The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

I always knew it would turn out in the end! This model is amazing! From the sculpt (which I know you went back and forth on) to the paint (sorry I didn't comment too much on it previously), every choice and accident has paid off into a unique and spectacular model. I've said it before, I wish I had half your skill with modification and plasticard. My own experience with green stuff is shaky ATM, but I'm glad you pushed through despite the weird look to the putty you've used. Now that it's painted, it looks like it's supposed to be that way. I can't wait to see what you do next!

[Brother Christopher]

First of all, I am super glad you like the model!

 

23 hours ago, SWORD BROTHER RYAN said:

I always knew it would turn out in the end! This model is amazing! From the sculpt (which I know you went back and forth on) to the paint (sorry I didn't comment too much on it previously), every choice and accident has paid off into a unique and spectacular model. I've said it before, I wish I had half your skill with modification and plasticard. My own experience with green stuff is shaky ATM, but I'm glad you pushed through despite the weird look to the putty you've used. Now that it's painted, it looks like it's supposed to be that way. I can't wait to see what you do next!

 

It was a matter of faith, really. I had faith that paint will cover all the mess up and it did! Also, since the damage was done, I had to go on with the thing. There was no turning back.

 

I feel that doing things with plasticard and putties is becoming more and more obsolete and rightly so - it's too analogue and time-consuming. 3D printing will replace these things in the future, I'm sure of it. However, I'm sometimes and analogue guy, so I find this aspect of the hobby enjoyable (at least for the most part). It also is the only availible tool to introduce some of my ideas.

 

As for plasticard, I think that's not as much a question of skills, but of persistence and patience, especially when it comes to the type of scratch building I'm doing. When you have the blueprints, you just cut along the lines and glue them together ;) As this project shows, designing stuff is way more difficult and I don't think I'll venture there again.

 

On 11/20/2022 at 8:57 AM, Marshal Reinhard said:

Have to say, I felt a bit uncertain about how it would all come together for a while, but if anyone knew how to plasticard something together like this, it'd be you. And lo' and behold everything clicks into piece and is now painted up and if I didn't know the original kit  I'd barely be able to tell it was altered.

 

I will feel especially jealous of the leg armor and the classic arms of this brute.

 

Thanks! Don't feel jealous, though ;) I don't think it was worth all the time!

 

Also, I like the sound of the word "brute" - I think I'll incorporate it in the name and/or fluff for this war machine. After all, for the purposes of my Crusade, this is not a regular (or modified) Redemptor dreadnought, but a piece of heresy - a custom dreadnought pattern discovered or devised in the forge worlds of Neurode, just like my other scratch builds: Storm Raven, plasticard Rhinos and eventually my Land Raider and Thunderhawk.

 

On 11/20/2022 at 12:36 AM, Urkh said:

Absolutely gorgeous! This motivates me to finish the project I am currently working on. Unlike you, I don't like posting WiP pics of special projects because I like the surprise element to it, but watching this all come together and unfold was quite something. This is your first primaris mini, yah? You should be extremely proud. I probably would have voted for this dread in the knightfall votes.

 

I'm happy to hear that you found my stuff motivating - I can't wait to see what you're up to.

 

With the scope of the project and the sometimes slow progress, I really needed to vent here - taking a photo of a piece of the model, after working on it for 3 hours (without achieving much in the grand scale of things) gave me a sense of much needed completion and progression. I think that had I not posted as often as I did (sorry for that!), the project would end up in the 'to-be-finished' pile and rot there among other forsaken models.

 

And, yeah, this is my first Primaris model.

 

On 11/19/2022 at 9:00 PM, Bjorn Firewalker said:

Well done. How will you decorate the Venerable Brother's base? Do you have any Chaos or Ork models to dismember and then pile at the Dreadnought's base, as defeated foes?

 

No idea yet! I haven't done any corpses on bases yet, but considering the size of this one I might go with something fancy.

