409th Nocturnium Regiment of Volunteers - A PLOG

[mustardParty]

Did not get as much as I wanted done last night, once again real life conspires to thwart progress.  I sprayed down the whole lot of models with my primer and was able to start putting some color on a few of them.  I really like the sky blue pants on the infantry and I'm having fun with the process.  Painting fabric like this is a very refreshing change of pace from endless seas of red power armor.  

 

May basic process for the sky blue trousers is essentially just some simple layer:

 

-spray prime back

 

-1:1 GW Back to GW Thunder Hawk Blue

 

-then if I feel i need it, I'll add one more part Thunder Hawk blue for a 25% black to 75% blue mix

 

-then straight Thunder Hawk Blue

 

1:1 Thunder Hawk Blue to Reaper Ashen Blue

 

-then broad highlights with straight Ashen Blue

 

 

 

 

The bedroll on the one mini pictured was actually my first attempt to try some green stuff bedrolls with little thing plasti-card strips for straps:

 

 

 

I've never been especially skilled with green stuff - I've typically tried to avoid conversions that might call for it.  But, I figure this is a decent opportunity to try something new and get out of my comfort zone.

 

 

[RolandTHTG]

I think the Idea of some hard-nosed first Sgts would be appropriate for your fluff.

Maybe have either a Lord Comissar or a command Squad commisar painted separately, to show the overseer? Having a minimal number of overseers would show the Trust the Imperium has in your regiment. (or maybe the 'attrition' they have experienced over the campaign...)

[Kassill]

Took a quick breeze over you thread and I have to say I like what you've done. Except they are wearing the wrong color!

I had a similar idea a while back and even wrote up a list for 1850-2000pts. Basically it was two or three platoons, rough riders, and basilisks.

I'll be watching with great interest.

[mustardParty]

I think the Idea of some hard-nosed first Sgts would be appropriate for your fluff.

Maybe have either a Lord Comissar or a command Squad commisar painted separately, to show the overseer? Having a minimal number of overseers would show the Trust the Imperium has in your regiment. (or maybe the 'attrition' they have experienced over the campaign...)

Yes - I think that would work well. I do like the idea of a single high level Commi around, maybe adding a Lord-Commi to the list - would be very easy to fit in. That would satisfy in-universe fluff, and having hard-nosed, tough-as-nails counts-as first sergeants and sergeant majors in the units to maintain discipline. I'm toying with the idea of maybe giving them something to signify their role. Maybe a black sash. At least that would serve to distinguish them on the table.

Took a quick breeze over you thread and I have to say I like what you've done. Except they are wearing the wrong color!

I had a similar idea a while back and even wrote up a list for 1850-2000pts. Basically it was two or three platoons, rough riders, and basilisks.

I'll be watching with great interest.

Wrong color indeed Johnny Reb! Actually, once I've made some decent headway into this project I WAS toying with the idea of incorporating some butternut uniforms into the mix - as conscripts and or penal legionnaires

Actually now that I think about it, a huge table top with mazzive blobs of blue and grey IG maneuvering about and FRFSRF'ing all over the place is pretty awesome! Someone go make a Confederate theme'd IG so I can play civil war in space! I wonder if you could even recost the units to give Rebel infantry +1 BS and Ld - so grey troops would be smaller and tougher compared to blue troops which came in droves but were often outmatched... OK, one enormous project at a time... Thanks for getting me thinking though.

And as far a progress, I was able to pay more attention last evening:

So a couple things for me. First, I just noticed last night that the puppets war civil war heads all have a kind of crossed insignia - two nondescript somethings one over the other. That's unfortunate, it looks more like a cavalry or artillery cap than an infantryman's cap, which did not always have insignia, but when it did it was a brass or embroidered horn:

http://www.garciaaviation.com/151-large_default/civil-war-infantry-horn-kepi-insignia.jpg

Shaving down all those caps is, erm, well I don't wanna do that if I don't have to, especially as I don't know what I would replace them with - I don't think my greenstuff-fu is up to the task. I guess I don't need to decide now.

