Duel Con Bound!

Hello all!

Well the clock is ticking down to Duel Con. I myself am going to begin the 11+ hour drive to Mesa, AZ tomorrow morning. Of course I had some work to finish up for the event. I had to finish an Ultramarine Devastator Squad and 2 Rhinos. 

Here they are.

I know the Heavy's and Sgt. are not on bases the client has bases he is going to put them on before the event.

Continuing with the markings I have been going with on the squad shoulder pads were carried onto the Rhinos. The white squad type symbol with black roman numerals denoting squad number over. These Rhinos are thoroughly magnetized. The cupola, the rear ramp, smoke launcher and top bay hatch are all magnetized. So these can become Razorbacks with just a few quick pieces changed out.

I am really happy with how this project is looking. Over the past few years there has been an evolution in painting Space Marines with an ultra realism of wear and weathering on their armor and equipment. I think many of the techniques have come from serious model building and model railroading finding it's place here in our Hobby. 

For those of my Blog followers whom are not immediately aware of the lore of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe (The game is set in the 41st Millennium), Space Marines are genetic super-humans that are created from genetically modified adolescent males to be protectors of mankind against aliens and evil forces that would see them wiped from existence. Space Marines could be seen as the medieval equivalent of knights wearing powered armor and carrying large guns standing eight feet tall. 

I have been involved in this hobby for almost 20 years and painting styles have evolved quite a bit. from a comic book look to an ultra realistic paint style. I am all one for showing some wear an tear if that army has a "story" about not getting proper supplies or fighting a protracted campaign. 

However, The Ultramarines is supposed to be a well supplied Chapter of Marines. Even in The Horus Heresy series of books that is supposed to take place around ten thousand years before the game setting they mention that when the Space Marines are not in war, they are preparing for it. Maintaining their martial prowess, repairing their armor, and repainting over the repairs made.

Also the colors and markings of the Space Marines armor can be considered as their form of heraldry. Squad rolls have specific marks. For the Ultramarines an arrow denotes a Tactical Squad, a upward pointing chevron denotes a Devastator Squad, and crossed double headed arrows denotes an assault squad. I used to think, why are they not camouflaged? Well if I apply the thought that they are the futuristic Knights of Mankind and the armor they wear is the heraldry of the banners and caparisons on the horses of the medieval knights.

Enough of this early morning rant on the ultra realism that has made it's appearance in the hobby of Warhammer 40k. 

Stay posted I will be trying to update from Duel Con later this week. Until then, be good!

Been a while, Sorry for the delay (Duel Con, Tyranids and more Ultramarines)

I am sorry this has gotten stagnant that was not my intention. Been working overtime at work and had precious few minutes to hobby or play. With the release of Warhammer 6th edition rules by Games Workshop  there has been much scouring over the rules. Some really big changes that seem to make the game more dynamic and cinematic.

 

In addition I realised that Duel Con is just around the corner. Here is a link to the site for anyone interested in going. http://www.duelcon.com/

I was initially only interested in playing in the Warhammer 40k Narrative Game. But I ended up teaming up with another 40k Radio Freeboota and we are also going to play in the Warhammer 40k Team Tournament. Now the thing about team tournaments is that you are supposed to have fun with it. The team should a name, a theme, costumes, etc. Well we decided to play off the power gamer theme about armies being "cheesey" so my Space Wolves will be joining some Grey Knights and together we will be team Adeptus Cheddarus: Queso Diem! We have taken some of the units that make these armies, "cheesey", I really do not expect to win the tournament, but we plan on having lots of fun. I hope to take pics trhough out the Duel Con and will post here. To tide you over I took some pics of our Display board and the hats we will be wearing for our theme.



 

With the release of 6th edition a new unit type has been greated and getting lots of buzz. Flyers. Sadly, I also came to the realization I had only one army that was really painted to make a showing at Duel Con and that is Tyranids. I also had no fliers for that army, and I am sure I will be facing lots of them at Duel Con. So I moded up a Hive Tyrant with some Wings to fly around and wreak havoc amongst my enemies. I now have him painted up along with some Raveners and some Shrikes (Winged Warriors).

