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During my search for Movement Trays that would fit 25mm Round Bases, i came across a company out of New York, USA called Tectonic Craft Studios

It turns out they sell more than Movement Trays, here is their website address : https://tectoniccraftstudios.com/




There are two Movement Tray products that I am particularly interested in.


The first is their Heavy Weapons Squad Tray, here is the Internet link : https://tectoniccraftstudios.com/products/heavy-weapons-squad-tray

Priced at $ 5.50 USD, this movement tray is designed to hold eight 25mm based model and one 60mm heavy weapons team.





The second product is their Round Base Movement Tray Discount 10-Pack, here is the Internet link : https://tectoniccraftstudios.com/products/round-base-movement-tray-discount-10-pack

Their website description reads:

You need trays, your friends need trays, everyone needs trays. I made some 10 packs to make this a little easier on everyone and gave a little discount.
Note these come unglued (unlike standard movement trays) and are best assembled with wood glue of any kind.

This product is available in four ( 4 ) different Formats; five models Staggered, five models Rank & File, ten models Staggered, or ten models Rank & File

10-Pack of five-model Trays is $ 26.00 USD, 10-Pack of ten-model Trays is $ 33.00 USD ; I chose to purchase the ten models Rank & File format :




The products from Tectonic Craft Studios came shipped in a USPS padded bubble mailer:




Here is the Hive Ganger Militia Company Command Squad, with the Plasma Coils touched up a little ... drybrushed with Troll Slayer Orange, then Bad Moon Yellow, finally Skull White :




Here is the Steel Legion Company Command Squad with Savlar Captain and Steel Legion Commissar; the Savlar Storm Trooper Plasma Gun coil colours have been touched up:

I have finally completed painting of all the Steel Legion helmets in Buntfarbenmuster 1918

Translated from German : https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splittertarn

"The origin of this pattern was introduced in July 1918 color paint in the Imperial Army and Air Force. The painting for military equipment and equipment is closely linked to the construction of the Panzer Weapon by the Entente , which has been using camouflage patterns for its tanks since 1916. Although the 1918 varnish painting was not for uniforms, but were sometimes painted already truck Plane and steel helmets. It consisted of sharp Tarnflecken in the colors rust brown, green and ocher yellow, which were demarcated from each other with thick black lines. The spots were painted on; Spray paints did not arrive in the German military until the 1930s. Photographs show a variety of variations of the paint application. For example, large-scale irregular shapes in the tank A7V or honeycomb prints on the clothing of the aircraft."

I mentioned using the Buntfarbenmuster paint scheme earlier, remarking that it was " looking like 1917 ". Upon further research:

"Up until 1918 any camouflage paint schemes utilised by the German Army were improvised and therefore lacked any form of standardisation. It wasn’t until July of that year the first standardised camouflage scheme was introduced. Referred to as Buntfarbenanstrich or Buntfarbenanstrich 1918 (meaning colourful painting), the scheme consisted of simple polygon-shaped patches of ochre, brown, and various green coloured paint separated by thick black lines. -Blake Coster"




Steel Legion CCS :




PCS Red :




PCS Yellow :




Special Weapons Squad - Red :




Special Weapons Squad - Yellow :




Infantry Squad - Red :




Infantry Squad - Orange :



Infantry Squad - Yellow :




Infantry Squad - Blue :




Heavy Weapons Squads




Overview of Steel Legion army:

Wow man really good army. Fantastic progress from start to finish, you've really kept the old school feel for the army, with the use of so many different models. And the basing has really come along so well. Nice job!

Just s penny for your thought do you think a steel legion with Canadian bodies but swapped out heads would work? As they wouldn't have there tunics.

 stonned_astartes wrote:
Wow man really good army. Fantastic progress from start to finish, you've really kept the old school feel for the army, with the use of so many different models. And the basing has really come along so well. Nice job!

Just s penny for your thought do you think a steel legion with Canadian bodies but swapped out heads would work? As they wouldn't have there tunics.

