Lazy Summer Days... or are they?

I haven't been too active on the blog but that (much to my own surprise!) hasn't been the case in real life with regards to my hobby efforts.  After my last post, I decided to try another Primaris Space Marine that specifically wasn't from my Winged Hussar chapter.  Instead, I decided to make a model for the successor chapter of Space Wolves based on the Dusk Howler paint scheme linked below.

Dusk Howler wiki page

After a few false starts including one complete paint strip and a change from a naked head to a helmeted one, I ended up with the following final figure.  In retrospect, I'd have preferred the bare head and the real chain loin cloth was definitely not worth the hassle compared with just using a plastic bit.

 Afterwards, I returned to remixing (basically digital converting of 3d models) designs for a while until I saw that 3d printers had finally dropped below my personal long stated cost threshold.  I hesitated for over a month during which the sale model constantly went in and out of stock before finally committing to buying it during the last days of the sale.  As a proud new owner of an Elegoo Mars, I then proceeded to try out my first test print that didn't exactly go so well.  Luckily, I noticed that I hadn't tightened up the build plate less than a third of the way through and repeated the print with the results below.  Apologies for the crappy paint job but it was literally speed painted in a single evening before my first tabletop game of 2019 (where it was my RPG character model) but I posted the pic because it shows the level of detail a bit more than the bare resin.

 I have to say that I'm very impressed with what you can do with an affordable home printer in 2019.  The print was done at 50 microns for testing purposes but the printer is capable of layer heights less than half that!  I just didn't max out the settings as even that single figure would have taken over 7 hours based on height.  I hope to have an update later this week with my first relatively full test bed of models at the highest detail level for a better comparison.  I just hope that I don't end up printing more than my painting habits allow for!  :)

2015 and Beyond... Part II

And now we get to what I unfortunately did not finish during 2015 as planned.  First up would be my long planned but stalled 28mm VOTOM/Heavy Gear squad.

While I did try a few paint schemes and techniques like traditional painting as well as washes/drybrushing, I never got the models to quite look how I wanted them toand stripped them down.  I dont think I ever covered it here on the blog but I also converted a snub cannon for the fifth model as well as some extra comm gear for the Jaeger Command squad leader.  I still plan on working on them eventually but the wait and see approach to the Heavy Gear kickstarter I took somewhat drained my enthusiasm for the project.  Perhaps the potential fulfillment of the rewards this year (delayed four months or more so far) will have the opposite effect.

The second project that I had planned but didn't complete was my small Space Wolf 40K Primarch ally force.

While I didn't touch Logan Grimnar on the right, I did a few coats of grey and some metallics on the Iron Priest on the left.  I again wasn't quite happy with the preheresy scheme effect I achieved but I also wasn't unhappy enough to strip it off either.   We'll have to see if I end up able to salvage it in the end.  Like the VOTOMS above, I don't really have a practical use for these in any future foreseeable game so they'll likely stay on the backburner for a while.

Finally, I'm back to what was posted on my last real hobby update and my first really hobby work of the new year...my 40K Tau Broadside conversion.

He's currently primed green with recesses washed black and ready to paint.  With even my glacial pace of painting, I should be able to finish him completely this month and be done for a second time with my Tau side project.  

After that, I'm not sure what I'll do in what order in 2016 but I do have a few ideas knocking around my head.  The easiest would probably be a set of house rules for improving (hopefully!) the effectiveness of fighter/bomber wing combat in Halo Fleet Battles as well as incorporating the boarding actions into the normal mechanics of the rest of the game instead of being entirely separate.  My tentative name for the house rules would be "Their Finest Hour" and I hope to start posting them next month.

Besides my two main stalled projects above, the only hobby work I've got planned is to repaint one of the new T-70 xwings in Poe Dameron colors after seeing the movie.  While I thought the movie was better than the prequels, it didn't entirely captivate me as I found most of the characters uninspiring (except Ray) and the plot too derivative of the original movie.  I did however like the battle scenes and especially the new xwing both in design and Poe's color scheme.

