The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[Brother Christopher]

I am determined to finish my Ironclad soon, so I've found some time today. I spent the time on refining the grey lines, adding colour to the sarcophagus ornaments and dealing with other minor and major details. Finishing a model is both exciting and frustrating. The work one has to do is seemingly infinite, as there is always something to improve on. In the meantime, while I'm preoccupied with one part, I damage another by an careless stroke of a brush or my unprofessional handling of the minis (holding them in bare hands apparently is not a good option, as I woefully discover that highlights go off some edges).

 

Glad and frustrated, I'm posting progress pics. There isn't that much improvement considering the 3 hours it took me to do the various things. But I call it a day and tell myself that the final model is good table-top quality.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100482_zpsxndmdakh.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100484_zpsascmjfpx.jpg

 

What I could've done differently is to place the sword on top of a red panel, not the bone one. The white cross seems to blend to much with the bright background. However, the panels were pre-painted long before I came up with the idea of using this ornament. And today, I gave the colour selection no thought until it was "too late."

 

I also consider paining a Maltese cross on the leg guards, as I intended to do initially. Now, however, I'm not sure about that, as there are already 3 crosses on the front, one on the back and another on the DCCW arm.

 

How do you like it?

[Marshal Mattias]

He is looking great! I love your coloured panels - it's a very clever way of getting some bright colour into the black, and I will try and remember that trick ;)

As for crosses, you can *never* have to many. Don't forget to paint crosses on your crosses. :P

[Beor]

I really like your conversion work, I converted my AoBR-dread into a shooty venerable, but I've yet to paint him. As for the leg guards, you could go with some crusade badges. A templar of his stature would surely have participated in a quite a lot of crusades :P Or just more crosses, crosses are always good. His right leg could use some white to balance up the text on his left front side.

[AndrewChristlieb]

[Brother Christopher]

Yes, this is exactly what I expected. Never too much, that's the case with 40K.

 

Beor, thank you for reminding me about crusader badges. I've kind of forgotten about those. After I'll paint the arms/weapons, I'll get back to the leg guards. And I'd love to see your conversion.

 

Andrew, yes. That meme pretty much sums up BT aesthetics. Thank you for doing/posting it The discussion just asked for a picture like this .

 

Also, with the rediscovered zeal (that is, the realisation that I actually might be able to finish something) I progressed with my techmarine project. The progress is that I ruined my fingers with super glue. Oh, and I managed to attach a couple of power cords and wires to the backpack and servo arms to add some detail. With the experience from doing the Ironclad, I'm quite concerned about how all the bits will look with paint on.

 

There is still some green stuff work to be done (yeah, I love that and I'm sooo good with GS) and the backpack should be done. Accordingly, I should post some pictures in a couple of days and have the MoF painted by the end of the week (or the next one).

[Brother Christopher]

Okay, I have to say I'm quite disappointed with the way all my MoF backpack and servo arms turned out in the photos. Everything in the photos looks like a huge mess and shows the mediocre quality of my handmade conversions. Still, I took the time to take the photos and crop them, so it would be a waste not to show them, even though the final result is somewhat disappointing.

 

Despite the way the servo arms and backpack look in the photos, I'm very happy with how they look from a reasonable distance and with the bare eye. The reason I really, really want to share these shots is that this conversion is very special. It took me, literally, years to finish it. Uncountable times I have changed my mind, started from scratch and readjusted the already finished bits, but I'm finally home. Now I just need to prime the servo harness, paint it and repaint some bits of the techmarine which suffered from wear and tear from the endless careless handling of the miniature.

 

For the photos, here's the backpack with a conversion beamer:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100486_zpsybjythbq.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100487_zpstmfq5lor.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100488_zpsa1iosmm4.jpg

 

The main, heavy-duty servo arm, reclaimed from one of the first version of the conversion. After restarting the project from scratch, I decided not to use the arm because of the quality of GS work. In the end, however, I decided to include it in the model, as I lowered my standards of quality and decided that it would be a waste not to include it as making the arm took me probably hours of work.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100491_zpsxjxaf4ar.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100492_zpszyidhrhh.jpg

 

Now, a sneaky, technical arm, which is designed to perform precise actions and act as an auxiliary third arm for the techmarine.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100493_zpsyi7u57tt.jpg

