Legion Rising

[subtlebrush]

By the dark gods.....

What else can I say but ACE!

Love the jetpack wings for your daemon prince.

Your skills with plasticard are just ridiculous.

 

+++Mr.M+++

[Subtle Discord]

Abandon all hope, those who enter here. Massive (yet informative) wall of text and pictures incoming...

 

Now that I've sorted out most of the techniques I'm going to be using across the whole army, I've decided merge the rest of the army into one large block. It's going to be a bit daunting, but I'm very eager to get the first 2000 points done. I've been working on the damaged Obliterator (Now fixed), and the Dreadnaught is re-primed and ready to go, so it seems like a good idea. *Twitch* It's 'just' a Daemon Prince, 30 Marines, 2 Rhinos, a Predator, a Dreadnaught, and 3 Obliterators. *Twitch... twitch* It'll be a breeze. *Grinds teeth* All the better to get the core done, and finally on to some of my future projects that are waiting on the sidelines. *Spits blood*

 

Since everyone has seen quite a bit of my armour (they are an armoured cavalry force, after all) I figured it would be a nice change to have a closer look at a selection of the infantry that will accompany the vehicles. First up, the undamaged Obliterators...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Obliterator_01.jpg

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Obliterator_02.jpg

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Obliterator_03.jpg

There was no way in Hell I was going to paint my Obliterators 'chewed bubblegum pink' like those painted by Games Workshop. *Shutter* The indignity.

 

I've always had mixed feelings about the Obliterator miniatures. On one hand, I feel they do a good job of looking like massive, lumbering, warp-infused, living weapons, bristling with gun barrels. On the other hand, they basically only come in one, somewhat limiting, pose. And, for a unit that can come in groups of three, there's only two models available. D'oh!

 

My other gripe is with the design of the miniature. They really should have given all of the weapons a better (deeper) 'post-in-hole' solution for mounting them on the arms. Without very careful (Read: very difficult) pinning, all of the blades and barrels are very prone to breaking off. The masochist perfectionist in me had no choice but to painstakingly pin each-and-every-one. Now they are very strong, but I never want to do it again. I'm holding out hope for a plastic kit for any future Obliterators, otherwise I'll convert them from the Chaos Terminator kit.

 

In keeping with my preference for Blue as my main accent colour to convey a cold feeling, I chose Blue for their 'warp-touched' armour. At first I was worried it wouldn't look right, but given the 'almost anything goes' nature of the warp, I think it's effective. They still have Black highlights and some minor tweaks to go, but they're coming along nicely. The third member of the squad is playing catch-up, and I'll show him in a future update.

 

And now on to some Aspiring Champions...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Champion_02.jpg

Seen previously in this thread, this Champion has been tweaked a little. I've gone back and repainted all of the bone and claws using my preferred method.

 

After much trail-and-error, I present a lesson on painting bone, skin, and other pale white-based colours:

 

Most importantly: Do not start with a dark colour base and try to 'blend up' to the brighter colours. Unless it's simple layering, that is an exercise in tedious frustration, and will drive you to madness. A much easier method, that I think produces better results, follows...

 

1) Start with a very light base. In the case of bone, I would choose Bleached Bone Ushabti Bone or straight White.

 

2) Now, 'blend down' the light base using washes to give depth and shadowing. Start with a very pale colour wash like Gryphonne Sepia Seraphim Sepia, and paint it over the entire surface. This layer should be very thin, and only just start the darkening effect. Slopping it on too thick will overwhelm and mute the pale colour you're going for. This first layer of wash also makes the surface very uniform. A layer of wash seems to lay smoother on a dried wash layer, making the next steps more consistent.

 

3) After letting that dry, go back and add a second layer of the wash. This time, be more selective, and only add it where you want richer tones and shadows like the temples, brow ridge, cheekbones, jaw line, and below the nasal hole. As always, keep a clean damp brush handy (I clench mine in my teeth) to soften/blend any hard edges that might try to form.

