30k Hobby Chat

[derLumpi]

I'm so jealous!

I stopped working on my assault ram. It's way to far warped to get it straightened out. :-(

[sarabando]

1 hour ago, derLumpi said:

I'm so jealous!

I stopped working on my assault ram. It's way to far warped to get it straightened out. :-(

use the forges of vulkan (a hairdryer) and submit the machine to your will! (bend it and use C clamps) 

[BitsHammer]

Well my power scythes finally came in but I admit they have not lived up to what I was hoping for. Namely I forgot how fiddly trying to line up resin arms can be. Then I lost one of the resin arms to the void but thankfully a plastic one worked out.

 

It looks good but I already don't want to do anymore.

 

I did build that Centurion with a scythe I wanted as well and he looks good but I find myself wondering if I jumped in too quick on a legion.

 

 

I mostly find myself wondering it because I've found that I don't have as much motivation to work on them as I thought I would when I started and I just can't really think of how I want to keep building out the force. Plus I keep waffling on how I want to paint things even after previously deciding on a paint scheme.

 

 

So these might end up  just a little hobby thing and I may turn that squad of MkIIs into test minis.

 

I haven't decided yet but I am rolling things around in my head.

[Gorgoff]

@BitsHammer I think your models look very cool. Those scythes are fiddly but also feel very sharp because they are so delicate. No comparison to the lumps of plastic Death Guard got in 40k. 

 

I got onto my Death Guard in the fullest now. 

First my rapiers.

Funny detail. I built the one with the beard into the squad as a little Easter egg, like some clueless boomer who can't use his cell phone. Now the antenna is slightly bent at the top during transportation and it looks like it's looking over his shoulder to help him, so I'm leaving it like that.

And my Castra Ferrum Dreadnoughts

And I got me two Vindicators printed:

10% bigger to be more true Scale and the best part: they are one hollow piece each so no annoying building, sanding and all that.

Just took them out and basecoated them and can now paint em. 

Really cool. 

I mean "painting".

;)

Like here:

Basecoat chaos black spray followed by basecoat wraithbone spray and after that I applied Streaking grime. 

That stuff and Death Guard are a combination made from heaven. 

Edited August 13 by Gorgoff

[BitsHammer]

Thanks! And I do think they look cool, I've just been finding myself working slower and slower on everything as I work on them with no plan or direction which isn't a great sign really.

[sarabando]

16 hours ago, Gorgoff said:

@BitsHammer I think your models look very cool. Those scythes are fiddly but also feel very sharp because they are so delicate. No comparison to the lumps of plastic Death Guard got in 40k. 

 

I got onto my Death Guard in the fullest now. 

First my rapiers.

 

Funny detail. I built the one with the beard into the squad as a little Easter egg, like some clueless boomer who can't use his cell phone. Now the antenna is slightly bent at the top during transportation and it looks like it's looking over his shoulder to help him, so I'm leaving it like that.

 

 

And my Castra Ferrum Dreadnoughts

 

And I got me two Vindicators printed:

 

 

10% bigger to be more true Scale and the best part: they are one hollow piece each so no annoying building, sanding and all that.

Just took them out and basecoated them and can now paint em. 

Really cool. 

I mean "painting".

 

;)

Like here:

 

Basecoat chaos black spray followed by basecoat wraithbone spray and after that I applied Streaking grime. 

That stuff and Death Guard are a combination made from heaven. 

 

If you want to save a little money, you can replace streaking grime with a burnt umber oil paint that will act the same way. 

[Pacific81]

A WIP on a Sons of Horus guy. Saw that shotgun was a weapons option so have gone for a 'Hicks' look with him.

Im setting my force during the Scouring so going for a veterans/survivors feel to them.

 

The base mini is a chaos marine with all iconography removed. Helmet & shoulder pad are from Archie's Forge, while the other shoulder pad I added railway rivets to.

Finally, will give max nerd points to anyone that can recognise the shotgun  (I will say it has been in the bits box for a while!)

[SvenIronhand]

Closing in on done with this HSS. 

