Jump to content

Mandragola’s Legio Astorum (and Mortis and stuff)


Mandragola

Recommended Posts

Awesome, Brother Chaeron. I will take a look

 

My pleasure - Mandragola however has the pleasure of playing on such a great table! It's interesting how whilst it's intended for 28mm, it really does work with Titanicus stuff. Really good to keep seeing such diverse battlefields, with a range of terrain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

This evening I’ve been doing some work on the warlord for my Axiom maniple. This is actually my third warlord, but probably the first that I’ll finish. Oh well!

 

One change I made was to remove the rock from under his foot to make it look like he was in mid stride. I’ve angled his toes down too. Works ok I think, though obviously rather less dramatic than my running warlord. I think it works quite well to have a warlord plodding forward like this.

 

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt185/Someguy01/FF67E04C-12D6-44FC-ADC3-9CBC5924D4D0_zpsx1sp30qf.jpeg

 

If I never have to paint a warlord’s toes again, that’ll be fine.

 

Meanwhile I’ve been working on armour plates. I’ve done these on the sprues mainly. I think it’s been a slight help to do it this way. The bits are small so it’s good to have the frame to hold onto.

 

I’ve now got to paint on the flame patterns over a lot of this orangey stuff, and do a ton of gold edging. Then highlight the blue bits, add transfers, weather... oh god...

 

672202D7-653F-4843-9F5A-EFF5DBEAD223_zps

 

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt185/Someguy01/F2A7D6A8-6E10-4FD7-8B73-9C217991964E_zpsffbqojzc.jpeg

Edited by Mandragola
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time for another update. I have pledged, most unwisely, that I'll complete an Axiom maniple for the Titans of the Heresy event. It's starting to look like I might actually achieve this and avoid becoming a servitor. I'd prefer this, even though Astorum's servitors are the best. I'm also going to the Coastal Clash in Brighton at the end of the month so I'll need an army!

 

So here's where I'm up to with the maniple.

 

CF81665E-9063-4B9D-888B-90BE53D3BCE1_zps

 

So that's a maniple, right? Five titans, all with painted skeletons, magnetised guns and increasing amounts of painted armour. Bases I'm nowhere near doing, but still. Progress is being made.

 

Let me introduce you to my stompy robots.

 

045523EC-5A33-49AC-9961-B8BFDBBC5537_zps

 

Since we last saw my warlord he's grown a few guns. Not much more to show for the armour though. This is being painted on sprue mostly, though some of the bigger bits have been removed now to have flames painted on.

 

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt185/Someguy01/540909E7-7966-4DD9-A5E9-CF0F648396DA_zpsloop9vut.jpeg

 

This guy is the reaver I first tested my flame pattern on. And to be honest I'm not 100% happy with how it's come out, so I might have to have another go. Overall thoguh I think he's looking pretty good.

 

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt185/Someguy01/BB536802-823D-4502-99D2-66C59D86DAD9_zps8iurbzjy.jpeg

 

Not far behind is my running reaver. As you can probably see I've drawn on the flame pattern in pencil, ready to paint on the blue. I've found it easier to mark out the flames this way rather than with the brush. 

 

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt185/Someguy01/58E33558-B4E3-4221-915A-10387598AE55_zpsjfnobfks.jpeg

 

And finally my warhounds, which demonstrate that in practice. To be honest I'm still not totally sure I've got this right. The flames are maybe a little too regular on the guy on the right. The left one is better I think. 

 

Anyway I'm pretty happy with how the maniple is going. I think the yellow is working out nicely and I'm getting there with the flames. The blue bits haven't been highlighted at all yet but that won't take all that long to do. Then it's transfers, weathering, basing and all that fun stuff.

 

Some C+C would be very welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a Fuerans player I really do feel your pain in regards to painting flames. Your Titans seem to be coming together really well so I wouldn't think too much about it. If the look of the finished product is as good as your titans look right now you have nothing to worry about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks both. Painting flames is proving to be a bit of a hassle! I am pretty happy with the overall effect though. The yellow/orange areas are coming through as bright and warm colours, and contrasting well with the blue.

 

I think I agree with Sherrypie about making the tips of the flames a bit redder. I’m a bit wary of this, as there’s a lot less contrast between red and blue compared to orange and blue. But I think I could go slightly more red without losing much, and by doing so I’d make a bit more distinction between the areas that are flames and those that are just yellow.