 

4) Once that is dry (A hairdryer is your best friend when working with washes), start adding wash layers that will add serious shadow to places like below cheekbones, around teeth, and the underside of the jaw. I find Devlan Mud Agrax Earthshade is wonderful for this task. Again, be very selective and smooth edges that might form with your, always handy, clean damp brush. How many layers you add comes down to how dark you want the shadows.

 

5) Now, go in with a Black wash like Badab Black Nuln Oil, and hit all of the really dark places like eye sockets, the nasal hole, around teeth, rivets, bands, and very shadowed areas. More than one layer might be needed to get really deep Black, if that is desired. More is less here most times, so keep the amount small, but really close to what's getting this dark shadow. Tiny dabs that aren't blended too much.

 

6) Finally, to really get the raised areas to pop, go back with your base colour and 'scrape' (use the sides of the brush bristles, not the tip) a light trace of it over the raised edges. The trick here is to have the brush loaded with paint almost like you were going to dry-brush. Thin the paint down signifigantly, load the brush, and then wipe most of it away. Unlike true dry-brushing, you want the brush to have thin 'damp' paint in it, but only a trace. Carefully drag the side/edge of the brush bristles (again, not the tip, the sides) along the edges you want to highlight. You just want to leave a trace of paint on the edge. Repeat and/or brighten the colour to enhance effect until the desired point. For teeth on skulls, do the exact same process, just with pure White. Once you get the hang of just how much paint you need, you'll be amazed how easy it is to get a wonderfully smooth result.

 

This process might seem like a lot of effort, but I've found the wash does most of the work for you. In the long run, this actually saves time and gives you much more control, and consistent, easily repeatable results. Compared to trying to 'blend-up' from a dark base there's no contest, and the results speak for themselves. If you take this method and change up the colours a bit, things like skin, claws, horns, leather, even metallic Gold, (this is a very similar process as the way I paint Gold and Bronze) all become much less daunting. Start bright, 'blend-down' the dark areas with wash, and pick out the highlight edges to finish.

 

With all that said, let's have a look at a few more Champions...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Champion_03.jpg

Kit bashing in all its glory. I didn't do any converting with this miniature, just mixed-and-matched a bunch of different bits.

 

By mixing some basic Chaos Marine parts (Chest and belt pouch), with a Possessed weapon (Chainsword), a few Berzerker bits (Legs and one Shoulder Pad), and some parts from the Chaos Marine 'Upgrades' sprew (Head, Power Fist, other Shoulder Pad, and Backpack) you get a very characterful miniature, blessed by the Dark Gods, that took very little effort. Possessed Chaos Marines may leave a little (lot) to be desired with their rules, but their sprews are a great place to get awesome mutations for personalized HQ and Champions.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Champion_04.jpg

This old-school Aspiring Champion will add some, always welcome, variety to the army. And who doesn't want more Power Fists in their force?

 

Staying true to this vintage miniature in my collection, I found an older style Shoulder Pad and combined it with the old tentacle mutation. I just need to add one of the newer Chaos Backpacks, and he'll fit right in with any squad of newer miniatures he'll be leading.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Champion_05.jpg

When all you want is a Leadership boost and maybe an Icon on the field, keep the Champion simple.

 

I don't expect to use this model very much, but he's got so much character that I wanted to have him around. The miniature used to be the Champion included in the Chaos Havocs box set, but it seems he's been lost to the warp in recent times. All the more reason to give him a place within the army, even if mostly for show. I added a Combi-Bolter taken from an old metal Chaos Terminator, as a cheap boost to his cool factor. In the end, odds are he'll keep his place leading a unit of Havocs, where a Power Fist would usually go to waste. "Target locked in brothers! Open fire on that!"

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Champion_06.jpg

This is more of an experiment than a Champion I had really planned. Still not sure if I like the pose.

