Cadian 8th Standard Bearer

059: Demolition Men

2011-08-15T13:38:00.004+01:00

Clickable pics here...

Here is a 6 man Demolition Charge squad I made up last night. Theres a Serg with the Bionic arm/Power sword, two melta's that I used the flamer arms with, took a lot of cutting, dont remember it being such a hassle when I made my veterans with meltas. Finally there are three guardsmen carrying 'Demo Charges'. I used SpaceMarine Melta bombs, but I cut the handle away from the end, filed off one side, and turned it on its side so that they dont hang so low. The two gus with guns pointing in the air are sergent laspistol arms, with the pistol cut away and las-carbines in place. It just made sense to have it that way since most of the time they'll be carrying bombs. The third guy has the slung lasgun from the command set (from Bitzbox).
All of these guys are carrying plenty of grenades, because in my original concept I saw them as crazy guys who like to blow stuff up, and imagined them having grenades slung from just about every inch of strap they could find... unfortunately you cant stick grenades to their chests because the scale is so far out of whack.
Big THANK YOU goes out to Admiral Drax for helping me out with this project. I dont play, and dont have a current codex, but wanted the squad to be 'playable' incase I ever get round to learning the billion and one rules of the game. Drax was extremely helpful, emailing back and forth with possible load-outs and configurations. Check out his blog here

058: Veteran Squad Three

2011-08-14T17:42:00.014+01:00

Lots of clickable pictures here...

Just got these guys built up, very happy with the poses. Used ForgeWorld shotgun upgrade pack and absolutely love the detail but HATED that the torso's didnt fit onto the gw legs properly, had to shave them down a little and accesorize in the right places to hide the joint.

FLAMERS - not built any before but I actually really like them. Dont like the 'heavier' flamer in the command box set, find it really tacky. One standard head, one from FW and one from the command set.

SHOTGUNS - These guys are mostly made up of the FW set.

STANDARD BEARER - I love them, I think they bring a bit of colour and character to an army, I decided to throw them into veteran squads for that very reason. Im sure theres no value to it in playing terms but its just for aesthetics! The flag is the Catachan command one, I simply cut off the bare shoulder and cut a shoulder pad to fit. And fit it did, very well if I say so myself. Love it. Head is from Catachan command too.

VOX - Didnt like these at all when I first got the army, hate the face masks the heads have in the standard set, but when the Catachan command set came out I loved this head so decided to get a few from BitzBox. Didnt have anymore shotguns either, so that was a reason to make a Vox caster. Really ke how he turned out. Had to use a body Id used when I first got the army - trying to rescue those old badly built models to save some money!

SERG - Really happy with this guy. Love that FW head and smaller plasma pistol. I like to give my Serg's a power Fist normally but I didnt have any press molds ready done and couldnt be bothered to make one up, so tried a few different arms and settled on this one. I think it works well with his walking pose, and it could be a counts-as power fist because Im sure this Serg would use his helmet to bash some skulls; "Who needs bionics!?"
Cant wait to paint these.
Also on the go at the minute is a Demo Charge squad of six, rebasing and repainting Ursarker Creed, same for the General, an rebasing and some changes on Jerran Kell. Then if I ever buy an airbrush kit I will paint my vehicles!

057: Easter Break part.IV

2011-04-27T20:36:00.009+01:00

Got the leathers done on the squad and Autocannon teams, quite happy with it. Went for a brown a bit like Ricalopia's IG. Also I want to point out, since someone asked about it in the comments, that the idea to chop the tips of the Lasguns off was inspired by Apoca6. Both those guys have increadible IG armies so please go over and check them out!
Today I spent about an hour and a half painting just one guardsman's face and hands... That is ridiculous isnt it? It was my first face in a while so it took a while to get back into it - you just cant rush these things... here he is - a member of an Autocannon team (one of the cheap pre-built guardsmen).

Next, I felt liek I really needed to see something finished since it has all been taking me to long - so I finished the Serg. He already had some paint on his skin, so I left his hands and just re-painted his face. Took a while, had to get his eyes right! Both guys have stubble through the well known method of mixing a grey in with your final skin tone. Enjoy the pics, leave a comment and ask any questions you may have!

056: Easter Break pt.III

2011-04-16T11:11:00.004+01:00

Just an update on what Im working on. As of Friday night this is how the guys are looking, just added a highlight to the armour. I used to use Catachan Green and Desert Yellow 1:1 mix but last night it just wasnt popping enough for me - the model was looking a little wishy-washy with beige and a yellowy green mixing too closely. So to make it pop a little I added 1 part Snot Green into the mix. Its really helped to give a good highlight. On more detailed models I would look to highlight through stages, but for standard guardsmen Im thinking this is enough.

055: Three week Easter Break pt.II

2011-04-15T17:48:00.004+01:00

Quick update, at end of day Thrusday this is where I was up to. I used Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey to block off all the areas that would be Catachan green, mainly because this will save me a few layers (rather than going straight onto the black basecoat with green). Some of the models had been started with DA green going up to Catachan, but I blocked those out and started again just to make sure it was all uniform. Im getting all three Autocannon teams done at once too. As you can see, the green is very flat right now but it has gone nicely onto the grey, good coverage - bar one fella who's missed half his helmet (I only realised when taking the photos). I will highlight up the green and get some nice depth and shadow to it. Here are the pics of the work so far, feeling good about getting them done and moving on in this three week break!

054: Three week Easter break

2011-04-12T20:14:00.006+01:00

Hi everyone! Its been over a year since I last posted and quite a while longer than that since I posted anything that was actually creative. Well now I am on a three week break and Im going to do my best to get some things done.

I pulled out some old models that had had a lick of paint here and there but were really put to the back of the box while I modelled my veterans. Since starting the veteran squads I totally lost interest in normal squads since they're lacking in character.

I stopped in at a few of my favourite blogs for a bit of inspiration before opening the paints and deciding what model to get going with. Hal'jin's cracking series always gets me motivated, and I decided since I was rusty I would pull out the models Im least interested in. Well, his painting guide made me fall back in love with beige fatigues (after previously deciding I was going to go with grey from now on), and so I followed his guide to get myself going again after all this time.

This is where Im up to, I managed to piece together a whole squad, and finally gave myself a reason to start painting a heavy weapon squad. I used an old Sergent I painted an age ago but Ive made some slight changes to his eyes (which I'll show close ups of when the squad is finished) and Ive restarted his faigues.

The way I used to paint, and I think the reason why I fell out with beige fatigues, was that I used way too many layers and could never see an end to the highlighting, going way OTT with detail. Instead of multiple layers of graveyard earth I started with a coat of Khemri brown foundation paint.

Anyway, here are a few pics.

The squad Im working on

The colour scheme as per Hal'jin This is one of the Autocannon squads I made ages ago, I used those cheap pre-made Guardsmen, and created a slot in the base to pop them in and out of (because I heard that if you play the game, there should be a way of distinguishing if one of the guardsmen have been killed... is that still the case?)

053: Ricalopia (IG fans must read)

2010-02-14T14:22:00.004Z

I count myself extremely lucky to have the number of followers I have. In recent months my posting has become irratic and of a low standard and I must apologise for that.

What really gets me though, is that I can sit here for hours reading other fantastic blogs who have far less follwers than me! How is it possible that people havent happened across these blogs yet? So today, I want to introduce every Guard modeller/painter/player out there to one of the best blogs I go to; Ricalopia.

Here is a link to his posts labelled as IG focussed:

http://ricalopia.blogspot.com/search/label/Imperial%20Guard

The guy running this site is a FANTASTIC modeller with literally countless amazing and innovative conversions. He is a brilliant painter with a great IG colour scheme that adapts well to every model. His force is completely diverse but all goes together brilliantly, his infantry include Necromunda, Valhallan, Mordian, Cadian, Catachan... He's also a bit of a tread head with some fantastic tanks.

