Pre-Heresy Rhino pt 2

Other than painting the model halfway and rebuilding the twin-plas/Las, I haven't done much to modify my pre-heresy Rhino/Razorback kit.  I was going to be running it as a proxy for a Stalker, which was embedded with my Vindicators and Predator.  The Pre-heresy Predator had the cool old-school dozer blade and I wanted to retrofit that to my Rhino.

Month 1 - Storm Talon - In Battle

(You mean I'm supposed to finish it before I use it?)

   True to form, I did not get the Storm Talon base-coated before I needed to use it in last weekend's game!

Space Marine Army

(or the lack of progress on...)

   Ok, so 14 hours until I play my next game of 40k, and I am behind!

Fifty shades of Green

(or why can't I leave well enough alone?)

So, if you've followed my blog for more than a month or two, you may have noticed the subtle (or not subtle) differences in the green color of my Space Marines' armor.

Assault Terminator with the "Latest" version of green armor

If not, well let's take a journey down memory lane...

Month 1 - Storm Talon pt1

Well, the building has started!  Good thing that I've got a quick project for this month that is full of distractions from 40k!

Now to see what I can finish on a night I was supposed to be Christmas shopping!

Mantic Terrain - Painted and re-assembled

   Believe it or not, I managed to get most of my Mantic Landing Pad kit painted.  (minus a few parts that I am saving for a different painting experiment)  Hopefully the other parts of the Mantic Battlefront terrain line that +Matt Genuardi is shipping to me will get here soon, so I can try a few of the different wall panels!

Hobby Budget Challenge plan - By month

Okay, so the Hobby Budget Challenge over at Facing The Grey Tide has officially started!

Here's the plan, by month, as best I can figure it.

Updates are slow here!

Bear with me on the slower updates please!  (the holidays ARE taking a toll on my free time.)

I did manage to paint the main components of the Mantic Landing Pad terrain.  I chose to try two different paint colors, both using regular store-bought Krylon paints.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For all of you who are still feeling the effects of too much Turkey or Pecan pie...

  I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with family and friends.  Spend some time with them over the holiday weekend and for heaven's sake DISCONNECT FROM THE INTERNET!   I'll be back next week with some updates on my Mantic terrain painting progress, and and the status of my first month on the FTGT Hobby Budget Challenge.

  Please also remember those who are stationed away from family and friends this holiday season, as there are thousands of them standing the watch across the world so we can celebrate in safety here at home. Semper Fi, brothers!

Crashed Lander

   Thankfully the weather here in the Carolinas has warmed up, offering me a chance to go outside and get some models primed.

NOT SO FAST!!

(insert torrential downpour here)

Okay, so just as it warms up it starts pouring rain which relegates me to working on a few other projects that have been lying around unfinished.  TIme to repaint the Crashed Aquilla Lander I picked up off of eBay and match it to my terrain color-scheme.

Mantic Terrain

OR

Your terrain isn't gothic enough !!

  My friend and fellow photographer +Matt Genuardi gave me the Sci-Fi Landing Pad kit from Mantic Games as a retirement gift. He picked up one of their larger Kickstarter packages for the Battlezones terrain kits which provided him more than enough terrain to keep him busy building for months.  LUCKY ME!

Sternguard Build-up

(or why I hate tabards and robes!)

   If you remember when I was working on the Eisenkern-kit based Heavy weapons, I had this silly notion to make them practical.  That same though process explains why I really don't like the new Sternguard models with all of their tabards, robes etc.  I mean really, who can't see a Marine running uphill triping over those ungainly things and landing face-first in the muck?  Inspiring? I though not!

   So I am all for weighing them down with iconography, and various useful add-ons to make the Sternguard veterans look like they have earned their Veteran status.  It all started with a pile of bits, like most of my brainstorming projects!

Eisenkern Guard build pt2

Heavy Weapons mods, or why I couldn't leave well enough alone...

   Okay, so it should come as no surprise that I was going to modify the heavy weapons in the Eisenkern boxed set, right?

   I know it sounds strange to have a need to make the miniatures for a game set in the 41st Millenium "More Realistic", but I just couldn't see the basic Heavy Weapons emplacements as "2-man portable" So off to the drawing board I went to modify these weapons to fit my view of what the future should hold!

Inquisition build-out

Who says I had enough Inquisitors?

   Since I needed to make a 'counts-as-Coteaz" Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, I wanted to do something a little different.

