Hello Everyone,

I'm coming over to Dakka after a hiatus of about 13 years. In 2011 I started a PLOG on another forum for my themed army, and I have been slowly plugging away at the project ever since. While I love the other forum a fellow modeler recently suggested I come over here to increase my viewing audience so here I am.

A bit of background on me:

I'm a U.S. based fan of 40k and have been playing and collecting since 1991. The 41st Millennium is the one fantasy/sci fi world I am obsessed with and follow, it's been my personal obsession since I picked up WD 141 back in the day and literally fell in love. I'm more of a fluff follower, painter, and modeler then I am a gamer and I have mostly lived in areas of the country where there isn't a game scene. My armies are always theme/fluff based as opposed to power gamer.

For a living I am a professional artist, college level art instructor and freelance designer.

A bit of background on the Project:

The Lamenters Reintroduction is an army based off of the time when the 100 year old penitence crusade into the Eastern Fringe after the Badab War has ended. The approximately 300 Lamenter Marines that survived everything have found themselves being granted sovereignty and allowed to operate as a fleet based chapter until they are awarded a new home world.

However, of course, given what has happened with Huron Blackheart and the Astral Claws over the last century, there are many skeptics among the Imperial Hierarchy who do not think the Lamenters are worthy of the Emperor's Forgiveness. The Chapter's Sovereignty was thus granted at a price and it has been mandated that a Flotilla containing the fleet of the Puritan Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Gahvriel Seth as well as the single Red Hunters cruiser that shadowed the Chapter through the Penitent Crusade was also ordered to continue it's deployment alongside the Chapter until further notice.

Convinced of their guilt Seth has used his Terra sanctioned mandate to constantly test the loyalty of the Lamenters, pushing them to further and further extremes in order to see if they will ever refuse an order from a man "sanctioned" by the High Lords of Terra. This has resulted in the Chapters deployment to several Imperial Worlds for the purpose of putting down minor insurrections and the occasional chaos or genestealer cult.

Their most recent deployment was in response to a distress call that one of Seth's field operatives passed on to him regarding a heretical cult operating on a hive world within the Lucem Sector of the Imperium. Upon translation from the warp the initial scouting ships from The Lamenters alongside the Red Hunters cruiser engaged and destroyed a single Renegade Cruiser identified as belonging to The Word Bearers Chapter. Upon the end of the engagement they have issued an Imperial edict requiring that all Imperial servants of fighting age report to their local Munistorium office for issuance of war gear and that any human upon the time of planet fall not holding the proper papers will be summarily executed for heresy against The Emperor. This heavy handed approach has sent the local Inquisition into a frenzy of activity as they did not anticipate an intervention of such magnitude then non of them foresaw in the tarot.

If you read all of that, you sir/madame are a hero.

Now on to the pictures:



The first 95% finished Lamenter. He still needs the last little bit of detail but he served as my final model for the marine's color scheme. This color scheme is the fifth attempt at the Lamenters, and in my display case three of the surviving earlier attempts sit in shame of not being accepted.





The WIP of the first squad. Each non Scout Lamenter will be either a model that is suitably adorned to represent a veteran, or a model that is converted in such a way as to do so. This small squad is currently being played as the honor guard for Chief Librarian/Commander Dilliad the highest ranking living member of the Chapter.

One of the few surviving Landraiders in the Chapter:






Inquisitor Seth's Retinue:



Inquisitor Acolyte Oeneka

She was originally designed as the second Inquisitor for the 3rd Edition Witch Hunters Codex, but when The Grey Knights came around and ruined everything she became a "counts as Eversor" model. Now she is being played as the primary Inquisitor as I finish Seth.





Executioner Servitor 647. This servitor has been tasked with identifying and purging heretics in the Lucem Sector and has been programmed with a list of punishable heresies and let loose alongside others into the hives. He carries a banner with his Inquisitorial sanctioned decree that lists all of the offenses and said punishments in minute detail on an illuminated manuscript illustrated by Seth's very own High Lord of Terra sanctioned scribes and artisans. Once 647 identifies and determines a crime the warrant is published on a a small printer located inside his mouth. Once the scroll is printed and his vox caster announces the heresy the heretic is then executed.

This model was started and finished in 2011 and won me a few online painting competitions. He very well may have been the first Wraith to 40k Conversion out there, and I like to think he spawned a bit of a movement among the =I= 28mm crowd.

The heretic's head is then transported to one of several "Heretic Dumps" as Seth's staff have been known to call them, that are spread out around the hives:



This is dump 27 in Primus Hive where one of Seth's most favored preachers gives a sermon.








This Cherub's origins come from a pious family on a local agri world that the flotilla visited for resupply. The father was concerned when his toddler ripped up an image of Him on Earth and offered his son up for penance for the families sins. He now carries the decree of forgiveness with all of it's stipulations, including two hundred pages detailing Seth and the Red Hunters authority to destroy the Lamenters at any time with him at all times. After his introduction into the "Emperors Light" this little guy was "gifted" to Dilliad, and constantly watches over the hierarchy of the forgiven chapter for signs of heresy.



The Vostroyans models are being used as my Inquisitorial Storm Troopers for the army. They are currently being deployed under the new codex as an "acolyte" squad with carapace armor and hotshot lasguns. I have one ten man squad painted up and this is just a quick example.

Here is their transport:



REPENT!!!!!




And now some WIP (this is all stuff I am currently working on that is in various stages. I don't consider anything completely done until the detail painting has gone on, the base is finished and the model is sprayed with a varnish, but life is fickle and sometimes you bend the rules. But here are my current projects):

Some WIP from the Lamenters Squad:







The Red Hunters squad. This squad was actually highly converted and also built as a "marine killing" squad. It's a kit bash between Sanguinary Guard, Grey Knights, and marines. The backpacks were converted from Grey Knight Backpacks and took way too much time:



The test marine. I want to leave the final highlight out because it takes about an hour per marine and for game purposes this is a troops unit meant to take up a slot. Should I scrap the highlight and just finish the squad?





The Sergeant. If you know the fluff of this Chapter the marines get mind scrubbed after every chaos deployment in order to protect their purity, but I fail to see how this could work given need for a fighting force to learn and adapt. So I altered the fluff a bit to say that the Sergeants and everyone higher within the Chapter is treated like Grey Knights and not required to undergo a mind scrub. Thus all the purity seals. The Sergeant is essentially the squad. Note the modified backpack. I picture this packs containing a "kill switch" that the Inquisitor and sergeant have access to that will de-power any marine that looses control and goes on a rampage.


Screenshot



A laser engraved base for a dreadnaught I had laying around that will eventually be airbrushed into the Lamenters Chapter.

These bases are a feature of my current work, and are available to interested modelers…

The =I= Models:




Gahvriel Seth in the very early stages. The coat is not yet glued and he will be seeing either a raven or a two headed eagle on his shoulder (thoughts?). Also I would appreciate any suggestions for what he should have in his right hand…






A Gunslinger from an assassins house that can only be described as a "Death Cult" located on a hive world that shall not be named. This conversion was inspired by a John Blanche sketch that I can post if you are interested. I REALLY need to just buckle down and finish this guy so I can stop thinking about him.





I finally found the perfect head for this guy after years of trying. His side arm is sculpted from the original bolt pistol in hostler from the Rogue Trader marine plastics. After an hour of reductive sculpting I finally got it to look right for the model. What color should I paint this guy???





