Snap Fit Terminator pt 2

Well here is the snap fit terminator fully painted and based. He is for my Angels of Fury chapter hence the scheme. I did rush him a bit but I also tried to give his black helmet some shading and it looks much better in person. One thing that holds true regardless of snap fit or regular terminator is that I hate painting the eyes for terminators. Anyways here he is:

So how is the snap fit terminator? I think its great. He goes a lot faster then a standard terminator and the detail really is nearly the same as a regular terminator kit. Now I did cut of the plastic pin that snaps him onto the base. The reason I did that is because I'm doing all my Post Heresy Imperium Terminators in a Space Hulk theme which covers the hole. One thing about the snap fit is that its a very snug fit. I still put a little dab of glue on the bits before snapping them together but that's just me. It does take some finesse to get them arms fully on but other then that I like the snap fit models.

Plans as of now for future miniature work is to make all the crusade era head I can with the remaining warriors of chaos box then work on two other models then back to thousand sons.. at least that is the plan as of now. Progress will be posted. Take care

Snap Fit Terminator pt 1

Alright so here is the first part of a 2 part review of the snap fit terminator in particular. However since this is a review of the sprue in general i will talk about the ork as well

Firstly I must say that they are very nice. As i'm sure others already know the detail on these snap fits are really good. Everything is on the sprue from base to body. Both the Nob and the terminator have as much detail I feel as there multi part brethren. Pose ability is limited due to the nature of snap fit but I did notice after taking the terminator off the sprue that the arms have pose ability. Its not much but you can add some personality to the model by posing the arms up or down.

Now you could of course get better posing by cutting the plastic pins and some green stuff to get more pose ability but that's more work then needed for snap fit. What is nice is according to the White dwarf issue you can interchange the parts they show the chest and head of a multi part kit on the snap fit model. So you could change the arms as well.

Well that was long winded but to sum up the snap fit models look great for being snap fit. Also for an Ork or Space Marine army I would think the assault on black reach box would be a good investment to fill out an army.

The Fury of Prospero

Hey hey everyone. The Vindicator "The Fury of Prospero" is done! So without further delay here are some pictures!

Nothing special done to it really. One thing I did add are those gold bird head smoke launchers in place of regular smoke launchers. Those are from the High elf archer box the instrument. I cut and filed the bottom down and drilled little holes in the mouth. I thought they fit the Thousand Son's crusade era theme nicely. I took apart the dozerblade to glue it in place. I think I may try to magnetize the dozerblade on my next vindicator whenever that is. It of course looks better in person.

SO I will be back to doing terminators and tactical marines for this army as well as a HQ piece but first... I got this months White Dwarf in and I will be painting up the terminator for my Angels of Fury. I think Ill do a review on the black reach terminator model. So that then back to my crusade era Thousand Sons

More Vindicator progress

Here we go another wip shot of the vindicator.

As anyone will see this is where the vindicator really start diverting from a standard rhino build. The big thing is that it does not make use of the rhino front plate at all. The rhino top has to go on first because the front plate goes on over that.

Its a bit more of an annoyance compared to a regular rhino at an equal stage of construction. The extra armor bits make getting the rhino top on a little harder so dry fit it first to see how you need to get it on then glue it. Also you may notice some of my paint is chipped and needs to be touched up. That is fine and you can touch that up after the last major part is attached. That is what I'm going to do.

This will probably be my last progress report on the vindicator. All I have left for the main part of the body is the vindicator top plate. The next time you will see it the vindicator will be finished. So until then, take care.

Angels of Fury Tactical Marine pt. 2

I know I said I'm working on my vindicator and I am! This is the same angels of Fury marine but with some highlight things and shading on the robes. So now this marine is done. If anyone does have black robe shading tips i would like to hear them.
What this a pen? Well yes. Just thought id add a little tip for some people who may use fine tip brushes and black paint or ink to do things like purity seal writing or the highlights like on the shoulder pads of the Marine above. I find that the 005 is the best thickness with the next best being 01. I use this in place of paint its faster and i have more control over it. Id highly suggest anyone who will be doing any black text writing (Inquisition, Space Marines even Orks and chaos) that they invest in a pen or two. I don't know if they come in other colors and if they do what color and how thin. If they do they would be ideal for Tau sept markings.

Until next time.

Release the Fury of the Lion in the Name of the Emperor!!