 

***

As for the next things, I am going to push things on the painting front. My dream and intention is to paint things in a more speedy manner. This weekend, I did a test model - a Terminator with Heavy Flamer that I managed to paint over two painting sessions, I feel a record. I tried to rush things, at least by my regular standards, while retaining the general style and aesthetic.

 

I want to deal with my collection of OOP models first (mostly metals I bought over the years). For the next batch, I'm currently... ruining converting re-educating and repurposing a bunch of Ultramarines and a certain Imperial Fists captain, all under keen supervision of my OOP Chaplain Grimaldus and the vanilla Redemptor Dreadnought (I'm afraid that I'll sell him and regret doing so later - after all, I intend to play the game in the future and 2 Redemptors might be quite handy).

[Brother Christopher]

So, another two weeks pass. I don't have much to show but, as much as time permitted it, I have been working on some 40k miniatures. Considering some minor health issues (minor, but being a real nuisance) and the work overload, I am pleasantly surprised how much I managed to do. It also helps a lot that I am quite excited to work on the minis and believe me, "excited" isn't a word that I use lightly. I will post pictures when the batch of six models is painted.

 

The good:

The excitement perhaps is is further fuelled by my recent acquisition of the OOP Metal Terminator Chaplain. I managed to get it for roughly the retail price it was sold in 5th edition, which means roughly half of what GW asks for modern, plastic SM heroes nowadays. Back in the day, when the model was sold, I was a student and I could never justify such an expense for a model that wasn't viable in the game. I think that the model hasn't aged well - it has many of the old sculpts' problems, including weird proportions, messed up anatomy and funky design (what's with the loin-scroll? how does he move about without ripping the thing off or tripping on it? ) but it has always been one of my favourite 40k model. Very grimdark, very atmospheric. And now, with my adult, working-man's disposable income (and any other 40k-related expenses on hold for many months), I could finally afford it and justify the purchase as a 'collector's item' and perhaps a fulfilment of a small dream I once had.

 

The bad:

I also have to complain about some of GW's paints. I discovered that some of the most important paints (light grey, light and dark red and beige) are ruined. They get clumpy and dried up in a way I can't revive them with water and/or thinner medium - something that always did the trick, even with some ancient 8-year-old paints. I don't know what's wrong with these paints but whatever it is really grinds my gears. I store all my paints the same way, in the same conditions and I've never had such issues with the old GW line of paints (in the old pots), nor with any of the Vallejo paints I've started to use.

 

What this means for me is more minor expenses on thing's that I shouldn't need since the paints technically didn't run out. Granted, some of the the 'ruined' paints are serviceable, but barely. Their coverage is poor and leave strange streaks and - most importantly - require time and effort to get things going. It's really annoying to waste a couple of minutes to extract the paint from the pot, then mix it on a wet pallet each time you need it. That is why I decided to replace them. But the real problem is that these unfortunate adventures stalled my progress a bit.

[Urkh]

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

 

The enemy is entropy.

[mytimeprez]

I personally switched to Vallejo awhile back and I’m thankful I did. After 6 years of not painting anything, my Vallejo is still good and all of my GW paints are not salvageable. I feel your pain brother.

[Brother Carpenter]

I managed to revive a lot of my gwc paint after almost 10 years of neglect with warm water.

But some, mostly reds had spoiled, looked like there was some kind of mold in the paint and it smelled weird.

Others like some metallics and blues would not revive how hard I tried.

 

Good luck.

Ps im slowly switching to valleyo after discovering a shop that sells it locally.

[mytimeprez]

I’m going to talk to my local shop about picking up Vallejo since I’m starting to paint again. Until then it’s Amazon for me unfortunately. 

[Brother Christopher]

On 12/5/2022 at 11:35 PM, Brother Christopher said:

I will post pictures when the batch of six models is painted.

 

So, here are the four promised models ;) an odd selection of Terminators:

 

 

OOP Metal Terminator Chaplain

 

 

 

 

I am very happy how this one turned out. Not sure about the base, though - but I got some a set of fancy 40mm bases way back so I figured I'll use them for my Terminator Heroes / Command Squad.

