no, B5 spin oof

Vitruvian XVII wrote:Just saw these in N&R, thought you may be interested:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369811.page

The spears I like a lot. The Japanese swords are also very nice but not powered. I was thinking of getting the wakazashis for standard side arms but at $2 each they're much too expensive for what is, in effect a piece of decoration. I can buy metal katana that are slightly too small (25mm) and cut the blades down to wakazashi size for a fraction of the cost. Also the handle width on all the swords are much too thick to be believable or useful from a modeling standpoint.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that he's done them. But cost and design make them not useful from my perspective.

Great looking work as usual Gitsplitta. I can't wait to see the finished pipe sections together.

Nice pipe lines!Also nice converted marnous calger too!!!

I hated that figure with the heat of a thousand suns. Still think it looks like crap but I'm not about to re-paint it. If a DECENT version gets re-issued in plastic I may joyfully take an 8 lb hammer to this one...

I am also looking forward to the whole set being finally painted. I need more end and middle support pieces but I'm waiting for the molds to get re-done. It's a great looking set on the table & will really look great once I add a few more pieces to it. (refinery and storage tanks) When complete, it'll provide a nice alternate to the ork terrain which I love, but gets boring if that's all you see on the table.

The Marneus Calgar set is supposedly taking an $18.00 increase in the change to resin (not sure if aussie or US dollars though)

Well, if Thing 1 moves to BA he won't need a new one. This one looks OK on the tabletop, just don't look too closely. I liked the head swap and it suits the Doom Eagles well (skull is in their heraldry). The white on the power fists doesn't work for me... granted I can do white better now than then, but they might be more striking in red or black against the metallic armor.

I don't think we've painted any of the other figures in the set, so we certainly won't need those again. Though, we can do what a lot of others do & build him out of bits.

Nice work with the Pipes Gits, they look great, Calgar definitely needs a new model.
BTW, have you seen this? another MW player! Thought you might like to see another one painted (your MW addiction is spreading ), and it looks like he is playing them as vanilla marines too.

If you are buying GW items then do so from this site (or search for an american equialent) as even with the price rise it will be cheaper than it was two price rises ago...
http://darksphere.co.uk/index.php?PHPSESSID=ntcihm2vk1k3c9011091iii4u6
I don't think you should buy from GW direct if they are raising prices to a ridiculous extent (and £41 is steep for a Valkyrie)

@gits: love the pipework, feels chunky and retro.

@ Miss Dee: your obsession scares me a little...

Just dawned on me that my tournament is in a week... you guys ready for some *really fast* Mantis Warrior painting again??

Lol, procrastinating Gits was procrastinating

Yay! Speed!

Ah nice pipes I uhh cheated and used actual PVC pipe for mine.......

Gitsplitta wrote:Just dawned on me that my tournament is in a week... you guys ready for some *really fast* Mantis Warrior painting again??

Hell Yeah!

Thanks for pointing out that battle report Reiko. I think I've seen that yellow razorback on BoLS or Bolter & Chainsword before, but it's nice to see the whole army in action.

Gitsplitta wrote:Thanks for pointing out that battle report Reiko. I think I've seen that yellow razorback on BoLS or Bolter & Chainsword before, but it's nice to see the whole army in action.

No Worries Gits, yeah theres something in a later thread that he may be a poster on BoLS (i still prefer yours )
BTW i hadnt read the bat rep when i posted the link so had no idea about the flamewar that erupted over that battle (and the rest of the GT apparently), so i apologise for the flame-link (shame really because it is nice to see another MW army all painted up).

I need to learn how to subscribe. Would make watching your progress while lamenting my own lack of progress, much easier to do.

go to the bottom of the page and click th subscribe button

alternativley by posting you may have subscribed

Cool thanks for the help. Guess i should start showing some of my work also. Of course not in here. I have been watching for a long time should have spoken about how awesome your work is git.

Thanks Stonelessword, I really appreciate that. I find maintaining a blog helps to keep me motivated and moving projects forward. It can be a demanding thing though & will take some of your time away from painting.

In my experience however, the rewards far outweigh the penalties.

Well i started up the blog. Thanks for the encouragement to do so git.

Well, I did make some progress on the missile launchers by getting up at about 4:30 AM (parents are visiting so there's no painting during the day or evening). Still nothing worth a photograph but I am making progress.

I also used the airbrush to apply the wash to the two tanks I've been working on for Thing 1. Figured out a trick that worked pretty well I think... Liking the new compressor. A bit noisy for it's size but compared to the shop compressor I was using it's a huge improvement.

Unfortunately while progress has been made there's nothing that I really see is photo worthy. Perhaps tomorrow.

thats a horrible time on the morning to be getting up Gits (bugger that ) but nice to see you are making progress.
a couple of things, Game 5 on DashofPeppers Alamo GT bat reps is against what looks suspiciously like a Doom Eagle army (weird coincidence? )
and also, what have you got to get painted for next weeks tournament?

More than I have time to paint, so I think I'm going to have to re-write my list a bit. Getting the ML's done is a priority... everything after that is gravy, though the list does include my MoTF so I'd like to take a crack at finishing his paint job up from what I took to Adepticon.

ahhh thats cool, i was just wondering how steep the hill you are running up is
What is left on the MoTF? i thought he as finished, or is it just the last little bits left to do?

His basic paint job is done but he's got no detail. And for example, his mechanical arms are just grey with a badab black wash... they'll need more work too. I certainly have enough figures painted to make my points & switching my plain rifleman to a venerable alone will suck up a ton.. but in most cases, the painting is for minor refinements... adding a piece of wargear here or there.

OH, I do need to paint a scout with a missile launcher... that's a priority too.

i see, i still think he looks great as is, but extra detail never hurts.
Is your list similar to the Adepticon one, just at a higher points level? And making the rifleman Venerable has to be a good idea, longevity can only be a good thing. Please tell me you have a RT era ML for the scout, that would be epic!

Yeah, basically everything is "thickened up" to make the units more survivable & have added a few more bits (another dread, switched out one of the razorback tac squads for a razorback Dev squad, added Kantor.

I do have extra beakie missile launchers but since the primary role of the scouts will be to support my later period army I was planning on giving him a modern ML.

Yeah the modern ML makes sense then.
So Kantor has made it in? Thats good, i love your MW version of him. Does this mean more Sternguards? or just a slightly different use of them now that they are scoring?
sorry for all the questions btw, i didnt realise i had so many

He turned out OK but the dull coat went on very thick and glossy. Not sure what went wrong there but I was pretty happy with him UNTIL the varnishing stage. Now he's meh... but he'll do.



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I took all the sternguard I have painted... 8 I think. Will do more eventually but for now there are so many other projects waiting in the wings that they'll have to sit on the back burner for a bit.

Aww thats a shame, he really was very well done.
Dont blame you for leaving them for a bit (even though they are some of my favourite MWs you have done so far )

Exciting update!!

We're in the process of moving the boys into two separate bedrooms (before they kill each other) and I found my original RT rule book!!

I didn't think I'd thrown it out....

:-)

Been lookin' for that bugger for years!

What dullcote did you use. I like Testors and it works nice.

Testors, like usual. No idea what happened but I haven't had issues with it since.

on the rulebook! My local store has a copy, bless em that they hide when the kids come...

Ok. First of all, I've read all this log at work, so now I comment here at home.

Well done Gits. Well done. It's fantastic to see such quality on such old minis that have a warm spot in people's hearts. Combined with the Dreadnoughts it gives the army a very distinct, archaic feel and a character that most 'modern' SM armies seem to lack, largely due to the way the more recent SMs look.

The Marine Swap as well. Yes. Very well done sir! It's a nice element to the army and adds to the character, showing how the poor Mantis Warriors really are in a bad state after their penitent crusade.

Keep it up. And also know that because of this log I signed up here and am having to type up the first post of my own (which will be silly large.)

Glad you found your RT era rule book, I have vague fond memories of reading through my riends copy.

I now apologise for a bit of hijacking, but I am actually looking to trade one of my rulebooks. It is a rare limited edition copy and I hope to trade for audio books, and othe BL stuff.

Look me up in trades or PM me. Thanks and sorry for the hijack, I return you to your usual blogging

BTW Scout is done for thing 1 and stealer for thing 2, will mail in the next day or so

Danny.

When the Dark Eldar first came out GW lost the order lucky I had the top sheet of the order, and it was the 40k box.

OK, still a long way to go but some progress.

Brother Kigume showed up at my door today. The shoulder pad looks even better in person. as does the whole thing really.

Gits, that guy 2nd from the left looks extra special. Is that a chapterhouse bit for the helmet? I don't recognize it. I'm excited to see you finish them, they'll look quite intimidating with those RT era launchers.

Think its a maxi mini head

That's one of the Chapterhouse herasy heads. Love them. Great sculpts, very clean and very unique looking.

I realize they don't look like much at the moment... it'll really take painting the missile launchers to get them to the point where they visually look like I've progressed, but I've been laying the ground work & painting a lot of little scattered bits here and there. The next round of painting should provide a big difference in their look... and we get to see if my idea for hiding the acetone damage actually works or not.

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DarkStarSabre wrote:Ok. First of all, I've read all this log at work, so now I comment here at home.

Well done Gits. Well done. It's fantastic to see such quality on such old minis that have a warm spot in people's hearts. Combined with the Dreadnoughts it gives the army a very distinct, archaic feel and a character that most 'modern' SM armies seem to lack, largely due to the way the more recent SMs look.

The Marine Swap as well. Yes. Very well done sir! It's a nice element to the army and adds to the character, showing how the poor Mantis Warriors really are in a bad state after their penitent crusade.

Keep it up. And also know that because of this log I signed up here and am having to type up the first post of my own (which will be silly large.)

Hey DarkStarSabre! I'm sorry for not answering you right away. Parents have been visiting and I'm rolling out a major project at work, so my normal Dakka time is pretty fragmented and I lose track of stuff. I honestly thought I'd already responded to you but in reviewing the thread realized that I had not. Mea culpa.

Thank you so much for your kind comments. I've fallen for the old minis to be sure, and want to give them the best treatment I can. Funny thing is that I really do like the new ones too, but you rarely see the old ones get much TLC any more as their sculpts are so simplistic when compared with the modern offerings, though I guess my modern mantis warriors will be highly fiddled with (new helms, new jump packs, custom pads, special weapons, etc). The old figures do produce an interesting looking army though and they remind me of many years of playing with my friends back in the day. We had a lot of fun back then.