During the initial invasions of the first Hive Fleets The Lamenters helped to fight off an attack on the Knight World of Caneus. The world itself was eventually lost after almost a year of fierce fighting and only two ships from the Knight House Mikaenus were able to evacuate once the Chapter declared the planet Extremus Mortis and thus a target of their Viral weapon capabilities. The Chapter itself fought long and hard, and lost several members to aid in the evacuation of as many civilians, nobles, and Knights suits as possible prior to the planets fall. As a result the remaining nobles of House Mikaenus have all declared themselves in a life debt to the Chapter and also as a united Freeblade unit, one of the first in the Imperium. They see their loss of their planet as a great slight to their House's honor and they have all thus, taken the title of Freeblade on in shame and in mourning of their loss.







A magnetized Predator that I used a 3D printer to print a spacer so that I could fit an original pewter Baal Predator turret in place of the traditional turret. This guy is awaiting a few parts in trade before I airbrush him up.

Thank you for looking.

Feedback, constructive criticism, thoughts, and comments are really the only reason I am online with this project so please feel free to tell me what you think! I am looking for a new place to share this project in hopes of finding more encouragement to keep it going, and Dakka seems like a good fit.

Let me know what you think, and thank you so much for taking the time to look through and read about my inner ramblings and dabblings into the world of The Emperor of Mankind.

Well, this is looking pretty damn cool. Great story to go along with the army. Looking forward to seeing it built. Weathering is perfect, too.

Very nice models there and conversions. Can't wait to see them painted and completely ready

Thanks guys, I will have more for you over the coming months. It's summer time so I have a lot of free hobby time to spare.

Executioner Servitor 647 is just stunning, I've seen him over at the Ammobunker, but every time I see that model I am blown away. How long did the banner take to paint?

Wow, awesome stuff, just awesome! Welcome back to Dakka. Love the shades on the yellow and red, should give a really nice contrast on the battlefield. The Inq stuff is great.

Mind if I steal the chain-scythe idea?

Thanks guys, Grag I appreciate the props. If it wasn't for Ammobunker I wouldn't know many of the techniques I applied to that model.

Paradigm,

Thanks for your comments. The Chain-Scythe wasn't my idea, I only slightly converted that model. She is the Spyre Matriarch model that was a very rare release in the early 2000's by Fanatic Games.

Steal Away, and post the conversion when you're done!

Very nice stuff! I eventually was going to do some lamenters to go with my astral claws, definitely interested in following what you do with yours.

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all of your views and really thank everyone who comments. I appreciate the feedback and it's honestly the only reason I post my mini's online (other then to inspire others to make cool stuff too):

So I am at a major loss:

I love that the Seth conversion is a small male miniature with a great coat that makes him look bigger. He's meant to be the worst possible Inquisitor ever, basically he is the definition of a Napoleon Complex and when someone finally pointed out to me that the conversion is a bit soft for an =I= I realized that actually it may be the perfect amount of conversion for a Seth.

But, I really want him to have a psyber familiar… I would prefer it to be a double headed eagle so I spent some time on a fine cast model I traded for to see if it would fit.

I have about an hour of work to carve out the parts of this model I don't want and then glue it to a shoulder pad, but what do you think? Is the eagle to big for a model of this stature???

Your work is great and I will definitely be keeping an eye on your progress. I definitely am more of a fluff gamer as well, although my painting and modelling skills fall way behind yours.

In regards to the eagle, could you model it sitting on a perch on its own base if you are worried about it being too large for Inquisitor Seth?

Good stuff!!
Nice & dirty, just the way I like my mahweens.

Really cool looking force - love the trench coat skull guy

I think it depends on what you're going for with the Inquisitor. I love the idea of a small and weedy guy with the power and ego to blast a planet to dust, but the question is, do you want to play up to that weedy look (in which case give him something tiny and pathetic as a familliar, like a cyber-rat or something), or if you want to match the idea that he tries to 'big himself up' then having a huge great eagle as a familiar adds some real gravitas; no one's going to argue with that perched on his shoulder!

Also, if you haven't decided what to arm him with in his right hand, I think a rapier-type sword could work rather well with the character, rather small and thin but very deadly.

I love the idea of the eagle being bigger than the inquisitor! I think it would look totally badass if the eagle had a kind of bored "facial expression" - as if it was showing its owner utter disrespect (I also thought about some bird droppings on the coat, but this probably wouldn't fit heroic Lamenters well). I don't know if it's doable, though.

Thanks everyone, the feedback is flowing in and I think I am going to move forward with the eagle over the coming days but model it as such that I can take it away if I decide it's not working as the conversion moves forward.

Skybax, that is so funny about the droppings. I was thinking the same thing but decided against it.

I do think the eagle does have kind of a bored look to it when perched on a shoulder as compared to Coteaz's arm.

Good job and nice approach to the build by using a background and story to use as a source.

You have some intresting builds. I love the look of the landraider. Good job on weathering.

There are some tough challenges for being a Lamenter Player ..namely all the checkered shoulder pads. Over the years they seem to take forever to do right. I can share my technique if you want thou you seem to have the size and form of the checks down well. My only suggestion is to take a fine pen ( art pen like a micron pen ) and sharpen the black edges. This will clean up the edges.

Look forward to see how you expand this Chapter.

great stuff on here mate. love the background on everything!

Solar,

Thank you for the comments. The Land Raider is really my pride and joy at the moment. It was a project I did with a master painter where he walked me through the steps of weathering.

The decals I use are also custom printed Ink Jet Decals that I design in photoshop and illustrator and print them out.

Using the Micron pen to tighten up the edges is a great idea I hadn't thought of. I didn't want to use just a Micron as I figured the finish would differ from the finish of the paint and it would stand out to much. But, I will play around with it.

I would love to hear your process.

What I want to do is laser cut a grid onto a shoulderplate to see if it's possible. I would love to have a relief grid carved into the shoulder plate as a guide.

I love the Chapter and always have since the days of Compendium.

Thanks for your comments on the fluff. The army is very thematic and the Inq 28mm guys love it, but I've started gaming with it and I was predominately a 3rd Edition gamer, and I'm getting stomped by 7th Edition players.

I need to rethink my list which has me pausing on builds.

Any clue or rumor as to when the next BA codex will be out?

Cool idea .. let me know if you manade to get a decent looking Lamenter shoulder plate. I be interested in purchasing them if they were available. As a suggestion .. Make the Bleeding heart ( outer circle and all a bit bigger so they show prominently on the shoulder ) This will make painting the heart a bit easier and should be the focal point of the pad. Not the checkers.

The Micron pens just define the outer boarders. If your black has enough paint you won’t notice on such a small figure.

I currently stay away from playing them as BA’s in this edition ( 6th as well ). The rules aren’t suited to Armies dependant on CC and the current editions are much more shooty. This might change when the BA codex gets revised , but I think not to the point they will be a top tier codex.. All my opinion of course. They are a lot of cool Marine options and builds to play with. Check out the list section or the battle report section if you’re looking for more competitive lists.

As for painting blogs. If you need inspiration check out.. ( not in any particular order but on my subscribed list off the top of my head…) Gitsplitta’s massive MW blog. Eggrolls BA’s, Major Tom, Sigur, San76, InmygravenImage, Nerdfest, Ramo’s, GiraffeX, Meph, Yggdrasils, Iceangel, Grey Death, Whale music’s “ The great Marine swap”. And so so many more.. I can’t list all the amazing painters. Miss Dee, Moonpie, Reaper Man, Dr. H, Sons of Orar, Briancj, Wyoming Fox, Yellowbeard. These folks make up my community... and believe me they make me humble! These folks can probably add 10X to this list.

