Well... "The Road to Adpeticon" has been temporarily derailed by "Fallout: New Vegas". I'm here at work after 3 hours of sleep after playing until 2 AM... ouch... haven't done that in a few (dozen) years. Will get back to painting tonight. Had a fun little game with Thing 2 yesterday. Bat rep will follow.
Gitsplitta wrote:Well... "The Road to Adpeticon" has been temporarily derailed by "Fallout: New Vegas". I'm here at work after 3 hours of sleep after playing until 2 AM... ouch... haven't done that in a few (dozen) years. Will get back to painting tonight. Had a fun little game with Thing 2 yesterday. Bat rep will follow.
Hopefully thing 2 will learn that he need to press his advantages as well as it’s ok to lose a few guys. Seems like he did good putting the pressure on you. Good job Thing 2! Imagine if he was rolling well! ouch.
Yeah, the Vindi should have died in turn 2 and if he'd chosen better he could have probably killed both the Apoth & Tycho in assault. He got the points for them anyway though so I guess it didn't matter in the end.
Not sure what "Armies on Parade" is... but I think the nearest GW store is in like... Chicago. Don't think any of the FLGS stores participate (never heard of it anyway).
its an event where you make a display board for your army. the army doesn't have to be legal. then yyou take it to a GW they pick a winner and all the winners from all the gw are invited to gamesday where the winner will be crowned
Gitsplitta wrote:Not sure what "Armies on Parade" is... but I think the nearest GW store is in like... Chicago. Don't think any of the FLGS stores participate (never heard of it anyway).
Yeah probably! In the Chi. bunker most of the people know how your some crazy guy on dakka that has a 200+ page blog
Hey gits just a thought on your yellow. I been searching through your blog and for the life of me cant find how to do it. i know you start with a white base coat, then do you start layering yellow afterwards? im trying to paint yellow and kinda failing miserably at it. was just wondering about that.
No problem DE... helps keep the thread alive and interesting in-between updates.
Not much to report... still recovering from my gaming marathon and lack of sleep. However the details are nearly done now. Once I begin the process of working on the white I'll post a pic.
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... and I forgot to respond to Captainsoltice...
Capitansolstice wrote:
Gitsplitta wrote:Not sure what "Armies on Parade" is... but I think the nearest GW store is in like... Chicago. Don't think any of the FLGS stores participate (never heard of it anyway).
Yeah probably! In the Chi. bunker most of the people know how your some crazy guy on dakka that has a 200+ page blog
I expect the guys at the Bunker (and every other official GW store) don't even know I exist. The Dakkasphere is a very small place... Adepticon taught me last year that my "footprint" is actually very small. But I do appreciate the thought!
Announcing the first-ever MANTIS WARRIOR CAPTION CONTEST!
Contest Rules: Make your best caption to the picture above. Keep it clean, but other than that it's wide open (so feel free to praise or slander my MWs... as long as its clever). Contest length: Submissions will be accepted for 2 days. The contest will close at 7 PM central time on Thursday. (no idea what that is GMT) Judging: By popular acclaim... I'll set up a poll or something after the submission period ends. Contest prize: Yes, there will be a prize. The winner gets "naming rights" for my new Apothecary! WIP below. All I ask is that you pick a real-sounding name... not an unintelligible string on internet characters. (OK, I admit it's not MUCH of a prize... but hey, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye)
the non airbrush version please. im having a devil of a time painting some yellow thats all and i know that you have a good base instuction for setarting yellow thats all. sorry about the minor question/ thread jack. i hope your MW contest goes well
Here you go 'bama. Pieced this together from early in the blog.
My yellow... original brush method. Please note... KEEP THE INDIVIDUAL LAYERS DILUTE! Can't overstate this enough. Yellow is translucent, let it work for you... don't try to fight it. Use 3 coats of thinned paint rather than just one coat of thick paint. It's fast, easy and gives great results. My edits to the original text in blue...
1. Yellow spray primer. 2. 2 layers of sepia wash. 3. First color-up (golden yellow). You will probably need 3-4 layers of thinned paint to cover the sepia. You want to be thorough here as the sepia will show through as a very unhealthy green otherwise.
4. Next lightest shade (2/3 golden & 1/3 sunburst yellow) Usually two layers will do. 5. Lighter still (reverse above, then all sunburst). Another two layers. 6. Final product after highlighting w/ Bad Moon Yellow (do they even make this color anymore??) One or two layers of BMY depending on how screamingly yellow you want it to look.
And again in a little better light...
It's worth noting that currently I no longer use the yellow Army Painter primer but instead use a white primer with a coat of golden yellow over it to begin with (as I can do both out of the airbrush). If I do this I'll be sure to line with sepia to get that nice warm undertone. When airbrushing, I'll start with a tan or wood colored base and then build up the yellow from that. I'll always line with sepia however once the basics are done with the airbrush. Airbrush paint sequence below.
Troopers - For the Emperor, FOR the Emperor, For the Emperor, For the Emperor, FOR the Emperor, For the Emperor.
Sarge.. will you guys keep it down, were suppose to be hiding in cover.
( silence )
wisper in the back "For the emperor"
Sarge ~sigh~
Marine 1: Sarge, you said we were hiding right?
Sarge: Yes I did, Hivefleet Thing 2 is out there.
Marine 1: If we're hiding, why do you still have that giant glow stick out?
Sarge: Because I'm afraid of the dark.
Marine 2: Yes, but we're afraid of dying.
Marine 1 & 2 "sarge what are you doin?! get down!!"
sarge "im causing a distraction so you guys can escape"
marines "by dancing??"
sarge "its the last thing they will expect!"
marines ".............."
Wait, wait I can improve mine!
Marine *Not a smidge happier than Mr Dark Angel* :We could have gone and visited the valhallan chicks but NOOO we had to meet up with the sisters of battle, who by the way are as attractive as a squig in lederhosen.
Sarge:Be quiet.
Marine 2 *Well behaved*:What is it sarge? Orks?
Sarge:No, I just realised I didn't bring any money for the taxi. Any of you guys want to chip in?
Marine 1: Fuuuuuuuuu.
