020: Commissioned work

I need some advice, Ive been approached by someone that bidded on my ebay lot for the Cadian Sentinel and 10man squad, and he's asked if I'll accept a commission... Something I've wanted to do for ages.

He's said he wants them in the Cadian8th colour scheme so thats keeping it to what I know!

So far he's said he'd like prices per:
Valkyrie
Leman Russ
Basilisk
10 man squad

Can anyone help me attribute a value to each of these? The models are priced as follows at the moment; Valkyrie £34.25, Leman Russ £24.45, Basilisk £24.45 and 10man squad £11.75 according to the GW website.

So I've got liscence to add on the value of me building and painting those models.

So what do you think guys, how much for each???

Thanks, Craig.
ps. The sentinel and 10man squad just sold for £30 but I painted those about 3years ago and I feel my standards have gone up significantly.

019: Shopping lists

Just made an order at the BitzBox website for all this stuff. They've got so much on offer if you need odd parts. As you can see most of it is for use with my Veteran squad I have planned, some interesting head swaps will be going on, hopefully the scale of the Space Marine Scout heads are right. The Chaos Giant head is a bargain, and will be used in a decorative base of some kind. Purity seals are all going to be used on the Commissariat Command Vehicle I have planned, this is on order from when I went to Warhammer World in Nottingham when I was at the girlfriends parents (she wants me to make a note on here to show her I love her... so there you go Laura). The plasma pistols will be used in the Halan 42nd style, see http://42ndcadian.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-hate-right-hands-part-15-halan.html for more on those! And finally the Dred plates will be used in the same way as before, on Chimera and tanks... if I ever buy one.

Thoughts appreciated!

Have you done any bitz shopping recently? Any plans for the near future? Any conversions?

018: A trip to Warhammer World

The Citadel Miniatures Hall

I got myself over to Warhammer World, at last. I was staying at the Girlfriends parents last weekend and found out it was only a 20minute drive away so I popped over while she was out with the grls buying shoes. Ive got some photo's but they're all from my phone so the quality isnt great but hopefully you can all enjoy them (especially the Americans who might not ever get a chance to visit). Please comment at the end as I have a few observations and questions.

A fantastic objective marker

Does anyone know where I can get this Standard Bearer model? I really want it!

Nicely painted Valkyrie

Awesome muddy detail

Vanquisher by a Golden Deamon winner I love this tank, this is the option I would take, look at the platform at the rear, perfect for showing off you Commanders

Confermation that the Spacewolves are being worked on?

Mines of Moria in the GW Shop

Great piece of scenery

LOTR scenery - beautiful

The gaming area - huge!

So I hope you like these pics. Anyone know where to get that Standard Bearer?

017: Bitzbox shotguns: a tutorial

Im planning on making up a 5 man veteran squad, with Serg carrying a plasma pistol and power fist, and the other four guys carrying shotty's.

While carving up my second Chimera the other day I decided to keep hold of the lasguns incase I found some use for them... I didnt keep the first lot because I just though, what the hell will I use these for??

So looking at those twidly lasguns I thought, you know what? I could use those for shotguns! So what follows is the tutorial.

You take on standard lasgun from the Cadian packs. Chop off the end, the normal lasgun is shown above for comparison's sake:

Next you cut off the top 'sight' section, right back to the bumps and take the end of the sight nearest the guardsman's face off too. Top should be smooth all along now except for the bump as you can see below:

Next, take the hilt of the gun off, and remove the grippy bit that goes into the guardsman's armpit. You can throw the main part of the hilt but the grippy bit will become the pump-action part of the shotgun. Remove the Lasgun 'clip' by diagonally slicing along the clip holder, you might need to look closely to see how Iv done this:

Next you take the lasgun from the Chimera (if you've got the spare parts!!), take off the nub at the end, and cut the back end that would fit the Chimera off...

Grab yourself some glue, and stick the grip part of the lasgun onto the bottom, just below the skull, and then stick the part you removed from the Chimera's lasgun onto the end... and its done:

So what do you think? Will a small group of vet's look good toting these shotguns? Have you done a similar conversion? Please leave your comments below for us all to discuss!