BA codex.. I don’t follow the rumor threads, but there are a few on Dakka that cover such topics. I’ll stick to what I have until it changes. We game with normally an older crowd so were competitive but not to the point of not having fun!
ok .. time to get painting.

Thanks for your thoughts, I will keep you updated on the laser cutting, I just need to get a second at work to do one up and see what happens. It may not work at all though.

Interesting thoughts on the army list. Is it totally against forum rules to start a thread with: "Help me build a list"?

Also I really appreciate the list of PLOGS to follow, one thing that has kept me away from DAKKA for several years is the sheer immensity of this place. It's a great community, but kind of like walking into a bar in NYC and saying: "I'm an artist".

Hey Guys,

Been great getting back into the hobby and I'm glad I came to Dakka as you all are some pretty amazing modelers and I feel like I among good people.

I do ask that if you see something you like, or don't like that you comment. Some of us don't' have strong gaming communities in real life and our online presence is really what keeps us going, so anything you want to say helps us keep moving forward with our projects!

As some of you know I do tend to refer to the council with my builds, and I post several WIP shots in an attempt to get feedback before I commit to drastic steps on my conversions. While I have been dormant online since my last update, I have been active in real life since my last update and have five separate projects that are all moving towards completion.

But before I prime and start painting my =I= figures, I need some thoughts.

Onto Seth in his most recent iteration:




I am way into reductive sculpting of old bits lately, and I have been carving the hell out of Rogue Trader Marine bits. It's like cutting into butter, and for me it is way easier then using Green Stuff. So I have come up with Seth's shoulder pad.

I have also decided on the eagle as I think it is an importantly dominant fixture on the model and really shows what I am trying to convey with this weaselly highly aggressive =I=.

My question though is I found this really cool Kroot pistol in holster that I want to mount on his hip as opposed to something in his hand? I've posted it here tacked up with blue tack. I am thinking to not have a right hand on the model at all but both hands tucked under the coat. Kind of like his great coat is there for formality but if you [tinkle] him off he will draw his pistol and start letting loose on heretics.

Thoughts?

Then there's this guy, this is a conversion I have had in mind for over a decade, and I finally made him happen when I found a bit at a local store (the shouldered lasgun):





This is one of those conversions where every step just felt right and it was like working on my art in that I was able to just flow into my idea and not struggle through every step. He is the "abhuman" I have wanted to make since GW released the Beastmen plastics, and he is 90% ready for primer and paint. I have a bit of GS work to do to secure the stollen Tau leg guards to his body, and a bit of work to do on his bionic eye but other then this he is ready.

I think it was the sledge hammer from the Taurox that made this guy come together.

I picture him having just made it through one hell of a skirmish and he picked up a local tool to see himself through to the end. I can't wait to paint his guy as I just bought some blood effects to put on the hammer.

OMG look what I found, I can't wait to get this guy in the game:



My other request for feedback is regarding my Red Hunters for my 40k/Seth's flotilla:

The Red Hunters have been assigned to watch over the Lamenters and there is still one squad attached to Seth's flotilla. The fluff says these guys have "yellow trim" on their shoulder pads, and I can't get myself to commit to this trim. So my question is, do you think they need the yellow trim on their shoulder pads, this guy is about 80% done:




Any CC would be appreciated.

Next is my most recent Laser Cut base, this is the base for my Knight Titan as it stands today:




And in closing, check out my 3D printed shipping containers, these guys will be out and available soon and they look great painted up:



Thanks for looking, and please send me your thoughts, as I really do appreciate any and all feedback.

Inquisitor is looking great. Very Blanch inspired.

My issues with the beast man is that his arm with the hammer is bigger then the sleeves of his other arm, by a considerable amount.

Seth looks great, I agree with keeping the massive eagle on his shoulder, along with the coat it does add to the napoleonic? image of a short guy capable of wielding a massive power.

I'd say not having the hands either too visible or holding a weapon, but having am oversized holstered gun on the side, work in the same direction as well.

Retinue and the rest look good too, though I agree with WM about the mismatch on the best man arms.

Great point about the arms. I totally missed that. I think I'm gonna have to model it as a bionic to compensate.

Your work is looking really nice, I love the "Napoleon" look you have going on with the short guy compensating with massive items.

The Beastman mutant I wouldn't worry about the different armed sizes if I were you, I mean the guy has a goats head for crying out loud, different sized arms are the least of his worries.

In regards to the yellow trim on the pauldron I would need to see it on there. I think something to break up the red could be very useful.

The laser cut base is pretty nice, do you work in the laser cutting business that you have access to those toys?

The shipping crates are great, what will their RRP be and would you consider sending them to Australia?

Just one word of caution, I have been running a blog for a while (nowhere near your painting or modelling skill) and I would love more people to make comment and advice, however, I have found people tend to pull back a little bit when they are called out to make comment. You have a few dedicated people who make the most comments and I have learned to be happy with that. Demanding feedback can cause the internet community to pull back from someone.

Anyway, rant over and I look forward to seeing (and commenting) on more of your work.

Hey Archer,

Thanks for your thoughts on the comments, yea it's weird asking for feedback online I really appreciate your thoughts.

I was hoping to not sound demanding, but I guess the red type is enough to make me sound like I'm screaming in crowded subway station…

I appreciate every note I get, but I do get a bit discouraged at times when I'll go for weeks with increased view counts and no comments (on other sites, I'm new to this site). But yea, I'm not trying to sound demanding to those of you reading this, I just love hearing people's thoughts.

Like the arm comment, I would have never noticed if Whalemusic hadn't pointed it out.

I do agree that I may not worry about it since he is an abhuman, when I write Inq28mm rules/history for him I will give him a low grade bionic on that arm from the same wound that caused him to loose an eye.

To answer your question I'm a professional artist and a college level art professor. I think one of the reason I ask so much for feedback is I encourage my students to give it to one another all the time, and we critique art at least once a month. I am in process of setting up my own New Media 3D studio, and will be offering gamers some cool items like laser cut bases, and and 3D printed terrain at cheap prices but at lower resolution (I've found the FDM printers work great for terrain, not so great for our miniatures).

The containers and others are going on our Etsy page soon, but I need to check with the mods on here before I offer up a link as I don't know if it's against the rules to link to my page.

Anyone know???

You can put a link on here, but I'd suggest a post in the swap shop for greater exposure. Please read the rules in there about bumps and whatnot so I don't have to get all MODy on you

Sweet that's great news. I will respect the rules!!!

Cool industry to be in. In a former life before moving to senior management I was an Industrial Designer and before that a Patternmaker, I also enjoy constructive feedback, but it can often be hard to get people to open up.

One piece of advice I got that is quite valuable is participate in the community, by posting in others topics or starting threads you get greater exposure for your work, it is next to impossible to stumble across someones work (due to the fact there is so much of it) so by actively posting elsewhere it gets people having a look at you from other angles.

I'm enjoying your I28 guys quite a bit. Like what I see here and will follow along.

Seth is looking great, the eagle really works with the theme.

Maybe make the shoulder trim gold rather than yellow? Might clash a bit less and would tie in with the helmet and sword hilt.

Incredible stuff, my friend.

On the commenting, blogging and feedback thing...

I'd say you shouldn't be discouraged by the slow/little commenting issue. On one hand, it takes time to build an audience, so to speak. On another, most visits are "look only", and that does not mean the work displayed is not appreciated...

Or, there are people that only actively speak up when they fell the have something of value to add, and stay away from the "plain" wows, greats or 's (I, for one, tend to do that!) even though some times the poster would be pretty happy with a pat on the back every now and then...

(My own problem with that is, by following the Blogs of some awesome builders, painters and modellers, than I usually do no feel up to "adding" anything, so I just don't comment at all, but that's just me).