My use of the marine swap was a rare flash if brilliance that I don't get very often. Just needed a way to work in the amazing figures I was getting so that I could play them once in a while. It's why I don't swap for special characters even though the models I'd get would likely be spectacular... they wouldn't fit the narrative of the army.

I'm so glad you were inspired to sign up and post! Please make a habit out of it! Would love to continue to have your comments and ideas added to the blog, and perhaps one day add my comments to yours!

Best,
Gits


@dantay... no worries mate. Occasional derailments are the spice of life! (even internet life)

Thanks for that. First let me say I'm somewhat stunned by the length of the response. It's easy enough to miss a post because so many crop up on these blogs within a short space of time. And yes, I shall be posting here a lot more. I like this place.

With regards to the missile launchers...I think there is perhaps a bit much green? Would be interested in seeing how it progresses to see if that breaks up a little.

Oh yeah, they aren't "painted" yet... that's just over-spray from the green for the armor. Next update should see a significant change.

Gitsplitta wrote:

Holly RT era batman. Got to admire the charm of models as old as I. Any plans of buying some of the FW upgrade kits.

AND WHY THE HELL AREN"T YOU PLAYING IN THE MADISON BABAD WAR LEAGUE? You are only 1 of two players I know who actually have a Babad army (Carl is playing as Red Scorpions BTW).

Looking good Gits! as usual can't wait to see more updates from you, love those old school ML's and the chapterhouse head is nice, i may have to twist a certain friend of mine's arm for some! :-) also loving the pipes, they look great, i love good terrain it makes games so much better!


Nerdfest09

wyomingfox wrote:Holly RT era batman. Got to admire the charm of models as old as I. Any plans of buying some of the FW upgrade kits.

AND WHY THE HELL AREN"T YOU PLAYING IN THE MADISON BABAD WAR LEAGUE? You are only 1 of two players I know who actually have a Babad army (Carl is playing as Red Scorpions BTW).

I didn't know anything about it! Really?? There's a Badab War league? I keep getting booted off Madison 40k (by the server) so it's hard for me to keep up... I suppose it's too late to get in on it...

And yes, I have two of FWs version of the RT MLs... I'm saving them to give my sternguard (Tranquility sniper) unit some HW support. Actually those are probably the next sternguard to get worked on.

nerdfest09 wrote:Looking good Gits! as usual can't wait to see more updates from you, love those old school ML's and the chapterhouse head is nice, i may have to twist a certain friend of mine's arm for some! :-) also loving the pipes, they look great, i love good terrain it makes games so much better! Nerdfest09

Agreed whole-heartedly!

Gitsplitta wrote:I didn't know anything about it! Really?? There's a Badab War league? I keep getting booted off Madison 40k (by the server) so it's hard for me to keep up... I suppose it's too late to get in on it...

Sure as heck is! We are just finishing up the 3rd game so we will be at the half way mark. 2-3 players have bowed out due to time commitments and I am pretty sure one team is still short a player. So I think you could join. You just have to play 1 game in a 2 week period. So that would be 3 games in a 6 week period. Hardly a time commitment, especially if you live in Madtown already. You have Jarred's number or email (he is the one running the league)? If not I could give him your dakka email.

PM sent. (figured this was local enough to take off-list)

Wow that was alot of reading. Finally got caught up was back on page 146 I think. But I have to say thank you Gitz. That fluff that incorporated the Sons of Guilliman was awesome. So was the rest but more so that since its my custom chapter and involved my model I traded to Whalemusic360 in the GMS. Mucho respect to you sir.

I'm just the conduit schank... Other people's genius flows through my blog into The Internets as water through a pipe, providing life-giving sustenance to the parched wastes beyond.

Credit where credit's due. You're more than a pipe mate. And this blog certainly attracts much to it anyhow. You now have me waiting to see the next WIPs to pleasantly surprise me with those MLs!

Nice guys!

Looking forward to seeing the ML guys finished I'm in the process of painting up 2 FW ones myself for my Thousand Sons.

Looking good Gits, i cant help but think the guy on the far right looks like hes pinching a loaf. I can't unsee it lol

Thanks everyone for your kind comments!

@GiraffeX: would love to see them when your done, be sure to post a link where we can find them!

@Chrono: That's OK, I'm just waiting for the guy on the far left to topple over! (Actually he would but I glued a nickle to the bottom of each of their bases.)


I hope tonight's painting will bring about significant improvements in their look. It'll either do that or they're off to the vat of Simple Green again. Things have been very stressful at work which has meant that I really haven't been able to relax and enjoy my painting... just kind of doing a little each night to keep things moving forward. But today was the big launch day and I think I'm over the hump... so expect a bit more creativity and a bit less cut-and-paste in their painting from now on.

yes! progress

Gitsplitta wrote: Things have been very stressful at work which has meant that I really haven't been able to relax and enjoy my painting... just kind of doing a little each night to keep things moving forward. But today was the big launch day and I think I'm over the hump... so expect a bit more creativity and a bit less cut-and-paste in their painting from now on.

Ack, hate when work gets stressful. Hope you faired a bit better after mate. We'll still be here and we can be patient. The way you paint? It's worth it.

And besides, seeing the GMS with your stuff? Quality is always worth waiting for. Besides, we all have other things besides painting minis in life.

So, I took DarkStarSabre's advice and took the little one out fishing last night. I caught a nice walleye just shy of 20" which made a couple of beautiful fillets. Unfortunately the munchkin didn't catch anything so he was very sad. He was still sad this morning, but perhaps over the upcoming holiday weekend I can get him into some fish.

However... the tournament on Saturday is still looming so I did sit down last last night and get some painting in which I finished up early this morning. Missile launchers are now "dead black". Keep in mind that I'm trying to paint them to disguise badly pitted and deformed models that were damaged by an acetone bath. So I figured the less "dynamic" they're painted, the less likely the damage is to show. So first they get a black paint job, but even black has a semi-gloss when dry and dull coat isn't really DULL... it's just less glossy than most. So I followed up the black paint with weathering powder mixed with acrylic medium, which makes a kind of paint. However... when the paint dries, you get a more weathering powder kind of look to the final form, so light reflection is less than normal. I will be doing some very careful edge highlighting and may put some decorations (stripes, purity seals, etc) on them to give them some interest, but the idea is to de-emphasize the body of the missile launchers so the pitting and warping damage is less noticeable.

Wherever I am after tonight's painting session, I'll post a pic.

Gits

Hrrmm. It's saying you posted but all I see is me? Confusion!

Edit: Confusion solved. Forum's being wierd

Glad you caught something though. Always good to let real life take over a bit, especially when the painting seems to get at you.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress. My plans for tonight involve washing Dark Elves (figured I'd do a unit at a time rather than trying to do the whole lot in one go.)

Page roll-over. After 30 posts the page flips, but often the first one or two posts are invisible until you hit critical mass to "flip" the page.

Can't wait to see the launcher's progress, I fully understand the feeling of chemicals hurting the miniatures.

I have several grey hunter models that took a nap in some simple green, and the cheapo spray paint I used melted sections of the model, and stained other parts... and I did use actual spray paint, not your fancy primer stuff (I was a noob and have since learned my mistakes, though my rhino and my drop pod still have that base of Krylon black spray paint )

DarkStarSabre wrote:
Besides, we all have other things besides painting minis in life.

Heresy!

Re the RT MLs, I'm going to go out on a limb. Embrace the damage, the warping, the blobbiness - emphasise it. Highlight it. Embrace it! It's older tech and they've been a-crusading - relics of the chapter, but they speak of its ignominy. Our weapons bear the scars of our disgrace, and all that. Chip em, cut em, weather heck out of them. If you hide it, it'll always be noticeable, and it'll always bug you; if you exploit it, and adds to the feel of your force.

Just my tuppence worth mind

I actually considered that graven... but the damage looks wrong for that type of "sell". They just look kind of misshapen and blobby. Give me a chance to play out this theory... if they look terrible... after the tournament Saturday I can always take them apart, clean them up and take another shot at it.

thats a great idea graven! (even fits with the fluff )
but totally understand your position Gits, maybe 'overlaying' the existing damage with your own weathering or something. See how it goes with what you are doing at the moment though, no point fixing something that isnt broken (hmm thats the second time ive said that in two days lol).

Gitsplitta wrote:Keep in mind that I'm trying to paint them to disguise badly pitted and deformed models that were damaged by an acetone bath

Did you do that? I would recommend Super Clean (the purple stuff) for cleaning models. A day's soak and it removes the paint off of minis with some work with a tooth brush. It can also remove super glue and green stuff. Won't harm plastic, resin, or metal -- even if left in the solution for...months .

wyomingfox wrote:even if left in the solution for...months .

Sounds like some past experience there.

I'll keep an eye out for that over here - if I find some I'll be so happy (then I can strip another 2 armies worth of stuff! YES I AM MAD.)

Re: Battle damage - I think we should wait and see. If it's niggling at you already though Gits....that's not a good sign. Sometimes if it's that bad it may be better to scrap and restart. That way you won't have it gnawing at the back of your mind!

Actually I was being exceedingly stupid. I had them in a simple green bath and had just scrubbed of nearly all of the paint, but those tight grooves still had lines of paint in them that would not come out. Now I *knew* that acetone would ruin the plastic, but I thought if I tossed them in for just 10 minutes it might loosen up the paint in the grooves so I could get it out. Unfortunately I then FORGOT that I put them in the acetone and 40 minutes later I gingerly removed several partially melted missile launchers from the bath. In spite of rinsing them off immediately (after forcibly separating the melted together parts), they stayed soft for several more days. It was tragic!

However, those are so hard to find I am determined to save them, so the painting continues.

@DarkStar: you might be right, but I have a tournament on Saturday so I think these will stay with this color scheme until then, after that things can be re-done if necessary.

DarkStarSabre wrote:

wyomingfox wrote:even if left in the solution for...months .

Sounds like some past experience there.

I'll keep an eye out for that over here - if I find some I'll be so happy (then I can strip another 2 armies worth of stuff! YES I AM MAD.)

Re: Battle damage - I think we should wait and see. If it's niggling at you already though Gits....that's not a good sign. Sometimes if it's that bad it may be better to scrap and restart. That way you won't have it gnawing at the back of your mind!

FYI, there is a paint stripping tutorial around somewhere using Dettol that is apparently quite good. Give me a minute to find it.
Found it: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/322635.page, not sure if that particular Dettol is still available, but of you can get your hands on some then it appears effective.

I now have an ammo can liberated from the USAF full of simple green for stripping. I was the only thing I could fit a baneblade in

Well, there's my wages gone on Dettol next week.