016: Cadian Command HQ Boxset

I ran down to the store in Chester yesterday to pick up my new Cadian boxset; I had it delivered there so I didnt have to pay postage!

I got home and unwrapped it and I have to say Im really happy with many of the components! The parts for he medic are awesome, you could make a really nice diorama with some of the bits beacuse there's a slinged arm in there and head with eye dressing etc, so you could make a nice scene with the medic attending a wounded guardsman and use it in games as a target to rescue/capture or something?


Some of the new heads are nicely done; you've got a serg smokin a fat cigar, two guys without helmets, the one with the cap and visor is a little odd but could look good painted well... There are respirators which look great, we'll see how they fit on another time. There are loads of grenades, knifes, water bottles. The sniper model looks cool but I'll save the bits for way in the future, or maybe sell on ebay since I dont have any other snipers at the mo... Grenade launcher and flamer are as standard except with some detail on the shoulder pads (if you read my post about how Im going to paint shoulder pads from now on you'll see that this'll cause some grief for me). The Vox also has some nice extra details. There's a servitor-flying-skull thing which I will use with my Commissariat Command Vehicle.

My grievance is that (controversial moment) Im not too keen on the long coat for the officer, and since there are loads of nice torso's I was thinking I could just use one of them instead... then shock horror, I realise they havent supplied an extra pair of standard legs! I know its quite simple that you would build a sixth man if they did put the extra legs in, but what about those of us who dont like the long coat look?? Also the power fist supplied it so lame, it lacks any detail what so ever!


Anyway future plans, looking at the bits, are thus; definitely get two standard bearers out of it (since thats my name on here and ebay), use the cool torso's for two squads of Veterans Im planning; one will be a light quick close combat 5man-force with shotguns (more will follow on shotguns), they may get the respirators... and the second will be a heavily set (bags etc) 5man squad, with Serg taking a Power fist and plasma pistol, and the other 4 carrying plasma guns. The first squads Serg will be fitted with power fist and plasma pistol just the same.

Click on the images for larger verisons.
Any comments? What do you think? What will you do with all these parts?

015: Custom Chimera pt.IV (Easter edition)

Easter brings lots of chocolate eggs, and inside the boxes, the eggs are held in place by some nice smooth thin re-usable plastic! Opportunistic as I was, I cut most of the decent flat bits out and kept them to one side to use on models.

Looking back at my Chimera I could have saved so much time if Id used plasticard on the front to cover up the hole I made when removing the front vision port.

So out came the second of my Chimera; the one for my Kasrkin. I got the blade out and took off the lasgun ports as before, and the front vision port was cut out.

Then I grabbed the sheets of clear plastic from my Easter Egg boxes, cut six 1cm x 1cm squares and covered up the holes where the lasguns were, and then measured up a piece to sit just within the rivets on the front, and stuck that on. From there I had a far smoother surface than first time around to which I could apply the sarcophagus plate. On the rear I will afix more vision slits, like the first Chimera (I made the molds up last night and they're in the fridge curing at the moment).

So, what are you all working on at the moment? Any converted vehicles in the pipeline? Any comments on what Iv been doing?

Here is the side view, you should now be able to click to see an enlarged version:

-Thanks to Admiral Drax who let me know how to get the photos to enlarge when you click on them! Hope this pleases you all as it has been driving me mad recently!

014: Setting a theme for your army

The girlfriend and I took a stroll round the walls the other day; we live in Chester, steeped in Roman history and architecture. It got me thinking...

Now if you were playing an Imperial Guard army, being that it is an army of Man, what theme would you go for?

When I think about Catachan's, to me they are like Americans fighting in the Vietnamese jungles, just like Serg. Barnes and co in the Platoon movie.

When I think about the Death Corps of Krieg, I imagine them as very very German. They to me are those trench fighting WWII types.

So, what are the Cadians?

A lot of the Cadian symbols and scripture are set out as a Roman numeral/alphabet style. I like that idea. Tanks, especially the FW ones, have some Latin feel to them; Marcharius and Lucius to name jus two.

