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Armorcast Chaos Warhound: Canis Messorem Finished?

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!!! Now that I am done with my GenCon 2013 coverage it is time to turn back to some actual 'hobby' stuff. Before I left for GenCon I had been working on an old Armorcast Chaos Warhound which I have named 'the Reaper's Hound' or Canis Messorem if you prefer the Latin. This weekend actually saw me spending some time in the 'man-cave/hobby-room' which allowed me to finish up the painting on the Warhound. I am not sure if I will do any 'freehand' work on the legs or not but this is were the little beast stands at this point.

An overview look:






Top down look:


A miniature (from the to-be-painted shelf) for scale:

A slightly closer look:

The 'Legion' Icon:

 The 'Soul Forge' Icon:

These two shots are from 'ground level':



Now for a bunch of close-up shots:









Well, now I am just waiting for a chance to seal the miniature, the weather has not been the best lately for sealing minis. After the final sealant coat (which is a flat coat) I will go in and apply gloss varnish to the eyes and the nose which will make them look wet. I am now working on the three Chaos Soul Forge Banners for the beast but I thought I would show you all the progress so far. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Armorcast Chaos Warhound: Banners Finished

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!! I had a little time this weekend to pop into the hobby room and I decided to work on some Dark Mechanicus Banners for my Armorcast Warhound Soulforged Titan.


The process of getting the banners done

A long time ago I learned how to make 15mm banners out of Wine Foil (the stuff that seals the cork in) and I thought it would work well for the larger banners I wanted to make. I use the foil instead of paper because the foil is very bendable, easy to paint, takes 'damage' well, and is heavier than paper; the only thing paper has going for it (in my opinion) is it can be burned to give a scrotched effect.

Time to gather some supplies from the closet:

You will notice that the foil coming off the bottle is a bit wrinkly so it needs to be flattened out before use. I made sure to not cause it to roll up while flattening it out.

Now the piece is all nice and flat:

At this point I drew out the rough shape of the banner:

Another nice thing about this type of foil is that it can be easily cut with standard household scissors (not shown for some reason) and clean up of tight areas are done with a hobby knife:


The banners were then primered and painted up. Here is the front-side of the three Chaos/Dark Mechanicus Banners:
 I hate painting 'free-hand'! I am not an artist by any means......

I thought the back-sides of the Banners. I wanted to do something and gave a try at some flames. Again I am not an artist and will be the first to admit that these could have turned out better. I hate free-hand painting!


Here are a couple of shots of the Banners installed on Canis Messorem:



I think the Warhound is complete. I could do some battle damage on the legs but I think it is time to move on to other projects (of which there are tons).......
Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Battle Report: Blood Angels versus Imperial Guard with a twist

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! Last Monday saw a Holiday in the US, it was Labor Day, and Mordian 7th and I had the day off. We decided to celebrate with a little 1250 point battle in the morning. Instead of being a normal battle we both decided to play each other's list; so instead of my usual Transhuman Killing Machines I got to play with some normal guys with flashlights. It was actually a whole lot of fun! On to the pictures and some reporting........

My force for the day, a bunch of guardsmen, a Vanquisher, a Thudd Gun, and a couple of Sentinels:

Led by Ciaphas Cain Hero of the Imperium!
Mordian 7th had some rules he found which we both agreed represented Ciaphas Cain and his bodyguard Jurgen very well. It was a blast to use him and have him trying to save his own life during the game.

The board setup which was surprisingly not a city fight:




The guard went second and deployed hunkered down in the the defense line. The guard needed all the help they could get!


