Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
The difference in detail sharpness is quite stark, yeah. I've felt the same painting these older hunks of metal. Absolutely great designs full of character, but comparatively pudgy as models after seeing what comes out in the modern times.
The fighters youve seen before and are prints of malika's Javelin design, formerly available from vanguard minis. I've included them here for scale, and, just because it looks nice to see them together!
The bombers are +/- the same size and level of detail as Malika's "eagle" dropships currently available from vanguard.
Making them pretty much the 'Navy' equivilant of their 'marine' counterparts.
yes they are big, but as I've said before; I use these 20mm round bases as ordnance in this context, the single ship representing a squadron of the ship type it is.
In truth, I'd probably never use these in game, theyd be awkward and get in the way, the card templates are actually better for games; no ambiguity around size/scale and easier to move about.
These are just for the modeling opportunity and to make nice looking pictures when the fleet is all together...
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/05/02 12:52:30
Here's a little diversion back into yellowline truckking co.
made from the prow and stern of a 3d printed transport
with the midsection made from two container weapon battery units (also 3d printed, thanks lord Borak!)
with a card strip down the dorsal and some half round beads added.
did the usual yellowline colours but bought the highlighting up-to-speed with my most recent efforts.
As pleasant as it is alone, its intended to go with an upcoming mini a a sort of mini diorama...
...you'll see!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/05/06 18:06:19
Pelops class Corvette
Built from the basic hull of a cobra destroyer, refitted and designed to carry armaments on-par with a sword class frigate, the bulk of the weapons and armoured prow hastily combined with engines used to pulling nigh-on half of the mass has resulted in a rather unstable subframe, necessitating slower speeds and the absense of torpedoes, meaning it lacks the punch of its Voss counterpart; the Falcion frigate.
The Pelops class is an example that combining elements of the cobra with elements of the sword in haste, has unfortunately resulted in a warship not quite as good as either.
An opinion not unheard of in some circles about the Falcion either...
So yeah, I fancied something that looked a bit like a falchion but could be an appropriate stand in for a claymore class corvette...
the rear is cobra (recasts), the midships taken from a 3d print (on the weapon battery one) and a cut-down Malika panthera lance-rig on t'other, both with prows from Zak's zeus frigates...
Yep, they're gawky and odd looking but not bad for something made from scraps!
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/07/04 07:15:28
Artemis is an exploratory battlegroup.
operating on the fringes of known space and digging up all kinds of interesting finds and archeotech from long forgotton human settlements and alien bases alike...
sounds like an ideal job for a techpriest or two then..?
"Ex Libre Imperialis" - Tyrant class Adeptus Mechanicus exploratory vessel, Battlegroup Artemis
Yup, another repaint, again from poor long suffering battlegroup Devastatus!
Formerly kitted out as a dictator, this one has allowed me to revisit an idea Ive always wanted to do but never did till now...
As many of you will undoubtably know, the original rules for the Tyrant class had two different types of weapons battery on both sides of the same ship; regular batteries at 30cm, strength 6 and plasma batteries at 45cm, strength 4.
Yet both were (and generally still are) modelled using identical weapons battery units.
Now I know most people upgrade the 30cm's to 45cm range and damn the extra points cost but I thought it was a fun modelling conundrum.
I decided on using the plasma batteries I had got from shapeways and ebay (available from souldark.ru) I had previously used on my astartes battlebarge minis (both sharks and fists) and coupled them with the helian weapons batteries.
Both are designed with similar cues and styles making them ideal to represent the differing weapons types on a single vessel yet, still different enough that they look better seperated by a midships section as seen on the zeus and in this case, the ad-mech chassis.
The prow is another story, I dont like the regular ad-mech prows at all. As such, I went for the zeus prow, to tie it in with the rest of Artemis.
But, always one for a challenge, decided to ditch the usual prow eagle, the techpriests preferring to show the Emperor in his aspect as the omnissiah rather than the usual Imperial iconography.
well, I'm not up for that much of a challenge, by any means but I was more than happy to remove the eagle and go for a sleek and simple utilitarian version of the zeus prow. This was achieved with a stanley knife, needle files and some greenstuff.
I am aware that vanguard now sell prows in such a configuration, but, I had this one already and had no desire to payout for more than I needed when I had this one right now... the prow (and midships) were completed with the addition of bead domes and a tiny turret shaved from a chaos lance added to the prow...
Its also worth noting that this model had no keel fin.
