The Neurode Crusade

[Acebaur]

That thunderfire is scratch built? Wow looking great so far, interested to see where the goes!

[Andhil]

Your skill is certainly undeniable, Brother! Looking forward to the finished result. 

[Brother Christopher]

Me too! I sure hope that they'll look the way I'd like them to look.

 

As I'm going away for the next couple of days, I won't be able to progress as I planned. I wanted to share the finished stage, but I can't. That's why I'll post some mid-stage WIP image of the second cannon. It is still a work in progress - some green stuff work is still to be done. And I have to clean up what I've already done.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Thunderfire%20Cannon/P1090696_zps2cab8b89.jpg

 

And the only parallel project: my painting progress with an Ironclad. Metallics and 3 out of 4 steps of highlight black are done.

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090707_zpsf27dd7f0.jpg

[Brother Christopher]

I'm wondering: should I put H/K missiles on top of the Ironclad, or not? I'm kind of 50-50 on this. The launchers look great and add some bulk to the otherwise shortish dreadnought, but I also like the looks of its top as it is. The choice is purely visual, as I honestly doubt that I'll ever use H/K missiles on any vehicle, not to mention a dread (yet, their presence on the model can be dismissed in terms of WYSWIG). Any thoughts?

[Acebaur]

I put them on mine, I wanted the option to have them if I ever wanted to take them and also they look really cool. It also helps differentiate the dread as an Ironclad. I cut the fat stubby fins off of mine though as the missiles look much more menacing without them. 

 

 

I notice you went with only one side for the assault launchers like I did. I like it as I could put a BT lantern on the other side :)

[Marshal Mattias]

Magnet? I didn't have the full kit, only the arms, so I just have some magnetised HKs from vehicle sprues which I can pop on whichever unit I decide to take them on. A couple of HKs can be great on an ironclad if you have some points spare - really bulks out im his drop-turn shooting. Especially good if you can position him behind a flammable unit with a vehicle just in flamer range. Then you fire your weapons at the vehicle while catching the unit in the crossfire. If the vehicle is open-topped, even better! A single hit from the HK will have a good chance of dropping it while the occupants all take wounds from flamers/explosions etc.

[Brother Christopher]

Magnets... That would solve all my problems. If only I weren't so lazy... And now I'm actually thinking about using H/Ks, especially when fighting someone without much interceptor fire. That way on turn one I get sure shots with a decent punch that could boost the dread's fir output and anti-vehicle usefulness. That seems like a particularly good idea now, that I'm sure not to use a melta-gun ever on an Ironclad.

 

And yeah, I decided to leave one panel the way it is. I love the design and figured it would be a waste to hide it. But now that you've mentioned it, a lantern would be nice. I have to search my bits-places for a spare one.

[Acebaur]

Magnets on those would be a pain as drilling through the rounded missiles would not be fun.

 

As for using them in a game, they are still counter intuitive to the dual heavy flamers. Though I would be inclined to run them on an ironclad with the hurricane bolter as it's more shooty oriented

[Brother Christopher]

It took me about 2 hours to get from my last update with the Ironclad to this:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090800_zps7160e73d.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090801_zps2dd59219.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090802_zps0827ad4b.jpg

 

I don't know if it's visible, but I spent the time to 'refine' the highlights. Don't know it that was worth it.

[Brother Christopher]

Slow and steady, but onwards. I sure hope that this philosophy will bring good results. For now, another small success! Ironclad finished!

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090848_zps762991c9.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090849_zpsb4b9142f.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090850_zps9760794f.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090851_zps3b315b97.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090852_zps837015cf.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Neurode%20Crusade/P1090853_zpsf8ebe169.jpg

 

So, how do you like it? For now, I'm leaving all my dreads in mint condition. Maybe when I'll finally get round to making the bases, I'll add some battle damage and weathering. Maybe. I'm still not sure about that. I do battle damaged vehicles, but dreadnoughts are somewhat different. They are pretty much like infantry, so I suppose the techmarines can spend some more time to repaint their fallen brothers  

 

I'm now seriously considering what to paint next. The choice is between Stormtalons, some infantry (bolter initiates or sniper neophytes) or yet another dreadnought. Although I'm sick and tired of painting dreadnoughts (since ETL I painted 3 of them!!), I suppose I'll get the last one done. And I'm extremely curious how the conversion turns out painted. Also, that way I'll have all my dreadnoughts done!

[Acebaur]

He looks good. The only thing I'd say is I think he needs some more bling! Not enough Templar bitz IMO, but otherwise a fine job of painting

[Marshal Mattias]

Very nice. Good job on the highlighting, especially into all those fiddly little areas. It's very crisp and that's what makes your very black look work. Also, I just really like the frag launchers, good idea to get some colour in there!

