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Oddly enough, "Cortosis weave" is actually supposed to completely disrupt the magnetic containment field of the sabers, shorting them out entirely. One wonders why the Sith didn't just armour everyone with that stuff.

It's supposed to be pretty rare. I played a couple of the Jedi Knight games for Xbox back in the day (JK2 had the BEST lightsaber fighting system, we'd duel for hours on end!), and there was a late-game enemy type that actually did wear the stuff as armor. But it was this big operation to produce enough armor for just a small number of guys. Logistically you can get more use out of cortosis in smaller applications like a badass cross-guard.

I finally finished something worth posting, so it's time for a little thread necromancy.




I finally completed my Wing Zero Endless Waltz Custom Master Grade kit from Japan, with a modified weapon loadout since I hate the way the Gundam beam sabers look in model form. Tactical marine on the base for size comparison so that you can see just how large this bad boy actually is. It goes without saying that it needs paint. Badly. Because the cutesy Gundam cartoon palette just isn't right for my taste.I may mount it on an oval base so that it can count as a vastly oversized Knight titan or something down the line. It's so much bigger than the Metal Gear walker lol. More pics to come later on when I have the time to go through and do different poses with it (like a hundred points of articulation!)

So what have I been doing over the past few months? Well, it's been insane. A couple of my coworkers got shot up, so I was on lock-down for a while. And there were a couple weeks in Thailand, then moving to the new compound in the middle of nowhere with no internet, and most recently I've been investing in real estate. It's a hell of a project that's giving me a gamer-high like you wouldn't believe. It's like breaking the game in 40k, except that when I break the game it generates income. Very exciting stuff.

But, now that we're finally moved in and I'm settled and I got the internet working again, I can start working on little projects here and there again.

Nice to have you back! Looking forward to what you are up to next.

Hey, he's back! Looking forward to seeing your next project boss.

Thanks. My next project is probably going to be resurrecting Melvin from his ignominious fate in the bottom of a bin in my closet. We had this nebulous move date so we had to pack up our rooms and be ready to move at the drop of a hat, which meant I couldn't start any kind of really involved projects. Now that I'm settled in place I can start repairing and re-working that build into something different using a variety of special parts I picked up while in Japan. I've got this giant Knight-scale chain gun (it would look big and clunky on the Wing Zero) and a huge shield, plus articulating robot hands that all need to find homes on that build. Melvin will live again.

"Metal Gear walker"

....SHOW.

When you said "A coworker got shot up" I was all, "OMG, a workplace shooting somewhere?" before I remembered you were a merc and that was part of the job description.

You know, now that you mention it, I think maybe the cartoony palette is one of the biggest reasons I dislike most Gundam series, while loving G-Gundam. That's about the only one where the super-bright, never-dirty colors actually fit the tone of the rest of the cartoon. I'm looking forwards to seeing this guy grunged up.

Boss lives!
It's 2Am here, so I'm gonna say this has pre-emptively made my day.

Oddly enough, Melvin fared worse in the move than when my table got smashed. The model is in pieces right now and I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed exactly, but the unfortunate circumstance has given me the gumption to rework the pose and the build in general. I may never get the eye LED to light up at this point, so what I may do is pull the head and find a different bit to fit. This one my simply not light up at all, but I do plan on going with a dead sexy re-pose and adding the wings from Strike Freedom Gundam, maybe a buster sword and a techno kite shield. In other news, do you see the size of that gatling gun off to the side there? Best part is that it has a little wind up motor in it that spins the barrels.

Spinning barrels > lights

Good luck on the rebuild!

Wow, what an awesome thread. Just went through it and am still processing how rich the content is. Awesome miniatures, lots of ideas, and that lit up heavy plasma gunner literally made me laugh out loud with delight.
Now, I know that you are on a break from 40k, but unless I missed it, it do not think this gal was mentioned
http://wargameexclusive.com/shop/aliens/female-naked-resting-tau-sniper-warrior/

You do not seem to need anyone sculpting Xenos boobs for you, but that might be of interest.

Anyway, I will be following this blog with interest, wherever you decide to take it.

Wow, that's actually a really cute Tau girl. I might end up getting one of those. Haven't gotten the chance to make any real progress on anything lately. Work has been stupid and I'm embroiled in a ton of real estate investments. Maybe after this month I'll have the itch again. I'll be coming back to the states for a couple weeks, and hopefully that will jump start my interest in the hobby again.

Boss! You're alive!

Glad to hear from you Boss!

Glad you like her ! Good luck with the work and real estate then, make the best of it. Enjoy your stay back home; updates here will always be appreciated.

edit : Fixed the broken link on previous post.

I know it's shocking, but this update will include actual progress!

Freaky, huh?

Anyway, I had to stay awake for four extra hours last night to get to the bank when it opened (night shift sucks no matter the country). To aid in not passing out, I went and worked on rebuilding and revamping Melvin's battle armor using some pieces from Kotobukiya and Bandai kits. There's a fair bit of Strike Freedom Gundam in this build now.



You can see a little bit of an update to the legs. There's some excess putty that needs cleaning out of the ankle joints. The biggest addition is obviously the wings from Strike Freedom, along with the new thigh plates and the hip joints, all from the same model. I'll probably add some kind of armor or tabard to cover that joint, because it's pretty rough. Most of the joints are looking pretty nasty, actually. But that's what happens when you have to rebuild the model over and over.



That chain gun features a wind up motor and spinning barrels, and the hand? That hand is fully articulated right now. Every knuckle joint. It's almost a shame to glue it in place, but I really need to add stability to that gun. I'm not sure if I want to keep that shoulder armor or go back to using the rounded tau Riptide plates that were on there before. I don't think I really liked the look, honestly, so I'm probably going with these white ones for both shoulders. I'm probably going with a great big shield in the other arm, or I might try and put in a hand that will accept either one. Either way, I'm going to try and get the build finished to some extent before I leave for the US tomorrow night. Really hoping that I have a decent time this time around, and maybe it'll jump start my hobbies again.