Get yourselves over there and become followers of this deserving site.

If all that doesnt get your juices flowing, he has an awesome converted Bug army that he seems to be working on currently.

052: More Veterans on their way

2010-02-12T19:09:00.005Z

At the moment, I have two squads of Veterans under various stages of painting, and one squad of 'standard' Troopers.
My plans for a while now, have firstly been to finish painting Veteran Squad 1, the Standard Squad, and paint the Commissariat Command Vehicle.

So what do I do but go and but myself the ForgeWorld Hardened Veterans Upgrade set. If I'd done that in the first place I probably would have just been happy with them. I plan to use the 5 shotguns in the pack, team them with a Veteran Serg, a Vox and three flamers.

Photo from Forgeworld.co.uk, used without permission

Stupid I know, but being here in Fleetwood away from my plastics I just felt like I needed to do something hobbywise, so what is there to do but internet shopping?

051: Giveaway result

2009-10-12T19:07:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone, just to let you all know, Im not "between jobs" in the sense that many of you took it, I have got a job as a teaching assistant at my old school and it doesnt start until the second of November. Despite that, Ive really spent no time on the hobby... Ive been hitting the gym, playing squash, playing indoor soccer and a bit of golf, and in my FREE time Ive been working on the house, stripping wallpaper etc. Oh wait, I did get Serg Gideon done for the Jawaballs competition too, photo's will follow.

Anyway, the competition was succesful, thanks for the effort people. We had 28 comments and Ive gained a few extra followers!

Using random.org, the winner is...

Ace said...
Congrats!I like the GS pressed bits on your tanks, I might steal some of those ideas.

That was number 22. So if Ace could email me and let me know their choice of winnings and address then I'll send them soon!

050: GIVEAWAY!

2009-10-05T10:52:00.004+01:00

So Ive reached another little milestone in blogging; the 50th post, and so I decided it should be a giveaway!

So I will give away the bitz to make yourself a Cadian Sniper and Cadian Heavy flamer OR the Space Wolf Commander I painted, choice will be yours (remember he's magnatised so you can add all kind of ornate wolfy weaponry if you wish!)! I know its not much but I am inbetween jobs at the minute!

All you have to do is leave a comment before next Monday and I will draw a winner at random. Once the winner is drawn I'll ask you to send me your email address and I'll get your stuff sent out second class recorded!

049: Veteran Squad One (4) Plasma guns

2009-10-01T14:16:00.006+01:00

Hi everyone, I've moved back to my Mums and she's on a dial-up dongle so Im not going to be online all that often untill we can get some broadband sorted, but I thought Id come on and post my progress with Veteran Squad 1.

Here are some pics of the Plasma guns. They just need basing and the winged skull painted on their left shoulder pads.

All comments welcome as ever.

I also stripped my Creed and General plus a few others, the Creed and General have been rebased and basecoated with Adeptus Battlegrey for future work and distractions!

048: General Update

2009-09-22T15:00:00.006+01:00

Im really stuck on the vehicles I have in the Cadian 8th so far, in terms of how the hell to paint a vehicle! I cannot seem to get the hang of drybrushing - it never gives that nice dusty look you see GW achieve for me (see here), but instead I seem to get nasty brushmarks. I've been considering painting each panel with wet blending techniques, coming from black up to catachan green, then edging it with Desert Yellow, this has been looking good so far. More on painting to come at some point.

I though Id also share today the motor pool I have so far, its nothing special, with absolutely no real tanks yet - just transports and an elysian sentinel. Well, here are some pics if you're interested.As you can see, the Elysian Drop Sentinel from FW comes with the Multimelta and Heavy Bolter options that the normal GW's dont cover. I think they're both nice looking weapons and I cannot wait to paint this model!
Here are the two transports I have. At the moment the idea is that there is one for each Veteran squad. I will be removing the SM Headlights off one since I struggled forever to get more sets and now Im happy with the GS ones I've put on the hulls. Also the first in the pic will get a heavy bolter turret from FW to match.

I intend to get another Chimera if and when I ever build the Psyker squad. I also intend to get a Valk at some point for the Command/Kasrkin. Though I do have this sweet FW Kasrkin Tank commander to use somewhere.

I've just recieved an added bonus for insurance sales at work of £150 that I thought Id pump into the hobby but its come in the form of Tesco vouchers, so I'll have to see if my Mum will buy them off me!

In other news, I wasnt happy with my Creed or General anymore so I've stripped them. My intention is to do a much better job on Creed then mount him on one of a set of Resin bases I've bought off ebay for a BARGAIN price! I'll base Kell on one of these too (he needs to be re-photographed anyway since I touched him up the other month). My intention with the General is to paint him up in beige long coat, purple waist scarf and black armour... so that he is the overseer of my Psyker squad! I just think Ive got so many other options for HQ models that I should put him to better use. I have stripped the old medic, injured guardsman, melta's and plasma models I had too as I was really unhappy with the blobby paintjobs Id done on those. I dont know If I'll ever repaint the plasma guy as I never really liked the sculpt.

Another thing to update is, when you look back at my older posts, some of the stuff has been flogged. I got rid of the old Cadian sentinel and the first painted squad on ebay, along with the two Officers from the post with Creed in. I bought the officers with powerfists instead but havent painted them yet.

Finally, we're edging closer to the 50th POST which will have a nice GIVEAWAY as thanks for all the followers Ive accrued so far!

047: Commissariat Command Tank (2)

2009-09-19T14:22:00.006+01:00

So Ive finally decided to stick with load out as provided by FW but I appreciate your comments about the Multi-melta I built so I'll paint that up when I do the whole thing and then see how it looks. I need to drill out the flamer on the hull to match the main one, and Ive yet to dd more purity seals to the back portion of the track's side armour, around 4 or 5 seals on each side. Ive got some better pics now, see below. Thanks for comments on the GS by the way, I think I mentioned they're just press-molds from some cities of death scenery... even the lights!

*click for larger versions*

046: Commissariat Command Tank (1)

2009-09-16T14:06:00.013+01:00

*PICS NOW CLICKABLE*
Well Im in a dilemma here, I have custom-built a multi-multi super duper Melta for the tank, but I think its too hefty now. I also custom made a heavy flamer for the front because the one supplied is out of date so to speak (when you compare it to the look of every other flamer produced by GW these days).

The problem is I dont want it to be grotesquely over the top like some Commissar Tanks out there, I want it to be a little more understated while upholding most of the attributes this kind of tank should have: purity seals, gothic architectural styling, flamers to purify etc etc.

So here are the pics with its original load-out and the ones I custom made that I am no longer keen on.

Please let me know which you'd go for.

045: Veteran Squad Two (2)

2009-09-10T14:29:00.008+01:00

Some quick snaps on my way back home for a few days so no updates till at least Monday. As discussed a while ago, I decided to give them their own Standard - partly because I love painting them, partly because armies with loads of flags look awesome, and partly because this blog is called the Cadian 8th STANDARD BEARER. The guys with lasguns will all be given a basic GS rucksack similar to those on the guys with plasma's in Squad 1.

Let me know what you think! ... Sergeant is definitely my favourite, obviously, but the Standard will come out real nice when I paint them.