From what I recall from C: CSM: Cypher is a fallen Dark Angel who spreads lies, rebellion, misinformation, and discontent throughout the 40k universe. He often serves as an informant or advisor in rebellions...but little he says can actually be trusted.
"Okay, setting off cyclops isn't that funny. I'm afraid brother Jacob your outta the team!"
For those non-UK members a footballer has just been kicked out of Chelsea FC for letting off a smoke grenade in the changing room!
I vote for any joke that needs an explanation... what's that... 2 now??!
Only one day left. I promise an decent update tonight. Parents have been visiting so no painting for me. I'll have the Apoth done by Friday. Tycho my Monday. Then I start work on the "Book of Secrets" so-to-speak.
Thanks 3Strike! I certainly will. Two IC's are on the current docket. Once those are done I'll have some leeway to choose what I want rather than being tournament list driven... which'll be nice for a change.
see, I don't get that- If the TARDIS appears in a Medieval village, it has some psychic effect on people so that they don't notice it...why do others see the actual blue Police box?
It doesn't make it invisible... just... unremarkable. And just like his psychic paper it doesn't seem to work on everyone. Just most folks who are preoccupied with their normal lives and are very easily swayed by the psychic suggestion.
Ok, I have a 3rd one, but it is a bit, strange, that's why it's in a spoiler
Spoiler:
#3 Random Marine: "Come on, guys, you didn't leave a piece of them for me! that's it, I'm not going and you can't make me" Sarge: "I'm sure you killed 1..." RM: "NO I DIDN'T!" Sarge: "Fine, you can kill the next one, now, let's move!" Gamesmaster: "End of MW Assault Phase" Sarge: "Who the is he?"
OK Guys... I said both 2-days and Thursday PM for the end of the contest. Since we're wandering into tallywhacker (?) territory I think it's time to call it a day. I'll have a separate voting thread up once I figure out how to make a poll.
Back OT... I finished the detail on the apothecary this morning. Every time I look at this damn figure I see something else that needs to be painted... but for good or ill I'm done now. It's time to move on to the next step (which will happen this evening). Coat of satin varnish, lining with badab black & then 2-3 coats of thinned white. Note the banner for his name is still empty.
Oh dang.... just saw something else that needs to be painted (the lines leading from the blood and plasma flasks)... blast it! And it looks like a remnant of a mold line on his left heel. Lord I hate close-up photography...
Sarge: "Marines, we may die, we may be maimed, we may have ouur insides wrenched from us as we watch, we may be devoured and turned to destroying our own dear Imperium *an assault marine at the back bursts into tears* But. No matter what happens, no matter what goes wrong, what happens...THEY SHALL NOT GET THIS LITTLE RED SKULL!!!"
Vent already did the tutorial... look up "black gem technique" in the tutorials section... or look up the threads that vent has started... it isn't that many to go through.
whalemusic360 wrote:Not going to paint up the panel things on top of the apoth arm? I always assumed they were screen readouts of something or another.
I don't like you very much...
@Seb: Thanks man... wait until I get the next step done. Should make a very big difference (for completely screw it up).
Matt.Kingsley wrote:Also, don't know whether you mentioned it, do you recast the RTB01 marines your self, or do do you buy the recasts from someone else?
whalemusic360 wrote:Not going to paint up the panel things on top of the apoth arm? I always assumed they were screen readouts of something or another.
I don't like you very much...
@Seb: Thanks man... wait until I get the next step done. Should make a very big difference (for completely screw it up).
Matt.Kingsley wrote:Also, don't know whether you mentioned it, do you recast the RTB01 marines your self, or do do you buy the recasts from someone else?
Just in case you didn't notice
You fail to realize how old Gits truely is. Rummaging through his bitz archive is akin to walking amoungst the ancient catacombs of the Vatican...and the musty aroma is about the same as well .
Not sure if the aroma is from the bits of from me.... I do always shower before a gamin session though.
OK, well... I did vote for the captions... a bunch of them. Basically anything that made me laugh got a vote. Which was quite a few... well done guys and gals!
I get how old Gits is, but his RTB01 marines seem more white than they should... The ones I've seen are more of a light grey (A friend of mine has 5 unpainted RTB01 marines)
And, Gits, my post was on the last page
Hey Gits, all looks like it going well in here. As is to be expected.
The assault squad looks great. I think I would have approached the white of the apothecary a little differently, but as I've said to you before your painting style really suits the minis, very 90's evey metal. In a good way! It's pages back now I know, but I still love to see the army shot, it looks great all set out and must be a great army to play with or against.
I can also put my two penny's/cents in about the RTB01 colours as I bought a box new, many many years ago when I was first introduced to 40k. They were indeed an ugly creamy tan as pictured throughout Gits thread, can't say I ever saw any other colours tho. All the RT stuff I bought that was plastic looked to be the same stuff, even the rhino.
Wish I have a box of them myself, I'd love to paint up a squad of RT marines.
As I understand it, the early kits were made by the same company that made parts for match box and keeping costs down GW didn't get to specify the colours, so just got what the manufacturer had at the time. I think in the end there were, red, blue, green, cream and grey. End Geek fact rant.
wyomingfox wrote:You fail to realize how old Gits truely is. Rummaging through his bitz archive is akin to walking amoungst the ancient catacombs of the Vatican...and the musty aroma is about the same as well .
Then I'm the ghost in the catacombs.. feeling old now brother?
Apothecary is finished! All he needs is a name! (hmmm.... I wonder how the voting is going?) This is an old-school method for handling white. White undercoat (in this case, primer), black lining the dilute white over the top to brighten the plates and clean up the shade lines. I think it works well with the figure and the feel of the army. Not as slick as air brushing... but very early 40k.
Proper retro gits, love it. That what you did to escape from your parents? Now anyway, come on chop chop hustle hustle don't dilly dally one left! Hup! Hup!
