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This is Sonny. He's lonely.





I placed a chaos marine and bike under the notoriously weak Achilles-Ankles.



Same shot with flash:





I'll be posting more pictures of his brothers' development.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Keeping with CSM as an enemy 'base decoration' and hoping to keep the model's major mass/weight off the ankles, I thought that using the gun, arm & shoulder would be better as a main post/pillar of support. Since, Sonny has a rather static pose, I decided that Switek's is going to be a more ambitious, action oriented pose. I'll get his right leg down for weight support and have the left up, ready to take the next 'step' as he's running past, and blasting the dreadnaught.


Here, I'm holding the body with ticky-tack holding it together:






The Hellbrute is a rather useless dust gathering eye-sore in my collection. So he got volunteered to be window dressing:



Fortunately, it took only a few minutes of screw driver prying apart to undo the Testor's plastic cement bonds I'd used a couple years ago.







The poor slob (hellbrute) now gets an Ion Accelerator to the groin.





I used a soldiering iron to soften up the groin section to have a better, flush fit of the Ion Accel's gun barrel.

Looks awesome! Nice work.

I'm debating on whether or not the Ion Accel's bond will hold the general integrity of most of the body's weight.









You can see the purple of a warlock through the gap between the HellB's abdomen and the gun:




I'm inexperienced in using pins and such. It seems straight forward to drill through the bottom, but how does one secure the dowel? I worry that a screw/bolt and washer will be way over board. And to find a screw / washer set up that won't stick out from beneath the base.

Recommendations?

First of all, liking the Helbrute on the base.

Second of all, I personally use a base-plate thing (basically a small washer) with lots and lots of glue. I'm sure someone can tell you something better, but it's worked okay for me.

I found a screw that seemed like a good length and busted out my Ryobi drill. A little nerve wracking but I managed that.





I'm holding a dupe screw; the other is already rammed through HellBrute's gut and up the IonAccel's barrel.


The arm fell off the IonAccel's socket so here's a reglue. Zap-A-Gap is not doing the job it should be doing.




Turns out that the drilling wasn't enough (a 9/64 inch drill bit). The screw split the 'under' side of the Ion Accel apart, so I reglued it, and snapped on a clip. It might need green stuff or a goopy amount of paint later on.




All that was about Riptide "Switek".


Here's Riptide "Castillo" and what I plan for him.



See, I'm going to have the pilot taking break, standing next to the leg, leaning on it if I can manage. With a cigarette and a flask. There will be ChaosSM bodies on the base to show that he'd just used the IonAccel.




Here are the pilot's parts:



The greener arm (I dunno how that discoloration came about over the years) is going to be holding a cigarette/cigarette. I have shoved a larger ... Fire Warrior bit (flask, grenade, canteen?) into the right hand. The body is the 'spotter' from a Devilfish. The Riptide suit itself will be sitting on the blue 'rocks'. I couldn't quite work out having a trashed rhino or anything else. The base just isn't big enough for that much decorative terrain.





Back to Switek:




I'm working out how to get his leg, torso and all glued together. I start with gluing his foot to the base, holding the other parts in place to make sure all will fit.

This is gonna be a pain.


I figure that I better get his left thigh glued on:





The left leg and foot, up positioned for a high step in a run. I used a Warp Spider exarch, clip and weight of a hobby knife to steady the ankle assembly.





Cancer sucks. Been there done that, family survivor and all (don't get depressed, it's a happy ending on that. She's a 12 year survivor! ) so I'm reluctant to use this , but after two songs played through the radio while holding all this together, I said screw it, and used the Kicker on the foot-to-base, thigh-to-hip and shoulder-to-arm-socket.

And then place it in the open, not the confines of the garage.






Side notes:
I might invest in a newer bottle of glue. This one is a year or three old.
I added 'spirit stone' details to Warp Spiders I own, tidying up their missing bits of paint over a year or so of wear and tear.

I screwed up on the fit. With the gun arm so far down and not forward, the left/port jetpack was to deep into the shoulder guard, pad. So, I hobby knifed that down two notches, and then a little more for one of the vents as it rested on the IonAccel's structure.









Standard Be Safe! public service announcement. Yes, I put a new blade on the hobby knife.





For Castillo, I've carved the torso a bit to show where the pilot will have exited.







I know the back looks more like the exit, and makes more sense, but I saw this picture, and want to do it:




But, there's sooo much going on inside this Riptide, I'm going to have my 'hatch' mostly closed. Come to think of it, I can prolly have the rear hatch up and 'open' and still pull off the same effect. Will think on it.

Awesome. I think the Helbrute on the base will look brilliant.

EDC

Switek is nearly assembled. It occurred to me that I'd REM his shield for transport reasons.














I'm a newb at this and I over drilled the 3/16" REM (which radio shack advertised as 1/8)".




Only, my 3/16" drill bit did *not* make a big enough hole. So I used the 7/32" and ended up with too a big a hole.


Again, the REM cylinder is now too small. I pried apart the hand,




and ...




... glued a backing piece on the inside.

Next post will find out if this will hold the REM. Plus I need to not screw up the Invuln Shield's magnet seat.

Moving on.


I'm pleased with the stability the screw is giving Switek's body and ankles, so I thought one for Castillo would be good too.






Here you can see some digging out of the base to have the screw's tapering edge sit a little more flush, but it won't go perfect without compromising its stability.




The rock "seat" that the Riptide armor will sit on easily screwed on.










The screw's volume needed to be drilled out of the hips so that required prying it apart, several re-drills and some hobby knife action to pare it down. In the end, it glued flush and I set it with some grips.




Next should be:

1. Switek's finished assembly and then on to the Hellbrute's final looks/modeling.

2. Castillo's far easier body assembly, but tougher pilot conversion.

Looking good so far.