Hello stonned_astartes, thank you for the kind words and also for checking out this P&M Blog! This Steel Legion army has been a labour of love and a long time coming...
I was first introduced to the 1st edition Rogue Trader Warhammer 40,000 back in 1988 and have been collecting ever since; however I hate painting eyes !
In fact, my first army was a Warhammer Fantasy Battle plastic Skeleton Army! When the Steel Legion miniatures were released with gas masks, I though it was perfect!

Since i have been collecting Citadel Miniatures since the late '80s / early '90s, i held onto all my thick paint-jobs and had not re-worked them even as newer Codexes were released;
it was only recently that I amassed enough Steel Legion miniatures to start an army; previously I had collected metal Imperial Army, Cadian, Catachan, and Mordian miniatures.


Regarding a Steel Legion with Canadian bodies with swapped out heads; that is an excellent idea that can be created with historical accuracy!
Canadian soldiers in WW1 wrapped a long strip of cloth wound spirally around the leg from ankle to knee called a "puttee".





There is a 3rd party manufacturer called Mad Robot Miniatures that makes cast resin bits : https://madrobotminiatures.com/

They make and sell a set of five resin puttee legs : https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_21&products_id=238




They have a wide variety of heads with gas masks, from Steel Legion-style Shocktroop heads, to French-inspired "Adrian" helmets:

https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=mask



I came across Mad Robot Miniatures while looking for alternate arms for my Commissars! The first one uses HA-0201 Greatcoat Officer Arms:




The second uses bits from two of their products; left-hand Chainsword from HA-0701 Imperial Officer Arms and right-hand Power Fist from HCOM-07 Commissar Arms:









However as the Steel Legion Doctrine states, i should have Transports for my ground-pounding, foot-slogging infantry ... So i have started a "Motor Pool" of Chimera Armoured Carriers.

The very first Chimera APC was purchased over a decade ago, the Mark 1 plastic kit with bonus pewter components for two riders and one Chimera tank commander:




The next four pictures are courtesy of Stuff Of Legends :










The Mark 1 Chimera only had a turret Multi-laser so here is my turret Heavy Bolter conversion, and hand-painted caution stripes on the dozer blade :




The Mark 1 Chimera had more bits which allowed you to model the rear hatch, and side track wheel sprockets; here is "wrecked Chimera" conversion:

Nice, that's got to be the oldest chimera going hasn't. All those wheel options remind me of an airfix kits, pity they aren't that modifiable now. Love it, yeah bring on the tanks!

Yeah I've been wanting some shocktroopers off mad robot minis for years now but my the cost! Its fair but pricey, and for sometime in the future. I think i may just get a squad of metal ones from GW direct for now, still the cheapest.

Catching up a bit- wonderful work on the army, you've come a long way! It's interesting, but that helmet camo pattern has puled everything together in a way almost nothing else could have; there is color repeated throughout (that helps the eye pick out individual miniatures and especially heavy weapon team members) but the colors are all highly compatible with the dull earth tones of realistic uniforms plus the ever present mud.

Truly well done.

 stonned_astartes wrote:
Nice, that's got to be the oldest chimera going hasn't. All those wheel options remind me of an airfix kits, pity they aren't that modifiable now. Love it, yeah bring on the tanks!

Yeah I've been wanting some shocktroopers off mad robot minis for years now but my the cost! Its fair but pricey, and for sometime in the future. I think i may just get a squad of metal ones from GW direct for now, still the cheapest.

Howdy again! Yessir i have a couple of " old-school " Chimera APC's and acquired a second one, used of course, from a local comic / hobby / games store; a friend of the owner had passed and i picked up a used Chimera.

Actually i was very fortunate as my girlfriend at the time bought it for me as a birthday present; it had already been painted red however, it's the one of the left with a Dwarf shield on the Track Guard.

A third old-school Chimera was acquired used off eBay; it is the one on the right.




So my Motor Pool went from one to two, then to three Chimera APCs:

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Catching up a bit- wonderful work on the army, you've come a long way! It's interesting, but that helmet camo pattern has puled everything together in a way almost nothing else could have; there is color repeated throughout (that helps the eye pick out individual miniatures and especially heavy weapon team members) but the colors are all highly compatible with the dull earth tones of realistic uniforms plus the ever present mud.

