And we're back!

Hallo. I'm still here. Got post Band of Brothers burn out, all those deadlines and solid blocks of painting stemmed my mojo for a while, but I'm back now. Huzzah.

I'm currently planning a new army to take over from the now complete Praetorians. I'm eyeing up a Slaanesh Cult built on the Grey Knights codex, mainly because it allows me the flexibility I want without being my third Imperial Guard army!

I've only started one model which will be my stormraven proxy based around a rather cool VTOL Landspeeder storm conversion I saw on dakka. I'll get photos up once I'm somewhere useful.

That said I've just ordered the Space Marine megaforce that GW are currently offering. They don't do deals that are genuine bargains very often (the last I recall are the Armageddon bulk purchase things), so seemed churlish not to partake. Especially when I already had 30 quid sat in my paypal account. 100 pound on the credit card and Robert's your mother's brother. As such my Angels of Elutriation may be making a return to the blog. We'll see. I might chop up the land raider for the Cult.

Hopefully posts will be more regular for a while, assuming Skyrim doesn't steal all my time over the Christmas break :)

Wahooooo!

I did it! My Praetorian army I painted for Band of Brothers is complete. So chuffed with myself for getting them done, and actually thrilled with the finished result too.

Here's what 1499pts of my quirky take on Praetorians looks like:

I'll get some close ups posted later, but for now I'm going to relax and spend twenty minutes putting them back in the cabinet!

Praetorian Medusa

The second in the line of Harness pattern artillery vehicles is now ready for paint. This is a medusa, made using plumbing parts for the main weapon.

Quite happy with the end result. Not a huge fan of the skirts but that's to hide a couple of miscast roadwheels. Had it not been for the Band of Brothers timeline I'd have ordered some more resin and cast another set but never mind. Adds a bit of variety if nothing else :)

Ammobunker Newsletter

Hey cool, the latest newsletter for the Ammobunker is out, and they've included a piece about the IG Designer I'm building. Always cool to get a little publicity.

If you're not a member over there it's well worth a visit. I'm a member of a lot of gw related forums but AB is pretty much the only place I post. There's no bitching and petty arguments, no over zealous mods editing your posts before you've even hit submit, and no fething whinging about prices. Just a lot of very talented folks showing off shiny stuff.

And now I sound like an advert so I'm going.

Praetorian Platoon Command Squad

And the final part of June's build (you can see why it went down to the deadline!), the platoon command squad. It comes with a commissar and vox caster.

Nothing too ingenious here, though I am quite happy with the vox caster model (on the left above).  Painting is a little ropey in places, rushing doesn't help when you paint as slowly as I do!

Praetorian Ratlings

Third of four parts of June's build. These are Kindred from Hasslefree Miniatures.They're sculpted as ww1 era soldiers but I thought their rifles were suitably sniper-esque and the tin hats could be painted as piths.

I love the sergeant, I think he's probably my favourite model of all the out of the box sculpts in my army.

Praetorian Griffon

Another part of June's build, the Griffon artillery. This is the first of my Harness pattern vehicles, another one is in development.

I decided to use the FW thudd gun rather than a traditional single shot mortar. Just preferred the look and when the gun shield fitted the gap in my vehicle I new it was destiny!

I tried to get a more WW2 feel for these, I think they look slightly Wespe with the open tracks and big metal guard.

Cadian Auxilliary Truck

Part of June's BoB build, this is the chimera transport for the Cadian Auxilliaries. It's based on Dave Taylor's trucks (check them out, they're immense). I've tried to do my own take rather than recreate his (I didn't use his templates, just his ideas), but that's possibly more to try and hide my inabilities to do what he does rather than any artistic reason.

Still, I'm very happy with the result. Had a go at photos in natural sunlight, not sure if they're better or worse but here they are.

As with every other month was a bit rushed so some of the details aren't perfect, but it's painted and it still surprises me when that happens. So many of my models are just plain white plasticard for years.

IG Designer

Can't believe I haven't mentioned this in my own blog! I've been working on a uniform/regiment designer tool for the Imperial Guard. There are some great ones out there for many of the other races, but aside from a decidedly limited cadian designer that GW put out many years ago there's nothing for guardsmen.

So I thought I'd fill that gap. There's still plenty to do but here's the current feature list:
 

• 5 pre-created regiments to start your design
• Interchangable elements from all 5 regiments
• Three colour palettes and custom hex code entry
• Saving and loading of designs

 

Try the IG Designer 

Next big thing I'm going to work on is a camo designer. Not entirely sure how it will function yet but I want to make it a free as possible whilst still being save-able (which probably means a range of recolourable precreated patterns).

Would love to hear any feedback. Once the camo tool is done I'm going to promote this around a few other forums and move it to a sort of open beta type phase. If it proves popular enough I'll work out a slick user control system so you won't have the rather clunky url get string method of saving, but we'll have to see.

Praetorian Auxilliaries

Woah got to remember to update here more. Things have been hectic but progress is definitely being made on the Praetorians for Band of Brothers.

