Veteran "Rhino-back"

The Veteran "Rhino-Back" (as I believe I will now call them) has been completed.  Nothing special here; just highlighted the raised bits and corners, painted the special doo-dads I attached to it in the first place and that's pretty much it.  With removable top plate (shown above) it's ready for action as soon as I put one of many Rhino doors or Razorback weapons on.

One minor aside, but something I thought worthy of mention in a weblog of this type.  A few days ago, I showed my 3-year-old daughter that I paint and what I paint.  She found it interesting enough that the next day, we (her, my 21-month-old, and I) had art time together, them coloring in their sketchbooks, me paint this bad boy.  The jury is still out on whether I want to attempt such a thing again.  Though they like art time, they get bored fairly quickly and the older one kept wanting to get into my brushes and paints and whatnot.  Fun time was had by all, but I'm not sure I want to join them in Art Time again quite yet.  We shall see.  I do not foresee painting again until this weekend, however I think real progress will be had since the kids will be visiting their grandparents and my wife wants to spend a sizable amount of time writing.  Guess I'll just have to start painting that Vindicator...  Actually, I think I'll base the other Vindicator tonight and tomorrow and work on them both at the same time.

More Vanguard Veterans

So, as I said I would do last time, I put together more vanguard vets.

In the back right, I have a squad of 5 with power axes. Being a big believer in finding things to do with older stuff, I found a use for something I didn't like. The old veterans box (before they were split into sternguard and vanguard) was five metal minis I realized I couldn't stand. Their poses were strained and crappy looking, their weapons kind of boring and ununified. And, being metal, there wasn't much I could do about them. So I took most of the separate arms and used them on other minis, leaving the bodies themselves to sit in containers. But now the one with the stupid looking axe pose I never liked makes a decent sarge with relic blade for a team of all axes.

For the back left team with all power fists, I made a sarge with double power fists. I'll never field something like that normally, but a) it was kinda fun and funny to make, and b) the very idea of double power fists is so ridiculous that I had to have at least one in my army. I had to do a lot of cutting and such for this squad. Though there are right and left handed power fists, there aren't a lot of left or right arms that aren't intended to hold bolters. So I had to do a bit of arm chopping to make up for that.

In the front, I made a few monastics with what I think will be easily understood as relic blades. These guys are going to be part of the Chapter Master's honor guard, though, I will no doubt use them in standard vanguard vet squads from time to time (assuming I ever play any time in the next 5 years). I do wish that I gave one of them the bolter/plasmagun I had sitting about, but that's a minor inconvenience. If I really get bothered by it, I'll change it out before I try to paint them.

Once I get these painted and do one more jump vanguard vet, I will be done with them. Three squads is enough. Heck, it's more than enough. I can't imagine using all three in anything less than an Apoc battle. I also used a lot of shoulder pads, heads and body bits to make these guys. For the first time in a long time, my supplies in those areas are starting to run low. I may pick up some heads and shoulder pads on EBay to replenish the stores. I'm also thinking or beginning to resin cast legs. All the other stuff can be gotten cheaply and, as I've learned from my first experiments, trying to copy small bits or stuff with a lot of undercuts (like power weapons) is difficult if you don't know what you're doing yet. Legs, on the other hand are bigger and more basic. If I mass produce a bunch of those, it'll go a long way towards my eventual goal of an entire Chapter. :) And it'll give me practice for the day when I can make small bits with lots of undercuts.

But that is the future. Let us continue on and work on the now...

Jump Vanguard Veterans

Well, Holy Crap! How long has it been? Almost a year! Heck, I had another kid since the last time I posted here! So I guess I've got some catching up to do painting wise...

So, I decided to tackle these Vanguard Veterans I've had sitting around for a long time. I didn't have a lot of time and, to be honest, I don't really expect to use them much so I didn't do anything special with them painting wise. My Veterans wear black so a little drybrushing to bring out contours and some detail painting like blades and purity seals and what not and that was pretty much it. You'll also note that there are only nine of them. Well, forever ago, I bought the actual Vanguard Veterans box. Unfortunately, one of them is a beakie and those of you who have been following this for a long time (which is really nobody, but that's not really here or there) know I pretty much hate beakies. So I gave it to Battleforge Games which is now a distant memory. So I need to make one more to finish this squad, but for now, I'm cool with only nine.

