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Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/22 00:23:01


Post by: Valkyrie


And what are the achievements of your fragile Imperium? It is a corpse rotting slowly from within while maggots writhe in its belly. It was built with the toil of heroes and giants, and now it is inhabited by frightened weaklings to whom the glories of those times are half-forgotten legends. I have forgotten nothing and my wisdom has expanded far beyond mere mortal frailties. - Ahzek Ahriman, Legionary, Sorcerer, massive bookworm.


Ahem, enough of that.


It's been a fair while since I posted any of my work on here, even longer if you consider anything of worth. After several years of Imperial armies (5k Custodes, 4k Marines, 8k Knights/Titans, 2k AdMec and 4k Guard), I've decided to branch out a bit and try something completely new. My birthday last week provided an excellent opportunity, and so I was blessed with a Start Collecting Thousand Sons box, which I then expanded with some additional purchases. I thought "sod it, let's make a Dakka blog and see how I get on". The only experience I've had with Chaos was a Night Lords army I used back in 5th, so I'm essentially starting from scratch.

This could go one of many ways; Ideally I'd get some followers and share ideas/tips, or it could go tits-up and end up with digital equivalent of a tumbleweed in an old Western. Nonetheless let's see how I get on.



Concepts and Creations

This is a rough outline of the list I'm aiming for. I've never been an uber-competitive player and want to keep the balance. Additionally my FLGS is hoping to start an Escalation campaign after COVID, which I feel would tie-in nicely as I develop this army.

HQ
Ahriman - Disk of Tzeench
Exalted Sorcerer - Disk of Tzeench
Exalted Sorcerer

Elites
10x Scarab Terminators - 2x Soulreaper Cannons, 2x Hellfires
Hellbrute - Twin Las
Hellbrute - Twin Las

Troops
10x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
10x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
5x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
5x Rubric Marines - Warpflamers
20x Tzaangors - Blades

Heavy Support
Defiler - Twin Las, Scourge (I just think it's a bloody awesome model, always loved the Defiler).



Beginnings

This is what I have to start with.



Received the SC box for my birthday on Monday, other goods arrived on Thursday. At the moment I'm working from home, there are times in my job where I can glue a few pieces together during a quiet period, so until I'm back commuting I hope to make good progress, and here's what I have so far.



First three Rubrics. I've left the Bolters unglued for ease of painting, realised with my Marines how difficult it can be. After dryfitting a Soulreaper to the completed ones however I may have to just glue the cannon in when building that figure, as the overhang on the vambraces make it near impossible to fit.

I've also been able to build my first of many Sorcerors (is Sorceror correct? Saying Sorcerer just looks a bit wrong in my eyes).



I wanted to make each one a bit more unique than just the standard figure on the box repeated multiple times. For this one I kept it simple for the time being and just gave him an alternate staff from the Exalted kit, makes him a bit more dynamic. A quick peruse through the Exalted kit shows a great many staff heads which will look nice scattered throughout the army.

Small progress for the time being but it'll pick up soon I hope.


Next Steps

Before I commit to painting there are a few obstacles I need to consider, the main ones being "What colours do I go for?" and "How am I going to paint them?", small triffling concerns in this hobby...

The first question might be straight forward, I kinda want to stay with the standard blue/yellow, but would like to incorporate some purple into the mix, as it's mine and my fiancee's favourite colours. I'm thinking purple robes and the odd bit of OSL from the staffs, etc.

For the second question it'll be a great opportunity to use my new toy...


I've heard nothing but praise for Harder & Steenbeck, and even opening the box you can just tell that it's a decent piece of kit. It just feels solid and well-built. I kinda don't want to use it to avoid it getting dirty!

If anyone does have any decent guides as to how to care for your airbrush, please feel free to link them below.

Setting this up might take a while as I'm still sourcing a decent compressor. My previous one was a £40 piece of Chinese-built crap from Amazon; if you're going to get into airbrushing, a cheap piece of kit is a good place to start, but expect it to break down. If you decide you want to develop this skill further it's worth spending the extra money for a decent brand. In the meantime I hope to learn more about how to really take care of your airbrush and to ensure it'll last a lifetime.


If you're still reading then congratulations, you're almost at the end!


My final thought is on bases. Ideally I'd like to have at least the bases started so I have something to show, but I'm a little stuck on what to go for:

- Grey with small lava channels. I did this for a rather old GK army I have kicking around somewhere and it looked pretty convincing. Only issue is that it was rather time and resource consuming, requiring applying basing material with PVA, scraping out channels, spraying varnish and then painting the channels in red/orange/yellow/gloss varnish.

- More simple approach with GW texture, I'm thinking a layer of Armageddon Dust, washed and drybrushed to suit with small tufts of dried/yellowish grass. It'd be simpler and would contrast the blue nicely.

I'm leaning towards the first option but would welcome any other ideas. If anyone has any examples to show (doesn't have to be TS), I would appreciate it.


There we are, the end of a long and winding post that I wrote at midnight after finishing off a bottle of wine that I used in tonight's dinner. I hope to keep this updated rather regularly but as with everything in 2020 this may change.

Thanks for reading, hope to hear your comments below.




Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/23 20:46:28


Post by: Valkyrie


So...close to 150 views and not a single comment. At least I was correct on the tumbleweeds.

A nice quiet Monday at work today has allowed me to finish assembling the first squad of Rubrics. As before I've omitted the weapons to aid panting later on.



I've also taken the time to have a look at the Exalted Sorcerer kit, which I'm really, really impressed by. Part of me wasn't too keen on the box-models; I wanted to stay a bit more grounded in reality (ironic) and avoid the mutated or avian look, which the kit easily allows you to do with one exception; the talons on the floating one. After some umm'ing and ahh'ing about the right parts here's the result.






For some reason I absolutely love how he's turned out. He looks Chaotic, but not as comically over the top as some of the new Chaos lot look IMO. To me, he looks more like the darker 3rd-5th Edition classic Chaos models which I'm happy with.

You might have to excuse the crappy photos as I don't have a decent setup at the moment. Does anyone know how to get a decent phone photo? It's an S20 Ultra if that matters.

Cheers,
Valk


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/23 21:09:43


Post by: Stevefamine


When in doubt, put the model in a fridge and take a phot.

Otherwise any of the iPhones that are from iPhone 5 and later should be great at taking photos. Most of my professional/commission photos are taken with an iPhone before I bought a mirrorless/camera and got a lightbox

Solid list to start. What was your plans for basing/planet?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/23 21:15:38


Post by: Valkyrie


 Stevefamine wrote:
When in doubt, put the model in a fridge and take a phot.

Otherwise any of the iPhones that are from iPhone 5 and later should be great at taking photos. Most of my professional/commission photos are taken with an iPhone before I bought a mirrorless/camera and got a lightbox

Solid list to start. What was your plans for basing/planet?


A fridge? Would never have thought of that. Thanks for that Do you have any recommendations for camera settings in addition?

I've been thinking about the bases. Until I can get a decent compressor I almost certainly won't be airbrushing anything, but for the bases I think I might go with the desert planet idea; while I do like the lava option, the grey would be too similar to the bases of my Marines whereas I'm hoping to try something completely different.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/26 23:15:51


Post by: Valkyrie


Small update today...

Have decided to try out the new airbrush. Fixed up a decent compressor and it completely blows the previous one out of the water. If this blog fails (which seems likely at the moment), or if anyone reading this takes just one piece of advice away with them, it's that it's always worth spending more on these pieces of kit. A cheap Chinese airbrush/compressor is useful at learning this technique, but a decent setup can cost a good couple hundred pounds, and it's definitely worth it. .

Anyway. I've applied a couple layers onto my next Sorceror. Started with Vallejo French Blue with an overcoat of Light Sea Blue. This looked too bright and flat for what I was going for, so I finished it off with a light coat of Nuln Oil to add depth.



I'm not so sure on it to be honest. I think the Nuln Oil has helped, but it still looks too flat for what I'm hoping for. I suspect the shades used are too different, might try a different combo to get a more subtle effect.

On the plus side I've also started the bases, which is actually quite therapeutic at times:



From left to right:

- Armageddon Dust
- Earthshade
- Ushabti Bone
- Army Painter Mountain Tufts.

I'm pretty happy with it. I may have preferred a more "cracked, dry lakebed" texture but this one works just fine, I just need to decide what to paint the rims.


So overall I have the following things to decide:
- Should I carry on with the current blue scheme or try something more subtle? Anyone have any experience airbrushing Thousand Sons and could share their recipes?
- Should I keep the base rims black, or go for the brown/bone as per the base itself?
- What to add to the force next? I'm torn between either the Hellbrute or getting a Defiler second-hand. Problem is, I'd much rather go for the classic TS Dreadnought, not a fan of the fleshy Hellbrute, so sourcing it is going to be difficult.

Thanks for reading. Any comments or feedback is appreciated.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/29 17:03:24


Post by: Valkyrie


With the weekend drawing to a close I've made some progress in determining the final colours of the force.

I've decided to stay with the standard blue/yellow, and despite my prior concerns the airbrushed finish has actually turned out pretty well.



After the blue had dried I used GW White and Flash Gits Yellow for the yellow banding. I'm leaning more towards Vallejo paints rather than GW but I think their white is still pretty good at getting a solid coat. The gold areas were a nice even coat of Scale75 Dwarven Gold, before the whole model was given a coat of Agrax Earthshade, moreso on the banding and gold parts.

Might be a bit odd using brown wash on blue but this seems to work really well. It creates a nice shading effect between the gold and blue and mutes the yellow a bit, gives it a slightly earthier, richer tone. Controlling the wash and letting it pool slightly in the crevices also masks where the gold has slightly crossed into the blue.

Overall I'm really happy with this. I have one of the Exalted Sorcerers in progress, as well as Ahriman and 5x Rubrics undercoated ready to go. With Ahriman I'm planning something a bit ambitious; I'm hoping to get hold of the victim from the Szeras kit and place him on the base, with his soul/essence flying into Ahriman's hand instead of Szeras' wrist-gubbins. Haven't seen any examples of this so far, my main wonder is the height of this particular part, and wherever it could align with Ahriman's hand with some minor mods.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/29 18:29:02


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


I quite like that blue, it has a lot of depth to it.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/11/30 18:34:06


Post by: Valkyrie


So today I've been playing about with the new airbrush more, looking at some new techniques.

I wanted a nebula effect on the cloaks of my Sorcerers. Decided to just dive in with the airbrush and 20 mins later I came up with this:



It's simply a layer of Matt Black with varying smears of Vallejo Scarlet Red, Warlock Purple and Electric Blue, with additional smears of white mixed with each shade. The stars are then simply painted in, with a couple crossed to give the impression of twinkling.

I decided to take this a bit further when it came to Ahriman.



To create the eclipse I made a mask out of tape, using a US dime I had lying around from a trip to Vegas. The dime was slightly smaller than a UK 10p and had a smooth edge compared to the ridges on UK coins. Once the mask was applied I painted the nebula shades as before, then added a haze of white to represent the solar corona. Since the picture was taken I've filled out the top-right in black again; I was aiming for the effect where the sun begins to emerge from the eclipse, but I wasn't 100% happy with it so decided to scrap that bit.

Someone has suggested I grab a bottle of Culture Hustle's Black 2.0 for the centre of the eclipse. If you've heard of Vantablack, it's now available in a paint. I'm very tempted to grab a bottle, but I'm not sure if I need 150mls of the stuff.

Thanks for reading. Next time I hope to have a few more Rubrics ready to go, as well as some more work on Ahriman.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/01 21:03:10


Post by: tinfoil


Love those robes! Very nice effect, and very Thousand-Sonsy. Great work so far!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/01 21:49:16


Post by: darkkt


That cloak looks awesome


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/02 11:17:49


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Cloaks are looking good, always like the nebula effect on minis but never get round to trying it on my own minis.

Good choice with the infinity, I have the Evolution and the change between that and the cheap one that came with my compressor is phenomenal.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/09 23:08:18


Post by: Valkyrie


Bit of a late update I'm afraid, too many work packages coming in, not enough time to paint!

Anyway, thanks for the comments on the capes. I admit I did surprise myself with how good they've turned out. Over the past few days I've been further working on the Sorcerers and Rubrics to really get confident with the colours, and I've learned two things:

1: Agrax Earthshade is a surprisingly good tone to use with blue.
2: I'm bloody sick of painting gold trim.



Here's the latest work on the first Aspiring Sorcerer. He's pretty glossy at the moment ready for decals, before I realised I ran out of decal softener. Did try a shoulder decal without the softener and it was just...awful. I do plan to have the standard TS snake symbol on the pauldron, with various runes/etc on the tabards.



3 of the Rubrics. Out of the 20 I have built I have around 9 undercoated with these 3 being the most completed. Anyone who read my earlier comment about leaving the Bolters off until after painting, don't bother. There's a small lip on the right arm that makes it a bugger to actually get the gun on once the arms are attached.

At the moment I'm just wondering how to paint the actual Boltguns. As you can see I've painted a bit of gold trim on them, but as for the actual weapon body I'm still looking for ideas.




And finally the WiP Sorcerer. I've left the backpack unattached for the time being so I can sort out the braziers. Still undecided wherever to go with traditional fire or green/white ethereal flames, although I'm leaning towards the latter.

The tabards I'm still choosing a colour for. I'd rather avoid white to be honest, even though it's a nice contrast to the purple. I just don't really have the patience to try to get a decent shading on white robes. Any other colour suggestions would be appreciated.

Once again, thanks for reading.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/09 23:34:16


Post by: darkkt


These are looking amazing. Those colours are popping!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/11 15:53:36


Post by: Crispy78


Yes, loving your work!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/11 16:41:31


Post by: KidCthulhu


This is making me want to grab some Thousand Sons now and I don't even play 40K these days!

That's some seriously amazing work. Keep the updates coming; I'm very curious to see how this all turns out.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/11 16:51:25


Post by: Not Online!!!


I love the nebula.

maybee use the colours for it on the boltgun with the brighter parts beeing the ammo and glyphs and the darker parts the higher areas, i'd say depending upon how you'd do that that could look great and tie them in to their sorcerer(s)?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/21 23:30:15


Post by: Valkyrie


Update 21/12/2020:

Apologies for the lack of an update. Unfortunately work hasn't calmed down as much as I hoped, but I've managed to make some progress nonetheless.

As mentioned previously I was considering getting a bottle of "Black 2.0", said to be one of the most blackest paints commercially available. At only £10ish for a large bottle I thought I'd give it a go, as the results on the website look quite promising.



So you can see you do get a decent amount for your money. As mentioned on the website it's a standard acrylic paint, and overall it goes just as well as standard Citadel paint, if a little prone to drying too quickly.

I gave it a go on Ahriman's cloak in the eclipse and overall, I'm rather disappointed with the result. I couldn't get a decent photo of the cloak so here's my best attempt with some spare Marine backpacks.



From left to right we have
- Standard GW black primer spray
- Primer and Army Painter Matt Black
- Primer and Black 2.0

I think the photos hide the true extent of the finish. In reality the Black 2.0 backpack is much less of the "void" effect that the website promotes, and just looks very matt, not even enough to really justify the effort. The texture is rather odd too, similar to that of a chalkboard. Personally, I wouldn't recommend this product, I think the website images are rather misleading and you'll almost certainly not get the void effect they advertise. [/color]

Anyway, I've also taken the time to start another Exalted Sorcerer. I do rather like the parts used for this one. While I didn't want to go too avian in terms of mutations and such, I think avian-themed armour adornments are rather fitting, and this works pretty well.



So while I still have his tabards to work on, I've been able to do another nebula-effect cloak:



Thanks for the positive feedback on the other cloaks, here's a group shot.



Initially I was a bit worried that it'd be a bit "samey" but it really seems to be working well.

In the meantime I've also been working on the Tzaangors. I've always been a bit dubious about these guys, as IMO they seem a bit shoehorned into the 40k universe. I'm also surprised by the kit, as all we get are options for Tzaangor Blades or Autopistols, yet the kit contains options for Great Weapons, Swords/Shields and odd twin-headed mutants. To me, this is really weird as it's the opposite of GW's "No model, no rules" policy, and would it have killed for them to include rules for these upgrades?

Still, thought I'd include them somehow. I decided to go with the Tzaangor Blades, with a couple of Great Weapons thrown in for variety, and the two-headed mutant will be a good representation of the Twisbray leader.

These guys are disposable cannon fodder essentially, so I'm not going to go all out painting them. I've just gone with Contrast Blue over a sprayed grey basecoat, with additional details painted by brush where necessary. Here's the current work on the Twistbray.



I think the photo is a bit oversaturated but the Contrast paints are a really nice way to paint the musculature easily. The head is just a mix of red and whites to look fleshy (unlike a Lord of Change's heads, this is literally one head split down the middle), and the weapons are just Contrast green.

I think I cocked up a bit with the grey spray, and it hasn't settled as thin as it should, but I think I managed to save it. Like I said these guys will probably die pretty quickly in battle, so I'm not going to waste hours blending and highlighting 20 of these.


And to finish off this pre-Christmas update, I exchanged presents over a substantial meal and more substantial drinking last night, and got a set of Flamers of Tzeench.I think the last time I had a set of these was back in 4th when they were metal, and one of the most fiddly and annoying kits ever produced IMO.

Decided to paint these up in a similar palette to the main TS force. The body is airbrushed Vallejo Electric Blue, with Warlock Purple and White at the top and bottom respectively. The whole thing is then given a decent wash of GW purple. The flames are then redone in white before a generous coat of Contrast green. Overall I'm pretty happy with how this has turned out.



Well that's it for tonight. For anyone who's reading this, have a very happy and safe Christmas, and thanks for taking your time to read this, any feedback is appreciated.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/30 15:41:28


Post by: Valkyrie


Another update, the last of this weird, weird year.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas season. Between the turkey and socks I've made a decent bit of progress expanding the army.

A small update with the Flamers, I've added a highlight of Vallejo Yellow Green to the Warp Lightning Contrast paint. For regular highlighting I think it'd be a bit too thick and extreme but for Warpfire it seems to work quite well.



I'm also a bit acutely aware that the close-ups make the overall finish look a bit crappy. Overall it looks much better in person.

As well as turkey and socks there was also a fair bit of gin, the result of which being a deep plunge into Daemons of Tzeench.