EDC

@deathwing fanboy, TheManWithNoPlan and EDC

I forgot my manners and didn't thank you guys for the encouragement. Thanks for helping break up the long picture posts.

Switek's Shield

To make sure that I don't mess up the polarity on the REM, I use a piece of paper to have it attach itself, but still have a barrier that I can peel away.





Some glue, and a day later:





Castillo:


The legs glue without too much difficulty, and I go for a fairly crooked right foot, because that's where the pilot will stand or lean. The torso needed some reaming out because of the screw, but it's there:




I have given up on the idea of having the torso's pilot compartment 'door' or hatch open. Too lazy.



Jetpack and shoulder joint:






It took a bit of doing, but less than 3 minutes of swearing, losing the first piece and then placing a piece of fishing line for the cigarette between his left hand fingers. I made sure the camera caught the fishing line's reflection in the garage light.







I worry that primer will melt that, so he will get placed on the base after primer paint (and I'll need to cover the foam insulation that is the suit's 'rock seat'.

That pilot should know that smoking is bad for his health.

I'm not sure giant war robots are 'good' for his health considering the fire he'll draw...

Impressive work nonetheless, sounds like it was very fiddly.

EDC

I am now stuck with ideas:

You scan skip my thoughts and go straight to :

Too Long Didn't Read:

I post now to ask:
1. Any better ideas on how to pose the arms?
2. Refine my Basing ideas?

I had all these parts in mind for blasted enemies. After a bit of thought, I think all of this would overwhelm the pilot, who is the focus (Am I now Waaayy over thinking things ? ) of my efforts.





I think I'll just glue a few CSM bits on ...




... allowing the pilot to be a larger part of the scene. The pilot now has a thin layer of GW's white paint on him for his repaint in the new scheme..

I drilled through the CSM's helmet for bullet holes and used the soldiering iron to give him Ion-burned cauterize wounds. I will post close ups of those later.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gun and Shield fans glued:











I'd seen many Riptides for a couple years now, but it had not occurred to me that the fans of the Invuln Shield might move and articulate, fluff-wise. So, in 'closed down' mode, I thought it would make sense for them to be nearly flush on Castillo. Plus, I needed them forward to ease the paint access to the leg, and to put more weight forward.





I really under estimated the weight of the jetpack pieces. The whole piece's center of gravity is way to the rear. It's gonna need a washer other weight on the base's front.



Here's the other shields. Sonny's I had just glued like the box shows. Switek's were placed far apart with this idea in mind, like he's on the run, totally in the heat of battle, and needing maximum spread on the shield's protection.

On Castillo, I needed them forward to ease the paint access to the leg, and to put more weight forward. I really under estimated the weight of the jet-pack pieces. The whole piece's center of gravity is way to the rear. It's gonna need a washer or other weight on the base's front.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I have painted the insul-foam with acrylic paint. I ask you guys, the dakka community, will a layer or two protect it from the 'melt' that the primer will do? I guess I can try and shield it with newspaper when I use the spray primer (OSH, not GW's can for four times the cost. ).

I would like to think I've come a long ways in *not* complaining about GW's prices, but this is one I like to dig on them:

OSH's $2.99 can of primer versus whatever GW is charging for thiers:






Switek and Castillo are fully assembled and ready for paint.






They'll be following Sonny's paint scheme. Though these are airbrush paints, I'm going to use a normal brush. I did so for Sonny. I don't have the airbrushing skills to do these models justice. I'm practicing on bits and unwanted ebay cast-offs.





I paint a few panels a night (Real Life interferes, who-da thought?). After a couple games, I realized that I need clear markers on Nova charging.




Final posts are prolly due in a week or two:
a. paint done
b. Castillo's base assembled and glued, featuring the pilot taking a reflective break. Paint that.
c. Static grass and final painting of the 'tile flooring'.

Castillo's pilot is nearly done (he needs shades and highlights). There's still more basing to do, but I've hit a long stall in painting, but taking pix helps:






He's just on there with a little gob of ticky-tak:














The Riptide armor will get a lot more green and pink. And battle damage 'scratches' .

Looking good so far.

EDC

Finishing up most of the body panels, enough to look 'finished', but still needing those additonal levels of highlights, battle damage and weathering.







Any recommendations on how to make some of these longer, 'fault line' cracks into battle damage. One line of black in the deepest part of the crack, and two silver edges, with one slightly more silvery to highlight that? This kinda bigger scale battle damage is new to me so I am solisiticing advice.

And yeah, the chaos dread will get more attention later.

Final stages:
I've added REMs for a mix of SMS and FB. Castillo is done. Switek actually needs some finishing paint on his gun, but I'm gonna post these last few items now. These are the wrap up pix. Summer is ending, Hammer of Wrath GT is this weekend and then work will dominate a lot more of my time, instead of summer vacation fun.



Those are bottle caps to remember which NOVA reactor is used, for me and my opponent. Primer white, the same pink and green paints.

I highly recommend bottle caps for markers:
cheap
easy to prime and mark
low profile on the table so they don't interfere with movement nor get picked up accidentally like a dice that marks wounds
I liked FrontLineGaming's marker chits that you can download and print. However, even after laminating them, I found those too easily stirred around by blowing fans, or just not stable enough to stay in place. Bottle caps have weight.






The pilot is all installed, and toasting his fallen enemy. If I could only get Winston or Camel to sponsor it, Ida painted the actual pack of smokes somewhere.





Switek's dread opponent now has smoke clouds of destruction billowing out from the IonAccel's nozzle. Both the dread and riptide need wee bits of paint here and there, but I'm eager to put this to bed.



As I look at these last pictures, neither the sun light nor my new smart phone's camera does the paint look too good in. Oh, well.

Thanks for perusing my efforts and posters like EDC for the encouragement.