 

Random Heavy Flamer Guy:

 

 

Black Templars Marneus Calgar power first brawler or perhaps count-as gravis character (?):

 

 

 

And Black Templars Captain Lysander Thunder Hammer dude number eight:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not particularly happy with this model - there is still much to improve, especially with the shield and back-mounted ornament; however, I ran out of time with this one. I want to stay focused on "rush" my painting so I started to follow some self-imposed restrictions. On top of that, I think that in the future, I won't really mind the shield and won't remember that I felt like improving this.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

It's still obvious you invested a lot of time and effort in your models. I applaud your efforts and your skills.

[Brother Christopher]

Oh, yeah. Around 2-3 hours per character model but, given my propensities, these numbers could go way up since there's always something to improve. As hard as it is, I'm trying to limit painting a model to a maximum of three painting sessions and move on.

 

The mental effort to stop and move on is surprisingly great but, I feel, necessary: I badly want to focus on the big picture, paint my collection and refocus on other miniatures and gaming.

[Prot]

On 12/13/2022 at 4:24 AM, Brother Christopher said:

Oh, yeah. Around 2-3 hours per character model but, given my propensities, these numbers could go way up since there's always something to improve. As hard as it is, I'm trying to limit painting a model to a maximum of three painting sessions and move on.

 

The mental effort to stop and move on is surprisingly great but, I feel, necessary: I badly want to focus on the big picture, paint my collection and refocus on other miniatures and gaming.

 

Fantastic work. I very much agree, and struggle with that as well; moving on. Calling a model 'done' and getting on to the next unit.

 

I am really surprised how well old Calgar looks as a Templar. You really did a great job with these. That old Chaplain Termie.... that unit has some serious weight to it. lol  And again, I think you did an awesome, clean job with the unit.

[Brother Christopher]

On 12/15/2022 at 4:19 PM, Prot said:

 

Fantastic work. I very much agree, and struggle with that as well; moving on. Calling a model 'done' and getting on to the next unit.

 

I am really surprised how well old Calgar looks as a Templar. You really did a great job with these. That old Chaplain Termie.... that unit has some serious weight to it. lol  And again, I think you did an awesome, clean job with the unit.

 

Thanks a lot. It is a high honour coming from you!

 

In the meantime, I managed to fail at my attempts to rush models and painted Grimaldus. I feel I should do more work but enough is enough.

 

As is usually the case with my photos, the model looks way better in person. These quick photos, often taken at night, really emphasise all that's wrong with a paintjob. This is, however, something I accept - this 'emergency photos setup' strikes a nice balance between quality (i.e. sharpness) and time, even though it often is to the detriment of the actual aesthetic experience of the model. As always, I promise to take better photos in the future. I do intend to get a light box or arrange for another proper setup to take photos of the finished models. I'm postponing this move until I move on to basing and sealing my models to take photos of 100% finished models.

 

 

 

 

 

This turned out to be an amazing model. I never really appreciated how detailed and cool it is until I discovered the different small details here and there. I absolutely loved painting him. I also tried to keep my version close to the old GW's paintjob from Codex: Black Templars: hence the black handle/grip on the crozius or the body of the plasma gun. Also, the pose has grown on me. I have kinda always found it to be a bit... awkward. Now, I think it's pretty unique: like he's standing and reciting some rites of march while the ranks of black Templars move onto transports, ready for war.

 

In terms of self-criticism, I'm mostly angry with myself for missing some mould lines / flash on the helmet which deformed one of the eye lenses. It's something I can live with and at the stage of painting I discovered the defect, it was too late to make any real attempts to fix that. If that was even fixable in the first place.

[Prot]

The tabard work is great. It really pops on the model and shows you really went to town on all that script work. Great job.

[Brother Carpenter]

Wonderful. See my comment in your wip thread.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Brother Carpenter
Typo

[BrutusApex]

Love the terminator Chaplain. Thats such a great model. 

[Brother Christopher]

As always, thank you for the amazing feedback! I appreciate it!

