Hero Forge

Long time no post! Quite a bit has happened since my last post. The blue Imperial Knight won the award for best painted Sci-Fi vehicle at our local IPMS (Intl Plastic Modeler's Society). A Commisar I painted came in 2nd for figures. Also, took home the prize for the Inner Circle for Best Painted Army and such at the Warhammer store. Also ended up among the top 15 graded nationally, by GW US.

Anyway, this is a plug for Hero Forge. The site allows for you to create your own miniature throughout various themes and races. The site will let you arm and dress your figure accordingly. My favorite part is the ability to decide on the pose of your figure. You could make a standing figure and a 'dead' version should you choose!

I created an Elven Rogue for my wife, and a Tiefling Warlock for me. Each was armed and dressed by me with cloaks, pouches, etc. The site even allows for facial expressions. In addition you can choose body type, such as barrel chested, height, etc. Once you have finalized the figure, you can then decide a material based on your usage.

The material choices are important. The cheapest one is a plastic similar to Reaper Bones, a flexible plastic yet durable with decent details. The next step up is a hard black plastic with higher details, but the is a bit more brittle. Finally you can get them in metals too, steel or bronze, with a final choice of .stl file to print yourself.

All of these characters are 3-D printed! That is the best thing. Allowing for innumerable variations! I will say, some poses will make plate armor seem too flexible with certain poses, or other items disappear or meld into the figure. I will accept that with ability to create my own mini!

Below are some before and after pics of the figures after painting them. The details come through with the printing. I would place them at about the same level as the new Nolzur's Miniatures, that I love, simply for the variety and cost. But they are not at the same tier as a GW piece. Again, you create the individual piece! Which you cannot do with a GW model.

Imperial Knights pt. 2

So with the second Knight, I had a different idea on how I wanted to go with it. The idea on this one was simple in effect and practice. Yet the color combination is quite striking with blue, black, and white. By just priming with white and only spraying the bottom parts of pieces with blue and letting it fade away to white.

           

 

                 

 

Imperial Knights

I purchased the GW Imperial Knights: Renegade! box set a few months ago. I knew I wanted to paint one up. The cost of the set was only about $40 more than a single Knight. So this was a steal, and it comes with a bit of terrain to boot!

I had zero desire to paint one up as Chaos. The want to try something new was on my mind. Constructing them in tandem as I do, one became a Knight Warden, the other a Knight Errant. The Errant was to be my anti-vehicle option armed with the Thermal Cannon, melta gun and the Stormspear Rocket pod.

I attempted to create a fire effect for the Knight. The idea is fairly simple. In practice, it's a bit more difficult.

                    

 

                         

 

The Freeblade decal sheet was used for insignia. The dead hand seemed to fit the idea of burning design. Going along with that theme, I envision the pilot to be a bit trusting to luck and superstitious. There are symbols all around the Knight to help 'protect' it from harm.

ETL V: Stormlord

Longtime in coming...
I've been busy just not with painting and such. Yet, the latest ETL V over on Bolter 'n Chainsword called to me. I had to get another entry in to assist the Imperial Guard Astra Militarum.

I grabbed a cheap Banblade variant from Ebay and thought it would make a perfect super transport for my Kanak Skulltakers!

The before picture. A simple Stormlord with some modifications, but nothing outside of the ordinary. I did remove the Imperial Eagles from the front fenders. If it's not obvious now, the Skulltakers are slowly drifting from the Imperial truth!

Throughout, I removed any Imperial Eagles outside of the tracks. The Mechanicus symbol was kept simply out of ease, and the fact that the Adeptus Mechanicus doesn't shove the love for the Emperor down your throat!

 A couple of skulls had been added and many spikes throughout. A large Minotaur skull had been attached to the front of the vehicle. A 'raccoon' tail has even been added to the antenna to give it the full redneck look and feel.

The sides where there is quite a bit of dirt and wear, in front of the stubbers, are where I will attach a cargo netting. This will be used to represent the location of the embarkation point for the troops. Currently my wife is working on that part of the plan. The discolored parts are to represent replacement pieces scavenged from other vehicles: damaged bogies, ruptured fuel tank, or simply to repair a damaged skirt.

                            

 

                             

 

                               

 

                              

 

Dark Angels 6th Company

The 4th Company is complete, what now? Well, I have zero grav weaponry. It's something that is really needed in a modern list. I am not one to delete a squad just to make room for another. So, I have decided to bring in some reserves! Now begins the start of the 6th Company Reserves.

I have gone with a complete grav load out for this squad. If you're gonna do it, do it right, yeah? I have decided to carry over the weathering effects from my vehicles into the the squad level. I will say the brown filter for Dark Green from Mig is quite wonderful! Just like a tank, I painted them up nice an neat with decals, sealed them, and went to town. Just remember, their scale usually means, that less is more. Going overboard is easy and can be too much.

                     

 

Entire Dark Angels 4th Company with Reserves

Long time no post. Well, here is a quick one! Best of all, it's fun of pictures!! I was asked to bring my Dark Angels 4th Company to our local Warhammer store in Winter Park. It is a really good store with a large following and always something going on. I am very pleased with the store. Just needs more room and table now. 

Anyway, I have been building these guys up for about 13 years now. I finally finished all the troops, just not the transports. So after a quick rush to paint up 4 Rhinos/Razorbacks, a dedicated Razorback, and a Command Landraider, I brought every Dark Angel I had to the store. The 4x4 table was not big enough without cramming everything onto it. So, all but my 3 and a half squads, got onto the board. Thanks to Jason and his staff for the opportunity and the photos, via Facebook.

I have totaled the points without upgrades, coming to 9909pts.