Of Dice and Men

Brand - Vet Squad #1 = Done!

2010-01-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

My first squad of veteran guard is done! 10 guys with an autocannon, plasmagun, and two grenade launchers. The plasmagunner has a Necromunda Van Saar head (what I wouldn't do for 40 more of those!) and one of the grenade launchers has an Imperial fantasy head. I'll want to figure out shoulder pads before I matte finish them, but they are ready to play!

(painting fu -- figured out the best way to highlight leather with Calthan Brown over scorched brown. Ran out of fine sand, so I am now basing in larger, rougher sand, but it doesn't look so different as to cause a problem.) Now on to my reward! 6 Sanctioned Psykers and an Overseer ...

(Pipboy says: Looks good!)

Auto Cannon Death!

2010-01-20T20:39:00.001-08:00

So I promised another of my gaming buddies that I would build him a pair of auto cannon arms for his Space Marine Dreadnought. I figured that I should make myself a pair while I was at it. Overall I'm pleased with the results.

Salamanders Characters

2010-01-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Well with the recent 40k activity I've been itching to get back to work on the Salamanders. I've drawn up a preliminary 1000pt list and realized I need to build a few more bits and pieces. To that end I've thrown together a custom Chaplain and Librarian. I think I like where they're going and I can't wait to paint them.

Agemmon's Rangers - First look

2010-01-19T20:09:00.000-08:00

I've asked one of my gaming buddies to contribute to the blog. He's doing a great job of building his new Guard army so I wanted him to show it off! So without ado....

I played Imperial Guard in the old days under the 3rd and 4th edition rules, and had accumulated a fair force, but most of them were lost in a fire, so I'm left at rebuilding them, with some odd stuff I’m recycling (two Griffons, a couple of character models, etc). My original guard were Krieg Lancers, but since Forgeworld has come out with Death Korps minis, and Krieg armies are so prolific, I thought I'd do something unique again. My goal is to build a Macragge guard regiment/PDF force, (Agemmon’s Rangers) with higher than normal tech, and try to build it along the lines of a 20th century American ranger force (rapid insertion, mobile, not a stand and slog army). I want some nods towards Ultramarine-style feel, but no ultramarine symbols, or such. I may include some Ultramarine scouts as commissars or the like, we shall see.

First up are some converted models (my favourite part of the hobby) -- two Masters of Ordinance. The first I build with regular Cadian bits, threw in an auspex, and it looks very close to the purchasable model. The second one I used Cadian command bits, and one of the new IG heads you can order from GW. The second one I cut a grenade launcher arm to include a sword.
Next are two other conversions I did about a month back -- Gunnery Sergeant Harker using Ox's heavy bolter, a bionic leg from god knows where, and a space marine scout head to make him look beefy. The other guy on the right is my Psyker Battle Squad Overseer, mostly made from the Cadian Command bits, but with Fabius Bile's walking stick (I keep thinking of it as a pimp cane ...), and a Chaos Space Marine hand on the other hand to match.
Lastly, I cleaned with Simple Green my original Krieg Colonel -- a Valhallan Lieutenant that I did some weapon swaps on, and shaved off the fur collar.
Now I've done my test miniature, and came up with a painting scheme I like, and I'm puttering away at my first veteran squad. Here are four completed fellows so far.

Kabal of the Unseen Blade

2009-09-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

Tactical Squad

2009-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

I've finally completed (mostly) the first Tac Squad. I think they turned out well enough. The green edging is a bit heavy and the green bases don't help but overall they're good enough. I'm also a bit disappointed at how the gold chest Aquila came out but I have to say that I do like how the ex-Chaos now Salamanders shoulder pads worked out.

Next up is a close combat Scout Squad.

Suckered back into 40K

2008-10-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well with the release of the 5th ed of 40k and all the sweet new Space Marines, I'm going to paint up a nice new Salamanders army. I know a few other guys in the area that play a little bit and are getting some of the new models. I've started a tactical squad with some leftover SM bits but I'm 2 marines short >: Considering it's been *years* since I've painted a 28mm miniature, I think the test model looks pretty good. It's my first try with the new GW foundation paints and washes and I have to say that GW hit the mark with these. The foundation paints cover anything with ease and the inks do a really good job of getting into and staying in the crack and corners.

Process:
prime white / base with snot green / badab black ink wash / touch up with snot green / highlight with scorpion green

Old - Building Mock-ups

2008-05-21T09:22:00.001-07:00

This will give you a better idea of what I'm thinking. I still need to add a low wall around the edge of the roof sections to form a little lip. Just you wait to see all the cool building layouts I've got brewing in my mad little brain...