The Blood Angels setup, ready to sweep the Guard off the table. This is not a sight I am used to seeing as I am usually on the controlling side of the Blood Angels:


The Blood Angels went first and swept forwards rapidly. The Baal Predator unleashed on the Guard Command Squad in an effort to 'cut the head off the snake' but only managed to kill poor Lt Schilling:

Having first-hand experience with how devastating a Baal Predator can be I had to knock it out quickly. Oh looky, I have a Vanquisher:

At this point the Blood Angels are down 1 Baal Predator and the Guard 1 Lt Schilling, I would call that a very good trade off for the Guard. The second turn saw no reinforcements showing up and a lot of maneuvering by the armies and vain attempts by the Imperial Guard to blunt the Blood Angel Assault Squad's upcoming charge:

Turn 3 and the Blood Angel Stormraven Gunship shows up:


Turn 3 also saw the first (of many) Imperial Guard casualties. Here the Blood Angel Assault Squad (having lost its Melta gunner and was suffering from the 'Red Thirst') forgoes the Chimera troop transport to charge into a hapless squad of Imperial Guard. Oh the humanity! Flashlights (lasguns) do not work so well against power armor:

Yeppers, it went about how I figured it would:

The Blood Angels begin lining up for their next targets:

Turn 3 for the Imperial Guard did have a couple of highlights amongst all the screaming and dismemberment. First off Ciaphas Cain's personal driver Jurgen (who has robust driving style as a rule) decided to get the Hero of the Imperium away from the crazy (and thirsty) Blood Angels ripping apart the Guardsmen behind him. If you have ever read any of the Ciaphas Cain novels you will understand that this is perfectly normal for the Hero of the Imperium! Jurgen cleared the far defensive line with ease but I wanted an 'action' shot:

The other highlight for the Imperial Guard was again the Vanquisher which I had been taunting Mordian 7th with all morning, telling him "I will snap shot the Stormraven out of the air"! Well, I got darn close. 6 to hit, 14 total armor penetration, but only blew the Multi-Meltas  off of it:

The end of turn 3 with the Blood Angels pushing the advance on the Imperial Guard line (and the Guard's Objective):

Blood Angel Assault Troops loose in the backfield is a terrifying problem to have:

Turn 4 was the make it or break it turn it seemed. The second Blood Angel Assault Squad (with Librarian) finally got tired of the movie being shown in the Thunderhawk Transport and decided to show up to confront Ciaphas Cain the Hero of the Imperium. Unfortunately they did not stick their landing all that well:


The Stormraven Gunship (carrying a Sanguinary Priest and a Combat Squad of Assault Marines) felt it was time to get away from the Vanquisher and its brutally effective gunner. As it was zooming towards my table edge it unloaded its payload of Transhuman Killing Machines deep in my lines:

Turn 4 for the Imperial Guard showed a glimmer of hope against the onrushing Red tide of Blood Angel Assault Marines. First off, Jurgen decided to Tank Shock the Blood Angels in front of him forcing them out of Squad Coherence:

The final unit of the Imperial Guard show up (just in time!) to deal with the 6 new Blood Angel Assault Marines recently deployed from the departed Stormraven Gunship. Rough Riders......Charge!!!!!

The Rough Riders gutted a bunch of Assault Marines with their Power Lances, however I am not sure it was enough of them. The 2 nasty ones are still left standing, the Sanguinary Priest and the Sergeant with a Power Sword:

Turn 5 and it would be the final turn saw the Blood Angels trying to secure both objectives while denying the Imperial Guard any chance to secure them. The Blood Angel Librarian and his squad finally assaulted and blew up the Hero of the Imperium's Chimera:

Having butchered the rest of the Imperial Guard Command Squad last turn the one surviving member of the first Blood Angel Assault Squad to hit the lines decided he need to kill the Imperial Guard Squad holding the Objective which he did! Here you can see the Guard breaking a fleeing:

Turn 5 for the Imperial Guard held a lot of surprises! First off the Rough Riders (not shown) managed to slay the Sanguinary Priest and not all die to the Sergeant with his power sword. The fleeing Guard Squad regrouped just as the team of 3 Lascannons blew away the Blood Angel Assault Marine holding the Guard's Objective:

The now ride-less Ciaphas Cain Hero of the Imperium and his penal squad scurry into the woods and seize the Blood Angel Objective.

That is were the game ended with the Imperial Guard winning 3-0. I must say it I had a bunch of fun playing the Imperial Guard against my normal army (the Blood Angels) and I hope Mordian 7th enjoyed his time playing the Transhuman Killing Machines. Thanks for stopping by taking a look! Take care!

