Tuesday 26 December 2017

Genestealer Cult Patriarch





The patriarch cometh through the gloom, all razor sharp claws and teeth.

He's taken out at least two Space Marines.

Ready to leap on the prey.

A bit more lit up to show detail.





Sunday 24 December 2017

Saturday 23 December 2017

Xmas Miniature - Tau Stormsurge

Finished my Xmas Miniature Project, which is destined as a display model for a friend.

The white crystalline covered base is, of course, a necessary feature.

Did you know the Tau use squirts of liquid nitrogen to cool the barrels of their really big guns between shots?

I don't know which planet the Tau have invaded but I suspect the Hand of Nurgle somewhere.

Another photo showing the Tau Ethereal directing operations from a hover drone.


One hell of a recoil from that cannon, which seems to be targeting aerospace assets.

Still think Nurgle is involved.

And that's all, people.





Monday 18 December 2017

Kitbashed Inquisition Gun-Cutter

High Altitude Flight.

"What rose above the landing platform out of the blizzard night,its down thrusters wailing, was my gun-cutter. Four hundred and fifty tonnes of armoured alloy, eighty metres from barbed nose to raked stern, landing gear still lowered like spider legs, it rose on the blue-hot downwash of angled jets. Banks of floodlights under its beak-nose cut on and bathed the deck and the cultists in fierce white light.

The gun turrets in the end of the stubby wings rotated and washed the platform with withering heavy fire.....Bodies were reduced to sprays of liquid.'
Xenos

Thus Dan Abnett inspired me to kitbash a Gun Cutter for my Inquisitor and gang. Eighty metres is a trifle on the large size, about 1.2 metres in game scale, so I cut it back a bit.

I started with one of these, A Revell snap-together Halo Pelican kit. This is modelled at 1:100, roughly 15mm in game scale, so is manageable as a 28 ml model on the table top. These models can be bought for about £25.


This kit really does snap together. The parts fit tightly without glue. I am a little uncertain about this being suitable for children as quite a bit of pressure is needed on the snap-tights. The assembled whole has great playability with lots of moving parts, bits that light up and a 'whoo-whoo' space noise.

Assembled it's about the same size as a Valkyrie. The great thing is that the cockpit bubbles are huge at 15mm, so just right for 28mm.

I was so pleased with the result that I used the model more or less as is.

Gun Cutter in Flight Configuration.

I sprayed the model all over in Citadel Mechanicus Standard (medium) Grey to prime and undercoat - with the cockpit removed. To this I airbrushed on a top coat of Vallejo metallic black (gunmetal) and on top of that Humbrol Multi-Hue Blue. I then spot painted with Mr Colour Metallic Red. Some spare Citadel 'flight' decals completed the look.

The Business End.

I put a couple of searchlights on the front hull. The model comes with four hard points on the wings so I added some Old Crow resin missiles from my bits box.

The cockpit is colourised on the inside with Citadel 'candy' blue transparent paint so one can't see the 15mm seats but the blue interior flashing light is still visible when i want to make woo-woo noises.

Landing Gear Lowered.


With the gear lowered and the ramp dropped down at the rear, the Cutter can easily be loaded.

Rotating Thrusters.

Ready for Vertical Lift Off.

I added two rotating cannon mounts under the engines. The Cutter now has the same weapon loading as a Corvus so may be played as one and still be wysiwyg.

So there we go: a really neat Inquisition Gun Cutter for the princely sum of £25, some paint, and a few spare bits.

Result!






Sunday 3 December 2017

Death Guard Blightlord Terminators

I have a rather large Deathguard army, including a Titan, but somehow never got around to acquiring terminators - so I was pleased to see the release of the Blightlord set.

The models are nice but one thing struck me upon building them. If one compares one of the new terminators (left) with a Deathguard Plague Marine (right), then the relative lack of stature of the termies is clear. By making plague marines so big, GW may have created something of a problem for themselves. Their terminator equivalents look a bit unimpressive, somehow, in comparison.

And here is the full set.

This laddie comes with his own muckspreader.

The squad leader with combi-weapon and plague sword. He is a bit on the fly-blown side.

Another chance to see, showing his best side for a close up.

This guy has come over all steam-punkery.

I love the cape on Lord Zorro the blubberback.

And it's goodbye from them.