Captain Semper's Adeptus Titanicus project

[Captain Semper]

BLACK ARROW

REAVER CLASS TITAN OF LEGIO KRYTOS

[Captain Semper]

Alright... First off, real life work is really consuming me at the moment - hence my absence from the board in the last week or so...

I haven't seen how others are progressing so far, so I intend to cover some ground later on today. Having said that, a few points on my experience with the Reaver:

1. Fairly complicated to put together - the positioning of the legs being the most challenging part. Indeed the ankle armour of the inside of the legs did not allow the main leg armour to fit. I had to do some cutting of the joints - and I don't think I positioned the legs all too dynamically to justify that
2. A lot of intricate detail: Do not underestimate the amount of work required to make this model pop. Not as many hours as the Warlord but not as few as one would expect given the size difference.
3. It is a beautiful, beautiful model! Despite the difficulties, it is my favourite of the range!
4. The Black Arrow in particular has a different configuration than the one shown - the Power Fist is attached with blue tack to be replaced by the Volcano Cannon once it becomes available.

Next steps:

I have one more Reaver... I will do him in Krytos livery and then call my Krytos project done. I will not do anything else on AT (except maybe some Knights if I feel like it) before the Titandeath supplement comes out. I'm really excited with this prospect so I'll wait...

Then I expect the new bases to arrive soon, so my city-fighting look is coming right up...

And the obligatory family pic:

[Master Ciaphas]

Hail!

 

Looks really good, Semper. Job is a good one! How did you find putting the Warlord together - and How many hours would you say you spent painting the Reaver?

 

Faithfully,

Master Ciaphas

[Captain Semper]

The Warlord was straight forward to put together - no real problem except the leg plate that would not fit properly as it was overlapping with the ankle armour piece of the left leg. I had to trim the ball-joints of the ankle armour to correct that and I attributed it to my fairly dynamic pose that maybe a Warlord should not be in to begin with. A similar problem I faced with the Reaver and I believe the pose was much less dynamic... I guess it's the Reaver's legs that require the most attention.

 

Regarding time for painting the Reaver... difficult to say... In terms of days from start to end, it was as much as the Warlord - some three weeks. BUT (and that's a big "but") the time allocated on a daily basis to paint varied wildly as real-life work was becoming more demanding and included work during the weekends. And given my general tiredness, some days the sittings for painting were less than 30mins, where other days it was in excess of 3 hours... And some days there was no painting at all. Difficult to say... sorry man.

[Brother Dallo]

Hi Semper, that's another fine addition to Legio Krytos. Black Arrow is looking great, though I'm curious if his name is a (not so subtle) Hobbit reference.

 

I hope you're proud of all of the god engines in that group shot. Have they seen much table time? Or are they just for show? 

 

Looking forward to seeing the pack once they've got their shiny new bases.

 

Can you see yourself painting any Krytos in the painting challenge, or are you going to do a different force for that?

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

Edited December 2, 2018 by Brother Dallo

[Lord Uglor]

Your Legio is coming along splendidly, good sir!  Keep up the fantastic work!

[Captain Semper]

Hi Semper, that's another fine addition to Legio Krytos. Black Arrow is looking great, though I'm curious if his name is a (not so subtle) Hobbit reference.

 

I hope you're proud of all of the god engines in that group shot. Have they seen much table time? Or are they just for show? 

 

Looking forward to seeing the pack once they've got their shiny new bases.

 

Can you see yourself painting any Krytos in the painting challenge, or are you going to do a different force for that?

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

 

Hobbit reference? hahaha, never thought about it... It makes sense though - I mean he'll be the one to deliver the killing blow (supposedly...). Not much gaming, my schedule between work, family and other social obligations make it possible. I'm happy I find the time to paint...

 

As far as the painting challenge goes, I will take the opportunity to start a new Legio - maybe a loyalist one? I sure hope Titandeath comes out early in January...

 

Your Legio is coming along splendidly, good sir!  Keep up the fantastic work!

 

Thank you man - I really appreciate your kind comments. Means a lot from one so committed to the setting. :)

[Fajita Fan]

Gorgeous metals and heat discoloring, you're intimidating me.

