Project Update - Lord Commander Eidolon

I actually got some more painting done yesterday!

Naturally Lyro (my smaller cat) wanted company so we had to sit and paint together.

I got some more paint on Eidolon. Still a long way to go but I've almost blocked out the colours.

Ive gone for a pretty standard theme. Gold trim is a pain - or rather it was until I opened my new gold and suddenly it worked - still have some tidying up to do before washes/highlights etc.

Ive gone for a black pad on the right. It will have silver studs on the gold rim and the III symbol. Laurels will be white to tie in with the laurels on his chest and his hair.

What do you guys think? Im hoping to get this finished tomorrow so look out for an update then!

Der H

Project - Der H's Custodes

Bit of a crap week this week...my little cat, Sam, was hit by a car and killed on Monday. Died instantly, no pain, didn't suffer, etc, etc. Our other cat has been looking for him and needing a lot of support so not had much hobby time.

Sam when he was about 12 weeks old. He would be one year old next month.

My wife and I have been supporting each other and trying to distract ourselves (and Lyro, our other younger kitten). I haven't managed to paint anything, but did sit down and build for a few hours to distract myself.

I'd seen some great conversions of Ixion with shield (see below) or with different weapon options, and If you've watched the video/read my earlier blog post then you'll know I intended to use some small magnets to given him the shield option.I didn't have any magnets small enough, so a small 1mm brass rod has served well enough.

Ixion Hale with shield - Marcel Kinrade found here

The project started with some VERY careful drilling and dry fitting to make sure I could preserve Ixion Hale as is.

Few pictures of the options!

What do you think guys? Good use of spare plastics?

I've also built my Aquilon pattern terminators. Need a bit of gap filling, might get to that over the bank holiday!

....and finally I have my plastic Custodes built (Brother Handro: "How long have you had these now?.....")

 I went for 4 with spears, 1 with standard and sword, and 5 with sword and shield. One of them has a magnetised arm with a converted chaos power talon - I'm not sure if I like this given how nice the actual talons are...I have a Blood Angel power fist somewhere that I might convert to a claw instead...more bling and all that!

What do you guys think? check out a video for Ixion and the Terminators below:

Hoping to get some more painting done - end-of-the-month pledge rush and all that!

Der H

Thought for the day: "Yime spent with cats is never wasted"

Project - Blood and Plunder - HMS Project

Some of you, who have read Patrick O'Brian's work on the Master and Commander series will have come across the HMS Polychrest based upon the Dart and Arrow:

"Hobbs & Hellyer built six vessels to Bentham's design. Dart was the second of a two-vessel class of vessels that the Royal Navy classed as sloops, and she and her classmate Arrow were the largest of the six vessels. The design featured a large breadth-to-length ratio, structural bulkheads, and sliding keels. The vessels were also virtually double-ended"

The picture shown is that of the HMS Project. It demonstrates the overall shape quite well. Being a Butterfly I thought....I can make that!

The basic form is taken from the diagram above, shortened by one segment from the central section, and with a scaled down version as the base. This was sanded into polystyrene and fore and aft (fore and...fore?) decks added.

Going to be slow progress (Brother Handro: "When is it not!") but we will perservere!

Der H

The Wall of Shame grows larger!

Argh it isn't working!

Almost one month in and our lists are getting bigger!

Der H's wall of shame update

Added:

- Bolt Action winter US army

- Bolt Action winter US HQ

- Legion Custodes Ixion Hale

- Legion Custodes Aquilon terminators

- Emperors Children Librarian

Brother Handro's wall of shame update

Added:

- Legion Sicaran Punisher

- Legion Deimos pattern Predator Executioner

- Legion Deredeo pattern dreadnought

It never ends!

Bolt Action - Soviet 160 mm Mortar M1943

After my first game of Bolt Action (grey and unfinished as it was) I fell in love with the mortar/artillery mechanics. The first shots never hit, but they add something tactical to the game. Successive barrages on a target that haven't moved are easier. Coupled with a game with such an innovative turn sequence (where even going first isn't necessarily a good thing), and weight of numbers (Handro: "bloody Soviets....grumble grumble") adding a bucket load of dice (Der H: "until they all get pinned and die....") artillery can really put pressure on an opponent.

I loved the miniatures for the small mobile artillery pieces, and have several, but I really wanted some big guns!

I came across a sorry looking Italian Autoblinda AB41, and (at that price!) couldn't say no! The wheels were metal too!

Out came the knife and away I went! I'd read in the Armies of the Soviet Union book that the MT-13 160mm breech-loading mortar was an example of the heavy mortar in the rule book - I had to figure it out!

After studying some reference pictures I set to work!

The basic parts were pretty easy to put together, but the super structure took more time.

I tried to get features like the angle from the axle to the base, the uprights and the control surfaces relatively recognisable, although no where near accurate!

The finished mortars, with jeep towing plugs!

This was a fun project, but as with many in the basement, it has taken a back seat. They currently sit unfinished, but at least they have some paint on them! This blog and this post will hopefully spur me on to finish them!

