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My GS skills are pretty rudimentary - hopefully a human foot will just about be within my capacity .

Loving the peep show quote in your sig btw, I lol'd hard when I heard that bit on the tv .

get to the chopper! wrote:My GS skills are pretty rudimentary - hopefully a human foot will just about be within my capacity .

Loving the peep show quote in your sig btw, I lol'd hard when I heard that bit on the tv .

From what I have seen your GS skills are better than mine. (Mine are under development)

Thanks. It was the best part of the whole episode, though in general it was one of the better episodes of the new series so far. David Mitchell amuses me.

Do you know how you are going to do the bases of your minis yet btw? I'm just curious because if you're going to have snow how are you going to do it?

Oshunai wrote:
In regards to the lascannons, I'd have them cut down, so shorten the barrels, strip of the outer casing and gunshield and replace with just the vital lascannon parts (which are handled in two places). Then the loader gets to carry the power pack and wires. At least thats my idea.

That sounds pretty good. Like an anti-tank rifle approach? That would definately fit in with the WW1-ish Krieg background. Big ass bipod and some unlucky grunt lugging about a small generator

I'm going to use the old bicarbonate of soda trick for making snow I think.

I like the idea of that - I'll model some of them with the cannon and the generators stuck to their backs like they are on the move.

Replace wheels with tracks or skis?

Have you tried looking at some of the SM lascannons?

They are significantly smaller than the IG ones if I recall, so you might be able to convert those.

Though I would imagine that would be expensive.

Another alternative are the Land Raider lascannons... they are fairly slimline and lightweight-looking. Anyone with a Crusader should have 4 spare, so they might be a bit cheaper and common on ebay etc.

get to the chopper! wrote:The Kalashnikovan 2nd - An Imperial Guard Blog
These guys have shotguns though, which means that they have to remain vets, so I need to separate them from the rank and file somehow. Any suggestions on how to achieve this?

Next post?

Kalashnikovan blood stripes on the pants?

Big backpacks always seem to appear on vets models as it's a simple way of differentiating between normal and veteran.

On a different note, yesterday at GD there was a conversion almost identical to your guy jumping over the wall

Arakasi wrote:Replace wheels with tracks or skis?

I've thought about that and I'm not sure whether it would look weird. I have this thought in my head of having a guy pulling a sled along with a broken down HW on it, like an arctic mission or something. Does that sound any good?

SilverMK2 wrote:Have you tried looking at some of the SM lascannons?

They are significantly smaller than the IG ones if I recall, so you might be able to convert those.

Though I would imagine that would be expensive.

Another alternative are the Land Raider lascannons... they are fairly slimline and lightweight-looking. Anyone with a Crusader should have 4 spare, so they might be a bit cheaper and common on ebay etc.

I'll have a look at them - hopefully bits and kits will have them in stock if they are any good.

Napalm wrote:

get to the chopper! wrote:The Kalashnikovan 2nd - An Imperial Guard Blog
These guys have shotguns though, which means that they have to remain vets, so I need to separate them from the rank and file somehow. Any suggestions on how to achieve this?

Next post?

Kalashnikovan blood stripes on the pants?

Not sure what you mean in all honesty...

endtransmission wrote:Big backpacks always seem to appear on vets models as it's a simple way of differentiating between normal and veteran.

On a different note, yesterday at GD there was a conversion almost identical to your guy jumping over the wall

Ah really? How did it look?

In terms of the shotty vets, I think I'll just keep them similar to the lasgun vets in all honesty. I'll cross the bridge of having possible platoons at a later date.

Wow stop visiting the forums for a a week and so much cool work has been going on on so many different blogs.

This is progressing really well and looks awesome! I especially like that Officer conversion, wonderful!

Can't wait to see that bad boy painted!

Cheers, I'm a big fan of your work!

On the subject of painting, I've ordered a set of GW washes (I have the entire vallejo ink range, but I'm not a fan of the shiny gleam they leave on clothing bits - great for metal though). So far I've been painting the white on my models over a black basecoat in about 10-12 highlight layers building up from sombre/shadow grey: it takes fecking ages! I think I'm going to experiment with washes over a white basecoat so I can get things done quicker.

Thanks,I'm glad you like my stuff! I really do have to get some 40K paint work up on these boards though! Problem is most of my citadel stuff is in storage as I havent built a citadel kit for sometime. I keep telling myself that I will finish my Warhound as well!

I've found the Citadel washes to be good, but to be honest I don't use them much. I use Mig washes, filters,and washes mixed from oil paints.

The bonus about the ready mixed Mig washes is that they can be thinned with thinner or turpentine for numerous effects. You can also apply over a varnish coat to get even smoother blending and better pin washes.

