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Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





Hello! This is literally my second post here!

I'm part of the wave of people who spent this year cooped up in an apartment and finally decided they needed a hobby. Like some others, I chose to pick up WH40k. In an undoubtedly clever move, I decided to skip past all the preliminary stuff about building a standard army and (re)learning the basics of painting and modeling- I briefly tried to make a Cadian force 12 years ago, which is the last time I did any hobbying- and instead immediately run headlong into making some sort of flying rodent gak kitbash/conversion army.

In this case, I figured I wanted to make some sort of American pastiche- not of WWII, but of the later 19th century, taking a little bit from the American Civil War all the way to WWI. I only started last month, but I've already learned a lot!



I've learned that I still don't know how to properly thin my paints!




I've learned that I don't know how to take a well-lit and well-focused picture!




I've learned that I feel bad about the painting quality in this picture more and more every time I look at it!




And I've learned that I don't know how to delicately sculpt with green stuff!


Clearly, there's nowhere to go but up from here.
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Welcome Ofaloaf.

Pretty well every time you paint a model you get a little bit better at the craft.

Good luck and do not give up.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in au
Alluring Mounted Daemonette




Australia

Hey mate, welcome to dakka!

I am all aboard on this project - I have not seen a take like this on IG before and I think you've got the start of something great here.

I feel all your "lessons" too I can only take nice photos outside despite owning a lightbox, photos make me terribly insecure about even my proudest paintjobs, and even after two years I can barely use GS to fill a gap.

At the end of the day though it is all about fun and inspiration/motivation to keep going. You have an awesome, original theme and a nice colour scheme with some great conversions going on already.

I am loving the teaser pic with the old time cab on front of the sentinel (and the GS work can easily be painted up as a botched solder/repait job!) as well as shovel guy on the left and the Kentucky Colonel on the right. A great mix of ideas and parts here - will be following this with interest.

Thanks for sharing!

t z you are k 
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





A nice start. Photography wise, I'm also kinda bad, but I'm told "more light, from multiple angles" helps, and also if you can get it diffuse (like wax paper over a decent size LED housing, or one of those fabric photoboxes from amazon).

On the greenstuff--water helps. Put the green stuff on, then wet something moderately wide and flat like a dentists tool with the spatula shape, and just draw it across in overlapping strokes, it'll help smooth things out. (alternatively, look up silicone clay shapers, you probably want #0 firm or extra firm)
   
Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





Tangentville, New Jersey

This is a good start to an interesting project. Love trooper with the flamer and the sentinel

Who makes the pieces are you're using? I'm not familiar with historic models, so I don't recognize the non-Cadian parts.

Keep up the good work!


 
   
Made in de
Boom! Leman Russ Commander






Very cool idea, I will follow your progress closely.

Regarding taking photos: I'm really no photography pro, but I have made good experiences with a really really Basic Setup:
I have a small area at a white wall near a window (indirect natural light). I put a sheet of white printer paper there, so that half of it is at the wall and the other half is on the flat area and place the model I want to take a pic of there. Then I position two simple desk lamps around it, on roughly from front right, one from left/front left. Usually the lighting is pretty good then and the pics I take with my cellphone are pretty acceptable.

~6550 build and painted
819 build and painted
830 
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





London, UK

Welcome to Dakka! That sentinel looks absolutely brilliant. The engine and canopy look great.

   
Made in fi
Buttons Should Be Brass, Not Gold!






welcome back to the hobby! I'm digging your army idea, looking forward to seeing some finished models!
   
Made in no
Fresh-Faced New User





Thanks all! I'll try what I can to implement your tips-- natural lighting for photographs is tricky, because I live in Stockholm and daylight is just a myth during the wintertime.

The models themselves are primarily based on Wargames Atlantic's German Infantry 1916-1918 kit- part of the impetus behind this was trying to actually make cheaper guardsmen, and that kit offers a pretty decent price per soldier. On top of that, I got sets of pewter American Civil War heads from Steve Barber Models (£3.60 for a dozen sounded decent to me), and then I've scavenged here and there for lasgun bits. Some soldiers use the WWI German Infantry arms, with lasguns variously hacked on, because I managed to buy only half a set of lasgun arms once.

   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Leicester, UK

Nice project, the sentinel is boss. Any plans to do some cavalry?

My painting and modeling blog:

PaddyMick's Chopshop: Converted 40K Vehicles

 
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

These guys are a lot of fun! Not just because the american civil war is one of my favorite history topics. The pipe smokin' fellow is my favorite so far

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka





Surrey, BC - Canada

Ofaloaf,

It is actually fairly easy to remove the shoulder armor on Cadian arms. I can send you photos of how to do it with a craft knife and a file.

That would let your Cadian models match the Wargames Atlantic's German Infantry.