[lansalt]

11 hours ago, Pacific81 said:

Finally, will give max nerd points to anyone that can recognise the shotgun  (I will say it has been in the bits box for a while!)

 

Indeed it has 

Spoiler

I have a few of these ancient Goliath minis gathering dust, and I never thought about reusing their shotguns, thanks!

 

[Gorgoff]

On 8/14/2025 at 8:34 AM, sarabando said:

 

If you want to save a little money, you can replace streaking grime with a burnt umber oil paint that will act the same way. 

What is that and is it ready to use or is it something I have to mix with something else?

 

@Pacific81 Yeah I really like him.

Well done.

@SvenIronhand Well done as well, mate. Your table could need a glow up though. ;)

 

Edited Friday at 09:29 AM by Gorgoff

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

On 8/14/2025 at 7:08 AM, Pacific81 said:

A WIP on a Sons of Horus guy. Saw that shotgun was a weapons option so have gone for a 'Hicks' look with him.

Im setting my force during the Scouring so going for a veterans/survivors feel to them.

 

The base mini is a chaos marine with all iconography removed. Helmet & shoulder pad are from Archie's Forge, while the other shoulder pad I added railway rivets to.

Finally, will give max nerd points to anyone that can recognise the shotgun  (I will say it has been in the bits box for a while!)

About this miniature, a great conversion by the way, and other of this kind, I have a question: If you go to play in a GW Store, they told you something about 3D models or bits? I mean, they allow you, not allow, make you it hard,...

 

I'm curious 

[Pacific81]

54 minutes ago, Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf said:

About this miniature, a great conversion by the way, and other of this kind, I have a question: If you go to play in a GW Store, they told you something about 3D models or bits? I mean, they allow you, not allow, make you it hard,...

 

I'm curious 

 

I am probably the wrong person to ask as I would never play in a GW store. 

Going back 12-15 years to the early HH days I had a gaming friend who had his army (nearly all garage cast & sculpted conversions) on display in Warhammer World! But, it was a lot harder to do then and no 3D printing, so much less common. I don't know these days if staff are told specifically to look for 3D printed for example?

[Valkyrion]

On 8/11/2025 at 10:17 PM, Cadmus Tyro said:

Not quite sure I like the Saturnine vibe, so I decided to have a go at modifying it a little.

 

 

 In my head cannon, I’ve accepted that the marine wearing the armour is just a torso, so it’s a stage before a dreadnought! 

 

What do you reckon? Gotta love some volkite…..

 

Cadmus 
 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This is awesome. This is what they should have been, like miniature deredeo terminators - why invent 'Tartaros Siege Terminators' when they could have had this!

 

Are you in the UK? Because I would gladly commission a set of these from you!

 

 

[MoriyaSchism]

On 8/11/2025 at 11:17 PM, Cadmus Tyro said:

Not quite sure I like the Saturnine vibe, so I decided to have a go at modifying it a little.

 

 

 In my head cannon, I’ve accepted that the marine wearing the armour is just a torso, so it’s a stage before a dreadnought! 

 

What do you reckon? Gotta love some volkite…..

 

Cadmus 
 

 

These look brilliant without the power fist arm. How did you make the extra rivets on these? 

[BitsHammer]

I had the itch to paint yellow again so I painted Fafnir Rann.

 

 

Generally pretty happy with how he turned out though the "dirt and rubble" effect for the base didn't pan out like I wanted and I could probably push the contrast further on the yellow, I am generally pretty happy with how he came out.

 

Edited Saturday at 03:04 PM by BitsHammer
Got some pictures under daylight which made makes the shading in the yellow easier to see so I switched them

[Cadmus Tyro]

10 hours ago, Valkyrion said:

 

This is awesome. This is what they should have been, like miniature deredeo terminators - why invent 'Tartaros Siege Terminators' when they could have had this!

 

Are you in the UK? Because I would gladly commission a set of these from you!

 

 

I’m flattered you think they’re worthy of a commission. In reality, it would be difficult to source the parts these days. I’ve made casts of the leviathan parts I’ve used, but the FW culverins and plasma cannon coils are hard to come by! Fortunately most of it was in my bits box, but I needed a few more sponson culverins to make the full squad. 
 

