Endtransmission's Deathwatch & Terrain

[Endtransmission]

I had a look in the Astartes section and couldn't really see lists being discussed, is that the right place for them?

Anyhoo. While I ponder on that... a WIP shot of one of @Heraclite's cuirassiers. There's a bit more work to do on the black as it's a bit too grey in parts, some knee iconography, and adding weathering before he's considered complete. 

 

[Endtransmission]

I had a bit of time over lunch today, so builds have started on the *actual* figures needed for the list. Turns out I had the gravis captain with gauntlet, rather than the one with the bolt rifle... so a bit of chopping and greenstuff later, we now have ourselves a Gravis Captain with Heavy bolt rifle,  master crafted power sword and the beacon angelis. Not sure which chapter he's going to be from yet... given the lack of trinkets, one of the more codex compliant ones

[Firedrake Cordova]

Really nice conversion and greenstuff work

[W.A.Rorie]

38 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Really nice conversion and greenstuff work

 

I agree!

[Heraclite]

Well your cuirass looks 100 times better than mine

 

Thanks a lot for the honor !

[Endtransmission]

2 hours ago, Heraclite said:

Well your cuirass looks 100 times better than mine

 

Thanks a lot for the honor !

 

Thanks for letting me add him in :D

[Endtransmission]

I've been going through adding more of the completed Deathwatch to the wiki, the list of Marines is growing nicely (https://pssm.uk/dw/index.php/Category:Adeptus_Astartes). There are still about 8 completed models that need photos taking and profiles writing before I can start on those that are still being finished (more on that in a sec). The profiles, currently, showcase missions they have undertaken since joining the watch. At some point I'd like to start trying to link all of these missions together and maybe tidy it up a bit as there are now quite a few missions, but (mind cannon), this is quite a new Watch Fortress. The intention will be to write up each game and list as a new Operation, tying the characters in and highlighting key things they may have done (if they don't just outright die :D )

While taking photos, I noticed that a couple were looking very washed out black compared to the others, so I've been tidying this up with a quick wash of thinned black contrast. The first of these fixed ones is Drenn Halvorn of the Harbingers.

 

 

To go with Drenn, we now have another Heavy Intercessor with bolt rifle ready. I've not thought of a name for him yet, but he's from an Ultimate founding chapter (Void Panthers) that spun off from the White Scars. Rather than the mounted/fast attack preferences of their primary chapter, they favour the hammer and anvil approach. Assault troops and bikes will attack enemy forces and feint retreat; with their heavy intercessors forming a bulwark that traps foes that chase after them. With the heavy armour, this guy prefers to add sticks to his grenades, making it easier to use with the gauntlets.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I really like them  

[Endtransmission]

Big thanks to @SvenIronhand for the use of his chapter, the Greymanes!

Meet Line-Brother Caerwyn Emberbrand. I need to sort some background after I've had a thorough read through Sven's amazingly detailed chapter background

 

On a different note, I store my painted figures in Kallax cabinets. Things are looking a bit bland just having them ranked up in a cube with a glass shelf. The options are either to make display boards, or make them gaming boards that could be removed. I've enough shelving currently available that would give me a reasonable kill team board, getting close to a small 40k table if I removed everything from the cabinets.

 

 

Given the multiple levels to the shelves, I'm kind of gutted that I've been basing everything with desert texture as it would be great to kit out all the shelves as underhive or spaceships, with pipework etc. hanging frum underneath the shelves as well. Choices choices... 

[Tallarn Commander]

He looks great! Not bland at all.

 

Rebasing can be quite a fun project. Since the early 2010s, I've rebased 300+ Imperial Guard, 100+ Night Lords, 60+ World Eaters, and I'm now rebasing 150+ Traitor Guard.

 

I rather enjoyed the whole process. Just do it at a casual pace, perhaps 4 or so troopers a month. Eventurally, you will be done. Plus the rebasing gave me the chance to add gubbins to troopers here and there and repair paint nicks caused by games.