Further (and great) reading on the topic can be find many times around the forums; I'd recommend this one if you can spare the time: Git's Tips on making a P&M blog: Building a better blog

Your work is great, BTW, keep it coming!

Nice stuff.

Are we going to see some more Lamenters in the future? Bias as I am

I need to kill this Red Hunter's Squad then it's on to the Lamenters.

I use an airbrush for my base coats, and I have a ton of assembled support, but I am waiting on some flamer sponsons for my Predator and then it's gonna be an airbrush session.

I tend to get really bored batch painting squads, but I love the single miniatures, so I tend to drift to smaller projects when I find the batch painting to be so dull I can't stand it.

The Red Hunters are so close to done it's driving me nuts. I have a game this weekend and want them finished for it.

I can really sympathize with you on going nuts when you are close to finishing a squad off. It can be really frustrating, that's why I tend to really cut corners on the rank and file and try to go nuts on characters or models I particularly like.

fireangel wrote:
I need to kill this Red Hunter's Squad then it's on to the Lamenters.

I use an airbrush for my base coats, and I have a ton of assembled support, but I am waiting on some flamer sponsons for my Predator and then it's gonna be an airbrush session.

I tend to get really bored batch painting squads, but I love the single miniatures, so I tend to drift to smaller projects when I find the batch painting to be so dull I can't stand it.

The Red Hunters are so close to done it's driving me nuts. I have a game this weekend and want them finished for it.

I bounce around a bunch to keep myself entertained. I'm working on 8 more Marine bikes, 7 foot special weapons marines, 2 GMS and an Imperial knight. I do what fancy's me at the time, I try to limit the number of project so I don't stray too far, but I have put things away if I get blocked or wait to learn a specific technique.

All in good time. Excellent more Lamenters!

So……

Yippee, wonderbar, all praise the Emperor, jump for joy, hot damn, WTF! My Red Hunters Squad is FINALLY 99.1% done (Disclaimer: The damn decals are pealing a bit so I need to remedy that with Microsol as I think I jumped the gun last night with it and messed it up, and I need to eventually put a Tactical Squad decal on the right shoulder pad, but other then that they're done and I can move on):

This is the first complete Ten Man squad I've been able to get this close to done in my life. I decided when I started these guys back in like April that they had to be assembled, painted, and finished as a group. Here are some pics, and background and then I will offer my own critique of the squad at the end of the post:

+++Red Hunters 2nd Company Squad Alpha, Under the command of Praetor Alpha XIV. As deployed alongside Inquisitor Seth and The Lamenters in the Lucem Uprising directly following the God Emperor's forgiveness of the Lamenters' sins. 'Please note that this squad is the only battle worthy fighting force from the Red Hunter's Chapter still in operation from the policing action of The Lamenters' 100 year penitent crusade. His Holy Order did not anticipate the arrival of The Great Devourer, however despite heavy loses alongside The Lamenters the Red Hunters have managed to maintain one fully functional squad alongside a few support marines, a dreadnaught and a transport. The extent of the 2nd Companies loss on this crusade will not be known until the Chapter is able to fully asses the last century of their service once they are relieved of their current mission, however the Chapter leadership currently considers the entire company lost. Also of note is that it was only Post Badab War that the Red Hunters felt confident enough to deploy the Cohibee Pattern Power Supply in a battle field roll. These power packs can be seen on squad Alpha in their post crusade deployment. These units function by implanting an override switch into the machine spirit of the user's power armor that is slaved to squad leader Alpha and the Inquisition. If at any time a member of the Chapter is expressing heretical thoughts/actions/behavior this switch will be tripped, the power for the armor will be shut of, and that machine spirit will actively start cutting off life support from the wearers environment. In the time of 2nd Company's deployment alongside The Lamenters this feature was only used once, and it was at the mercy of the wearer to speed up his return to the Emperor's light after being left behind on a planet recently claimed by the Tyranid threat.'+++







Squad Leader Alpha XIV




I'm happy I'm finally learning how to freehand scrolling text and not have it look like crap on purity seals etc. I have started using blue as opposed to black and just kind of letting a very small amount of the paint mixed with future floor wax flow across the surface. It seems to work well.



Squad Alpha 2nd Company



And the final results on the more involved laser cut bases. I am really happy with what the laser cutter has to offer my hobby and I particularly like the man hole cover…

A bit of background on this squad: I decided to laser cut the bases which was very positive and produced a good result, but I also decided to use them as filler for my army as a stand in marine squad when I need one in games, and as a way to learn how to batch paint. I literally tried to cut as many corners as I could on this squad and it still took my like four months to finish. This is as close to "table top" quality as I think I am able to get.

The other thing I tried to realize with this project is that I decided to silk screen my own decals for the squad. I wanted an off white skull with =I= logo for the chapter symbol as noted in the fluff, and I wasn't willing to settle for the skull on the SM transparency sheet. So what did I do? Well I pulled out some of my inkjet decals and I decided to silkscreen my image onto them. I am happy to report that I managed to get a good decal of the Chapter Icon for every member of the squad but it was a friggen nightmare. I was seeing a 10 to 1 ratio of failure to success on the decals for this squad and to tell you the truth when I saw that the decals were pealing a bit after my photo session I got super depressed and almost killed the squad by stomping on them…

If there is anyone out there that can teach me, or show me what equipment is necessary to print white transfers I would love to hear from you. Because I spent more time silkscreening these damn skulls then I would have painting three character miniatures…

So I would love your thoughts. These guys are now done, and I am moving on. They are my filler tactical squad for my army when I play 40k and I think they rock, I'm rather proud of them to be honest Throughout the course of the project I read every bit of fluff I could for the Red Hunters and I think they exemplify an =I= mandated chapter that was created to police the Imperium. That's why I chose standard armor, and standard marines for every build. I picture them being the dullest most by the books marines in the 40k Universe…But still very capable warriors…

Thank you for looking.

Please take the time to click on the images and zoom in if you are upset with their size! I am keeping them on the Dakka page for ease of quick viewing but they are high res photos if you want to take the time to look closely at the squad.

They look great, sorry to here you had problems with the decals. I think I one of my mates might have had the same problem, I'll ask him how he dealt with it.

I've been making my own decals since quite a while.

Because I was wary of the non-permanence of injets, I ise laser jet decal paper and just print them at a print shop or bettery yet, *work*cough*cough*, something stuck in my throat there... What was I saying?

Ah yes, when printed it's absolutely crucial to fixate the decals by spraying the sheet with gloss varnish. And then you can cut and apply them as usual.

To make the design I use Photoshop, but any ol' graphic program will do.

Nice touch on those backpacks!

Nice work!

Thanks everyone for looking and for your thoughts.

Meph,

I've designed my own inkjet decals in the past but what I am not sure how to accomplish is "white" using an inkjet or laserjet, which is why I went to silkscreen.

All of the research I am doing says I need what's known as an ALPS printer to print white and they are pretty difficult to find as it's old technology.

You've got some awesome, unique models coming along here, that guy with the skull is badass!

Aah, sorry, misunderstood ya.
In that case, simply get white injet or laserjet decal paper and made your decals with an outline. Either fuill contrasting like black or very subtle, such as grey. Seeing as you'll need to cut our the decal exact on it's shape.

Lips: thanks man! The Skull model will be finished soon.

Meph:

Thanks man, that's kind of what I thought. That's why I tried to silkscreen using acrylic silkscreen inks.

It worked, but the decal paper didn't hold up as well as I would have hoped, I think because the ink was much heavier then the typical inks used for decals. I am trying to learn how to do this process though so that I can make my own custom decals.

