Thunderer Siege Tank 001

One of my favorite thing to do is convert models. If you've been following my blog for any length of time I think this is pretty clear. For #armourinapril I decided I wanted to add another hull to my collection so I turned to the Pile of Grey Shame to see about parts.

 What a shock I found everything I need... As you can see I already made some cuts to the main hull pieces of the Leman Russ and the Chimera.

And after a few hours of work and the addition of some greebles I have a very serviceable Thunderer Siege Tank. There is still a bit of work to do (like adding rivets) before I set to with the greenstuff to finish the build portion of the project.

Now at first I was worried about getting the 'Convert a model into a totally different unit or character. Make sure it accurately represents what it's supposed to be' stamp. I was thinking characters and models on foot and really I'm pretty well set for characters. No, that's a lie... I've got more characters than I need. But then I dug into this project and realized it was perfect to tick it off for my ninth stamp. Still no bingo!

I guess I need to keep plugging away at the pile.

Cheers!

CJ

Inq28: Inquisition War Warband

In a previous post I suggested I may try to put together a small warband to represent Jaq Draco and his retinue. Ian Watson did an excellent job on these baroque grimdark novels about the adventures of Inquisitor Draco. I think it was the first Inquisition novel to come out of the Black Library.

After some searching I found this forum post full of ideas. I hunted up a couple models on eBay and waited for them to arrive.

The goateed head of Scout Sgt. Telion and the body of this generic inquisitor are perfect for Inquisitor Draco, plus I never liked the mask on this model. The Lhamaean will make a suitable Melindi, and of course Grimm the Squat. I still need to find a navigator, or a suitable model to convert as such.

Scout Sgt. Telion and a Dark Eldar lhamaean arrived and I got to work while watching the new season of House of Cards (Kevin Spacey is fucking ruthless). A bit of clipping and a lot of careful grinding got the inquisitor model ready for the head swap, The lhamaean weapons were easily clipped and replaced with a power sword from Mad Robot Miniatures. The laspistol is from the same source, but only a place holder for now. I'll also have to trim up off a bit of the xenos detail and cover more with some careful greenstuff work, but she should make for the elegant courtesan described in Watson's novels. I'm on the fence about replacing Grimm's old school lasgun with a boltgun.

In other news I got my Armoured Containers set all trimmed and assembled. Now they go into a box with all the rest of my plastic scatter terrain. Watch for a post detailing the contents and my plans for it.

Cheers,

CJ

Leman Russ Salvage 003

Build phase continues this month with the second to last bit of the Leman Russ salvage project before paint. I poured a mound of some essential pieces not so readily available. Before anyone asks, these aren't up for sale at all.

The last thing to do on both of these models is some greenstuff in the form of lenses on the turret targeting array and gap filling. I plan to get greenstuff work done on a few different projects all at once.

Cheers,

CJ

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?

Deathwatch 006: Ready for Paint

This conversion is ready for a basecoat.

With the left over putty from the text tutorial, I sculpted a purity seal over the thin spot on the pauldron text. Then I set the arm aside and moved on to the body.

I mentioned before this the BaC Contepmtor was an ideal candidate since it has the ornamentation similar to the Relic Contempor. My all Techmarine army uses Iron Hands chapter tactics on the rare occasions it sees the table top. Deciding that this Contemptor could be an Iron Hands Deathwatch veteran, I took a look at the Iron Hands Contemptor on FW to see what I might add and decided on the bonding studs. I marked out a pattern, drilled and countersunk holes, and used steel sewing pins. The right pauldron got ten studs and an Iron Hands sigil.

With a little deconstructing a train wreck of a base was converted to one that works really well.

I am good at fixing gaps in models and sculpting purity seals. This whole arm was definitely a challenge. I'm glad I decided to try, and am pleased with the results overall. I look forward to trying my hand at more new things in future projects.

Cheers,

CJ

Deathwatch 005: Sculping Text

MasterSlowPoke asked me in the comments to the last installment of the Deathwatch Contemptor how I go about sculpting the text in the greenstuff. Here is a brief tutorial on how I went about the process for the single line of text on the Contemptor forearm.

First I marked out where I wanted the text to go. Using a sharp blade and a file I carefully removed a channel about 1/32" deep and 1/16" wide.

Once the channel was ready I mixed a bit of greenstuff and rolled it into a tube, then worked it into the channel. Using the edge of the blade on my sculpting tool I marked out the blocks for individual letters. Next I used a pick to make indents in the blocks. If you squint it says +ORDOXENOS. My tools for this are pictured above, the standard GW sculpting tool and a dental pick.

For the lines of text on the shoulder pad I performed basically the same process. I ended up with what looks like lines of text.

I hope this helps anyone who has a Deathwatch conversion, or Astartes army for that matter, in mind.

Cheers,

CJ

Deathwatch 004: Dreadnought Conversion

As I stated previously, I'm participating in the September Hobby Challenge as presented on fourdadsoftheapocalypse.blogspot.com. Ive been meaning to post my progress sooner this week but it's been a tumultuous one. Enough about that, though.

First thing I did was put a piece of floral wire in place to mount the arms. Now I can put it together and look at it, instead of having to hold everything in place while I ponder hobby philosophy ;)

The most distinctive feature of the Deathwatch is, after the black and silver power armour, the left arm and especially the shoulder pauldron. The BaC Contemptor comes with some ornamentation to it, so I focused on the arms. I made the pauldron's gardbrace and the couter out of .020 sheet styrene. The cog tooth pattern on the right arm was made from a stick of .030x.060 styrene stock and careful trimming.

Then I broke out the green stuff and very carefully set to creating the pattern of lines of text on the pauldron. I did my best, and I think it will pass the all important three foot test. I'll build up the text one face of the shoulder at a time then come in with successive layers to finish the Deathwatch insignia. I'll also sculpt the skull and starburst on the couter.

Paint hides a multitude of sins XD

Cheers,

CJ