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Before I go on to the Chickenhawk dropship I decided to start with this kit from the same guy it's a free kit for a Walrus Hovercraft. It's a nice kit and before I started creating it I thought these would make interesting Sentinel replacements however on finishing it I ended up with a fairly large substantial Hovercraft. It might do for a Chimera and would certainly be fine for a Stormtrooper Rhino. I made this in about 2 hours and it almost certainly cost less than 50p. These cardstock models are a new move for me but one I'm palnning to continue. If anybody knows of other good sources for these downloads please tell me (I've already checked RPG Now). The great advantage of this cardstock stuff is no Scenery painting. I'd also be interested if anybody has advice on finishing these models more neatly.....

I also know I need to finish of the base on the Commissar!


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I forgot to mention. This is the APC version the kit also has a Truck and a Pick Up version.

I've just signed up to the Yahoo Groups BWC Archive and they have a lot of nice templates for cardstock 40K vehicles. I'm planning to eventually try a lot of these.

Out of interest does anybody have any suggestions for painting Zulu Armour? Currently I'm considering a cowhide Black and White pattern. Another option would be a cityfight scheme still mainly black but using grays......

Well fortunately the people on the Wargames Factory forums gave me some more ideas. Eilif's suggestion of Kente Cloth patterns was particularly good and I used the randome geometric patterns to give the Chimera some unique ID markings. The model itself is a cardstock shell using GW plastic weapons (the Heavy Flamers from a Sentinel while the Heavy Bolter's from the Heavy Weapon Sprue, I also decided to use a spare hatch rather than bash one. Overall I really enjoyed making it and I definitely want to do more (current vague plan is another 2 Chimera's at least and a couple of leman Russes.. Economic's wise its only worthwhile if you enjoy doing it as assembly was most of a day. The actually painting I'm undecided on the Kente patterning worked well and the Cowhide Pattern looks distinctive, The bronze lettering is more distinct in RL. However the brown ink may have been to strong so what do people think. Actually the photographs are far worse than the model as the cameras done odd stuff due to the white paint so I'm going to try again.


Still haven't got an image I like I'll try again another day however turning the flash off has improved the image by a fair margin as you can see.
Bad Shot

Better Shot

I'm still not really happy with any of these any ideas whats causing the graininess I'll try yet again without Macro and see if that helps. I think it's the Black & White with it's harsh contrast causing the Camera problems myself.


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Meh this shot isn't great but it'll do any idea of whats causing the problem?

"That would be true if they were Orcs not a disciplined Regiment of his Imperial Majesties Servants......... " hmm ironicaly i see these shululu guys more barbaric than orcs and heretics to the imperium. Your name is in the book of grimores and i will not stop hunting your shululu guys until they burn heretic... (sry but the inquisitor in me is talking)

Rose_Mountainz wrote:"That would be true if they were Orcs not a disciplined Regiment of his Imperial Majesties Servants......... " hmm ironicaly i see these shululu guys more barbaric than orcs and heretics to the imperium. Your name is in the book of grimores and i will not stop hunting your shululu guys until they burn heretic... (sry but the inquisitor in me is talking)

Yes heretic maybe but if they're willing to die for the emperor they're an asset. Let chaos destroy itself, it's entropic.

Actually the Zulu army was historically well organised and led it was the British who were shambolic and chaotic during the war (Ignore the flag I'm English and I can be as insulting as I want about the aristocratic idiots who probably got several of my ancestors killed ). The whole idea is that while their barbaric in appearance they are actually professional soldiers modelled both on the traditional Zulu regiments and the Ultramarines. The only part of them that might get the Ecclesiarchy's backs up is that they follow the Ultramarine/Marine beliefs rather than the Orthodox religion. The fact is most Imperial regiments would be hugely varied and in the background it is common to hear about barbarian warriors, high-tech super troopers and Normal Joe Bloggs regiments serving together. It's a huge society with every size and type of human culture represented in it. I'm just trying to demonstrate that!

Quick note the first platoon is assembled and I'll be back painting these guys once the Centigor are finally completed.

Well this project has recently got a bit of work as I've almost finished cranking out Centigor and Ungor. I've done some work on painting the 2nd squad and the full platoon has been assembled. I've also acquired an Astropath this model is the D&D Doomdreamer given a TAG Socom pistol and an Imperial staff. I got the model at random with the Beholder I brought for my Beastmen.

Thanks a lot for Eilif for telling me that Superglue did work on these for gluing. I'm planning to spray him up fairly soon as a test piece before I do the Beholder.
I've also began on the long promised Inquisimunda/Inquisitor Retinue I've been fiddling with in my head although in my case it's more of an excuse to paint up and use my lovely old Rackham models.........
This is the first a basic headswap and rebasing of Orhain the Erudite. I quite like the idea of a relatively young healthy archivist so I decided to use the bare sergeant head. I may setup a seperate blog for these although for now they can stay in here as operatives working in sector 7G. I also reckon theres something extraordinarily 40K about the commlink feather quill combination!

