Total Pageviews

Sunday 30 September 2012

And the next thing on the assembly line....

So I have been working witha  FW kit for the last few days. Originally the Caestus Assault Ram was going to be done up for my Ultras but a friend convinced me to try to maintain momentum on the Space Wolves. So it has had some SW icons cast and affixed in order to give the vehicle the proper feel. Next to the Storm Eagle I converted, this thing looks like a brick but it has a design aesthetic that suits its rather blunt purpose.






Another FW kit has also been crying for attention (along with my Thunderbolt, Hellblade, several Eldar tanks and an Armorcast Revenant Scout Titan, and several other Nid models) has been this Hierophant biotitan. I purchased it through Kijiji and it was already painted and had seen the table top numerous times. The previous owner had not based the model, and I could not blame him. the footprint of this monster is huge and basing it as it appears in the FW website makes it useless for the table top. Due to being deployed like this however the legs were well bent from having to support such weight with such thin limbs. This was not an issue for me as I fully intend to redo the front and back feet (and they will be feet as something that big on points that tiny would sink with each step) as well as reposition the limbs. If all goes to plan then the biotitan's footprint will be much thinner and only three limbs will be in contact with the ground. I am hoping this will translate in to a more menacing appearance while maintaining the model's useability. After all I already have the two Hierodules painted, this puppy would just make the whole army look more imposing.

So I began disassembling the model meaning that I ripped it apart while damaging some of the more delicate components. I tried using a substance that is supposed to dissolved cyanocrylate but I lack patience and managed to get all of its limbs off using mindless physical force instead. The flesh hooks have all been removed and they will be re-done from scratch. There is a a small pair of claws on the underside of the biotitan's body. One has snapped off and I am planning to remove the other one. If I have the bits I will be adding a row of scything talons going from the Hive Tyrant size through to the size of a hormagaunt. It should make for an interesting row of bladed limbs on the beast's underside.  Several of the smaller horns/claws (?) are also missing so I will need to sculpt replacements. A lot of work on this model but it will look great on the table top.

I have also started some planning on a games tables worth of terrain that will represent an Adeptus Mechanicus forgeworld. The idea is to construct all of the terrain using only card and foam core. Woods and water features will be represented by other terrain features (e.g. steam vents as obscuring cover). I have constructed most of a teleporter pad and a tower-like structure. As work progresses on any (all?) of these projects I will endeavour to make regular updates.

Sunday 23 September 2012

Synchronicity I

So I have been trying to get back into a 40K mind set. After all a new edition of the game has dropped and all should be well in the world. But as always my attention has been so scattered that I have not been able to settle on one project or another. So instead I committed to completing a project that had been a long time in process.

I had purchased and painted a couple of FW Khornate daemons and a Renegade Ogryn model for a couple of close friends. As with all paint jobs I'm not 100% pleased with the end result but they turned out well in all.The clear coat I used (GW semi gloss) was too glossy and kind of  killed some of the red effects that I had painted on the two Khornate daemons. I may try hitting them with a dull coat just to try to take the shiny-ness down a notch. The Ogryn and his friend came out essentially as I wanted. They both look grimy and greasy and there is a dullness to the palate that is slightly shocked by the red I used on the models. All of these models will soon be packaged for a trip to their new owners in Windsor. Then I have to commit to a new army before I have to commit to a pre-heresy army....why do I feel burned out again?