 

So, 2022 wasn't a particularly active year when it comes to my involvement in the hobby - particularly Q2 and Q3 were very slow and lazy. However, things changed a bit in the last couple of months and - I hope - this newfound motivation will carry over to 2023.

 

In terms of painted models, I managed to finish painting an underwhelming total of 21 (say: twenty-one) miniatures. Admittedly, things could've been better where it not for the Redemptor Dreadnought Conversion Project (TM) that took the better part of 2 months in hobby time. I also worked on a number of character models (Helbrecht, Grimaldus, Calgar, TDA Chaplain, Sicarius or Lysander), as well as some 3rd-edition Captains, all of whom have taken way more than plastic rank-and-file infantry models.

 

Below are some photos of the final batch of painted miniatures:

 

 

Black Templars Sicarius:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In terms of self-criticism, I'm not happy with the mould line seam on the cape (it didn't appear to be as big of a deal) and the helmet. So, the front of the helmet is my best attempt at sculpting. It's not great but it's serviceable from a normal viewing distance.

 

Magnetised Power Fist guys:

 

 

 

And a heavy flamer guy:

 

 

In terms of plans for 2023, I intend to plough through the backlog and am determined to 'rush' models. The plastic infantry above represents my current target standard of painting - it isn't as time-consuming and painstaking as some of top-quality models and the final result is quite cool, especially when seen with the naked eye.

 

By my estimate, more than 2/3 of my force is painted. I want to keep to proportions since the remaining number of models is quite daunting - clocking to around 100 outdated, soon-to-be-obsolete Firstborn stuff. The distribution of to-do models is quite even: 15-20 of each category: scout armour, jump infantry, terminator amour, bikes and 'other' (i.e. vehicles, centurions) plus around 10 regular infantry models (mostly characters).

 

I think that - if time permits - I'll want to take photos of the to-do models to have a better understanding of the scope of work, as well as have a point of reference for the progress made. My 'dream' is to get the most of my army done within the 1st year of 10th edition, which will hopefully be more manageable and playable than what has been the standard for the last couple of years.

 

Right now I'm working on the vanilla Redemptor Dreadnought. Apart from being a painting challenge, the model is another experiment and/or attempt to recalibrate my expectations and optics on painting models: I really badly want to force myself to rush things while retaining appearance of having well-painted models. This Dread is supposed to be a morale-booster: proof that I can paint larger models quickly (unlike with the previous one) without compromising the aesthetic/quality too much.

 

Overall, I'm surprised by all my optimism around my place in the hobby :D. I feel that my Crusade has reached a more-or-less finished state. I feel that I know what I want to do with it.

 

The only thing that repeatedly tries to bring me down is my dissatisfaction with GW and their marketing and business models. I continue to be concerned about the future of 'the hobby' because of the parallels between the current goings on and the anti-consumer nature of the video game industry. Also, I don't like the general aesthetic direction 40k is headed: many of the models and ranges are, in my opinion, withdrawing from my expectations of what "40k aesthetic" is and should be. In consequence, I can't shake the feeling of futility of my hobby endeavours: when completed, my finished army will be an inferior product what will find itself in a completely different setting. There's a lot to unpack here and, as I'm typing this, I realised that this might spiral a bit out of control, so I'll end with a truism: you can't stop progress, especially since so many people appear to be enjoying it!

 

Hope you have a great new year 2023!

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by Brother Christopher

[mytimeprez]

Stay strong brother! You have been a staple of this forum and this community for a long time. It takes a special kind of zeal to maintain the eternal crusade and I admire yours. 

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Marneus looks awesome in black !!

[Brother Christopher]

On 1/4/2023 at 12:36 AM, mytimeprez said:

Stay strong brother! You have been a staple of this forum and this community for a long time. It takes a special kind of zeal to maintain the eternal crusade and I admire yours. 

 

Oh, my - thank you. I actually never thought about this but it has been SO LONG that I'm here. 