No, I haven't finished the Fortress of Redemption. And It taunts me, sitting there unfinished. I should do something about that.

Recently picked up a bunch of close combat and power weapons so I intend to make at least one more Vanguard squad on foot. I'm thinking that I'll have five with power axes and shields as their own team and maybe one with all power weapons, too. I'm definitely making one with all relic blades to be an Honor Guard on the off chance I ever field a Chapter Master.

The other reason I picked up a bunch of weapons is because I have recently started experimenting with resin casting. i made some molds for some power swords, a power axe and a power fist. My first experiments haven't been great, but a few of them are usable and I think I know what I've done wrong (not having the molds warm enough during casting). A couple of them haven't been too bad and even the not great ones could have use so this has potential. Eventually, I want to cast legs and torsos so I can just put on some of the bazillion extra arms I have for things and fill out Tac squads that way. I especially want to do building parts. If I could make my own panels for Imperial buildings, Watch out! I'll have the most awesomely large and complex buildings you can imagine. I've already got a lot of ideas I would make if I had enough...

Other than that I've made some more acquisitions. Picked up a handful of 2nd Ed. Tac squad jobbers to add to the ones I already have. As you all know, I think they're great fillers to squads. Picked up twelve old school Space Hulk Termies. There's even a couple od librarians in there. Don't know what I'll do with them. I already have an entire Termie company once I finish painting them all. I'm sure I can find some grognard like myself to trade them to or something. Picked up a couple of Honored Imperiums but only one is assembled at this point. Finally got a Venerable Dreadnought. Been wanting one because I like the detail on the model and it looks like fun. It also brings me up to nine or ten Dreds now. I do believe that this will be the very last one unless I decide to make an entire Chapter and even then I'd have to consider it. Lastly, I picked up a new Devastator squad. Part of me feels a little bad about this because, if you scroll back a few posts, you'll see a picture of the one I still haven't opened yet. However, I think that the latest iteration of the Dev box is now my choice for best value of all (my previous choice was the Commander box since it had enough bits to make three commanders). The Dev box comes with two heavy bolters, two lascannons, two plasma cannons, a multimelta and a missile launcher. Yes, that's eight heavy weapons. That's two Dev squads worth of weapons and you know I have enough bodies to build them all. I may get one more and then I'll have enough Devastators for Companies three and Four. And with all the Tac jobbers filling the other spots, they'll be full squads, too.

Lastly, my foamcore empire has drastically shrunk. The apartment doesn't have enough space to keep them all so I kept a few key pieces and have been giving the rest to Dragon's Lair. It's good to know they're being used. And I must admit, I get a little thrill when I see a battle report video on Bell of Lost Souls and I see a piece of my terrain.

Alright, that's all for now. Heck, it's enough. I should have more to talk about in the near future. This man's gotta build and this man's gotta paint...

Vanguard Veterans

Well, there they are. Those are the three White Blades I made last time, completing a ten man squad. I'm going to work on their Rhino next.

One thing I will mention is that I did something a little different when I based them. I had been using PVA "craft" glue but it was always messy and liquid and a pain in the ass to deal with. So I used a bit of good old Elmer's glue and used an old brush to thin it with a little water and spread it around. And I think those bases look better than any other one I've done.

Hopefully that Rhino will be done soon. I think I'll finally start work on that Thunderfire cannon after. Now that I have some JB Weld, I think it's time...

Finally, I got a Fortress of Redemption! I won it on EBay and it should be winging its way to me as we speak. Can't wait to get my hands on that bad boy!