Well, there's been a slight change in plans. Due to play testing today and taking into consideration past performance... I decided that adding Tycho to my list was not a wise investment. He just didn't have much impact on the battlefield and was basically immobile once the pod came down. Unfortunate because he was going to be an easy paint and I'd already done the air brushing on him. So I've decided to switch him out and go back to my original idea with a bit of a twist. I'm adding a stock libby and another sanguinary priest. I'll give the libby "Wings of Sanguinus" which means he can either stay with the sternguard or run with one of the assault squads. The Apoth will have a jump pack and will be with one of my assault squads giving a second FNP bubble in my list and an additional power sword.
Problem is that I'm fresh out of apothecary arms... so I pulled out one of my Apoths and dug into my bits box... and this is what I came up with.
Found an old power fist that I thought would make for a good conversion. It's a bit bulkier than normal but not bad if I do say so myself. The jump pack is tacked on for the pic but will be painted separately so I can get at the shoulder pads. The thing he's standing on are the two Apothecary back pack bits... they'll ultimately be pinned in-between the jets once the jump pack is back on. I'll be air brushing him in a similar fashion to how Solar_lion recently did his death company, not enough time to do the same paint job as the last Apoth.
That's all for now... needs to be done by Monday so I'll be cranking on him soon enough.
It certainly makes for a chunky narthecium, but it's certainly clear what it's meant to be. I have to say, that reductor needle looks like it means serious business! Actually, the shape of that needle is my favourite part of the narthecium. Is is actually hollow inside, or did you carve it out so it makes that hypodermic shape?
Thanks guys. If I wasn't in such a hurry I probably would have carved the cuff of the narthecium down a bit, but as things stand I just had to go with it as-is. The outer sheath of the hypo is hollow with the "needle" sliding into it. Same way I do the flash suppressors on my sternguard's rifles. The actual needle itself is solid.
Question for you...
I'm inclined to make the bands on the jump pack barrels red, in keeping with the Apothecary theme. However, they could be green (for the Mantis Warriors) or yellow which is the same color the bands are on all the other jump packs.
Hi Gits, finally I've been able to give a quick read to your blog (a couple of weeks in reality ;D).
First thing first, before talking about miniatures, codexes, paintjob or modelling, brush vs airbrush I would like to make a little digression very important to me now a days.
I'm gonna be father for the first time very soon (I'm talking about days if not hours) and as an hobbist, a gamer and a lover of all the good old games that keep us close to people face-to-face instead of a cold computer/tv screen I adore what you're doing with your Mantis warriors and even more what you do with your sons.
It's a sort of dream of mine, if in 8 years from now I could be able to introduce my first son to this game and to these hobby passions like you are doing right know than I will be proud of me.
Returning on the blog, I like your models for a couple of reasons.
First, even if you're not one of the best painter or modeller I seen on the internet you are able to produce with an impressive costance a fantastic amount of minis stick to a background.
A sort of respect of a project from the beginning to the end that I never been able to grant in my own projects. I'm the tipical hobbist that start 18thousend things in the same time and never complete none of them.
Second, even if you're not one of the best painter or modeller you're light years better than me so I'm very happy to check daily this blog hoping in an update or 2.
In particular I'm waiting impatiently the evolution of your "modern" MW rebuilding project.
So it's time for me to give my contribute, if you'll accept it of course.
I've started a customisation of a Jump Packed HQ, originally as a count-as Shrike for my Iron Hands endless project but finally I changed to C:SM to the C:SW so..
I thought you may be interested in a customisation of this model for one of your projects, due to the characteristics of the model eventually the "modern" look of yours MW but eventually also as an HQ for your "penitent" list. As a Shrike count-as with some Terminator maybe.
Or, just because you integrated some BA element in your list, as a Mephiston. Dante or a Jump Packed Librarian. Up to you.
So, excuse me for all this bla-bla-bla and take a look at this:
Congratulations on your impending fatherhood! It's a trip. Awesome though... scary at times... but awesome.
My only advice when it comes to passing on the hobby is to lead by example. Let your child see your interest in the game and the them decide on their own if they want to play or not. I strongly suspect they'll want to do it if they see you involved, but I think it's important that the decision to become involved in the hobby (painting, modeling and gaming) is theirs, even at such a young age.
Thank you for the kind words. Even though I'm not top tier, I can turn out a decent looking mini if I put my mind to it, and even after all this time I'm still improving with each mini. Once Adepticon is over, I'll start focusing my attention on my post-crusade army. Not sure what I'm going to start with first. Kind of want to wait for the new rule set to come out, but I might do something fun and safe... like a devastator squad. Going to hold off on the vanguard until I see the new rule set and new SM dex.
That... is an astounding conversion Toban. I've never seen anything quite like it. A unique combination of the organic in the flowing cloak... naturalism exhibited by the life-like breast plate... and the mechanical in all the bionics. That is truly impressive work my friend. Using the cloak as a basis for mounting the figure was just brilliant. Wow. I have no idea how I could be "light-years ahead" of you with that as an example of your craftsmanship!
As to your generous offer... it is overwhelmingly kind of you. I would be honored to have such a figure in my collection. I think Dante would be a better choice given my current set of resources as Mephiston (being a monstrous creature) presents numerous problems with deployment as I don't have any Storm Ravens. I could either provide you with of set of my MW "wings" for the pack (the insect wings BLACKHAND made for me & that I use on all my post-crusade jump packs) or I could do the fitting myself (it's not that tough), and a MW helmet *unless* you want to model an exposed head (which would be great too).
I've never looked into Shrike as a command figure when I run vanilla (which is most of the time)... but I'm sure I could build a really fun list around him. Check that... if you build me a Shrike... I WILL build a list around him! I guess I'll leave it to your choice... whichever you think will give you the most enjoyment building and modeling.
Just can't say "thank you" enough mate...
PM, email or chat up the blog... whatever you're comfortable with.
I don't really do facebook spudkins, sorry. I've got a page but it's just a static signpost for my old friends to find me. I don't update it or anything.
Made some progress today. Nothing picture-worthy. Air brushing was rubbish for some reason. Now I'll have to go back in tomorrow and touch up some particularly vexing areas. Rest is going fine. It looks like a fairly quiet day tomorrow once the official Easter festivities are taken care of so I'm hoping to make quite a bit of progress then. I'll focus on getting the pads done so I can permanently attach the jump pack, they I'll take a pic.
