Thursday, December 14, 2017

Minor Update on Winged Hussar Captain

Just a minor update with an animated gif and group shots of the primed/painted models. I tweaked the new captain model of the Lt character by adding a second skin under the other armpit shield as that side was looking a bit bare along with a few other minor things (like repositioning the model on the base for better balance). I'm hoping to use this model in both poses as my RPG character if I ever restart 40k roleplaying. Next step should be painting!




Monday, December 11, 2017

To bling.. or not to bling... Winged Hussar Assault Lieutenant

I worked on correcting the ugly gap filling job on the Honor Guard Lancer this weekend along with assembling another primaris Lieutenant model (this time with a jump pack).  For the former, I just corrected/filled down the flag wrap around that I did when connecting the pennant to the spear.  The latter was a bit more work.  With my previous just finished Lt from the same pose, I was worried about how the whole thing would come together when assembling my first two models and didn't want to overdo the Hussar theme.  When it turned out well thanks to help here, I was a bit emboldened to try again and go full hussar this time.  I decided to try and incoporate armor details that I skipped the first time around like the pennant on a spear (instead of the sabre), the crest on the top of the helmet, and the leopard skin pelt. 



The pennant went easily enough with some test fitting as I was using the much less troublesome right arm spear this time around.  I temporarily entertained the idea of wrapping the flag around the spear but my troubles with the other model dissuaded me from doing so.  For the crest, I tested the method out first on my remaining Ancient head and I think it worked out well in the end.  The leopard skin was definitely the biggest issue this time around.  While the glue was drying (and redrying as I changed course mid assembly and had to reglue several things), I decided to try out a homemade painted pelt out of a tiny bit of fabric.  I'm not sure of the results though and would definitely like some advice about whether adding the fabric (from the left armpit down to the right waist) to the model would constitute "too much" crap and whether the plastic paw bit I glued on is enough to convey that aspect of the model.



I decided to go with a Sanguinary Guard style Mk IV jump pack as it allowed me to attach the wings much better than a traditional modern jump pack would.  I realize the typical go to choice for the model should theoretically be on a bike as it's supposed to be heavy cavalry but I didn't actually have a bike handy and, more importantly, I wanted to keep the rest of the model primaris style intact and wouldn't have been able to do so with cutting the legs off to fit onto a bike.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Winged Hussar Lieutenant Update and Honor Guard Test

I went back and forth trying to run ideas past folks about how to improve the model specifically with regards to the aquilla.  I vacillated back and forth between keeping the white one on this model or switching back to the gold/brass version but that latter option would necessitate some other change to not overload the torso with gold.  I made some digital swaps to better illustrate the options both to myself as well as others.


John Prins at dakka suggested that I changed the gorget to red and brighten/vary up the wings a bit among other things and I decided on just that after testing it out virtually.  I tried to bright up and differentiate the white a bit as it looked dull after the appropriately named dull coat varnish as well as changed the gorget to red. 


Over the past week, I've also slowly been working on converting my first power lance armed honor guard.  These guys should be a midway point between the standard marines and the more ornate officers.  I wanted to keep the tabard for officers (and somehow incorporate a leopard print sash for a future captain) but veterans will still get a single wing on their back.  I'm still mulling over the paint job for these as well regarding the aquilla.  I'll definitely add the red gorget though to chapter standard paint scheme especially as they'll be missing the red previously on the tabard.  I'm not happy with my multiple cut/pin/glue/gap fill job on the Grey Knight power lance when incorporating the pennant but it's hard to tell how it'll look prior to the primer.  I basically had to mangle the power lance to get the pennant as well as have it on the left hand.  It's a converted two handed spear where I got rid of the second hand (filling the gap) as well as had to cut and reposition the blade's edge at a different angle as well as extend the gap to fit the pennant.

edit: I have primed the honor guard and it doesn't look too bad on the staff after some filing down prior to priming. After seeing the pennant, I'm debating though whether to continue with that model immediately or do a second pose of the same lieutenant I just finished but with a different loadout. I really like the model (it's probably my favorite 40k sculpt since the release of the 3rd edition Space Hulk board game in 2008ish) and I'm curious how a jet pack and lance with pennant variant would look. I have both regular jet packs, original Rogue Trader ones, and a Sanguinary Guard pack to choose from. I wasn't entirely confident how my conversion would go so I actually got two of my favorite pose just in case.

Friday, December 1, 2017

Winged Hussar update.. finally!

It's been a while since I made any progress on this small project for some reasons under my control while others were not.  Regardless, I decided to try and finish my second model (along with a final Tau suit) before the end of the year.  A large part of the reason is because I was lucky enough to win a contest run by a fellow 40k fan who runs the Xeno Vids youtube channel along with his brother Ian (hello!).  I subscribed to him long ago as I admired his Tau army modelling and painting skills as well as enjoyed the battle reports as well.  Getting the actual rulebook for the new edition kickstarted my interest in finishing up some more models from the new Primaris line. 

I decided as mentioned above to try and lighten up the overall look of the model.  I decided to change the aquilla on the chest to white to better mesh with the wings (as well as to not overload the center torso with gold due to the gold armpit shields).  I also skipped my middle step of a darker metallic on top of the primer by just using the brighter corresponding metallic instead for both base coats and post wash highlights (so silver instead of chainmail and gold instead of brass).





The second pic shows the differences between black primer/chainmail, black primer/chainmail base coat/silver highlights, and black primer/silver base coat and highlights (from R to L).  While I like the lighter overall tone (not exactly shown well in flash photography with my camera), I'm not sure about the change of the chest aquilla to white from brass/gold.  It does form a nice connecting line from the wings to the chest to the knee but I liked the look of the previous gold aquilla on the armor and how it related back to the sample Hussar armor I posted in the OP for this thread.  Let me know if anyone else has any preferences in that regard or other thoughts.