You Talk Too Much - akkalat85


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/03/07 16:39:09


Post by: Gitsplitta


Nice! That's an astoundingly large piece of work. My PC would have been in a smoking ruin long before this...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/03/07 22:24:51


Post by: Dr H


Ha. Thanks Gits'.
My PC is far from a super-powered gaming machine. It'll beat today's consoles, but will need an upgrade to stay ahead of tomorrow's.

For those of interest, the important spec's are:
i5-3350P CPU at 3.3GHz
8GB DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz
GTX960 GPU with 4GB VRAM, overclocked to 1492MHz (core) and 7908MHz (mem').


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/03/29 12:44:51


Post by: Solar_lion


That's a ton of mods.., but it show in the final product.

Awesome star fort. I just need to finish the game now!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/01 23:15:08


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Solar', and I'm still adding more mods.

I've only completed the game and all DLC once so far, and have been everywhere and done everything that is possible in one playthrough. I'm ~37 levels into a second playthrough, but I keep being pulled back to more building than actually playing the game.

There is now a mod that allows you to download a blueprint of other people's settlements and have it appear in your savegames. Check out Transfer Settlements and you could have 4 of my builds in your game.

I am currently building in Vault 88, but that's a while off.

I am also still building models over in my "money making" thread. Pop over there for that.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/24 20:45:59


Post by: Dr H


...and thanks to the settlement blueprints that I have uploaded, I've now become a "recognised modder" on the Nexus. Didn't know it was a thing, but kinda cool. I should probably make more than one actual mod to live up to it though.

In other news; GW appears to be further legalising my army here with the new edition. Not something that I expected when I first started this blog. I'm sure I'll still be able to rile some feathers with it though.

In other other news:
Having had a tidy up and rearrangement of my modelling area I decided to take an up-to-date photo to share about the place:

Took ages to get 2 pictures up on the screens that weren't inappropriate (random wallpaper from 4256 images).

In other other other news:
I've glued some plastic together for the army.

I don't know where GW expects the gun to be held, but I had to straighten the left arm out to keep the shoulder in it's socket and reach the hand that's attached to the gun. I'd have probably changed it anyway even if it did fit.

I have an interesting idea for basing this one, but I don't know if I'll make any major (mad) changes to him. He is the first of his kind that I'm building and I usually keep the first close to stock.
I have no ideas on colouring yet... plain metallic is too obvious.

Thank you for your patience.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/25 02:30:13


Post by: Camkierhi


Welcome home.

Be different and go the Greavus route, do him organic colours, so maybe bone, or brown. Highly weathered iron.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/25 05:59:31


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice gluing. Straightening the arm worked a treat.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/25 22:43:19


Post by: Dr H


Graven': Clay coloured?
I was thinking ceramic in nature, which is about the same thing.

Camkierhi wrote:Welcome home.
I don't spend half as much time in this thread as I want to. I always seem to be doing something for my "making money with modelling" (work) thread. Yeah, you could call this home.

Be different and go the Greavus route, do him organic colours, so maybe bone, or brown. Highly weathered iron.
I get the feeling we're all thinking along the same lines; ceramic, clay, brown/bone...

Thanks EDC. It required the arm being cut at the shoulder (to move the ball of the joint) as well as the elbow to get it to reach. One thing the Necron joints are good for.

This is the idea I had:
I read up about what these Deathmarks are and found that they are snipers that can wait "out of phase" with reality before appearing from thin air to attack.

How to represent this on a model?
It could just be painted on as you find on many cloaked models (such as Tau stealth suits), but then it'll look like some kind of active camouflage and not "phasing in".

Having just tidied up my room I remembered my box of "clear things", and thought I'd use a piece of clear plastic to represent the break in reality, the "pop" as he appears.

This is what I've come up with:

The clear plastic with be left clear, but I may paint the rear of the chap as if in night and the front in daylight to show him stepping from the dark dimension.
He's not glued on here, but the clear plastic is puttied on to the base and is holding him up for the photo.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/25 23:26:52


Post by: Camkierhi


Like the idea, interested to see you pull it off.

I know this would be a daft idea, but cut the back off the model, so only half of him is "present". Or maybe cast half in clear resin!

I like the idea though of painting it in two halves, High contrast would help and with your ability I am sure you will get it.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/26 01:30:00


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


This is a really awesome idea and am looking forward to seeing its progress.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/04/26 23:21:44


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. Always got to push the new ideas with each model I do.

Not daft ideas at all. I have considered having a model half cast in clear resin, but again for an active camo' effect.

We'll see how the painting effect goes this time.

Thanks 'boss.

I've covered the base with my rock'n'mud mixture and took some reference photos for the painting effect (where the split should be and where his foot will be attached to the base), so may as well share them here so you have something to look at.


He's now stuck to the painting stick along with a re-paint (that will remain a mystery for the sake of driving excitement up).


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/02 14:40:52


Post by: Dr H


Just a quick painting update to show signs of life.

The Deathmark has ended up a coffee colour, for good or ill.
The metal is only basecoated and I've not started on the dark rear yet.


And I've done the green on the Dark Angel re-paint. If you didn't notice him in the background of previous photos.

I decided to go with brown ribbing for a change (from grey), this still requires a black wash. So will be darker and shaded eventually.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/02 19:57:22


Post by: inmygravenimage


I really like the coffee colour. To me, ceramic really suits Crons, I like the idea of a self-fixing ceramsteel.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/02 20:44:40


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Graven. Although he's not quite so yellow as those photos seem to show. The below are more accurate.

Yes, more progress. I had some spare grey paint to hand and decided to give the split a go.
Some more shading and highlighting and this is how he's looking (I already had done the base):


More to do...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/03 15:53:34


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Interesting take on the deathmark. Following with interest


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/04 20:28:33


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Com'K.

There has been progress on the deathmark, but nowt worth showing today.
Although, here's part one of the fluff (if you're interested in that kind of thing):
Spoiler:
The Scientist fell into a crumpled heap, his mind almost obliterated by the synaptic disintegrator, almost. The expanded mind of The Scientist held on to the experience of his neurons unravelling, assessed the method of assassination, and made mental notes, on the tattered remains of his mind, about modifications to make to such a weapon... for future use. Then he died.

The Scientist stepped from the storage chamber where his new body had been kept for the past month. All of his previous memories (and those of the billions upon billions of minds he had added) were crystal clear after the fresh implantation. Only the memories of the past day, since the latest backup, were fuzzy. He felt a dull sensation when recalling anything from that day, but the shreds yielded his meticulous notes on the experience and he formed plans on protection for his memories; he was irritated in loosing a day of work, even though he appeared to have spent the previous day playing a game that involved a large plastic ball, flammable liquid, a small furry creature, and a 4D maze. The creature seemed to have escaped.

The Scientist looked down on his previous body and a plan formed to capture the sniper. The first step was to decamp to another locale, probably the next continent eastward on this planet; he didn't want the sniper to take too long to find him again, but needed to be delayed by enough time to allow preparations to be made. He also needed to bring the body.

Due to reports that the target was often reported to be killed but again reported to still be alive a short while afterwards, the deathmark remained on the planet to confirm either way. 20.3 standard hours after the target had been killed, the deathmark witnessed the target return to the area and inspect his own body. A decoy? Or a clone? The deathmark decided to remain in sight of the target (if it was the target) to assess if it was indeed the real target or if it led to the real target.

The deathmark observed the packing up of the temporary camp that the target had set up on this uninhabited planet, and tracked the convoy to their new encampment 1138.4 kilometres on a bearing of 73.9° from the original position. The deathmark arrived at the new camp 3.7 days after it had been erected and scouted the surrounding area for an observation point.
...


However, I have finished this chap.
Welcome back Tactical marine number 3 (who by pure coincidence is from the 3rd squad of his original company, before being killed, resurrected and brainwashed to join the army here).


and a comparison to how he looked 5 years ago:

He's not top-shelf at all, but he is only a basic troop and is a significant improvement on what he did look like (not to mention the removal of many missed mould lines).

Not sure what I was thinking with the original heat effect on the gun. Now realistic ("more" would imply that the original was even close) thanks to thinned paints and a better idea of what it's supposed to look like.

May the fourth be with you all.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/06 23:09:12


Post by: Dr H


Yes, I know, he is a bit boring. But you need the norm's to make the unusual stand out.

Part 2 of the deathmark fluff (for those on the edge of your seat to discover what happens next):
Spoiler:
Surveying an area from an out-of-phase dimension was as easy as walking about. The deathmark soon selected the perfect sniper position from a shortlist of 16 good observing points. The deathmark observed the target for a further 5.3 days and determined that there was no contact with outside persons; the target (real or not) was acting autonomously, and therefore could not be a better candidate for the real target.

The Scientist had carefully chosen the destination for the new camp. The distance from the original camp had to be above a minimum measurement to ensure that the deathmark, for he knew that it was a deathmark, would arrive after he had prepared the area. The area couldn't be obviously modified to suit his needs (such as cutting down trees) as these would be obvious to the sniper, but could be obviously modified to present a certain set of "ideal" sniper positions that remained after the "obvious" sniper positions (for a hunted target) had been disposed of (guards or traps etc.).