Into the Fires......Vulkan Strides to War

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!!! Well there has been some talk of a big Horus Heresy event taking place in January at the Memphis World of Battle (GW HQ for the US) and I am seriously thinking about going. I have been bitten by the Heresy-bug lately and it would be awesome to get some Horus Heresy gaming going here in the states. Myself and Mordian 7th went to England last year to do some Heresy gaming with the Tempus Fugitives gaming group and that was a lot of fun but it would be awesome to get the same thing going here stateside. To really motivate me while I wait for the second Black Library Horus Heresy book (with the Salamanders inside) to become available I decided to put together the big guy himself......Vulkan!


The miniature is a Legendarion Miniature from the Ukraine. It was a bit of a struggle to get the miniature but I think it was well worth the slight trouble. The miniature came as several pieces all of which were made from dense hard resin. There were very few mold lines to deal with and overall the miniature went together like a dream. Here is a shot of the various pieces:

Here are several shots from various angles showing off the detail on the miniature (of which there is a lot):




Now for some close-up shots:


Love the Gauntlet of the Forge:
 The Spear of Vulkan:

A shot of the face of Vulkan:
 Shoulder Pad A:
 Shoulder Pad B:

To show the rough scale of the miniature I grabbed the closet miniature I had available. After a little propping up of the 'normal' miniature (to bring the feet level with Vulkan's) here is the scale shot:

I got this miniature awhile ago and have been waiting to put it together. I am sure the Forgeworld version of Vulkan will be stunning and I will have to buy it when it comes out but for now this version of Vulkan will do quite well. I can't wait to get some paint on this guy but the weather has been a little to hot and humid to do any spraying so Vulkan will have to wait a little longer for some paint. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. This is will be a fun journey, come along as I bring Legio XVIII to life!

Salamander Holsters Greenstuff WiP

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a crazy week here, there have been massive floods with roads being washed away and what not. I actually had to spend a fair amount of time bailing out the basement which had flooded. I needed a break today so I decided to get some hobby work done as a bit of a reward to myself. I am pressing on with my Legio XVIII Salamanders force so with the upheaval in the house I started with a bit of organization, then moved on to washing/cleaning resin goodies for 2 20-man Tactical Squads, and finally decided that I needed a whole bunch of holsters for the Marines (each has a Bolter and Bolt Pistol). I know Forge World makes special resin holsters for the Horus Heresy but I wanted Salamander looking Bolt Pistol Holsters! So I set off to work out some Salamander looking Holsters which I could then duplicate across the whole force. I decided that I wanted holsters that have: fire, drake looking stuff, and scales; here is the first steps on some fire holsters:

After the first layer dried I went in and added a little more in certain areas to help build up the flames a bit (it is hard to tell but it did help the flames raise up a bit):

Here is a group shot of the others I did up as well:


A couple of shots from the sides:
 These were really hard to take pictures of because they are so freaking tiny!

I am not even remotely good at greenstuff work but I think these turned out fairly well and definitely have that Salamander's feel. It was time at that point to break out the Instant Mold (for previous use see here) and make some press molds:


After the greenstuff dried I popped them out of the press mold where I found that some worked well and a couple did not (no big deal):

Here is one of them that I quickly got cleaned up before real life called again:

Here is the workbench with the first of the Salamander 20 man Tactical Squads waiting to be assembled now that I have an unlimited supply of Salamander Holsters:


Yes indeed Vulkan is watching over the assembly of his Legion! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy Era Salamanders---First Tactical Squad Built

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a busy time here now that the rains have finally let up but I have managed to get some 'hobby time' in. I have been bitten by the Heresy Era bug and have been working on my Heresy Era Salamanders. After getting the custom holsters all sorted out it was time to get stuck in and build the first 20-man Tactical Squad. Here are some various shots of the initial assembly process before I got busy with the Greenstuff.