 

It started with me just wanting to see if I could just fuse two normal Bolters into a Combi-Bolter. I was worried it would be too bulky, but once I got it done, it seemed to fit on a Berzerker arm very well. All 'Zerkers have huge hands apparently. From there it was just bits and pieces bashed together, with a bit of converting, to finish him. I was sick of every Champion pointing (What's with Chaos Miniatures and pointing?!) so I wanted to have him shooting. In an effort to make it look like he's snapping around, and balancing against the weapon's kick, I tried to be creative with the mutated Power Fist. He seems a little off balance to me. I'm hoping Pads and a Backpack will make it work better. If not, I'll add a cannibalized Possessed arm from another miniature.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Havoc_02.jpg

You always need some tank hunters. This is just the start for these, I've got several more Heavy Weapons to build.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Havoc_01.jpg

What do you do when you get a Heavy Bolter with every block of Marines you buy? Build them all, of course. And there's more to come.

 

I don't really know when I'll make use of them all, but I love the idea of have an anti-infantry gun-line of 8+ Heavy Bolters. Even if just for the metal image of my opponent being turned to a red mist as they try to advance - it brings a smile to a Warmaster's face. And sometimes that's all the incentive you need to get distracted building something. These will all get upgraded with proper ammo-drums before they get finished. Now that I can finally change them, I can ditch the lame belts. But that's a little later.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Marine_01.jpg

There's too many rank-and-file to focus on them all right now, but here's a quick cross section to make a point.

 

Little changes add so much variety. The biggest simple change I've found you can make is to adjust and/or swap the horns on a Chaos helmet. Since the number of plastic Chaos helmets is somewhat limited, repetition starts to quickly creep in. With just that one simple change the entire marine feels more unique. Add a few other tiny changes and it just adds icing to the mass of spiky, death spitting, mutated, chaos cake. I intentionally didn't go too overboard on Troops to save my sanity, and you don't need to, for great results.

 

That said, I've gotten so many great ideas from the B&C boards, I can't wait to start making some Elites.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Special_Weapon_01.jpg

One of my new favorite miniatures. Not overly grandiose, but I'm pleased how he turned out.

 

And finally, I leave you with this lowly Plasma-gunner. Fated to used a most deadly weapon, that will someday take his life. It's not if, it's when. I'm not sure why I'm so happy with him. The changes were straight forward, but it seems like a case of the sum being greater than its parts. Besides, the new Plasmagun begs to have a real bayonet attached - turns it into a proper aggressive looking weapon.

 

[Montuhotep]

Mere words are not sufficient to express the sheer unadulterated awesome of this thread.

[Subtle Discord]

Second verse, same as the first!

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Block_Two_02.jpg

Introducing the new and improved second block... err... plus a Land Raider that keeps calling to me, compelling me to make it Chaos. Must obey... the Land Raider...

 

It's nice to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the core army. Still much work to do, but it's so good to see more Black Gold and Silver paint than bare plastic. The Obliterators are getting close to done, so I'm going to to be focusing on them.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Obliterator_04.jpg

After a mishap, I need to rebuilt the 'Champion' Obliterator. He's catching up quickly.

 

The Blue still has a long way to go, along with highlights and details, but once he's caught up I'll complete the squad together.

 

I've also been tweaking with my list some, and figured it wouldn't hurt to give the Predators Havoc Launchers.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Havoc_Launcher_09.jpg

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Legion_Predator_12.jpg

It makes the Predator a bit taller than I'd like, but I'm still happy with the look. You can never have too much firepower.

 

Along with the Land Raider, I've got several other ideas in the works, and they'll start to surface over the coming weeks and months. The Daemon Prince is turning into more work than expected, and distractions don't help any. So, until I get round to getting him ready to lead the army I'm going to get the original Chaos Sorcerer done.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Sorcerer_01.jpg

Simple kit bash + nice rock = unique miniature.

 

I had planned on doing this Sorcerer with its original Bolt Pistol and the Wings, but when I found the Possessed flaming arm bit, it seemed like a perfect bash. Even the pose of the Sorcerer suits the part. I carved the flame down some, to get rid of the arrow shape (good files can do nice things) and make it more of a blast of 'Pink Fire'.

[Brother Ambroz]

Pred looks incredible. Nice work.

[Biohazard]

Army is looking great brother. Can't wait to see it completed.

[ThisisJimmy]

Loving the update, keep up the good work

[MagicMan]

This is a great army man, probably one of my favourite chaos armies that ive seen.

