Make a Man(iple) out of You.

[Fajita Fan]

My bad, was browsing on my phone in the car, sorry.  I pity you, the Reaver is a pain in the ass to build and I still have 3 more unopened boxes because I don't want to deal with them. 

[Chaeron]

I'd read it in context of the other post, oops! That said, as I've avoided all armour segments so far, I think that's forgivable :lol:

 

Chaeron, you may have hit the nail on the head with your basing suggestion. I'll have a think about it.

Dallo

 

It might not work, and you could dust up the 'car park' and the bottoms of the legs too, but I suppose it depends on the interplay with the scheme and metals. Might be fun to try anyway, and looking forward to seeing whatever you do come up with!

[Captain Semper]

Hey Brother, 

 

Sorry I've been absent from the boards in the past week - it was crazy at the office (and still is...).

 

Anyways, it's great to see you've joined the Legio Krytos! :woot: As white goes, I use Ulthuan Grey all the way. Perfect coverage, smooth result and you can highlighting with ceramic white - but do it in a measured way - I'd really avoid the real sharp highlights, the scale of the models is big enough to not warrant a very sharp contrast imo. 

 

What did you do for the green?

 

Great work on the bases too - I do mine haphazardly as I wait for the sculpted ones to arrive... I go for the easy wait out! :D

 

Can't wait to see that Warlord - what's his name again? 

[Brother Dallo]

My bad, was browsing on my phone in the car, sorry.  I pity you, the Reaver is a pain in the ass to build and I still have 3 more unopened boxes because I don't want to deal with them. 

 

I'm sure given enough time, I will eventually come to forgive this heinous error.

 

With regards to the Reaver build, I'm not running into any problems so far. I've glued the legs together and have mocked up the intended pose, I just need to finish painting the leg armour, so I can test fit it before committing to the pose.

 

 

 

It might not work, and you could dust up the 'car park' and the bottoms of the legs too, but I suppose it depends on the interplay with the scheme and metals. Might be fun to try anyway, and looking forward to seeing whatever you do come up with!

 

Thanks for the suggestion Chaeron. I do plan to dust up my models once I get the basing scheme sorted.

 

 

Hey Brother, 

 

Sorry I've been absent from the boards in the past week - it was crazy at the office (and still is...).

 

Anyways, it's great to see you've joined the Legio Krytos! As white goes, I use Ulthuan Grey all the way. Perfect coverage, smooth result and you can highlighting with ceramic white - but do it in a measured way - I'd really avoid the real sharp highlights, the scale of the models is big enough to not warrant a very sharp contrast imo. 

 

What did you do for the green?

 

Great work on the bases too - I do mine haphazardly as I wait for the sculpted ones to arrive... I go for the easy wait out!

 

Can't wait to see that Warlord - what's his name again? 

 

Nice to see you back Cap. I have indeed joined the God Breakers. I'm looking forward to seeing their background fleshed out in the new book, but I hope it's not restrictive (like they don't use Warlords etc.).

 

Based on your suggestions, I went into GW with every intention of geting Ulthan Grey, but due to general incompetence, I walked out with Administratum Grey (though not before the kind bloke on the tills pointed out I probably didn't want to get the airbrush version). If nothing else, our paint schemes won't look identical. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. 

 

Currently the green is just one coat of Vallejo German Uniform over Halford's Grey primer. The plan is to highlight it with Army Painter Necrotic Flesh, neaten it up with a second layer of German Uniform and probably Agrax shaded into the recesses. 

 

 The Warlord's name is Tertio Aestus, which I think sounds pretty Titan-ish.

 

 

Today, I got a few hours of hobby in.

 

I managed to paint on the brass trim to all of the armour panels I plan to use on the armour sprue (top tip: Paint trim then main colour as you can neaten up any mistakes much easier than the other way around.)

 

I then painted the first layer of green.

 

 

Here you can see some close ups on Aes Minos's icons. Any guesses where they came from?

