The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[Brother Christopher]

Here's a photo update on the Land Raider Repulsor that I... probably should rename to Land Raider Executioner - I think that considering the changes to the project, the name is more fitting. Aaaaand it has a way nicer ring to it!

 

So, firstly - for the hull-mounted weapons, I used a leftover bit from a Redemptor:

 

For the top-rear section, I wanted to make the engine unit and exhausts layout somewhat similar to the Repulsor, i.e. on the top of the vehicle, instead of on the back. I used some LR bits, bits from a Stormtalon weapon housing and basic scratch-building for some simple greebling.

 

 

Please bear in mind that most of the parts are barely dry-fitted and need some refining. The final product should be better put together.

 

For the back, I opted for a Repulsor-style single large-ish hatch. I might squeeze in a Stormbolter weapons port above the hatch. Not sure about that, though.

 

 

 

 

There's also progress on the front of the tank; I decided to go with a LR Achilles-type front because I've always found it to look very cool. I managed to roughly/preliminarily it the hull-mounted gun housing and even add some detailing to the bottom part of the front:

 

 

 

 

For the sides, I'm planning to use some original bits from a Land Raider, namely the sponson 'door frame' and use it as a bit of extra armour for some Rhino-sized doors that will be placed in the rear door slots. The idea is to recreate the extra bits of trim around the side doors on a Repulsor without going with a 'cowl'.  For the front, I'm planning to do a mix of the old resin LR extra armour, while trying to get the profile of the front section of the Repulsor.

 

I'm not particularly good at planning/designing stuff so I'm a bit anxious. Having said that, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

 

Speaking about me not being good at planning/designing, as I come closer to the end of the project, I can't shake the feeling that all I did was waste a bit of my time and a perfectly good Land Raider. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the results so far. The thing is that... The whole will probably be worse than the sum of its parts and a MTB on a LR (or Repulsor) chassis just isn't such a great idea due to the clash of WW1 aesthetic of a LR/Repulsor (that I find very similar) and a tank with a turret on top.

 

Regardless, I'm sure I'll go through with this and am determined to do it soon.

 

As an aside/request for advice, I'm considering dropping the targeter on the main cannon of the tank (all modern Primaris tanks have these large targeters). On the one hand, I think I should keep it to make the model that more similar to the Primaris equivalent. On the other hand, my tank clearly has a more pre-Primaris aesthetic to it and usually targeters/scopes were integrated into the turret of SM tanks, rather than an attachment.

 

Thoughts? For the next update, Iwhen I'll hopefully finish the turret and main guns, 'll dry-fit some scopes/targeters to present some options.

sadasd

[Brother Christopher]

Long story short - I've managed to finish the big-tank-conversion-project. Here's my Land Raider Executioner in all it's oldschool conversion glory.

 

All in all, I'm quite happy with it. In retrospect, a proper Land Raider would've been a better tank but, hey, now I can use a count-as Repulsor.

 

 

More photos here: https://imgur.com/gallery/O35hvNg

 

I'm looking forward to getting the tank primed. This should help with much of the apparent issues stemming from the contrast between the grey and white plastics and green stuff.

 

I'm still planning 2-3 conversion/scratchbuilding projects but after that, I'm done with this aspect of the hobby. While I enjoy - or even, perhaps, love - scratchbuilding, I feel I've had my share of it for a lifetime. Hobby-wise, I need to transition to other things to waste my time on.

 

The remaining projects include a "flagship" Land Raider (a mode of my earlier conversion)  that needs refining (I've learnt so much in the meantime that I feel it's warranted to update this project with my better technique and, hopefully, superior details), my custom Rhinos that I intend to use as Impulsors and Stormtalon conversions.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Brother Christopher

[Brother Carpenter]

Great.

I think it looks fantastic.

Actually I thought you had already laid down the base colours.

Kinda like these contrasts.

 

Can't wait to see it painted.

 

Cheers, Rinke

[Sir Clausel]

I absolutely love it! Here i am so hsppy that i 3D printed a turret and you can just build whole tanks out of plasticcard. And so skillfully. Bravo!