044: Veteran Squad Two (1)

2009-09-09T16:09:00.008+01:00

Wow Im posting frequently, you can tell this is my week of working 9-1's.
I got bored of painting my first lot of Vet's, and I wanted to build something. I was going to work on the Commissariat vehicle but realised Id left it at my Mum's house while Im here in the Misses' gaff.
Anyway here is a pic or two of the new Veteran Sergeant I made instead - less decorated than the first; no Power sword (the Catachan backpack I was thinking of using looked awful), no peaked hat, no gorget round his neck, and no side arm pistol.
Hope you like him, I think he's awesome. Leave comments!

Oh and finally, here's a shot of my mini desk as Im working on them: Thanks for looking!

043: Painting Competition Photo's

2009-09-08T17:50:00.011+01:00

Remember a while ago I said I was entering some painting competitions in my local GW, well here is the Space Marine Commander model that I entered. All the guys bar one in the shop said I should have won. The one guy that didnt seemed to rule the roost in excluding me because I'd used bits that dont come from the box. I wouldnt mind but I was there the day they decided upon the model and helped them choose, with all of us saying "you could do some really nice conversions with him too!"... oh well.
He's got magnetised weapons options, though I couldnt be bothered to paint the other options yet - I'll do them if I sell him maybe.
Here are the pics:

I dont love the job I've done on him by any means, there are lots of things I'd change now even though I only did him a few months ago... for example I'd get some wet blending on there and definitely do his power sword different! Favourite part for me is either the cloak detail or the weathering (that I got the idea from at Grey_Death @ REINFORCEMENTS).

Any questions about painting techniques please ask. All comments are, as usual, fully welcomed whether positive or negative!
Also, I dont want to keep hold of this model so I might stick him on ebay unless any readers want him? If so just email me direct; boselecta@hotmail.co.uk

042: Veteran Squad One (3) Sergeant Finished

2009-09-07T20:39:00.010+01:00

I've basically finished the Sergeant now... I'm so slow! All thats left is his base. If you look back at the last post on him, you'll see some differences. Here are some pics of him. I'll make them clickable to enlarge. Let me know you comments, criticisms and anything else you want to say!

As an added bonus on this post, I've noticed that so far there has been a complete and utter absence of any photo's of Space Hulk's librarian model on the web. In the books I found just the one photo so for those who havent seen it, here he is:

And finally, I know I mentioned doing a monthly update but I'll just scrap that idea; its not worth the effort with how slow I paint!

041: Im so weak... Space Hulk

2009-09-05T14:09:00.002+01:00

So I'll probably remove this post in a bit, but I just thought Id tell you I caved and bought the Space Hulk game with some of my birthday money.
My misses has agreed to give me a game and since I was working this morning she went in a picked it up for me and has text me to say its very heavy!
I cant wait to get it open. Does it seem wierd that Im willing to get this and learn to play it despite the fact Ive never played a game of WFB or 40k in my life?! I just thought Id give it a whirl at last.
Now, Im obviously going to paint the lot, but how should I go about this? I know they're clearly Blood Angels and the iconography shouldnt be removed, but is there any other paint scheme I could go with or a different spin I could put on it?

Comments appreciated!

040: Veteran Squad One (2) Serg near complete

2009-08-25T17:24:00.007+01:00

Hey. Im off to Egypt for a week tomorrow morning so before I go I thought Id share a quick shot of the Sergeant of the first lot of Veterans I made. He's near complete... at the bottom of the post you can read whats to be done if it interests you and some other notes on the painting. What do you think of the pieced together head?

For more on the Veterans and the idea's behind the colour scheme and shoulder pads - click on the tag at the bottom of this post.

Here he is anyway. He's probably taken about 3 and a half hours already!

Comments, suggestions and criticism are welcome.

The work as it progresses: Skin is nearly done but will get some more highlights and maybe some stubble... not sure yet (what do you think?). His eyes dont have black dots yet which you'll notice if you click the image. You can see the edge of my freehand shoulder pads here too. His plasma pistol will have blue/white energy glow. His gorget hanging on his chest will be done in NNM like the bit on his grenade. His mike needs doing yet as does the sword on his backpack. His leather pouches are done in a nice light colour almost akin to that of his hat (which he's stolen off a superior officer... thats why its beige and not grey like the rest of his uniform). The grey goes from Adeptus Grey with a black wash up through Ad grey, Codex grey and into Fortress grey - this was done with layering as oppose to the green armour which was wet blended. The idea with the lighter pouches was to brighten the model up, but its also in line with GW's idea that your models should have three main colours, and then everything else is ok in little amounts. The backpack is black and will stay that way but I didnt shoot him from behind yet. Boots will be black. Idea's on whether his sword handle-tip should be gold or silver would be appreciated?

Also, I've just had my Birthday presents off the Misses; she got me some hobby related stuff - a Citadel carrycase and a new 10megapixel digital camera... Im still playing round with it but this shot was done on it.

039: GW Terrain and an update

2009-08-20T23:27:00.007+01:00

Remember I was looking at terrain a few weeks ago and saying I should get into it, well check out how the GW staff are getting on with that gaming board for games day UK. It looks amazing!!

Below is a shot of a city wall made from "dozens of Bastions"... incredible.

You can see the whole lot here.

Progress on the Veterans is slow. I sprayed them with grey primer from a Car workshop store, UK readers read 'Halfords'. I usually use their Matt black spray but find every so often it comes out dusty, so I thought after 3 years of the same one Id try something new. It hasnt impressed me. It has taken about 5 coats of catachan green on the armour just for it to cease giving me see through streaks!!! On the fatigues I went straight on with Adeptus battle grey which obviously was a one coat application, but then I needed to create some shading so for the first time ever I washed it over with black. Not sure how its going to turn out but thats where I am now so I'll start layering up to codex grey at the next painting oppotunity. Also I picked up my metal melta guns from the store that I ordered direct into the shop to save paying their ridiculour delivery charge, so once the first batch are finished I can start a second Vet squad.

Just a quick querey, on my guard I usually paint them with beige fatigues, green armour and black for the leather accesories, but since Im going with grey fatigues do you think I should contrast the leather accesories a bit, with a light brown for instance?

As usual please leave your thoughts!!

038: I WON!! and more...

2009-08-14T22:50:00.002+01:00

Hi guys, just a quick note tonight to fill you all in on some bits and pieces.

Firstly, I won the 5th give-away at Santa Cruz Warhammer. I was so suprised! I read the post late on and was thinking... 44 comments already, Ive no chance, but as they say you cant win if you dont buy the ticket, so I put down my comment and hey presto I'll have some sweet bases coming my way that I think I'll save for some classic Bretonnian models I have!

Second, I recently added a "What Im doing now" feature at the top. This means that while I dont have time to post I still feel like Im doing something with the blog by popping a comment on there every so often. While I dont like it that you cant comment on that, I hope that if you have comments on what I put there you just put them on the most recent post.

Thirdly, I want to show my support to the Imperial Guard enthusiast's spot that is The Parade Ground, run by Col.Corbane. Im putting a link to it in my sidebar, and I just to say thanks to Corbane for any extra visitors Ive had since he put me on there upon tPG's conception!

If anyone has any comments on any of this please feel free to slap them down below!

037: Veteran Squad One (1)

2009-08-04T15:10:00.018+01:00

Hey guys, some pictures today, thats right, finally an update on something Im doing. This is the Veteran squad now finished (nearly), with just a little bit of GS gap filling to do and then they'll be primed and I'll start painting them up.

First off, the Plasma Gunners. I began using the technique as suggested by Hal'jin, then I made some slight changes. I used the guage from the Vox backpacks on the front of the plasma guns so that the men could power up or power down, using is as a twisting knob. From that the wire would go round the back into the backpack. Now the backpack was an interesting idea Id had for ages and wasnt sure how Id do it at first. Id looked at the spare heavy weapons on my sprues and decided Id use some sections of them as backpacks. Eventually I settled on using part of the missile launchers! Lots of serious cutting of fingers went on here, they were very difficult to get into the shape you see here! The rucksacks themselves are press-molds I made from the Medic backpack in the command squad sprue, with the symbol shaved off, they didnt come out great but once painted should look right. All the vets have bedrolls made from flattened GS too.

