Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Thanks for the elaborate side by side! I had been wondering myself how they would compare. I wonder if in the finecast line we'll have more inconsistency then we did with the old metal. Interesting thought.

Looking forward to seeing you progress through your armies.

Thats a lot of models to go.

I just realised how sweet the lictor models look.
Great work so far!! :L

DarkStarSabre wrote:Yes. That many armies. I have questionable sanity and I know it.

And what'd you glue the rods with? It might be worth having a look online to see if there's anyone else selling similar rods - I know there are cause I looked at it a few years back - if I ever did Necrons I would have blue glowy rods.

Just regular PVA. I have an unbuilt box of Warriors, with 12 green rods, but 20 black warriors. For now I've been painting the rods Scorpion Green, would Snot Green work better?

A 2 day bath in simple green will eat away a pva glue bond.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
That was a very thorough review on the finecast model. One of the better ones I have read yet. Some local gamers have also posted up similar complaints. I happy planned on selling off a lot of my unpainted metal models: death leaper, canis, brood lord, ect so as to buy finecast alternatives...but now I am not sure.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Read you're chapter structure. I see that you are filling out all 10 companies. Quite an undertaking. Though I thought that renagade chapters tended to normally be understrength due to infighting between elements still loyal, attrition from wars with the imperium coupled with poor access to geneseed replacement , ect....though I claim no extensive knowledge what so ever. Leaving out some chapters unfilled might provide some interesting back story though. Like maybe the 9-10 company being wiped out in the original rebellion due to strong loyalties. The 3 and 4 company being combined under a surviving captain after sustaining heavy casualties in their first encounter with loyalist marine sent to snuff them out. The second company being wiped out by the first company due to an internal dispute between captains...ect.

wyomingfox wrote:A 2 day bath in simple green will eat away a pva glue bond.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
That was a very thorough review on the finecast model. One of the better ones I have read yet. Some local gamers have also posted up similar complaints. I happy planned on selling off a lot of my unpainted metal models: death leaper, canis, brood lord, ect so as to buy finecast alternatives...but now I am not sure.

Yes... but how do I paint the rods to achieve the same effect? Hoping to save money in the process.

@Moltar - thanks. I wanted to be thorough with something few people would have done. It's a don't know case but I think the potential for conversion of this may outweigh the downsides of the casting. But I'd be very careful and get a good look first.

@Iceangel - it looks that way, eh? Apparantly the new batch is in some stores and the sprues themselves are different. As though GW is adapting to a learning curve on their feet.

@GiraffeX - Thanks! And don't I know it. The end results will be worth it, even if it does take time. Besides, it's watching other blogs that inspire me to get on with mine

@lipsandpips - Yes. The Lictor model in its 2nd edition and 4th edition incarnation is pretty damn beautiful. 3rd ed Lictors dropped the ball for a while but then 3rd ed nids were hit and miss across the board.

@meatman33 - I suspect the Simple green will help clear the spray from the rods as well. Thing is, if you're trying to keep consistency then you may end up having to paint -all- the rods as you won't quite accomplish the same effect without some decent blending.

@wyomingfox - And you have also discovered the nature of the 10th company. And the reason some of the god worship made its way in. The replacements come from other Legions and Chapters, much like the Red Corsairs as well as what they can manage to recruit. I'll of course play with the numbers and ideas like that. Infighting's not uncommon as I'm already figured a lot of bad blood between the 3rd and 5th Company.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
More Finecast Lictor Shenanigans

When we last left the lictor I was mildly happy with it. In short the plan for this lictor was always to convert and modify it to be somewhat more dynamic.

So with that in mind, before doing any sort of GSing I decided to test a few Finecast theories - besides, if it worked then the GSing would have to take place afterwards.

When we last left our Lictor he looked as follows.



Now, being someone who wants to pose it to be more dynamic that tail's positioning will never do. Were it metal that would require a lot of cutting, filing, GSing and smoothing to get it into a different pose as GW's metal was surprisingly (and infuriatingly) difficult to bend when it was quite thick - as in a lictor's tail.