[Brother Christopher]

@Acebaur

 

Well, I figured that I want him as plain as possible. He's supposed to be a front-line, siege engine, fighting hand-to-hand, and crushing buildings with his weight. Hence, any purity seals or lanterns wouldn't last 5 minutes. (Yeah, if so, then why isn't he battle worn? I know that my reasoning doesn't make much sense, but well..)

 

@Mattias

 

I'm happy to hear that you like the highlighting. It is time consuming and the results aren't that great, but it's the only way of painting black I accept (as all my troops painted so far are done this way, I can't back out now).

[Brother Christopher]

After two months, I finally got home and laid my hands on my brand new Sicaran. Probably the first and last new FW model. Boy, I feel like a 3-year old. I spent an hour bathing the model in water. First, warm and soapy, to rid it from the grease. Then hot water to straighten the bent pieces. Now I have some first hand experience and I can confirm that what I thought. I absolutely hate working with resin. Next up, removing mould lines and filling up gaps/air bubbles; then filing and fitting. I estimate that it'll be another hour or two. But I feel I may be wrong...

 

Yet, with all that complaining and hard, tiring work... the model is gorgeous. And I hope that after painting it I'll feel that it was worth every penny (or zloty). I'll post some pictures when there's something to show.

[Acebaur]

Hot water isn't the best way to fix warped resin. It takes way to long because you can't really get the water hot enough unless you microwave it or heat it on a stove. The best method is a hair dryer. In less than a minute it will be soft enough to bend back. You just have to be careful not to heat it for too long as it can become too soft

[Brother Christopher]

Oh. Oh... well, if I knew that a couple of hours earlier. But I'll remember this in case I'll get another resin model in the future. On the plus side, I managed to fix the warped pieces using hot water, but it was a lot of work.

[AndrewChristlieb]

Nice, thats a pretty sweet looking model, but Forgeworld resin is terrible. I don't know what they do wrong, but I have tons of resin from other companies and have had very few defects.

[Brother Christopher]

I felt that there's womething wrong with the price of the Sicaran and with the elements. They looked okay, were slightly warped, but I figured that it's normal with resin. After unpacking all the bits, however, I noticed something worrying. Different bits have different shades. Also, there are some bubbles and stuff. After doing some short research now I know that I didn't buy a FW Sicaran but a cast of it. That made me quite angry, as the guy didn't mention this fact in the description of the auction. Nonetheless, that wasn't REALLY a surprise. There had to be something to justify the low price (basically a quarter of the price of a new Sicaran).

 

Considering the work that I've already done and that which is ahead of me, overall I feel it was still a pretty decent purchase. Sure, it's annoying, as I feel naive and stupid to assume that I could have gotten a new model for that kind of money. It made me righteously furious, as the hull just wouldn't fit together. But... well. The milk is spilt, it's too late to get a refund. And I suppose that even if that was possible, I wouldn't want one, as a Sicaran is a gorgeous tank. After posting this message, I'm off to fill the gaps between the tracks section and middle section of the hull.

 

Just one question, is it okay (in accordance to B&C rules) to post pictures of the model?

[Acebaur]

Sure, why not? The Sicaran is a legal unit to field for a Black Templars army and is Power Armored in nature so it is perfectly valid. The fact that it's not an "official" GW product(being a recast in this case) doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned it's no different scratch building one.  

[AndrewChristlieb]

Ya, I think the main thing is just not advertising that you're making recasts for sale and such.

[Lucien Eilam]

After doing some short research now I know that I didn't buy a FW Sicaran but a cast of it. That made me quite angry, as the guy didn't mention this fact in the description of the auction. Nonetheless, that wasn't REALLY a surprise. There had to be something to justify the low price (basically a quarter of the price of a new Sicaran).

 

GW used to compensate people who reported recasters. I don't know if they still do, but it can't hurt to ask.

 

A quarter of the normal price isn't "cheap" for the insignificant effort a recaster puts in, it's massively overpriced. I'd nail that thieving tosser to the wall.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Lucien Eilam

[Brother Christopher]

Sure, why not? The Sicaran is a legal unit to field for a Black Templars army and is Power Armored in nature so it is perfectly valid. The fact that it's not an "official" GW product(being a recast in this case) doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned it's no different scratch building one.  

 

Great to hear that! Then, I'll post some images of my endeavours soon.

 

 

After doing some short research now I know that I didn't buy a FW Sicaran but a cast of it. That made me quite angry, as the guy didn't mention this fact in the description of the auction. Nonetheless, that wasn't REALLY a surprise. There had to be something to justify the low price (basically a quarter of the price of a new Sicaran).

