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Monday, 27 February 2012

Rough paint shots.

And I do mean rough. I spent some time getting some of the base coats and some washes down on the scout unit and the contemptor. The details of the contemptor are at least more visible. But it is also apparent that the base coats need a few more applications to get them solid.

The scouts' skin tones are currently fairly dark and I am tempted to leave them around that level. Space Wolves are supposed to get more tan and leathery as they age so this would at least be in line with the fluff. Anyway, the painting has begun.

This is the part I like the least about preparing an army for a tourney. It always looks like crap when they are WIP during the painting process. And they will continue to look crap up until the finishing touches are done, and then it is like something magical happens and it is all good. On the other hand I must admit to feeling stoked about this army. Not in its playing potential as I believe that it will be thrashed like a seal in a sharks jaws. No in the appearance and feel of it. My original 13th Company army is still one of my best and my most favourite army project (my Nids are a close second). In a way I am glad I have found some way to re-use the army as some of the models are quite neat.

I will probably not get much painting time prior to the weekend but I will continue to post on this project as it happens.








Friday, 17 February 2012

The Dread redone



A quick scout update


 So I have finished assembly of the scout unit, having finalized the poses. Now the tedious green stuff work begins. I snapped a few quick shots to show off the unit. One member has the Mark of the Wulfen, represented by the dude with the beastman's face. There is a scout with a power axe and a scout with a meltagun. The meltabombs are there because they look cool. I'll be back.










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Sunday, 12 February 2012

Wolf Scouts in progress

A few years back I had seen a diorama on Coolminiornot.com done by an artist under the name of Prophet. He had converted his Wolf Scouts using a combination of Catachan, Chaos Marauder, and Space marine bits. Now consider at the time the Wolf Scout models from GW looked like a bunch of over-energized retirees that had escaped a Pepsi commercial i.e. they looked lame. They then updated the Wolf Scout models to make them look like the most generic models in the line, which is weird as they should be some of the most individualistic models in the line. So I resolved to use this same idea to make my own Wolf Scouts as a lot of my Wolves are fairly extensively converted. And considering the level of conversion on the 13th Company models that I am basing this current Wolf army on, these style of scouts would fit right in.

Now all those years ago I acquired the necessary parts and stored them in a container as a "to do" project, then stored it in the 'Closet of Shame'TM*. Years passed...and then some more. Really I have had this set aside for a long time.

 Anyway here we are and I am making a list based around two units that can use the "Behind Enemy Lines" ability, using the heavily converted 13h Company models. So it was finally time to break out the scout conversion project bits (as I had dubbed them) and to spend countless hours agonizing over pointless details, then still changing stuff around.

So here are some pictures of the Wolf Scouts in progress prior to any greenstuff work. Over all I am relatively pleased with them although they are massive compared to even normal marine models. The pose of the melta gunner, the kneeling guy with bolt pistol, and the grenade thrower just work for me. I will be making some modifications to some of the models though. The guy at the handrail was supposed to be stalking stealthily up to cover but I altered it and am not pleased with the result for example. Still the shots give some idea as to the look of the unit.

Some parts did not photograph well due to being made of a white or tan resin. I have been playing around with casting parts for GW models and have learned that I am really best at casting up icons and other conversion pieces that can be done as one part molds. So I have an abundance of SW icons and other bitz I can use, including shoulder pads, torsos, and heads/helmets.  This is clear in the group shot as two of the models incorporate a resin piece in their structure.

Five points for anyone who can identify the backpacks origins. They are GW models.

P.s. The Contemptor dread looks completely different now. I used several cast bits to spruce it up and used the FW brass etch on the inner part of the legs. Overall I am much happier with the model this way. I have primed the Contemptor and will post photos of it by next week when (hopefully) the painting begins. Right now it is hard to see the details because of the uniform colour. I will snap a few shots to see if it appears as intended but can make no promises.

* "Closet of Shame" is a reference by a friend of mine (Colin F.) and he is the first I know of to use the term. I just wanted to give him props but if someone else said it first, I am not aware of them...