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Honestly if I ever find a viable source of ~1/48 scale tank police tanks... its over.

I'm bad at scratchbuilding too.

Yeah, that'd pretty much end my marriage as well (because of how I'd buy them all).

Pretty much not going to Google it just in case

Ooh in unrelated but awesome news, Chris at Mantic got back to me and reported that he would be pushing to get my DZ shipment out the door tomorrow. So that's nice . I won't plan for one day shipping just in case that was a volume/ timing deal.. but it should be courier and show up fairly quickly once its dispatched.

I googled. I found nothing. My marriage is safe.

For now. Maybe Mantic will put something out - or antenoctis.

Holy balls those non-gamer scale modelers take their color choices seriously. I guess the old Israeli stuff was sand, the new stuff is some kind of dark green. Kind of like old school us army drab, I'm just going to approximate and get it done, I don't think the recipient is gonna care


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Merkava Basecoat Complete

Clearly you are lacking in Google-fu and because I had the hell of a day, I feel like ruining some marriages.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/rv/tc_bona.htm

Good luck with the tank GD, hopefully with an airbrush the basecoating was a breeze.

Fortunately 1/35 is s bit too big for 28mm and its just the little guy. A full set would destroy me though.

Tank is basecoated, needs maybe a dry brush and a few details picked out and then probably brush-dip time. Then corrosion and rust. Dust would be great but I don't have the right color on hand.

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Clearly you are lacking in Google-fu and because I had the hell of a day, I feel like ruining some marriages.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/rv/tc_bona.htm

Good luck with the tank GD, hopefully with an airbrush the basecoating was a breeze.

The Bonaparte I'd found. I (and Grim) want the larger one from here:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/cm/maiyeng/bonaparte/bonaparte06.jpg

I want an appropriately scaled bonaparte, but I want a horde of the bigger tanks and the boss's luft tiger or whatever it ad called

GrimDork wrote:Fortunately 1/35 is s bit too big for 28mm and its just the little guy. A full set would destroy me though.

Tank is basecoated, needs maybe a dry brush and a few details picked out and then probably brush-dip time. Then corrosion and rust. Dust would be great but I don't have the right color on hand.

rigeld2 wrote:

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Clearly you are lacking in Google-fu and because I had the hell of a day, I feel like ruining some marriages.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/rv/tc_bona.htm

Good luck with the tank GD, hopefully with an airbrush the basecoating was a breeze.

The Bonaparte I'd found. I (and Grim) want the larger one from here:

http://webspace.webring.com/people/cm/maiyeng/bonaparte/bonaparte06.jpg

*Shakes fist* My plan, ruined! (Urgh, I find the bigger tank so... ugly. I did love Tank Police, tho )

I just think they're neat and futury (and probably impossible, track ball wheels??).

Methinks the time of the drybrushening is nigh!

Happy Birthday, old man.

 GrimDork wrote:

If I like working with it enough, I may grab a couple. I think they're like 15-17 dollars from Korea (pretty sure that's where the Academy company lives) on eBay and one of my sisters gave me some kind of eBay gift card. May look around at some bits sellers too, but a tank or two wouldn't hurt. Of course, with warpath around the corner... May wait on them too.

Judging by the sprue shot in your gallery, it's the exact same model. Which of course makes sense in the context of economies of scale as well.

The not-deadball mech looks great. Hit that canopy with gloss varnish and it'll help with the blending - moreso IRL than in photos.

Thanks

It should be the same tank, but I hate to make promises without verification

I like big Steve for the effort i put in. The most recent group shots had gloss down, think another layer would further the effect?


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Drybrushed/edged. Gonna stop myself before I get too carried away and rush it worse than I already have. Will take a measured approach tomorrow, just need to add some grey areas and darken the area right around the barrel, then I can dip.

Merkava Complete
Pictures to follow. I've got to de-gunk the moving parts before I can put the treads back on in a workable fashion. I figured that this would happen, though it is kind of a pain to fix.


I'll have to see how the rest of the evening goes. I want to get my two built and painted (in the old scheme) enforcers repainted into the new scheme and ready for monday night. I hold no illusions that my shipment will arrive earlier in the day than 5pm. That's when UPS comes, ofc this is fedex. I'll have to go pick it up from where it's going anyway, having moved inbetween. Anyhoo... I'd like to get the rest of my standing enforcers ready to play so I can bust out plague and enforcer strike teams ASAHP.

