Knights of House Cydonia, Taghmata Omnissiah and Skitarii

[Brother Lunkhead]

Greetings Battybattybats,

 

Thanks to this new post from you I've found one more exemplar to prove that my own painting and modelling skills are truely subpar.......thaaaanks a lot Seriously, your work is fantastic and a real inspiration..... two  to you! Thanks for taking the time to post in detail on your work. I've found it most helpful. Great backstory too. I've only just skimmed your site but I'll be back to look at it in detail. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

[Subtle Discord]

From what I heard its caused by removing the sprues from the mold before they've sufficiently cooled. My Mighty Empires set has several mountains hexes that are a bit warped and don't sit right.

 

I've started assembling the warped-sprue warlord to see if its a problem, so far the warping seems to be the frames rather than the parts, at least as far as the legs go. The back pieces that the void shields attach to are the biggest concern due to how warped the frame is, but they might be ok.

 

Building the warlord so far is a unique experience, it goes together delightfully though I'm having to be extra careful with glue.

Humm... in styrene kits, yup, that's exactly what happens; the sprue needs to cool before ejection from the die/mould and if it's done too soon the part will deform as it's pulled free. It's the same thing for poly resin really, but for styrene, it's because it's still warm, and with resin, it's because polymers are still in the process of bonding and the part is still soft. The good news is if you do have any problem just give the part a hot water dunk and you should be able to adjust it back into shape.

 

I sure hope this is an isolated issue because it's a normal part of learning how to run a new styrene injection mould; no two moulds will cast in exactly the same way so with a new product it's normal that there is a period of trial-and-error as the machine is dialed in and that can result in parts that are 'good enough' but operators will continue to tweak it to get perfect results. The other side of the coin could be that GW's production bottlenecks are putting enough pressure on the line that they're trying to rush it slightly and simply lowering their quality standards to meet demand. It's totally normal for something like this to crop up in new kits from time-to-time but it'll be a bad sign if it becomes more common.

[Battybattybats]

Greetings Battybattybats,

 

Thanks to this new post from you I've found one more exemplar to prove that my own painting and modelling skills are truely subpar.......thaaaanks a lot Seriously, your work is fantastic and a real inspiration..... two  to you! Thanks for taking the time to post in detail on your work. I've found it most helpful. Great backstory too. I've only just skimmed your site but I'll be back to look at it in detail. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

 

Thankyou Brother Lunkhead!

Don't be hard on yourself, my painting wasn't particularly good for many years before leaping forward suddenly, my Mechanicus are many orders of magnitude better than my Tyranids were. Just keep challenging yourself a little to gently push your skills nudge by nudge and you'll keep getting better, and maybe you'll have things suddenly click into place and push you ahead a stage like i did. That was what i was trying to do when my work leapt forward and it really worked out. I'd been going with simple make-do for most of my Tyranids to get through the hordes and needed to do something different.

 

What began as some pieces for narrative gaming of a Magos Biologis and retinue studying my Tyranids based around a couple of pieces i picked up from the Anphelion terrain (the containment tanks and dissection table the latter of which is still unfinished) got suddenly boosted by the release of the Knights and the snowball started rolling from there, picked up with the Forgeworld Mechanicum and here we are, with my Tyranids sorely neglected and my skills significantly improved.

 

As far as my techniques please feel free to ask any questions about anything i've worked on. I'm very much open to both questions and suggestions (though my work is slow! I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so i just try and get just a tiny bit done most days, slowly plodding forward). Also please do tell me anything you particularly like.

 

 

From what I heard its caused by removing the sprues from the mold before they've sufficiently cooled. My Mighty Empires set has several mountains hexes that are a bit warped and don't sit right.

 

I've started assembling the warped-sprue warlord to see if its a problem, so far the warping seems to be the frames rather than the parts, at least as far as the legs go. The back pieces that the void shields attach to are the biggest concern due to how warped the frame is, but they might be ok.

 

Building the warlord so far is a unique experience, it goes together delightfully though I'm having to be extra careful with glue.

