it begins. (DIY Halo-style vehicles - FLYER)

[Nostromo]

photos as promised!

far from finished - but for motivation entered in the Relics of the Armoury.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the tank's camouflage pattern.

[Nostromo]

Now, we are getting things dirty.

Step one of i-do-not-know-yet-how-many - but it could look much worse.

[Nostromo]

The LR was for learning how to handle oils.

Maybe i should have done the Basilisk next - but i am impatient and proceeded with the Macharius.

AND i remembered to make a kind of before/after shot. Well, not exactly, but i started with the left side and made a photo of the right side before i started with it. Same light conditions, so FINALLY i have a phote i can see differences on.

And as always, the electronic eye reveals things i messed up or forgot that i did not see on the real thing.

But while it can always be better, it looks more or less how i hoped it would.

And what i REALLY love about oils is that even now when they are dry, i can still correct it.

So... looks like this step will take at least 4 more hours until i am done with the basilisk as well.

Then some very sparse black oil, some metallics, weapons and the pigments.

What i am not in the least happy with so far are the tracks and wheels. Hm, might solve itself at some point...

[Nostromo]

And now a question regarding infantry loadout.

Did I already post pictures of heavy infantry weapons?

Anyway, i know that I will include a few heavy weapon teams.

What I do not know is which weapons to take.

I think I will play most of the time against Marines, Grey knights and Custodes.

MEQ/TEQ.

 

Dreadnoughts and the like, but no tanks.

So, my first thought goes to heavy bolters and Autocannons or Lascannons.

 

I addition to those the Macharius Vulcan and LR Punisher for DAKKA and at maybe one LT BT and 1-2 Basilisks for WHAMMM.

 

Suggestions?

[Nostromo]

No responses :(

Anyway, once more i have learnt something.

Meaning: i screwed up again.

Not THAT severe this time, but with a minimum of thinking i might have realized earlier that oils allow for later corrections in a way unthinkable with acrylics - but once they are dry, it is the same.

So, sloppy and lazy as i am, i forgot about a whole side of the Macharius turret and now enjoy repairing what i ruined.

 

So, the brown oils on the Macharius are done, maybe i‘ll do some black later when i‘m done with the basilisk (Brown oils 40% done).

I should have done the Macharius last - the learning curve is pretty steep and each attempt gets better than the previous.

Photo tomorrow

[Nostromo]

first steps on the basilisk - the right side is about 70% done

[Wulf Vengis]

This, this is good. Not just "good", but damn good. Keep this up.

[The_son_of_Dorn]

"Knock knock"

 

"Who's there?"

 

"Nobody anymore...."

[Nostromo]

Done with brown oils,

more details to do.

A few family shots:

... and one more with the Leman Russ re-equipped to work as a chimera:

[duz_]

Looks great :tu:

Would be great to see a guardsmen or standard IG vehicle next to them to get an idea of scale

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on the tanks.

[Nostromo]

Looks great :tu:

Would be great to see a guardsmen or standard IG vehicle next to them to get an idea of scale

Thanks guys, i‘m glad you like it - and i can use all the additional advice you can give me (even if if goes terribly wrong sometimes :P )

 

Hm, actually there was a friend that visited me a few months ago and asked „before I throw this away - do you have use for this?“

„This“ was a completely messed up, old Leman Russ Battle tank.

So when I find it, i CAN make another size comparison shot.

 

So far I can say the Macharius should be almost the same size as the original one - with mine being just an inch longer. Approximately.

The smaller tanks are much longer than a Leman Russ - now i wonder about a difference in height...

 

Somewhere I also have the Kasrkin from the first comparison shots... I think I will add him and my actual infantry as well.

 

Now... in which box did they go...?

Edited May 11, 2019 by Nostromo

[Nostromo]

Size comparism shots with an original LR in a really, really sorry state...

GW Leman Russ: H 75mm, W 80mm/110mm, L 120mm/140mm (Laser cannon, without Dozer Blade spikes)

Utgardian Leman Russ: H 68mm, W 85/112mm, L 155mm

Surprisingly, WITH Dozer Blade spikes (145mm), the Leman Russ isn't that much shorter any more

But sooner or later i will think about dozer blades and the like as well.

[Nostromo]

I have learnt something.

Meaning:

Bloody :cussin damned CRAP!!!

 

Emperor, grant me strength...

 

So, i tried pigments.

First dark brown, a medium brown and then an ochre.

Applying the pigment first was unused, but the learning curve was quite steep. However, VERY messy. My desk looks horrible.

But a little blending of the pigments produced a very satisfying result. The ochre was not the best choice, but anyway.

It looked quite good.

Now... how do I fixate the pigments? They are pretty vulnerable to touch however.

Something that does not simply dissolve... let‘s try letting matte medium/acrylic thinner flow over it.

Do i hear somebody cry yet? Or is that laughter?

Hmmm...

Looks not that good anymore, let’s wait how it turns out once it is dry.

 

...

The acrylic thinner was no good idea.

An aerosol, maybe sprayed matte varnish might’ve worked, but this is just crap.

 

Breathe... calm...

[duz_]

I don't have any experience with oil washes just watched a few vids none mentioned issues with it running although they said they take some time to dry?

 

I would have thought some varnish would have helped seal it

[Nostromo]

Not oil... that part is done. Now i tried out pigment powders.

That was apparently unclear... I let acrylic thinner flow in the rather loose pigment powders to fixate them.

 

Completely different technique in a stage after working with oils.

 

I should have checked out YouTube on that topic before. Stupid me...

