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Awesome gobbo!

@Almarine:
Thanks and welcome!
To be honest, this Finecasts are just awful... The details are nice and sharp indeed, but the poses of miniatures are somehow ridiculous and almost impossible to change. Not speaking of quality... I've bought them at the very beginning of my hobby, blinded by the euphoria... I guess some of you might know this feeling... and for a few month they had been gathering dust on the shelf, before I had a fresh look at them. Now the converting is the only option for me and I have to say it's damn fun

@El Vic:
Done and done
Also I like your idea about oily surfaces, but the Grot is already covered with varnish, so I'll keep this in mind for some future works. Sounds challenging...

@Tortured-Robot:
Thank you for the suggestion. That's what I've done. The heavy rust is no more

@MrMerlin:
Thank you!

@Norn King:
Cheers!
Though the credits for conversion goes to Storag


Anyway, good news everyone! My paint job was approved by the "client" (though he doesn't pay me at all) so the Grot was assembled and got a solid coat of matt varnish! The pics will be as soon as I'll make myself a propper lightbox at last.
And to not to leave this post without an update, here's a pic of little progress I did on Plasma gunner:


After some thinking, I've decided to change his left hand aswell, to get a more realistic pose and some room for the Blood Raven icon. Also I've added some small details to his goggles and knee-pads. Since the position of the gun was changed, I had to reshape the old wires, but the process went bad (hard-bending guitar strings be damned!), thus I have to redo it anew... Beeing lazypoke, I just ordered some Flexible Resin Power Cables from Zinge. Guitar strings are almost impossible to prime and paint anyway... So the nearly finished conversion is not that finished now

That minigun marine is awesome

Which zinge ammo belt have you used on him (size)?

ishkatar...^^

the plasma man looks very good... and yep... now that zinge has all that cool belts and cables... who needs guitar strings anymore^^ also i saw this...:

http://www.masq-mini.com/aid-240-TubeTool-Set.html

maybe this might come in handy for you...

@Illumini:
Thank you!
I've used the Large Ammo Belt, marked LA1 at Zinge's store.

@El Vic:
Cheers!
And thanks A LOT for the link! The sculptor in my local hobby store told me about this tool, but unfortunatly I forgot the site name... I definitely should get one - having an easy oportunity to do something by yourself is always better, than rely on orders.

i think with that tool you are set for eternity...also...given the simplicity of the item...one could make his own...it is doable...you just had to be good at straight cutting...hmmm... now i have to think that for myself...^^

That's an option aswell, if I wasn't so unsure about my "straight cutting" skills... Though, won't try - won't know! Also it's possible to find something similar in the tools shops, I guess. Our hobby is all about searching after all

yeah.... i think you are up to something good...toolshops might actually have something to work around that... and a bit of time then would save you the better part of 20€s... nothing to be sneezed at^^

Indeed.

At last, I've made some kind of a crappy Lightbox and took some decent shots of the Grot. You can read the full story about this wonderful conversion in the owner's thread.

And the pic, of course:

oggled on that update already... mate...great work!!!

Wish you people werent as good with the greenstuff, anything past plugging gaps or fur and im screwed.

@El Vic:
Cheers, mate!

@Tortured-Robot:
Actually, I wish I could do better.

Anyway, those little plastic fellas on my shelf started to miss me so after a pretty long time away from my workbench (All those awesome computer games be damned!) I'm back on a track. And I got some pics!
Another long-running project of mine which I polish and upgrade again and again seems to be close to release at last. I've made some changes and also replaced old guitar strings and metal wires with Zinge's Power Cables, as is is much more convenient in terms of bending, assembling and paiting.

The guy got himself a nice and simple base with a common for all my characters nameplate:


And pre-assembled shot:


A few more fixes and he will be ready for priming!

Lovely conversion, I'm really loving the green stuff work.

Very nice

That looks great!

now that was a long wait for a new update... stunning as it is...i got to ask...what has been keeping you away from dakka for so long?

@Reaper Man 2020:
Thanks, mate!

@Tobber1202:
Cheers!

@Farty Wiffmas:
Thank you!

@El Vic:
Thanks!
It's good to be back... Though I never was away from Dakka, but kept silently lurking around, reading the stuff and dreaming...
Anyway, the main reason for my absence were awesome computer games - Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed 2, Witcher 2 and, of course, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Still, I haven't manage to complete any of those due to a pretty limited amount of time, yet the gaming process has consumed my spare time rather effectively, if not to say - wholly. There are so much interesting stuff around...