I love both apocs gits! Very cool man! I like the idea of hold the vanguard off till 6th edtion.
@Toban- That is some bad ass sculpting, you are very tallented, could you be able to give me some tips, becuse I'm going to be doing some sculpting soon for younge bloods. And I'm not that good.
Thank you for the kind words about this little conversion.
Gits, after your lovely reply I will definetly complete the conversion and with an easy use of magnets I will provide the mini with the following options: - a masked-like helmet for the Dante option (I'm figuring how I may sculpt a sort of mantis face like the wolf-head of tthe SW; - I will certainly magnetise the wrists, I aalready have in mind the necessary little fits that will allow me to prepare the axe/infernus pistol and the LC/LC/bolt pistol setup. This ways you may switch between Shrike, Dante, Astorath (when I precedently named Mephiston in fact I was meaning Astorath) or even a simple librarian if with a hooded-head. Nothing complicated in all cases.
I will happily leave you to do the installation of the Blackhand's wings, this way you'll don't have to send 4 little tiny pieces in Italy.
Later, I'll have to ask you a couple of things about the shoulder pads, how do you like them or how do you imagine them to be for a HQ model.
Last thing for now, I'm trying a couple of solution for the engine-feets. Something like MKIV and/or MKV Dreadnought's feets.
New pictures soon.
Toban
PS: still no news about the BIG project, the Lady is unbearable but it's actually understandable. Luckily I may take some quite moment looking at the MOTO GP competition.
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HAZZER wrote:I love both apocs gits! Very cool man! I like the idea of hold the vanguard off till 6th edtion.
@Toban- That is some bad ass sculpting, you are very tallented, could you be able to give me some tips, becuse I'm going to be doing some sculpting soon for younge bloods. And I'm not that good.
I HAZZER, I'm sorry I didn't replyed immediately but this has been an heavy "family day". As tomorrow will be too. U know.. Italian families are hugely demanding.
Now I really need some sleep, Lady needs assistant too, so I will be synthetic.
One the net, on this forum too, you'll find thousends of complete and useful modelling guides, for dummies and for expert levels.
This kind of special rubber-brushers allowed me to get good results with some very easy touch. Especially regardind the "smoothing" part of the work.
The only other tips I may give is to find an easy but involving idea to refine your technique.
IE, as I done, the sculpting of marine shoulder pads. Sculpting again and again the same logo, even a simple one, will help you developing "the touch" and understanding one of the most important things to me, the rate between blue and yellow components (in case of GS) or grey and white (incase of grey stuff) depending the details you're looking for.
Ah, last thing. Do not pretend to make big things from the beginning. Instead of most cases in real life, hugely big (and less detailed) things aren't alwais easiers that little, accurated, applications.
To give you an example the cloack folds you see in the picture I posted a couple of posts up are maded 1, max 2, per time.
After each application I had to wait one entire night before touch again the model.
This paint job has been an unmitigated disaster from the very first time I laid paint on the mini. What a mess. It'll look fine for tournament purposes, but I wouldn't enter it into any competitions. Deadline is tomorrow and I should make it easily. Sword, flasks, eyes and base are all that's still needing to be done... well, those and some touch-ups of course.
The airbrushing... for the first time in a long time just didn't work. Colors didn't work, blending didn't work. Have no idea what the issue was... wasn't the brush, something about the paints.
You are always your own worst critic. I think you have done a fine job on your new Apoth. Silly question.. are you driving down to Adepticon or flying?
Adepticon is the weekend of the 21st. Following look for a " Warderns of the Maelstrom" Blog. Should be plently of pictures of armies, ours and others.. Full display photos shoot. Battle reports as well a our overall assessment on where we shook out!
Thank you for the kind words about this little conversion.
Gits, after your lovely reply I will definetly complete the conversion and with an easy use of magnets I will provide the mini with the following options:
- a masked-like helmet for the Dante option (I'm figuring how I may sculpt a sort of mantis face like the wolf-head of tthe SW;
- I will certainly magnetise the wrists, I aalready have in mind the necessary little fits that will allow me to prepare the axe/infernus pistol and the LC/LC/bolt pistol setup. This ways you may switch between Shrike, Dante, Astorath (when I precedently named Mephiston in fact I was meaning Astorath) or even a simple librarian if with a hooded-head. Nothing complicated in all cases.
I will happily leave you to do the installation of the Blackhand's wings, this way you'll don't have to send 4 little tiny pieces in Italy.
Later, I'll have to ask you a couple of things about the shoulder pads, how do you like them or how do you imagine them to be for a HQ model.
Last thing for now, I'm trying a couple of solution for the engine-feets. Something like MKIV and/or MKV Dreadnought's feets.
New pictures soon.
Toban
PS: still no news about the BIG project, the Lady is unbearable but it's actually understandable. Luckily I may take some quite moment looking at the MOTO GP competition.
I love your ideas... very generous *and* very pragmatic... which I like!
I don't know if you've noticed this, but I do have special shoulder pads for my later period Mantis Warriors that I had Chapterhouse do for me. I have them in both marine and terminator sizes... However... I really like the wedge shaped shoulder pads on that figure as they'll go with the new terminators I'll be picking up from Forge World. So... either way. I can ship you multiples of any bits you want. That's no problem what-so-ever. I can even provide random marine bits if you need them as I have quite a collection.
Thanks so much. And thanks for your sculpting bit on my blog too. Love it when readers add quality content.
Gitsplitta wrote:"Trauus" u's look live v's in old-style writing.
Driving, it's only a couple of hours away.
I know, it was hard getting used to Latin without one of those letters lol. I assumed the second one was a U, but Trauus didn't make sense to me (And this is a world where Sevetar is an okay name). So I figured to be cheeky the first one was a V.
Alfndrate wrote:I assumed the second one was a U, but Trauus didn't make sense to me.
What I was going for was "Tray-oos". But heck, I could never spell anyway. It's not a real name, just something I made up.
Well, the fork is officially stuck in my Adepticon army for 2012!
First, the new Apothecary.
Then he and his mate. Note the book-ended shoulder pads. Particular bit of stupidity there on my part. For the era, the guy on the right is correct.