 

A thunderfire-techmarine style servo arm for lifting objects from the ground (crates, ammo boxes) and repairing tank tracks (the element in the middle is supposed to serve as a track-repair tool)

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100496_zps0rs6qjjg.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100497_zpsk4sh6wdv.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100498_zpssax2hsv4.jpg

 

And finally, the plasma cutter and flamer:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100500_zpsfor00drr.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100501_zpsp0qudjpm.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100502_zpsvxizrdwr.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100503_zpsscjyjfes.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100504_zpssjjdwcnh.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1100506_zpssncf7yxy.jpg

 

Inspired by the Techmarine from Helsreach I wanted to have a 6 servo arm MoF. In the meantime, I encountered Forge World's MoF with the conversion beamer attached which is a part of his backpack. I really liked the idea, that is why I decided to replace one servo arm with beamer.

 

I just hope that the assembled and painted model will look great-ish. The "ish" is here, because I know that I am sloppy with my conversions and what I do is oscillating around 6-7 in 10-grade scale (10 being GW/FW quality). Then again, my painting skills are around 5-6, so paired the final outcome should be a decent table top quality.

 

I know that the detached arms can also be quite confusing, so for those of you who are interested how they are supposed to be attached to the backpack, here's a reference.

[Brother Christopher]

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/ETL/P1100516_zpskurzit62.jpg

 

It turns out that it's ETL time already. To start off with this year's competition, I went with a slightly larger vow that I expected. Initially, I wanted to pledge only a biker Marshall. But I figured that my two last purchases, beautiful near-mint metal models, require some love too. So, apart from my Marshall, there's a Thunderfire Cannon and a Telion to paint. The TFC, which I won cheap at an auction, is flawed. Obviously. I can't pay the full price for a quality model, can't I? I have to buy cheaper stuff... Well, I still think that the TFC was a bargain. The flaw is that it has two left tracks, but that isn't a big issue, and fixing the difference shouldn't take too much time. In addition to regular ETL stuff, I declared to paint my Master of the Forge as an out-of-competition entry. However, before I get onto the ETL, I still have an Ironclad to finish.

[Brother Christopher]

The Ironclad is finally done! Well, finally... there's still no base, but I regard him as finished. Here are the photos:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100529_zpstlvbxvea.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100530_zps9ax0ngrw.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100531_zpspdv6wlal.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Ironclad%20Dreadnought/P1100532_zpsxi3amcm7.jpg

 

Whit the ETL, I'm starting to work on the Marshal. I've struggled for long with the idea of a storm shield (or any kind of shield for that matter) on a biker. I think the shield is impractical, as it can only be used to cover one side of a marine and manoeuvrability is close to none. And a shield attached to the bike is totally pointless, isn't it?

 

After much deliberation, I decided to attach the shield to the Marshal's arm. That is kind of decided. The model looks pretty nice.

 

As for the shield, I'm planning to paint/make a Maltese cross in the middle and add a chain. 

 

I turn to you for advice: should I add a lantern like in the attached photo? The problem with lanterns (as cool as they are for our Templars) is that they sometimes look our of place. Like here, it's impractical as it will just keep bumping against the shield, marine and bike. But it looks pretty Templar, doesn't it? And after all, who cares about practicality in the grim darkness?

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/conversions%20and%20stuffs/P1100519_zpsxvurzzze.jpg

Edited May 4, 2015 by Brother Cristopher

[Marshal Mattias]

More lanterns, more win. Practicality is a distant consideration compared to rule of cool. ;)

[Brother Christopher]

Okay. So I'm putting a lantern on the shield. I also miraculously found an original lantern on a chain with a purity seal from our box which I'm planning to use. Maybe the curve of the seal and chain does not correspond well with the general dynamics of the biker, but it works well with the purity seals which already are on the shield.

 

I've started working on the Marshal, removed DA symbols of the mudguard, bolters and the marine.