These next three has shotguns I made from the Chimera bits that you can see in past posts. One has a Catachan heavy weapon head. They all have rucksacks and bedrolls. All the vets have extra pouches and bits and pieces. All have neckerchiefs also.

Next lot are shotguns wielding vets also. One has a head swap from the Command sprue. Usual trimmings here. Im really happy with the poses of all the vets.

Then finally its Serg, he's had the cap from the tank commander sliced off and put onto the head of the serg that comes with the standard troopers. Go well together I think, just a little gs gap to fill now. His left arm is the chainsword arm and hand, with the plasma pistol added on. He's got a pistol from the tank set. His back pack is from the Catachan Command or heavy weapon sprue, I cant remember which, I bought it from Bitzbox.com. The arm with the power fist was cut off near the shoulder pad so that I could have his arm by his side. I also didnt like the way the command squad power fist went up to the elbom, so I cut that away, put a pin in there and now I'll GS that to look right!

And thats it. Hope you enjoyed these photos, leave me some comments if you like!

036: Terrain... I should get into that really

2009-07-30T23:05:00.004+01:00

Hey people. Quick one tonight, I just love terrain, I love looking at it and I love scale models. Problem is, I dont own even ONE BIT of terrain! Anyway, I was just skipping through the GW website when I came across these shots of an amazing city-scape and I thought I would share it with those who might not have seen it! I think the blend of the landing pad on the imperial city is awesome, and though I dont play the game still, I will one day Im sure and when I have my own house and a hobby room, Ill be creating a board like this!

Here's the link: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/blogPost.jsp?aId=2900019a

035: General Update

2009-07-28T22:40:00.007+01:00

I saw on Terran Forge that the authors were going to do a bi-monthly update of where things were and their overall progress. I thought this was a great idea, but since progress with me is slow, I thought Id do one around the end of every month. Now the idea behind this update is simply to list all projects in the works, and colour them according to where progress is; here is the key (minus their "work in progress" since anything unfinished is surely work in progress guys! But instead theres "Built"):
Fully Painted
Painting in Progress
Primed
Built
Not built/Still on sprue

Guard Army
Ursarker Creed
Jerran Kell - Just been touched up for entry in my local GW 40k competition
Metal Command Squad
Metal Melta and Plasma
Commissar
Commissariat Command Vehicle (partially built)
Plastic Command Squad

Hardened Veteran Squad 1 (Shotguns, Plasma's)
Hardened Veteran Squad 2 (Laspistols, Melta's and Melta Bombs)
Psyker Squad
Kasrkin Squad + Plasma and Melta options + Chimera Transport

Autocannon Squad
Mortar Squad

Serg, Vox, 8 troopers (inc Grenade Launcher)
Serg, Vox, 8 troopers (inc Grenade Launcher)
Serg, Vox, 8 troopers (inc Flamer)
Chimera Transport

Elysian Drop Sentinel x 1 (intention to make this upto a squad of three!)

So, as you can see, plenty of built things taking up storage space and nothing really painted in quite some time!! I need to get cracking, but this kind of post will motivate me to see some different colours appearing.
Next post will be either the touched up (improved) Kell, or shots of the Space Marine Commander Im entering into a competition.

As ever, thoughts and comments are appreciated!

034: Competition Entries

2009-07-25T19:09:00.004+01:00

Ive decided to enter a painting competition at my local GW. I went in, with my Jerran Kell at the ready, to enter what I had told was going to be an open competition for any kind of model from any game etc etc, but the assistants then told me they were thinking of doing a monthly competition, where everyone buys the same model, paints it that month, then the winner (as voted for by the staff) choses the model for the next month, and everyone paints that and so the circle continues, with the winners model being displayed in the cabinets each month. While there, on the 12th, the store assitants were asking my ideas on what the model should be, playing around with the idea of Empire Wizzards etc, but we eventually all agreed on the Space Marine Commander model; most gamers will have a SM army, and everyone could use the spare bitz elsewhere (and it was £12 or under). So the competition is running from the 13th to 13th each month.

I decided to be clever with mine, so Ive already put him on a 40mm base instead of the standard one supplied, and Ive magnetised his left shoulder to home either sword, chainsword or lighting claw, and Iv magnetised the right wrist to hold either the storm-bolter, plasma-pistol or bolt-pistol.

To be even cleverer, in line with the new releases... I decided he would be a Space Wolf commander. Now I havent given him a head swap as its such a busy model already, but the backpack is Wolfy with a tail hanging off, and the colour scheme will be such etc etc. Im going to go with dark red ropes across him with gold chest plate beneath, gold heraldry on shoulder pads, with obviously somekind of wolfen leaders symbol. Im going to green stuff on some teeth hanging from leather on him somewhere like Ive seen Big Jim do on galaxyinflames.

Can anyone suggest a Character I could give him, in the sense that I know certain "big names" in the Space wolves have their own shoulder symbol... has anyone got any handy links for me to check out what symbol I might use??

I dont know about the colour yellow on him so I might just avoid it like the plague and use gold tones instead, and the cloak will have some kind of celtic design around the edge in gold over a dark red cloak.

All your thoughts are greatly appreciated on this!

After all this, I went back in today to pick up some paint and the guys said they are doing the open competitions after all in a Golden Deamon style. Im going to enter Jerran Kell but I want to redo his power sword first... that needs to be entered by this coming Wednesday. Then the following Wednesday me and the misses are entering our Bretonnian Knights we've been painting together into the WFB category! PHOTOs WILL FOLLOW!

033: Commissioned Female Commissar

2009-07-23T13:48:00.006+01:00

The second of the commissions I took on included the rare chance to paint up a female commissar. The client and I went back and forth with idea's, I asked if he'd like to try something a little less traditional, with the idea of some purple thrown in instead of red, amongst other things. We settled on the traditional colours though, and then made her a little more unique by using NMM's. Im really happy with the way her laspistol turned out in particular, my golds look great to me, but I think my grey/silvers need to improve still. She took around 4 hours to complete (minus me having to strip some crap paintwork from a previous painter and re-spray).

So, as usual comments are welcome, what do you think? Apologies that the photos arent up to much, I rushed them a little!

She's far from perfect but she suits the price that was agreed I think.

032: Commissioned Ratlings

2009-07-16T15:07:00.011+01:00

It feels good to be back, still not got the internet at home but Im in the Uni library once again and today I have pictures!

Without any rabbling on, here are the pics. Im happy with how they turned out, they can play on either an urban or rural board and always look the part. I used Desert yellow on their fatigues, a few spot of Catachan green (arm bands, etc) and shades of grey.

Favourite detials would be the Batenburg cake they've got in their bags, and favourite model would be the one in the cloak... so what do you think? There are five here some have front and back shots just to show details, hopefully they're all clickable for larger versions!

031: Colour scheme decisions

2009-06-12T11:47:00.005+01:00

So after much deliberation, and thinking about everyones comments gratefully, Ive decided that the colour scheme of my army will be Hierarchical in a sense, which suits guard.

Conscripts will be grey fatigues, green armour, white stripe helmet.
Troopers will be grey fatigues, green armour.
Veterans will be grey fatigues, green w/camo armour and beige neckerchief.
Stormies will be beige fatigues, green w/camo armour.
Officers + will be beige fatigues, green w/gold trim armour.

