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I have already completed one Fortress previously (see my signature for pictures) but I've always liked the Fortress of Redemption Kit and ever since it was released, I've slowly been buying sections from the various bits companies out in cyber space. I never thought the original layout of the GW kit made any sense, a slight zig zag with a bunker on each end and a tower stuck on at the middle. I wanted to follow a more historical route.

The plan is to have 4 bunkers on each corner of a square, with corridors joining each bunker and a free standing tower in the middle (very Middle Ages!!)

This is what I've done so far:



This is what I plan on doing for the front gates:



I want to use these parts from the Imperial Bastion kits to hold Heavy Bolter weapons and then ......

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...add these gates/doors from one of the Cities of Death kits. I plan on adding the turrets from the top of the bastion kit to give a more "Fort-like" look to the front gate.



This is what I've done to make the Tower free standing. I added the Imperial Eagle door from the Bastion kit and I will sand the milliput from around the entrance to ensure a smooth finish.



This is a close up of the only entrance to the bunkers. I was toying with having an entrance for each bunker, but from a defense point of view, I opted to stick with just the one. I added a Large Space Marine Helmet to prove to any visitors who built this Fortress and a little Inquisition logo (partly to cover the milliput I used to fill the gap and partly because I thought it would leave a little intrique into the background of building the fort).



This is what the corridors will look like joining the bunkers. This has involved A LOT of cutting and sanding to get to this stage. I need to get a few more of the joining bits to the bunker before I can complete the other 2 corridors. Depending on the size of the front gate/wall, the rear corridor may need to have 4 or 5 of the little hatches - We'll see.



Here's a plan view of the corridor. I've made a little silicon mould of the walkway and am waiting for the milliput to dry before I can complete this section of the corridor. This may come out slightly bent, but hopefully with some paint, any issues will be disguised!



Finally, I've used 23 of the Imperial Eagle sides to complete the bunkers. I don't want to use the inserts that come with the Fortress of Redemption kit and I plan on making a plasticard blank (hopefully as simple as possible) of an Eagles body and legs (to fit in with the existing GW bunker sides). As I have 23 to make, anybody who wishes to send me a few examples of what they think the inserts should like would be appreciated.

This has taken about a week so far to complete. My wife's not happy as my previous Fortress has been adorning our freshly rebuilt and redecorated utility room for the past 6 months and she doesn't want this to do the same - So I plan on making the whole project to be easily dis-assembled. This will ease the storage issue.

As there are a number of parts that I still haven't got (and the bits companies seem to be out of stock at the moment), I can see this project lasting a number of months.

Any comments/critiques are welcome.

Regards, Phil.

totally subscribing this amazing

Omg! I love what you are doing here! I converted mine a little bit but wish I had seen this before I started mine: I am sure I would have been motivated to a much bigger project and a much cooler Fortress!! Congrats!!

Very very very nice!

I want my own fortress too!

I love it! love the design and concept

Some slow progress being made on this project:



Here's a shot of the front gate. I'm waiting for Bits suppliers to restock Fortress of Redemption and Imperial Bastion pieces to finish this view. I need to buy 4 Bastion Heavy Bolter to place in the Weapon emplacements (2 on this side and 2 on the reverse). I need to sand above the large Space Marine Helmet to hide the join in the Bastion pieces. I need to add triangle plasticard pieces to join the front wall with the bunkers either side.



Here's an inside shot of the front gate from the rear. I've added a door from one of the bunker pieces and added milliput to "merge" it with the wall. I've added milliput to hide the joins again from the Bastion pieces. I need to buy 1 more Turret emplacement to add to the rear right to finish this view.



This is a good shot to see the progress I've made on the Fortress. It's all modular so it should be easy to store away.



Here's a shot of the right hand side wall. I've just bought some parts from a Bits company and am waiting for delivery before I can finish this view.



Here's a shot of the rear wall. Again, I'm waiting for bits/to buy bits to finish this walkway.

I'm starting to think of how to paint this monster! I'm thinking of painting the bunkers and walls red. What do others think of a paint scheme for the walls, bunkers and Tower?

Comments/critiques welcome as always.