Humm... in styrene kits, yup, that's exactly what happens; the sprue needs to cool before ejection from the die/mould and if it's done too soon the part will deform as it's pulled free. It's the same thing for poly resin really, but for styrene, it's because it's still warm, and with resin, it's because polymers are still in the process of bonding and the part is still soft. The good news is if you do have any problem just give the part a hot water dunk and you should be able to adjust it back into shape.

 

I sure hope this is an isolated issue because it's a normal part of learning how to run a new styrene injection mould; no two moulds will cast in exactly the same way so with a new product it's normal that there is a period of trial-and-error as the machine is dialed in and that can result in parts that are 'good enough' but operators will continue to tweak it to get perfect results. The other side of the coin could be that GW's production bottlenecks are putting enough pressure on the line that they're trying to rush it slightly and simply lowering their quality standards to meet demand. It's totally normal for something like this to crop up in new kits from time-to-time but it'll be a bad sign if it becomes more common.

 

Thanks for the detailed information Subtle Discord! Really interesting learning more about the processes that make the models we enjoy. I very much appreciate it :)

The knight is almost entirely built but for armour kept off for painting. Other than having to hold one of the back pieces i was concerned about for a while to be sure the plastic glue held it in place to shape there's been no problem from the warping, it seemed to only effect the frame.

 

I have glued a number of parts i'd normally paint before assembly because i was wanting a stronger hold, particularly the ankles and shoulders, so i'll see how it goes getting the paint into some places before i build the second.

 

I snapped some pics on my mobile as i was building and will post those soon.

[Battybattybats]

Here we go, a series of bad phone pictures of the Adeptus Titanicus Warlord Titan build from the warped sprue thus far. Also present will be glimpses of many works in progress and my chaotic mess of a work area.










I painted the inner panels to be sure i could get to them, i'll mask them with some blu-tak when i spray undercoat the rest.



Some other angles of the walking posed legs.












You'll note the pistons on the ankles are as far as they can neatly fit at the back. I test fitted the armour plates to be sure they'd work out too, on each leg as the ankles were drying before attaching them to the hips.



Armour panels on the leg just sitting in place. Shoulder superstructure added and magnets, this along with the ankle pistons i was worried needed a good join even though getting the paint in everywhere will be tricky. Also the magnet on the top on the right refused to glue flush but it's not very noticeable when the missile pods are on.















And here we are caught up with the present.

[Cpt. Bannockburn]

Looking good so far! 

Which legion are you going with?

[Battybattybats]

Thanks Cpt. Bannockburn!

It's a Legio of my own making, an updated version of one I played in 1st edition back in 1989. Legio Apex aka The Capstone of the Pyramid.

 

Back then I kept the box split into two forces as they came on red and blue sprues and after I got Space Hulk I decided one was from a Forgeworld overtaken by a Genestealer Cult who renamed their Legio The Claws of The Children. I then got a pair of Warhounds and put one in each Legio. (and in recent years a friend gave me a classic Reaver)

 

My plan has been to repeat that with the new game with Legio Apex and House Cydonia facing The Claws Of The Children and I was going to reinvent the classic House Mortimer as their classic emblem is a well fed Genestealer Cult symbol which always suggested they'd been infected and I thought the clashing yellow and purple original scheme could be shifted to a hastily painted purple and blue with bits of original yellow showing through.

 

But right now I'm so enamoured with the red and gold and steel and decals and lore that I'm sorely tempted to paint my whole set as Apex and Cydonia leaving the Claws for future me when I eventually get around to building and playing my Genestealer Cult in 40k again to be cross with myself and have to buy another Warlord etc for the Claws in Titanicus.

 

That said, I may be having to have two forces to play, much like before, as currently one friend is considering only buying a single Reaver and that's a maybe. So it'd be sensible for me to divide the set into the two forces.

[Battybattybats]

Titan endoskeleton and armour panels are now all spray-undercoated.

Painting will soon commence.

