Devastators and Black Lancers!

 Well, folks, I've been doing something!  Despite the lost computer (and by "lost", I mean down and usless)!

I started assembling heavy weapons earlier this week.  Finally used the crouching legs I'd been holding on to and learned that many heavy weapons really don't work well on Marines in crouching positions. I still managed to produce a heavy bolter, multimelta, and two lascannons, all on the crouching position.  Add to that some more standing heavy bolters, plasma cannons, lascannons, and pretty much every outstanding missile launcher I have and I managed to get 19 heavy weapons built!  Good for me!


So a window in our really crappy weather opened up a couple of days ago.  So I thought it was now or never (at least for a month or so).  So I got out there and whipped out the spray paint.  I ended up missing a couple of heavy bolters, so that brings me up to 17 heavy weapons primed.  And while it was on my mind, I whipped out a few old school tac squad jobbers and primed them, too.  I still need a couple more and a couple Sarges, but ultimately, it means this: my Seventh reserve company will soon have two full Devastator squads to help fill it out.  That means I'm two Tac Squads (which I have) and an Assault Squad (which I have the parts to assemble) away from a third full Company.  And the extra heavy weapons for other new Tac squads don't hurt either.  Maybe I'll just hold back four of them for the first Dev squad of my fourth Company.  Woot!

Lastly, I got around to painting my four Black Lancers.  I look at them and think that I could do a bit more here or there, but I'm pretty happy with them the way they are.  I still have to paint the Lancer Sarge, but at least he's already primed.  I may start on him once I'm done with those Dev squads.  Either way, these buys are pretty close to being a blip in my decade looking rear view mirror. 

I'm feeling pretty good.  Several things are getting done, slowly but surely.  Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed by how much I have to accomplish.  Sometimes I get a little down because I have no earthly idea when I'm ever going to get a chance to put them on a field.  But, in the end, I'm creating.  And that's what matters the most.

Lancer Sarge and New Acquisitions

So, I survived Thanksgiving.  Now that everything has been shaken out and is back on an even keel, I'm hoping to return to normal about the painting and modelling (well, as normal as I have ever been about it).

Well, well!  Look at you, you handsome devil!  The picture to the immediate left is my Black Lancer Sarge, complete and glued together.  I went with a High Elf Standard bearer spear because I just plain like the look of it.  I decided to put this spear overhand to make it more action oriented and flavorful.  If I had to do it all again, I think I would have chopped up the entire arm to make it look more like it's immediately about to be used.  But I got this done right before leaving for the holiday and, well, that kind of energy and time were not in the cards for me.  But at least I have more "flair" thanks to the other bits that came with the spear.  And another spear, too.

And then there are these handsome devils.  Remember my friend who gave me all his 40K stuff a couple months ago?  Well, he found some more.  I gave the Chaos stuff to my best friend and I kept the Loyalist stuff for myself.  Not only did I get the missing Vindicator here, but also another old school one!  The Lascannon Dred is a fun little addition, as are the Imperial Fist Assault squad and the Chaplain.  I believe they will join my Templars as part of my Eternal Allies.  I'll probably repaint the Dred.  With the Venerable I haven't assembled yet, that'll make 10 Dreds.  That's a good round number.

A while back, someone on the BOLS forums offered to send me a Dark Vengeance Librarian arm.  Well, not only did it arrive in the mail yesterday, but it also came with some Nemesis weapons and a couple other things.  Woot!  Since I have a (slightly chopped up) DV Librarian from my friend, I think I'll make some minor repairs and get him assembled, too.  No reason I can't have a spare Librarian, I think...

I'd decided a while ago that DA iconography will have other meanings in my Chapter.  Swords show membership in the White Swords, the squad led by the Chapter Champion devoted to protecting standards. I think DA wings will apply to bikers and their bikes and what not.  I think BA iconography will denote honors from boarding Space Hulks.  Since I have the Space Hulk Termies and they're covered in it, I think it will work out well.  I think I have a few other models with BA drops on them, too.

That's it for the moment.  Now I just have to wait until it's warm enough to prime my Sarge and a few other things.  Patience.  It'll happen and I won't have to wait until winter is over, either (more than likely)...

Bike Librarian

 Well, here he is.  I started this for a painting challenge.  I have little hope of winning.  One of the first entries was head and shoulders above this guy.  I only had today to get it done after my daughters were asleep and my wife was gone.  But, more importantly  he's done.  Now all I have to do is actually do my jump Librarian and I will have an HQ of each and every type (foot, jump, bike, and termie).  I'll get around to it one of these days.  But, for the moment, I will bask in the joy of completion.  Not bad for two and a half hours, if I do say so myself.

Bike Librarian

Well, there he is, completed and built.  He's not exciting.  Well, sort of.  If you look really, really closely, you will see I sacrificed a Dark Vengeance Librarian to build him.  Not only did I use the force weapon arm, but I also cur off the shoulder pad to mount on the front and the book on his side to add to this one's side.  What I really wanted to do was cut off the force sword and put it on another, more dynamically posed arm.  I also realized I don't have a ton of time to get all that done.  I want to try to have him painted by Friday and I'm not sure I'm going to get that all done.  Monday evening I'm busy, Tuesday I'm working, Wednesday the family goes out for Halloween, and Friday my inlaws come into town.  Add to that that the weather has just gotten pretty cold so it's not a very good time to prime.  I don't think the weather is going to be back into the 60's until Wednesday.  I might be able to find a few hours during the week, but I really doubt it.

Oh, well, even if I don't get it done in time, I've got it built and that means I will get it painted sometime in the next few months along with all the other bikes.  I guess there's something to be said for getting it assembled.