Lastly, my completed Adepticon 2012 Army:
All the pic's are quite large and very zoomable.
I'm going to take a break now thank you. Enjoy my kids last day of spring break. Maybe go fishing or something. My little one and I have a game today too so they'll get a dry run in their current configuration.
Well if Gits rolls like crap at the tournie...that would be my fault :(. I was over on his side of the table for the last two rounds of our game on Friday and due to laziness simply requested that I use his dice. They started rolling Fazzorkle soon afterwards.
Highlights of the game: Thing 2's nids in general, Git's Burgers, and a 101 crash course in air brushing. Best way to spend a Holiday (Good Friday is a holiday for my company).
It's a wood-working term. Actually it's "booked" but I didn't think anyone would get that. It's where you take a single piece of wood, cut it in half, reverse the grain (i.e. flip one over) and match the reversed grains, making a pattern.
The apothecary and the entire army look really good. I'm quite jealous of you going to Adepticon. I'd tell you to have fun, but I know you will.
As for "booked," I always find it interesting when idioms clash. I immediately got it, but that's only due to growing up in my Papa's woodshop. When it comes to other turns of phrase, I'm up a river without a paddle, if you will
Announcing the winner of the first ever Mantis Warrior Caption Contest...
...and the winner is.....
Quote #3 by Solar_lion!
(Troopers) "For the Emperor, FOR the Emperor, For the Emperor, For the Emperor, FOR the Emperor, For the Emperor. "
(Sarge) "Will you guys keep it down, were suppose to be hiding in cover."
( silence )
(wisper in the back) "For the emperor."
(Sarge) ~sigh~
Congratulations SL! You now have the honor of naming my new Apothecary!
Thanks to everyone who participated, it was great fun and you guys are really clever! Made for a very interesting couple of days on the blog.
Im pretty new to dakka and i have just come across this blog... and im so impressed with what you have done to recreate the feel of the rouge trader style that im going to take it apon myself to look through all 285 pages.
Very good stuff, the painting and conversions are fantastic... i love the blending, it really shows dedication to achieving a look.
Thank you ashotninja. I appreciate your patronage *and* your spirit. You make make life easier on yourself and read the first 5 pages or so, then go back to the OP and just follow the links to the P&M summaries and the battle reports.
This is a very social blog and quite chatty... so depending on your patience level you might want to take the short-cuts. Any way you like it... glad to have you aboard!
dsteingass wrote:Riiiight...Because REAL WHITE power armor should always be Imperial Stormtrooper clean??
We'll yes!
You have to have something to do with all those aspriants that didn't make the cut. Servitor or not. For every real SM there is probably 20 thralls or servitors just waiting for a smuge to appear! Another 10 hanging out ready to fetch you a BLT or a N cola!
ashotninja wrote:Im pretty new to dakka and i have just come across this blog... and im so impressed with what you have done to recreate the feel of the rouge trader style that im going to take it apon myself to look through all 285 pages.
You can also hit the "Filter Thread Link" located under a users profile avatar. That filters the thread so that all you see is that users posts. Imagine...69 pages of unadulterated Gits...actually...yeah...sorry for the mental pictures.
My phone now won't let me view threads over 200 pages. Weird. Have to use, like, an actual computer or something. Or maybe it's sulking cos Solar_Lion's funnier than me, I dunno
Little updates on the jump pack HQ Gits.
- Sculpted the MW insigna on the JP;
- started the complicated but hopefully functional magnetisation of the fore arms allowing the weapons switch.
- some little gap filling.
Thanks Toban... I and my (apparently) multiple personalities are very grateful!
Magnetizing small things is very tricky. I usually stick to the big stuff, even then if you don't get enough magnet power the bits tend to rotate or fall off when handled. Tricky.
In case anyone's interested... I updated the "Chapter History" section of the OP with the text from Rick Priestley's "The Badab War" as it appeared in White Dwarf 101 (May, 1988). It's the piece of writing that started it all for me 24 years ago next month.
... and.... I don't want to know how SL knows that graven is delicious... I just don't.
Well... Apoth #1 got randomly picked off in turn 2 by shoota fire... but up to that point I'd failed every one of his FNP rolls which is why my sternguard got cut in half. Apoth #2 was a god though... definitely made a huge difference in the later stages of the game... especially vs. all those regular ork attacks on my sternguard & assault squads. His power sword was really effective too... just sayin'. Granted they are orks... but just being able to pull one or two guys each round without even a 1-in-6 save is a nice way to start a combat, and he is an IC so you can target those attacks if you want to.
Unrealated note.. A good friend of mine has just joined us on Dakka. Please feel free to say hello and welcome him to Dakka.. His Dakka name is "Yellowbeard".
Hello Yellowbeard! Welcome to Dakka... or... Welcome to my little corner of Dakka! That's better.
(I hope you're reading this blog or it won't do you a hell of a lot of good that I said hello to you... Of course it is nearly 300 pages long so by the time you'd actually SEE the fact that I said "hello" to you it'd probably bee too late and make no sense....
I am reading the blog. Solar_lion mentioned that you were building an old school Mantis army for Adepticon, so I amde a point of lokking it up. Absolutely beautiful I especially like the Tranquility snipers.
Thank you. Glad to have you aboard. Any friend of Solar's is a friend of mine. Feel free to speak up whenever your muse calls to you! Hope I can keep you engaged and entertained.
Gitsplitta wrote:You guys are just jealous because you don't have a young, attractive, talented red-head singing YOUR praises!!
Sadly - thats it. The truth comes out - Damn you all ! ....
First Wyomingfox ... now Iffy.
Well, I am neither as pretty nor as Irish as Iffy. Just saying . Ireland...lovely country. Was hoping to return this year with my friends...but they ditched me. Happens that I invited one of them to a weekend Birthday Party only to find out he was too busy packing for a flight out to Ireland the next day
Gitsplitta wrote:You guys are just jealous because you don't have a young, attractive, talented red-head singing YOUR praises!!
Sadly - thats it. The truth comes out - Damn you all ! ....
First Wyomingfox ... now Iffy.