Hmmm, yeah, that might be to the nature of inkjets. In my experience, a colour laserjet works much finer.
It might be an extra cost to order laserjet paper, but if you have access to colour laserjet, work or print shop, it is definitely worth it in terms of quality of print. Especially on the kind of glossy paper such as decal paper.

Hmmm, one McGuyver tick to try might be to warm up the paper a bit with a hairdryer before printing. Maybe it might absorb the ink better?

Excellent results you have on the Red Hunter squad. It doesn't have to be fast when it looks that good. Very jealous, but then again I have banged out a 2,000 point army in the space of your squad so I feel we are at different ends of the painting spectrum.

Anyway, really quality work and eagerly await the next installment.

Meph:

I like that idea. My quest now is to find the proper silkscreen ink to print the transparencies using silkscreen as I have access to all of that technology.

I do use a laser printer for a lot of things at work though so I will try that on the transfers that don't require white.

Archer:

Thank you for the nice compliments.

I totally have modeler's ADD and I have like ten other side projects constantly going that distract me but I would LOVE to be able to paint 2000 points in five months. I'm off to look at your models now!

Hey Everyone,

Just some shots of my 3D printed Shipping Containers. These are available for sale and trade, please contact me via PM if you are interested. They are 45mm tall.









Hope to get some of these out here into the hands of gamers.

Put a figure next to them so prople can see the refrence.

Awesome stuff you got here fireangel! Really looking forward to seeing Inquisitor Seth in full, awesomely-painted glory

It's also good to see some more love for the Lamenters, as they're pretty under-represented on the table-top (which a certain chapter badge might have something to do with), I hope to see more of them soon
One little question: where do you get all the parts for your Inquisitors? I'd love to build a custom character that really stands out, but I have no idea where to start

A very good start! Looking forward to see all these conversions painted :-D

That's a really nice resolution you are getting on the 3D printer. I think they may be just a tad small for gaming purposes, but then again throw a couple of models next to them as previously said to show them off?

3D printed Containers:

I have an order for 12 of these guys at this size and they are a tad small when you factor in the base of the model, but they're to scale which is a bit of a bummer. I may scale them up after this order is filled.

Photos soon. I'm working on my Knight at the moment.

Ezra:

I have an extensive collection of 40k Bits I have accumulated over the years so I pull from this pile, plus I buy or trade for any model I feel fits into the theme of my conversions. Some things I've found that help expand your bits collection are:

+ If you EVER have a friend say "I use to be into that game but not anymore", ask them what they're doing with their models. A large number of people will simply give you there models.
+Ask stores if they have bits boxes that sell bits.
+Find online trading stores and focus your trades on bits as opposed to new collectable models.
+Have a bits trading session at the start or end of your game days with your buddies.

Cool containers. What program did you use to sketch them up?

Some lovely work going on here, the gold trim on the Red Hunters squad works well.

Antony

The Marines look nice, but good god does the Inquisition stuff you've done blow it out of the water! Those are some spirited and characterful conversions.

 Warboss_Waaazag wrote:
Cool containers. What program did you use to sketch them up?

I model using Rhino. I am a newbie with 3D modeling, but in my other life I work as a 2D fine artist/printmaker/college professor. The 3D stuff is something I took on about a year ago, and I'm off and running.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, it's much appreciated. I hope to have pictures of my WIP Knight soon.

fireangel wrote:
Ezra:

I have an extensive collection of 40k Bits I have accumulated over the years so I pull from this pile, plus I buy or trade for any model I feel fits into the theme of my conversions. Some things I've found that help expand your bits collection are:

+ If you EVER have a friend say "I use to be into that game but not anymore", ask them what they're doing with their models. A large number of people will simply give you there models.
+Ask stores if they have bits boxes that sell bits.
+Find online trading stores and focus your trades on bits as opposed to new collectable models.
+Have a bits trading session at the start or end of your game days with your buddies.

Thanks for the advice!
I have some plans to make an Administratum Adept, time to get some reference material and start hunting for bits!

Hey there - also posted on your other thread to say I would be interested if these matched the size of AT-43 shipping containers.

Fifty I sent you a PM.

So, Major update.

I've been dark for a while because of two things. 1 I got totally wrapped up in my Knight model, and 2 I have another show coming up for my artwork.

People like PDH and Vader ruined me for the WIP updates. Seeing so many amazing, finished models posted makes me feel silly posting WIP models, but the result is that I may have long amounts of down time in between updates.

What are your thoughts? Would you prefer some occasional WIP updates alongside the finished/almost finished model updates? Let me know.

Anyway on to the pretty pictures:

House M'Manos is was one of the most ancient and tenacious of the Knight Houses along the Eastern Fringe. Established early during the colonist periods of the Dark Age of Technology, the original settler ship ended up so far off course that many tacticians during the Great Crusade were utterly shocked that the colonist ship had survived at all. But survive it did, and it thrived, landing on a lush and fertile planet located in a system within the Eastern Fringe where the only major threats to the colonies development were a few warring Ork planets that invaded often enough to keep the Nobles battle hardened, but sparsely enough to allow the world to develop into a self sustaining colony. During the Great Crusade after initial contact was made by an exploration fleet of the Iron Hands Chapter, several STC templates were brought into the fold, including a few unknown Knight variants. M'Manos welcomed both the Imperium and the Mechanicum with open arms, refusing the accept either as their overseer but rather accepting both as allies in the fight for the survival of humanity. The result was a collaborative trade of information between all parties that extended well into the 41st millennium.

This all changed when the M'Manos house found it's planet right in the path of the most recent Tyranid hive invasion. While M'Manos fought valiantly to protect both their planet and its system, all was lost until in their final hour the penitent crusade fleet of The Lamenters jumped in system and provided aid to the beleaguered nobles and their populace. An organized and bloody withdrawal followed, the result of which was a complete loss of the system, but the salvaging of several civilian transports full of artifacts from the early days of the colonization as well as several Knight transport and forge ships containing the last nobles and Knight Suits from a once valiant and ascendant household.

Upon the loss of their system all of the surviving Knight's M'Manos swore to take on the collective mantel of Freeblade as they no longer had a house to call their own. They also swore fealty to the Lamenters Chapter for the timely rescue and have followed them willingly into battle since. Upon sitting in common counsel it was also decided that the entire Knight Household would refuse to polish the brass trim of their Knight Suits as it was smelted upon their homeworld, as well as a collective refusal to repaint the house symbol on their armor. This would be their act of morning their loss. Never again would they shine or repaint the symbols of their homeworld, rather they would bare them in a kind of quiet shame, the patina and scratched paint acting like their mourning shroud for all to see.

My first knight in the M'Manos house. I love this model. It was an absolute joy, and worth every penny I spent on it. I would say at this point the model is 90% percent finished. I may stop and give it a rest. I want to weather it with graphite and oils a bit at some point but I need a break on him to work on some =I= models:











So the heraldry on the shield is my family's heraldry altered slightly for the format of the shield itself. One thing about this project is that I got sucked into the rabbit hole of inkjet decals, so I spent countless man hours experimenting with my own custom decals for this model. This shield was the fifth try.

Please note that I know there are several seems of the decals showing on this model. I will be addressing these as I move forward, but they drive me nuts I can't lie. The model isn't varnished yet, so I hope this will help blend the decals. When it's all said and done I am a big fan of the Knights Decal sheet. I wish I could have gotten the custom one but I didn't realize it was going to go OOP and I missed my chance.

More images:



Bear skull is custom too.