There are many variables that come into play when selecting a sniper position. You want elevation on your target, a clean line of sight, somewhere to remain unseen, etc. Most sniper's would also want an escape route, but when you can phase into another dimension that's not an issue. Many of the nearby positions were compromised by the target and his allies; he clearly feared another attempt. The deathmark selected the best position, much further away than anyone had any reason to assume a sniper would attack from.

The target remained within a single building amongst the 12 that made up the camp, made from flimsy pre-fab's with 2 windows and a single doorway. Simple furnishings inside, and a large cleared area around the whole camp made an easy shot. However, as the deathmark watched, the target stood up, beside himself. The second target then moved around a central table and stood, looking out the nearest window.

The deathmark could shoot both targets quicker than either would react, it would just take a fraction of a second longer to move aim to the second target. The deathmark waited for the perfect lighting / weather conditions before stepping from the portal into the target's dimension.

The deathmark aimed at the first target, stood by the table, and zoomed in to his face to look for signs of difference between the two targets. This target appeared to be dribbling. The deathmark shifted aim to look at the other target to compare. As soon as the face came into focus it was apparent that this target was looking directly at the deathmark's position, unflinching until he winked...

There was a flash and the deathmark froze on the spot, a high current of electricity ran through it's body and a powerful EMP burst knocked it senseless. The deathmark fell over backwards like a felled tree.

"Ah, you are online again, good." said The Scientist.
"What happened?" asked the deathmark curtly.
"I'll demonstrate..." said The Scientist, as produced a pack of coloured card pieces "...pick one" he said.
"What is this?" asked the deathmark.
"Pick a card, any card, and I'll demonstrate how you were captured" said The Scientist.
"I am unable to move" said the deathmark.
"Oh... of course. I have disabled your body. Never mind, I'll flick through the cards and you tell me when to stop, I will then cut the deck" said The Scientist.
"Cut what?" asked the deathmark.
"The deck... nevermind. You say stop whenever you like and that will select your card." said The Scientist. He started to flick through the deck of cards.
"Stop" said the deathmark.
The Scientist cut the deck and held up the new top card for the deathmark to see.
"Do not tell me what the card is." said The Scientist quickly.
"What does it mean?" asked the deathmark.
"Means nothing, it is just a unique collection of symbols. Each of the 144 cards here is unique". said The Scientist. "Now, I will insert your card, remember what it is, yes. I will insert it into the deck in a random position...here" said The Scientist as he pushed the card into the deck. "I will now determine what that card was, but first I shall shuffle these cards so that I cannot know where it is." He shuffles the deck.

20 minutes later.
"This deck of cards is now perfectly randomly arranged, yes?" said The Scientist.
"That should be sufficient" said the deathmark.
The Scientist pulls the top card from the deck "Is this your card?" he asked.
"No" replied the deathmark.
"Oh..." said The Scientist "...not to worry. Let's turn you around here" The Scientist grabbed the chair that the deathmark was strapped into and spun it around 180°. The deathmark now faced a mirror and could see a card glued to it's forehead. An exact replica of the card that The Scientist had shown him. "Is that your card?" asked The Scientist triumphantly.
"It is a card that has the same arrangement of symbols as the card you made me select." replied the deathmark.
"That's close enough. I placed that card there 20 minutes ago, before you selected your card" said The Scientist.
The deathmark looked at The Scientist blankly.
"It's called forcing a card. I force you to select the card I want you to select" explained The Scientist. "Using techniques of psychology and slight-of-hand, I make the only card you can select, be the card I want you to select." He continued to explain.
...
Much later.
"...and so you end up with whatever card I choose in advance." finished The Scientist.
"How did you force me to stand where you wanted?" asked the deathmark unimpressed with the card trick.
"The terrain was selected to give you a shortlist of firing lines. I then set about removing certain options with obvious traps and guard routes." said The Scientist. "You were then presented with a few, less than ideal positions that no-one would expect a sniper to select. You chose the position that I had prepared for you." He continued "I also installed a sensor in my previous body that would detect your sight. I knew when you had zoomed in on my double and therefore when you had shifted your gaze. That was when I knew to push the button."
"Why have you kept me alive?" asked the deathmark.
"You work for me now. I've modified your weapon, can't have you destroying the minds of your targets when I need to download that information, it's still quite effective though."


And for the more visual people:


There you go.

Thanks.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/07 05:51:44


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Interesting background. And nice model as well

The marine improved a lot, nice evolution!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/08 11:18:44


Post by: shasolenzabi


Are you going to make the shoulder spheres on his back glow as well?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/08 13:05:18


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Gits'.

CommissarKhaine wrote:Interesting background. And nice model as well
Thanks. I have quite a bit of "interesting" background for this army. All as an excuse for painting, modelling and converting what I want. I even have rules in progress for the army, but I may update them to the new version of 40K as it's a simpler system for armies like this; going to take time to convert them over but I'm in no rush (I haven't played a game... ever).

The marine improved a lot, nice evolution!
Thanks. I plan to update most of the models I have on the first 4-5 pages of this blog, maybe more, but it may turn into an endless task if my painting skill improves enough to repaint models that I'm currently happy with... *sigh*

shasolenzabi wrote:Are you going to make the shoulder spheres on his back glow as well?
Are those meant to be glowing as well? I didn't know that. But no, if I made those glow as well you wouldn't see any of the darker rear of him, making all that pointless. I saw them as metallic parts.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/08 13:33:24


Post by: shasolenzabi


Fair enough! make them dark and coppery


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/08 20:44:58


Post by: weetyskemian44


That effect works for me! Very convincing, and I love the glowing blue bits on the rifle.

Also your spacemarine has totally evolved from his old-self.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/09 05:15:17


Post by: evildrcheese


Great idea with the Deathmark. You pulled it off well.

Great improvement on the DA tac marine too.

EDC


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/09 23:20:48


Post by: Dr H


shasolenzabi wrote:Fair enough! make them dark and coppery
But I like them grey-metal, it matches the rest of his skeleton...

weetyskemian44 wrote:That effect works for me! Very convincing, and I love the glowing blue bits on the rifle.
Thanks Weety. The blue in the rifle was a couple of blue washes (one dark, one light) dropped into the grooves and allowed to mix where they met. Took a few applications to get the full contrast but that was it.

Also your spacemarine has totally evolved from his old-self.
Thanks.

evildrcheese wrote:Great idea with the Deathmark. You pulled it off well.
Thanks EDC. Good to hear.

Great improvement on the DA tac marine too.
Thanks.

And while I go through the boring stage of blocking in colours on "the cube" for my other thread, I felt the need to build something more...

I started by chopping it up before he even saw any glue.

This is how the majority of my orks will be. Very few will be in the standard hunched over, impossible hip joints, gorilla poses... although I may do one in an exaggerated pose like that... added to the list... *sigh*

As it's been a while since I've done this around here, here's all (most of) the stages:

You can see I even raised the neck. But kept him with a slight hunch to keep his orkiness.
I also removed quite a bit off the bottom of the body piece to get it to sit better in the re-positioned hip piece and not gain too much height... He's about equal height to a basic SM now.
I had to straighten the fingers on his supporting hand as the repose meant the gun is slightly further away from his left shoulder and he couldn't quite reach. This just gives him a relaxed pose.

And with putty in the gaps:


I want to add few more bits to him, but first a question to the Orks out there:
What klan should he be from?
I have a Death Skullz Ork, so any other klan. What does he look like to you?

Thanks.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/10 06:06:10


Post by: inmygravenimage


Pretty Goff to me. Nice repose chief.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/10 17:25:17


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Witht he helmet, he could be a blood axe. Nice reposing!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/10 21:58:58


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Graven'. Goff eh? He's not particularly large or aggressive (in this pose). Curious as to your reasoning (I like reasoning, I'm as scientist at heart).

Thanks Com'K. Blood Axe... Mercenaries. No major visible traits, unlike many of the other klans as it transpires. That means muted Earthy colours (this is why I'm trying to find him a klan, what colour am I going to paint him). It's a possibility. Other thoughts are still welcome...

Further to that, here's where he's at now. I found a few bits and pieces to add, see if this changes or solidifies your thoughts:
Also, a scale shot with Boy #1 and Tac' #3.


So yes, what klan do we think he comes from (Not Death skulls as I've already got one)?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/11 19:52:28


Post by: Dr H


Two for Goff... the needle swings...

I've stuck him to his base, but as he doesn't look any different from above, no pictures. Maybe once primed.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/13 14:27:15


Post by: Dr H


Fair enough, Graven'.

Still time for people's input on his klan.

Here he is primed and black-ed. I've started on his skin so the rest of the colour scheme is still up for grabs.


Earthy colours (Blood Axe), or B/W with a touch of red (Goff), or something else?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/15 14:16:41


Post by: Dr H


Skin done.
Metals part done.


Last chance to decide on his klan...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/15 15:40:49


Post by: Solar_lion


Very nice greens and Metals.

Making black work is difficult. Something I need to learn to do. I hope Orks make a comeback in 8th.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/15 23:23:04


Post by: Dr H


inmygravenimage wrote: Looks Goffic to me!
It doesn't matter how many times you say Goff, it still only counts as one vote for Goff. Thank you Graven'.

Thanks Solar'.
The black here is just my standard basecoat; I always work up from black, he could be any colour.