The one other thing that this reminds me is that my bits box is very, very depleted of "flair".  No cruxes, scrolls, books, or a lot of other cool dealies and bobbers.  I had to really dig in to even find extra purity seals.  I may have to bite the bullet, gather $20 and buy some stuff on line or something.  I don't really want to spend money, but I guess I have to put some money to this hobby every year.  I think I've only spent $7 this year and I guess it's time to drop a little more.  Poop.

One last thing...  I acquired templates for a 3d printable item that is remarkably similar (but in no way infringing) to a Drop Pod.  Now all I need is a friend with a 3d printer and I might make a few...

Bike Librarian

Well, this is the beginning of the Bike Librarian.  It's a bike with a couple dealies on the other side.  Also stuck a book on the bike that he can consult while driving.  Note the improvised Psychic hood...  OK, cute, but nothing stellar.  I'm holding off with the weapon arm until I can acquire a force weapon.  It should be easy with the Dark Vengeance Librarian all over the place.  In fact, it is because I have one on the way to me.  I think most of his awesomeness is going to have to be demonstrated via paint job.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to replenish bits soon.  Oh, well.  C'est la guerre...

I also assembled an attack bike, but I didn't take pictures of it.  By the time I was done, I was sick of looking at it.  JB Weld is really good for some things, but the wait time for it to begin to set seems like forever.  That having been said, I applied a little bit to my lancers' hands and spear.  Hopefully, they won't come loose for a very long time.

More Bikes

So,  I got two more lancers done.  I added a few decorative bits and some weapons and now I think all I need is a Sarge and the Black Lancers will be ready to basecoat and maybe even get around to painting.

I notice that my bits box is running out of little decorative stuff.  These are the last of my purity seals.  No bangles or bobbles or cool little things to separate the special from the merely mundane. I'll have to figure something about that.  I may have to raid my unopened Tac Squad box for bits.  I sure never use them on Tac Squads...

That having been said, I have to also admit that I am crazy.  Why do I say this?  Because I was searching for something and ran across another Devastator Squad.  It's a new one so there's actually 8 heavy weapons.  I went through the bits and pulled out every other heavy weapon I have.  So, I think after I'm done with bike stuff, I'm going to put together every heavy weapon dude I can.  I have the unopened box with 4, these 8 I found, three heavy bolters (two of them are old Rogue Trader ones!), three missile launchers, and plasma cannon, bringing my up to a grand total of 19 (!!!) heavy weapons which comes out to four whole crews and three to put in Tac squads.  I'll need two of those teams to create Dev squads for that my current demi-company.  I also know that I have more than enough  to make another Assault squad and another Tac squad to actually fill it out into a full Company.  Many of the others will probably form the Dev squads and the Tac squad heavy weapons for the next Company I start.

Man, I got a lot of stuff...

Bikes! Lancers No Less!!!

I was looking at a box when I noticed that it had a few bike parts in it.  I found two Bikes that I didn't know I had.  So I resolved to do something with them.  I started putting them together and then I was inspired to do something more.  About a thousand years ago, I got a bunch of brass spears and other weapons.  Unfortunately, being 25mm, the other weapons were too small, which is tragic because an assault squad wielding scimitars would have been awesome.  But the spears were fine.  I never did my original idea, but I had come up with the idea for a squad of Veteran Bikers.  I promptly dubbed them the Black Lancers.  I had a set of black Dark Angel bikers from a friend.  I dubbed them the squad in question until I got around to creating my own or until or got around to retrofitting the old ones.  I'm not the kind of guy who goes back to older stuff that often, unfortunately.

The point of all this is that when I put these together, I decided it was time.  I'll give them some spiffy iconography to make them look more veteran, but I've started.  Soon there will be at least 2 more.  Good for me. :)

Hopefully, I'll be starting on a Bike Librarian soon.  I found a guy who's supposedly sending me a force weapon for him.  Part of me is thinking it's probably just a power weapon but I'll give it a chance.  I may have to make something up on my own.  In theory, I'm doing it as part of a competition and it needs to be done by Nov. 3rd.  In reality, I just want to get it done.  It's been in the back of my head for so long I'm a little excited at the thought of getting it done.

Bikes Without Bikers

So I cracked open the boxes and assembled the bikes.  The outer two are the old school ones.  The one in the middle is the newer one.  It's also the one I'm going to use for my bike Librarian.  That's all I had time for last night.  Hopefully I'll be able to assemble the other bikes and the attack bike tonight, but we shall see.

Which also reminds me...  I need to get my hands on a Force Weapon for him.  I'm not anywhere good enough to sculpt details onto a weapon.  I guess if I can't fins one in the very near future, I may have to try.  I do have some two handers I was using as relic weapons that I don't have intended for something else at the moment.  We'll see...

My Next Project: Bikers and Devastators

I feel a little like I'm cheating with this because I'm actually not done with my last project: painting vehicles.  I still have two Preds and a Rhinoback to finish, not to mention my instarted Speeders.  But, as I've mentioned previously, I'm tired of painting boxes right now and want to do something else.  So, digging in my undone stuff, I found a perfect target.  I've got four bikes and an attack bike that I got from someone somewhere  and three bikes that never left their original boxes.  I think one of those bikes will be used on a long envisioned but never started project.  I've always wanted a bike mounted Librarian.  I think now might be a good time to do that.  I also think that I might take this opportunity to redo my Black Lancers "Veteran" Bike Squad.  I might start giving these guys the brass lances I've had sitting around for so long.

The other thing I found (or, rather, ran back across) while I was there was an old school  Devastator Squad.  I've got some heavy weapons sitting with some of my other stuff so I think I'll put them together while I'm at it.  I'm sure I'll find a use for 8 heavy weapons somewhere.

I guess that's about it for now.  Tomorrow night, I hope to get started.  I think I can have them all done before the end of October, but I'm not making any hard deadlines...