I was really happy with the pose I came up with. A kind of "challenge" pose. It required some altering of parts but all and all I think it reads well.





The guns on the Knight are magnetized so I can switch them back and forth.

Now on to the base. The base was a custom design I laid out on the computer, then I laser engraved it onto an acrylic base so that I had fine detail without the need of gluing a ton of parts. I then flocked it, added the wall and casualty and decided to treat the entire base as an experiment in painting with a more loose style. I wanted to get some Blanche influence to the extreme, and I used the base as a chance to experiment with weathering, detail, blood effects, and terrain detailing:



Poor guy, who killed him, the Knight or the enemy???





Notice the paper leaflet? I used tinfoil to create this addition then I painted it up, applied a transfer, hit it with washed and walked away.



The thing I am the most happy about with the base is the blood effects. They look so insanely real that I can't complain.

Anyway I hope you enjoy, the newest addition to my ramshackle fleet of Imperial models. I look forward to your feedback, and I welcome any constructive criticism.

Welcome back to posting. Your Knight looks fantastic and really was worth the wait. But the base, that is really spectacular.

Thanks Archer,

It's been a real blast all of it. I may end up having a large walker addiction.

I am seriously considering a Knight Army now.

Only minor critique would be that the decals are mauled, but the green paint is pristine. Looks very solid though over all.

Mauled?

Like I applied them poorly or the chipping of the paint/weathering?

The weathering. I would assume if the paint on those was chipped, the green would be as well. The metal is green, right?

Totally. That's what I figured you were talking about.

I'm considering this model game ready at this point because I need a break from it after a few months of working on it.

When I finish it up I am going to do some weathering with oil paints on the entire model as well as go in with a soft graphite pencil to add actual chips to sections of the entire model.

It's about three or four more nights of dedicated painting to get it where I want it to be 100%. I hope to have him finished for a painting competition in April.

But I agree that without some torn up and chipped paint it does look a bit odd as it stands now.

I just read through your thread. I love all the fluff of your army.

I'm so glad that you ended up adding the yellow trim to the shoulder pads. I think it makes such a big difference to the visual appeal of the model.

Your knight is beautiful! I also really like the base you made. The laser work on the acrylic seems fantastic and that blood splatter is just great. I don't have a knight yet but I am dying to get my hands on one. I am also digging the idea of knight army.

EyeamRai:

I'm sorry I missed your post. Thank you for your thoughts I really do appreciate you taking the time to look and see what I'm up to. My modeling community for most of my life has existed online so having feedback is always much appreciated.

And on that note, here's an update:

Enforcer Drax is the sole survivor of the infamous (or famous for those in power) Red Skulls Enforcement Platoon from the lost Hive World of Salus Prime. At its peek of production Salus Prime was designated as a Beta Grade Hive World by the Administratum for the purposes of the Imperial Tithe. While not as glorious as some of its sector neighbors in its production, Solus was rich in ferus metal alloys that were easy to smith and mill. The resulting industry produced a majority of the sectors shipping and storage containers for the Imperial shipping and warfare efforts. This often forgotten necessity of the the Imperial machine had provided well for racial caste of "high minders" who had spent the last three thousand years establishing complete control over the distribution of wealth and welfare to the planets 23 billion occupants. When the social uprising in response to their greed eventually started it was in response to a 1/3 reduction on the already meager family bread rations.

During the multi decade long rebellion that followed several factions of well armed and amazingly skilled fighters saw play on the urban battlefields of Salus Prime's multiple hive "stacks". One such faction was the Imperial backed (supported by the ruling Caste holding Imperial Authority) Adeptus Arbites Enforcement Platoon 7, also known as the 'Red Skulls'. This Platoon was made up of several crowd control/riot control/foot patrol squads spread across the lower portions of "Stack Alpha. Platoon 7 was often designated as a first responder unit to every conflict in Stack Alpha that bordered or involved major Imperial assets. After two years of intense street fighting the platoon learned the populace had named them the "Red Skulls" because their deployment meant any civilian in contact was sure to walk away with at least a bloody gash to the head. The commanders at the time embraced this and adopted a red skull logo for the unit. This skull, while set agains the stark white of their armor imposed a fearsome site on the urban battlefield.

After the Salus Rebellion had devolved into a full Heretical uprising the recently appointed Inquisitor Gahvriel Seth and his staff were deployed alongside units of the 15th Mechanized Tarton Brigade to quash the ongoing problems and bring Salus back into the fold of the Imperium. The result was a brutal and punishing campaign that saw millions upon millions dead as well as the complete destruction of the Imperial infrastructure on planet. Salus has yet to recover, and while declared "free of taint" it will be many centuries before the remaining populace is able to return to full production of the smelting facilities. At the end young Seth's adventures he found himself in the upper levels of Stack Alpha guarded by a large selection of Tarton infantry and local Red Skull enforcers. While it may have taken several years for Seth to realize the extent Salus' corruption it was only after stumbling upon the son of the Planetary Governor in copulation with multiple abominations that this realization took root. After the extent of the heresy became blatantly clear Seth finalized his purge by destroying every member of the planet's ruling Caste. While his remaining allies were few in number Seth was able to inspire a wrath unlike anything the ruling caste had ever seen and in the end Salus was once again declared as part of the Imperium...

As the flames settled the only "local" survivor of Seth's retinue was Enforcer#39 Drax.

Upon conclusion of the conflict Seth declared Drax as "Touched By He On Earth" and used his authority to sequester him into his staff. Drax has shown no anger toward his current orders and on the contrary he has embraced his new mission and continued to serve with honor in the Emperors name. While he is mostly quiet on the battlefield when Drax is no fighting he has shown a chipper attitude towards his colleagues and he's even been known to spend a night joking

Damn, that was long. And fun.

Anyway onto the pictures:







This guy was an absolute blast to paint and I'm really happy as he will be a great addition to any I28 games I may start, and as a great Death Cultist for 40k army.

Great work on that guy, he really does look grim and gritty, and it's always nice to see some fluff written up. Going back a bit, that Knight is great too!

Thanks for your thoughts. The Enforced was an absolute blast to paint and was one of the fastest paint jobs I've done. I'm really looking forward to building a characterful squad of unique 'counts as' death cultists.

Love your take on the Enforcer. Really captures that faceless authoritarian that the Imperium likes to portray.

Ever thought of giving him a loyal Cyber mastiff? Would love to see your skills interpret one of those little guys.

Archer:

Thanks for your thoughts. He has a Mastiff. He's primed and will be painted soon.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've got a lot of projects here and there going on, a few miniatures that are getting some paint and also of course a ton of conversions that are in various stages.

I am still on the fence with the Seth model and I am just waiting for the right moment of inspiration to push through and finish him. I'm filling my desired hobby time by building any model I have that comes to mind or projects that I've put off. Miniatures that are in the pipeline or are pieced out in bits sitting in their own project bins are: two psykers, a familiar, a sister repentia, a techno gun fighter, and several. One of those models was this crusader that I finally buckled down on and got him fleshed out last night. He'll need one more day with some putty, base work, and I'm thinking a bit more work on the shield but here you go:









A friend of mine gave me this Inquisitor model and when I got my hands on it I realized how perfect it was as a sculpt for a Crusader. It's basically the same armor as a Crusader model wears but with a ton more detail and I loved the open pose. It screamed to me to be turned into a crusader. The bits I used are pretty obvious, but the shield saw a dabble in trying to laser cut directly onto GW plastic bits. It worked for this but I don't think I'll be playing around too much with it in the future.

Thoughts, comments, and even constructive criticism are greatly appreciated you guys are a large part of my inspiration for my work so I appreciate any insights you may have.

