"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. "
(special thanks to Revenent Reiko for the correct quote)
...
Actually I found and old Legion of the Damned plasma gunner that I painted many years ago as a Mantis Warrior... he'll be my first experiment. Right now I'm trying to make him look respectable, but it's pretty much a lost cause. Guess I'll throw him out there for trade after I get done with my OSL experiment... can't really use standard Mk 7 marines in my army (yippie! :-) I have special bitz!)
Oh yes. I agree, used it to help me with the last OSL experiment... but this time I think I'm going to try my airbrush. So I'm using MajorTom's article on the subject.
Glad to see you can keep up with warhams constantly. I have taken a break for a bit, but I am hoping to get back to painting asap, and maybe even finish my bucket load of boyz and make a real army list, or trade 'em for ig and start yet another project... Choices, choices...
WOW i must say those helmet lenses are awesome!! i haven't been on for a bit and my how these guys are coming along! I can't wait to see more, lovin' your ideas!
@BBL: Thanks! I think you need to build lots and lots of armies... lots of them.
@SOO: Thank you very much! I keep plugging away. At least I'm not stagnating any more... keep adding to my little bag of painting and modeling tricks each day. Eventually, I'll get there (wherever "there" is...).
OK, first airbrush OSL complete... Please keep in mind the paint job on the marine is probably nearly a decade old, though I did take an hour or so to clean it up & re-paint a bunch of parts (skulls, chest, gun, eyes, hand, etc).
Let me know what you think. I'll let you know what *I* think a bit later after everyone's had their say.
Looks great. I have never tried airbrushing but I would maybe try to not have the light stretch out as far, I dunno if its the lighting of the picture or not but it looks like its a bit too far up the helmet, just my thoughts though but other than that its awesome
Automatically Appended Next Post: actually I'm pretty sure its just my eyes haha, it does look very realistic
Lord Kaesar II wrote:That's awesome! Besides the streak of light green on the helmet, Very reaslistic OSL
Actually the streak of light green is a yellow trapezoid that was part of the original decorations on the helmet. It looks light green because of the blue OSL effect!
Revenent Reiko wrote:Wow! thats amazing Gits, it really looks like its lit up!
The more I look at it, the more I like it... maybe I should do that with all my models....
Mantle wrote:Looks great. I have never tried airbrushing but I would maybe try to not have the light stretch out as far, I dunno if its the lighting of the picture or not but it looks like its a bit too far up the helmet, just my thoughts though but other than that its awesome
Automatically Appended Next Post: actually I'm pretty sure its just my eyes haha, it does look very realistic
Thanks Mantle! My wife thinks it's "a little too blue", and I think I'm inclined to agree with her. I prefer more subtle effects... but for a first try I'll take it. It's a really BIG, glowing core right next to his body though... that would give off a considerable amount of light I'd think.
I find the effect a bit wide and intense, as the light being cast is as bright as the source for most of it. I have been learning from looking at Nucleosaurs work and classic baroque stuff that the source is always the brightest part, usually by quite a bit. This is something I failed to capture on my GreyKnight, as the blade that is casting the glow is not sufficiently bright to explain the amount of light cast.
I also know that doing this is a huge #$@%$# to deal with, esp on finished minis! I would suggest trying it on black primed minis a few times to get the hand a bit better before committing over a finished piece. It is almost there, but a little bit more of a delicate touch would go a long way I think.
Lol did you have a small panic attack as you hovered the airbrush over the mini before actually spraying? I sure did lol! One trick I caught for this on a military site is to cut a small hole in a piece of paper and use that as a soft mask, holding it away from the mini to still get a soft edge, but also allowing you to really limit the spray area to your liking too. Haven't tried it yet but I plan to next time the opportunity presents itself.
Thanks everyone. Really appreciate the comments MT... especially from your perspective and experience. I agree all-round... nice effect, a little too much. I'll be more gentle next time. I did however, take that last shot where the lighting accentuated the glow effect, if you were to shift the lights straight at it (rather than pointing down and reflecting up) you get a mores subdued effect. I took a couple of very dilute washes to the armor in hopes of toning it down a shade or so. See if this (with more normal lighting) works a little better for you. (though I will still try to tone it down next time).
@Tom: Yeah, I was $*itting bricks right before I started to spray, especially since my airbrush was NOT cooperating at the time. I practiced on some paper before hand to make sure I had the right spray and turned down the trigger stop on the brush so I couldn't accidentally hose him down completely. Couple of minor things to touch up on him and I'll call it a successful first run. Will do one or two more practice figs (and lots of practice on blanks) before I tackle WM's plasma cannoneer.
And in case you think I'm fibbin... MOST of the difference in the two pics below is due to a difference in the positioning of the lights (see legs below knees for clues).
The right or "down-lit" photo would be closer to how it appears on the tabletop.
Hmm... It still looks pretty intense for me. The effect makes sense if he was in darkness or twilight, but I'm not sure that a plasma gun would glow that brightly in daylight.
Then again, that's my perspective. You have your artistic license.
If you can control your spray with the airbrush, it's easier than it looks... you just need a lighter hand (which I'm sure I'll get with practice). Even without the airbrush though... (see the last sergeant with the OSL core in his power sword), it's not unsurmountable. It is nerve wracking though as your risking a fully painted figure on the technique. Get some practice as Tom suggests, on some blanks to build your confidence before attacking a fully painted fig.
I still stand by what I'd said before about light not actually spreading thatfar from the source... It's well executed however. Well done in that respect.
I suppose I should jump onto the "too intense" bandwagon, although the second photo looks much better than the first. Still, who am I to criticize, I'm a very crappy painter, unfortunately. I prefer scalpels to brushes.
I agree with the slight over intensity, maybe tone down the range of the blue on the body. Also, maybe darkening the blue in the coils would help, I know I struggle with that as well. But it looks mighty fine, if you like it keep it!
Thanks Remos, and welcome to the blog! I'll do one or two more practice figs before I attack the plasma connoneer... by then I should have some idea how to do it properly.
My next project will be another power sword, so soft masking through a slot might do the trick nicely. For the plasma gun I just masked using my thumb (which is now blue by-the-way). worked for the simple stuff but trying to represent a glowing sword, glowing faintly on a body a foot or two away is going to take some subtlety that may well require the soft masking technique.
Couple of things I learned yesterday:
- Had an airbrushing class at Adepticon where it was suggested that using ethanol (90+ %) was best as a solvent as it encouraged (amongst other things) the paint to dry on contact, greatly reducing the odds for drip or spider-webbing. The problem is that if you add straight alcohol to the paint... some colors (the Valejo Air white in particular) precipitate out... which is a real mess. I found out that if you instead, dilute the paint about 50/50 with water, then add the ethanol slowly, you will not have the pigment precipitation issue. It might also be possible to use a weaker dilution of the ethanol (70% is typical), but I haven't tried that yet.
- Windex, which in the US is made with ammonia rather than alcohol (as it is in Europe), is still a better cleaning fluid than alcohol.
- Set the trigger stop on your airbrush pretty tight, so you can only pull the trigger back a short distance. This should prevent you from accidentally hosing down the mini with your subtle, glow color.
I agree with the others, I think the light's a bit strong. It dominates the undertone, which would be fine if it were very dark, but the figure doesn't appear to be in a very dark location.
In addition to trying a lighter hand, I would think you could also thin your airbrush paint more. This would give less pigment coverage. Of course, you have to be careful, because you don't want it to get runny/streaky.
Gitsplitta wrote:"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
...
Actually I found and old Legion of the Damned plasma gunner that I painted many years ago as a Mantis Warrior... he'll be my first experiment. Right now I'm trying to make him look respectable, but it's pretty much a lost cause. Guess I'll throw him out there for trade after I get done with my OSL experiment... can't really use standard Mk 7 marines in my army (yippie! :-) I have special bitz!)
Ha! A Dune reference. I love it.
killer work as always.
Good first attempt Gits, you might find just repainting the eye lenses with a hand painted light blue reflection to show the different surface of the lenses might just tone it down a bit.
I think it is pretty good for try number one and you have clearly learnt already from it so number two will probably be infinitely better!
Gitsplitta wrote:"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
"I must not fear, fear is the mind killer."
...
Actually I found and old Legion of the Damned plasma gunner that I painted many years ago as a Mantis Warrior... he'll be my first experiment. Right now I'm trying to make him look respectable, but it's pretty much a lost cause. Guess I'll throw him out there for trade after I get done with my OSL experiment... can't really use standard Mk 7 marines in my army (yippie! :-) I have special bitz!)
Ha! A Dune reference. I love it.
killer work as always.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
love that quote
Hey Gits that's a great start, but I agree with everyone else (I know you're tired of hearing it by now, and you get the message so I won't say it again).
As a bit of a reference obviously MajorTom11's article is great, but the more sources the better right? In that spirit take a look at this airbrush OSL by Eggroll:
I think that is the intensity that should be tried for. Its also a nice picture because he shows a Lascannon, Plasma-gun, and Plasmacannon.
-Cypher- wrote:Hey Gits that's a great start, but I agree with everyone else (I know you're tired of hearing it by now, and you get the message so I won't say it again).
As a bit of a reference obviously MajorTom11's article is great, but the more sources the better right? In that spirit take a look at this airbrush OSL by Eggroll:
I think that is the intensity that should be tried for. Its also a nice picture because he shows a Lascannon, Plasma-gun, and Plasmacannon.
Well, between MajorTom's airbrush "how to", Yggsdrasil's "how to" using traditional brush techniques, and Eggroll's fine examples... I should be all set!
Thanks guys!
Looking at Eggroll's figs, I'm not sure his "reflected light" color is any different than the base color on his plasma core... I think there's just less of it, so the color of what's underneath changes the color of the reflected light.
MajorTom11 wrote: Eggrolls stuff is linked in my article btw
Ahh, sorry MajorTom11. I just want to say to you though, that I did read through your article and your take on your gray knight's eye OSL was very enlightening. It was a very enlightening article on the whole actually, and even though I don't have an airbrush it really helped me to visualize how OSL should be. In fact I'm testing out OSL on a Lascannon and Predator twin-linked Lascannon test models as I type this (the basecoats are drying right now, and I'll be putting up pics when done. I'd like both of your comments on them [both as in you MT, Gits, and also anyone who cares]?). Thanks to you for that (and as Gits pointed out in my 'Questions regarding OSL' thread, also to Yggdrasil for hand-painting OSL tips).
Well, that was a tangent... What I meant to say is I saw it linked in your tutorial MT, but figured placing it here for easy reference for both Gits and everyone else would be extremely useful given its current need. But yes, your article also gives Eggroll his (her?) due and I'm sorry I didn't reference that.
Edit:
Well I got done with the Lascannoner, but the weather is too bad for me to take any worth-while pictures. Stay tuned though!
Tonight's progress: My next OSL experiment will also be my first airbrush power sword experiment... the other sergeant that whalemusic360 made for my Adepticon army. I spent most of tonight just getting the figure detailed. Just eyes and chapter badge to do tomorrow and I'll start on the power sword... perhaps even finish up. Once that's done I should be confident enough to go back to WM's trade marine and do the OSL on him.
I have an exciting little project up next for my Mantis Warriors, driven by a local 1850 pt tourney at my FLGS next month... and the wheels are turning for vent's trade marine which is the next one on the docket.
MajorTom11 wrote:
Eggrolls stuff is linked in my article btw
Ahh, sorry MajorTom11. I just want to say to you though, that I did read through your article and your take on your gray knight's eye OSL was very enlightening. It was a very enlightening article on the whole actually, and even though I don't have an airbrush it really helped me to visualize how OSL should be. In fact I'm testing out OSL on a Lascannon and Predator twin-linked Lascannon test models as I type this (the basecoats are drying right now, and I'll be putting up pics when done. I'd like both of your comments on them [both as in you MT, Gits, and also anyone who cares]?). Thanks to you for that (and as Gits pointed out in my 'Questions regarding OSL' thread, also to Yggdrasil for hand-painting OSL tips).
Well, that was a tangent... What I meant to say is I saw it linked in your tutorial MT, but figured placing it here for easy reference for both Gits and everyone else would be extremely useful given its current need. But yes, your article also gives Eggroll his (her?) due and I'm sorry I didn't reference that.
Edit:
Well I got done with the Lascannoner, but the weather is too bad for me to take any worth-while pictures. Stay tuned though!