And what about footwear? I'm liking the way the boots look - I was thinking of a little bit of green-stuff to make the top part a calf gaiter and then painting it white - or keeping it leather and painting the brogans black. I think I might want to reseve that white legging look for more elite units like the veterans I have planned.

Straps and bedrolls? I think I might want to go back and paint the bedroll white or leather. I think that when on campaign soldiers would roll up their greatcoats when they didn't need them in hot hot heat, so I painted the roll sky blue, but it might be too much blue maybe. And the straps - if you look at photos, they had all kinds of straps - white, black and brown leather. I kind of went for a grey-black, I didn't want the straps to get lost.

Blue sack coats? The sergeant's torso was the first navy blue attempt I made, the other two I did last night and they came out slightly different. My basic procedure was:

-75/25 GW black to GW Regal Blue all over

-50/50 GW black to GW Regal Blue layered

-GW Regal Blue layered

-50/50 GW Regal Blue to Reaper Breonne Blue layered

-Reaper Breonne Blue layered

When I finished, I felt this was a bit too intense of a blue, and I had to calm it down with a black wash (Warpainter Inks Dark Tone, which incidentally, I find all the Warpainter Inks, Soft, Strong, and Dark, to be infinitely better than GW's new wash/shades meant to replace the old mainstays, Devlan Mud and Baddab Black).

No that I'm remembering, when I first did the sergeant's torso, it was something like this:

-75/25 Black to Regal Blue

-50/50 Black to Regal Blue layered

-then I added Breonne Blue to the previous mixture ending up with 50% Breonne Blue / 50% Blue Black mix

-then Breonne Blue layered on top of that.

I feel that gives a much deeper, cooler blue. That said, I need your input guys: Regal Blue is discontinued thanks to the whole paint line shakeup GW did. What do you guys feel is a good replacement for GW Regal Blue? Im going to need more than one pot of this stuff to paint an army like this!

So what do you guys think of the test models so far? Thanks for taking a look everyone!

[Kassill]

Hehe, I am a Johnny reb indeed! Well, whenever I finish all my current projects, I may just have to start up my Confederates in Space! Until then, I'll keep watching this thread. I think you've really nailed the colors well.

[mustardParty]

Reinforcements arrived over the weekend:

 

Found these beauties on eBay - part of West Wind Productions Separate Head System for Secrets of the Third Reich.

I am thinking I'll use these bad boys for all my specialists (metlas, plasmas, flamers, etc) - help set them apart from the other rank and file, and they look pretty cool!

 

And, some fire support from across the pond:

 

 

 

 

I think the carriages are a PERFECT fit for the army and autocannons sit on them smartly.  I was thinking of making them swap-able for lascannons, but I think I'm going to fix them permanently to the carriages.  That gives me more converting opportunities for the crews.  I have a grip of the antitank guns on order with Col. Gravis' kickstarter campaign, and I think those will be better suited as heavy lascannon artillery pieces, and the light carriages running with autocannons.

 

One thing I have not yet committed to is how exactly to paint the autocannons themselves.  I'm thinking I could either go with an 'all brass' look, emulating the common 12-pounder Napoleons of the era.  Or I could use the sky blue mix I've been using for the receiver and magazine housing with a brass barrel?  Or I can go safe, paint it up black with edged highlighting.

 

I'm honestly not sure yet - all brass might look funny since it's not all one solid cast the way civil war era Napoleons were.  What do you gang think?

 

[mustardParty]

OK, made an attempt at a first version of the auto cannon mounted on the gun carriage.

 

 

 

I tried it with a brassy barrel and sky blue housing, with some layering and light weather for effect.  I can't really ever get a clean metallic coat on things like this - anybody have recipes they like for brassy/coppery metal?

 

[Kassill]

I like it. An all brass finish would be cool, but as you said, not being a solid cast will make it look kinda goofy. I think you have a winner here. Apologies I don't have a decent brass recipe.

[mustardParty]

Another mini-update.

