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Thanks for all your responses chaps!

Scarper wrote: In my experience, eBay models are a bit of a mixed bag - some absolute bargains, some where the repair work is almost not worth the saving

I'd have to agree with you on that one. I've very nearly finished assembling this army but my god, it has taken months! After all the time spent stripping, cleaning up and assembling all the ill-fitting bits together you often would have been better off buying a brand new box from GW. I guess it comes down to what you have more of, time or money! For a student, living off baked beans and noodles and with hours of time to kill each week, this is definitely not a bad approach though.

gorium wrote:Awesome project. Just watch out on the ebay addiction. I got in this mood myself where I want to grab all sweet deals I see, and end up with more models and bitz than I really need.

Make sure you dress up you 1500 list and 2000 list, then move the rest.

I've definitely ended up with more than I intended! Verging on 4000 points now. In a few weeks, when I've finished gluing everything together I will sell on all the parts I haven't used to try and gain some of that money back.

Reaper Man 2020 wrote:The marines are looking fine. They are not my favourite models but they have come out well and as you say perfectly acceptable for the table top.

Not my favorite either! They are so dull compared to the newer multi-part models. I figured it was best to test my paint scheme out on them though before moving on to the proper models though....which I should have some pictures of relatively shortly!

Cheers.

Update G:

Finally. It is done.









A = Land Raider Crusader
B = 2 Rhino's + 2 Rhino/Razorbacks (exchangeable doors/weapons).
C = 3 Dreadnoughts (selection of weapons including 4 TL-Autocannon arms).
D = 2 Predators (magentised turrets and sponsons).
E = 17 Scouts (various weapons).
F = 28 Marines with Bolters.
G = 5 Old-School Marines
H = 14 Marines with Heavy Weapons (Lascannons, Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Meltas and Plasma Cannons) and a Devastator Sergeant.
I = 10 Sternguard (8 with combi-Bolters). Also usable as Sergeants.
J = 12 Marines with Special Weapons (Meltaguns, Plasma Guns and Flamers).
K = 10 Sergeants/Veterans (various weapons inc. Power Fists, Swords).
L = 10 Assault Marines (Serg. with Power Fist and 2 with Flamers).
M = 5 Terminators.
N = 8 Assault Terminators.
O = 3 Attack Bikes with Multi-Meltas.
P = Spare Predator/Dreadnought/Rhino weapons.
Q = Standard Bearer, Techmarine, Apothecary, Company Champion, Chaplain, Chaplain with Jump Pack, Librarian, Captain and Lysander!

I counted just over 4000 points, and that's with a few leftover Sergeants, Heavy and Special weapons. Not too bad for just £207.39! I think this would have been about £750 to buy new from GW.

I've got a load of bits leftover which I'll be sorting out in the coming weeks and listing on eBay and the Dakka Swap Shop to try and earn a bit of money back as well.

You, sir, are a fiscal virtuoso. Very well done.

Awesome

I really wish there were more blogs like this. With the hobby becoming a game of 'haves versus have-nots', money-wise, showing that you can work the second-hand and bitz markets to build an affordable, playable, army?

PRICELESS.

You should consider explaining how you used eBay to achieve this, for future reference.

Maybe a Dakka article.

--Brian

Great result! Now all you have to do is paint them all!!

Update H:

Soooo...I've been busy again on eBay, but this time I've been selling! I listed all the spare bits I didn't use when building my army in an attempt to claw back a bit more money. In all honesty most of the bits I listed were useless, there were a few parts I could see people needing though (Thunder Hammers etc). I was expecting to get about £20 for everything, but to my amazement....

Once the auctions had finished, I'd paid my eBay fees and paid for all the postage....I was left with £83.02 profit!

So in total, this 4500 point army cost me just £124.37!

I calculated it to be £784.10 to buy these models at current GW prices, meaning I made a saving of £659.73 (84.1%). Thank you eBay. Mission accomplished.

Reaper Man 2020 wrote:Great result! Now all you have to do is paint them all!!

Unfortunately so! It'll take me years I think.

Here is one I finished recently:



Cheers!

Very inspiring considering I'm doing pretty much the same thing with my Imperial Fist except I deviated and have bought two boxsets from Wayland as I live close by and getting the 20% off was just to darn tempting. Though the rest of my purchases have been from ebay and I have 2500 points at around 150 in costs excluding the odd bits I had. Nice one mate.

Warflake wrote:Very inspiring considering I'm doing pretty much the same thing with my Imperial Fist except I deviated and have bought two boxsets from Wayland as I live close by and getting the 20% off was just to darn tempting. Though the rest of my purchases have been from ebay and I have 2500 points at around 150 in costs excluding the odd bits I had. Nice one mate.

Good to know I'm not the only economizing Imperial Fist player! At times I wasn't sure going for the eBay approach was really going to be worth it, but now I've worked out it saved me 84% off of retail prices I can't recommend it enough!