I'd even previously built and painted it without one and only just noticed now, more than a decade later!
No problem for me though, as I had an old battleship "between-the-engines" keel that I chopped in half and added one half to this ship.
If in doubt though, try battlefleet galaxy for replacement parts; he has these and many others available!
I went for a lot more blue on this mini than I usually would but I thought it helped to make its admech design features (dual horizontal "wings") stand out more and mark it out as something a little more special in the fleet. Even though, rules wise, its just a tyrant that looks ad-mech in design. Not an ad-mech ship in a regular Imperial fleet... (that'll keep the fleet as compatible as possible, rules wise. you know how some opponents can be...)
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/05/23 14:04:57
Stuff looks amazing. Have you read the Lost Fleet Series by chance? There's a ship class there called Scout Battleships that are exactly like those Pelops Frigates - Not big enough to do the job of Battleships, not fast enough to scout, crappy enough to do both jobs poorly and cheaply made to boot!
Nope, never heard of that. The last bfg book I bought was armada... That was back in the heady days of battlefleet Armageddon, Voss light cruisers and those hideous hybrid grand cruisers... Ahh nostalgia...
Lost Fleet is a sci book series not related to 40K, grandad!
The cruiser looks excellent. I've always liked the Tyrant class as a concept- you've envisioned it's different ranged batteries in a really cool fashion.
The Ad Mech cruiser engine/ wing layout is a favourite of mine- it would be nice to squeeze one into my plans somehow but we'll have to see!
P.S. If you or indeed anyone else reading this need some Vanguard prows let me know as I have a bunch spare!!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/05/28 08:13:14
The Iconoclast is as ubiquitous a starship as you can find in Imperial space.
Now, clearly outclassed by modern destroyers like the cobra and frigates like the sword or falchion, its mostly used by merchants, roguetraders and heretical raiders.
However, its not uncommon to find them as reserves or simply consigned to escort duty for shipping runs or as part of deep-range exploratory fleets. battlegroup Artemis is of no exception...
So this is an exercise in what an imperial iconoclast would look like.
clarly based on Malika's renegade destroyers (available from vanguard) I set about de-chaosing them.
Which amounted to little more than cleaning the spiked 'dags' off of the banding on the prows and from the bottom of the carrier version...
I kept them as slimmed down as possible, using domes (trimmed from chaos aerials) instead of extra guns on the dorsals/prows of both ships and swapped out the turrets on the gunboat for helian ones. for no other reason than I could!
the small turret that is on the prow of the carrier was carfully shaved from a top of a chaos lance turret..
I LOVE the iconoclast prow design. Probably more than it deserves but it just does it for me. Perfectly blending the lines between the imperial armoured prow and the chaos flat wide aesthetic.
Due to this, and the fact that malika's design philosphy is strong enough to come through on its own, these match not only perfectly with the iconoclast prowstyle of the dictator class I did (with the jaeger prow from battlefleet galaxy) but also alongside the defence-monitor I did (based on malika's panthera mini).
Plus, Artemis is full of old relics, the exorcist for a start not to mention the carnage class!
rules wise I suppose I'd class them as merchant vessels? armed transport and carrier escort respectively? I dunno...
...they do look nice though!
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2025/06/02 17:30:11
Really awesome paint schemes on the ships. It is great to see some wonderful BFG ship on here.
BFG is like that guilty pleasure that you really wish you could buy lots of vessels for but have no idea where to start - I really hope they do a reprint of it!
Do you have a picture of your entire fleet that you could post?
JordySteve wrote: Really awesome paint schemes on the ships. It is great to see some wonderful BFG ship on here...
Thanks man... As for remake? I kinda hope that bfg remains ignored by gw (outside the video game) to be honest. I can't trust them not to futz with it in the negative. Mess up the scale, alter the designs too much and retcon so much of what is now over a quarter of a century's worth of rules, minis and lore...
quite possibly one of my absolute favourites of your designs...
But then you've many outstanding designs, panthera, the lynx's the cyber shadow fleets, let alone your take on the Zak/Armand styled Zeus grand cruiser... But more on that later...
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2025/06/05 19:13:30
Another recomission from Battlegroup Devastatus today:
"Roy's Revenge" - Endurance class light cruiser, Battlegroup Artemis
Essentially, its an ad-mech light-cruiser lanceboat, but with a few changes to make it fit in with the voss stuff already in the fleet.
Obviously the Zeus light prow, and the bridge.