Well, I am neither as pretty nor as Irish as Iffy. Just saying . Ireland...lovely country. Was hoping to return this year with my friends...but they ditched me. Happens that I invited one of them to a weekend Birthday Party only to find out he was too busy packing for a flight out to Ireland the next day
SEE??? You guys comment about how prolific I am but THIS is what happens when I'm not constantly feeding you WIP shots of models! The thread just starts to spiral down the toilet...
I'm sorry, I'm not painting... I'm working on a book to present our armies, our collective chapter identities, Solar's fantastic display and featuring Ice's great writing. When complete, I'll post some pics and perhaps even the content if I can keep it under 10 megs (no promises). Not to mention making the cover and somehow binding the actual book. It'll take a while though so I probably won't have updates unless you want to see the cover making process unfold (that could get ugly).
So... you guys are going to have to hold it together while I'm occupied. Somebody decide to paint up your own Mantis Warrior & post WIP shots or something... entertain the populous.
Gitsplitta wrote:You guys are just jealous because you don't have a young, attractive, talented red-head singing YOUR praises!!
After this you expected what!.. You reap what you sow brother! If all of us had such problems!
I have seen the preliminary concept for the book and in normal Git fashion, the man doesn't do things half -a**'d. Awesome. You should show it off if possible!
They claim it is the single largest wargaming event in the US. I don't know about that... but it's bloody big. Lots of 40k action including several tournaments, the most notable of which is the 4-man team tourney. !000 points per team mate, you fight another team of 4 each round. 2 team mates per table (i.e. 2000 pt games). It's held in Chicago each April.
Solar_lion, BrianCJ, Mr. Malevolent and I are on Badab War themed team called "The Wardens of the Maelstrom". The Wardens had a team last year too. Solar and myself, as well as Ice Angel and a buddy of his.
And we'll be there next year if all goes well. I'm hoping to get a rotating group of team members so we'll eventually have enough for two different teams. That way we can mix and match personnel to keep things interesting, and explore other types of armies if we want.
Adepticon hosts a half dozen 40K tournaments, several Fantasy, as well as War Machine, Hordes, Flames of War, and a host of other tabletop wargame systems. It is an experience.
Well, have a surprise for you all this evening... hopefully a pleasent one.
In contemplating my army as I was fooling around with pics for our historical tome... it really started to bother me that the librarian... as with Knightley's apothecary... just didn't fit the feel of the rest of the army. While it wasn't as physically large as the apoth, it just had the feel of a modern figure... and not the OP feel I've spent so much time and effort cultivating. So I dove into my mini case and pulled out my favorite apothecary from the olden days. Gave it a bath in acetone & re-painted it. Yes... the whole figure in less than 24 hours... in-between working on the historical tome... and shooting things to pieces in post-apocalyptic Nevada. I know the eye-glow is a bit over the top but I wanted him to look menacing. There are a myriad of other flaws that I won't point out... however in spite of them I think this is a better fit for this particular army.
Fantastic work mate. I'll be honest, I've never really liked that old Libby, but you really make it shine - love the eyes, quite eerie. And do I detect a touch of the Knightley in the script work on the legs? The arm shot as a whole is great, and feels far more cohesive; that old school libby is definitely the lynchpin. Great stuff!
That super close-up doesn't do the figure any favors... it actually looks quite good at normal close-up viewing distance. Considering I did it in one day... which is some kind of record for me... I'm satisfied with it. There are a few mold lines tucked away here and there that I couldn't remove without seriously compromising the figure. What I do to compensate is use painted on detail or added extras like purity seals to either hide them or distract the eye so you don't dwell on those spots. (look over here... yesss... shiny!) I was worried about the sword as I've come to loathe molded detail on weapons, but it worked out decently enough. I may still go back in and touch up a few details... add gems on the sword hilt and deepen the shadows around the rivets on the gold. We'll see how time goes.
I am very pleased with the army pic. Much more balanced feeling than my original (has nothing to do with the new libby, just the composition). One of these days I'm going to dress up all of those stone walls with vines and such to give them some character... but they work pretty darn well as is.
As far as my work on the "Maelstronomicon" is concerned (can't find a good name for the book). Everything that I can do to make the content is done. The introduction, Mantis Warriors and Lamenter's sections are finished. The Minotaurs are nearly done save a pic and a few list details from Brian cj. The Space Sharks section is largely undone yet as I haven't received any pics from Mr. Malevolent... but hopefully that will change soon.
I start the book cover proper today. It's been raining here which is good as I had to get the warp out of the mahogany plywood I'm using for the cover. I let the wood sit under the porch protected from the rain but where the wood can absorb the humidity, now it's sitting on a coffee table with a bunch of weight on top... hopefully straightening out. I have a plan for how I'm going to make the cover and "bind" the book, but it is entirely theoretical in nature... so for the sake of the rest of the team who are depending on me, keep your fingers crossed.
On a side note... I did a little work on Tycho late last night just for fun. Just some edge highlighting and a sepia wash. OH, and preliminary work on the face. Next lining with Delvan Mud and I can start to pick out some of the details. I suppose I could post a WIP shot if anyone's interested.
He's very muted now... I'll bring the gold tones back up on him with some careful application of Vallejo's gold for airbrushing (nice and thin) and deepen the shadows with Delvan Mud in the cracks and recesses. If you're wondering why he's all gold, keep in mind that he's supposed to be a captain of the sternguard... and they're all yellow... so he's all yellow metallic. There will be other colors here and there of course and the camo pattern should break things up nicely, but this should be a good start. Noticed when I was painting that you can see the toenails on his armor... pretty cool.
And yes... those will be ordered right after Adepticon... assuming I have any money left at that point. They are nothing short of spectacular.
Like the librarian Gits' (got that one myself - I seem to remember in came with two others)
@ Graven - those cakes look great! My top three: 1) The cow one 2) The boobs one 3) Any of the chocolate ones (and: Aaaaaargh - why couldn't Kromlech have made those cyber samurai swords before I built my samurai berzerkers? )
Imperial Monkey wrote:What would those be? Are you ordering toenails for yourself Gits? I'm sure the internet has better forums for that sort of thing than dakka
The swords... smart allec...
