Step Forward Big Fella!!

The Thanatar is finally done (we knew that already) and I've finally got some proper pictures taken. Lots of pictures. Lots n lots.......you get the idea ;)

Really really happy how he's turned out so here's the man himself. Hope y'like him :)

C&C as always welcome

Cheers
 Jan

Thanatar Siege Automata

Thanatar Siege Automata

Thanatar Siege Automata

All in the details....

The Thanatar Siege Automata Delta-7 is finally finished. Didnt take as long as the Imp. Knight but still was no quick job! Really happy with the big fella. Tried out a few new techniques and such with him and everything seems to have paid off. I won't be getting any proper photos taken for a few days yet. So here's a wee teaser of some (badly taken on the iPad) photos of some of his details.

Thanatar Siege Automata Delta-7

C&C always welcome


Cheers
 Jan

Where were we now?

Yes, I suck at blogging. I keep meaning to update more often but......I suck. There it is.
Anyways - still working on my huge list of unpainted stuff (which after Mymearan put up a thread getting folk to count their unpainted minis over on Dakka, seems to be nowhere near as long as some folk out there) and still trying (and failing) to not buy any new stuff in the interim.
So - quick catchup. What have I actually got done since......crap...March?!!!!

Vox Divina ServoSkull

Tech Priest Enginseer Dendris

'The Ashen'- Sicarian Ruststalkers

'The Ashen'- Sicarian Ruststalkers

'The Ashen'- Sicarian Ruststalkers

'The Ashen'- Sicarian Ruststalkers

Space Hulk - Terminator Brother Goriel

Ok - that's what I got finished. Looks less than I thought......o.O dammit!!

Enter The Magos II

Well, here he is. Arch-Magos Cybernetica Braetalan'Kot. Finally got the paint finished up last week and some photos snapped over the weekend Thrilled with how he turned out. Not much else to say as now he needs his retinue. First up am working on his bodyguards - a Scyllax Automata Covenant known as The Arachnae. FW models and should fit in nicely aesthetically with the Arch-Magos. I enjoyed building him so much, I'm gonna build a few lesser models to fit in as his extended retine. Servitor or two and a few wee others.

Just a few photos eh ;) Hope you like him and cheers for looking in. C&C as ever more than welcome

Cheers

Stephen/'Jan'

Magos' Progression

Last few days have been great for getting stuck into hobby. Gotta love the winter hols! Really buzzing with this Magos.

Something really satisfying about building your own unique fig, seeeing it really come together and then coming to life as the paint starts to go down. Been a fantastic start to the new year! I've got most of the metalwork done now and have been painting kinda from the inside out. The mechandrites really had to be tackled first as they get in the way of everything and as you can see, painting the meant getting metallics on just about all of the Magos' robes so I've had to leave them to last. I wanted his face to be quite recessed within the hood to give a darker and more ominous/sinister look and character to the figure as well ala a lot of John Blanche's visions of the Mechanicus so natually that also needed to be totally painted and finished before the outer robes.
I've stuck to the livery of his Achlys III forgeworld  and the methods/techniques I used on the other members of the forge I've alreasy finished - kats, dragoon, Dominus etc. However, with the Magos, I wanted to step it up a bit so to make him stand out both as being of a higher order and also much older and more senior to the rest of the collected force, even the Dominus techpriest. I needed something the rest wouldn't have. So I settled on his chestplates as been of a more archaic and rare nature. With the rest I use brass as a trim to thier weapons and armour and don't really use any golds. Here I wanted something brassy but a bit more goldy.....So I've gone with what his chestplates and cog axe now are. Comes out as a nice old, tarnished gold effect but still sits will with the ages metals of the mechandrites and the few brass trims. Very happy with how the effect came out and was very easy to achieve. Anyways - this is where we're at the now. Thrilled with how he's coming out.

AdMech Arch-Magos

I've always really like the fluff and aesthetic for the Adeptus Mechanicus/Mechanicum that GW has produced and the work of John Blanche that so often goes hand in hand with it. The FW Mechanicum models (you'll be seeing a fair bit of them coming up in the next few months here) and now the recent GW AdMech releases are all top notch and great stuff to build and paint. Their TechPriest Dominus is probably my favourite character release of 2015. However, for the Arch-Magos, I really wanted something unique and a model that would stand above and beyond the assembled forces. No two Magi are the same and are very much their own creations as they gradually augment and replace their biological parts as they rise up through the ranks and heirarchies down the centuries - becoming more and more mechanical and more and more aloof and even isolated from their peers as they get closer to their god.
And so I looked for inspiration for my Magos and found it from one of the best kitbashers out there - krautscientist and his 'Legion' model. If you haven't checked out his work yet, then do it. He doe some really amazing and inspiring work especially in the realms of the CSM, Inquisition and of course the AdMech. The 'Legion' model uses a WHFB cairn wraith from the hunched robed look so usually associated with the Mechanicum and it works perfectly. As I say, if you haven't seen his work before - go and check it out and be inspired! The 'Legion' model can be found here https://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/meanwhile-aboard-the-arrke/  but have a look around the whole site.
Anyways - enough from me, time to get back to the brushes!