Der H

Project - Der H's IIIrd Legion Librarian

Progress for the Progress god!

I did some more work on the Forge World Cataphractii Terminator Librarian for my IIIrd legion. We discussed on this blog (here!) and over on Youtube (here!) the issues that come with the Emperors Children and Librarians. Aside from them looking awesome (Shout out to Lil Legend Studios!) I really wanted to add some late heresy goodness to my force. A psyker who can channel the excesses of Slaanesh to the extent that he can summon a Herald of Slaanesh to the table would surely warrant Fulgrim's favour.

Lets look at some pictures!

First off, the flames...these needed some serious cutting and re-sculpting...

The resculpting itself was relatively easy, but took time - I think the effect works but I'll no doubt find out when painting!

Next I had to sort out shoulder pads. The originals were very pointy, and fitting for Cataphractii armour and for the Night Lords/Sons of Horus, less so for the sleek lines of the IIIrd. I settled for the pads from the Primus Medicae (my own take of this is the topic for a future blog post!).

The Phoenix power spear replaced the force axe very nicely, the hand was simply swapped. Im glad FW released the Phoenix power spear upgrade set - saves a lot of eBay trawling!

The finished model is quite effective, if a little tall - I can't see this guy squeezing into ruins any time soon!

Until we reach the later stages of the heresy in the Forge World black books I doubt we'll get much in the way of traitor psychic powers. For now, and in 7th, 2 mastery levels from Telepathy would work well. The Primaris Power Psychic Shriek works well for the IIIrd, and anything from Dominate, Terrify or Hallucination would be fitting powers granted by Slaanesh.

What do you think guys? Do you like the conversion?

Der H

Unboxing - Warhammer World Exclusive Librarian in Cataphractii Armour

Another quick article to link in with a video due to appear on our channel this week: an unboxing, review, and my plans for the Warhammer World-exclusive Librarian in Cataphractii Terminator armour.

This is is a contentious model which initially received mixed reviews due to what was seen as legion specific detailing. The Cataphractii armour is the most popular, but the spiked pads, the skulls and the tattered cape all screamed Night Lords (probably influenced by the midnight blue paint scheme...)

Hope you like skulls...

As an Emperors Children player I didnt pick this guy up last year; partially as I had other purchases in mind (Brother Handro: "whatever happened to those Crimson Fists?"), partially due to the legion specific issues mentioned above, and partially because the IIIrd legion didn't make use of librarians....that one is a stumbling block really!

Not to worry, I have a plan! Fulgrim did support the Librarius project at the council of Nikea, and so early to mid-Heresy I imagine those flawed members of the IIIrd legion who consorted with the forces of Slaanesh might be rebranded as gifted. I have no back story yet, but it shall come...

Lets take a look at the kit!

Nice details with the skulls, the scrolls and the face. The small skulls around his head are really well cast!

You didn't want this in focus right?

The flame effect is also inconsistently received by most hobbyists - SFx on models is difficult, but this works (IMHO). The bloodletter though.....less so....

What ever could these parts be for....watch the video below to find out!

Overall a great kit guys - if you were holding out on picking this chappy up then.....well....don't. Hopefully this week you will see a blog post demonstrating that he might not be as legion specific as you might think!

Der H

Project - ArcWorlde Battle for Troll Bridge Board

One of the other games I play (Handro: "Bit free and easy with the word play today aren't we?") is ArcWorlde by Warploque Miniatures. Alex Huntley is the guy who runs the show, and they've now had three successful kickstarters (ArcWorlde - The Fantasy Skirmish Game, ArcWorlde - Battle for Troll Bridge, and ArcWorlde - Troubles in the North).

The game has a small but very keen fan base, and the latest kickstarter was HUGE. I came late to the ArcWorlde party and missed the first KS. Since then I've backed the Battle for Troll bridge set and more recently the Trouble in the North set.

Being a sucker for terrain, I've been building a Battle for Troll Bridge board - which is almost complete!! (God forbid!)

The Board started out with a VERY thick piece of foam - I wanted there to be a waterfall (still currently without water....), a bridge, roads and some fields. Blue foam is great, but without a hot wire cutter it is a pain to sculpt.

Here you can see, not only the carved out board and the bridge itself, but also the desperate state in which I so often find my bunker!

The game it self comes with a paper 'bridge' with the dimensions recommended for certain scenarios - Those measurements were used to make a card base, and build up with crude blocks to form a fantasy bridge.

Brown paint, flocking and some stones gave the terrain more detail, and (after several missing steps) we have the near finished board below!

The fields are the good old fashioned coir doormats - made 'famous' in my trench board. The bridge was sanded, painted grey and drybruhsed for a basic but effective finish. The plastic plants have since been toned down and the fences further stained. The river bed was given an additional layer of sand also.

It is nearly done I think! Just need to do some water effects and a final layer of sealant in the form of PVA glue.

What do you guys think?

Der H