As fast as they paint, if I put in some time tonight, and get them at least finished painted and to the dip and dry stage tomorrow.. I should be good. Or even dip and dry by tomorrow night, then I can seal and base monday before the package shows up.

I don't think I'll be doing a full glorious unboxing like I had originally intended, check the internet, subject has a bit of bloat I think. But I will be posting up as or more often than I always do, and will give my usual thoughts.

But if I'm gonna beat my Enforcer Duo Challenge Extreme! in time, I better get crackin


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*ahem. Why not just do ALL of my enforcers in time for deadzone to arrive? Halfway done bashing together a fusion gun enforcer, I've got the bit, why waste $5 to get an odd metal model ehh? I think I'm gonna do a thermal rifle too maybe, with the non fusion non flamer gun from the marines sprues. The one I called a plasmagun stand in in my first unboxing of the blog. So two rifle guys, and two special weapon guys. If I can get everything cleaned, bashed, assembled, and undercoated tonight, I'm pretty confident about getting them painted and dipped tomorrow, which just leaves flat coat and bases to do on monday before my stuff supposedly arrives.

I may get caught up somewhere halfway through, but I feel it a noble cause worth my efforts and so I won't be sad if I fall while executing my dreams!

Back to it!


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Think in my haste that I messed up my math. I've got a defender totally done. The assault/sgt just needs sprayed. That leaves 3 bodies. One is assembled down to the arms, which are getting switched from the missile launcher to a rifle. That leaves two... I should probably do two rifle guys so maybe I'll keep the fusion gun but skip the thermal for now. Order one of the metal guys from the second survey instead of two, and bash more up later if I would ever use them. Cool, that will probably save a few minutes.


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23:22 CST: 2 prepped to spray, 2 in assembly line
Getting a bit late as it is... I think I can I think I can...


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23:39 CST: 2 ready, 2 to be nailed and left to dry for a bit
Ok, so those were about half done when I last updated. Legs and torsos together, I had to do the arms and heads. I have to say... for tough joins (like doing both arms to the body, and both wrists to the gun... all at the same time!) I'm glad to have craftics #33 on hand. It's like proper plastic glue in most ways, except it works on restic too Due to the time constraints, I still reinforced a couple of the joints with after-the-fact super glue. I need to get these dudes up on their nails and give everything some time to set. Onwards!

--casualty report--
R.I.P. Sprue clippers #1, aka rough cutters. The sprue clippers I use to snap off the mantic integrated bases (and other rough activities) suffered from a spring blow out. I can still use them to a point, but it will only get worse. Will have to pick up another pair and renegotiate the current good pair into what the fallen pair was doing.

23:57 CST:Everything prepped, brief pause to allow glues to set
As it says^ Gonna clean out the other set of track wheels on the Merkava. I may get pictures tonight, but it's more likely to happen tomorrow. Maybe. Soz.

00:45 CST:Everything base coated.
I think I was a little heavy handed, these probably won't be my 4 prettiest enforcers, but they will be done sooner than later. Didn't get around to messing with the tank. Tomorrow between steps, perhaps.

Sounds like quite the marathon there, looking forward to pics.

How long does it normally take you per model or tank. You seem to smash through groups of models quicker than I could get one done.

I cheat and cut corners when necessary

Its a bit harder to count my time these days as I start and stop so often. I'll try to keep track on these enforcers. The base coat is always quick due to airbrush, just a couple of minutes per model. After that it depends on how economical my scheme is. These enforcers may take half an hour each at my guess... I'll try to track my time.

The merkava doesn't look bad but I didn't go for perfection by any means.. I need to work out my method for brush dipping larger minis, when I take shots of the tank you'll see why, just isn't the smoothest coat by a long shot.

Taking it slow this morning and degunking the tread wheels so the tank will respond properly to the remote. Then is painting time.

Honestly, I'm not sure what has me moving at the pace I am.. I'm unemployed due to nobody wanting landscaping in the winter, but as much babysitting as I do I don't really get a massively significantly greater deal of time to work on models. Usually upwards of an hour of napping and 1-2 hours at night after bedtime. And that competes with video games, reading, and so on. I'm usually more tired after work when I'm in season, but I get a similar amount of potential hours so it should be interesting to see if I can keep pace after I go back in full time.

