Sunday, December 25, 2016

Happy Yule

Happy holiday wishes to all who read my blog. The gods of the postal service (both domestic and foreign) blessed me with speedy delivery of my Cybermastiffs and Imperial Enforcer model. I'm especially happy to have gotten hold of one of these.

In other hobby news build phase has been extended through January due to holiday guests invading. Not much happening this past week...

Oh well. Its good when family is in town.

Cheers!

CJ

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Witch Hunter Warband


Once upon a time I had a Witch Hunters warband for that wonderful game Mordheim. It was a lot of fun to play with even if I didn't do that well overall. Late last night I had an idea...

A couple recent eBay wins have netted me two cybermastiffs from the Enforcers kit, as well as the Forgeworld Event Only Enforcer and hound. While trying to figure out what exactly I'd use these models for I remembered my old warband. I had three hounds then and I will have three here soon enough. Why not build a 40k equivalent? The original band had a Captain, a Priest, five Flagellants, and aforementioned hounds.

Remember this guy? I do believe he'll make a good 'captain'. The Enforcer will serve for my 'priest', and the hounds are covered, of course. 'Flagellants' threw me for a while until I remembered the Sisters of Battle mob, the Frateris Militia. These guys are utter wackos and will serve well. Even better, they seem to have an abundance of Eviscerator Chainswords available. I've got Uriah Jacobus to count as one of the rabble.

This will be a fun little project to work on in the future. I don't expect the hounds or Enforcer and hound until the end of the month. In the mean time I'll carry on building until Winter truly arrives.

Cheers,

CJ

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Build Phase: Iron Warriors

Building and not worrying about having to paint a unit immediately after is fun... seriously I forgot how much fun just building models can be.

I've got my first five Iron Havocs done, and quickly too. The Betrayal at Calth and Burning of Prospero kits I got had a minimal amount of mould lines to worry about.

Here's the start of my first tactical squad. These models are actually nearly done at this point... only a few more bolters to trim and drill. Once I have two ten man units ready I'll go back and start working on bulking them up by ten more.

Working at my present capacity I should have plenty of minis assembled for Paint Phase.

Cheers,

CJ

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Heresy Era Iron Warriors List


I've worked out a list based on what I've got between the BaC and BoP boxes. Floating this list over on /r/Warhammer30k got me decent feedback.


HQ
Warsmith (Praetor)
-cataphractii Terminator Armour
-Combi-melta
-chainfist

Elites
Contemptor Dreadnought

Troops
Tactical Squad (20 man) [mkIII]
Tactical Squad (20 man) [mkIV]
Tactical Support Squad [mk III]
-5x melta guns

Heavy Support
Tyrant Siege Terminator Squad
Iron Havoc Support Squad [mk IV]
-5x Missile Launcher

 I've already started work on the Havocs. I'm keeping my eyes open for good deals on Iron Warriors shoulder pads, and I have some rhino hulls to convert over to Heresy Era vehicles.


Iron within!

CJ

Friday, December 2, 2016

30k: Iron Within!

After much consideration between the IVth and VIIth Legion Astartes, I've decided to on the Iron Warriors. I like tanks and I like lots of marines with heavy weapons. I think this will be a good fit.

I've got the contents of Betrayal at Calth and The Burning of Prospero to get me rolling. The Cataphractii Terminators will most likely become Siege Tyrant Terminators.

Captain Aethon from BaC has become my Warsmith for the time being. Once I get a hold of a Peturabo model I'll most likely make him the sergeant for the Siege Tyrant Terminators. I'm thinking of adding a servo arm to the model.

This is my first Heresy Era marine. I'm happy with the way he turned out. I've painted Chaos Iron Warriors before and I kept my recipe largely the same. The hazard stripes were just as difficult as I imagined, and I don't look forward to painting them over the rest of my army... but they look good so I'll press on with them.

Painting is done and the build marches on!

Cheers,

CJ

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Storage From Scraps

A few months ago I started thinking of solutions to having my models just sitting about, as well as how I might get them from here to there in the event I ever get a game in. I considered the usual suspects like Army Transport and Battlefoam, and decided I wanted a solution at a much lower cost. I've mentioned before I work in a sign shop and occasionally get a hold of things to use for terrain. When I had a solid idea of what I wanted to accomplish, I went to my boss and asked him if I could use some scrap materials. He acquiesced to my request and was just about as surprised as I was with what I turned out.

Gloss black .040 aluminium cut and bent to shape to hold panels of Dibond composite board along with anodized black aluminium rivets (steel for the hinges). This case is my prototype and proof of concept to secure more scraps from the boss. I'd like to add feet or whatever they're called to the corners; the bare metal is apt to scrape. A handle and latch is also in order.

