Firstborn Templars

[Brother Christopher]

Some minor updates are here! It has been a while, a bit longer that I'd perhaps want. But with real-life stuff being as it was, as well as how GW handles 10th edition, as well as a large portion of my collection, to my dismay, I really struggle to put time and effort into finishing my miniatures.

 

Even though I've mostly accepted my collection for what it is, I can't shake the feeling of futility while sinking hours into paint - as many members of the forum stress time and again - inferior models instead of the Primaris stuff. 

 

With that lifted of my chest, I shall continue to plod through the mistakes of my youth and SHALL FINISH MY CRUSADE. After all, selling all those miniatures seems like too much of a hassle and, hopefully, they'll look nice on the shelf.
 

 

 

Now, I finally need to start slapping some paint on my TDA characters: a Standard Bearer and a Commander.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work  The litanies on the amour is a nice touch!

 

9 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

Even though I've mostly accepted my collection for what it is, I can't shake the feeling of futility while sinking hours into paint ... inferior models instead of the Primaris stuff. 

Painted Firstborn models look better than unpurchased (and therefore unpainted) Primaris models   

[Brother Christopher]

26 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Painted Firstborn models look better than unpurchased (and therefore unpainted) Primaris models   

 

Oh, I love this optimistic twist! Thank you ;)

[Brother Carpenter]

I hear you. I'm in the same boat concerning my fb.

I'm glad I picked up cawl for admech, and my brother donated and b-day gifted me 30 skitarii a dunecrawler and some tech priests, so I'll be busy for a while. Ironically admech appears to be the most broken faction in tenth  but I can't really be bothered to slap black paint on a primaris at the moment.

 

But keep at it. Our collections can still be used in friendly games and judging by your posts I think that is more your play style anyway

Rinke

[Brother Christopher]

Cheers, Brother! I'm doing quite well with what's going on. I intended to proxy my models as Primaris either way and - you're totally right - I'm not really worried about using them in friendly games. I'm just bothered by GW's poor 'customer service.' It would be nice to have proper support for the stuff you bought, after all. The Dreadnoughts and Speeders are also somewhat problematic due to their size, but I'm trying not to worry. All the recent years prepped me pretty well. I'm just annoyed and constantly somewhat disappointed with the new depths of poor treatment of people like me (us) by GW. But life goes on!

 

Don't worry about your Ad Mech! The models seem very cool and if it happens that you'll play actual games with them while they have good rules I can only say this: enjoy while it lasts and don't worry too much! After all, it's GW's fault that they can't balance their armies. Good luck with painting them! IIRC, you've already painted Cawl for the 12 months challegnge - they're going to be great alongside him.

 

And here's my recent progress: a banner for my TDA Ancient.

 

[Razblood]

Lovely banner.

 

I'm considering converting some of my land speeders into ATVs since I e got about 7 of the blooming things (other than my talonmaster that I just built and primed the day before the announcement ), as they're about the same size and the correct weapons look is easier to achieve than it is with attack bikes.

 

The rest I'll portion out to my 2nd/3rd, 4th and 5th ed armies as I get around to them.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by Razblood

[Grotsmasha]

4 hours ago, Razblood said:

I'm considering converting some of my land speeders into ATVs

I'd consider getting a larger base that matches the size of an ATV (I know the ATV doesn't have a base, I mean it's side to side, and front to back measurements) and putting your attack bikes on those.

[Brother Christopher]

Here's an update on the TDA HQ model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Banner Bearer should follow soon!

[ZeroWolf]

Fantastic 

[Urauloth]

Getting to Dol Amroth must have been a pretty big detour.  Nice use of the Grey Knight banner, it looks good in Black Templar colours.

[Brother Christopher]

@UraulothIt was! It also is a callback to the previous name of my Crusade. I can't help it, but I kinda like LoTR very much and the name has a nice sound to it.

 

Here's a new photo dump. I finally finished the models I prepped for painting way back in May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close-ups on some details that I probably should show at such magnification:

 

 

 

 

And some hand-made details: chains and a lantern with candles thingy:

 

And as a bonus, the entire TDA Command Squad:

 

[Brother Christopher]

I got back to scratchbuilding. I started working on the turret for my Land Raider Repulsor conversion Project.

 

Unfortunately, the restart is/was bumpy. I realised that I didn't have enough plasticard tube for the entire length of the barrel. In a display of being overzealous, I thought that I can work around this by putting together different diameters of tube, extended with some 0.25 mm rolled-on plasticard sheets. The result... isn't great. The barrel isn't as straight as it should be (well, this means properly straight) but the damage is already done. In subsequence fits of naivety, I spent more and more time to fix the thing (instead of doing the smart thing and ordering new tubes). Now I feel that I've spent too much time on the barrel to just toss it away.