(Aaaaand there's a 5th edition Lizardman army and even more Chaos Space Marines rescued from their boxes of no return.)

It looks like Dettol is in essence... Simple Green with ETOH added. Simple green on it's own works pretty darn well but I think you need to let it soak longer. I could try adding a bit of my own ETOH and see if I can come up with something better.

For metal minis... nothing beats an acetone (nail polish remover) dip.

ETOH?

whalemusic360 wrote:ETOH?

Teletubbies. The Dakka Edition.

I'm suspecting it means something. Shame Simple Green is hard to come across on this side of the pond though.

Ethanol... ethyl alcohol. (wood alcohol... non-drinkable)

I'm going to get reallt picky and say technically its EtOH , sorry, im a Chemistry student as well as a geek
But yeah, they are pretty much the same, the ethanol will just help remove paint as a solvent. I just didnt know if Simple Green was available over here, whereas i know theres some Dettol at my parents so when i get home this summer, paint stripping here i come!

Gitsplitta wrote:but those tight grooves still had lines of paint in them that would not come out.

Yeah...If there is something glaringly thick, I will take a dentist tool (like the ones supplied with most sculpting sets) and chissle it out. Otherwise, I've just come to accept that as reality. On the other hand, once the model is reprimered, I've never been able to discern that there was paint left in the grooves to begin with.

However, those are so hard to find I am determined to save them, so the painting continues.

Should have just green stuffed over the worste of the surface flaws in a very thin layer and then sanded once cured. That is what I tend to do with bubbly resin flaws.

Actually I did that in a couple of cases...

Gitsplitta wrote:Actually I did that in a couple of cases...

Ouch. It was THAT bad?

Check out the back of the sticky-outy part of the ML below... that should be open showing the missiles inside. Yes, it was that bad.

I am weeping for you. Weeping.

Still. There is hope. Soldier on good sir! You've also learned a valuable lesson - patience. Never be tempted by the acetone devil for a quick job.

Actually nearly all the veins on the back end of the missile launchers are hand made out of plasticard as those were all melted off.

It was THAT bad...

How about cutting a cocktail stick down and have the pointy end in the ml barrel. bunch up some cotton wool and lightly spray grey then black and unfold.
Glue cotton wool to back end vains to hide the worst of the damage and a little around the barrel as escaping gasses/smoke.... voila you are firing a rocket (never call it a missile, it has the word miss in it). Maybe some flame OSL and you are set.

A bit like fitting a flame marker you showed earlier to your MW's.

That might be an option, but let's see how my first attempt works out first before we start exploring alternates.... Though a little bit of cinematics (a-la Armorcast) might be fun to try.

Gitsplitta wrote:That might be an option, but let's see how my first attempt works out first before we start exploring alternates.... Though a little bit of cinematics (a-la Armorcast) might be fun to try.

I happily look forward to it. Even with cinematics they would still mesh beautifully with the army as a whole - the older stuff just called out for that sort of thing, you know?

(P.S. Thanks for this thread again. Makes my work day less meh.)

No problem DSS... it's really a community effort. Which makes it easier for me as I don't have to provide all of the interesting content myself.

Unfortunately painting is something I have to do myself... so it's slow going.


OH... @dantay: Your GMS stuff (marine and gene stealer) are done and ready to send. Tomorrow if I can remember...

One other thing to confess.

I recently found a RT era SM Librarian. Seriously considering stripping him down, cleaning him up and seeing if you want him sent to you with the next free GMS stuff you decide to do?

Now I just have to find him again XD

I'm pretty far behind in my trades at the moment... got two done then discovered I'd forgotten two others so I'm back to scratch. Could be a few months (at the speed I go) before I finally get caught up.

Shame on you gits! behind on your trades! dear me, speaking of trades I wanted to ask you and thing1 if the marines could be armed with bolt pistols and chainswords instead of bolter? if the answer is a resounding 'yes' then i'll get working on them tomorrow for you guys! :-)

That's fine nerdfest, no problem.

No worries. Gives me a few month to strip it and the other things I found.

Update on the dev's as promised. Far from done but I think they're looking OK. MLs will get more decoration or course but not that I'm picking out little bits here and there they're starting to grow on me.

Much improved! They look so much better now that there's not that mass of green and to be honest it takes the attention that bit more toward their tools rather than any issues with the armour.

Indeed, the black missile launchers look much better!!!

You're in for another awesome squad eh?!

That is my intention. A good friend of mine who is not only a good builder and painter, but a very competitive gamer... suggested that putting a single las cannon in the squad might give them a little extra punch without elevating the cost of the squad too much. I am torn though because the old las cannons were shoulder mounted and pretty ugly... I love the new LCs but they're very out of context for this army. Any thoughts would be welcome.

At this point I'm really 50/50 on the matter so feel free to express your opinions.

Gits

Perhaps trying to convert up an old Lascannon...to be held in the new way? Best of both worlds. Retro Lascannon in appearance but held in a way that is asthetically pleasing to you?

Agreed with DarkStarSabre, though it might prove hard to pull off..

Looks good Gits, the black weapons really stand out and make them different.
on the old vs new debate, some sort of conversion might be the best way, but not the easiest im sure. It would be a great idea to include all the RT era weapons together.
if not, then maybe a lascannon they scrounged in the Maelstrom? If you can get your hands on a Chaos LC and file the icons off, but make it obvious it is still a CSM LC (not entirely sure how to do this sorry), as if they have removed the Chaos icons so as to show they arent being (further) corrupted, but they need the weapon so have scrounged it from a defeated force?
Just a thought.
but im not sure i have explained it very well, sorry.

OK, conversion it is. I have (I think), one of each type of las cannon in my bits box, as well as a source for more if I need it. Let me take a look at them and see if I can figure out which I prefer... then I can dink around with converting them.

It's quite simple: Damage on minis = tyranid bio acid attack! YAY!!! thats probably why they were created, as an excuse for mistake cover-up...

Trim the back off of the shoulderpad mounting bit and have the old lascannon across his body. Left hand holding the barrel, the right arm either over or under the body of the lascannon holding it. That way he is casually looking around before hefting it on to his shoulder to unleash his death ray.
Could have him looking to the right, to emphacise that his view was being obscured by the lascannon in the first place.

OT... (I'm allowed, it's my blog)

HEY DarkStar..... How in blazes do you get 30,000 points of ANYTHING??! My God man you must have a vacation home just for your minis!

@dantay: Interesting suggestion. I may end up with a couple of different approaches to the model... so we'll see.

You could also just have him standing there all triumphant; holding the lascannon upright, his foot atop a skull (or w/e) looking off in the distance. He'd be more static, but it may be an easy way to have him carrying the old school lascannon without it hoisted way up there on his shoulder.
Or maybe having him "reloading" it. I'm not sure how that would look exactly, he could just be plugging it back in to his back pack or loading in some form of power cell. My knowledge of the inner-workings of a lascannon is not that in depth.

IG LCs are one shot per power cell (and the cells are reputed to be quite large), i think SM LCs must be plugged into their backpack for power, its the only way it makes sense (because they arent carrying any huge power cells for a start ).

That and the cables going into the giant backpack are a good hint.

The old las cannons didn't really concern themselves with a power source... it's one of the reasons I like the new versions better. Maybe the "lost tech" of the RT era was smaller power cells or *really efficient* little solar cells. In any case I think I'm going to hunt down some blue tac and mock up some poses, then let folks take a look and see what they think.

Yeah, you're probably right Reiko. That makes sense. I could just see the SM with a wonky 3 pronged plug coming from his back pack, struggling to put it in. But lacks the proper adapter for the planet he's on. haha

Gitsplitta wrote:The old las cannons didn't really concern themselves with a power source... it's one of the reasons I like the new versions better.

Yeah, I have a couple of those fuggly 2nd ED: Lazcannons, Heavy Bolters, and Missle Launchers lying in my bits box that went w/ my long fangs. Since then, my 2nd Ed longfangs have all been outfitted with the newest ML.

Moltar wrote:Yeah, you're probably right Reiko. That makes sense. I could just see the SM with a wonky 3 pronged plug coming from his back pack, struggling to put it in. But lacks the proper adapter for the planet he's on. haha

"Bloody European adapters" *grumble grumble*

@WM360, the cables didnt reach from my LC to the Backpack on my Devastator so i took them off, i always forget that they were there originally, it does kind of give the game away doesnt it lol

OK, you guys have just given me some *really funny* ideas...

...darn you all....

hehehe, its working guys, keep it up, Gits' imaginative brain can't keep help itself when we work together

I actually have the image in my head of the marine trying to plug in a new battery to his pack, turning in circles cuz he can't reach. Like a little kid trying to put something in his backpack without taking it off.

Gitsplitta wrote:OT... (I'm allowed, it's my blog)

HEY DarkStar..... How in blazes do you get 30,000 points of ANYTHING??! My God man you must have a vacation home just for your minis!

I accumulate.

And have a friend who seems to think buying me Chaos Terminators each year for Christmas is a good plan. Because of him I have about 35-40 of the buggers in my Extinction Angels 1st Company!

whalemusic360 wrote:I actually have the image in my head of the marine trying to plug in a new battery to his pack, turning in circles cuz he can't reach. Like a little kid trying to put something in his backpack without taking it off.

Or a servitor behind him, with his hands up to gesture, "I have no idea," and the SM doing the face palm.

Actually... MY image is of a marine with a shoulder mounted las cannon, with a yellow or orange outdoor-grade extension cord running from the back of the gun to a big coil on the ground (because they only come in 50-100' lengths), the other end being plugged into a metal outlet box on top of a bit of conduit sticking out of the ground (like you might find at an RV park or in someone's garden if they have a fountain to run).

So let it be written... so let it be done!

Moltar wrote:

whalemusic360 wrote:I actually have the image in my head of the marine trying to plug in a new battery to his pack, turning in circles cuz he can't reach. Like a little kid trying to put something in his backpack without taking it off.

Or a servitor behind him, with his hands up to gesture, "I have no idea," and the SM doing the face palm.

Both images are pretty funny lol!!

Lol wm360 the marine trying to plug himself in might look like a dog trying to catch its own tail, spinning round in circles. I'll getcha...... i'll getcha this time...... dammit i'll getcha next time etc

How about modelling him sitting crosslegged, lascannon to one side screwdriver in 1 hand instruction book in the other? Bareheaded and all confusified.

Or accidentally electrocuting himself with the LC cable seeing if its live.