 

Found this beauty in the closet:

 

 

A jobby like a Rapier Laser Destroyer seems at home in this kind of army.  I'll be giving it a bath this week and see how it looks with a fresh paint job and some grunts to crew it.

 

 

Also having fun with a new batch of parts coming together for a good approximation of the 11th New York:

 

This mini is using Vic's resin 'Conscript Legs' - and honestly, they're phenomenal, I really had no idea.  I ordered up a batch for this squad, which I plan to use as a 10-man vets unit.  I find that these legs are no where near as bulky and clumsy at the GW plastic Cadian legs.  Man - I'll see about putting up more pics of the legs later - they're seriously night and day.  It really has me re-thinking the use of Cadian legs for the bulk of the army.  They're so crisp and detailed, and they feel so adroit and dynamic compared to the GW plastics.  Huge difference.  I'll see about more pic of the legs later.

 

Also having some fun with a one-off model, a Marbo conversion.  I originally conceived my Marbo as being a rank and file trooper but gone 'off the reservation' and kind of 'gone native' as in, native american indian style.  I thought about him having a mohawk, but the Catachan mohawk head that I had looked, well it just didn't look right, so I tried another head.  

 

 

 

So we got a combo of parts here - Catachan arms, Vic Minis kneeling 'Conscript' legs, 'Victorian' torso, a conversion on an old 2nd Ed. auto pistol for Marbo's ripper pistol, more of an SMG for Marbo here.  I GS'd his sleeves like he's got a normal white shirt that you would normally wear under your sack coat, but with the sleeves ripped off 'cus he's Marbo and he's hardcore.  On the balance, I don't really dig GW's Catachan sculpts - even for the grimdarkness of the 41st millennia, they are too over the top for me.  But I think for someone like Marbo they start to work.

 

 

 

 

In the end I went for a conversion for the head, a GW sculpt with a forage cap conversion for a hat.  Still a WIP, but the theme is all coming together nicely.  Sorry for the last pic, came out blurry for some reason.

[Kierdale]

Great stuff.

That old rapier's a nice find! I hear the new rules are great.

 

And your Marbo is really good!

[Brother Lorien]

Mustardparty,

 

Your guardsmen look excellent, even though i am more of a classic "must have camo or camo colors" guy and the themed heavy weapons are looking excellent , but...

 

Shouldn't they have an other type of uniform from what i remember from the US civil war?

 

When will you be placing the comparison between victorias and GWs stuff?

 

CJ

[mustardParty]

Great stuff.

That old rapier's a nice find! I hear the new rules are great.

 

And your Marbo is really good!

 

Thanks Kierdale!  Yeah, I snooped around, Rapiers are kind of intense now - artillery profile, so T7 with 2W and a 3+ save, and a 36 inch AP1 TL Lascannon.  for 50 points!  Sheesh.

 

 

Mustardparty,

 

Your guardsmen look excellent, even though i am more of a classic "must have camo or camo colors" guy and the themed heavy weapons are looking excellent , but...

 

Shouldn't they have an other type of uniform from what i remember from the US civil war?

 

When will you be placing the comparison between victorias and GWs stuff?

 

CJ

 

Sorry Lorien, ran out of time last night, but here they are as promised:

 

 

In these two are a pair of Vic's 'Conscript legs' next to pair of GW's Cadian legs.  I feel the difference is striking.  The poses are more dynamic, the detail is great, and I like the proportions better.  Honestly it is entirely subject to personal taste.  I think it resonates with me so strongly because I'm not really into the whole 'heroic scale' thing lately.  When I see a mini one-handing a HUGE gun and it's supposed to be a PISTOL - I don't know, I'm kind of over that whole look these days.  These proportions feel closer to the older all-metal sculpts GW used to put out.

 

 

 

This one is a good example of the relative bulkiness between the two lines.  