While I've been working these last couple of days I've had plenty of time to put together the first couple of models, starting with the Screamers.



The black/white contrast on these photos is a bit haywire, but they're actually pretty nice models to put together. Next purchase would probably be another box of these to get a decent squad of 6 put together. In my opinion, a unit of 3 is more of a nuisance unit rather than actually doing any damage.

I've also put together the first stage of the Lord of Change.



This was more of a bugger to put together, the joins around the chest could be better defined in the instructions. It's at this point however I'm dealing with 2 dilemmas:

1: Obvious dilemma, do I go for the standard Lord of Change, or Kairos? Looking at the kit it may be possible to magnetise; the main difference between the two is the head situation, which attach to an upper-chest piece which attaches to the hole in the photo above. Part of me thinks it can work, the other part is being lazy and just might build it as Kairos, and can just play it as an LoC when needed. I can't imagine any decent player kicking up a fuss in a non-tournament environment.

2: How to paint the base? At the moment it's unattached and I'd like to do something special to the base first, something like this:



I want to iterate, this is not my work. I'd like to go for some sort of mystic, funky design like this but my painting skills are nowhere near as good as this. My other idea was to replicate the nebula effect from the Sorcerers' cloaks, but that may look a bit weird on the battlefield. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

Cheers for reading, I would appreciate anyone taking the time to give feedback or any comments, otherwise have a very Happy New Year!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/30 17:37:25


Post by: Valkyrie


Posted in Error


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2020/12/31 17:04:18


Post by: gobert


That’s a good haul of Xmas minis, they’ll look great painted as vibrantly as the flamer! The cloaks look great, maybe the LoC’s base could use a similar theme to the cloaks, as though he/she is coming out of a black hole?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/01 06:33:38


Post by: Zillian


Nice work!

Cloaks look great. I undercoated mine with Retributor Gold spray, so the gold trim wasn't as annoying. I really should get back to them, one day... lol


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/07 23:41:59


Post by: Valkyrie


gobert wrote:That’s a good haul of Xmas minis, they’ll look great painted as vibrantly as the flamer! The cloaks look great, maybe the LoC’s base could use a similar theme to the cloaks, as though he/she is coming out of a black hole?


Thanks very much, I decided to keep it a bit simpler with the LoC base, as described below.

Zillian wrote:Nice work!

Cloaks look great. I undercoated mine with Retributor Gold spray, so the gold trim wasn't as annoying. I really should get back to them, one day... lol


That's a good idea, I think maybe in hindsight the gold won't actually show up against the space-effect however.


So, another year another update! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year, and hope all you US readers are doing well despite what's all going on.

Have made some more progress with the Flamers, with 4 of the 6 now ready to use. I'm actually rather impressed with the rules for these guys; nothing like the original "Ap2 template that auto-penetrated vehicles on 4+" shenanigans but still impressive for their cost and platform.



Just two more of these to go. I am considering getting another SC Daemon box to bring the numbers up, but 9 Flamers does seem a bit excessive, may just sell that bit off and get some money back.

I've also begun the remaining Screamers. Love these models. While they're nothing special to assemble the...Chaos-ness of these things is really awesome, and once you paint the creepy eyes they really do pop. The photo has wiped out some of the vibrancy of these however, my mediocre photography skills combined with the crappy lights in my flat isn't really doing these justice.




Now onto the Lord of Change. I did try to paint a nebula effect using real NASA images as inspiration, as I hoped the larger base would give me a bigger canvas. First attempt looked like a horrible bruise, second looked like the Pepsi logo. At this point it was 1am so I decided to just go with the same base as the rest of the army but with something to make it stand out.



The crack is simply a thick layer of Green Stuff which I've allowed to harden slightly before taking a tool and just hacking at it to create the cracks. The hands are simply spare Pink Horror hands, painted in the same way. I did wonder wherever to fill the crack with Black 2.0 but decided against it as it might just look unfinished. With the earlier disappointment of Black 2.0 I might just chuck it.



Painting the underside of this guy was a real chore. Eventually I was able to use Vallejo Brown as a base and to create a border with the blue, at which point I applied a coat of Vallejo Aged White, then a highlight of White with the compressor close to the lowest realistic pressure. I again realise that the photo has kinda bleached the effect sadly.



Wings were just Vallejo Light Blue with Warlock Purple applied on the tips, after which a couple of *very* light drybrushes of White were applied.



Thought I'd do a small conversion with this little guy, with a basecoat of White and a simple layer of Yellow Contrast, which has come out very nicely.


That's it for now I'm afraid, if you read this please do take the time to comment, it really is appreciated despite the godawful photography.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/08 00:25:37


Post by: tzurk


Hey mate, nice update!


The colour transitions on the screamers and LoC came out really nicely - and clever (restrained!) highlighting on the wings. Love his little horror buddy too - that yellow contrast looks great!

The yellow touches on the warpflame of the flamers is cool too. Speaking of them, I regularly play with 9 flamers in 2k games - they probably are overkill but you can pretty much point them at anything you want deleted and it's gone.

The base for the big bird is just incredible. Great design, sculpting, and colour work. He's gonna be a really impressive piece all together!

I also agree that the tzaangor models don't really feel like a part of the 40k universe. I think that GW have missed an opportunity somewhere by not making a bunch of chaos-aligned human follower sprues with a bunch of mutations etc that can be mixed and matched to create cultists and gors of all flavours.

The blogs do tend to be pretty slow here; I get the frustration/disappointment that comes with getting lots of views and not many responses, though I haven't found a more active 40k forum yet. I like to remind myself that for every person that posts a response, 100+ have seen my update and thought "wow tzurk you are so talented and handsome, please don't stop sharing because I follow your progress every time I remember to stop by the P&M blogs section and am interested in your ideas and development as a painter and modeller!"

I am guilty of doing that a lot myself (and have done for your blog before!), or thinking that I have responded to an update when I haven't.

You can often get a more immediate response through other social media if you are looking for feedback and engagement, but I am partial myself to the idea of having all my stuff together in one place, even if it is slow and old fashioned.

I for one am looking forward to more - please do keep sharing!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/08 00:36:13


Post by: KidCthulhu


The base (and the rest of the Lord Of Change) are coming out amazing! You make it look so easy...


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/08 11:32:10


Post by: Valkyrie


tzurk wrote:Hey mate, nice update!


The colour transitions on the screamers and LoC came out really nicely - and clever (restrained!) highlighting on the wings. Love his little horror buddy too - that yellow contrast looks great!

The yellow touches on the warpflame of the flamers is cool too. Speaking of them, I regularly play with 9 flamers in 2k games - they probably are overkill but you can pretty much point them at anything you want deleted and it's gone.

The base for the big bird is just incredible. Great design, sculpting, and colour work. He's gonna be a really impressive piece all together!

I also agree that the tzaangor models don't really feel like a part of the 40k universe. I think that GW have missed an opportunity somewhere by not making a bunch of chaos-aligned human follower sprues with a bunch of mutations etc that can be mixed and matched to create cultists and gors of all flavours.

The blogs do tend to be pretty slow here; I get the frustration/disappointment that comes with getting lots of views and not many responses, though I haven't found a more active 40k forum yet. I like to remind myself that for every person that posts a response, 100+ have seen my update and thought "wow tzurk you are so talented and handsome, please don't stop sharing because I follow your progress every time I remember to stop by the P&M blogs section and am interested in your ideas and development as a painter and modeller!"

I am guilty of doing that a lot myself (and have done for your blog before!), or thinking that I have responded to an update when I haven't.

You can often get a more immediate response through other social media if you are looking for feedback and engagement, but I am partial myself to the idea of having all my stuff together in one place, even if it is slow and old fashioned.

I for one am looking forward to more - please do keep sharing!


Thank you very much, I appreciate the sentiments.

KidCthulhu wrote:The base (and the rest of the Lord Of Change) are coming out amazing! You make it look so easy...


Thanks. I think one thing that's made it a bit easier is the compressor I'm using is much more reliable which is surprising as it's 33 years old. Being able to change the air pressure to suit your requirements brings out a whole new area of airbrushing.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/08 12:29:06


Post by: Tyranid Horde


The pink horrors coming out of the base is a nice touch Valk, they really help expand the world outside of the base imo. Good work on the LOC too, you're nailing it so far

I wouldn't worry about the lack of responses thus far, I've been reading most blogs as I procrastinate but don't always comment. I have found it takes a couple of pages to get a blog off the ground and more content invites more people to read and comment. Instagram isn't in a bad spot for 40k material, you're more likely to get your work seen than posting in a sub reddit and seeing it lost to the ages.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/10 01:57:21


Post by: Valkyrie


Tyranid Horde wrote:The pink horrors coming out of the base is a nice touch Valk, they really help expand the world outside of the base imo. Good work on the LOC too, you're nailing it so far

I wouldn't worry about the lack of responses thus far, I've been reading most blogs as I procrastinate but don't always comment. I have found it takes a couple of pages to get a blog off the ground and more content invites more people to read and comment. Instagram isn't in a bad spot for 40k material, you're more likely to get your work seen than posting in a sub reddit and seeing it lost to the ages.


Thanks very much, I think the overall effect is better than my attempts at a space-effect.


So, another quick update. Have had a couple of packages arrive today, namely a couple of the old OOP (I think) Thousand Sons Dreadnoughts, as well as my first ever Daemon Prince! I managed to get a good deal for the Dreads on eBay. I'm not much of a fan of the fleshy/mutated Helbrute look, and a standard Dread is more in fitting with the Thousand Sons.

I'll be honest, it's a good kit. They come with Twin-Las and Chainfists which were the loadout I had in mind, but I've decided to magnetise them for futureproofing.



He's just held together with GS at the moment before I work on the final pose. The main issue I have with these is that they're actually pretty small. I suppose this is a good example of scale-creep but I'm rather surprised at how diddy they appear. Nonetheless I'm very happy with them indeed.


Now onto the Daemon Prince...

I'll be honest I much preferred the old metal Daemon Prince, but it sees pretty hard to get and I already had a conversion idea for mine, based off this pretty awesome kitbash I found online:



From what I can gather it's the standard kit with a Morghast head and armour, the wings I'm not sure but I want to say either Tyranid Shrike or Chaos Possessed. It took me a good while to source the Morghast parts but finally managed to find a guy in France to ship them over. Now that I had those parts I splurged out on the Daemon Prince to get this off the ground.

In my opinion the Daemon Prince is a pretty crappy kit. It's one of the defining Chaos units in both AoS and 40k, yet the kit is just...dull and outdated. You're really stuck on the single pose and the overall customisation is so limited. As a testament to it's lack of updates the instructions don't even have part numbers and it includes rules for 40k 7th Edition!

So first thing I did was to convert his right hand weapon. I took the Daemonic Axe and replaced the head with a spare staff from the LoC. I may replace that odd spike at the other end but for now it seems to be ok.



I then chose to convert his left arm from his "alas, poor Yorrick" pose on the box to a more downward stroke, but this required considerable filing and shaving of the shoulder muscles, as you're really stuck in that pose otherwise. The arm was pinned on and the remaining gaps filled in with green stuff.

At this point I thought that the original model looked a bit too hunched, and bringing his head further upright would help his overall presence. This was a big gamble as my green stuff skills are worse than my photography skills (if that's even possible). I shaved away the original neck and the surrounding musculature, and added a pin extending from the top of the torso. I then built the pin up with a considerable amount of grene stuff, at which point I positioned the head to get the angle right. Tomorrow once it's all set I hope to add another thin layer to sculpt into basic musculature,etc.

While this is a rather rudimentary process due to my reluctance to use green stuff in large amounts I'm pretty happy with it so far:



The green stuff around his shoulder will be covered by the pretty large pauldrons included in the kit, and I'll add detail to the neck as described earlier, but overall I'm very happy with the result. My next decision is with the head itself: I'm wondering if it'd add to his unique-ness if I were to omit the skull inside the helm, and replace it with a rough green stuff head. It would have no detail as it'd be painted with Black 2.0, the idea being that it's some sort of void where his head should be, surrounded by his crown/helm/etc. I'm a bit sceptical but would be interested in hearing your ideas.


Thanks for reading this quick update, next one will likely be more Lords of Change, Dreads and Daemons, although I hope to move back towards Thousand Sons in the near future.

Cheers


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/11 00:04:00


Post by: gobert


The flamers creeping out of the LoCs base is inspired! The bright colours feel very Tzentchian all round and the black 2.0 looks pretty cool if you ask me. So no surprise that I think the hollow man head you’ve described for the DP would be worth a try. Is it something that you can mock up first without damaging the original head?

@tzurk, I though i was down with the kids starting a blog on the internet, and now you tell me it’s old fashioned! Pfft! . I have now belatedly joined insta, but haven’t done anything with it. You lot are just such a friendly bunch!

@valkyrie, tzurk and TH are right, it takes a while to get going on here but the P&M blog section is populated by a good bunch on the whole.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/11 09:26:16


Post by: tzurk


Hey mate, nice update. I have also lamented the woeful DP kit - especially as a lot of players like to run them in 3s! The Morghast idea is tried and true badassery and interested to see your take on it. The staff is suitably tzeentchy (is he flipping us off??) and the other arm looks like its ready to punch your head off for calling him a bookworm.

I share a distrust in my own GS abilities but the repose looks like a success to me. Black 2.0 on the head sounds interesting; kind of gives me voidwalker vibes from World of Warcraft.

Dreadnoughts are also cool - I didn't know these 1k sons ones existed but they look like a neat kit. I am a huge fan of old box dreads and am excited to see how they turn out!

@gobert, I did too! Instant reactions across the world! Pictures right there on the page! Quotes and links and everything. maybe I am wrong/cynical about this but it does feels to me like forums are starting to slow down all over in favour of places with profiles/followers/monetised product placement

There are a few australian wargaming websites I used to visit years ago that are super uncomfortable to visit now due to lack of activity - it's like a spooky internet ghost town. Where did all the people go...

Anyway! Good stuff Valk, keep it up


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/11 05:04:21


Post by: Valkyrie


gobert wrote:The flamers creeping out of the LoCs base is inspired! The bright colours feel very Tzentchian all round and the black 2.0 looks pretty cool if you ask me. So no surprise that I think the hollow man head you’ve described for the DP would be worth a try. Is it something that you can mock up first without damaging the original head?

@tzurk, I though i was down with the kids starting a blog on the internet, and now you tell me it’s old fashioned! Pfft! . I have now belatedly joined insta, but haven’t done anything with it. You lot are just such a friendly bunch!

@valkyrie, tzurk and TH are right, it takes a while to get going on here but the P&M blog section is populated by a good bunch on the whole.


Thanks for the positive feedback. I think the Black 2.0 looks better in photos rather than in reality, and while I'm a bit disappointed as a result I think it's a useful thing to have, and it was only £10 anyway.

The Daemon Prince head is in two parts; the crown which dominates the whole head, and the skull which fits nicely inside. The skull is a bit equine-like so that's why I'm thinking it may be worth finding something else. As it's not glued yet there's no issue with creating a mockup, I think something simple like a mannequin head would have the best result.


tzurk wrote:Hey mate, nice update. I have also lamented the woeful DP kit - especially as a lot of players like to run them in 3s! The Morghast idea is tried and true badassery and interested to see your take on it. The staff is suitably tzeentchy (is he flipping us off??) and the other arm looks like its ready to punch your head off for calling him a bookworm.

I share a distrust in my own GS abilities but the repose looks like a success to me. Black 2.0 on the head sounds interesting; kind of gives me voidwalker vibes from World of Warcraft.

Dreadnoughts are also cool - I didn't know these 1k sons ones existed but they look like a neat kit. I am a huge fan of old box dreads and am excited to see how they turn out!

@gobert, I did too! Instant reactions across the world! Pictures right there on the page! Quotes and links and everything. maybe I am wrong/cynical about this but it does feels to me like forums are starting to slow down all over in favour of places with profiles/followers/monetised product placement

There are a few australian wargaming websites I used to visit years ago that are super uncomfortable to visit now due to lack of activity - it's like a spooky internet ghost town. Where did all the people go...

Anyway! Good stuff Valk, keep it up


Thanks again for the sentiments

The 1k Dreadnought is an older FW kit, I'm pretty sure it's OOP so it's quite difficult to get hold of one, let alone 2. I agree in that there's a good bit of potential with the old box-naughts. While the Contemptor is better in terms of looks, I don't get that sense of nostalgia with it that I got with my first box-naught.

I've admitted that I'm rather a social media hermit, despite being only in my 20's. Perhaps it's time to branch out a bit, try Instagram? I would really have no idea where to begin though in getting the ball rolling, best to do some research first.




Anyway, another quick update after a very lazy yet productive weekend. I guess lockdown does have a perk or two...


Was rummaging through the various sprues and parts I've collected for this project and came across the third head for my Lord of Change. If you want to build the standard LoC you have a single neck with a part to mount it in the centre of the chest; for Fateweaver, each neck makes up part of this mount, so I'm left with a head and no use for it...until now.






I was very dubious about converting this model so far into the painting. I asked around on Facebook and got numerous replies of "don't risk ruining it, try it on your next one". Almost decided against it until I thought "When am I likely to buy another £70 Lord of Change? Sod it, let's go for it!".

The head is mounted on using a crossbeam made from spare sprue inserted into the neck hollow. This gives me space to pin it to the chest. The neck itself has had to be crudely shaved to get the rough shape, and the head itself was rotated to the right to avoid too much similarity with the left-most head. There were substantial gaps between the new neck and chest which were filled with Green Stuff, before Vallejo Plastic Putty was applied to get a smoother look. It's not perfect, and I doubt I'd ever get it absolutely perfect, but I think it's worked very well.

Thanks for reading this quick update, next plan is to get the base colours on the Dreadnoughts and a mockup Daemon Prince head to replace the skull.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/19 21:43:09


Post by: Valkyrie


Another week in lockdown, another update.

Regarding the Daemon Prince. I did put together a blank alternate head using green stuff, but overall I just wasn't happy with it. Had the overall look of a mannequin with a couple of slits for eyes, which I envisioned to be glowing, but it just didn't look right when put together. I don't think there's enough of a void within the helmet itself to give that effect, even with the super-duper black you can clearly make out that it's a green stuff head.

