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.

To the Xo's Chapter master:
MY BRAIN!!! IT HAS EXPLODED!


To the Terrain:
For what you have in some hell hole in the middle east.
Please see my previous post.

to the XO
OMG that chapter master is awsome.

I seriously need some advice on that hormagaunt. I'm beginning to think that I really can't get the xenomorph look. I may have to go with more reddish tints or perhaps something entirely more alien. Good thing I did it all in acrylic. I'll sit on the job for a few more days, but if I decide to change the paint I'll just strip it and start over.

diesel7270 - I think, if your not willing to have less black and more colour, the only way to go would be a gloss varnish to make it look more wet and less like stone.

Also it would be worth experimenting with clear glue to make saliva and/or slime running of it.

Realy like the idea, hard to make it "pop" being a small model with little contrast or colour.

Diesel: Try putting the gloss coat on your gaunt before you give up on the scheme. As for the internal riblets: consider just doing an overbrush (like a drybrush, but with slightly more paint) of whatever grey you are using to highlight the black on them.

Another suggestion: try adding a small amount of the darkest blue you have to your black basecoat, then wash in pure black. That might make it pop a bit more. If you look here: http://library.galciv2.com/mvlib/ss/Fullview_Xenomorph.PNG part of the iconic look of Giger's alien are the blue reflections.

Another possibility: Intereference Blue. http://www.artsupply.com/golden/interference.htm Interference paints are expensive, and need to be thinned with water or acrylic medium, but a small amount goes a long way. If you mix some into your black basecoat, it will give the black an oily blue metallic sheen. With a good gloss coat, you may not even need to highlight: the varnish and the interference might catch the light enough for the tabletop.

XO: I hate to suggest something that could potentially ruin a fantastic model, but a VERY light wash of blue-grey could bring out the details on your chapter master. If you have glaze medium (NOT gloss medium, two very different things), I'd suggest doing a 1:10 mix of paint to glaze medium, then doing a wash into the nooks and crannies of the powered armor.
http://youngwolf7.com/?page_id=1448&page=2

Thanks guys for the advice. I may go with your suggestion on the blue, themocaw. I may strip it, basecoat it dark, dark blue and wash black, and then see where that gets me. At this point it's one gaunt, so I'm entirely in experimental mode before I start assembly-line painting. I had fully prepared for the contingency of being dissastisfied with the paint job. You may have seen in the gallery the popular pic of the gaunts in the black/blue/ with some red and white paint job. That actually looked really good, though of course that's not exactly what I'm going to do. But that attitude... or atmosphere presented by their color scheme is what I'm trying to capture.

In other news, we have a new First Sergeant, and working for him is akin to the 4chan jokes about Commissars (*BLAM*). Minus the summary execution. He's pissed if you're too close to him, or too far away. He's pissed if you speak to him when not spoken to, but if you don't keep him informed he's also pissed. He's pissed if you don't charge the obstacle with wild fervor, and pissed if you break ranks in order to charge the obstacle. ...so anyway, he got a look at our bunker where we play and work on our terrain, claimed it a waste of space, a dump, and lamented that we had too much free time (a whole 2 to 4 hours every few days). We had to trash the vast majority of our foam and cardboard terrain materials, pack up our paints, brushes, and half-assembled models and put them away in lockers, and generally make it a huge inconvenience for us to do anything in there. There is a chance that it may become such a pain to deal with the routine that some guys may stop going in there, especially with the end of our allowable time to use the bunker for our own coming to a close at the end of the deployment.

As far as how this will effect everything in the next month and a half that we will continue to play and use our models, I don't know. Hopefully it does not become non-conducive to fun and we will continue to spend time in there. I'm still trying to feel out the situation and I cannot tell where the near future is going.

I ordered a Balttefoam Pack 720 with pluck foam trays so that I can ship my fragile pewter pieces out of here without them getting tore up. My monolith still will likely have to be bubble-wrapped and shipped in it's own seperate box, but that's fine. I'm not going to pay for Battlefoam's monolith tray if it takes up an entire Pack 435 just to hold the tray.