 

I might grab a couple of spare armour plates to try some techniques on. I want to work out how to do a bit of chipping and maybe some some dirt splashes without losing all the work I’ve done on flames etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. It isn’t actually all that hard to do. Lahmian medium (or “magic blending juice”, as I now call it) makes the yellow/orange transition really easy.

 

The other thing is to use white, not averland sunset yellow, as the base coat. Yriel yellow straight over a proper white base gets a really bright colour, unlike the sort of creamy yellow that Averland gives you. Coral white is a bit grey so you need to use something else or put a layer or two of white paint over it before starting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big news: I've got some finished titans! Or at least, the painting is finished, the bases aren't... but I'm still calling it progress.

 

Here are the warhound titans provisionally named "1" and "2".

 

11262595-544B-4E1E-AE56-07CE0034746F_zps

 

3847560F-4490-4F2D-9DCD-70D2647BE2EF_zps

 

93DC9DCB-6621-44BD-8420-037681413B67_zps

 

I've made these shattered trees by breaking some cocktail sticks. I bought some mud at Salute (I just spent £32 on fake mud... not even REAL mud) to hopefully create a scene of churned mud and shattered forest.

 

669DC5BD-638C-4F45-BAF3-F007AD0C73C7_zps

 

Hope you like my titans. C+C would be very welcome. More to come!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. Glad you like them. I’m pretty pleased with them.

 

I’m not sure about the bases. My thinking is to go for a blasted battlefield look, rather than the aftermath of a forest fire. I’m not sure how best to achieve this. There’ll need to be fallen stuff on the ground as well though.

 

I did actually add a little carroburg crimson to the tips of the flames. It’s worked ok I think. There’s just enough contrast there still. I definitely wouldn’t want to go any darker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are gorgeous, I really love the flames, no need to darken them more, the colours and contrast are well balanced imho.

 

Blasted battlefield sounds cool for the bases. I would suggest checking pics and vids of impact craters. Here are two I found while checking this myself:

 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=931

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G2SPnJoW90

 

and also pictures of WW1 or WW2 battlefields. E.g. Battle of PasschendaeleChateau_Wood_Ypres_1917.jpg

 

GreenStuff or Milliput, some modelling gravel, baking soda are things you might use.

Edited by Mendi Warrior
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah that’s the kind if thing I want. The water is going to be a bit of a hassle to do but probably worth it. Part of the reason I’ve held off doing the bases is that I don’t want to spray Matt varnish on the water, so the model needs to be done first.

 

My trees will need a bit more work though. I think I can have a few that are just broken off stumps but I’ll need the odd branch here and there.

Edited by Mandragola
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One constraint you have is that the titans are already glued to the bases.

I have seen pics of models wrapped with plastic film (seemed to be the one used to keep food fresh) to protect parts not to be painted/sprayed.

Dark Bjoern did some good looking craters with greenstuff.

For the water, Vallejo water effect or similar stuff seems a must.

For the trees, there are some railroad model trees where you have the trunks and branches separate from the foliage, otherwise, but much more work intensive, some electric wire maybe. Something like this https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/woodland-scenics-realistic-tree-kit-21-pack/574612-1000 (size to be checked) or this https://balagan.info/crafting-trees-using-wire-steel-wool-and-flock

Edited by Mendi Warrior
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I’ve got is two colours of mud stuff - wet and dark. The idea is to have a solid layer of the wet stuff and then build up the dryer stuff in other places, so it leaves the wet stuff in the depressions.

 

I’ve just ordered some trees with no leaves from 4d. I think if I attack the branches with clippers I can get an effect a lot like that picture. We’ll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bit of an update. I’ve got my reavers and warlord for my Axiom maniple basecoated. There’s more to do on these but I’m off on holiday for a few days so no more work will happen before the deadline.

 

If I’m to be a servitor then at least I’ll be a Legio Astorum one, and provide rerolls to repair rolls. I can be proud of that.

 

Here’s the maniple, “painted”:

 

1EF944D5-99DD-45B6-BF29-E196ABC3D235_zps

 

The warlord:

 

0540530E-388A-4876-91CE-538DC6812A8C_zps

 

Advancing reaver

 

8DC8987F-3EFF-482F-AEE1-717F25D323AC_zps

 

Running reaver

 

607383CE-D07A-4A06-836D-5F0299D15D5D_zps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.