I built the first box here to house my Imperial Knights; specifically four knight bases in fairly snug fashion. I'll add another piece of Dibond with oval cut outs for the bases to sit in. The box is 20" x 8" x 9". To give a sense of how much room there is I included a Naval Armsman and a Leman Russ. I'd posit that I could fit both platoons of Guardsmen as well as my Scions comfortably. Depending on the height of storage platforms I could probably fit 15 Leman Russ hulls or the like.

Now that I've got the one done I want to build a second that folds open in the front as well as the top. I could make it into a maintenance hanger display transport. Another thing I want to try my hand at is acrylic display cases such as the ones sports memorabilia are housed in. I've got access to all the materials and tools...

Anyone need a box?

Cheers,

CJ

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Saturday Workbench Update


I've been working on the Castaferrum Dreadnought from Death Masque as well as getting my first Veteran assembled. I've also got my first Horus Heresy model ready to paint.

Once these two models are painted I'll put my brushes away until the holidays roll around and concentrate on my 'Build Phase'.

Cheers!

CJ

Friday, November 25, 2016

Autumn State of Affairs

So here is about where I usually lose hobby steam and drift for the last bit of autumn and the winter months. After blowing DREADTOBER, I've been thinking about it a lot. My Pile of Grey Shame is starting to take on alarming dimensions. With the past years rapid release cycle comprised largely of things I want, I've been buying more and seem to be finding less and less time to work on things.

A contributing factor here is definitely storage of completed miniatures. I have used Sabol Army Transporter for years and the one I have is still good. It's also over full with my IG forces alone. I've got the paint 1.0 mega paint set hardcase and foam; that was good for my Marines when there weren't so many of them. My Imperial Knights raise a whole plethora of transport questions (which I've solved handily, more on that soon). Finally, I play a lot less than I used to. I am trying to work out some display solutions before going with the Ikea standby. As it stands, finished models get stored on my desk. Not ideal at all.

As mentioned above I'm working on things regarding storage, and have devised a two pronged plan for getting hobby steam built up to carry me through the winter, allowing me to flit between projects and still produce results. I have decided to start a Horus Heresy army, and will begin building models immediately. I've got my Deathwatch Marines to work on, as well as a myriad of cultists. On my back burner is my Abhuman Technoheretic army. Finally, I have more than a few half finished terrain pieces I can work on.

Part I: BUILD PHASE

Between now and the beginning of winter I will be concentrating on building miniatures. I'm going to put my paints away until the week before Christmas. That gives me four weeks of build out time. I'll be happy as long as anything gets done. I'll be really happy if I get the following done:

  • HH basic army (HQ, 2 Troops)
  • Death Masque Deathwatch Marines
  • finish Deatwatch Overkill Marines
  • finish Chimera project pt 2
  • finish Leman Russ refurbs
Part II: PAINTING PHASE

When the week before Christmas rolls around I should have enough stuff built and primed to get me through the winter. I've been thinking about my Horus Heresy army a bit the last couple weeks and think I've narrowed my choice. I've got plenty of Guardsmen to paint, as well as a few models for Inquisimunda, so it won't be all Marines all winter. Deathwatch and Horus Heresy can be done in small batches, with other models thrown in for flavor and just to change it up. Along with the above listed projects, I'll be tinkering with terrain throughout.

I'll also attempt to restrain myself when it comes to new releases and eBay gold.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy... let's see how I do.

Cheers,

CJ

Sunday, October 30, 2016

DREADTOBER: I'm out

I got behind and this project just got away from me. So I'll finish it up but no where near in time for the final showcase. Ah, there's always next year.

Work has picked up and I'll have less hobby time for the next few weeks, which means I'll have to use it productively. I'll see about getting paint on some of these minis I've assembled over the summer. While working on the Deathwatch projects and the Inquisitor Kill Team I found a little painting every day goes a long way overall.

Happy Halloween!

CJ

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Truescale Chainsword

For the 100th episode of Man at Arms the guys at Baltimore Knife & Sword Co. built a fully functional chainsword.

...I really want to slap the welder who keeps calling it a chainsaw sword.

Coming soon: Dreadtober progress update!

Cheers!

CJ

Friday, October 7, 2016

DREADTOBER 002: Building?

So I'm calling it now, this Castellax is a recast. The multicolour resin is the giveaway. I got it in trade, and some other models. I have no regrets. I'm not actively buying recasts or advocating it. But from eBay or the internet, well, you get what you get.

This model is in rough shape, so I've set about to remedy that. I did a little deconstruction work.

I'll do some filing, trimming, and greenstuff work to this model before I pin it back together and get it based.