I added a 'squad marking' symbol to the right shoulder pads:



At this point the squad was built but still did not seem 'Salamandery' to me, they looked like any other Space Marine Heresy Era squad. It was time to try out some Greenstuff work on them! I am not a sculptor and my Greenstuff skills are lacking but I wanted to give it a try. I wanted to add some Drake Scale areas to several (not all) minis and I wanted some 'Fetish/Trophy' Strings (with Drake Teeth and Drake Scale sections) on some of the minis. I was intimidated to say the least but one must challenge oneself from time to time! Here are some looks at the Greenstuff work that I attempted:


The start of the 'Fetish/Trophy' Strings:

Occasional sections of Drake Scale armor added to the Mk IV armor:


Here is a group shot before we look closer at some of the built and customized minis:


Sergeant Mas'Kini:



Nuncio Vox Operator:

Thought this guy turned out rather well:

Another look at the Squad Symbol. I am not sure what this squad's nickname will be based on the symbol. Suggestions?!?

Another cool marine, this time with a grenade and bolt pistol:

Shoulder 'Fetish/Trophy' String, custom Salamander holster, and Squad marking; this guy has it all:

I liked this pose, clearing the roof tops. I customized his backpack as well since the Salamanders are known to customize the equipment:

Well the group of 20 are outside now being primered since the weather is so nice. I have another 20-man Salamander Tactical Squad staring me in the face right now. For those that might be wondering about the bases, these are just 'painting bases' while I wait for the resin bases to be sorted out. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Take care!

Feast of Blades 2013 A quick look

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! I had the chance to go down to Denver with my good friend Mordian 7th to attend the annual 40k Grand Tournament called Feast of Blades. While Feast of Blades has a highly competitive side to it (with Invitational and Open Tournaments) both Mordian 7th and I went down to participate in the narrative Apocalypse game. I went along to help Mordian 7th move all of his guardsmen and more importantly help him remove the casualties that were inevitable when playing Imperial Guard in Apocalypse.

Before the game got going I had a chance to wander around a bit and snap some pictures. Here is the main hall of Feast of Blades:



A sample of the terrain used for the gaming tables:

A World Eaters Banner was placed near our Apocalypse gaming tables:

Mordian 7th begins the Imperial Guard deployment:

Mordian 7th and I were the only Loyalist players (there was a Blood Angel force but they were recalled back to Baal to deal with a family emergency) facing off against Tyranids, Chaos, and Angron and his Heresy World Eaters. We were massively outgunned and out pointed so the guy running the game let us use a scratch built Warlord Titan!




The Titan didn't really help at all. We were still massively outgunned with 'D' Weapons; still we both had fun! Let the game commence:
World Eater Drop Pod Assault turn 1:
 They are inside the Void Shields!
 Chaos was all over us in Turn 1 before we could do a thing, it was not looking good for the Guard:
 Tyranids burrowing up in front of the far Guard flank:
 While the Imperial Guard was trying to hold the line long enough for the Space Marines to show up there was a large surge of Green on the far flank. An awesome Ork Bastion drops in while the rest of the Ork army arrives:
 The Ork Bastion was stunning:
 The army was full of custom models that were very well done:
 One of my all time favorites! A stunning Ork Lifta-Droppa:



 Here is the Ork view of the battle unfolding:

 From the Chaos backfield looking at the desolation that was the Imperial Guard gun-line:


After several hours and the loss of just about every Imperial Guard model (some twice) Mordian 7th and I decided to call it and let some of the later arriving folks a chance to get stuck into the game. The Guard held (sort of) long enough for 20,000 points of Space Marines to show up and try and hold back the forces of Evil. All in all it was a lot of fun but I really prefer the more narrative non-Apocalypse games myself. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy Salamanders: Second Tactical Squad built

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! Tonight I would like to present for your viewing pleasure my second Heresy-era Salamanders 20 man Tactical Squad. I had a lot of fun with this squad and it seemed to go together better than the first squad. I did go a little over board with the greenstuff work on some of the guys but I had fun doing it. These guys feature custom Salamander Holsters, Drake mantles, Fetish ropes, etc. Well here are a couple of overall shots of the unit:





Here are a bunch of close-up looks at some of the various minis in the unit starting with.......