The trick with black is to not treat it any differently than any other colour. That is, the darkest areas are painted the darkest tone for the final colour (for many colours this may be black, but doesn't have to be) and then the highlight for the area is the lightest tone for the colour (e.g. pink for red, yellow for green, etc.). The middle of the area is usually the actual colour that you want to represent. This is where black and white diverge from other colours:

Say you want a nice blood red, for example.
Starting from a black basecoat (because that's how I paint things), go over it all with a brown except from the deepest cracks.
Cover all of that with a lighter brown, except the very lowest (darkest) points. The deepest shade.
Add red and continue to paint smaller and smaller areas as the paint gets nearer to pure red.
This should get you to the middle of the area you are painting at pure blood red.
Then you start adding small amounts of white (or yellow for a warmer, more orange red) and covering less and less area.
Continue until you reach the highest point with a light pink.

The whole thing is intended to represent blood red, but only the middle of the area is actually blood red.

For white, only the lightest point of the area is actually white; the middle is a light grey.
But if you don't have a large enough portion of that area white (or very near white) then the whole appears to be light grey.

For black, only the deepest shade should be black, the middle is again grey.
But, like the white, if not enough of the area is black (or very nearly black) then the whole appears to be grey.

As you expect the middle tone to be the actual colour being represented, like the red example, it's easy to end up with something looking grey instead of black or white. It's a balancing act.

Maybe, if we don't get any more votes for other klans, I'll get to show this Ork with black trousers (as Goffs appear to be mainly black and white). And we'll all see if I can put theory into practice...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/16 00:02:54


Post by: dsteingass


That seems like soo much work to me though...mixing up from brown.....I might not have the DNA for it personally.


Goff


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/17 17:12:06


Post by: Dr H


 dsteingass wrote:
That seems like soo much work to me though...mixing up from brown.....I might not have the DNA for it personally.
I like to build up colours from a dark base as I can leave hard to reach areas dark as they are in shadow. Each to their own though, there's no wrong way.

Goff
You also still only count as one vote.

However, counting up the votes, the 2 for Goff win. Therefore:

White T-shirt and black trousers (still need a final highlight).
Other items will add some colour in time.

And, while rummaging for things related to the project in my other blog, I came across this metal chap (see below) from 1992.
I had put him aside for future selling, but as I have problems with selling characters, and I only have one of him... he's being indoctrinated to my army.

Didn't really have a plan for him, but the pose of the body, head and legs directed me to select his weapons...

He's got an old backpack and shoulder pads (which haven't changed anyway), but a set of the newest arms. Just because.
You will notice that I did pin the arms on and that I got a bit carried away while drilling the powerfist arm.

Onwards.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/18 13:14:41


Post by: Solar_lion


Like the pose , however the Eldar sword doesn't do it for me. Heresy!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/18 23:48:52


Post by: Dr H


 Solar_lion wrote:
...Heresy!
Good good, let the hate flow through you...
Thanks.

Here he is with shoulder pads and backpack on, and primed:

I now need to read up about the chapters that I'm missing, to decide upon a suitable one for him.

Boy now has a bit of colour on him.
Got some wooden bits on the gun,
Some leather straps basecoated,
Red not yet finished.



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/19 06:19:19


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Boy is looking good. The Eldar sabre on the marine looks interesting, though I would either have reversed the grip or have him leaning on it.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/20 05:52:25


Post by: Yorkright


Lovely work, just stumbled onto this thread. Subbed.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/20 17:13:17


Post by: Dr H


Thanks CK'. Yeah, the sword is a bit too long for him to comfortably do that, I think; the handle would be above his head. Also, wouldn't work for this pose and being metal, changing his legs would be more difficult. Maybe something to think about for the new large-marines...

Lo Yorkright. I've been lurking in your thread since Gits' gave you a plug. I'll pop in when I get a chance. Thanks.

I think I've decided on Revilers for #11's chapter. He'll be mostly grey, therefore.
They specialise in stealth and what's more sneaky than a huge sword and massive fist...
But it is a Ghostsword after all... grey, sneaky, ghost...
I costed him up yesterday and as it stands (on the brink of 8th) he's worth 54 points. If that's not in keeping with this army, I don't know what is.

Onwards with the Ork though.
Finished the reds, metal (still to do brass), leather, and a gem (no Ork is going to pass up a red piece of armour with a blue gem in)

Not sure what I'm going to paint that skull yet...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/20 23:42:20


Post by: shasolenzabi


That Ork is looking right fancy!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/21 03:32:55


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


That boy looks quite nice. I like your bold use of Red, but had I been around I would've voted twice for blood axe, personally.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/21 06:01:58


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Yeah, the sword is a bit too long for him to comfortably do that, I think; the handle would be above his head. Also, wouldn't work for this pose and being metal, changing his legs would be more difficult. Maybe something to think about for the new large-marines...


Fair enough, you're the one holding the model . If you want to paint the icon on the back (is that an old night gobbo shield icon?), I'd say a greyish blue, or just leave it metal.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/21 07:18:00


Post by: Camkierhi


Boy is looking fantastic, I feel he is missing some checkers, but then the good scientist may have done that deliberately. As for the skull, think I would be boring and go all bone on it, I think anything else will be too much.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/21 20:55:09


Post by: inmygravenimage


I echo Cam's sentiments. Lovely gem work.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/22 12:57:09


Post by: ckig


A lot of work in converting and painting a simple ork boy. Great stuff though, much better when they are upright. I do like the different reds on the armour scraps.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/22 15:29:42


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'.

Thanks 'boss. What is it with you lot and voting?!
Never fear, there will be a blood axe one day.

Thanks Khaine. Always good to get opinions in here. I can't please everyone at once, and may occasionally do my own thing anyway, but everything gets considered.

Thanks Cam'. I had a plan on the checks, see below.

Thanks Graven'. The gem is gloss coated so the highlight is real, only the blue is painted.

Thanks ckig. Every member of my army gets my full attention. Every one is unique. The building is the fun part, apparently they can also be used for a game...
Yeah, after building the first Ork (as I always build the first of everything as stock) I decided that I didn't like the overly hunched pose.
Even though it's more dramatic a change for the Ork, it's not much more effort than changing the pose of any of GW's kick-me-in-the-groin poses.

Ja. Orks like red, and it's part of the Goff scheme. The Eldar piece is supposed to be a slightly different shade of red to his boots (highlighted with pink rather than orange), but as they didn't end up very different I went further afield for the Tyranid piece. He likes picking up red things, and when he saw that "lucky" blue gem in the red Eldar piece, he jumped at it.

I didn't want to add another colour to him for the skull (I'm not sure where exactly it comes from. I received it, and many other things, in a large collection of bits. I believe it is for a shield, but whose? I don't know.), and had already painted it before any of your comments. So I didn't ignore you this time. But thanks for the suggestions.


I did forget to add his number, so I'll do that in a sec'. But no need to take more photos for that.

On to tactical marine #11...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/22 17:45:01


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Looking good! Definitely from the 5th/6th ed. night gobbo multi-part set, just checked my bits box

Thanks Khaine. Always good to get opinions in here. I can't please everyone at once, and may occasionally do my own thing anyway, but everything gets considered.


As always: your model, your choice


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/22 18:15:51


Post by: Gitsplitta


I love that ork mate, nicely done.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/23 19:12:43


Post by: Solar_lion


Great color choices. The metals on the gun are my favorite high note. Very well done .. I'll have to think about going over my Ork weapons again


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/23 23:21:03


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


Voting is in our blood, if not our brains, Dr H.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/23 23:28:48


Post by: Dr H


CommissarKhaine wrote:Looking good! Definitely from the 5th/6th ed. night gobbo multi-part set, just checked my bits box ...
Thanks. Ta, nice to know. I have so many bits that I don't know where they came from it's good to get the occasional piece identified.

Thanks Gits'.

Thanks Solar'. It's a base of gunmetal, wash of an orange/brown mix (so it's not too orange), some black washes to tone down certain areas, and highlighted with silver.

#11 got a base coat of various greys while I had the airbrush set up. He's looking a bit dusty at the mo but that'll be fixed soon.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/30 21:50:20


Post by: Dr H


 Warboss_Waaazag wrote:
Voting is in our blood, if not our brains, Dr H.
Didn't see you sneak in there 'boss. Oh, so it's one vote for the blood and one for the brain, is it?

Anyway, I've now fixed #11's dusty grey.


That's the shading done and now for the extreme highlights, then all the other details.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/31 08:31:50


Post by: Camkierhi


Really nice grey tones going on there. Going to look magical with your highlights.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/05/31 19:21:49


Post by: Theophony


That's not a knife THIS is a knife! Said Sgt. Dundee of the Celestial Crocodiles


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/01 21:11:44


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. Fingers crossed that you see magic below.

Yeah, see, Theo' gets the pose; this is not a guy to be messing with.

Done!

A warm welcome to tactical marine #11, previously of the Revilers.