With that in mind I decided to scrap the head and just go with the original idea. In the meantime I've added a couple of lengths of guitar wire to the neck to fill out that blank spot a bit and to give the impression of cables/tendons. Little messy with the putty but I think the effect works, will post photos in the next update.

I've managed to work on the Hydra-LoC a bit, and am pretty happy with how I've blended the third head into the chest.





I've used Vallejo Plastic Putty which is *much* smoother than green stuff. It's not suitable for load-bearing components IMO but is great at getting a smooth surface, and would definitely recommend it to use in conjunction with green stuff. I think the harsher lighting in this photo emphasises the putty, it's much smoother in reality.

Dreadnoughts are coming together nicely. Not much in terms of posability with these ones, as the legs are all one component which attach to the feet. With my previous Loyalist Dreads I discovered that 3 strategic cuts in the leg allow you much more posability in the legs. With these however not so much Don't judge the Loyalist Dreads too harshly, they're all salvage jobs from about 5 years ago.



I think there may have been a cockup with the primer on the left one however, as some of the detail was a bit obscured, particularly the edging on the torso stripes which I had to rescribe with a very sharp knife. An hour later and with a couple of sliced fingers, I seem to have fixed it.

Decided to give these guys a bit of character with the basing. For one I just kept it simple with a couple of cracks, similar to the LoC. For the other I used some Marine spare parts to make a crushed/buried casualty, in the colours of my own Marine army, which I think is a nice little tie-in.

To wind up this update I've finally got back round to the Rubrics, and the first batch of 5 is nearly complete. I had to redo the Sorcerer's helm after I attempted to do a glowing-eye effect and failed miserably. No matter, I'm still happy with the squad.

In the next week or so I hope to work more on the Rubrics and Scarabs, with hopefully some more progress on Ahriman and the Exalted Sorcerers. If I can muster up the courage to attempt tiny script I'll also get the LoC's staff painted up and attached at last.

Cheers,
Valk


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/20 12:33:56


Post by: tzurk


Three headed LOC came out top shelf mate, well done on a wonderful centerpiece for the army. It seems like such a natural conversion I'm surprised I haven't seen a bunch of them before - inspired stuff!

Nice progress on the box dreads too - the bases are a great way to spice them up. I tried to find your cleanup work on the chestplate but couldn't pinpoint it!

Purple robes are a nice contrast to the rubriks. Everything looking good so far, keep it up!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/20 22:20:37


Post by: Valkyrie


 tzurk wrote:
Three headed LOC came out top shelf mate, well done on a wonderful centerpiece for the army. It seems like such a natural conversion I'm surprised I haven't seen a bunch of them before - inspired stuff!

Nice progress on the box dreads too - the bases are a great way to spice them up. I tried to find your cleanup work on the chestplate but couldn't pinpoint it!

Purple robes are a nice contrast to the rubriks. Everything looking good so far, keep it up!


Thanks very much I admit the LoC was a bit of a bugger to add the extra head, as there was a fair bit of carving and shaping on the third neck to minimise the gaps as much as possible but overall I will blow my own trumpet and say I've done a good job

With the Dreads I think the brown washes have covered up the cleanup work well, I'm more confused as to why the primer suddenly decided to mess it up. Same model, same primer, same circumstances, yet the other one turned out absolutely fine. Weird.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/26 23:25:37


Post by: Valkyrie




Something big is coming...


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/28 02:14:06


Post by: tzurk


Hmmmmm - thats a big box of minis! Is it the Tzeentch battleforce box for AoS? Can't remember if TSons or CSMs got one too...


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/28 11:36:41


Post by: Valkyrie


Nope, it's something 40k.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/01/31 23:39:15


Post by: Valkyrie


So, another week gone, some more updates. How the bloody hell is it February already?

Anyone look at the recent update and try to guess what's within? Probably not the most competitive option but I decided to treat myself to a Defiler! I've always loved the Defiler since I saw it for the first time in 4th Edition. It's just an awesome concept and the model appears to have aged well compared to a lot of the sculpts from the same period.

Putting this thing together is a bit weird however. Starting with the 4 legs they appear to be 2 pairs of slightly different legs, and while the legs are a fixed angle, a dry run of fitting them to the chassis is proving difficult to get them aligned and level.

Moving onto the claws, there appears to be an annoying void in the claw inner face. While this would be barely noticeable on the final model I thought I'd fill it up to make the claw look a bit more substantial.



As you can see it's quite extensive. To save on putty I first filled the void as much as possible with scrap sprue and shavings. A very generous application of plastic glue caused the mass to go a bit rubbery and helped with keeping it below the surface of the final product.



Once this had dried a layer of green stuff was applied and smoothed out as much as possible. It doesn't have to be dead-flat, but it's filled the void up and given a bit of mass to the claw itself.




As well as the Defiler I've been doing the odd bits on the remaining Exalted Sorcerers. I was getting a bit sick of painting the space effect, taking some time away from that aspect has renewed my energy to carry on and here is the next cape to show off.



Pretty happy with this one. IIRC, there's two more to go.


Daemon Princes

I decided to take a step back from the Daemon Prince, particularly as I was stuck in a massive rut as to what colours to go with. Did lots of Googling and I couldn't really find anything I fancied; the vast majority of TS or Tzeench Princes were almost entirely blue, which for some reason I found a bit too comical.

I also had plans to add some extra character to the model when playing about with some Vallejo plastic putty. I applied a very generous amount to a length of wire and after a short drying period, was able to manipulate and pull it about to resemble lightning or warpfire. I took this a step further and created a warp-ball-lightning/blast effect using a large green stuff ball, mounting it as if the Prince is summoning from his staff.



I'll be honest, I wasn't happy with the result. Something just didn't sit right with it. I think it didn't convey the lightning effect as much as I wanted. I have since scrapped it, although I may return to it in the future should I find a better alternative.

Silver linings however, as the delay to putting this guy together found me the *perfect* head replacement. I've mentioned that the Morghast skull itself was a bit too equine for my liking, and I've found an excellent replacement from the Defiler. It's a very Iron Warrior-esque helmet that after some carving fits very nicely in the Morghast helmet.



I admit the metallics haven't come out as planned, perhaps a bit too thick. Not that this is before any significant layers of wash have gone down so I may be able to save it yet.

The silver armour doesn't really tie the model into TS a lot, so I've extended the nebula motif to his wings. I've then gone back over the wing spars(?) with a lighter blue to distinguish them from the blue nebulas, and a blue wash will hopefully make the difference less stark.



For some reason I did have the major shakes trying to paint the wing spars, will go back over them another time to neaten them up.


Well that it for now. If you do read this, please do comment. Any comments and critiques really are appreciated.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/01 01:56:09


Post by: MobileSuitRandom


Very pretty in a cosmic horror way, so, very Tzeench I actually like the bright wing spars (fingers? that's apparently what they're called with bats), they look like something spidery encroaching upon the stars.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/01 11:36:39


Post by: Valkyrie


 MobileSuitRandom wrote:
Very pretty in a cosmic horror way, so, very Tzeench I actually like the bright wing spars (fingers? that's apparently what they're called with bats), they look like something spidery encroaching upon the stars.


Thanks very much. I do like the metaphor, and I've also learned the proper terminology, so everything's going well


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/01 13:40:00


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


I agree, I love the wings! Brilliant way of tying the Prince in to your other TS!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/01 14:45:44


Post by: Not Online!!!


Now i feel that this thread's been a bit under appreciated

I agree with the others, the nebulas turned out great, and this DP head switcharoo, bravissimo.
It's stuff like that that makes an army stand out


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/01 18:35:29


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


Love the psychedelic take on Tzeenchian changery. Big kudos for adding the third head to your LoC so late in the process - big risk, but it paid off. Looks great, would love to see an army shot.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/02 11:22:59


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks very much everyone. It was certainly daunting to try putting the third head on the LoC, but as I said, I would almost certainly not be buying another so thought "sod it" and just went for it.

All the units are a bit of a mish-mash at the moment but will definitely try to get an army shot when I can.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/02 20:36:45


Post by: gobert


Prince is looking very bling. I think MobileSuitRandom is spot on with the spider encroaching on the stars metaphor *shudders*


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/03 19:27:41


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks for all the recent comments everyone.

Quick update today, have spent some time putting together the Defiler. The overall chassis is now completed. As I said previously getting the legs in an even and level position is pretty difficult, made worse by the fact that this is an old kit (possibly 3rd Edition era?) and the ball joints are just slightly too loose to get a proper tight fit.

The abundance of useless Zoom meetings for work however gave me plenty of time to get it set. at which point I noticed a couple of key issues:

1. While the 4 legs look identical there's actually 2 pairs, one of which are extended a bit more and as a result slightly longer than the other. While the slightly longer pair is expected to go at the back of the chassis I decided to reverse this as it'd be overall steadier, particularly in regards to my next point.

2. It's quite easy to build this without considering the balance. Once the turret and extra parts are added it does have a pretty unequal weight distribution towards the front, meaning you'll have to position one of the claws to prevent this happening. I was planning on gluing some lead sheet leftover from renovating the roof inside the chassis to act as a counterweight, but in my haste I had glued this pretty firmly before I realised.

Speaking of posing the claws, I do like how there's a real freedom here with your poses. You can for example go with the Paint Caddy




...or The Thinker...




...or the Angry Old Man.





I think overall I'll have to go with the Angry Old Man, just reversed so the Power Scourge has some clearance. As mentioned, one of the claws has to be down to stop this thing tipping forward but I think it'll work.


Have made a couple of additions to the Daemon Prince. I tried going over the fingers on the wings with a blue wash, but it just came out as an uneven stain and didn't work, so I went back over with a stark white instead.




I've also properly fixed him to the base as well as made a few more improvements, such as the warpflame on his staff as well as a wash of Citadel Violet on the skin to tone it down a bit. Next steps would be to finish the warpflame, and I also have a Blue Horror leftover from the Burning Chariot which I'll add to the base.




Thanks for reading folks, until next time.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/03 21:58:32


Post by: tzurk


Hey mate, nice update! Man the Defiler is a big model. I always thought it was kind of goofy looking with the tiny head, but seeing it here without the head makes me wonder if that is not the best build for it - making it walking turret rather than the bellybutton cannon of a pinheaded crab demon. Anyway, the poses are a bit of fun and glad you're making headway with it!

The Daemon Prince looks amazing mate, really well done there. Love the wings tying him into the sorcerers; I think you get better at the nebulae with each attempt. The head swap really comes to life with paint, too, and the base is in a good place even before he gets his little buddy on there.

Nice work!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/04 14:39:39


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers mate, you know I did have that thought as well putting the thing together. It's such a tiny head it does look a bit of a joke, might just leave it off in that case. Thanks for the DP feedback, I'm definitely improving my airbrush skills


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/05 01:39:07


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


I've always loved Defilers myself! It took me eleven years to paint mine, looks like you're working at a healthier pace! My vote is for Angry Old Man.

I like the white membranes on the daemon prince, they stand out really stark from the void.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/05 23:47:00


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks mate, think I'll definitely be going for the Angry Old Man, although Paint Caddy would come in handy at times


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/08 22:50:30


Post by: Valkyrie


Been working on a bit of the Lord of Change today, inbetween setting up an Xbox X and getting over the godawful Six Nations loss.

I tried a couple of times to paint the staff with runes and glyphs, but wasn't happy with the result. Tried using decals from the Rubric box (some neat looking Night Lords runes that double nicely as Tzeench glyphs) but they were too regular and big. After the 4th attempt I was getting the hand shakes so decided to go with the nebula effect again:




Looks pretty stellar IMO, and is a nice bit of fluff to go with this unique Lord of Change; The book is a map of the entire galaxy, and every one of the innumerable pages contains a map of a particular site.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/09 03:08:00


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


That's a great bit of lore. You've put some great details onto this Monster, really made him your own. Love that book (it reminds me of The Claw of the Conciliator), it's got a great sense of motion to it.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/09 10:26:59


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers mate, have been thinking up a backstory for him over the last couple of weeks so watch this space!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/09 12:42:12


Post by: Not Online!!!


Yeah, that is one nice piece of fluff.
Stuff like that, ties together unique armies.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/09 14:24:49


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


If I had thought of making Spacebook, I would have made Spacebook.

Brilliant, very unique.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/09 23:23:09


Post by: Dysartes


Come very nice work in here, Valkyrie - how far along your initial project plan would you say you are now?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/11 00:56:05


Post by: tzurk


yep, beautiful work on that book mate. Nice design choice and you pulled it off. Green glowy eyes look great too!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/12 07:13:45


Post by: gobert


That’s a spectacular fallback plan! Much more in keeping with the theme of the force I think too. Nice one!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/12 11:23:11


Post by: Valkyrie


Not Online!!! wrote:Yeah, that is one nice piece of fluff.
Stuff like that, ties together unique armies.


Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:If I had thought of making Spacebook, I would have made Spacebook.

Brilliant, very unique.


Dysartes wrote:Come very nice work in here, Valkyrie - how far along your initial project plan would you say you are now?


tzurk wrote:yep, beautiful work on that book mate. Nice design choice and you pulled it off. Green glowy eyes look great too!


gobert wrote:That’s a spectacular fallback plan! Much more in keeping with the theme of the force I think too. Nice one!



Thanks for all the feedback guys. As for the project as a whole I think it's coming together very nicely. My original plan was to have a unit of 20, maybe even 30 Tzaangors, but to me it seems they've dropped down in terms of competitiveness. Next step would be to maybe add another SC Daemons set, that way I have a good unit of 20 Horrors, 6 Screamers, 9 Flamers and a couple of characters to go with them.

For the TS themselves, perhaps another box of Rubrics, although as I've heard rumours that our Codex will be dropping in the next couple of months, may hold back until I hear how they're changing, or if there's any new stuff coming out.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Not yet purchased
In progress/Incomplete unit.
Completed
Not planned/extra purchase

HQ
Ahriman - Disk of Tzeench
Exalted Sorcerer - Disk of Tzeench
Exalted Sorcerer
Daemon Prince with Wings
Lord of Tzeench

Elites
10x Scarab Terminators - 2x Soulreaper Cannons, 2x Hellfires
Hellbrute - Twin Las
Hellbrute - Twin Las
Exalted Flamer

Troops
10x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
10x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
5x Rubric Marines - Soulreaper Cannon
5x Rubric Marines - Warpflamers
20x Tzaangors - Blades
10x Horrors

Fast Attack
3 Screamers

Heavy Support
Defiler - Twin Las, Scourge
Burning Chariot


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/14 09:47:47


Post by: gobert


Cool plans! I say buy the extras, we always need more minis right?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/15 00:19:28


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


 gobert wrote:
Cool plans! I say buy the extras, we always need more minis right?


Sometimes I worry that as Dakkites we're bad influences on each other.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/15 13:59:37


Post by: Valkyrie


 Don Qui Hotep wrote:
 gobert wrote:
Cool plans! I say buy the extras, we always need more minis right?


Sometimes I worry that as Dakkites we're bad influences on each other.


We're all enablers to one degree or another


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/20 15:50:16


Post by: Valkyrie


Apologies for the long wait, quick update with the Defiler:

Went for a spot of magnetising, mainly to make him easier to transport. I went for 5x1mm magnets in the torso, which I had plenty leftover from my various Titanicus projects. Getting the torso flush and level was a bit tricky but eventually it came together nicely.



The Flamers/Scourge were magnetised by replacing the mounting lugs on the torso with 2x 2x2mm magnets, with additional ones placed inside the weapon housing. There's a very slight (around 0.5mm) gap overall but I doubt this can be rectified.



I admit the Flamers look rather messy, have since done some cleaning. I've also inserted a pin between the flamers, just forward of the main join, to provide a bit of strength. I doubt the standard join would hold up to regular movement.



While I do like the provided Autocannons, they're just crap in the rules. Considering a Defiler Twin-Las is now only 10 points(!), why not go for this instead. Ordered a spare Razorback Twin-Las online, replaced the muzzles with the fancy ones from the Chaos vehicle sprue. Unlike the Scourge/Flamers however, these are fully fixed and glued in place.



And here's the overall model. The leg armour has been left off for ease of painting, and the top hatch is currently unglued, debating wherever to add a Havoc Launcher or not.



Thanks for reading, have also been finishing the Exalted Sorcerers so watch this space!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/20 22:47:20


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


Nice update, I do love to see magnets. I usually use the havoc launcher, it's cheap enough that if it kills even a few guardsmen it makes back its points.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/21 10:46:36


Post by: gobert


Sorry (not sorry) for being a bad influence! The magnetised defiler is looking cool, the lascannon muzzles are fantastic


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/24 00:10:17


Post by: Valkyrie


One of the beauties of working from home is when it's dead quiet, as it was today, you can get a couple of hours of painting in. Hence, here's the current progress on the Defiler:




I'm currently reshaping the scourge into something a bit more manageable, and the remaining leg armour has since been attached, but overall I'm happy that I got enough blue in there, and it's not just silver/brass.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/24 08:31:28


Post by: Not Online!!!


Ohh that is a fancy defieler.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/24 08:19:03


Post by: Thousandeyes


Looking really cool there, just read through the thread now.

One thing is you have a five Rubic squad with a soulreaper, which is not a valid option. Need ten for that.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/25 10:35:36


Post by: Valkyrie


 Thousandeyes wrote:
Looking really cool there, just read through the thread now.

One thing is you have a five Rubic squad with a soulreaper, which is not a valid option. Need ten for that.


Good spot there, thanks for that. May have to rethink the list.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/27 22:12:10


Post by: Valkyrie


Quick update. I've put together a bit of fluff for the new three-headed Lord of Change, who I have named Balthazar.

Have used the Chaos Daemon codex as a template and added it all there, should be attached to this post in PDF format.

Cheers,
Valk

 Filename Balthazar.pdf [Disk] Download
 Description
 File size 424 Kbytes



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/02/28 22:42:00


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


Great job on the defiler! I love those cool, even blue tones.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/01 22:09:37


Post by: Valkyrie


 Don Qui Hotep wrote:
Great job on the defiler! I love those cool, even blue tones.


Cheers for that, and despite my lacking tech skills I've managed to convert the Balthazar fluff to a .JPG for easier access.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
To break up the monotony of the Defiler a bit I decided to have a look at the Fluxmaster, which had been lying on my desk unpainted for a fair while.

