Call for War, Callius' VII Legion, 5/11 Spartan finished!

[Brother Callius]

I promised a weekend update, and I will deliver...

The Leviathan has been partly assembled, primed and painting has begun.

The model is amazing, I am in love with this big, lumbering Contemptor on roids. It will not be the last in my collection, that's for sure.

One thing that struck me is how heavy this thing is. The torso is just three big chunks of resin stuck together so it's sturdier than my flimsy coffe table...

I have also sneaked ahead with the BaC Chaplain who will become my Castellan for the 41st. company.

The head, crozius and plasma pistol has been swapped for a chainsword, a volkite serpenta and a more badass helmet.

It's not a great big conversion I know, but I am pleased with it nonetheless.

On a side note I got a cutting mat today, after many years without and I don't know why I didn't get one earlier, love it to bits already!

Over the last couple of days my yet-to-be-named Leviathan has gone from this grey pile to a couple of sub-assemblies with the basic colours.

And finally my castellan has been assembled and primed so he looks more ready for action than the photo above:

That was what I had to show for now, but it won't be long until the dear Leviathan walks...

[Brother Callius]

Quick update:

My Leviathan is almost done and I just have the important steps left. Highlights, transfers, weathering and the base.

So here he is with the colouring done:

He looks like a giant LEGO figure with all that flat and boring yellow, can't wait to get some dirt on there...

That's all folks, just a quick friday read. I plan on getting him done before tomorrow night if all goes smooth, so be sure to check back then.

[Brother Pheidias]

Quite beastly, really. And I know the LEGO-look will be dispelled with the magic touch of washes :)

[Brother Callius]

The Leviathan walks! (pic heavy post incoming)

My finished murder-bot Brother Aldemar has been completed and I love the way the kit comes together, really easy if you have assembled a Contemptor.

I've gotten the new 30k Fists transfer sheet from FW so I had to play around with some of the legion specific transfers, there are a ton of cool stuff on the new sheet.

I was only certain about where to put the fist and the all-important lion heraldy, the rest was an educated guess but one that payed off.

This 80mm base is the biggest I've tackled so far since I began to make my own. As such I wanted to convey the weight of such a beast, so I played around with some ideas which came out pretty good.

One idea was an iron girder being crushed under the massive foot and the other was the concrete slabs crumbling and exposing the ground and pipes underneath. Let me know what you think, I am still rather new to the base making game, I've only done 18 with this one.

Without further ado, here he is in all his battered glory:

Some close-ups of the base effects I was talking about:

That's what I had to show you, I hope you like him. (I certainly do!)

Now on to my Castellan...

[Big Bad Squig]

I've wasted all of my likes in the Weekender thread, but that Leviathan looks ace!

[CaptainTaco]

Wow, the bent girder on the base is brilliant! Very subtle and effective.

[Brother Pheidias]

All Hail Aldemar, Stompy bringer of retribution!

That's looking grand!

[Brother Callius]

Thanks guys

 

There's nothing better on a weekend than a stompy, giant, killer thingy.

My Castellan will probably have to wait for next weekend or maybe the week after that since I am going to be a bit busy at work next week.

Fortunately I have a weeks holiday coming up so I will get some more painting done there if Xcom 2 doesn't get in the way

[Brother Callius]

Good morning to all!

A quick update on my Castellan: I got most of the basic colouring done (minus cleanup) and the inside of the cloak almost done.

I have stuck him together and gotten frisky with the green stuff to hide the seam on the shoulders of the cloak.

As I am painting this model I have realised that he will be the only plastic mini in the 41st. company so far as I have a weird FW only policy since I think their models look better and have sharper detail. But the BaC chaplain was the model that best resembled what I had in my mind when creating my Castellan.

[Brother Pheidias]

Looks good, and I think a little leeway on the plastic-front is acceptable in this case!

[Brother Callius]

Update time again!

Just this morning I finished up my dear Castellan's base and got some photos taken in my diy lightbox, so now the 41st. company finally has someone to call the shots...

As you already know I was quite apprehensive about the plastic chaplain which where the basis of this model but I am happy with the final result and the meld of FW resin and GW plastic looks like a badass (in my book at least).

My biggest worry with this guy where the cloak, in my fluff I knew I wanted my Castellan to have a big crimson cloak to contrast the yellow and help with the ''I am the boss'' look.

The thing is that I have never really painted any kind of fabric before and the flowing lines did mess with me as I am more used to the harsh lines of power armour.

I ended up looking for tips from the GW painting videos on youtube; they have one where Duncan Rhodes paints Archaon from AoS and he has a cloak so I thought why not?

I played around with the washes and highlights and I really like the end result.

The only problem with those videos is that Duncan always looks so effortless when he paints and yet it still ends up waaaay better that anything I could ever hope to acheive

The finishing touches to this guy where a good liberal coating of Blood for the blood god on his blade to get the image of tight quarters fighting across and I imaginge that a chainsword is quite messy...

But enough of me, here is my newly finished Castellan Emmerich Bhalen, ''The hero of Strokian''

[Pearson73]

Nice weathering especially on the cloak; the amount is just right, not too heavy.

[Brother Pheidias]

Turned out great!

Cloak is nicely worn too. Nice use of the Chaplain-model, kind of ambivalent about what to do with mine.