Lol no worries! His name is Shane, and he has been a great inspiration to me in many ways, as has the military modelling world. Not to mention Gits own razorbacks, which I felt really illustrated what modulated airbrushing can do, even on older models. I am very happy that my article is helping people out, and I am sure I speak for Yggsie as well when I say we really appreciate your taking the time to look and support us as well.
Gits, will you be doing a nmm 'checkerboard' style blade, or are you going for a hardcore nucleosaur lightsabre looking deal? I was thinking about it as well, and I realize another reason Eggrolls glow is amongst the most successful I have seen is that the models themselves were also airbrushed Zenithally, which carries lighting over that compliments the osl. Are you planning on having a go with some marines, I think the Mantis Warriors have a really ideal color scheme for it!
I was going to do a similar type of patter to the one on your halberds... kind of a counterchanged white through blue to black on each facet of the sword. But I'm not sure what all you're referring to in your comment. Can you post examples of what you mean? (posting them here is fine)
Checkerboard is the style I used on my halberd, reversing the gradient on the blade so that white always touches black on different facets. If your sword is of sufficient size, you can actually add a gradient step, like white/blue/black/blue/white and reverse the other side to black/blue/white/blue/black. This is what GW has done on the dreadknight swords for example.
Nucleosaur is a new guy on the forums, who has been focusing heavily on airbrushed based lighting effects, and quite successfully I may add, you can see his stuff here -
As you can see on his blades, the technique is similar, but he has used far more white and blue than black, making the blades bright enough to be a convincing lightsource which I didn't do such a good job at. Unfortunately what he succeeded with so well on the blades and soft blue glow, he didn't pull off with the lava, which as you can see, especially with the swords right next to it, is not bright enough to support the amount of glow it is casting off, which spoils the illusion a bit.
One key I think to his work, is that he puts as much priority to shadows as he does to light, classic chiaroscuro, which I think really puts it over the fence for me. Seeing his work in particular has really hit home for me how important it is to have both in balance to make truly convincing osl -
Sorry to hijack, but if you want to see good lava, although not reeally OSL, you should check this guys avatar a few pages in. He really went to town on it
samius wrote:Hey Gits, what happened to those power katanas that someone made for you, what marines do those go to? Good luck tomorrow night with the painting too!
Not sure... I did get a bunch of the power falchions from a bits merchant that I believe with a lot of work, I can turn into decent katanas. And you'll see them in my next GMS figure (oh, I've got a neat idea brewing for that one!) Long term plan is to contract with a third party to produce them, but as yet I'm not in a big hurry.
Unluckyguardsman wrote:sergeant's looking good! Is he getting a power sword, or one of those samurai swords? UG
This is one of my Badab War era marines. In my "history" of the Mantis Warriors, the pre-Badab War chapter was effectively Roman in origin and feel, so no katanas. After the war, Asian elements in the chapter began to assert their dominance, aided by the post-rebellion Inquisitional purge and the loss of their "Roman" home world. So my "Mantis Warriors Penitent"... which is what I call the post-crusade Mantis Warriors, have a definite Japanese feel to them. There are still Roman origin members of course, and the sternguard are for the most part Romanized, but the culture has shifted significantly.
So, the sword is a pretty standard issue... actually it's an older verson, looks kind of like a cutlass blade. It's small, going to be a real trick to mask it properly to get the airbrushing to work out right. I won't get home 'till late tonight, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done. Probably get the two edges of the blade painted and the back of the blade, save the sides for tomorrow night. We shall see.
Yeah, those old bolt pistols were terrible. The Forge World one's look convincing for the period but are much, much nicer. Have to see if I can pick up a few more of those... will probably need them.
I'm very excited about the next couple of mantis warriors I'll be working on. Vent's trade marine will hopefully be very cool and like WM's.. will be a MW Penitent, and to prepare for a tournament next month, I'm going to be making a little dev squad for my Badab era army. Though I won't say any more about either project until the builds are done.
If you're looking to procure some lava bases, they're actually really easy to make. Lemmingspawn has a great tutorial on CMoN:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1750 I followed this on the last CSM I did and it was pretty easy to do and came out looking awesome. Hope this will help. It's a lot cheaper than buying molded lava bases.
Lemmingspawn actually did an entire Iron Warriors army with those bases on Dakka awhile back that look amazing.
No problem at all Darth, take your time. Glad all arrived save and sound!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Update: Power sword is done! I must admit that it's the best power sword I've ever done by a long shot, though I think I'm going to modify the technique a bit for future swords. The flocking is on and drying, if I can get up early tomorrow morning I'll finish the fig and post it. If not... it'll have to wait until tomorrow night.
I did try the slot method for the ambient glow... not bad. I was very sparing with it, just sprayed right in the area where the sword was closest to him. Probably still a little heavy handed but the sword positioning will hide most of it anyway..
Sergeant is done! Sword worked out great! I'm not a fan of the black on the sword & next time will run white through a medium blue, but I can't fault the technique... worked great! I probably did too much black, but that's here nor there at this point... it was figuring out the process that was important.
Kept the "osl" to a small section of the head nearest to the sword. Not convinced about that either as the blues in the sword as so dark. Ah well, at least it's my fig & not one I'm sending so someone else. All-in-all a good experiment and a great technique to add to the bag. Thanks MT!
So much fun to do with the airbrush and it gives such a great contrast to the rest of the model. I think the black looks really good, I tried it myself replacing the black with a dark blue but it just lacked the oomph the black gives it, the starkness really works.
Looking good!
i take it you've seen this?
i know hes painting with a brush, but might help you with your black/blue 'problem' (although saying that, i think it looks great)
whalemusic360 wrote:Looks good Gits. He seems to have misplaced his bolt pistol though.
Glad to see the Gitsplitta avatar back btw. I was starting to see you as Telion with green armor
Oh crap! I dropped him about 6 times while I was finishing him up... didn't even notice. OK, well... I have a decent idea where it should be. I'll fix it tonight and take a new pic.
My problem with the black is that it's totally unrealistic... even given the context of 40k. There is no way in hades that anything that produces it's own light would have anything black on it... period. It would glow uniformly (or not) but there would be no black no matter what your viewing angle to the surface was. Darker shades perhaps, as the light has to travel obliquely to your eye... but black??? No. On top of that it makes the whole OSL thing kind of silly as it doesn't appear to be generating enough light to keep itself lit, much less lighting up something else. On the big things like the halberd blades that MajorTom used it on... it works (it's still not logical, but it looks good)... on small blades like this... well, for me anyway... no.
Yeah, I was sorry to see the Telion avatar go. I'm so identified with my Mantis Warriors now and at least I *feel* old most days so it was really fitting. But it doesn't make any sense with my screen name and a lot of people (including myself) get confused when you switch avatars around, so I thought I'd go back to my roots. I did like the job I did on Telion though, so it's always nice to have something you're proud of identified with you.
So, tonight I'll re-arm my poor sergeant and do the OSL on WM's marine... two more jobs done! :-)
(then I get to start on a few builds that I've been really looking forward to!)
Gitsplitta wrote:
My problem with the black is that it's totally unrealistic... even given the context of 40k. There is no way in hades that anything that produces it's own light would have anything black on it... period. It would glow uniformly (or not) but there would be no black no matter what your viewing angle to the surface was. Darker shades perhaps, as the light has to travel obliquely to your eye... but black??? No. On top of that it makes the whole OSL thing kind of silly as it doesn't appear to be generating enough light to keep itself lit, much less lighting up something else. On the big things like the halberd blades that MajorTom used it on... it works (it's still not logical, but it looks good)... on small blades like this... well, for me anyway... no.
Well Gits I suppose that's true. That's why I like Catattafish's guide that Revenent Reiko linked. I adjusted to a power sword, which you can see in the thread. Take a look at the video and see what you think about doing that. I think it works better for smaller blades. It shows potential energy/crackling power along the blade rather than "this blade is glowing".
I will check it out... I'm just trying to expand my capabilities so I have more "tools in the bag" so-to-speak. Don't get me wrong, I really like this technique and it's impact is fabulous, I just don't like the range of colors applied to a power sword. However, I could see something like this done on a non-glowing weapon looking fantastic, like a simple steel sword done in grays, or even with just the metal color blended to black (which is common). It's the whole glowing thing that bothers me about it, that's all.
I notice that I should also brush in a little bit of OSL on the top of the hilt too., that might help the illusion a bit.
I should note for any of you thinking of trying this yourself that you need full access to the blade from all angles in order to paint it like this. So in my case, I painted the sword separately, then attached it to the hand.
The more of these badab wars armies I keep seeing show up makes me want to start a project for them as well. These look fantastic the highlighting on them looks great and really fits the force.
Enslaviour wrote:The more of these badab wars armies I keep seeing show up makes me want to start a project for them as well. These look fantastic the highlighting on them looks great and really fits the force.
Same here.
Also this may sound a bit stupid but ,what is the badab war? Is their any uassful sites I could be told about ?I kinda know a breath over look about it and this is(?) that there were 4 space marine chapters that were involved in a 12 year war (that inculded the imperioum).One of the chapters I think turns to chaos or at least one comanding space marine does.
The Badab War was first mentioned in a White Dwarf long, long ago... then that blurb was put into the Warhammer 40k Compendium (also long long ago). Basically the 4 chapters in charge of guarding the Imperium from the nasty's in the Maelstrom rebelled for mundane, political & socio-economic reasons, led by "The Tyrant of Badab", Lugft Huron, the chapter Master of the Tiger Claws. They felt that a number of the most influential Astartes chapters had fallen under the sway of the Imperial technocrats and were no longer doing the will of the Emperor. Thus the foundation of the rebellion was loyalty to the Emperor, but in defiance of the Imperium and it's bureaucracy.
It's notable as the only non-chaos influenced astartes rebellion in the history of the Imperium.
It's fairly recent as Imperial history goes.
The best current sources for detailed information are Imperial Armor 9 and 10... but that is Forge World's take on the events. However from what I've read... it's pretty darn good & gets the Gistplitta seal of approval.
It did not end well for the rebels. The Executioners just kind of disappeared (not sure what happened there), the Lamenters got fed to the tyranids, the remnants of the Tiger Claws fled into the Maelstrom to become a renegade band of cut throats and thieves with tacit allegiance to chaos, and the Mantis Warriors were stripped of their home world and sent into the Maelstrom on a 100 year crusade to hunt down and kill their old allies. (basically a suicide mission)
I started building the Mantis Warriors after that original WD article. Set them aside for many years & decided it was time to give them a little love again last year. Thus, the blog you've been so generously reading and contributing to.
catattafish's tutorial, looks good... I am considering using it for Thing1's gms, but have the lightning bouncing through the runes.
I'd love to get IA 9 & 10, but its so darned expensive.
Gitsplitta wrote:the Mantis Warriors were stripped of their home world and sent into the Maelstrom on a 100 year crusade to hunt down and kill their old allies. (basically a suicide mission)
One more... the Mantis Warriors were stripped of their home world ( their recruiting stock, armament and supply depos and support in the E cluster were raided by the Space sharks) and sent into the Maelstrom on a 100 year crusade to hunt down and kill their old allies.
It's odd because it really has 6 different faces, just one you can't really paint independently (really dull blade edge). I think a typical 4 sided blade would be a lot easier to deal with.
Oh heck... I don't keep count. I'd diluted the blue pretty heavily... more than was necessary as I probably had to hit it 6 times to get the color I wanted. Black... probably 2 or 3. The white is your undercoat so you just put that on until you're done.
Thanks Gits I ve knda got a beter idea on the whole thing now.The mantis warriors forced to go on a 100 year crusade and you were saying it was suicide is proplly why ive never head of them before I joined dakka.Its ovious that if I want a full under standing of the war I may need to get the forge world book (that costs a forchune).Or go on the web.Finally In my opinon it was stupid to feed space marine to the tryands (even if its a meal they won't forget! lol ).I dident really understand that part were they chaos if so ha ha if not why?Also nice job on that marine for wm360!
Arakasi wrote:Is that a mould line on the inside of the plasma gun coil
Actually no, it's a dang cat hair... or some such. They're floating all over and I just cant keep them out of my figures. Nearly every figure I make has got a couple of stray hairs on it somewhere. At least you know it's a "Gitsplitta original" that way.
