Smells Like..... Victory - IG Project Log

[ArcticWolf]

Pics are a bit dark
/ SDKFZ

I know :/ And thats with my new lightbox and camera

EDIT: I caved andf bought two more hueys

[SDKFZ]

Great ! Will be nice to see the whole wing together.

/ SDKFZ

[Zywus]

Does anyone else think that even when a minature is finished, it looks rubbish until its based? Or is that just me?

That's totally true. I'm always amazed what even a simple basing does to enhance a models appearance.

Speaking of bases. I feel that mixing in squared bases in 40k forces always looks a bit off. I would recommend placing those snipers on either 40mm round bases or those long bike-bases that are now available.

[ArcticWolf]

Well my two new Hueys arrived yesterday, but I have vowed not to start them before my exams are over on the 23rd... Until then, peace out

[ArcticWolf]

I ordered the carry case for the full army today - £100! Jeez that will mean the case has cost more than the army itself!

I've also modified the Army list I will be working towards, taking in a few comments about it -

- I upped the points limit to 1800 points so I can take them to next years Yorkshire Open
- I added another squad of veterans and another heli to make these points up
- All models now count as having camo cloaks
- I replaced two of the Valkyries with Vendettas considering I felt as though I was a little thin on the ground on AT weapons - In certain objectives I can use these as gun platforms and their squads dismounted as objective holders
- I've refrained from adding any armour because as it is the entirety of my army can deep strike

A quick rules query. In Dawn of War, when your forces can arrive on turnone, can you have them deep strike, or must they 'walk' on - or be held in reserve if I wish them to deep strike?

[Captain Brown]

Very nice army coming together there. I like how you have used the helmeted heads, as too many of the Catachan heads seemed poorly sculpted for my taste and I seemed to only use certain heads and converted the others.

One thing that might help is using a program to autocorrect the lighting (photoshop comes to mind), that would help them appear less dark, hope that helps.

Keep up the log,

CB

[SDKFZ]

Uhh, another heli. Cool ! Itll be good to see how it looks when youve made some more progress.

/ SDKFZ

[ArcticWolf]

My appologies - Photobucket is being a sod so I've uploaded them as attachments.


Well, I spent the evening assembling the remaining infantry for this army (Apart from 4 Meltas and a sergeant which I'll have to get off ebay. I've even included some standard bearers which will be flying the stars and stripes, just in case the army theme wasn't obvious enough. As something a little bit different, I found this vehicle in a drawer. It was going to be part of my Praetorian IG army when I had them, but I've since got rid of them and this remains. I'm thinking about 3 options, and have done a quick mockup of two of them for your advice and comments.

The first option is as a Hydra variant, as seen below:



Pretty sraight forward

The second is a Salamander HQ vehicle - basically the comms variant. This would be useful in game too for those reserve rolls for my valks!



Basically lots of tech and gear on there, the heavy bolter is supposed to appear as though its an automated turret at the moment, I'm contemplating having a crewman there if I decide to go with this option. Let me know what you think about the auto/crewed aspect too. There will also be a few more atennas to go on it, but as everything is blu-tacked its difficult to do.

The third option is as a helhound variant. Basically two large gas tanks will be placed in the back, and then some sort of weapon fashioned and pipes etc everywhere. I didnt manage to do a mock up of this as I didnt have anything to represent the canisters. I was thinking kinder egg cases, but they are probably too wide to fit two in. Let me know what you think could work there too...

So, which variant do you think is the best option? Or should I just leave it out entirely?

[SDKFZ]

Looks cool, is it your build or someone elses ? Is it a cast model or plasticard and bits ?
I think a hellhound would be great and it works, trust me, i know.

If you want to use one of the two youve shown earlier id go for the salamander as it has a lot of potential as a model.

/ SDKFZ

[ArcticWolf]

Looks cool, is it your build or someone elses ? Is it a cast model or plasticard and bits ?
I think a hellhound would be great and it works, trust me, i know.

/ SDKFZ

Its a scratch build from plasticard, but the credit must go to a nameless figure (I can't for the bleedin life of me remember who did it for me). I was also thinking a hellhound would be good, but the re-roll on reserves is always good! If I was to go the hellhound way, any ideas on what to use as the gas tanks/tank?

I've just based and undercoated a batch of about 15 models which I'll be chipping away at over the next few weeks - I'll get some pictures pretty much stage by stage so the plog doesn't go dry :P

[SDKFZ]

Not sure, how about looking at some toy pieces like playmobil stuff ?

Best of luck, Mate !

/ SDKFZ

[ArcticWolf]

Well, I've been chipping away at the batch of 24 Guardsmen I've set myself the task to do...