Actually a guard or wolf model with sticky-outy hair would be perfect for that... little bit of cotton used as smoke floating up from his singed noggin'... :-)

I have plenty of spiky haired heads from my SW heads if you are serious about the frazzled marine


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I have plenty of spiky haired SW heads if you are serious about the spiky singed thing


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dantay_xv wrote:I have plenty of spiky haired heads from my SW heads if you are serious about the frazzled marine


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I have plenty of spiky haired SW heads if you are serious about the spiky singed thing


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LOL!!

Actually... on Dakka a "Frazzled" marine put's in into an entire other context that in itself might be really fun to do... have to work a wiener dog into the model in some way...

Hahaha this think tank has officially stepped it up. All these ideas are full of win. I totally dig the coiled oranged extension chord. Having him electrocuted sounds awesome too.

Both ideas sound awesome. Always like to see funny models on the table.

With the new ML you could have the mechanical arm holding the next missile to be loaded just out of the marines reach. Though it would be difficult to show in just one figure...maybe use a shouty head that looks like its saying

Haha, these ideas are epic!
i especially like the 'sitting on the ground all confused with a screwdriver and an instruction manual' one and the 'extension cable'!
I see a diorama happening.....

Gitsplitta wrote:The old las cannons didn't really concern themselves with a power source... it's one of the reasons I like the new versions better. Maybe the "lost tech" of the RT era was smaller power cells or *really efficient* little solar cells. In any case I think I'm going to hunt down some blue tac and mock up some poses, then let folks take a look and see what they think.

And flashlights make them work better! Yet another use for a guardsman.

OK, I'll do at least 4, to be chosen from the following (and I'm still open to ideas)...

- extension cord (my idea)
- marine chasing the cable around (probably the hardest)
- marine with instructions... also think I'll make a bunch of duracell battery looking things lying on the ground for this one
- "Frazzeled" marine w/ wiener dog and "live" power conduit


At this point I can envision needing 4 guys... two for my sternguard and two for my dev or tactical squads. Now the sternguard can be funny but should not be "rookie mistakes"... so the plug in cord is a good sternguard one... stupid mistakes should be limited to the non-veterans.

All of the above please
although granted the marine chasing the cord is going to be tough to get across.
The batteries are full of win!

The instructions would be hilarious. A How To Prime Your Lascannon pamphlet. Clearly full of propoganda!

Gitsplitta wrote:OK, I'll do at least 4, to be chosen from the following (and I'm still open to ideas)...

- extension cord (my idea)
- marine chasing the cable around (probably the hardest)
- marine with instructions... also think I'll make a bunch of duracell battery looking things lying on the ground for this one
- "Frazzeled" marine w/ wiener dog and "live" power conduit


At this point I can envision needing 4 guys... two for my sternguard and two for my dev or tactical squads. Now the sternguard can be funny but should not be "rookie mistakes"... so the plug in cord is a good sternguard one... stupid mistakes should be limited to the non-veterans.

Updated post above... you might give it another look.

Agreed, the Sternguard shouldnt be making 'rookie' mistakes, so the extension cord fits, but im not sure the others do for your 2nd Sternguard.
oooo the Wiener Marine could be checking the same type of conduit the extension guy is using (ie another trailer park power source sticking out of the ground, but his one isnt working)? Because that isnt necessarily a rookie mistake, just a -up with the available power supply?

For the second Sternguard? The instruction booklet. Clearly he's smart enough to read the instructions when something goes wrong.

Even if they're not good instructions!

The instruction booklet might work for the Sternguard... kind of plays on the idea that we old guys might have issues with new-fangled technology... actually I could then give him a modern "cordless" las cannon and take his old, "corded" version and have it tossed to the side as if it was outmoded & had been replaced by some newer tech that he now had to figure out.

Oh yeah... that one's definite. OK... sternguard LCs are locked.

Gitsplitta wrote:Actually a guard or wolf model with sticky-outy hair would be perfect for that... little bit of cotton used as smoke floating up from his singed noggin'... :-)

You will be wanting the 3rd edition SW head then. Pictured below in the middle:

THATS IT!!!

Anyone got a spare???
(thanks WyFox)

Probably. PM me your address and I will mail you one.

Gits,

If you're wanting a more humerous thing, have the lascannon laying on the ground with a length of cable in one hand running to the LC and another length of cable in the other running to the backpack. Then make a different connection between the two cables, like a two-prong male connection plugging into a one prong female connection.

PM sent.

@Heff: Nice idea, that may appear in one form or another in one of these... let me accumulate bits and we'll see where it leads.

I want to see one of the bolter marines tripping over the extension cable that spans across the whole squads bases.

You have fun with that.... ;-)

what about the cord running into a rhino??

Lol, i love that Gits is actually cool enough to take these seriously

Weiner dog ftw!

Gitsplitta wrote:LOL!! Actually... on Dakka a "Frazzled" marine put's in into an entire other context that in itself might be really fun to do... have to work a wiener dog into the model in some way...

You will have to have him hunched over with age and waving a power cane in the air. The title on the base should also read: "Get off my thread!"

Sounds like he has a newbie devastator squad in the making.

"Darn we never got to play with this stuff in the 10th company.....hmmm..... nothings happening, i'll look down the barrel, while you check the trigger mechanism!... hmmmm whats that glow.... eeeeep!" Last words of marine Takagi.

I really look forward to seeing how these marines turn out, maybe you could put a little pink bunny with a drum beside the marine surrounded by duracells and checking the instructions.

@wyfox: "Get offa my thread you kids!" :-)

I'm pretty sure I'm older than Fraz, or darn close anyway... so that would be the pot calling the kettle black.

@dantay: I suppose I could do an entire squad of "newbies"... recently promoted scouts, accelerated into the full ranks due to the ongoing Badab War & not *quite* up to speed on Imperial technology. Might be a fun entry in a painting competition somewhere.

I like your idea of splitting them between squads too. It will give each squad a bit of ooomph and also because they are spread around and not in one squad, you don't have all your eggs in one basket, to be blown away by a blast template.

I forgot to check in, on the modelling competition... how did your guys get on?

You mean the mini of the month? Deadline for submissions is over the weekend, then voting I guess. No idea who entered but someone posted their build and it was pretty darn amazing. Blows my little melta gunner away. But... still will be fun to see how things pan out. I'll post a link when voting opens.

Cool, was a bit scared to go back and find the original link you posted, for some reson I had it in my head that deadline was May 12th.

As the chapter itself, so goes everything on this blog...

"Into the Maelstrom... never to be seen again."

At least until I put it into a summary.

No worries, we all have faith that like your chapter, your blog will emerge from the maelstrom purified (summarised) by your efforts.

How bout one of the newbies sticking the screwdriver into the power socket to see if its still live like a kid stickin a fork in an outlet or how about the guy with the instructions not notice that its switched off?

That's a version of the "Frazzled" marine. That idea will be covered in one way or the other.

I like dantay's idea of a marine with his head blown off...

Fzorgle! comes to mind...

Gits, sorry i havnt painte dur mini yet, I've been busy with scouts, school, SCA and exam revision. I ill get it done when I can!

Gits, if you do the marine with instruction manual of any sort, it should say something along the lines of "IKEA 40k", and the marine should have far too many useless bits laying around him. Maybe he's assembling his weapon?

Obviously not a Sternguard mistake, but a Scout with something like this would seriously make me not shoot at the unit for fear of having to remove the model.

Tonight's progress. Got a fair amount of detailing done on all four figs, basing advanced and the lining done on two of the guns.

Looking slick buddy. They look good and of course, the bases are great. I apologize if our lascannon ideas got a little out of hand there for a minute

Lookin' good Gits. Are those base rocks cork?

Progress is good Gits. My fears over them are allayed!

@ darth lakey your a scout! so am i!!

sorry for the tread jack gits

Actually the las cannon thing was quite fun and I have every intention of following through on it.

Thanks guys, glad you like them! They'll get finished up today for certain. Yes, the bases are cork. I used to use GF-9 urban rubble for my rocks but I ran out & have had trouble getting resupplied... so I switched to the cork. Bases still need work, but they're coming.

They look good man, you should be proud (especially of the cover up job, you cant see any damage at all).



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Gitsplitta wrote:Actually the las cannon thing was quite fun and I have every intention of following through on it.

Witnessed!

You've said it now. So we will all watch.

I can just picture a scout with a ML shell and a hammer lol

There's a worrying amount of blotchiness on the ML guys leg there (on the left) and on his arm if i look closely...

Good observation IM, I had "primer issues" which resulted in the graininess.


Here's tonight's work. Will have to do some fancy list re-writing I think tomorrow morning.


Finished Devastators:


and a power weapon for my MoTF...

I love those devs git. Hope i can do mine half that well.

I'm digging the doc oc techmarine. I haven't checked out you blog in a while so no I have 70. Pages to read through. On another note I like how you handle the hobby with your boys. My daughter wanted to paint with me so I got her the orks she wanted, and after painting 20 or so she lost interest. So now I have a sizable ork force waiting for some attention.

Nice guys, the highlighting is pretty good!

Nice use of the extra details to disguise stuff on the Devs Gits! They look great.

Techmarine looks good too but I see you still want to complete hi,

Ouch, acetone melt *and* fuzzy primer, i feel sorry for you bud.

They look really good though. Nice to see the MotF getting work, nice blending.

Stonelessword wrote:I love those devs git. Hope i can do mine half that well.

Thanks Stonelessword, you seem to be doing just fine so far!

Feylon wrote:I'm digging the doc oc techmarine. I haven't checked out you blog in a while so no I have 70. Pages to read through. On another note I like how you handle the hobby with your boys. My daughter wanted to paint with me so I got her the orks she wanted, and after painting 20 or so she lost interest. So now I have a sizable ork force waiting for some attention.

Can't force it down their throats... otherwise there's no chance of them getting interested later again (and they'll resent you for it). Sounds like you're doing it right. My boys attention waxes & wanes... and I let it. Point is to have fun together, not to ram my interests down their throats.

HAZZER wrote:Nice guys, the highlighting is pretty good!

Thanks HAZ.

DarkStarSabre wrote:Nice use of the extra details to disguise stuff on the Devs Gits! They look great.
Ahhh, you've sussed out my secret! I do this all the time to cover up flaws in the model or my painting. "Look at the shiny rock!" works nearly every time. Just give them something else to focus on and it's much less likely that they'll see the real problems with the figure.

Techmarine looks good too but I see you still want to complete hi,

Yes, and he won't get any further before the tournament... but at least I fixed some of the damage he took in a fall at Adepticon and got him his power weapon, which was a tweak he needed.

