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Finished results looking spiffy, well done you! Also can I just say extra kudos for using old school Marines and fitting your project into a KR multicase- I like planning my stuff out the same way!

Nice work turning around the Demi company! Really impressive speed and pretty decent quality, and not just the quality of numbers! How come the Dev Sgt and jump Libby have purple and orange plasma when everyone else has coded standard blue? Good luck sorting the shoulder pads out. I like the sound of GS press moulds, I think that much freehand in one go would be enough to send you insane!

I wanted a spot colour for the Librarians rather than just more blue.

For the Devs it was just on impulse. I'd been playing around on a piece of cardboard seeing how dark blue with purple highlights might work and so I had those colours on hand, and just felt like using them.

That's a mighty fine effort there. Cracking stuff.

Makes sense, all 3 choices look cool, so why not! Back to the Executioners next?

I really can't decide. I have so many options;

Astral Claws
- 45 Terminators plus Terminator HQs and 3 or 4 Land Raiders using them as Dark Angels successors
- 1000 points of bikers, again using them as Dark Angels successors
- A demi-company
- Predators and Whirlwinds

Tyrant's Legion
- Using Orlocks from the original Necromunda with tanks

Executioners
- Finish what you've seen

Lamenters
- Start a Crusade force
- Continue the mostly 2nd Ed stuff I have shown previously

Primaris
- My White Scars successors
- Howling Griffons

Mentor Legion
- Blitz the 2nd ed list I have teased previously.

And so far, that assumes I stick to Marines and don't go back to Eldar, start my GSC in earnest or get back to my Nighthaunt...

First priority might be to finish my skeletons for Underworlds, but beyond that, I reeeeeally don't know.

They really look good all together. Great project!

I wanted to jump into this blog and just say that I've been away from this hobby and this forum for ten years. The day I get back I see a thread I lurked in when I was last here, and I see Gitsplitta is still active. It's like I never left. Your Mantis Warriors look so sick dude.

They all look great Fifty, but to me it's the Tranquility Snipers that really set the whole army off. You did a fantastic job on them. Really sweet work.

Congrats on finishing your Demi-Company Fifty.

Cheers,

CB

Thank you all for saying nice things.

Tek, it is nice to give you something familiar to return to.

I put together the parts for an Ancient for Gitsplitta.

I gave him a katana-like weapon similar to that I gave to my Librarian. It has no curvature, so isn't a katana, and is too long to be a tanto, but it has a good vibe for the Mantis Warriors, and that is what matters. The arm is one I cut off from the Dark Angel sergeant that came in one of the starter set a few editions back. The head is from the same model.

I'll need to get hold of another backpack with the eagle bits on if I do a company champion, but I am sure my gaming club will be able to help me there if I need it.

I had no banner pole for the actual banner, so had to use a spare arm from a space marine biker and another random part I don't even recognise, plus some styrene rod, but all sorted now.

Gits, let me know if you want anything changed. Also, I plan to put him on a 32mm base. That okay? And shall I base it the same as the rest of my guys, or leave him for you to base?

He looks awesome Fifty! You're batting a thousand my friend.

Frustratingly, the weather here has been too crappy to risk spraying an undercoat on Gitsplitta's Ancient, and I can't be bothered to set up my airbrush as I hate airbrushing! As a result, no progress there.

I allowed myself some time to play around, working out how to convert my Dreadblade Harrows using Grimghast Reapers to make Hexwraiths (and turn the Grimghast Reapers into low-rent Bladegheist Revenants.) I'm very confident I can pull off the Hexwraith conversion and... hopeful... that I can get some Bladegheists out of it too. I also spent some time tidying up and gluing together some Scibor and Brother Vinny ogres to use as Ogryns and as a Slave Ogryn gang.

But now, back to work...

Having blitzed through the Mantis Warriors like nobodies business, I am taking my time on my Executioners.

I am making a new, slightly larger axe blade for one of the models I showed earlier. I was going to use Kharn as the basis for an Emperor's Champion, but I decided the model was better suited to a Space Marine Captain wielding a relic blade and the Teeth of Terra. As a result, this conversion, which will represent one of the axes of Fafnir Rann...

The first image shows a 0.5mm sheet of styrene flanked by two bits that are 0.25mm thick. You can see from the second image the sizes I was working at! Much harder than the blades I made for my Wraithlords. I think this attempt will be okay once I tidy up the green stuff, but I might have another go and try to do it with a little more flair and precision on where the curves go.



I've also done some painting. The photos are taken under daylight bulbs, so the bone looks washed out as hell, but here is progress so far on two of my three planned Executioners Death Speakers. (Not to mention the Dreadnought Death Speaker!)

Happy with how the Ivanus Enkomi conversion looks. I think I did an okay job of turning the minotaur on his chest into something vaguely resembling a sternum. Maybe I should add a clavicle too, but I think it is fine. The cloak is meant to be worn leather. I think it looks... okay. I want to use a similar method for Amon Kull's clothing too. (Amon Kull being the big fella).

That's some mighty fine modelling right there.

Nice work!

Looking nice and boney! The carved axe blades look fantastic. I’m loving the change of pace on these guys so far!

