++ AUGUSTUS b'RAASS ++ pre-heresy BRASS SCORPION p.247

[GhostMalone]

A nice brutal template thrower looks Bloody awesome

[Augustus b'Raass]

Thanks guys! Here he is finished - more pictures of all angles here.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Showcase%20Night%20Lords/2015-05-25%2017.13.48_zpsozxungql.jpg

 

Hope you like!

 

Replies:

@Kriegsmacht: Cheers! It's why I like vehicles. :)

 

@Kurama: BOOM!

[Forté]

That has seriously got me thinking Augustus. Not that I have any Vindicators knocking around or anything...

 

That is one good looking tank too.

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

Great paint job, but for some reason I find it too bright? Or is it just me?

[Augustus b'Raass]

Next up is the second Predator Annhilator in my ETL IV vow.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-23%2021.18.37_zps9hwxvdgi.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-23%2021.19.09_zpsgigbf8hg.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-23%2021.18.59_zpsgmfw9kl5.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-23%2021.18.52_zpsbteiluqv.jpg

 

These also have several parts form the Proditor Pattern Predator Extra Armour Kit by B&C's very own Subtle Discord.

 

Replies:

 

@Forte: Thank buddy - but what got you thinking, and about what? You finally going to get some Astartes Vehicles? :D

 

@Dolchiate Remembrancer: Haha thanks, and no, it's not you. My Night Lords are generally considered 'too light', but it's how I like them :D

[Dolchiate Remembrancer]

Then keep on keeping on Augustus!

[Pearson73]

Ace bikers, liking the trophies on the tanks.

[KrautScientist]

The tanks are looking fantastic! Vibrant while also pretty sinister. The bikers are coming along rather nicely as well, although my gut feeling says the cage around that skeleton may just be a bit too bright, given the Nurglite affiliation of these guys. Maybe you could darken it down and/or add some verdigris to the golden/brazen portions...?

 

Apart from such small gripes, spectacular work, as usual! :)

[GhostMalone]

Dude brutal predators that's going to be a deadly pack

[ElDuderino]

Looking great! makes me want to get over my dislike for building and painting vehicles, really inspiring

[Augustus b'Raass]

Tank is done. More pics here.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Showcase%20Night%20Lords/2015-05-30%2022.41.34_zpsdby52a1i.jpg

 

 

What is particularly cool about this is that I am two-thirds on the way to having a complete predator annihilator talon.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Showcase%20Night%20Lords/2015-05-30%2022.46.55_zpsupbrpa51.jpg

 

I almost can't wait to finish my first ETL IV vow (four Nurgle bikers and a Brass Scorpion to go) to finish it. :D :tu:

 

Replies!

@Doclhiate Remembrancer: I will and I am, buddy!

 

@Pearson73: Only the trophies to go on the last predator. Will work on that tonight! :)

 

@KrautScientist: Will do on the Skeleton Icon, Kraut, thanks for the feedback. I'm also pretty chuffed by your praise of the tanks, as I know you don't like Space Marine tanks in general. :)

 

@Kurama: Haha cheers mate. I can't wait for the third pred to be finished. 

 

@ElDuderino: Get over it now - vehicles are canvases with sooo much opportunity. They're also very forgiving when you're a sloppy painter, like me. (The smallest brush I used on the tanks was size 2 (except for the tiny tiny lights beside the regular headlights, and the freehand Night Lords symbols)) ;)

[deathspectersgt7]

On those Preds.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Even though I cannot start painting it yet (it'll be part of my second ETL IV vow), I've already finished building the third and last of the Predator Annihilator talon. Here it is :)

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-31%2013.15.38_zpsyowptdqa.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-31%2013.15.45_zpsrlenj8hz.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-31%2013.15.57_zps1whcdbtm.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-31%2013.16.07_zpsi7d8lu9v.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-05-31%2013.16.18_zpsdwh8352d.jpg

 

Funilly enough, what I like most about this conversion is the head lights. I have no idea what they are from again, but I replaced the standard Rhino head lights with gothic ones. I struggled with coming up with a way to attach them realistically - I tried sculpting the behind, but my GS skills aren't up to the needed straight edges required. In the end I settled with plastic tubing cut diagonally. Even though I eyeballed the four diagonal cuts, I'm pretty happy with the result!!

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/WP_20150531_007_zps3nipwscc.jpg

 

Reply:

@deathspectersgt7: Cheers buddy! Hope you like this third and last one too! 

[Kriegsmacht]

Predators look great. As usual I love the trophies. Where do you get the hands that are on the side of the WIP tank?

[Augustus b'Raass]

Predators look great. As usual I love the trophies. Where do you get the hands that are on the side of the WIP tank?

Mostly from the zombie regiment kit, especially from the standard top. There's also a nice severed arm in that kit.

http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/images/DSC_0055.JPG

[Forté]

Now paint one without an airbrush (kidding I swear). That talon is going to look nasty on the table.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Now paint one without an airbrush (kidding I swear). That talon is going to look nasty on the table.

Haha dude that's the one arrow I have in my quiver!

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Those vehicles are looking ace!

[Brother Heinrich]

http://i41.tinypic.com/1et6iv.jpg

 

Seriously dude, the tanks are looking great. I may have to add some Predator Annihilators to the armory of 15th Company ;)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Alright, ETL update time. I've been working on the build of my Brass Scorpion. 
 
I'm not going to lie. The Brass Scorpion kit was a challenge.
 