6 hours ago, MoriyaSchism said:

These look brilliant without the power fist arm. How did you make the extra rivets on these? 

Thanks, dropping the height of the shoulder pads and bringing them closer together helps it look more cohesive. But in order to do that, it takes a lot of work. Modifying the top of the torso, power plant at the back, shoulder pads have been made wider to accommodate the torso. 

I do plan on giving the sergeant a fist, but not the one that comes in the box! 

 

The rivets were simply green stuff world micro glass balls. They come in mixed sizes so you have to find the right size, drill a small indent and then carefully glue into the dip…..easy….

 

Cadmus 

Edited Saturday at 05:47 PM by Cadmus Tyro

[OttoVonAwesome]

On 8/15/2025 at 2:28 AM, Gorgoff said:

What is that and is it ready to use or is it something I have to mix with something else?

 

You need to mix it with mineral spirits and it takes forever to dry.  Contrast washes are also another way to go one that I use alot nowadays you need to work quickly but all you need is contrast medium and water. Richard Gray has some good youtube videos on how to apply it. His Death Guard painting tutorial for 30k is a great example of how to use them to really great effect.

[Gorgoff]

11 hours ago, OttoVonAwesome said:

You need to mix it with mineral spirits and it takes forever to dry. 

 

Ok so they're out because I hate having to do work in preparation to do the actual work. 

Streaking grime does the job just fine. 

11 hours ago, OttoVonAwesome said:

Contrast washes are also another way to go

 

 

Yeah I almost exclusively paint with contrast by and large at this point in time. So much less time consuming and just pleasant to use. 

Edit: Richard Grey has 20 or 30 steps to many painting his Death Guard marines for my taste. They look awesome but most techniques he uses I couldn't physical reproduce anyway because I don't have hands of a :cuss:ing robot and I want to be done with my army at some point. :D

 

Edited Sunday at 06:22 AM by Gorgoff

[Pacific81]

@GorgoffI know what you mean, its always a balance I think between spending time on a single mini and having that army ready before the next edition releases in 3 years..

A lot of those YT guys do it as a job and can spend 12 hours a day painting, have a studio & don't have a baby soiling themselves or crying every 20 minutes or partner nagging them for not mowing the lawn xD.

 

Speaking of which I think the new Sons of Horus RoW aren't particularly good so happy if my army takes that much time, then they'll get buffed for 4th 

 

A Sons of Horus marine. I am setting my force during 'The Scouring' so going for a real veteran/survivor look. Used a Chaos marine as a base so a lot of scraping of Chaos iconography & added some mk6 plus bits from Archies Forge.

[Gorgoff]

I love him.

Pumping out those shells.

 

 

[derLumpi]

Really cool marine! Is the ammo belt a chaos marine bit?

[Pacific81]

2 hours ago, derLumpi said:

Really cool marine! Is the ammo belt a chaos marine bit?

Thank you! Yes he is mostly chaos marine, the ammo belt and arm holding it is a standard bit of that kit.

[derLumpi]

Found it. But not available in various bit shops. Well then I will have to look for alternatives. Thx mate! 

[SlickSamos]

1 hour ago, derLumpi said:

But not available in various bit shops

 

I tend to find I get more milage out of buying second hand miniatures, then taking them all apart.  For example Chaos Powerpacks cost around £1.50 each, but a second hand squad of 10 can be as low as £10 for the old style CSMs or around £20 for the new style of CSM.  Though I did once buy one from an epoxy enthusiast which was a right old pain...  

[Gorgoff]

So I have build me a Centurion in Cataphracti armour to do this:

 

I took the Calth one they brought back a few years ago as a set with the stumoy Chaplain, and gave it a different head.

Apart from that he isn't chabged at all, because we all know  how much GW hates people changing their models. 

 

Then I basecoated him black followed by wraithbone contrast base coat spray and added some base colours:

Now it was time for the magic souce named Streaking Grime from AK:

Pretty shwifty so far but obviously still work in progress.