Arbites

Gah, the time it flies so fast. On the plus side, I reckon I'll get a few days off at christmas so should be able to make a real dint in things.

However, I now have done almost all the sculpting for my first 5 man patrol squad. Three shotgunners, a proctor (in beret!) and a "heavy" with a hvystubber. Really happy with the look and feel of them. Although as always once I take photos and see them at 4 or 5 times actual size the sculpting will look dire. But I definitely think I'm improving.

I'm also working on their chimera. I know I said no chimeras but I'm working on a scratch build. I dismantled the poor aimless Chiron, and have rebuilt it into a 6wheeled vehicle based on the M38 Wolfhound. Fitted the track guards tonight but I'm not convinced by them, might have another go tomorrow.

Photos to follow as soon as the shotgunners get their left arms and I finish the proctor's codpiece!

First Arbitrator

So until I get my project logs rearranged I'll just post arbites updates here.

I'm working on my first arbitrator, based on the SWAT image I posted the other day. Made using tank commander legs, normal cadian chest and head, then some greenstuff. I've converted a lasgun into a shotgun, and I'm going to bulk up the right shoulder pad as an homage to the original arbites.

The sculpting isn't perfect, but then I'm not that good :). It's in the right direction though and I'm happy enough. Oh the little dimple on the right pad is for the stock of the shotgun. Somehow I thought ahead and pressed the arm into place before it set. Surprising forethought huh? hah.

Arbitage

Right, I need somewhere to just post ramblings. I've got so many outline ideas for my Arbites and I want to get as many down on paper before I forget. Maybe if I tweak the way I pull in the blog feeds I can do it here? Why the hell not.

Ok so the plans:

Arbites themselves. I'm having a shock team who are going to be old iKore Junkers. I've already painted two many years ago, so I'll get pics up as a reference point. They need converting to remove their shotguns since in the BoLS rules shock teams don't get shotguns. Shame. But do-able.

Two arbitrator teams. Planning a cross between scouts and cadians for these. Marc Raley did some awesome ones which won at Baltimore GD 06 that I'll use as inspiration. Shotguns will either be scout shotguns, or some Heresy guns I've bought to try and modify. Will see how successful that is.

Sharpshooter team I'm undecided about at the moment, but if the arbitrators work well then I suppose more scouts with big rifles.

Pursuit team are going to be scout bikers, but I'm going to try and convert them and make them a little more unique. Obviously aiming towards a Judge Dredd theme with the whole army, so this seems a good opportunity. Not lawmasters, but definite hints of heritage.

Sentinel Squadron is going to be some converted AT43 Red Block stompy guys. Forget the name. I'm chopping them up and aiming for a similar look to the fantastic Special Ops dreadnaught over at under the couch. Not going as well as I'd hoped at the moment, was a big psychological hurdle to get around to start cutting up a prepainted mini.

I'm converting a rhino into a repressor, and I'll do the same for a black maria (no chimeras in this army, oh no).

For the judge himself I'm undecided. I have an old Judge Dredd model which is tempting, as are the RT commissars I have. However the Titan Preceps from Forgeworld also looks quite judgey to me. I'm going to wait until the rest starts to come together and go from there.

Randomly I also have a squad of em4 miniatures Troopers who might be enlisted. The models themselves aren't that great, though fantastically priced. But I painted one up the same time as the junkers and he looks ok. May end up being one of the Arbitrators teams or something.

I'm also going to modify my Prodromos scout vehicle for these guys, suits the urban road idiom far better than desert scout. I'm thinking modelling a heavy webber up top. I have several other ideas which are outside the BoLS rules scope, but I'll probably just go for it anyway. It's all good fun.

Mice and men and all that

So, I've been losing inspiration with the modelling jobby again. It waxes and wanes, as my frequency of updates will attest. Over the past god knows how many years I've drifted in and out of the hobby depending on what takes my fancy.

I flitted from the gargant, which was overwhelming and will need a real running start to get going again, on to my AoBR orks, then onto a rather sexy little SM jeep I've not got online again. And now I'm stuck again.

However, BoLS came to the rescue, with their publishing of an Arbites codex a few days ago. Something I've been interested in for a while, I briefly started a "security force" contingent of my guard. This has given me a little push. I've used the money gained from selling my dread to buy a rhino, which will be converted into a repressor. I'm going to see if I can hit up someone for three scout bikes at christmas. I'm still undecided about the actual arbites. I have a squad of Junker Legionaires who will be included, but I'm toying with the idea of using my RT Guardsmen I bought at great expense of t'bay and never used.

Unfortunately I'll need to tweak my site design now to get another army button up there. Bah.

Dread for sale

Busy busy. Everything's hectic at the moment, not sure why. Most of my modelling projects have ground to a halt, though I am working on a tactical squad for my Dark Angels, somewhat randomly I suppose.

I've just listed my metal space marine dreadnought up on ebay, if you're interested please go have a look. With the AoBR dread I've now got too many for my army and since I'd probably never get around to repainting that one I thought I'd try and find it a better home.

Sure I'll be back to start a project log for my rough riders at some point in the near future.

New Stuff

I do like new stuff. Especially when it's stuff I've paid for ages ago, that makes it even better!

Just got my moas through from the Phoenix Club, and they're being turned into praetorian rough riders. I'll get a project log with pics up at the weekend, but they do look awesome.

Also got my heads through from Empress Miniatures this morning. Contacted the lovely people there and they were most helpful. The heads set they do should be 4 caps and 4 pith helmeted heads, but I was really after 8 pith helmets (no real use for the caps). Obviously as a small company it's not easy for them to adjust runs like that, but they managed to match my order up with another customer who just wanted the caps, and I got 24 pith helmeted guys for my praetorians. Awesome, and obviously hugely recommend them. I know it's not GW's fault, but I do love the customer service you get at the smaller companies. Always feels much more personal.

The Site

Ok, I think it's time to stop messing around with the site. I'm happy with most of it, still need to sort a preloader for the flash but other than that. I've switched the news to Blogger, simply because there's a load of decent GW sites already on there and I thought it'd be good to try and link in with a few.

I am actually doing things with my models though. The gargant is on hold briefly whilst I renew my energy (it's a big bugger). I'm busying turning my AoBR warboss into Howling Mad Murray, big mek mercenary, and building a load of Dark Angels with funky helmets.

Oh and I'm working on a flash game for the site too. You know, just because I can :)

News System

ight then, hopefully this news system is up and running. Ok I say news system, but really it's just an rss feed from a livejournal. But it seems to be working, and should allow people to comment if they wish. The main benefit for me though is I can make updates without having to prat about logging in to the site back end.

Still a few changes to make to the site, but it's coming together. Right now I'd rather focus on working on my models for a bit! My copy of Assault on Black Reach arrived earlier in the week, so I've been having a hack at them. The new simplified dreadnought is rather damned impressive. And I like the new orks, so I'm edging toward having a couple of mobs in my rebel grot army. The fluff may take a bit of massaging, but it could work.

Gargant is coming along, think I've finally solved the feet problem. New pics as and when. Weekend is fast approaching thankfully some hopefully some movement then. Until then, feel free to try and post a comment and let me know what you think/if it works! Cheers.