To make him stand out a bit from the Horrors I combined the standard pink with a nice blue metallic, which I made from Vallejo Light Sea Blue (the default for the TS) and Scale7 metallics. I was kinda winging it a bit ensuring there wouldn't be any overspray, and I'm certainly happy with how he turned out.



The Black 2.0 seems to have actually worked on his fire...orb...thing. I think it definitely needs a contrasting colour to go with it, but I still think the overall effect comes up much better on camera rather than in reality.



The disk is painted up exactly the same manner as the standard TS armour, and has been magnetised to allow the Exalted Flamer to take his place. Due to the Fluxmaster's original feet placement on the disk, they've had to be shaved off and replaced with the fire-wave he's riding in the pics, which has made the magnetisation much, much easier.


Thanks for reading, all C+C is very much appreciated

[Thumb - Balthazar.jpg]


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/05 00:35:57


Post by: Valkyrie


Did a bit of playing around with the lighting for my photos, got some better results showing off the Fluxmaster.



You can see the difference the Black 2.0 makes on his fire-orb-thing, overall looks pretty decent so far. I've made a little progress on the Screamer chariot but at the moment trying to find some decent colours for the energy-wave that actually supports the disk, so that's on hold for the moment.




Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/10 18:45:47


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


I like your technique for painting flame. Black 2.0 looks pretty effective from the pictures, did you also use it on the tip of the staff and the horns of the disk, or is that just the basecoat?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just read Balthazar's fluff, love the story of creation out of spite. Gives a great narrative to your army, and a reason for each of their excursions out of the Warp. I feel bad for all those people that got frozen though.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/12 00:18:35


Post by: Valkyrie


 Don Qui Hotep wrote:
I like your technique for painting flame. Black 2.0 looks pretty effective from the pictures, did you also use it on the tip of the staff and the horns of the disk, or is that just the basecoat?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just read Balthazar's fluff, love the story of creation out of spite. Gives a great narrative to your army, and a reason for each of their excursions out of the Warp. I feel bad for all those people that got frozen though.


Thanks I'm rather liking the Black 2.0 now. Didn't use it elsewhere on the Fluxmaster, that's just the primer showing through. I may however try to blend it into the spikes on the disk, perhaps airbrush some silver and keep the black on the tips, thanks for the idea


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/12 08:35:52


Post by: Not Online!!!


i like smal backgorund lore drops, and this one is exceptional tzeetchian
Good job.

Also the painting is once again superb. i wish i was as capable..


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/12 09:18:33


Post by: Mutant Modifier


Superb paint jobs. Keep it up!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/13 21:23:49


Post by: Valkyrie


Not Online!!! wrote:i like smal backgorund lore drops, and this one is exceptional tzeetchian
Good job.

Also the painting is once again superb. i wish i was as capable..


Mutant Modifier wrote:Superb paint jobs. Keep it up!


Thanks very much guys

Since the last update I've decided to back and work on the Screamers (or Vagina Monsters/Giant Sperms as my girlfriend calls them). I saw a very vibrant scheme online which inspired me to go for the current scheme.



For some reason I can't describe, I wasn't 100% happy with it. I think the green/yellow was lacking in depth and the contrast was just too stark.

I decided to revisit the scheme and ditched the green entirely. Went back over with Magic Blue, did a highlight down the spine/tail with Light Sea Blue and redid the fins with a highlight of white, ended up with this.



I also redid the eyes, a slight change to the pupils makes them a little more menacing (pupils emerging from the base of the eye only rather than a cat-eye look of a single line from the top to bottom), and have been feathering the layers on the tusks/horns to help it blend a bit better. Here's a WiP group shot:



(Light still seems a bit stark in this one)

You may notice that there are 6 Vagina Monsters in this one. That's because I splurged out on another SC: Daemons box, as well as a box of Blue Horrors. While useless in Matched Play, my FLGS will soon be starting a Crusade Campaign, where splitting Horrors is free and very beneficial. At the moment I now have 30 Pink, 16 Blue and 10 Brimstone, which is plenty for now, as well as 9 Flamers in total.

Next steps may be revisiting the Flamers. I'm a little tempted to redo them to a more traditional scheme, but we'll see how the test model turns out.

Thanks for reading.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/14 13:04:17


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


Oooooh, those are gorgeous! I might have to consider doing something similar for mine once I get to them!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/14 13:06:18


Post by: RobertsMinis


Have a SC: Tzeench deamons box unbuilt myself, some great inspiration to get them painted here. Those screamers look amazing!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/15 13:11:39


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks I'm definitely happier with the overall finish compared to the rather garish original.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/15 13:32:17


Post by: Not Online!!!


Well i'd say you can be.
They at first did look rather, colourfull?



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/15 23:44:02


Post by: Valkyrie


Not Online!!! wrote:
Well i'd say you can be.
They at first did look rather, colourfull?



Yeah certainly colourful, I think I was going for something similar to this.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/16 11:20:10


Post by: Not Online!!!


 Valkyrie wrote:
Not Online!!! wrote:
Well i'd say you can be.
They at first did look rather, colourfull?



Yeah certainly colourful, I think I was going for something similar to this.


i mean it's tzeentch, so it would've fit, since colourfull, but i quite like the more muted with stronger focus on the eye scheme you picked.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/16 14:39:07


Post by: Valkyrie


Not Online!!! wrote:
 Valkyrie wrote:
Not Online!!! wrote:
Well i'd say you can be.
They at first did look rather, colourfull?



Yeah certainly colourful, I think I was going for something similar to this.


i mean it's tzeentch, so it would've fit, since colourfull, but i quite like the more muted with stronger focus on the eye scheme you picked.


Thanks, I agree it's much more Tzeench-y


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/18 19:38:51


Post by: Valkyrie


Just a quick update this time.

Settled on a nice scheme for the Blue Horrors. I didn't want to go too extreme with these guys as they're just cannon fodder. No point putting hours into a unit which will last one minute on the battlefield.

Skin is Vallejo Light Sea Blue airbrushed over a basecoat of Vallejo Magic Blue (same as the Rubrics), and a heavy wash of Druchii Violet applied after. Flames are just Iyanden Yellow over a base of White, and Vallejo Dead White, which gives a really stark, almost bleached level of whiteness.



Eyes and tongues are just Vallejo Yellow Green, nothing special there.

Think they've come out quite nicely, some contrast there and they look appropriately gribbly, and quite cute in some cases.



Also took the time to rethink the Flamers, as I got 3 in my last purchase. Tried the more traditional look on one compared to my previous scheme. Here's a side-by-side comparison.



Photo's a bit blurry but that doesn't matter as it's just getting a colour comparison.

I do think now that the new scheme is better, the green flames aren't really doing it for me compared to the orange. With that in mind I think I may just be able to respray the bodies without having to strip, flames are just the same as the Horrors which shouldn't be too difficult. Let's see if it pays off

Thanks again, any comments appreciated


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/19 01:26:07


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


I really like how vividly the flame contrasts with the blue, something something color theory. I'm sure you'll be able to knock out your flamers in a short amount of time. Looking forward to seeing the brimstone horrors.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/19 19:08:22


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks very much I did ask around on Facebook and see which scheme people preferred. Overwhelming response was to stick with the green, but I've decided to ignore them all and go back to blue.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/28 11:29:22


Post by: Valkyrie


Been a little while since the last update, but the Exalted Sorcerers are so close to finishing:



Overall they've come up really well. Just some odd details to finish off such as the bases and eyes, but I'm the most happiest with the cloaks.




The Flamers are also nearing completion. For the previous ones I simply sprayed over the existing colours and redid the flames with Contrast yellow. The thought of individually highlighting the flames for all 9 looked too mch of a balls-ache if I kept the green-flame scheme.

Apologies for the poor photo quality, I've been experimenting with various light positions and it seems to have bleached the colours a bit.



Can't wait to give these guys a go, even if they don't kill much they're a pretty solid T4 2W 4++ unit for only 207pts.


Once again, please do comment if you have any thoughts.

Valk


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/29 17:52:18


Post by: Valkyrie


So I hit the jackpot a bit and managed to get an Ikea Deltolf glass cabinet for only £10. Honestly, look at Facebook Marketplace if you want a painting desk or cabinet, some people just want to get rid of their old stuff, plenty of bargains to be had.

The cabinet has plenty of room for the Tzeench forces and even has a built in light, which is much softer than the one used for the previous photos. So here are the forces of Tzeench in varying degrees of completion.







There's still a Dreadnought, a couple of Burning Chariots and a couple dozen Horrors still to add to the top shelf so it'll be quite cramped. Still have two free shelves which I could either use for my 5k Custodes force or 6k Guard super-heavy army. Decisions, decisions...


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/29 18:41:45


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


What a display! Looking great so far. I like seeing the updates to the Defiler, he's looking mean.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/29 22:08:09


Post by: Tyranid Horde


Those are some fantastic looking dusty boys, although no real dust as they're in a case!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Valkyrie wrote:
So I hit the jackpot a bit and managed to get an Ikea Deltolf glass cabinet for only £10. Honestly, look at Facebook Marketplace if you want a painting desk or cabinet, some people just want to get rid of their old stuff, plenty of bargains to be had.

The cabinet has plenty of room for the Tzeench forces and even has a built in light, which is much softer than the one used for the previous photos. So here are the forces of Tzeench in varying degrees of completion.







There's still a Dreadnought, a couple of Burning Chariots and a couple dozen Horrors still to add to the top shelf so it'll be quite cramped. Still have two free shelves which I could either use for my 5k Custodes force or 6k Guard super-heavy army. Decisions, decisions...

Page carryover!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/03/30 17:55:45


Post by: Valkyrie


 Tyranid Horde wrote:
Those are some fantastic looking dusty boys, although no real dust as they're in a case!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Valkyrie wrote:
So I hit the jackpot a bit and managed to get an Ikea Deltolf glass cabinet for only £10. Honestly, look at Facebook Marketplace if you want a painting desk or cabinet, some people just want to get rid of their old stuff, plenty of bargains to be had.

The cabinet has plenty of room for the Tzeench forces and even has a built in light, which is much softer than the one used for the previous photos. So here are the forces of Tzeench in varying degrees of completion.







There's still a Dreadnought, a couple of Burning Chariots and a couple dozen Horrors still to add to the top shelf so it'll be quite cramped. Still have two free shelves which I could either use for my 5k Custodes force or 6k Guard super-heavy army. Decisions, decisions...

Page carryover!


Thanks very much


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/05 21:43:44


Post by: Valkyrie


Hello all, hope you're all staying safe.

I feel I have stagnated a bit with the Thousand Sons/Daemon project. I've blitzed through a lot of it, but there's only a certain number of Horrors you can paint before you need a break. With that in mind I've decided to take a temporary pause from the project and refresh myself on something new.

Now that I have the display cabinet I've been pondering what to fill the other shelves with. My Custodes may not be suitable due to the weight of an Orion Gunship pressing on the glass, and my Guard force includes 5 superheavies so no room there. I was rummaging through my stuff and came across this:



This is a 1:48 scale English Electric Lightning, my all-time favourite plane.


Background

The English Electric Lightning was first produced in the UK in the mid 1950's to intercept incoming Soviet nuclear bombers and defend the V-Bomber airfields. The unique over/under placement of it's engines provided unparalleled speed and climbing ability, and at the time the Lightning was the fastest and most agile aircraft in the world. The Lightning was even able to match the altitude of the US U2 spyplanes, with XR749 reaching a height of 88,000ft.

The drawback of such a design was the limited range and armament, which EE tried to resolve over time but ultimately the aircraft became obsolete once the Soviet nuclear doctrine turned towards ICBMs. Overall over 300 Lightnings were produced and a great number remain on static display around the world.

Crew: 1
Max takeoff weight: 45,750lbs
Max speed: Mach 2.3 (>1,500mph)
Range: >700 miles
Rate of climb: Maximum of 50,000ft/min
Armament: 2x Firestreak or Red Top missiles, 2x30mm ADEN cannon.

I bought this kit at least 5 years ago while with my dad in the South of England. Due to not having a suitable place to display it, it soon started collecting dust and I retired it to my to-do pile.

The progress on the kit is quite limited as seen here.



The fuselage is joined although the tail is only attached by friction, and was quickly removed. I have had a good chat with Warpig on aircraft modelling who provided me with some excellent advice (thanks again Warpig if you happen to come across this post), and I recommend you check out his thread on the subject



Splitting the fuselage was a lot easier than I thought, the glue has probably degraded a bit over time, and the halves came apart very cleanly. I have since removed the cockpit as I plan to replace this with a resin upgrade.
With that, I moved onto the stripping. For this I used methylated spirits, which have worked well on 40k kits, but was unsure as to wherever Airfix use a different plastic.



This is after around 45 mins of scrubbing and rubbing. The detail and panel lines have been unaffected, which was my main worry, although I'm wondering if just soaking the fuselage will really get rid of the final streaks. My plan is to redo the Lightning in it's trademark mirror finish.



This one is the exact scheme I'm going for. For this I'm hoping to use Alcad's High-Shine metallic colours along with the corresponding decals. I've already balls'ed up and ordered 1/72 decals instead of 1/48, but a quick email to the supplier should sort that out.

Fingers crossed this'll turn out the way I've imagined, and fingers crossed I'll be revitalised and ready to get back into the Thousand Sons afterwards.

Thanks for reading. Once again a comment or any feedback really is appreciated



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/06 18:59:47


Post by: gobert


Lightning was a cool plane, the twin engines and simple design always gave it a really brutal appearance I always thought. Randomly there’s one just down the road from here in a self storage centre. I hadn’t realised that you could use methylated spirits to strip plastic, I might give it a go if IPA doesn’t work


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/06 20:37:48


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
Lightning was a cool plane, the twin engines and simple design always gave it a really brutal appearance I always thought. Randomly there’s one just down the road from here in a self storage centre. I hadn’t realised that you could use methylated spirits to strip plastic, I might give it a go if IPA doesn’t work


It's an odd one isn't it, from the era where the UK was producing stuff that looked a bit bonkers but actually worked pretty well, like the Vulcan, Valiant and TSR2 (maybe not the last one).

Meth spirits are pretty good at stripping plastic. It's maybe not the best at getting in finer details however, and it can stain your hands a fair bit. I've ordered some Biostrip20 however, will see how that goes.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/07 13:38:33


Post by: Meer_Cat


I hadn't thought of the Lightning in years- great plane! Very suitable just as a true-historical kit, but in the right scale could see it modified easily for a close air support fighter for the Imperial Navy.

The Vulcan is one of my favorite Cold War bombers.

Rock on!



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/07 18:19:49


Post by: Valkyrie


 Meer_Cat wrote:
I hadn't thought of the Lightning in years- great plane! Very suitable just as a true-historical kit, but in the right scale could see it modified easily for a close air support fighter for the Imperial Navy.

The Vulcan is one of my favorite Cold War bombers.

Rock on!



Definitely. In Double Eagle there are a few aircraft in there which I haven't heard mentioned anywhere else in 40k. I think the Lightning, Vulcan and Mriya are the closest fits.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/08 04:24:39


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


A heck of a pivot but I love non-wargame hobby projects on Dakka. Thanks for sharing the historical background. Excited to see your progress.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/10 18:42:43


Post by: Valkyrie


Quite a few packages arriving in the post today, mostly do to with the Lightning project including some exciting upgrades.



Here we have a new resin cockpit compartment as well as an upgrade sprue in etched brass. That along with a new set of excellent decals came to around £25, plus another £5 or so for a tub of Biostrip20, which is by far the best stripping product I've come across.

I absolutely cannot emphasise how small these components are. For comparison the main set of gauges on the etched brass is about 20mm across. there are a number of extra panels and dials which will have to be folded and glued, some of which are around the size of a pinhead.



Despite the crappy photo resulting from zooming in too much, the level of detail on these is staggering for such a small part.

Additionally I ordered a set of decals from Xtradecal, which included colour and decal guides for 6 various Lightnings. Of these 2 weren't viable as they were for 2-seater trainer versions, but I've finally pinpointed the finish I want.



Essentially it'll be the 74th Squadron colours with the cockpit roundels replaced by the lightning-bolt version circled above. I was a little dubious about mixing schemes like this as I do want some degree of accuracy, but a quick searched showed this scheme in place for the 111th Squadron and their Lightnings shown below.



I think I'll keep the yellow stripes as well. According to the guide the stripes were present on the 74th colours, but another search hasn't shown anything of the sort. Might deviate a little to put them on the 111th colours. The registration for this scheme shown above shows XM186, which was destroyed in an accident in 1963, tragically killing the pilot. With that in mind I may look for some other registrations, can cut and change around the numbers if necessary.

Thanks for reading. Next steps will be to remove the excess resin from the cockpit upgrades (currently waiting on a piercing saw to arrive) and painting up the cockpit before moving onto the fuselage.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/11 08:30:36


Post by: gobert


Wow! That brass etch is insane! I hadn’t realised that you could get stuff like that. The size of some of the bets the question of how one goes about getting them in to the model? I hope you have a good set of tweezers!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/11 11:45:54


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
Wow! That brass etch is insane! I hadn’t realised that you could get stuff like that. The size of some of the bets the question of how one goes about getting them in to the model? I hope you have a good set of tweezers!


I've worked with brass on this scale before, and you're right, it is absolutely insane.





These are part of a 1:200 battleship project which is on hold due to the sheer size of it, but you can see the detail involved. The 20mm gun with the Skitarii is around 15 individually folded parts.

It can be quite a forgiving material, as you have some degree to go back and redo if you balls it up. My main worry with this kit however is damaging the printed surface with the dials.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/11 12:03:22


Post by: Warpig1815


Oh nice! I didn't realise you had a blog Valkyrie, I've just stumbled across it - excellent to see your progress (and thanks for the shout-out ).

I'd never thought of using methylated spirits to strip it, but I'm glad to see you've managed to get almost everything off. I'd be interested to see your results with the BioStrip too (I know I recommended it, but I've not used it personally).

Photetch is a b***h if you've not had experience of that particular hell, so I cannot advise you enough to hoover your work area before you start, just in case anything pings off any you need to find it. My OCD goes wild if I know there should have been a small feature that is now consigned to god-knows-where on my floor

Totally enthused for this project, totally jealous you have a 1:48 Lightning (Still hoping Airfix put it back into production) and totally confident this is gonna be cracking!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/11 12:53:43


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers mate, and thanks for your very informative PM

Meth spirits aren't so bad, just after a while the fumes can mess with your head a bit. I've just given the fuselage another coat of Biostrip, will post a pic later to show the result but overall it's come out very nicely, lot less hassle than the meths.