EDIT: I sat down with XO's SM and my Tyranids codexes. Drop pods are Dedicated Transports, and Rules as Written, Dedicated Transports are never mentioned to not count for a kill point. Tourneys may have their own house rules, but the book is the book. Mycetic Spores do not have the Dedicated Transport listed anywhere in their entry in the codex or their FOC breakdown, and are classified as a Monstrous Creature regardless, and therefore cannot be immobilized. They simply have an "immobile pod" special rule that states that they can not move, or run, or move to assault. As drop pods are vehicles, they can be immobilized, and the codex states that they "count in all respects as a vehicle that has suffered immobilized on the vehicle damage chart.
...
My point is that both count for kill points. The Drop Pod may be worth half points for a Moral Victory (which is bogus, because the SM player is paying the points for a vehicle's calculated value as it is allready immobile), but is still worth a full kill point. Mycetic Spores come into play as monstrous creatures with all of their wounds, and so do not suffer a penalty to moral victory.

Sorry to hear you got stuck with Gunney from Platoon... sounds like you guys are in for some rough road ahead as far as playing/working on models goes.

Love this thread BTW.

Good to hear that our guys overseas can still spend a little time just living life and trying to have some fun in a crazy situation.

Good luck in the future, and it sounds like your imminent release couldn't come soon enough... sorry for the guys who have longer commitments, because it doesnt look like 40k is on your new Sgts. favorites list.

Ah man that sucks that you wound up with one of those First Sergeants. I don't get it. The First Shirt is there to make sure the enlisted guys are doing okay and staying out of trouble, yet it seems that outside the Air Force, half the people who wind up as First Sergeants are huge douches who go out of their way to make their people miserable. I mean for the love of God, the Army keeps looking for ways to improve morale, but no one seems to be looking at the fact that too often the leadership is allowed to treat their troops like crap until someone flips out. Maybe I'm just a dumb Airman, but it seems pretty obvious to me. Being treated like real human beings and not getting screwed with 24/7 is a great way to keep your people happy.
/rant
Anyway, hope you guys can tough it out till you get back home.

In regards to painting your 'Nids, I had the same issue painting my Termagants. Its hard to make them really stand out all that much. What I did was paint a lot of gloss varnish over their black armor plates (did this on all my nids). Also, Gaunts are usually taken in huge swarms. In this way, its not so much the individual guants that stand out, so much as it is this huge mass of shiny black bugs. It actually reinforces the idea of the Tyranids being a single collective swarm rather than a group of individuals. I saved the fancier details and "stand out" things (red trimmed claws, etc) for my bigger bugs.

Hang in there man!

Ugh, I hate first sergeants that act like you are still in basic - had that for a while. Luckily he got caught going at it with the ops sgt, so we didn't have a top for like 3 months. Gotta love it. I tried to get some GW going while I was over there back in '05, but there was zero interest.

Sorry to hear about the new SGT. I know the feeling when they forget about taking care of the troops. The bunker was a place to get away for awhile. I hope someone will try and talk with him about down time or soliders will go crazy. I was told once that people above you will fire you , but people below you will end you career. take care and stay safe.

I've never understood it when officers and NCOs act like phalluses to their men. If I were in a situation where some guys were trying to kill me, I'd make sure the guys trying to watch my back (who are all armed) at respect me, if not like me.

I love the wing's on the XO's chapter master. I'd like to see a bit more depth on the white of the body, but overall it is ace.

I never understand why anyone treats their co-workers or subordinates badly. I certainly don't understand it when at some stage in the future he may find himself in a situation where you have to decide whether to risk your own life to save his...

Thank you all for the kind comments and suggestions on my chapter master! I'll get the nerve up one day to attempt a wash to put a little more shading on the details. The good thing is I have a squad of Vangaurd Marines to practice on! I've been busy lately and my CM is about the only thing I've worked on in the last week or so. Again, thank you for keeping up with us over here and for all the support!

Updates!