IceAngel wrote:Is that army pic missing a drop pod?
Oh damn. Back to the photo booth.
monkeyh wrote:Like the librarian Gits' (got that one myself - I seem to remember in came with two others)
Thanks! No surprise that my favorite termie libby has a very similar look to him.
OK, army pic has been updated and here's a pic of the next Tycho WIP. Delvan mud lined into some of the recesses to darken them and give more definition.
A fun little bit I cooked up for this year. I get to wear the big one... the little one's are for me to give away to the first 20 folks who come up and introduce themselves. Not that having my button is going to be a big deal for anyone, but I thought a little give-a-way might encourage folks to come say "Hi!". These are actually really nicely made... it's just the glare that makes them look odd.
Well, I was originally just going to do a button for me to wear so people could find me if they wanted to... but the little buttons were pretty cheap, so I thought... "what the heck?".
You know... if you took the pins out of them they'd probably make great little objective markers.
I just thought it'd be a fun little thing. I only get out to one major tournament per year so my chances to meet folks in-person are pretty limited. Figured I'd make the most of it. I might get some more and make them available to GMS trade partners (old and new). Trading marines is a pretty "intimate" process, at least as much as meeting each other on the floor of a con.
The essential elements of the cover of the Adeptinomicon are together. Just tidying up some of the gluing. Need to find some kind of edge finishing material and work out how I'm going to attach the lock. Think I have the decoration of the inside and outside of the cover sorted, though it'll take a fair amount of work. Also I'm expecting Mr. M to come through with his pics any time now, so we'll be good on content. No pics yet, but once I get the edges tidy'd up & hardware attached I'll post something.
great idea Git to give badges to your GMS parterners/friends
come to think of it maybe we could do a GMS? i can paint up one of my grot marines if you want
@fatty: Once I get caught up, we can talk. I'm still 3 very important trades behind. I've never actually been this close to being caught up... kind of exciting actually.
@SL: Thanks! Just seemed to work... and I do so like the Bruce Campbell reference (teams have to have a bit of humor tucked away somewhere, lest we take ourselves too seriously).
While I'm very happy with how the book is going, I have two very sticky issues to deal with that I'm not certain how to solve. Luckily, while not fancy... the book is essentially usable as it is right now, so while I want to do a lot more with it... no matter how much I do or don't get done we can use it for our display. Going to pay a visit to two different stores over lunch as see if either has a solution for me. Unfortunately there are a lot of delays built in to the construction as this or that dries thoroughly... so final assembly might be a last-minute Thursday night thing. What I get done tonight will be telling.
Pleasure is all ours Brian! Glad to have you aboard!
Good progress on the book tonight. Got the inside covers done. The color here was all done with weathering powders... keeping in the spirit of the event.
Gitsplitta wrote:@fatty: Once I get caught up, we can talk. I'm still 3 very important trades behind. I've never actually been this close to being caught up... kind of exciting actually.
I've still got a retro-libby being stripped to be painted up for you at some point anyhow.
Need to catch up myself now that I've had my zen month and a bit off of things.
Gitsplitta wrote:
For your entertainment... Brother Artemic.
I'm not usually much of a critic on Marine-type things, because I'm really not into Marines, but the face area seems to need more shadow, more definition or something, maybe it's just the pic, but I can't really tell what is what on the face. Something about it...not sure exactly..
However, the gold is AMAZINGLY done, and I also LOVE the red fade on the sword, and the scrollwork is beautiful.
@DSS: Looking forward to it! Curious as the which retro-libby it is.
@SL: Glad you like it. I'm inordinately proud of it... in part because the hazard stripes worked so well and in part because of the techniques I used which I pulled out of my you-know-what.
@graven: Those are just the inside covers. Wait until you see the outside! (Well, OK... I have no freakin' idea what I'm going to do on the outside. I have two possibilities, but I'm not entirely sold on either quite yet. My biggest problems aren't artistic in nature... more pragmatic. We'll see what "brilliance" I come up with tonight (in-between the kids homework, cleaning, laundry & making dinner).
@dstein: I see your point. It's a downward facing helm with the psychic hood overhanging it, so most of the details are covered in shadow. I guess I was hoping the glow from the eyes would compensate for the lack of detail in the deep shadows (as I think bringing up the detail would only lessen the impact of the malice in the eyes). Thanks for the last bit... my gold is improving over time. Of course now that GW has changed their paint line, I'll have to re-learn everything using the new colors, or go away from it entirely (which has happened to a degree already).
Adeptinomicon, front cover. This shows clearly my limitations as an artist... I'm not one. But, as my father would say... "Its better than a sharp stick in the eye."
My original plans were much more grandiose, but as I started to experiment and play around with the materials I quickly decided that the simpler approach I could take the better. Also this does not preclude some other treatment at a later date. The artwork can be covered up and the rather shoddy edging can be removed and re-done. However... for this time 'round... this is it.
Really... I don't think the cover art is all that bad. It looked better before I put the sealant on it but it can't be helped given the medium. The edging really turned out poorly which belies the fact that I actually put quite a bit of work into it. I could either mock-up some kind of fake steel banding out of plasticard... or perhaps give it a rolled leather edge of a contrasting color. Problem is I have no such leather in my stock and leather dealerships have evaporated here in the upper Midwest over the past few years due to the brick-and-mortar collapse of two different companies.
I might take the edging off all-together & carefully re-glue and dye the edges... that might make it look a bit less cobbled together, if not entirely finished. Wish I could find all of my leather-working supplies... stuff is lost in the basement somewhere. That's not helping either.
However, my first impression was that the cover looks like one of those cheap picture frames. The ones that have cardboard as the backer (for some reason the leather looks like cardboard in the photo) and the sliding fo-metal (plastic painted with metalic paint) frames around the edges...like the frames you get at the fair that come with the $2 posters.
The artwork is well done, though it looks slightly faded...which I guess is prolly the light washing out the colors.
Here's a somewhat sacrilegious thought: burn it. Literally. The old ltd ed of Deadlanss was leather bound with the logo branded into it. I say, why not give that some serious damage? Alternatively, how about a big stamp over it, either Chapter Approved or blooming great mark of Heresy!