 

I can only vow to finally get my stuff sorted out as soon as possible. It won't be easy but I entered this year with a newfound determination. The only thing that keeps bothering me is that I'm missing out on the 'new Warhammer experience' - getting excited for new releases and buying new stuff. On the other hand, given my pace of work, it's maybe for the better that I am focused on my OG Marines. I think that I'd be extremely prone to building up an extensive pile of shame consisting of cardboard boxes and untouched sprues.

 

The sense of finiteness (if that's even a word) is something that I have really grown to appreciate. Warhammer is way more volatile than when I started. In retrospect, I think that what really bothers me is that Warhammer 40k no longer is a relatively finite catalogue of products but a constant stream of releases, adapting the model of a live service where models even get invalidated rule-wise. I can't overemphasise how glad I am that something 'clicked' in my head that allowed me to view my force/collection as complete.

 

On 1/4/2023 at 10:59 AM, BLACK BLΠFLY said:

Marneus looks awesome in black

 

Thanks, I'm glad you like him in this version!

 

***

Continuing with my resolution, I managed to finish my Vanilla Redemptor Dreadnought (due to the pot belly armour, I think that in my 40k timeline/fluff, I will consider this model as an Ironclad Redemptor) in just five sittings. I'd like to improve on the model but "I've run out of time" - as a mental exercise (and an attempt to discipline myself), I'm trying to strike the time/effort/quality balance I mentioned above. There are things I'd like to improve (some highlights, metallic and the reds!) but I think most of them fall into the "I won't notice them in a week" category. As always, all small crosses and shields are hand-painted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still not sure but I think I might add the missile launcher later on.

[mytimeprez]

Crusade on brother! More great completions

[Urkh]

The dread is so crisp!

[Brother Christopher]

Since I joined the 12 Months of Hobby challenge, I had to base the model (uhgg) and took some better photos.

 

I will add some turfs and grass on the bow bare and ugly base after I varnish the model. I've been told that rattle can varnishes don't work well with turfs/static grass because of frosting and varnish particles getting caught in the blades of grass.

 

 

More pictures:

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next project is 5 jump pack Marines with magnetised arms, as an exercise in future-proofing a hopeless army:

 

 

My ambitious plan is to get these guys painted over the weekend. I want to prove to myself that painting a squad of Marines doesn't have to take months - after all, I don't have to train them, just paint them...

[Brother Christopher]

So, unsurprisingly, I didn't manage to get the squad done over the weekend. However, by my standards, progress is CONSIDERABLE.

 

I need some feedback from you, brothers. I continue to learn to let go but my detail-oriented tendencies are trying to get the best of me.

 

 

 

I think that with extensive use of dry brushing and excellent Army Painter washes, I found a quite time-efficient (and not frustrating!) way of painting models, bypassing some of the woes of painting black. What I still plan on doing with the models above is all the small details and freehand stuff - shoulder pad iconography, scribbles on parchments, white specks in the eye lenses, as well as a grey trim along the shoulder pads. Apart from that, I'd like to call the models done... but I'm not sure if I didn't cut too many corners along the way. On the one hand, I have always strived to highlight more (all!) edges, I added another layer of highlights on the metallic, scrolls, seals etc. On the other hand, I think that while being used as game pieces (or part of an army-wide showcase), the added time to hit all the edges and add another layer of highlights won't matter than much. I.e. 'from a distance', they should look cool enough.

 

Your thoughts? Apart from the missing hands and jump packs, would you agree that I can call these models done and the paint job above to be my new standard for non-character troops? Or should I go the extra mile and touch them up?

 

I'm trying to rationalise this corner cutting and I think it makes perfect sense but I feel that I should do more.

 

I terms of justifying the new 'rushed' standard, I am certain that painted models are better than unpainted ones. Furthermore, I am excited and impatient about finishing the paint-and-convert phase of my involvement in 40k (which has been going on for way too long) and focusing my attention on the gaming side of things. On top of that, with a project this large, I can't really afford to have one, uniform standard of painting since my skills have changed over the years and I don't want to strip older paint jobs or repaint large chunks of my army. I do intend to retouch some of the older models but limit the work to refining highlights and adding depth/shade to flat details (ornaments, purity seals, tabards) from my earlier days.