Speaking of, I decided on a basic layout for the ZM board and the Mechanicum teams bases. I'll use thin card over plastic canvas, and use dressmakers pins for rivets.

I'm going to get Humpty Dumpty put back together.

Cheers,

CJ

Sunday, October 2, 2016

DREADTOBER 001: Planning Phase


I'm excited to take part in Dreadtober 2016!

I'm wrapping I've wrapped up my Deathwatch Contemptor for the September challenge. Now is the ideal time to begin planning my DREADTOBER entry.

I got a Castellax and some Thallax models on a trade last summer. They need a little love, but that's okay. In fact it makes that Castellax a perfect project for DREADTOBER. I know I want to build up a small Mechanicum force for Zone Mortalis, so finishing this model will give me some more motivation to get the rest of them done sooner rather than later. And the pile of grey shame shrinks a little.

Since this model is already assembled I need to clean it up a bit, and more importantly I want to base it for a ZM board. So I need suggestions for cool ZM style industrial floors that I can simply reproduce not only on these models but on four square feet of board.

That's my plan. If anyone has any suggestions for floors and basing please let me know with a comment.

Cheers,

CJ

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Deathwatch 008: Contemptor Ucuetis Complete


My Deathwatch Contemptor for the September Hobby Challenge is complete!

I decided to name the Iron Hands veteran interred within this weapon of the Emperor's fury Ucuetis. I googled forge god names and decided I liked this one.

Sculpting the arm was challenging, I've said before. Taking it on was what this month was all about, and I'm happy to have been up to it.

Here are all my completed Deathwatch minis so far. Once I get Kill Team Cassius painted, I'll start in on the minis from Death Masque.

Next up for me though is DREADTOBER!

Cheers,

CJ

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Deathwatch 007: Contemptor Update

Just a quick midweek update here. I've been trying to paint a little every night this week. I've got all the silver metallic laid in so far. Tonight I plan to tackle the gold metallics. Once they're done it'll be all about the details and finishing up.

And coming right on the heels of this project is DREADTOBER! It's good to have a community that pushes one another to excell.

Cheers,

CJ

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Saturday Workbench Update

It's been a good week this week. I got the base paint on the Deathwatch Conteptor and tackled the build for my Salamander Scout Vehicle.

I've got one week left to finish the paint job of the Contemptor to finish up the Four Dads September Hobby Challenge. I feel good about being able to get it knocked out in a timely manner.

This week also will see the preliminaries for Dread-tober get underway. Joe B over at brokenpaintbrush.com is organizing this year. Get on over there and sign up!

In other news fall arrived in Utah with a TORNADO! I still can't believe it...

Cheers!

CJ

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Imperial Armour: Chimera Project v2 001

A couple months ago I posted about using one Chimera hull for many different vehicles. Courtney Hollyoake, who runs the Cadian127th blog, asked me about it and I decided to repeat the conversion and document it.

I started by assembling the main hull of the Chimera. Using a chisel blade, I scraped off the guide lines and drive hub that are exposed.

Next I got all the bits for the crew compartment ready. The compartment hull is made from .030 sheet styrene. The deck plate is a piece of double diamond plate sheet styrene from I don't remember what company. I know I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby about 4 years back...

The deck is 50mm x 56mm, the diamond plate 48mm x 55mm. The sides are each 28mm x 55mm, and the front of the compartment is 14mm x 50mm. The slot for the Autocannon was cut before the compartment was assembled.

Detailing the compartment I used bits from the Razorback and Rhino kits, as well as from the Imperial vehicle accessory sprue. Floral wire bent to shape provided power lines and grab handles. The comm pack is from Mad Robot Miniatures. A lasccarbine hangs next to left of the Autocannon gunner, Each crewman has a couple frag grenades as well. In the dead space under the Autocannon I placed a toolbox. On top is a copy of the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer and another lascarbine. The Autocannon mount is 1/8" styrene rod.

Even with a few vehicle accessory sprues I didn't have a turret ring. I used an extra Rhino hatch and modified it so the Heavy Stubber fit.

Here's the finished scout tank. The crew and Autocannon are all loose to facilitate painting the model easier.

Mr. Hollyoake also informed me that FW no longer produces the Salamander, so I hope this helps anyone who wants this tank in their army.

Cheers,

CJ

UPDATE: I forgot to include where I got the idea for this build: Black Gobbo. Remember that?

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Saturday Workbench Update


It's been a slow week. I think all I really got done was to get sand on the bases of the new Platoon Command. Oh, and a base coat on the base for the Deathwatch Contemptor.

I need to knock out my dreadnought for the Hobby Challenge since next month I want to take part in...
I'll have some updates soon.

Cheers,

CJ