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Wow, this thread is amazing! I'm reading through it from start to finish... I haven't seen a picture of a large number of troopers yet from your casting process. Did you do up a whole bunch of them already? (I probably missed it somewhere between pages 5-8!)

Thanks

I really appreciate you going throught the casting process gives me a better idea. One day when I get a compressor and all that othegear I'll have a crack. Oh yes if you ever feeling like doing an article please do!

Oh yeah and the steel legion guys are ace.

Argos how much blue tack do you go through? it's crazy.

nice

Very inspiring, keep up the good work.

I spent almost all this weekends hobby time painting as well as being a grumpy old man! When I am being creative (as Mrs Argos calls it), I tend to swing between manic phases and grumpiness and as such I am sure my daughters and wife tend to tiptoe around whilst I am modelling. I think I will need to buy them some presents for putting up with me for the past month or so!

The good news is the painting on the test figure is now complete, however I still have dusting (pigment powders) to do on him. He is therefore at that lovely factory fresh stage at the moment, before he hits the battlefield with a thump.

However before seeing the almost completed figure I am going to go through and pay some attention to basing. To determine which base colouring I am going to use I need to know where my troops are "located", a quick scan of the local terrain gives us four variants as follows: -

1. Ash Wasteland, for some reason orangey-red in colour, the one used for almost all the pictures in codex armageddon. Almost desert like, is doesnt fit into the colour scheme the Steel Legion use for their vehicles at all, and I must admit I don't like it, so this one if not the one for me!
2. Equatorial Jungle, where the remnants of the last Ork invasion are hiding, and being attacked by Armageddon Ork Hunters (the Armageddon version of Catachan Troops). Obviously its a jungle environment and green. Once again not a winner for the Steel Legion.
3. Hive Urban environment inside a hive, possible and attractive at some levels. One to consider!
4. Hive Outfall, the immediate vicinity around a hive, shown in the Codex Armageddon at the bottom of page 20, and also seen in the craters in the picture at the top of page 20.

Well with the last two in mind, I also start thinking about one of my other requirements for my Steel Legion. The need to fit in with my other armies planned and already existing, i.e. my Salamanders and my future concept army, the Adeptus Mechanicus represented by Legio Invigilata and its accompanying Skittari (from Forgeworld Voss nearby to Armageddon). Looking quickly through the exisiting documentation for Armageddon we can see that all three forces were present and mentioned at Hive Helsreach, fighting within and immediately around the hive complex at both the Ironsides Shipyards and on Hel's Highway.

With the terrain to be fought over, and the location known on Armageddon it was a straightforward conclusion to do a mixture of Hive Outfall & Hive Urban bases, this would also tie in nicely with the colour scheme of the Steel Legion vehicles. So shades of grey with the occasional offset colour seem to be in order, with additional small items for flavour.

Moving ahead here are a few images showing the initial four stages of the base: -



A. I used a tube of Polyfilla Extra fine (fine spackle in the States I think) in a tube to add some depth to the base, one of the things people often fail to with basing is adding volume (i.e. depth) to their bases. This simple measure creates minor height variation and allows you to change the stance of each figure slightly.

B. Using some Fine sand and small stones while the Polyfilla is still well I add a fine gritty texture to give the feeling of rubble / ash. This will allow us to use dry brushing techniques to paint the base later.

C. In addtion while the Polyfilla is still damp, I use a pair of legs in the same position as my trooper, to place footprints in the ash. Obviously ash / grit gives way under the pressure of a footfall, therefore the figure needs to have his feet "in" the ash, rather than resting on top of it, for added realism.

D. Finally I use some plasticard to add a pipe, broken and jutting out of the ground, it occupies the central area of the "empty" part of the base to add some detail to it. This should keep the base from the potential monotony of shades of grey.

One quick side note, I use a mixed tub of basing material for most of my bases, with an assortment of different materials from slate, to small stones through to fine sand. I then just push the bits I want on the base while it is in the tub. Here is a shot of my basing tub: -



From here on we need to add some shades of grey and some offset colours, the next picture shows most of these stages, however I must apologise as one of the pictures became corrupt before it was transmitted from my Camera to my Pc and is therefore not available.



A. The first layer of colour is Adeptus Battlegrey from the Foundation paints range, a good wet brush was slopped about without much care at this stage, not too think, but fair coverage. The next picture is missing, so I will have to describe it here, a light drybrushing of Astronomicon grey from the Foundation range was put over the top of the previous coat.