Yeah I'm a little dubious about some of the PE parts. I can't emphasise enough how small they are; some would fit on a Primaris' fingertip for example, they're that diddy. It appears Eduard has predicted me cocking it up however and the frame includes spares which is nice of them, but I think it may be easier to omit some of the tiniest parts for sanity' sake.

Thanks very much for the kind words. I'm a bit ahead of myself and looking for my next project, currently between a Mosquito, Spitfire MkXV or a Glouster Javelin. If I do come across another 1:48 Lightning I'll let you know


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/11 13:32:38


Post by: Warpig1815


Nee bother - I'm glad there's at least one other aircraft enthusiast knocking about on here and happy my advice has helped

Aye that's always the way with the more effective products. I didn't suggest Dettol, which is another option, mainly because it leaves your whole house stinking of TCP.

By the looks of it the Lightning has more PE than my Spitfire did. They're great for bringing out the detail, but a PITA to apply. My method was to dip a cocktail stick in superglue as a precision applicator, then lay down the parts with needle tweezers if that helps.

Aha! It's a slippery decent from here on in! I did my Spitfire as a break, like you, then found out I've been hooked on them I'm not as keen on the Javelin, but all of those are great options. I'll look forward to seeing them .

Also: Subscribed. Because your Thousand Sons are also awesome


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/12 12:33:42


Post by: Valkyrie


 Warpig1815 wrote:
Nee bother - I'm glad there's at least one other aircraft enthusiast knocking about on here and happy my advice has helped

Aye that's always the way with the more effective products. I didn't suggest Dettol, which is another option, mainly because it leaves your whole house stinking of TCP.

By the looks of it the Lightning has more PE than my Spitfire did. They're great for bringing out the detail, but a PITA to apply. My method was to dip a cocktail stick in superglue as a precision applicator, then lay down the parts with needle tweezers if that helps.

Aha! It's a slippery decent from here on in! I did my Spitfire as a break, like you, then found out I've been hooked on them I'm not as keen on the Javelin, but all of those are great options. I'll look forward to seeing them .

Also: Subscribed. Because your Thousand Sons are also awesome


Cheers mate. Yeah Dettol isn't so bad at stripping. I don't mind the smell as much, it's more the oily film left afterwards that just doesn't seem to wash off completely.

So the saw and other gubbins has arrived, and I quickly set to work removing the large-ish resin gates from the cockpit.

Here's where I discovered a vital flaw in the design: The gate itself is the cockpit floor. Removing it means removing the bottom of the cockpit itself, which in my eyes is a pretty crappy design.

You could, if you're extremely precise, leave enough left to not have this issue, but the cockpit is such a tight fit in the fuselage it seems pretty impossible to do so. Once the ejector seat is fitted it's not so bad, after I filled the gaps with Green Stuff.

While the GS was curing I did a dry-fit of the fuselage. I was worried that it may have warped in storage but it seems to go together nicely. Some pressure will be needed for a neat fit but nothing out of the ordinary for these models.



The Biostrip has done a nice work cleaning up the fuselage. I did a test run on the spare tail and the panel lines are still visible after a coat of paint.

Here's my main gripe with the kit. For some reason, Airfix decided to extend the engine intake to around 2-3" inside the model, likely so it can act as a bulkhead for the structure. However this means fitting the cockpit is a nightmare as the whole subassembly simply sits on top of the intake, with no actual lugs, slots or other bits to hold it.



Ignore the crap primer work on the intake, none of this will be visible on the final model.

I've also ordered some suitable paint to match the PE parts. Turns out only the F3 Lightnings and onwards had blue cockpits so this is turning into quite a bit of a mongrel model; an F1 Lightning with an F2 cockpit painted in F3 colours. As Warpig mentioned however there's very little, if any visual difference between them so I'm not bothered.

It did occur to me last night however that I've overlooked one important aspect of the decals: the ones I ordered only included the squadron-specific markings, and generic stencils and warnings (Jet exhaust! Stand Clear! etc) were lost when I stripped the fuselage down. After a quick call to Airfix they've managed to find another set to send out. Credit to them for finding some despite being long out of production, good thing as well as there are no spares in 1/48 out there.

I think for the next project a TSR2 would be a very eye-catching project. Airfix did do a limited run a while back but they're currently going for around £100 or more online. Might just stick to the Javelin. A Buccaneer would be nice but I can't find a decent 1/48 kit anywhere. Anyone has any suggestions, send them my way!

Thanks for the update, any comments appreciated. Will do some more Thousand Sons stuff soon I promise!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/12 15:04:32


Post by: Warpig1815


Hey that Biostrip has worked wonders! I did think about the stencil markings being lost, but it didn't click that (obviously) Xtradecal wouldn't include them. I'm amazed Airfix still had some to hand.

I have to applaud your taste in aircraft too, the Buccaneer and TSR2 are both amongst my favourites. As you say though, they're like hens teeth to find in 1:48. If you haven't come across it already, there's a handy site called Scalemates - they're basically a database for scale model kits where you can search for different manufacturers, in different scales and (most helpfully) they also detail reboxings, new toolings and variant kits. The site also has reviews which are canny helpful when you're trying to weigh up quality for money.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/12 21:20:36


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


Really cool to see the progress here. You and Warpig's conversation about different stripping agents was informative. Like gobert I am pretty blown away by that brass! Super well detailed. Is it just folded or do you need a bit of glue?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/13 08:21:56


Post by: gobert


The Lightning stripped nicely, looking forward to seeing you get the cockpit with all its extra details together. At least you have brass experience judging by the scale shots! TSR2 would be a great model to have, but £100 is steep


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/13 14:39:27


Post by: Valkyrie


Warpig1815 wrote:Hey that Biostrip has worked wonders! I did think about the stencil markings being lost, but it didn't click that (obviously) Xtradecal wouldn't include them. I'm amazed Airfix still had some to hand.

I have to applaud your taste in aircraft too, the Buccaneer and TSR2 are both amongst my favourites. As you say though, they're like hens teeth to find in 1:48. If you haven't come across it already, there's a handy site called Scalemates - they're basically a database for scale model kits where you can search for different manufacturers, in different scales and (most helpfully) they also detail reboxings, new toolings and variant kits. The site also has reviews which are canny helpful when you're trying to weigh up quality for money.


Thanks mate, yeah pretty lucky about that. I found out about Scalemates last year trying to find some guides for the warship mentioned previously, and you're right, it's an absolute goldmine for info.

Don Qui Hotep wrote:Really cool to see the progress here. You and Warpig's conversation about different stripping agents was informative. Like gobert I am pretty blown away by that brass! Super well detailed. Is it just folded or do you need a bit of glue?


Thanks, I would definitely recommend Biostrip over anything else I've tried, worth giving a go yourself. There are a couple of bits to be folded, but it's mainly just to help mount them in the cockpit. The majority of the parts just lie flat and need a little bit of superglue.

gobert wrote:The Lightning stripped nicely, looking forward to seeing you get the cockpit with all its extra details together. At least you have brass experience judging by the scale shots! TSR2 would be a great model to have, but £100 is steep


Yeah it is a bit much. Also trying to get that perfect anti-flash white on the TSR would be a nightmare I'd imagine.


So another quick update. The transfers from Airfix arrived this morning, which surprised me. Was expecting a week or two for them to find them and get them over, but was done in less than a day! Utterly blown away by this level of customer service.



The decals are from a previous F2-F6 kit, so some of them would be incompatible. The main ones I needed however are the warning decals and stencils on the centre and bottom left which are perfectly interchangeable.

At the moment it's a bit of a waiting game. The cockpit paint should arrive tomorrow hopefully, then it's a bit of a strict procedure I have to follow:

- Paint cockpit
- Add cockpit brass
- Build fuselage and fill in any gaps
- Mask the cockpit off
- Prime and prep the fuselage for the Alclad paints
- Paint fuselage
- Apply decals.

Once the paint arrives then should be smooth sailing.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/13 16:04:59


Post by: gobert


That’s amazing customer service! They must have a well organised decal catalogue


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/14 16:14:56


Post by: Warpig1815


White through an airbrush is still a PITA, but I have heard great things about using Daler-Rowney white ink. Apparently it goes on much smoother, so that would be a good option for a TSR2 I guess


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/15 19:23:59


Post by: Valkyrie


So work has begun on the cockpit. I've shaved down a couple of panels ready for the photoetch parts, although the throttle controls I've decided to leave as is, looks better than the etch upgrades.



The cockpit's painted in a mix of Tamiya XF-18 mixed with white, and then given a wash of Nuln Oil. The ejector seat's Vallejo US green and GW brown, washed with Agrax Earthshade and then redone with the same tones mixed with white to give almost a cell-shaded effect.

I had a bit of trouble finding a suitable reference for the seat, but then found this auction site selling a Lightning ejection seat for only £2000. The shots of the seat are perfect, and also explain why one random seat belt is blue.

The ejector seat handles were a bit tough, as I hate chevrons anyway, but painting them on curved surfaces is another level of difficulty.

Overall I'm very pleased with it. Next step will be to finish off any details and attach the remaining photoetch parts and the yoke.

Cheers,
Valk


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/16 13:22:42


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


Great job on the cockpit! Love the stripes too


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/16 22:12:06


Post by: Don Qui Hotep


Nice job! Serendipitous timing with finding the auction, I notice that seat did end up selling, I wonder if you might be finding a very large package on your doorstep soon.

You did a great job matching the real life components, though. Love these historical, research-driven projects. Keep it up!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/19 13:53:34


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks very much I'll be honest if I could afford the seat I'd certainly get it, nice piece of history there.

So had a bit of minor surgery at the weekend and had plenty of recovery time to work on the Lightning when I should have been at the pub.

The cockpit is pretty much finished. I realised there's a fair bit of conflict between the third party upgrades. Both the photoetch and resin upgrades are designed to work with the Airfix kit, not each other and so there's some misalignment in the parts. A fair few have been left off the kit as they either wouldn't fit or would be absolutely impossible to notice.



The tiny warning labels (the red on top of the seat) are a nice little touch, surprisingly easy to apply despite my worries.



The side consoles are a lot more distinct, they seem to have been scrambled a bit in the photo.



I've also managed to glue the fuselage together and attach the tail. The cockpit itself isn't glued in to give me a bit of literal wiggle-room when attaching the canopy and surrounding panels. The tail went on nicely, and I've swapped it for the angular tail which was present on the later-stage Lightnings. Also looks a bit better in my opinion.

Despite my best attempts there's a slight bit of misalignment between the fuselage halves. I suspect the fuselage may indeed have warped a bit, as it's aligned correctly on the top but around 1mm off on the bottom. This could have been a lot worse. Gluing it in stages over a couple of days was better than doing it in one go, gave me time to minimise the damage a fair bit. Once it's filled and filed it should be near-invisible.



The intake lip isn't glued yet but fits nicely. There's a slight bit of misalignment at the top which you can see there, but this can be pressed down and made flush when the time comes to attach the lip.



While the fuselage was going I also put together one of the Firestreak missiles. This was very simple, just two fins onto the missile body. There's a clear tip to go on the end, but will leave it off until it's painted to avoid ruining it.


Thanks for reading, feel free to leave comments below


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/20 15:16:34


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


Saw a picture of a Lightning with over-wing fuel tanks for long distance recently, and thought of this project!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/20 18:56:12


Post by: Valkyrie


 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Saw a picture of a Lightning with over-wing fuel tanks for long distance recently, and thought of this project!


Yeah the later Lightnings had the weird over-wing tanks. Looks weird in general but I think it just adds to the Lightnings general odd-ness.

So I did a quick test run of the Alclad paints today. I decided to go all the way and bought the Alclad polishing strips and primer: the previous attempt with Vallejo primer didn't work so well.

Ignore the smudged bit, that was just a compressor cockup. Overall really happy with the mirror finish.

Spent today filling in the fuselage and attaching the wings, so watch this space!

[Thumb - 20210420_173207.jpg]


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/20 20:06:35


Post by: Ragsta


Daemon Prince looks absolutely glorious, rest of the force are lovely too.

Nice choice in aircraft - I prefer the older Cold War stuff like this. I regret my youthful recklessness with all my kits but it was fun at the time!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/21 19:44:17


Post by: Warpig1815


This is coming along really nicely Valkyrie. The cockpit looks great and I'm glad to see the alclad is working for you as well. What's it like in comparison with acrylics in terms of finish and application?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/21 23:06:56


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers guys

The Alclads are a bit of a learning curve. If you're going to commit to them, I'd highly recommend grabbing the polishing kit. It's only £8-ish but is a key part of the process.

The paints themselves are rather awkward in their consistency, they prefer to leak over the rim of the bottle rather than just pouring into the airbrush. Several sites I've seen recommend spraying at around 15psi, which in my experience is quite low. Doesn't look like anything is actually going on for the first coat then all of a sudden it's there, and you're like "wow"!

Cleaning is relatively straightforward although you need cellulose thinners for the job. Overall my main point would be not to rush it, take your time with the polishing papers and it absolutely pays off in the end.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So last few days have seen some exciting progress:



For some reason the original primer has stained the wings somewhat. I've lost count of the number of Biostrip treatments they've had and I think this is the best I'll get. It's not really as bad as the photos make out, they just look an overall darker shade of grey (48 shades to go).

There's been a fair bit of filling various seams and gaps. These have been filed down just to ensure it'll be clean and tidy.



The inlet cone isn't glued yet but it's finally starting to look like a Lightning.



Attaching the wings was a bit awkward trying to get the correct anhedral (downward angle like an "A" shape), perhaps it's slightly warped but not really noticeable. The inlet has been filled with scrap lead to avoid a taildragger situation. I had an old 6x4" sheet from the roof of the house. Weird stuff, you can just cut through it with clippers like plastic.

I just clipped off a few chunks and swamped it with superglue, then plugged it with green stuff, just in case anything comes loose in the future. The inlet cone received the same treatment just to be double-super-safety-sure.



Landing gear is relatively simple in the parts, although getting the angle is difficult as there's a distinct forward lean with the gear. I think the gears let the kit down a bit as the hydraulics are just stuck to the pistol, there are no lugs or attachment points. I've filed down the top hydraulic a bit and since this photo filled that hole with putty just so it looks a bit more solid.



Other bits I've added since include one of the Firestreak pylons and the weird ridge running along below the wings. Next step will be to add the tailplanes, airbrakes (still deciding open or closed) and remaining landing gear parts. The actual gear doors I'm leaving off until after painting.

Finally glad to have a Lightning on the table instead of parts. There's a fair bit of prep work still needed including clearing the panel lines of any excess putty, but I plan to possibly have this primed by the end of next week, fingers crossed.

For the painting, what I might do to avoid masking over the cockpit and cocking that up, will be to completely mask off the canopy then glue it in with a temporary means such as PVA. Means the exact area needed is masked off, but I can see it going wrong somewhere.

Comments and criticisms appreciated





Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/22 20:10:38


Post by: Warpig1815


I'll bear the polishing kit in mind when I get to mine then, start as you mean to go on and all that.... In fact, if it's just polishing paper, I've already got a bunch of that for cleaning frets on guitars. I'd guess it does just as good a job

RE the primer staining - I wouldn't worry, your fresh primer should cover it all nicely. If anything, it may add some character because wings tend to get mottled faster as they collect all the moisture if the aircraft are parked in outside dispersal. Th lead packing is also a good idea - I'd never thought to do that, but that'll help nicely in a Boston III I intend to do next(-ish).

If you're unsure about masking the cockpit, I can highly recommend Vallejo Liquid latex applied with a silicone clay shaper. The silicone doesn't stick to the latex (at least not half as much as a brush) and it's easy to just paint it into place. THe only snag is that I've found the latex stretches when you pull it off, which can leave tiny tabs/flaps of paint attached to the bits you want. To get round that, just score the edges you want to pull away with a sharp scalpel, and it's comes out perfect. If you're anxious about ruining the cockpit, don't take the risk. I use some Mig masking putty (Great stuff, no residue and low tack), smushed into the cockpit so nothing is visible. Then you can spray the canopy and plane separately and easily assemble them afterwards


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/22 23:45:41


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks man, I don't know if the Alclad papers are any different to other polishing papers, they go up to 12000 grit if that matters.

Yeah I'm a bit sceptical about the canopy masking, might just use the masking putty instead, thanks for the tip


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/04/24 11:21:45


Post by: Warpig1815


Aye I guess I'll be fine, mine go down to 1 Micron (14,000 grit)

You'll be alreet with it It's daunting at first, but the masking putty is a godsend really


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/03 21:46:40


Post by: Valkyrie


So no photos for this update unfortunately, but not actually much progress made, as I'll explain...


So I took the plunge with the Alclads. Sprayed up gloss black primer, sanded it down. Sanded it again right down to the 12000grit paper. Applied the Alclad silver...and it messed up. The overall condition wasn't too bad, but the high-shine Aluminium was almost comically shiny, as if I has just wrapped it in tinfoil.

Wasn't happy with that so I resprayed it with the gloss black. Sanded it. Sanded it. Sanded it again just to be sure...and sprayed the Alclad aluminium, which is less shiny than the High-Shine brand.

Went on nicely but while drying started to horribly wrinkle and distort, and at one point actually started to melt the wing.

Again, went back and stripped the whole thing down with the Biostrip. At this point some of the photoetch is peeling off from the cockpit which I managed to fix but this project is starting to do my head in a bit.

Stripped it down...

Applied the gloss black...

Sanded it...

(You get the idea)

Third time, the paint went on ok, even after I accidentally spilt half a pot of black*, masked up a couple of panels for differing shades and even the other colours, but again, it's started to just destroy part of the wing panels.

Sod it with the Alclads, I've ordered some Vallejo Metal Colour and am just going to strip it down and redo in harmless nice Vallejos. Will never use Alclads again if I can avoid it. Don't let this put you off, I think I just don't have the resources and expertise to use them properly.

Tomorrow I'll get back to stripping it down, reprime it with Vallejo black and just do the original plan. Will post some photos soon. In the meantime however I've been working on a few little Titanicus bits I've left for a while, so again, watch this space!




