Major_Gilbear

There's some fantastic models in this thread, and some really are instantly recognisable to me - well done all, as I know that it's no mean feat! :D I would also like to gently point out that thread is in Hall of Honour, and so whilst some WIP pics of the conversions are very welcome (to show "how it's done"), there still needs to be a finished painted version if the model in the post as well please.

Well, three models in as many hours eh? You have been bitten badly! :D Very nice work though, I really like the DV greatcoats on them (such a shame GW didn't do those DV Cultisits as "proper" sets).

If they are for a Beastman force, have a look at the GW fantasy plastic Minotaurs maybe? They'd fit quite well with the Beastmen theme too. :)

Cool haul Duz! :D I have a small pile of those Cadian Officers all of whom were collected to donate their power fists the same way! ;) The leftover laspistol could go onto that Mordian Sergeant in the background? With respect to the heavy weapons: 1) I'd hang onto the missile launcher. If GW are indeed serious about having continual balance improvements to the game rather than regular new editions every 4 years, you never know when they might suddenly become decent again. The Mordian MLs are also less common than the other weapons, as they were released right at the very end of 2E, and were largely mail order only. Worst case, you can still use him in bigger games to take the odd pot-shot at lighter vehicles? 2) The Lascannons are really cool models IMO. If you want to use them, just leave the cannon and shield off and mount a different weapon on there from the current plastics. I'd normally suggest an Autocannon would look great, but I know they aren't a great choice this edition either. Still, a small magnet in each trunnion, and you could use it for the bigger plastic HB, whilst still being able swap it out in future for other weapons. Crew-wise, the gunner is pretty generic, and the loader can just be swapped for a trooper with a lasgun - that keeps them suitable for whatever weapon you want in future.

He looks very... "Solid". ;)

I've got to say, that's a perfect storm of component-matching there; they still look very obviously like Squats, but with much better proportions than any of the other models that you drew parts from. :D That said, going by the size difference to the others in your army, I can see why these are their own separate project!

It's the "Storm Knight" from Kingdom Death, with head and arms swap, and the addition of a backpack. ...Sadly, the Storm Knight is out of print.

A lot of the rules cheese in each edition came from where only a few Codexes had options that others just couldn't match. However, they were often rather more fun as result of the sheer flexibility they offered, and I always wished for an edition where *every* Codex was cheesy like that. That's also why 2E and the 3.5 Chaos Codexes are often regarded so fondly by many despite how much they distorted games. And ultimately, as long as you played with like-minded friends and exercised a little bit of restraint, they were in fact a lot of fun. :)

Second edition Grey Knights squad, because one psychic Space Marine hero in TDA with access to the =][= spell deck just isn't enough. And Emperor help you if you happen to be a Chaos player on the receiving end of them. Sticking with second edition: - Pretty much any high-level hero with a Displacer Field, a Vortex grenade, and any skills/spells/equipment that helped their movement. - Any of the named Chaos Daemon Princes. - Virus strategy card (even though that was later rescinded by the Dev team, who told people to tear it up).

ECW eh? Should be a cool-looking regiment when it's done. :) I think the issue you'll most likely have is definitely getting suitable 40k weapons at that scale. Never mind the lasguns for a moment; the special weapons are going to look *huge* on them unfortunately. :( The best option that I can think of in terms of getting stuff that's closer to the right size is to use the FW Death Korps weapons pack. Of course, that's a rather prohibitive cost - even to kit a small platoon out. The next best option that I can think of would be to have a look at Victoria Miniatures. The Mk1 Laser Rifles would probably work, and are rather more affordable than the FW stuff. Using something like these would save you the difficulty of trying to get the flintlocks looking more like lasguns, and would instantly give you that slightly anachronous 40k feel. For special weapons, I would consider using the the multi-part Space Marine Combi weapons, as the non-bolter bits are quite slim and would suit the scale of the ECW models much better if used on their own with a little bit of fudging. The good thing about these is that even if bits-buying three or so is not as cheap as you'd like, you're at least getting all the components with each one (i.e., a flamer, a plasma gun, and a melta gun, not to mention the grav and the bolter part too). You get them in the Tactical, Devastator, and Blood Angels Tactical kits. Sadly, they'll be overwhelmingly huge on these models - even by the "heroic" proportions that GW normally uses! Of course, there's nothing to stop you using relatively cheap Empire handgunners with Cadian lasguns... That would work quite well in fact, and you could base Scions and such off Empire Greatswords too.