Hey. So this is not Thousand Sons but worry not. Some Friends and I had a impromptu paint fest and I started work on a test model for my own Chapter and wanted to finish him. They are called the Angels of Fury. They are a Unforgiven successor chapter. Information on them can be found in the forum the Gathering of Angels the link to which is in my Astronomicon. I did change one bit of fluff and now I will be fielding all non bike riding power armored marines in robes. He was painted fast and aside from some glaring mold lines he came out well. Ive touched up his eyes since the photo. That is his color scheme. Adeptus Battlegrey armor, black robes, mechrite red emblem and weapons. The model is done color scheme wise. Being a test model I did not do as much detail especially since he is rank and file. I like how he looks though considering I am not a good painter.

I do pose a question to you all and that is how do I highlight or shade a black robe while keeping the look of a robe and not having it look like molded armor? I have no idea. If you have some insight please comment with it or a link to a helpful resource. Thanks! And worry not I am back to working on the Vindicator again.

More vindicator WIP

Hey all. Here is some more on my vindicator. Again its not fully done as weathering happens when the vindicator body as a whole is done. But here we are:



So far there is not much different then a standard Rhino. The key difference is the extra armor plates and the attachment for where the dozer blade will attach. What is good about this is that Games Workshop actually has an article on assembling the vindicator that goes with the instructions included. The link is: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=cat180005&aId=3400026 . For the most part is great and I personally use it over the instructions included. However for assembling the cannon for example there is one part that already has a part attached to it at least in my kit.

Anyway to the parts i have done. The extra armor on the hull is an easy fit. dry fit then cut and file down the rivets underneath it to give it a nice flush sit. The article states that as well but i find that is important. Also the part that the dozer blade will attach to isn't needed if you don't want a dozer blade but I suggest attaching it regardless and if your able to then magnetize the dozerblade to it. I wont be doing that but it would be a good move.

Well until next time. Hope that helped

Vehicle insight

Hey all. Before i start some more work on my vindicator I thought id talk about flash. Whether you call it that or anything else i think we all get what it is. In particular though I am talking about it inside the slots where the vehicle hull joins with the bottom of the vehicle as shown in the two picture below:

Now you wont always have a problem with them but Ive only had one vehicle not have flash in the holes. So for those who don't build vehicles often it is important that you check these and make sure there clear. the best way to do it is with an xacto blade or something equivalent. After you cut all the flash out dry fit dry fit dry fit. Either shave it with the blade or file it lightly if it doesn't get a nice fit.

One final important note is that when you do this it is easiest to do it when the two hull portions are not joined together yet. once it dry fits nicely then you can glue to two hull parts together.

Hope that helps anyone. I will post things like this as I make progress reports on the vindicator that will be more about making the vindicator. Until then..

Slow and steady

Its been slow going for my Vindicator. I probably wont be making any real progress on it until after Monday. But here is my latest progress:

Its not done yet but enough so to move on to the other side. Once the body proper is assembled I go back for touch ups and weathering.

Vindicator WIP

Hey all. I have been working on the vindicator a bit. I paint vehicles like I paint my infantry which is in sections. So here is the Dozer Blade/ Siege Shield for the vindicator.

The legion symbol was done using the same process as with the shoulder pads but around the outside of the paper saver rather then the inside. Its not perfect but it gets the job done. I also dry brushed bolt gun metal to give it a More gritty in use type of feel.

There are other parts i have completed but there just red parts so when I make more progress on the vindicator it will be posted. Take care.

Dawn of War 2 Tyranid in game footage

Hey hey everyone. As was expected the Tyranids were announced as the 4th race in the upcoming Dawn of War 2 game. Should prove for some interesting and fun game play.

http://community.dawnofwar2.com/main.php

Above is the link to some in game footage of Tyranids in action as well as the extended trailer.

Sewer Rats Stratagem

More square base fun stuff. This time some extra bits and flock and you have a sewer rats stratagem.
It could also be used as an objective marker to represent an entrance to something or some such.

I Started working on the Vindicator proper. I will try and get WIP shots as i finish parts of the vindicator.

A taste of whats to come

With the second terminator finished I thought I would take a break from infantry to work on something I've always wanted to assemble and paint. Luckily it is also for the Crusade Era Thousand Sons. Not the smartest move in my quest to make a pre-heresy army as I only have 2 tactical marines and no HQ made but that is alright. Here is a sneak peak of what I'm working on. It is a GW Product

I put some runes on the mithril silver to make it fit more in line with the Thousand Sons with there arcane expertise.

Guess what it is? It's for a Vindicator. Nothing new or exciting I know but its my second favorite Space Marine vehicle behind the Land Raider. I have plans for it no real deviation from the standard kit just extra bits.

Thousand Sons Terminator #2

Alright everybody here is the second Crusade era Thousand Sons Terminator


The Legions symbol was done like with the power armor. Not perfect but they get the point across. I left the "leather" on the shoulder pads long because I like the look. The Reaper Auto cannon will count as a Psycannon for purposes of the game (As I am running the terminators as allied Grey Knights rules wise). The High Elf feather is a bit tall but it works just fine.

