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Okay, ever had that feeling you've bitten off more than you can chew?

This is my new project, which I aim to have completed by September 2014. It's a 28mm Warlord Titan, produced by Engen Studios out of Michigan.

The model stands 30 inches tall, weighs 22 kilos, and is simply massive. There is also a surprising amount of detail, which I intend to try and add to.

The Warlord is primarily resin (which explains the weight!), and on first inspection has weathered the trip from Michigan to Perth (Western Australia) then on to me in Queensland very well indeed. Couple of minor breakages, which are very easily fixed. I have noticed a couple of tiny spots of "sweaty" resin - feels still very slightly wet or miscured, but I can work around them.

The weapons layout is a Gatling Blaster, Twin Turbo-laser Destroyers, and a Plasma Destroyer...these are all cast resin, and solid.

Here's a link to a video the makers posted of how they made these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjdy4nQV79Q

And a link to the warseer post by the makers:

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?314041-Warlord-Battle-Titan-Commission

At the moment, this is my rough "plan of attack" for this project:

* try and contact original makers (have sent a few emails already) and get any more background possible
* repair minor breakages
* decide on sub-assemblies for painting
* build a "jig" or sub-frame to hold torso and head assembly for painting...
* decide on additional pieces to be attached (Legio badges, aquilas, purity seals, AM symbols etc)
* buy necessary paints
* sand / fix anything needs fixing
* undercoat black
* start painting...

I've decided to go with my "Legio Ferrata" colour scheme - Vallejo Scarlett red for armour plates, silver, bronze and gold trim for details, and a bleached bone / skull white head. (The Reaver below is an example.)

Any advice / constructive criticism / knowledge of these immense models would be greatly appreciated!

STC_LogisEngine wrote:Good luck with this project.

Thanks...I think I'm gonna need it...

Theophony wrote:Beautiful model. You did get a chuckle out of me first thing this morning with the Titan standing on top of the barstools. I can hear it saying "I IZ EMPEROR TITAN" .

You just had me laughing out loud! Hadn't thought of that.

Also, I should have noted in the OP that -

* I have seen these referred to as "true-scale" Warlords, FWIW.

* I'm also thinking about void-shield emitters (like on the FW Reaver) and point-defence-weapon turrets (like the old Epic days.)

Right, quick update on the Warlord...

I've managed to contact the original manufacturers via facebook...just waiting on a reply to a few queries...

I've started repairing some minor breaks, and have glued a few little details back into place, but nothing photo-worthy.

Oddly enough, I've found that one of the hip joints attachs really easily, and the other one is almost impossible to slide together - yet, to the old mk 1 eyeball, they look identical .

One thing that came together well was the "jig" that I made to hold the upper torso - amazing what a big old thick curtain-rod, a plank of heavy pine, and some screws can achieve. (photo below)

Also worked out my sub-assemblies - torso and head, hip joint, chest plate (which fell off), individual legs, turbo-lasers, gatling, plasma, weapon armour plates, and finally, all the little details bits to be pre-painted then attached.

I'm going to do the chest plate first, to check my colour scheme in this scale, and make sure everything sticks to the original primer - here's hoping...

Now to find a bulk discounter of araldite, boltgun metal, and black undercoat...

 ProfessionalAmateur wrote:

 Padre wrote:
The weapons layout is a Gatling Blaster, Twin Turbo-laser Destroyers, and a Plasma Destroyer...these are all cast resin, and solid.

Good grief, how much do they weigh?

Best guess is about 2 kilos each...the rear frame is hollow resin, to mount over the arms, but the barrels and details are solid resin...I'm not looking forward to drilling them out!

Right, just heard some more detail from Engen Studios (those freakishly skilled individuals who made this beast):

"We have made a total of 11 titans and yours is #11. We actually never stopped making titans but have been working on other projects and the demand for such a beast is limited though we are taking a commission for #12 right now! Your titan was actually shipped to Australia in October of 2013 so it wasn't in the original owners hands for long.

The resin we use is Model-Pro 2 part casting resin, the primer is Rust-Oleum Flat Grey Primer and works well with GW and Vallejo paints. Most of the assembly is with Loctite 2 part Epoxy and super glue.

We will be following the blog and feel free to ask any other questions!"

The lady who sold the Titan to me told me that she originally bought it as a surprise present for her boyfriend, who she then seperated from shortly after! (Damn, bet he's kicking himself he didn't snaffle the Titan before he went... )

Quick edit - managed to get the main guns drilled out today...didn't feel like miniature painting, somehow...