I'm considering for a name:
The Collosus of Modes
Or in google-tranlate's Latin:
Et Collossus Modorum
Or:
Ram.Sys Magni

Comments and suggestions as always very welcome.

I'm wanting to get stuck into the first 3 Knights too, but it bugs me that i don't know when/if we'll get the more appropriate skull-face heads for the knights in plastic or resin. I'd hate to, in impatience, use the helmet style heads only for the skull ones to come out later with the rocket pods and thunderstrike gauntlets. They look like they might be tricky to magnetise so I may be forced to keep the heads held on by blu-tak till the answer is certain.

[Battybattybats]

Sorry for the huge delay in update, i've had a very very busy time. But in that time work continued, so there's more progress to show you.

So here's a series of blurry WIP pics from my phone (decent pics will follow)

First, a warm beverage.



A nice raspberry tea. I hope to replace the crossbones on the vinyl tea infuser with a cog if i find one that suits.

Next, having made the Titan at about it's maximum walking stride i realised there should be some footprint of the step before, so like some other models before that i thought weighty enough i used a greenstuff impression of part of the foot on the base.







Beginning basecoat.





Base colours in, time for shading.



Shading done, all going well, time for decals

Until this.



This i did not like! Nope. That cog looks dreadful, far too thick and overpowering on the model. So this became my first experience using Micro-Sol to remove a decal!



Ahh now that's better.



Last WIP pic for now, i'll upload some nicer pics and show you where it's at now in my next post.

[Battybattybats]

Now for the nice pics.
Fellow Magi, i present to you Et Collossus Modorum of Legio Apex






Upon the shield on the left, the sun-as-Opus Mechanicum cresting the Pyramid capstone symbol of the Legion, with the double-A upon the capstone representing New Ares the world upon which the Omen of St Hoagland occured that led to the founding of Forgeworld St Hoagland.

Upon the shield on the right we have the nameplate of the Titan showing it's Symbol in the Roster Apex as well as it's position in the maniple where we can see it is the capstone position of the maniple and thusthe Titan carries the Princeps Senioris (Warhounds are represented by the senior of the pack).

Above the head we see a symbol of the Half-Haloed Skull, a symbol often used by the Mechanicus however...some heraldric analysts claim that this may show the original Martian Titan Legion which provided the initial Titans that traveled with the Binharic Apostle St Hoagland and became the initial foundation for Legio Apex. However since the earliest days of the Heresy any suggestion of an association between Legio Apex and Legio Mortis is met with significant hostility from all associated with Legio Apex and the truth is lost to history or perhaps the highest ranked of Archivists of the Legio and it's allies who certainly do not lower themselves to engage in the discussion.

Upon the knees is of course Alpha and Omega, referring to the old Omnissian mystery-scripture of the Binary/Trinary Resolution: "The Trinity of Mars is the Binary of Mars, there is no contradiction, for the Omnissiah is the Machine God and the Motive Force, One and the Zero, the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End."



Upon the Titan's right shoulder is the symbol of the Collegia Titanicus. And upon this volcano canon is the crossed axes, inverted, that represent a warlord-class kill.






Upon the Titan's other shoulder is a representation of the H of St Hoagland, with the cross-line made of cogs in the sacred placement of the 3 Great Pyramids of New Ares and St Hoagland (the finding of an identical 3 black pyramids on the dead world chosen to be the Forgeworld that would form a symbiotic relationship with the Knight World of New Ares being another of the Miracles of St Hoagland that entrenched the deeper of Martian Mysticism in the traditions of those worlds). The centre cod has the symbol of the Titan instead of a skull showing it to be the lynchpin as well as the Capstone.



So here's the basing. I covered the base in a thin layer of Astrogranite over a brushed chaos black layer. I built the Astrogranite up a little around the feet then used two layers of Agrellan Earth over the top of that, then some Mechanicus Standard Grey painted thinly over the Agrellan and then Agrax Earthshade wash and a little Nuln Oil here and there especially for the cracks. All to try and get a real feeling of weight to the titan.