I'm thinking I'm going to start posting more WIP posts to keep you all up to date on my meanderings...

Have a great night.

I'm not 100% happy with my current photo set up. I think the light I am photographing under is too harsh to capture the subtle blending I do and it tends to blow out the layers of paint, but photographing miniatures is almost as complicated as painted them.

Anyway, not sure if I'm getting much traffic but I can't help but share my slow and steady progress.

I just had to paint this guy. I came across a boat load of old Necro figures and this guy was one of them. He's been a joy to paint. After 6 years working in a bar full of the worst bikers and scum you can imagine, his color pallet just started to fit into place. The stained white shirt, army pants, denim jacket. I picture him being a conscript into Seth's cannon fodder. Someone noticed that the local at the bar had a guard issue bionic targeter and rumor had it he also had a Imperial issue plasma pistol at his hab unit... In order to repent for his sins of theft this man has been sentenced to fight out the length of Seth's current campaign or die a heretic with his head added to local Heretic Dump. Needless to say he pulled out the weapon he pulled off his dead Commissar's body and reported for duty in the morning:







I'll admit I'm not happy with the photos. Everything looks smoother in real life but under the harsh studio/camera lights this guy looks looser then he is in person, but I want to get an update out there to keep this plog alive.

I used this model to experiment a lot with tattoos which I am very happy with, as well as multiple colors on the same part of a model to create depth. The "tightey whitey" t-shirt was a blast to paint as were the tattoos.

Loving the Underhive Scum (that's what his model is known as in case you didn't know, apologises if you did). The colours work really, really well and I think the tattoos have a really natural faded look. You have really bought this guy to life.

On the nature of photos it can be really hard to get good photos. I have simply given up. I have a few friends who are professional photographers and graphic artists and their photo setups when they play with my models is spectacular in its complexity. What sort of camera gear and lighting do you have?

On the side of blog traffic don't let a lack of replies get you down. Believe me more people look at my work than stop to comment. But the blog is my motivation not the conversation. Keep up the really fantastic work and people will eventually stop by to say hello.

Look forward to your next model.

Excellent stuff!

Thanks guys. Archer I use a white box and a high end Canon camera. I almost think my lights are too bright. I'm going to try some other solutions for the next miniature.

I appreciate your thoughts.

I'm really happy with the tattoos. I think I may try color tattoos soon too.

Maybe try some opaque paper or better yet plastic in front of your lights to act as a diffuser?

In regards to color tattoos (coming from someone who is almost covered half his body with them) don't mix and match color and black tattoos, it gives the impression of a half finished job. Unless of course that is what you are after......

I'm currently trying to flesh out an Accolyte unit for Seth's force that will consist of Crusaders, Death Cultists, and a single Preacher.

In the fluff for "Death Cultists" originally presented in the Inquisitor rule book it states that these individuals are drawn from warrior cultures that perfect and emulate killing. It states that the cultists themselves are diverse in both nature and practice, the only thing that unites them is there ability to kill effectively.

So I'm designing a range of random characters that can fit this squad, each with their own background. Some of them are stock models, others are kit based.

Here is my most recent one, and I need your feedback:









My entire vision for this guy is he is part of an elite "death cult" culture that developed within a constant state of warfare on an Imperial planet. He's trained by his own experiences, and is the definition of "Darwinian". The only school of thought he subscribes to, despite the righteous cause of the conflict he was part of, is supremacy in combat and survival. He enjoys fighting, and even more so winning.

When he was still aligned with the movement he was fighting for, he was part of an elite group of killers that were deployed to take on the hardest targets in a war of attrition. His sense of competition was born in this group, and many an Inquisitor when looking at the distinct fighting styles, subculture, and rituals of the unit would define the unit as a "death cult".

My question for all of you:

What should I arm this guy with in his right hand? I am not opposed to cutting and slashing the arm completely. I'm happy with the rest of the conversion, I want to keep right shoulder pad, but I am totally open for his arm.

I need help with his second weapon!

What would you give him????

Well I think the death cultists rules wise have power swords don't they? So since he has a more utility approach to fighting and a who cares as long as I am alive and winning I would vote for a solid large blade a bit like the large catachan knife that could double as a general gutting, skinning, beheading knife.

My two cents.

That Knight is pretty sweet, especially the base. I am surprised that we don't see more converted knights though… Is it because the base model is so good, or is it intimidating I wonder?

Archer,

I think I am going for a big arse knife! I'm glad we agree.

Regarding the rules, this entire unit is going to be a bit difficult to play in my group. The rules for Death Cultists wargear are weird: Two Power Swords... OK... I get it. No shooting attacks, two weapons that ignore saves. That's great, but calling them "swords" limited me on the WYSIWYG front as that's totally friggen boring for a unit.

My "Death Cultists" are going to be all of the CCW models I convert for my =I= force that don't have rules under the new codex. I figure "fluff" wise they're all close combat/close quarters fighters.

I'm going to kind of use the unit as a gaming barometer. My army is a fluff based army, and when I introduce this unit to a player if they take issue with it I'll know it's not a gaming community I want to be a part of.

If you game a lot do you come up against WYSIWYG fanatics ? I'm always upfront about my units, and if I am able to model accurately to the wargear I do it.

Kestral:

Thanks for your thoughts on my Knight. He was an absolute joy to paint, and when I first got him I was dreading the price, but when I finished the model he was worth every penny.

Occasionally there are models that need no conversion, the Knight is one of them.

My only complaint with the kit is the legs are really static.

I am very much a fluff based gamer my self (so often get comments that my armies are "soft") so I personally have no problems with people having cool ideas and models. Obviously I try to be WYSIWYG with my models so a Lascannon is a lascannon.

But in the case of Inquisition warband's if someone wanted to drop a power sword of a death cultist because they wanted a pistol then I wouldn't give a damn, especially if they look as cool as your guys do. Obviously if it was an empty base "representing something a little unusual I would be a little less interested.

So I would just keep hunting until you find some like minded gamers so everyone can have some fun.

Agreed with the above. It's not like the weapons on DCA can ever be anything other than the listed Power Swords (as they have no options). At the end of the day, anyone that causes issues with a unit like yours is probably not anyone worth playing.

Thanks guys. I think I'm gonna keep plugging on with this force...

Thanks guys for your thoughts on the weapons. I agree that if the option has no other weapon choice all the player should be required to do is provide a unit designation and indicate to their opponent what the models represent.

Thanks for your thoughts.

So I did some pretty extensive work on this guy's weapon tonight. It may not look like it but this was an entire nights work and the end result was that his right arm consists of four different plastic bits spanning four different ranges of models.

I was torn up about what knife to pick, but I think the Rogue Trader Beakie "bayonet" was a perfect fit for him. I spent a lot of time trying to find the right "handle" for this blade.

Sorry for the rough photo but I wanted to show some progress:



Thoughts, suggestions, and criticism are always welcome.

Thank you for looking.

I really like the blade, especially how it is sweeping forward. Makes it look very unique, almost a signature weapon. Is the handle the ammunition "clip" from an Eldar Shuriken Catapult?

I like the length of the handle as well, it gives the idea that it could potentially be used as a two handed sword in a pinch, looks great so far.

Thanks Archer!

I really like the sweep of the handle in relationship to the blade itself.

The handle was actually an old Chaos Warhorn that I cut the horn part off of.

Very cool figures, subd!

Hey Guys,

So I am going to diverge away from 40k to give you guys a bit of an update.

Why haven't I done anything 40k related in a while?

