Darkon 3rd "Phantoms" Imperial Guard Armyblog | Updated 01-10-2017

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**haizelhoff**

Well, I have to say I thought that the first car looked sweet, but your going to make 6 of them :O . You know I love your work.

EDIT: Lol for a week I will be Greek, I'm off on vacation in Crete.

**Xenon**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
BTW: Your "counts-as" Chimeras are how big relative to a regular Chimera? Same dimensions?

They are pretty much exactly the same dimensions as regular ones.. I'll buy couple of regular ones in some point so I can give you some comparison shots!

haizelhoff wrote:Well, I have to say I thought that the first car looked sweet, but your going to make 6 of them :O . You know I love your work.

EDIT: Lol for a week I will be Greek, I'm off on vacation in Crete.

Thank you very much! Yeah I am aiming for making about 10 chimeras and then some x amount of russes for starters.. Later maybe more if I need and if I am still sane.

Thats cool.. And have a nice vacation there!

I wish I would be in Greece now too.. It is cold and dark here at the moment. And it is propably going to snow tomorrow.

So welcome back to grim and dark Finland after your vacation!

**A Black Ram**

This is a comment for page 1;

Look at the guy named ''Scarface''.

Now, look up Rameriez from Manhunt.

Hmmmmmm ?

**Xenon**

A Black Ram wrote:This is a comment for page 1;

Look at the guy named ''Scarface''.

Now, look up Rameriez from Manhunt.

Hmmmmmm ?

Is this a good or bad thing?

I really wasn't suppoosed to make it look like it.. I've never really even played manhunt.

But yeah they have something in common... I need to rename him I think.

**Xenon**

Just some couple little things I did yesterday.

**Iamwalrus**

You know, you should do a tutorial of your chimeras!

**kastellan**

I agree with the tutorial, I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in them.

**JohnHwangDD**

Xenon wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
BTW: Your "counts-as" Chimeras are how big relative to a regular Chimera? Same dimensions?

They are pretty much exactly the same dimensions as regular ones..

I'll buy couple of regular ones in some point so I can give you some comparison shots!

I am aiming for making about 10 chimeras and then some x amount of russes for starters.. Later maybe more if I need and if I am still sane.

Thanks for clarifying.

BTW, you don't need to buy "regular" ones - they won't match! A couple pictures with a tape measure or ruler for scale are more than sufficient.

You're a bit of a masochist if you're scratch-building 10 Chimeras with more Russes - I oughta know!

**Punisher91090**

I hope you don't mind my asking but what tools exactly are you using to cut and shape the plasticard? I build custom vehicles myself with what I have... which isn't much (thin card board and card stock) and I use a razor blade for all my cutting. I would just like to know what tools so that I can pick some up along with plasticard to make more vehicles.

**Xenon**

Sorry for late replies guys. I am currently in another town spending my vacation. Therefore there will be no new updates either in short time. But when I get back home I'll get back on the business.

Iamwalrus wrote:You know, you should do a tutorial of your chimeras!

Well I must see. I can't promise anything yet. But I'll consider it! At least I want to work out my army first before I make tutorial. It is main priority at the moment.

JohnHwangDD wrote:
Thanks for clarifying.

BTW, you don't need to buy "regular" ones - they won't match! A couple pictures with a tape measure or ruler for scale are more than sufficient.

You're a bit of a masochist if you're scratch-building 10 Chimeras with more Russes - I oughta know!

No problem!

If I buy regular ones they will be converted at least.

To fit the style of other army.

And yes I think I am some kind of masochist..

Punisher91090 wrote:I hope you don't mind my asking but what tools exactly are you using to cut and shape the plasticard? I build custom vehicles myself with what I have... which isn't much (thin card board and card stock) and I use a razor blade for all my cutting. I would just like to know what tools so that I can pick some up along with plasticard to make more vehicles.

Well my favourite tool is scissors.

I think it is the easiest way to cut plasticard. Just draw a line to plasticard with pen and then cut along the line with sharp scissors.