Truly well done.

Hello again Meer_Cat, so very good to see from you again and hear your creative comments! Thank you as it has come a long way and yet so much more to go.

I agree that the Buntfarbenanstrich 1918 camouflage scheme pulled everything together much better than i had anticipated, and well worth the extra effort !



I mentioned earlier in this P&M Blog that i purchased Resin Bits from Models and Minis, in particular their Track Guards for Guard Vehicles :




Two sets of resin Track Guards at the bottom, one Chimera Hazardous Environment Filter Hatch above right :





The next two ( 2 ) photos are courtesy of Models and Minis, here is the internet link to the Track Guards : https://www.modelsandminis.com/Track_guards_for_ChimeraLeman_Russ/p2965327_14270805.aspx






I spray primed the red Chimera APC's with Flat Black then applied a Basecoat of Waaagh! Flesh as it was the only green i had at the time.

Chimera # 1 with Track Guards and Chimera Hazardous Environment Filter Hatch :







Chimera # 2 with Track Guards :







Chimera # 3 with Track Guards :

The thing I really miss about the old chimeras is the fact that the outer sides were two-piece, allowed for all sorts of custom shenanigans.

Nice work by the way

Your steel legion look great! Very impressive. Good find on those movement trays, I had found some for my 10+ Rough Rider squads but had nothing in mind for my planned Infantry

 monkeytroll wrote:
The thing I really miss about the old chimeras is the fact that the outer sides were two-piece, allowed for all sorts of custom shenanigans.

Amen to this ^

Very nice. Good to see some Chimeras for your army. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them.

 monkeytroll wrote:
The thing I really miss about the old chimeras is the fact that the outer sides were two-piece, allowed for all sorts of custom shenanigans.

Nice work by the way

Hello monkeytroll and thank you for checking out this P&M Blog!

I absolutely agree that the old Chimeras allowed for more conversion opportunities, I have one that uses Forge World Etched Brass that i will be showing in the future, here is a sneak peek!

Dood! I love those brass panels and barrels halfs! Having done alot of Chimeras myself, there is something so satifying about how clean and realistic that conversion is. :slowclap:

Minigiant wrote:
Your steel legion look great! Very impressive. Good find on those movement trays, I had found some for my 10+ Rough Rider squads but had nothing in mind for my planned Infantry

 monkeytroll wrote:
The thing I really miss about the old chimeras is the fact that the outer sides were two-piece, allowed for all sorts of custom shenanigans.

Amen to this ^

Hello Minigiant and thank you for the kind words! It has been a labour of love, but well worth the effort.


About the Movement Trays, I much prefer Resin to Medium-density fibreboard for several reasons.

First is the fact that resin will not "decompose" if it gets wet; it is recommended to give the MDF a coat of sealer like Zinsser primer to prevent the material from absorbing moisture.

Second is that resin Movement Trays tend to have fine details already cast such as dirt, rocks, and skulls.

Third, MDF movement trays tend to have the holes cut a little smaller; I had to purchase a 1" Flat Spade Drill Bit to make sure the pre-drilled holes would fit 25 mm bases.


Just curious, what Base Size is a Rough Rider, 40 mm or 60 mm ?

Our fellow painter and modeller Meer_Cat built himself a wonderful base for three 60 mm Heavy Weapon Teams to make a Heavy Weapons Squad :

 Private Benjamin wrote:

Minigiant wrote:
Your steel legion look great! Very impressive. Good find on those movement trays, I had found some for my 10+ Rough Rider squads but had nothing in mind for my planned Infantry

 monkeytroll wrote:
The thing I really miss about the old chimeras is the fact that the outer sides were two-piece, allowed for all sorts of custom shenanigans.

Amen to this ^

Hello Minigiant and thank you for the kind words! It has been a labour of love, but well worth the effort.


About the Movement Trays, I much prefer Resin to Medium-density fibreboard for several reasons.

First is the fact that resin will not "decompose" if it gets wet; it is recommended to give the MDF a coat of sealer like Zinsser primer to prevent the material from absorbing moisture.

Second is that resin Movement Trays tend to have fine details already cast such as dirt, rocks, and skulls.