Hrm. I wonder if there's anything you could use that would increase the friction in the joints of the hand without completely binding them. Or you could use Elmer's glue (white glue) in them, that way it'll be washable if you really want.

The barrels spin? Insanely awesome.

The digits you plan to glue in place are fully articulated? Awesome, but insane.

Having you back? Just awesome.

Nicely done, you made those kits work together real well.
Yeah that would be brilliant to keep these fingers movable. If the weapon is not too heavy using a magnet in the palm could be a solution. Or metal wiring in the fingers ? if there is free space inside them. I am thinking soft metal, like tin wires you use for welding...

Good job anyway, and have a pleasant travel.

 KernelTerror wrote:
Nicely done, you made those kits work together real well.
Yeah that would be brilliant to keep these fingers movable. If the weapon is not too heavy using a magnet in the palm could be a solution. Or metal wiring in the fingers ? if there is free space inside them. I am thinking soft metal, like tin wires you use for welding...

Good job anyway, and have a pleasant travel.

The gun/arm connection is very unsuitable for magnets. Two rounded surfaces, basically. So it's putty and glue and a lot of hope that's going to keep these things together, and gluing the finger joints will not only provide stability to the hand, but also prevent a knuckle from popping off and getting lost later (they're snap-fit joints, like 30 of them in that tiny hand). If I want to bring the hand action back for another model in the future, I can just order another sprue of hands from Kotobukiya. Seriously, they have sprues of everything.


Other projects have caught my eye, and I have a few kits on order. None of it is directly related to 40k, but it will all be touched by my years of wargaming hobbies. Kotobukiya puts out these model kits called Frame Arms. I'll give you a minute to Google it.

All Googled up? Awesome.

What sets these kits apart, as a whole range, is that the entire series is intended to be interchangeable. Every part will fit with every other model, and all the parts fit around a universal Frame Arms skeleton, which is pretty cool looking in itself, and features an amazing degree of articulation. I have 3 different kits coming, and I want to build something badass. Currently wondering if these kits are interchangeable with the parts from their Armored Core line, because if so I am definitely going to get some kind of sweet heavyweight AC kit to bastardize.

Damn, they indeed have a lot of brilliant stuff ! Now I feel silly for building a walker almost entirely out of plasticard ^^. Well, might be useful in the future...

And now that I think of it, gluing the hand is also a good excuse to get more hands...and the rest of the kits as well ^^.

Three kits then, I'll be watching with interest.

You know, the only down side to the Japanese kits is that they tend to all be roughly the same size, give or take. Everything runs about the same size as a Dreadknight or a Riptide, which makes them a great source for Knight-class models, but anything smaller than that and you're looking at bits that are too big to really work. The other down side is that most of the guns have really small barrels. They more or less make sense for an anime aesthetic, but for us 40k fans who have grown up expecting these frakking huge barrels on our guns, it can be a bit of a pain. That's where the kitbashing comes into play.

On the plus side, you should see some of the swords!


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Alright, I'm out. USA, here I come.

You make a good point, and I happen to be in need of a sword for the aforementioned walker...
Googled it, bought it, hope it will arrive soon and will fit the model ^^.
Thank you for the intel.

Gotta go for the Heavy Duty ACs.

I wonder- Are there any ChromeHounds model kits out there? I'm Beta-ing a game called M.A.V. that's based on a similar aesthetic, and I feel like the modularity of the parts would be fantastic for model systems.

 KernelTerror wrote:
You make a good point, and I happen to be in need of a sword for the aforementioned walker...
Googled it, bought it, hope it will arrive soon and will fit the model ^^.
Thank you for the intel.

Which sword kit fid you pick up? Beast sword? Unite blade? There's so freaking many. They even have FF7 Buster Swords available.


@Anvildude: There are no Chromehounds kits that I'm aware of. However, all of the Frame Arms models feature that idea of modularity. They just only vome in humanoid shapes so far. Now, *if* the Armored Core kits are compatible, that's another story. There are a few reverse legged, quad legged and tank legged kits. The spacer bits that were available in Chromehounds, which really let you redesign the chassis shape, are available through Kotobukiya in their option kits range. True custom mech building is possible if you're willing to work at it.


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On a side note, it's hard not to just drop $500 on totally random kits and go all mad scientist on them.

I'm just starting a paint job on my Tau army... Your army is a huge influence!

 StarDrop wrote:


I'm just starting a paint job on my Tau army... Your army is a huge influence!

Glad I can be of assistance!

Boss, I remember first seeing your stuff on that, other forum. I was blown away at the converting and the complete disregard for what anyone else thought about it. I loved them both. Heck, seeing you back inspired me to go start up on my Tau again. So thanks, and keep up the good work on the big guy. I know I want to see spinning barrels.

 bossfearless wrote:

 KernelTerror wrote:
You make a good point, and I happen to be in need of a sword for the aforementioned walker...
Googled it, bought it, hope it will arrive soon and will fit the model ^^.
Thank you for the intel.

Which sword kit fid you pick up? Beast sword? Unite blade? There's so freaking many. They even have FF7 Buster Swords available.

Well in a pretty silly way I went for "bigger weapon means better weapon" and bought that heavy weapon kit by MSG. It arrived this morning, and is a really nice kit, with which you can do a lot of different weapons. And that is a good thing because the main design was clearly too big for my dreadnought. I ended up with a minimal design that, in my opinion, still retains the personality of the original weapon. And that way I get to keep a lot of very interesting bits for the next one ^^ !

Thanks for making me buy is anyway !