 

In my spare time, I will probably take a photo comparing the different 'landmark' models representing the various stages of my painting. That way, you'll have a more clear understanding of the general aesthetic I want my models to follow (basically, laid out in the 4th edition Codex: Black Templars).

 

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Brother Christopher
Fixed photos

[Urkh]

Apart from the things you've said like shoulder iconography and white specs in the lenses, I think you can safely call these minis done, brother. I actually really like the extra highlights on the parchment. The thing I am finding in my journey is that the brighter the highlights "highlight", the more visible the details are from farther away. People will see the edges of those from across the table  If they're actually looking at the mini.

 

Edit: they all look great, btw!

Edited January 16, 2023 by Urkh

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you, Brother Urkh! I think that what I'm aiming at with the way I paint my miniatures is for them to visually 'pop' from a distance. I'm not sure how I developed this approach. Maybe I just liked the aesthetic. Or maybe this focus on making details visible from a distance initially was a justification for my inadequacy as a painter (don't get me wrong, I've grown to like my style but I'm not a pro either!) since for a long time I struggled with the idea of edge highlighting a black armour. Who knows, I for sure don't remember.

 

The important thing is that the best way that I found to deal with my lack of skills is to hit all the edges possible with grey lines which resulted in a surprisingly pleasant final result - an almost cartoony exaggeration of all the details on a mini. This style of painting maybe doesn't stand the test of close-up inspection well but looks really cool on the tabletop. That's why for a long time I persisted in painting all the edges grey, but I 'precision painted' them which was A CHORE. I don't think that my current approach (dry brushing and then refining the lines followed by a final point 'precision highlight') saves me time compared to the old approach but definitely is less mentally challenging. What I want to say, I found a way to make painting black armour fun.

 

Now, for a review of the different stages of my painting. The models in the photos below are arranged chronologically, from my first ever model on the left to my current approach to painting and standard on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

My first ever model that I'll preserve for posterity:

Also, a rare representative of Gen. 0 of my minis. Notice the very dark edge highlights (a mix of Chaos Black and Skull White - back then, on a limited budged, I couldn't really justify getting a grey paint! lol... so sad :D).

 

Gen. I of my minis - notice that I got a proper grey paint to 'edge highlight', but the lines are quite sloppy. Also, I didn't shade most of the other details (notice the flat parchments).

 

 

Gen. I.I of my minis - A refined version of Gen. 0 and Gen. I being slowly introduced after I developed skills for Gen. II. Since I did most of my best gaming with the Gen. 0 and Gen. I miniatures (ah, the fond memories of the 5th edition battles), stripping the models and repainting them felt really dishonest or even disrespectful. I must admit that I toyed with the idea of starting from scratch but luckily I didn't. As you can see, more edges are highlighted, as well as some depth was added to other colours.

 

 

 

Gen. II of my minis - my go-to formula if I had more time or less models to paint. I consider this to be the peak of my painting skills and determination. The models don't look particularly well in the close-up photos but are really cool 'in person'.

 

 

 

And, finally, Gen. III of my minis - examples of implementing my current 'streamlined' formula: grey edges dry brushed and refined, extensive use of washes on other colours - generally speaking, this approach is slightly more time-efficient compared to the 'benchmark' Gen. II but is way more relaxing and way less straining. Also, I think that the finished models roughly match the aesthetic of Gen. II. It could be argued that the edge highlights of Gen. III are better - they are slicker and more natural, even though (or because!) I no longer aim to hit all the possible edges.

 

 

 

***Please disregard the specks of dust and/or varnish in some photos.***

 

What do you think? When viewed side-by-side and from a distance (like in the group photo), there isn't that much of a difference between Gen. II and Gen. III, right? As a part of a whole army, in a display cabinet or on a tabletop, the entire