I have some stuff in the works for another post One of which is something for these Thousand Sons. Updates to follow soon. Stay tuned.

Thousand Sons Heads

Hey all picked up the high elf archer box so I believe its time for a tutorial on how I do my Crusade era Thousand Sons Heads. This method of doing unique helmets for pre or even post heresy can be used by virtually any legion or chapter you would just not do the last step that makes them a Thousand Son or you would use a different item.

Alright firstly you will need a Warriors of Chaos box from Warhammer Fantasy. Any helmet in that box can work really. Also if your going to do a heresy era traitor legion or want menacing looking helmets you could even leave the horns on. Works for Alpha Legion Word Bearers etc. This may seem like a waste of a box but you can cut up the bodies for crusade era legs or use them as storm troopers or traitor guard in general. The cc arms can also be used for ccw's for space marines. anyway moving on.

Clip or cut off the horns from the helmet should you need to depending on the army your doing. Since I'm doing Thousand sons i remove the horns. If you notice that the little bulge thing that comes out of the helmet where the base of horns attach are left in place and are filed smooth to clean up where the horn was cut off. Some people I have seen cut and file those away as well and it can look fine. SO its really a personal choice. Some people also cut off those things to then glue on there own little ear bits punched from plasticard and then add some tubing. I don't do that because its a lot easier to just leave those bulges and use them as your ear bits. There in the general area and are already there. Also those are the bits I will be using for my thousand sons in place of plasticard.
I used to use plasticard to make it look more Thousand Sons like but the high elf bits work really well for that. I got them from the High Elf Warhammer fantasy box. The feather is a bit long but it'll work especially when its painted.
Here is another view. As you saw i did another helmet to show what both bits look like on a helmet. I will use the feather for my terminator I'm working on. Also you probably notice the mold lines on the helmet. If your doing Thousand Sons leave them there as they are in the perfect spot for determining where you paint the gold on the helmet. The second tactical marine I did and the terminator both used the mold lines as a template for how far back the gold should go on the helmet.

Hope that helps. I finished getting my crusade era terminator ready for base coating so i will be working on that. Next time you see the feathered helmet it'll be on a terminator and painted. Not sure how long that will take.

Also just a quick note. If you see something I did that you want to know how or what i used or how i painted something by all means leave a comment and ill try to explain the best I can.

Take care

Space Hulk bases

Here is a group shot of my Deathwing with the teleport homer. I don't have any WIP shots of how I did it but as per request I will do a little how to on how I made the bases including how I painted them.




I got my idea from Games Workshop's Space Hulk terrain article. But when I looked around I did not have any crochet sheets around unless I went out and bought them. I did however find window and door screening and I went with that. I went with plastic screening but i would imagine the metal would work also if not be a little more stubborn to work with.

using a very light spread of PVA glue I glued the bases to the sheet and then after letting it dry I cut and clipped the screen around the bases until it was essentially flush with the side of the base. I then glued down plasticard and some little tube things I had right on top of the screen.

For painting I have the entire thing a base coat of black. I then drybrushed the screen and anything else I wanted with bolt gun metal. For the yellow I used Iyanden Dark Sun foundation because I liked the dull yellow color but that is up to the person. I then dry brushed bestial brown to age parts of the screen and other metal parts I wanted aged. I then used the new citadel washes to complete the base.

I washed Devlan mud over the aged rusted areas sloppily so it went over onto non aged areas. After that dried i washed the entire base with badab black including the yellow parts to give it a grimed aged derelict look.

Hope that helps. If you google Space Hulk Terrain or Space Hulk Bases you will come across other how to's.

Coming soon will be how I make my Crusade era Thousand Sons heads.

Teleport Homer

Hey all I know its nothing special but I was working on rebasing the small amount of Deathwing I have to spice up my miniature painting and making. I like to do a variety of things at once to keep everything interesting because as we all know the same thing regardless of what it is gets boring after a while. So I figured Id show a use for the small square bases:

Its a humble teleport homer. Its based in the same style as my deathwing will all be. A space hulk/ ship basing. Its nothing fancy. But instead of using the circle bases they supply I decided to use a small square base and save the circle bases until i need to use them for markers. I will post a group shot with some deathwing at some point in the future.

Just a quick update. I am working on a second crusade era Thousand Son Terminator. Tonight ill pick up the High Elf archer box for bits as long as the Local Gaming store has them in stock. If not there is another local store I can check it for tomorrow. Once I get the box ill do a short tutorial on how I do my Thousand Sons heads.