It's supposed to have a consistency a bit like dessert mousse. You can get a better idea in this youtube video. So whilst they should be be dry and a bit gelatinous/wibbly, they should not be gritty and have lumps in them that end up on your models. (At least, not when they're new...)

Okay, well then email GW that photo along with your order number, and I'm sure they'll send you a replacement. :)

Looks like a duff pot to me - perhaps see if the shop that sold it to you will change it for a new one?

I think campaign honours = army badges. Basically, it's standard practice for an Imperial Commander to choose an army badge for the duration of a campaign, and all military assets under their command will bear this badge to identify themselves as part of that war effort. This means that the army badge can be worn by any Imperial units participating, from SoB to Space Marines, to Imperial Guard, and is used by those forces to recognise friendly units. If a unit performs particularly well or notably, they may incorporate the badge into their heraldry - the trooper's armour, the unit's markings, the company's banner, the regiment's standard, etc. There's plenty of info about this in the various Codexes that have been released over the years, but you can get a decent summary along with some examples in the article here. In your specific case, I would probably choose a fairly straightforward Army Badge that you like, and then affix a purity seal over its corner to show that it has been blessed by the SoB/Ecclesiarchy. To strengthen this, you could put some fleur de lys on the seal's parchment, or even make the seal shaped like a fleur de lys. This would then show that the Predator participated in a campaign alongside SoB forces, and that the badge they blessed was kept on the vehicle as an honour marking afterwards.

It's highly unlikely that the resin will warp just from painting. That said, the nature of most non-infantry kits from FW is such that you should aim to assemble as much as possible prior to painting. Things like pinning, puttying, sanding down, etc., are really important to get a good-looking model, and you won't be able to do this after painting. Leaving a turret or sponson or such off is fine, but I wouldn't have too many small sub-assemblies if you can avoid it. Infantry is more forgiving - you can leave arms or heads on a long-ish pin for painting, and then trim them down a bit and glue them into the model at the end. I would ensure things like weapons are glued into hands, and pads are glued onto shoulders before painting though. Assembly is pretty straight-forward, although many FW models come with no or limited instructions - dry-fitting of components before you trim and glue them is therefore recommended so that you can check how everything fits together. Cutting, drilling, and filing resin is also reasonably easy, but for vehicles you want to invest in a small razorsaw to remove the big blocks of resin from the larger parts. The main things when working with resin are: 1) Wash the model with dishsoap and warm water when you get them. This is also easier to do when the parts are on sprues. 2) Clean up and assemble your model(s). Any areas that are to be glued benefit greatly from being trimmed and filed to get the best possible fit. At the very minimum run an emery board or gently scrape over the surfaces being glued - this removes a tiny amount of material which both roughens the surface and removes any possibility of lingering mould-release spoiling the strength of the joint. 3) After you've assembled your models, wash them again with dishsoap and warm water. This removes any tiny bits of crap arising from the assembly process, and also ensures that any oils or grease from your hands/tools are removed as well. It's a trivially-quick step, and I find it helps. 4) Handling your models as little as possible, prime them with a good quality automotive primer. The high solvent content in these types of spray means that they stick to the resin much better than most hobby sprays. Do make sure to let the primer cure for a full 24hr, even if its touch-dry after an hour. Some people swear by spraying on a matte varnish first, but it's really the solvent in the spray doing the job anyway, so I feel it's better to just get a good spray primer to start with. As you're in the UK, you should find what you need in Halfords. 5) Paint as normal, and then seal at the end with a good varnish (spray or brush-on, gloss or matte; whatever you prefer). Hopefully that helps! :)