Cheers,

CB

   
Made in no
Fresh-Faced New User





Honestly, I'm fine with some guardsmen having shoulderpads and others not- makes it easier to sort them into different squads. If I get enough figures without shoulderpads, they might even end up being treated as conscripts.
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





Let's say this first guys are Learning Experiences.


Pipe Soldier has become a testbed for stuff. He's the first one to get some crude basing done, and I also tried applying Agrax Earthshade to his khaki uniform- but I found the resulting shadows too harsh, and tried lightly brushing more khaki on top to mitigate the wash, which kind of made things a little messy. The basing also got sloppy because the first coat clumped together too much, leaving bare areas of the base just sitting there, so I felt compelled to go back and apply more of the citadel textured paint- Armageddon Dunes in this case- in the bare areas, which then sort of just piled up everywhere. :S





Only after this soldier started being painted did I notice the weird glue... cruft near his neck. How do you guys deal with aberrations that only become apparent well after priming and painting's begun?




The sentinel is also definitely a Learning Experience. I never got that putty satisfactorily smoothed out, although I feel like it can be partially waved away as sloppy welding. I also clearly messed up the leg joints and missed smoothing out moulding lines at several points which, hmm. This model can be used in battles, no doubt, but future sentinels will hopefully be better centerpieces than this one.

Speaking of that, I used a 1:48 scale Model T as the source for the kitbashed parts. Would a 1:35 scale model work better in the future? If the hood transitioned more smoothly to the sentinel cab- and I'd like to keep at least part of the original cab there so I can still easily slap in weapons and use the ball-and-cup section to connect the upper structure to the legs- that might look a bit more elegant than the current setup.




I do enjoy the kitbashing, but good heavens this painting needs improvement.


edit: unrelated, but why the dink does the forum sometimes flag me as Swedish, and sometimes as Norwegian? Google Maps sometimes sees my ip and thinks I'm as far away as Gotland, but I've never seen my connection get confused as something Norwegian before.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/01/11 09:57:02


 
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





I've done a smidgen more work, mostly trying to actually complete some infantry:

First, I think the main command squad's more-or-less done. I've been sloppy with the citadel slap-on terrain, but oh well:




And, on a lark, I decided to try using the Frostgrave female soldiers kit to make some guardswomen and see how that works:



I'm thinking the coats in the Frostgrave can be treated as buckskin coats with a little finangling. Main issue is the lack of correct hats-- I haven't been able to find anywhere that offers 28mm female heads wearing kepis. Haven't even found any that sell, like, 28mm cowgirl heads. Best I've been able to do is take the separate kepis from Perry Miniatures Civil War plastic kits, lobotomize hat-less heads, and see how well they fit:



ehhhhhh
   
Made in gb
Guardsman with Flashlight




Very cool. Love the American Civil War theme, and Pipe Smoking Man must surely have plenty of war stories from past campaigns.

40k returnee (originally played 1987-1995). Also loves Space Hulk and Dark Future.
Currently repairing/repainting/restoring 1st Ed. Imperial Guard Regiment + Mentor Legion attachment and original Space Hulk. 
   
Made in au
Alluring Mounted Daemonette




Australia

Hey mate, nice update! The command squad looks great all together and those frostgrave minis make a neat petticoat it's starting to feel like an army!

Sorry I missed the last one too - that sentinel looks great in the paint scheme. A bigger car might fit more flushly onto the front of the sentinel cab, but it might also be a bit wider. I personally quite like the sort of "snout" profile it gives the model.

For heads, they are a bit (very) expensive, but victoria miniatures sell a set of bald female heads as well as slouch hats to put on top.

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/heads/products/bald-heads-x11-female

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/heads/products/slouch-hats-x-10

Have you played with any washes yet? I feel like a solid brown wash all over would really tie these guys together, dirty them up a bit, and bring out some detail all in one step.

Love the ideas in here. Can't wait to see more!


t z you are k 
   
Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





Doesn't Look half bad imo. Infact the Sentinel Ford, (Fordentinel?) is an amazing conversion idea.

Painting comes with practice, especially yellow or light blue
Another thing, do you use washes?

Also on the greenstuff front, my personal "tip" in regards to it is, do small ammounts at a time.
Use differing stage hardened one for differing stuff you attempt to sculpt.

A cloak you f.e. want to make with freshly kneaded one, especially a torn one.
more substantial stuff like the breast plate on one of my maulerfiend conversions you might want to for it to be formed roughly and then after it has slightly hardenend start to form it.
Another thing, don't be affraid to remove greenstuff and try again if you are unhappy with what you've done, it's a relative fogiving material.
And personally a bit of very fine sandpaper can help you aswell as a scalpel to fix minor mistakes aswell.
Another thing, Youtube is full of great tutorials for greenstuff, some even from GW, that might help you aout even more.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/01/31 11:49:50


https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page
A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units."
Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?"
Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?"
GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!"
Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.  
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





tzurk wrote:Have you played with any washes yet? I feel like a solid brown wash all over would really tie these guys together, dirty them up a bit, and bring out some detail all in one step.