Yesterday me and E played a game. Due to a serious deep strike mishap on my part, the game quickly deteriorated to Necron Phase out on turn 5. But I kinda wanted that... my much more demanding work schedule has me set to not be able to start games as early as I used to, and by the time me and E got started and had our stuff on the table, it was two hours until bedtime. And getting E to finish his move turn with 60 infantry models on the board requires and act of congress.

Games Workshop packages arrived today, and I received a box full of destroyers. Specifically, enough destroyers to fill two squads of both regular and heavy destroyers. XO picked up another land raider, a land raider conversion kit, a couple of lascannon marines, and a box set of "emporers chosen" or something to that effect of space marines.

I ordered a battlefoam case, the 720 with pluck foam, though I think I may have mentioned that already. However, I found out today that when I had thought my order didn't go through with their website (I figured due to my Iraqi IP address), it actually did. And so when I called them to get the same product shipped, this monday I was billed for two, from two different "Battle Foam" origins on my ledger. The XO said he would buy one off me at what I paid for it if I decide to let it go once it gets here.

But, that is it for ordering parts for me and the XO for the rest of the deployment. We are getting too close to packing it up to be able to realistically tackle huge projects. We've all still got stuff on the way, but no more buying.

I am working on my Destroyer Lord. I didn't get to do anything today, because it's the U.S. Army birthday and they handed out 2 beers for everyone of age. On an empty stomach after 7 months of being sober, 2 beers will give you a decent buzz, so I hung out with friends and chilled like the good times. Plus, E and Early were out.

We're definitely not done yet... We've got another month at the least and I will stay with it until the end. Keep your eyes open for more games, and my finished Destroyer Lord.

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days.

Because my work schedule, and everyone else's, has gotten so much more frantic, the couple of games I have played in have had to be either rushed or cut short. In fact, one night the generators went out so we were playing by flashlight for a couple of hours.

We have been doing some painting, and we've got another regular, 2nd platoon's Lieutenant, who comes in and takes models people don't feel like painting and assembles and paints them. But he isn't interested in the game (yet).

I've got some pictures of what we've been working on, so here's some eye candy for you. Remember these are clickable thumbnails.







The XO has finished a terminator, and managed to use a magnet piece to make his helmet detachable. The marbled texture on the hammer head is pretty cool, I think. He's been working on it for about four days straight. It's one of two thunder hammer terminators in his assault termie squad, and of course he's as proud as ever. He should be. Those terminators tear my necrons a new one unless I'm going at them with a warscythe or a c'tan.





Here's my finished Destroyer Lord, and boy was keeping this guy's upper body together tough. Particularly the green rod and pommel part. The torso didn't want to fit too well on the destroyer spine, either. But this is what I've got. I enjoyed the hell out of it and I love the way it looks.

The XO and I are open to all comments, including constructive criticism. Let me know what you guys think of my Destroyer Lord and his Terminator.

Love the terminator and the great use of magnets! The destroyer lord oozes menace, looking down on his prey as he prepares to blast them. Quite interesting paint schemes I've seen throughout this thread and I love the creativity and color use on everything!

What did the XO use for the helm? I likey!

Very nice Destroyer Lord! I really like the golden Scarab bracer on his arm. Personally I went with the Warscythe and Res Orb on mine, but then again I wasn't really able to test its effectiveness because he gets flattened right off the bat every time I use him. lol

That terminator helm... how did you make it?? It's so mesmerizing... I think I'll join the army if it makes you that good with green stuff... Huh?!? sorry, kind of lost my senses for a moment there. I like the blue trimming on the destroyer lord, and the dark eyes stand out nicely. If you feel up to it, I'd put small green dots in the sockets to make the "green glowing undead menace look" from the ribcage come into the face. Also, once again if you're confident, I would take a brush with a little bit of silver on it and lightly pass it over the torso. Don't press down enough for it to go into the ribcage crevices, just enough so that the brush glosses right over them. While the glowing ribcage looks cool, the paint looks a tad sloppy (it could just be the camera/pic, though).

As for that nice termie, I'd do a little drybrushing in certain areas, to give the white a little more character. Use a light brown and maybe some black.

I also like how the destroyer lord's edges are worn away. It's a good look.