 

I'd just like to say after reading through a couple of pages,

 

1. The weathering on the Rhino looks great, don't change a thing.

 

2. I really like the way you've used blue on these guys, even on the Oblits it looks great.

 

3. Thanks for the bone tutorial! The bone on one of your champions genuinely looked like real ivory, i had to do a double take!

 

Keep it up!

[The_Chaplain]

Please tell me you are going to sell casts of those weapon clips somehow. They look great!

 

seconded. Between the havoc launcher, and the vehicle ammo drums, I can feel my wallet's contents already draining away.

 

 

Is it safe to assume you're going to attempt something like a pre-heresy land raider with the LR chasis in the background?

 

Fantastic looking army, please keep up the good work

[AyanamiKun]

Wow! If I ever make a chaos army then I will have to try your style. I really dislike the spikes and pointy things on normal Chaos vehicles but your style looks so great. I love it! Keep going ;)

[daemonclaw]

as always those vehicles are awesome

definately the way chaos vehicles should look rather than the spiky garden fence things we have now

[Nicorex]

Everything is comming along nicely. Keep up the great work. I cant wait to see this army finished.

[Aqui]

As an old School BL player/fan, I love the blue used on the armour. It makes them look Daemonically charged :)

[augustmanifesto]

...Um...

 

are you KIDDING ME?! How did I JUST see this thread? Hands down the best conversions in an army -- subtle, effective, theme-driven and all-around hardcore. AWESOME. Great job painting, too.

 

Have you considered adding some sponged-on metalic battledamage, at least on the armor?

[Grimdarkness]

The pred is outstanding looks the part of a ten thousand year fighting vehicle.

[Lachdannan]

That is what a Chaos Predator SHOULD look like. Hats off to you sir.

[Subtle Discord]

Thanks everyone, as always, for the positive feedback. I'll follow up again tomorrow with some general rambling and blather to answer questions. The casting equipment is back up-and-running. I've been working with some new, tougher, mould rubber, and new methods to inject resin into said moulds. The results are very encouraging, and I'll be getting some new things ready for production soon. Once I have a few more things sorted out I should be able to offer some items for purchase.

 

After doing the final greenstuff cleanup on my second Predator, I have nothing left to do but rivets. Many many... many... rivets. I'll get to those in a moment, first a little about how I deal with stacked styrene edges. Layering up styrene can be used to create some great effect, but it's inevitable that some edges are going to show the tell-tail layering. If you're cutting by hand there's always a bit of human error that's going to creep in.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Legion_Predator_13.jpg

Top Right: My three favorite tools for smoothing edges. A wedge 'Colour Shaper', a wedge hard Sculpting Tool, and the back of a Stainless Steel Ruler.

 

With these three tools I can press, scrape, and smooth a thinly rolled out line of greenstuff along all of the edges, hiding all of the unevenness. Start by working it down slowly, and finish by pressing quite hard to smooth and flatten the greenstuff down to highest plastic edges. Excess greenstuff gets squished out over the edge, and can be scrapped off along the corner.

 

As I said, now that I've got most of this edge cleanup done I need to get started on the rivets. I figured this would be a good time to do a little tutorial about how I do my flat-top rivets. First up, how the heck do you make lots of consistent rivets? Here's what I came up with...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Rivet_Tools_01.jpg

I call it a Razor Rake. By super gluing spacers between several lengths of razor, I get a rake of evenly spaced blades.

 

The plastic spacers combined with the actual thickness of the razor means I get an even spacing to cut uniform rivets. The plastic spacers just need to match the thickness of the styrene I'm working on - 0.4mm in this case. Once placed, the rivets will stand out a razor thickness in height.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Rivet_Tools_02.jpg

Carefully rolling the 'Rake' over a piece of round styrene scores the plastic. Ready for cutting into rivets.

 

For the first rivet I start just inside the end. The first rivet will be too short to use, but it makes sure all of the following rivets are ready to go. Once I have the first group of lines I can place the first blade in the last line as a guide, and score another group of lines.

