409th Nocturnium Regiment of Volunteers - A PLOG

[WarriorFish]

Good to hear, I recommend more tanks ;)

[mustardParty]

Quick mini update today.  WIP of my Veteran snipers / Ratlings.  These guys would go in CCS's to fill them out, now that sniper rifles are so dang cheap!  When I have enough of em painted up they can also band together as count-as Ratlings.  They would make a fine skirmisher unit, very fluffy, and historically similar to the role Berdan's Sharpshooters played in the Civil War.  

 

Their rifles are modeled off the JF Brown target/sniper rifle of the day - even though the Sharps rifle is historically trademark rifle for the 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters, the JF Brown was also used, and is more, visually iconic of Civil War sharpshooters:

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/x70yqAf.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/00eRR21.jpg

 

I feel ike the barrels are so far from the main body of the rifles, I didn't realize how taut the site on the historical weapon was to the barrel system.  But the effect on the tabletop should be convincing.

[Kierdale]

Good work! Those rifles look very nice.

What -historically or otherwise- is the small pipe-like bit on the underside that they're holding with their left hands?

[mustardParty]

Good work! Those rifles look very nice.

What -historically or otherwise- is the small pipe-like bit on the underside that they're holding with their left hands?

Thanks!

 

The little jobbers on the underside are supposed to be the energy cells for the lasguns I'm pretty sure. I'm so tempted to shave down the posts on the rifles and re-sit the scopes so they run tighter to the barrel.. Such dilemma, so hesitate.

 

 

As an aside, I've been toying with a cheeky idea. Conscripts... Confederate Conscripts? It would give me a chance to paint up butternut troops, but is that too, um insensitive? Haha, maybe not, but you never know what people get touchy about.

[WarriorFish]

They look great, good to see an update :)

[Sinthos117]

As a man of the south, I think you would be better served to run Gen. Grant's troopers as conscripts if only to be historically accurate.  The lack of manpower in the Confederacy prevented true conscript tactics, and the few times it was tried it ended horribly, ie The Wilderness and the last day of Gettysburg.  I think few people would be offended though if you really want to do it.  It would be a sight less offensive than using the 54th Massachusetts or similar regiments.  Loving the troops, keeping it up.

[Kierdale]

First I'd say leave the sights as they are. If you lowered them it wouldn't be much different to having them flush with the barrels, and as they currently are they look unique (I always like to chat with teammate and foes opponents about interesting minis/coversions) plus most things in 40k are exaggerated.

 

As for the conscripts, if you do go that route then how about adding implanted (spinal/cranial) bombs. To ensure loyalty ;)

[mustardParty]

Gentlemen,

 

Here's another quickie today.

 

 

Did up a third sniper to add to my little contingent of sharpshooters. I have to say I like the way they are painting up.  This was also my first attempt at a classic Civil War gear motif - the rolled blanket:

 

http://i.imgur.com/UYEo7a9.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/WjN734N.jpg

 

Up until this point I've been to chicken to attempt it, but I feel like it was a success, and really not that hard - as far as greenstuff conversions go it's pretty tame.  But most greenstuffy stuff still intimidates me.

 

Also finished the crew for the last gun of my very first full heavy weapon team:

 

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

 

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

 

Honestly I feel like I need to rework my positioning on the guy in the right-most team, he looks as if he's about to tip over.  It wasn't apparent until looking at these photos.  I'm not sure what happened there.

 

Finally, rounded out the last three guys for my first finished veterans squad, the special weapon operators:

 

http://i.imgur.com/U6BitFg.jpg

 

 

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

 

And here they are with the rest of their comrades:

http://i.imgur.com/CBX0Qp4.jpg

 

 

I decided early on that the special weapons in this squad would be cheap sniper rifles.  Initially this squad was supposed to be a super annoy harassment unit led by Harker and his special rules.  With Infiltrate, Moves Through Cover, and Stealth for the unit, this group was supposed to start the game in some midfield cover and just plink away with the snipers and heavy bolter, and maybe an auto cannon thrown in, depending.  

 

Now Harker doesn't give his unit all those lovely benefits, so they may not be so effective at this role anymore, but well, at least they'll look good on the table!

[Kierdale]

And they do look good!

I sympathise on the Harker-issue. My own Harker squad took a bit of a kick in the shins with the new codex too (and I haven't even finished making them!).

[WarriorFish]

I like the gun carriages they came out well - great to see some completed squads :D

[The Mad Hermit]

This some seriously inspiring stuff!

 

My hat is off to you, good Sir!

[mustardParty]

New WIP today as a start working on some regimental advisors.  First up is the Officer of the Fleet:

 

http://i.imgur.com/oj6BzBm.jpg

 

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

 

This will definitely be my most ambitious little greenstuff foray since I started this project.  The jointing on the arms is not really a big deal, what's proving to be really hard for me is sculpting the trouser legs.  I don't really know how to approach it.  

 

When sculpting things like these do you greenstuff vets usually work in multiple passes, sculpting up particular masses?

 

My initial approach was to roll out two thin layers of GS to cover the lower leg areas and form the trouser 'base' if you will.  After that I was going to try to incorporate additional spot areas of GS to create folds and kind of blend the boundaries between the GS base and the resin pant legs.  When I tried this last night I immediately ran into a couple problems:

 

-Additional GS was almost impossible to get fixed to the model without using some kind of adhesive

 

-Lack of adhesion made smooth blending almost impossible

 

-When adhesive was applied, it tended to create big GS clumps that could not be smoothed down

 

 

So, it was a bit like fiddling with a bra for the first time in the dark.  Lots of frustration and heavy breathing.  So you greenstuff experts, how do you tame such an unruly medium?  It's very had to smooth out and keep in place, and smoothing it out generally destroys sculpt details.  When you sculpt things like arms and legs and sleeves, do you approach it all in one pass, or multiples?

 

 

 

[WarriorFish]

He is indeed quite ambitious, but he looks good and that's the way to improve :) I'm far from an expert at GS, but I think working up in stages is better as it lets you control the progression more. Get it right then come back to add more, saves you from a single mistake costing you everything. We do have a couple of GS maestros around the barracks but you might find the PCA a better place to ask for sculpting help as there should be a fair few more there.

[mustardParty]

Thanks Fish,

 

i sorta just just pushed through to how how my fist attempt looks painted up.  I did build up some areas a little more but found the experience extremely tedious and difficult to manage. Mostly because I don't feel I have a good handle on the process of building up little areas.  What happens is I'll get a little area going, but I can make it look very smooth.  So I'll work the area a little more, and the area I'm working on will come apart, or slide off of the main model.  Not sure how to keep things fixed in place.

 

Well, here he is:

http://i.imgur.com/xmosLkk.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/LM0Vl70.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/ydIXQBk.png

 

 

So here he is - next up the Primaris, Priest and them Ordnance officer.

 

 

[Kierdale]

Fine, fine work! Very impressive indeed.

[WarriorFish]

Looks like he came out just fine, the paint job counts for a lot so I think you shouldn't worry about it :) As for GSing I usually squish more on than I need and piggle away to get what I want, it usually sticks on quite well that way. If you haven't already check out the tutorial section in the PCA.