 

I've also made progress with my Teeth of Terra conversion (80% ready) and, sadly, discovered a 'huge' flaw in my idea. While I believe that my design for a ToT representation (a large, two-handed chainsword's) looks decent, it doesn't work well with a model on a bike. It looks... idiotically. I'll have to reconsider it: should I leave it as it is and as I've planned it to be made for a long, long time, or should I readjust it and make it more reasonable for a marine riding a bike and less ridiculously oversized. As it is now, the ToT is the length of a Black Sword.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100536_zpskynmsbwg.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100535_zpsjjqupapo.jpg

[AndrewChristlieb]

I can't speak for anyone else, but that ToT looks spot in for size imo!

[Metic]

Love the Iron clad, I wish the hurricane bolter was a little better. I have the forgeworld one sitting in my bits box and it's such a gorgeous Piece. But the double fist with flamers is just too good.

[Brother Christopher]

@Andrew: Thank you for your opinion. I'll just have to sleep this on and maybe wait for others' thoughts.

 

@Metic: Thanks! The initial plan was to arm him (hehe, arm him, get that? #notthebestofpuns) with a seismic hammer and a DCCW. It was supposed to be my only Ironclad. However, in the meantime I found a cheap GW's Ironclad online and decided to save some time and effort and finish the two Dreadnoughts. So, this one's equipped with the spare hurricanes, while the other has 2 DCCWs with flamers. Some time in the future, when I'll finish around 27 out of pending 150 projects, I'll build a seismic hammer (or I'll find one cheap online).

[Marshal Mattias]

I kind of like it - looks ready to slice an ogryn right in half :D

[Brother Christopher]

So, I wanted to finish the Marshal before posting, but with a day's warhammer work done, I've decided to post progress pics anyway. The conversion is 97% finished. What's left to do is some minor greenstuffing (for instance, Teeth of Terra grip and power cord's sockets). I think...

 

I've also came to terms with the ToT. After all, it's not much longer than a regular chainsoword (a 4mm difference). So the ToT stays as it is.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100537_zps5s6bbaej.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100539_zpsmjn6dh4q.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100540_zpsie3unflb.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100541_zpskeynxial.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100542_zpsyyhp8yzn.jpg

 

List of changes:

> ToT

> left arm: added some enhancing-looking elements and a power cord to show that the arm is adjusted to wield and swing a normally two-handed weapon;

> left shoulder pad: templar cross;

> right arm: added a stripe and a mounting socket for the shield;

> left leg: added a Templary sword with a ribbon (SB-styled);

> front mudguard: added a templar cross with a  DIY plasticard ribbon (it turned out quite cool!) and a purity seal;

> backpack: ornament on top, removed DA symbols;

> exhausts: drilled;

> shield: added cross, chain and lantern (not sure about the dynamics of the ornaments on the shield, as they differ from the rest, but there was no way to bypass this due to the pre-existing purity seals); added detail on the inside.

 

I also wanted to make a more gothic-like ornament in place of the DA wings in the back of the bike. However, the Pole inside won. I decided to leave them, as they bear resemblance to the very iconic wings of Polish hussars. So, here's my hussar Marshal.

 

Any comments/suggestions?

[Acebaur]

Looks great! I dislike bare heads though, so that would be my only complaint. How did you make the shoulder cross? It looks awesome!

[Brother Christopher]

So, with a lot of academic related work, I'm finding myself considering and reconsidering stuff. I want to extend my fleet of rhino based vehicles. The problem is that I don't want to spend money on that, as my army has grown to such proportions that I'm sure I won't field more than I own (currently 10 rhino chassis). However, I would like to have a certain composition of my crusade, just for fun/modelling/fluff reasons.

 

Needless to say, I want to indulge the modeller/scratch builder nerd in me. Not that I'll start assembling my DIY rhinos any time soon, but I just want to have things sorted out. That is why I'll build 4-6 rhinos for "free" (minus the ridiculous amounts of time it'll take). The trick is to make them easy to build, ready for mass production. That's why a faithful representation of the current rhino is out of the question - too much work with the tracks and wheels.

 

After having studied some images on the internet, I have two ideas. This is where I'd like to hear your opinions.

 

VARIANT 1 - A beefed-up OOP Rhino, resized to match the current vehicle's size (the wheels and tracks are rather simplistic, so they shouldn't be an issue).

 

VARIANT 2 - A redesigned current rhino, with no visible wheels and simplified tracks (similar to those on the OOP Rhino or FW Land Raider).