If you want to quickly shade white though I would go for a home made wash made from paynes grey artist oil colour. Coat the mini with a gloss or matt varnish, mix up some wash more tinted thinner than thinned paint, and it will give you great pin washes that you can go back to blend, clean up and distress with a clean drybrush.

The trick with blending oil washes is to wait until the thinner evaporates and blend when the oil paint has gone a dry matt. You can also correct heavy applications or stains retrospectively with turpentine.

Alternatively Badab black or devlan mud are good out of the bottle products too. I really like Devlan mud its probably my favorite Citadel wash.

I didn't realise there was such a thing as mig washes - I've seen the pigments and they're meant to be excellent. Wish I'd gone for them now .

What exactly is a pin wash sorry? (showing my ignorance having been out of the hobby for 8 years here)

Is paynes grey the best oil paint to use? Is there a blue/grey version do you know? I'd like to approach white from the blue side (as opposed to the brown side or straight grey side) so that it looks nice next to my blue shoulder pads.

get to the chopper! wrote:I didn't realise there was such a thing as mig washes - I've seen the pigments and they're meant to be excellent. Wish I'd gone for them now .

What exactly is a pin wash sorry? (showing my ignorance having been out of the hobby for 8 years here)

Is paynes grey the best oil paint to use? Is there a blue/grey version do you know? I'd like to approach white from the blue side (as opposed to the brown side or straight grey side) so that it looks nice next to my blue shoulder pads.

To be honest strong greys and blacks tend to be a bit strong for white, most people go for very dark browns or light greys. The mig wash is their own brand ready mixed wash that is usable from the bottle, it also has various shades of browns, greys etc. Comes in a large bottle also, have a look at Mig Productions website.

As for icy blue... you could mix some white with a dot of a strong blue shade to get this kind of effect I guess. Citadel washes have some good light blue shades for this kind of effect (can't remember the name off hand).

A pin wash is basically a very fine wash thats just applied into specific areas that you want shaded. For example in panel lines on vehicle or in creases in clothing. Instead of washing the whole surface equally with a large brush, you concentrate the wash into the desired areas with a fine brush. This gives shading to a specific area without staining the rest of the flat or raised surface that is not shaded.

Ah right, I thought it must be something like that, cheers! Had a look for blue/grey oils, looks like I'll have to mix blue and grey ones for that.

I might experiment with a number of different ways and get you lot to give your verdicts on what looks best.

Please do, it'll be interesting to see what you find.

To be honest for batch painting a ready mixed wash would help and would be much more time effective. I've found Mig's Neutral wash (pictured) to be very good for white and light colours.

get to the chopper! wrote:

Napalm wrote:

get to the chopper! wrote:The Kalashnikovan 2nd - An Imperial Guard Blog
These guys have shotguns though, which means that they have to remain vets, so I need to separate them from the rank and file somehow. Any suggestions on how to achieve this?

Next post?

Kalashnikovan blood stripes on the pants?

Not sure what you mean in all honesty...

Star Wars reference, Han Solo's Corellian blood stripes, are on his pants.
In the real Marine Corps they also get red piping on leg of their dress uniforms when they make Corporal or Sergeant, I forget which. Using a red or maroon stripe, given the Soviet theme of the Kalashnikovians might fit in.

Ah right cheers. Yeah I might do that. Got an update coming later today btw, built a rather cool looking commissar conversion, some progress on the wounded guardsman, the commander has been altered slightly and I've built a sergeant for my shotgun squad.

I also managed to use an entire bottle of vallejo thinner, an entire pot of asurmen blue wash, a pot of badab black wash, most of a bottle of ghost grey, half a bottle of black ink, half a bottle of blue ink and a load of water to make an enormous batch of my custom wash for my white clothing! I made a wash yesterday that looked really good (I'll show you some pics in a bit), and I thought I remembered how to replicate it perfectly and set about making a pot full of it. Turns out I had forgotten and spent most of the afternoon getting the consistency and colour perfect . I have a lifetime supply of the stuff though!

The Kalashnikovan 2nd - An Imperial Guard Blog

Some more WIP shots of models I'm making, including a commissar, an altered version of my commander and the progressed wounded guy. Also, there's a sergeant from my shotgun squad and a look at the results of a custom wash I've created to go over a white undercoat for painting. Comments welcome!

---------------------------


Commissar.

Pretty heroic pose, I'm sure you'll agree! He's converted from the necromunda Kal Jericho model, with a pigiron head, a cadian command swager stick and some greenstuffed commissariat shoulder pads. Pretty chuffed with how he's turned out to be honest!