The XO made a removable termy helmet? Excellent modeling skill right there. He may want to run a wash over the fleshy bits to add some definition to the face, but it looks pretty good as-is (I'd recommend a watered-down ogryn flesh wash if available).


You have a very steady hand when it comes to painting those blue edges on the destroyer! I like it having gloss to it, as it reminds me of a car's finish. I think it would be hiliarious if somebody would model a necron using a miniature tub of turtle-wax on the Destroyer Lord's finish!

Awesome work. I bet it is hard as hell to plan ahead when you make your orders. BTW as a career Marine 1st Sgt's like that generally go away, A. they get promoted or B. they get gak canned because they fail to look out for the men they are entrusted with. I hope it works out, I bet that bunker is the best morale booster you all could have out there.

AHA! A Marine! I knew there were some of you lurking around here

All we need now are some Sailors and some Coasties and this thread will be complete

WOW guys that looks great.
Nice paint job on the lord
and that helmet is pure win. I love it

Keep up the good work!

Love them both, I'm amazed that no one ( to my knowledge anyway) ahs doen that termie helm trick before.

Really like the warscythe as well.

The destroyers will work, they can stay out of range and pour on the fire.

Corvus Wrote:

I really like the golden Scarab bracer on his arm. Personally I went with the Warscythe and Res Orb on mine...

It was hard for me to decide, because I do love rez orbs. But I thought the scarab arm looked fantastic. I made a tactical decision that a rez orb on a destroyer lord wouldn't be that useful because with a warscythe he will be separated from all of his destroyer friends, and since they all have T5, lascannons can't prevent their WBB rolls anyway. I think the only thing a rez orb would do to a necron lord would be give it the chance to rez if dropped by a power weapon, but that's 40 points that can go elsewhere. But really, the scarab bracer arm was cosmetically preferable. If someone wants to cry about WYSIWYG if I play him with an orb I'll just cellophane tape a dried ball of green stuff to his fist.

Thanks for the advice guys. And yeah, the torso does look a little sloppy. I try to clean that stuff up but I have a REALLY hard time with mettalic paints clotting up as they dry. As for the eyeballs, there's green in there, but it's hard to make it stand out in such recessed sockets without filling all of it with green. I guess the camera didn't get a good angle. I often have those problems with necron eyes.

Just read this thread from start to finish over the last couple of days... what a great read. Diesel, i hope you'll consider starting up a new thread when you get back stateside.

I must say. Even though I'm not a military man I have a great respect for those who choose to put themselves into that type of career. All the best to all you war-gamers that don't just play with toy soldiers but do the real thing. And everyone doing their thing in their respective country's armed forces.

Also. Have you considered taking a normal lord with the res orb AND a destroyer lord to wreak havoc ahead of the main advance? It can be a wicked combination.

Seriously, the XO HAS to tell me how he made that helm. I want it.

Is there any way that you could place or chop up a rez orb so that it would fit into the chest cavity? That way you could play it as a rez orb or not, as it would look cool.

Or maybe beneath the pommel?

micahaphone wrote:

Seriously, the XO HAS to tell me how he made that helm. I want it.

Is there any way that you could place or chop up a rez orb so that it would fit into the chest cavity? That way you could play it as a rez orb or not, as it would look cool.

Or maybe beneath the pommel?

He tells me that the helm was from a Defiler, with the horns cut off, and the crest was from an IG banner that E had. The magnet was simply a fragment of a chopped-up circular magnet glued to the back of a knick-knack, obviously meant for a refrigerator or something like that. He glued one fragment with super glue to the helmet, and one to the opening for the face on the armor.

If I decide to put a rez orb on that destroyer lord, it will either go on the pommel or on his free hand in a way that looks not slowed. So probably his pommel...

Oh. And isn't what I've got on that destroyer lord a warscythe? I thought the other one was a staff of light, as it seemed to be able to shoot. I thought the green rod in the back instead of at the "barrel" meant that it was a warscythe.

Nah staff of light has the little blades around the end, warscythe has one big blade. If you look in the codex there' a section that details various necron weapons and has pictures to help clarify.

Well... crap.