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the positive feedback. It's much needed since I've come to realise that I messed the proportions of the turret up. It's too high and looks a bit off. It has bothered me for a long time but I couldn't really put my finger on what's wrong. I'm quite angry with myself for not realising much sooner that the proportions of the papercraft blueprints were not that great.

 

Now, to my dismay, I don't know what to do with this. I'll probably have to live with this since I don't feel like building another turret and, due to the internal structure of the thing, it's basically impossible to trim it down by the 0.5 cm that it needs to be trimmed down.

 

Cursed be the fog of Chaos that has clouded my judgement while the thing was still salvageable.

 

Way to ruin my excitement about finishing the model.

[Brother Christopher]

My remarks about the turret aside, the finished model is more than good enough, I think. I managed to do what I set out to do. While I think the tracked version is somewhat more in-line with what I consider to be the Space Marine aesthetic, I haven;t managed to 'fix' the design. Regardless, the project was quite enjoyable and I'm quite happy with the new addition to my Crusade.

 

I intend to return to the model in October to add more custom touches, including a some kind of a freehand on the left side of the hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vossyvo]

This is simply fantastic, awesome job! 

Wish GW could have gone down this route for the actual Repulsor, love it with the lander raider chassis.

[Brother Christopher]

Okay, so being tired of GW 'invalidating' my units and/or weapon options I wasted time on making (all the combi weapons and Vanguard Veterans!), I figured I'll get back to something more fun and pointless!

 

Here's some progress on my DIY Thunderhawk. I've started work on the interior. I wanted a 'quick' paintjob since it won't be visible but I also wanted to make the details I've worked on 'pop'. I think the final effort strikes a relatively nice balance. It didn't take me long, it's not great but it also looks good enough, don't you think?

 

 

 

 

 

[Sir Clausel]

3 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

Okay, so being tired of GW 'invalidating' my units and/or weapon options I wasted time on making (all the combi weapons and Vanguard Veterans!), I figured I'll get back to something more fun and pointless!

 

Im ABSOLUTLY furiuos that they invalidated Thunder hammer and Storm shield for Terminator Captains! Iconic loadout and they have sold minis with that exact loadout!

 

But the interior looks awesome! You are mad for building your own Thunderhawk. But the good kind of mad!

[Brother Christopher]

RE: Rule changes. Yeah, I mean it's a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but it's annoying. Especially when people, like you, put so much effort and personality into the models you have. Your Primaris are far from 'vanilla' and the way GW handles change is really annoying. After all, the rules are tied to a physical product that is highly-customisable and time consuming to get ready.

 

RE: Thunderhawk. I can only say this: thanks you ;) I like being mad this way, haha. This was a project started way back in more simple times when I was way younger (2012 feels like a lifetime away) and I can't emphasise enough how good I feel seeing this come together. Incidentally, most of the details of the cockpit are from that time and are a remnant of my first forays into scratch building. It's also satisfying to compare the quality of my work back then with my current skills. Luckily, most of the exterior is more 'recent' in terms of quality. Don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining here about the detailing - it's good enough for what it is.

[Brother Christopher]

Some quick photos of the more or less finished cockpit. Quite surprisingly, I managed to to this in 3 days (probably around 4-5 hours in total), so super-fast by my standards.

 

 

 

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of how I rushed the screen in the back (I unnecessarily applied a layer of wash). Having said that, I don't feel like fixing them.

 

 

 

 

I'm also not a fan of this particular bare head for the pilot. I decided to go with it because it (or a very similar head) was in most of the photos I've seen of the original old resin Thunderhawk. I felt like it's the right thing to do - to pay homage to the the model behind this harebrained project.

 

For the co-pilot, I decided to go a bit more crazy with the paint scheme, very much in-line with my general philosophy for my army: every single marine is a veteran soldier with years or decades of experience. As such, they deserve to have customised armours and a degree of personalisation. This chap is a bit closer to Mars, yet he is a Templar at heart; thus the red-black pattern of his armour.