*Seriously, you see photos on 40k groups on Facebook of "oh look guys, I just spilt my Nuln Oil, I'm a member of the club now, hehehe!!!", seriously guys, clean that crap up. Don't spill you paints then complain your carpet is ruined because you wanted imaginary internet points.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/04 17:39:40


Post by: gobert


Argh, that sounds a PITA, glad you rescued the model... I hope the carpet survived the spill


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/04 20:27:22


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
Argh, that sounds a PITA, glad you rescued the model... I hope the carpet survived the spill


Cheers, luckily none of mine went on the carpet, but I saw one on Facebook the other day where the spilt paint (not Nuln Oil) was actually soaking into the models he's just done, and his first thought is "ooh I'm going to put this on social media!" Bloody idiot.

Anyway, I've begun stripping the Lightning down in manageable chunks, partly to preserve my patience, partly to prevent any further cockpit damage. In the meantime I've done a little bit of Titanicus stuff, starting with this pair of Warlord Gatling Blasters.

Took me ages to find a nice yellow method, came up with this:

1. Get a nice bright basecoat going. In this case I've used Vallejo Golden Yellow over a coat of Dead White, a nice stark, but flat colour.




2. Take some weathering powder, in this case Forge Worlds' own make, and use a dry brush, heavily apply it so it's almost solid black. Don't worry about streaks or anything as shown below:




3. Grab a slightly damp cotton bud, and start to remove the layer. Important: You don't want the cotton bud to be soaking wet. I've found that saliva for some reason actually works a bit better than water, and so just a light lick of the bud (giggidy) gets the best result.

You just want to buff it, push the bud around the edges so you get this black lining, and towards the centre of the panel use a very light touch, keeping the bud moist so you're almost buffing it.



Perhaps the photo doesn't do it justice but you end up with a nice contrast between the edges and the centre, with some shine when the light catches it. Make sure to seal it with some varnish once you're done then move on to the rest of the model.

By playing around with the amount you actually remove you can get some nice grimier, industrial looks such as on this Reaver.



Same technique except that I removed less powder, and worked it in more before removing it so there was more of a stain on the yellow. Overall it's turned out very nicely.

Majority of remaining Titanicus work is just final details, a couple of Turbo Lasers to finish as well as general touchups and some repairs from a bit of damage when moving flats, but will keep this going with the Lightning. Hope you enjoyed this one and give the technique a go, see how it works with you


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/05 10:24:36


Post by: Warpig1815


Valkyrie wrote: Bloody idiot.


Quite. I've never understood people's craving for validation on social media - especially with such obscure 'incidents' .

Anyway, shame to hear about your Alclad shenanigans. I was really hoping they'd work out for you because, as discussed, I've seen some really good results. That said, I'm confident you'll pull it back with the Vallejo - and you can still get a really nice effect. So... divvent fret and keep gannin . I'm really liking the effect on that Titan, and the mini-tutorial is excellent. I'll have to attempt that technique some time or another because you're right, it just hits that industrial grime feel perfectly.

Cracking work as always!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/05 21:40:51


Post by: Valkyrie


 Warpig1815 wrote:
Valkyrie wrote: Bloody idiot.


Quite. I've never understood people's craving for validation on social media - especially with such obscure 'incidents' .

Anyway, shame to hear about your Alclad shenanigans. I was really hoping they'd work out for you because, as discussed, I've seen some really good results. That said, I'm confident you'll pull it back with the Vallejo - and you can still get a really nice effect. So... divvent fret and keep gannin . I'm really liking the effect on that Titan, and the mini-tutorial is excellent. I'll have to attempt that technique some time or another because you're right, it just hits that industrial grime feel perfectly.

Cracking work as always!


Cheers mate currently looking at ways to shade the Vallejo once applied, so fingers crossed it turns out better than the Alclad.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/06 09:01:38


Post by: Warpig1815


I'd guess the same method of gloss and matt basecoats may apply - but I've also had good effects using filters (GWs washes actually) over metallics. Thin them down and you may get some nice tints. Dunno if that helps


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/13 22:41:38


Post by: Valkyrie


So after a lot of headache and language not suitable for this forum, some decent progress has been made.

Between the various processes which I'll explain in a bit I made a bit of progress on the Firestreak missiles. Just went for a simple anti-flash white for them which was the standard paintjob for this ordnance. It's just Vallejo Dead White, which again is a fantastic shade, and some gloss varnish airbrushed on. In the process one of the tiny fins snapped off so I had to fashion a replacement out of some plasticard. Was thinking of just using the Red Top missiles instead, but decided against it for two reasons:

- The pylons for the Red Top are different from the Firestreak. I'd have to remove them from the model, possibly damaging it in the process.
- The Red Top was introduced in 1964, whereas the Lightning in the decal guide, XM186 crashed in 1963. It's a rivet-counter issue I know, but it'd always be that niggling thought in the back of my head otherwise.

Overall it's come out pretty well, little flat but the decals will help with the detail.



You can see one of the Red Tops in the background.


So, onto the main fiasco I've dealt with this last week or so.

Stripped down the old layer of Alclad paint and the primer, starting from scratch, at which point one of the wings came off. Checked the wing, the stripping has warped it pretty badly. Years of storage in a stack of boxes probably didn't help. Burnt myself with the hot water trying to reshape it, at which point the elevators came off. Back on they went.

Sprayed the Vallejo silver which went on very nicely, masked off the black portions and sprayed those. Went to apply a Vallejo grey wash after following a few guides online, just ruined the whole bloody thing. Streaks and pooling etc. Went back over with the silver and started again.

At this point it started going well, remasked and resprayed the black and marked out the area for the yellow detail on the tail. This was really tricky as there are no panel lines or marks to reliably take measurements from, so it was just done by eye, measuring out ratios of masking tape width.

Anyway, that was just done with the Dead White and Vallejo Golden Yellow, and here we have the results.





Pretty bloody happy with this considering how difficult it's been. Have since sprayed it with gloss varnish ready for the decals. At this point I've realised that there are flaws with the model, the odd nick or scrape, a little bit of glue residue here and there. I'm not particularly fussed right now; I'd rather get it to a decent standard I'm happy with than go stir-crazy trying to match those in the magazines.

So next steps will be to apply the decals. I have a bottle of decal softener and decal fix, although I'm unsure how exactly to use them. Here's where it hopefully comes to life!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/14 07:05:55


Post by: tzurk


Hey mate,

This is a cool little side project - thanks for the detailed posts too, it's interesting to follow along with the trials and tribulations! Very impressed with your attention to detail on the rocket fins - something I would have just glossed over!

Plane looking very neat at the moment, good stuff all round.

Titanicus walker has great colours too. Thanks for sharing!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/14 11:04:54


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks man, I was thinking of glossing over the fins, but thought I'd give scratchbuilding a go.

I'm still wondering if it's still worth trying a wash on the silver, just to break up the panels a bit. Adding some darker shades of various panels has helped a bit, and is similar to the real Lightnings, but to me, it does need the wash. I'm wondering if Nuln Oil would work in an airbrush, but what's the best way to go about this without it streaking or pooling?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/14 13:16:39


Post by: Ragsta


The Titan looks gorgeous sir. As for the Lightning, shaping up nicely despite your woes! Perseverance is the key for much of this hobby, I have found! Probably just as well when I collect Guard... :\


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/15 11:22:12


Post by: Valkyrie


 Ragsta wrote:
The Titan looks gorgeous sir. As for the Lightning, shaping up nicely despite your woes! Perseverance is the key for much of this hobby, I have found! Probably just as well when I collect Guard... :\


I know that feeling, hence putting the Thousand Sons on hold after painting 50 Horrors of various types


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/17 16:38:22


Post by: Valkyrie


So the first Firestreak is finished.



Pretty simple to complete, just three decals and the clear nosecone to attach afterwards. I did think of painting the nose red, as the missiles often had covers to protect the casing.



Fine as it is for now but I may change my mind in the future.

Cheers all


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/20 17:39:25


Post by: Valkyrie


Been getting over a very bad case of labyrinthitis this last week so no real update on the Lightning at this moment, but when I wasn't collapsing I came upon an old project:

Had my first game of 40k since Covid over the weekend, and I agreed with my mate not to use an overly competitive list in this small 500pt skirmish. While looking through my old Guard stuff in the loft I found a very old Grey Knight force I had started back in 5th Edition, back when we had the utterly bonkers crap like the Ulumethi Syphon and Mindshock Bombs.

Thought I'd give them a go and ended up tabling his Sisters, and with the recent announcement of the new GK/TS box, why not give these guys a makeover?

Altogether there are around 20 Marines, 5 Terminators, a Dreadknight and various characters back when Inquisitors were part of the GK Codex.

Quick reminder that these guys literally haven't seen the light of day in close to 15 years, so don't judge too harshly.



First up is an old Inquisitor. If my memory serves me well I got this guy when they were doing a "last orders before we move to Finecast" deal, so quickly snapped him up. Went for a different scheme with this guy, I think the dark skin really goes nicely against the white armour. I kinda don't want to redo this guy but the paint's a bit chipped in places, so perhaps redoing in the same scheme will be a good alternative.



Now we have another Inquisitor from the days when Ordo Xenos Inquisitors could take Conversion Beamers, although at the time there wasn't even any artwork to show what a CB would look like. He's just the SM Commander box with some GK parts, and the Conversion Beamer is a Psilencer/Psycannon combination with some added details here and there.



Here we have Stern and one of the Terminators. While the models in this batch are white, the standard Power-Armour Marines are simply silver. When I redo these guys I may just make them all the traditional GK silver.

So for this project there's a fair bit of repair work to be done. Many snapped Nemesis weapons to be repaired. I'll also have to get some 32mm bases for the Marines, but might buy another box of 10 to get the numbers up, perhaps add some Interceptors and Purgators into the mix.


And to finish off today's update, something which I was looking around in the loft for a while.



This guy is the gunner from the top deck of the Nemesis Titan. Managed to get him cheap online, and did a little bit of conversion work to shift his arm from "resting on the balcony" to "smoking a fat cigar". The cigar itself is simply a small length of paperclip inserted into a hole drilled through his hand. Will redo this guy as well, as I used contrast paints for his robes and it just doesn't look as good as I imagined. When done he'll probably be another Inquisitor.


That's all for now folks, will probably update again when I'm a lot more conscious.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/20 17:57:14


Post by: Warpig1815


Well I have missed a bunch of cool stuff going on here!

Sad to hear about the ongoing silver fiasco, but you've pulled it back, and it looks great . Obviously I'm not sure what your tutorial has indicated, but I always gloss varnish before panel washing/lining. The gloss not only protects your paintwork from any adverse events, but it also helps the wash's capilliary action into the lines, so you can 'feed' it in with small dabs. Also, if you were still wondering - Nuln Oil runs great through the AB. No thinning needed, and you can build it up in thin layers to dim down bright metal. Same for all GW washes I've found. Glad to see you've adhered to accuracy with the missiles too - I love a bit rivet counting myself ! And they've turned out just fine! Needless to say, I think your Lightning is coming along just fine despite the bumps along the way.

Labyrinthitis sounds like it sucks, but at least you've rediscovered some gems .


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/05/20 20:03:55


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers mate. I've tried a couple of coats of Vallejo varnish, which has worked to an extent, but nothing like the finish I've seen on other completed Lightnings. Overall it's stained it to an extent I'm happy with so it looks weathered but not overly dirty.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/16 22:39:39


Post by: Valkyrie


Hello again,

First off, apologies for the long absence. Been a number of factors, namely stress over this bloody Lightning but I suppose also just basic stress over the current lockdown situation. Overall I've just been in a bit of a hobby rut. Everyone has them eventually and it's just best to step back and try another hobby for a while; I've been totting up some hours on Halo MCC and trying to teach myself guitar (again!), overall much less successful than Halo.

Anyway, the Lightning.

I finished off the cockpit to a level I'm happy with. There was one last part for the cockpit and a few PE parts to attach to that. I'm wondering if it was even worth adding the PE parts, half the parts aren't even used (not including spares which Eduard nicely included), and the majority of the ones I have used won't be visible at all.



The high contrast of the photos has made any defects clear. The mess around the cockpit lip will be tidied up before I attach the canopy.

What really pissed me off however were the decals. Seemed simple enough right? Well the stencils (NO TREAD patterns on the wings) just didn't want to stay aligned, and to make matters even worse the Decal Fix I applied to the roundels to get a nice finish just ended up staining the silver horribly. It was just...awful.

That's what made me put it down for a bit. I was able to save the finish by redoing it by brush, but I just don't get how something as simple as decal fix could ruin the finish.



Here's where we've got to so far. As you can see it's pretty basic at the moment, but should add some more in the future.

However at the moment there is a potential new project on the horizon. Couple of years ago the other half got me a Start Collecting Tau box, and the project kinda got put to one side due to the crappy Chinese airbrush at the time and also other factors such as job loss and moving flat.

Well come April and a nice little tax refund, I treated myself to a nice little deal I saw advertised on Facebook:



All in all we have another SC box, a team of Stealthsuits, 2 squads of Sniper Drones, a Broadside and a Devilfish and Ghostkeel (both not visible). That combined with what I already have gives me:

Ethereal
Cadre Fireblade (to be converted from the other Ethereal)
6x Crisis Suits
20x Fire Warriors
3x Stealthsuits
6x Sniper Drones
2x Marksmen
Devilfish
Ghostkeel
Broadside
2x Remora Drones (almost certainly recasts but I don't really care)

I figured if I do get buyer's remorse I can just resell it and break even, it's all there sealed, but with the new airbrush I'm looking forward to a new aesthetic to try out, although I'm still currently looking for a nice paintscheme.



Thanks all, hopefully the 2 followers I have here haven't abandoned it, but all comments and feedback is really appreciated


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/17 13:35:31


Post by: AustonT


Looking forward to seeing those Tau come together. I bought the starpulse cadre because it seemed like a good deal and I’ve wanted to build a Sa’chea army for quite some time. But it’s near the end of my priorities list.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/17 18:07:29


Post by: Valkyrie


Cheers, been looking for a Starpulse to go with this but can't find one at a decent price unfortunately.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/17 18:48:51


Post by: Warboss_Waaazag


And here I thought I was all over the place. lol I've never been so enthralled by an airplane build. You've put in a lot of hours modifying and detailing the original kit and I really appreciate how cool it's coming out.

Yellow technique on the Titan arm is really cool and I'm likely to steal that.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/18 13:06:22


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks guys.

Had a tedious 3-hour meeting at work yesterday, so in typical fashion I turned my camera off and spent the time putting together the Fireblade.



Found something similar on Reddit. It's simply the Ethereal chopped at the waist and replaced with a Breacher Shas'ui. I couldn't find a Pulse Rifle that fit the pose I wanted so just went for the Blaster instead. I like to think it's an experimental one with a built-in Markerlight.

Next step would be to get some Fire Warriors done, although I'm wondering if it's worth putting some Carbines in there as well as the Rifles.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/19 15:23:40


Post by: Warpig1815


Ugh. That Lightning sounds like it's turning into a complete nightmare build - but kudos to you for sticking with it. If it's a consolation, it still looks great from where I'm sitting. That said, probably best to give yourself a rest and tackle those Tau - although I find it amusing how you've gone from building the ultimate 'anti-Commie' weapon to building Commies-in-SPAAAACE!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/21 22:52:44


Post by: Valkyrie


 Warpig1815 wrote:
Ugh. That Lightning sounds like it's turning into a complete nightmare build - but kudos to you for sticking with it. If it's a consolation, it still looks great from where I'm sitting. That said, probably best to give yourself a rest and tackle those Tau - although I find it amusing how you've gone from building the ultimate 'anti-Commie' weapon to building Commies-in-SPAAAACE!


Thanks man, and haha I never realised that comparison

Went home for Fathers Day and managed to find the small Tau force I had from before, some of which was painted up rather nicely if I do say so myself.





I think what put me off this project initially was the sheer amount of highlighting, and after a while I got the shakes and was just sick of it. Now I have a decent airbrush however it should go much more smoothly. Might strip down some of the original Fire Warriors, they could do with a repaint.

Also finished off the Remoras. I'm certain now that these are recasts*. I bought them second-hand ages ago, I didn't get scammed but wasn't told they're recasts, but overall not too fussed. There are some imperfections which I've tried my best to clean up, but hoping they'll be hidden by the paint.



I do have a bit of a soft-spot for Remoras. They're a very handy unit with T5, 4 wounds, a built in -1 and 2x Burst Cannons, 2x Seekers and a Markerlight for 60pts! Another little trick is that RAW you can stick 12 of these guys in a Devilfish, get a little clown-car going.

I was surprised by the size of these as well. I was expecting just a Gun Drone with wings, maybe a little bigger. They're actually pretty giant.



Next step will be filling in some more gaps on the Remoras, and getting some of the new stuff built. Until then, thanks for reading!

*I have no affiliation with recasters, so don't bother PM'ing.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/25 12:47:39


Post by: Valkyrie


Been pretty busy this past week, plenty to build with very little workspace!

Probably the most complete kit at the moment is the Broadside. I've tried to future-proof as much as possible, hence the magnetisation.



The Railgun has been assembled in one part, and fits nicely into the shoulders without needing an additional magnet in the forearm/Railgun connection.



I've also magnetised the SMS/Plasma mount, which was a little tricky. I'm hoping we get D2 plasma in the next book so fingers-crossed this wasn't in vain!



My magnetising isn't the neatest but I was focussing more on overall result, and you'll barely notice the join anyway.

Next up are the Crisis suits. While they're mostly built I've put them on hold temporarily while waiting for some 2x2mm magnets. I'm still wondering about magnet placement; I originally was just going to do the arms, but then while playing around saw this layout:



I can't put my finger on it, but I do like that mounting scheme. Looks like a mini-Broadside in a way.

I'm not looking forward to having to magnetise the whole lot. I might just do the shoulder mounts on a couple of them, otherwise I'll get sick of it quite quickly. In addition how do I mount the weapons? I'm hoping to preserve the mounting lug to prevent them spinning about while on the model, but that just makes it more difficult to get the magnets lined up and accurate.

I might just bite the bullet and have them able to spin, I can always correct it later on.


Last but not least...