Another quick photo taken by Phototoxin yesterday of my Marines pumping in the Lascannon shots:

Result! I can't believe what a saving you have made!

I'm in total agreement with you, eBay is probably the best thing to ever happen to 40K. I haven't rescued any models yet, but eBay and bitz sites are pretty awesome for fun little projects that need odd parts or a lot of one specific part (I'm looking at you, Thunder Hammer Vanguard Vets squad I'm starting!)

Good luck with your budgeting on this project; I'll be watching closely!

Update I:

Painted a Rhino. I used Army Painter Quickshade, so it'd match all my infantry. I don't think it works too well on vehicles though.





Just aiming for 'tabletop' quality as always.

Doesn't look too bad IMO. A little extra mud weathering on the tracks might make the puddle-bath look seem less out of place though.

Wow, I love the yellow on your Imperial fists...I shall be keeping an eye on this blog!

genom.cor wrote:Doesn't look too bad IMO. A little extra mud weathering on the tracks might make the puddle-bath look seem less out of place though.

I didn't plan to do any weathering on my vehicles initially. All the weathering / battle-damage was purely to hide areas where the quickshade had pooled really badly! I'll add a bit more around the tracks though if you think that'd help.

MrNurgle wrote:Wow, I love the yellow on your Imperial fists...I shall be keeping an eye on this blog!

You should give it a go! White undercoat, two watered down coats of Sunburst Yellow, Army Painter Strong Tone dip. Sorted!

WOW. That is really impressive.
great job in saving so much money and crating such a huge army.

I think think it looks awesome. It looks gritty like it's just been through hell!

Adding a few drops of 'future' brand floor wax to the quickpainter wash/drip may help with the pooling.

Wet/drybrushing with the original medium shade atop the wash may also assist.

Looking good!

The rhino doesn't look too bad but I must say it wouldn't be my choice on how to paint it! Still I'm sure it will look fine once you have added some iconography!

Briancj wrote:Adding a few drops of 'future' brand floor wax to the quickpainter wash/drip may help with the pooling.

I did mix the dip with some turpentine to thin it a little. Would the floor wax have a similar effect?

Reaper Man 2020 wrote:The rhino doesn't look too bad but I must say it wouldn't be my choice on how to paint it! Still I'm sure it will look fine once you have added some iconography!

How would you have gone about painting it? I've got 6 more tanks to do so if there is a better method I definitely want to give it a go. I couldn't think of any other way of quickly replicating the same shade of yellow I've got on my Marines. :(

Hmmm, difficult if you want a similar effect to the infantry. I would probably mass airbrush all the vehicles and then use the wash but really water it down more, use the edge of some kitchen towel to soak up any excessive areas. Then highlight at least one stage on the edges and finally add some really big fist symbols on the doors and the top hatches. I did notice that you did in fact have some iconography, it just needs to be bigger! My two cents any way.

Update J:

Slightly different method on a Rhino...










And some Terminators...

Bravo Sir, Bravo! I have enjoyed reading through your blog and look forward to your progress. Never heard of this quickshade stuff... is it a wash? Seems to work well for painting stuff quick and adds a nice finish.

Looking good! I like the red it really contrasts the yellow well. How many points are you up to now (painted)?

Update K:

Reaper Man 2020 wrote:Looking good! I like the red it really contrasts the yellow well. How many points are you up to now (painted)?

I think this is about 1000 points now. Long way to go!

libby + boys look amazing OrkyB!

Can't wait to play them :-)

Briancj wrote:I really wish there were more blogs like this. With the hobby becoming a game of 'haves versus have-nots', money-wise, showing that you can work the second-hand and bitz markets to build an affordable, playable, army?

PRICELESS.

You should consider explaining how you used eBay to achieve this, for future reference.

Maybe a Dakka article.

--Brian

For sure.

Heck, if anything, this should be a lesson for people on how great EBay can be. I wish it had been around when I was a poor kid playing this. These days I am fortunate that I can afford to cherry pick bits and buy frivolous and "collection" pieces. But this is an amazing tutorial, and a great story of how you can play 40K with a bit of determination and some craftiness. I come across lots all the time that would be great for people who were looking to start an army.

Heck, I'd almost say this thread should be pinned.

Just want to point out that I built a deathwing army for $185 bucks. 25 terminators 1 LRC and 3 Dreadnoughts and all of my terminators have scibor shoulders and shields. Ebay is your friend!!! So it is possible if your patient! This is very inspiring!

I love the Fist models! I want to build a second Space Marine army with either Imperial/Crimson Fists. Keep it up!

You take scrimping to a new level
Anyway good work, makes me want to have a shufty more on ebay.

Impressive work. I've been doing something similar but on a smaller scale (I'm aiming for a 1000pts) and it really is amazing how cheap you can get stuff, particularly if you can see past a poor paint job or badly put together model.

If we all did this, the laws of economics would force GW to lower prices