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Having considered the issues in my last post, I decided to start with the weapon attachment to the turret. I quite like the Gun mount, a small piece of plastic with the circular indents supplied by GW, however in my minds eye those indents are always holes leading all the way through. So that was my first job with a 1.5mm drill, it is lucky I often check how things are going when I am drilling in plastic, because I realised of all things the indented holes on each side don't actually line up. To get around the problem I only drilled to midway with each hole, luckily the holes are only slightly off so one can still see through the holes and not notice the mis-alignment.

Once the gun mount was complete, I also cut the storm bolter off the sprue, and check all the pieces for fit. Everything lined up ok, and the small pegs on the gun mount held the stormbolter attached. Now as I wanted to make weapon interchangable, I would have to replace the small pegs on the gun mount with magnets, and fill the holes in the stormbolter with magnets also. A bit of measuring took place, and I worked out that 2mm magnets could be put into either part of the storm bolter, and two 1mm magnets back to back could be placed into the gun mount where the pegs had been.

Here are a couple of pictures showing the stormbolter and gun mount when complete: -



and after gluing the stormbolter halves together: -



In case you are worried about mould lines etc, they would be removed when I had completed all the testing for the weapons/ gun mount.

The first weapon had gone so simply, I just knew this one had to be harder, and it was a lot harder. Firstly the joint into which the gun mount sits, was actually father apart than the Storm bolter, and in addition there was only a partial hole in the ammo container, this would make it hard to fit and glue a magnet. The magnet in the gun side went easily enough, once again another 2mm magnet sufficed, however with the ammo container I had to extend the container to get a closer fit to the magnet. Plasticard once again to the rescue, and with some slight adjustment I had created a steady place that could take a 1mm magnet. Unfortunately the added thickness of plasticard pushed the socket where the ammo container rested and the ammo container itself apart, another thin piece of plasticard between them and we everthing was working again.

Here are the pictures of the finished Heavy Stubber and gun mount, note the white plasticard work to make it all fit properly and hold the second magnet: -



and after gluing: -



Finally here are a couple of shots showing the gun mount in-situ on the hatch, I need to make a secure mechanism for that next ... a modellers work is never done!





Tomorrow I think I will get some more sculpting done, as a break from magnets and tanks ... it is a different pace, much slower, and in some ways more rewarding.

Last night I forgot the post the final photo for the above post showing the hatch gun mount in place without the weapons: -



Obviously it was a bit late last night

Having read through all your vehicle work again, I can say with confidence this project is getting steadily more epic. Excellent work!

Well I hope so, Epic is always good ... although this evening is sculpting time, I want to finish a pair of legs and a couple more pair of arms!

However I am considering my next Forgeworld purchase, this might well be the last for a while. I want to get a superheavy tank for my Steel Legion and preferred the new Shadowsword / Stormlord over the Baneblade.

Looking at the available options on the Forgeworld website I came to the following conclusions: -

1. I did now want an all resin vehicle, which narrowed the options considerably. Resin is harder to convert than plastic on many levels.
2. Of the remaining choices there were two variants, the ARKURION PATTERN, and the Death Korps ARKURION PATTERN.
3. Given these two similar choices I had to make decisions based upon the differences and which were closer to the "Steel Legions". First off the Death Korps had air filtration systems which worked well with the steel legion (gas masks all the time), and finally the gun housing on the Death Korps Arkurion Pattern looked "better" to me than the simple plate on the normal one. So Death Korps variant was the one.
4. At this stage the decision became between different variants of the vehicle, ShadowSword, StormSword or StormBlade. I was troubled by the fact that the first two were supplied as basic plastic kits from GW themselves,although I prefered the Death Korps styling. If I was to look at making an tank with interchangable weapons, the best choice would be to get the Stormblade, as it was the one which Games Workshop did NOT make, and then at a later stage I could make or buy the weapons and make a swappable version which game me all the vehicle options including the Stormblade.