 

I think I managed to fix most of the mess but the barrel is still a bit off-axis. But... I think I can live with that. It's straighter than some of my resin autocannons ;) My hope is that when mounted onto the turret, the defect won't be that apparent. Right? ... Right?

 

To view:

 

Side view:

Edited August 10, 2023 by Brother Christopher

[Brother Carpenter]

Looks pretty straight to me.

Btw utterly loving your tda squad 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think it's definitely a good start.  

 

Looking at the pictures, you can see the ring on the extreme left is a little out of true on the top one, and the first "fat" section isn't joined on dead straight in the bottom one. However, I'm viewing these on a reasonably large computer monitor. which is showing them (I assume) at least 5x larger than they would be in real life, so I doubt that either is really noticeable  "in the flesh".  

 

15 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

Now I feel that I've spent too much time on the barrel to just toss it away

Beware the sunk cost fallacy. If you're truly unhappy with it, then it's worth considering re-doing it - you don't want to get to the end of the model, and have something you're unhappy with staring at you. Having said that, I would defer any decision for a couple of days, just to ensure you're acting out of logic and not emotion.  

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks guys! All things considered, I'll keep the thing as-is. As I mentioned, I have worse resin barrels in my collection. I think/hope that the 'imperfection' won't be apparent when the model is finished. I also have to remember that the majority of alterations will also be hand-made so imperfections are to be expected.

 

I'm also toying with the idea of using a barrel from an Imperial Knight's battle cannon; however, the barrel on that thing has a slightly different shape (I can't find the right word for it, but it's more like a cone, i.e. wider at the base, narrower at the top) that I feel doesn't fit the SM aesthetic and weapons design ethos. It's a minor thing but I suppose using the IK cannon might bother me more than my blunder.

[Firedrake Cordova]

For what it's worth, I think you've come to the correct conclusion, and for the correct reasons  

 

58 minutes ago, Brother Christopher said:

I can't find the right word for it, but it's more like a cone, i.e. wider at the base, narrower at the top

Tapered?

[Brother Christopher]

12 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Tapered?

Oh, that's the one! Thank you!

 

And thank you for responding to my rough pictures of WIP bits of a converted tank.

 

We're having a long weekend here in Poland but I wanted to squeeze in some hobby-work before going away on a trip. I continued working on the main cannon and on some detailing on the turret. Here's a more substantive photo update:

 

 

 

 

Please note that the cannon is tacked on; it has the potential to be more even.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think that looks great - nice work!  

[Brother Christopher]

So, over the last two weeks, I've been toiling away and managed to achieve something. There were difficulties resulting from poor planning and my inability to put together things that are at odd angles but I'm sure I'll sort them out in post-processing ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my substitute for the twin-stubber mounted at the rear. Thanks to GW for ruining the Stalker Tank for me - their declaration that they will discontinue the tank came at a perfect time allowing me to use mine for bits. I look forward to hearing your feedback about the gun. I've always felt that stubbers have no place on SM vehicles, particularly large ones; hence, I figured that a stubby version of an autocannon will do. I also think that, especially for a dedicated AA gun, my turret is better suited for the task, having more firing angles and what-not. 

 

 

So far most of the progress is still quite rough; however, I intend to fix it with putty later on.

 

Sadly, I also must confess that I'm very close to abandoning my plan for a dual kit. I intended this to be a Repulsor and Land Raider (I wanted to have removable and swappable top and side panels to remove the MTB turret and add sponsons). However, given the sorry state of my army in the framework of the current rules and potential future proxies, I don't feel like adding more hours into a futile project. I mean, I already have 3 Land Raiders plus this. I can let it go... I think.

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's really impressive work!

 

I like the snub-nosed autocannon to replace the heavy stubber (I guess it can use fragmentation rounds to explain the lower strength ). I'm also one of those who found stubbers on Space Marine vehicles a bit odd - bolters are supposed to be Space Marines' thing, and they also pack more of a punch than a stubber round.

 

On the topic of making it a Land Raider/Repulsor swappable kit, all I will ask is ... do you think you'll ever play an old edition, or an alternative ruleset where having the ability to switch may be useful? I can understand the reasoning "but I've got 3 already" though, especially if you've got the variants you'd want to use covered.  

[Brother Christopher]

@Firedrake CordovaThanks for the feedback, as always! I'm glad you like it.

 

With the autocannon, I'm not a fan of the nozzles but they're an official design and are here to stay. Unfortunately, I think that the Primaris stubbers have a sexier barrel but I really wanted an autocannon. I contemplated using the autocannon set from an Imperial Knight but I figured that they are too long for the tank.

