Storm Eagle Primed

So I finally assembled and primed the Storm Eagle after adding some wolfy bling from FW. I also cut a pair of "stalking wolves" from plasticard to put on the engine cowling. Some joins require greenstuff as they are much more visible with priming.

Still I can see the beginning of the end for this project, which is good as I will have something completely different as a painting project next. It is a surprise piece, but after that I am looking at returning to the orks or working on the Hierophant biotitan.

I have figured out that right now I am focused on doing projects rather than painting an army, but my ork army has a few projects within it. Still, it would be cool to see the hierophant out with my hierodules some time.Did I mention I have a caestus assault ram on the way? Apparently the closet of shame has a vacancy.

Yet More Storm Eagle WIP

So I have moved the forward control surfaces back now. Positioned at the front, they seemd to give a boxy outline to the model as they widened the front of the SE. Having moved them back now restores most of the delta shape the model had before these fins were attached. I could always just leave them off but that would take this conversion further away from being a SE than I personally would like.

In these shots you can also see the resin SW pieces that I am using to spruce up the plane. The eagle icon from the Rhino door kit from FW on top of the vengeance launcher actually looks surprisingly good. I really should have worked out the mounting before assembling this model though.

And yes I realize that the lascanons on the right wing are crooked. They are not glued in and that mount is a bit looser than the other one.

More Storm Eagle WIP

Well I have added the front stabilizer fins. Originally I had them mounted over the front engines, but they seemed too big and out of place. The actual SE lit has the side doors mounted further back so the front stabilizers are also mounted further back. It also lacks the large engine pods that the SR kit has. So I decided to mount mine over the side doors as it places them in the right location if a little high. They still do not look bad where they are. So here are a couple of shots of the meager progress that I have made this week.

(slightly) Better shots of the Storm Eagle (WIP)

I  believe that I am at that point where I should invest in a photo booth. I may even read the instructions for my camera someday.

This is the Storm Eagle with some more detailing, but there is still a lot to go.

I have an interesting piece that may fit at the top of the pilots canopy that may look like an extra armoured plate;

I am not happy with the mounting  for the rocket pod at the top.I am thinking of making it a fixed mount that looks a bit beefier maybe;

I need to construct a new mounting point and support for the flying stand and re-balance the weight distribution as most is at the back of the model;

and I need to smooth the transition to the white Star Trek piece I glued onto the top of the midsection.

In all though I must admit that the model looks a lot better than the Storm Raven just by virtue of lengthening the body. And this is the only time I will mention it but of course I am referring to my personal tastes when discussing aesthetics, and am not making a final judgement that I expect all to agree with. Just sayin'....

My Newest Obssession

 With Astro out of the way, I have no focus for my hobby interests other than I want to work on "cool stuff". Then the storm eagle was released, providing a pull to stay on with the Wolves. Now I have been debating the merits, both aesthetically and functionally, of a caestus assault ram and a storm eagle. Now I have a storm raven kit that I had peered at but never used before. Well this time I dug out the kit and started by lengthening the fuselage, and numerous hours, bits of plasticard later, I had the basis for a storm eagle conversion from the  storm raven kit. Here are the WIP shots of this vehicle.

Astronomicon 2012 in the bag.

The Astronomicon tournament in Winnipeg happened last weekend and it was a blast. I had 6 great opponents and enjoyed every game despite losing the first 4 of the 6 straight. The first was due to bad dice and a slightly overpowered scenario (in my opinion and for some others as well). But in all cases my opponents did their jobs and earned their wins. The last two games were pretty much dominated by my Wolves but that was due to some good dice and some scenarios that really suit this army.

Every year Mike, Christian, and Keith (as well as several volunteers) put on a great tourney, which is impressive considering that I have been to numerous tourneys in the past that had a much larger staff and were much less successful in providing a good gaming experience.

I placed 10th overall at Astro, maxed out my Sportsmanship and Painting scores, received the most votes for Best Single model, and I won the award for Best Army. This award is voted on by the players and I am grateful that people thought that the army looked good and that they liked the approach that I took to it. Under the Astro system award winners are essentially eligible to win one award regardless of how many categories someone came in first for. So if a player qualifies for multiple awards, she/he will be presented with whichever one is ranked the highest with Best Overall being the top prize.

There was mention of having the next Astro Winnipeg in November. Maybe I can get back to the Orks for that one but for right now there is a lot of painting work and detailing to complete on this army. Despite the attention the army received, there are numerous touch-ups it needs before I can begin to feel like it is actually done. For now though I have some shots of the finished models. I really do have to invest in a portable photo booth some time.