[RipOffProductions]

Reaver leg posability is unnecessarily tough to do; there's just not enough wiggle room between the toe/ankel pistons guide tracks for fitting the pistons themselves between the leg and the foot if those two parts aren't all but perpendicular(for the side toes anyway, forward and back seem to work out fine; so striding forward is fine, but a wide stance or uneven ground? forget it), and even then the shin armor can get in the way...

[Fajita Fan]

My brawler was originally posed stepping with it's legs really spread but the armor wouldn't line up, it's a much less dynamic pose. 

[Chaeron]

Superb as ever Captain - keeping them so uniform and coherent, great work!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

You're a skilled painter. I like the way your Titans look in olive drab.

[Captain Semper]

Gorgeous metals and heat discoloring, you're intimidating me.

 

Intimidated? Hahaha! Very simple man:

 

1. Leadbelcher (or rather Army Painter Gun Metal) for the metal bit

2. Black wash to darken it further (be liberal with it but wait unlit it dries completely)

3. Gun metal again but this time with percpendicular strokes on the axis of the barrel

4. Three washes: purple closer to the nozzle, blue after that (slightly overlapping) flowed by yellow. The latter I did it with thinned down yellow paint rather than yellow wash.

 

You could even add red but I didn’t. It’s just washes over metal - nothing too funky. :)

 

Reaver leg posability is unnecessarily tough to do; there's just not enough wiggle room between the toe/ankel pistons guide tracks for fitting the pistons themselves between the leg and the foot if those two parts aren't all but perpendicular(for the side toes anyway, forward and back seem to work out fine; so striding forward is fine, but a wide stance or uneven ground? forget it), and even then the shin armor can get in the way...

 

Exactly! I will try the totally perpendicular pose in my next Reaver - boring as it may be... ;)

 

Superb as ever Captain - keeping them so uniform and coherent, great work!

 

Thank you Chaeron, consistency is certainly a challenge - especially as the green-grey shade is a mix, but it’s really fun to look at them as they accumulate. :lol:

 

You're a skilled painter. I like the way your Titans look in olive drab.

Thanks Bjorn, I was really attracted by the God Breakers colour scheme as it looked very somber and business like - instead of the more flamboyant yellows and reds... and it bodes well with the fact that they were supposedly fighting alongside the equally somber IV Legion...

 

The green shade kind of reminds me the Field Grey colour (the Tamya version) but I decided to go for a mix of Army Painter Army Green and Mechanicum Grey (3:1)

[Fajita Fan]

I’ll experiment with that mix of colors when I get to barrel tips

[Grotsmasha]

Very cool AT force there Cap :tu:

[Burni]

Great to see you back on the boards Captain. Hope work isn't too bad.

 

Black Arrow looks amazing! - really like that you are reproducing those Engines from the artwork. It's definitely something I want to emulate if they do some Ignatum artwork plates.

 

Is there still a plan to do an AT painting event when Titandeath arrives? (real life commitments permitting of course). Have got a few Engines on the table at the moment, but might just get them undercoated and wait for the event, as I enjoyed the ETL so much.

[Captain Semper]

Great to see you back on the boards Captain. Hope work isn't too bad.

 

Black Arrow looks amazing! - really like that you are reproducing those Engines from the artwork. It's definitely something I want to emulate if they do some Ignatum artwork plates.

Haha, maybe so will I! I’m cerainly looking for the opportunity to do a loyalist Legion next...

 

Is there still a plan to do an AT painting event when Titandeath arrives? (real life commitments permitting of course). Have got a few Engines on the table at the moment, but might just get them undercoated and wait for the event, as I enjoyed the ETL so much.

Yes there is a plan and it seems it will go ahead, but it is not linked to Titandeath - hopefully the latter will be realised very early next year so it won’t matter...

[Captain Semper]

OK, so new bases... I messed uo my order and did not get the Warlord base - so I placed a new one and eagerly wait for it...

But the rest are here:

And the family pic:

aaaaand:

[Chaeron]

Love the bases Captain - all resin, or toppers? Looking forward to the new Warlord too!

[Brother Dallo]

I'll be honest. I'm not 100% sold on the bases. They're well painted and look like they are high quality sculpts, but to me they make the Titans look too small. Maybe it's just that the orange stripe is too thick?