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WIP Colonel Blodniek (Army Commander)

I decided to replace his slightly passive left arm with a more dynamic one. I envision that the whole command squad will be at ease, and obviously he'll have his doggies next to him as well (see the previous WIP post on p.5 of this thread). I was going to have his original left arm nonchalently on his hip, but it wasn't the right angle and it would have been a nightmare to repose it. I plan on using it in a different model though, probably a guy giving orders down a comms phone.







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WIP wounded guardsman, 2nd update

In the process of doing his bare leg, and I found a suitable head for him in the form of Kal Jericho's sidekick, Scabbs. Looks appropriately unique I think.








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Veteran Squad B, Sergeant.

Thats the new Iron hand Straken legs with a fw torso. The entire squad B will be charging into the fray, and those are some quite nice legs to use for that purpose. Got big plans for Straken's torso though .









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Quick view of how I'll paint the white.

Got pissed off painting dozens of layers over a black undercoat to highlight my way up to white, so I'm going over a white primer now. I've concocted a wash consisting of GW blue wash, badab black, blue ink, black ink, ghost grey, thinner and water. It looks quite effective IMO.




---------------------------

Next post?

Probably some WIP shots later this week, and... wait for it... some painted guys!!!

First off, the Commissar looks ace! From a couple of angles the head looked like it was bent at too acute an angle, but in the shot of him looking down the sights of his gun it looks just right. Excellent use of what I view as a 'classic' model.

Next, really like what you have done to alter the Commander the wounded trooper is coming along great. Is there some way you can make the bandaged hand to be gripping the box he is sitting on? Otherwise he looks a tad unbalanced perhaps.

Lastly brilliant use of the Straken legs, though I'm assuming his base will have a small pipe/debris the sergeant is leaping over?

Custom wash is looking good too.

I'm really looking foward to the painted guys! Keep up the good work.

Oshunai wrote:First off, the Commissar looks ace! From a couple of angles the head looked like it was bent at too acute an angle, but in the shot of him looking down the sights of his gun it looks just right. Excellent use of what I view as a 'classic' model.

Cheers! Yeah, his head is fine IMO. I had it tilted slightly back so it looks like he is executing someone in disgust .

Oshunai wrote:Next, really like what you have done to alter the Commander the wounded trooper is coming along great. Is there some way you can make the bandaged hand to be gripping the box he is sitting on? Otherwise he looks a tad unbalanced perhaps.

The hand touches the box when he isn't sat on his blue tac cushion (he falls over if I don't have it there), so thats fine.

Oshunai wrote:Lastly brilliant use of the Straken legs, though I'm assuming his base will have a small pipe/debris the sergeant is leaping over?

Custom wash is looking good too.

I'm really looking foward to the painted guys! Keep up the good work.

Yeah I have some nice resin bases I'll use for the models.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

Just a quick post, as I am getting ready to go to work, but I think that commisar is perhaps the most epic win there can possibly be in a single model. The body is epic win, the cane is perhaps ultimate win, and the "come meet your fate, prick!" tilt to the head made me smile

Pure win.

Will comment on the other stuff later

PS: The wash looks great too.

Nice dramatic commissar, the only way it would be cooler was if the cape billowed more. But's awesome as is.

Lol cheers guys .

I wouldn't have minded the cape billowing more (like that guy made by... hell dorado(??) who is holding a telescope and his cape is billowing out behind him), but it would have been a conversion job of epic difficulty. I thought it looked good as it was and I didn't want to risk ruining the model.

They are all looking good. I would, however, say that Blodniek's head looks a bit odd. I *think* shortening the neck and building up a large collar around it would help make the head actually look like part of the model. Currently it looks like it's sort of... floating?

If you look at the original model (and the rest of the Cadian range) the armour basically covers most of the neck area due to it's bulk. If you take into account the cloak he's wearing as well as the armour, Blodniek shouldn't really have any neck visible. Creed's model is another good example of this

Ok thanks. I think you're right actually - I'm going to give him a collar I think.

Just to frighten you all, I am about to dissect a FW limited edition thunderbolt pilot .

I have one of those. I think as far as I'm going to go is to give him a las pistol (when I find one) as he'll be my Master of the Fleet. Good luck

Its gone pretty well in all honesty. I boiled his left arm and bent it out the way so I could get at his torso, and then cut off his head and arms below the shoulder pads. I'm left with a torso - I'm using him for my medic, he should look pretty cool. Not sure what I'll do with the rest of the bits yet, though I daresay I'll find a use for them .

You can now say he is compleatly armless.

*Badum Tush!*