I've been thinking of names for her..."Magna Mortem" seems appropriate ("big death" ) but "Mater Lacrimis" ("mother of tears") striikes a chord with me as well...

Anybody else got any suggestions?

Folks, thanks for all the feedback.

Just a quick update (photos to follow), ala the original plan:

* try and contact original makers (have sent a few emails already) and get any more background possible - DONE
* repair minor breakages - IN PROGRESS
* decide on sub-assemblies for painting - DONE
* build a "jig" or sub-frame to hold torso and head assembly for painting... - DONE
* decide on additional pieces to be attached (Legio badges, aquilas, purity seals, AM symbols etc) - DONE
* buy necessary paints - DONE, in the mail...
* sand / fix anything needs fixing - IN PROGRESS
* undercoat black - STARTED, trial piece turned out beautiful...
* start painting...

I've always viewed Titans very much as portrayed by Dan Abnett, the ponderous, implacable "land-battleships" of the 40K battlefield...you don't normally get to see them up close if you're the enemy, cause you're dead if you get within 5 klicks .

Because of the existing details on the model, I really don't want to "over-do" adding further decoration, so I'm going to keep it fairly subdued, and let the massive slabs of resin speak for themselves.

I do want to add further detailing to the superstructure, particularly the shoulders and edges...Zinge Industries, with their flexible resin rivet strips, might be getting a fair slab of my budget...already decided I'm going to get a fair few of their resin ventilation / exhaust fans for the rear of the Titan, and the Plasma Destroyer, especially.

I was thinking of adding LEDS to represent void shield emitters to the shoulders, but drilling through 6 INCHES of resin is just too risky, IMHO . The torso is designed for strength, not drilling holes in!

RE Rivets on the main armour slabs, I aim to keep it in line with the rivetting aesthetics on the FW Reaver...ie "less is more".

More to come after Easter...

PS Also, the tabletop is not an issue for me...I don't play, and haven't since 3rd edition - WAAC players in the local scene ruined it for me. Just paint for the joy of it.

 Conrad Turner wrote:
Padre,

Not to disparage Zinge's excellent flexible resin stuff, including their rivet strips, but wouldn't you be better off getting something like this?

http://www.modeldesignconstruction.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/ModelDesignConstruction/_E48008/54282/Rivet%20Maker%201%2F48%20Scale

Thanks Conrad, very intriguing...I see they also do a 1/32nd scale...

RE the ginormous rivets (like on the big plates on the FW Reaver), I'm actually considering using thumb tacks...they're about the same size, scale-wise, as the FW rivets!

Work continues apace on the Warlord...

Firstly, I found out that I didn't get away damage-free in transit after all... I went to have a closer look on the torso section, and the left shoulder assembly (where the turbolasers mount to) came off in my hand! Looks like it copped a hell of a bump at one stage or another - there's a few scuffs and dents to the side and rear resin that I intend to fix up.

So, I've spent a bit of time fixing that, sanding off the older glue, realigning it and aralditing it back on (great stuff, two-part epoxy...). Unfortunately, it did leave a light gap compared to the right shoulder, and some other little spaces to fill, so I got out the green stuff and the vallejo plastic putty, and started filling. All done now - just need to sand it back.

My aim is to leave the torso and head section to last - I've got some plasticard strips coming that I intend to use to protect and re-shape some of the "softer" resin edges, and have decided on some of Zinge Industries scenery pieces (large and small fans, etc) to add some more detail to the back and side sections of the torso, including faux void shield emitters - I'm going to put these where the Chaplain is standing in the photos below.

The basecoating of the weapons and armour plates is going well, and I've just started a leg...photos below. The more I see of this model, the more I say "I'm gonna need more paint, and pieces, and plastic card..."

Also, my vallejo paint arrived today...as always, a big shout out to Aaron Cains of "Back 2 Base-ix" - excellent service.

I'm still toying with the idea of some Carapace-mounted multilasers for the rear shoulders - any opinions or suggestions out there? According to the old fluff (in my case "Epic 40000 : Firepower" magazine no. 1), these were twin turrets mounted on the rear of the Titan, and added two multilasers with a 180 degree rear firng arc, at the cost of one void shield.

Now, as I don't play, tabletop "effect" doesn't mean much to me, but having good looking turrets does - anybody got any ideas?

Hell, I could almost mount a couple of full-size Hydra batteries on the back of this thing, and they'd look about right!