However... ugly results are a just punishment for stupidity.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Nostromo

[Nostromo]

and a photo of the latest tragedy.

the area above the pickaxe turned out especially bad.

back to testing with pigments, i need another technique for working with those.

But... close to the end. A few more washes done, a few more washes to do.

Graphite on a few edges looks as subtle and nice as i hoped for. If you look really carefully, you can see some of those edges.

[Nostromo]

Hm. The PLAN was to start with infantry or to make a few more of the tanks.

Or to finish the bullfrog-buggy.

Or to make another variant of the basic tank to be used as a hellhound.

What i DID was jumping to the last points on my list.

Flyers.

I have useable 3D-models and even templates for those... or so i thought.

So i looked into what i intended to use for a counts-as Lightning/Thunderbolt/... Bugger. That is a crude, TINY template. Nothing i can even use as a basis.

Next one... Counts-as valkyrie/vendetta/...

Irks! 1m long model... That needs some downsizing.

Now how big will that get once i have adjusted it to roughly 1:50 scale? Still large.

But damn me, that thing looks good and the built version is close enough to the original one.

So i spent a couple of hours/days with creating templates for the level-0 structure (and have realized by now that i made some mistakes that make building much harder than necessary.

And what did i start with? Of course with the most difficult section.

Now, since i managed to make a transparent canopy, i will need to make a cockpit (interior) as well. And a pilot... And think of a way to set it in place later after painting.

Oh, what the heck i am talking about?

This is what it looks so far.

Level-0 structure, as i said. So, if you remember what i did in building the tanks, that means that i will add a few things to the surface, though less than on the tanks.

... and i still need to think about where to put weapons.

Who remembers or guesses what this will become?

Did i mention that it will get LARGE?

Does the Guard have heavy flyers?

[Thunderforge]

Can I ask how you do your rivets? - wonderful tanks by the way, I'm going to give tank scratch-building a go soon, very good inspiration!

[Nostromo]

on rivets:

the rivets consist of 160g/m^2 paper.

I picked up a hole-punch in a chinese eBay-shop that makes circular holes with a diameter of aproximately 0,7mm.

 

However, paper is a bit unwilling to get punched, so i soaked the paper in super-glue to make it stiffer.

 

Applying them is modeling-zen...

1. set tiny dots of watered PVA-glue where the rivets are supposed to sit (i used a sharpened tooth-pick)

2. use a sharp needle to pierce the rivet and set it on the glue

 

the rivets still are quite large - but any other kind of making rivets has so far produced even larger rivets.

 

I'm happy you like it, thanks!

[Harrowmaster]

Hm. The PLAN was to start with infantry or to make a few more of the tanks.

Or to finish the bullfrog-buggy.

Or to make another variant of the basic tank to be used as a hellhound.

What i DID was jumping to the last points on my list.

Flyers.

I have useable 3D-models and even templates for those... or so i thought.

So i looked into what i intended to use for a counts-as Lightning/Thunderbolt/... Bugger. That is a crude, TINY template. Nothing i can even use as a basis.

Next one... Counts-as valkyrie/vendetta/...

Irks! 1m long model... That needs some downsizing.

Now how big will that get once i have adjusted it to roughly 1:50 scale? Still large.

But damn me, that thing looks good and the built version is close enough to the original one.

So i spent a couple of hours/days with creating templates for the level-0 structure (and have realized by now that i made some mistakes that make building much harder than necessary.

And what did i start with? Of course with the most difficult section.

Now, since i managed to make a transparent canopy, i will need to make a cockpit (interior) as well. And a pilot... And think of a way to set it in place later after painting.

Oh, what the heck i am talking about?

This is what it looks so far.

Level-0 structure, as i said. So, if you remember what i did in building the tanks, that means that i will add a few things to the surface, though less than on the tanks.

... and i still need to think about where to put weapons.

Who remembers or guesses what this will become?

Did i mention that it will get LARGE?

Does the Guard have heavy flyers?

Guard don't have any heavy transport fliers; closest thing to a Pelican is the Thunderhawk I think. Did you plan on modelling the lightning as a broadsword and thunderbolt as a sabre?

[Nostromo]

Guard don't have any heavy transport fliers; closest thing to a Pelican is the Thunderhawk I think. Did you plan on modelling the lightning as a broadsword and thunderbolt as a sabre? 

 

I thought as much... and it was the Thunderhawk that came to my mind as well once i realized how big it would be.

 

For Lightning and/or Thunderbolt, the plan was to leave the Halo Universe and base them on a F-302

[Nostromo]

A little progress.

So far, this is about half the length of the hull.

There are a few things significantly slowing down building.

1. as a complete surprise came the realization that i built a transparent cockpit... which requires me to design at least rudimentary cocpit interior as well
2. the cockpit needs to be built, painted and set in place before i close the hull
3. the structure is so wobbly that i glue cardboard to almost any surface in the interior. That's what the magnets are there for at the moment.
4. i need to modify the surface to assign weapon positions

and, impatient idiot that i am... i realized a minute ago that i clued two pieces of cardboard in positions i wanted to cut open to add engine intakes.

Thunderhawk sounds more and more like what it would be in 40k universe. Not in terms of armament - but i also learned that the original pelican dos not only have a compartment for infantry or cargo - but also the capability to carry a tank in addition to the internally stored cargo.

Grmpf. Should have modified the template.

I do have tanks - but this flyer is intended for the sub-faction that does NOT have tanks. So i could have made it much smaller.

[duz_]

It could transport other regiment tanks?

 

Could you use a cockpit from another model instead?