Here's the final part of May's entry along with the Leman Russ seen previously.

These are old school Cadian Shock Troops I bought when they were first released. I stripped them down for this project and painted them in line with the uniform guides I posted before. Quite happy with the results, although painting them was hellish. You forgot how hard it is to paint nasty old metal models when compared with sharp new plastics. It's the interpretation bit I can't do, where there's a huge chunk of metal because they can't do undercuts, and you have to try and guess what colour to paint it. Bah.

Anyway, moving swiftly on.

RT Imperial Guard up for sale

Quick post, I've got an ebay item listed this week. I'm finally selling off my 25 rogue trader Imperial Guard plastics. They never got painted, I converted two (Cadian arms and a warzone backpack, nothing permanent) as the start of a storm trooper squad but then as usual my mind moved in different ways.

If you're interested here's the listing, and a photo of what's in the lot.

eBay Listing

If you decide to bid then good luck!

Status Update

Right so with BoB currently feeling on target (this month is 1 tank and 10 infantry, the tank is done, and the infantry are primed and on their way), I've been looking at other stuff.

I've got my plan for the heavy weapons squad for next month. I was in about fifteen minds which way to go, in the end I went for mortars which will be represented with mole mortars. I though it fitted well with the old school character I'm trying to invoke. Something a bit like the ones at the bottom of this page, but obviously kit bashed from mortars. Damned if I'm trying to find real ones on ebay, that's crazy talk!

To try and improve my photographs, and thus hopefully the number of people who vote for me each month in Band of Brothers :), I wanted to do a quick spot of terrain. I've tried this in the past, but went a bit complicated and too small and it got shelved. So kept it simple. A sheet of polystyrene about 18" by 40", gouged out a rough river bed (to be dry, it is a desert world after all), and covered it in different types of sand. The pva is drying as we speak.

Then I had a rummage the interweb and found a nice desert scene image that looked the part. Ran a few filters on it to try and give it a painted look, since I think photo backgrounds always look a bit forced if they're too real. They make the models look like models! I'll print that out on the office laser printer tomorrow and see what it looks like. I need some ink for my printer, once I get that I'll probably pick up some matte photo paper and print it properly.

I'm fancying some of these cool tents from Renedra. The ridge ones. I think they'll make nice incidental details for the background of photos and are painfully cheap. I bought some of their barrels for Stadtheim and was very impressed.

Strangely I've currently got the completion bug. This isn't like me, but I'm actually getting a buzz out of finishing projects. The Ragnarok Leman Russ has been on the books for years and getting it done was great. Same for the ogryns. I'm eyeing my Knight Paladin and thinking how shiny it would look painted...

Praetorian Bromhead Leman Russ

My Praetorian Leman Russ is finally finished. This is the Bromhead pattern closely based on the Ragnarok. Quite happy with the final result, there's things I'd like to have done if I could freehand but I wanted to get a coherent solid finish across this army. Have a shufties:

 And a quick scale shot with a veteran to give a sense of the size of this thing:

Pretty damned huge. But I like that about it, proper shock and awe stuff. Army is coming along now!

Praetorian Uniforms Pt 2

108th Praetorian uniforms continued:

(Note: Infantry artwork derived from intellectual property of Games Workshop)

Praetorian Uniforms

Uniforms of the 108th Praetorian:

(Note: Infantry artwork derived from intellectual property of Games Workshop)

Praetorian Army

A quick shot of the whole army as it stands:

Left to right, back row: Hellhound, Command Squad Chimera, Chimera, Chimera
Middle row: Rough Riders, Ogryns
Front row: Infantry Squad, Veteran Squad, Infantry Squad (w/ Commissar)
Front: Primaris Psyker

Lots still to come, but we're rolling along!

Praetorian Ogryns

The Ogryns and their Sergeant Major are now complete!

Really happy with ow the unit turned out. Desperately trying to keep this army fairly light and characterful, so fun units like this always help. Quite happy with the sergeant major's facial hair too. He does have a battle scar around his right ear (cadian sergeant heads have no right ear, so I had to try and sculpt one myself), but it all adds to his history I reckon.

BoB in May will bring a Leman Russ and Cadian auxilliaries. But both with a difference of course.

Praetorian Vehicles Pt 2

Further vehicles of the 108th Praetorian.

Medusa Heavy Mortar (Harness Pattern)

It is with the heavier armament that the Harness pattern really demonstrates its superiority over other artillery constructs. The lower centre of gravity reduces chassis roll when firing the main weapon leading to increased accuracy over sustained barrages. The extra stability and enlarged gunnery station also improves crew endurance in prolonged deployments.


Leman Russ Battle Tank (Bromhead Pattern)

The Bromhead pattern battle tank shares it's turret with the more common Ragnarok. Larger than the standard pattern Russ, the Bromhead affords greater ammunition capacity, and accommodates a crew of seven (when fitted with twin secondary turrets). However the increased mass is at the cost of top speed, and the larger silhouette makes the Bromhead a more prominent target in open battlegrounds.