 

It puts me in mind of stripes on a road, which makes the Titans look roughly human sized, given that the lines are roughly as thick as a human shin. Looking at your last Reaver picture, highlights the problem for me. What is the reason to have random stripes on the ground as wide as a Titan's shin?

 

Also the grating, which is the size of a Warhound's foot, people would just fall through the gaps of that existed in real life.

 

To me a Titan base should make the Titan look huge, not human sized.

 

If you like them, 100% ignore what I think and run with what you like, but I much preferred the last bases.

 

I appreciate this may not be what you want to hear having shelled out for some resin bases, but I'm hoping you appreciate an honest opinion, even if you may disagree with it.

 

I'm excited to see where you go with the new Reaver. It looks like you (wisely) went for a fairly conservative pose. :p

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

[Captain Semper]

Love the bases Captain - all resin, or toppers? Looking forward to the new Warlord too!

 

Thx man - It's actually a Reaver, and I'm sticking to Krytos for this one... Configuration and name is still undermined though...

 

I'll be honest. I'm not 100% sold on the bases. They're well painted and look like they are high quality sculpts, but to me they make the Titans look too small. Maybe it's just that the orange stripe is too thick?

 

It puts me in mind of stripes on a road, which makes the Titans look roughly human sized, given that the lines are roughly as thick as a human shin. Looking at your last Reaver picture, highlights the problem for me. What is the reason to have random stripes on the ground as wide as a Titan's shin?

 

Also the grating, which is the size of a Warhound's foot, people would just fall through the gaps of that existed in real life.

 

To me a Titan base should make the Titan look huge, not human sized.

 

If you like them, 100% ignore what I think and run with what you like, but I much preferred the last bases.

 

I appreciate this may not be what you want to hear having shelled out for some resin bases, but I'm hoping you appreciate an honest opinion, even if you may disagree with it.

 

I'm excited to see where you go with the new Reaver. It looks like you (wisely) went for a fairly conservative pose.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Dallo

 

You know what? You're right! I made the stripes too thick for the scale - I came to realise it late in the process... :( I tried to rationalise it by saying it's lines to guide Super-Heavy traffic - as if the whole scene is inside a military installation but it's lame! :lol: 

 

Maybe I will try thinned versions for the next attempt.

[Fajita Fan]

Just paint over them and use a .005 micron marker meant for like drawing, I got a set for drawing things like heiroglphs or script on putiry seals.

[Brother Dallo]

Glad you agree. It’s nothing a little paint won’t fix.

 

What made you stick with Krytos?

 

I assumed you’d make your Maniple from the book images and move on to another Legio.

 

Dallo

[Zhiv]

I mean, your bases but, I have to agree with Dallo.  Not only your titans make those slabs look huge, you also lost the nice eye catching contrast that you had going between dark green and light orange.  The titans kinda drown into the grey instead.

[Mendi Warrior]

The bases seem better suited for 28mm models. This said, I think there are a couple of easy steps to have them fit with the titans.

 

It would indeed be best to retain the colour contrast between the bases and titans. It doesn't necessarily need to be the same colour as with your previous bases.

 

I would get rid of the yellow/orange stripes. They are too big compared to the titans and are positioned a bit too randomly I think.

 

For the grating, I would suggest adding black/yellow "warning" stripes around it, as if they were elevator platforms. They are already delineated. Some masking tape required of course.

 

Add a few scater elements in the right scale, like a couple containers (plasticard or some mdf elements, I saw one set of mdf buildings coming with 4 containers, I don't remember where exactly), or even some parts from the civitas imperialis set (e.g. the roof part with vents could come next to the "elevator"). They will immediately change the perception of the whole base. Maybe even add some debris here and there.

 

The oval base for the reaver is the one that works best imho, seems like the middle of a plaza. I can't exactly see what the circular design is but it made me think "basis of a fountain".

 

These are of course just ideas. Hope they might help.

 

Edit: just found back the link to the buildings set with containers https://ttcombat.com/collections/just-in/products/leviathan-district

Edited December 8, 2018 by Mendi Warrior