Regards, Phil.

Want moar pictures! MOAR PICTUES! This is amazing, good job

WOW!

Looks great. I'm going to have to steal this idea some day.

That milliput Inquition logo is really well done. Very nice work.

I'm not so sure about the Space Marine head, though - at this point anyway.

Small update time:



This shows the progress I have made on the bunkers. I've used white plasticard to form the base and then added a further plasticard layer for the Eagle's body and Tail feathers.



This shows the completed face of each bunker. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I'm still waiting for some Fortress of Redemption bits to arrive from America (this was the last purchase from America before the recent US postage rise - It's no longer cost effective to buys parts from the US anymore) and I'm also waiting for the top part of the bastion kit to arrive, as well as some internal doors from the UK. When these arrive, I should be able to finish this project and move onto my next, a Plasma Fellblade!

Comment and critiques welcome as always, Phil.

i think you should cut the claws and rap them around the column they look a bit odd just sticking out and the wouldnt make very much sense from a defensive point of few as the could be used to scale the wall

Very nice work so far!

kencotter wrote:
i think you should cut the claws and rap them around the column they look a bit odd just sticking out and the wouldnt make very much sense from a defensive point of few as the could be used to scale the wall

I'm liking your suggestion. I could bend the claws back at a 45 degree angle and then use milliput to sculpt a 3D effect claw. The only issue is that there are 46 to do. I'm not sure if I have the time nor motivation to do this. I try and build things as realistic as possible, but we are talking 40k! Sometimes not making sense doesn't matter. I really want to move onto my next project (a Plasma Fellblade) so I want to finish the construction of the fortress asap. I've just received my bits from America and am in the process of chopping and sticking. I hope to have more shots soon.

Regards, Phil

that sounds awsome you should do it, it will be worth it in the end

Very nice work- a complex project that really enhances the model!

I think it needs more lascannons!
Great job!

Update time:



The bunkers are all finished. I've decided not to bend the claws back slightly and use milliput to give a more 3D effect as I cannot bear the thought of having to do this 46 times!!!

You can see the left and right walls are finished. The rear wall has had more work done on it since this photo was taken and this can be seen below:



The top wall is completed. The walkway is almost finished. I'm just waiting for the milliput around the joints of the walkway to harden before I can join all the pieces together. The bottom wall needs a small amount of work on the left hand side (white plasticard side). I'm going to have to use some more milliput around the top edge to merge the plasticard and milliput mould into the GW parts. I'm listing a lot of things on ebay tonight so I won't be able to finish this until tomorrow.



This shows what I've done to the Front gate house. This view will be joining the front right hand side bunker with the Front gate. I originally planned on having the stairs going down from the bunker to the floor and for access to the Front gate to have another hatch. In theory, this worked, but unfortunately, in practise, I couldn't get it to fit in the room I had available. Therefore, after a mini rethink, I opted for a small gangway leading off the bunker to some stairs that lead to the roof of the Front gate.



You can see the hatch better in this shot. I was thinking of enclosing the stairs, but I think it looks fine leaving this as it is (allowing keen eyed viewers to see how the defenders can get out of the Front Gate section into the lower bunker entrance.



I plan on using the edging on the main parts of the Front gate and adding these to the white plasticard. This white plasticard joins the Front gate and the bunker. I just need to do the same to the left hand side of the Front gate and this will almost be finished.

Another couple of days and this piece of terrain will be finished (I Hope!!!).

Comments and critiques welcome as always.

Regards, Phil.

This is a great idea, and the execution is looking really solid thus far. I like the little details (like that doorway to the gate!) and the Inquisition logo is a nice touch too.

Absolutely subscribing!

I have 99% finished the "Fort"ress of the Damned:



This front shot shows the size of the Fortress. The only things missing are the Heavy Bolter for the Bastions. I'm still trying to aquire 4 of them.



This shows the 99% completed Front Gate. I've added some Cities of Death Imperial Eagles to the top and bottom parts of the Bastion to increase the eagle count!



This plan shot shows the walkway above the Front Gate and the front right bunker. You can see the extra Heavy Bolters on each Bunker. I plan on adding mini 2mm magnets to the bottom of each weapon to aid in the storage.