I've decided to put the Inquisitorial stuff in a seperate blog entitled the Conclave of Hrin.

I've just completed the Penal Legionnaires I decided to make them as scouts and to make them stand out as a unit I've given them all a Machete style blade made from the Assegai spear head. I also decided they wouldn't have spears. Here they are.

The 2nd squad is currently getting painted up and may be done for Sunday although theres no guarantee. I've also got some bits and bobs to start scratchbuilding a few more tanks. What do people think of the Chimera's scheme be honest I won't get offended.....

Well here they are 2nd Squad of the 1st Platoon of 3rd Company 24th Islandlwanda. Fairly normal Tactical Squad with Missile Launcher and Grenade Launcher. It's nothing special but it's painted. I've began working on the Command Section which should give me a vaguely playable gaming force. Heres the picture.

I love the imagination you've thrown into this army. Great poses !
Please take the advice of everyone who has commented on how to improve the painting of this unique army.
These guys deserve your patience.
That aside, I would say this is one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a while.

Thanks a lot Worldwarme its the part of the hobby I enjoy most the modelling. I have actually taken the advice of people here, the most important step was changing the shading and getting it right. The first 5 models were basically test jobs and I definitely feel the later models look far better thanks to the advice. Its why I've taken to doing these blogs it helps me focus and think about what I'm doing and gives me feedback.

This is going to be a fairly pic heavy post. First of all Worldwarme's comments made me think that I should say thank you to everybody who's given me advice on this project in particular Metallifan, Arbitor Ian and especially Xhequimunqui. If your hesitating about posting a blog because of harsh criticism look at this picture-

As you can see I've improved the look exponentially without any increase in my skill level by listening......

Now for something much more exciting I've painted Lt Ezana's Command Section
Here's the Squad shot

This bloke's Lt Ezana. I've gone for a dyied decorated look on the Lioncloth to make him stand out, using the Ultramarine imagery to tie him with the regiment. The Power Fist (A Space Marine hand sometimes scale difference works in your favour!) is picked out in Bronze and Gold. This is designed to make it look like a honoured ancient relic.



This man's Kenobi. He's fairly regularly equipped with a Spear and Pistol (LP&CCW obviously) He doesn't have the headdress to clearly mark him as a regular soldier not a Sergeant

This chappy here is Mdala he's throwing a Grenade as the squad prepares to attack the enemy (in my army the officer's will lead from the front......who cares about tactics when it opposes narrative coolness anyway)

Next to come is Mpatshana the Meltagunner. As you can see he's got one of the TAG group PTRD Meltagun's I showed earlier. As you can see it's in gold and bronze this is as I see these and Plasma Guns as almost holy weapons to the Imperium rather than bog standard gear like Grenade Launchers or Flamers. Out of interest would you object to me using this as a Meltagun?


Last and probably least is Soloman Lt Ezana's Batman Aide and General Dog's Body as you can see he's carrying the rest of the squad's gear by himself the poor sod......If Commlinks are really necessary in game terms I might give him one but currently I hate the fact there limited to a 12" range still.....



Hope you like them and thanks a lot to everybody who's commented and contributed!


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Heres my Master of the Fleet he's made from Sentinel Pilot and Cadian components the whole idea is he's a ground level air traffic controller like Wonkobaggins version. Mine however uses a searchlight rather than a carrot! He also holds a Mic. These were made from Sentinel Control Levers and were fiddly to wire into the commlink power pack thing on his back. The whole idea is to have somebody who's vaguely reminiscent of an early 20th century pilot. What do people think?

Signalling Light side

Mic Side

Been working on a Leman Russ Exterminator Scratch Build. These are fun but I'm still along way from being good at them. It's the main reason I chose the Exterminator I have lots of spare Autocannons and Heavy Bolters from E-Bay and this gave me more practise. Currently I'm looking at a Demolisher, Executioner and 2 more Chimeras as well I'd like some Hellhounds but don't currently own the weapons! Any Advice and tips would be helpful.

how about buy the models? (: any help?

Yea dude the cardboard tanks look a bit wonky I mean im all for money saving.......

Plastic models look much better and the paint holds on them better too.

Problem is I'm currently utterly skint so it's impractical I actually quite enjoy making them, its a skill set I need more practise with. The tanks for this army would also end up at roughly £100-£150, the parts,glue and paper for these two vehicles came to roughly £2 for the pair. I won't be able to afford this for a while. I probably need to be far more precise and less wibbly with cutting taking more time over placing them. Reference photos would have helped a lot for the Russ so I'd know where the Engine block went and the angles. I also really find the challenge of making them satisfying. To be honest I may well use these for a while to practice painting and get the colour scheme right and then buy a load of Old Crow models as I reckon they look better and are cheaper.