 

While I regret doing this much customisation for my army (right now, I think I'd go with a per-squad paint schemes), what's done is done: I shall finish the rest of my army in the vain I've started it.

 

[Brother Christopher]

So, there's more progress. I started work on the external plating. And I'm quite anxious about getting the colour scheme right. I was considering many things but, I think, I'll settle for a 'safe' option and go with a paint scheme that I'd like to think is simple and elegant.

 

I thought about going freehand-heavy on the model or about adding more coloured panels but... while these ideas may appear fun, I found myself regretting doing similar things on other models. Since I'm particularly proud of how the details turned out, I think that accentuating them with edge highlight could be a better approach than a fancy freehand or many coloured panels - things that I usually treat as a means of distraction when I have something to hide (e.g. mistakes) or to add details to large flat surfaces.

 

I'm thinking of this as the base paint scheme:

 

But, obviously, with a black base colour and a grey stripe:

 

Regarding the colour, I feel that the mid-tone grey is quite okay. I feel that red is too vibrant, while bone/white are too light. I might add red or yellow to the weapons' housings, though.

 

The same colour, whatever it will eventually be, will also be on the wings or perhaps the s-foils.

 

Also, I think it's reasonable to the vehicle to have a less ornate paint scheme. After all, I feel that Thunderhawks are more utilitarian than, say, Land Raiders, Dreadnoughts, command vehicles or relic tanks from HH. While I would probably say that this particular Thunderhawk is going to be the most special model in my army, considering the time and effort put into it, I must remember that it just one of many similar crafts for my Crusade. After all, forgive the exaggeration, Thunderhawks are... glorified flying Rhinos/Razorbacks (especially in the olden days when Storm Ravens/Eagles were not yet retconed into the setting) - their primary role is to deploy ground forces and offer air support. As such, I always imagined that they are rather fast-moving, heavy hitting vehicles. They may be inspiring to combatants but not in the same way as a banner, Land Raider or Dreadnought. Also, with a zooming flyer, there isn't too much time for appreciating its ornate fuselage, I thing.

 

I'm probably overthinking this. In a nerdy way, I want to convince myself that the simpler paint scheme that is supposed to accentuate the work I put into the model is the right way to go.

 

I'm really looking forward to hearing your feedback and am open to any and all advice/suggestions.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Scheme looks alright, and your reasoning seems sound, I cannot ever recall seeing an ornate thunderhawk. If you need some place to put some templar-esque trappings and such, an interior wall shrine, or a spot with a lot of purity seals will go most of the lenght. 

 

Might help with an above view, though those may be hard to come by

 

[Brother Christopher]

So, yeah... ehm. I messed the canopy up. I am so angry with myself but that's my privilege as the creator. Long story short: I was too excited about putting the canopy together that I kind of approached it at the wrong time, while being tired and with a strict time limit (damned be professional life!). One thing led to the other and the result isn't as perfect as I hoped. Having said that, it's not bad per se. It's just that I'm disappointed with the execution.

 

Paradoxically, by investing a lot more time I managed to fix a couple of issues but, unfortunately, there's somewhat permanent damage to the transparent panes caused by ape-like handling (I figured I'll save time by not putting gloves on) and assembly issues (frosting from superglue).

 

First things first: the assembled top section of the nose/front of the Thunderhawk:

 

And here's the newly-assembled part on top of the bare cargo bay, together with the canopy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problems with the canopy include the aforementioned frosting, scratches and a stain left by polystyrene cement. These defects are not that apparent; they're barely visible in the photos. But the worst part is that I know they are there and it kind of hurts me since I also know that they could have been avoided. It's just that this filigree part was my darling and I let myself down.

...

Having said that: time heals all wounds :D Even though I'm feeling a bit down now, I know that in a couple of days/weeks, I'll forget about these problems. I know that I did so in the past on numerous occasions: these kinds of things are usually visible only afer a detailed inspection, at certain angles and, thus, when they are fresh in memory.