This shows the whole of the right hand side, two bunkers and the corridor.



This shows the whole of the left hand side.



This shows the near complete Tower. I have added an aerial defense weapon - The Aegis Autocannon. I need to remove the blue silicon mould underneath the temporary Aegis Autocannons which I have borrowed from the other outpost I have already completed. Aegis Autocannons go for ridiculous sums on ebay! I still need to purchase another one of these to finish the Tower.



This shot shows the whole of the rear section. I have spent more time constructing the rear corridor and Front Gate section than the whole of the rest of the Fortress!

I have decided to paint the Fortress like this:



Gunzhard has done a fab paint job on his Fortress above and I can see me wanting to do a similar paint job. Any suggestions on what he has used to get the dark red colour? I want the weather to improve before I undercoat and start painting mine.

Until I get a new Aegis Autocannon and 4 Bastion Heavy Bolters and 17 2mm magnets, this project will be put away and I now want to start my next project, a Plasma Fellblade. Check out my Blog for more details.

Comments and critiques welcome as always.

Regards, Phil.

Wow. Where has this thread been my whole life?

Good job man. Ill stay tuned.

Started to paint my Fortress:



I'm still toying with my airbrush. The primer in my airbrush kept on clogging up the tip. I tried reducing/increasing pressure, thinning the mix to no avail. After much frustration, I used Halfords White Primer to spray the 4 octagon emplacements and 3 of the corridors.

I switched to Vallejo Model Air Fire Red and this worked a breeze through the airbrush:



This shows the colour I've gone for. After viewing and reading lots on weathering, I sprayed a thinned down Vallejo Acrylic Gloss Varnish all over to assist in the wash stage.



I used GW Baal red wash all over. It darkened the red, but it left streaks and pools in places. I'm not happy with the result and am toying with respraying with Fire Red and starting again. I've started painting a Dark Talon in the same Fire Red colour and with this, I used a black wash from oil paint and thinner and I was really happy with the results. I currently have too many painting projects on the go at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

try the army painter washes

http://taleofpainters.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-army-painter-warpaints.html

This is awesome! Really well done. Can't wait to see it painted.

Apologies for the threadomancy, but I thought I would show you the progress I have made:



I base coated the side walkways with some VMA Fire Red and painted the tread part of the walkways with Army Painter Gun Metal. The one on the right has had a black oil wash added. I need to dry brush some more gun metal over the treads and then start some weathering of sponged gun metal and rust.



A shot of my kitchen table this afternoon!! As I was using my airbrush, I tried to paint as many things as I could with the same VMA Fire Red.

You can see on the left all of the Heavy Bolters that need to be painted. You can see 2 of the corner sections undercoated red, with the last one still needing to be completed. The fourth one has already be done and can be seen shortly. Some of my Land Raider conversions can also be seen in the bottom right and top right in the box.



Here's a close up of the base coated corner section and front gate section.



The base coated tower. I want to paint the winged Dark Angel similar to Gunzhard I showed earlier in this thread - a cream marble like paint job.



This is the completed base coated corner section. I need to airbrush some matt varnish over it and then add a black oil wash over the whole of the model. Once dry, a sponging of gun metal and rust (and maybe a small amount of dust along the bottom with some pigments). The light on the eagles chest will have an airbrush blob of light blue to simulate a "plasma" glow, which I think will contrast nicely with the other colours.



This corner section is the only one with a doorway entrance to get into the interior of the fortress corridors. The Inquisition logo and large SM Helmet will also need to be completed on this corner section.

So many projects, not enough time!

Comments and crits welcome.

Regards, Phil.

Fortress of the Damned

I keep on putting off this project, but I have made a small amount of progress:



This shows one of the bunkers and one of the corridors. All the base layers have been painted and then black oil washed. I now need metal and rust to be sponged on for weathering, a few wires need to be painted on the inside of the bunker, the exterior lights need a light green blast from the airbrush to give a "glow"as well as the large lascannon on top for these to be completed. Only 3 more corridors and bunkers to go and then the tower!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Till next time, Phil.