Project log: Torburnides

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your Knight is off to a good start, Flame Boy. Edited August 28, 2018 by Bjorn Firewalker

[Magos Takatus]

Here's a quick update while I wait for paint, masking medium and the transfers for my Knight.

 

I recently bought some more Sicarians to bolster my unit of Infiltrators to a 10 man machine squad.

 

Here's the five new guys sporting the required space uzi's. It took a lot less time than I expected to get these guys painted. 

Here's a side view of Johnny Prodman's custom decal, I used a slightly larger size than the ones on my Rangers/Vanguard.

I also decided I needed a picture of Johnny and all his friends on my recently completed terrain piece. Not included: any kind of cool board detail or background. I need to see if any of those gaming mats have a similar wasteland appearance to my bases.

 

I decided I am going to repaint quite a few of the panels on my Imperial Knight because they released a new chameleon paint that looks a lot closer to the effect I wanted, since it looks like a much deeper red and green, which should match my forge world livery much better.

https://www.google.com/search?q=evil+forest+paint&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfyJzQlczdAhXJJsAKHZ8qC0cQ_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=HqfVeOeywz3uUM:

Naturally I'll have to test it on some spoons or something to make sure it looks like the image does, since I've not seen a picture in the flesh.

 

The biggest issue I have is that now I have so many of these colourshift paints I'm going to be looking for any excuse to use them. I bet they would look the part for Tzeentch models (like this one http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/chameleon-acrylic-paints/735-chameleon-colorshift-pinky-blue-paint.html) I'm not much of a Chaos guy so that might not come to much. I bet Drukhari vehicles would look pretty amazing with that sort of paint though.

 

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your Skitarii look good.

[Magos Takatus]

Hey, just a quick update. My Knight is still unfinished because I am waiting for the decals to arrive. I'm going to have to get onto the supplier now sadly.

 

I've spent today undercoating a Drukhari Chronos and I'm collecting the spare parts for my Admech bits box. The various mechanical arms, spikes and aerials should be really handy. They could be used to represent Anzion's Pseudogenator quite easily. I'm sort-of picturing the Mister Handy from the Fallout games, only more sinister looking.

 

I got my phone today as well, and it actually has some storage so I can upload pictures again. This is what I purchased last week:

 

As you can tell, I haven't found the "leaked image" setting that turns everything into a unreadable blur. It remains to be seen how the camera will perform for this blog.

 

One last piece of news, I have recently started an Instagram page. If I am allowed to I'll provide a link so people can view some of my non-B&C-worthy stuff like my AoS models.

 

My Admech blog is moving a bit slow at the moment but once I've cleared some of my non-Mechanicus models finished I'll start work on that Dunecrawler. Should my second one be assembled as an Icarus array Onager? The first one is magnetized for Eradication Beamer, Phosphor Blasters and Neutron loadouts but I didn't bother to make Icarus an option.

[frosteldar]

 

I decided I am going to repaint quite a few of the panels on my Imperial Knight because they released a new chameleon paint that looks a lot closer to the effect I wanted, since it looks like a much deeper red and green, which should match my forge world livery much better.

https://www.google.com/search?q=evil+forest+paint&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfyJzQlczdAhXJJsAKHZ8qC0cQ_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=969#imgrc=HqfVeOeywz3uUM:

Naturally I'll have to test it on some spoons or something to make sure it looks like the image does, since I've not seen a picture in the flesh.

 

The biggest issue I have is that now I have so many of these colourshift paints I'm going to be looking for any excuse to use them. I bet they would look the part for Tzeentch models (like this one http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/chameleon-acrylic-paints/735-chameleon-colorshift-pinky-blue-paint.html) I'm not much of a Chaos guy so that might not come to much. I bet Drukhari vehicles would look pretty amazing with that sort of paint though.

I look forward to hearing what you think of the paints.  I just ordered the first set of those paints when I had seen a sample on someone's models from Blackstone Fortress.  I am considering using one of the blue shades for my Knight panels and perhaps some of the others for some interesting trees/plants.  

[Vel'Cona]

Just realized your WIP thread has past 2 years recently!  Good to see it's still moving along :)

[Magos Takatus]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll post another WIP of my Mechanicus Knight. 

 

 

I resprayed large parts of the model in Evil Forest from the Red Goblin colour it was previously. I think it looks darker and fits in with my Mechanicus army better. There's still some parts on the model that are push-fit and some parts left off since I want to be able to get the the armour more easily. You should just about be able to see the colourshift effect on the frontal carapace and left pauldron if you click on the picture to enlarge it.

 

As for the colourshift paints themselves, I would recommend using an airbrush to get adequate coverage on models. I tried to paint the Red Goblin over the feet using a standard brush and it was a nightmare. I painted layer after layer but the edges of the armour just didn't seem to take the paint. I masked off the base and sprayed it and got much better results. The finished result looks very smooth and the shifting effect looks really nice in person but it's tricky to capture on camera. I'm not sure how transfers and weathering look on this stuff as I am yet to cross those bridges but I'll probably comment on that when I get closer to completing it. I'd love to see how the paints look on your Knight(s). There are some gorgeous blues in that range and I was tempted by them until I found the red/green paints.