I have another re-paint that's been stripped, de-mould-lined, re-glued and ready to paint. He'll be up next.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/01 22:07:47


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


Somehow I thought this was going to be a wraithknight/shadow sword hybrid. This is way more manageable in scope.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/02 13:26:43


Post by: Gitsplitta


Very pretty Dr H... really like it!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/05 05:30:44


Post by: Camkierhi


Fantastic work, really brilliant shading on the grey. loving the iconography, really spot on. I like the sword, it adds that "What the?" to the model that marks it as one of the scientists boys. Makes you want to know, where the heck did he get that from. Excellently painted too, and his pose to me looks like he is steadying himself ready to swing at something big charging his way. Great work, and pretty quick for you!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/05 22:38:10


Post by: Dr H


Warboss': Nope, just Ghostsword after the name of the Eldar sword. Even I am not sure how you'd fuse a Wraithknight and a Shadow Sword... and make it look good.
Although, I do have ideas of a similar scope somewhere on my list.

Thanks Gits'. Nice to hear it spoke to you.

Camkierhi wrote:Fantastic work, really brilliant shading on the grey. loving the iconography, really spot on.
Thanks Cam'. Yeah, I've got grey shading down; the paints I use for grey just work well for getting a nice blend. Painting this reminded me of all the comments I got about the grey undercoat I did on the Wave Serpent and that I've not really done anything mostly grey since.
I'm also pleased with how the icon came out, didn't require much fiddling or tidying, which is always a plus in my book.

I like the sword, it adds that "What the?" to the model that marks it as one of the scientists boys. Makes you want to know, where the heck did he get that from.
Yeah, the army needs the full range from "stock" models, through a weapon swap, or an arm swap, all the way up to ... somewhere beyond where I can imagine right now...

I am due a proper crazy addition though. I shall have to consult my list...

Excellently painted too, and his pose to me looks like he is steadying himself ready to swing at something big charging his way. Great work, and pretty quick for you!
Thanks. Yeah, can you imagine the strength behind the sort of swing this chap could do... That's a chopping blade, and (for him) a hand and a half handle, with a powerfist as the off hand...

Had a few quiet days. Only one thing on the desk at the moment and he's going through the slow basecoat stages (see below).
I have, however, been going through my army and updating the rules, stat's and points to the new edition (just using the leaked rules). The army so far has only gone up 15 points. I'm quite surprised at how close that worked out; on the whole things seemed to get better and cheaper. But then, I don't really understand the games rules and there is a sprinkling of entirely made up bits amongst the illegal wargear combinations.

Just so that there is some pictures for you to look at, here's the current re-paint in progress:

Black shaded up to very dark grey,
Highlighted with a couple of blue-greys
Currently working on getting a smooth white on the shoulders...

Until next time...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/05 22:49:27


Post by: shasolenzabi


I see more troops have been inducted into the Mad Scientists' army.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/07 16:24:12


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Shas'. I may not be quick, but the army is always growing.

And speaking of growing, this has nothing to do with it...

Welcome back Tactical marine #4, previously of the Black Templars (but you knew that, didn't you):


Previously:


Don't know what's next, my desk is clear, Dark Imperium won't arrive for a while (these are for my other blog though)... time to consult the list...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/07 21:08:30


Post by: Camkierhi


Nice job cleaning him up, liking the matt finish to his armour.

Does the scientist have any dreads?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/07 22:24:37


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. He's a simple one, but so much tidier. Even if the shading on the black is far too subtle (as is common on my models).

The Scientist doesn't have any Dreads. There is a long standing plan to "fix" the legs on one or two (amongst other additions), but I don't have a kit yet. One day...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/08 01:53:03


Post by: Theophony


When he gets one it better have a partner dread so he can have a washer and dryer .

I like the tone you got on the black by working up the greys


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/08 05:15:32


Post by: shasolenzabi


Amazing touch up work on #4


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/09 20:27:40


Post by: Solar_lion


Nice shading on both Marines. Really spot on.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/14 16:06:09


Post by: Dr H


Still thinking of what to do next in here. Stay tuned.

Thanks Theo', I do plan to have "at least" one of everything, but some models do have various...variations that make them worth having a few.
He looks so much "blacker" on the shelf now (although that's partly due to dust removal ).

Thanks Shas', CK, Graven', and Solar'. Nice to hear.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/15 07:59:21


Post by: Camkierhi


I have an AOB dread on the sprue if you want him, not the worst model in the world and you could work some science in him?

Also what about ogryn? Or try a new path, I have a feeling we will see squats back soon, converting up some of the latest AOS dwarfy things is a must surely. Oh and maybe, you could do a hover tank, the scientists hybrid of Imperium and Tau tech?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/15 14:24:41


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. Too kind. If you really have no use for him I'm sure I can find something to do with it.

I do already have quite a bit of untouched plastic, as you can see in the list back in the OP of this blog; there are many (to be started) tags.
I have no ogryns or things of a dwarven nature... I do have some hovering vehicles; Tau devilfish, DE Raider, and a Necron Ghost ark. I also have an Ork truck while we're on vehicles.
I bought the battleforces for Tau, DE, Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, and Eldar... and I've mostly only built troops.

The Tau have not had much love recently. Also, from a comment in my other blog, I've not got any HQ yet in this army.
Looking over my own list the Crisis suit jumps out at me. There's lots I want to change with that model, so is a good candidate...

I'll pull that out of the box and look over it. Back soon...ish.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/15 14:54:35


Post by: Theophony


Crisis suit needs to have a brain in the belly like the villain from teenage mutant ninja turtles.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/06/16 14:35:16


Post by: Dr H


You are a silly man, Theo.

But saying that, these are supposed to contain a Tau person... as in a walking, talking, bipedal, smallish person.
The size of the crisis suit body is just not big enough to fit a Tau in if he wants to keep his legs... arms... and probably it's best to just keep the head really, if you want to maintain space for the suit's armour and equipment. So, a brain is not that silly an idea.

However, I'm going the other way.
Current plan is to enlarge the body, length and depth,
Move and/or incorporate the jet-pack into the body, rather than the awkward backpack,
Move the hips,
Maybe bulk-up the legs to accommodate the above changes,
Incorporate the Burst cannon into the body/shoulder,
Give it hands to hold a suitably sized rifle (possibly Eldar lance thing),
and other things...

Will need some more planning before cutting anything.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/07/07 13:48:14


Post by: dsteingass


Marines cant fit into any of their own vehicles, so I think the Tau can get away with a little creativity


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/07/07 14:05:19


Post by: Dr H


Ah well, maybe I think the other way around. Maybe the vehicles should be bigger...

You did see how I added seats to the Wave Serpent interior...

I'll be back here soon. I'm just contemplating how to chop up the Plague marines for my other blog, and while I have the saw out, the crisis suit is ready to go...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/09 15:14:38


Post by: Dr H


Chop chop...!

Stage one of the crisis suit modifications; making the body longer.


Removed the jet pack things. These will be incorporated somewhere / somehow in a more... incorporated way... mostly unplanned as yet.

Cut off the hip section from the two body halves before gluing the body together.

Reattached the hips with some sprue spacers and some plasticard for the front (shape to be refined).

Next job is to fill in the holes and shapes to get back to a solid body...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/09 16:16:36


Post by: Theophony


Bigger tau just seem wrong, but with the growth size of new marines it's needed I guess.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/09 21:49:19


Post by: Kepora


 Theophony wrote:
Bigger tau just seem wrong, but with the growth size of new marines it's needed I guess.


The problem is that the old battlesuits are just...so stunty. Like they're scaled down BIGTIME.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/09 22:16:22


Post by: Theophony


 Kepora wrote:
 Theophony wrote:
Bigger tau just seem wrong, but with the growth size of new marines it's needed I guess.


The problem is that the old battlesuits are just...so stunty. Like they're scaled down BIGTIME.


Totally understand . In fact I have the same feeling about the Ghar suits from BtGoA. So much so that I'm considering making my own right sized suits. After all you can't even fit a Ghar inside one of their suits . It's worse than cramming 10 marines inside a rhino.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/09 22:44:13


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Theo' and Kepora. Yeah, this is just for me to be able to accept that a Tau chap is meant to be inside the body.
The stock body is far too small for one to squeeze in without having his legs amputated first. Had the fluff stated that this is what the Tau did, in a similar fashion to SM's being put in dreadnoughts (and the dreadnought's body is far larger than these... having said that, I've not seen a dreadnought in person...and I'm always surprised at how small GW models are when I do see them... but I have seen a DV Helbrute and assume about the same size,..) then I'd have happily accepted that the small body is fine; but they don't say that they chop their legs off to fit, so I'm chopping this model up to make them look like they can fit.

And now I've filled in the basic shape of the body:
Behind the shoulders were filled in with 2 pieces of thick plasticard, glued to the angled body pieces there to follow the shape of the design.
The gap above the hips was filled with a piece of sprue. Some shaving and filing to fit and allow the ball of the legs to fit.
Behind the shoulders boxed in with thin plasticard.
Piece of sprue added to rear to begin filling that hole.
Boxed in with plasticard again....


With a bit of sanding the body now looks like this:


Which, I think, looks big enough for a chap to fit in without needing any operations (although would have to stick to minimal clothing):


Now to think about these jet packs and the legs...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/10 22:47:43


Post by: Dr H


Stage one of making the jets more incorporated into the suit is to stick the intakes back on in more-or-less the same place they were...

They are different, I'm sure of it, I promise... there's more to do, honest...


There are gaps to fill at least.

The jets will be more difficult to find a home for...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/12 16:46:33


Post by: Dr H


And stage 2 of incorporating the jets gives this suit a red-hot arse...