HAZZER wrote:Thanks Gits I ve knda got a beter idea on the whole thing now.The mantis warriors forced to go on a 100 year crusade and you were saying it was suicide is proplly why ive never head of them before I joined dakka.Its ovious that if I want a full under standing of the war I may need to get the forge world book (that costs a forchune).Or go on the web.Finally In my opinon it was stupid to feed space marine to the tryands (even if its a meal they won't forget! lol ).I dident really understand that part were they chaos if so ha ha if not why?Also nice job on that marine for wm360!
Just getting ahold of that compendium article (all two paragraphs) would be a good start. I'll see if I have a scan of it somewhere... though you might try the Lexicanum... as I recall some of the text out of their summary came from the original article.
Kagume (Or is it Kigume ) looks great, the OSL looks much better there
Also, excellent job on the power sword, looks very cool. Maybe the start of another gradient change near the tip to break up the whiteness there, but then again the real figure is about half the size of the image so probably not so stark in rl.
The plasma gunner looks excellent! The OSL is not overbearing but let's you know that the gun is powering up. The sergeant looks ace as well, great work!
Arakasi wrote:Is that a mould line on the inside of the plasma gun coil
Actually no, it's a dang cat hair... or some such. They're floating all over and I just cant keep them out of my figures. Nearly every figure I make has got a couple of stray hairs on it somewhere. At least you know it's a "Gitsplitta original" that way.
HAZZER wrote:Thanks Gits I ve knda got a beter idea on the whole thing now.The mantis warriors forced to go on a 100 year crusade and you were saying it was suicide is proplly why ive never head of them before I joined dakka.Its ovious that if I want a full under standing of the war I may need to get the forge world book (that costs a forchune).Or go on the web.Finally In my opinon it was stupid to feed space marine to the tryands (even if its a meal they won't forget! lol ).I dident really understand that part were they chaos if so ha ha if not why?Also nice job on that marine for wm360!
Just getting ahold of that compendium article (all two paragraphs) would be a good start. I'll see if I have a scan of it somewhere... though you might try the Lexicanum... as I recall some of the text out of their summary came from the original article.
Next up... ah heck, I'll let it be a surprise!
na ill wait let it be a susprise.Then seen whats on Lexicanum after.
That's wierd... is everyone else NOT seeing my avatar? It's set up in my profile, just not coming though on the posts.
Yes, just a tiny pen that comes in multiple colors, I scribble on purity seals, banners, loin cloths etc with it. Come in several colors. I use them to make my chapter badges for my Badab era Mantis Warriors too.
Looks great Gits! Very excited to see him up close, cat hair and all. I've been out of town all weekend, sorry for not responding sooner. I'm planning on getting the stuff you are getting all together for you this week.
Hey Gits, Quick question about your micron pen, I find that with my one the writing rub's off pretty quickly or can smudge if I'm a bit ham fisted while moving the model around, do you find the same thing? or does it dry quickly?
No, your observation is correct. You have to be very careful with them or they will smudge. I've found two possibilities, either do the pen as the last task for the night so it can dry for 12+ hours before being handled again, or wait until it is visually dry and hit it with a light coat of varnish. Either way using the pen is always just about the last thing I do to a model, so the chances for messing it up are minimal.
Ah, perfect. Here I was thinking about taking my micron pens back to the store because the sold me some lemons. I've actually stopped using it because of the smudge risk however might jump back into is as a final step in painting. Cheers.
dantay_xv wrote:Will have to see if Micron pens are here in the UK or have an equivalent. It looks darned useful.
I remember an old WD where they used these kind of pens for blacklining their models too
-Cypher- wrote:I'll definitely be looking into this micron pen business. Thanks for the answer.
And I also can see your avatar just fine...
I asked the same question on the previous page about the pens and I have sourced them in the UK from Grafton Crafts mine cost £2.50 including delivery! I think this is excellent value for money and I am now thinking of getting some more colours. I suppose I ought to put my order in before the stampede from Dakkka!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just had a weird thing with the post there I replied and it didn't show up so I did it again and then I got both, seems like the guy/gal before me had the same issue more than once!
I should have some pics of the next project up this evening. This is one I'm really excited about! They're built and primed, but I think I'll wait until the airbrushing is done before I post them.
Obviously, they are fantastic... but look carefully at his swords. They have light and dark patches... but that's the point... patches of color, as if the energies are rippling across the surface of the weapons, changing the hues that are visible. I much prefer this to a regular gradient, even though the gradients are striking as I can buy this as a legitimate depiction of a "powered" weapon, or light sabre as it were. The lightening then, is the unifying principle that ties the patches of color together. Very nice. I think you could also have the lightening emanating from the white patches into the blue.. slightly different feel but I bet it would also look good.
Granted, it's still the dark to light transition, but the irregularity of it really appeals to me much more so that the straight gradients I did earlier.
Power sword effects are nice kinda reminds me of how some of the grey knights swords were done in last months white dwarf. I need to read it again, but I am sure they used purple instead of blue on 1 or 2 blades
I get why you like them, they look excellent. I find Cattatafish's technique to be more of an 'accurate' portrayal, but I may invision a power-sword differently than you do. If that is the look that you feel best interprets your mental idea of how the sword should look, then by all means that is the effect for you.
I more invision a power-weapon to be metal at its core, though the energies flowing across it create such stark shadows and contrats that the metal is all but invisible (hint the black base-coat). The you have the 'spoke' from which the destructive capabilities of the weapon emenate, so that bit should be bright and a starting point for the first archs of power. I made 'balls of light' to show the arching energies coming together is some points along the blade, as I imagined that as the energy (in this case seen as lightening [though who is to say that's how the energy should act anyway?]) would wend its way to the point of the blade, and through chance, would combine at some points. If that is the case, then those points should be shown very brightly, and as further 'nexuses of power' along the weapon.
That is the aspect that Eggroll's blades lack, but that may be due to his different interpretation of how the weapon/energies behave. Which brings me back to my first point: different players will interpret things differently, and thus should use the techniques that they feel show whatever they are painting the way they want them to be represented.
(Though in reality the techniques seem to be only marginally different anyway.)
wow been a while since ive posted or done anything hobby related till this week and wow 10 pages to catch up on lol but everything looks great especially the lighting on the cannoneer great job gits!
OK, my schedule is filling up so I'll post these as they are. RT era devastator squad using the original plastic MLs. The limitations on these figures makes them hard to customize... but I did a little here and there. Will add more extras once the basic painting is done.
I'm kind of torn as I want to get them started but just ordered a real compressor for my air brush... so do I dive in or should I wait? I guess the compressor won't matter much when it comes to the end result, it'll just be nicer to use the quieter hobby compressor.
Fantastic looking beekies. Personally my favorite helmet style for marines. I would say go ahead and start, if silence is all you gain from the new compressor not need to wait.
Yeah definitely go for it, that way you know what you are working with at least and you arent stuck waiting. They do look good to, i love the old style ML's, especially the top loading missile mag
Mother's Day. Whole family will be over on Sunday. I'm on smoker duty making BBQ ribs for a very picky father-in-law... and the house is a mess so we'll be cleaning all Saturday.
Will miss opening day for fishing *and* not be able to paint. I don't mind taking care of my misses of course, just frustrating that about 5 days have been pooched in a row leaving me no time to do something fun.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Can you take a picture of the Dev. squad from a different angle.. I'd like to see the lead marine's helm from a different perspective.
Looking good in green, only thing of note, something looks a little off with the missile racks on the furthest left and the ml front and missile rack on the furthest right marine, a bit gunked up or slightly miscast maybe.
Saying that the pics show models much bigger than they are, so in RL, I bet its not noticeable
Automatically Appended Next Post: @Solar, no worries big fella
Actually dantay you are absolutely correct. 3 of the missile racks were partially melted in acetone. But these are so hard to come by I couldn't bear to pitch them. I have an idea for for a method of painting them that will hopefully disguise most of the damage. (It won't fix the damage, just make it hard to see).
We'll see if I can pull it off. In the mean time there's a lot of lining in my future. I might revisit the highlight gradient though... it's kind of disappeared and I'm not sure what happened to it.
And they are by far the nicest missile launchers that GW mage for Space Marines too.
I would consider filling in the centre part to make it look solid, so only the tip and tail are visible, like a gun magazine.
A little bit of retread eye candy for you. I re-did the photos of this mini last night for a competition I was going to enter him in... only to find that I couldn't use this format. So as not to completely waste the time I spent screwing around with the light and the lenses and photoshop making it look decent... I thought I'd post it here. You have seen this mini before, so apologies for the repeat... but it's probably my favorite of all my tranquility vets. The pose is just so natural and I did a decent job on the camo.
There is something new however... this is the first time that I've added text onto a photo and spelled everything correctly!
They won't start it for a while yet. I did submit my photo though (different one) so I assume I'm good. I'll put a link when they start (if I remember myself).
Damn you *'automatically appended next post' without telling me*!
thats my favourite of the Vets too Gits, i love that old melta gun even if nothing else (and i do love the rest too )
shame about the format, but congrats on the spelling
Glad to see you are finding some hobby time before/during the 5 day no-go zone around this weekend. I have never noticed your spelling being too ropey before. I am sure he will do well, are you entering any others? Or are you limitted to just one?
Does not need to be a new mini either! (obviously) There's no excuse for there not being dozens of entries in this one. There are so many good painters on Dakka I should get like... NO VOTES and be happy with it!
Nice,
@ gits did you make that?....Because whoever did that has an oooooooooomasing idea ....Sorry if it is your beacuse im going to have to kae that!!!
It is awesome, I have seen it done before in a gw store, but not with the flickering flame, it was cool then, but so much better with more "realistic" flame lighting
Not my idea but oh so brilliant! I went out to WalMart last night and bought a bunch of tea lights. My wife says she has some pillow stuffing and a glue gun so I'll make those this morning for my impending game with Thing 1.
He's playing marines and wanted me to play necrons, 2000 pts. Of course he took every assault unit he owns! LOL Since 2000 pts is nearly every necron figure he has... I don't have too many options with my list. But... we'll see.
Take a peek at Sweet_Potato's post on the thread talking about what they want for a pic. I acutally couldn't use a white background as it overloaded the light sensor on my camera, but I found some tan fabric in my wife's sewing closet that I think worked just as well. At least I didn't get any feedback that my pic wasn't sufficient.
I just built my first. Thing 1 and I are embroiled in a game right now, so it might get shown off here pretty soon. They are ridiculously easy to make.
He's playing marines, I've got his necrons. Cheeky git took a full squad of vanguard with NO upgrades (save a relic blade on the srg). Bugger dropped and wiped out one of my warrior squads on turn 2! (every reserve unit on both sides came in on turn 2, unfortunately that meant all 3 of my warrior squads were available for destruction right away...
I'm not out of tricks yet though... I'm taking pics so there will be a full battle report when we're done.
Disjointed Entity wrote:I'd love (if it's not too much trouble) a Jump Pack marine, I loved the one you made for the GMS, it was ace. It'll be joining the ranks of the Chaos Lord's retinue, thought it'd look nice with a mixed command squad. If it's not too much hassle mind.
The marine you were referring to was one-0f-a-kind... HOWEVER... I promise to make you some kind of jump packed marine that's just as cool... Let me think about it for a while and see what I can come up with.
dantay_xv wrote:Looking forward to seeing the batrep.
Well,Mother's Day and all we spend the day cleaning and cooking & didn't get to play. Perhaps during the week we'll finish up. I am compelled to announce that I made fantastic omelets for my wife and kids this mooring. For dinner, in front of my in-laws... I prepared perfect teriyaki shrimp on the grill and mouth watering BBQ Baby-back ribs in the smoker.
Thanks Gits, it doesn't have to be too complicated/intricate; I'd just like one of your renegade MW Jump Troopers!.
By the way, I appear to have run out of wash and my FLGS is out so you may need to wash the model unless I can get my hands on some soon
Some good shots of the army there Gits,it's allways nice when someone else likes your army enough to put it up! Where is adepticon held? I would love to fly over and attend and maybe enter the crystal brush but my wife would need persuading and and alternate activity to do whilst I was there!
Freehanded an "X" onto the shoulder pad of WM's marine
Got the airbrush out and sprayed a whole bunch of armorcast pipes their base colors (terrain painting).