 

I also think that I can count these defects as 'weathering:' albeit unintended, the scratches, crack and frosting may be just that on the 'actual' vehicle: minor damage to the panes and condensation in the corners of the windows.

 

All in all, this was a good effort. It is what it is, I give it a 7/10 ;) It's just a shame that I haven't had much experience with handling the whatever-it-is transparent plastic in the past - it might have prevented me from doing some of the stupid things I did.

[Marshal Laeroth]

Personally, I think the frosting/scratches adds character to the model (though it's barely noticeable).  I would think that these things would happen regularly to the "real thing", so it's a happy happenstance.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the reassurance - I really appreciate that! The 'damage' is more visible in person, but after some time has passed, I think it's fine.

 

I am away from home at the moment so the Thunderhawk is on-hold. However, I wanted to continue doing something 40k-related and decided to take some old neophytes with me since I think that they require/deserve an upgrade. I've painted these guys around 10 years ago and much has changed in that time. I weren't happy with some of the conversions I did on them but decided not to interfere with that too much. I also decided not to strip the paint completely to as a remembrance to the battles I used these models in.

 

My current 40k morale is quite low. It's funny how the changes to the game that I don't actually play sometimes affect my enjoyment of the aspects of the hobby that I'm engaged in. I need to work on that. But regardless of my frustrations, I continue to slog forward.

 

The current project consists of:

- replacing old, ugly tabards to slightly better ones (already in the photos),

- changing wargear: initially, in a truly Templar fashion, these neophytes were all equipped with close combat weapons; I've swapped some for bolters and shotguns (already in the photos),

- upgrading the paintjob to add some depth and, hopefully, fix some of these god-awful faces,

- basing.

 

[Brother Carpenter]

I'm glad I never actually bought the plastic ones. I was donated some by my brother and yes those faces are imho one of the worst faces gw ever designed.

The metal scouts have so much more diversity going for them.

But kudos for tackling them. My plastic ones are still in the to be prcessed bag.

 

I really loved seeing the interior of the TH getting paint and shape.

 

Greetz Rinke

[Brother Christopher]

I think that you've dodged a bullet with these models. I think they aren't as bad as people often think but they're not great either. It's all about those heads, isn't it?

 

Luckily, I didn't get more; albeit, ~30 scout models is probably more than enough. Luckily, I have a nice mix of plastics and metal models.

 

I finished the upgrade of my old batch of neophytes. It's not great, but it's honest work. To be honest, the photo doesn't help with the presentation of the models. In person the paintjob, bar some faces that would require stripping and starting over, is way better (I might retake the photo of the finished models). The thing that bothers me the most are the tabards. I've replaced some that I found to be objectively worse, but unfortunately I'm not particularly pleased with these ones.

 

Having said that: I'll leave these as-is and focus on the next thing(s). I have to learn to let go.

 

[Brother Christopher]

I'm taking a short break from painting Space Marines. I want to give it a shot at painting something not produced by GW and my next project is the set of witchers from the Witcher: Old World board game. At the moment, it feels really fun to paint some miniatures with more realistic proportions.

 

However, it turns out that my heart is really with my army. Even though I'm spending my time allocate to the miniatures hobby on painting some leather-clad, medieval-fantasy dudes, I'm also engaged with 40k on a planning level.

 

Tired by the constant changes, I subconsciously figured that it's about time to finish the organisation of my army. While the job has already been mostly done, there is some mental-shuffling of units to be done. I must admit that this mental exercise is extremely... relaxing and satisfying to do.