Third, MDF movement trays tend to have the holes cut a little smaller; I had to purchase a 1" Flat Spade Drill Bit to make sure the pre-drilled holes would fit 25 mm bases.


Just curious, what Base Size is a Rough Rider, 40 mm or 60 mm ?

I have mounted my Rough Riders on the new Cavalry bases, 65x35mm

For movement trays I am going to use Winterdynes

https://shop.winterdyne.co.uk/product/no-effort-movement-frame-c35-35x60mm-oval-5-5-offset

 genom.cor wrote:
Very nice. Good to see some Chimeras for your army. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them.

Thank you so much for coming back to check out this P&M Blog, and so very good to hear from you again genom.cor!

I whole-heartedly agree, it is good to see Chimeras as that is the ideal " theme " of the Armageddon Steel Legion ; a mechanized force ready to mobilize and move out for the Emperor!



I have a lot of plans for the Chimera APC's; plastic Imperial Guard Vehicle Accessories such as Track Guards, Shovels, Picks, Tow Cables, Hunter Killer Missiles needed to be mounted.

I tried to magnetize as many accessories and weapons as possible such as the Hull - Mounted Heavy Bolters, Heavy Flamers, Smoke Launchers and still working on Heavy Stubbers and Storm Bolters.



In addition, i still had to acquire yet more Chimera APC's as ideally all squads in the army have the option of being mounted in Chimera troop carriers.





Hunting down more used Chimeras on eBay, the Motor Pool was established !

I obtained two ( 2 ) old-school and one ( 1 ) newer Chimera APC, doubling the Motor Pool in size from three ( 3 ) to six ( 6 ) Chimera APC's.

There are some bits in the middle of the Motor Pool, which are Chapterhouse Studies Wheeled Chimera Kits but these are being requisitioned for my Storm Troopers :

 genom.cor wrote:
Dood! I love those brass panels and barrels halfs! Having done alot of Chimeras myself, there is something so satifying about how clean and realistic that conversion is. :slowclap:

Hello again genom.cor, I appreciate your dedication and helpful comments so much I had to dedicate an entire post to reply!


I only came across the Forge World : Etched Brass products recently; i have always been a huge fan of their custom Resin, even owning a set of resin Flesh Tearers Space Marine icons.

Here are the Forge World : Eatched Brass - Imperial Eagles, in sizes Medium and Small ; photos are courtesy of Forge World :







In keeping with the tradition of being a budget hobbyist, I found my Forge World : Eatched Brass - Imperial Eagles used on eBay :






I clipped the Etched Brass plate off with a pair of cutters being extremely careful when handling, as the brass is extremely thin making it fragile and dangerous; it can flex and bend, but also cut skin as it is razor sharp.

Wiping the surface clean with rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth, the panel was super glued to the Chimera track sides :







After spray priming the Chimera sides with Krylon flat black spray paint :

What a terrific find those etched brass bits were! I like the look of your chimera track housings with them, very natural look and highly unique for your force.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
What a terrific find those etched brass bits were! I like the look of your chimera track housings with them, very natural look and highly unique for your force.

Howdy meer_cat and thank you two-fold for dropping in again, and for the comments!

I have yet more plans for the Forge World : Etched Brass yet, and with very historical significance.


From the Government of Canada website : http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/overseas/first-world-war/france/beaumonthamel/somme

" During the Battle of the Somme in World War I, the Canadian soldiers had a tin triangle attached to their backs so as to enable identification and to follow progress by the liaison aircraft and artillery observers;
but for men lying wounded, or in such cover as they could find, the shiny tin triangle also signalled any movement to the enemy.

As the injured soldiers began crawling and dragging their twisted limbs over the shell torn ground the tin triangles glinted in the hot sun and more than a few of the dead lay there with a bullet in their back because of it."





About the Chimera track housings; it was more out of necessity and economical use of Track Guards that lead to the unique look;

I really liked the look of Track Guards but was a cheap Chinaman

In the past I had fashioned my own scratch - built Track Guards for Leman Russ tanks out of thin cardboard, actually sourced from cereal packets / boxes!