 

I don't press hard enough to cut all of the way through in one go. There's two reason for this. First, the rivets will wedge themselves into the 'Rake' - not good. Second, the blade deforms the plastic a bit and keeping the rod as one piece makes the next step possible...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Rivet_Tools_03.jpg

A quick sanding on a fine grit sanding block will remove the minor deformation.

 

I just roll the rod under my finger while sliding it carefully back and forth. It just takes a few seconds to smooth the rod back down, and the rivets are ready to cut.

 

The blade can find the scored lines very easily. With a quick rolling chop they each pop off. (Remember to get rid of the stumpy first rivet.) I find it best to carefully place my finger over the blade while I cut, so I can stop the freshly freed rivet from flying away. They get easily lost, as I'm sure you can imagine.

 

It won't take long before you've got a large pile of rivets ready to be placed. But then you run into the next problem. How the heck do you place that tiny rivet into its tiny hole? It took a bit of trail-and-error to come up with a surprisingly simple solution...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Rivet_Tools_04.jpg

Prefect in its simplicity. By flattening the tip of an old Clay Pick I made a rivet pressing tool.

 

The rivets are so light that all you need to do is add a tiny bit of moisture (Read: spit) to the end of the tool, and the rivet will stick just enough to be placed. Carefully align the rivet to the hole, get it as straight as possible, and press gently but firmly. the flat tool applies even pressure, and most times the rivet will pop right into the hole. Most times.

 

Sometimes they will be stubborn, trying to go in crooked and deforming the rivet in the process. Rather than futz around with a 'bent' rivet, I just disposed of it and get a fresh one to use. They are easy to make, after all. On occasion the hole for the rivet will also be a problem, but a quick 'reshaping' of the hole with a drill bit gets things right. You don't want to drill the hole deeper, just clear out any glue residue - the usual problem I run into.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Rivet_Tools_05.jpg

Once they're in place they just need a bit of clean-up and touch of glue to lock them in place. 8 down, 100+ to go... *Twitch*

 

I've become hooked on the orange sanding sticks pictured in the top left. They're made by a company called Alpha Abrasives. Since the sandpaper is attached to the stick with a foam tape they have just a bit of give. Perfect for all sorts of subtle sanding jobs where a file might be too stiff or aggressive. I use one to give the tops of the rivets a light sanding and make sure they are all the same height.

 

From there I add a tiny dab of Tamiya Extra Thin glue. The brush built into the lid makes it easy to brush the glue around the rivet. It doesn't take much, and it evaporates away into a very clean join, ready to be primed.

 

Anything as repetitive as rivets will be tedious to do. This process is no different. But, once you get going it actually progresses rather quickly. Here's hoping people find this informative.

[SickSix]

http://renecuartero.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/shut-up-and-take-my-money1.jpg

[Jofus]

http://renecuartero.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/shut-up-and-take-my-money1.jpg

What SickSix said. I have a feeling if you opened up your own custom bit store many Chaos players would be very happy.

[jimmimellows]

Not got enough time to do a proper post as i'm busy at work, however...........

 

Sorry i've been AWOL for a while.......real life and all that.

 

Its all looking sweet as is the norm, you've made loads of progress. Its really interesting to see how you cut rivets, that multibladed razor is such a good idea, consider it a borrowed technique!

 

As for what the previous posters said about bits and a shop, i wholeheartedly concur that you could pull it off.

 

Have you had anymore luck with the 3D computer drawings? Just in case i missed it, are you planning on getting those models 3D printed? Im currently also dabbling in 3D modelling as we finally got Solidworks at work. Its amazing but making my head hurt!!! Its also a main reason for my inactivity on the forum.

 

Anyway, must dash but as always, awesome stuff.

[daemonclaw]

what a great idea the razor rake is ,and once again i hope the good old boys at GW watch your post if they EVER get around to redoing our vehicles

[Razerz]

I just wanted to pop in and say that your posts are very interesting to read. I like reading about your thoughts and processes, as well as see the progress from blueprint to finished model.

[Subtle Discord]

Well, so much for good intentions. I had planed on a smaller update sooner than this, but wasn't able to get around to it. Such is life. Better late than never, I'm here to ramble some and show off my latest doings.