This kit is huge and has a lot of parts. What's  especially challenging is that it has three pairs of two-part legs and two two-part claws, all of which are attached to the body with a ball joint (similar to the defiler and soul grinder kits). The joint in the appendages themselves is similar to the joints in the decimator kits, in that they have a female and a male part (and 'innie' and an 'outie', if you catch my drift). Getting this thing to stand on a flat surface with all the legs on the ground was going to be tough. Also, the body of the scorpion has a relatively large mass, which fully rests on the three pairs of legs. So these legs need to be very sturdily build - and the ball joints are NOT built for sturdiness. At all. So superglue was out of the question immediately. I used two-part UHU Schnellfest epoxy resin adhesive. But that wouldn't cut it, in my estimation.
 

Research on realistic scorpion movement

I studied the movement of Scorpions (who interestingly enough have four sets of legs, not three. So more like Brass Insect, Forge World design team! ). I wanted the miniature to look like it's moving realistically, so I wanted to do some research how scorpions move. I searched and found a cool video of the Scorpion King on YouTube. As you see, the width pair moves oppositely, and each pair along the length too. 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyMCCw_lPA4
 

Dry-positioning all the legs in their entirety

Now that I had the intended scorpion-in-stride pose down, it came to positioning the legs. I used large blobs of poster buddy instead of glue to attach the two parts of the legs together, then did the same for all the complete legs to the body, making sure the movement was realistic. I did this in the following order: First the front two pairs in opposite positions from each other (so one stepping forward and one going back). I then did one of the rear legs, making sure it was in the same position as the front leg on its side of the boddy. I now had a stable tripod. I then did the other rear leg (in the opposite position of the other one), after which I positioned the two middle legs, making sure each of them was opposite to all three of their neighbours.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2017.41.07_zpsjtbweqx2.jpg
 

Glueing and Pinning the inner legs to the body

I then drilled holes into the middle of every ball joint socket of the body, and drilled coinciding holes in the balls of the joints of the legs. I put small metal rods in the holes, test-fitted the legs into a realistic position and then then glued all the legs to the body using the epoxy resin, in the same order as the test-fit, and allowing the epoxy resin of each pair of legs to dry completely (30 mins) before moving on to the next pair. So front, then rear, then middle pair. I then did the same process for the claws. After all where completely dry, I drilled another hole through the lower part of the socket into the ball and put a shortened flatheaded nail in there too. All leg-to-body joints now had two pins in them, as indicated by the red lines.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/Brass%20SCorpion%20pin%201_zpstwhrdmwc.jpg

 

Glueing and Pinning the outer legs to the inner legs

I then again test-fitted all the outer leg parts onto the inner leg parts to see if the intended pose was still possible. Luckily it was, so I glued them all in place, in the same order as the inner legs to the body. When the resin adhesive of each glued pair was dry, I drilled a hole through the joint, and put a pin through it with superglue (check out the picture below, the red stripe is the location of the pin). I then smeared a tiny blob of Milliput (why milliput and not greenstuff? Because milliput is far more maleable and can be smeared. When it is dry it can also be effectively sanded, unlike greenstuff). I then moved on to the next pair and repeated the process. 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/Brass%20SCorpion%20pin%202_zpsroxtcetq.jpg

Timing and Order of glueing the Armour Panels on its back

Yeah, last tip: The armour panels on its back can be dryfitted very easily and do not need to be glued in place. They have no bearing on the structure whatsoever, so for easy of painting, I would strongly suggest leaving them off an only gluing them in place after you've painted (and maybe even after priming) it. When you're glueing them on, start with the one highest (so closest to its tail cannon) and work your way down.

 

So! That was my process of building the Brass Scorpion. I hope future Brass Scorpion builders find this of use. I will leave the claws and the upper armour plates unglued. Once they're painted, I'll glue them in place using the two part epoxy resin adhesive. 

 

And here's some pictures of the build before trophification.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2018.09.51_zpsaxq4geco.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2018.09.42_zpsehdoejaj.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2018.09.27_zpsiseyfky5.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2018.10.30_zpssxwrj73t.jpg

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d185/mkruijff/Night%20Lords%20WIP/2015-06-04%2018.10.09_zpswgdg4uuh.jpg

 

I hope you like and as always: feedback more than welcome. 

 

Reply (the board is so busy with what the ETL and all, that I'm happy there's still frater commenting here ):

 

@Brother Heinrich: thanks buddy! As you know, vehicles are a pet fave of mine to build and paint, so I'm happy you liked the end result!

 

 

 
 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Augustus b'Raass

[Dragonlover]

See, I ballsed up the pins on some of my legs, but the main supporting ones are all fine so I'm probably gonna use the old superglue and green stuff of the ones where the pins are in the wrong place. I just wish they'd given guide pegs and holes for those of us that didn't want to mess around with a drill. I often felt like I needed another pair of arms to hold everything in place while I drilled.

 

I've also left all the legs and plates off for painting, because sod manipulating the whole model while I do the trim.

 

Looks damn good though. Thanks for doing the extra angles in photos btw, helps me plan my paint job a bit better.

 

Dragonlover

[Augustus b'Raass]

I often felt like I needed another pair of arms to hold everything in place while I drilled.

That's why I bought four packs of poster buddies for a giant ball of about 500 grams of the stuff - it's dirt cheap so no worries there. The scorpion was literally covered in the stuff while I worked on the pose. It's also great for decimator and contemptor posing. :tu:

[deathspectersgt7]

Wow, Looking forward to seeing this Beast done.

[Kizzdougs]

Oh man! This is going to be amazing! I can't wait to see you apply your talent to the Scorpion :tu:

[Wicced]

very nice project and tutorial, looking forward to seeing it with trophies and i hope it'll be midnight clad ;)