Pics of them undercoated and washed:



Then the green done on them (As far as I got in the couple of hours I had - it will be dulled down somewhat with the devlan miriacle wash towards the end):





My case arrived today too, so I spent some time cutting that to fit:



Damn, thats a lot of spare foam



Oh, and I also quickly knocked up a banner for them - credit to the random people on google images I stole these from:



And finally, a little something to spice up my next coupld of huey builds arrived in the post today



Thanks for reading! C&C Appreciated as always

[SDKFZ]

Well you clearly have the right mind for "batchpainting" models, i dont I always end up painting three or four guys, takes forever.
Custom bags like that are really great, as you can fit all kind of strange models in them.
Lighting up the skies Great, cool idea ! Love to see how you will do the lighting on those hueys.

/ SDKFZ

[sheep]

Nice nam guard mate, I agree no model looks complete without a nice base, and yours are great. I'm not a massive fan of the Hueys in 40k, but thats just the GW purist in me, the paint on them is brilliant regardless.

Look forward to more.

[ArcticWolf]

Thanks for the kind words... Just for you SDKFZ


Original image for Comparison

The Biro ran a little when varnishing and I cant get a decent picture due to the gloss, but you get the idea.

Unsure whether to attach it to a Huey or do a few more and put them on bases and use them as objective markers.

EDIT: Just finished doing the whites, Browns, and Devlan miriacle washes on all the troops. Ill porbably make further progress tomorrow but even so I'll add pics from this stage then too,

Cheers

Wolfy

[SDKFZ]

Yhea, surfs up !

Stcking to the film, they would make great objectives.

/ SDKFZ

[ArcticWolf]

Well, Mega painting session now complete. My back hurts from being hunched over for hours, and I'm sure I've lost some years of my life from all the fumes and lack of sleep.... Also I did this instead of revising.... oops! There will be a few posts to this as I have a fair few pictures to put up. On a side note, my photos came out a bit better this time. I modified my lightbox setup a little, it seems Cushell is not only comforting to your **** cheeks after a mega curry, but its also good for light diffusion too....



Its not glamarous but it does the job! Anyway, here is the next batch of men completed:



As you can see I'm rather messy and get paint everywhere on the matt when painting in a frenzy haha. I'm really happy how this bunch turned out - proved to me again that the bases are everything. I was ready to strip them and start again before basing and all of a sudden they look great :P I havent done these in squads, I just have a pile of models that will complete the army and chose a random bunch from there. Here is whats left (Plus 2 more meltas and a sergeant which I'm waiting to arrive from ebay)



I also bought a valkyrie base from bits and kits and I'm having my mate cast six up for me due to the fact they are nigh impossible to come across on the bits sites. I ordered some of the Vietbnam buildings from this collection: http://www.chilternminiatures.co.uk/...8604a95c9ef722 I know they are 20mm but hopefully for the bases they will be fine. Having received a valkyrie base it is a lot smaller than I remember. The use of buildings and stuff on the bases makes them a little more sturdy and enables me to use brass rod or similar to keep the heli's hovering instead of having to find the Valkyrie flight stands. I'm planning on modelling them all at different heights in order to give a better feel to the army - it will be a bit more dynamic.

Anyway, I'll move onto some closups of the batch finished and let the pictures do the talking!

[ArcticWolf]

Cont'








And apprently, burning stuff in the kitchen isn't normal behaviour for a non-wargamer..... I guess someone should tell my mother that... Really happy with how the banners turned out here are some closeups (Do you think its definitely obvious now that they are USA in disguise? ;P)




And a couple of shots of the regiment so far:




Definitely looking forward to moving onto the next two helis (I'll be doing the Vendettas next). But, for now, I guess I should get on with some revision!

C&C Appreciated

Wolfy.

EDIT: Couple of questions:

1. How many objectives do I need these days (You can tell how long its been since I played :P) - Also will it change with 6th does anyone know?
2. Should I have all the same surfboards or different designs?
3. How to make them into objectives? Just have them stuck in the ground? Or have a a marine in his swimshorts holding them? < I like this idea :P

[SDKFZ]

New recriuts looking good !

Army shot looking great !

Question 1: For your standard game, id say 3. Dont know about “how this will change with 6th ed.
2: Why not try some different designs. Try variating the original design.
3: GO, for the marine in swimshorts What armies do you play against ? Try getting one of your opponents figs. and have him trying to get away with the board.
Just an idea.

/ SDKFZ

[ArcticWolf]

Surfs up!



I also ordered some hot surfer chicks which will be based with a few of these as my objective markers

Pics are a bit crappy as I've had to do it like that due to the gloss varnish screwing up photos with proper lighting

I've also prepped the other two Hueys for assembly today, and made the sponsons for one of the Vendettas - It will have three lascannons on each sponson/weapon mount in order to give the same effect as three twin linked weapons due to the limited mounting places on the Huey.

/Wolfy