 

 

 

I'm feeling pretty motivated for this project, so a big thank you to everyone who views and comments on this log, not to mention the inspiration I get from other people's AT project logs.

 

Keep up the good work Princeps (Princepses? Princepi?). I'm really enjoying being part of the Adeptus Titanicus community here on B&C.

 

Dallo

 

Edit: Folks, it turns out it's possible to glue a Reaver's shin on backwards. Top Tip: Don't glue a Reaver's shin on backwards.

 

Currently breaking out the boiling water/freezer to see if I can break it apart. Lucky it's only superglue.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Brother Dallo

[Fajita Fan]

Those legs are a pain in the ass. Wait till you do 5 Reavers at once...

[Mendi Warrior]

Those legs are a pain in the ass. Wait till you do 5 Reavers at once...

 

and do all 5 wrong at the same time?   The "good" thing with building them together is that once you have the first one figured out, the other ones are faster to build (going with sub-assemblies).

 

I always check the building instructions, as many times as needed, and I dry fit everything before gluing. A few tips I learned building my reavers (and making my fair share of mistakes, although quickly corrected before they turned into a real mess):

 

- the eagle on the shin is at the back of the legs

- the armour plates for the pistons have slightly different designs which make them more easy to identify should you cut them all from the sprue and mix together

- dry fit with the front and back pistons to determine the "maximum" angle between the foot and the leg

- dry fit with the legs' armour plates to ensure you are ok with the leg positioning

- for the legs again, beware of the cables' length as it also can act as a constraint (check my posts for this and how I solved the issue)

 

and one I use quite often: check the 360° on GW website for some visual clues

 

Nice icons, my initial thought is conversion from "old skeleton horse head + horns" but I don't think this is it.

[Fajita Fan]

I didn’t do anything wrong on them, they’re just made in about twice as many parts as necessary.

[Mendi Warrior]

True. Tackling this through sub-assemblies helps (well it works for me anyway) 

[Brother Dallo]

Thanks for the comments. The worst part is that I was well aware that the legs caused people a lot of grief, so I made sure to keep the pose conservative and mock it up with Blutack. The instructions for the legs could be a lot clearer. You have to squint to make sure the thigh and shin piece are glued on the correct way.

 

The leg has been in the freezer overnight, so hopefully with the tactical application of BF&I, it will come apart. Failing that, I guess I'll break out the jeweller's saw, but that will make a mess of the joint, so I hope it doesn't come to that.

 

Despite this setback, I'm really enjoying this Reaver. I don't know if it's because I've got some fluff in my head, or a few more minor conversions planned, but I'm really looking forward to getting him on the tabletop.

 

Dallo

 

Edit: Mendi, I'm afraid you'll need to guess again.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Brother Dallo

[Brother Dallo]

Aes Minos shall walk!

 

With my patented blend of science, brute force and ignorance, I have emerged victorious from my titanic clash with this inanimate piece of plastic. 

 

 

 

Dallo

Edited November 11, 2018 by Brother Dallo

[Captain Semper]

The green looks great indeed - great colour mix! :)

 

One of my favourite things about the hobby is to see different interpretations of a paint scheme - especially the more exotic ones like... SoH see green or EC purple... or Krytos grey/green... So yeah, I sure look forward for your version of God Breakers :tu:

 

Now, everyone, stop terrorising me about those Reaver legs! I have bought two of them and will start immediately after I complete the (admittedly easy to put together) Warhounds... Now I’m scared! :P

 

Good luck putting them back together the correct way Dallo. ;)

[Fajita Fan]

After you get the knee right you then have to do all the ankle joints correctly too, the fronts are different. There's a left and right foot as well.

 

I think I counted like 16-18 parts per leg.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Fajita Fan

[Brother Dallo]

After you get the knee right you then have to do all the ankle joints correctly too, the fronts are different. There's a left and right foot as well.