Loyal to the basic colour scheme of the Cadian VIII, but with enough of a twist to be unique...

THANK YOU for the comments on the last post, they really helped!

So what do you think? Please leave comments below!

030: Hardened Veteran Paint scheme

2009-06-11T12:23:00.003+01:00

As an after-thought, here Ive changed the pic to now show grey/camo mixed. Ive also added the neckerchief that all my Veterans will be wearing.

Here are my idea's for the Veterans... I still really like the grey that Ive discussed before, but I went into Chester GW the other day and one of the guys there had put his army in the cabinet, and his Veterans used the camo pattern from the Kasrkin models... I really digged it and tried it out the other night.

Both models looked good in their own ways, the grey is so much more realistic and grimey, but the camo pattern really defines the Vets...

The grey is SO QUICK, I literally bashed out the test mini in a matter of minutes, while I know that the beige pattern I usually use takes quite a few coats and an awful amount of time to blend nicely. Im thinking of using the grey for all standard troops now... and then this new camo for the Veterans, which would then blend up through the Karskin eventually being the same, and the higher the rank the more likely they are to wear the beige (less likely to get dirty) because Iv already got my Ursarker Creed, Jerran Kell and a general painted in that beige... what do you think?

Comments appreciated greatly, and dependant on what people think, I may open a poll on this.

Please comment, I NEED YOU to help me decide on this one, oh great blogging community!

029: POLL results and update

2009-06-08T13:24:00.006+01:00

So, the resuts are in. It was great fun seeing spikes and dips in votes for certain things, and the comments for the winning choice - To paint the Hardened Veterans - really explained things well...

Im seriously lacking any infantry of any kind. In fact, as I mentioned in a comment, I even sold the one squad I had finished, along with a Cadian sentinel in order to fund a new Elysian sentinel... which hasnt happened!

Anyway, before I can get on with painting the Vets, I've been given two commissions, one is painting ten new Ratling models, and the other is the same, plus a female commissar!

The ratlings arrived from one guy a few days ago, and oh my god what a mess. The amount of mold stem/lines there are to clean up is unbelievable!! I sat down last night when I got back from my weekend in Nottingham, and it took around 15minutes just to get one model cleaned down!

Also, the vet squad isnt complete yet, Im working on the Plasma gunners when I get a free minute and I havent got any wire to connect the backpacks to the guns! Other than that they're almost good to go.

So look forward to plenty of updates about the commissions and then the Vets when the time comes!

028: POLL - What to do next

2009-05-31T21:33:00.003+01:00

Ok guys, so Uni officially finishes for me on Tuesday evening, I'll be working 20 hours a week as I do now, so I'll have a lot more time on my hands.
I've opened a poll at the top of the side bar on the right, for you to vote on what I should do next.
Hopefully everyone that follows the blog will stick their vote in!

027: A half century of followers

2009-05-31T15:09:00.004+01:00

Well as the Cadian 8th has passed its quarter century of posts it has also hit a half century of followers!

(There have really been a lot more posts than that but I delete the ones that are chit-chat and not solely about my progress)

Just a quick note to say that I'm very privileged by the interest people show in my work, and very grateful for all the supportive comments and advice the readership offers.

There have been many really inspirational blogs out there Ive read since becoming part of these blogging communities, and almost everyday I'll get on here and check the blog updates and comment on as many posts as I can (though I tend to avoid battle reports!), and I love it when the followers comment on my work as it keeps me content with my army, keeps me plugging away at the hobby, and by writing up and shooting my work it gives me a reason to get on with it, because I want to see what you all think!

Well anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to this community of blogger's we're in and thank you again to those of you that take time out to comment my progress!

Thanks, Craig

026: Psyker Squad

2009-05-30T14:46:00.011+01:00

So at first I didnt much like the idea of a 'Psyker squad', and seeing how everyone was imagining them as scruffy pilgrims with untidy robes etc I just thought they werent for me; I like tidyness, formality, etc.

Then, over at 42nd Cadian (a brilliant blog) I saw Haljin's 'Overseer' model. I thought, now that guy looks snappy, smart, proud, intelligent... what a great model and great pose. After a few late nights of thoughts running over and over in my head I decided I wanted to do something simlar.

Another time, browsing the blogosphere I found Col.Gravis' 'Adeptus Psykana'. Again, I loved the model dispike not liking the sculpt previously, but the way Grav painted it was really inspiring something in me and I thought, "know what? Im gonna do a psyker squad after all!"

The way Haljin had done the staff's for his guys made me think of an Inquisitorial army Id seen somewhere, and the amazing Space Marine models in the gallery over at Scibors Monstrous with their great weaponry on staffs.

Anyways here are the sketches Ive done for my planned Psyker Squad, they're by no means great but you can see the elements of inspiration.

There is the visor with blue glow from behind just like Col.Grav, the robes crossed with shoulder pads and armour like on Haljin's overseer, and the staff's from whereever I came up with them in my subconscience.

You can see from the sketches I have the idea of a purity seal attached to the back of the chainsword that would wrap down the handle with inscriptures of the chants they'd use.

Here is a mock up of what I'll use. I've got spare halberds from my Bretonnians that suited nicely, chopped the chainsword off from the handle and pin viced the base of it, then literally slid the staff inside and it held tightly! All I'd need to do next is cut the hand away and attach it so whatever arm I choose for the squaddies.

025: Veterans

2009-05-26T13:22:00.013+01:00

On the workbench for some time now, have been a ten man squad of veterans. Being built so far are the Sergeant, and 5 guardsmen with shotguns. Obviously the shot gun tutorial has been and gone with part.I seeing them built out of Chimera bits (http://cadian8th.blogspot.com/2009/04/017-bitzbox-shotguns-tutorial.html) and part.II showing them being fixed onto a model as a test, and needing some further changes to make them suit the scale (http://cadian8th.blogspot.com/2009/05/023-shotgun-tutorial-ptii.html). In those posts, glimpses could be caught of the Vets as they are being assembled.

So here is a shot of some of them, without heads, because as noted in my post about the theme of my army (http://cadian8th.blogspot.com/2009/04/014-setting-theme-for-your-army.html), they will have neckerchiefs added in a Roman-esqu style made out of GS, then the heads will be fixed on. As for arms, they're needing to be selected to get the right poses and time is short at the minute (haha no exaggeration; I have an exam at 4.30 today). Once the arms have been chosen to suit the poses they'll need the shotguns attaching. Im also leaving them off because I intend to paint every milimetre of these guys, not just skimp on some black area behind the guns... the armour is nicely sculpted and they deserve painting!

So without further-a-do, here is a shot of the Vets so far.

You can see the left-most guardsman has a head from the Cadian HQ set, and has arms afixed. He was my test model, if you look closely he has GS pouches, a GS neckerchief, a sleeping mat and bed roll, and you cant see it but his backpack was the double pack that comes with the tank accessories, cut in half and filled with GS to fit him properly (yeah I ran out of backpacks from the Heavy Weap crews).

The sergeant is in the middle, he's got tank commander legs, so it looks like his top is tucked in rather than under the belt. Serg also has the gorget (is that what its called?) afixed to his front, from the HQ set again, and a pistol holster. You can see they all have extra pouches, sourced from random places like the tank sprue's commander half in/half out of the top hatch (I just sliced them off him and trimmed them to fit these guys), these extra pouches and backpacks give the feel that these guys have so much extra equipment, being Vets, they dont know how long they'll be in battle or what tasks they may be set.

You may note, all the legs used for the shotgun guys are pretty mobile looking. The three plasma guys that are to come will look far more static, since they're using heavier machinery and probably couldnt run and fire like these lighter equipt guys can.Cannot wait for my exams to finish so I can crack on with these guys properly!