There are some flaws though in my opinion. Names for example; Ursarker Creed and Jerran Kell are two of the biggest Cadian characters, not very Latin sounding. Also, now this is the big thing that Ive been giving some thought, the shoulder pad nubering system; written in normal numbering, not Latin, surely this could be different? What follows is my proposition, and it WILL be put into action as soon as possible!

The right shoulder pad usually shows the Eye of terror (though the transfers dont really show it as an eye), thats fine by me, though some units will carry something different.

The left shoulder pad would show something like 802 or 144, squad numbers. Check out this thing I cooked up on Paint today, this is how Im going to set out my troops from now on.

As you can see, normal squads will have an Eye on the right then their troop number, eg. I or II or IV or VI etc enclosed in wings.

Veterans will replace their troop number with a skull, and a new Veteran squad number in the botom left corner of that pad in smaller writing.

Elites will replace the Eye on the right with a large VIII like I put on my Jerran Kell model. On the Left they have replaced the wings around the skull with a smaller skull either side.

Command squads will have the VIII on the right and an Aquilla on the left to show their elevated status.

JUST A NOTE:

I really do appreciate comments on my posts, let me point you all in the direction of this post: http://twilight40k.blogspot.com/2009/04/ftw-letter-to-editor.html It is so important we help encourage each other to crack on with projects and help with tips and ideas. Please see my post about selling a Cadian troop and Sentinel to help me decide how to go about selling it.

013: Custom Chimera pt.III

This is the final installment relating to the conversion of my Chimera. There will, of course, be a few posts to follow the painting of the vehicle... Im dreading it already. I always have a fear of starting to paint something!

Anyway, last time we left it where Id finished the GS molds for the vision slits. First job was the rear door. I grabbed my scale rule and a sharpie permanent marker and marked the centre of the rear door, about 1cm from the top. I got my Lock-tite glue, applied a little to the back of the vision-slit and left it for about ten seconds to start curing before sticking it onto the Chimera. If you feel like you might need to wiggle the bit around untill you're happy with its position then dont let the glue cure first, just stick it on and it'll be wet enough to jiggle into the space you want it. So, below you can see the rear door. I can honestly say Im extremely happy with the results!

Rear door with handle removed and vision slit in its place

Next up was the turret. I took my Kasrkin FW tank commander out of my heavy bolter FW turret, and closed up the hatches (after all Im looking for a compact, bulky look for this Chimera, not something with bits sticking up or out all over). I decided I would apply two vision-slits to the front sides of the turret, since there appears to be no periscope or anything of the sort, so the crew driving the vehicle could see out. I used Lock-tite and wiggled the molds up to the centre of the hooks that are on the top edge of the turret.

The FW Heavy-Bolter turret, with added vision slits

Lastly, I measured out three equal spaces on the armour I had placed over the lasgun slots and applied 3 slits to each side, basically where the lasgun slots would have been. This means the troop being transported can have some natural light and air in the back of this stuffy little vehicle.

Here you can see the fully customised Chimera in its full glory. So to recap, using techniques I had admired on Col.Gravis' website, I used a Space marine sarcophagus plate and created molds for vision slits, and I covered up the twidly lasguns with extra armour. The result is a bulkier, more solid looking transport vehicle that has that touch more character.

Please all comment, question or offer tips or advice freely! - Craig

012: Custom Chimera pt.II

So, I left the last blog at the point where Id covered over the holes I left from removing the lasguns. Next part of the project was the front of the vehicle. I mentioned that Col.Gravis was my main inspiration for parts of this Chimera and that his use of a Dreadnought sarcophagus plate on the front of his Russ (see it here http://colgravis.blogspot.com/2008/01/leman-russ-2nd-vehicle-1st-troop.html).

Id already built the Chimera as stated before, so Id already stuck the standard hatch cover on the front. This did cause a real headache. I cut my finger to shreads on the back of my scalpel while trying to remove the hatch cover, it took some serious work and I almost gave in, but eventually I got it down to the right level.

Once I got the hatch down to about level with the hull I filled in he gaps with green stuff. The gap between the upper and lower sections of the hull were filled in at this point also. Next I smoothed the back of the sarcophagus plate off so that it could be glued into place with (hopefully) no gaps. The plate cost about 20pence from bitzbox.co.uk.