Vanguard Veterans and Rhino

Now that the move is mostly done, I can get back to doing stuff! And for starters, I give you some Vanguard Veterans I put together tonight, the last of the White Blades that I made last month. I planned in the beginning to make a Rhino specifically for that squad so I finally got off my butt and did it. Some Dark Angel bits with a few other things and voila! Instant veteran Rhino! I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to spraypaint them. The weather hasn't been cooperating lately (yesterday it snowed! That doesn't happen often here) but I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. Besides, I have more than enough sprayed for painting if I have to fill the void in the mean time.

The only other thing I have to report is that, with luck, I'll finally have a Fortress of Redemption soon! The local stores just stopped carrying them and now they're only GW Direct. That sucks because I'd rather give half my money to the local game stores that keep places for people to play and all that good stuff than give all of it to the vile and most foreign GW. Since the local store I most often frequent has been informed that they can't get one by special order until May, EBay it is! Cross your fingers for me. At this point, I'm willing to pay the retail price because the only other option is to wait until May and that's a fail in my book.

Until next time...

Sternguard Veterans

So I finally got down to brass tacks and painted something. At first I thought I did a half-ass job on them. Then I whipped out the other half of the squad that these guys are part of and realized that they're just as good. So I'm not going to worry about that.

As you can see in the background, I have some guys waiting to be done. Those are nine Vanguard Vets with jump packs and and two of my Space Hulk Termies. Alright, so in the greater scheme of things, I haven't gotten much done in the last few days. But I have gotten something done. Even if I feel a little bottlenecked because I have so much stuff staged and have gotten so little of it done, there is progress.

I may do something I haven't done in quite a while. I may paint a Tac squad! I've got one of my Black Reach ones sprayed. All I have to do is get in there and do it. I may try to practice some speed techniques. I mean, it's not like they're valuable minis so the worst I can do is a crappy job and strip them later or something.

Oh, yeah, it turns out that the tax refund coming my way is going to be quite substantial so, once some bills are out of the way, I see a Fortress of Redemption in my near future. But first, I have to move and figure out where I'm going to put my 40K stuff. Since the new place will be half the size of the old place, I may have to get rid of some of my foamcore terrain if I'm going to have room for stuff. Not a happy thought, but I've got duplicates of some things I can live without. Maybe if I pare it down a bit it'll be alright. We'll have a better idea next week, though.

Vanguard Veterans

So my first new Vets are coming off the line. As you can see, they're Vanguard Veterans with jump packs. Unfortunately, all the jump packs I had immediately on hand are my metal ones. Need to dig out the rest of my plastic ones before I continue. Well, I could assemble five more without backpacks until I find them, but with my luck I'd get impatient, put back packs on them and make them another Vanguard squad on foot.

It's no big loss, anyway. I certainly have enough stuff to work on in them mean time. I think I'm going to try to paint some of my Space Hulk termies over the next couple days. I can't work on these guys because it's been both cold and rainy and I don't want to spray paint them in these conditions. Better to wait a few days for it to get dry and warm up a little bit. We'll see what I have to show you all in the next few days. I may even put together a Rhino for my other Vanguard squad to roll about in. Truth be told, though, they seem like they would roll in a Land Raider. But do I want to get them their own squad specific Land Raider? Even if I could afford it, I'm not sure... Then again, a few months ago, I didn't want to have an entire Terminator Company. I guess we'll see what happens.

Bits & Pieces, Pieces & Parts...

Well, I've been looking through my "bitz" containers and have decided what I'll be working on for the next few days. If all goes well, by the end of the week, I shall turn this big mess of parts into seven painted Terminators (some are half done already) and at least 5 Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs. I've got 5 old school metal packs at hand right now. I have another 5 or 10 plastic ones stuck back somewhere. Eventually I'll find those but for now I'll concentrate on getting these five done. Besides, once I have five done, I'll want to finish the squad and make it ten. So this is the goal for Sunday. Of course, what I actually get done will be a different matter.

Holy Crap! How Long?

Since September? Geez Louise!

So, yeah, it's been a while. And a lot of things have happened in that time that have kept me away from this but it's not that bad because I'm still managing to paint on occasion so I do have things to show.

