Legio Crucius goes a war-mongering

[Macrossmartin]

Greetings, fellow Princeps, and other lovers of tiny, giant robots.

I rather stumbled upon the AT18 pages here at the B&C, and liking what I saw, I thought I should join in the fun.

To open the ball, I present some images of my GME Warlords and Knights, (not quite finished yet), in the colours of Legio Crucius and House Cuori respectively.

Legio Crucius are, of course, the Warmongers of fame and glory, while House Cuori are of my own artifice, brought into being simply because I had some spare, old Sisters of Battle decals doing nothing! Also, I wanted to go with a scheme that had reflections of the Crucius colours, but didn't wish to go with a simple reversal of Crucius' black and white. Thus, elements of purple tie the Knights to the titans, and vice versa, and add a regal touch.

Initially, I wasn't sure if the titans' white would be a 'straight' white with grey graduations, or a warmer, creamier shade. The creamy goodness won out in the end, and I'm pleased that it did.

Above: Ferrum Pugnus in all his (or is that hers?) glory.

Above: Machina Deo Malleo strides forth.

The black on the carapaces and armour is Gunze Metallic Black, shot through my Iwata Revolution airbrush, with subtle graduations in purple. Maybe a little too subtle for my camera... oh well!

Most people who've seen these images on various Facebook AT18 groups I frequent ask: "Where did you get the banners from?" to which the answer is: Victoria Miniatures. They're the Standard Bearer Arms, with the poles snipped just above the hands.

(Disclaimer: I have the very good fortune to work for Victoria Miniatures.)

Aluminium tubes inset into the tops of the Apocalypse Launchers accommodate the banners, and allow them to freely spin if they are bumped or knocked, preventing unsightly breakages.

I've also cut down a few miscast standards to make kill pennants and loin banners, but these will be decalled before they are attached. To answer the lack of decals for the Warmongers, I'm designing my own, to be professionally printed. But, I'm holding off finishing those until I have my hands on Doom of Molech, so I can see how closely my iconography choices match those of the canon material.

Warpuppies and Reavers are on the workbench currently, and I hope to have those finished to the same standard as their big brothers in a couple of weeks. There's a convention in these here parts at the beginning of July, and I fancy showcasing AT18 if I can, so I'd better get my finger out!

- Martin

[Gamma310]

Well this looks all very promising. I like the way you made the Titans look more interesting by adding the banners. Really gives me that old school goodness vibe. I'll keep monitoring your progress.

[Achinadav]

Your titans are knights are simply lovely! I think the banners are a great touch. They’re as impractical as big stumpy robots themselves, and I don’t see why that should stop us :)

[Macrossmartin]

Thank you Gamma and Achindav, for your comments. Though I can't imagine why Achindav thinks giant, stompy robots are impractical... 

 

Now that we know the bonuses for the Warmongers are fundamentally to do with their technological edge (can't help being a mite disappointed by that... I mean, being called Warmongers, you'd think their traits would have more to do with, well, mongering war!), let me ask a technological question about posting on B&C; 

 

How on Terra does one change the size of one's images?!?  My pics are around 500 - 600 pixels along their longest edge, and 72dpi. It's a size I've used on a variety of other forums.

 

I tried upping the dimensions of one image, but when posted, it steadfastly refuses to be any larger than its smaller forebear. I've viewed this thread on three different machines, and all show my pictures as absurdly small. 

 

More images, (hopefully, less squinty), this time of work-in-progress Reavers and Warhounds with ball-joined waists, this weekend!

 

- Martin 

[Brother Casman]

How are you linking your images in your posts?

If you're using the standard black-and-red forum skin, then when you're in your photo gallery, you can click the "Options" button on the right-hand side at the top, then select "Share Links" which will open a little dialog box. In the box, copy the BBCode link, and you should be able to copy-and-paste that link/code into your posts.

The forum software will convert the codes when you submit to something like:

[url=http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/gallery/image/257830-crucius-groupshot-larger/][img=http://bolterandchainsword.com/uploads/gallery/album_15415/gallery_157907_15415_9936.jpg][/URL]

And the whole thing should look like this:

Hope that helps?

(Great paint scheme, by the way - the cream and purple is gorgeous!)

[Mendi Warrior]

Very nice. The banners are a really cool addition. Eager to see more!

[Macrossmartin]

Brother Casman, thank you! The inner secrets of the B&C cogitator engine are revealed to me. My prayers to the Omnissiah are answered!

And now, some work-in-slow-progress shots of more Crucius titans; Warhounds and the first of my Reavers.

Puppies first:

All my titans have magnetised weapons, but I suspect I will regret attaching the cables to the Warhounds' arms after a few games... am I right in suspecting I should have pinned them?

Reaver #1 next... In a classic Reaver pose, but looking rather skeletal at this stage.

So... many... stripes! Is it possible to buy shares in Tamiya and take dividends in masking tape?

Incidentally, these titans have not been named yet; they won't receive their machine spirits until completed. (And I finalise my decals...)

And finally for today, some shots of my running Warhound (disturbingly headless right now):

Here's the ball-jointed waist that lets this Warhound keep its balance; It's simply the hemispherical neck connection from a spare 'hound head, sliced off with a razor saw, and glued to the top of the waist rotator. The hemisphere needed a little sliced off the top to improve the fit:

The underside of the puppy's hull shows how I dropped a blob of greenstuff into the rotator hole, pushed in the leg assembly to the desired depth, and left in to set:

I'm likely to do this with more of my Warhounds, as I always liked the image of them thundering across the battlefield, warhorns baying, at speeds that should be impossible for something that big!