Ok, so Death Korps of Krieg Stormblade Arkurion Pattern was the one I wanted, it would give me all the variable options I prefer for a vehicle and at the same time had the cool Death Korps look with the air / engine filtration systems. <click> purchased!



Image copyright Forgeworld

At the same time I got some Medsua shells, Chimera armoured skirts and a Death Korps Thudd gun (to complete my artillery collection).

That should wrap up all my Steel Legion purchases for a while!

Nice, i like the massive plasma cannon on that thing, although if it blows your amry is going to be in for a shock, but im sure that will add to the fun, the work on the sponson mounted weapons looks good, and im glad that your getting back to sculpting again.

are you going to mass produce a bunch of the steel legionars for your army?

Once other pairs of legs and arms are sculpted, yes indeed I will

Oh I like your avatar btw .. where did you get it

<grins>

I've started a death korps army (thanks to your take on the IG models actually) and I don't think I can stress enough how much I envy the depth of your pockets dear sir.


I want that super heavy so bad (although regular inf. would prob. be good to start with, right ? ;P) And I just LOVE the look of 40k plasma weaponry as well, which just adds more to my jealousness ;P

Haha I agree with the above, (Muller), your pockets are deep indeed ! Shortly mine will be too and i can splash out on more DKOK infantry yay!
Ahem.

Back on topic looking good man, very nice magnetising work aswell looking good alround Bravo.

Wolf

Deep pockets come from working hard and being old

Anyway the final part of my Leman Russ turret order arrived after a month's wait, this should give me ability to change between any of the available leman russ weapons, and I will be making the Punisher and Eradicator weapons systems myself: -



More on the Leman Russ multi-weapon as the project progresses.

In addition I received some ultra fine photo-etch 1mm high numbers & letters, there have a number of uses for vehicles and general modelling: -



The more I use photo-etch on models, the more I consider trying to make some of my own specifically for this project, and possibly for other space marine projects.

Last night went well, I have some pictures I need to prepare and upload showing the sculpting progress from last night. They should be up shortly.

I've seen home photo etch kits, I've got FW photo etch parts but have never really used them. What is so grand about them?

Ultrafine Detail ... the ability to make very fine detail items that are true to scale, and detailed beyond the limitations of plastic parts.

Ahhh deepd pockets from being old, damn thats where im going wrong, Anyhoo, looking good, you have inspired me to do the same on all my tanks !

Such agood idea to magnetise things and this has shown me the awesome potntial! Thanks


Wolf

jabbakahut wrote:I've seen home photo etch kits, I've got FW photo etch parts but have never really used them. What is so grand about them?

Just have a look at my blogs and you can see some of the options that Photo etch gives a modeller.

In particular as Argos points out its the ability to super detail to a level past plastic or resin casting.

Transparent Grilles that you can see through into the inside of an engine deck, fenders and armour panels that you can wear and damage very easily in a natural way, as well as super detailed fully functioning storage containers and crates etc.

Photo etch really can bring a model to life.

What FW produce is only Photo etch symbols, but other companies make complete uprgade kits that cover everything.

Indeed it can, I have a Micromark PRO-ETCH PHOTO ETCH SYSTEM on the way as we speak. I hope to start making some kits for common imperial guard vehicles for myself

How do you sculpt the helmets on them? Not the mask but the helmet that looks like its out of WWII.

As you can see here, its sculpted with green stuff as the picture here shows: -

The Helmet is very German Paratrooper circa WW2.

Looks great though and fits the setting brilliantly.

Ohhh a photo etch system, let me know what you think of that. I'm hoping to get an Etch mate soon myself.

The small letters and numbers are great where did you get them? I've seen people do similar things by shaving the letters off plastic sprues.

I have the Etch mate, and the mission models roller very good tools! The small letters and numbers are made by Aber, and I got them from E-Bay. I was planning to do some in detail projects with the photo-etch System when I get it and have some practice. I was thinking some fine etched panels for the various tanks, and possibly some armour edging for space marines etc.

Last night I returned to sculpting and figure work after a break where I had been working on my Medusa model and painting. I like sculpting, however of all the things I work on it is the thing I find hardest to do. It is this that means I tend to sculpt when I feel in the mood, rather than often and frequently.