Sergeant Sim'baa:




Squad Nuncio Vox:


Several of the interesting looking Marines in the Squad:












 I really like this fellow!


That is it for Tactical Marines, next up on the build table is a unit of Legion Terminators with Thunder Hammers and proto-Storm Shields. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy Era Salamanders Praetor WiP

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! I had a little bit of time this weekend to sneak into the 'man-cave' slash 'hobby room'; I put the time to good use and would like to present to you my Heresy-era Salamanders Praetor.


How did I get to this point? Let's take a look at the build for Lord Protector M'tonga Chaga'st, 24th Line Company, Realm of Aethonion. I gathered the bits I wanted to use:

I used the Vulkan He'stan body from Games Workshop and the helmet, thunder hammer, and storm shield came from Chapter House Studios. The assembly was fairly straight forward and I was pleased to see that the body (which is made from GW's 'FailCast') was not filled with air bubbles and missing details. After the general assembly I set to fill any gaps and jazz it up some more. Here are some pictures from various angles showing the Lord Protector M'tonga Chaga'st waiting to be primered:




What do you all think? Is he Heresy-looking enough? Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Take care!

Heresy Era Salamanders Legion Cataphractii Terminators WiP part 1

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!! Time for a mid-week look at my current build process for Legio XVIII; this time I would like to present my version of Salamanders Cataphractii Terminators. Here are a bunch of shots of the build process so far.

The gathering of bits needed for the build:

 Resin components from a sculptor in Russia. These are not Forge World kits as will become evident later:

The Russian kits require the use of 'normal' Terminator legs and arms. In the Heresy-era there are rivets on most of the armor plates (especially the legs) so I wanted to make the modern legs look more Heresy-era; Mordian 7th to the rescue (yet again) with some rivets he brought over for me to try. Here are the rivets:

One set of legs with the rivet locations marked out:
 With a very small drill bit the holes were made for the rivets to slip into:

A group shot of the legs:
 Some close-up shots of the legs:



Time to mount the upper torsos:

Figuring out the weapon and shield arms; basically trying to find posses that I like:

The Salamanders Legio can take proto-storm shields in the Heresy-era so I wanted to make sure they had them! Since they are currently the only Legio that can have them this unit should be a center piece of my army:
 The proto-storm shields I used are a mixture of Spellcrow and Chapter House Studios bits:

Here are some close-up views of the various members (of the yet unnamed squad) starting with....
Squad Sergeant with Master Crafted Thunder Hammer:

 Not everyone has a thunder hammer, I want a dragon-looking power fist.......



 For when I want a heavy flamer in the unit I built a guy to swap out for the power fist guy:
 The heavy flamer say 'Inferno' on the side, I think that is appropriate:

This is were the squad sits at the moment. I still have to bend and attach the leather (resin) looking straps that hang from underneath the shoulder pads and somehow figure out how to make/convert some drake scale mantles for them. I also plan on making some fetish/trophy strings and little sections of Salamander Scales hanging from certain areas, still a bunch of work still to go. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy Era Salamanders: Legion Cataphractii Build Complete.....mostly

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!! It has been a lovely past few days here in the Rocky Mountains and I have even managed to get some hobby time in. I set to finish the build on the Legion Cataphractii Terminators which only needed a few more hours of work. I finished the build (hanging 72 fiddly little shoulder straps) and then set to with the Greenstuff and sculpting tools. All the models need now is the hammer heads coming from across 'the pond' and they will be totally complete. Here is my first attempt at Heresy-era Salamander Terminators, starting off with..............

EDIT: The Minis are actually slightly taller with a spacer between their legs and upper torso. This was done after these pictures were taken. Look for the newer/taller Terminators in their next post when the hammers arrive. 