The jets were attached and then I worked about them to fill in the shape with pieces of plasticard.


and all closed in and ready to fill in gaps:


Onwards...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/12 16:49:12


Post by: Camkierhi


Awesome work. Already looking"as design"


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/12 18:36:49


Post by: Theophony


Flatulent pattern crisis armor


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/14 20:26:07


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. Good to hear.

Thank you Theo'.

Gaps filled, legs on, pose... partly set...

The initial idea for the pose was a bent rear leg and pointed front leg; very cinema-ninja pose.
However, after finding the base he is supposed to have from my box of bases (and I had to turn to the internet to be sure it was "only" a 40mm base), the above pose just doesn't fit in that space; the feet have to be so close together it doesn't give the dynamic pose it needs to be.

Therefore, I've changed to the other typical pose of the 40K universe; one foot up on a thing. *sigh*
But rather than a fallen victim or piece of ruin, I went for a tree.


I'm working on giving the tree a partly uprooted base, but I'm seeing the scene more as an old, uprooted and broken tree that he's put his foot up on. Rather than in the process of randomly pushing a stump over. Either result is probably fine in the end.

The hips have now been drilled and pinned into the body, so there's no changing now.
You'll also notice the putty in one of the knee joints: I had a bright idea of how to rotate the knee that didn't work out.
The short form of the lesson is:
When reposing the knee joint of the crisis suit, cut around the circle of the knee to give a curved end to the lower leg piece that can then be glued on anywhere around the circle.
Don't cut into the knee joint and try to rotate the inner circle of the knee with relation to the outer parts, it just doesn't work.
Obvious in hindsight.

Putty to the rescue.

I'm now working on getting the base done so that I can (at least temporarily) mount the body so that I can position the arms and then the head in a realistic pose that looks balanced. Because, yes, it doesn't look balanced yet...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/15 16:59:57


Post by: Dr H


Base done to the basic level (there's more to be added in time, but is fine for getting the pose done).

And I've started on the arms:


That arm's not attached yet, just hanging there. Got some putty filling to do first.

The other arm needs a proper hand... that's going to be a lot more work...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/15 19:30:11


Post by: Theophony


I see a little captain in him . The new pose is much better than the standard one in my opinion.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/16 21:26:32


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Theo'. Well he is the first HQ I've built for the army, so he does need to give off the captain vibes a bit.

Starting from 2 pieces of thick sprue glued together, I made him a hand...

But first, I needed to place the arm and decide upon the weapon.
I had planned to convert the bright lance into a rifle for him, but it wasn't lending itself to a rifle (the whole bulk of the weapon would need to be changed, only keeping the barrel, which isn't much of a "conversion"),
and the arm being thicker than any realistic hand means that it interferes with holding a gun,
and the removal of the left hand means holding a rifle is out too...

Therefore, I decided to go more "mech warrior" and incorporate the lance into the shoulder and that led to the decision to make the model more asymmetric and therefore more mech-like (sit inside) and less suit-like (walk inside) in appearance.
I went about moving the shoulder to the outside of the additional weapon mount, and pinned it all the way through to the body:


Then, I set about carving the hand:

I don't like the folded away look to the crisis suit hands, so this is intended as a permanent hand.

And all together (sans-head):


Head and things to do...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/16 21:28:44


Post by: inmygravenimage


That is some serious carving there, excellent work.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/16 21:32:52


Post by: Yorkright


Stop being so good at this modeling stuff you are giving me a complex! Kidding aside it is fascinating to see how you did the hand, I think I am hot stuff when I remember to drill out the barrel of my guns. Will be lurking as this project comes together.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/17 07:26:14


Post by: shasolenzabi


Interesting work happening i see on the crisis suit!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/18 16:32:40


Post by: OneManNoodles


Awesome work carving that hand, I can't help but think that lance looks wrong there, like the suit is impaled on the shoulder. Good call to go more mech like ... that's what they are meant to be after all.

Interesting to see where you go with this now!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/21 16:48:40


Post by: Dr H


I've been away getting boozed up in Leamington for the weekend, so no major advancements, but I do have some to show that was started before Friday...

But first...
Thanks Graven.

Thanks Yorkright, I get by with much patience, just keep chipping away at things until they look how I want them. This is why I show these step-by-step photos and all my wip shots, so that you can see that nice results can be produced from something that looks a mess until it's finished.

I think this is part of the battle for those less experienced with sculpting and carving: whatever you are working on looks nothing like what you are aiming for in your head, and you loose motivation / bravery before it starts to come together. You just have to keep going, making smaller and smaller changes, and it will suddenly start to look "right"; look at the photos of my hand sculpting (or even further back into my various sprue carving tutorials), it doesn't really look like a "good" hand until the final photos. There is just as much carving going on between the last rough photo and the final photos, as there is between any two of the other photos (it's just smaller pieces being carved off). It didn't look "right" until I had those plasticard pieces stuck on and it was still in danger of being chopped off until I took those photos and took a step back.

Take care, pay attention to references, be sure of what you are about to chop off (before you chop it) at every stage, don't rush, remove the minimum quantity of material each time (you can always remove more, it's tricky to put it back if you remove too much), and keep at it even if it's looking ugly.

In particular for the hand above, before the first photo I had roughly drawn on 2 of the faces of the block a 2D view of the thumb and where the fingers would be (one from above and the other from inside the hand). Then I used those markings as a guide for sawing out that first stage. That's a good tip for getting started with roughing out a shape from a cube.

Thanks Shas'.

Thanks OMN. I see what you mean, but hopefully painting will solve the issue and tie them together.
I don't want to build up more around the base of the lance as I want it to look like it can still elevate, but I may add some cables to the rear/bottom which may tie it in too.

And photos:
I've added a head. The actual crisis suit head won't fit (that is, be able to rotate) with the placement of the intakes, but I also had this piece out for possible use and the cutout on it's back fits perfectly.
Added the Tau dish thing (I'm believing this is for drone control),
And I added the radar dish as The Scientist's signal generator that keep the army members under the impression that all is well. Think of it as the equivalent to the Tyranid synapse thing.



I feel that he still needs something more to really mark him out as an HQ, not sure what yet.
Can't have a cloak as he has a jet pack, those things don't work together well.
He won't carry his own banner, and I have plans for units to have banner bearers in one form or another.
Needs some kind of trinkets about the back, just need to look for some suitably HQ-like items...
Thoughts welcome if you have any...

Ta.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/21 17:36:21


Post by: Red Harvest


Interesting TREQ you got there. (TREQ= tactical rock equivalent. Something the mini puts one foot on. )

It is a very effective conversion. Consider shoulder mounting the lascannon(?) instead of how you have it currently.

Looking forward to seeing it with some paint.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/21 19:47:25


Post by: inmygravenimage


Looks absolutely real, official and legit. Right down to the tactical rock corking.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/22 04:46:09


Post by: Kepora


The dish is the shield generator, just FYI.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/22 15:14:52


Post by: Dr H


Red Harvest wrote:Interesting TREQ you got there. (TREQ= tactical rock equivalent. Something the mini puts one foot on. )
Thanks, I didn't want just a rock or a piece of ruin, so a tree it was. And a tree is handy for extending the pose from the base dimensions.

It is a very effective conversion.
Thanks.

Consider shoulder mounting the lascannon(?) instead of how you have it currently.
I did think about mounting it on top of one of the intakes, but that's a bit "normal" for The Scientist to do, so within the shoulder was the next step, then it was "lets have it where the shoulder is and then move the shoulder outwards, that'll be nice and odd".

Looking forward to seeing it with some paint.
Soon. Getting to the point of "what else can I add, maybe there is no more..."

inmygravenimage wrote:Looks absolutely real, official and legit. Right down to the tactical rock corking.
Thanks graven. And without any cork...

Kepora wrote:The dish is the shield generator, just FYI.
Thanks Kepora. I may have found that out eventually, good to know.


As I said, smaller details leads to thoughts that the end is near...
While thinking of what HQ-like things to add I thought I may add a knife for the Tau bonding knife thing... BUT...
Then I remembered that I'm building this for my army, and adding a tau item to a tau model is just not on, so...
I found some SM and Eldar bits... and some other model bits:

I think he's looking HQ-like now.


There's some small putty work to do, and finish the base, and I think that's all...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/22 15:49:53


Post by: Littletower


Catching up at last!

True-scale Crisis is coming along great, and your step-by-steps are always awesome.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/22 23:34:34


Post by: dsteingass


I love it! I say Primarisupersize EVERYTHING!
Primaris Catachans, it needs to be done!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/24 21:04:57


Post by: Dr H


Thank LT. and I'm happy to share.

Thanks Dave. lol
I do have plans to alter the size of the various Imperial Guard miniatures... although in the other way from the Primaris... Puny humans should be puny.

Aaaaaaand... Primed:


I don't even know what colour scheme I'm going for yet... only thought so far is mainly dark...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/24 21:29:39


Post by: ph34r


I like the model and the effort that went into the hand is amazing. I will say that upon first glance, the bright lance and wreathed skull stick out to me like a sore thumb. Paint might ameliorate that.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/25 02:51:07


Post by: cormadepanda


that is an impressive amount of converting into that model. The results are really strong and good. It has a lot of character.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/25 15:15:25


Post by: Dr H


Thanks ph34r, That's not a problem, for this army there is meant to be a great deal of "sharing" of equipment. This is not meant to be a pure Tau unit as, yes, the style of the lance and skull don't fit the Tau aesthetic. This Crisis suit has been repaired and "improved" by The Scientist.

