Friday, August 20, 2010

Primed Rune Priest

The primer is on too thick and its a bit grainy thanks to the humidity.  I should have waited a few days or done it at night, but oh well.  This guy is really just a first draft as I fully intend on making better Rune Priests when I'm not rushing to put an army together for games.



Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mark of the Wulfen Grey Hunter Assembled



I was procrastinating in regards to modeling a MotW marine.  I couldn't decide whether I wanted to make them bestial and almost werewolves or go with the fluff in the Codex.  They were depicted more as normal Space Wolves that had given a little too much of themselves over the Wolf inside.  Since I'm doing Bran Redmaw's Great Company and he's acknowledged as having more Marines touched by the Wulfen than any other chapter it was an important decision.(This is one of the reasons I chose Redmaw's GC as I'd already planned on having a MotW marine in each squad)

I decided that MotW wasn't full on Wulfen so making them werewolves would be a bit asinine.(No offense to folks who do.  This is just an opinion)


I've already done a tut on pinning the first arm, but here are a few more pics of the process done on the second arm.
I started with a left over assault marine chainsword arm.
I then removed the chainsword while leaving the pommel in place.
The rest is no different than the other chain axe posted earlier in the week.


All I have left to do now on the first squad is complete the Wolf Standard bearer...and lots of painting of course.  Look for primed pics of the Rune Priest this weekend.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Good news

I've had the Wolf Guard with Lightning Claws metal mini sitting in its blister for about a year now and recently decided to assemble him.  To my dismay the blister pack didn't include a backpack.

After emailing GW and then calling the customer service help line a new WG mini is on its way free of charge.

Excellent outcome and yet another glowing review of GWs customer service practices.

Forgeworld: Awesome or The Ultimate Evil?

Having just laid down a unifying layer of GS to my Rune Priest in order to make the top view more smooth I had time sitting and staring at it cure.

I took this time to get something done for my Mark of the Wulfen GH.  I've decided to denote their special status through facial tattoos and two close combat weapons.(at least for now...I've got my eyes on the Maxmini Werewolf heads)

First one will have two chain axes.  I ordered a pack of ten resin axes from Forgeworld a while back and this was a chance to use another two.  The pack includes two different marks of Chain Axes.  They're separated by the shape of their heads.  THEY ARE INSANELY FRAGILE.

My first attempt at modeling these was less than successful.  I initially tried green stuffing it to a hand, but that didn't stick after drying.  I then just super glued it, but the shaft itself snapped under the pressure of me painting it with Boltgun Silver.  Did I mention they were fragile?

Best option is simple pinning...despite the hassle of drilling a thin resin shaft.(the reason I didn't pin on the first GW)



First cut the axe to fit the arm you're pinning it too.  You don't want an axe thats too long or too short.  Just right.
Play with the shaft a bit until you find a reasonable center point.  The resin is soft and thin so it won't drill as cleanly as normal plastic.  When you've got a decent depth work the drill bit around in a circle while its in the shaft to widen the hole a bit.  CAREFULLY or you'll break your costly resin.
Drill a corresponding hole into the hand you want to pin the axe too.  Now, don't do what I did and actually line up the hole with the pommel already on the arm...if there is.





Notice how professional that looks?  Meh, hopefully no one will notice...I know they will, but thats the story I'm going with.
Anyways, its not that different than how you'd normally pin plastic, but it demands a tad bit more care.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:
Use old paper clips.  Don't waste cash/etc on pinning rods from hobby sites/stores.
I generally put super glue over the hand hole and then put the paper clip into it.  Let it dry a minute and then use hobby clippers to cut away the rest of the paper clip.  That way you won't have shards of metal flying when you cut.  Use more super glue when applying the resin.(Pro-Tip: Plastic glue won't work well.  Super glue always for metal and resin!)



Monday, August 16, 2010

Rune Priest WIP 3

Need to clean up GS on the top of the hood still and cut some guitar wire to connect the hood to the chest.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Rune Priest WIP 2 - Psychic Hood rough

Decided that it was about time I put the hood on my RP.  Really simple conversion.  Most people go with a power armor shoulderpad, but I tried a Terminator pad because I wanted to convert it a little to resemble the RP entry pictured in our codex.  This backfired as I later realized my magnetized Wolf Lord/WGBL/WGT would be without shoulder pads for his various other configs.  Bitz will have to be ordered before I can run him as anything more than 2x wolf claws.(which isn't a bad WGBL or Lone Wolf)
I'm not 100% happy with how this is turning out, but it'll do.  I will be making further changes, but I really just wanted to get the GS gap filling done today so that I can glue on the force axe arm and the power plant.  Fully assembled pics very soon.



Friday, August 13, 2010

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Bjorn!!!!

This is my Forge World Venerable Space Wolves Dreadnought which will pretty much always count as Bjorn the Fell Handed.  I've always hated that he's depicted in a Mk V chassis when he was interred so long ago.  Much prefer the look of the Mk IV.  The IV just seems to impart more character.  Mk V looks like a couch on legs to me.  This is my first foray into resin aside from bits and bases.  Pretty much immediately upon finishing assembly I regretted not pinning, at the very least, his feet to the base.(courtesy of Dragon Forge...very quality resin folks)  The banner is just resting in its slot since I've still not decided whether I want to glue it or try to magnetize it for ease of transport.  Note of interest: the original banner was damaged in shipping and was missing the points on one of the cross speartips.  Forgeworld sent me a new one right off.  Good customer service.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Grey Hunter Progress

First, some Natasha Kerensky love.  Wolf's Dragoons 4 life.
Now for the space mens.







Most of the detail work was done with my brand new Winsor Newton Series 7 Miniature brush Size 00.  I love this brush.  My facework alone has improved substantially.  Further squad progress will be slowed as I am saving for a size 1 brush and I no longer want to use my GW brushes.  I'm also hitting a wall over running out of Secret Weapons Runic Mountain bases.  I initially only ordered ten.  Between the eight man Grey Hunter squad and my Rune Priest they done got used up.  BTW anyone have tips for removing minis from GW black bases?  I glued them to the basic bases for painting and now its being a bit annoying getting them off.








Saturday, August 7, 2010

Thunder Lord on Mount WIP

Now that I have your attention...
More pictures of WIP.  I still have to drill out the arms for magnets.  In the past, I've used power drills, but I want to try out a friend's dremel tool to see if I can get a more precise fit.
Torfin the Ill Born riding ehh...I'm still working on a name for the Twolf.






Friday, August 6, 2010

WIP Bran Redmaw Wolf Lord

The arms are magnetized so that I can switch out his weapons loadout.  Figured I'd start off with the Wolf Claws because well...Bran's a beast.  The giant flowing pimp cape is sticky tacked in place since I'm painting it separately.