Vitruvian XVII wrote:Ouch, acetone melt *and* fuzzy primer, i feel sorry for you bud.
It was a good exercise in making the best out of a bad situation. I won't have to deal with both issues simultaneously again, but at least I got 4 neat looking figures that certainly pass the eye test when they're on the table.

Well, I have 1 hour to tweak my list, make any last minute adjustments to figures... then it's a shower and off to the tourney. Wish me luck! (with everything... I'm going to need it)


They look really good though. Nice to see the MotF getting work, nice blending.

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Edit: OK, list tweak is done. Unfortunately it required adding a couple of Land Speeders that are not painted in the style or up to the standard of the rest of the army, however they'll have to do. TBH the army is probably better off with them than with the other option I'd hoped to put together. Just whipping out a couple of heavy flamers to stuff under them and I'll be ready to play.

Tournament results:

4 games, zero battle points, dead last

4th I think in appearance.


I'm coming to the conclusion that my "vision" of the Mantis Warriors is non-viable and will need to be abandoned and redirected back into the main stream if I want to be competitive with even below average gamers. Modeling won't change... but I'll need stuff like land raiders, assault terminators, etc like everyone else.

Holy smoking crater Batman! those dev's look great, the writing on the parchments is a big win for them, it looks fantastic and gives the squad that bit of oomph in detail, speaking of fantastic, that motf is amazingly well done, the whole idea and execution is spot on! I think the Doc Oc look suits him, so when do we get a chance to se everything in this army together again? or do you perhaps need to purchase a wide angled lense? :-)


Nerdfest09

Actually taking a decent picture of the army IS problematic. I'll see what I can do.

Couple of pics from today.

1: First game vs. demon list with 24 blood crushers. I castle up and prepare to shoot like mad.
2: Final turn of above. Note the separation between the crushers and anything of mine that really matters... I'm pretty proud of that (even though I lost badly).

Your ML guys turned out really nice, the seals and bits you added on help distract the eye really well, its odd we had the same primer issues on the ML guys tough. Must be the in fasion

Gitsplitta wrote:Tournament results:

4 games, zero battle points, dead last

4th I think in appearance.


I'm coming to the conclusion that my "vision" of the Mantis Warriors is non-viable and will need to be abandoned and redirected back into the main stream if I want to be competitive with even below average gamers. Modeling won't change... but I'll need stuff like land raiders, assault terminators, etc like everyone else.

If it's any consolation, Da Dark Angelz got similarly rolled at Partick Crucible II yesterday - though I did manage to eek out a draw in my first game for a single point! 4 games, last of 20 - no "appearance" scoring (not that I would do well in that - still painting!)

Well Gits, to be fair you've built your list fluffily whereas the photos of your first game show a Fateweaver-Bloodcrusher bomb list.

Most tournaments tend to have some 'power' lists. Keep practicing though and treat it as a social gathering rather than a competition.

Well, I'm pretty good at not getting bent out of shape over results normally as I know I don't play a competitive army. I look for the things that I can control during battle and focus on them. But after four games and not scoring a single battle point of the 60 or more possible... really makes you question your competence.

Game 1: Fateweaver-Bloodcrusher - The only game I really felt good about as I had no chance to win... but I did NOT get tabled like I thought and in fact denied my opponent the primary objective (my HQ) and most of my army survived. Highlight: not allowing the bloodcrushers to get to anything vital.

Game 2: Blood Angels - Fun... I came within 1 KP of winning the primary (and denied it to my opponent). I hate jump pack meltas... little b*stards jumping around blowing my stuff up from behind. Highlight: Sternguard charged by assault terminators and the two units wiped each other out, leaving Kantor and the BA HQ with one wound each to duke it out (never finished that fight.

Game 3: Nurgle/Korn Chaos Marine list - Not knowing what the MC rules were, in turn 2 charged his greater demon with two dreads (iron clad & normal) and he killed them both out-of-hand. My opponent rolled *very* well and I could not make a die roll of any sort for any reason with the exception of one shooting phase late in the game, but by then it was far too late. Highlight: none Lowlight: feeding my dreads to the demon, his berserkers changing my sternguard and out of 27 normal attacks getting 20 wounds.... I mean c.o.m.e. O.N.

Game 4: Guard - millions of troops and heavy weapons. Highlight: Sternguard using their special ammo to wipe out the only HQ close enough to the main objective to accomplish it. Unfortunately they then became to recipient of every artillery barrage in the game and ceased to be a factor.

Grades:

Kantor: C - but I think I am unlikely to field him again in a competitive situation... he just doesn't do enough and is rather underwhelming. The inspiring presence thing is the best bit but it's very circumstantial in it's use.

MoTF: D - Just never really did anything.

Sternguard: A - they had an effect of most battles and did have one truly heroic moment.

Iron Clad: F - had no effect

Troops w/ Razorbacks: D+ - never really did much, though the occasional las cannon shot did account for a couple of vehicles along the way

MM/HF Land Speeders: F - in spite of being put into good firing position nearly every game, never accomplished anything

LC Dread: F - had no effect

Rifleman Dread: C- - did get a few decent shots in on occasion

Dev's: B - they shot things... and surprisingly were a low priority target. Guess people aren't afraid of missile launchers so they went completely unmolested in nearly every game.

That's it in a nutshell. My opponent's were great by-the-way, no shame on them.


Furthur note:
I did draw up a more conventional marine list that I like. While it is not as fluffy as my normal list it'll still clearly be "mine". It's got about 900 pts of long range fire support and 900 points of assaulty stuff (generally speaking) and doesn't completely abandon my existing concept, The problem is I'm not sure how much effort I want to continue to expend on my "early period" army when I really want to get started on my later period force. There are several elements of this re-build that will transfer over... perhaps I'll start with those.

Bad times Gits, shame about the results but well done on the appearance score!
It does look like you were up against some pretty tough lists so done feel bad about it. I personally like that you have a fluffy list, but i wouldnt blame you if you wanted to get a bit more competative.

Well, taking a mental break from the struggles with my army list... next projects... two GMS marines.

1. Prototype of a different type of assault marine for vent.

2. The IA-10 Mantis Warrior libby for graven.


These should be fun to build & I've been looking forward to them for quite some time now (since having a reasonable idea about what I'd do with them). Might start the builds as early as tomorrow.

Your missile launcher guys are great. Nice blending/highlights and the scrolls and newer bits 'update' the old beakies nicely. As always your modeling and painting are inspiring.

I wouldn't worry about losing too much, cool models trump all, imho.

Whatever you do Gits, rest assured we will watch. A lot of the army comes from its look, not just its build. The RT era Marines are fantastic.

If you are feeling the pain with re-organization of Army Lists, the best advice I can give is to maybe just make some generic units you can chop and change. As a Guard player i know the feeling of discovering your force gets pummelled real early.

Kill, maim, destroy. Or not. Mind you, this is why I don't play competitively. Sounds like, despite the 0-4, you had a couple of good close games. If you're not enjoying the list, I'd change it. And it's more than possible to lose regularly and enjoy, but you know that. Is it the lack of synergy that frustrates you? Identify what it is you dislike about the play style of the army - eg, as you say, Kantor - and rebuild from there.

I can think if builds where Kantor would be quite good. This just isn't it. My problem is that the meta-game is so vehicle and assault oriented that my relatively static, shooty army just doesn't measure up.

The one thing that makes Kantor pretty much a bad deal all-round, is that he does not have terminator armor, eternal warrior or an iron halo. So on the battlefield he's just Joe-blow marine with a couple of extra wounds. Ridiculous for a chapter master to be so vulnerable.

I did cook up a pretty fun list using him though... would have to combine Thing 1s Doom Eagles and my Mantis Warriors to come up with enough parts to field it (and even then I'd need to paint a number of things first)... but I think it would be a real hoot to run and certainly more competitive than my current army.

Sorry to hear about your bad run in the tourney, my only suggestion is that classic stormbolter termies can be both shooty and decent in assault. They may be able to stradle the shooty/assault division for you, I like chucking them in terrain near an objective that has been bolstered to 3+ by the MotF and watching my opponent wonder what the hell to do with them.

Oh and MORE RIFLEMEN!!!!!

Just looked in my codex he has an iron halo. Do think he should have eternal warroir. I run kantor in a sternguard squad all the time.

Stonelessword wrote:Just looked in my codex he has an iron halo. Do think he should have eternal warroir. I run kantor in a sternguard squad all the time.

Yeah i thought he does have an Iron Halo.
Eternal Warrior would be nice.

BLACKHAND wrote:Sorry to hear about your bad run in the tourney, my only suggestion is that classic stormbolter termies can be both shooty and decent in assault. They may be able to stradle the shooty/assault division for you, I like chucking them in terrain near an objective that has been bolstered to 3+ by the MotF and watching my opponent wonder what the hell to do with them.

Oh and MORE RIFLEMEN!!!!!

Actually, here's the list I've been poking around with...

Kantor
5 assault termies/ 2x TH/SS in LR Redeemer w/ either terminator chaplain or libby
5 tac termies w/ chain fist in LR Redeemer (Kantor rides in here)
5 sternguard w/ 2 las cannons
2x 5 man sniper scouts w/ ML
2x vindicators

So you have 3 small scoring squads, all stationary originally to give long-range supporting fire, then can move at will once supporting fire is no longer necessary. LRs & vindis go screaming across the table on turn one. Turn 2 the vindi's open fire as most things should be in range by then (depending on the scenario) and the LR's disgorge their content into assault. Kantor goes or stays in LR, either way giving +! attack in assault to all units within 12". With the termies, vindicators and land raiders laying about themselves, the three scoring units should be free to move where ever they are needed.


3 infantry units are all scoring while vehicles pile in at 12" then all hell breaks loose.

Stonelessword wrote:Just looked in my codex he has an iron halo. Do think he should have eternal warroir. I run kantor in a sternguard squad all the time.

Yeah, you're right. Don't know how I missed that... I think it's the lack of eternal warrior in the chapter masters that I find the most vexing. One crack missile hit and *poof*. Red mist.


OH, and reading the final tally I think I came in second on appearance. This army's now been in 3 tourneys at my FLGS and I think came in second all three times to 3 different armies! So, that works out to 4th best in appearance overall.... LOL! Guess I was right to begin with.

I got most of the bits picked out for vent's marine. All save for the arms. and getting two arms to match in pose is nearly impossible (still working on it). There's going to be a serious amount of difficult conversion on this model... should be interesting.