The other thing I'd like to do more of in 2016 is actually play games.  For a variety of different reasons, I only played a grand total of 4 games in all of 2015 from all game systems combined.  I'd probably focus on Halo if given a choice with the upcoming house rules needing some real world testing but I'm not particularly picky!  I'm not sure if my cellphone camera is up for it but I'll likely post battle report videos of any games I play this year both on youtube and linkef here on the blog.

Thanks as always for reading and I hope I didn't cause anyone to nod off while reading!  I've been pecking away at my tablet typing this so I apologize for any typos as I'll hopefully correct them in short order.

Scale Pics and Quick Hobby Update

Hobby work is slow going but steady and I've gotten a few basecoats done on the Ferrus Manus model as well as his cloak.  He isn't close to being ready for a pic but he is coming along.  On another site,  I was asked why I'm doing such a large scale for the models so I decided to post a scale comparison shot to show the difference between the models.  Space marines in the lore are 8ft tall in their power armor approximately but that scale isn't demonstrated when you compare them to a "normal" human as portrayed by a guardsman.

In the pic below, you can see from left to right: a normal human, a human in power armor, a space marine in power power, a human in terminator armor, and a space marine in terminator armor.

I think those types of conversions fit the fluff a bit better than the official models provided by GW.  My Ferrus Manus model though is a bit of an aberration in that he is technically in power armor of sorts but a tiny bit larger than even the model on the right.  Here is my first old Blood Angel codex cover that I personally consider to be the definitive size comparison of Terminator armor (the largest model in my first scale shot):

I hope that helps answer some of the questions (if any) regarding why I'm supersizing a few marines.  As a final comparison shot, here below is a Warhammer Fantasy Ogre that I converted a while back to a Shadowrun RPG character I was running.  With the use of the primarch, the marine in terminator armor ends up beyond just shy of eye to eye with an ogre whereas the human in terminator armor, while still bigger than an unarmored one, is still towered over by both.

First hobby work of 2015... Happy New Year!

Well, I unfortunately didn't meet my self imposed End of Year resolution to work on my 28mm VOTOM/Heavy Gear hybrid models.  I just couldn't get myself motivated to paint them up and found it easier instead to just chug along in World of Tanks instead.  I'm hoping to work on them sometime in the near future but it looks I just followed DP9's lead for my Heavy Gear project.  I've been waiting for the November update for the Nublitz rules but we're approaching February and they're no where in sight.  Initially they were pushed officially back to Christmas (halfway into December) and then New Years but that obviously didn't work out.  I believe the current estimate is the end of January but I'm getting a distinctly Northern Lion's Wrath PDF feel from this as that too was delayed for many months.  Hopefully the behind the scenes work on the kickstarter that is supposed to deliver late this year isn't experiencing the same delays as the public rules update is.  *fingers crossed*

I did however do some work on my Primarch-scale Space Wolf conversions.  While the actual primarchs themselves were modelled last year, I've been tweaking their bases and their accompanying wolves in the meantime.

Starting with Horus, I primed his scenic 120mm oval base and the two thunderwolves that will be mounted on it for his "sled" rules profile.  I tweaked the position of both wolves to give them a better fit on the oval base and added the scenic rocks to their 40mm bases to break up the ground visually in front of the staircase.  Both wolves are modeled with stormshield generators attaches to their harnesses since they have a 4+ invul save.  I plan on occasionally using them along with two other 60mm thunderwolves as counts as wolf lords on thunderwolves as well (with no shooting weapons obviously) to accompany Logan when he isn't on his ridiculous sled that GW designed (and that he beat up Santa Claus to get).  I tried to model Logan as a post-First War for Armageddon younger version of himself both since the "older" heads I had available didn't fill out the model enough (the actual Horus head is a bit bigger) and because I actually really like that particular head.  Since Logan has been Chapter Master for 400+ years, I figure it wouldn't be an issue to present a more youthful version.  I also changed out the maul for Logan's axe from the new kit as well as added more wolfie bits to the model along with obliterating any eyes of Horus.