I love those Riddick sunglasses^^
Really nice work. : )

gaming instead of hobby work is one thing...lurking...cardinal offence...i think you have to repent in the deepest manner!!! ^^

good to hear some lifesigns yet^^

and now we need more...of anything/everything...^^

LOl at your post where you said : Good news Everyone! It imediatly reminded me of professor Farnsworth from Futurama.
The marine looks amazing so far too!

Wow amazing attention to detail. Great stuff!

My GS'ing skills are lacking... Might be time to practice them. Damn inspirational blogs...

@IPS:
Cheers!
Indeed, this goggles were highly inspired by the Riddick's aswell.

@El Vic:
Well, gaming is also a hobby, though not as productive... And yes, the repenting via painting and glueing is in progress! Ah, well, and via posting pics, of course!
So, more is coming! Slowly...

@Norn King:
Thanks!
I'm a big fan of Futurama series and this particular phrase.

@Vent:
Thank you!
GS is a very uncomfortable material to work with and takes some practice to get used to it. One nice fella and a great sculptor from my local hobby store adviced me to try out the Magic Sculpt thingie, wich is much more easier and less frustrative to work with, as he told, and I think this guy knows what he's talking about.

Anyway, the repent via pics:

The base seems to be finished as the Red part of armour. I was thinking about trying out some weathering, yet the most part of armour is hidden behind the huge gun so I will practice this technic some other time.

after seeing his name tag... i got this idea... make a pair of SM... one you already named "stain" and no make another and you could name him "laurel"... (ok...cheap pun...but with my pronunciation...it works^^)

i have to admit, the base looks already good and finished...the cape alone gives me still a wanting for improvement...but i see again you have gone to the zenithal methode? looks very good on the armored red...

and i do accept your try to redeem yourself

I like this idea about the names. Kinda funny.
Yes, zenithal. A good and fairly easy way to make a boring flat surface much more interesting.
I also decided to learn this NMM thingie and painted the skull, the rim of the Veteran Crux and the goggles strap using this technik. I think I should paint the inner ribs of the Crux with gold aswell... And add more depth to the gold.

Anyway, the body is almost finished:

ishkatar wrote:I like this idea about the names. Kinda funny.
Yes, zenithal. A good and fairly easy way to make a boring flat surface much more interesting.
I also decided to learn this NMM thingie and painted the skull, the rim of the Veteran Crux and the goggles strap using this technik. I think I should paint the inner ribs of the Crux with gold aswell... And add more depth to the gold.

Anyway, the body is almost finished:

Looking great! Your NMM is coming along quite nicely and your marines have so much character! Do you have a list you're working towards, or are you just building what is fun?

I wouldn't paint the ribs gold, I like the contrast as is...

Keep up the good work!
Rawson

Thanks, Rowson!

Well, I have a virtual "to do" list, something like a great plan, but mostly I'm just building what's fun, depending on ideas, available materials and mood.
In a far future it's suppose to be an army of following composition: a mix of Command and Tactical squad (I want to save myself time making boring Tacticals and just throw in some regular SM to bulk up the common Command squad), Storm squad, some tank hunter infantry, like Devastator squad, Dedicated transport (I want to try and screth build something different from basic Rhinos. I even have an idea for this transport), two converted Dreadnoughts (well, at least one), a small scout squad on Hoverbikes and probably a Terminator squad. Of course I will write a Codex for this bunch with some fluff and special rules.

very good nmm work...and i second rawsons musings about the ribs in the crux... it looks already as good as one might hope for!!!

what i now really like the best is that shading work on the shoulder pads... that is absolutly cool work there!


and i am now very intrigued to see/hear more about your rhino scratchbuild conversion idea...

Awesome work! Your painting skills are amazing!

@El Vic:
Cheers!
I've repainted this NMM anyway to get more convincing effect... Not sure if it worked out, but I like the new version much more.
Well, I want to see it bymyself, I mean, not only in my head... The overall idea is pretty awesome, but we can dream whatever we want - it's nothing but imagination until the real work is done, wich won't happen soon, I suppose.
But a man can dream... A man can dream...

@Norn King:
Thank you, mate!

Anyway, good news, everyone! The plasma guy is fully painted and varnished! And... No pics yet. Sorry.
Of course, I will share it as soon as I'll make some propper photoes. For now I can say that things turned out much better then I've expected and this one seems to be my best paint job so far. A pretty lame teaser, I know

Wow Ish! This guys is looking amazing!