Hey Gits, it was a rough day, but I'm glad you still had some fun. If I could have stuck around for a 5th game I would have challenged you to a battle of the cups, but alas, it was not to be. Perhaps next time. From what I've learned about Codex Marines, one of the keys is to take advantage of some of their cheap firepower options. The obvious rifleman, but Predators, Vindis, Whirlwinds are all inexpensive and useful. My last Marine list also included a Thunderfire, which was nice because you can choose your ammo, not as good as an Obliterator, but handy. Sadly, you do almost need the termies to be competitive, but there's a fair number of guys here that run codex lists that are out of the ordinary and do well. I've seen dominating Kantor and Shrike lists, plenty of Vulkan, and one good list without a special character yesterday, so there's lots of variety to be had.

As far as your painting, the army looks spectacular, but I think it might have been the Land Speeders that made the difference.

Wow, that must of been a lush game!
They look great on the table top!
Also let me geuss agints your kids?!

Nerf wrote:Hey Gits, it was a rough day, but I'm glad you still had some fun. If I could have stuck around for a 5th game I would have challenged you to a battle of the cups, but alas, it was not to be. Perhaps next time. From what I've learned about Codex Marines, one of the keys is to take advantage of some of their cheap firepower options. The obvious rifleman, but Predators, Vindis, Whirlwinds are all inexpensive and useful. My last Marine list also included a Thunderfire, which was nice because you can choose your ammo, not as good as an Obliterator, but handy. Sadly, you do almost need the termies to be competitive, but there's a fair number of guys here that run codex lists that are out of the ordinary and do well. I've seen dominating Kantor and Shrike lists, plenty of Vulkan, and one good list without a special character yesterday, so there's lots of variety to be had.

As far as your painting, the army looks spectacular, but I think it might have been the Land Speeders that made the difference.

Yeah, they got thrown in at the last minute and were just painted up to my old standards from years ago. I'm not worried about the painting thing... the fact that there are so many nicely painted armies in the tournament just means the odds are better that I'll get to play them, which always means I have a better time win or lose. Anyway *I* also voted for the winning Dark Eldar army... so I'm very cool with the final results! :-)

Would have loved to play you... just was completely fried by the end of the 4th game & went home as well. While I don't want to use tanks in my late-period MW list (fluff reasons), I am free to use them in this early list. I've been painting a lot of things up to now that can be used in both (for obvious reasons), perhaps it's time to work on some more tanks for the early list. I just drew up a really fun looking mechanized marine list... assault termies in LR w/ libby, 3 troops in las/plas razorbacks, 3 las preds & a tech marine w/ servitors to keep it all running. I think I own most of the figures but there would be a LOT of painting involved... Wouldn't be much good vs. horde armies but nasty vs. anything mechanized.

HAZZER wrote:Wow, that must of been a lush game!
They look great on the table top!
Also let me geuss agints your kids?!

Not sure which game you're referring to Haz. The last 4 were at a tournament at the local shop.


Got done selecting the bits for the Mantis Warrior I'm making for vent. This will be another proof-of-concept for my vanguard.

Gitsplitta wrote:

Got done selecting the bits for the Mantis Warrior I'm making for vent. This will be another proof-of-concept for my vanguard.

.......That is going to be awesome.

lets be honest, having a nice, themed army that you enjoy playing is generally more fun to play than uber-must-win-no-matter-what-generic-popular-(insert own comment here) anyway (that's how I see it) as this is a hobby, not anything else.
Can we see some pics of your land speeders gits?

They're nothing special IM... just plastic landspeeders painted a lot like my old marines... medium/dark green with a few yellow patches. Not even any highlighting or anything. I'll re-do them properly eventually.

You can see them if you zoom in on that first battle pic.

Here's the build for vent's Mantis Warrior vanguard. Decided I wanted to separate regular vanguard from those with power weapons (lightening claws), so I used the same general concept as the dual chainswords but executed it in an different fashion. Both blades on each arm will be powered. I really wanted to make the model look like it was taking flight, so he's leaning way forward and the wings are in the "up" position.


OH and the Mini of the Month Competition is up and running!

You can see all of the entries here. Mini of the Month Competition

Go check it out and vote for your favorite Mantis Warrior... uh... I mean "vote for your favorite mini!"


Actually there are several really good minis that people have put forth... its worth your time to stop by and take a look. Please support all the many entrants hard work and take time to vote for the one you like best.

o.o these wings are awesome

I really like the wings git. Can 't wait to see it painted and with buddies.

I do see a casting bubble on the lowest left hand wing though, be sure to catch that before priming! I assume hes still WIP, but some handles on the top of the hands would be good too. I like the way he is looking so far, very staby.

Looks awesome Gits,

The pose almost looks like he should have the falchions rotated 180 degrees, that's my thought anyhow.

Is he gonna be pinned to look like hes flying?

whalemusic360 wrote:I do see a casting bubble on the lowest left hand wing though, be sure to catch that before priming!

Damn you WM, you would find the bubble!

whalemusic360 wrote:I do see a casting bubble on the lowest left hand wing though, be sure to catch that before priming! I assume hes still WIP, but some handles on the top of the hands would be good too. I like the way he is looking so far, very staby.

Didn't notice that... good catch, I'll fix it. Yeah, the swords will have handle bits, just didn't get to that yet.

Knightley wrote:Looks awesome Gits,

The pose almost looks like he should have the falchions rotated 180 degrees, that's my thought anyhow.

In general terms I agree that would make more sense, but I'm trying to keep these consistent with preying mantis arms that go upwards and then down again, whiich is why there are the elbow blades and the inverted swords with the blade facing the arm blades. Consider it "poetic license" with modeling.

polari wrote:Is he gonna be pinned to look like hes flying?

More like leaping. He'll be off the base a little bit more so he'll be larger and more intimidating than the standard opponent, but I don't want to go too far up or I have pin issues to deal with.

Thanks for your comments!

cracking mini gits. "mantis warriors - they don't prey for you, they prey on you!"

LOL! Good one weety!

Hey, how's the mug business going? I see your work popping up in the gallery from time to time. Still enjoying the heck out of mine. It's filled with delicious Sumatran as I type!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ooooh, just checked out your Facebook page... nice stuff!

Downward pointing blades are cool, besides if he was stabbing down the way or something he would have to rotate his wrist or hand and it may look awkward. Very nice posing of the model.
The wings out are cool too sort of makes him look biigger and more intimidating, like "I am gonna half scare you to death before I skewer you" pose

I'm imagining the shadow that's going to cast on the poor enemy.

Suddenly makes their whole DS rule all the more fluffy.

Heroic Intervention go!

Well, swords are pretty easy to flip in your hands as long as you aren't engaged. I envisioned this as the classic "mantis attack" pose.

Thanks gits - business is booming - but I dont seem to be making very much profit. I'm paying to much for studio rent. But I enjoy it too much to stop! Need to move into my dads shed maybe.
Cant wait to see the new mantis guy painted - he really is very stabby-cutty

I like the stabby cutty. Consider it pinched for GK Paladins...

No problem... interesting thing in your sig... what is that?

Love the Vanguard Vet Gits!
wondered where BLACKHAND's Wings went... The Mantis Pose is coming back!
weety, your mugs are epic! wish i could afford one, ill have to start saving my pennies

Insane! in only the best way you can do it! love the pose and the conversion! looks excellent, I can imagine him just touching down and leaping forward into the fray!, a very nice model Gits, a whole squad of them will be amazing and very nice to see! and of course, i can't wait to see him painted up :-)


Nerdfest09

Just a quick question gits, and I'm sorry if it's been asked already, but those wings on the Assault chappy.....any thoughts on making them look see throu? Maybe mirrored to catch the light?

Could be a great advantage in combat if it's particularly sunny? I only ask because although I've only read up to page 121(!) you seem to be incorporating an awful lot of insect like touches to these dudes.

On the blog, great work so far, have been really enjoying reading all the thought process that you have put into this project. Eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

Gits, bud, sorry I've been away from dakka since, I'm trying to spend my free "day" time at the beach or pool. So, to catch up, Devs look awesome! The script on their purity seals and parchments really make them pop. That's all micron pen, right? Or did you start painting the script?
Sorry to hear about your luck at the local tourny. But, I agree with some of the others, your army looks too good. I enjoy the fluff lists over the WAAC lists anyday. GMS marine looks absolutley menacing! The pose is really animated and makes him just look stunning. Quite excited to see you paint him up!

Revenent Reiko wrote:Love the Vanguard Vet Gits!
wondered where BLACKHAND's Wings went... The Mantis Pose is coming back!
weety, your mugs are epic! wish i could afford one, ill have to start saving my pennies

Thanks Reiko, and you're right... weety's mugs are epic!

nerdfest09 wrote:Insane! in only the best way you can do it! love the pose and the conversion! looks excellent, I can imagine him just touching down and leaping forward into the fray!, a very nice model Gits, a whole squad of them will be amazing and very nice to see! and of course, i can't wait to see him painted up :-)

Yes, me too. And I'm reserving one special touch for them which will only be for my personal vanguard models. So keep your eyes peeled when I finally get to do more of my own things.

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:Just a quick question gits, and I'm sorry if it's been asked already, but those wings on the Assault chappy.....any thoughts on making them look see throu? Maybe mirrored to catch the light?

Could be a great advantage in combat if it's particularly sunny? I only ask because although I've only read up to page 121(!) you seem to be incorporating an awful lot of insect like touches to these dudes.

On the blog, great work so far, have been really enjoying reading all the thought process that you have put into this project. Eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

Thanks sarpendons! If you have a suggestion for making them see through... I'm all ears. I don't think I could paint anything remotely like that, so they'd have to be cut out of clear plastic I suppose with the extra bits added on to each wing. That's a lot of work. You're quite right... very realistic, just not sure if it's possible with my skills such as they are. Thanks for your comments on the blog too. Glad to know it can still entertain. Stop by anytime and feel free to pitch in your ideas. Love to hear what other people think (and as you read through the blog you'll see that this really is a group project).

Moltar wrote:Gits, bud, sorry I've been away from dakka since, I'm trying to spend my free "day" time at the beach or pool. So, to catch up, Devs look awesome! The script on their purity seals and parchments really make them pop. That's all micron pen, right? Or did you start painting the script?
Sorry to hear about your luck at the local tourny. But, I agree with some of the others, your army looks too good. I enjoy the fluff lists over the WAAC lists anyday. GMS marine looks absolutley menacing! The pose is really animated and makes him just look stunning. Quite excited to see you paint him up!

