Pledge - January 2022

New year, new pledges…

After a year of removing hobby shame, we’re going to backtrack to the old ways…(Brother Handro: “look…just because you work in the NHS doesnt mean you need to adopt cyclical change…”)…and re-start our pledges…to some extent.

---

The Age of Darkness podcast, quite rightly, moved away from the box of shame. They pushed at the mental health benefits of not being called out for failure in what should be a fun little hobby! Rather than the Hobby work bench style posts of 2021 (Seen here, here and here….and here) we’re going to return to pledges, but still avoid the overused shame gif….

Without further prevarication, behold our pledges:

---

Der H

Kakophoni

Yes…yes…I have 30 already. I built another 10 Kakophoni a few years ago to allow 4 squads for maximal IIIrd company elite! They’re a mix of MkIV, Kakophoni bodies, and MKIII with a range of sonic weapons old and new.

They’re already purple, so what’s the excuse right!

Brother Handro

I couldn’t decide so I’m in the box of shame…

Psy-Spikes

…and following on from Saturday’s post, here we go; Psychic Orb suppression spikes…..

I recently had a message asking:

Do you have any other Retributors models from the Astartes shorts?

I'm planning a Retributors Kill Team/Combat Patrol squad and there are still a few parts that I can find for it. Like the Knife, Helmet variant, Backpack and the Storage Pack that the spikes that are stabbed into the orb are stored in.

I made versions with the internal spike withdrawn and deployed, and then thought…this needs hands…

As the main unit is symmetrical, right hands can be made with a simple mirror in your slicing software of choice. I previous made Weapons available here and the Sphere available here. These were both quite popular, with 144 and 41 downloads respectively.

I’ve included a WIP of a backpack to carry the spikes - it currently only holds 3. The animation has it holding 5 but i made it ‘heroic scale’ so it can be identified in 28mm, as such, perhaps two people in an Impulsor Kill Team need to carry them.

Let us know your thoughts!

What a month!

Wow that was hard…

Due to rota escalations, de-escalations and a few minor cock-ups Der H has just finished 18 consecutive days working. (Brother Handro: “What’s my excuse!?”)

Hobby has occurred, but less than usual.

What have we been up to?

The ZM campaign progress continues, Brother Handro has pushed on with his Imperial Fists:

Whilst Der H has broken the back of the building for his Breacher Bonanza of Iron Warriors:

A little 3D printing later has a squad of Heavy Destroyers from the Mournival Events book magnetised to be regular terminators:

Zone Mortalis doors, a long coveted item, have also been sourced - HB-3D skills FTW:

The prints need tidying up, but they work!

Changes to Astartes

Previously, Der H made some 3D parts for the Retributors from the independent animation “Astartes”. For those that haven’t seen it, (Der H: “…and why not!”) please go and check it out. This is a great move toward GW embracing the fans who flesh out the world, and potentially a move away from “mobilise the legal team” (Brother Handro: “give em hell!”). Also that Iron Warrior looks awesome!

Weapons available here and the Sphere available here. These were both quite popular, with 144 and 41 downloads respectively.

Since the change from Independent to being part of the Warhammer Communtiy page here Der H received a message on thingiverse asking for some new parts:

Do you have any other Retributors models from the Astartes shorts?

I'm planning a Retributors Kill Team/Combat Patrol squad and there are still a few parts that I can find for it. Like the Knife, Helmet variant, Backpack and the Storage Pack that the spikes that are stabbed into the orb are stored in.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Roadmap to summer...1500pts ZM

Lockdown is ending!!

.So it appears we have a road map to summer and the end of COVID restrictions. Clearly this is an ideal scenario type gig - my quiet Jan/Feb (due to COVID escalation rotas) is a testament to plans not quite going as…well…planned.

At the current rate, however, we are on for games in the not too distant future. (Brother Handro: “Wait…does that mean we need to paint something?…”)

Zone Mortalis

Some time ago Der H bought some ZM tiles on Last Chance to Buy, they sat unused for a time and eventually found some paint last year!

So hey…why not use them.

Both of the Butterflies have Legion goals with new forces that haven’t quite taken off, and so we decided that a great way to start would be planning for a set of 1000pt ZM games following the Hit and Run Blood in the Void rules against an escort. Mission one being Void Strike. depending how it goes, and depending on progress we can do mission 2 and 3, and push to 1500 pts.

Der H will be running Iron Warriors

Brother Handro will be pushing the Imperial Fists…

….Roll on Phall!

