HeavyTankBuilder

This post has been sat in my archive for far too long. I am not going to pretend it is new work - it has been up on my Instagram for some time but I thought I would show you some WIP photos and talk through some tips on making what is a very large project manageable. Hopefully of use to someone out there! Three Kinghts is a decent amount of work - but to be fair, you pretty much have an army once you are done.  To keep me motivated and to make the project achievable I broke it down into stages: 1. The Metal Skeletons 2. Panel Work 3. Bases 4. Weaponry. This approach will save you time and will help you get 3 Knights above table top quality quickly and efficiently. It won't feel like it as you go - but trust me when you reflect, you will have saved yourself some serious time.  There is also a uniformity you can't replicate from doing 1 then adding 2 later on... Take the pain and work in multiples....read on... 1. The Metal Skeletons: Army Painter Silver Rattle C...

These are the final parts I need to get my small initial Nemesis Strike Force up and running.  These were the last bits needed for my 1650pts tournament list.  As a group they come together really well, looking great on the board.  I will however admit I am not fully happy with the second Librarian.  That finecast model is pretty tired and doesn't stand up too well against the newly converted Blood Angel Librarian model.  The converted BA model has worked well and will make a good Warlord Model.

I have painted something not blue for the first time in years!  These have come out very well and I had some real success using the Tamiya Clear plaints to get some great metallic finishes on some of the surfaces.  The Blue Sword effect Kenny uses on Next Level Painting worked a treat. I hadn't used P3 paints until he recommended them; they went into the airbrush no problem, giving some great results.

The final part of my GK/UM allied attachment is finished.  Now to get on with the GK Librarians.  The Grav Cents have come out pretty well.  The OSL and colour blends are pretty good. The transfers are not quite as smooth as I would have liked; my fault for missing a step (GW varnish on the Humbrol Acrylic Gloss Spray where the transfer sits).  The over all unit looks great together - the bald headed guy looks better than I thought.  Initially I wasnt convinced by the sculpts. 4 Cents is a lot of work.  The bodies and shoulder pads could be built and painted all assembled up.  The pipes, weapons, amps, heads, pistons, rear plate, side metal work and arms all had to be done separately to access all the nooks and crannies.  The OSL looks great but comes at the risk of ruining everything you have done to get to that point!

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!

These were finished quite some time a go but I have been off the blog for a while, now trying to get back into things.  They came out real well and work brilliantly as a pair on the table.  Hope people like what they see.  Probably the best FA option for SM.

The Terminators are finished at last!  Can't remember when these things first got primed and based but my goodness it was a long time ago.   They have come out really well; there is however a few things I am not as happy with as I would like.  The varnish ran out and did not give the sealed coverage I require in my gloss varnish/oil wash process.  Some areas are a little stained where the wash could not be removed correctly.

Something that I am sure a lot of hobbyists have suffered from is having too much on the go at one time. I have talked about it before but still find myself falling into the trap of stocking up too many kits and wanting to build/paint far too much in too short a period of time. It's gotten so bad that it is actually hindering my ability to blog on stuff because I am not finishing things and getting distracted by the latest successful game test. Here is a run down of where I think I am going wrong. 1.  Play testing the latest good idea and then wanting to paint that to the standard of everything else in quick time. In other words, inability to stick to one list for an extended period. 2.  If find airbrushing more satisfying than brush work at the moment.  Not completing one project before starting the next. 3.  Taking on too much.  Articles, mock up builds to allow gaming, my first commission for someone and getting in more games ...

Managed to get the Techmarines completed at last!  Pretty happy with the final look and feel of each unit.  Most of the techniques for painting these can be found in previous articles.  What I will say is their performance in games has been outstanding.  From vehicles, massed troops, important characters, these 2 cannons have laid waste to huge chunks of opposition armies.  Thundefire cannons are top of my list right now in terms of getting on the roster once all my troops choices are in place. 

Another squad now complete at last!  I fell into the trap of having too many projects on the go but have stuck to my 1750 list and continue to work down it.  They have come out really well and the tiny magnets have worked great.  I can now come back later and add any combi-weapon I choose based on play testing.  It also allows me to swap with Sternguard Squad 1 so I can have a no combi-weapons team, or loads of combi-weapons or a complete mixture. The new wrist mounted weapons mean it is far easier to magnetize the wrist joints.   I use a 3mm x 1mm diameter magnet in the wrist and a 2mm x 2mm diameter magnet in the weapon hand.   You have to be very careful drilling out the 2mm magnet in the hand but it can be done.   They marry up very well – only issue is getting the paint to stick to the surface of the magnets.   Even if it does chip off it doesn’t matter, it cannot be seen.   I may use these magnets on my next special weapon ma...

This is my new Chapter Master model.   He is made up of bits from the Limited Edition Captain model # 2, Vanguard bits, Sternguard bits and the Masters of the Chapter Storm Shield.   He has come out as well as I could have hoped for.   There were 5 major parts to work on; the body, the hammer, the shield, the banner and the cape.   All have come out pretty well and combine to make a strong centrepiece model to protect Tigurius and work alongside my 2 Sternguard Sqauds.

All three drop pods are now complete.  Happy with the look and feel of them.  I think they fit in well with the Army and have served me well in the last few games.  I need to get better at the burn/re-entry marks made using the airbrush but that aside I think they are all good. 

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.  

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.

And this then would be the second project.   I have planned out my first 1500pts and would like to hit that before branching off and adding to the Army…that said I couldn’t resist leaving this lying around any longer and got cracking. The first stage saw me make sure I had all the bits and that there were no poorly formed parts, or anything broken.   Then came the tedious but essential job of stripping the parts from the casting blocks, sanding them all down, finishing with a wash in hot soapy water to remove any excess release agent from the construction process back in the factory.   The water must not be too hot or you will deform the parts – if you can put your hands in the water comfortably then the temperature is not too hot for the resin.  

So 2 quick updates as I have broken my golden rule and started 2 projects rather than see one through start to finish!  These Thunder Hammer Storm Shield Terminators have been sat around for ages so broke them out and added some Forge World details to make them stand out. 

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.

This is the figure I plan to use as Chief Librarian Tigurius in my 1500pts force.  He will be my only HQ choice.  After painting 3 batches of 10 men recently this came as a welcome break.  With HQ and 2 (4 x 5 man units) Troop choices sorted its time to get back to the tanks.  I will however briefly discuss how I produced this model, as I made effective use of Humbrol Maskol to enable more airbrushing.  I have aimed to build this figure with a '35k' younger Chief Librarian Tigurius in mind, to fit in with my themed Ultramarine Army.

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 ...

  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.