 

Overall, I wanted to go with a more modern/tacticool look for the turret (to fit the updated aesthetic of the grav tanks). I must say, I'm quite surprised how nice it all fits together. I used/recycled leftover bits from the Stalker's guns, Redemptor Dreadnought and ammo belts from a standard Razorback Heavy Bolter.

  

On 8/26/2023 at 9:39 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

On the topic of making it a Land Raider/Repulsor swappable kit, all I will ask is ... do you think you'll ever play an old edition, or an alternative ruleset where having the ability to switch may be useful? I can understand the reasoning "but I've got 3 already" though, especially if you've got the variants you'd want to use covered.  

 

I have three LR hulls and two sets of armaments to make 2 Redeemers Crusaders and 2 Godhammers which, if/when I get around to playing the game, seems to cover more than I'll ever need for an actual game. At least that's what I want to believe or convince myself to be true. I'm sometimes quite OCD when it comes to my plans and this project was supposed to cover all LR/Repulsor options but I don't need that.

 

Here, you see - I wrote it so it must be true! :)

[Firedrake Cordova]

Well, I completely missed the ammo belt from the Razorback kit in there  I do like the look of it, though - it's very reminiscent of the CROWS on modern tanks  

 

1 hour ago, Brother Christopher said:

I have three LR hulls and two sets of armaments to make 2 Redeemers Crusaders and 2 Godhammers which, if/when I get around to playing the game, seems to cover more than I'll ever need for an actual game.

I'm a little surprised you don't have a Crusader variant, given you're a Black Templar player ... (not saying you need one )

[Brother Christopher]

58 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I'm a little surprised you don't have a Crusader variant, given you're a Black Templar player ... (not saying you need one )

Whoopsie, a typo - I missed a slash! It should've been "2 Redeemers/Crusaders" ;)

[Brother Christopher]

Here's a photo update on the Land Raider Repulsor that I... probably should rename to Land Raider Executioner - I think that considering the changes to the project, the name is more fitting. Aaaaand it has a way nicer ring to it!

 

So, firstly - for the hull-mounted weapons, I used a leftover bit from a Redemptor:

 

For the top-rear section, I wanted to make the engine unit and exhausts layout somewhat similar to the Repulsor, i.e. on the top of the vehicle, instead of on the back. I used some LR bits, bits from a Stormtalon weapon housing and basic scratch-building for some simple greebling.

 

 

Please bear in mind that most of the parts are barely dry-fitted and need some refining. The final product should be better put together.

 

For the back, I opted for a Repulsor-style single large-ish hatch. I might squeeze in a Stormbolter weapons port above the hatch. Not sure about that, though.

 

 

 

 

There's also progress on the front of the tank; I decided to go with a LR Achilles-type front because I've always found it to look very cool. I managed to roughly/preliminarily it the hull-mounted gun housing and even add some detailing to the bottom part of the front:

 

 

 

 

For the sides, I'm planning to use some original bits from a Land Raider, namely the sponson 'door frame' and use it as a bit of extra armour for some Rhino-sized doors that will be placed in the rear door slots. The idea is to recreate the extra bits of trim around the side doors on a Repulsor without going with a 'cowl'.  For the front, I'm planning to do a mix of the old resin LR extra armour, while trying to get the profile of the front section of the Repulsor.

 

I'm not particularly good at planning/designing stuff so I'm a bit anxious. Having said that, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

 

Speaking about me not being good at planning/designing, as I come closer to the end of the project, I can't shake the feeling that all I did was waste a bit of my time and a perfectly good Land Raider. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the results so far. The thing is that... The whole will probably be worse than the sum of its parts and a MTB on a LR (or Repulsor) chassis just isn't such a great idea due to the clash of WW1 aesthetic of a LR/Repulsor (that I find very similar) and a tank with a turret on top.

 

Regardless, I'm sure I'll go through with this and am determined to do it soon.

 

As an aside/request for advice, I'm considering dropping the targeter on the main cannon of the tank (all modern Primaris tanks have these large targeters). On the one hand, I think I should keep it to make the model that more similar to the Primaris equivalent. On the other hand, my tank clearly has a more pre-Primaris aesthetic to it and usually targeters/scopes were integrated into the turret of SM tanks, rather than an attachment. Or perhaps mount it on the side, like the mock-up in the last photo (grey bit on the base of the main cannon).

 

Thoughts? For the next update, Iwhen I'll hopefully finish the turret and main guns, 'll dry-fit some scopes/targeters to present some options.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Brother Christopher

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's some impressive work.  

 

Your thoughts on using the door frame to "armour" the smaller doors sounds a little reminiscent of the old Rhino extra armour kits Forgeworld did.  

 

As for the targetter, I think go with whichever looks best to you? On the Predator, the sensor is integrated into the mantlet for the autocannon?