Script is micron pen, the other panels and such are painted. Well, I'm kind of stuck with them as they are... though I will slowly be adding units that should help take care of some of the issues in the current list. It dawned on my that my Badab War MW list was never designed to stand on it's own... it was designed to be part of a team at Adepticon, thus it has always had some glaring weaknesses. Scaling it up to 1850 just made those weaknesses all the more obvious. I will eventually get them sorted... I hope anyway.

And here's progress on the vanguard. Green airbrushing is done & it's been lined w/ thrakka in the crevices. I have no idea how I'm going to paint the wings... have to ponder that a bit.


OH, and if you actually went and checked out my pic in the Mini of the Month competition... you might go ahead and vote on it (in the gallery, not in the competition)... been a while since I had anything in the public eye and I'd appreciate the feedback & support. - Thanks!

I'd paint them like your gems, but with a white, instead of a black, base color

So i go to google and type in painting mantis wings in the search to see if i could find somethin to help you out and i see several of your MWs lol

Interesting idea BBL.

@polari: That's pretty funny. :-) I've got some ideas but I'm going to let them bounce around in my head until tomorrow.

Hmmm... I found these... pretty cool

o.o awesome if you can make ur mw look like that i will be impressed

Gitsplitta wrote:

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:Just a quick question gits, and I'm sorry if it's been asked already, but those wings on the Assault chappy.....any thoughts on making them look see throu? Maybe mirrored to catch the light?

Could be a great advantage in combat if it's particularly sunny? I only ask because although I've only read up to page 121(!) you seem to be incorporating an awful lot of insect like touches to these dudes.

On the blog, great work so far, have been really enjoying reading all the thought process that you have put into this project. Eagerly awaiting the next instalment!

Thanks sarpendons! If you have a suggestion for making them see through... I'm all ears. I don't think I could paint anything remotely like that, so they'd have to be cut out of clear plastic I suppose with the extra bits added on to each wing. That's a lot of work. You're quite right... very realistic, just not sure if it's possible with my skills such as they are. Thanks for your comments on the blog too. Glad to know it can still entertain. Stop by anytime and feel free to pitch in your ideas. Love to hear what other people think (and as you read through the blog you'll see that this really is a group project).

To answer the clear wing question, I did look at trying to pour the wings out of clear resin but it takes an age to harden with such small amounts and in a thin mould like that. Resin hardens faster when there is larger amount in the mould, like say a SM bike wheel hardens faster than a helmet for instance, and the clear resin would probably take a day or two before I could pull it. This would have meant Git would still be waiting for his first batch of wings! not to mention that the clear resin is almost impossible to knock the bubbles out of and they look terrible.

The best way to do it in my opinion is to get sheet of clear acrylic plastic and have it laser etched by someone, this would allow you to do some pretty fine details as well and using different colours of acrylic would have some cool effects.

So I did think about clear wings but I just wasn't set up to do it Besides with Git's painting skills I think they should come up pretty damn nice

If you do want clear wings. Have a chat with the Warmill guys. They are on here and do amazing clear acrylic bases, swords and other things.

Pretty suire if you give them a PM with what you want they could help.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, and I did think about the Warmill guys as this sub-topic evolved over the last day, but it's too late for that. I'll keep what I have. Had I been aware of them 6 months ago, I probably would have approached them, but I like what Blackhand cooked up & will do my best to make them look decent the old fashioned way. Brushes & paint.

A white undercoat, green/purple/blue washes on parts of the wings and then a gloss varnish might make the wings look more bug like?

Then again, they are part of the armour, so green works too

I'm thinking of keeping them green from the back, as a mantis' wing covers are green (if body is green). It's the underside view that I was thinking about doing something fancy with.

I may experiment with some of my spare sets.

Hi, My suggestion for for the wings would be, to keep the wings green for the most part then draw on a wing design in bold yellow lines or lighter green/white line or something. To make it look like they have had this design painted or printedl or stenciled on like car decals.

This way you are not trying to receate something complicated and it is also going to look quite real in a way.

Just an aside... in the Mini of the Month Competition... my melta vent is in a 3-way tie for second place! I'm pretty pleased about that... the other two models are quite nice so I'm in really good company.

Congrats on the Melta-Vet, when does voting end? (ive already voted but i want to know when the results are out)

Cant help you with the wings im afraid, but i have faith in you that it will come out great (*gush gush* )

Actually what I'm most pleased about so far is that he's gone together fairly quickly. I'd like to get to the point where I'm not spending two weeks building and painting each figure... nice as the results are it gets kind of old after a while. One day to build, one day & the greens are done. We'll see what kind of progress I can make in the next session... but if I can do a scratch-build like this in a week or less, I'll be pretty happy.

TBH, i think you would have gotten to that stage before now if it werent for the fact that you do such disparate projects all at the same time if that makes sense?(not that i think what you are doing is wrong of cors).

True... even while working on the vanguard I'm also working on my son's Land Raider... that's kind of my life I guess. But your right, going in 6 different directions at the same time does not do a lot for improving efficiency.

As i said, its not a bad thing that you have many things on at once, its a really good way to keep yourself motivated/interested (God knows i have to keep switching between topics for revision so my brain doesnt completely switch off). But yeah, its not great for efficiency, which is a shame (although you are improving!).

Hows the LR coming along btw?
EDIT: nm, ill post on the DE thread

The vanguard vet. looks great.
If I may chime in about the painting of the wings: You could try an air brush fade/blenddy thing-similar to what some folks do on power weapons. I reckon that if you used blue and a silvery white, it could look like the wings in those two insect photos. If, like you said, you paint the outer face green; the model would be very striking, with a very different sort of look from the front and from the back.
Great work in general. I love following your progress.

@Reiko: That's true. I got awfully sick of my Mantis Warriors when I was doing nothing but painting them for Adepticon. Now I'm doing both earas of MW, nids, necrons and the occasional Doom Eagle... much more interesting!

@ctown: Thank you! You've got the right of it... at least that's where my mind is heading. I also thought about doing Coyotebrakes vein idea but rather than making them look like a stencil, do them in a very delicate shade of grey, just enough so you can see there's something going on but not enough to dominate the underside of the wing.

I presume you've seen this thread?

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/359778.page

If you're looking for Anything that you want to be remotely clear, id go to them! I think they could make some super cool mantis wings...

That new assault mantis looks great!!!

Lucky him!!

Effeciency gave me 2 bulging disks. Stick with diversity Gitz.

Nice crazy flying Mantis ther Git they are going to look excellent in a squad!

I love how the pose mirrors an actual Mantis!

Was this intentional or fluke when you found that picture?

He looks great Gits! But I think he would look better with a Red Corsairs Shoulder pad!

Are you having problems with ur air brush? I dont know if it just me, but it looks like your getting alot of splatter?

Really love that pose Gits, can't wait to see what you do with the rest of that model.

DarkStarSabre wrote:I love how the pose mirrors an actual Mantis! Was this intentional or fluke when you found that picture?

Definitely on purpose! My image of the vanguard is that they take (as much as they can), true preying mantis form. Thus the weapons forms (double chainswords, power swords w/ arm extensions) and insect wings.

Styrofoam04 wrote:He looks great Gits! But I think he would look better with a Red Corsairs Shoulder pad!

Are you having problems with ur air brush? I dont know if it just me, but it looks like your getting alot of splatter?

I hadn't noticed in RL but zooming in on the pic you are absolutely correct. Hmmmm. The pressure from this compressor seem's a little "soft" to me, even though it's set at the proper PSI according to the regulator & does have a tank. I may try turning the pressure up a bit to see if that helps. It's also probably time for a new needle. Thanks for catching that Styro.

Alfndrate wrote:Really love that pose Gits, can't wait to see what you do with the rest of that model.

Hope to do some painting tonight. Took last night off (from everything) to fight off a cold. Feeling much better today though.


I received in the mail today... a large box from middle earth. I'm VERY excited about it. Will enjoy my "Christmas in June" this evening. :-)

More later... IF you're worthy...

Tonight's work:

Wings, front and back. I'll put some kind of very light vein pattern on the front part of the wings... something to add interest to the gradient. But not tonight... Spent 1 hour painting and 2 hours fixing!

Have to see what the finished model looks like...right now the light blue is a bit glaring and ...I can't find the exact word. Good blending though.

It's just the base coat... I think the veining will help considerably.

Great Work! Even only partially painted, I can imagine that bastard stabbing into a raptor. Actually, I just got a diorama idea, Assault Marines vs. Raptors, mid-air.
But seriously, that guy comes flying at me I'll crap my pants
Plat

I think the blue works brilliantly on it's own as it looks like a blinding mirror. Maybe just a gloss varnish to finish it off?

If you are putting veining on, doing it in a blue that's only slightly darker would work. Anything darker might spoil the effect you currently have going

It's a bright blue. The 'veins' will probably balance that out. But the effect is there with that sort of dazzling gossamer sheen effect you get from bug wings.

I can almost convince myself that the wings are reflecting the color of the sky...


Unfortunately in this pose his wings would be reflecting the ground, so that illusion doesn't last very long. :-( However that is something to consider for future versions...

I actually like the "jarring" effect... it's what I was going for. Something that contrasted strongly with the green of the body, that would frame it and make it stand out. I also wanted something reminiscent of a power weapon effect as the conduits on the back are transferring energy to the wings so they move and shift as proper control surfaces should. Not that they should "glow"... but that there is a tell-tale nimbus of energy about them.

Well, we'll see what tonight brings... I have a day to think on it and get ideas/opinions from you guys. That always helps clarify my thinking.

Hmmm. I see what you mean about it not reflecting the right surface.

I'd almost be tempted to say it's couple of tiny spotlights on his back, under the wings that are pointed at the shiny surface so that it dazzles the enemy, regardless of the lighting conditions. I just really love the blue contrast and the glow you've got going on with them.

I take it the undersides were painted white and then airbrushed blue at the tips?

I can also see you're going for making Ygg squee. Planning some OSL with the jump pack?

I love how he looks Gits, well done! the contrast is great and the backs of the wings look spot on, still mechanical without being ridiculous! I like the inside of the wings like that, a bright glaring distraction as he plummets from the sky his twin blades slicing and rending in furious combat! good work dude! keep going please! :-)


Nerdfest09

endtransmission wrote:I'd almost be tempted to say it's couple of tiny spotlights on his back, under the wings that are pointed at the shiny surface so that it dazzles the enemy, regardless of the lighting conditions. I just really love the blue contrast and the glow you've got going on with them.