So it's theory time. A lot of the threads out there about Finecast have commented on how heat affects it, turning it to goop and to putty, losing all the detail and so on and so forth. Well, I don't have a hair dryer. But I do have a kitchen sink. And having gotten items from Forge World before that required straightening out (hello Flying Hive Tyrant wings) I decided to test the Lictor in the same way.




Rather than soaking it I applied a common sense approach. I held it so that the base of its tail and part of the tail were under some quite hot water for about three or four minutes. Now I will say it started to feel soft, but it didn't turn to goop or spaghetti like people have been claiming.



The material paled a bit but the detail, as you can see was right there. Now what is interesting is how easy this thing was to shape. With my fingers I was able to bend and tug it, a bit at a time. And even as it lost heat it remained soft and pliable. I can see how this is a concern.



Then I remembered that another Finecast thread (up in News and Rumours) stated that putting it in the freezer set it.



In he went.

In the meantime I decided to test what complete immersion would have done. I took one of the spare sprues and proceeded to put it in to the tiny sink full of hot water while the Lictor sat in the freezer for a few minutes.



Now this was worrying. When immersed this thing became soft. I mean, really soft. The goopy spaghetti? Here it was. I took it out. I crumbled it up. One of the things they stressed was that finecast tries to return to its original form.




It tried. It failed. My advice here? If you decide to use heat or hot water to make something more pliable to be shaped? Hold it under running water in the specific places you want it to be softer. Do NOT immerse the thing. It leads to some pretty permanent warpage.

I got the lictor out.




It's set. It's solid. The tail's a bit further out than it was before and angled too. The whole sprinting/leaping lictor pose is much more acheivable like this.

But regarding heat and hot water?

Heat doesn't seem to do what people says it does. Details don't melt or dissolve. It doesn't become goop. Even when being shaped it retained the detail. But you shouldn't immerse it in a source of heat. That just is a bad plan.

Hehe very helpful stuff! Note - don't wash

I'm ashamed as I went to my FLGS to buy the Finecast chaplain, but they were out of stock :(, have to wait til next week :\

looking forward to more finecast shinanagins from the both of us!! Until then!

LDP

Awesome advise on simply running hot water on it.

I have solved my problem with the rods. Just a simple coat of snot green will do, surprisingly. Achieves almost the same effect, but it will do.

Ok. No fancy photo update. Text update since I'm at work at this current moment in time and I don't think they'd be amused at me bringing in a Finecast Lictor to cut up, pose and scuplt. .

First of all, to acknowledge folks post here - thank you all! It keeps me going and the feedback is helpful - more below. I will confess that becoming part of Dakka makes me a happy man as I feel this is more a community.

@Dark_Gear - How'd I miss your response? AGH. Thank you for the compliments on the 'nids. They're not my best paint job but they are very definately a case of quantity over quality.

@meatman33 - I'm glad the snot green coat gets the effect but I'd have thought a highlight of scorpion green would help the luminescent quality of the clear plastic rods?

@wyomingfox - That seems to be the way with Finecast. No more total immersion as that can wreck it quite badly.

@lipsdapips - hope you get him soon. I'd be interested in seeing how you plan on chopping and changing him, if you plan on doing so at all! Finecast seems to lend itself nicely to conversion as weight issues aren't really there.


For now - time for more Extinction Angel fluff and planning. I blame wyomingfox in part and nerdfest for another part (Curse you for getting me back into my Renegades!) and I now am slowly piecing together background and ideas for a Dakka Campaign. Oh dear oh dear.

So I got to thinking about how the Extinction Angels operate.

Obviously I have 9 Companies - the 10th company is effectively dissolved and consists of members of smaller warbands, strays from other Legions and chapters and the like - this is the recruitment process. Find favour and a sponsor and they join the Company of their sponsor. I see many of these ragtags being shamed or dishonoured in some way - others perhaps seeking a quicker route to power in a force that does not adhere to millenia of Legion based structure.

