Armour in April 3rd Update

The third week of #ArmourinApril is over. Not too much painting got done this week, but I did bring the Thunderer to life so I feel like it's a fair trade. I did get it and the second of my eBay rescue Leman Russ hulls painted up to the same point as the tanks last week.

So all four tanks are now ready for detail. That ought to occupy the rest of the month nicely.

The crew of the Salamander is also ready to be painted up. I also have been thinking about adding more stowage to the scout tank...

Nearly there!

Cheers,

CJ

Armour in April 2nd Update

The end of the second week of the month is here and #armourinapril rolls on.

This week saw me get some rare morning painting done before work. I'm usually up quite a bit before I need to leave the house anyways so I may try and capitalize on this previously unrealized hobby time. The Salamander Scout got it's basecoat finished up and both tanks got a black wash so they'd be ready for drybrushing when I got back to my desk again.

Update: I got some progress photos from Pablo Daniele Mura, he is working on a trio of Leman Russ tanks.

In related projects I assembled some parts and set out on a conversion marathon... Stay tuned for more news there.

In only slightly related news Dave Taylor's Kickstarter has successfully funded all the stretch goals. I look forward to getting my book.

Cheers,

CJ

Armour in April 1st Update

 I started with two tanks nearly complete so I have been focused on getting them done first. The LR Vanquisher is nearly done at this point. The Gideon pattern MBT I had painted half of the metallics and then stopped. I got the rest done and now they are both ready for some washes.

 I got all the Shadow Grey basecoat applied to one of my basic LR hulls as well. While I was working on the metallics for the Gideon I painted the tracks and grab handles on the armour skirt for this comparison picture. When I first started with my Imperial Guard, the tank on the left would have been fielded as is and considered done. I was completely chuffed with my paint job, too, since it was smooth, no brush strokes. That was about... oh iunno Eye of Terror? So In the interval I've made some progress.

In the modeling side of things I made some changes to the Salamander. I've added a few extra track links and an old lasgun rack. I may add some more stowage to the vehicle at a later date.

I haven't gotten any progress updates from anyone else participating yet, but when I do I'll make sure to share them.

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

Leman Russ Salvage 002

The refurbishment of these two Leman Russ tanks continues. With the side skirts basic construction finished I moved on to adding some details to them, as well as working out how they'd be mounted.

Using floral wire I added some lugs to the side skirts. These extend through holes drilled in the hull, allowing me to remove the skirts for painting. Not bad, but still a bit plain.

I added a ladder to each skirt with more wire. This gives it a bit more detail to break up the large flat panels.

Finally, I clipped off all the stowage lugs from the older turrets and drilled holes to mount lugs made from wire loops.

All that's left on these two tanks is to rebuild the hull heavy bolter for the tank on the left. The one on the right is ready for paint. I'm beginning to think these Leman Russ will fill out a command squad. I've got a Vanquisher in the works to be used as Commander Pask.

Cheers,

CJ

Leman Russ Salvage 001

I scored a couple eBay wins in the form of Leman Russ tanks and 10 man squads of Steel Legionnaires complete with heavy weapon team. The Russes both came with extra armour in the form of plasticard spaced armour. One panel was missing, no big deal. One hull HB was missing and I think I lost it after it got here. Also no big deal I can make a new one...

Not bad for eBay, but I usually do alright. Bonus points they're painted in a similar colour to my scheme. This makes a repaint easier.

The first thing I did was to get the armour popped off the turret and hull. I cleaned off the glue from the panels and made some measurements. I made a replacement panel for the missing piece and then glued them all together, using a ruler to keep them aligned at the bottom. Some of the panels weren't straight on one edge or another so it gives it an in the field modification look.

After securing the panels together with more plasticard, I turned them over and began a labor intensive process of making a shitgob of 3mm squares to add to the armour. I got this far and decided that this wasn't the way I was going to get this done as I was rapidly losing motivation.

So I decided to just use whole panels. It worked out fine, and fits better with the field mod look of the armour.

The turrets both lacked the little storage locker that sits to one side so I built one up from more plasticard. I'll add some lenses to each and call em targeters.

Here is the final result of the armour modification. After I rebuild the hull weapon on the one Leman Russ they'll be ready for paint.

Cheers,

CJ

Gideon MBT 004: Painting

I got started painting the Gideon by giving it a primer coat of Krylon Fusion spray paint. After that it got my usual application of paint for my vehicles: Shadow Grey basecoat, drybrush of Codex Grey, wash of Nuln Oil, drybrush of Ice Blue, drybrush of Space Wolves Grey.

Oops. Ice Blue? What have I done??

One can see in the above images the contrast the extra painting step added to the model. In the end I decided I liked it (after about two days chewing on it) and will paint the other Gideons similarly. Iunno about the next few Russes but eventually everything will use the updated recipe.

Once the hull colour was sorted I went back and painted all the bits and rivets with black to provide a good base for the metallics... which I am in the process of doing at the time of this post going live.

Stay tuned for the completed tank.

Cheers.

CJ

Gideon MBT 003: Assembly Complete

Once I finished getting the turret modified, I set to cleaning up all the resin gates and mould lines on the parts.There are a couple that will require filler to get settled properly, but that's no problem, ya?

Right. This build has me excited. I keep saying it and it keeps being true XD

After I had all the pieces trimmed and ready, I gave them a dry fit to make sure all the lines were straight and joints flush. All the parts fit nicely.

The next step was to give everything a scrub in warm soapy water. I use mild dish soap and a soft toothbrush. After scrubbing the pieces are rinsed, bathed in clean water, and finally set out on paper towels to dry. Once everything was dry I set to work getting it assembled. The major converting on the turret weapons before washing the parts so that I could wash off the residue of the super glue accelerant I use.

First I built the box of the main hull, then glued each side in place. Exhausts, intakes, and hull mounted heavy bolter quickly followed. I clipped all the resin handles off and replaced them with handles made of floral wire. I did the same for the handles on the turret.

And here she is. One of the first twenty hulls to roll off the line at the Mad Robot's forge.

Here are a couple more comparison shots with the Leman Russ. The Gideon is longer, but both tanks are about the same width.

Now one thing that isn't included with this kit are side sponsons. That's fine, they are a point sink anymore if you ask the internet... :P I happen to like em for the aesthetic if nothing else. Having all these variants though makes me think that a pair of heavy bolter sponsons wouldn't be amiss to pair with the gatling cannon or the autocannons. What self respecting guardsman has ever bitched about having more dakka to point at the Enemies of Mankind?

So stay tuned for paint, for sure. On the maybe list is a dozer blade and heavy bolter sponsons.

Cheers,

CJ