Actually my friend that gives me an idea. Not quite spotlights, but I could take the airbrush and add fuzzy white areas on the underside of the wings just opposite from the main power couplings on the back side, as if the energy from them was pulsing through the wings strongly in those areas and giving you the blinding effect you're looking for. Also that way I wouldn't have to worry so much about the OSL as the light sources would be far away from the rest of the figure. I could also add a couple of fine white streaks to the wings to add to the illusion of being a reflective surface.

I take it the undersides were painted white and then airbrushed blue at the tips?

Yep. Next time I do this I'll paint the wings before attaching them and the whole operation will be much, much easier and cleaner.

DarkStarSabre wrote:I can also see you're going for making Ygg squee. Planning some OSL with the jump pack?

For the jets? Yes. Roleplayer did a nice little tut back in his Blood Angel's blog and I thought it would be a nice effect.

nerdfest09 wrote:I love how he looks Gits, well done! the contrast is great and the backs of the wings look spot on, still mechanical without being ridiculous! I like the inside of the wings like that, a bright glaring distraction as he plummets from the sky his twin blades slicing and rending in furious combat! good work dude! keep going please! :-) Nerdfest09

Thanks my friend. With luck, there will be more progress tonight, though I may work on some other parts of the figure before coming to a final decision about how I want to finish the wings.

Have you thought about getting some airbrush stencils for the "insect vein" pattern? May take a while to source them but would make it much more uniform and tidy and realistic imo.

edit: Forgot to say how awesome it is!! I really love the bright blue, insects are meant to be eye-catching and dazzling, perfect imo.

Awesome Gits! Everything is looking stunning! The wings are phenomenal, and the pose is brilliant! Most impressed, and looking forward to seeing how he progresses!

I love how your title says the last update was three weeks in the future.

Also, nice work on those wings. That blue/white gradient looks really cool.

Those wings are nice, reminds me a bit of the Harlequins Ifalna was working on, the blending is beautifully done.

Nice work! those wings look the !
ill echo the words of others that the veins shouldnt be too dark, cant wait to see him finished

I think it looks fine Gits, the blue makes it look almost transparent, as if they appear to float without any technological aid; outstanding.

Cant you use clear resin for the wings?

Discussed earlier Miss Dee, see last page.

@Reiko: Thanks man... still deciding if there should be veins at all, but if I do they'll be very light.

@ DE: Thank you sir! Very glad the effect is working for you. :-)

I do like the back-lit idea, thats pretty cool, just thinking of continuing the theme as it were

I like the veins idea...especially because it sounds difficult and I am not doing it.

Sorry gits was suffering with painful knees

Ah, no problem Miss Dee. My knees prevent me from READING all the time!

;^)

*poke* *poke*

I went into the back of a car that pulled out infront of me while going down hill on a bike

Ouch!
Glad ur OK

Yeah, glad you're still with us. Accidents like that can be very dangerous. Lots of motorcyclists killed that way each year.

Let's have no more of that Miss Dee!

Glad to have you still with us in one piece.

Quick update: I airbrushed the power blades in the wee hours this morning. With luck I'll make a bit more progress later today and post a pic tonight.

*Gently nudges the thread to page over*

Quick updates are good updates still! Looking forward to seeing that.

I cant believe I knew this thread when it had one page. From the time I have been away, great progress has been made! hope to see more!

Thanks SMC! (and thanks for the nudge DSS)

Very good day today.
- made progress on painting (re-painting) Thing 2's Hive Tyrant.
- got a bit more work done on Thing 1's land raider
- made more progress on the vanguard marine
- nearly done with the basing on a great GMS marine made for me by BBL
- cleaned the house
- watched the original King Kong on AMC
- got to play another turn with Thing 1 in our ongoing 40k game.
- spent the evening with the boys on my boat on my favorite local lake (Lake Wisconsin), caught a few fish, had dinner at our favorite lake-side eatery, watched the sun set over the water... beautiful!

I'll try to add just a few more things on the vanguard tonight before posting a pic. Keep your eyes peeled!

I am taking a paring knife to my cornea as you speak.

Touche'

:-)

OK, here's the progress on the vanguard. The helmet will be "whitened", this is just the first step. Lots of details painted in, swords of course. The "sparkles" on his legs and such aren't really there... some kind of artifact of the photographic process.

Wow!, that's really impressive Gits, loving all your work so far...and as always looking forward to seeing more.

I am liking the vanguard vet git.

Glad to hear you had such a good day, I spent the afternoon talking to a good friend of mine about 40k while our two girls had a "tea" party downstairs... complete with liters of water all over the carpet

Loving the Vanguard, really like how the elbow spurs have come out.

I really like the vanguard. Those wings are coming along nicely, I think that's the right colour choice for those.

Excellent work.

I really like the blending on both the wings and swords / claws / scythes...

But I do think the wings are a bit "dull", detail-wise... I can only figure it's already a lot of work to model them, but a few details on their inner side would've been welcome, IMHO...

Still an awesome & dynamic mini uh!

Sweet!Thats cool!

Gits i'm still lovin' the smooth blue colour you can get from the airbrush! i'm still having trouble with mine coming out speckly :-( i'm not upset with how it turned out but it'd be nice to be able to lay on a smooth colour gradient like you seem to have become quite the master of lately! well done, he's looking great (as if you didn't know) :-)


Nerdfest09

Loving how the blues are coming out Gits. Now that there's more of it it meshes together better.

I think a lot of us are learning that patience is a virtue!

Yggdrasil wrote:I really like the blending on both the wings and swords / claws / scythes...

But I do think the wings are a bit "dull", detail-wise... I can only figure it's already a lot of work to model them, but a few details on their inner side would've been welcome, IMHO...

Still an awesome & dynamic mini uh!

I actually agree with you Yggs, I'm just not sure what to do about it. Adding "veins" as I was originally thinking is a possibility but I'm pretty sure it would completely destroy the blending effect, not to mention that big, long, straight lined are going to be the devil to paint. The other part of the wings I'm not satisfied with is the edge. The edges are the same green as the body, which looks fine from the back, but the transition to the blended surface looks awkward to me. Some kind of visual break is needed there but I'm not sure what... perhaps gold like the wing struts & conduits on the back.

nerdfest09 wrote:Gits i'm still lovin' the smooth blue colour you can get from the airbrush! i'm still having trouble with mine coming out speckly :-( i'm not upset with how it turned out but it'd be nice to be able to lay on a smooth colour gradient like you seem to have become quite the master of lately! well done, he's looking great (as if you didn't know) :-)
Nerdfest09

I still have problems with occasional speckling... had it on this guys basic paint job actually. I wish I knew for sure what caused it or how I solved it. I did change needles, completely cleaned the brush and fiddled with the PSI on the compressor. Check to make sure the tip of your needle isn't bent. If you look at them the wrong way those needle tips can bend and then you're pretty much screwed.

BLACKHAND wrote:Glad to hear you had such a good day, I spent the afternoon talking to a good friend of mine about 40k while our two girls had a "tea" party downstairs... complete with liters of water all over the carpet Loving the Vanguard, really like how the elbow spurs have come out.

Cool... Is this the kind of "tea party" that involves wet t-shirts and lots of beer?

DarkStarSabre wrote:Loving how the blues are coming out Gits. Now that there's more of it it meshes together better. I think a lot of us are learning that patience is a virtue!

Well, if you're waiting for me to paint a figure... patients is a virtue. God knows some of my trading partners have been waiting for the better part of a year and they *still* haven't gotten their figures.

Might have a little time to work on things today... we'll see.

Gitsplitta wrote:
I actually agree with you Yggs, I'm just not sure what to do about it. Adding "veins" as I was originally thinking is a possibility but I'm pretty sure it would completely destroy the blending effect, not to mention that big, long, straight lined are going to be the devil to paint. The other part of the wings I'm not satisfied with is the edge. The edges are the same green as the body, which looks fine from the back, but the transition to the blended surface looks awkward to me. Some kind of visual break is needed there but I'm not sure what... perhaps gold like the wing struts & conduits on the back.

I think the problem your having is that your going straight from green to blue.

I'd think about possibly painting the edges a colour that seperates the two, as shown by my super-awesome award winning paint.net skills below.

Looks Great Gits, really coming together well.
I think matrim has hit on it, but i cant decide on black or gold.
The helmet looks ghostly, and really mantis-like.
Note: more expansive comments to come, revision still has control over my brain

Hey guys... yeah, that was what I was trying to describe in my post... and I think that black or gold are really the only two options given the color range on the rest of the figure. I keep thinking the edge should fold around onto the underside of the wings a bit to give it a frame of sorts, but that might be tough to paint without screwing up... though I suppose I could mask it to help with my line, or even use a straight edge and a micron pen if I went with black.

Next time I'm doing all of this *before* I glue the wings into place.

I would go with black for the edge of the wings.

Nice work as always.

Epic pose! I love the wing front color. This will make the GMS proud!

UG

Tonight's progress:

- finished white on helmet
- started shoulder pad
- gold edging on wings (to be consistent with color of supports on back of wings)
- basic work on base & mounted figure
- added the rest of the handles for swords

That looks great. I could stop there and it would be my best paint job ever.

Suggestion:

Find a fine mesh to use as a stencil, could be all kinds of things, then use that as an AB stencil on the wings to give it texture and give a combo insectile/tech effect -

Coming together very nicely Gits.

Hi Gits, looking nearly done there! I believe you've chosen the right path with your colours for this guy so far! I was thinking about what MajorTom was saying about a stencil and I think he may be onto something! my friend who I got my brush off does a lot of stuff with fine stencils to achieve carbon fibre look, honeycomb,etc... maybe you could experiment with some small stencil work for the detail, holding it at different distances away to get the desired effect? only thing is picking the material to use? hmmmm my mind is ticking away for you....


Nerdfest09

Gitsplitta wrote:Tonight's progress:

- finished white on helmet
- started shoulder pad
- gold edging on wings (to be consistent with color of supports on back of wings)
- basic work on base & mounted figure
- added the rest of the handles for swords

As the Lucky S.o.B. who gets this miniature, let me just say: BITCHIN!

This is coming out nice. The gold border trim helps offset the blue starkness well enough.

Looks good, but im seeing a lot of speckling on this mini?? Is it just me?

I like maor tom's idea.

I think I saw something like it before, way back in the time of yore (WD early 200's I think). They basically used the plastic mesh bags that fruit comes in (you can get it in different sized mesh, just take a look when grocery shopping) and used it to wrap up a falcon which was undercoated balck. They sprayed it grey to get a hexagon insecto-reptilian look and then painted in the hexes..

Maybe that idea wouldnt work here because he needs to do the opposite of what I saw, but something maybe to consider for the future. doing wings and stuff.... instant veining.