**Punisher91090**

swwet cuz my friend bought all these sculpting tools and stuff and like a razor saw for cutting plasticard and it always looks rough. So i'm glad its as simple as a pen and scissors.

**Kynelius**

Punisher91090 wrote:sweet cuz my friend bought all these sculpting tools and stuff and like a razor saw for cutting plasticard and it always looks rough. So i'm glad its as simple as a pen and scissors.

After switching to scissors I still have the saw for things that scissors cant handle, usually plastic or metal on the actual models. Scissors are god tier plasticard cutters. Typically the saw isn't the final step when cutting. Gotta clean that gak up man.

**Xenon**

Punisher91090 wrote:swwet cuz my friend bought all these sculpting tools and stuff and like a razor saw for cutting plasticard and it always looks rough. So i'm glad its as simple as a pen and scissors.

Yeah. And you can also draw straight line with pen and then make straight cut along the drawn line using ruler and sharp hobby knife. Then bend the plasticard against some hard surface with metallic ruler. That way you can make plasticard snap along the line you want and get clean result!

**JohnHwangDD**

Xenon wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:BTW, you don't need to buy "regular" ones - they won't match! A couple pictures with a tape measure or ruler for scale are more than sufficient.

You're a bit of a masochist if you're scratch-building 10 Chimeras with more Russes - I oughta know!

If I buy regular ones they will be converted at least. To fit the style of other army.

And yes I think I am some kind of masochist..

This reminds me I ought to get busy on my Atlas, Basilisk, Deathstrike and Manticore kits...

____

Punisher91090 wrote:I hope you don't mind my asking but what tools exactly are you using to cut and shape the plasticard? I build custom vehicles myself with what I have... which isn't much (thin card board and card stock) and I use a razor blade for all my cutting.

"razor blade" meaning box cutter, or something else?

Either way, ew. Not such good control with those tools, although box cutter might be OK with the right blade (scalpel shape?)
____

Xenon wrote:Well my favourite tool is scissors. I think it is the easiest way to cut plasticard. Just draw a line to plasticard with pen and then cut along the line with sharp scissors.

I use scissors a lot, the big, super-sharp ones - they're good for irregular shapes and such.
____

Kynelius wrote:After switching to scissors I still have the saw for things that scissors cant handle, usually plastic or metal on the actual models. Scissors are god tier plasticard cutters.

Typically the saw isn't the final step when cutting. Gotta clean that gak up man.

Razor saw is good for metal and tubes (which scissors can't cut, or would crush).

A set of jeweler's files and a fine sanding block are good for cleaning things up. I prefer the sanding block, because it makes the edges flat & "square"
____

Xenon wrote: Yeah. And you can also draw straight line with pen and then make straight cut along the drawn line using ruler and sharp hobby knife. Then bend the plasticard against some hard surface with metallic ruler. That way you can make plasticard snap along the line you want and get clean result!

As I mentioned elsewhere, you can also use a photo cutter for the long, straight cuts. Excellent tool for that job.

**Xenon**

JohnHwangDD wrote:

Xenon wrote: Yeah. And you can also draw straight line with pen and then make straight cut along the drawn line using ruler and sharp hobby knife. Then bend the plasticard against some hard surface with metallic ruler. That way you can make plasticard snap along the line you want and get clean result!

As I mentioned elsewhere, you can also use a photo cutter for the long, straight cuts. Excellent tool for that job.

Hmm never heard of using photo cutter before. But sounds like it could really work. So thanks for sharing! How expensive are those btw? I think should buy one.

**Punisher91090**

When I say razor blade I mean boxcutter. Kynelius has one shaped like a scalpel, I'm just using a boxcutter you could buy at like aco or ace hardware as my only cutting tool other than some pretty sharp scissors.

**Xenon**

Back in business.. I am almost done at shaping the hull. Made some small modifications and changes to it but thats about it now. Just need to glue couple of panels to the back.

Thanks for watching!

**Xenon**

Evening dakka!