And for the last a nice blurry distance shot.



So there we have it. My first of the new Titanicus scale models. As a friend has grabbed a Reaver and some Knights i'll focus on counters and terrain before i move on to more titans or House Cydonia but they will be coming. As of course will be lots of other projects.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Titan. What does his name mean?

[Battybattybats]

The Colossus of Modes, a pun based on the Colossus of Rhodes, a giant statue in a harbour in Ancient Greece so big ships sailed between it's feet and one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

[Battybattybats]

I’ve been working steadily on several projects, mainly on Titanicus counters and templates. Images to come once I sort out getting them from my new phone into posts.

[Battybattybats]

The all-important first-player initiative counter for Titanicus.Using slightly different tones to the titans etc to help the counters stand out and to give a sense of them being on a different scale.



Working on the various Titanicus accessories and playing a ton of the Mechanicus video game had me getting around to something i've had on my shelves for many editions....



The Servo-skull dice-holders. For those who've never heard of these they came with very fancy dice in different sorts (for weapon damage rolls, mysterious objectives effects, and standard but fancy dice) and a dice-container shaped like a lasgun power pack. I got them when they first came out and always intended to see how they'd look with a proper paintjob instead of the dark silver with a black wash and drybrush effect they came pre-painted with.

Of course to start with i needed to sort out a test piece scheme in basic colours.









That'll do. Now for the shading etc.






And with a dice to show how that looks.



So now i'm working on the other 5 from that dice set. I'll have to make sure i get a pic that shows the mechanical stuff and cables that aren't visible from these angles when i have them done.

[Battybattybats]

Adding to my long list of existing projects, I’ve obtained the kill team boxed set, have the Mechanicus and Munitorum killzones on their way in the post along with the Rogue Trader box, a Derelict Factorum and a box of Titanicus Warhound Titans. And did I mention picking up Blackstone Fortress already?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the dice holder.

[Battybattybats]

Thanks Bjorn Firewalker, I’ll have pics up of the rest of the set soon.

[Battybattybats]

So what should the formal collective known of a group of Servo-Skulls be called?
A Memento Mori of Servo Skulls?
A Collaboration of Servo Skulls?
An Ossuary of Servo Skulls?
Anyone have any other suggestions?

At any rate, here's one.

And here they are with the Kill Team Mechanicus Dice

And here is a view showing the cool detail on the side and back.

And on the other side.

I'm tempted to start on a second set (i got one of each dice type when they came out, so i have 2 more sets) but i'll probably wait till after getting some other projects done.

Speaking of which...

While the lines on the fire arc template look messy close up (painted in with multiple coats of leviathan purple wash and neatened back up with red) i can't describe how happy i am to have counters and templates i can paint to match my Legio. Gaming with them will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to my friend getting his Reaver and Knights done so we can try a game out.

I am frustrated that i want to get to work on the Titanicus scale Knights of House Cydonia but as yet there's no skull heads for them and i don't know if there will be so i don't know if i should convert them or be patient. But my Warhounds should arrive soon so i'll start work on those, some kill team stuff and get more progress on one or more of my older projects.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

"Ossuary" sounds best as a group of servo-skulls, in my opinion. "Lettuce" is an alternative you may pursue if you wish to be funny. (The vegetable is counted as "heads"- get it?)

[Battybattybats]

I admit i've chuckled several times now at the Lettuce joke Bjorn! Well done.

My Titanicus Warhounds have arrived and i'm doing preliminary builds in my mind before starting on them. Because of gun cables i'm thinking that i'll not magnetise weapon options but i'm not sure yet.
Considering the way my girlfriend and her son reacted to our unboxing of my copy of Rogue Trader it looks like getting the Elucidian Starstriders and Gellerpox Infected together and painted might need to be a priority and that there'll be a lot more games of Kill Team in my future than i'd expected. I knew he was very keen to play through the narrative and to run the Starstriders, but she was quite impressed with and much more excited by the Infected than i'd expected (as was i, images didn't do justice to how nice those are) so it looks like she'll use them to give miniature gaming a try.