For instance, to you left are a new set of Vanguard Veterans I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. These in particular are the White Blades, led by the Chapter Champion in the middle, who are tasked with guarding the Chapter Banner and those who are tasked with carrying it into battle. Once I finish with three more to round out the squad, I'm going to start work on a Vanguard squad with jump packs. I need to acquire a few more Dark Angel robed bodies to do it so it'll probably be a little bit since I don't have money to spend right this moment.

There is another project I'm working on. I've decided to complete a First Company as an all Terminator Company. I managed to get my hands on some more Black Reach Termies and bits to convert them to other types. A buddy of mine who picked up a couple of Space Hulk sets has traded me a set of Termies for appropriately typed normal Termies (regular ones for the regular guys, a lightning claw for the lightning claw, etc.) so I have them to add color to my army. My only problem is that I have too many Black Reach Sergeants and I don't want them all in my army. I may use the gift certificate I got for my birthday (right before my previous entry!) to help cover an Termie Assault squad so I can round out my Thunder Hammers and Lightning Claws at 15 each. I may try to trade the Sergeants for some other Termies but I think I will have what I need soon (within the next couple months) and then I will never buy or even think about buying another Terminator again EVER.

I think I will fill out a Third Company also. I've mentioned it before. I just need a chance to pull out all my stuff again so I can see what I need to fill it out. And hopefully I can get this all done by the beginning of April. It's quite possible. I just have to get off my butt and "git" the proverbial "er" done.

When I started doing this in June, I'm not really sure that I thought I would keep doing it for this long. Well, now I have. And Jeebus willin' and the crick don' rise, I'll be doing it for quite a while more. It's my biggest creative outlet and even when I'm not playing, the army grows bigger...

And, in memory, I give you something special. You don't know me all that well so you don't know the import of it but look at this:

These are 15 Vets (now Sternguard. When I made 10 of them, there was no differentiation) and a Dev heavy bolter. What's so special about them? Well, in keeping with my desite to have a desert table and terrain, I've flocked them in desert style! More than a year ago, I went to my local hardware store and bought a 50 pound bad of playground sandbox sand for $2. During the move, I packed it away but I kept a plastic container for projects that may come up. Well, I've started one. I intend to, step by step, base my entire army this way. It's going to take a while, but it can be done. Heck, if I do a ten man squad a night, I'll probably be done before the month is up. Well, maybe a little more to account for things with big bases like newer Termies and Dreds. But the project, hopefully, will progress! Huzzah!

A Small Act Of Defiance

Life, for the last few days has denied me the ability to paint or do anything, primarily because I've been packing. But last night, I took a moment from packing to take care of a minor project and damn the torpedoes if the world was going to stop me!

I saw this:
And I did something about it. This old man has been with my army for almost 10 years and a few years ago, his arm came off and I said I would fix it but I never got around to it. Last night, I shook my fist at the world and pulled out some superglue...

And now this heavy bolter is ready to return to proud and storied ranks of the Red Legs, the honored 6th squad of the Second Company of the Astramalleus! Fight on!

More Painted Veterans

Remember when I said that I didn't think I was going to get any painting done this weekend? Well, I guess I lied to you all because I managed to whip out these two just a little while ago. Combined with the three in the background, I have a new 5 man Veteran squad. Of course, I believe in the glory of the ten man squad so, when time permits, I'm going to continue painting.

Once again, I watered down some black to put on them before painting. I'm starting to see how that might make things come out a little better, but my highlighting still leaves a bit to be desired. No biggie, though, but I'm happy with them, crappy highlighting or not. I kinda wish I had given the Sergeant a power weapon. I don't have enough Sergeants with them, especially now they are once again a reasonable choice (in 4th Ed, why take a power weapon for 10 pts when you could take a power fist for 15?). But other wise, I'm pleased as punch.

Another Painted Veteran

One more painted veteran for the squad. For some reason I couldn't get a very good picture of him so I went with what I could get. I painted over him with chaos black like I said I would this time. I think he came out a bit better, but not much. I realize that what I need is to sit down with someone who paints everything in black and learn a few tips for highlighting it. I can highlight, but when I'm doing something as big as an entire model, it never comes out that good. But it is good enough for government work so I'm not too terribly upset. I just figure that I should try to take these opportunities to get better at this.

