http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/56.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net Army Showcase Thread Here

I'm hoping that having a blog-type thread on here will inspire me to get the rest of the army painted up and (finally) finished. At which point I MIGHT try to work out how many points it comes to...
I'll start off with some WIP pics of models I've now finished, or at least made some progress on...

First up, Land Raider Ares (now completed). I actually found an old, very horribly assembled Land Raider in the back of the store. It appeared to have been "painted" with a marker pen! When I sprayed it with white undercoat, the whole thing turned pink! A combination of this and a crappy spray can led to some interesting 'flamer damage' on the final model. Anyway...



Next is a close-up of the weapons of my Land Raider Crusader, erm, variant... This one's finished too now.


Onward, and this model is as yet incomplete, a Land Raider with a Vulcan Mega-Bolter built into the hull...



A group shot of the tanks I have yet to finish off...


My modifications to the Stormraven to make it look more like a 'baby Thunderhawk'


For comparison... both of these models still need finishing...



So, yeah, plenty to do and I've still not got the Dreadnoughts, Landspeeders, or the rest of the infantry photographed. It's gonna be awesome when it's all finished though! I'm hoping to get a lot of it done in 2012!






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In fact I cheat massively when painting yellow. Most of the pictures I've uploaded have only 4 coats. Here's what I do:

Coat 1: Spray undercoat models white. (Boltguns, vehicle weapons etc keep separate and spray black)
Coat 2: All-over 'wet-drybrush' coat with a slightly thinned Iyanden Darksun.
Coat 3: All-over covering of slightly watered Gryphonne Sepia.
Coat 4: Mass drybrush with a large (Tank/Flat) brush in Golden Yellow.

What I end up with is a pretty smooth 'industrial' yellow. If I want the final colour to be lighter, I add a little Deneb Stone into some Golden Yellow and do another all-over drybrush. Coats 2 and 3 can be done with an airbrush, otherwise a big paintbrush (Tank Brush or similar).

After that it's simply a matter of picking out details and basing, then they're done. Finally a coat of Matt or Satin spray varnish to finish. The varnish is quite important as it does help the yellow's final appearance.

I freely acknowledge they're not a competition-standard of painting, but I hope you'll agree they look good enough for gaming or looking cool in a cabinet.

Any more questions ask away ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3786893.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3786893.page GMT
Parts List:
Land Raider Redeemer complete kit

from Leman Russ Demolisher Kits:
2x Executioner Plasma Cannon
2x Sponson Plasma Cannon
1x Executioner 'Ammo Hopper'

misc:
1x 'Flat' Rhino Door
2x Land Raider Hull-Mounted Weapon Cover
3x Drop Pod Thrusters
2x Land Speeder Side Doors
2x Space Marine Backpack
1x 20mm square base

Sponson Weapons:
Made by firstly gluing the Executioner Plasma Cannon together and thn razor-sawing it down the back to get a flat surface. Keeping the nozzles to one side, remove the weapon barrels from the Redeemer's Flamestorm Cannon pieces - the sides of the giant flamers become the sides of the giant plasma gun. Stick these sides to the flat surface created on the main weapons. Stick the extra LR weapon covers on top, slighly overlapping onto the main cannon to give the assembly some rigidity (see pics).
The hard part to describe with no parts to take pictures of: Take the Flamestorm weapon mounts (the bits that fit into the sponsons and allow the weapons to turn). Looking at them from the sides, they're roughly a reverse 'D' shape. You need to cut out a section of the vertical support in order to allow the weapon to slide back into place. (Use the pictures for guidance here). Once attached, cut the Landspeeder doors to fit and stick them on the back of the weapon. Remove the vents from the Space Marine backpacks and use them to cover the little gap that remains.




Hull-mounted weapon:
Easy, this. Cut the tabs off the Leman Russ plasma cannons. Cut the barrels off the Redeemer's Assault Cannons. Swap.



Hull details:
File down your Rhino door so that you have a nice, flat surface. Stick the Leman Russ Executioner's ammo hopper on top (you'll find it's a great fit!). Add two drop pod exhause nozzles. Smooth out the area around the rear hatch hole, and stick this over the top. Add the third exhaust nozzle to a nearby bit of flat hull. For the front hatch hole, stick the ring-piece into the hole FROM INSIDE the tank, and add the flat cover piece to taste. Add Scanner/whatever to taste. I used the side with the viewport. (I also used this method for the secondary radar on my WIP Helios, which you might be able to make out if you zoom in the gallery pic...) Trim down one of the flat detail pieces from the flamestorm cannon (the bit the goes onto the weapon mount) and use it to cover the big flat area. (again, see pic).



Exhausts:
Finally, I swapped out the regular Land Raider exhauses for the Flamestorm Cannon nozzles, using cut up bits of 20mm square base to tidy the gaps.



Tadaa! 6 Plasma Cannon templates per turn, with a re-rollable one for the survivor. Have fun! PM me if you make your own!


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One's a Black Reach Dread with a Plasma Cannon arm I inherited from somewhere, one's a regular Dread (also with Plasma Cannon and a Missile Launcher for anti-horde duty). The third I'd originally converted up as an Ironclad... just before the official (and better) model came out, so I de-converted it back to a more-or-less normal one. Finally I picked up a Mk. IV from Warhammer World some time ages ago... I also grabbed the finished one out of the case for continuity purposes! For a variety of reasons only the PC/ML one has removable arms... :(

So here's a WIP:



Can't wait till they're done ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3801400.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3801400.page GMT WIPs but then...

Well, basically insanity struck (hard) and I decided to take some photos of the WHOLE ARMY at once. It's worth noting that, not once in the 10 years or so I've been working on this, has every model been out of the case/box at the same time, much less in the same place! So without further ado... Enjoy.

Top-down


The "I shoulda used a bigger room" shot


Some more



So yeah, plenty still to be painted... I think I've just hit 10K finished, most of the rest (probably about 5K) is at least basecoated... One day I might actually get to play a game with them all!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3808007.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3808007.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3920765.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/420544/3920765.page GMT