Here is the " Before " and " After " photos using cardboard Track Guards on the tanks in my burgeoning Imperial Guard Tank Company :







However, i was acquiring quite a few Chimeras now and started looking around for commercial options.

At one point, Forge World made resin Track Guards but were now discontinued as they are now on the Imperial Guard Vehicle Accessory Sprue.

Despite this availability, I did not need all the bits that are on the the Vehicle Accessory Sprue, and the cost to obtain the USD $ 15.00 sprue ( brand new ) was discouraging, so I started applying the Track Guards more sparingly.

In addition to using Games Workshop plastic Track Guards, I did searches for other manufacturers and was thrilled when i came across a very well-priced and highly-detailed set from Models and Minis !



Here is an updated photo of the Motor Pool; additional bits for more Chimera APC's have been purchased from Bits - World on eBay, who also operate as Hobby Titan :

I'm guessing that since you're pretty much as far away from Newfoundland as it's possible to be and still be in Canada you won't be painting the puttees blue?

I dunno- if you hadn't said, I wouldn't have tumbled that the track guards on the LR were cereal packet cardboard- very nice work. Although, it can get to be a pain to make multiple (fiddly, difficult, vexatious, fill-in-the-blank) homemade solutions when you have a large number of conversions to make.

Absolutely chilling, the story behind the tin triangles on the infantry during WWI. As a careerist/survivor myself, I'm highly tempted to believe that someone actually said at the time "hey, is this really a good idea, putting targets on the men to carry around?" and some (non-over the top going) overweight officer saying "Well yeah- how else are we going to track them?"

I'd like to think that the idea was applied with the best of intentions and no knowledge of the unintended consequences. Unfortunately, 30 years of service has cost my my naivette', belief and girlish laughter.

What a fascinating detail to work into your Army-

I meant to add much earlier how flattered I was that you thought enough of my modest attempt at a battery base to show it here, on your own blog!

The motor pool is looking strong, good going. Nice work with the track gaurds, I think if you had used platicard it might have been to thick for you application.

Are your men getting triangles then? Maybe something for conscripts.

Conscripts or bring back the penal battalions from First Edition!

 Excommunicatus wrote:
I'm guessing that since you're pretty much as far away from Newfoundland as it's possible to be and still be in Canada you won't be painting the puttees blue?

I was considering that quite seriously, to the point where I was looking at the Puttee Legs cast in resin from Mad Robot Miniatures : https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=238

 Meer_Cat wrote:
I dunno- if you hadn't said, I wouldn't have tumbled that the track guards on the LR were cereal packet cardboard- very nice work. Although, it can get to be a pain to make multiple (fiddly, difficult, vexatious, fill-in-the-blank) homemade solutions when you have a large number of conversions to make.

Absolutely chilling, the story behind the tin triangles on the infantry during WWI. As a careerist/survivor myself, I'm highly tempted to believe that someone actually said at the time "hey, is this really a good idea, putting targets on the men to carry around?" and some (non-over the top going) overweight officer saying "Well yeah- how else are we going to track them?"

I'd like to think that the idea was applied with the best of intentions and no knowledge of the unintended consequences. Unfortunately, 30 years of service has cost my my naivette', belief and girlish laughter.

What a fascinating detail to work into your Army-

Yessir, what seems like a good idea at the time turned out to be horribly disastrous. However, there were lessons learned and we all know that necessity is the mother of invention;
the introduction of designated Sniper units did not help officers either and once flashy and shiny brass badges on caps and shoulders began to disappear they were replaced by much more subdued patches.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
I meant to add much earlier how flattered I was that you thought enough of my modest attempt at a battery base to show it here, on your own blog!

Great minds think alike, and although I am always on the search for new ideas and designs i welcome the opportunity to share knowledge as well !

 stonned_astartes wrote:
The motor pool is looking strong, good going. Nice work with the track gaurds, I think if you had used platicard it might have been to thick for you application.

Are your men getting triangles then? Maybe something for conscripts.