Any comments please put them down. Also any negative feedback? Im not overly sensitive so just stik it on here and tell us all your thoughts!

024: Interactive Imperial Guard painter!

2009-05-22T13:02:00.009+01:00

...kind of.

So I was browsing the net after remembering that GW had done an interactive IG painter ages ago. It seems they've taken it off their site, so a google search led me to where someone was showing off their colour scheme from abouta year ago... so I saved that onto my pc.

I then saved it int 16bit colour - it was a jepg before so it had gone blurry.
I then began to white it all out... this took a while and yes, I am sad for doing it. BUT here you go, anyone thinking about a new colour scheme for guard, especially the new players out there can save this pic below and then save it as a 24bit file, and paint it up how ever they like! Its not perfect but its indicative if you're playing with ideas in your head and just want to get something on screen quickly.
And so the whole point of it all, my new colour scheme... Still going to be calling them the Cadian VIII but the Veterans will be first to get this darker scheme. I think it will make them stand out as different, but if I really like it I'll go all out and do the whole army like this.

I recently bought that Basecoat paint from GW called Adeptus Battlegrey, so doing them up like this wont take long at all; one coat of Adeptus with highlights through to codex grey should get them to a nice standard!

So what do you think? Any general problems with me still calling them the VIII? Prefer the old or new scheme? Please comment!

Also check out the last post about the changes to the Shotguns and a glimpse of my Vets WIP.

023: Shotgun Tutorial pt.II

2009-05-21T22:03:00.001+01:00

Its been a while since Ive done any decent posting, but with the last few essays of my University life out of the way and 3 exams to revise for, I've found a little time inbetween to get this post in.

Well, I hope you all remember the shotgun post I did a while ago (see it here: http://cadian8th.blogspot.com/2009/04/017-bitzbox-shotguns-tutorial.html), it seemed a resounding success with fantastic comments (thank you all for that) and I loved the final product I came up with.

However, whilst assembling some veterans recently, I came to fit the shotguns onto the models and found that they're just too big! They looked smaller than the lasguns in the photo's Id taken but it seemed that when I went to attach them to the standard cadian arms, the gun butt meant that the shotguns were longer than planned and looked completely out of proportion.

A shot of a WIP vet with the out of proportion shotgun
-

So, here we are today, with part two of the shotgun tutorial:

First, snap off the Chimera part from the shotgun we built. Then take your exactoblade and cut out the entire centre peice of the shotgun (all that lost detail pains me). Then snap the butt plate we'd used as pump action grip off the base of the part we cut out. Reattach it to the Chimera part from earlier.
Then reattach the Chimera part to the gun part, and voi-la, one short n stubby shotgun that fits the scale just right.

If you want to add extra detail, you can put some cooling holes in the sides just like the old GW shotguns have (check out the old Lieutenant model I saw on ebay below). I did this with the rounded file that comes in the GW file set, I literally just pressed into where I wanted a hole pretty hard and twiddled it round till I knew it would show up nicely when painted.

And there you go, the finished result and a sneek peek at one of my WIP Veterans.

So have you started any conversions for your IG army recently? Any great weapon swaps or posts you want to stick a link for on here? What do you think of the new stubbier shotgun - did you prefer it before?

022: Update

2009-05-10T23:03:00.016+01:00

Hi guys

I just wanted to say that Im really sorry I havent posted anything of any decent material in quite a while; Ive been working on two essays that are now due in the next two weeks (about 5000 words in total left to do) and Ive 3 exams coming up.

Just recieved the order I placed over in Warhammer World (so that I got free delivery from Forgeworld), it is the Salamander Command Vehicle. You may have noticed some of my plotting in previous posts in anticipation of recieving this pack. The plan is to convert/customise it as a Commissarriat (how do you spell that??) command vehicle. A look at the pack is making me think I may not be able to fit a servitor on the back along with the Commissar as planned, but we'll see as it was something I was looking forward to doing.

The 10 man squad Ive been painting is steadily collecting dust, and the Command HQ box set is being used primarily for parts for vet's (yes those shotguns I made are being used). So can someone tell me before I mess up, how many Plasma's can I take at a maximum in my veteran squad? Is it definitely three as someone commented before? Though if I have three, with 6 shotgun boys and a serg, is it right that I can also replace two of the shotgun boys with a Heavy Wep?

You can see here three stages of painting, the first is catachan green and graveyard earth, second has a coat of commando khaki and the third guy has white details and skin finished. No highlights added yet so the blacks look dull and armour is bland... I'll get them finished before they're totally covered in dust!

Also, how would it look if they had their own standard... you know, that shot-up grizzly looking one that comes in the HQ set? And if I did do a standard for them, could he take a plasma pistol in the other hand? Is that playable? You all know I dont play yet but one day Im sure Id like to, so the army does need to be set out in an organised playable fashion.

Last thing to report is that Ive heard more off the guy that wanted to commission me, so news on that will follow as soon as he's sent the gear over!

The veterans as they're coming along. You can see some gs work for the neckerchief and extra pouches. The backpacks on two of these guys were made by cutting the double backpack from the tank accessory sprue and adding other accessories and gs sleeping quilts etc.

Hope someone can answer my questions, and any comments please feel free to chip in!!

Craig

021: Bitz Box order

2009-05-02T15:58:00.003+01:00

I recieved my Bitzbox order today and I have to say Im very happy with the service; everything is there in the right quantities and it came through so fast!

The Space marine scout heads I ordered look great and I cannot wait to use them on my Veteran squad! They fit the part so well with their extra technology and helmet-less-ness. I think the two sniper heads I ordered will look brilliant as Plamsa-gunners. I have bought a shed load of purity seals ready to convert my Commissariat Command Vehicle (when it arrives... 4-6 weeks delivery! Forgeworld is SLOW). There are a few goodies in there for tank conversions... more dreadnaught plates. Also Ive ordered 5 plasma pistols so that I can do some conversions a-la 42nd Cadian Halan Pattern plasma guns (check out Hal'jin's awesome conversions here http://42ndcadian.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-hate-right-hands-part-15-halan.html).

Sorry my posting hasnt been upto much lately but I do get carried away with posting rather than PAINTING, so recently Iv tried to focus and in my spare time paint a 10man squad. It coming together nicely and I'll get some shots of it soon.

Any queries? Anything you're working on at the moment similar to my plans?

020: Commissioned work

2009-04-30T23:37:00.003+01:00

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

2009-04-30T00:35:00.004+01:00

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

2009-04-26T15:15:00.018+01:00

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

2009-04-23T14:37:00.014+01:00

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

2009-04-23T13:56:00.010+01:00

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)

2009-04-15T13:58:00.008+01:00

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

2009-04-14T20:38:00.005+01:00

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

2009-04-10T12:59:00.009+01:00

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

2009-04-06T22:54:00.012+01:00

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

2009-04-05T15:22:00.015+01:00

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!

010: Vox Casters

2009-03-31T21:30:00.017+01:00

Below you can see my 3 Vox models, I decided I didnt really like the Vox Caster heads that come as standard, I mean I know they're SUPPOSED to have those boxes stuck to their faces but I thought, if they have a speaker piece of some sort, wouldnt that do? So, using the tank accessory sprue, I got the head with visor and two of the plain heads.

I also really love the tank commander legs that come with the sprue; so two of these mini's get those legs. It makes sense to me that if they were recieving or giving orders they would probably be static, so those two with the straigh legs are at ease in their poses.

The other Vox looks more mobile, I had the idea when building these that one of my troops would purely utilise the legs taking great strides or running, just to make it look like they were running as a unit together.