Sergeant Zuka Shangaan:



 His Master Crafted Thunder Hammer: Caldera's Wrath

Powerfist/ Storm Shield:



 Sculpted flames on an armor plate:

Heavy Flamer 'Inferno Bearer':




Thunder Hammer/ Storm Shield #1:
 More sculpted flames:



Thunder Hammer/ Storm Shield #2:

 Sculpted flames and drake scale armor plates:
 Closeup of his helmet and also showing the fiddly little shoulder straps:

Thunder Hammer/ Storm Shield #3:


 Sculpted gorget and flames on the leg:

This is how the squad sits while they wait the arrival of their Thunder Hammer heads from a distant forge world. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Tactical Support Squad with Meltaguns and Transport WiP

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!! While I am still waiting delivery of the thunder hammer heads from England I wanted to press on with the Heresy-era Salamanders build process. Since the Salamanders have access to 'master-crafted' meltaguns I wanted to deffinately include a small Tactical Support Squad armed with some nasty looking meltaguns.

Here is Support Squad N'baka nicknamed the 'talons' because of the wicked drake's talon squad marking they all carrying on their left leg (kind of like a Velociraptor's leg talon):

A closer look at Sergeant N'baka armed with a combi-melta and chainsword:
 Bionic Arm because the Salamanders are master artisans and he would have a bionic replacement if he needed one:

 Lots of greenstuff work:
 Modified Sanguinary Guard helmet that I think fits right in with my entire army in Mk IV armor:

Here are some shots of the other four members of the squad all of which are armed with master-crafted meltaguns from Spellcrow miniatures:




I enjoyed using the Spellcrow meltaguns although they are a little bulky on a couple of the sculpts; I had to do some trimming in select areas to get them to line up with the right hands of the marines. I do think they represent 'master-crafted' meltaguns very well.





Now I cannot have these guys running around on foot unprotected (there are not that many of them) so I figured they could ride around in a Rhino troop transport. I was gifted an abbandoned heresy-era Rhino project and I think this will be perfect. Here is their transport fresh out of the stripping bath:


The Rhino still needs a fair amount of work before it is ready and besides it doesn't look like a Salamander vehicle yet! I plan on adding drake scales to various areas and I must do something with those big round doors! I also have some curved dragon heads that I will be using in place of the missing exhaust tops. I have heresy-era looking tracks on their way but I am not sure I will be able to replace this particular tanks tracks with the heresy-era looking tracks.

Heresy-era Salamanders: Legion Terminators....now taller and with hammer heads

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a couple of rough days as I have been laid out due to Grandfather Nurgle's Plauge Rot but the worst has past; today I was actually able to wander around the house a bit. The day before I was struck down the thunder hammer heads I had been waiting for showed up in the mail so I made an effort today to finish up the assembly on my Cataphractii Legion Terminators.

After a wonderful and helpful comment on the last build post from theAmbit I was able to make the terminators a bit taller by adding a spacer at the waist. I think it certainly frees up the leg area more and they don't look so squat. In the below picture the center miniature (the sergeant) is the only one that I was not able to add the waist spacer. I am going with the sergeant is naturally short/stout/tank-like as I have read about some Space Marines being built like this in several of the novels.


The MaxMini thunder hammerheads which I think look very 'heresy-era'. I don't know if it was my lingering illness or not but I broke 2 of these hammerheads while trying to work with them. I will say they are made of extremely hard and brittle resin so it might have been that.

The third style of hammerhead and the powerfist miniature:

Sergeant and heavy weapon trooper which again shows the new stance/build of the terminators compared to the sergeant (who was not able to be modified):

Caldera's Wrath (Master-Crafted Thunder Hammer):

Every 'character' in my army will have a drake scale mantle of some variety and here is his:

Closer look at the sergeant's drake helmet. I am making an effort to have every 'character' have a unique helmet that helps set them apart from the rest of the unit. The helmet has drake scales running along the top and I wanted this to be better seen, so I trimmed the upper carapace back a bit to show it off.

A scale shot with a normal marine which I hope shows the power of the terminators, the overall height difference is not as great as I would have imagined.

Well that is it for now, I am still continuing the build process of the rest of the army. At the moment is a rhino before I start the transport for these guys. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Take care.