Cheers for stopping in and all the best for 2016

Jan

Enter The Magos

2016 is here and it's time to get some hobby done. Been working on a kitbash/sculpt for an Atch Magos over the last few weeks but with Christmas and that, time has been a bit short. However, finally got the big fella finished....well the build anyways!! Greenstuff parts went on fairly smoothly - those cable rollers are bloody handy! The axe haft was a bit of a pain to imprint a texure pattern on but worked in the end. Pretty happy with the result; bits from about 7 different kits/models went into him. Have a wee guess and see if you can get which ones.
Anyways - here he is - Arch-Magos Braetalan'Kot of Achyls III. Cheers for looking. Paint will be going on as soon as!

AdMech Arch-Magos Braetalan'Kot

Kats-Be-Done!

Kataphrons Destroyers finally all done. Fantastic figs but, like most of the new GW AdMech are really intircate, fiddley and highly detailed. That is not a complaint - I love all the extra detail. The sculpts are gorgeous but do require an extra element of patience, esp in the builds. I finished building a squad of Skitarii Rangers and they are just a normal squad but still so highly detailed and a touch fiddly. Gonna look awesome when I (eventually) get 'round to painting them up. The King of fiddley has to go to the Sydonian Dragoon though - holy feth that thing was somethign else to put together!!! Yeah......I want another one!

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

AdMech Kataphron Destroyers

Anyways - here's the squad of Kats. The lead one has a command carrier platform and I jumped ahead and painted the Alpha of the Skitarii Ranger Squad to ride along. Hope you like them :D

Jan

WiP Catchup 2 - Kat-man-Do!

And onto what I've been working on more recently. Adding a new squad to my Achlys III Admech force - a squad of Katraphron destroyers. When I got these tasty little fellas I remembered reading in one of the new AdMech novels from BL about a Dominus riding ino battle on the back of a Kat and decided that was a class idea and having a Kat that another fig could use as a command/transport platform was defintely the way forward. Time for some conversioning ;)

Kataphron Destroyer Conversion

Not the hardest of convs but did need a bit of fiddling. I reserved the chasis within the track units so it would jut out the front more and therefore allow for a bigger space at the back on which to build the central post(?) that the platform would be mounted (mag'd) to. The platform was then built from metal grating and thes filed and sanded lengths of sprue were bent with heat to fit around the plate shape. The underside and sides of the projecting 'bucket' into which the servitor fits need carefully cut and shaped pieces of plasticard to be made to seal it up. Magnets have been greenstuffed into all the Kats' servitor bucket so they'll be able to turn and face once painted. SO - with construction finished - onto the painting!

I started with just the lead Kat to test out how the paint scheme would work and then have a reference to paint the other two from. Needed someone to ride on the back though and the Dominus is a touch tall. When mounted on the back he does kinda take over the whole thing and it just looks a bit overbalanced. Luckily I had a box of skitarii waiting for build and paint. Skit Ranger Alpha quickly built and fits the bill perfectly~!!

 Lead Kat is mostly set. Wearing the grey armour plates of his forgeworld with the secondary blue colour on the underside of the servitors bucket and one or two other places.

For the Alpha, I inverted the usual colour scheme (you can just see I have my Sydonian Dragoon model in the background for reference) and drilled two holes into his feet into which I glued into 2 pieces if paperclip which will then attach to the magnet within the platform's post. The Skit feet are just way too skinny to allow for 3mm magnets to be used.

That done - time to paint the Alpha. His robe has been inverted to blue on the outside and grey on the inside. Markings are a fusion of cutup transfers and freehand. Happy with how he's turned out :D

The other Kats are nearly done now (all the brass takes FOREVER) and I'll pop up some finished shots when everything is done.

Cheers for looking  and C&C welcome as ever :D

Jan

WiP Catchup 1 - The Colour of Knight

 

Came into work today to find that all morning classes have been cancelled bcs of student elections - Loooooovelllyy Jubbly! My Friday schedule is a bit of a bitch so having 4 classes wiped off the board certainly helps especially considering I was woken up in the middle of the night by a fething mosquito....in novemeber.....a mosquito. Not impressed. Anyways, 'nuff of that.