PRIMED MODELS

I honestly wont even show you the WIP shots because, like Jerran Kell, it was so close to the finished product anyway!

Below you can see the finished models, painted in the usual colours. You might notice the first has the tank commander upper body, thats because the model was really just an extra, I already had enough Vox's and was really just using up some bits from the bitzbox.

VOX 1 - Static/at ease

VOX 2 - Mobile unit

You can see on this one that I forgot to shave the flashing off his head! So gutted when I see it all finished now and it's so obvious. Oh well, we learn from our mistakes.

VOX 3 - Static w/visor

This last one is definitely my favorite. I bulked out his shoulders a little with Green stuff, I think it shows; he looks pretty broad. I did it so that I could get the right pose holding the binoculars. I also removed and twisted the hands on both arms to get him holding things the way I wanted. I think the highlight on this one is a little more extreme than the others but I like the way he looks to be honest and Im really happy with the way the visor turned out; red is a good look!

All comments, thoughts and suggestions welcome as always!

Craig

009: Jerran Kell

2009-03-30T14:33:00.015+01:00

Like I said in the last blog, I really wanted to give a guide through the stages and layers it takes me to finish a model to the standard I can produce at the moment, but the Mrs. Standard Bearer tok the camera back to hers and so I've only managed a post priming photo and one just before the finishing straight.

POST MATT BLACK PRIMER

After It was primed I got to work with a watered down chaos black and filled in any uncovered metal.

Clothes: The first stage of painting was a decent layer of graveyard earth to all the cloth, this was followed by graveyard earth/commando khaki over the more raised sections, then some watered down commando khaki over that, in a few layers as to built up a gradual-ish shading.

Armour: Second, I painted over all armour with 2pt water 1pt DA green, leaving some recesses black. This was covered by a watered down DA green/catachan green mix on all raised areas and then a watered down catachan green over that, again picking out raised areas for shading, but leaving almost no DA green showing (from now on when I say what colour I used assume it is watered down, unless otherwise noted... It is SO important to water down GW paints to get smoother lines and avoid blobby paint jobs!) the highlight on armour is catachan green with desert yellow, Id say 1:2 ratio (especially if you want it to stand out from maybe 2ft).

Sword, etc: This was painted in codex grey over the black primer. Several highlights were added using white mixed in a bit at a time.

Gold bits: I used Bronzed flesh on all the gold areas (as Ive previously stated I do with the banners)... NB I decided on this model to avoid using metallic paints... looking at sites like Scibor's Miniatures and the effect they can produce by simply using greys for silvers and orangy yellows for gold is just astounding, so I decided to try my hand. The gold areas eg. gun but in holster and totem on pole were then given the slightest coat of Burnished gold... yeah I chickened out a little I guess but thats only cos I wanted them to look obviously different to the banner. The grey on the sword, I think, is a real triumph!

Anyway lets see some more pictures instead of boring text...

At this stage (Laura back from her parents and finally got my mitts on the camera), you can see all that I hadnt done was the gold over bronzed flesh, all gold detailing on gunbut and sword, transfers (obviously they were very last thing), basing and some final highlights on the armour. You can see Ive put some inscripture onto the tags and purity seals on the banner, did this freehand (pens are CHEATING) and while I was at it I did my Cadian Standard Bearer as well (I'd previously left that unfinished). Just some comments at this stage; grey highlights on black looked great in my opinion, picking out the wobble of light reflecting on his polished boots a great success, grey highlight on either side of any belt/strapping, gun holster, some on rear of flag... teeth needed whitening after a bit of elf flesh was slapped on by accident, and flag pole needed bringing out... the model was just too dark at this stage.

Ooh boy I cant wait for you to see the finished mini...

You can really see the detail of the wooden pole on this one - Im so proud of it, its the first time Id painted wood like this. Its a few decent coats of bleach bone, followed by fine stripes of (needless to say WATERED DOWN) scorched brown.

On the last two images you can appreciate the extreme effort I put into the transfers. On the right shoulder I cut the top off and put a slight indent into the VIII transfer meant for tanks and slipped that through under the flag... love the way it looks. On the left shoulder I cut the winged skull transfer... one slice through the skull two thirds of the way to the right so that most of the skull and wing would show from the front. For the rear I cut half of the right-most wing off so that the overall look would be that the tip of the wings were protruding from under the flag on that should... as if the transfer just goes right throug seamlessly... jesus that took real patience!!! Anyway, hope you all like it, would really appreciate your comments!

More to come soon - Craig "Cadian 8th Standard Bearer"

008: Camera out of action temporarily, but work continues

2009-03-28T15:15:00.005Z

I've just been working on my 3 Vox's and Jerran Kell, I'm very nearly done on them bar a few bits and bobs to finish up. Jerran Kell took some doing... in fact they all did. I'm so out of practise! Faces were a real pain and I kept getting really annoyed at myself that I could do so much better a few years ago.

Anyway, the camera has been in use for a few wip shots, but then my misses took it home with her over Mothers day and while the cat was away the mouse did indeed play... well, paint I should say... and really got going on them without any wip shots from then on! So it's all a bit sketchy but I'll post the pics and talk through the processes as soon as we find the camera cable (yeah thats right, I think she left it at home!).

Also on the workbench, I've been playing around with one of my Chimera... those twidly little lasguns poking out... never did like them. That's all I'll say till I get the photo's up, can you guess what I've done?

Last but not least, I've done some sketches (don't expect anything special) of my Commissariat Command vehicle (future salamander project), I'll post those a.s.a.p.

Till next time, comments welcome and appreciated as always!

007: Things to do

2009-03-17T15:04:00.006Z

Ok, if I were to compile a list of things to do right now it probably wouldnt seem half as much as some of you guys out there; I mean I just havent got as much lying around as some of you! So here's a list to summarise where I am and where I need to go to get things done before the new releases hit shelves.

1. Touch-ups

Medic - Nub of lasgun > black

102 Sergeant - Face re-do, hair > change... possibly dark brown

Metal Leitenant models - Chainswords > black metal

Sentinel autocannon > green + highlighting

2. Undercoating

Kasrkin squad and Sergeant

Commissar

Elysian Drop Sentinel

Chimera x 2, plus spare turret and turret mounts

Autocannon Heavy weapon team x 3

Mortar Heavy weapon team

A WHOLE LOAD OF BRETONNIANS TO SELL ON EBAY to fund the new I.G releases

3. Painting

All the above +

Jerran Kell

Troop 812 and 144

Kasrkin Melta and Plasma Gunners

Comm-links x 3 (conversions already done, detailed reports will follow on these guys)

So there's a whole lot of WIP blogs to look forward to and a whole lot for me to seriously crack on with! 2 essays due by next Thursday so hopefully work will start after that.

I'm also bidding on a few Space Marine Scouts on ebay because I want to do my own shotgun wielding vet's rather than splash out on the FW ones just yet. There could be a few tasty head swaps for sergeants to come out of that too so lets hope I win them.

Another thing Im planning is to get hold of a Salamander command vehicle, purely for my Commissar, sculpt a servitor at its helm; firing the gun or fiddling with some hardware, and remove that old dated gun they provide at FW and use the spare Heavy Bolters from my heavy wep crews. I think this would be an awesome addition to an army. I love seeing other peoples huge black tanks dedicated to commissars but I feel a salamander, with its open back would look great with a Commissar shouting orders over the side at the cadian infantry trudging along on foot. What do you think?

With regards to the Bretonnians Im putting on ebay, would anyone like me to stick some wip shots of them up on this blog? Thing is I have no interest in them so I wouldnt want to start a blog especialy but would appreciate comments on them.