I try to set up my painting situation so its ready for me to plop down and work, even for 5-10 minutes at a time, I think that's where a fair portion of my daily progress shows up.

I imagine the airbrush is a great time saver.

The tank is an RC? or are you making it one?

Kit is sold without, but this one had it included yes. Its only somewhat working after paint/stain got into the wheel mechanisms. I knew it would happen but I didn't see a good way around it. Maybe some WD 40.

Some people can do whole models with their airbrush, I can mostly do basecoats but it saves that time and is smoother. I've done beyond base coats but masking and set up tear down for the airbrush means I can usually do it faster by hand. The red and base blue on the big mech were airbrushed to save time and get a smoother coat.


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Ok then. Got one enforcer's off-color down, took maybe 30 minutes. Gotta do that 3 more times and do the white/yellow/blue parts, and the highlighting before I can dip. I assume the brights might take half an hour or so for all 4 together, mostly drying time. Highlighting should be pretty quick too.

I would really like an airbrush but they are just way to expensive for me atm. Its on my list of things to pick up though.

Took me about half hour to get "most" of the mould lines of a single enforcer before giving up.

Warpath Enforcers are pretty rough, my lines so far have been small but several of the angles are a pain to navigate Anne restic is as restic does...

I think some of the strain are worse causes of the organic shape, but wp enforcers aren't particularly easy either.

I really like my airbrush. I'd be less then half as productive this season without it.. too cold to rattle can prime anything. And if ii ever get around to painting my vehicles...

Oh yeah I gave the tank to father in law, took some pictures first. Not my best or favorite work but it wasn't bad. Will post up later if ii can.

Btw are you painting the enforcers all blue? Or mixing them p a little?

I am using the warpath ones we got with deadzone to do a few test paints.

I'll probably do my first strike team 5/6 warpath enforcers, the odd DZ guy will probably be the sniper. I have 5 now from a previous purchase so I can get a strike team almost knocked out before my box arrives, and then I can start in on the plague.

Whoops, I hadn't realized I didn't feature my new color scheme except for a couple of times as an extra. The enforcer on the right in this group shot:

The enforcer on the right, that's how I'm painting them all now. It's very quick and I think it looks a lot better both up close and at "gaming range" than the original scheme.

I'm not 100% sure I'll finish all four of them tonight. Got the bulk of the work done on two, and there's time, but batchpainting these guys has a higher burnout coefficient than the strain did. So I'm gonna inundate you fine folks with pictures of the Merkava, which is no longer with me. I hope they turned out well or I'll have to take some more next time I visit the inlaws.

Pictures to follow, gotta feed the gallery beast first.

Ok first a few disclaimers. I could probably have done better, I admit it. I just didn't have the motivation. I think I can explain why in the next couple of disclaimers. I think any merkava currently in service would have a similar color to this one. Well, darker. This one turned out almost oldschool american olive drab, but too vibrant of a green for that. And the Israeli color is darker still than the olive drab. So it isn't quite the right color, but wait. This is, to the best of my knowledge now and after the fact, a merkava 1 or maybe a 2 or whatever. The first merkavas would have been in the older style sand coloration, and it looked as much on the box, but I thought it was a newer merkava at the time and should be painted like the new one. So, not having things "just right" kind of hurt my motivation a bit. Beyond that, I wasn't keeping it, and It won't see any gameplay.. so there was no personalization and therefore no drive to do better to make it my own. Still, I think it looks alright :p
Lastly, I realized right as I was walking out to hand it to him (they were visiting), I had forgotten the stickers. So I slapped them on but didn't end up putting a gloss coat or painting around it so as to better tie in the larger words (you can see the blank space of the sticker over the hull, it grates a bit). Still, not unhappy with it.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-70053-39352_Merkava.html
Gallery with everything about the Merkava, I probably left a few out below:


I'm no expert on rust, but I think it adds a a lot to the project overall, it would have been boring with nothing and I didn't have an appropriate sand/dust pigment on hand.


The highlighting, and especially the less-than-smooth application of the dip are my least favorite things, and what I will need to improve for the next tank I do (whenever that may be), and or probably for the deadzone terrain too.