Today i'm mainly working on a test-scheme for a Genestealer Acolyte Hybrid from Overkill, and i'm wondering if i should do a new thread for those as they are Xenos, or if i should include them in this one as they are Infiltrating a Mechanicus world in St Hoagland's domains so will still have connection to my Mechanicus forces and narrative? The Gellorpox Infected will likewise be painted as ex-Mechanicus so there's unifying pallates and such and it keeps my work all together. And i've already included the Heretek The Anti-Hoagland conversion in this thread.

What do people think? Separate them or keep things together?

[Bjorn Firewalker]

It's probably best to put the xenos and the Nurgle worshippers in their own threads, lest viewers mistakenly assume your Techpriests are allied to obviously anti-Imperial forces.

[Battybattybats]

A good point Bjorn.

While I contemplate it further and see if anyone else puts a view in, clearly GW is intent on my starving considering how much of the Open Day previews is stuff I must own.

[Battybattybats]

Sorry for the long stretch between updates, i've been slowly working on getting my Rogue Trader set ready to paint.

So far i've only put brush to one of the set, but it's ready to show.



I of course went with the Techpriest first, as it's a scheme i'm already comfortable with requiring minimum decisions. I'm also focusing first on miniatures that need some sub-assembly painting and this one very much did.



I had significant trouble with the arm with the gizmo, after some paint it did not want to sit on it's peg so at first glued with a significant gap. In the end i broke it back off and cut the peg off entirely and glued it back on. The pic was after that repair.

Here's the gizmo partway painted, before a Biel-tan green wash to blend the highlights down a little and then ardcoat gloss for a glass screen effect.

And here's another look at the finished piece.

Today i have also decided to get some work on another project though it's not as finished yet. My use of an AOS endless spell to make the relic the Golden Cog that the Fabricator General of Mars risked war with Terra to obtain from the Culexus Temple Fortress.



Note the wet Agrax Earthshade, i've propped the piece up very slightly so the wash settles and pools slightly more towards the lower half of the model to get some subtle shading. (to those who say not to let your wash pool i say: "Or alternately, learn to swim in that pool")



I'm going to try something of a risky experiment with the warp energy, i'm going to hit it with some Nihilahk Oxide, i don't know if it will get the effect i'm after but we'll see.



The basing is Astrogranite and some small slate, the latter affixed by pva still setting as i type. I also added a skull. I'll sort the base before i try the oxide.

For the last pic, a detail image.



You'll note that i didn't completely file off the fantasy text on the cog i filed, as i particularly liked it scuffed and partially obscured.

I'm also starting a new thread Foes of St Hoagland for my Genestealers, Gellerpox Infected and any other things opposed to my Knights/Mechanicus but connected to them narratively. Allies i'll continue to have in this thread.

[Battybattybats]

So here's the result of my experiment with the nebulous warp energy.



It took a lot of fiddling over small areas as it dried to get just the right amounts of Nihilahk Oxide in just the right spots.



The end result turned out a little more blue and less purple than i expected but i'm quite pleased.

Soon i'll have to purchase an Eldar Webway Portal (which might sustain some Inquisition-approved Tech-Heresy) and get more work done on my chainsaw-faced Golden Throne Techpriest as i envisage that The War Of The Golden Cog between Mars and Terra over the Culexus Temple was to obtain this relic, The Golden Cog (which in my headcannon rotates through both Realspace and the Warp simultaneously, imposing some order on the warp), as a way to open, stabilize and keep open the Exhubris II Webway Gate (see: Crusaders of the Machine God) in order to launch the crusade to try and obtain knowledge to fix the failing Golden Throne.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Techpriest is well done.

[Battybattybats]

Sorry for lack of posts, new phone takes better pics but makes it harder to post. I’ll try and get some posts here soon as I have some Titanicus Warhounds to show off and finally with skull heads for Titanicus knights I can start building my House Cydonia Titanicus scale (I just need to find a source for enough heads).