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Hi all,
I'm completely new to the forums, but it seems like a good place to be, and an excellent forum, so here I am!
I thought I'd start a blog style thread straight away, as I'm currently in the first stages of building a new Imperial Guard army, with an Adeptus Mechanicus theme....

First of all, I have to say I've taken inspiration from a few people who have already done fantastic AdMech armies. The Hoff, and Hortwerth, are just two of these guys. You may recognise some of the techniques used if you've seen their work, but I'm hoping that mine will also have something of their own uniqeness and style...

The plan is to do Magos (part of the ruling Priesthood) and Princeps (Titan Pilots), with Secutor (priests who turn themselves into machines of war) and Moderati (Titan Crew) as Company Command and Platoon Command.

The Skitarii (techguard of the Cult Mechnicus) will fill in as Infantry Squads, and Praetorians (similar to Secutor, but far further towards machine than human) and Ogryns. As for Heavy Weapons Squads, I have an idea for tracked machines with Lascannons or Heavy Bolters on top, controlled remotely by a techpriest.

Pyskers can be replaced with Electro-Priests (crazed priests who cover themselved in Electoo tattoo circuits allowing them to build up tremendous amounts of electrical current and release it in blasts, or use it as a magnetic field to repel ammunition, which fits perfectly with the Pysker rules in the new codex.)

Best of all, my Russ and Artillery will be replaced with scratch built Knight Titans... remember these Epic guys?



Heres the pics of what I've been working on:

The Skitarii-




I did two different styles of hood... in the end, I decided to go with number 1... good choice?



The Praetorian-




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Update- Can you work out what the Praetorian weapon is made from?
Lots of wires added to both models too.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
And of course, the first Skitarii to be painted-




Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'll also let you all in on a few more of my ideas...

My command squad will be the Titan Crew from Forge World-

A rather expensive affair as I'll have to buy two packs at £14 each, and one of the Princeps will be chucked into my never-ending bits box. Sigh...

I'll be adding a Chimera to the command squad, although I have an interesting idea...
Something along the lines of an AT-TE from Star Wars...

The difference will be that mine should have a flat roof, so my command squad can stand on top.... I'll also be doing a glass screen all the way around this platform, perhaps with strategic information projected onto the screen and with the obligatory bullet holes and other damage..... We'll see soon enough.

My Penal Legion will also be Arco-Flagellents and I intend to make these from plastic Ghouls from the WHFB range.

Gah, I can't wait.

Remember that if you want some bigger and naster stuff you can always take a few things from the Daemon and Witchhunters Codexi.
Some Grey Knights or Sisters of Battle could add some nice and really fluff lasting and hitting power to your forces.

What you have already done is nice, keep up the good work.

Very nice work so far. I really dig the skitari. Those could make some really cool IG

nice job id say the praetorian is an epic LR

Nice idea on the electro-priests! When I thought of the parallels myself I only came up with the idea of archeotech weapons. I have to say I would have initially gone for hood no. 2 but I really like the look of the finished Skitarii. The Praetorian is looking pretty cool, but I assume there's still more to be done on the model?

If you're interested in an AT-TE have you seen this thread?

Good work so far!

There are a few of us who are starting work on some Ad Mech around here. I was thinking of using the Chaos dex till the new IG one came out and I was like "Bingo".

I am waiting on my plastic bitz order so that I can start my test models for my Skitarii.

http://z6.invisionfree.com/adeptusmechanicus/

Here is a forum I ran across that has a lot of good stuff on it, lots of good project pics and such for inspiration. And it is decently active as well.

Eric

"Can you work out what the Praetorian weapon is made from?"

A bass string head, a guitar string head and a bass string?

"Remember that if you want some bigger and naster stuff you can always take a few things from the Daemon and Witchhunters Codexi. Some Grey Knights or Sisters of Battle could add some nice and really fluff lasting and hitting power to your forces. "

x2

Wow, I have to say I've defiantely found the right forum for 40k. Thanks for all the help and comements.

"Can you work out what the Praetorian weapon is made from?"

A bass string head, a guitar string head and a bass string?

Impressive! 3 Strings, actually.

http://z6.invisionfree.com/adeptusmechanicus/

Here is a forum I ran across that has a lot of good stuff on it, lots of good project pics and such for inspiration. And it is decently active as well.

Just checked that forum out, looks very interesting. Although, also slightly depressing as a lot of the stuff is better than mine haha. I'll strive to do better.

Nice idea on the electro-priests! When I thought of the parallels myself I only came up with the idea of archeotech weapons. I have to say I would have initially gone for hood no. 2 but I really like the look of the finished Skitarii. The Praetorian is looking pretty cool, but I assume there's still more to be done on the model?

