Flakkatrakk

One of the fun parts of the Apocalypse rules that have rejuvenated 40k are the introduction of ground-attack aircraft. The attacked have to be able to defend themselves so AA vehicles are necessary. I love mocking up whacky Ork transport so could not resist the Flakkatrakk (datasheet on p. 28 of Apocalypse reload).

I based my model on the old Gorkamorka trukk. There are lots of used examples of these knocking about at Bring and Buys and eBay than can be had cheaply.

The pom-pom guns are metal tubes available from model shops.

Ork vehicles are great fun for the converter. The tattier they look the better.

John

Shadowsword

Here it is, the new Shadowsword kit, and it’s a cracker. There are six different variants but I elected to make the basic Shadowsword. Game-wise, you are probably better off festooning it with lascannons and heavy bolters but I opted for a plain simple Titan-Slayer layout. I think it looks better and the rationale makes more sense. A specialised, expensive vehicle like this would never be expected to go toe-to-toe with the enemy. I have given it a single twin-lined front heavy bolter as a last ditch defence.
This layout does have some advantages. The side armour is bumped to 14, meaning that a strength nine weapon is the minimum needed to have any chance of armour penetration, and the Ballistic Skill is bumped to four (extra targetters). That BS upgrade may make all the difference when you have a Titan in your sights.
I also enclose some pics comparing the Baneblade and Shadowsword kits.

Arvus Lighter

I wanted a shutttle for my Inquisition teams and eventually settled on the Arvus Lighter. I have upgraded it with an Old Crow resin autocannon to 'militarise' it. I will probably play it using the Aquila Lander datasheet. It is nice and clean, as befits an Inquisition transport. I may buy some Inquisition brass emblems to decorate it from Forge World.

The Arvus is available from Forge World.

Heretic Nurgle Dreadnought

I assembled this one pretty much straight out of the box with no customisation. It is a Forge World model and good value for money. I am not a great artist so I used the same multiple-colour paint overlay that I used for the Nurgle Baneblade customisation.

This is a very nice model with oodles of detail at a reasonable price.

Click on the picture for a better view

Modelling an Imperial Guard Dropship

“the three shuttles were military dropships, heavily armoured and carrying enough weaponry for close air support.......the barrage of autocannon rounds and sporadic rockets from handheld launchers barely scratched the paintwork as the menacing formation descended. All the defenders really succeeded in doing was to pinpoint their positions, the ones bracketing the shuttle’s flight path falling silent almost at once as the dropships’ nose-mounted lascannon replied to deadly effect.”
Extract from Cain’s Last Stand by Sandy Mitchell, 2008.

An armed and armoured dropship for my Imperial Guard, oh yes, I just had to have one. A search around the internet convinced me that there was nothing available, not even at some horrendous price from Forge World. So I had to scratchbuild one. I used balsa wood (and balsa glue) to build the basic box as it is both light and rigid. I wanted a brutal-looking shuttle, not some high-tech machine. I coated the frame in plasticard using white glue. Then it was just a case of adding on decoration. The twin-plasma engines are from a Star Wars Y-Wing kit. I also used various bits from a Trumpeter Chinese MIG-19 1:35 kit. The Hellstrike missiles on overwing launchers and the lateral vectored thrusters are from Old Crow.

The dropship is armed with a forward firing lascannon, a dorsal-turret with twin-linked heavy bolters and two hellstrike missiles to make the defenders keep their heads down. The bolters can also be used while the shuttle is on the ground. There are lateral exit hatches, including one large set that is blown off with bolt charges to facilitate getting the troops out quickly. It has a tail rocket-jet as well as the plasma engines for space flight.

It has four crew, a captain-pilot, an enginseer, and two gunners in a sealed cabin in the bow. The shuttle has a ruby laser long range comm to communicate with orbiting ships so it can act as a command vehicle.

The model is painted Tamiya German Grey. Citadel shining gold was used for various sensors and panels. These were hand-varnished with Citadel ‘Ard Coat after the whole model had been sprayed with Citadel satin varnish to make them shine.

It is about 40cm long with a 24cm wingspan.

Planetary Assault, anyone? Rules and datasheet to follow.

The Pictures are clickable

Baneblade II - A Plaguereaper of Nurgle

I have a renegade Nurgle army so the Plaguereaper conversion of a Baneblade was just too tempting and, as Oscar Wilde so pithily put it, ‘The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield’. My efforts are shown in the photos.

The model was quite extensive converted by the use of Milliput. This may not be the world’s best modelling clay but it is cheap and I am used to working with it. A useful aid was the modelling tool from Citadel. The paint job is built up in many successive layers:
1. Black Citadel undercoat spray (this is the best undercoating agent you can get),
2. Dark Brown (e.g. Citadel Scorched Brown),
3. Mid brown,
4. Mid Green,
5. Puky green (e.g. Citadel Camo), and
6. Translucent bright yellow (e.g. Bad Moon Yellow).

I tried to put something interesting on every surface of the tank so that there was detail wherever the eye rested. I put on Milliput boils, Milliput goo, nurglings, arms etc and even a zombie in a tattered Guard uniform emerging from bubbling goo at the back – this usefully covered up Imperial symbols.

The original model is currently on display at the Maidstone Games workshop

The datasheet is on p. 172 of the Apocalypse rulebook.

Baneblade

One of my favourite miniatures set is Citadel’s Warhammer 40K models. 40K is probably the world’s most successful wargame. Its play mechanics are now in a 5th edition and are OK rather than scintillating but the background ‘fluff’ and models are exceptional.

The new Apocalypse mega-mad game system has given the game a new lease of life. I have been very taken with the new plastic Apocalypse vehicles.

I have built three Baneblade super-heavy tanks, two of which are heavily modified. The photos show the standard build. It was undercoated in Citadel’s excellent black undercoat spray and then painted with Tamiya German Grey (XF-63) and drybrushed with lightened shades of same. The aim was to give the tank a Panzer look, hence the black uniforms for the crew. It was far too pristine when finished so I tried weathering it with a Tamiya weathering stick (Mud shade). I had never used one before but was pleased with the result. These are like lipsticks and are just as easy to use, so i’m told.

The model is currently on display at Games Workshop’s Maidstone store.

I worry that I overdid it a bit but it does look like a tank that has been in the field. I once asked a veteran of Vietnam what colour the tanks were, as they seemed different in every photo. His answer was that they were the colour of the last thing they had driven through.