I've been on a short brake but now I've got some more work done.. Did little bit those Chimeras and continued assembling my platoon command squad..

Made first turret prototype. Needs still some work of course. I think its nice mix of original chimera turret style and modern.

And this is the situation so far with all the chimeras.

And I needed some meltaguns to my pccs. And I had to convert them somehow so I did few small changes to it.

I need to still put some gs to the gap between gun and stock and make few more of them..

**Viktor von Domm**

i just looked through your thread and i´m amazed.
that is truely a great craftmanship your showing.

love your take on the catechans. the look like they soud be ment to be...

how do you do a berret? i want to do that myself but is it as simple as it looks? i expect there is much more to it tahn just putting a gs blob on the head...

also your chimeras look stunning. they really wet my appetite for tankconstruction on scratch builts...

best wishes for your projects, vik

**Xenon**

Thank you very much Viktor!

Viktor von Domm wrote:how do you do a berret? i want to do that myself but is it as simple as it looks? i expect there is much more to it tahn just putting a gs blob on the head...

Actually Kastellan asked the same thing in the page four in this blog. So I'll quote my answer here.

Xenon wrote:
kastellan wrote:Actually, how did you go about making them?

So how I made them? Well first what you need is sharp hobby knife of something similar. I started cutting slice out of their head. Cut should start from somewhere around the left temple and it should end above their right ear. So basicly you just cut their crown of with a hobby knife. Then tidy the edges so that the head won't look boxy and you can fit the beret more easily. And the reason why you need to cut of the slice from their head is that if you do the beret just to top of their heads will end up looking way too big. So when you cut of the slice it makes it easier to shape up the beret and make it fit better. And remember if your models head was wearing a band, hat or something in his head you should remove all the parts of it. So it won't look like there is another hat under the beret.

And here is one sample picture which is taken from pretty bad angle but this is about what it should look like after you've sliced the crown.
http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Xenon-/Warhammer40k/Imperial%20Guard/?action=view¤t=001-13.jpg

So next you start sculpting a beret. I can't give very specific instruction for this part becouse there is not much to tell.. But I can try give some tips. First of all don't use too much gs.. You can do the beret with one small piece of gs. If you use too much gs you won't get right shape or you end up doing big headed fella. So you need to make couple of them to find the right amount of gs you need. And the shape is one important thing.. I used pretty much same shape we use here in Finland and in many European countries. Remember that there are different types of styles to wear beret so if you like some other more or you find it easier to make you can look for them.

These are just some examples:
This is maybe the most "classic" beret style.. And I Personally like it the most and that was the style I was looking for in my work..
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiedosto:Barett.jpeg
And here is another style. Used much U.S. Army for example.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/YoungestBeret1stBattalion23rdInfantryRegiment.jpg/220px-YoungestBeret1stBattalion23rdInfantryRegiment.jpg
And here is another style.
http://www.sovietgifts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/-1044813602912549700.jpg

So there are many and many different ways to wear the beret.. Find what you like the most and shape it up. Then you need to use some sculpting tool or for example the hobby knife to make black line of the beret.

And the last thing is to make the cockade to it if you like. And then paint it up.. I know there isn't much information of sculpting itself but I think the best way to learn is to try it out yourself. Find some spare heads and start trying it out. Remember use your nails or some sculpting tool in final shaping so you won't leave any fingerprints to the surface.. But if you need better instructions for the sculpting process I can try to make one with the pictures in some point.. But I hope this helped even a bit. Just give it a try and keep practising. After couple of heads you will get the touch.

If you've read it and need more information or advice just holler me and I'll try to help.

**Element206**

Nice replication of the real thing!

**Viktor von Domm**

thanks, i have scrolled over that i guess, tho i remeber seeing that angle shot of your catechan...

but your writen tut helps a lot. very sound tut. and also your links leave me with much info i have now to digest^^

thanks again, vik

**Xenon**

Viktor von Domm wrote:thanks, i have scrolled over that i guess, tho i remeber seeing that angle shot of your catechan...

but your writen tut helps a lot. very sound tut. and also your links leave me with much info i have now to digest^^

thanks again, vik

No problem!