Sprayed an old Predator and a new land raider their grey basecoats in prep for painting them over as Doom Eagles for my son.
Started a bit of a re-vamp on 3 shoota-boyz that were broken and in dire need of re-painting. Can't have enough shoota boyz.
Making a kind of Japanese mon for him... it's how I will designate squads in my post-crusade army. I suppose the X as an initial element was a poor choice as it conflicts with existing imperial heraldry, but I'll try to make it unique enough that it doesn't get confused. That... and the plasma cannon should help dispel confusion.
Gits, I'm sure this question has been answered sooooooo many times in this thread. I know you use an airbrush, but what brushes do you use for normal work?
Lol, give him a jetpack and a big sword, then it would confuse people. The traditional codex symbol for assault squads is an X with arrow points at the end of each corner of the X
However a Japanese mon, would be cool as it would be in keeping with the theme of the army. Go for it Gits, I am sure it will be different and very distinctive from all the other vanilla marines out there.
Alfndrate wrote:Gits, I'm sure this question has been answered sooooooo many times in this thread. I know you use an airbrush, but what brushes do you use for normal work?
Actually I don't think anyone's asked me that before. I use a mix of cheap brushes for the rougher work. I have 4 Windsor & Newton brushes of various sizes... but they are very expensive. Beautiful brushes though. Kids don't touch them. I also like Kolinsky Sables as my nice but not super expensive brushes. They're much more affordable and are very nice.
I've been looking for alternatives since I let one of my friends borrow my brushes. Got back 2 of my GW brushes, one had several bristles cut off and it doesn't hold paint (or its shape) very well, another brush came back literally covered in paint, and my fine detail brush came back with like 2 bristles... I cried a little... So he gets to keep those, and I get to look for new brushes :(
I have two brush cups... one with brushes that my kids can use, one with brushes that they cant... "and never the twain shall meet".
I agree with WM, the Army Painter brushes are decent every-day brushes and definitely better than the GW ones (hate those handles).
If I get the mon completed tonight I'll post a pic of WM's finished marine. I like the highlighting & shading I did on the X but it might be just too close to the assault symbol to keep. We'll see what I can come up with.
I use the standard GW brushes for base coats etc as they are fairly good quality for the money and then I use GW Citadel Masters brush set for any detail or final layer work.
The Citadel Masters brushes are excellent quality but the set was around £80 I think for five brushes but you did get a cool wooden box, Bolter shell for water, brush cleaning
soap and a brush cleaning cloth. I must say it made my life so much easier when my brushes kept their point! There might not be many of those still floating about though.
Yep that was my first impression too but I borrowed one from the manager at my local store and was impressed just how well they held a point and then thought it was worth it.
For those of you who aren't DCMs... you've been missing one of the best bits of fiction since IceAngel started writing about his chapter (speaking of which... where is that slaggard?). Fellow DCM WarOne has been writing snippets of fiction to go along with many of the GMS marines. A couple of which are my Mantis Warriors. I've obtained permission from this talented author to post his work here, and in order to keep everything in context, I'm just going to copy the relevant sections of his post without editing.
First up: The fiction associated with my GMS Sternguard for whalemusic360.
Sternguard Marine Unikal, Mantis Warrior- Silenced-Bolter, Silenced Bolt Pistol (Gitsplitta) Assault Marine Sergeant Grimswald, Sons of Guilliman- Power Sword, Plasma Pistol (schank23)
The Wraiths
Spoiler:
Everything went horribly wrong the minute the Mantis Warrior fired his silenced bolter into what he assumed was the huddled shadows of men in the near-dark dusk of Macharian VI.
They stood over the carcasses of other humans, silently flensing their flesh off, carrying it on their backs as they did their grim work. Unikal thought they were cannibals scavenging a fresh killing field. The minute he squeezed a round into their backs, the metal clanking against metal, he knew that what he faced was not normal. When they jerked up and stared at him with glowing green eyes, he knew what he faced was not human.
Dashing through the scrublands scorched by boiling acid rain and stunted by the march of innumerable armies, the Space Marine struggled in vain to escape his pursuit. The knife fingered abominations he easily outpaced. However, he was being hounded by the grim specters of cobra-hooded snake men, floating in silent pursuit of Unikal.
The Mantis Warrior turned to fire a muted bolter round into the trio of floating wraiths stalking him. Like the other metallic creations he fired against, his ammo plinked off their armored hides. Firing again, the round was true, but somehow passed right through their form. Cursing, he pumped his legs as hard as he could. Genetically enhanced as he was, the distance between the man and the machines was cut by inches every minute. Soon, they would be in striking distance to fleece him of his armor and his skin. As a product of the geneseed of heroes, he vowed to live on to report what he found.
Doing the calculations in his head, it would take over an hour before he got back to the closest Imperial Guard encampment on the Trampled Plains. Between his speed and the speed of his pursuit, he wouldn’t make it halfway there. He had to think. They were immune to his guns; the plain itself was perfectly flat for kilometers around. He had no way to communicate his situation. He cursed loudly again.
He had to think of something!
Looking back, his death was apparent. He wouldn’t make it!
So with grim resolve, he abruptly skidded to a halt and spun back the way he came. Out from his holster came his bolt pistol. He charged right at the lead creature, diving under swiping talons and firing into its serpentine abdomen. It screeched inhumanely, an ancient language that predated everything the Space Marine knew. A shiver of fear climbed Unikal’s spine, but he suppressed it as he scrambled from underneath the floating thing to backpedal away. Its movements jerked around in the air, as finally one or more of his bolter rounds had actually caused damage.
The other two monstrosities lazily floated into range. With all his martial skill, he fended off their claws and the swipe of their barbed tails. Up close, he noticed that they seemed to shimmer in and out of reality, their bodies not whole at times, others perfectly solid as his arm shuddered under hammer-like blows.
He fired off two more shots at close range, but with his concentration focused on defense, he could not mount a proper offense. Finally, he noticed the third and last creature entering the fray. It circled around in a wide arc to get behind him. Once it did, The Mantis Warrior knew he would die.
But the creature never got completely around him. Loud and concentrated gunfire erupted in his ear drums. He noticed in his periphery the zip of heated bullets as they riddled the jerking and spasming form of the creature.
“For the Emperor!” was the battlecry as several Space Marines charged to stand shoulder to shoulder with Unikal. The odds suddenly favored the Mantis Warrior as the combined might of five battle-tested warriors felled the two remaining hooded specters of death they faced.
With combat abated, Unikal allowed the exhaustion to overwhelm him as he finally reached his body’s absolute limit. Two of his fellow battle brothers grab his arms and helped him stagger to an ammo crate they hauled from the confines of a nearby parked rhino transport. Lead eyed, he stared up at the leader of the squad who stood flanked by his men.
He was a Son of Guilliman from the look of his checkered white and blue armor. He led a disparate group of marines that came from other chapters, some from those he knew, others that he couldn’t even vaguely recall. A cackling power sword was held defensively in his hand. The other hovered closed to a plasma pistol strapped to his belt. He stared down at Unikal with a furrowed brow, quietly sizing up the man he rescued.
“Battle brother, what are you doing this far out from your base?” he asked.
The Mantis Warrior sighed and tried his best not to sound tired. “Recon. I was attached to the Banarian V’s 332nd Regiment. I was tasked by Colonel Drakun to find and eliminate any enemy scouts that could be trying to find the remnants of their fallen comrades.
“I found these things on the field, stalking the dead and taking their flesh. These ones here pursued me,” he gestured toward where the dead metallic creatures lay. He froze in surprise. The corpses were gone.
The marines surrounding their sergeant quickly snapped into action, filtering out to find out where they went. The Son of Guilliman ordered his rhino crew to turn on the searchlights.
“By the Emperor’s Might…” he began to maledict. He caught himself ahead of completing the curse and turned to Unikal, who was as wide eyed as the man who saved him.
“Vanished?” he questioned as his men barked out negatives to any hostile presence in the vicinity.
The Mantis Warrior nodded his head. “These creatures hounded me for kilometers. They can…phase out of existence. I tried hitting them with bolter rounds and physical blows. Sometimes they shimmered out of existence.”
The two men stared at each other in understanding. What just happened tonight needed to be reported, and quickly.
“Come with me into the rhino,” the sergeant bade. “We have a communication array inside. We need to report this to Chapter Master Calabeck.”
With a strong grasp, the Son of Guilliman marine lifted the tired soldier off the crate.
With a questioning stare, Unikal asked, “Wait…before we go inside, please tell me the name of my savior. I owe you a debt for my life today.”
“Son…you may call me Grimswald, a Son of Guilliman.” His stern façade softened. “And today marine, for what you found, we may have to owe you all our lives.”
Next, the story of Inushi (my GMS Mantis Warrior Penitent for IceAngel): I'll start with the bit of fiction that I wrote, then follow with WarOne's follow up. Best part is, with a little imagination this doesn't necessarily negate Ice's use of the character.
Sergeant Tano Inushi, Mantis Warriors- katana, plasma pistol (Gitsplitta) Inquisitor Heth Fernix- no representative model
The Iron Torch Incident (by Gitsplitta)
Spoiler:
Darius Stone, Scoutmaster of the Mantis Warriors strode purposefully though the halls of the Imperial Space Station “Iron Torch”, his brow furrowed and his mind half a sector away where his charges fought a savage beast of an ork called “The Gitsplitta”… whatever that was… and his mindless hordes in one of the endless “Waaaghs” that threatened the Imperium. At his side, Sergeant Inushi, a former pupil and now full brother in the chapter matched his pace… It was clear from the relaxed and confident facial expression that the young man failed to fully comprehend the complexity or peril inherent in their current circumstance. He was one of the brightest in the first crop of scouts that had been provided to the Mantis Warriors upon their return to Imperial Space. His physical prowess, mental acuity and fierce devotion to the Emperor made him a perfect candidate and he did not disappoint. Within the first week of training he had established himself as squad leader amongst the cadre of scouts, and when he at last became a full brother of the chapter, the fact that he was chosen to lead one of the newly constituted tactical squads surprised no one. Like most young men however, he was head strong with a tendency to shoot off his mouth with the same ease as his plasma pistol… never considering that the situation (or gun) could over-heat and cause a sudden crisis.
“I don’t understand why we’re here Darius, this is a waste of time!” said Inushi to the Scoutmaster.
“We are here my brother, to give a full accounting of the ork cult you found on CygnusX-328.”
“Yes, yes, I understand that!” snapped Inushi, “What I don’t understand is why we have to be here in-person. I gave a full report to the Captain and he filed it up the chain-of-command. While we waste our time in this station stuffed to overflowing with doughy, vacuous and utterly useless Imperial bureaucrats our brothers are fighting and dying without us! We are still far too few to sustain a campaign like this while key personnel are sent to satisfy the curiosity of Imperial bean counters!”
The calm and confident visage of Inushi’s countenance had now been replaced by one of fierce zeal mixed with mild disgust.
Darious answered in a calm and measured voice. “Allow me to remind you, young brother, of the reasons for our summons. The “Bug Boy” cult that you uncovered in Gitsplitta’s Bad Moon clan is unlike any other orkish entity encountered in this sector. It has used it’s contact with our chapter as a focal point for their natural ferocity and creativity. They have begun to emulate our chapter, our ways of battle, even going so far as to strip the dead of their gear or mounting raids on our supply lines and outposts for the singular purpose of equipping themselves. As a result they have become a much more effective fighting force than a typical ork mob could ever achieve. All of the ork’s natural fury and cunning combined with superior weaponry and tactics. It is nearly unprecedented in the annals of Imperial history and a cause for great concern.”
“Nearly?” asked Inushi.
“Yes, well… I remember attending an Ultramarine security briefing roughly two centuries ago while I was studying under Telion. Intelligence had come to them of an entire ork warband who dressed and were loosely organized as if they were Dark Angles. At the time the information had not be confirmed, but perhaps it was an indication that a new phase of orkish evolution has begun and the beasts have added functional mimicry to their already long list of instinctual skills.” answered Stone.
“Understood” said Inushi “but I still don’t see why they had to pull us out of the field to conduct their investigations. Everything we know is in the report. What can they possibly gain from bringing us here? Why is our report on the subject not simply accepted as fact?”