Great update and a nice conversion. Regarding the worn leather, you could try and stipple on some more texture although that has the risk on ruining what you've done so far, which looks already nice.

 Viterbi wrote:
Great update and a nice conversion. Regarding the worn leather, you could try and stipple on some more texture although that has the risk on ruining what you've done so far, which looks already nice.

Frustratingly, I noticed a really annoying mould line on the leather in a really obvious place once I went to actually glue it in place. I think I missed it because I bought the model as part of a job lot and it was already undercoated black. It is not a line of flash, but a discontinuity in the smooth flow of the cloack, just where is peels back from the models left leg. It is incredibly obvious once the model is assembled and can't be missed, annyongly. Rather than strip what I have done, I used a couple of layers of vallejo plastic putty to smooth out the problem and repainted that section with Rhinox Hide again. It is still a teensy bit noticeable, but should not be a problem once broken up with stippling again. That s the long way to explain that I was considering some more stippling and washing anyway, but have to redo quite a bit now anyway, so have less to lose, so will probably try.

I am away in the country with the wife this weekend though, as she has been working from home such long hours due to Covid that she was getting pretty bad cabin fever. (She is upstairs working even now!) As a result, I won't get to do any work on these guys this weekend. :( I suppose I could have brought paint and models with me, but it just didn't seem worth it for how much opportunity I will likely get.

In other news, I entered the Black Library Open submissions for the third time this year. It had to be a horror submission, and I had to explain it in 100 words and provide a 500 word writing sample.

This was my blurb:

King of Rats draws on Cronenberg’s The Fly, Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Irvine Welsh’s Filth, to create a story of Skaven foulness narrated unreliably in the first person by a man and a rat.

In the Free City of Varamontium, an unprincipled but successful rat-catcher is changing nightly– becoming kin to that which he hunts; an abomination fit only for the Hellpits of Clans Moulder. Will he rid himself of his parasitic rat-brothers and thwart the Master Moulder’s scheme? Or will he succumb and sabotage The Sigil, allowing teeming Skaven multitudes to pour through gnawholes and claim his city?

I feel like the general idea is a strong one, for horror in particular, and my writing sample was good, I hope! If anyone is interested enough to read the 500 word sample, feel free to ask!

Some progress on one of my chaplains. Really just his hair to do on the main body and his arms to finish off.

Far from perfect, but I am very happy with him. Better than I normally paint black, this is for sure.

I followed this guide, but used Badab Black, Vallejo Dark Grey, Citadel's old (old, very old) Shadow Grey and another even older light grey from the oroginal Citadel range.




Mine is not a patch on theirs, but I was A) painting in terrible light, B) not fussed about the perfect finish and C) nowhere near as good a painter!

I might go back and glaze my transitions. We'll see.

He's looking very cool. I love his big hair.

Looks pretty good to me fifty, did you find it any quicker than trying to edge highlight?

Thats a good technique for black, and I think it came out quite good on your model tbh.

inmygravenimage wrote: He's looking very cool. I love his big hair.

Me too. I was planning to paint it yellow to match the Lieutenant, but I think I am going to do it in black instead.

gobert wrote:Looks pretty good to me fifty, did you find it any quicker than trying to edge highlight?

Well, I am not sure I found it a huge amount quicker, but I certainly find it more enjoyable, and I prefer how it looks, even though it is a bit rough and ready compared to the tutorial. I will probably do some black glazes to smooth out those transitions.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll wrote:Thats a good technique for black, and I think it came out quite good on your model tbh.

Thanks. I think so too. I think it is a good model to use the technique on.



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I finally had some good weather for undercoating whilst I was actually at home, so here is Gitsplitta's Ancient, ready for painting.



He is well-lit by my lovely new daylight lamp. I already don't know how I lived without it. I love lamp.



That is Darktt's blog on the monitor. I came across it when it was a new, young thing, but haven't been back enough. I am going through it all now, so I can post a "NICE!" message on it later.

Ancient conversion looks cool and that lamp is a really nice addition to the desk. I've been saying I need new lights since last year, someday I have to take the plunge.

That's an excellent build Fifty. Nice work!

Mate - thanks for visiting

I'm working my way backwards on your blog, but I dont get a lot of time to visit dakka outside of posting, so I'm only 2 pages in! so far the mantis guys look great and looking forward to those executioners.

I didn't realise that I hadn't posted a photo of my completed chaplain, and I've also completed a drop pod since then. A second drop pod is well under way and I've also done some little bits of work of three 5-man Crusader squads which I think I previewed long ago. That means I will have a big 1000 point, 50PL photo to come soon.
the
Today though, the only photo I took was a bit of a random one. I needed a tray for my Land Speeder Storms to enable them to fit with the rest of thr 50PL into one KR case. However, all I had was random bits of pluck from other KR foam! Even the base of the tray is actually three small vertical bits hot glue-gunned together, with the interior walls cleverly arranged to reinforce!

Hopefully it won't just fall apart the first time I use it! (Seems sturdy so far)

That looks very impressive foam engineering!

I have an MEng in Aeronautical Engineering, but I find that with a good grasp of engineering principles, you can apply the logic to any type of engineering, including foam!