Can do...I'll try and get a fair bit more base coating done in the next couple of days, and post a piccie of her assembled and basecoated...

 quickfuze wrote:
Base price is $1600 with some options available (such as chaos iconography) that are customer specific and negotiated. But that includes weapons from what I can tell so not bad when you consider the reaver is a solid $1K

Can I please say that I didn't pay that much for this beast...wish I was in a position to spend that in one lump sum on a model!

Now, speaking of the FW Reaver, attached is another scale shot which I thought appropriate, as I finished basecoating the legs today...those pipes beside the Reaver's head are the pelvic joins for the Warlord. Also, FWIW, that's a MKII Warlord Titan (the "Milkfloat" from Epic) in the background, next to my pride and joy, an old Armorcast Mars-Pattern Reaver Titan with a heap of unreleased accessories.

Okay, so I love my Titans...

f2k wrote:
An impressive model, for sure. But it seems that, as with many Warlord Titans, it's scale is vastly exaggerated.

Cool project nonetheless. Will follow with interest.

All told, it will eventually stand at 30 inches high - it's only 6 inches taller than the "average" estimate of a Warlord Titan - it's just proportionately more massive (and FAR smaller than if someone based it on the "Titan" comic artwork. Now, that would be scarey... )

I noted in an earlier post that I've, somewhere, seen these referred to as "tru-scale" Titans - maybe that's what the makers were aiming at...I'll send them a message and ask them.

It also is spot-on the below estimate of Titan sizes, which features the original Dreamforge Leviathan. Damn, wish I could get one of them...

@ F2k...you're right, quite a hard point to debate considering the discrepancies in the background, artwork, and also considering that various patterns of Titans, "Marks", and planet of origin can also impact on size.

In all honesty, I think it's a moot point anyway, as unless anyone out there has got a magical "re-sizer" machine, I'm happily painting a 30-inch Titan, compared to a 24-inch Titan!

Tydil wrote:
I think from the scale picture it's safe to say that the Reaver you have there must now become part of the base for this guy. What better way to base a titan than with a smaller titan?

 Commander Cain wrote:

 InyokaMadoda wrote:
OK, so now I am impressed with all of your titans! I know you're busy doing the Warlord titan, but how about a little tour of your other titans too? As someone who will probably never own a titan (although I may have to look into that...) it would be great to see some pics of them all individually and to find out how you obtained the slightly more obscure ones. Let us all fulfil our dreams vicariously through your collection!

I second this demand for a tour. Teasing us with background shots of all that awesome titan action, tsk tsk!

Okay, once I have the Warlord to a fully base-coated level, I'll take a few photos with, and of, the other Titans.

I currently have in my collection -
(painted)
* Armorcast Mars-pattern Reaver Titan with all weapons with the limited release Titan tail, spikes and skulls set, and a pair of unreleased variant heads
* Armorcast Phantom Titan, with the unreleased D-Cannon
* 2 x Armorcast Mars-pattern Warhound Titans
* Armorcast Revenant Titan
* Armorcast Towering Destoyer Knight
* Forgeworld Reaver Titan ( amazing model...hanging out for the rumoured FW Warlord)
* Scratchbuilt MK II Warlord Titan, designed to scale and appearance with the Armorcast aesthetics (I had the blueprints professionally scaled up from the epic-scale model by an architect.)

You can see most of these in the background of the Warlord shots I've posted so far.

Apart from some absolute rarities (such as the Armorcast Warlord Titan), I've pretty well collected the majority of large Armorcast WH40K and Battletech models they released or made (e.g Tyranid stuff, mechs, a squiggoth) and I've got to give a big shout-out to Tim DuPertuis (formerly of Armorcast) for his assistance in getting some of the rarer models as they were going OOP.

Now, off to fire up the air-brush...

So, there's been some developments with the Warlord...

I decided to reinforce the PVC substructure that makes up the waist and hips, and the thigh attachments - the bolts will be covered in AM detail when I'm done. Amazing what you can do with nuts, bolts and roofing nails...

I finished the base-coating for weapons, arms and arm-plates, and legs, and have started moving into the first coats of airbrushing...I'm using Vallejo Scarlett Red as the armour "plate" colour, with various metals to come. Next phase for these will be masking off the red, and applyiing the metal shades.

I've decided to add some extra trimming to the torso armour plates beofre I finish undercoating from top and bottom, so that will be tomorrow's job...

Here we go...

Well,unfortunately the "real world" interfered with my hobby ambitions for quite a while there...

BUT I'm back into the Titan...lower torso, arm and shoulder weapons, legs, and armour plates have had the base-coat of metal applied, and I've started the shading / highlighting process.

Photos in the next couple of days...