Stone stopped, spun and caught his young companion by the bicep… bringing him to a sudden and less than dignified halt. Inushi, surprised and somewhat irritated by this sudden assertion of force by his old mentor, tried to pull back… but Stone’s fist might as well have been made of ceramite, for Inushi could not dislodge himself from the Scoutmaster’s grip. When Inushi met his gaze, a feeling came over him that he hadn’t felt since he was a scout… deep respect, devotion tinged with love… and fear.
“Because, my son… we are Mantis Warriors." Said the Scoutmaster through a clenched jaw, lowering his voice so that only Inushi would hear. "Everything we do is suspect. We have been forgiven on paper but most of the Astartes who fought against us still live, and still view us as traitors to the Imperium. We were sent into the Maelstrom on crusade not to eliminate the Astral Claws but to be eliminated ourselves, so the Imperium would be rid of us without the embarrassment of a formal purge.”
“Yet you survived.” replied Inushi in a hushed tone.
“Aye, we survived.” Stone’s words were guttural… primal in their tone like the growl of a Fenris wolf. “But we are not forgiven… not by those who’s blood was spilt on the fields of Badab , not by the Imperial technocrats who gained power from our banishment, or by the single-minded members of the Inquisition who will seek any excuse to send us back into oblivion. Remember it is He whom we serve, but we must treat with “them” to survive for His service.
“Damn the Inquisition!” Inushi blurted out much too loudly… “Faithless bastards hiding in their citadels and passing judgment on faithful servants of the Emperor, all to preserve their own lust for power.”
“We’ve earned this fate boy!” Stone’s cold rebuke struck Inushi to the core. “And if you don’t learn to mind your tongue you will do yourself and our chapter irrevocable harm!”
Cowed for the moment, Inushi fell silent and contemplated his elder’s words. Stone released his grip and moved forward brusquely while Inushi fell in beside him. At length they came to a pair of ornate, arched doors nearly 10 meters high. “The excesses of the Inquisition never cease to amaze me.” muttered Stone almost unconsciously before deciding to take his own advice and keep his mouth shut.
As they approached they were met at the door by a woman with a blonde top-knot. “Are you ready for your de-briefing?” she asked.
“Aye” said Stone.
“Very well then, follow me.” she said and together the trio entered the vault-like room.
…
After many hours of what felt more like a trial than a debriefing, Stone and Inushi found themselves returning through the long corridors to the shuttle which would return them to the "The Green Menace", the Mantis Warrior frigate which had brought them. Considering what had transpired over the last several hours it had gone about as well as could be expected. With Stone to guide him, Inushi kept his temper in check and stuck to the facts, even amidst the veiled (and not so veiled) threats and innuendos of that golden-haired bitch of an inquisitor. Unfortunately Stone had been able to glean very little about what the Inquisition knew or was looking for during the debriefing, but he couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. Considering how hostile an examiner the inquisitor was, there were areas of weakness in Inushi’s testimony which even Stone noted, yet they were not pursued. Whether the inquisitor wasn’t as smart as he thought, was blinded her clear hatred for the Mantis Warriors or had some other, hidden motive he could not be sure.
They finally arrived at the hanger doors. The security check point was designed to allow a single person entry or exit at one time. As was his nature, Stone led the way, anxious to be quit of the station before any other unfortunate circumstances occur. As he stepped into the bay he heard a loud hissing sound from the expulsion of gas followed by a resounding clang of metal on metal just behind him. Hidden bulkhead doors had dropped from pockets in the ceiling separating him from his young charge.
...
The bulkhead had come down impossibly fast. Even with his heightened speed and strength Inushi had no chance to get through before it closed. Inushi instinctively reacted to this threat as he would any other. He dropped and spun, kicking out from the bulkhead as he reached for his katana & plasma pistol and leaping into the center of the corridor where he could maneuver and fight. The hallway however, was empty… even the servitors had disappeared.
“Sergeant Tano Inushi of the Mantis Warriors” the inquisitor’s voice rang out from hidden speakers and echoed throughout the hallway. “You are here by charged with the crime of heresy for calling into question the Will of the Emperor by criticizing the just actions of the Inquistion.”
“You lie!” he cried to the walls and empty spaces.
“Play the tape.” said the disarticulated feminine voice.
From the hollow depths of the station his own words came back to damn him…“Damn the Inquisition!” “Faithless bastards hiding in their citadels and passing judgment on faithful servants of the Emperor, all to preserve their own lust for power.”
As the echoes of his foolish words reverberated through the empty hall, two large sections of hallway wall slid silently into the floor, revealing two full squads of Adeptus Sororitas bearing flamers and meltas… all leveled at the young marine.
“Submit to judgement or be purged where you stand... and your precious Scoutmaster with you.” echoed the Inquisitors voice.
-finis-
And WarOne continues the tale.
The Cell
Spoiler:
“Submit to judgment...”
The words rang against his ears as Sergeant Tano Inushi awoke from his disturbed sleep.
“or be purged where you stand…”
Inushi wished he choose the latter course of action now.
Fully alert and standing up again, the fallen Mantis Warrior looked around his confines. The brig he now occupied for the last several years was his home now. Gone was the days of his former existence with his fellow warriors, fighting in the Emperor’s name and delivering swift justice to those who wronged him or his mentor, Scoutmaster Darius Stone.
“We are Mantis Warriors….”
“We are not forgiven….”
“We’ve earned this fate….”
Inushi replayed the final days of his freedom day after day, every morning he awoke before the Inquisition came down to torture his mind and body, looking for any tiny crack to excuse themselves for more arbitrary punishment on his person.
Inushi dared not strike back. He knew he was valuable to them in more ways than one. His continued existence allowed his friend and teacher to still live…or so they say. The Scoutmaster could be dead by now, as years have ticked away while his pupil had been captive to the whims of the capricious Inquisition.
Sighing, he stretched his bruised muscles and began to perform basic exercises in his spartan cell. The daily routine kept his body in shape despite the minimal room, and allowed him some emotional respite as he pummeled the walls of his cell with scabbed fists. His spirit and body were hardly broken despite the strain levied on him after innumerable days locked away.
The one side of his cell where he could peer out was perpetually kept dark. A trick of magic or technology Inushi could not say. Men came and left through the darkened portal, perhaps watching him every minute of every day. He himself could not penetrate the dark depths.
He didn’t even know where he was.
Performing his final hundred stomach crunches, the space marine then sat up and assumed a cross-legged sitting position, folding his arms and closing his eyes as he began to meditate in the final minutes before the next round of punishments began.
Images flitted by in his semi-conscious state, each one copious coming into perfect crystallization in his mind’s eye.
He remembered the first day that the Mantis Warriors found the promising youth on his home planet of Nihaze III. They took him and the other recruits aboard their Battle Barge, Endless Redemption.
The months blurred by as recruit after recruit was deemed unworthy, either dying or being inducted into the serfs that would service the marines for the duration of their lives. Finally, only Tano Inushi remained standing, alone amongst the crop of young men that had succeeded in becoming a scout.
Years then progressed as surgery, indoctrination, and training honed the reckless young Mantis Warrior into a perfect killing machine. He learned under the wing of his beloved Scoutmaster Darius Stone. He learned the tortured history of his fellow marines and the path of redemption they were imposed on, and he learned the depths to which select chapter mates succumbed to their “Battle-haze,” a flaw in the geneseed that granted them greater senses and strength, but at the cost of their will.
It all culminated into the celebration that took place where Tano Inushi stood at long last was considered a full Mantis Warrior, and placed into the Tactical Squad that he would one day lead when the prior Sergeant fell in battle.
Then the fated day came when the Inquisition took that all away from him. They overheard his heretical words against the fate they imposed upon his chapter. They took him away and sealed him in this cage. They gifted him with pain every single day. Their laughs and accusations marred the mind of Inushi, tempering his stoicism with well hidden fury he fueled in the dark pit of his mind of the day he would finally be released-
The cell door clinked, and swung away into the dark void. The sergeant opened his eyes and sighed. Standing up, he turned to face the bleak prospects of the day, the trudging trio of guards along with the Inquisitor who would mete out his daily punishment. It didn’t matter who was the Inquisitor who stepped through that door, in Inushi’s head they were all the same blurred torturer that had cast him into this hole.
Today what strode through the door was one man who stepped through the blackness into the metal cell. He held in one hand something long and thin wrapped in cloth. The other hand rested on a holstered plasma pistol.
“Sergeant Tano Inushi of the Mantis Warriors,” the Inquisitor stated. “You are free.”
All the emotions drained out of the stunned marine as he gaped at this man. Looking more closely at his features and power armor, he noticed for the first time that this weathered and seasoned servant of the Emperor was not one he had seen before. Composing himself quickly, he narrowed his eyes and scoffed.
“Free? You’re mocking me. This must be yet another penitence I am being tested with now. Am I right?”
The Inquisitor shook his head and tossed the wrapped cloth to the marine, who caught the item gingerly. Still eyeing the man, he undid the cloth covering...
And felt the touch of familiar steel to his hands. Inushi jerked his eyes downward.
His katana was once again reunited with him.
Inushi slumped to his knees, reverently holding his favored weapon. With tears in his eyes, he looked to the Inquisitor questioningly.
“Your imprisonment has been hereby revoked by me, Heth Fernix. You are now taken under my wing for the duration of this Crusade. Here, you may need this. It’s not your original weapon, but I hear you liked to use plasma pistols.
The Inquisitor unholstered his weapon and handed it to the kneeling Inushi, who accepted it as he rose, his mind racing with the sudden turn of events. One question did sprout in his thoughts that he had to state.
“Deathwatch?” queried the young marine.
Again Heth shook his head no. “I am afraid we don’t have the time to go through all the pomp and ceremony for you to be inducted. Suffice to say, you were brought to Macharian VI for a different purpose. Take my hand, as you may get dizzy from passing through the null light barrier.”
Inushi took the man’s hand and stepped into the blackness after him. A wave of nausea passed through him, but he clenched his teeth and overcame the momentary sickness.
A great hanger loomed all around him as he came out of the depths of his cell. Something was not right. He was marched down a corridor to his enclosed room all those years ago when he last saw the outsides of his imprisonment. A few steps more and he spun quickly to see where he was entombed for four years.
His cell was nothing more than a giant metal crate.
“How…” Inushi began to question, but was cut off by the Inquisitor.
“Gyro-stabilizers kept you from knowing when we moved your cell around. You’ve been in over a dozen different prisons over your tenure in that cage. Rather ingenious as we have had problems keeping space marines captive for long periods of time, especially when those said marines were actually threats to the Imperium rather than misguided or misled souls. You I judged were one of those souls.”
The Inquisitor swept his hand across the length of the giant chamber. Flying transports flew about and running Imperial Naval men ran across the deck of the mile long hanger. Over a dozen massive doors were bare and open to the recesses of space. All the hanger doors that Inushi could see were positioned in orbit to view the massive planet below.
“I was brought here…” questioned the Mantis Warrior. “This is Macharian VI I assume? Why was I brought here to Macharian VI?”
Fernix turned to meet the taller man eye to eye. His look was one of determination and resolve. “I brought you here because you deserved a second chance. The Inquisition is not always right in who they condemn as heretics. Thankfully, I learned of your imprisonment before embarking on the Crusade. I pulled up your files and found your record impressive. Thus I called in some favors from within the organization and got you stored aboard the first wave of transports that came to this planet.”
The Inquisitor never broke his stare, keeping Inushi pinned in place. “You skills are needed. You were a fine scout within the Mantis Warriors, and a far better marine once you were inducted into their ranks. The Scoutmaster I talked to personally gave you a high recommendation despite your mouth…”
Inushi drowned out the Inquisitor. His mind tunneled as he conjured up an image of the man that was his mentor, his friend, and in everything but the biological sense, his father.
He still lived. And with that one final doubt cast aside, Inushi knew what he had to do.
“…so that is why we need you…”
The marine snapped back to reality. “Heth Fernix,” interrupted Inushi.
The Inquisitor closed his mouth. He nodded for the sergeant to continue.
Inushi kneeled. “I solemnly swear under the light of the Emperor’s grace, and upon the honor of my chapter, I pledge myself now and forever to serve you in any capacity you command. Task me with whatever you may desire to do to me, so long as I continue to serve the Emperor I will not falter nor fail.”
