HeavyTankBuilder

My HTB website needs reinvigorated. I have been busy with work and hobby/website has really slipped off. I will talk about WIP overload (again) in my next article but I really want to get back on track. In my opinion White Dwarf and Visions is so far removed from what I thought was historically good about WD that I wanted to do something about it. GW doesn't listen to anyone so asking them to change anything is a waste of time. Articles on list building, advance modeling techniques, tactics, detailed battle reports, use of other products (heresy!) that offer something GW doesn't or that are better is never discussed. Airbrushing is huge and so accessible nowadays yet it is totally ignored by GW. Look at coolminiornot.com ; airbrushing is everywhere. It is as if it doesn't exist in GW's world.  I think there are loads of topics that used to be covered so well that sadly have been actively removed by GW's head-shed.   So my s...

This is my completed Rhino/Razorback with magnetized hatch for my first tactical squad.  I know they are not particularly popular vehicles but I am looking to build up a company this year and want a good few Rhino/Razorbacks/Drop pods to cover the fluff side of things.  I am very pleased with the final outcome and will talk through what's changed and come on since Part 2 posted a month or so ago.

The second squad is now complete.  Inevitably it has come out better than the first one due to reviewing and learning from the first group I put together.  This build uses new kit as well as a few components from the Sternguard box.  Again I have gone for Combi-Flamer and Flamer, however I have chosen to build a Missile launcher into this Squad rather than the more costly Lascannon.  In time this unit will get a Rhino as well, with the first Rhino now 99% complete and needing a write up for the blog. A change I made on this unit was to go a bit heavier with the VMA Light Sea Blue to get a better contrast after the oil wash and satin varnish was applied (these generally dull your highlights). The transfers on this unit came out really well and I think I have refined how I will approach transfers from now on.  The GW hard coat gloss brushed on seems to give better adhesion than any airbrushed gloss varnish when it comes to sticking in ...

So this week I have got back to building and finishing off a number of different projects.   I am keen to clear the slate to get onto some of the other bigger kits I have sat waiting to go.   I have managed to tie up one of the final hand painted units from my previous Space Marine Project: The Emperor’s Crusaders, finishing another Tactical Squad.   I have also finished some additional weathering on my Land Raider and the main chunk of this article – the Airbrushed Ultramarine 10 man Tactical Squad.

Ultramarines Forge World Rhino/Razorback WIP Part 2 So a bit of a delay in getting this up, but her comes part 2 – exterior and turrets done, and now getting ready to oil/pin wash then onto weathering.   The VMA blues are great for Ultramarines and make it really easy to shadow/highlight the various parts.   (VMA Steel Blue, French Blue and Light Sea blue – VMA thinner 50:50 with Light Sea blue all at 20psi through the AB). The Ultramarines U was made using the tutorial provided by Buypainted.   A good compass and cutting tool were essential in getting an even shaped U – it took a few tries, but worth getting right.   Lining it up on the part isn’t as easy as it looks – again take time to get it right otherwise you will be repainting the blue…(only once for myself….)

Ultramarines Forge World Rhino/Razorback WIP With the first of my 10 man tactical squads for my 1000pts Ultramarines Army complete, it took little convincing to revert back to armour, looking to build a battle field taxi for them.   I will do a separate post on the second squad having used the first squad to refine the way I plan to paint all the infantry for this force. I am trying to build a 35k Ultramarine force – I really like the new CSM releases (the Sternguard and Hunter/Stalker) and want to be able to include the Forge World Heresy designs as well.   The new tactical marines are great but I don’t want to go down the road of full Heresy or full 40k… anyway.   In short I want to mix the elements of GW I like with the FW stuff.   The best way I can make this work in my opinion is experimenting with paint schemes.   I really like the grey Razorback that pops up in the old codex and on the back of the Razorback box.   I don...

Forge World Scorpion Type II – Saim-Hann With my first project under my belt, I dug out a Forge World kit that had been left under the bed for a good number of years.  I could not ge the smooth finish I wanted so parked the model to one side, but never came back to it.  All the practicing of pre-shading, zen highlighting and shading using the Falcon kits drove me to dig it out and get it done.  This will be more step by step but do ask questions below if you want something made clearer.  Again, Buypainted! gave a vast amount of guidance and inspiration - credit where credit is due! 1.                The main hull was constructed, wing-lets, tail section etc.  The turret was also built however don’t do what I did initially and leave the pulsars sperate.  The crew and smaller weapons were mounted on old sprues to...

Ultramarines Land Raider This is my first blog on a site I am still trying to understand!   So this is more of a test run for me more than anything else. Over the last year I have been sucking up as much information on painting vehicles as possible.   I took the plunge financially and invested in an airbrush from Iwata back in March having exhausted my brush skills when it came to vehicles.  Despite best efforts I could never get a smooth, thin finish on flat surfaces.   Enter the airbrush!   It solved that issue and opened up a total new avenue within the hobby.   Furthermore it took my painting up a number of levels.   This was actually my first fully painted airbrushed model. What you can see just off to the right is one of two old Falcon kits I practised on before moving onto this expensive kit.   Buypainted’s youtube channel gave me most of my early guidance and tips.   His Vindicator tank pretty much set the t...