 

I think I counted like 16-18 parts per leg.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I had heard that there were specific left and right feet.

 

I'll be sure to dry fit everything before gluing anything serious together.

 

Dallo

[Chaeron]

 

After you get the knee right you then have to do all the ankle joints correctly too, the fronts are different. There's a left and right foot as well.

I think I counted like 16-18 parts per leg.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up. I had heard that there were specific left and right feet.

 

I'll be sure to dry fit everything before gluing anything serious together.

 

Dallo

Whilst there are feet with a specific intention, cutting across the top to make them flat solves that error!

[Brother Dallo]

Whilst there are feet with a specific intention, cutting across the top to make them flat solves that error!

 

 

Thankfully, it looks like I can avoid that this time around.

 

This is just a quick update to let you know I'm still trudging forwards with my Reaver build.

 

I have got the legs glued together with the pistons attached. The armour panels are separate and I'll remove them to paint the legs and neaten up the piston armour.

 

 

The legs were as awkward as people had warned, with me having to rip apart an entire leg assembly when I realised that the armour wouldn't fit over it. An important thing to note is that there are two distinct sets of armour, a left leg and a right leg. This threw me the first time around.

 

 

This wasn't the pose I was going for when I set out, but I think I've salvaged it fairly well. After the hassle of the first leg, I glued the foot and pistons to the shin first, then worked out how to pose it in relation to the rest of the legs.

 

I needed to raise right leg for the pose to look anywhere near natural, so I built up a section of the base with sprue offcuts then I covered the base in a coat of cheap filler and smoothed it into a rough shape. I'm not sure how I'll paint it up (or if I'll glue anything onto it, like baking soda), but it is unlikely to look like Hoth once the base is finished. I know it's hard to make out from the pictures, but the "hill" is two layers of sprue, plus filler so it's a bit taller than it looks.

 

I'm pretty happy how the colour scheme is coming together, even with just the basecoats. I've just seen the new Reaver reveal, so I imagine it'll be in my to buy list at some point, as I was going to get a second Reaver at some point anyway. 

 

Further down the line, I've got a 2k list sketched out which is an Axiom (one of each class) and a Venator Light Maniple with a second Reaver and three Warhounds. This is the list I'm aiming for as it includes everything I currently own and only requires two more boxes to complete.

 

I'm hoping having a specific endpoint will help me to see this project to completion.

 

Please keep viewing and commenting, as well as posting in your own logs. It's really helping me to keep my motivation up for this project.

 

Dallo

[Chaeron]

 

This wasn't the pose I was going for when I set out, but I think I've salvaged it fairly well. 

 

It looks like you meant it, so that's definitely great  .

 

Really continuing to shape up nicely: I definitely agree on the endpoint, it's really helpful to build towards something, and then add/amend as you go - or based on what you like. I'm aiming for four of each to start with, to give me a plethora of options, and see where we go from there.

[Mendi Warrior]

Nice progress. I also use the same trick to build up some area of the base if needed.

[Brother Dallo]

Evening all,

 

Another day, another step closer to the day that Krytos walk.

 

I got some hobby time in today and spent most of it playing around with bases. I had heard it suggested by Uncle Atom (and others) that baking soda was a good basing material, so I tested it on a small patch of a base and it turned out ok, so I covered my Reaver's base with it.

 

I finished off a tub of cheap (read ~£0.15) superglue putting on baking soda and added a layer of undercoat, so it's pretty solid, which is good as I found sand and PVA tend to come off bases pretty easily.

 

 

Fairly simple stuff, cover a small patch of base (so as not to kill yourself with glue fumes by trying the entire base in one go) and pile on the basing material. After a few seconds, tap off the excess then flatten any clumps with the tip of your finger. As usual, then tip the excess back into your container so you don't waste any.

 

 

Having been encouraged by how quickly this all went together, I decided to try something slightly different (but pretty simple) for my Warhound base. 