Two new items were started last night, the first is the simplest and will require little sculpting, but the item needed preparation, so the cadian shoulder pad was cut away, and the area filed down to a reasonable shape and size for a shoulder. In addition the wrist was cut down also and smoothed off, in preparation for the glove: -



Next up, I started work on the long coat legs from the Cadian command box. This will be a relatively simple piece of work, the coat needs adjusting so that it doesnt go across to the right side of the figure and instead closes in the middle, to match the steel legion standard. In addition, the boots need to be changed to the SL style, and fancy buttons and fixings need to be added to make it office worthy. I adjusted the coat last night: -



Moving on, I needed to make some changes to a previous sculpting project, the pointing arm, specifically the glove. It resembled a rubber glove instead of a leather gauntlet, due to the smooth nature of the wrist, it needed some folds and weight added to it, I was happier with the final result: -



After that fix, I next did some work on an existing project and started work on the final stage of the running/jogging legs. Starting at the back of the figure, I added the hard edge to the bottom of the coat, and built up the corner points, before extending it around the coat, I got about 25% done, and will be doing the remainder tonight: -



The edging process is usually slow going as one has to blend the added material into the existing sculpt so that there are no visible joins. I use a Wax Carver #5 ( I must remember to supply a picture of it tonight), which has a nice end for burnishing, which is the name of smoothing action one uses. The boots on these legs also need to moved to the SL standard.

Last figure work for the night was further progress on the bare head with gas mask, I extended the gas mask strap over the head to join the back, I need to add a buckle at the join point still. There are still two more straps to do, and to rebuild the ears, once done this will give a nice alternative head, and will match the finished helmet I already have (which can be slung from a belt): -



There was also another sculpting project started last night, which will be shown in the next post, with an explanation.

Wow, that army is taking shape rapidly. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

With the arrival of the new Command boxes for Imperial Guard, we received a number of flags, some like the cadian flag are customised to those regiments, others like the sunburst with the skull inside it are more generic. I had planned to do some regimental/platoon flags for my steel legion especially after the description of the Steel Legion in the new IG codex cites Commisar Yarrick saying "So raise high the black banners of vengance - now is our time". With words like those one has to respond and get the Black banners flying!!

Obviously I haven't numbered my regiment, as I need to peruse the various sources of decals (Death Korps from FW, Imperial Guard from FW, Imperial Guard from GW) to decide which would be the best number to use (most occurring or easy to generate number). So I will have to leave a space for the number, and instead concentrate on the background and history of the numberless regiment. Here I started to take inspiration from all the sources of information I could find about the steel legions of Armageddon, which are sadly not many. The books in question are Codex Armageddon, Imperial Guard 4th edition codex, Imperial Guard 5th edition codex and the Black Libraries Battle for Armageddon sourcebook. In addition I have some online sources, including some of the content from the Armageddon website when it was still up.

Taking all these sources into account, the field is wide open for historical regiments. After the second war for Armageddon was over, a number of almost destroyed regiments which had served admirably were put to rest, and their insignia, history and backgrounds were recorded for posterity, this was all under the assumption that the threat to Armageddon was finished fifty years ago. With the renewed threat to Armageddon a lot of these cached regiments were refounded using their previous history to inspire and motivate their new troops. Knowing this I could have some historical background for my regiment, citing specific battles and locations from the second war for Armageddon five decades ago. The historical background of the 2nd war was recorded in some nice detail in the Battle for Armageddon source book and as I flesh out the history that will be my main source of inspiration. As a side bonus, the flora and fauna of Armageddon was documented in the same book, so I will when making bases and a display stand have some unique plants and animals to decorate them with.

In addition knowing I wanted a typical Ash waste (grey and white, with some rotting flesh highlights) I would be placing my force in relatively close proximity to a Hive, so one of the defensive lines most probably. All of this added detail will focus my work on the bases when I begin work on them eventually, and keep a cohesive picture of what's happening to them and where the unit is. This will hopefully keep the final outcome cohesive and add to the overall level of detail for the unit.