Just about ready to go. Laid out everything very neatly last night so I didn't forget anything. Granted things in the pic aren't packed... but they are all organized and in a single location so I won't forget anything (like I did last year). Have some work to do on the book yet, but a last-minute trip to Wal-Mart solved several problems. Should be a pretty low-key night of packing... save for doing some laundry as I think I'm out of clean clothes.
You can see there's actually some beef to the book, and that's only a little more than half the pages printed out. (ran out of black ink and photo paper). Decided to go with card stock as I'm not sure how well regular paper would hold up given how it will be attached to the spine... which had the added benefit of really thickening the contents considerably.
Actually the skinny rope is the "binding" that will attach the pages to the cover and the thick ropes will be placed around the book and "locked" in place with the padlock resting on the upper right hand corner of the book. I'll put a little inquisitional symbol on them... the suggestion being that it's not the power of the velvet cords that keeps the book from being tampered with... it's the terror inspired by the Inquisition (who sealed it) that does. The ribbon will be used for book marks leading to each of the four Chapter's sections.
Packed for Adepticon. The Adpetinomicon turned out really well. I was worried about my binding scheme but it turned out to be both simple and effective.
I heard everyone was wearing Fez this year, sadly I will be unable to make it this year as everyone who was supposed to go with me backed out and I can't swing a 9 hour solo trip right now.
I love the book and I hope ya do great, throw us some photos of the event!
Automatically Appended Next Post: I heard a ton of people were going to be wearing Fez this year, I am just upset i wont be able to make the 9 hour solo trip since everyone else backed out on me.
BTW I love the book and think it should be a huge hit, I hope your able to throw us some photos!
Good luck to y'all. And not just because apparently 18,000+ Christians are also going to be in Chicago for something or other this weekend. Hopefully not The Rapture. May the odds be ever in your favour, fellas
Wow! I've just spent most of the evening catching up here. About halfway through I kinda got the feeling that I should have been taking notes to remember stuff
The vindi was very nice, painting it as seperates turned out, well, very nice!
Loved the apoth's, some lovely modelling there.
Second assault squad were beauties.
Great job on the libby for such a quick turnaround.
Army shot looks fantastic.
Adeptinomicon looks very impressive, hope we get to see some of the contents later.
And that was a lovely piece you wrote about blogging, shows exactly why this thread is such a great place to hang out
And a bunch of other good stuff too that I've forgotten.
Report from Adepticon: things are fine here. Had a wonderful day schmoozing and shopping. I will be broke for months.
Brian CJ and Mr. Malevolent are great! Got to hang with Ice and Steve again too (last years team). The display SL built is amazing. Well be showing our armies early tomorrow 7 am).
Did I mention I'm broke now?
Have given out 3 pins to wonderful folks. Now I wish I could find some dakkanaughts to hang with. I'll wander a bit and see if I run into anyone.
Have been given a gift by a stranger that I can never repay. Seriously honored and thankful.
Gits
Oh, the book... The book is complicated. Suffice to say that the purpose of the book is to be a historical documentation of our team from year to year.
Inside joke of the day: "What's your number again??"
Had a late snack with the mods & admin. Very cool experience. Got "blessed" dakka dice from Lego himself! I'll pay for it tomorrow but it was well worth it!
Report from Adepticon: things are fine here. Had a wonderful day schmoozing and shopping. I will be broke for months.
Brian CJ and Mr. Malevolent are great! Got to hang with Ice and Steve again too (last years team). The display SL built is amazing. Well be showing our armies early tomorrow 7 am).
Did I mention I'm broke now?
Have given out 3 pins to wonderful folks. Now I wish I could find some dakkanaughts to hang with. I'll wander a bit and see if I run into anyone.
Have been given a gift by a stranger that I can never repay. Seriously honored and thankful.
Gits
Oh, the book... The book is complicated. Suffice to say that the purpose of the book is to be a historical documentation of our team from year to year.
Inside joke of the day: "What's your number again??"
What was the gift you were given, or have I missed something here?
Gitsplitta wrote:I nearly forgot about that!! LOL! I'll try to remember!
*Preens himself in sefl satisfaction, then remembers has very little hair left to preen*
Glad I could help out And I am also glad that you are enjoying yourself so much - you put a great deal of work into your plog and I'm pleased that you can reap rewards like a li'l bit of celebrity.
Enjoy, chief.
Ragsta
P.S. II turn 30 this weekend, but I somehow think you will have more fun than me. Or maybe not... No wait, you'll actually remember your weekend!
Brian played minotaurs. Malevolent played sharks. I just left Adepticon after the awards stuff. I was merely there for moral support, but everything turned out awesome. The display, the Adeptinomicon, the armies, even their record was better then last year. The Wardens will be starting up another thread specifically for our event coverage. Stay tuned!
In brief... We placed 50 out of 116. (approximately). 40 place improvement over last year. We were also one of the finalists for the Imperial theme competition. I stunk on the table... netting a grand total of 1 single battle point, or we would have probably placed a dozen or more spots higher. All games were great fun though, and played two against friends. Round three we played Alpharius & RiTides ( as in Rising Tides)!
Finally on our way home. Man that MC is long winded. We always do the raffle for charity but had to wait 3 hours longer for it this year than last. Think we'll pass on it next year.
Did a War Machine demo today, which was fun and interesting. Definitely going to paint up my Cryx warband now. Also played my first game of Kill Zone with Solar Lion, Brian CJ, RiTides and myself of course. What a wonderfully awesome game! It's like necromunda for 40k! Going to download the rules when I get back... Kids will love it.
We were supposed to play with Major Tom but apparently he was too busy picking up his crystal brush award to be bothered playing with us. Harrumph!
Will get back to painting tonight. Had a fun little game with Thing 2 yesterday. Bat rep will follow.
is he?"
I would be honored to have such a figure in my collection. I think Dante would be a better choice given my current set of resources as Mephiston (being a monstrous creature) presents numerous problems with deployment as I don't have any Storm Ravens. I could either provide you with of set of my 
)