Not all these companies should be full strength - as wyomingfox has pointed out. Supplies will run down, infighting and conflict will dwindle their numbers. And of course I have to consider the role of daemons within the Extinction Angels. I see similarities with the Night Lords - Daemons are generally disregarded or shunned. In the corrupted Companies daemons may be more favoured but in the hard-line Undivided companies, or ones where there is freedom to worship as you will (the 1st) I can see Daemons being seen as lesser. If anything binding Daemons and the like seems more a way to supplement forces and counteract weakness. The 4th company is an example of this - with a high number of possessed. I will probably build them to about 60% of their original strength with the majority being possessed - having undergone the rituals out of desperation and possibly admiration of their Captain who had ascended stronger than before.

The Chapter Master will be an example of this 'daemons are weak' viewpoint. I will keep him strictly Mortal, armed with suitable weapons (as an Abaddon counts-as) and pretty much envision him as having cheated the powers by binding the Daemons to his weapons and just siphoning off their power to keep himself strong and revitalised. I see him as being cunning rather than charismatic.

So, in order - the idea of the company strength is as follows.

1st company - 55% original strength
2nd company - 70% original strength
3rd company - 100% original strength
4th company - 60% original strength
5th company - 100% original strength
6th company - 75% original strength
7th company - 70% original strength
8th company - 40% original strength
9th company - 90% original strength
10th company - dissolved

The companies with Daemon Princes (2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th) are clearly weaker. The 1st company seems weak but that's because they'll have purged ALL the loyallists and are quite fractured in structure now and the 8th company...well..it's Khornate. Let's not pretend they don't lop off their own heads when it's quiet.

From the fluff the Extinction Angels are based around the Eye of Terror. And specialise in fighting in confined spaces - city fighting and I'm thinking rapid insertion tactics.
I picture them having tenuous alliances with the Alpha Legion and other Renegades and a particularly antagonistic relationship with more dedicated or pious Legions or chapters.

Hehe looking forward to this! How many angels do you plan on making? (if any at all )

Looking forward to more,

LDP


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ah, I see after seeing your sig that you have 30k points of chaos. Well...I don't know what to say...wow

I already have the entirety of the 3rd company made and part painted. In fact, all that's painted at the moment is them

I will be making more.

Edit: I've got what I have at the moment listed - there may be more further down the line and I'll probably want more. And it has pretty much been decided I'll do the lot.

And the fact I have a spare Chaos Terminator Lord kit spare....and some Abaddon bits...and a finecast Draigo helmet spare....

I think I might make the Chapter Master at the weekend.

Very convenient about how see them Allying with the Alpha Legion as i just started and Alpha legion army

Lookin forward to that Chapter Master, cannot wait.

I Also love the idea of the first company with their free beliefs. On the battlefield, a squad of Tzeentch worshippin lads, conviniently not hearing the call for support of some Slaanesh Worshippers

Heya Guys.

More work on the Lictor tonight. I decided to chop and pose and play with it, especially as I realised he'd count as a conversion to enter, eh?







First, some comments - Finecast is great for cutting. Really, no effort to snip and shave bits away. Easy to drill. And my goodness, no pinning. It is staying and balancing on that base without issues. And also, getting a metal Lictor to that pose would have been a royal pain.

Now I'm trying to figure the arms. I like the pose, the whole energetic springing forward approach. But I need to figure the arms. One back, both back as though slashing? Or reaching out?

Also put a WIP up in the GMS of the Imperial Paladin for the swap. I forgot how 'fun' the different layers of blue were.

Nice work again, also great review of the Finecast material and great suggestion.

As for your Leaping Lictor (is that 12 lictors a-leaping?)... I think 'reaching out' makes more sense than in the back position. Its more animalistic, like a cat pouncing.

I like the way you made your Lictor looking dynamic! Good job!

I'd also like to that, as the owner of hundreds of unpainted (or half painted) models, you've earned my respect!