My new Ordo Malleus Inquisitor

Tarox conversion wheels

Okay, so I screwed up...  I forgot that I had some detailed photos of the kit from Blood and Skulls Industry, showing how the kit fits onto the GW Taurox kit.

So, in the interests of the rest of you who might want to "de-track-ify" your Tauroxes, here are the images and a little commentary.

Tires and axles before modification

Taurox Conversion (pt1)

Since I can't seem to just build a kit right out of the box, I decided to take on a conversion of the Taurox kit to replace those horrendously ugly treads with a wheel kit from Blood and Skulls Industry. Additionally I wanted to magnetize the weapons loadout and make it somewhat modular.  I wasn't really excited about the Missile Launcher version of the Taurox, either in stats, or in looks, so I opted to not build out the missile racks. (I'm sure I'll find a good scratchbuild use for them soon!)

Wheeled Taurox with battlecannon installed and  optional weapons 

Hobby Budget Challenge plan

Plan? We don't need no stinkin' PLAN!!

   Okay, maybe that isn't true in this case, because the fixed budget is $525, with a time frame of 6 months to complete the models.  I can do this... really, I can!

So, in that case, here is what I've been thinking...

Where does the time go?

Wow, almost three months and I haven't posted!  I guess my real life has been getting in the way of my gaming.

TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!

Anyone who has scanned through this blog for more than one post realizes that I have a terrible time staying on task and completing a full conversion.  I guess I had better accept a modeling challenge to keep me on task for the next 6 months!

So without futher ado, I'll be accepting the Hobby Budget Challenge from the crew over at Facing The Grey Tide (FTGT).

More Inquisition

3 models done is progress, right?

  At least I've based a few of the Inquisition models and finished my Kasrkin that will fill out the second squad of Henchmen.

Pre-Heresy Rhino pt 1

(What is one more modular Rhino... really...)

    Before I've completed EITHER of my modular Rhinos that are based on the "current" GW Rhino kit, I managed to get sidetracked.  You see, after buying the old-school Predator Annihilator on eBay, I start to wonder - "Just what is out there on eBay from the Rogue Trader days?"  Of course I justify this with the statement - "Oh, it is just an innocent little search..."  and two more kits later, I'm building another modular Rhino, this one based on a Rogue Trader era frame.

3D-printed Knight

Instructions, who needs them?

   While I am very appreciative of the retirement gift from one of my fellow WH40K modelers, I am now figuring out one of the more frustrating parts of using 3D printed models.  THERE ARE NO PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS!!

Thankfully, the model designer left some basic instructions over at Thingverse or else I would be royally screwed!

More Salvaged IG

How many times can you play an unpainted army based with Blue-Tac?

   I'm not proud to say it, but these guys are at least primed after the last three games I used them in!  Pretty embarrassing to have your Kasrkin fall over when the Blue-Tac holding them to their base gives way.

Eisenkern Guard build pt1

(or why I love OTHER miniature companies)

   Yes, I realize I am building several minis with NOT A SINGLE GW part other than the base! (and one bolt pistol)

The photo above is one of my test builds using the awesome Dreamforge Games Eisenkern range with several conversion bits from other companies. (don't mind the BlueTac holding the heads and weapons on!)

Not a refit, but...

Well look what the monthly resupply brought us!

I realize that this isn't a picture of old Rogue Trader miniatures, but it is a new project to add to the list!

Here comes the Guard!

Sure, I know they're now called the "Astra Militarum", but they'll always be the Imperial Guard to me!

Well, these guys are nearly Imperial Army, as old as they are!  I've got an entire box of the Rogue Trader Imperial Guard soldiers that I built years ago, painted probably 3 of them and then put them away as life got too busy.  Now they're back on my project table and ready to be completed.

Back to work!

So, I've been VERY remiss with the lack of updates here for the last 6 months!  OOPS!  Between changing jobs, running photography workshops and generally goofing off, I have been rather delinquent in posting what is new with my 40k modeling.  Not much has been completed, but a lot is "IN PROGRESS".

   I've spent a lot of time working on my Inquisitorial warband and between learning new techniques, changing the paint scheme and some messy greenstuff work that I forgot to clean up before painting, they are still NOT COMPLETE!

The Inquisition Cometh!

   I've been itching to deploy an Inquisitorial detachment with my army for the last few months, but as I've been too busy to play, much less paint, I've got nothing to deploy!  I hate proxying with just a blank base marked with masking tape, so after the first of the year, I decided to get serious about converting some figures to fill out the detachment.