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.

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?

The camera's flash may not be my friend.

Not having any background in photography, I am generally blind and unthinking in my approach to taking photos. Luckily I have friends who have no problem saying that the shots I took look bad. Specifically the camera's flash washed out the colours so much that any evidence of highlighting was obliterated. So I took a long hard look at these photos and tried taking a few shots in natural light and with the flash off. I did do some colour correction using a very old program I have but I tried to keep my manipulations to a minimum and had the model at hand to compare the colours. It is quite possible that such digital shenanigans is at least partly responsible for the washed out look of the previous set of photos but that sounds too much like taking responsibility and that just is not my thing.

I may finally get my first game of 6th Ed in soon, but for that I am planning on using my Ultramarines. At 300 pts kitted out like this this flier may be a bit much for a 1500 pt game (points wise that is). There is also the inevitability that the first time a newly completed model hits the table, it gets destroyed by the first shot that hits it. I should probably field the Wolves just to get that out of thee way and blame it on unfamiliarity with the demands of the new rule set.

ABW* point reached (*all but weathering)

So the Storm Eagle is pretty much done and assembled. The two frame bar thingies on the front of the canopy were a pain in the butt and popped off at least three different times.Once the canopy was in the front canopy piece did not seem to sit well so I need to re-glue that portion down and secure it. I did do some carbon scoring on the engine nozzles but I kept it low key as I am grooving on the overall appearance of the model. I suspect that I will be adding paint chips and other wear marks but even those will be relatively light. But for now, this is how the project turned out. Now on to the FW projects...

Wow, it's been a while....sorry for the delay.

 So life intervened and greatly interfered with all projects great and small. But I have done some work in the interim. the second, secret FW project has actually become two now but I should have shots of them up by the end of next week. The models are great but the subject matter is not in my area of interest so it is hard to be motivated at times. And I have continued some work on the Storm Eagle. The base coats are about done but I want to finish highlighting the red portions before I apply the first coat of sealer. Then I will continue working on the grey portions. I will need to re-line the lines between the armour plates just to clean up the lines a bit but overall it is starting to shape up. I also detailed the base but I did not photograph any of that just yet. Anyway here are some of the more recent shots:

A lull in the painting...

So an order I made for some FW stuff arrived about 2 weeks earlier than I anticipated and I am currently working on a couple of pieces from there. The idea is to surprise a friend of mine so I am keeping the project under wraps although I can say that it is an interesting piece to paint due to all of the details, though the topic matter is not to my taste.

So unfortunately that means no new photo updates until next week (maybe... depending on my progress) and the Storm Eagle is on hold too. However I have started painting that model up as it is a priority for my personal collection. In fact barring any future favours for friends, all other painting should focus on clearing our the closet of shame (TM).

So bear with me for a little while longer and more regular progress should commence.

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.