Not sure I'm going to get any painting done this weekend. It was already packed before and I may have to go into work for a while, too. Unless the Earth day changes to 28 or 32 hours by tomorrow, I don't think I'll be lifting a brush. But I might be able to find a few minutes here or there so hope springs eternal...

Two Painted Veterans

Well, here are two painted Sternguard Veterans for you guys. I'll tell you a secret and I hope you don't all hold this against me. I didn't paint them black. I merely spray painted them black and painted on top of that. I'm also beginning to think that's why my black Veterans never seem to look quite right. I think on the next Veteran I work on (hopefully tonight), I will give it a good coat of Chaos black before I continue on. Or I may paint details and then paint on black to clean it up. And if I like the results, I may go back to these guys and paint on black, too. I've already got a "Veteran" squad to repaint. Back in the day (until about a year ago, that is), HQs got command squads and they weren't Veterans. So now I still have a Veteran Squad that is in all blue instead of traditional Veteran black. I should (and eventually will) repaint them.

Why do Veterans wear black? Well, in the early tribal days of the indigenous peoples of Besradine, home world of the Astramalleus, warriors would smear black paint over their scars to show their enemies that they had been in a lot of fights and were nobody to be taken lightly. When these warriors became Marines, they continued the practice by painting their armor where they had received scars and wounds. At first it was allowed as a symbol of warrior spirit and pride but, since Marines can endure wounds that would kill most men and live far longer, over time each Marines armor eventually became a motley and messy set of black painted patches and stripes. It was eventually decided by the Chapter Master that the practice would be discontinued among the rank and file but Veterans would be allowed to paint their armor completely black to show the many battles they had participated in. All veterans have the choice to wear black and few refuse. Chaplains and Librarians, being officers, also wear black. Captains, as representatives of the Chapter and the Grand Satrap of Besradine, wear the Blue and Black like line Marines. The one place the issue is not defined in among Sergeants. Some wear black to serve as an inspiration and example to the squad they lead. Some wear blue and black to help emphasize squad unity and coherency. As the issue has remained a question of leadership style and personal preference, no word has been given on the subject and as long as it does not interfere with morale, the issue will more than likely remain one of personal taste.

Five More Veterans

Well, here's the rest of the squad. Five more veterans that I finished last night to make a full ten man Sternguard squad along with their brothers in the background.. I kinda cheated with one of them. I used one from the actual Veteran set I bought long ago that doesn't completely suck as much. That was partially because of the missing backs from the Tac squad. At the point of this writing, however, all ten of them have been put under the spray paint in preparation for what needs to be done. With luck, I'll start painting them tomorrow night.

Those extra fronts have me thinking about a possible objective marker or two. Maybe put a head and a chest plate and an arm stuck in sand to look like a dead body left on the battle field... I've got some playground sand that I could use to build up around it to look like sand drifts or something similar. Definite potential, if you ask me.

I'm also thinking about building a Vanguard squad. I may never use them, but it would be nice to have them. I'm thinking about arming them with different swords to make them stand out. An English company called Magister Militum sells 25mm weapons packs like broadswords and scimitars and the like and I'd like a couple packs of those for this but the only store around here that orders from them only does it once a month so I have no idea when they would arrive and I don't want to order direct because the shipping would easily be double the cost of the order in the first place. I'll figure something out, though. It's not like I rally have money to spend right now anyway...

Three More Veterans

Well, I got three more done tonight. Obviously, I'm tricking them all out differently and not like standard, store bought Veteran squads. Why? For two reasons. First, These are some of the most experienced Marines in the Chapter. By this point, they have weapons that they prefer in a fight and gear that is special to them so most Veterans should be different from one another. Secondly, it offers a bit of versatility to the squad. If I decide that one of my guys has a lightning claw, well, he'll be represented by the one with the lightning claw. If one has a meltagun or a combi-plasma or a whatever, I'll probably have at least one guy who has one. I don't play in tournaments so having each and every model WYSIWYG isn't that big a deal to me. I also try to have a variety because of something a friend told me once. We were playing a battle and I didn't have any sergeants with power weapons. I substituted things for them and my friend and opponent said that with as many points in miniatures as I have, I should have some. That kinda stuck with me. I don't have many but I have a few now. And I'd rather have a few of many things than have none of something and have to sub my balls off to take the field.