The next step was simply filling any gaps around the plate with gs.

Hull smoothed with green-stuff

Chimera front with sarcophagus plate attached

Then things got more creative... I began working on the vision slits that were to be added to the vehicle. Col. Gravis provided a little step-by-step on how he'd that extra detail to his tanks, so I followed his instructions carefully. You put a little gs into a spare base, then rub some cooking oil on that to make sure its lubricated (at first I tried it without the oil and it totally ruined one of my sarcophagus plates), I then pressed the plate into the gs, leaving an imprint. I put this in the fridge for a few days testing the edges occassionally with my nail to see how hard it had set. After a few days I tried my first cast from it, making sure to oil the mold first.

The mold of GS in a square base

The first few molds were a little stretched when I removed them, I was pressing the gs in as flat as I could then having to pull them out rather than lift them out.

Eventually I got it right and after they were removed and laid out to start drying, then I rubed a little oil on my scalpel and cut them to the right size. I waited till they were dry before I thinned out the depth of the molds; some were a little on the thick side since I was trying to make sure they didnt stretch as I got them out you see!

And the final shots of how and where these new vision slits were applied can wait until next time! All comments welcome - Craig.

011: Custom Chimera

I hinted a little while ago about not liking the lasguns on the Chimera models. I think they look twidly and useless. I decided Id have a go at making a few changes to one of my models; what follows will be the entire tutorial, split over a few blogs. I managed to get a shot of almost every stage, so they'll all be included.

First off, Id just like to point everyone in the direction of my main inspiration on this project, Col. Gravis. Im sure almost everyone following my blog will follow his too, and appreciate the level of work he produces. His tanks are phenomenal, but one of the simplest conversions Ive ever seen is used to fantastic effect; a bit of green stuff molded into a vision slit! - expect plenty of these - and a Dreadnought scarcophagus plate! - expect one of these.

Right and left sides of the Chimera as existing

This is my standard Chimera, some of you will remeber from an earlier blog that I have slightly customised it already? One has the FW Heavy bolter turret and FW Kasrkin Tank Commander, along with a flag pole and some purity seals, and those Rhino headlights. This one has some Space Marine purity seals on the right front, a Space Marine Bike flag pole to the rear, and on the left side a Cadian Heavy Weapon backpack and a ladder that I made from spare handles on the Tank Accessory sprue.

So my idea was this: remove the lasguns, and the spaces they were sat in, by shaving them clean off. Obviously if I had any kind of foresight I would have done ALL of this before I built the model, but I didnt. So away I went, with a scalpel held flat to the surface, shaving away any trace of detail. Obviously the rivets were getting sliced by accident too, so I did away with them altogether.

Chimera with one lasgun slot removed

As you can see, the flag pole has been damaged slightly (I built this model about 2 years ago) so that was removed. I still like the idea, so I may yet pin vice the base and top skull and put some metal in place of the plastic pole.

The top handle on the back door... 'whats that for?' I thought, so off that came too. That was easy, left the door with a smooth finish. Now, dont be fooled, this process is hand on the fingers (my index finger on my right hand is full of cuts from pressing so hard on the back of the blade!) and time consuming!

All lasgun slots removed and smoothed off, and rear door handle removed

With these surfaces smoothed off with a scalpel, I decided to cover up with holes with a little something from the bitzbox. On the tank sprues you get a peice that (I assume) is not actually needed, you can see it below. I chose this piece over plasticard because a] I dont have any plasticard, and b] it has rivet detail already.

I cut it to a width of about 7mm (the length was perfect already). I then glued these pieces over the gaps. This left a nasty edge, so at the top this was filled with green stuff and smoothed off. I used a little cooking oil on my scalpel to get a smooth finish (gs will stick to everything unless you use some kind of lubricant). At the bottom of the piece I decided I wouldnt use any gs, it therefor looks like a panel of armour has been laid across the top of the vehicle and bolted in place, rather than trying to make it look like the vehicle is made of one smooth sheet of metal, which it clearly is not.

More pics will follow in the next post.

All comments, queries and tips welcome!