Thank you Theo'. I may just paint the head shroud black to reference that.

Comrade, Hi! Good to see you back about the place. Thanks.

Current paint scheme thoughts are a nice rich, deep blue with bright green bits... Not started yet.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/25 16:15:46


Post by: cormadepanda


Do blue and orange. Favorite combo.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/26 01:52:27


Post by: Camkierhi


Excellent work bud, really adds a lot to a good mini,. I have to say, on first glance I had a bad thing going through my head..."You put your right arm in your right leg in, you do the okycoky and shake it all about!!!" But having looked at it properly, it has a nice balance.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/26 20:43:54


Post by: Dr H


It is a good scheme, Comrade'. I have done a blue/orange scheme before on the Eldar heavy weapon platform:

Bad photo from back in the day... also need to revisit that model at some point...

I have the blue on the Crisis suit now, so I can see if orange will go with this particular blue, see below.

Thanks Cam'. yeah, there are so many model poses and photos of groups of models that look like they are dancing. It can happen so easily.
Glad that this pose works though, I did strike the pose myself to get it right.

As I said, I have made it blue:

Two tone with a black wash.

I'm probably going to focus on getting the plague marines done in my other blog first and then return to this chap.
Stay tuned.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/26 21:29:15


Post by: cormadepanda


I am staying tuned. That is a nice shade of blue and is well washed.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/28 05:19:52


Post by: Camkierhi


That is a great blue base colour. Will be waiting for progress.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/08/28 21:34:37


Post by: shasolenzabi


Nice blue/pruple tone to start with


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/09/28 15:04:54


Post by: Dr H


Apologies for taking so long to get back to this, but the Plague marines are now done. You can see them over in my money-making thread, or the other places that I've posted them up... or even buy them on Etsy.

Thanks Comrade, Cam' and Shas'.

Back to painting the Tau suit.
This is blocking in the areas to be not-blue.
I've tried out a scheme test on a few photos and these areas are to be white or bright green. They will be blended up to white and then the green areas will just need a coat or two to finish.


I'll continue to block in colours for a bit before starting the blending.

I also need to catch up on blogs...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/09/28 20:05:10


Post by: OneManNoodles


 Dr H wrote:
Apologies for taking so long to get back to this, but the Plague marines are now done. You can see them over in my money-making thread, or the other places that I've posted them up... or even buy them on Etsy.

Thanks Comrade, Cam' and Shas'.

Back to painting the Tau suit.
This is blocking in the areas to be not-blue.
I've tried out a scheme test on a few photos and these areas are to be white or bright green. They will be blended up to white and then the green areas will just need a coat or two to finish.


I'll continue to block in colours for a bit before starting the blending.

I also need to catch up on blogs...


That is really very purple.

White with the purple/blue does look good, green is an interesting choice, be cool to see how this turns out.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/09/30 16:59:02


Post by: Dr H


 OneManNoodles wrote:
That is really very purple.

White with the purple/blue does look good, green is an interesting choice, be cool to see how this turns out.
It's not as think as you purple it is.
In normal lighting it's also darker than it looks under these daylight bulbs.

I've managed to do some work on the metal areas.
I was considering making them aluminium coloured as I have 2 different paints for that, that don't get much use. But while thinking about how to shade it I ended up decided to do a more titanium / caesium look to it.

This is the result of:
A layer of gunmetal + brass,
Black wash,
Gunmetal + gold,
Silver + gold.

I also finally remembered to drill the gun barrels.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/09/30 21:19:13


Post by: inmygravenimage


Looks shiny. Like the satellite dish especially


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/03 20:31:58


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Graven'.

White finally done blending (I have also been working on some secret projects for the end of the month, so it's not all laziness).
As the blending doesn't really show in the photos I think I can call it done.

There's some black areas to do and the select areas to become green and then I can get on the fun details.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/05 16:07:38


Post by: Dr H


And with green and black and highlighting (bit rough in places, will be hidden with weathering ).


That's the basis of the scheme done. Now it's time for all the additional details, markings, warning signs, labels... etc...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/05 19:37:00


Post by: OneManNoodles


I like the green I was a little concerned with how it might turn out but that shade works nicely.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/06 06:50:07


Post by: cormadepanda


reminds of me neon genesis, but i am digging this unique suit.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/08 12:42:04


Post by: Dr H


Thanks OMN. I'd have liked to get it a little brighter green, but it's not possible with the paints I have; I'd need a fluoro' paint. But this will do.

Thanks Comrade. I've been purposely avoiding looking at my Evangelion "inspiration pictures" so that I don't end up being too influenced. But yes, a little neon genesis for a little robo-suit.

On to the details:
Mainly transfers, but some painted details too.

I like the white sword on the chest as it
a) fits the white details on the armour,
b) calls back to the Tau bonding knife thing, and
c) resembles the bright lance in shape and colour.

Also notice the campaign badges / medals on his rear right side. To show that he's a decorated hero of The Army; to justify him being a HQ unit.

The rest are warnings signs and symbols.
There's a little silvering on a couple of the transfers that just wouldn't go away. that'll be fixed one way or another when I come to weathering.

That (weathering) and base to do next...

And in other news:
I've picked up this figure after seeing it on Sigur's thread (which you should all be following).
I immediately saw the Princess Mononoke inspiration and decided to make this one even more San looking.




The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/08 14:22:33


Post by: Yorkright


Crisis suit is looking good, can't wait to see how the Princess turns out!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/10 14:32:36


Post by: Dr H


Thanks York'. Crisis suit done below. San will be (and is intended to be) a challenge. To keep my planned modifications and the painting to a cartoon aesthetic, rather than the more realistic look I usually strive for will push me to my limits.

And here's the final photos of the Crisis suit; the first HQ built for The Army.

Re-built from a dead/dying, captured or found Tau commander. The (Mad) Scientist has repaired and "improved" the suit, as well as brain-washing the occupant.
While generally looked after, and re-painted from what it may have originally looked like, it does take occasional knocks in battle. So, dirt and chipped paint, but no rust.
While carrying some Tau tech', the suit also carries a Bright lance and a signal broadcaster (works similar to the Tyranid synapse thing, for The Army). Rules to be ironed out in time.



San will likely be next up in here, but I have a load of projects to do over in my money making thread. Keep your eyes peeled for updates over there.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/10 15:40:41


Post by: Red Harvest


Crisis suit looks good.

The chibi should be a fun project. Pay attention to the eyes. Chibi eyes must be painted 'just so' or they'll look really goofy.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/10 17:15:18


Post by: cormadepanda


Really lovely suit. The basing brought it all together for me.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/10 17:47:00


Post by: Yorkright


Crisis looks good Dr. H. So this is the start of a new army for you? What are your plans for expanding on it?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/10 23:50:45


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Red'. Yeah, everything about San will have to be done just right and will be fighting against my nature.
I had a similar problem during GCSE art, where I attempted to draw some cartoon figures. They didn't turn out cartoon-like, and I've not attempted anything similar since.

Thanks Comrade. Notice I used my newly discovered static grass.

Thanks York'. No, neither he nor San are starts of new armies.
San is just purely a display piece, a birthday present to myself.

The Crisis suit is the first HQ unit I've added to The Army of the Second Law. His intro' is just to emphasise this point. I could probably draw up an actual army list from my models now (1HQ, 2Troops...), couldn't do that before.

As for expansion to this army, the aim is to have at least 1 of every type of model/unit/chapter/faction that exists (or has existed) for 40K, plus a few other unique additions (see; the HAW206 tank). It'll be forever ongoing...

You can also check the OP of this thread to see a list of all the unbuilt plastic units I have available now, together with those that I have built and those "in progress". Anything there is more likely to be built sooner rather than later, and serve as donors for mixed parts that I will add to models; such as the bright lance on the above Crisis suit.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2017/10/17 10:55:14


Post by: Camkierhi


Fantastic work on the suit.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/23 00:37:51


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Cam'. It took longer than I expected to return to my work here, but as you know, I've been busy in my other thread.

To kick off 2018 in this thread, I'll follow the trend of 3 weeks ago and compile a 2017 round-up (I really don't know how much this is going to include, I don't feel like I got many things done...) :
Going on the date of things finished (to include anything that may or may not have been started in 2016), personal projects of 2017 start with the HAW206


more:
Spoiler:


To go with that I painted my first Infinity figure that now represents the pilot of the tank in my army:


I repainted Tactical marine #3:


Made a Deathmark:


Ork boy #2:


Tactical marine #11 of the Revilers (formerly) :


and repainted Tactical marine #4:


With the last thing of last year I finished for myself being the Tau suit above:
Spoiler:


Over in my money making thread, 2017 brought us...
The Junkube:


Other angles and scale shot:
Spoiler:




A squad of Primaris Intercessors:


Closer views:
Spoiler:










And a squad of Plague marines:


More:
Spoiler:















And then as additional projects (not for my army or for selling):
...Ahh that'll explain why I don't feel like I got much done...
I built an airbrush extraction hood:


Some earrings:






A Bilbo and Gollum diorama:

I should really remember to have another look at that water.