I've been thinking for a good long while about what kit to stat after the Lightning, and had narrowed it down to a small number
- Vickers Valiant (too big for the cabinet)
- Spitfire (nice but a bit cliche)
- Harrier (little too pricy for my liking)
- Gloster Javelin (close second)

Eventually I found this half price on Prime Day and decided to go for it.



I was aware that the Mustang had some UK influence through the use of British Merlin engines, but wasn't aware that the RAF actually used the Mustang, so it'll be a nice slightly unusual kit to try.

I've had a quick look through the box and the quality is good. Same scale as the Lightning but considerably smaller. Given the provided colour schemes this'll be a very interesting kit to try out. I'll have a proper look over the weekend and get some more info together.

Thanks all




Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/06/30 22:36:54


Post by: Warpig1815


Those Tau are coming along nicely! Bold move magnetising the whole lot mind - I'm not sure my patience would stand for that!

And I'm glad to see you're persisting with the aircraft too. I saw the Mustang on sale and was tempted, but in the end I had plans for a Bf109F-4 (Trop). Guess I'll watch you build to get my P-51 fix!

Spoiler:
And yeah, the RAF made extensive use of the Mustang because it was designed for the RAF, to RAF specifications with input from RAF engineers. Basically, the RAF wanted North American to build Curtiss P-40s under licence. NA weren't too pleased at building a rival company's design, and decided they could produce something superior. Which... didn't go totally to plan. The airframe was excellent and made use of cutting edge research (Laminar-flown wings and Meredith-effect radiators), but the powerplant was naff. The RAF swiftly decided it was useless as an interceptor, but had excellent low-level flight characteristics. Until, that is, some bright-spark whacked a Merlin into it and the rest is history! Other British input was the adoption of first a 'Malcolm Hood' (The classic Spitfire canopy) and later the 'Bubble' canopy (First trialled by the British in 1940, and adopted on the Typhoon in 1943).


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/09 16:53:05


Post by: Valkyrie


Been a bit hectic recently, but overall have made some decent, if not frustrating progress on the projects.

Most of the time has been spent magnetising the 6 Crisis Suits. God knows how the weapon stats will change in the new book so wanted to keep my options open.

The process itself was rather simple, bought 100 2x1mm magnets for £3, and they just go in no problem. The issue is just how tedious the whole thing is.



Each suit has at least 3 hardpoints magnetised, the 4th I'll just slap a support system on. I'm currently working through the weapons, with each one having a top and side magnet mounted to avoid any awkward-looking setups.

What's annoying me a bit though is the paint scheme. I wanted to stick with the classic brown Tau Sept as I had before, but wanted to go with the "airbrush layer + wash" process rather than "hand layer + highlight" which I did before, which was just took far too long. Tried Army Painter Desert Yellow and the overall result wasn't too great.



It's not bad, but I was just looking for a more vibrant yellow finish.



Same with the Shas'Ui. The helmet's going to be white as he's the squad leader, but even then I think it'd be better if the brown was a little lighter.

So I tried a lighter shade of the yellow, and still wasn't happy. Despite the awkward photo you can see the figure on the right has been basecoated in the new shade, but the wash just ruins it.



I'm just trying to be able to fill in the panel lines and add *some* level of shade without staining the entire model. Some folks have suggested pinwashing, but that might be a little too fiddly for me. I may scrap the colours and go a different route, but we'll have to see.

Thanks Warpig for the history on the Mustang, really wasn't aware of it's full backstory so that was an enjoyable read. Have made some progress starting with the cockpit chassis.



The cavity on the left is for the rear undercarriage, while the seat and console will eventually go in the space on the right.

I decided I wasn't going to go nuts with aftermarket parts for this one, just the console and dials would do. Bought an upgrade pack from Eduard, this time in solid resin so I'm not worrying about folding and gluing anymore photoetch. I honestly can't believe the detail on this



Fire Warrior for size comparison. Absolutely unbelievable.

The pack did come with photoetch seatbelts, which I might add, shouldn't be too fiddly, I hope.



So that's it for now. Paints for the Mustang have been ordered, should arrive in the next couple of days. Next steps will be to paint the cockpit interior before adding the Eduard parts, then assembling the fuselage.

Thanks all, enjoy the weekend. As always, any comments or feedback is appreciated.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/23 21:55:09


Post by: Valkyrie


So latest update, plenty of stuff happening although not much real progress. Been on a hectic work schedule as well as a much needed typical British holiday by the summer, so here's what I've been up to:

Besides the painting the Ghostkeel is finally put together.



Honestly this kit was far more complicated than it needs to be. Why does the whole backpack need to be articulated? It's not really a nimble Battlesuit!

And as a bonus the main weapons have been magnetised. Was surprisingly easy compared to the Crisis suits.



Speaking of the Crisis suits, magnetisation is underway and good progress has been made. Easiest way I found was to shave away half of the mounting lug, then place the magnet flush where the lug would have been. That way, you have the magnet, but also some of the lug remains so the weapon isn't going to suddenly go all wonky.



Doesn't have to be exact, there's a nice bit of wiggle room. Each weapon now has two magnets, good for both arm and back-mounting. Once you get used to it, it's not too difficult, it's just a bit tedious.

Onto the painting...I gave up on the classic Tau scheme as I just couldn't get a nice clean desert-yellow. So instead, I've decided to go for red. First attempt with a couple of Fire Warriors came up alright...



...until someone on a Facebook group commented that it's the McDonald's colours, which I couldn't get out of my mind. I made a slight adjustment and am very happy with the result.



Looks much better in my opinion. The blue's a bit lumpy as it's painted over the yellow. Didn't want to strip it all down again just for the blue, so hopefully the next models will be a lot smoother. You can also see one of the Remoras in the photo, been doing a bit on those:



I know they're meant to be stealthy, but I think they just look cooler like this. I tried to apply a thicker coat than usual, hoping it'll cover up the recast defects.

And just to show the effectiveness of the magnetisation, here's the stand-in Commander in his preferred loadout, dubbed Commander Lodestar:



For those of you less 40k-orientated, the paints for the Mustang have finally arrived. I've begun some work on the cockpit area. This is just from today so some extra detail will be added, but I'm rather happy with how it's turned out so far.




I've used Vallejo US Light Green for the cockpit and rear landing gear area, with a decent wash of Nuln Oil. I've tried to leave some brush streaks in the brown to give the impression of wood-grain. Might add some scuffs with a pencil later on. Next steps will be to get the seat installed, although I'm a bit cautious: while it would be nice to add the PE seatbelts from Eduard, it may require shaving off the moulded plastic ones.

With that in mind, do I:
1: Shave off the plastic ones and apply the PE in its place?
2: Simply apply the PE over the plastic without removing anything?
3: Forget about the PE altogether?

Will probably go for the second option just for ease. Once that's done I can add the detailed dials and cockpit interior I've been waiting to use, then hopefully I can get the fuselage assembled.

Until next time.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/26 10:06:52


Post by: gobert


The red looks good on the tau. I can see why you changed away from the McTau, the blue works well.

I vote for number 3, that photo etch looks way too fiddly to attempt 2! Best of luck whichever way you go


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/26 12:40:35


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
The red looks good on the tau. I can see why you changed away from the McTau, the blue works well.

I vote for number 3, that photo etch looks way too fiddly to attempt 2! Best of luck whichever way you go


Cheers man. It occurred to me the other day, that I'm fiddling about and trying to decide on the seatbelts, when the kit includes a pilot anyway, so the things won't even be visible. You're right however that it's just too fiddly to be worth it.

Since then I've added the Eduard cockpit details. Having them in a couple of solid resin pieces is unquestionably easier than the photo etch I used on the Lightning.



They've gone together very nicely, and just some paint touch-up needed on the console mount.



Overall view of the cockpit. Some work is still needed, mainly painting the metal areas and the seat leather. Once that's done the fuselage can go together and I can start work on the wings.



I've also applied the basecoat for the Ghostkeel. I thought about a mainly grey base given that it's a stealth suit, but couldn't find enough differentiation between the grey armour and the darker-grey joints and limbs, so plan is a red base, with the grey, blue and some white to break it up significantly.

Thanks all, don't forget to comment.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/30 08:12:35


Post by: gobert


With all the complex ejection seats nowadays, it’s odd to think that old aircraft just had what looks like a fold down seat! The details all look great, especially the stuff that you’ll barely see like the cockpit floor.

The ghostkeel looks good in red, it’s a stealthy red I assume?


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/30 10:35:33


Post by: Warpig1815


Those red Tau . A marked improvement over the yellow if I'm honest. I think I preferred the yellow accent because it's also a 'hot' colour (rather than the 'cold' blue), but I'm really taken with how vivid the red is - which paint are you using for that?

Also looking forward to the Mustang - and very impressed as well by that cockpit dash. I've not tried one of the solid resin ones, but I might give them a go in future. Regarding the belts, either option 1 or 3 would be my preference, IMHO. I think you may struggle with getting the PE to bend to the exact contours of the pre-moulded ones, with the result that you'll be left with a bit of a lipor some gaps between each medium. If you can manage it, all credit too you - but I have a suspicion that it may be a bit of a headache for you.

Looking good all round

EDIT: Since I've been ninja'd and can now see the cockpit - go for option 2, looks to be easier than I anticipated


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/07/30 10:37:04


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
With all the complex ejection seats nowadays, it’s odd to think that old aircraft just had what looks like a fold down seat! The details all look great, especially the stuff that you’ll barely see like the cockpit floor.

The ghostkeel looks good in red, it’s a stealthy red I assume?


It's quite baffling isn't it? The Mustang and the EE Lightning are only 14 years apart yet the increase in complexity is staggering. The progress made despite the post-war struggles is absolutely incredible.

Oh yes it's a very stealthy red, either that or they're fighting on a lava-planet


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/01 01:10:58


Post by: tzurk


Great progress mate! Tidy detail work that will make all the difference to the finished project. I admire your patience and commitment!

That red is a great colour for the tau too, nice and deep. Definitely pairs better with the blue! Excited to see how it progresses with the different colours added.

Good luck!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/01 12:34:41


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks tzurk, I agree that the blue works better. The Ghostkeel looks a lot better now the red's been toned down.

The final touches on the Mustang cockpit have been finished. Just a few decals here and there but they really add to the cockpit. There's also a few injection marks but they won't be visible on the assembled model.



In other news I managed to get an absolute bargain...



I'm not the only one who thinks the Stormsurge is a pretty awful model, little stumpy arms and squatting like it's taking a dump. However, the deal also came with a crucial upgrade.



The arms made by PuppetsWar turn this into an absolutely gorgeous model.



For some reason the arms also came with 2 extra shoulders and an extra left claw.

At the moment I'm still debating how to pose it. Do I go for:
- Weapon mounted on the back like the example above?
- Same as above but with the missile pods on the arms, like a Broadside?
- Weapon carried like a rifle, Titanfall-style?

I think each option has it's own difficulties. The Titanfall-option would be the hardest as while the arms include a pistol-grip hand, actually getting the weapon to fit in this manner will be particularly difficult.

Assembly of the legs has started. The little nubbin highlighted below locks into the lower legs to give the dump-pose. Just cutting it off allows far greater freedom in posing.



At this point I was looking at magnetising the waist. I was hoping I could just glue a crossbeam made out of spare sprue and attach a magnet to that, similar to what I did with my Defiler previously. Not really that easy however due to the waist extending below the joint.



You can see what I mean there, so a fair bit of the ball joint would have to be removed for the crossbeam to fit. I have a plan of removing the ball joint and using that as the mount, at the moment it seems to be working, but the real test comes when it's done and wherever the magnet will hold the weight.

That's all for now. I have a couple of things coming in the post, so watch this space.





Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/02 10:42:52


Post by: gobert


I’m not really up to speed with Tau models, but you’re right that the Stormsurge looks a bit silly squatting with its short arms. The mod kit looks so much better and in keeping with some of the other suits I’ve seen.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/03 16:20:50


Post by: Valkyrie


So now the Mustang's cockpit is completed I can finally start putting the whole thing together.

Fuselage went together with a little bit of difficulty. Some small amount of filler will be required but no major problems. The wings were a lot easier, as the whole wing subassembly just slots in very neatly.



I've also added other details such as the exhausts, propeller mount and the flaps/ailerons. Next step will be the final fuselage parts and the tail. I'm keeping the whole undercarriage off until it's painted to avoid damaging it. Wish I had done that with the Lightning but it's always a learning opportunity.



Also made a good bit of progress with the Tau. Fireblade's finished. Mounted him to a fallen Imperial flag. The icon used (not visible) is a little reference to my own Guard army. Some other little details to complete but I've got the basic scheme nailed down.



And finally another big package has arrived. Every now and again Airfix put together a mystery bundle, I'm guessing for any excess stock in their warehouses. Half the price of getting it separately, but you don't know what you're going to get besides choosing aircraft, cars, or ships.

Well mine arrived today and I'm pretty happy with the results



I've got a nice variety of UK, US and Soviet/Vietnamese aircraft from different eras, and a couple of 1/72 scale as well so something new there.

As always, any C&C is appreciated


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/06 11:47:18


Post by: Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll


Ah, unfortunately your last photo is a duplicate! I would love to see the Soviet planes you got in.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/06 19:57:51


Post by: Valkyrie


 Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:
Ah, unfortunately your last photo is a duplicate! I would love to see the Soviet planes you got in.


Whoops, my fault, should be fixed now


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/07 13:18:06


Post by: gobert


The Tau and Mustang are looking great. Looks like you got yourself a neat little haul from airfix too. The Meteor is a cool plane


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/11 16:37:02


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
The Tau and Mustang are looking great. Looks like you got yourself a neat little haul from airfix too. The Meteor is a cool plane


Thanks man, bit annoyed that the Meteor didn't include a pilot. Might have to find a proxy somewhere.

So I've had quite a few little projects to juggle over the past few days. Progress on the Stormsurge is going well. I realised something rather important when considering the arms, in that both the torso and arms both use a socket-joint, meaning I'd have to create a replacement ball to fill it. Took me a while thinking it over, and here's what I've come up with:

Created a large ball of green stuff and pushed it into the socket. I then pressed the arm socket in place over the ball so it moulded into shape, very much like just the standard moulding practice.



I've given this a day or two to harden fully, then created a collar for the join using the plastic ring seal from a couple of bottles of vape juice. The little bottles you get for £2.99 from all good questionable corner-shops. There was some imprinted text on the plastic, some form of warning label that wouldn't sand off, so I've applied some putty to hide it.



I admit it looks rather messy. What I might do is wrap a couple of lengths of guitar string around the collar to simulate that ribbed look. Ribbed is better than plain in this case

I've also drilled and glued a pin ready to accept the shoulder joint, although that's on hold while I work out the actual arm configuration.

Over to the Airfix side, I decided to start on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk first flew in 1938 and despite it's relative obscurity compared to the P-51 and similar fighters, it did show itself to be a crucial aircraft during various WWII theatres. While inferior compared to similar Axis aircraft, it inflicted severe damage against enemy formations often suffering similarly severe losses at the same time. Standard armament was 6x Browning .50s as well as a maximum of 2000lbs of bombs on various hardpoints.

Of the >13,000 built, only 28 remain in airworthy, with another 13 on static display and another 36 undergoing restoration.


Being a 1/72 kit, I'm not bothering with third-party detail sets as they'll be too fiddly to handle and too small to notice anyway. This kit in particular is rather unusual as instead of the standard method of "glue cockpit into fuselage, glue the wings on", this kit goes with "glue the interior to the wings themselves, the whole assembly slots into the fuselage from underneath".

Overall assembly of the cockpit was simple enough, and a nice coat of Vallejo US Green was applied. Next steps will be to wash it with Nuln Oil and apply the cockpit dial decal before attaching it to the fuselage.

One key difference as well is I'm planning to mount both this and the MiG-17 on flying bases, just to add some variety to the collection.



Progress has been made on the Mustang. I thought to take the plunge with Alclad paints again, and once more I was disappointed. I thought it'd be much better on a brand new kit compared to the terrible results I had with the Lightning, but this was just as much of a headache, if not more for the following:

- The wet-and-dry paper supplied by Alclad simply started removing the primer coat, despite being given several days to dry throughout.
- The silver coat simply ruined the finish, with the overall texture looking like paint stripper had been applied.

I've given up on the Alclads, they're just a waste of time and money. I since went back over with Scale75 metal colours and this is much better. Applied a wash of Vallejo Metal Wash with the airbrush which settled nicely in the panel lines when applied with a very low pressure.

I then masked off the areas to apply the yellow, which went on nicely, until the time came to remove the masks.



This wing looks nice and neat, right?




Not so much on the other areas. Despite having a decent coat of spray varnish, the mask has taken off the topmost silver layer, with the Alclad visible underneath. Shouldn't be too difficult to patch it up, it's just another annoying inconvenience. The texture on the unaffected silver isn't anywhere near as visible on the real thing.



On a final note, as part of my interest into the Cold War I've been trying for a while now to track down a copy of Threads, a multi-BAFTA winning 1984 BBC production depicting the Sheffield area of the UK experiencing a nuclear attack. Due to the shocking nature of the film it's only been broadcast 3 times in the UK. Now I found a copy (remastered no less!) on Blu-Ray, I also found this guy for sale.



Despite only a brief mention in the film, the "scared traffic warden turned arbitrator" has become the poster-child of the show. I found this guy on Crooked Dice, who deal with "obvious movie and TV characters but legally distinct". Brilliant quality on this guy, no flash or vent threads, and was only £5 including shipping! If anyone is looking for pop-culture figures for 40k, D&D or anything else, I highly recommend these guys.

Word of warning, if you do plan to watch Threads, it's pretty rather shocking. I saw a vid of the bunker scenes collaborated, and any Peep Show fans who remember Super Hans' New Years party will understand my reaction:




That's all for now. Next time I hope to have some ideas for the Stormsurge arms, as well as the Mustang's paintjob repaired.

As always, if you have thoughts or critiques, please take the time to comment. It's turning into a bit of a digital wasteland here.



Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/11 16:46:46


Post by: ph34r


Threads, man that was a grim film. Definitely takes any sort "exciting" appeal away from nuclear war.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/12 19:07:34


Post by: Valkyrie


 ph34r wrote:
Threads, man that was a grim film. Definitely takes any sort "exciting" appeal away from nuclear war.