Praetorian Vehicles

The vehicles of the 108th Praetorian,currently engaged on Kataan IV.

Chimera APC (Chard Pattern)

 The Chard differs somewhat from the more common Chimera patterns. Being somewhat smaller it forgoes both the amphibious capabilities and the armoured turret. The result however is a more nimble vehicle, better suited to urban and jungle conflicts. Primary armament is cupola mounted, exposing the gunner to enemy fire but giving improved field of view.


Command Chimera APC (Chard Pattern)

The Command Chards are often constructed as a six wheeled variation, providing increased speed and ride comfort. Armament is housed in a dedicated mid turret, enabling the inclusion of data terminals and a vid scanner in the forward bay.


Hellhound (Chard Pattern)

The Chard Hellhound is similar in design to the lesser seen Graia pattern Hellhounds. However the inferno cannon is situated in a hull mount with a more restrictive 90⁰ fire arc. The benefit of this is a superior flow of fuel from the storage tank to the cannon.


Griffon Mortar (Harness Pattern)

The Harness artillery chassis fell out of favour with many Imperial Guard regiments due to it's slow speed and relative scarcity of parts. Regardless, many of the Praetorian regiments still make use of the Harness, its lower centre of gravity and longer wheelbase offering a stable platform for sustained bombardment.

The Harness Griffon is unique amongst the various Griffon patterns, the armament consisting of four linked small caliber mortars rather than the traditional single, large bore mortar. This makes the Harness Griffon more effective at scattering massed infantry ranks, at the cost of pentrative power.

Praetorian Hellhound

And the second BoB entry for April, my hellhound. I think I posted unpainted pics of these here before, but here it is with some paintwork. I need to do the weathering and try and scorch the end of the flame cannon but other than that it's almost there.

I've got all four Chard pattern vehicles on the desk next to each other at the moment, and I have to say they look rather cool. Love that whole standard pattern reused for different things vibe. One more vehicle on the same pattern for next months BoB, then we're onto the as yet unnamed artillery pattern vehicles. Harness pattern perhaps? hmm

Praetorian Ogryns

Woohoo, after my enforced internet hiatus my ISP has finally provided me a connection and we're back!

First of two in-progress Band of Brothers entries then. I did my first praetorian ogryn back in 2006, really can't believe it was so long ago. I always intended to finish the squad but never got around to it. BoB is just a great idea for finishing off lost armies.

Here they are before the paintwork:

The guy in the coat is the Bone ead, sculpted that a couple of years ago and it was very ambitious for me I think. The result is ok but not as crisp as I'd have liked. Not saying I could do any better now mind..

And with the basic paintwork done:

Will get these finished today and post up another picture. The highlighting is almost done now, a few small details then edge the bases and jobs a good un. I'm actually ahead for this months BoB. Considering the first two months have come down to minutes (seconds on month one) I'm feeling pretty damn smug.

So smug infact I'm making these guys a 'mascot' in the form of a Sergeant Major, standing on a pair of sand bags, barking orders. If it works it'll be cool. If not it doesn't have a points value so no harm no foul :D

Praetorian - Veteran Grenadiers

The other item from March's BoB was a squad of veterans. These guys are grenadiers kitted out with carpace armour, shotguns and a bank of special weapons.

Colours are going to be standard for vets in my army, so the command squads and the like will have the tan trousers instead of the blue of the rank and file. Shotguns I found as a conversion somewhere, I think Life of Shan on DakkaDakka. I'll update this with a link when I have net access at home! Quite cool flamer/lasgun hybrids that look kind of like big spas 12 type things.

Every model is converted to some extent, all the bodies are slimmed down scouts, pith helmets are from Col. Gravis, sculpted far beyond my skill level.

As is often the case when I'm painting the individual models I get a bit disheartened at my own abilities, but always really like the final group effect. As someone said quantity has a quality all of its own!

Not quite sure on the BoB plan for April. I'm thinking ogryns and a hellhound but I'm still juggling figures (and need to figure out how much time I'll have for construction without making it a last desperate gasp on the painting).

Praetorian - Primaris Psyker

Hi there! Back after a little hiatus. I moved home at the start of March and am still waiting for TalkTalk to bother connecting up my internet, most frustrating. But I am still chugging away, my BoB Praetorians are developing nicely.

This month was a light one for me in the comp, just two items. First up is my Primaris Psyker. This is an old second edition IG Psyker model, one of my favourites in my collection. Probably one I saw in a WD battle report back in the day and liked so much I bought it (the same reason I have the old IG Assassin).

Painted in fairly muted colours, but I'm quite happy with the results. Things I'd like to do to it but at the moment I lack time and talent unfortunately :)

Praetorian Infantry

And the infantry squad are also done. Surpised by these, wasn't a massive fan when I first primed them, but they've come together ok.

Again I could do with some detail shots, my rather amusing attempt at tartan on the sgts glengarry cap for instance. I'll sort them later, but here's a couple of group shots.

Lots more to do for Band of Brothers, namely I need to build the squad who are March's task. Might start them now, though packing the house up is kind of a priority at the moment!