**Arnie_DK**

Damn theese are Awesome!!! Great work!
Is your Chimera inspired by the CV-90 IFV?

And i can see you "missed" the error in the camo. There are a few white stripes along the camo patterns, which actually is a mistake, made by the company who makes the uniforms

Otherwise, you are dead on with the camo. I recognised it right away, when i saw it in the gallery

**Xenon**

Arnie_DK wrote:Damn theese are Awesome!!! Great work!
Is your Chimera inspired by the CV-90 IFV?

And i can see you "missed" the error in the camo. There are a few white stripes along the camo patterns, which actually is a mistake, made by the company who makes the uniforms

Otherwise, you are dead on with the camo. I recognised it right away, when i saw it in the gallery

Thank you Arnie!

My first two Chimeras I posted here were inspired by Warrior IFV, but they ended looking more like Bradleys.

Which isn't bad thing I guess.. The new four chimeras that I am currently building are based on German new Puma IFV.

Here is couple of pics.
Warrior
http://www.enemyforces.net/apc/mcv_80_warrior.jpg
Bradley
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/bradley-4.jpg
Puma
http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/503/puma_2.jpg

But I must say I have built one chimera based on CV-90 but it was my first scratchbuilt tank and it was made of cardboard and foam.

Dimensions were totally wrong and when I did some tanks out of plasticard there was no room for cardboard tanks anymore becouse plastic ones looked so much better.

Also when I started painting it I made wrong choice with camo and it turned out to be a disaster.. Here is a picture of it if you want to take a look at it. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a60/Xenon-/Warhammer40k/Imperial%20Guard/001-12.jpg But I think next Chimeras I'll build will be based on CV-90. It is just so amazing looking and I like the style of it a lot.

And yes I am aware of those white stripes in camo pattern. I decided to leave them out for purpose becouse it would add so much more work and I don't really like the effect of white stripes in camo..

And afterall this game is about future so maybe.. "In grim darkness of 40 millenium... ..."Belgians"... ...finally... ...got their super camo printed in right way"

**Scrazza**

Hmmm, the camo doesn't look that bad. But that's all up to you. Maybe if you tone down the yellow a bit?

**Xenon**

Scrazza wrote:Hmmm, the camo doesn't look that bad. But that's all up to you. Maybe if you tone down the yellow a bit?

You mean the cardboard tank in the link I posted?

Yeah its not that bad but I am not still going use that camo or tank anymore. Yes the yellow could be toned down but I think it would be still little bit odd and it would share opinions too much. So I am going for standard nato style camo. In my opinion it looks much more better and it is something that most of will like and not many will dislike it. And the most important thing that I am happy about it.

Wasn't happy of that salad camo.. It works nicely on troopers but it is just too much at tanks.. It could be some kind of chemical wasteland camo but I've made my final decision and there will be nato camo.

**Scrazza**

Nato camo will work as nicely. If you want any help concerning the Belgian army, just ask. I am Belgian after all. And my dad was in the army a while back. (when he was young

) I showed him this thread and my dad aproves.

Good work.

**Xenon**

Scrazza wrote:Nato amo will work as nicely. If you want any help concerning the Belgian army, just ask. I am Belgian after all. And my dad was in the army a while back. (when he was young ) I showed him this thread and my dad aproves. Good work.

Thanks Scrazza. I really appreciate that!

I don't have any questions at the moment but if something pops up to my mind I shall ask for sure!

And it is very nice to hear that your dad approves my thread too. It means a lot to me!

**Arnie_DK**

Yeah i can see why yo dont use that. Its not bad, the others are just alot cooler

I worked a bit with the Belgians in Kosovo, so got a got look at their uniforms and equipment.

And I can understand you didnt want to paint the white mistakes in their camo, although i dont think it would be corrected in the 41st milennium... They already sent their uniforms back to the company once, to get it corrected, but they made the same mistake again, and then the army just thought: frag it, and went with the uniforms as they where