 

GW used to compensate people who reported recasters. I don't know if they still do, but it can't hurt to ask.

 

A quarter of the normal price isn't "cheap" for the insignificant effort a recaster puts in, it's massively overpriced. I'd nail that thieving tosser to the wall.

 

 

The thing is that he made the model affordable for me. Considering all real-life, mundane matters such as my salary, pound/zloty rate, shipment costs, FW prices and so on, any new FW models are beyond my current, reasonable reach. And you don't get FW stuff here on the second-hand market in Poland. If only he informed me that it's a recast, everything would be fine. I'd still probably buy it. Now only my nativity burns me with shame and anger.

 

And I suppose the time put into preparing the model for painting is worth the money I "saved". The various pieces aren't that bad. With the exception of some excess resin and some bubbles it is fine. Fine to the extent that after an initial inspection I were convinced that it's official. I read that FW makes things hard on hobbyist. I've seen Storm Eagles and Thunderhawks with elements warped beyond reason. I've seen some dreadnoughts with air bubbles in them. I've seen the amount of filing and gap-filling some models required. Finally, I've seen GW's finecast which I assumed could be similar to FW's products. The thing that got me thinking was that the elements' coliurs were different, as if someone used different mixtures of resin. And I've never seen FW products like that.

 

And I'll give a thought about what you said about contacting GW. If I'm still annoyed at the guy tomorrow, I might actually do that.

[Lucien Eilam]

Each to their own I guess. Anyone makes me "burn with shame and anger", I'm going to 'em up.

[Brother Christopher]

All right! I'm back, sort of. I want to devote some of my Xmas spare time for 40K. I had a number of ideas , how I can start another project (like scratch-built centurions, who should have a more knightly and gothic feel), just to abandon it two weeks later, but luckily I endured!

 

I decided to focus on the things I started some time ago. Long forgotten and abandoned, gathering dust there lied a techmarine, a Master of the Forge, more specifically. At first, I liked how he turned out. Later, I hated some elements and the an ambitious project was forsaken. Well, basically that's the story of my life. All my the ideas seem great, seem like doable in a reasonable amount of time, become more time consuming and left unfinished. Maybe to improve on this is a good idea for a new year's resolution?

 

But I want to revive the Techmarine Project. To remind you about him, here he is:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1090866_zpsff974da4.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1090867_zps249a4ac5.jpg

 

I was somewhat inspired by this model:

 

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Images/Product/AlternativeFW/xlarge/valthex1.jpg

 

I also wanted him to be as bulky as possible. Originally, he was supposed to have a 6 servo arm harness (just like the techmarine from Helsreach). Now I'm leaning towards a different solution. I'm thinking about putting the axe into one of the servo arms to make the model feel 'casual' - "hold this, while I'll do something about this tank".

 

Now, I think the axe is somewhat awkward. I want to get rid of it. I'm not sure about the paint job either. Unfortunately, I sharpened the image too much and the way he's painted looks far, far worse than it does when you look at it with the naked eye.

 

So, I'm thinking something like this:

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1090869_zps8e422dec.jpg

 

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k260/krj_38/Master%20of%20the%20Forge/P1090868_zpsd619233b.jpg

 

Obviously, the cuff will be cleansed of the chaos arrows.

 

So, what do you think? Any advice? Also, what about the paint? Leave it (considering it looks quite good from a table-top perspective), strip it, or improve it? I'm totally torn here, a true 50-50 on this one. On the one hand, it took me a lot of time to paint him and back then I was pleased with the results (and some of the thick looking paint doesn't have to be paint - the bits were made out of plasticard and green stuff, so there is the danger that the visibly thicker parts just cover excesses of glue or other texture imperfections of the model). And there is no guarantee that my skills are better and I can significantly improve the way he's painted. On the other hand, I'd want the model to look as best as I can make it.

[Brother Christopher]

I request your counsel, brothers!

 

At the moment, the only thing I'm doing with the hobby is thinking about the things I want to make. I figured that something changed in my attitude towards units, and I'm not sure if it results from practicality or laziness. The shift is from my initial love for bling and customization, to a very stark approach: leave things (especially vehicles, like the Ironclad from a couple of post up) as plain as they can be, because (from a fluff perspective) all the ornaments will get destroyed during combat.

 

I'm planning to progress with my Ironclad and Sicaran this month. So the question is: bling or not? After a period of abstinence, I think I'll go with more ornaments this time. Especially the relic Sicaran, a tank thousands of years old, still remembering the times of HH, should get some proper treatment: chains, crosses, heraldry shields and purity seals in abundance. Or leave it a black brick?