Any thoughts or comments please fire away!

006: Where things stand (6)

2009-03-16T21:10:00.009Z

Hi everyone. Just a final round up today of where things stand and then we'll get some real stuff up on here about projects Im working on right now, but to be honest Uni work is pretty overwhelming just at the minute so progress WILL be slow. Below you see my Cadian pattern sentinel. There are a few things I'll change about this yet... I prefer the green on the autocannon heavy weapon teams as they appear on the box, so I'll paint the end and the supports of the autocannon in the green as per the rest. Another small change is the drilled-out exhaust system. I put my electric drill in a vice and held the sentinel to it; this gave me a little more control.

CADIAN PATTERN SENTINEL

Well all thats left to post is a pciture of my Elite Kasrkin's Chimera, its got the FW tank commander and Heavy Bolter turret (I like the stuby look of it) plus a couple of other little extra's. There's a few Space Marine purity seals attached to the side that look like they're blowing back by the speed of the vehicle. I also gained a set of Rhino headlights from my cousin so they adorn the front of the track covers. The last detail of note are the smoke grenade launchers on the front. I took the ones from the tank accessory sprue but I didnt like the actual grenade part, so I cut those off and used my pin vice drill to make it look like they'd already been ejected. I got the idea from Colonel Gravis to use Dreadnaught Scarcophagus plates on the front of tanks/transports so I invested in a few from the BitzBox website. I havent had the chance to use them yet as I built my two Chimera's I already have a while ago but thats definitely a plan for the future on heavy support tanks (Thanks Grav, hope you dont mind!).

KASRKIN CHIMERA

005: Where things stand (5)

2009-03-09T14:15:00.011Z

Here is the plasma gunner, he's painted as per all the other guys with more drybrushing than layering; again he's one of my earlier models. Since the photo he's had his shoulder markings done. His face was drybrushed then layered, but after seeing the benefit of a pink undercoat on my more recent models I went back and gave him more rosy cheeks (round the sides of his nose) and redder lips.

PLASMA GUN MASTER VOX
MEDIC

004: Where things stand (4)

2009-03-08T15:09:00.011Z

Where was I? Oh yes, I was meant to be showing my HQ guardsmen, so here's a few more. Below is the standard bearer. Used mostly the colours as per the box-set artwork, but I have t say I loved painting the flag. Since I took these pictures the guardsmens shoulder details have been done. I plan to scribble some small insciptures onto the blank tags on the flag. Used my imagination on the back of the flag; decided it looked great with the black undercoat once I'd painted the eagle gold, so I just added some highlighting to the black.

STANDARD BEARER

Below is the injured guardman from the box set. I enjoyed painting this guy. I decided to add some blood trickling from his mouth, two little lines as if it was dripping out but then he's tried to spit it clear! I'm really happy with the wound itself; I think the dripping of blood, and the stained cloth look decent. Also I put some blood spattered amongst his fingers as if he'd been holding the wound to stop the blood.

INJURED GUARDSMAN

Last up for today is a melta wielding guardsman. Again, his shoulder markings have been done since photo session. By the way, I think I now have the skills to paint the numbering and insignia myself rather than using transfers. That might be a future blog...

003: Where things stand (3)

2009-03-06T14:10:00.014Z

Next up, I've decided to post some pictures of my sergeants and one-and-only painted troop. You can see the troop is standard cadian colours, and they were batch painted, so not too much of the fancy layering that you'll see on my officers.

The other two sergeants are painted (using layering... conversions deserve the attention!), though none of their acompanying troopers are yet. They were both modified, one with just a basic Tank Commander head, as seen in my first blog, and the second was dealt a bit more chopping and sculpting.

I removed the head from an old Mordian Iron Guard with a pair of clippers... this guy had been repainted about a million times with blobby unskilled hands, so I had to clean it up a fair bit; his mouth was literaly closed up with paint!! I used a little green stuff to rebuild his neck, and then got to work on his arm. I wanted a pose where his laspistol would be down at his side so I chopped into the standard plastic-kit arm for sergeants, removed the middle section and drilled a hole up into the shoulder so I could fix a straightened out paper-clip. I then went to work with green stuff building him a new straight arm, and then attached the wrist, hand and gun to the newly straight arm, simple! You can see they've both been painted with the layering technique and their faces have had a little more attention than the models above.

Oh, and I just added the shoulderpad markings the other night. Left shoulders are standard Eye of terror gates.

002: Where things stand (2)

2009-03-04T14:50:00.015Z

I have just finished off almost every option I would put in my Cadian HQ. I have a few pieces left to complete, most notably Jerran Kell. I have been leaving him untill I get on with my Kasrkin; since they have the same armour, I want them painted the same I think, although this plan may change.

URSARKER CREED

Here you can see the Big guy, Ursarker Creed. I painted him up in proper 8th colour scheme. Anything in gold is highlighted with mithril silver, this gives a really nice effect that I copied from some Eavy Metal pictures. His face (with scars and all) was basecoated a mix of blood red and skull white to get some nice pinkness like he's out on a blisteringly cold battlefield, this was then given a nice elf flesh and bleach bone mix over the top, watered down of course (I CANNOT EMPHASISE ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO WATER DOWN YOUR PAINT!!). I feel this gave the face more character and his red lips and pink cheeks look great. I was a little unsure on whether a green or beige overcoat would look better, I ended up going for the beige, which is layers and layers of watered down graveyard earth mixed with bleach bone etc etc. It basically took ages. I finished his cuff details with a darker brown to mimic leather detailing. Anyway I'm happy with the result.

GENERAL

Next up, its the General from the HQ box set. I love this guy, I think his pose is awesome and he just looks so arrogant, it's such a great model. The layering on his long coat took forever but I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out.

LEIUTENANTS

You can see there's not nearly as much detial on these two models as the preceding two. I used more drybrushing on the clothes rather than so much layering. One of my first tasks was to get their shoulder pads done since bringing the Cadians over to my new flat. They were given the 8(skull)2 transfer on their left shoulders and the standard eye-of-terror-gate on their right.

That'll do for now, more to come next time!

001: Where things stand

2009-03-02T13:39:00.012Z

Okay, so here goes. This is the army as ammassed to date, it includes; in HQ choices Ursarker Creed and Jerran Kell, the usual cadian HQ box set (General, Heavy weapon, Medic, Standard Bearer, etc), and a Commissar.There are 3 heavy weapons teams built, with one more to come, cadians heavy-weapon-of-choice; Autocannons of course. We have three squads of ten men with sergeants and a standard Chimera. Elites choice are the Kasrkin models, with interchangable heavy-weapon choices (plasma and melta) and a Chimera with the Kasrkin Tank Commander from Forgeworld and the Heavy Bolter turret. I have two sentinels so far, one is an Elysian Drop Sentinel from FW; I loved this model the minute I saw it, the exhausts and searchlights on the side look awesome and its nice to see a sentinel with a multi-melta. The other is the cadian variant with Autocannon (the intention was to have a standard squad of three cadian sentinels and a squad of tree of the better armed Drop-sentinels)... and I think thats it!
So as you can see the force is not huge, and has much room for improvement. More photos and details will follow with updates on how Im getting along with painting, etc.
All comments and queries welcome! Tell your friends to watch this space.
Just to whet some appetites for whats to come, here is one of my sergeants, lightly converted via a tank commander head, more will be said about painting etc later!
Also, I've got my first lot up on ebay; its the Bretonnian King Louen Leoncouer. It's been painted as per the guide that was in White Dwarf when the model was released and it has some fantasticly detailed patterns on the straps and cloak as well as the tabbards (check it out by searching for kings_standard_bearer).