Not Online!!! wrote:Another thing, do you use washes?

I've tried a bit, although I'm still not entirely happy with what I got. I tried working out a system with that second shovel-carrying soldier I posted above:



He's got two coats of very-watered-down Vallejo Khaki Grey on his jacket, and then got Citadel's Agrax Earthshade applied to his jacket and his skin. I also watered down some dark blue paint from Panduro Hobby and tried washing his pants with that. I didn't actually want the jacket to look that dirty tbh- shadows are nice, but I wanted his coat to look more cleanish than what it ended up as.
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





Last month's been busy with more experiments!


First, I tried to hack some heavy weapons teams in Perry Miniatures' American Civil War artillery sets. I'm not entirely happy with how I tried to fit this lascannon onto the carriage through vigorous whittling, but bit of green stuff and paint should tidy that up a bit, right?




I also got my hands on some Tempestus Scion bit and combined them with infantry models from Wargames Atlantic's Les Grognards box, plus kepis from the same Perry Miniatures box, to make some more Civil War-ish Scions.




Lastly... did you know that O-gauge model trains are roughly the same width as the hull of a Leman Russ?

   
Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





That leman russ is fantastic

The lascannon you should've considered drilling through in the lowerpart / cutting off more down there to better fit it in.
Still has very much potential
Good job

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page
A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units."
Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?"
Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?"
GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!"
Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.  
   
Made in ca
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






I don't mind the high-mounted lascannon tbh. It reminds me of a few late-1800s field guns.

Like this one!

Spoiler:


See what's on my painting table Now painting: Kruleboyz Gutrippaz 
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





You can have a Sentinel painted any color that you want, so long as it's black.



   
Made in ca
Confident Halberdier





in the computer?

Cool look on these guys. Don't see the American 19th cent look outside of historical wargames, it's working very well for 40k. The jalopy sentinels are wonderful too.

Any plans to make an American Cavalry rough rider unit?

 
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





It was originally part of the plan when I started getting back into 40k, but then I looked into the current codex and it looks like rough riders are being phased out, or at least relegated to some index entries in the back of the codex this edition. I'd love to have rough riders, but no matter how wild the conversions here end up being I want them to be kosher with current rules and fieldable, so I can play against people and cackle like a madman as I deploy everything.
   
Made in ch
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak







rough riders are a shame to have been ingnored.

https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/766717.page
A Mostly Renegades and Heretics blog.
GW:"Space marines got too many options to balance, therefore we decided to legends HH units."
Players: "why?!? Now we finally got decent plastic kits and you cut them?"
Chaos marines players: "Since when are Daemonengines 30k models and why do i have NO droppods now?"
GW" MONEY.... erm i meant TOO MANY OPTIONS (to resell your army to you again by disalowing former units)! Do you want specific tyranid fighiting Primaris? Even a new sabotage lieutnant!"
Chaos players: Guess i stop playing or go to HH.  
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





Love this army, very strong theme, which is what every good Imperial Guard army needs in my opinion.

As for Rough Riders, here's hoping that GW release a new kit for the next Codex and put them back in the army list. I won't be holding my breath though.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/10 20:37:54


 
   
Made in gb
Mad Gyrocopter Pilot





Northumberland

Really cool looking army, I'm a huge fan of conversions and kitbashing so it's cool to see some really interesting ones. My favourite is definitely the heavy weapon team, such a great look and perfect for your army theme.

As for your painting, it's looking good so far. My only tips so far would be to experiment with washes because they can make anything look 100% better. And also if you're not sure about getting your paints thin, dab some off on a bit of kitchen roll or bog roll and add a tiny bit of water, do that prior to applying to the model so you can work out the consistency. If you've got an old bathroom tile knocking about you can use that to mix paints too.

One and a half feet in the hobby


My Painting Log of various minis:
# Olthannon's Oscillating Orchard of Opportunity #

 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Leicester, UK

The new vehicles look great. I'm looking forward to see what you do for a chimera (wagon or something?). Paint job looks good. I have found just a light tone all over wash works for me, to kinda tie it all together.

My painting and modeling blog:

PaddyMick's Chopshop: Converted 40K Vehicles

 
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User





 PaddyMick wrote:
The new vehicles look great. I'm looking forward to see what you do for a chimera (wagon or something?). Paint job looks good. I have found just a light tone all over wash works for me, to kinda tie it all together.

I hadn't really thought about what to do for a chimera... maybe if I can get my hands on an O-gauge doodlebug, I could slap chimera treads on it, put the chimera turret up top, and some guns sticking out of windows?

Using a shortened version of this as a base:


Or, gak, use an o-gauge caboose and slap the front of the chimera onto it (and the treads), but save everything else, and treat the cupola as a fixed turret proxy. Oh, choices, choices...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/11 10:19:46


 
   
 
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