Maybe get some blue tack and use it to hold the arms in place in different positions and snap some photos while you are at it.

Update time - yes, I've been a little lazy but I must pull it out and start seriously painting within the next month. And also make sure this chap is done in time for the Mini of the Month!

Taking wyomingfox's suggestion I have some photos of arms posed. One aggressive, pouncing stance and the other with the arms lower down. I wanted a slashing effect but it didn't seem to come right so...meh





Pounce!





Fail slash.

What do you guys think?

I'm liking pounce but I think a modification might look better..not sure. Try drawing the right arm, (the model's right) back behind the right knee. Take some shots. Now move the right arm further back past the "butt", or what counts for one for a lictor. Take some more shots. This way, it looks like the lictor is lunging forward while reaching out with his left arm.

Ah. I see where you're coming from wyomingfox!

Forgive the dodgy light, this is literally spur of the moment at the desk.



At the knee.



Toward the back.

I'm liking the second pose. It's almost as though the lictor is loping along as it attacks, sort of like an ape. Heck, if I could find suitable piping or cabling for the base about I'd almost do it as though he was propelling himself along like that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I'll also say that the arms can be modified - Finecast is so much easier to cut and I feel a lot more confident with it. Perhaps straightening the right arm out a bit would help as well?

Between the 2 new poses I agree that the arm looks more natural being drawn back further. Still, maybe twist the arm clockwise (from my point of view), so that it is more parallel to the body, rather than having the elbow jut out so far.

Definately going to do that. Won't need to so much twist it - maybe another pin and sculpt job like the leg. This quality of Finecast might just bump its rating for me at least up a little - I've been able to do so much more with the model than his metal counterpart.

Hopefully this won't auto-append. It's something of a treat for you all and just me showing off.

When Space Hulk came out I bought a box with the express purpose of doing it up along the lines of one of the first bits of GW fiction I read - Deathwing.

It will also conveniently double as a tiny but legitimate Deathwing army too.

So first up is Cloud Runner. Didn't place in Daemon and I can see where and why but I'm proud of him anyway. I'm making slow progress with the others...the next up is Weasel Fierce.



Close up of the front in my hand.



Face and lenses.







Overhead shot of the Sword of Secrets.

Looks nice man! Good work!
Only thing I could reccommend is to lighten up the face, but hey, it may just be the camera
Great stuff nonetheless!
LDP

Thanks and the skin tone is actually meant to be that dark.

I don't know when GW decided that every Space Marine was clearly white but the original Deathwing weren't.

They were Plains People - Native Americans.

With names like Cloud Runner, Weasel Fierce, Lame Bear and Two Heads Talking...

So I'm going for that aged Native American look with them as well.

I tried the Scorpion green highlight,either I didn't do it right or it doesn't work. Would love to see lictor painted.

P.S. Once Im done with my army i will post pics, will finish by end of July.

@Meatman33 - Cool. Look forward to seeing how the 'crons are turning out.

Update time today everyone! Just some WIP photos of the Chapter Master as I said I would start. Since he's a counts-as Abaddon he has the same weapon layout. I did play with the idea of alternate Daemon weapons but in the end the sword sets it off.

The lighting's dreadful so I apologise. I'll try to get better shots tomorrow.







A couple of things - not sure with Trophy racks yet. Tempted to use the ones that are joined together and possible do a banner or perhaps a defiled Storm Shield as a banner. Also debating whether to have a Terminator helm clamped at his waist.

In addition he will be having a (defiled) Imperial shoulder pad as well.

Bits used? Chaos Terminator Lord kit, Finecast Draigo helmet (looted), metal Abaddon bits - note, what I will miss about the metal. That talon's fingers were bent to that position. Finecast wouldn't do that and would be fidgetting to heat and bend like that. Plastic LCs would have been fidgetty too!

I really like the SH-turned Deathwing Termi, I did one very similar. Word of warning, at least on mine, the DW icon on top that replaced the BA one falls off at the slightest bump.

Really like what you got here! everything so far is very interesting, especially the lictor