At last, Inushi understood what his mentor had spoken of as the Mantis Warrior’s duty to absolve themselves of the taint of suspicion. Their traitorous actions during the Badab War had forever marred the chapter in the eyes of his fellow man. Each one of the marines would always stand on a precipice of doubt and insecurity so long as others viewed them differently. The chapter as a whole continued not only to fight for the honor of the Emperor, but also to earn the respect of others who didn’t see them in the same way.
Inushi swore to himself he would prove his loyalty to the Imperium, even if it meant doing it one person at a time.
Heth took a moment to judge the marine. “Very well. I accept your oath of loyalty. It wasn’t needed, but I thank you for speaking what I saw in your heart. You were misguided…but now it is time to bring you back into the Emperor’s light.
“Sergeant Tano Inushi. You were naked with nothing but a loincloth and your resolve for such a long time. Now you have your weapons to carry in the Emperor’s name. I will also give upon you a suit of power armor. I will also restore your status as a sergeant once more. You will be given your own squad of men and command over them.
“Now then…” the Inquisitor said, motioning for Inushi to rise. “Enough of the pretty words. We have a task to perform in service to the Emperor. What would you like to know?”
Sergeant Tano rose. With his mind clear and his doubt and fury dissolved into mist, he began to question the Inquisitor about the nature of the Crusade…
The Doom Eagle tactical squad rent the Tyranid line with bolter fire. Anareas Colaster marched with his silvered comrades, lending his own fire to the mass ripping apart the swarm of extragalactic horrors.
Claws and talons bristled to move past the wall of fire as the creatures attempted to breach the choke point of the narrow crevice in the rock wall. The Frostdepth Mountains had already claimed the Cadian 1024th, and several other tactical squads had fallen within the winding valleys, shattered stone outcroppings, and frigid highlands of this especially nasty stretch of Tyranid infested land.
Only one marine managed to return and tell the tale of the encroaching Tyranid menace. The call came up for the scouring of the Imperial flank high in these forsaken mountains. Brother Anareas along with his brethren were the first to answer; their dour countenance not once flinching or despairing at the duty that other failed marines had paid for with their lives. Inside, they already counted themselves dead, their lives forfeit to the greater glory of the Emperor.
And now they found themselves cornered in a twisting labyrinth of high, impassible stone walls, obscured from reconnaissance craft desperately trying to find them and extract the beleaguered soldiers. Not like cornered rats did they issue forth their heated ammunition into alien hide, but with the stern and precise strokes of a dour surgeon going about his grim practice.
The sergeant ordered several men to retract from the front line and reload; it had to be done. Already the ammo was dwindling to almost nothing, and soon close combat would ensue. Brother Anareas kept up his fire with the other five men holding the line.
The screeching hormagaunts finally began to press in. With a muted prayer to the Emperor, Anareas watched as his sergeant delve right into the throng of Tyranid monsters, laying about himself with his smaller bolt pistol and chainsword. Knowing he was buying time and attention for his men to continue their volume of fire, Anareas and the line continued to shoot, aiming as carefully away as they could in gutting any creature that passed their commanding officer.
A minute passed and the other Doom Eagles rejoined the line, their fire helping with each passing second in pushing the swarm back. Like a tempest born of metal and silver, the sergeant held against his lesser foes. Slowly, the Doom Eagles advanced, attempting to clear the crevice and the shadow of the looming canyon wall.
But their advance ended abruptly as a monstrously large Tyranid form pushed its way forward, battering and stomping the smaller bioforms away. It bellowed an unearthly cry as the Tyranid swarm surrounding the Doom Eagles slackened, clearing a path for the solitary space marine defiantly standing in its way. With sword and pistol in hand, Anareas watched as their leader took his stance and accepted the charging carnifex directly. The creature’s massive jaws snapped forward as the chainsword connected uselessly against its armored hide. Up the Doom Eagle was lifted as the creature broke through the crevice walls and slammed its power armored foe into the canyon wall. Cracks and fissures broke the solid stone and the ground shook in protest as the carnifex’s rampage abated with its sudden stoppage.
It reared back to reveal the sergeant’s mangled and crushed form still embedded in the wall, his blood and gore staining the impact. Without a moment to contemplate, Anareas and his battle brothers drew their fire at the creature in a resolute attempt to avenge their fallen leader. The creature turned and reared itself up high, bringing its impossibly sharp and man sized talons to bear. It began scything the marines as it began harvesting, cleaving in twain the power armor protecting the marines.
Not once did any marine flinch. As the smaller swarm of creatures began to leap up and pull down the Doom Eagles not fated to die by the carnifex, a bloodied brother Anareas noted the last thing he thought of was the fact that everything he cared for was already dead, left behind on a cindered Imperial world where the Doom Eagles adopted him.
It struck him as curious that that was his last thought.
Sergeant Tano Inushi cursed. A rather withering pox, he directed it at the genestealer trying to get within his defense, its four arms darting in and out looking for the quick kill. Inushi denied it with three quick swings of his katana, slicing two arms off with an equal number of strikes, and the third impaling the creature in its chest. Gurgling purplish blood, it slid off his blade as he assessed the combat within the transport.
Everyone on the transport was fighting for their lives. Their intent was to get the aircraft to the awaiting command ship above. Mercy’s Redoubt however was nominally an oversized but slow Imperial Guard Valkyrie. Inushi and his tactical squad commandeered the space vessel to transport vital info held by three Imperial agents. Unfortunately, they didn’t account for the cargo crates holding a three score count of genestealers waiting to ambush them.
Inushi was supposed to be guarding with his life the three Imperial agents. All three were all rushing towards the beleaguered cockpit pilots who were swarmed with a host of the vile invading creatures. Taking charge was the Inquisitor Heth Fernrix himself. He fought with sword and pistol, deftly sidestepping genestealer attacks and pushing them into the path of his two more formidable comrades.
The first man Inushi recognized as Watch-Captain Alexander smashed his powerfist against the swirling storm of claws and talons attempting to rend him. The other he knew as Rocus Qalu, a Blood Dragon marine reknown for his ability to wield two thunderhammers at the same time. His twin hammers crushed any xenos combatant that was pushed his way by the Inquisitor.
As for Inushi’s ten man squad, only three remained. Two thirds of the genestealers were dead, but the rest still pressed in undeterred. Inushi ran towards his remaining three soldiers, all of whom were veteran marines in their own right. The Dust Devil marine he knew as Brother Lenxicus had only his boltgun remaining. He fought with determined zeal, trying to keep his fellow marine the young scout Flesh Tearer Ziolus from getting ripped apart by a trio of talon tipped terrors. Both men fought along with a third comrade who suddenly got pulled down before Inushi joined their defensive stance.
“Flaming slag piles!” shouted Inushi as he leaped into the fray in an attempt to save the falling marine. His plasma pistol smoked as his shot three rapid fire rounds into their chitinous backsides. Two fell to smoking holes that penetrated into right their spinal cords, but the third turned from his gored victim, claws glistening with freshly coated blood. Inushi calmly stepped into its reach, dodged the first swipe of its talon, and did a quick and clean cut from side to side, causing the startled creature’s torso to slide right off its legs and tumble dead to the ground before it even knew what killed it.
Inushi silently prayed for the dead marine he could not save and turned to help his last two comrades, who now had gained room to fire forth their boltguns, causing the remaining five genestealers to face them to finally break their assault, scattering towards the empty crates that they previously hid in. Brothers Lenxicus and Ziolus merely reached for their krak grenades and hurled them into the cover the aliens took, the resulting explosions causing wailing screeches and tattered limbs to fly about.
Waiting to make sure the aliens were truly dead, Inushi and his men searched the containers to find that the final alien attackers were dead or dying, finishing off the few that weakly clung to life with bolter rounds the size of fat fingers. Clearing the back of the transport, the last three survivors of Inushi’s tactical squad moved forth to meet the carnage that surrounded the other two marines, who stood vigil over the doorway leading to the cockpit.
“Everything is clear at this end,” announced Sergeant Inushi as he approached the two Captains. They were busy cleaning their weapons off, the bodies of dozens of genestealers surrounding them not fazing them in the least.
“Good work Sergeant Inushi,” said Watch-Captain Alexander as he appraised his gun one final time before sheathing it. “We will pay respects for the fallen once we finally get into the hanger bay.”
“And double check to make sure that all presence of the Tyranids is cleaned from this ship,” added Captain Rocus as he laid his thunderhammers to rest on the wall. “The ship will have to cleanest from bow to stern.“
Tano nodded. He looked around. “Where is the Inquisitor?” he asked.
Rocus pointed with his thumb to the cockpit door. “The pilots were all dead. Luckily, one of them set the machine spirit to keep ascending. He is now attending the machine spirit with rituals and prayers in order to keep us on target.”
The sergeant nodded again, and then frowned. “Do we know how these blasted heaps of Ork midden get aboard our ship, or why they were here in the first place?”
Captain Rocus was about to answer before the Watch-Captain held up a hand and interjected. “We don’t know exactly why. It could have been a random infestation of this ship while it was in the warzone against the Tyranids to the west.”
Inushi knew first hand after months of campaigning that the Tyranid swarm was advancing inexorably and was using unconventional means to ambush and demoralize the average Imperial soldier. While it was uncommon for Imperial vehicles to be infested, nonetheless several nasty outbreaks of genestealers and ripper swarms lying in ambush until the crews returned to base had occurred. The results were particularly brutal.
Yet Inushi could not believe that entirely. The Deathwatch marine stopped Rocus from his explanation. Perhaps he was hiding something.
“But you don’t think that was it random?” pried Inushi as he directed the question towards the Inquisitorial marine.
Watch-Captain Alexander shrugged. “It is possible they were waiting in secret to ambush the next ship leaving for the capital ships above. As far as I know, the Tyranids have been unable to get any forces outside the atmosphere.”
“That’s still speculative. Don’t you find it unusual that the Tyranids knew what vehicle to infest in order to get into the atmosphere?”
The Watch-Captain frowned. “Tyranids are known for their adaptability. They’ve been at war with us for decades, and have proven adaptable to our technology and tactics. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they could target a specific ship, especially if this ship was in a recent warzone and know it is capable of space to ground transportation.”
Inushi knew instantly where the Captain’s logic faulted him. He looked around at the cargo bay once more before turning his attention back again to the two Captains. “I don’t buy any of that. This ship is a cargo transporter primarily. If you look at the outside, the paint is still relatively new. If you see inside here, it is clean and free of any marks, especially ones that would be made by armed guards coming and going with the shipments. This ship hardly looks like it saw any use at all.”
Inushi mentally held his breath. He knew he walked a fine line now. “The Mercy’s Redoubt was a bloody trap meant specifically for you three. You three were the targets. You know something that they didn’t want coming back to our superiors.” The sergeant narrowed his eyes. “What is so important that you three were marked for death, which caused seven of my men to die here defending you? For their honor, we must know why.”
The tension became palpable. Brothers Lenxicus and Ziolus tightened the grip on their shouldered gun. Captain Rocus inched his hand closer to one of his resting hammers.
Suddenly, the cockpit door hissed opened. Inquisitor Heth stepped out, watching the scene unfold before him.
“Stand down everyone,” he commanded, glaring at all the marines in turn, watching as muscles relaxed and fingers eased off triggers. “I’ll tell you what is going on here.”
Watch Captain Alexander began to protest, but the Inquisitor held up his hand. “I trust the Sergeant and his men as much as I trust any Deathwatch. Remember, I personally command him like I do you. And the Blood Dragon here has also sworn to me as well.”
Captain Rocus Qalu nodded, but said nothing else. Satisfied that order was restored, Heth nodded.
“We three have walked different paths until now,” the Inquisitor began. “Each of us has uncovered a portion of the reason as to why the Crusade is an utter disaster. We have information that could possibly change the course of events here. And maybe, just maybe if the Emperor wills it, could grant us victory upon this planet.
“But we couldn’t tell anyone. The transmissions and reports being sent over Imperial communications are being monitored. I could not chance any of this information to leak. We needed the utmost secrecy and subterfuge to get this far already. If I didn’t track down these two men here, their lives could have been forfeit.”
Inushi still did not understand. “So who are we hiding from then? Are there traitors amongst our ranks? Perhaps there is a genestealer cult amongst the Guard, or even Chaos worshippers infesting our brethren?”