Here is a couple pics of the build for the Hive Tyrant.

 

....and here he is painted, and pics of the Raveners and the Shrikes.

 

Now back to the grind, I have some Ultramarine Devastators to paint for Duel Con for another Boota. So until next time...

2 Ultramarines Tatical Squads Done!

I know it's been almost a month since I have 2 Tactical Squads finished. The Sgts. I had to scavenge up some powerfists since Speepy stripped the powerfists and power weapons out of the kits. The Melta bombs, bolt pistols, and plasma pistol arms are magnetized. The the flamer/plasma/melta are all magnetized also.

In the future I think I am going to stick to no more than 10 minis at one time. Doing 20, just makes it drag slower and makes it seem like you are not accomplishing things as quickly. Enough blithering onto the pics. Be advised, these pics were just quickly taken before heading into work.

Ultramarine Venerable Dreadnaught

Have been working quite a bit in the past 2 weeks and I forgot to post some pics of  the Venerable Dreadnaught I competed for my continuing commission.

I tried to give him the appearance of large bronze plates with an antiqued gold. I was really happy with the way he turned out. I thought the lenses came out awesome. He has multiple arms and the storm bolter and flamer are magnetized for swap out

Here are some pics.

I will really try to make sure I update this much more regularly.

Ultramarine 2nd Company Drop pod done!

Okay The Drop pod is DONE!

I think it turned out nice.

Here is an exterior (closed shot)

Here is an interior with the magnetized storm bolter.

and an interior with the Deathwind launcher which is also magnetized.

on to other stuff.

Has anyone else had this problem with Drop pods? OMG you go from one petal to the next and it seems like it has been hours and you look down and realize you still have 3 petals left!!!! It's almost never ending.

Ultramarine Drop Pod Teaser

Okay I can now say publicly, that the Drop Pod model is kewl looking but SUCKS to put together, and or paint!

I thought I would post up a teaser. Since this is for the Ultramarines 2nd Company, I tried to break up the whole lotta blue on the pod by trying some yellow on parts of the fins. I started with a base coat, then tried some older golden yellow over the top of it but the older paint just wouldn't cover the foundation. The big wider areas in comparison to a space marine's shoulder trip is a vast difference. I think I salvaged the yellow with some yellow glaze, a shadow of Gryphonne Sepia Wash, and a highlight of the new GW Flash Gits Yellow.

Here is a shot of a pedal with the base coat of Ultramarine blue and the yellow done:

I also have a shot of the interior work, it is very quick and dirty, but I think it works. Oh, and yes the weapons are magnetized.

Well, just thought I would post this so show some progress and not make ya'll wait weeks or a month for updates.

Be Good!

Sorry for the delay....

Hello all. Sorry for the delay, I have been working lots of hours with few days off and have neither been able to play anything or make any advancements on any projects until this past weekend.

I have finished the Ultramarine assault squad that is part of an ongoing commission. This squad is highly modular  with quite a bit of magnetizing.

All of the following can be changed out: The packs, jump packs, the Seargent's left close combat arm can be swapped for 3 different weapons, the Seargent's right hand can be replaced for 2 different pistols, or a comat shield, one of the other marines his right arm can be swapped out to hold 2 different pistols, and I almost forgot the Metla bomb is magnetized to the Seargent's right leg.

Here are some pics with different load outs.

I aslo did kind of a purplish pink engine glow on the jump packs inspired by the Space Marine video game. This pic was before i finished it. I went back ans smoothed the glow some. I was working with some new paints and was trying to get a feel for them and how to work with them.

Sitting on the table in the painting que I have a drop pod, a veneral dreadnaught with multiple weapon options, and a squad assault terminators with swapple arms twin lightning claws or thunder hammer and storm shield. I think the next will be a couple of Tactical squads so he can begin playing with them.