 

I started with a few spare bits from the building sprue, including the weird generator thing. Does this have any specific purpose in the kit? I couldn't work it out.

 

 

The other bits were just a spare floor piece I clipped to size with my clippers. I kept the remainder to use as a broken floor for a damaged building further down the line.

 

I then built up some "walls" using coffee stirrers and built up some basic texture with cheap filler. Once it dries, I'll go over it with baking soda to match his Reaver friend.

 

Finally here's the WIP Warhound showing off his new base. I have since clipped off that excess piece of stirrer.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

C&C welcome as always.

 

Dallo

[Captain Semper]

Great basing technique there! :tu:

 

I bet the Warhound would be a nice break after the Reaver! :lol: That said, the completed Reaver is a very rewarding experience and the second one would be immensely easier to put together...

 

Keep going, The God Breakers request reinforcements! :tu:

[Fajita Fan]

I never thought to use the building roof sections as basing material.

[Black Knight]

I never thought to use the building roof sections as basing material.

 

You are going to build your buildings on snow planets underground so it works. Didn't think about it either and I have plenty of sticks to use!

[Brother Dallo]

Great basing technique there!

 

I bet the Warhound would be a nice break after the Reaver! That said, the completed Reaver is a very rewarding experience and the second one would be immensely easier to put together...

 

Keep going, The God Breakers request reinforcements!

 

Thank you Captain.

 

I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the Reaver as a hobby experience. Yes, there have been a few mistakes along the way, but it's been fun. I'm looking forward to my second when the new Reaver kit drops, but hopefully I'll have four completed Titans under my belt by then. Also some buildings... That would be nice. I've grabbed a second set of building sprues from eBay (primarily as I could do with some more floor pieces for my Warlord. I think I'll build these sprues into one big set piece building that can give a Warlord cover and perhaps completely hide a Warhound. I have one or two ideas to make it unique, but I'll need to test out some bits and pieces before sharing.

 

 

 

I never thought to use the building roof sections as basing material.

 

You are going to build your buildings on snow planets underground so it works. Didn't think about it either and I have plenty of sticks to use!

 

 

I hadn't planned on using them originally, but it just kind of happened. I think it works ok and helps to convey scale. It's also free basing material if you've got leftovers from your buildings and adds a nice visual link between the buildings and your Titans, which I like.

 

I decided to clip out some of the armour panels to get a feel for how Aes Minos is progressing. Most of the panels are blu tacked on and there are still a few missing (as they will be white and haven't been painted yet), but I like where this is going. The panels have only had one coat of green, so will need some more work and several things need a bit of clean up, like the brass trim.

 

 

I think the bull icons add a bit of individuality, which I think is appropriate for a God Engine. 

 

No one has guessed where the icons can from btw, so keep trying.

 

One thing I'm not to sure of is whether it's best to get base colours on all four Titans and then add highlights and weathering etc. Or if it's a better plan to complete one and then move on to the next? I'd be interested to hear what you folks do.

 

Cheers.

 

Dallo

[Fajita Fan]

FW Minotaurs armor? 

[Mendi Warrior]

I was about to say FW Minotaurs brass etch elements, they are quite close but not the same.

 

Nice bases, very effective technique.

[Brother Dallo]

FW Minotaurs armor? 

 

Good guess, but no. :p

 

 

I was about to say FW Minotaurs brass etch elements, they are quite close but not the same.

 

Nice bases, very effective technique.

 

Thanks Mendi, I'm pretty happy with how the bases have gone. They came together really quickly and I think they'll paint up pretty nicely.

 

I've undercoated the Warhound base in Black and I think it pulls all the elements together nicely. I'm nipping into Warhammer tomorrow to grab some brown paint and some Nuln Oil. 

 

Another good guess, but no. Each icon is from a (discontinued) Forgeworld Minotaurs kit. Fair warning, it's pretty pricey if you're getting the kit for just this bit. 

 

Dallo