Next up, we have my Iron Priest conversion using Ferrus Manus.  I used most (but not all) of Ferrus' Servo Harness arms but had to leave out the actual backpack as it stuck out way too far when on top of the cloak I converted.  I added a wolf pelt instead of the groin pturges and used them to bulk up around his arms.  I didn't have enough of them to use actually as normally modelled as some of those very fragile pieces broke.  As with Horus, I added several wolfie bits to him and took off most of the Iron Hands iconography.  For his head, I actually used Horus and I plan on using decals to mark both his arms and his bald head with Fenrisian tribal tattoos.  For his thunderwolf, I converted both legs to using the bionic bits from the kit as well as using the bionic enhanced head.  I converted left over Logan's sled bits to give him a harness connected to some stormshields to increase his "mech" bits even more.  As with Horus/Logan, he is usable both by himself on his 40mm base as well as attached to his 60mm Thunderwolf version.  In game, I plan on using him as a Wolf Lord on a thunderwolf since there are no rules for enhanced HQ Iron Priests with the current Space Wolf rules.  Accompanying him are two converted servitors made using prepainted plastic models and various 40k bits.  I realize that the servitors look a bit more like techpriests and likely need a few more wolfie bits to distinguish them but I'm not sure if I want to make them too Space Wolf specific.

Sometime either this week or next, I hope to start painting up one of the two groups of models above.  In honor of the original heritage of the Logan model conversion, I'll likely do them in a 13th company/preheresy darker grey paint scheme instead of the mixed grey/blue one the wolves currently have.

Vylka Fenryka to the rescue!

As promised, here is a small update showing what I was doing with my hobby time over the past couple of months.  I acquired through a series of trades some Forgeworld Primarch figures and decided to add them to an old project from two years ago.  During a previous (and long defunct) Deathwatch 40k RPG campaign, I decided to model some marines in "true scale" that showed off how they would really look next to humans as 8ft tall steroid freaks in power armor.  I put those models away a while back when the RPG campaign fizzled out but I decided to add the primarchs to the largely Space Wolf segment of that project.  I picked up the new codex and found a way to make a very small force of Space Wolves to use along side my Guardsmen.  The idea for this came partly from reading the Blood of Asaheim 40k novel where a single squad of Space Wolves assists an order of Sisters of Battle in defending their shrine world.  My force at its minimum would consist only of two to three marines with the rest of the figs as filler to make the small army legal.

The first model is my Logan Grimnar conversion from the Horus Heresy Warmaster figure.  I added some more wolfie bits to his existing Luna Wolves ones as well as magnetized his right arm to allow him to still be used as Horus counts-as Leman Russ during Apocalypse games.  I also replaced his maul with a more proper axe and made his scenic base a part of my chariot conversion in case I want to use Logan Grimnar in his alternate chariot-rules form shown futher below.  He is partly primed and blue tacked to the scenic base as I've reworked him several times in a row and even stripped the base as well over the past few months.  I had initially glued and primed him before I decided to expand the project.

The second figure is the Primarch Ferrus Manus that I decided to turn into a Master of the Forge for the Space Wolves.  Unfortuantely, no rules exist for the upgraded techmarines (or Iron Priests as they are known in the chapter) so I had to look elsewhere for the rules that would adequately convey the sense of power that the figure has.  There are no techmarine special characters in normal 40k so I had to look to Forge World for hopefully some choices.   I found two possible characters there that I could use.  One was an Iron Hands special character from the Horus Heresy books and I felt he may not be accepted by random players due to the double whammy of being both FW and HH and having a different weapons loadout than the figure.  The other was from the Badab War books and was a Sons of Medusa special character from the relatively current era of 40k called Valen Cal.  Valen Cal seemed to be a better fit as he had both a thunderhammer just like the figure as well as had the bulky rule which meant that his base size was correct as well.

I decided to use Valen Cal and proceded to add multiple wolfie bits to Ferrus Manus while shaving off the Iron Hands ones.  I added a cape from the official Logan Grimnar kit which meant that I also had to convert the servo harness to fit it which required a lot of effort and a few more bits.  I couldn't use the big backpack that came with the model as it protruded way to far backward along with the wolf cloak.  Here is my Ferrus Manus counts-as Valen Cal.

And finally, Logan Grimnar with his two Thunderwolves in chariot rules form.