 

I'm glad everyone is as happy as I am with how the first Predator turned out. The weapons on the sponsons still need a bit of weathering, and I will be be adding some subtle dusting as a final step. Since I'm so pleased with how the look turned out, I do plan on adding the same chipping effect to the Power Armour troops, but I'm going to try and keep it light and apply it sparingly.

 

With my time being preoccupied by other projects (more on that in a moment) I've put my dabbling with 3D modeling on the back burner. I do plan on completing several weapon clips, ammo drums, and some other wargear I've always wanted. (Melta-bombs anyone?) Once I get those done (along with a few other Ideas) I have every plan to get them 3D-printed in one batch. From there I will be replicating them in resin.

 

I still have a few more things to test, and many moulds to make, but things are coming together nicely. I promise that it's only a matter of time before I feel ready to formally offer items for purchase. Good ideas take time to make real, and more time to make ready to be duplicated.

 

First up, the second Predator turret, ready for primer...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Legion_Predator_14.jpg

There's over 100 rivets in the turret alone. I've found that placing rivets can put you into an almost meditation-like state. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

 

As I've been working on the second Predator, I've been thinking how I can create a kit from the Extra Armour I built for them. I have a new design in planning that will be done with the intention of casting it. In my mind, I've figured out almost everything... except the turret. The angles of the turret are posing a major challenge to making a mould. My problem - How can I make it so that I can get the actual turret into the cast Extra Armour pieces? I have the idea of making it clam-shell-like, but I need to come up with an idea to hide the seams without too much work. I think I'll need to build a few prototypes to test some things.

 

Beyond my pondering about how to duplicate the armour plates, the process of riveting the Predator is going well. It shouldn't be too much longer before it's all ready for primer.

 

Next up, the proof of concept for making casts of my Chaos vehicle trim patterns. I've been motivated lately to really try and figure out just how I'm going to make them. It may not seem like much, but I quickly learned that resin casting really long and thin objects is not a simple task. For all my research into resin casting, I found it very hard to find any substantial information about this specific subject. I finally came across someone who made scale replicas of railway bridges, and documented their process. This information proved invaluable...

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Trim_01.jpg

Left: The original parts. Middle: A perfectly cast duplicate. Right: Cleaned duplicates attached. Far Right: And they're surprisingly strong!

 

With new ideas in my brain I started some tests with a different mould making rubber. The newer rubber I'm using pours a bit thicker, but it makes a much stiffer and stronger mould. That combined with a syringe to forcibly inject resin into the mould has made for some great results.

 

The one catch I've found is that lots of paper-thin flashing is all but unavoidable. In the end, it seems to be a mixed blessing, because it helps the resin perfectly fill the mould without any voids. The edges are very sharp, so it's really easy to trim and clean the flashing. I think it's a reasonable trade-off for such a great result.

 

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j332/SubtleDiscord/WIP%20Thread%20Photos/Chaos_Trim_02.jpg

With such encouraging results, I've been working away on a complete set of components to make the first of many full Chaos trim kits.

 

It will require several moulds to produce a full kit, and some are curing in the pressure chamber as I write this. With everything being cast in flat sheets they will still require some finishing and gap filling once they are attached to a model. But it seems like a reasonable trade off to enable making these kits real.

 

As always, here's hoping people find this interesting and encouraging. As challenging as this process is turning out to be, I'm really enjoying making it happen. Soon it will migrate to the Predator, and there's always that Land Raider calling to me.

 

So many ideas whispering to me from the Warp, so little time.

[Circus Nurgling]

Did you post any templates for people to use? These trim patterns are amazing, and very precise and accurate.

 

On another note, if you only have the time to produce masters of these patterns, I know an excellent caster :tu:. He's done stuff for me in the past, and still is. Star Trek kits, not 40k stuff... He's cheap, too.

[Kizzdougs]

That predator is easily the best predator i've ever seen! Your Chaos vehicles are second to none. I just wish i could make vehicles for my WBS and IWs as good as these...