HeavyTankBuilder

Here is my latest offering now I am back into some kind of routine again.  This has served as a good warm up project, having kept it slightly simpler this time around by not doing a full interior.  There is a limit to how much effort I can repeatedly put into 35pt models!

Finally finished the Falchion and another model in line with the core theme of the blog.  I picked this up back in March at the Forge World open day, with a view to have it finished before wider release... anyway...  it's done now.  The techniques involved are covered in the Glaive tutorial.  This time around I have tried to apply some of the pointers and tips passed on from Matt Murphy-Kane and Mark Bedford from not only Warhmmer Fest, but the FW open day to.

Just a few snaps of what I am working on ready for Saturday and AOP.  Getting there...but not much time left and it still feels as though there is a lot to do!

More progress shots really.  Pleased with the stencils and the marginally darker blue this time around.  Will keep post short to keep the work on the models going.  Any questions on any of my stuff do not hesitate to ask.  Thanks for the interest; just over 6000 hits - nice!  HTB.

Day 1 and 2 WIP photos.  All the sanding, cutting, smoothing and washing of the component parts has been completed.  My weathering has begun – the tracks have been given a light coating of sandy paste.  

A brilliant day at Forge World Open Day 2014.  Lots of new stuff to see and managed to speak to all the major designers including an in depth chat with Mark Bedford and Phil Stutcinskas (big fan of his new Falchion Super Heavy tank).  The Glaive was well received in the painting competition however it did not win – a fantastic Apothecary Marine in the larger scale took the painting competition, and rightly so – it was awesome.  Was great seeing my tank in the cabinet and seeing peoples interest in it and answering questions on it. So the new stuff…

So I was really happy to see one of my tanks up on the Forge World Facebook page model of the day,having been encouraged to get it on there to see what the community thinks.  It seems to have gone down really well!  I will certainly try to get to the Open Day now so others can see it up close.  Now to get the next project finished!

After 2 weeks of 4-6hrs a day working on it the job is done.  I am really pleased with the results despite initial frictions with the model and paint application.  It has come out lighter and more worn than my other tanks, fitting in with it being an older, rarer war machine.  I am very keen what people think about the finished model and where I can look to improve on upcoming projects, namely more infantry elite units, a Storm Raven and a Fire Raptor. 

Making steady progress with the tank.  Main body colours are now complete and have spent several hours getting to grips with the smaller parts to allow Satin Varnish to harden up.  Hope you like the progress so far.

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.

  I recently revisited my Land Raider I completed a few months back having grown in confidence and ability with various different techniques.   I am really pleased I did go back because I think these additions have brought the model up another level.

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...

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...