Anyway back on track, we were talking about the banners. While perusing the Battle for Armageddon book, there was an emblem used for Armageddon in the book, which was created specifically after the second war to represent the struggle and sacrifice of the people of Armageddon: -



While considering the emblem I came to the conclusion it would perfectly represent the newly presented flag of a second war regiment refounded to fight in the 3rd war. Rapidly putting two and two together I realised the new flag in the Cadian command set with the skull in a sunburst could be altered to fit my needs. By removing the skull and the scrolls I could sculpt the sun rays and towering hive spire onto the flag. One thing held me back though, the flag had been shot up and had a purity seal attached to it. So first off I needed to remove the purity seal, and begin to rebuild the holes in the flag: -



As you can see I am about 1/3 of the way through the process, and once all the green stuff has set it needs to be sanded with a very fine sander to make sure it is flush with the flag perfectly. Once the flag has been repaired, I will clean off the skull and scrolls and beign work sculpting in the blank spot. In addition I will need to add some scroll work in other places on the flag for the eventually to be chosen regimental number / name / slogan.

As I have always liked the mini drama that the regimental banner of the Vostroyans represents (its very striking), I will eventually make my own!

Lol, what sort of fauna lives in a place like Armageddon? mechanical deer? Just doesn't seem likely you'll have many non mechanized or poisoned animals. Anyway, good luck with that. You'll make it work some way of another, you have so far.

Wonderful stuff, as ever, Brother A!

I especially lurv that BasiMeduGrif. It's a great bit of conversion work, all that magnetizing.

Your paint scheme is coming along nicely too.

Keep it up!

Impressive work! I've always liked the idea of the steel legion and even contemplated starting an army at one point, but the sculpts weren't quite my favorite. You've done quite a job in moving the image forward. Kudos!

I love the attention to detail on everything from the basic trooper's kit to the excellent closed-topped artillery. Are you planning to sculpt a small variety of troopers to cast and then mix-and match arms and such?

However you move forward, keep up the great work.

@ Lord Kaesar II : Lots of Fauna basically, some very nasty plants.

@ GitSmack : I plan to reproduce the entire leg and arm range of the Cadians in the style of the Steel Legion (possibly some of the Catachan too).

Well it was a pleasant return home tonight, as in the fastest time I have ever seen Forgeworld delivered my last order all complete. So here are the obligatory pictures of the items delivered and then all the pieces for my army will be in place apart from the sculpted items!

To start with here are the Stormblade pictures: -

First off the main body plate: -


Then the Plasma weapon and engine plate: -


Followed by a couple of pictures of the remaining bits and pieces: -




In addition the plastic baneblade (not stormsword) sprues were supplied.

Next up was the Thuddgun, the final piece of artillery I was looking for (the colossus can come later). All my initial testing shows it will fit the gun carriage like the heavy mortart, and in addition I could mount it into the body of the Basilisk / Medusa / Griffon Mortar both in open and enclosed mode with perfect fit. So I might well be making my own custom mobile Thudd gun on its own chimera, I wonder what to call it ... obviously some mythological creatures name, but which one ?



Lastly the Chimera extra armour and medusa shells, the extra armour is the final piece of the chimera puzzle for me, now I just need to work out a way of fitting it. The medusa shells are for show and to make custom arms holding the shells.



Tomorrow hopefully I will have some more sculpting to show ... although it is getting late here!

You are some sort of a monster.

You're doing an entire guard army with that kind of modelling!?

Give me deep pockets now so I can do what you're doing but with DKoK

Somehow the plasma blastgun looks about ten times more brutal than normal in that picture...

I heart this project.

This is very, very impressive Brother Argos. The Stormblade looks promising, but I can't help but wonder if you are in fact completely mental...

For a name for your Thudd Gun on a Chimera - how about a Eurayle - it's from the Greek Gorgon, but called the "Far Springer" (with Medusa being "the Queen")