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Knight looks awesome, even as a WIP.

[Magos Takatus]

Hey, another quick update. My Knight is still on hold until I get my decals back so I'm currently working on my second Onager. 

 

 

I've strayed from my first method by using my airbrush to add the first set of highlights and shading. I've kept a booklet detailing how I painted various parts of my models and trying to match the metallic gold from my first Dunecrawler was an exercise in futility so I just abandoned my Auric Armour Gold and Liberator gold and just used my Scale 75 paints since they are a lot less annoying for me to use.

 

I've been listening to the 40k Mechanicus game soundtrack as I paint and it's made the time just fly by. :)

 

I've also got some new varnish and oil washes that I will be experimenting with going forward.

[Magos Takatus]

It's time for my second Donkeytank to scuttle off the production line. It needs some varnishing and then some weathering powder around the legs before I'd call it properly finished but I figured the pictures would be easier to take without varnish. 

 

I decided that the number on the hull would be a squadron number rather than vehicle number, with the alpha symbol representing the squadron leader. I might come back to this second vehicle it if I can find suitable decals.

 

The base on this Dunecrawler is the most detailed base I have produced and is the first time I tried to use a hot glue gun and cork pieces. I'm pretty happy with the result over all. 

 

I've got a unit of Skitarii left to do, I'm wondering how to equip them. I am considering ordering a Secutarii Hoplite conversion kit. Do you think it would be worth it, or should I just make a set of Rangers instead? I'm curious to see what people think on the matter. Do Hoplites need a transport in order to function reasonably? 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Flame Boy

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Onagers.

[Vel'Cona]

I love the colour choice (looks like an original for this forum) and the basing is very immersive.  Excellent work! :)

[Magos Takatus]

Thanks. I found some styrene rods and girders to use on the base this time. Adding other ruined objects as well as battlefield debris hopefully gets across the notion of the wasteland around the abandoned regions of a Forge World.

 

I'm currently working on some terrain for my army. work in progress images to follow.

 

 

I've had a Wall of Martyrs set with a Firestorm redoubt for a while now and I recently decided to start work on it. There's still a long way to go but I'll be working on it over time when I want a break from a painting project. I really wish I didn't paint the Astra Militarum armour in an ochre colour, since it takes loads of coats to look acceptable. I've still got to paint metallics and bone sections before I start shading and highlighting. I will be working on an AoS project again soon so the wall set won't be top priority.

 

On a similar subject, I wonder why GW still produce the Wall of Martyr bunker and walls but discontinued the turrets? It seems a bit strange to me.

Edited March 7, 2019 by Flame Boy

[Magos Takatus]

Today I received a small but welcome addition to my Adeptus Mechanicus. 

 

 

This means that unlike last year I have some ammunition for the ETL event when it arrives. I already have the Skitarii I need but I have to ask the fine people of this forum: is the Data Tether upgrade for the Alpha worth it? I figure I'd best consider that before I start assembling stuff.

[Magos Takatus]

Greetings! I've just finished some Secutarii for my ETL pledge which I'm pretty pleased with. I have some pretty bad photographs of them. Hopefully I can get some better quality shots later.

 

Here's a video of my Hoplites defending a rotating platform for no logical reason:

https://youtu.be/ePLNJN5utuQ

 

Also, here's my blurry photographs. 

 

I'll see if I can do better. 

 

As for the next project? I'm considering either an Icarus Onager, a Dragoon or hopefully the Skorpius if it is released any time this summer. I don't want to pledge a Dragoon to the ETL if I can help it since I remember the first one was pretty time consuming to build and paint. My Knight is still on hold since my custom decal order fell through. I'll have to find somebody else to draw them and print them off for me. It's a shame since it's pretty close to completion.

 

[Magos Takatus]

I've finished my second Dragoon today, it's just waiting for a coat of varnish and it's pretty much done.

 

 

The thing that baffles me is that as I've got better equipment to take photos of my miniatures my photo quality has actually dropped. The colours had to be modified in Photoshop and they are still sort of muddy and hard to tell apart, especially the base. Compare this with my earlier Dragoon:

 

 

I've swapped out two desk lamps for a light box so you'd think the photographs should be better. I no longer have to remove a colour cast from my photographs. I'll have to try the old lighting set up and see if it improves matters. Failing that it's a difference between the two phones.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Magos Takatus

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Dragoon.

[Magos Takatus]

With some downtime between Admech painting projects I figured I'd carry on with my trench network.

 

 

This thirsty devil  managed to use up 3/4 of a pot of Agrax Earthshade. After that I heavily watered down some airbrush rust paint and liberally applied it to the cream parts, mixing in different colours to vary the tones. It seems to have broken up the uniformity of the floor sections. 

 

I'm pretty happy with how the metallic parts turned out, I went from a dark bronze (I think it was Scale 75's Decayed Metal but I'm not 100% sure on that), through Balthasar Gold, Gehenna's old and Auric Armour Gold.