The first phase…

Der H’s list is a tidy 23 models, with Praevian, 2 Castellax and 20 Breachers, whilst Brother Handro has gone for the squishier Champion, 2 Apothecaries, 10 Tacticals, 10 Breachers and 10 Warders.

Stretch Goal…

1500 adds 10 more Breachers and 10 Iron Havocs for Der H and 5 Vets plus 5 Terminators for Brother Handro…evening out the squishy somewhat!

The idea is that, missing our usual event-driven progress, we can make our own event of it…and drive some progress….

…of course, knowing one’s opponent might mean some subtle changes before list day….

World Eaters! - Brother Handro's Work Bench - February 2021

What new, seemingly unconnected projects have we been working on this week?…

That’s right, apropos of nothing, World Eaters!

Well, not entirely from nothing. These boys have been kicking around for the best part of 2 years, until the majority of the stuff I had squirrelled away for some bright day where I’d magically start the project was actually folded in my first full, proper army, the Sons of Horus. (Lots of infantry, Assault squads, chainaxes…makes sense!) But that army did bring some indirect benefit - it was the first time I committed to airbrushing the whole army, infantry included, which is an obvious stumbling block when it come to painting the white armour of the World Eaters….

Fast forward a year or so and the #returntoisstvan campaign spearheaded on Instagram seemed as good a spur as any to finally start the XII Legion…

Gotta Go Fast!…

Another inadvertent benefit of delaying the project was getting used to the concept of painting in subassemblies, something we’d picked up from Adeptus Titanicus. This brings pretty obvious benefits when it comes to airbrushing models that are white and blue and never the twain shall meet.

Quick Mock-up time!

The final unintentional bonus came from my dabbling in oil washes on my Militia/Solar Auxilia tanks. Using oils as a recess wash (something I’ve already done with my first few Imperial Fists units) is a huge boon to armies that are painted in light colours, and airbrushed in general. The thought of trying to use washes and layers on Fists and World Eaters….(shudders)….they are equally useful for streaking and rust effects, which also looks extra nice on pale armour.

So that’s it for this month. Wonder what I’ll start next week?…. (Der H: I don’t want to even guess…)

Der H's Workbench - February 2021

This month has, once again, been busy. An additional escalation to ICU (#COVIDisstillathing) meant that hobby was less plentiful this month…doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though!

Gloriana

The Gloriana rides…

For long term readers, or those on insta, you’ll know I’ve been working on BFG ships (a range available on Cults3D and Thingiverse!).
The Gloriana class ships from the stories of the Horus Heresy have been a popular and much requested class.

February saw the first public draft of my multipart Gloriana. With two hulls, many prows and a set of interchangeable weapon bays this set should fill a gap in the market for all with a 3D printer!

Some brave soul has already built one with feedback:

“This model was exquisite to print and build. The creator should be really proud of their work here. I am extremely happy with how it came out. I had very few failed prints. I think the gun decks are best printed vertically instead of diagonally as I did them. Also, be careful of pooling in your crevasces... make sure to bathe this print very well and maybe shake each one vigorously to get the liquid out. 

One design note for the creator is that the gun decks are just a bit too wide. I'll likely have to shave these down to get them both to fit (see picture). Otherwise, I really can't say anything bad about this one. Excellent work.”

GrimDark Terrain

My Review of GrimDark Terrain was not just bluster…it’s truly amazing!

I’ve been printing more train parts than is perhaps reasonable with the plan of filling out the Grandia table we have planned.

GDT has recently moved from Patreon to its own website here. The reasons are complex, but fair, and the transition has been smooth as!

As well as the train I’ve been printing pylons, wagons, track and some custom additions (epic-scale tanks!) to make Grandia look like it is preparing for war!

Titanicus

…not just buying it!

Ive been steadily progressing through my Legio Fureans and am merrily painting flames on everything I can! A good buddy (Who many know on insta here) gave me two more warlord weapons…just adding to the pile…but I’m looking forward to getting my first Titans done some time in March!

3D Modelling

The HobbyButterflies 3D continues to grow, with some recent updates to Destroyer pads, arms and some more ships. The latest work is on a version of the pads seen on the Forgeworld Praetor - the MKIII ornate pads.

Current WIP versions include raptor imperialis, palatine blade, and Word Bearers…with World Eaters close in tow! Watch this space…

Plans

This next month is a little quieter, and so hopefully I’ll be able to get my teeth stuck in again, and hopefully get a few more projects completed! (Brother Handro: “wash your mouth out…”)

Stay tuned and keep an eye on our Instagram pages for day to day progress!