Five down, five to go. Tonight I'm meeting someone for a trade. Should be getting some robed Dark Angel bodies and a couple sets of Terminator Lightning Claw Arms. I may make a couple more Termies to complete the Lightning claw squad. The robed ones will be mixed in with the Veterans I'm working on now. At least, that's the plan...

First Two Veterans

Well, here are the first two Veterans along with the bodies of some of their friends. As fate would have it, I had a minor problem with the Tac Squad box. You know the back piece that attaches to the chest plate to make the torso? Well, the box was missing two of them. In fact, the same back was missing from both the two sprues. I guess the guy how sold them to me needed them for something. For the price I paid for them, I won't quibble. I went diving in the bits and found a left over back from a tanker. You know the one? It has a cable running down into the tank and no backpack. Simple fix: I attached an Auspex and now the cable looks like it's the power conduit for it. That's the one on the left. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the back so you could see it. The one on the right, it looks a little plain for a veteran, but I guess not every vet looks completely different. He's got some pieces of flair, but nothing overwhelming. I also decided to use one of my older metal veterans that doesn't suck too much. I want to get my hands on a few Dark Angels because I use robed veterans, too.

And that's it for now. More pics tomorrow, I hope.

New Project Decision

I think I have decided on my new project for the next couple of weeks. For quite a few months, I've had a couple of Tactical Squads sitting around gathering dust. I picked them up as part of a large lot and the other things in the lot (a Razorback, Predator and Dreadnought) and since I have 8 or 10 Tac Squads already, they sat on the back burner. Since I'm thinking about finishing a 1st Company, however, I'm thinking about Veterans to fill out the remaining squads. I actually already have two Veteran squads but, because of fluff, I also have one Vet squad in every Battle Company. I actually purchased a Veteran Squad many moons ago (the Mark 1) but I don't like it too much. I just don't like Metal Veterans. Not only do they seem hokey and ill-posed, they always have at least one beakie in them and I just don't like beakies (there! I said it!) They should put out plastic ones that have tons of customizable weapons, heads, badges, dealies, bobbers and all that. Until then, I'll just put space bits on Tac Squads and make them into Vets. Which is what I intend to do. I'm going to build a Veteran squad and you're going to watch me do it bit by bit. It's going to go slowly because I have another painting project for something not 40K related that I want to accomplish this week.

After the Veterans, I'm going to put together that Devastator squad. I've had it much, much longer. At least three years and probably longer, now that I think about it. And I'm going to do up some of the new snap-fits from Black Reach to fill out the squad with bodies. This is especially fitting since my other Devastator squads are filled in with snap-fits from 2nd Ed. I've ve been wanting more heavy weapons that are not heavy bolters and missile launchers for a while. Sure, this will only give me two more (a Plasma Cannon and Lascannon), but they're two more I didn't have before. Besides, I'll never get all my stuff built and painted if I don't get down into the piles and actually build and paint.

One last thought: I'm going to have to come up with a new way of transporting vehicles. I have always used tackle boxes for carrying my army and while the trays are fine for foot models, I have been using the upper storage area for vehicles. I have two tackle boxes and I'm realizing that they were barely enough in the past. I had to perfectly place just about everyting in order to make it all fit. Now there's no chance. I could leave behind my Land Raiders because I never use them anyway, but it still wouldn't be enough. Eight Dreds? Twelve Rhino/Razorbacks soon to be fourteen? Four Predators? Three Land Raiders? Five Speeders eventually to become nine? I need a new answer. I think I'm going to have to get some vehicle specific carrier for all that stuff. Or maybe just for bigger vehicles and leave the Rhinos in the tackle boxes? I don't know, but I'm going to have to come up with something eventually.