 

 

Just another example - I feel like Vic's legs are more athletic, have more pop, and show great detail.  Again, it's all about personal tastes, but for myself, I feel more and more that heroic scale starts to feel silly, and I'm craving mini's that feel balanced and are somewhat more reasonably proportioned.  I feel like Vic's line strikes a great balance: these mini's won't feel out of place fighting against say Chaos on the tabletop the way using straight up historical mini's would, but also I think they'll feel somewhat less 'heroic' than the average GW guardsman, which I feel is what the Imperial Guard is all about, lowly grunts.

 

Honestly, after handling these legs, I feel like they might be the best out there for IG - even if you weren't doing a retro theme - the 'Conscript' legs would feel right at home on 'near-future' conversions too, and especially WWI and WWII themed armies.  I have a batch of the 'Victorian' legs coming, I'll be sure to post some thoughts on those too once I get my hands on them.

[mustardParty]

Just a couple small updates today.

 

The rapier got a nice bath and came out pristine (thank you Simple Green!):

 

 

And a nice new coat of paint:

 

I'll need to finish the barrels and weather it and all that good stuff still.

 

 

 

Also, I've been working out a nifty conversion I saw online for grenade launchers.  I have never liked the stock Cadian grenade launch - it's just so huge and clumsy.  There are some inspired mods out there, and I think this simple one suits me:

 

Basically just getting rid of the drum, it feels like a breach loading single shot grenade launcher now.

 

[Kassill]

I don't know if it's the cadian arms, or the angle or what, but his head looks puny.

That aside, I like the grenade launcher. Looks suitable for the army theme.

[mustardParty]

I don't know if it's the cadian arms, or the angle or what, but his head looks puny.

 

That aside, I like the grenade launcher. Looks suitable for the army theme.

 

You know, now that you mention it, yeah, I didn't notice from this angle but the head does seem small.  I'll try and get another shot of it, when I was building and handling it, it seemed to fit nice.  If anything the gas mask head ARE slightly smaller - the range is for historical minis I think, or at least non-heroic scale 28mm minis.  I think generally they work OK though - the reverse angle does anyway.

 

Here's something fun for Friday - first finished HW unit - an autocannon on a light gun carriage manned by a gunner and an artillery officer:

 

http://i.imgur.com/8YXMDJx.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Qwcd222.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/VZvKmMv.jpg

 

 

What do you think guys?

[Kierdale]

I think it looks great. The weathering is really well done, and the two crew form a lovely little diorama :D

[mustardParty]

Been a while since I've posted lads.  Not to worry, I've been hard at work while trying to balance work and home, you all know how it is.

 

Anyhow, I've gotten my first two squads done.  I wanted to do up two at once, since the way this army fights they'll always be blobbed up on the battleline.  With the two squads formed up together the look really starts to come together:

 

http://i.imgur.com/luhTSAk.jpg

 

 

 

 

And the officers (so far):

http://i.imgur.com/kHhMdVp.jpg

 

More shots:

http://i.imgur.com/SWj0g8K.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/kRP2RTd.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/1hX5rbc.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/02ZrSxA.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Pxq2ilF.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/jHUEYk8.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/7AbFO5Z.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/cVb7jlW.jpg

 

In particular, I'm really pleased with how the lastest heads I've been able to find have panned out.  I've become somewhat disenchanted with the Puppets War civil war heads - most simply seem too large, and the overall effect looks awkward and 'bobble heady'.  

 

I found some great historical heads from Steve Barber miniatures and they are really fantastic.  Like I said, they are for historicals, but I found the scale to be 'JUST RIGHT' - The are scaled for smaller figures, but they have a way of sitting just right on these kinds of heroic scale minis, particularly with the VicLamb arms, being slightly underscaled compared to GW's sculpts.  The effect is RIGHT, it looks RIGHT, very pleased.  ALSO, man the heads are SO full of character, here are some examples of ones I really like:

 

http://i.imgur.com/KAXWteB.jpg

He's got wire rim specs, that's great!

 

http://i.imgur.com/5MrKAIu.jpg

This guy is from the 'Irish Brigade' head line, and he's great, looks like a he just came out of the pub and grabbed his musket.  I mixed and matched a lot, but you can spot the Irish Brigade heads mixed in there with their gold harps and such sprinkled about.