Thanks a lot! I'm hoping to do a some interesting things with the Priests.... As for the hoods, to be honest in the end it didn't matter as every hood has turned out slightly different, while still looking fairly similar. The first two were possibly two etremes, the first using too little greenstuff and the second too much. The Praetorian is still work in progress, he still has work to be down on the gun, plus a combat ar, to be added (which I'm still "umm"ing and "ah"ing over, while smashing up old watches for less than satisfactory bits....)

Remember that if you want some bigger and naster stuff you can always take a few things from the Daemon and Witchhunters Codexi.
Some Grey Knights or Sisters of Battle could add some nice and really fluff lasting and hitting power to your forces.

Definately something worth considering, although, what are the rules for this?

If you're interested in an AT-TE have you seen this thread?

Oddly I had stumbled over this at some point in the past, thanks for bringing it to my attention again! Yes I'm hoping for something along those lines, although, like I said before, I'd like a flat roof as I always love a visual representation of models when they are carried in a trasport (I will actually put them on top!) The idea is that it is a mobile command centre, that can take the Company Commander deep into the hearth of the battlefield so he can still issue orders. It will be based on the same piece of concept art as the one used in that thread, the AT-TE (although, I can't win a bloody Chimera on eBay for a decent price! )

I built this for a tourney last saturday to use as a HW team, but now I'm thinking of using it as a sentinal. The Ork Wartrack rear-end is a great piece for small tracked vehicles.

Thanks for the tip about the War Track! Looks great what you've done.
I've been trying to work out how to do a tracked model for a while, all I could think of was using a FoW tank as a base (which I'm wary of doing as its non-GW).

Just a quick update... (the third time I've written the damn thing, once I pressed a link, the second time I
thought I'd posted this morning but can't find it anywhere!)

If anyone has also seen the armly list thread (in the army list section of Dakka, shockingly...) you'll know
a few changes have been made to the list.
One of these is to use the PCS as a cheap and easy way to get 4 flamers in a squad. These guys will also be
jumping out of a Vendetta to land right in the midst of their enemies and unleash fiery hell!

Since I love the idea of this so much (I can smell the burning flesh right now...) I couldn't wait to get
started on making the squad. The first flamer is almost done, replete with additional armour plating to
protect him from the heat, and a rebreather hard wired straight down his throat into his lungs...





I've also had the time to build two new squad members, and almost finish a Sergeant for one of the Infantry
Squads. This guy has a scratch built CCW, as well as a helping "hand" from a servo-arm on his back (although,
this arm is nowhere near as heavy-duty as those employed by the Techpriests or on Servitors.)





What do you think?

Wow Love the mini servo arm. I have always been a fan of AdMech. I have several of the "in progress" lists done by Tim Huckleberry. Now I may have to work on a squad just cause they look cool.

Neil

They look amazing true praise is deserved.

Kungfuhustler wrote:I built this for a tourney last saturday to use as a HW team, but now I'm thinking of using it as a sentinal. The Ork Wartrack rear-end is a great piece for small tracked vehicles.

I love this! PM me the details! Okay now for the real reson Im writing this... HOLY these conversions are awesome! I envy your skills and your army

I like the 'helping hand' guy. Could you post some less blurry pics of the flamer dude? Very cool!

@ Jon: PM'd

Great stuff Jon Kerr. Thats a awesome take on the A M. Looking forward to more.

Sir, I had to drop by and say that your conversions are superb. There are some very good ideas here I may have to steal.

Fantastic conversions!

I love it when people really go through an effort to theme their army.
Keep it up!

I like this a lot I'm doing an ad-mech army as well.
Were did you find the old knights cuz they look really good and i want them now.
Also shouldn't this be in the blog section.

Lord of battles wrote:I like this a lot I'm doing an ad-mech army as well.
Were did you find the old knights cuz they look really good and i want them now.
Also shouldn't this be in the blog section.

What do you mean?
The red Knight in the first post? He's one of the old Epic fellas, and probably only stands an inch tall.
He is also not my model, I just found him on the internet.

What do you mean?
The red Knight in the first post? He's one of the old Epic fellas, and probably only stands an inch tall.
He is also not my model, I just found him on the internet.

Oh OK i thought it was your actual model.

Done a fair bit of work on the Skitarii and finally gotten around to completing them.

I've finished them up by adding some greenstuff details- some chains with mechy trinkets, some scrolls which will be written on during the painting, and some purity seals do add some detail to some of the more bland areas (for example, the flamer canisters, which look a little cartoony to begin with)



The first of the details to be added were the chains. Each chain has an approprately AdMech styled trinket on the end, simply to add detail and a sense of religion and cultist feel to the models.