B. I then switched to using Washes, and some Badab black wash was placed randomly around the base to create darker areas. This was then followed up with a mix of Devlan Mud/Gryphone Sepia 50:50 once again randomly applied around the base overlapping in some areas the black wash. The aim of this is to create colour variation and tone, the real world is full of small tones and shades in everything we look at, and to make something feel "right" we need to recreate this by adding small variation on our basing.

C. We got to the final part of the ground painting, this was quite simply using small amounts of Rotting flesh, Bleached bone, and Skull white paints on the very tips of the ash to add highlights. You can quite clearly see where the feet will be going by this stage, and the base has a more realistic feel, apart from the pipe.

D. At this point I realised the pipe had a nice clean edge, which is of course very unlikely. So I took a scalpel to the edge of the pipe to give it a jagged appearance.

The pipe was all that remained to finish the base, and I wanted a rusty feeling to it, so I switched to using Mig Pigments, which are powdered colours to finish the pipe. Here are the powders I used: -



Here are the various stages of the pipe: -



A. I made a mistake and in a very traditional way, I coloured the pipe with Boltgun Metal, a waste of time, I should have done it with Scorched brown.

B. Next I added some of the Old rust pigments and used an white spirit based thinner to dissolve the pigment onto the pipe. This lets the pigments dissolve and flow over the pipe in a natural way.

C. This was repeated with both Standard rust, and Light rust, so that we got some nice rust tones on the pipe. Finally a sprinkling of powder was added on top to give a more realistic finish.

D. A close up showing the "powder" nature of the rust on the pipe, giving it a much more realistic feeling. At this stage a small amount of powder was added under the pipe as rust tends to leech its colour onto the surrounding area.

Lastly I put the legs back on to see how it would look: -



The edge of the base needs to be painted black at this stage, but I am sure you don't require a picture for that.

Later on I will upload and show the finished test figure on the base, but today I am off up to work in London near St. Pauls at one of my Financial clients for the day.

Looks great mate! Hive outfall is a great choice for the basing and those Mig pigments look just right too. Might I suggest that you add a patch or two of thraka green or leviathan purple to the bases in a subtle fashion to add to the toxic look?

Cheers
Dave

nice really love it so just sing,
love is in the air!!!love is in the air!!!

Finally home from work!

Here are the pictures of the test figure, the painting was finished late last night: -



I am pleased in general with the sculpting, conversion, casting and painting of the model, it feels most strange to look at a figure and know it looks nothing like the original cadian frame it is based upon and that I can reproduce that figure as and when I require it.



In this second image it is possible to see the Greif lens used in the barrel of the Las Carbine, giving it that distinctive glow!



From this view I am pleased with the bedding and canteen bottle, although I think I will sculpt my own canteen bottle in the end.



The right arm seems somehow bare, I am thinking of adding a triangular insignia on this arm, which I have seen in a couple of the Steel Legion illustrations. I will wait till I get my Photo-etch kit and see what I can do with that. The other way to tell squads apart might be to paint a colour stripe along the epaulette/shoulderboard, and use that to tell my future squads apart.



I am pleased to see the Las-Carbine barrel looks far more normal here, for some reason the first picture shows it almost gleaming! When in reality it has a number of washes of badab black on it, and looks more normal in this picture.



Lastly the comparison picture, showing the same basic Cadian frame that my Steel Legionnaire is derived from on one side, and on the other side the Steel Legionaire most similar in pose to mine. Looking somehow stunted. Looking at this picture has the biggest effect on me, and showed me clearly how much work I had put into the project so far.

There still remains the "weathering" to be done to the figure, to make it fit with the environment more. Basically some mig pigments worked into the books and lower coat most probably. But apart from that there is little I would change. Some people commented the base was quite plain, however I feel it sets off the figure nicely and I suspect as I sculpt some ash waste detritus in the future, I might go back and a couple of simple items.

Now to make some more ...

Lovely, i love the sculpture, it almost seems a shame that you will have to weather it, you really are a man of many talents, sculpting, painting, how good are you at playing though, i really do like it, i can't wait for you to complete a squad.

love the goggles ^^,

That is inspiring. Wow. Its so nice to see it come together. One down ninety to go? I'm looking forward to seeing how you handle your Sergeants and Officers. Will you be doing a Commissar or any other advisor?

Argos, that is simply amazing. To see the excellent conversion and paint job come together in the final project is stunning. So much more unique than the Cadian plastic it came from, and more lifelike than the Legion metals. I really cannot say enough good things about it. And I wouldn't take the discouraging comments about the base to heart. I'm all for the ability of basing to add scenic elements, but there's a point where it becomes overwhelming and detracts from what it is really there to do - display the model. It is a nice contrasting color with simple accessories that adds to the wasteland feel of the model, without drawing so much attention away that it downplays the amazing sculpting and paint work. Keep it up, I can't wait to see this army start to take shape en masse.