Well it's because of this:

Little Bear Hill

As many of you know I am a practicing artist and I am also an art instructor. Well over the last several years I have been working towards starting an Artist Residency (a place for artists to come work in a fully equipped studio). Our investors backed out from the project after a major Hurricane hit NY in 2012. Then there was the birth of my son, I entered a "why me" phase, and I was passed up for a major teaching promotion. Last year I decided to take the risk myself with my wife, and we have been moving forward on our dream ever since.

So my wife and I are starting our Artists Residency, and we've decided not to let millionaire investors decide to pull out at the last minute to ruin everything we want to accomplish. We're going to start from the ground up, and we're going to build this thing ourselves, with any help we can get from anyone that wants to contribute.

We both resigned our jobs. We're leaving NY State completely, and we're moving to Oregon where we have acquired a small farm on which we can start our residency. We will be combining farming and an art studio to create what we believe will be a self sustaining creative environment that people from all over the world will want to visit. We have the property, we have half of the studio equipment we want (we have a fully functional printmaking studio), and we have a ton of support and interest from the artists who are interested in working with me and being on the property.

While I'm not trying to toot my own horn, for the purpose of this post I am going to "toot it".

I am one of only a few artists in my medium who are using "rapid prototype" technology to make 2D printed art. I use digital tools like laser cutters, cnc routers, 3D printers etc to make my artwork, or I use my knowledge of these tools to teach others how to make their artwork. The result has been a ton of support from creative individuals who want to see how this tech can help their art/creative venture/business.

Part of our goal in the long term is to offer an 'incubator' to 3D modelers who want to start their own miniature and game lines using 3D printers. All of my personal research into 3D printing has been how to create the best 3D printed results in a 28mm scale so that I can offer up my studio, and my services to any future creative individual that wants to print off prototypes and projects to see how their designs may be realized outside of the computer and in the physical realm.

We intend to offer our studio to any digital modeler who wants access to the technology required to 3D print their own miniature prototypes.

My life's work is my art, but my hobby has always been 40k, since I was 11 years old 40k has sustained me through some really difficult and dark times in my life as well as some amazing and fun times. 40k is as much a part of my identity as my beard, my musical tastes, my art work, etc. Our subculture is unique on this planet, we are still the punks, the bastards, and the outsiders in the Sci Fi world, and yet we are part of what I think is the coolest Sci Fi universe ever created.

Furthermore, I think the future for 28mm miniature design is bright and promising, and as my wife and I move forward we intend to keep an open line and an eye out in the gamer community for anyone who wants to utilize our studio. I have a line on some of the most innovative 3D printing tech on the planet and it is our hope to offer the best resolution prints to designers at a cost that FAR undercuts the "for profit" industry that is currently exploiting the hell out of people who want to 3D print their miniature parts.

If you want to help us get to our goal, a donation to our indiegogo account (in any amount) would be greatly appreciated. Our crowd funding campaign is currently running to help us fund the studio space (building the interior of our space) the 3D printers and a laser cutter. Our goal within the gaming community is to be a low cost source for 3D printing and laser cutting, and a place for designers to come and make their vision a reality.

Currently most of the perks available on our page are all art related, and if you want a piece of art by one of many world famous artists for your wall now would be a good time to get one hell of a deal. I'm also currently running a raffle for one of my images, printed in natural diamond dust of a child soldier that will go to one of the next 20 contributors.

If you're still reading this, I want to thank you for showing so much interest in what we are doing. We are for real with this endeavor, and we intend to write our own rules. Much like a small company that decided to take a risk in England and make "little metal men", we have decided it is our time to take our risk and see what happens. PM me if you have any further questions. We intend for our studio to be a creative space open to all individuals and 40k will very much be a part of it. If you can find it in your heart to throw us a little support we would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you, and best wishes.

Dylan McManus

This is an amazing endeavor. I love art, the digital world and creativity all of my life. I am an Industrial Designer and Patternmaker in real life and have been using CNC machining, rapid prototyping and my hands to create everything from water pumps to bronze sculptures for more than half of my life.

Kudos to you and your family in pursuing a dream that I think will bring a little more life and interest to the world. I will be keeping an eye on your progress and if I ever manage to find myself in the USA I would try and look your escape up.

Stay strong and good luck.

Archer,

THANKS MAN! Dude when my machines go down can I pick your brain for solutions? I'm really happy to hear that you're of a similar background to me, what are you currently up to on your end? What projects have you excited (that you can talk about)?


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I had a pretty cool, and very fortunate turn of look this last month.



I ended up winning a copy of the Munitorum Edition limited release 7th Edition Rule Book. It arrived right before Easter Weekend and I had about one night to look through some of it. I must say I am VERY impressed with this collection. I'll admit I'm not 100% into the interior layout of the "fluff" portions of the 7th Edition book, or the Visions of Dark Millennium but I think that has more to do with the fact that with the internet we see all the cool illustrations before we get our hands on the book, because honestly despite me having seen 95% of the content of the edition online, the books are pretty sick!!!

Each book has a high quality printed cover that is on what looks like a fake gold leaf metallic sheet. The books are super nice, and as an artist I can say this limited edition is well worth the price for someone who has the money to spend on it. Despite me having a group where I play 7th Edition I wasn't intending on buying a copy of this rule set. The last rule set I bought was 4th Edition in Hardback. Someone gave me 6th, and I have a miniature version of 5th somewhere. But all and all I wasn't going to invest in 7th considering how quickly it came around.

That said though, 7th to me is the best version of 40k since 3rd Edition. I'm sure there are a ton of skeptics and haters, but for me it allows for what I consider to be a more creative game play. The open ended legality of the rules system allows for people to create awesome, fluff based lists that can actually win games and fit in the theme of the universe. It has a very Rogue Trader feel to it and I am all about it. Sure it allows for power playing, but I have honestly managed to win 80% of the games I play using a mixed list with no special characters, and no fliers, despite playing against people that "max" their lists.

All and all I like it. And I'm super excited I got my hands on this limited edition.

Thanks goes out to Rumor Monger, and awesome Bits Seller Spikey Bits for offering the contest.

Hey Everyone,

Just an update on life.

So a week ago today I decided to drive to Manchester CT to enter a Crystal Brush Qualifier contest at a local store Battle Standard. I'm pretty happy with the results. I brought 5 entries. Single FIgure Sci Fi (wraith), Squad Sci Fi (Inquisitor w/ small retenue), Large Model Sci Fi (Chimera_, Open Category (knight), and Conversion (40k Beastman).

When I saw the other entries I was pretty sure I was going to loose out on all but conversion because that heavy handed stark highlight style that Bobby Wang and others perfected 15 years ago was in every category. Super stark highlights, no blending at all, just layer after layer after layer. It's a style of painting that looks really fake to me, but it takes a lot of skill to accomplish, and it to most people it's mind blowing. And it looks great from 2 feet away. My models require you get close to see the detail so I was sure I lost everything.

But I was surprised, I was competitive.

I won two gold. Sci Fi Large, and Sci Fi Squad. and Two runners up. Sci Fi single and I won "second place" (runner up) in the Open Category but it only had one prize so I didn't get a second place trophy.

One of my dreams as a kid was to enter and win a painting competition. I realized afterwards that it is literally my oldest living dream that doesn't involve traveling to mars or being an actual Space Marine. So I'm pretty happy.

Congrats on the results. Two firsts and two seconds is a pretty damned great result.

Your style may appear subtle from a distance. But you hope in a painting comp they go over the entries with a magnifying glass.

Now you have a couple of neat trophies under your belt you need to stay a little more positive next time around.

Good luck with future contests.