[AndrewChristlieb]

We'll my $.02 goes to variant 2. I hate the old style rhinos though so... If you're doing something like paper craft I imagine it would be pretty simple to extend the hull almost all the way to the bottom of the "tracks", completely covering anywhere there would be wheels or track for the most part and just call it extra armor. I look forward to seeing what you come up with either way. :D

[Brother Christopher]

++ Random WIP update incoming ++

SUBJECT: Scratchbuilding expensive flyers (Storm Eagle/Raven/Fire Raptor)

Progress: Some made

Estimate completion time: 41st millenium

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130660_zpsof1vqovg.jpg

 

This photos pretty much sums up all my yesterday's progress. So, I've made the top-rear part of the flyer and prepared magnets to mount its wings. If you're interested, more images and more to read can be found in the project's main thread here. I've asked the same question in the said thread, but I'd like to ask you here as well: any advice on the tail? I'm considering leaving a Storm Raven, V-shaped tail wings or choosing a Thunderhawk-like, T-shaped tail, with the wings horizontally aligned.

[Duke Danse Macabre]

Some damn fine greestuffing work.

I must ask do you use press molds for your seals and templars symbols or scratch build every time?

 

I agree on the bare heads though, they can look terrible in certain places.

Besides nothing can truely match up to a knightly looking helm. ;)

[Brother Christopher]

Over the week, I've made some steady progress with my scratchbuild. I'm posting more detailed pics in my Strorm Raven/Storm Eagle/Fire Raptor thread for those of you who, like me, like to look at other people's modelling efforts. Here's just a summary of the progress showing the state of the project and the bit's I'm most proud of:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130716_zpsgqribuqp.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130705_zpstg5tghjb.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130698_zpsqsqzcglt.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130725_zpswx3yytqa.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130724_zpscvhi2qzs.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Storm%20Eagle%20and%20Fire%20Raptor/P1130723_zpsbjtvx07k.jpg

 

So, well... yeah. It takes a long time to build, but at least it's cheap :D

[Brother Christopher]

Slow but purposeful, that's the motto! I'm doing great with limiting my creative drives and with focuisng on the already started projects. To catch some air and have a small break from plasticard and glue, I painted some metallics on my Sicaran. I wanted to post pictures of all shiny bits completed, but it seems that due to being snowed under with work, I won't be able to devote any time to the hobby. So here's a (kind of) premature update with only the main hull's elements (tracks, exhausts, vents) painted:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/sicaran/P1130952_zpsuedalg8h.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/sicaran/P1130954_zpsdadubmwn.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/sicaran/P1130953_zpskcnoi3kc.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/sicaran/5a2083a7-d3b9-4bee-bf01-328a6a2ad0df_zpsrf0r2ooq.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/sicaran/P1130956_zpslnwtux4e.jpg

 

I'm trying to follow my new/current policy to paint stuff at a table-top quality to get things done before 2020 (yeah, I stacked up quite a collection, most of which is as yet untouched). This is a sample of my new, time-saving approach to faster metallics: base colour (boltgun metal) > dry brush with lighter metallic (mithril silver) > wash with black mixed with metallic water (metallic paints leave a lot of sparkling "pigment" in the water cup which is great for further watering the black wash) > dry brush / highlight with lighter metallic. Some parts, like the exhausts tips and tracks, were washed with agrax earthshade to add a rusty/dirty feel to it - the result isn't what I expected, but it looks kind of great from a distance.

 

So, according to plan I should finish the rest of metallic parts (turret, cannons, detail such as chains and the heavy bolter) and proceed to finishing the yellow parts and coloured detail (purity seals, trinkets). After that I'll just have to redo and highlight the blacks and the tank should be ready.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Metal's looking good from what I can tell. I'm all for you speeding up your painting if that means we'll get to see more frequent output from you 

[Brother Christopher]

Aww, thanks! This is by far the nicest thing I've heard all day :)

[Kisada]

Great stuff ... question though ... how did you make that great templar cross for the shoulder pad and that emblem on his leg?

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/marshal%20on%20bike/P1100537_zps5s6bbaej.jpg

Edited September 22, 2015 by Kisada