Added some nice scrolls to the models. I think the detail will really come out in the painting, and a nice bit of freehand will look great.



Purity seals give the model a disntinctly Imperial feel, which given their dark nature and creepy feel puts them back in the Imperial side of the fence (with a heavy dose of suspicion).


At some point, if anyone is interested, I can write some tutorials on how to do this kind of greenstuffing- it's really simple when you work out how to do it,I just seem to have a knack for figuring out the best methods (even if I say so myself, sorry I don't mean it like that...)

Let mw know if you;d like to see that....
Jon

Love those models. It looks like a very cool army. I can't wait to see the whole squad painted!

The greenstuff cogs and parchment seals on the latest Skitarii are very well done. My favorite has got to be the one with the close combat weapon and the extra robotic arm.

I love the look of knight titans and can't wait until you start working on those. Can't wait to see some paint either. I really like your greenstuff hoods.

Keep up the great work!

Lucas

The army looks really good. I'd love to see a tutorial on how you sculpt the hoods.
My only question is on the thin gauge wire used to detail the skitarii. I can't say that I definitely dislike it, but it feels a little to light to have any purpose. It looks alright painted up, but I think it would look better if it were just a tiny bit thicker.
Other than that, I can't wait to see more.

Hello!
Apologies for the lack of updates- the last few things I've been doing I neglected to update about as I wasn't sure if it would work. I think it did- so here are the pictures!

These guys are my Servitors, to be used as Penal Legionarres in the game. The building of them was pretty simple, but please note none are yet finished. I was aiming for them to resemble the 40k Arco Flagellent Damien-1427, a model I like a lot.
Eventually, they will all have leather masks with bionic eyes, similar to Damien. They will all also have syringes full of combat steroids along their spines- one of the models already has these.
There is also a Penal Custodian still to come, although I can't decide how to do him yet.... hmmm.








Just as exciting, I've also been working on the first of the Knight Titans!
I've come to a grinding halt, however. I need YOUR help.
I can't decide how to do the head. Of course, I've been looking at many existing Knights and many people simply opt for a robotic head similar in shape and size to a sentinal cockpit. The Hoff instead opted for an Eagle head, and I think this worked better. The Titans seem to follow an animal trend- the Warhound a wolf/dog with feral features on the face and a low to the ground posture, the Reaver is like a Beetle due to the large carapace and face. Id like for my Knight to follow this trend, but I couldn't think of an animal. An eagle would be an excellent choice- but I feel like I have stolen The Hoff's ideas more than anough already, and I'm worried people will see this as cheating to an extent....

Firstly- can anyone think of an alternative animal?
If I did go with the bird head, how could I build this? I have plenty of plasticard around, but I simply don't know where to start.

What do you think of the progress so far? I wanted to go for a more Mars pattern style Knight, with a rounded carapace and, eventually, shoulder pads, rather than the straight edges like a Lucius pattern.





In other news- I've also been playing around with a new idea. Death Orks of Krieg .
I have some Orks from the Black Reach set (don't we all?) and wanted to get them painted up, but thought I'd have a play with them first. I intend to add bayonets to all the guns, German style helmets, Commisar hats for the Nobz and a greatcoat and Comissar hat for the Warboss. Inspired by the Forge World range for the Death Korps, I'm basically trying to copy all these German style details onto a small Ork force. It should be fun, and if anyone is interested I'll keep you updated.






Oh, and lastly, the tutorials are coming- I even took the pictures and had them ready to start writing- then my computer powersupply blew up so we'll have to wait tilll it gets back so I can retrieve the pictures.

Jon

This is fantastic stuff!

I am just going to move the thread to P&M Blogs forum.

Impressive!

I went for the lazy option on my knight and gave him a sentinel cockpit for a head. Id consider a knightly head though; a guy named Mato Noupa did a brilliant head on warseer.

If you want to go with a beast head a reptilian head may be an option, if not very imperial. The hunchback shape tends to lend itself to that. I'd go for a knightly helmet though, if you don't want a sentinel cockpit.

So... I am a big fan of the stuff you had done previously but I really don't like this.

The flagellant/legionaires are still rough, I understand, but they seem very low-tech. The mindless warrior servitors of the Ad-Mech, IMHO, are going to be more recognizably human and more hi-tech. These would seem at home in an eye of terror campaign.

The Titan... pull that plastic thing off for the love of Pete! Give it a real head in the place of it's head. Perhaps a robotic stegasaurus? I don't know, try to get outside of the typical "Native American spirit totem" (wolf/eagle etc...) thing everybody seems to do. Just a thought.

Deff Korps though, pure win.


Anyways, I'm trying to keep it constructive so please keep in mind that I am not trying to trash what you are doing. Keep it up and make the interwebz happy!