[Endtransmission]

I guess now is as good a time as any to consider rebasing, as there are only 39 and 2 dreadnoughts to rebase. Some of them are really basic and were needing an improvement anyway. The only downside is that the current bases are *really* quick to make as it's just AK Sandy desert texture slapped on a base with a little bit of shading and a tuft of grass here and there :D

I dug out some bases I did over lockdown for a necromunda project that never came to completion. They aren't complete, but it's a vague indicator of what I'd been aiming for as I wanted a neutral, bright-ish base that would not hide dark models. Here you can see a new member of the Deathwatch nearly ready for deployment in two different environments. It's not *as* pop-y, but doesn't hide the model... so it's looking like a reasonable colour scheme if I do go down the terrain shelf route

 

Speaking of terrain colours, I found an old photo of a past attempt at deciding on necromunda terrain colours that is likely to resurface as an experiment. I'm thinking the white (with loads more chipping) for the floors and the walls as they are (or similar, pending actual models used)

 

Going through the process of typing this out and looking at the bases... I think I'm sold on a grand re-basing. It does mean they won't match with the Word Bearers (no way I'm rebasing all of those!), but it fits more with the Deathwatch theme. Looks like I need to pull out Blender again then as I don't have anywhere near enough Marine sized bases, and allows me the chance to make them fit in with whatever flooring I need to make as well. Just what I needed... another project :D

[W.A.Rorie]

Digging them.

[The Pounder]

I’m always impressed when people model their Deathwatch to take on the personality of the individual Marine’s Chapter!

 

Yours look great and do this nicely!

 

Every man a hero.

[Endtransmission]

Thanks! It seems rude *not* to still have their chapter feel about them, especially when it comes to codex divergent chapters like Space Wolves, or officers who would have more ornate armour already. 

 

I started to have a play with making my own walls in blender, but then fell into the trap of looking at Boarding Action terrain to see if that would be the right dimensions... which rapidly led me to someone else who had already created some really good STLs for boarding action compatible models. The Fabricator's Lair set goes multiple steps further than the GW plastics and not only introduce flooring (with lighting options!) but also all the bits to add a second level, which is exactly what I need for the cabinets so that we're not stuck with all the models on one plane. I've printed a few sample pieces to try painting styles while I run the printer through a few batches to give me enough to make a photo background as a test, rather than the white that just blows out the colours in the model.

 

The current dilemma is white-ish background grimed up a bit, or a darker, worn look that is rusty and fades into the background. My fear with the darker walls is that the models will just blend in, but a weathered white/cream will help the black pop. Time for testing!

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

That sounds great!  

 

I think you're right that the dark background will blend in with the models too much (although it's probably the most "atmospheric" option, e.g. Alien, etc). As well as white, have you considered a mid- or light grey?

Edited Friday at 02:47 PM by Firedrake Cordova

[Endtransmission]

yeah, dark is certainly atmospheric... but I do need visibility for the cabinet and photos... so light it is.

 

When I say light... I mean it *was* white before it got all grimy. Now it's dirty as all heck :D
The scanner next to it was done a few years back and was sort of what I was aiming for, but I forgot the chipping; so when it comes to the non-test I think some chipipng is going onto the walls before all the grime.


And it seems to work well as a background without overwhelming the model. If I put a bit more distance between the background and figure, it will blur out nicely and give a cinematic feel when you can't actually see white around it all

[Endtransmission]

I caved and bought the boarding actions box yesterday as printing walls is going to be a looooooong, tedious process to make them all out of resin. The floors are already being a bit weird as well, I had half of them warp while the resin cured. But a quiet afternoon of painting and I now have a nice photo backdrop. Which is a nice step forward. the to in the bottom right are the GW plastics, the other three are from the STL set. They go together nicely.

Edited yesterday at 11:16 AM by Endtransmission

[Firedrake Cordova]

That colour's basically perfect for your usage

 

Would you mind sharing your weathering steps?

[Endtransmission]

Thanks!

The recipe is pretty simple.
1) Undercoat with a cream/off-white. I used GW's cream undercoat, but anything off-white would work
2) Contrast paints for the blacks
3) dark brown chipping for the dark rusty areas
4) Overall wash with GW Agrax Earthshade
5) Overall coat of AK Winter streaming grime
6) remove most of the streaming grime with mineral spirits
7) Little bit of AK slime wherever you want a little bit of green
8) Little bit of AK Dark Rust wherever you want a bit of rust

 

written down like that it seems like a lot, but it really didn't take long to do. I think the rust stage was probably the longest as it needed some actual thought. The rest you can just sort of slap on and wipe off a bit with a cloth or mineral spirits

 

Might do a photo step by step at some point so I don't forget between batches!

I came home from work today to find that the walls I'd printed have all started to warp, which is not great! so I suspect multiples of the GW box might be needed if I can't work out what's causing that. On the plus side, I did realise that with some hot water and some pressure I might be able to rescue the floor plates that I'd binned yesterday. We will see tomorrow when the heavy books* come off them!

*One of the benefits of the 30k rulebook collection is it's *really* heavy :D