I've converted a bunch more figs as filler to make up the compulsory Force Org slots but I don't think I'll post pictures of them just yet as they've still got some work to do.  I've got some chapter serfs, servitors, and even a Land Speeder made from the hover chariot in the official Logan kit as well as some wolves.  The focal points for the small force though are the two marines and they're ready to be painted.  

I'll likely wait on painting them though as I'd like to get another delayed project done hopefully.  I've decided to try and finish my 28mm Heavy Gear VOTOM squad before 2014 is over as a sort of very late New Year's resolution.  I hope to have some pics of the first test model posted here on the blog within the next week.  Also, I should be playing my first Robotech Tactics game next week so might have an update on that front (the rules specifically and how the game plays... not so much the actual models).  

It's been a while...

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been slowly working my way through a bunch of different projects over the past couple of months after some initial delays.

Starting with the last topic I covered, I managed to get a full squad of VOTOMs to use as Gears in a 28mm Heavy Gear game.  It took me a few weeks but I finally got them from overseas.  Because the plastic felt different, I decided to test my planned green base coat on one of the rifles I wouldn't be using (due to the bazooka conversions) and the plastic in the figure reacted strangely to the spray paint.  I suspect that the figs are vinyl due to their feel which should (according to the label) work with the paint I chose but unfortunately it remains "sticky" for weeks.  The only slapdash solution I found was to coat the spray with normal acrylic paint but I'm not sure if whatever the chemical reaction is will eventually leech through the second layer of paint.  I've tried instead hand painting with acrylic over the VOTOMs and, while not visually as good, serves the purpose of dulling the sheen on the figs.  I'll post pics of the results (I tested washes on the figs as well as repainting) in the future when I finish all five.

In the meantime, I finally got my wave 1 box from the very delayed Robotech kickstarter. Due to the unfortunate backtracking and intentional misleading of pledgers by Palladium in the intervening 18 or so months, I frankly don't have too much interest in putting together the dozens of minis at this point.  Another local gamer at my FLGS got in on the KS as well and we'll be trying out a game in a few weeks hopefully.  I'll try putting together my resin Miriya QRaus and he's planning on putting together his battlecry pledge so we should have enough figs.  The KS, even with just wave 1, gives you an impressive amount of figs for the price.  Unfortunately, the sprues for the figs seem badly designed with tons of very tiny and easy to break parts seemingly unnecessarily broken down into multiple parts.  When the other gamer was assembling his command pack models, he lost a part and broke off two more when cutting them from the sprue.  I suspect most Robotech models will be modelled with "battle damage" after only a few games regardless of how much care you take in storing them.

Also in Kickstarter news, Heavy Gear is currently running a KS for plastic minis to accompany their new edition.

Heavy Gear KS Link

The KS went through some serious rejigging during its multiple previews on the official DP9 forums and is probably now at a good point.  The initial ideas were frequently downright bad but it has improved significantly since then.  It funded (admittedly to my surprise) in less than a day and is fast approaching what I consider to be a good value in the realm of plastic starter sets.  Once it reaches around $105k, you'll have a color starter rulebook along with four armies to play with (Caprice, CEF, North, and South).   While you'll need to combine them into two armies to play the optimal sized game of HG with the new beta rules, the KS gives you four average sized forces using the Blitz rules.  At $130 CAD (including shipping), that's a pretty good deal compared with current metals and even other plastic starters.

Finally, this isn't mech related but I did start working on some 40k models.  I picked up my first GW kits in a few years and decided to make a small ally force of Space Wolves.  I had gotten some primarchs a while back in a trade and figured I'd try to make them into "true scale" Space Wolves characters.  Horus has become my Logan Grimnar whereas Ferrus Manus is now an Iron Priest.  I picked up the Logan Grimnar boxed set despite my dislike for the stupid Santa sleigh idea for the wolves to accompany Horus.  I plan on turning the sled into an Iron Priest land speeder and to turn the Logan model within into another Iron Priest.  I've got some work to do on that but within a week or so I should be able to post some pics of that.

Once again, sorry for the delay and the above wall of text but I should have some visual indications of progress on a few different fronts to post in the near future.