I think this end result is fantastic - it looks so natural and well-crafted. My only criticism (and this isn't really one) is that when I convert something, I want people to look at the figures and go wow. Your SL has been so well executed, I can see people looking at an army on the table and not realising it's a sculpted / converted army! I wouldn't really worry about that though

Fantastic painting!

That trooper looks great, and good use of the mig pigments on the base.

I like it that you used all three shades correctly and didnt just slap only one layer on.

Excellent,simply wonderful!

Nice Basing i only put sand on

Are you doing the whole army to this standard? if so i hear a golden demon best 40k squad in the eaves.

I plan to do commisars as well, and in theory the whole army to this standard.

However I am sitting here tonight, not really knowing what to go next, I have lots of sculpting and modelling for this project, but feel a little out of it.

I think the only answer will be to push on past the feeling and try and get some stuff done.

Sculpting enough for a few more steel legion parts would be a good start I think. I would like to get that next pair of legs finished.

You can do it! (as the unwashed masses cheer on BrotherArgos)

When I'm working on something and hit that wall, I find its good to list out what you've accomplished and what you still have to do and start on whichever item is most appealing to your whims. Usually its whatever is most different from what I previously working on.

We've still yet to see heavy weapons teams, sergeants, this commissar.... how about some more on your artillery?

Artillery FTW!

You can do it all night long! ;P

Bro Argos, the bases are simple and easy! I used it on some of my new guardsmen, and I must say I am very pleased with the result.

thaey are splendid you have now made me want to buy some of those off you unpainted. (illegal i know but hey!!) you have me on resin crack now. its the good stuff!!

Well last night the urge to create returned with vengance, I finally staggered to bed at 3am, which is unusual because normally I only put a couple of hours a night into my work, but I was pleased with the results of my efforts.

While fiddling with the Gun Platform for my Earthshaker I had come to dislike the diamond mesh flooring which can be seen clearly here: -



I had always thought it looked a bit odd, as though it was stuck on afterwards to cover up a plain section, the very way it is raised from the floor level around it seems odd to me.

So I started cutting, which I have to say is a longwinded, difficult and boring job. You cannot relax or slip because you would damaged the part of the model you want to keep, which means you need to focus on quite a mundance activity. However as you can see I cut lots of bits out: -



Which left me with a great big empty space, which I then needed to fill. As I planned to fill the space with my own mesh, I started by adding a support frame, measuring the thickness of the remaining flooring, I found it to be 1.3mm thick, while the photoetch mesh I had was 0.3mm thick. This left a rather convenient 1mm frame to construct to make the floor mesh level. I had lots of 1mm strip which I started cutting and gluing around the edge of the hole as can be seen here: -



The circular sections around the pipe were painful and had to be done a couple of times till I was satisfied with the results. Looking back I did not need to worry as the mesh would cover it and obscure the detail.

Next came another long-winded, but careful activity, cutting back the mesh to fill the frame I had created. I started on the long straight side first to get the a good working edge right, once this was done I worked my way down the sides, snipping small pieces off, piece by piece till the frame lined up with the edge. Finally I then cut across the other remaining side, carefully snipping away till the mesh fit around the circular pipes. Here you can see the finished mesh, its not glued down yet as I plan to make further supporting framework first, but the shape is basically correct: -



I really liked the see-through nature of the mesh, but as mentioned above, realised it needed more supporting framework underneath. But at 3am I decided bed was important as I had to be up at 6am for my daughters and work.

Here is a final shot, with gun mount fitted to get a feel for the work.



During the work I managed to break the surrounding frame in one place which needs filling and smoothing. In addition I knocked two of my brass etch hex nuts off, which need to be re-attached. But I think it was worth it for a nice see through, level floor

wow... thats ridiculous. Its such an improvement. This is going to be a real beast when its done.

The next thing I am worrying about is the change of the chimera / basilisk chassis to use thinner add-on plates ... if you look in the rumour thread on warseer under IG 1.5 wave, you can see them.

I don't want to make a model thats out of date / looks old, before I have even finished it.

This whole thread is pretty awesome. The test figure came out very nice. And that artillery piece looks very promising. Keep up the good work

I would cut them down it looks a lot better that way.

Yes I had considered reproducing the exact same as the new ones, so I could use all my old vehicles with them.