Definitely looks pretty chilling. Might find a few hours free this weekend to watch it while I work on the Tau


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/20 14:40:09


Post by: Valkyrie


Just a small update today as I'm slowly packing stuff away to move flats, as well as getting over the side effects from my second jab.

Working a bit more on the Stormsurge torso. Still trying to find the leftover guitar string for the shoulder mounts but have tested the overall pose and am quite happy with it. In the meantime I also decided to try something rather new.



I admit it's far from the cleanest job but the scuffs and putty isn't visible once it's put together. The extra magnets in the bottom of the torso are for the close-defence weapons. Just taken straight from the pretty vast number of Crisis weapons I have piling up, but they have a certain similarity to the torso mounts on the KV139 Tau'nar, so I'm pretty happy with it.



The arms and front torso plate haven't been attached yet but here's a rough mockup so far. You can see the Burst Cannons on the torso mount, and the main gun has been magnetised in both positions, because why the hell not? I'm still at a bit of a roadblock however as to how to attach the cluster missiles. The coolest (at least in my opinion) option would be to mount them on the arms, similar to a Broadside, but that'd require a fair bit of cutting and scratchbuilding. I may just go for the shoulder-mounted option, but then actually creating a mount of some kind might be trickly.

Anyone has any suggestions or critiques, do let me know.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/21 08:15:09


Post by: gobert


Yep, that looks loads better than the squatting stubby armed original, great job!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/21 12:22:01


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
Yep, that looks loads better than the squatting stubby armed original, great job!


Thanks man, I've hit a real dead end with the missile placement however so the project may stall a little.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/27 13:50:46


Post by: Valkyrie


So I'm currently in the process of moving flats, but before everything was packed away I made a little more progress with a few pieces.

I hit an absolute deadend with the Stormsurge missile placement however. I said in a previous post that it'd be good to have them arm-mounted, like the Broadside, but this would require a lot of cutting, shaping and sanding of the PW arms, and seeing as I only have one pair of missile pods, not something I want to risk.

With that in mind I found another site which produces exactly what I'm looking for



Designed for exactly what I'm looking for. The missile pods just attach directly to the arms, no cutting required. Means I don't need the PW arms anymore, might just sell them on.

Overall just a few little other bits to finish off. Was wondering wherever to have the Pulse Driver fins closed, or open as if the weapon is releasing hot coolant. I then just realised how utterly stupid the Earth Caste can be:



Imagine. The Pulse Driver has just missed its target as predicted, and opens up to cool down. The boiling hot coolant (in blue) is released right into the exposed cockpit and the unfortunate crew inside. Certainly gave me a chuckle when I realised.


Onto the Airfix. I've made a fair bit of progress on the Warhawk. I've slowly been trying to patch up the Mustang's paintjob, but it's slow progress and I don't want to risk any further damage to the basecoat. Given a tiny kit like the Warhawk, I thought I'd have a try at preshading.

With preshading, you essentially apply the darker shadow to areas before applying the base colour. In this case, as I've seen done with many aircraft kits, it's used around the panel lines.

I basecoated with grey primer, then went over with Vallejo black along the panel lines. A steady hand helps, but I had the shakes quite badly trying this but it seems to have worked out ok.



Unfortunately I didn't take an "in-progress" pic, so this isn't mine but shows the process.

I then went over with a light coat of Vallejo green at a low airbrush pressure, only around 15PSI. I was really sceptical about this but it's worked surprisingly well.



It's nice and subtle, and the irregularity of it in places helps with the overall effect IMO. This particular colour scheme has a grey underside so I did the same underneath.



Would definitely recommend this technique. Larger 40k models like Baneblades or grav-tanks would benefit from this.

Anyway that's all for now, and possibly ever. I've realised that there really isn't much traffic on this P&M Blog compared to others so I might just retire this one depending on any further interest. I may post less regular updates but if anyone does have any feedback it'd be appreciated.

Thanks all


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/28 11:50:08


Post by: gobert


The pre-shading looks to have worked well, it adds to the ages look I think. Hopefully you keep posting, as I for one am finding your work interesting. The P&M Blogs seem to be a small and fairly insular community, if you want to increase the traffic, the easiest way is to drop comments on other blogs.

Watch out for that hot coolant!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/28 14:02:02


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks man, I really appreciate that. Like I said progress will slow down a bit while I move flat, as well as an unforeseen accident last night that's rendered me unable to walk for a while, but hopefully I'll be able to update it soon.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/28 19:22:12


Post by: gobert


That doesn’t sound good Valkyrie, hopefully it’s not as serious as it sounds! Hope the move goes smoothly in any case.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/08/29 00:13:03


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
That doesn’t sound good Valkyrie, hopefully it’s not as serious as it sounds! Hope the move goes smoothly in any case.


Cheers. If you take one piece of advice from this blog, it's this: take care of your back.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/07 09:21:47


Post by: Valkyrie


In the medley of packing up and moving flat I came across a particular kit, one which I personally consider a holy grail of aircraft modelling. Given that I can be partial to impulse buys, didn't take me long to snap this up at half the price I've seen in the past.



This kit is a Tactical Strike and Reconnaissance 2 (TSR-2), a limited-edition kit Airfix put out in the mid-2000s. It's a lot larger than I initially imagined and will be a pure delight to work on.

First a bit of info:

The TSR-2 was commissioned in the 1960's to provide the UK with a Mach 2.5 nuclear bomber/recon craft before the ICBM became the dominant form of nuclear deterrence worldwide. The TSR used a pair of Olympus engines (same as the Vulcan and later Concorde) to cruise at Mach 2 at around 50,000ft carrying up to 4 WE.177 nuclear weapons.

Unfortunately the TSR project soon fell into problems, mainly as some of the tech was too advanced for the time, and as mentioned was being overlooked in favour of ICBMs. Eventually the Labour government scrapped the project after only 3 were built, of which only one actually ever flew, to be replaced by more conventional aircraft such as the F4 Phantom and Tornado. Only 2 complete airframes remain today.





All aircraft have four dimensions; length, height, width and politics. TSR-2 simply got the first three right

Quite frankly a remarkable aircraft for the time, going to be an absolute delight to do. Given the rare nature of the kit I'm going to take my time with this, and am planning on some third-party upgrades before I start anything, namely a cockpit upgrade (near impossible to find one however), undercarriage, and a nuclear payload.

Thanks all


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/09 21:38:35


Post by: gobert


Ah that’s so cool! TSR-2 really was an iconic aircraft, probably more so after it pretty much marked the end of UK aircraft development (unless one believes that Tempest will ever come to fruition). I didn’t realise there were still airframes in existence… I might need to find an excuse to go to Cosford! I like the sound of a nuclear payload being modelled


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/10 10:06:40


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
Ah that’s so cool! TSR-2 really was an iconic aircraft, probably more so after it pretty much marked the end of UK aircraft development (unless one believes that Tempest will ever come to fruition). I didn’t realise there were still airframes in existence… I might need to find an excuse to go to Cosford! I like the sound of a nuclear payload being modelled


Thanks man. I'm sceptical myself of the new Tempest, might be interesting but then again is it worth the cost when we've sunk so much into the F-35?

So I did tell a bit of a lie, I don't actually have the TSR yet. Had it delivered to the parents' place while I was moving flat. Picking it up tonight so will do a proper unboxing later this weekend. I have however managed to source the Eduard cockpit interior from a French model shop. Lucky as this upgrade kit is rarer than the TSR itself. That was the hardest upgrade to find, next would be the WE.177s.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/11 19:06:37


Post by: Valkyrie


So I've had a good look through the TSR2 and I've certainly got my moneys worth:



Fuselage is the standard 2-halves arrangement, and the Terminator shows the size of this thing. I was honestly expecting something half the size!



Wings are in upper and lower halves, with the tail and ailerons similarly moulded in single pieces. The kit isn't particularly old, dating from the mid 2000's yet the detail is pretty decent for the time, nice crisp panel lines etc.



Remainder of the fuselage and other details. Again, nice condition, no issues there.



Two halves of the nuclear payload, looks more like the older Red Beard nuke rather than the newer WE.177. Plan is to get a replacement bomb and use this for something else, probably a 40k objective marker or something.

In the meantime the cockpit parts have been ordered from France, hopefully should be here within a week or so, at which point I can start building up the cockpit itself and other smaller gubbins before taking on the main fuselage.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/14 18:37:17


Post by: gobert


It’s a nice looking kit, hopefully it goes together well for you!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/15 14:51:19


Post by: Valkyrie


Still not much progress as I'm still unpacking in the new flat but had a very important parcel arrive:

Given the rarity of this kit I was struggling to find the cockpit upgrade, similar to the one used on the Lightning a few pages back. The company itself didn't have any spare and every major retailer I came across didn't have any either. While it wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't get it, it would add that extra touch to the final piece.

Eventually I found a small distributor based in France of all places, managed to get their last one. I would be pretty surprised if I could get another anywhere else.



While I've worked with the photoeched stuff before, I still can't get over how small it can be. Just for reference, here's it compared to a penny.



Pretty small and fiddly parts needing folding and gluing. This one's a bit easier as the parts are self-adhesive so no messing about with superglue.

Next step would be to get the cockpit prepped and ready for the upgrade parts, but I may put it to one side and get some of the outstanding projects out of the way first.

Thanks all


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/20 17:59:42


Post by: Valkyrie


So now my workdesk is properly set up, spent a fair bit of time over the weekend hopping between the various projects.

For the 40k fans, the Tau are still packed away. Next step is to get some different arms; I found a set online designed to fit the Missile Pods nicely to give that Broadside look.

For the Airfix fans, been pretty busy with various decals.

Make a little start on the TSR-2, first step being the cockpit tub. The photoetch parts unfortunately don't seem to be the correct shade of blue, being much lighter than the Airfix instructions or real life photos. Took a little bit of trying, eventually managed to match it by eye, mixing Vallejo light grey, white and a little Sea Blue.

Below is just part of the photoetch instructions. I will never ever complain about 40k instructions ever again.


Here's the result so far:



Pilot's console is complete, the co-pilot console shown in the instructions above is still incomplete. Side panels have also been added. Fit wasn't 100% perfect but I managed to get it done.

For the Warhawk, the large decals have been applied. After a coat of Vallejo Decal Softener they settled very nicely on the panels.





Just got the tiny decals to apply. They're not that visible over the green but at least then I'll know it's completed.

Also dusted off the Lightning, applied a few more decals there.



Little bit complicated trying to merge 3 different sets of decals but it's coming together so far, fingers crossed it stays easy

Thanks all, any comments appreciated.




Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/20 20:37:38


Post by: Tallonian4th


Your TSR-2 cockpit is looking great. I've just finished the 1/72 version and if the 1/48 is anything like that you might want to re-enforce the undercart when you get to it. It can end up a bit bow legged.

The Lightining is very much looking the part, BMF is an absolute classic scheme.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/22 17:18:59


Post by: Valkyrie


Thanks for that. A metal undercarriage is next on my list, might wait a bit before getting one however.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/23 23:17:17


Post by: Valkyrie


Bit of a late update this time.

Plenty of work done recently. The Stormsurge arms have been ordered, should arrive sometime next week hopefully



While I like the Puppetwar ones, these look much more Tau-ish, and are specifically designed for the Stormsurge, so £10 well spent.

The TSR-2 cockpit's nearly complete. Slight cockup with the throttle controls, they're somewhere in the carpet so won't bother.



The P-40 is nearing completion. Took the time to paint up the pilot so I went for a rather generic scheme with the yellow lifejacket to add a bit of contrast



Final transfers have gone on as well. There are a few last little details to put on but probably won't bother, they don't show up on the darker basecoat anyway.







Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/24 21:57:14


Post by: gobert


I still can’t get over those photo etch cockpits! They’re just ridiculously detailed, and I can see why finding a piece in carpet is going to be impossible!


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/29 17:30:20


Post by: Valkyrie


 gobert wrote:
I still can’t get over those photo etch cockpits! They’re just ridiculously detailed, and I can see why finding a piece in carpet is going to be impossible!


Thanks man, the part in question was probably around 0.5x5mm so it's long-gone. Oh well, can't be helped.

Decided to take a break from the Airfix for a little while and got the Tau out again. Some work has been made on the multitude of Drones, by my count there are 28 of various types. So far I've done around 5, with a couple of examples below.



Just want to keep them simple to be honest given how many there are.

Some decent progress made on the Stormsurge however. The 3D printed arms arrived from Spain, and while it annoys me a bit to get the Puppets War ones then just find another type, they're a lot easier to work with as they're designed specifically for the Stormsurge rather than Puppet War's own generic mech.



I got a bit ahead of myself and accidentally glued one shoulder joint in backwards, so a quick saw and putty job was needed on this particular arm. As you can see the missle pods simply fit right into the arm, no filler necessary at all.



I also removed the original torso mounts from the pods. There's a little damage from the saw but I'll smooth it out in time. As you can see the XV8 Shield Generator fits damn-near perfectly over the hole, giving a nice flat surface.



And here's the mockup so far. Some pieces yet to go on the torso, and I've made a start with the legs, of which I'll post some more photos later on. Overall looks infinitely better than the stumpy squatting thing GW designed.


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/09/30 19:17:47


Post by: gobert


That does look cool standing up! Much better than the squatting black pose. Good luck ploughing through all those different drones


Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/10/08 17:43:36


Post by: Valkyrie


Took a little break while getting over a bad cold but have made some progress with both the Tau and Airfix.

Just a quick update on the Tau while the Stormsurge is drying. When I bought the Stormsurge arms I had to get something small to get over the shipping threshold, decided to go for the missile effects. Tried them out on one of the Drone turrets, and I'm pretty impressed how well it's turned out.



Pack of 3 missiles and the plumes for around £1.50. Pinned on easily and definitely looks the part. I think a couple more of these as well as other effects are next on my list for the Tau.

Over to the Airfix and I'll start by noting that I made a big mistake when ordering the TSR parts. I thought I'd ordered the cockpit upgrade when I actually ordered the parts for the cockpit, ejector seats and the interior detail, which was a nice happy accident I guess.

I'm not 100% sure what these are, probably just part of the structure, but they went on nicely and break up some of the plain cockpit wall I guess.



At this point I cleaned up the fuselage halves for a dry-fit and I'm very impressed with how cleanly it fits together.



It's almost a perfect fit with no glue required. Here you can see the cockpit detail before the other parts were added. Once the fuselage interior's all painted it'll definitely start looking the part.



And just to finish up I decided to have a start on the MiG-17.

The MiG-17 was a highly effective development of the famous MiG-15, one of the first operational jet fighters. The 17 was designed take on the US and British equivalent fighters such as the Sabre and Lightning. The 17 proved to be a reliable aircraft with over 10,000 built and operated by many Soviet and African nations, and even now is still in use by North Korea for training purposes.



Given that it's a small kit I wanted to just keep it simple, no photo-etch or other upgrades.

So far it's gone together nicely. The cockpit just consists of 3 parts before the seat is added, and the fuselage just fits around it in the typical manner.

I did balls it up however and get ahead of myself on the wings. For some reason, if you want the undercarriage raised you have to glue the doors into the wings before gluing the wing halves together, which I didn't realise. Quick go-over with the knife and I managed to separate them enough to get the part in.



And here we have a quick dry-fit of the model as a whole. Doesn't look like much yet, but we're getting there.



Plan is to give the Alclads one final shot and do it the typical MiG baremetal finish. If this one doesn't work then I give up on Alclad for good.

That's it for now, any comments really would be helpful.







Valkyrie's Stuff - Updated 12th October @ 2021/10/12 22:05:30


Post by: Valkyrie


Hello all,

It comes with a bit of a heavy heart that this will probably be the last update. It seems to be the digital tumbleweed that I mentioned in the first post earlier this year, and I'll be honest it's pretty disheartening to see the view counter tick over without any comments, feedback, or anything really.

So let's finish this off.

I took some time applying the basecoat to the Stormsurge, looked a bit ramshackle being only half painted. The arms are yet to be attached but I've added a couple of 3x1 magnets to the elbow joints to help with transporting the finished thing. Rather nice of Deadly Print to include the magnet recesses for such a situation.



The front plate is yet to be attached as I want to get the console monitors done first, but it already looks far more imposing than the original model, and can almost draw eyelevel to a Knight. Maybe a KX139 might appear in the future, we'll see.



Was also able to get some more Fire Warriors done. These are still in early stages so fair bit of tidying up and detailing to do, but it's good that I'm getting through the mass of Drones.



Onto the Airfix, and I decided to bite the bullet and get the Mustang done. The experience with the Alclads (again!) put me off for a while but I've gone back and was able to:

- Neaten up the yellow/green banding at the front. I wasn't too keen on how it tapered at first. It's come up a little thick so I may go back over with some wet/dry.
- The cockpit has been masked and sprayed. The Eduard mask wasn't too bad but the pieces could be more prominent on the sheet.
- Started applying the decals.



The decals were a bit of a letdown. The chequerboard pattern just didn't want to fit and the instructions provided were pretty poor, needing to be swamped with softener a few times before it fell into place, and even then I suspect it was more luck than skill.

Some neatening up with a brush is needed but, in my eyes at least, that's the worst of it done.

Also started the prop and spinner. The blue banding was hard to achieve due to the curvature of the spinner, but I used a ring of blu-tack and tried by eye to get it level, and overall it's not a bad attempt at all.



I've also painted the interior of the TSR-2. This was pretty difficult due to having to recreate that shade of blue by eye. It's slightly different but once it's all put together I doubt it'd ever be noticeable. The ejector pin marks will also be hidden by the cockpit and consoles.



In the meantime I've started on the bomb bay superstructure and got some nice goodies to go in it:



Here we have 2x 300kt WE.177 bombs, each one 15x the power of the Hiroshima bomb. I'll be honest I'm a little disappointed with them; they're a generic bomb part lacking any detail of the real thing. In addition there are some big resin gates and flaws, and no way of mounting them to the model. Might return them and go for the more expensive but more detailed Shapeways set.

Here's where the project is going to get difficult. Next step is to attach the engine intakes which require painting beforehand. Still unsure on the anti-flash white recipe I was thinking of, some recommendations would be helpful.




So I suppose that's it. If there's some sufficient interest I may update this semi-regularly, but I get the impression my work isn't really piquing anyone's interest. Still I'd like to thank everyone who did contribute. Thanks for all your suggestions and comments.