The ad-mech looking bridge and keel were not used, in their stead are the standard imperial cruiser bridge, reversed to fit on perfectly and the keel is made from a cut down marine strike-cruiser rudderplate fin.
The admech side emblems were swapped out for imperial guard bannerpole toppers and the small, almost vestigial looking rudders are from the panthera heavy frigate (malika/vanguard) mounted on nubs of plasticard.
looks much nicer than it's previous incarnation in armageddon colours if you ask me!
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2025/06/16 09:10:05
Outpost Omega - Aka 'Grodins Hope', Leonidas class space station With the expansion into new territories expected of such an exploratory battlegroup as Artemis, the admech set about building ports, fortifications and way-stations as soon as possible.
To man, supply and enforce Imperial decree from such structures in this brave new world of uncharted space takes courage and fortitude.
The Leonidas class space station is lacking neither, rediculously armed for a station of its size, it is more akin to an orbital weapons platform in looks but looks alone. Its ample size can accommodate and tend to two capital ships docked port and starboard respectively, several fighter and bomber wings in its ample bays and enough lance and macrocannon firepower to see off even the most cussed and foolhardy of interlopers...
Yep a return to this old scratchbuild, allbeit with a little more detail than before...
The bulk of this station is made from the actuator gear from a broken hozelock lawn sprinkler, with some plasticard square rod weapons.
This was then topped and tailed either side by two identical kartcher pressure-washer hose-connector fittings.
The top one was trimmed and a simple dome (made from the back of a chimera lasgun) was added an then topped with a spike from the chaos spikey sprue.
The top also features half bead domes and also some lances (from malika's renegade destroyers).
The one on the botton has 'lances' taken from Lord borak's light cruiser sprue (the square bombardment turrets) and more domes, and was finished with an inverted spire from the ad-tit spires sprue and one of those bits off of the fence things from the battle for maccragge set that was in the old bits box. (the top of this ended up in between one of the macro-battery sections as a lance).
For some docking arms; two chaos aerials were added and a couple more domes in between these and she was done!
oh, and just for an idea of scale:
The Nemesis III, overlord class, prepares to leave Outpost Omega fully re-fuelled and re-armed, ready for the endless night of the long patrol...
oh yeah, this is what it used to look like (spoilered for ugliness):
Spoiler:
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2025/06/27 14:33:06
Righteous Infliction - Retribution class battleship
Currently dragged out of retirement and seconded to Battlegroup Artemis
The Righteous Infliction has a long and illustrious career, Originally starting out as part of Battlefleet Gothic's reinforcments from that sector, its signiture Gothic prow long replaced when refitted, just prior to its next tour of duty; in the Armageddon sector, as part of battlefleet Devastatus.
Its now iconic Voss prow and cathederal bridge distinctly heralding its presence, its bristling banks of weapons batteries, lances and torpedoes adding much needed clout to Artemis' vastly expanding fleet...
So yeah. I relented.
I originally said no battleships but come on...
Artemis is clearly expanding and looking at exploratory mini-fleet in the rear-view-mirror right now.
This old mini is another Devastatus repaint, which was (fluff wise) intended to be the very same Retribution class as my very first fleet (hence the name), albeit in armageddon, and now artemis, colours!
Conversion wise; the weapons are helian, the bridge is from the planetkiller (back when you could order bitz direct from gw!) and is adorned with spikey sprue bits and a chaos aerial.
This time, I snipped off the nova and just suggest that the holes already on the prow are the torp-tubes.
I greenstuffed it a bit for neatness etc, but basically thats it.
Its old, so, its a bit blobby, miscast and soft-detailed but, Hell, I do love me a rettie.
Also, I desperately needed a proper linebreaker.
The overlord is my long-range flanker, the exorcist sits in the middle of the fleet, hurling out bombers and that, this leads from the front.
Throwing herself into the thick of it behind a hail of torpedoes and proceeds to batter whatever survives with a broadside thats only second to a repulsive class in devastation!
well thats the plan anyway...
Sherrypie nails it- that bridge looks really slick along with the batteries. It's a great paintjob. Your basing method amplifies the scale of this monster to me- I am impressed those pins hold up so very well!
Sorry I haven't been commenting much- it's tough out here in the warp. The Imperial Iconoclasts look awesome- it's a great paintjob and Malika's designs are stellar! Ahyuck hyuck!
The station refurb looks really good- that scale shot really made it for me.
Those fleet shots are going to look awesome, can't wait for them...