Well as always if anyone does read feel free to leave comments.

What to do with the Square bases?

Hey all just thought id post a little something. If your like me and you dint play warhammer fantasy then you probably will have plenty of square bases left over from the warhammer boxes in which you get your bits for conversion unless of course you bit ordered.
If you also play warhammer fantasy then you could probably find some uses for them but as I don't play warhammer fantasy i had a bunch of bases sitting around. So I did a little something with one of the chariot bases:
It can easily be used as a strategic assets for city fight or apocalypse or just used as a small piece of terrain. Its not much but it something to add some spice to a board. Now you could also use them for objective markers in any style from forest to space hulk. You could also use the small square bases for mine fields.

Ill post more in the future on how i used the small square bases. Feel free to comment! Share how you use extra bases be they round or square.

Thousand Sons Marine

Finished my second tactical marine for my Crusade era Thousand Sons. So here he is!

I am enjoying creating this army. Next to the Dark Angels, The Thousand Sons are nearly tied with the Unforgiven, along with some other legions, but comparatively I feel the Thousand Sons are one of the most Unique both in there represented Artwork and abilities.

I will be putting off making more Thousand Sons fully until after Thursday night. What I mean is I wont be doing the heads just yet until after that day.

In case anyone was wondering how i made these guys ill list off the materials:

Plasticard

Warhammer Fantasy Warriors of Chaos box

Warhammer Fantasy Tomb Kings Chariot box

Space Marine and Chaos Space Marine terminator and squad boxes

After thursday (assuming its in stock) Warhammer Fantasy High Elves Archers box. I'll post how once i get it.

Its pretty straight forward how to make the heads but once i make them again ill put another short little tutorial up on how its done. Take Care.

Thousand Sons Legion Marking

Hey all I thought since I was working on another Thousand Sons tactical marine that I would show how I achieve the passable legion marking. I am not good at freehand circles on a curved surface so i get a little help:
These things are what you put on paper to repair ripped holes from binders. I forget there name but they actually work pretty well. I must warn that they are a little big then what would be ideal for making circles on these shoulder pads. But until i found a better template that holds to the pad ill make do with this.

As you can see I situate it as center to the pad as i can and gently press it down onto the shoulder. Its meant to stick with paper doesn't have a strong bond to the plastic. This is good because when you take it off it wont leave any residue or take any paint. Just use the inside circle as your template and make your circle.

And that's the finished marking after the template is removed. It is a little big for a shoulder pad but it works. This will work even better on vehicles and dreadnoughts I would imagine as there are more flat surfaces to use this on. I have no tried it on a metal surface and I do not plan to as my goal for this crusade era army is to be all plastic.

Once i have this marine finished ill post shots of him as well.

Some Unforgiven

Dark Angels are my 1st and my core army. In the end it all comes back to them for me. So here are some marines from a tactical squad. Sergeant a bolter marine and meltagunner. I'm aware of the sprue mark on the back packs but i didn't feel like filing them. it looks fine from gaming distance.


The Sergeant is that special edition marine from the online deal from games workshop. A little minor "conversion work" on him and I like how it turned out. Take care.

Traitor Thousand Sons

Here they are the reason my crusade era Thousand Sons will use the new Space Marine codex. My chaos Thousand Sons... WIP.

That terminator sorcerer was painted in 3 hours that's from opening the box to having it fully painted and assembled. SO its not bad for that. I will touch it up over time. the Aspiring sorcerer is done but his squad is in various stages of completion.. Ill get to them one day. At least the Land Raider is done. I own the entire army I'm going to field its just not made yet. I have put them on the back burner as a side project ill do at paint fests we occassionally have at times.. although I think ill be painting my Eldar warlock and pathfinders before I work on my 24 thousand sons. But that's for another post. Take care.

Some of my Tau

As I've stated prior I have a small force of tau. Fire warriors A devilfish and these 3 guys. Until I get a Farsight model the plasma gunner is my Shas'O. the twin fusion gunner is primarily for combat patrol but he also fits in my list. End the Broadside is the Shas'vre of the team.. I just need to get him a team!

So there they are. Painted in the colors of Farsight as is my entire army from firewarrior to drone to vehicle. Now I know the fluff around it and there are a few ways to paint an army for Farsight and I went this way. Also you'll notice that there are no sept marks on them. MY army has no sept marks and any Tau symbols like the one on fire warrior shoulder pads are done in black. The fluff behind my army is that they are dedicated to the greater good but are not a part of the Tau empire hence the lack of sept markings. They are all bonded too. Two of them have the bonding knife from the firewarrior sprue to represent the bonding knife.