Old - Epic Imperial Buildings

2008-05-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

I've been poking away for a while trying to create some non-ruined Epic buildings. I've taken the ruined building sprues from Epic 40k and chopped them up and built whole facades. Then I cast them and now I have turned out the first few casts. The Alumilite casting plastic I have been using is a little viscous for this kind of project so there are loads of bubbles. Once they're painted I don't think they will look any different than all the shell pock-marks covering the buildings anyway. I've found a source in Toronto for Smooth-On brand casting rubber and epoxy plastic. This new stuff should do much better as it is much thinner and will pour with far less bubbles trapped. Anyway, I'm convinced that these new buildings combined with all the cool scenery parts I've discovered I still have will make one damn fine looking Epic table...as soon as I get enough of the buggers cast.

Old - Almost finished

2008-05-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've been rather overwealmed with the positive responce to the Necrons - thanks everyone. The army is very close to being finished but after 2 weeks of non-stop painting, I need a break. In the meantime I give you the finished infantry. All infantry stands and Obelisks are mounted on a 1" steel washer and Monoliths and Pylons are mounted on a 1.5" washer.

A selection of basic Necron Warriors:

A couple of shots of the 4 Necron Lords:

The Destroyer Lord is my favorite.

The 4 stands of Pariahs were converted from the DRM Andrayadas Scouts. I chopped off their rifles and added a glaive made of paperclip wire and plasticard blade.

The Heavy Destroyers used 40k scarabs for the body and Andrayadas Heavy Weapon Trooper for the torso.

The Obelisks are scratch-built starting with a 20mm square base. I slapped a flat deck on top and built the 'central column' and 'corner stones' out of square plastic stock. The 'conduit' detail on the deck surface is just more square plastic stock. A bead from the craft store completes the model. Obviously these ones aren't fully painted yet. The only thing left is to paint the crystal a suitably glowing green.

The Monoliths took a lot more work (and patience). I began with a 20mm square base for the top and a 25mm square base at the bottom. I then carefully cut notches in the sides of each base and glued 'U'-shaped plastic stock into the notches, thereby joining the top and bottom in a vaguely pyramid shape. I then cut plasticard plates and glued them to the sides to cover the open corners of the model. (It occurs to me now that I really should have taken progress photos of all this...) The 'corner stones' were made from the same square stock as the Obelisks, only taller. A 40k gauss flayer muzzle was used for the crystal cradle. Once that was all done I cast the Monolith (and the Obelisk and Pylon) with RTV rubber to make a mould. I used Alumilite casting plasic to produce a handful of copies. Finally I added the fiddly details like the vertical buttresses (more square stock), the rear detail, the top 'arm' (hand bent 'H'-beam stock), the portal door, and the crystal. Voila! It's pretty big for an AV but it is suitably impressive on the table. Again this Momolith is not yet finished the painting stage. I still have to paint the portal, crystal and icons.

Finally the Pylon gave me the biggest headache but the best result (I think). I used an old 40k Tarantula base for the legs and scratch-built the rest. The whole thing is built from plastic stock of various shapes ('H'-beam, square, flat, round, and quarter-round). The tricky part was to shape the crescent. I built the basic shape of the curve first, then immersed it into boiling water for a few seconds. The heat allows you to bend it around a shape/form. Hold it in place until it cools and retains its shape. It took 4 tries to get it right. After all that effort it was still a battle to get a descent cast of it due to all the fine projections. In the end it came together and now it's my favorite model of the army (for now).

Old - The metal menace draws near

2008-05-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

After a very long time my Necron army is built and half-way painted. They should be finished for the Epic event at the Oakville Battle Bunker next week. First up: the previously viewed Obelisk:

The Obelisks are mounted on a 1" washer and won't float so high when they are finished.

I'm mostly happy with the Monoliths but I still think they are a little large (but suitably impressive) and maybe a little squat (short and fat - not beardy). Overall they do a good job of looking like what they are. They will also be floating a lot lower than this when they are finished.

The Pylons are my favorite and I think they turned out just right. Not too big but still look large enough for a war engine. I think they do a great job of approximating the gargantuan 40k sized Pylons.

Everything here was scratch built out of polystyrene with beads for Necron crystals. Once the master models were built I made an RTV mould and cast as many Alumilite super-plastic (resin) duplicates as I needed. This was my first time casting and I think it worked pretty well. The whole process was super simple and I'm totally going to use moulds again in future projects.

Painted infantry and vehicles to follow soon.