 

The problem consists in trying to bundle models with specific weapons/options into 'squads' of 5 or, as is the new standard for Space Marines, 3. I also decided to add a model here or remove a model there. For example, last edition I allocated 5 models as my count-as bladeguard veterans, equipped with a sword and a combat shield. Right now, I decided to cut the number of dedicated count-as bladeguard veterans to 3. That leaves me with 2 'excess models' - one will be reverted back to a "Company Champion," i.e. a guy with two power swords (because why not? since GW invalidates some of my models, I figured I can leave one 'cool' conversion I did years ago in my ranks) and the other will get a banner on top of his backpack and be allocated in the 'fancy sergeants' unit of 5. On the other side of the spectrum of changes, GW added some flamer-guys and some missile-guys to the mix so, to account for this, I figured I need 1-2 more of the corresponding models in case I'd like to field a corresponding count-as squad in 11th edition.

 

So, basically, I'm wasting time and effort on arbitrary things that don't really matter but I feel like I'm making some progress. I am also quite convinced that I got this right this time. As I arranged the models in my cabinet, I have nice ranks of fives and threes, with only a handful of inconsistencies.

 

The next step is to "fix" the models, i.e. assemble or reassemble them properly and get them ready for priming.

 

The worst bit about all this is that after inspecting my miniatures, I found some that I'm not really happy with - unsuccessful conversions or ideas that haven't aged well. This bothers me a bit since I, kinda, strive for perfection. But, at the same time, I'm learning the difficult thing of letting things go, like with the scouts from the post above, since I really, really want to finally declare that I have a painted army. Even if 10% of the models are quite rubbish.

[Brother Christopher]

Here's another batch of finished scouts:

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really need to get around to doing something with my photo setup. The desk lamp that I'm using for quick photos of finished models really doesn't do the models justice. What I want to say is that they really look a bit better in real life ;)

 

I need to paint 5 more scout models and will be done with this type of armour for all eternity. It's a bit of a shame that I'm wilfully "stuck" with all these old, awkward models. As you know, I wish that I had more restraint in the past and had planned out my purchases better. While the "new GW" and their release schedules and business model would probably kill me, I sometimes wonder what could have been.

 

The good thing about having these old models that functionally, I have a big (too big) army for the fraction of the current prices. Yet, sometimes I feel that the only good thing about my collection is its size.

 

For my next projects, I'll either focus on the last scouts to have my entire collection (32 models, I think) finished or get back to painting the Thunderhawk.

[Brother Carpenter]

T-hawk T-hawk T-hawk

So you don't burn out on scout models  and have something to despise/hate (how templary) in the future

But I really like the scouts you've painted so far. Did you use extesive graying on the tousers or is it the lighting?

[Brother Christopher]

1 hour ago, Brother Carpenter said:

But I really like the scouts you've painted so far. Did you use extesive graying on the tousers or is it the lighting?

 

I'm trying to paint these quickly, so I paint the trousers with Dawnstone grey, leathery elements with Vallejo Saddle Brown and apply a black wash (from Vallejo, but I'm not a huge fan of it) to add some depth and detail. After that, I paint the blacks, metallics, faces, pads and add a splash of colour here and there and call it a day. I don't feel like devoting more time to these models but I'm also not dissatisfied with the result - I think it works quite well, especially 'in person.'

[Brother Carpenter]

Ok. Ive switched from black highlighting to valleyo black grey with heavy grey drybrush. Afterwards a nuln oil wash and some brown washes. Insta grimdark

[Brother Christopher]

Nothing exciting here, but after two months, I've finally managed to finally get my 4 scouts ready. I just need to paint my Sergeant Telion and I'll have all regular scout-armour marines done. My excuse is that I was a bit unfortunate to contract covid early December and had trouble catching up with all matters, family, professional and hobby throughout the month.

 

So, new year, old (quite old) models ;)

 

 

 

HAPPY 2024!

Edited January 8 by Brother Christopher

[Brother Christopher]

And another metal model that lived to be painted. An Elite Pathfinder for my Crusade (or a Black Templars Sergeant Telion).

 

I've always liked the sculpt and I'm really happy with how this model turned out. Obviously, it's better in real life than in the photos.

 

Would anyone be interested in seeing a group photo of all my Neophytes? ;) I need to finish bases of 5 models, but apart from that ALL MY SCOUT ARMOUR MODELS ARE FINISHED.