Heth shook his head. “Worse. The ones behind our misfortunes and possible demise are none other than the Necrotyr. We are facing the ancient horror that once almost destroyed our galaxy. We are facing the Necrons.”
Anyway... glad someone else like the army well enough to post their pics. Thanks Wolves for the Wolf God!!
This is Skarvald the Troll-faced from Wolves for the Wolf God!
No need to thank me, I need to thank you for taking the time to paint such a magnificent army. We all know how hard it is to paint yellow.. on anything...
Your army was the highlight at Adepticon for me. See you there next year?
Skarvald the Troll-faced wrote:This is Skarvald the Troll-faced from Wolves for the Wolf God!
No need to thank me, I need to thank you for taking the time to paint such a magnificent army. We all know how hard it is to paint yellow.. on anything...
Your army was the highlight at Adepticon for me. See you there next year?
Skarvald!! Thank you for being so kind and thank you for posting here! There is a trick to yellow... once you figure that out it's no worse than any other color and an airbrush is the great equalizer (though honestly I like the hand painted yellow a bit better... it's a bit richer to my eye). Yes, will definitely be at Adepticon next year. Will have a very different army for the team tourney but the Badab Rebellion, freedom fighting Mantis Warriors may be reprized in some form in the championships (or whatever the 1850 pt. tournament is called).
fatty wrote:he Git Looking great. How is the progress on the missle launchers?
They're sitting there... waiting for me to do the lining with the Trakka Green wash. (about the most tedious part of the whole painting process) You can tell it's tedious by the fact that two nights ago I pulled out the airbrush and found that spraying a bunch of terrain and a couple of vehicles gray was more interesting. Last night was spent fishing off the causeway with my 7-year old... gotta keep my priorities straight. I'll work on them tonight. The tournament I want to use them for is coming up in a couple of weeks so I'd better get on the stick.
Need to finish the shoulder pad on whalemusic's plasma cannoneer too. Think I have a clear idea on a new mon, so I'll probably repaint the pad and solid color then add the design.
Hehe, I'll be there too - Team Tourney for sure! What army... well.. for now that's =I=Top Secret=I=, hehe.
There's a nifty Giveaway on my blog as of... a few hours ago. Give it a shot you might get lucky and it would be cool to see you paint the prize. ;P Tell yer buddies!
Skarvald the Troll-faced wrote:Hehe, I'll be there too - Team Tourney for sure! What army... well.. for now that's =I=Top Secret=I=, hehe.
There's a nifty Giveaway on my blog as of... a few hours ago. Give it a shot you might get lucky and it would be cool to see you paint the prize. ;P Tell yer buddies!
At the moment our team hasn't made up our minds for certain. We think we have a plan, and I'm already working on the army secretly... (shhhhhh!)... but we'll make a final decision in a couple of months.
Will definitely check it out, thanks Skarvald! I probably couldn't give it any better advertisement than you just did. This blog is a monster (well... for a thread-type of blog anyway) & most of my gaming friends stop by here from time to time.
If I find it, I'll upload it. At the moment I don't own it... nor am I even sure what number the WD was where it first appeared.
@dantay: Going to be traditional, generally round in shape. Most mons that I can find were symmetrical though often organic in shape (and indeed in intent... depicting flowers and such). Most are much too complex to carry off but I think I've found a decent one that I can do. With luck I'll have something to show tonight.
- sprayed light gray highlights onto tanks and pipes (terrain). Next comes a light, sprayed on layer of bolt gun metal.
- got the base color of the pad repainted on WM's mantis warrior
- got two of the ML marines lined in green
Be happy to post some pics when there's something worth posting.
Couple of more things I forgot: - I did some green stuff cover up of some of the worst acetone damage on the MLs as dantay suggested, worked just fine. - I also found & purchased 6 more of the missile launchers from a fellow dakkaite, so those combined with the ones I have already should pretty much get me squared away for this army.
So, it was a busy (and late) night, but nothing worth a pic really... just moving things along. Looking closely at the figures it looks as if I had a primer malfunction as the surfaces of the armor are all very grainy However at this point it's too late to strip them and start over, so I'll just have to leave them the way they are. So these will NOT be my best work... (between the melted missile launchers and the grainy paint jobs). But... for now they'll do. If I really can't stand them I'll strip & re-do them some time after the tournament.
Have a cub scout pack meeting tonight (my last as cubmaster I think) but I'll try to get the lining done on the last two guys and the shading done on Kigume's shoulder pad. Might be a lean weekend for painting as my folks are supposed to spend it with us.
The terrain I've been working on is from Armorcast, their industrial pipes which I really love. I've had them for quite a while. Bought one set off e-bay years ago (nicely painted) and another unpainted some time later. So I'm finally getting around to painting the unpainted set. I'd like to buy a considerable number of new pieces, including the refinery that goes with them but the folks at Armorcast are redoing the molds at the moment. I'll wait a bit so I can get pieces out of clean molds. In the mean time I'll make due with what I've got lying around.
Been trying to help Thing 1 make the transition from playing his Doom Eagles as vanilla marines over to blood angels. Frankly a lot of the things we're doing would work perfectly well for a vanilla marine army. Thanks to dantay_xv and Pyriel- I now have enough of the old metal terminators and bits to make him full assault terminator squad. I also traded some old eldar bikes that I was never going to do anything with for a full assault squad (unbuilt) and a little scout ML (of which I need several). The tanks I'm referring to painting are also for his Doom Eagles. A LR Redeemer and an old autocannon/LC pred to match the one he currently has. I've got a new process for painting large metallic things that I'm trying out on both tanks and the pipes. Not sure if it will work mind you... but it's worth a shot. Basically I paint them a mid-tone gray with the airbrush , then add very dark shadows from below and very light highlights from above. Then I go over the whole thing with a thin spray of bolt gun metal (or the vallejo equivalent). My hope is that the tone of the gray underneath shows through the thin metal layer above, effectively giving me a shaded metallic tank. Now I could probably do this with varying colors of metal... but even the vallejo air metals don't spray all that well, so I figure the less metallic spraying I have to do the happier I'm going to be.
Still haven't finished my game with Thing 1... the Doom Eagles and Necrons are frozen in time at the beginning of Turn 3. He just got done dropping his van and termies into my rear and wiping out one of my 3 warrior squads. I have a counter that I've been developing for two turns now (anticipating his assault)... but there's no telling. Luckily, most of the success of my counter does not rely on dice rolls. He could have hit me much worse and effectively nullified my counter, but I just can't get him to not hide a bunch of his troops in the LR (which just sits and shoots all game). Had he deep struck the other half of the terminators on my other flank so I'd have no where to run to... I'd be in real trouble and might well be looking at a turn 4 phase-out.
Hmmm.... sorry, chatty this morning. 40k on my mind but no ability to talk about it with anyone in person so you guys get stuck listening to my rambling.
Gitsplitta wrote:Still haven't finished my game with Thing 1... the Doom Eagles and Necrons are frozen in time at the beginning of Turn 3. He just got done dropping his van and termies into my rear and wiping out one of my 3 warrior squads. I have a counter that I've been developing for two turns now (anticipating his assault)... but there's no telling. Luckily, most of the success of my counter does not rely on dice rolls. He could have hit me much worse and effectively nullified my counter, but I just can't get him to not hide a bunch of his troops in the LR (which just sits and shoots all game). Had he deep struck the other half of the terminators on my other flank so I'd have no where to run to... I'd be in real trouble and might well be looking at a turn 4 phase-out.
Hmmm.... sorry, chatty this morning. 40k on my mind but no ability to talk about it with anyone in person so you guys get stuck listening to my rambling.
For some reason this makes me think of those films where you have a scientist or someone get out of bed and reach for the phone to call thier arch nemesis and say something like "kings pawn to bishop 1..."
Long drawn out game's where you obses over every move for an enternity = win, in my books.
Hello btw, long time lurker. This thread has inspried me a lot. Comeing from someone who has spent the last week painting four marine shoulder pads its great to see other who are also spending a long time painting. Spurs me on no end.
Cheers and keep up the good work.
EDIT: forgot to add, how do you do your eyes. they look reet good?.
It does make it interesting. I'm not really trying to beat him, but I want to make it challenging and help to point out the flaws in his own strategy so he can correct them. His biggest issue as of late is that if you give him a metal box (rhino, LR) he will hide in it. For some applications that's fine... but at the moment he's got about 500 points of infantry out of 1850 hiding in a couple of metal boxes and having no impact on the game. His tac squad in the rhino is totally out of it and given where I'm going will have no effect on the outcome what-so-ever. If he charges his LR forward at top speed, he may get the termies inside into the mix by turn 5. That's IF he blasts forward each turn and IF nothing like an immobilizing or stunning shot from one of my monoliths happens (actually next turn the stationary LR will get jumped by 6 scarab swarms which I hope will glance it into uselessness). 18 auto-hits = 3 auto glances (on 6s) which should at the least stop it from moving for a turn, if not permanently. Since he likes to sit and shoot with his LRs, he'd be so much better off just DSing his termies and letting them get into the mix of battle. Win or lose at least they'd be effecting the outcome. It's one of the reasons for painting up the LR Redeemer... no long range weaponry. Pretty much has to charge forward to be effective which with the addition of the assault termies (next project) might bring him out of his shell a bit.
My eyes are done like gems or lenses rather than glowing like most folks do. I use a "black gem technique". Vent wrote up a great tutorial... look at his list of threads started or look up "black gem" in the tutorials section... you'll find it. It's pretty easy.
Well, I'm making him save up his money to buy his own dex... so I'm safe for a little while. :-)
I can just imagine a bunch of crazed, speed-junkie vampire wanna-bees driving their land raiders full-throttle off the back of a thunderhawk with just enough stabilizing jets to make it land on it's treads... but they take bets on how far the "pilot" will let it tumble before hitting the stabilizers. Like playing "chicken" with the ground.
Oh, new house rule: Whenever a LR deep strikes (or any obviously non-flying vehicle) it creates the crater. The vehicle is not affected by the crater in any way, but once it moves off the crater remains as a normal terrain piece.
So let it be written... so let it be done!
@DE: No worries my friend, will be very happy with the results no matter how humble. Thank you!
Gitsplitta wrote:@graven: A bit therapeutic... I agree.
@Alf: Thank you, I think I did! :-)
@Coyotebreaks: Cheers! Thanks for reading!
It does make it interesting. I'm not really trying to beat him, but I want to make it challenging and help to point out the flaws in his own strategy so he can correct them. His biggest issue as of late is that if you give him a metal box (rhino, LR) he will hide in it. For some applications that's fine... but at the moment he's got about 500 points of infantry out of 1850 hiding in a couple of metal boxes and having no impact on the game. His tac squad in the rhino is totally out of it and given where I'm going will have no effect on the outcome what-so-ever. If he charges his LR forward at top speed, he may get the termies inside into the mix by turn 5. That's IF he blasts forward each turn and IF nothing like an immobilizing or stunning shot from one of my monoliths happens (actually next turn the stationary LR will get jumped by 6 scarab swarms which I hope will glance it into uselessness). 18 auto-hits = 3 auto glances (on 6s) which should at the least stop it from moving for a turn, if not permanently. Since he likes to sit and shoot with his LRs, he'd be so much better off just DSing his termies and letting them get into the mix of battle. Win or lose at least they'd be effecting the outcome. It's one of the reasons for painting up the LR Redeemer... no long range weaponry. Pretty much has to charge forward to be effective which with the addition of the assault termies (next project) might bring him out of his shell a bit.
My eyes are done like gems or lenses rather than glowing like most folks do. I use a "black gem technique". Vent wrote up a great tutorial... look at his list of threads started or look up "black gem" in the tutorials section... you'll find it. It's pretty easy.
I used to be the same. hiding in my rhinos and what not, relying on them a little to much. Then I learnt the joys of of speeding up to a squad within rapid fire range, jumping out and and unloading on them. Good fun and gave me confidence in my squads. Dunno maybe recommend this maneuver.
I'm the opposite. It has taken me some time to realise some of my Orks are (usually) safer *in* their Trukks (especially against other boxes and/or when expecting heavy counter strike measures...)
Yes Arakasi, but do you then leave your trucks sitting along the back edge of the board for most of the game? That's his problem. Using transports for shelter is a good idea, never engaging with the unit or the transport is not (especially if there are no objectives to take).