More angles:
Spoiler:



An N-gauge train display base:


more:
Spoiler:







Some eggs:


more:
Spoiler:




A Peugeot not-spinner:


more:
Spoiler:


and a switching house at N-gauge:


20 projects for a year... not a prodigious output.
But with my new desk setup we'll see if I improve this year.

Not wanting to leave this thread without anything new...
I've started on the Princess Mononoke conversion of the SDE figure.

This is after the removal of mould-lines (mostly), extracting the rider (soon to be San), carving off the seat (San rides bareback) and filling and sanding the gaps.


Thank you for sticking with me and feel free to pop in to my other thread if anything from there has caught your fancy (many of what is built there is for sale).


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/23 01:42:29


Post by: Gitsplitta


That's a really amazing summary... Wow... what a list of achievements!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/23 06:45:15


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Cool overview, nice way to see all those lovely creations together


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/23 07:19:13


Post by: inmygravenimage


Busy year. Looking back, the Deathmark really strikes me for its elegance and deceptive simplicity.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/23 16:43:18


Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


The level of minute detail is remarkable. I enjoyed the presentation as well. Excellent work. Looking forward to seeing what madness 2018 brings.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/01/27 21:17:14


Post by: Dr H


Thanks chaps. No major progress on this one yet; I have removed the bow from the rider (soon to be San), but nothing worth showing yet.

Thanks Gits'. Yeah, it's not a bad year of work.

Thanks CK. It's good to bring things together every now and then.

Thanks Graven'. Nice to hear, yeah that was a cool idea that I'm glad worked out.

Thanks Skalk. Little details are what I live for. So much madness, so little time.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/01 13:27:14


Post by: Briancj


Are you building an actual layout, or just having fun in N Gauge?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/01 16:58:14


Post by: Dr H


I do enjoy the challenge of smaller and smaller scales from time to time. But there is an aim to these; My Dad owns all the N-Gauge stuff (originally my Granddad's things) and had/has plans to build a layout.

But the spare room needs to be cleaned out to make space (y'know, the room which has become storage). Maybe one day the things I build will tip the balance and it will happen.

This is why the switching house has a thin base; so that it can easily be incorporated into a table.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/01 20:37:00


Post by: Briancj


I may own an OO Intercity 125 and a Freightliner Class 70. Maybe.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/02 23:31:23


Post by: Dr H


Hopefully, you also "maybe" own some track to go with them, Brian.

Can't say what the trains are that we have, but there are 19 engines (don't know about working condition) and enough rolling stock for 3 large passenger trains and 2 or 3 cargo trains.
This was covered in my other blog, where I built many of the above things, but for those that missed it (for when I made the train display base) :
Why is this such a personal item?
Spoiler:
When I was in single figure years, a visit to one set of my grandparents meant one thing (amongst other advantageous things for a grandchild), and that was trains. Across the bottom of their garden was a train track, so occasionally you would get a close-up view of a train going by. But upstairs was the real treat; in their bedroom was a door to what most would have used as storage, Granddad used it for something else (as well as some storage).

Upon stepping through the door you would enter a space that ran the length of one side of the house, but was the width of a corridor, there were no windows and it was lit by a series of bare lightbulbs. It always felt, to me, as a secret or hidden space, and inside was the largest model train layout I’ve ever seen in person. A tabletop ran along the wall, the full length of the house and was about 2 foot in depth. The back wall was covered with paper backdrops showing rolling hills etc. The area was fully contoured with hills and rivers and over and around these were roads and, of course, train tracks; snaking back and fourth across the landscape and even passing through a thin dividing wall to a store room via tunnel entrances. The landscape was covered with cars, boats, houses, shops, churches, everything you need. I could have watched it all for hours.

After my Granddad died, Nan moved nearer to us and the trains were boxed up. They were then inherited by my parents when she died.
My Dad intended to build his own layout and started with a table getting as far as the basic layout of the terrain, but life (as so often) gets in the way and the trains stayed in their boxes for years, until last year… or so I intended.

Dad had retired, and I thought it’d be a good idea to kick-start him back into the hobby if I pulled out a train and gave it a fresh lick of paint with my new found skills.
However, we couldn’t find the trains. Dad was sure that they were in the loft, many of the buildings and the track were found in the garage, but no sign of the trains or their rolling stock. In the end we had to assume that one of the many contractors that have been in the house over the past decade or so, laying loft insulation, installing solar panels, etc. had stolen them. They were all gone, and what we were left with was worthless without them.

You will have seen the small hut I painted up at that time and nice as it is, it felt a bit worthless as it was never to be used with the trains I intended it to be used with.

Until last week;
Mum and Dad were away and I decided to track down another abandoned project of my Dad’s, a cast resin chess set. I knew we’d found one piece while looking for the trains previously, so I just had to dig it out of the garage, clean it up and paint it (with a view to sculpt future ones to create the set; the moulds have long since degraded and been thrown out).
What happened while I was looking for that?
I found the trains.

All 19 engines, all their rolling stock, more buildings, some other larger scaled trains, and all the vehicles and little people for the terrain.
The plan changed and the birthday present became this, a display base for a single engine and the news of the found trains, thought stolen.

The morals of the story?
If you are looking for something, look for something else.
If you can’t find something where it should be, look for it where it definitely shouldn’t be.
If someone says that what you are looking for is in 2 boxes, ignore them and look in any and all containers.


And some progress on the Princess Mononoke conversion:
Getting there with filling and smoothing off the wolf (although I've seen more things that need attention in these photos),
Added some fur tufts behind where San sits to hide the change in angle of the wolf's back where the removed saddle was,
And I've given San her knife and spear (that's drilled through her tiny hand).

Still a few more changes to make to San, but the wolf is mostly there.

Until next time.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/08 20:54:40


Post by: Skalk Bloodaxe


 Dr H wrote:

If you are looking for something, look for something else.
If you can’t find something where it should be, look for it where it definitely shouldn’t be.
If someone says that what you are looking for is in 2 boxes, ignore them and look in any and all containers.


Brilliant. Advice only a true hoarder collector could offer.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/13 23:50:07


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Skalk. Sadly, had I stored them, I'd have known where I would have put them and would have been able to find them quickly. When I hoard, I hoard in a logical and predictable manner...

A bit of progress on San.
I've had a go at her mask and carved off quite a bit of what had been added to make it "definitely not a Mononoke rip-off" and left it much closer to how it should be.

Included are a before photo and a reference shot of the mask (fur to be added soon).


Onwards...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/14 00:35:22


Post by: Ruglud


Honestly not a clue what this, but interesting wip log nonetheless


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/14 15:06:10


Post by: Dr H


You need to get some more Anime in your life, Ruglud.

This model is from Super Dungeon Explore, and the first time I saw it (over in Sigur's thread) I immediately recognised the inspiration they got from the Anime film Princess Mononoke.

If you are of the sort that absolutely hates Anime/Manga just because it's "just" a cartoon and not "proper" cinema, then there's nothing I can say that'll help you. (I've known too many people like this)

If you are open to the concept of cartoons evoking feelings, then Princess Mononoke is worth a watch.
Deals with the newly industrialised humans damaging nature in the name of progress.
Guns are new.
Gods and giant beasts exist.
Life, Death, Love, Hate, and compromises are all covered.
And a girl, left as a baby in front of a pack of giant wolves by her fleeing parents, raised by the wolves, considers herself a wolf, and fights to rid the forest of the evil humans. Called San, known as Princess Mononoke.
And it has little forest spirits that are some of cutest little things ever.

Very American trailer:



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/14 17:35:30


Post by: youwashock


What you are doing with that SDE model is super neat.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/14 19:03:32


Post by: Red Harvest


I think Ruglud is more of a grimdarkster than a kawaiin. Still, always good to try new things.

Are you going with the traditional chibi style eyes, Doc? The mini looks sculpted to be painted thus.



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/16 16:06:43


Post by: Dr H


youwashock wrote:What you are doing with that SDE model is super neat.
Thanks. When inspiration strikes...

Red Harvest wrote:I think Ruglud is more of a grimdarkster than a kawaiin. Still, always good to try new things.
I'm not the sort that typically goes in for cuteness. But every now and then a cute little thing will melt my heart. I'm sure Ruglud has a gooey centre.

Anyway, there's nothing cute about the anime San, she's a wolf at heart (when we meet her...)
She is one of my favourite anime characters though, which is why I jumped at this model.

I'd jump further if I saw an equivalent model of Saya (from Blood: the last vampire)
I have this as my phone's permanent background:
Spoiler:



Are you going with the traditional chibi style eyes, Doc? The mini looks sculpted to be painted thus.
Yes. The aim is to do this in a very cartoon style. Well outside my comfort zone.

San is now pinned to the wolf and I've sculpted the fur she wears.


Now to make a display base for them...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/16 17:09:21


Post by: Yorkright


This is from one of my all time favorite anime films, all the little additions are making the models much better than the original sculpt. Bring on some paint Doc and really bring her to life.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/02/16 21:32:59


Post by: Red Harvest


Chibi eyes are easy to paint. The internets are full of tutorials. I had to use kawaiin, kawaiian(?) instead of the "W" word. The forum changes that to 'anime enthusiast'.