That's all from me for today. Hope you've enjoyed following my progress so far. More next weekend!

- Martin

[Mendi Warrior]

Very cool stuff. The Reaver reminds me of a drawing. It just needs some advancing and shooting space marines added to the base.

[Macrossmartin]

Quick update before I shoot shoot some pics of the completed Reavers and Warhounds tomorrow:

Screenshot of the 5-colour (full colour + white) decals I'm designing for Legio Crucius. I'll never use them all, (that's an A4 sheet!), but I think I've covered pretty much all the options I can think of.

[Macrossmartin]

Proper Update Time!

The ranks of Legio Crucius swell with the addition of two new Reavers and a trio of Warhounds:

Still in need of decals and final weathering, etc, but certainly at a standard now that I wouldn't mind fielding them on the tabletop. Which is just as well, given they might have their first public outing in a week or so!

The Reavers are Instrumentum Machina and Cataphtactus Pugnus (Instrument of the Machine and Mailed Fist).

... but you can call them 'the stripy twins'.

They are joined by a pack of loyal hunting dogs: Primo Pugnare dashing to the front, with Certus Pede and Canem Bonum bringing up the rear. (First to Fight, Sure-Footed, and Good Dog, respectively.)

I have more Titans inbound, but I think I will switch sides for a while, and the newcomers will march resplendent in the colours of treason. Also hope to send off the artwork for the decals (see post above) for printing, so much cutting, positioning, applying of decal softener and cursing may ensue.

- Martin

[noigrim]

Achckually machinae

great paintjob and bases

[Chaeron]

They look so cohesive together - truly great work! 

[Macrossmartin]

Thanks! Waiting to hear back from my printer about the decals now... looking forward to getting those onto my engines, and then getting stuck into the weathering. 

 

This is the first army of GW-produced miniatures I've painted in more than 10 years. I knew AT would be the game that dragged me back... 

[Macrossmartin]

Hello again, fellow Titan-heads!

More family snaps of the Crucius gang; This time with decals, and weathering all done. Huzzah!

Although there's still the top banners, Loin-banners, and Kill-pennants to do... but more of that in the near future...

Let's start with a nice shot of all the kids:

... I'd be a lying heretic if I said I wasn't a little proud of my brood. Although they seem to have scratched up their nice, shiny armour!

Not just the Warlords, either; the Reavers have been playing in the sandpit too:

The decals are not perfect, but they have served their purpose. Unfortunately, there was a little bleed in the black, causing some lettering and white, fine lines to become a bit obscured. (Note the very solid black fist on the poleyn above.) A lesson learnt for next time.

I designed the decals with lots of sets of Roman numerals to distinguish each Titan into its Maniple. The Warhound here is XIV Maniple.

Its a detail that's not particularly useful in terms of gameplay, but I think it helps to tie the individual Titans into an organised force, with an apparent structure. I'm pretty sure the worshippers of the Machine God are into that sort of thing.

Still more Titans and Knights to go, (plus banners for all), but for the moment, that's a line drawn under Legio Crucius. I'm now going to spend a solid month building and painting scenery, for a big demo game at Little Wars Adelaide, to help boost AT's profile in the local gaming community. So! Much posting of real estate to come!

[Mendi Warrior]

They are very very nice! 

Eager to see the real estate projects

[Rabenga]

Nice work! What's your chipping process?

[Macrossmartin]

Nice work! What's your chipping process?

 

I start with a 70/30 mix of Reaper Shield Brown and Vallejo Air Rust. (I use Vallejo Air for all my metallics, because the particles are much finer, and more 'in-scale'.) This is lightly sponged on, whilst repeating the mantra "Less is more! Less is more!" 

 

Then, a long liner brush adds the scratches. I make the majority of these follow the likely direction that the armour plate will be travelling, as it is exposed to rubble, sides of buildings, and other abrasive surfaces. So, most are scratched horizontally, from front to back. A few odd-angled lines break up the monotony. The key here is to keep the lines thin, but not the paint. Tricky — but judicious addition of Lahmian Medium helps.

 

Next, equally thin lines of Vallejo White are applied to the undersides of the Brown / Rust scratches. (Basically, highlighting in reverse.) Not all of them, of course, or I'd never finish! Larger sponged spots from the first step also receive this highlight, giving the impression of the paint chipping, and leaving an edge. 

 

Vallejo Air Aluminium scratches up the black panels. I don't highlight these, as they're already nice and bright.

 

Oh, and a good tip to remember: The scratches are much easier to apply over a gloss surface than a matt one, because the brush does not drag, and you can achieve very fine lines. 

[Rabenga]

Hmm...thanks! I'm a fan of the tried and true hairspray method, but I have found that it can be challenging to achieve a "scale" effect...I may try your method when I build up some more cascadia Titans...my current project Titans are too fancy to have chipped paint.

[Macrossmartin]

I think there's nothing wrong with the ol' hairspray method. Depending on what you want to achieve, it can be very subtle, but it just depends on what your taste is for such things. I find it can be a bit heavy (when I do it, anyway), and a little trickier to control. Maybe not so useful at this small scale. Mind you, there's something to be said for serendipity having a hand in modelling. 

 

I've also tried the hairspray method with peanut butter, but that just made me hungry... 

[Fajita Fan]

Another thread I missed in my absence this spring. Those look awesome and now I’m glad I haven’t finished my Warhounds because the running pose looks great.

[Macrossmartin]

Another thread I missed in my absence this spring. Those look awesome and now I’m glad I haven’t finished my Warhounds because the running pose looks great.

 

Very glad if I've inspired you. I think Warhounds look best when they've got someplace to be in a hurry. 

[Mandragola]

*Applauds*