 

I'm gonna use the sudden gift of a few hours of time to try adn catch up with my WiPs here and over on Dakka. Yes, yes - I'm quite sure that there are much more important teachery things I could be doing but.....:P

Anywho - first catchup is about that imperial knight I bought.....a while . Magnetising a Knight I fully magnetised the brute as these knights have so many awesome weapon loadout options, it seemed a shame to just glue on one loadout and consign the rest to the bitzbox. Origninally I dug out the places to hold the magnets by hand using some crafting gouges and awls. Since then I have got a dremel and really really wish I had bought it earlier! I've started 'wrting' some fluff to go with this Freeblade (admittedly mostly in my head!) Homemade destroyed/ravaged by Chaos due to his brother knight turning to the dark powers (future project will be building his brother, Diomedes' Chaos Knight for which I hope will come even close to the amazing conversion that Krautscientist completed - check his work out over here at  Kraut Scientist's Chaos Knight - absolutely awesome inspiring stuff. ) was rescued and taken in my the AdMech of Achlys III, whom he know fights alongside in his hope of eventual vengeance against his former brothers in arms. Sarpedon is the pilot and his engine has been rename 'Orphan's Wrath'. In thinking up a colour and heraldic scheme for the Freeblade, I wanted to give it quite a 'Greek' feel as the fluff pulls a bit from ancient Greek culture and mythology, albeit in a rather loose and twisted way. Of course as ever, I do love to sketch ideas, things and bits out as I go along. The first page of doodles I bloody lost! So I started over and the new stuff did actually come out a lot better imho!

Freeblade 'Orphan's Wrath' Heraldry Ideas

Main elements are going to be playing around with a Greek(ish) helmet, laurel leaves and the trident. The main decision though was the main colour scheme was going to involved a creamy marble scheme. Now, finding good marble painting tutorials is not the easiest of things. At all :/ However after a load of searching, reading, head scratching, swearing, reconsidering, re-reconsidering, stubborness, more swearing, a lot of coffee and a final ' fuck it - I'll give it a bash anyway' - a faux marble effect was attempted.

Here's the progress -

 

 First all lots of nuln oil to tone down the incredibly shiny leadbelcher sprayed basecoat. Then lots n lots of brass fittings and bits as that ties him in quite nicely with the scheme and style of Achlys III's forces.

 Head done first and then one of the masks ansd the cowl were painted as test pieces for the marble effect

Test painting went well, so onto carapace, greaves and leg armour plates - step 1 - basecoat then staining

Step 2 -defining the cracks

 Step 3 - softening down the whole effect

Then onto the metals

Test fit - check the look so far. Happy happy with how this is going :D

More armour plates and time for some weapons!

 

'Orphan's Wrath' - Freeblade Imperial Knight

 And that's where we're at now. He's coming along pretty nicely. Really happy with the overall look. Next week (once the Kats I'm working on are done) it'll be back to the knight for the rest of the weapons, shoulder plates and other bits. After that, decals  (not that many as I've made all my own heraldry) and a load of freehand painting!

 

 

 

 

 

An Ork, A Hobbit and A Tech-Priest Walk Into A Bar........

The ork orders one ale, the hobbit does not, the tech-priest is confused o.O
Definitely funnier in my head ;)

Anyways - some finished stuff to pop up today. The Dominus/Castellax figs'n'vig are all done and I've also finally got the GW Bilbo fig and the AOBR Warboss all done for some folk over on DakkaDakka.
Warboss was a lot of fun as it was my first ever ork to paint (how the hell have I neever got 'round to painting an ork before??!!!). Gave me a good chance to play around with metals; weathering them and so on.
Bilbo is so tiny. When he first arrived, I took one look and wondered how the hell I was going to do him justice (beautiful sculpt btw) without obscurring the seriously fine detail. Really really REALLY thin layer was the answer to that one. His clothes took about 8 or 9 layers each to do but I think he worked out pretty well. The base is all GreenStuff. He's such a nice fig I thought he deserved a base that put him in context. I wanted to give him a little private moment as he stares and grins at the one true ring so I based him as if he's in his house surrounded by books and went with a darker palette to reflect the seriousness of the moment. Anyways there we are. Hope yez like them. C&C always welcome :D

Bilbo Baggins

 

AOBR Ork Warboss

 

 

 

 

AdMech Tech-Priest Dominus Lant Dor

 

 

AdMech Castellax Battle Automata - 'Delta-17-'LostChild'

 

 

 

Tech-Priest Dominus/Castellax Battle Automata Vignette