Thank you for checking in again and also for the kind words stonned_astartes! My men are absolutely getting Identification Markers, however it is still a Work-In-Progress as i acquired ten more Legionnaires on eBay.
The next two photos are courtesy of the Seller; it would have been nice if he had taken a different photo such as of the rear for example.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Conscripts or bring back the penal battalions from First Edition!

I haven't got a Penal Trooper but i do have a Human Bomb metal miniature from First Edition / old school Rogue Trader days :

A Human Bomb with a Lascannon seems like a fairly silly thing.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
A Human Bomb with a Lascannon seems like a fairly silly thing.

Hello again Excommunicatus, that is a very amusing and astute observation!

While the Penal Troopers were armed and organized into Infantry Squads just like Guardsmen, they were "controlled" by their explosive collars.
Human Bombs, while also kept in line, were considered much more expendable and as such they were not issued any armaments apart from the aforementioned explosive.

Here are a couple of "before" and "after" photos in this post; first off are the new Steel Legion members acquired from eBay :




The next set of "before" and "after" photos are the Steel Legion Heavy Weapons Teams; before back when they were being organized :





This "after" photo is a top-down view of the Steel Legion Heavy Weapons Teams now, with the addition of two ( 2 ) Rapier Laser Destroyers :

I found my way here from one of your other threads... so cool to see all these old minis again! We have a lot of the same stock... Kasrkin, tech gangers, Orlocks, old stormtroopers, human bombs... classic stuff. I've similarly been refitting mine for contemporary Scions list building. My squad leaders are all old commissars and captains, etc. Excellent work here, a real labor of love. Great work developing those bases too!

I love the bases! and the steel legion rocket guys are still some of my nostalgic favorites. In particular i like the sense of connection between the bases

Excellent army, love the Steel Legion models.

 MacPhail wrote:
I found my way here from one of your other threads... so cool to see all these old minis again! We have a lot of the same stock... Kasrkin, tech gangers, Orlocks, old stormtroopers, human bombs... classic stuff. I've similarly been refitting mine for contemporary Scions list building. My squad leaders are all old commissars and captains, etc. Excellent work here, a real labor of love. Great work developing those bases too!

Thank you so very much MacPhail for taking the time to read through the P&M Blogs and make your way here!

I own a copy of the most-famous red cover Warhammer 40,000 Compendium which has a wealth of source material, both creative written word and fabulous illustrations :



And as such have wanted to build a "Imperial Army" style force with an incorporation of old and new, blending nicely in the grimdark universe we love...

I greatly appreciate your consideration and comments, especially coming from someone who has amazing creative concepts as well; I took the opportunity to check out your scenery blog!

 amazingturtles wrote:
I love the bases! and the steel legion rocket guys are still some of my nostalgic favorites. In particular i like the sense of connection between the bases

Thank you amazingturtles for coming in to check out this P&M Blog!

I noticed that while many modelers pay attention to the miniature itself going to such fine details as fine blending with an airbrush, applying fine lines or checkering or jewels, or non-metallic metallic,
i picked up a pamphlet from Vallejo about their Weather Effects products : https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categoria/hobby/weathering-effects-en/

While some of these techniques have been offered by Games Workshop such as the Snow, Rust, Mud, and even Grass, the application of Weathering is mainly applied to military models.

Taking this into consideration, I decided to apply as much attention to the bases as the model itself especially considering that in historical photos World War I was quite detailed;
churned mud filled with empty shell casings, barbed wire, building fragments, dead and dying vegetation, and body parts strewn about...

 Cap'n Facebeard wrote:
Excellent army, love the Steel Legion models.

Hello and greetings Cap'n Facebeard! Thank you so very much coming in to check out this Blog, and also for the comment!

What drew me to the Steel Legion were two main reasons ... first off, the "look" of the WWI-era uniforms and equipment, re-breathers of course;
and secondly, the fact that I absolutely despised... no, HATED... painting eyeballs. In fact, my very first Warhammer Fantasy Battle Army was Skeletons,
back when they sold the WFB "Skeleton Army" plastic boxed set with mounted skeletal cavalry and a two-steed skeletal chariot!




Here is an update of the Steel Legion "Motor Pool" with the new Chimeras having been assembled and lined up, facing to the left :