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/24 23:46:29


Post by: Ruglud


Nope, still not digging the style, but each his own and all that - I'm always enjoying the progress and updates (hint)


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/26 18:01:14


Post by: Dr H


Thanks York'. Good to hear, you'll be a good judge for how well I do then.

Thanks Red'. We'll come to it when I get there.
The "W" word? I'm not sure what word that may be, that is a reference for an anime enthusiast
I'm almost inclined to start typing various offensive "W" words and see what gets changed to what...

That's fair enough, Ruglud.
Nobody can like everything, and everyone can have an opinion on anything (but I would encourage those to do some research into the subject and give it a go, don't go hating on something you know nothing about).
"it's not for me, I gave it a look" is better than "it's wrong because I don't like it, whatever it is".

As for updates, yeah I've had a long dilemma about what sort of base I wanted for the display.

And finally, I decided on a very leafy backdrop, as you may see in many stills from the film.
Then added trees to frame it nicely.

So I do have some work to show (but literally from the past few days, it's all been thinking up until now):

Starting from a foamcore box,
Filled with polystyrene foam off-cuts, to give something to stick things into and give an uneven surface (rather than a perfectly flat foamcore or card top to the box),
I added a card back and then glued in some old recycled foam,
A couple of stiff metal rods and then a length of cable,
Followed by a variety of tubes, roughly hot-glued together,
Plus some wire branches,
Then progressively (and still in progress) covered with tissue/PVA,
...


The whole top will be covered with foam (tbd?) for foliage, as will the majority of the trees/branches (hence the trees suddenly stopping).
It's just going to be a mass of green behind San and the wolf, with the trees and branches peeking out in places. With mud/rocks and grass underfoot.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/26 18:23:32


Post by: Yorkright


Here I thought you were going to just paint up the model not do a whole diorama. Very cool bud.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/27 15:51:00


Post by: Dr H


Nah, one of the back legs doesn't reach the ground so I "needed" to create some ground to reach the leg.

And, when I build for display, it needs a display.

Thanks.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/28 06:22:48


Post by: inmygravenimage


That's beautiful already. Exciting times.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/28 07:06:14


Post by: youwashock


Wow. Nice construction. This is going to be quite the piece.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/03/28 09:02:40


Post by: Red Harvest


Odd material choice in the background. Is that cushion foam? I've seen masking tape used to build up fairly realistic looking tree trunks. No idea about the durability of it.
The "W" word. Disguised of course.

Wee- very small
+
a- the indefinite article
+
boo - the sound a ghost makes

Lots of amusing memes associated with the term.

Typed boldly and vertically and Bob's your uncle, eh?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/09 16:06:30


Post by: Dr H


Thanks Graven', youwashock.

Red'. Yeah, I found that foam amongst the trains I found recently. Quite possible cushion foam now that you mention it. I have a few scraps of it and thought it'd be a cheap material to fill in the back. I'm still in the process of deciding upon what foams / materials to use for the actual foliage. More on that below...

Re. the "w" word. I see.

Progress:
Before I can start to place the foliage (and therefore need to decide on how I'm doing it) I need to finalise the position of the wolf so I can work around him.
To do that I needed to build up some of the ground to meet the uneven feet of the model.

Some polyfilla, and my usual mud n' rocks basing, later...


Now I have to really decide how I'm doing the foliage and commit to it.
With that done and the outside of the base tidied, Paint, static grass, paint San and the wolf, combine... no profit as I'm not selling this.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/09 16:41:04


Post by: Yorkright


Progress is good, but I need paint! J/K since this is something for yourself take your time and do it right.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/10 18:10:13


Post by: inmygravenimage


That's really creepy. I really like it. I love the colours of the foliage just now, I hope it stays autumnal.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/22 00:28:30


Post by: monkeytroll


Good to see the doc is still creating a nice variety of things and stuff and that....


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/22 12:14:42


Post by: Dr H


Thanks York'. Sorry, I've been slacking on this project the past week. I'll get on it this week though.

Thanks Graven'. It'll be to match what is seen in the film; so bright greens I'm afraid.

Monkeytroll! Me ol' muckka. How the devil are you? Good to see you still kicking.
Yeah, I'm still working on all kinds of things. There's even more in my "money making" blog... even purple tentacles that you've missed out on.

No progress this week, but soon... soon...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/24 15:21:23


Post by: Dr H


See... I said I'd get to work on this project this week.

Stage two of the foliage... more foam!

All hot-glued on, and most of time was taken with making the bits not have flat sides or arranging the flat sides together to hide them...

And you see the green foam that I've used for the little bush at the front? That's stage 3. To give a rougher, more leafy look to the trees.
Don't have as much of that particular foam so this is building up the bulk.

Moar Foliage!!!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/24 18:13:25


Post by: CommissarKhaine


Looking good, would never have thought about using foam like that... Consider it stolen


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/24 21:11:59


Post by: Big H


That foam looks surprisingly good Doc ! (At least surprising to me.....)

Does it take paint ok ?


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/24 21:19:47


Post by: monkeytroll


Building the scene up nicely!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/24 23:39:43


Post by: cormadepanda


The plant texture looks on point. Would love more for the table


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/25 11:03:16


Post by: Gitsplitta


Oh man do those trees look awesome!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/25 14:47:54


Post by: Dr H


Thanks CK. I've used small lumps of the yellow foam for small plants on many of my previous models. This was just the next natural step before forking out for "proper" tree foliage.
If I can do something cheap or free, I'll try that first.

Thanks Big H. It turned out well. I had no expectations, just making this up as I go along (as with many of my models).
As for paint... That's for us to all find out: The plan is to soak this (see below) in a PVA/Water/Paint mixture to toughen it up, fully stick it all together, and basecoat it all the way through.
From the little bits I've used on previous models (note; very small lumps, have a look over my previous models to see it used; you'll spot it now you know what to look for) the foam soaks up glue and paint like no tomorrow, but sets nice an firm after it's dry and takes dry-brushing to finish it off.

Thanks MT.

Thanks Comrade. Yeah, I'm certainly going to try this technique for future terrain; depending on what we learn this time.

Thanks Gits'. But wait, there's more...

Next job was to add the green foam, in pieces to give a rougher texture to the trees and fill in any gaps or hide bits of the yellow foam that are too straight.

I had no idea how this was going to turn out and just went about the thing, piece by piece, adding bits of green wherever it seemed it was needed.
While I think it did the job and has provided the finished look I was aiming for...

it does look a bit odd at the moment...

prepare yourselves...

To help, I've grey-scaled the first photo, and this alleviated my initial fears from where I was half way though and thought "OMG it's a green poker-dot crazy mess"...

This will now get the aforementioned soaking in PVA and paint that will tie it all together in more ways than one... hopefully...



Let's see how this turns out...


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/25 17:58:15


Post by: monkeytroll


Looking good. As you say, once it's been pva'd it'll take paint fine. Maybe a touch of flock on a few areas?

I thought it was quite soothing that colour shot from above, probably just me though.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/25 20:07:58


Post by: OneManNoodles


Nice work, the trees are looking great, agree with MT that a bit of flock might work.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/26 21:27:44


Post by: Dr H


monkeytroll wrote:Looking good. As you say, once it's been pva'd it'll take paint fine. Maybe a touch of flock on a few areas?
Ta. Maybe, we'll have to see once some more paint is on.

I thought it was quite soothing that colour shot from above, probably just me though.
Probably...
I was still thinking "OMG it's green poker-dots, what have I done..."

Thanks OMN.

After half of the first application of my PVA/water/paint mixture I reverted to a large paintbrush rather than the little pump-spray thing I was using; it was either too thick to spray properly to cover a large area (the whole point of spraying), or too thin to really give it any colour without tons of layers (not quick).

"Brushing" on blobs of 50:50 PVA/water with added paint and giving the foam a squeeze was pretty quick and covered evenly.
After 3 or 4 applications, with breaks for hair-drying, it looks like this:

There's a few little bits that may need added foam/flock, but can assess that as I paint.

That might be it for actual building. I've decided to leave San and the wolf separate, not just for painting, so that I can pick them up and look all around them (as I'm intending them to be well painted).

So yes, off to the painting desk with you...

Oh yeah, I do have to wrap the sides of the base to tidy them up, but that's it.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/26 21:33:17


Post by: Meer_Cat


Man, that tree technique came out nice! I should have realized that the foam would take the paint solution in at different shades depending on how much you dabbed, but there's some real depth of color here- great stuff!


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/26 22:15:12


Post by: Big H


A nice addition might be to litter the floor with leaves, you can buy these from model outlets , or better yet get a similar thing from the "Catkins " of Silver Birch trees, they will be on the trees soon-ish, go to the woods for a lifetimes worth of model leaves !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betula_pendula



The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/27 20:20:45


Post by: Red Harvest


Effective. I wonder how well the paint will 'stick' to that foam. Time will tell, eh? Enough paint in all the air ockets and that foam will harden nicely.

It looks very convincing.


The (Mad) Scientist and his Army of the Second Law: Beware of the Red Legion Space Marine! @ 2018/04/27 20:48:39


Post by: Shadenuat


Should have made her look angry, because rawr rawr humans are evil scum.

https://pre00.deviantart.net/832b/th/pre/i/2016/351/4/5/_commission__chibi_princess_mononoke_by_kelsa20-darw5go.png

Add some kodamas! They're awesome.