 

I'm debating going further - I haven't bothered to paint the eyes, because on the tabletop you really don't notice, but some seem to take the effect better than others.  And frankly painting faces in ENTIRELY new ground for me, being a mostly Marines player for so long, I have absolutely avoided faces and eyes at every opportunity, so I just don't really have that much control.  

 

For instance, take these two minis:

 

http://i.imgur.com/z3tOSGI.jpg

Here's the sergeant from one of the squads, and he looks like he has his eyes closed.

 

http://i.imgur.com/NWFHqSW.jpg

This guy is a WIP counts-as Commissar I'm trying to work out.  Basically a Sergeant Major of the unit with ultra hardcore training from the commissariat programs available to the officers.

 

Both have the same head.

 

The last one's got more of a 'shadowed eyes' look, which I think looks pretty cool, but I'm not sure how to control such results yet.  As in, I'm not really sure I can duplicate these kinds of results reliably.

 

http://i.imgur.com/9Wmq6DY.jpg

 

He's also got a more 'in the shadows' kind of look to the skin tones in general, and I'm not sure which approach is better, if it this kind of looks incomplete.  I'm also trying to go for a 'wood panel' effect on his bolt gun.  I gave him a red NCO stripe on his legs, but that makes him feel too much like an artillery sergeant for me.  I think it would be better black (but that's not as striking), with a red sash around his waist BUT, that means sculpting a sash, which is scary greenstuff territory for me.

 

An other option for the sergeant major is to give him a Commissar style cap - that would help to identify his role on the battlefield and tabletop but I don't know if that would take away from the overall effect.

 

 

Still got some other WIP's going on:

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/kVcsRXR.jpg

Pretty much finished on the Rapier and work on the crew now.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/83lvEA5.jpg

Beginnings of a command squad with a counts-as Kell in there, he's supposed to be holding a standard in that powerfist when I'm through with him.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oBDzDqZ.jpgA group of test minis for a veteran squad modeled after the 11th NY.

 

 

 

And these guys all have 'Iron Brigade' heads from Steve Barber, and they're PERFECT for my veteran squad that's modeled after the Black Hats:

http://i.imgur.com/L7igttJ.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/QIGO8qm.jpg

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/GBouyU5.jpg

 

 

And finally, made some progress on some heavy fire support for the foot soldiers:

 

http://i.imgur.com/fEzZtKz.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/lRKPCup.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/uEAB1pN.jpg

 

 

Got two of the bad boys and they should make excellent earth shaker arty, or counts-as Basilisks if you must.

 

 

That's all that's fresh for now.  I'd love feedback on how to approach faces from you folks who must have intimate familiarity with that kind of thing.  As a mere inductee in the guard I find myself lost as to what I should do.

[spafe]

I honestly cant believe this made it to a second page before I found it! These guys are incredible. Major kudos for the smooth finished look, nod towards the historical and nod towards the steam punk (loving the meltagun on one of the vets).

 

I think these are amazing, seriously above what I'd consider table top in places (the vox operators backback is mind boggling). There are a few bits which I think detract when your showing such up close pic like these, such as if you look at the pic with the two flamer operators, they look stunning, lovely weathering on the shoulder pad, and the skin on one looks fine. The other one though (the guy on the right I think), if you look at his right hand, it looks really blotchy. This isnt a major thing, and its prob becuase that pic seems to highlight the fact that I even noticed. As far as table top go, these are well above that I'd say (esp compared to my non existing skills lol).

 

for the commisar, maybe a red belt? Or jsut red lapels (there the shoulder trip right?). I'd also consdier doing the hat black, with a red trim. These sort of things could set him apart without spoiling overall effect

[WarriorFish]

This is why Guard is one of the best armies - unrivalled opportunity for great conversion projects like this :D The gun carriages are really good, and we all need more hats and beards on infantry!

[Kierdale]

Really, really good and characterful work.

