Paint Table Saturday no. 7

Welcome to another week's look at my paint table.

This week saw a burst of activity with me getting another squad of ten Henchmen painted up. I still need to complete their bases, but as mentioned before, that is a whole different story.

I started work on this conversion about a year ago. He has been pretty much done, and I am painting him up in hopes of winning a signed hardbound copy of the forthcoming Vengeful Spirit Horus Heresy novel. Fingers crossed, eh?

Cheers!

CJ

On Basing and Patience

One of the things I want to achieve with my 'counts as' Mechanicus force is to successfully create and replicate a series of bases that will help visually tie the force together. In pursuit of this goal I created what I considered at the time as a 'master' set of bases. Don't they look great?

No, they don't.

I was in such a rush as I created these bases... what does haste make? Waste, exactly. While these bases look fine on the game table, they are unfit for use as masters as they stood... which didn't stop me from rushing ahead and making three moulds.

Looking great! Ready to watch me waste money?

When I pulled the cured moulds from the mould boxes, problems were immediately evident. The plasticard layers on the bases were slightly uneven on the edges. There was also a very small gap between the layers. This problem is only one that was presented to me. These defects resulted in the silicone tearing in some places and odd flash in others. The lines of rivets were off center and the spacing wasn't ideal; some were sitting too low to be picked up. I took a fresh #11 blade to the moulds to clear out some of the flash, and clean up edges. I don't recommend this to anyone, at this point I had decided that these moulds were a bust. You can easily over cut the soft silicone and damage an otherwise intact piece.

I did get some bases from the whole mess. Every single one of them will need defects repaired. On the whole this was learning experience (again). I want to take some of the best casts from this run and rework them into a set of viable masters and pour again. I have the silicone I need, now I just need to rework these bases. I can also cut up the bad moulds and use them as filler for the new moulds.

The thing about this mess that pisses me off the most is the fact that I had to use Green Stuff and Liquid Green Stuff in the process of 'finishing' the masters. If I had taken the time to apply LGS to the edges of each base and then file it smooth, half of the problems I experienced would have been avoided. Instead I rushed, and now will have to spend even more time in pursuit of a truly finished product.

Cheers,

CJ

More Henchmen Complete

I had a burst of motivation seeing the first squad of henchmen finished, and over the past couple days I finished up the second squad.

The squad is lead by Lt. 'Rocky'. I figured the powerfist was appropriate here. This squad is armed with Mad Robot Miniatures Luminous CQ battle rifles and focused heat guns.

Here are all 20 henchmen. In continuing henchmen news, Lt. Diehard lost his head due to a tragic fall from my desk... and I do think that my cat snaked the head and ran off. I replaced it with a gas mask and cap head from Puppetswar.eu. Unfortunately I can't find the head on their site at this time. The head had a cross shaped depression in the top that I filled in with liquid green stuff and super glue.

I hope to have better shots of these guys soon.

Cheers,

CJ

Paint Table Saturday no. 6

Welcome to another episode of 'Not Much to See Here'. Its a terribly disappointing show, entirely predictable at times. All the time.

I did get a small bit of work done on the second squad of Inquisitorial Henchmen. Their weapons are all mounted to poles for ease of painting, and in the first squad I managed to finish up a pair of bases. That leaves four more to go before I can call that squad complete.

The second squad is now firmly in my sights.

Cheers,

CJ

Paint Table Saturday no. 5

Got my brushes moving again this week...finally.

 I got these guys back into the center of things and they are nearing completion. As it stands, all they need are bases. Up next are two more units of ten henchmen each.

Cheers,

CJ

Breaking: Astra Militarum

So I promise not to be 'that guy' when it comes to rumors, but this is an IG blog. I imagine you have all seen the cover of the new book, the new Militarum Tempestus supplement, the Astra Militarum cover, as well as all the new models.

The interwebs are awash with opinion on the new vehicle and figures. For the record: I think the new transport thing has potential only for an Ork army; the Ogryns really weren't doing it for me and I took a second look, it was the guns. These new ripper guns look like out-sized bolters. The Hydra and Militarum Tempestus figures I like overall. There is lots of conversion potential across the range, as ever, and I am sure that once I get a look at the transport thing I can come up with something...

What about these rumors that there will be no Rough Riders in the new book? I certainly hope this bears false, since the idea of the Rough Riders embodies a part of 40k that I love, that crazy side of it. Main battle tanks and troop transports supported by suicidally reckless cavalry on the flanks.At least the guys in the Taros are in a go-kart. On the other hand, if they do phase Rough Riders out of the main Astra Militarum book, I will have an excuse to buy enough Azogs to make a DKoK list. Hmmm...

Cheers,
CJ

(I'll not post pictures because I don't need the headache from certain companies which don't know how to publicly relate.)

PS: You did see the pictures of the Warmaster, right?

Paint Table Saturday (on Sunday)

So. This week I have completed the Arbites Precinct House, and nothing else. Nothing else hobby related, I should say. This weekend brought a move from a cramped basement apartment to an actual apartment. The best part? There is a window here by my desk.

Cheers!
CJ