Well I've finished of painting the Assault Squad this consists of a regular Guard Squad with a Power Weapon equipped leader represented with a Maguahuitl with poisonous tooth blades, a Flamer and a Commissar with Power Weapon. At times these can act as a lone Assault Squad and in other games they can act as the leading element for a platoon blob. I now need to paint a Lascannon team, a regular Commissar and a regular squad to have completed my first platoon. I've also looked at the Kill Team scenario in the 40k Battle Missions and I reckon I've got to give that a go soon!

Looking good; I especially like the power fist from a regular marine hand. As long as all your meltaguns look the same, I doubt most people would object toy uors; they're clearly a special weapon, so it's ok in my book.

if you want cabling like on the fleet offcier, consider cutting up broken headphones. the wires are flexible, easy to cut, and it would've been thrown away anyway!

As for the tanks: if you insist on using cardboard instead of plasticard (which is still cheap and can be combined with cardboard/paper), consider making a basic structure that's reinforced, and reinforce the track sections as well. It'll make them a lot less wonky. That and patience in getting things straight, obviously

This army is really growing on me; I wasn't 100% convinced at first, but I'm liking it more and more; guess you're doing a good job then!

I say if you're going to go to the trouble of making plasticard tanks, invest a little more, sculpt your own tank design and then cast it in resin. For about $50 you can get supplies to make 6 tanks. Its a lot of work, but you're already doing that with cardboard, and you can make your tanks really unique and very sturdy.

Thanks a lot Commissar Khaine. I'm delighted to hear the project is growing on you. The reinforcing's worth bearing in mind definitely shouldn't be to hard to make a stronger internal core. I guess something like Insulation foam would be ideal. Kestral I'm nowhere near that good although it would be worth bearing in mind. I'm actually using card templates previously made and they don't take that long maybe an afternoon's work.

Thanks a lot both of you for your kind words.

Llamahead wrote:Problem is I'm currently utterly skint so it's impractical I actually quite enjoy making them, its a skill set I need more practise with. The tanks for this army would also end up at roughly £100-£150, the parts,glue and paper for these two vehicles came to roughly £2 for the pair. I won't be able to afford this for a while. I probably need to be far more precise and less wibbly with cutting taking more time over placing them. Reference photos would have helped a lot for the Russ so I'd know where the Engine block went and the angles. I also really find the challenge of making them satisfying. To be honest I may well use these for a while to practice painting and get the colour scheme right and then buy a load of Old Crow models as I reckon they look better and are cheaper.

Man if I still had my three Russ's I would have given you those two normal and one converted Vanquisher plus a tank destroyer I was working on.

I hear you on the skint thing.

Wow thanks a lot Daemonslayer 82

Heres my second fireteam of 1st Platoon 3rd Companys Devestator Squad it's a Lascannon armed Heavy Weapons Squad

I featured the first team months ago but heres the other two.
This ones a fairly normal firing pose.

While this one is a bit more complex it's meant to show a team reloading the Lascannon


Hope you like them!

Looking good, the reloading guy looks very life-like - though he's bound to get shot in the rear like this . The chemical waste effect is looking great.

Some simple suggestions when using sprue: 1) remove the GW text, t really sticks out and 2) it's very easy to change the appearance of the sprue: if you whittle it down you make it look like a sharpened stake (fitting the theme), or, buy adding rivets, you make it look like construction material; you can even glue it togethet at 90° angles to reinforce that feel. If you want it to look like bricks, cut off small portions with a modelling knife.

You've got some kind of imagination there Llamahead, it would be amazing to see what you could do if you had some money behind you for parts. My only comment would be if you do head swaps try and find a head that is in the same scale as the body so it's not so jarring. Otherwise I love the ideas and theme to your army it's looking great!

they are not devestator teams for the sake of omnissiah!! ( and yes I'm taking this very seriously as an protector of the god emperor.)

Thanks a lot to the people who are watching
Commissar Khaine-. Yep I probably should have removed the text and adding rivets is worth bearing in mind. Sometimes I like the text mainly as if you look at structural iron bars and concrete in real life they often have text moulded in although I have to agree I should have removed the GW.
Blackhand-. Thanks a lot fortunately I have a large collection of parts having kept most of my spares in a bitz box for several years and Ebay can have some very good deals if your willing to buy large lots of random stuff and check carefully that it's a good deal. Theirs also a huge difference in having money to buy parts and having the money to buy the 6 or 7 tanks I want for the project. I was also spoiled with scale having recently done Beastmen which is one when you want jarring differences. I'm going to have to bear it far more in mind with this project and the Conclave of Hrin.
Rose_Mountainz-. If people like you spent more time fighting the true threats to the Imperium rather than choosing to attack other factions who serve him as well the Imperium would be far more secure.

It's as important for and Inquisitor to destroy the traitors and heretics as it is to investigate other imperial guard companies (:


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don't take it as an insult or soserious mate, just kidding with ya.