I've seen enough of your battle reports to know that... A) Your trucks only spend the deployment phase not moving forward, and B) Your boyz have an alarming tendency to bail on them the moment they have half-a-chance... exploded or not.
If only Thing 1 were a little more suicidal with his minis... he'd be a darn tough fight. Actually his maneuver with the termies and vanguard (indeed, even taking a full vanguard squad to begin with) was quite audacious. He just held a little too much back to completely take me out of the picture.
Well, I recall many times using my first squad's rhino as cover, as it has quite the propensity to get carved up and wrecked or at least immobilized early on, just taking shots with the storm bolter from then on and nicknaming it The Wall for all its use. And then the LR is generally just a highly effective stopper, holding up some heavy vehicle killing squad, just thudding at it with thunder hammers while it just fires at other vehicles across the board. Oh, the effectiveness of constantly stopped vehicles
Thing 1 writes his own lists doesnt he? I was thinking, maybe proxy him a DoA army (you write the list just this once, just to show him different tactics) when he gets the 'dex so he hasnt got any vehicles to hide in....a bit 'harsh' maybe, but again, just to let him see how you can use troops without transports?
hey Gits,
I was wondering if i could remember correctly....are you doing some type of Dakka Dakka squad or "community" squad? I saw the other marines that you've recieved and I might be interested (if you would like) to send one of my custom marines to you. it would be cool to send one for you ^_^ (and shouldnt the title be 5/12? ^_- )
OK. Finished the shoulder pad and mon for Brother Kigume. This is a very traditional flower pattern mon, I like the contrast between the stoic beauty of the simple bloom and the incredible violence of the Plasma Cannon.
I'll be shipping this off to whalemusic360 this weekend if all goes well. Hope you like him my friend!
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Revenent Reiko wrote:Thing 1 writes his own lists doesnt he? I was thinking, maybe proxy him a DoA army (you write the list just this once, just to show him different tactics) when he gets the 'dex so he hasnt got any vehicles to hide in....a bit 'harsh' maybe, but again, just to let him see how you can use troops without transports?
Yep, he makes his own lists now in Army Builder... though I give him some suggestions from time to time. Yours is an interesting idea... I may try that. We talked about the game on the way home from school today and we talked about a number of things... be interesting to see if he uses any of it in the battle.
WarPetrie wrote:hey Gits,
I was wondering if i could remember correctly....are you doing some type of Dakka Dakka squad or "community" squad? I saw the other marines that you've recieved and I might be interested (if you would like) to send one of my custom marines to you. it would be cool to send one for you ^_^ (and shouldnt the title be 5/12? ^_- )
Yes. The fluff for my post-crusade army (which I made up) has the chapter essentially "hollowing out" from the center as normal tactical marines get moved into high casualty duties like assault and terminator squads. When they're recalled, rather than moving the marines back into tac squads and ending up with so few marines in any branch that the chapter ends up crippled.. the inquisition provides marines in kind of a pseudo deathwatch role to fill the ranks of the tac squads. So all my tacticals are from other chapters and wear an Inquisition insignia on their right shoulder pad. This serves another purpose by giving the Inquisition intel on the Mantis Warriors "reformation" and convincing the other chapters of the Astartes that the MWs are no longer rebels.
I would be honored to have one of your marines. I am fairly behind on my swaps though and am trying to catch up... so please take a rain check until I can in good conscience accept new trades. (and yes it should be 5/12... fixed thanks)
I really like the mon, how you kept it so neat & symmetrical i will never know (micron pen?). For me the flower ties in nicely for a few reasons. The shape of the bloom makes me think of an expanding ball off plasma exploding out to kill its target. Plasma weaponry is delicate, like flowers, rough handling of either leads to death. The flower could also reflect the MW's own situation/survival.
I also like the yellow pad. It harkens back to their veterans and is a great spot colour to draw in the eye.
Masterfully done.
Nice model, I like the use of purple of both the shoulder pad and plasma cannon. Ties the whole peice together in a nice way. Nice purple in general too.
btw found the tutorial for black gems and had go. Did a relatively nice job on the first eye without thicking about then spen the rest of the night trying to get the other eye to look as good and failed
Mmm tasty Plasma Cannon Marine, the mon suits him so well, dantay has hit it spot on with why too.
Glad i can help with Thing 1 too, just thought that if he couldnt 'hide' his marines, then he may find the value in not 'hiding' his marines.
Two days worth of work... well worth it. My new marine bits box! I made the image big and zoomable just in case you were curious what my bitz collection looked like. (I have no idea why you would care... but I try to keep things user-friendly.)
I got tired of sorting through little baggies. Could never find anything even though I knew I had it. I still have a lot of stuff in baggies... all my beakie stuff, terminators, vehicle bits. This is a big improvement though. Will get one more for the rest of the marine parts and miscellany from the orks and other armies... that should facilitate matters greatly.
Well, all the drawers aren't full of course... but I suspect there's close to 50 marines in there somewhere. Of course most of this I'll never use... those AoBR marines will probably never see the light of day now that Thing 1 has gotten hooked on kit bashing too. For some reason though I like to have options.
Damn Gits, I am impressed as are everyone on here with your palsma guy! I never see them fielded on kneeling legs but it looks great! like he's really bracing something heavy to execute the emperors will.
And your bits! awesome you should start a dakka swap with yourself called Bits from Gits, it'd be a winner for sure, and i'm sure you'd have planty left over to play with. :-)
Problem is I never know what I'm going to need until I need it! I'm afraid I'd swap something vital away and then have to go begging for it all over again!
Thanks for the compliments nerdfest. I really prefer kneeling legs to standing for most "firing" marines... especially heavy or sniper type weapons. Just looks more convincing & realistic.
That is something I really need to get round to doing myself! This is a picture of about half my marine stuff and I have boxes more of other armies!!
Soon as we get our own house I'm sure I'll get round to sorting it all out, even taking it off the sprues will save space! Doesn't this make you feel so organised Gits!
The Hawk is for my brother who is in the RAF, it will be painted up as one of the jets that he actually flew. unfortunately I ruined the canopy with glue which meant a lot of hard work was wasted but I'm hoping that I will be able to paint a reflection on it and then gloss varnish it.
Funny how much discussion this has generated. I hoped it might, but you never know until you post.
It was high time I got myself organized... I was buying a lot of expensive bits from the bits merchants that I didn't really need... or trading for stuff I already had. The big problem though, is that now that I kit-bash everything my ability to build the mini I want gets limited by the fact that I can't find everything I have.
My beakie stuff alone would fill probably 1/3 of another one. Then there's the orks... don't get me started on my orks. At least there isnt much kit bashing involved with the kid's armies (other than Thing 1's marines). Getting that one bin organized cleaned up a huge mess in my studio though... like I said... well worth the expense of the bin and the couple of days it took to sort everything out.
Just had a GREAT game with Thing 2. Kind of a pseudo Apoc game but without any of the stupid Apoc rules. Aff vehicles and walkers on our living room carpet (we started about 9 feet apart). Each side had a super heavy (he had a little old Epicast Stompa (or was it Armorcast?), I had an Eldar Tempest super heavy tank (which is also very old). I made up simple rules for both super heavies. We both had troop transports that were "scoring" and I balanced the points of all the supporting vehicles. It worked well and was really fun!
Took lots of pics and there will be a battle report.
Reaper Man 2020 wrote:The Hawk is for my brother who is in the RAF, it will be painted up as one of the jets that he actually flew. unfortunately I ruined the canopy with glue which meant a lot of hard work was wasted but I'm hoping that I will be able to paint a reflection on it and then gloss varnish it.
Sorry for hijacking the thread, if it's an Airfix kit you could ask for a spare canopy if you have the model name and code for it still, just say it wasn't in the kit but I'm not sure if they charge for it?
I use Clearfix on my clear parts as it doesn't fog them up, I have heard that some use PVA glue, down to preference really with most people.
Reaper Man 2020 wrote:The Hawk is for my brother who is in the RAF, it will be painted up as one of the jets that he actually flew. unfortunately I ruined the canopy with glue which meant a lot of hard work was wasted but I'm hoping that I will be able to paint a reflection on it and then gloss varnish it.
Sorry for hijacking the thread, if it's an Airfix kit you could ask for a spare canopy if you have the model name and code for it still, just say it wasn't in the kit but I'm not sure if they charge for it?
I use Clearfix on my clear parts as it doesn't fog them up, I have heard that some use PVA glue, down to preference really with most people.
Oh didn't realise that you could ask for another one, I still have the box and will get in touch. Don't mind paying for it.
Gitsplitta wrote:No problem about the hijack... any thread bump is a good bump! I've got nothing anyway. Spending the weekend fooling around with my kids. :-)
I am disappointed Although i am hoping you had a good weekend with the Things.Just read WarOne's fluff on Inushi and Anareas Colaster (as well as the others), loved how the DE's kick some Nid butt (up to a point), and how WarOne tied in the original fluff for Inushi too, thanks for sharing the link Gits.
Sorry to disappoint my friend but needs must as the devil drives. Actually the organization spurt I've been going through will greatly facilitate the production of cool models in the future. So it is a necessary part of the process even though no new models get made during the time.
I have been painting a bit... I think working on terrain counts and getting the base work done on Thing 1's land raider and predator counts. Just not working on the Mantis Warriors.
I was only kidding Gits, i definitely know how much organisation helps in the long run (coincidentally, i am in the process of organising my notes so i can revise properly for my exams) so i'll let you off i suppose Dont blame you taking it easier while you do it either.
I realize it's been very quiet on the blog lately. That time of year where things get really hectic at work and at home as well.
I have (as I can) been busy though. I finally got a proper hobby compressor to go with my air brush. It's a Paache compressor with a tank. Louder that the Grex I had briefly but not so loud that it makes me jump and seems to deliver good steady pressure. Also about 1/4 the size of the garage compressor I was using which greatly facilitated my next project... general clean-up. So, I've been trying to clean up and organize my studio, at least the part I use for my gaming activities. I have two bits bins now, with all of my bases & marine stuff properly sorted with the logical exception of vehicles and terminators... though I may have a drawer or two set aside for termie bitz. My whole work area is much cleaner than it used to be and it's becoming more pleasant to work in and easier to stay organized. All very good. If I think if it I'll take a pic when I get the last bits sorted out and everything is put away neatly.
I did a rare thing and actually purchased some GW models at my FLGS in order to beat the price hikes. Now I don't need much... but I did want a couple of modern rhinos to use with the GMS swap squads for my Mantis Warriors Penitent. So with a little bit of a discount from the store (standard) I'm set for several more trades.
I have actually been painting. Did a bunch of airbrush work on a Land Raider and Predator for Thing 1's Doom Eagles. They were experiments to see if airbrushing metals on large objects works (or more accurately... if I like the results). The air brushing is done and I'll probably wash them myself before handing them over to be finished by the upstart. It worked OK. They don't look the same as the tanks that were hand painted silver then washed... but I'm not sure if they're better or worse. I really won't know until they're fully painted and we can do a side-by-side.
I've also been working on some Armorcast industrial pipes... also an experiment with airbrushing metals. These I like for sure. (actually these are some of my favorite terrain pieces). I've got them done save for the details. When I get that done I'll post a pic. Painting these has been a long process... not that they're so complicated but there's a lot of steps with appreciable drying times in-between so it's kind of exciting to be this far along. Perhaps by tomorrow I'll have something to show.
- I now know exactly how I'm going to use them. - I've been in consultation with experts on some painting questions I had. - The special bases I ordered for them have arrived. - The other main special bits I ordered for them have not arrived yet, but I don't expect them for another week or so. - I stll need to get one bit for the sergeant, which is probably what I'll be modeling first.
Once the last of the bits come in I can begin them whenever I want... but I have soooo many other projects to do, including several trades that are way overdue... It's hard to make time for it all. I think I will set these aside until I know I have time to do the whole squad... or at least until I can't stand to wait any more. Actually I'll probably start the building process fairly soon but won't show any pictures until I'm ready to begin the painting.
That's not actually the kind of bottle I was referring to. I was thinking more along the lines of a medicine bottle... there... fixed.
LOL! Ah to be young and beer soaked again... *sigh*
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Finished 6 pipe sections, 4 more to go! With luck I'll get them done over the weekend & have something to show for my efforts. Here's a pic of the "pipe project". Making good headway and will make a nice addition to those I already have!