I probably went a little too heavy on the rust in some places, but at the typical viewing distance for this kind of thing, I figured too little would be invisible.


Definitely feels like a tank when compared to other models, I could comfortably believe that four human sized minis could be inside piloting it.


Aww crap, I had found my chimera and leman russ too, totally forgot to do comparisons.. well most of you know the size of a rhino so it'll have to do!


The merkava is a lot lower to the ground than the rhino, but way longer, pretty close to the same width. Almost too sleek and futury compared to standard 40k tank fare.


Stickers!


Poor planning here, that larger sticker should be further over to the right to match the other side, but it wouldn't have sat right on top of the little patch of rust.



The rear identification number is noticeably crooked, sticker wasn't in a mood to be lifted for repositioning =/



So there's the merkava. I've probably spent longer on single infantry models. The color isn't for me, but it's nice to know I could bang out an army's worth of tanks pretty rapidly if I felt the need. I think it has miles to go in terms of quality cap, but I also believe it's plenty solid to toss down onto a table for gaming (or on a shelf somewhere to be occasionally glanced as is more likely it's fate... ooh and maybe driven around a bit )

On the off chance my friends/family get around to the blog and read it, I probably won't post too actively about these... but I do have plans to do some more large pieces/dioramas for gifts as birthdays come 'round. I know I'm getting a not-tardis from my reaper bones 2 kickstarter rewards, and there are plenty of doctor who 28mm figures (and my sister is a doctor who fan something fierce) so you can expect a diorama of some kind along that vein before the year is out.


I'm really getting the itch to use all of these GW technical paints more than I already have. Kind of want to take some of my space marines and tall-scale them, converting them to chaos in the process. Maybe nurgle, or a combination of nurgle/tech heavy. Like iron warriors if they decided to jump ship and follow nurgle.. all plague bellies and pustules meets mecha-tendrils and crazy wires all over the place. I still want to figure out some kind of 2000 points or so of any one 40k army to complete to have on hand in case I ever get the chance to play. Something low model count, with a lot of opportunity to convert and have fun with the modeling aspect. Low model count because I'll probably never use it, and because any standard marines would have to be tall-scaled or bust. I just can't do normal height marines against standard guardsmen or the like. A space marine the same height as one of mantic's enforcers though... that's terrifying because then they're like twice as big overall. Maybe I'll look into chaos lists, although you probably need some kind of hell turkey flyers to make that book work, and I've already got one space marine and one imperial guard flyer on standby. Those may get bogarded for deadzone terrain though

Gonna indulge the video game loving part of my brain, then pick out some more details on those enforcers. I figure if my DZ box comes early enough that I don't have time to finish them tomorrow, it can only be seen as a good thing

Nice update mate. I prefer the new colour scheme if a little unsure of the blue and yellow colour scheme, reminds me too much of a ball catch game I had when I was younger to feel at place on a power armoured killers shoulder. Of course thats a personal thing. YMMV.



The tank still turned out decent mate. The stickers are probably the only bits that are noticeably lacking. The rest is solid.

What games are you playing. Besides BG:EE?

Considering it was almost a "Speed paint challenge", the Tank doesn't look bad at all! Pity about the stickers =/

Your "time your work" thing isn't a bad idea at all... I'm considering doing the same once I start with my SM project. I need to improve how long I take to paint "Troops" so that can be a good motivator. A kind of "Time Trial", I suppose.

Happy gaming

Mostly BG and bg2 ATM. Gonna get that batch of goodies from good old games today... Diablo 3 if BG sounds too slow or tedious.

I'm reconsidering the blue and yellow...maybe some kind of red or orange or something..

If I'm only painting one mini at a time I don't worry about time as much, bit even then its nice to know.


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Gah Deadzone is here! At 9 in the morning! Wooo! Gotta go get it right after breakfast. If I don't show up again, I drowned in plastic/restic goodness.

Finally! Awesome news that you've got your hands on DZ, hope it was worth the wait. I have a feeling you're going to be very impressed with it.

Happy unboxing-day!

Its in hand but we're at my parents so I'm letting them visit with baby. Soon though. Soon...

Your original enforcer scheme resembled mine somewhat