Lovel painting. I particularly like the weathering on one sergeant's binocs.

[d503]

Love it.  Very characterful and well-painted army.

 

Do you paint the squad bases different colours to show different squads?  If not, you should.  It makes it far easier to figure out exactly who is running away :p

[walter h]

Love, the work. Great choices. Keep the shoulder pads,as it does'nt ruin the effect all. I would love to see the zooabs. I think the dystopian pieces would fit quite well. The commisariet,could be from the same design of your army.

[Azatoth]

Love all of them, but the gasmask heads are just a tad too small in my opinion.

[Targetlock]

very cool army, watching with interest :)

[mustardParty]

Hey guys!

Been a while since my last update, but I haven't forgotten about this project! Real life has been tremendously busy, got promoted to a whole bunch of new responsibilities, and got married!

But in the meantime, I've been sitting down here and there and stabbing away and making some progress.

Love it. Very characterful and well-painted army.

Do you paint the squad bases different colours to show different squads? If not, you should. It makes it far easier to figure out exactly who is running away

Thanks! I plan to have each platoon or vets unit look a little differently. In the civil war it was typical that the commanding officer for that unit saw to the outfitting of his men, which led to so many colorful uniform variations in a single army. So my line troops from one platoon will all have plastic Cadian style legs and Curious Construct torsos, and troops from another platoon might all have Vic Mini legs and Curious Construct torsos.

In game terms each table top platoon acts and looks like its own historical 'regiment.' Its not practical to represent multiple regiments on the tabletop in their proper scale, and I wanted the army to look more colorful on the tabletop, so I didn't want to just do a single unit style for the entire tabletop force. tabletop platoons are the most practical unit to paint up together as a single historical regiment, since they can all be blobbed and act as a single battle field unit.

Here's a couple WIP shots from a vets squad I'm working on right now. I patterned their uniforms on the historical 11th NY Fire Zouaves (their second uniform):

http://i.imgur.com/GZA4lBA.jpg

I'm having them led by a counts-as Sgt. Harker:

http://i.imgur.com/adsWAiG.jpg

Couple more shots of the boys:

http://i.imgur.com/KYGT6Hj.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rTWzMa0.jpg

I'm working on another unit of vets that look like Iron Brigade infantry, the Black Hats:

http://i.imgur.com/EQ9dgKo.jpg

That should give me enough variation from unit to unit I'm thinking. Though for platoon troops I do eventually want to put little patches on each guy labeling the squads - this would be roughly analogous to historical companies.

Love, the work. Great choices. Keep the shoulder pads,as it does'nt ruin the effect all. I would love to see the zooabs. I think the dystopian pieces would fit quite well. The commisariet,could be from the same design of your army.

Thanks a lot! The shoulder pads have worked out alright, and saves on some work for sure. I put a couple grenade launchers in the PCS and they mesh well:

http://i.imgur.com/sHwrREu.jpg

The artillery crew I'm working on also has a shoulder pad first sergeant and he blends well too:

http://i.imgur.com/CoVMOcx.jpg

Also finishing up the initial CCS, with no frills (for now):

http://i.imgur.com/nq8XTTh.jpg

Finishing up the Rapier gun crew:

http://i.imgur.com/t1Iy1db.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GO5ZUjq.jpg

And last but definitely not least, working on a period/theme appropriate Aegis Defense Line:

http://i.imgur.com/tqkAqqR.jpg

I found these bad boys super cheap on amazon - they're just toys really - I nearly thought they might be too cheap to use, but decided to paint them up anyway, just to see what they would look like. I'm pretty pleased with the overall effect. It looks pretty decent painted up with a bunch of dudes posted up behind it ready to repel the enemy assault.

The dimensions work out nicely too - one of these is equal to two long and one short Aegis pieces - and I have two of these. And I cut up a third piece that is equal to two short Aegis pieces. That makes 4 longs and 4 shorties. The fence posts looks rather cheap, but on the table top the overall effect is pretty satisfying.

Anyhow, that's all for now, thanks for looking!