[DimDim]

Nice! I really like the way you've done the transfer under the cloak. Its little details like that, that make a model pop. Thumbs up from me!

[BlueBelly1863]

Wow.

 

Just, wow. The base yellow is solid and then the weathering brings these models to life. Was supposed to do homework but then I just got distracted by all 6 pages of weathered loyalist beauty....

[Flint13]

Excellent work all around, man!

 

The difference your weathering techniques make is crazy to see before/after. 

 

 

Good work sorting out that LEGO dread :D

[Brother Callius]

Thanks guys, glad to hear you like it

The next week will be taken up by a military excercise so I won't get any work done but I am prepping the first 5 guys of my next tactical squad tomorrow so I can get started on them next weekend.

 

 

Turned out great!

Cloak is nicely worn too. Nice use of the Chaplain-model, kind of ambivalent about what to do with mine.

I am quite happy with the outcome of the cloak, I was a bit worried about the weathering since it was a first. 

I think the Chaplain model could be a good base for some kind of character for your Scars, albeit with a little tribal flair...

 

 

Nice! I really like the way you've done the transfer under the cloak. Its little details like that, that make a model pop. Thumbs up from me!

Thanks a lot man, the transfer was a b***h to get there. It involved a fair amount of cutting and googling for reference photos from the BaC set. But it got there in the end

 

Wow.

 

Just, wow. The base yellow is solid and then the weathering brings these models to life. Was supposed to do homework but then I just got distracted by all 6 pages of weathered loyalist beauty....

Cheers dude, but I can't imagine your homework to be more important than the support of the fight against the corrupted traitors...Unless your sword is already bloodied for the Warmaster...Then I would have to bring retribution for Isstvan...

[Brother Pheidias]

I think the Chaplain model could be a good base for some kind of character for your Scars, albeit with a little tribal flair...

 

I am somewhat vary, I don't really like cloaks on my characters (No capes ;) ), but I do like a lot of the details on that model... He'll find a use eventually.

[BlueBelly1863]

Wow.

 

Just, wow. The base yellow is solid and then the weathering brings these models to life. Was supposed to do homework but then I just got distracted by all 6 pages of weathered loyalist beauty....

Cheers dude, but I can't imagine your homework to be more important than the support of the fight against the corrupted traitors...Unless your sword is already bloodied for the Warmaster...Then I would have to bring retribution for Isstvan...

 

 

No worries brother, I am a stout son of Vulkan. Keep up the awesome work! 

[Brother Callius]

Quick update time!

I have my first five guys ready for priming which I will get to later tonight.

This weeks work has left me more tired than I had hoped and as such work on the legion is slow but steady, and hopefully tomorrow I can get going on these guys proper.

My plan for the tac. squads are to mix the new squad I'm making with the one already done, so the armour marks are spread around to create better diversity.

The first squad which are done are all in Mk. III armour and the ten new guys I'm making now are five Mk. II and five Mk. IV.

I plan on building my force mainly around Mk. III with a little of II and IV mixed in to break things up and it also suits the timeline for my company which is at the start of the heresy with the traitors still somewhat unknown.

The sergeant will be build separately as the first one to give me some inspiration for the squad and also I like to take a little more time on the characters in my force, even if they are just a sergeant. The rest will be build in batches of five which is how my assembly line process usually works, not too many to take the fun out of it.

Here is a boring picture to get an idea of where I'm at:

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

Your Fists are absolutely savage in the best possible way. Love that Leviathan. That's how to do one in IF colours.

[Brother Callius]

Sergeant Leutwin reporting for duty.

The sergeant for my new tac. squad is all done and battered up, ready to lead his men into battle.

He is done with a mix of MK. II and III pieces, and I have tried a more dynamic pose than I usually do, I think it adds some life that can be easy to loose with minis.

He is equipped with a mace and as such he is bloodied up as has become my norm with melee weapons.

The mace looks a little too red in these pics but the recesses of the mace head is still metallic with very small amounts of blood.

It will be clearer when I take some group photos with his squad since the angle these where taken at don't show the recesses properly.

I will now get on with the first five guys of his squad, but I won't be home next week due to work so the progress will be minimal.

I hope you like him!

[Ovidius Incertus]

Wow!  That screams Fist!  Not the silly golden boys, but the hard-slogging siege warriors.  You really hit the brutality of that mode of warfare on the head with that guy.

 

What do you do for the grit in your weathering?

[Brother Callius]

Wow!  That screams Fist!  Not the silly golden boys, but the hard-slogging siege warriors.  You really hit the brutality of that mode of warfare on the head with that guy.

 

What do you do for the grit in your weathering?

 

Thanks mate, I can't stand the pristine bright yellow of GW Fists so I give my take on experts in siege defense. Naturally they will get battered and bloodied when in close combat so I'm glad my take on them is appreciated.

 

If it's the grit on the lower legs you're after then I can safely say that it's super simple: just Typhus corrosion from GW applied first with at brush and then a q-tip for smearing and dapping it to get a more natural feel.

[Brother Pheidias]

"Pulp Faces, the new movie by Quentin Tarantino. In the 31st. millenium, one Astartes is on a quest for revenge. Betrayed by his cousins and left for dead, he reaps a bloody trail of vengeance across the Imperial Palace. Coming this March."