 

I am impressed that the photos came out so well, I guess it's a larger subject than most GW models.

 

Edit: Damn, I missed painting the cage lamps! Oh well, perhaps next time I get them out I'll sort that out.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Magos Takatus

[Magos Takatus]

I've completed my most recent vow, a Skorpius Dunerider and a Skorpius Disintegrator. I tried my hand at basecoating and highlights using an airbrush on this project, the Disintegrator ended up looking noticeably lighter than my other vehicles. Apart from that I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. The Dunerider is a lot more intricate and requires more effort compared to just pumping out Rhino chassis vehicles. The interior detail in the Skorpius looks pretty cool with the gunners. It's just a shame that I spend quite a while painting them and it's pretty much impossible to see the front of the models I spend ages on! 

 

 

After working on the kit I like pretty much all of it, though the Disintegrator turret is a bit flimsy feeling and looks a bit feeble compared to other tanks. There's also nowhere for the turret Heavy Stubber ammunition to be stored, which is pretty strange.

 

Hopefully this might get a few of the people sitting on the fence with these new vehicles to give them a go. :)

 

 

[Magos Takatus]

Just adding pictures of my ETL vows this year. I'm pleased that I have managed to paint so much for my army in the space of one summer. Considering my typical glacial rate of painting this is quite an achievement for me!

 

 

After this I think my Adeptus Mechanicus progress will return to the backburner while I try to sort out some of my other armies and paint up some other projects. I was unexpectedly given some Nighthaunt models for my birthday so I can paint something quite different for a change.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Your Skorpius craft are well done.

[Magos Takatus]

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I have been heavily into painting Blood Bowl teams this year having painted a Lizardman team for myself, and Undead and Skaven for old friend of mine. I am, however starting to make progress on my Adeptus Mechanicus army. I have painted up Daedalosus, putting the finishing touches on him yesterday. I have also started work on my second Imperial Knight, now both are pretty much finished apart from the actual house insignia. I'm stuck most of the armour plates in place now so I am pleased with them. I have also ordered two boxes of Serberys Raiders and plan to start working on them as soon as I can get my mechadendrites on them.

 

Anyway, here's the pictures.

 

 

Once again I'm getting some problems with some kind of auto sharpen function on my phone which seems to mess the picture up.

 

Here's a nice rotation of the model. I would include the magic roundabout theme but that would probably get my video copyright claimed. Just pretend you can hear that when you're taking a look, okay?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=now9AJdoh2Q

 

 

Edit: I've ramped up the resolution on my camera phone and it's really helped. I have to save the images to a lower quality than my previous photos but they seem to come out better. I switched the camera to pro mode and didn't change any settings and that seems to produce a superior image. Still not perfect, but better.

 

 

 

Pictures of the (still wip) Knights to follow.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Magos Takatus

[Magos Takatus]

Right, Here's my Imperial Knights, Here's the one frequent visitors to this blog will probably recognize as that Knight that never seems to get finished. He is currently missing the chest plate, banner and crotch plate but I've added the leg armour and added some very old space marine transfers, including the old mk1 Rhino circular door transfers. I had to cut the transfers slightly to fit but it was much easier than I expected.

 

 

He currently has no name, suggestions are welcome.

 

I'm not sure what sort of effect I was going for on the black parts of the shoulder armour but it looks like a dirty chalkboard so I think I will repaint it plain black.

 

This new knight is Sir Mordred the Bloody.

"This one is mine." 

 

I really like how this one turned out but it does make the other one a little plain so I'll have to go back to the crusader and add some more patterns to it's tilting plate.

 

Let me know what you think!

Edited June 4, 2020 by Magos Takatus

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the Techpriest and the Knights. For the new one, may I suggest the name "Auric Thanatos", i.e., golden god of death, for the color of his armor and the skull mask? Or "Helios", after Apollo's predecessor as god of the sun?

[Magos Takatus]

Thanks for the reply! I really like Helios as a name. The main part of the armour is supposed to shift between green and red but the golden trim makes the names work for me. I saw the name "Garrick" in a puzzle in a newspaper recently which I thought sounded good. Garrick means "one who governs with a spear" or "spear king" which automatically got reserved in case I buy a Lancer for my collection. I have one more Knight Paladin/Errant to assemble and paint then there's the Castigator that's been on my to-do list (and pile of shame) for a long time.

 

I just looked at a file on my pc that came from an Imperial Knight house generator and in my notes I found:

"House Beliefs:

Esoteric Beliefs- Solar cult? Cog Eclipse as livery?"

It looks like your naming convention fits the background I was sketching out last time I was working on my Knights!

 

I still need a name for my house though. I had settled on "Beaconsrock" but over time I've become less fond of it. I liked the idea that this Knight world was acting as an early warning for enemy attacks on the surrounding sector, hence the beacon part. The name just sounds a bit clumsy to me.

 

 

Once I get the final decals sorted I think I'm going to varnish the knights and then use the oil washes I bought on them to make the various parts of the model more interesting. I'll also go slap some weathering powder on so they still have a way to go.