Heresy-era Salamanders: Rhino Transport Recovered and Improved

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! Grandfather Nurgle's Plague Rot is working its way out of my system finally which means that I can focus again on the Heresy-era Salamanders build process. Today I would like to present to you my first (of two) Rhino Transport. I was gifted this abandoned project by a friend and after soaking off the black primer in 'Simple Green' I set forth to bring some life back into the model. A quick look into the bits boxes and making sure I had enough greenstuff I set to and here are the results:


Closer look at the front plate:

Left side:

Rear (kind of boring especially since this is the side I will see the most):

Right side:

I don't think there should be a doubt about which Legion this transport belongs to, although those sneaky Alpha Legionaires might try something like this...Ha! Observant viewers might have noted the pile of resin sitting in the back of some of the pictures, well that is today's project......a MK IIb Landraider with full wrap-around tracks. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy-era Land Raider Mk II with Wrap Around Tracks WiP

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! I have been a busy person lately but have had some time to spend in the hobby room and I have managed to get some work done on my Heresy-era Land Raider. I have always wanted to try my hand at a fairly significant conversion: a fully tracked Mk II Land Raider. I followed a general guide from Tom McBride who did the first conversion of this type. I am still working on the beast but here is where it sits now:





I was VERY intimidated by this project but I think it is coming out alright. I still have a bunch of work to do like: rivets on the sides, greenstuff gap filling, greenstuff scales and icons (must look a little more Salamandery), etc.

I just realized this is post 99. I wonder what I should do for post 100? Thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

100th Post: A look back at Necromunda Gaming

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! This is my 100th post and I thought I would look back at some Necromunda miniatures and gaming events from before I started blogging. In my home gaming group we had 6-8 regular Necromunda players and played several long Necromunda campaigns. I really enjoyed Necromunda and I thought it was a great introduction to miniature gaming for those of my friends that were not miniature gamers. I have painted and played many different Necromunda gangs over the years, of which I only have a couple gangs left.

Here is my Ash Waste Nomads Gang:
 Some various close-ups:




 The Leader with his purple boots and red cape:


I also played a 'House Gang' which tend to make a lot of money so here is my House Orlock Gang nicknamed 'Big Money':







I enjoyed the various little critters that inhabited the Underhive in Necromunda and I kept some Ripperjacks because they look so cool:


Here are a couple of pictures of an 'average' game of Necromunda when my group was playing it all the time:




Thanks for stopping by and taking a look back at some good times with Necromunda! Thanks for putting up with this look back at my gaming past on my 100th post, I will be returning to the Heresy-era Salamanders very soon. Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Land Raider Mk IIb Ready for Paint

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a very busy time here including a fair amount of hobby time! I hope all of my US readers had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I managed to get the Salamander's Land Raider conversion all finished up and primered over the long weekend. I would like to present to you my Land Raider Mk IIb (fully tracked) conversion which I have named Superbia Nocturne (Pride of Nocturne):


I knocked this 'master-crafted' Multi Melta out rather quickly. I think it turned out OK, the angled sides tie in well with the armor plates of the Land Raider.

The side weapons elevate/depress and rotate. I think the Chapter House Studios doors work well.

Rear view showing the tracks going all the way around.

The opposite side showing the other door. I added some Green Stuff Salamander logos to both sides of the Land Raider which I think is subtle but helps ensure people know what Legio the Land Raider belongs to.

Top down view showing the extensive work involved to track the Land Raider fully.

All in all I am pleased with the way the Land Raider turned out. There are things I would have done differently in hindsight but overall I think it turned out OK. I wish I could have done something a little better with the twin-linked Heavy Flamer conversion (looks to much like the Heavy Bolters they were) but I can change it later.

Next up will be the last of the infantry models (apothecary and librarian), thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy-Era Salamanders: Librarian and Apothecary WiP

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! It has been a bitterly cold time here in the Rocky Mountains (we have not gotten above freezing in days) so I have been unable to spray anything so it was more build time for me. I am getting very close to having 3000pts of Heresy Salamanders all built. I decided to finish up the last two 'infantry' models for the army: a Librarian and a Apothecary. I love these models and the fact that they are wearing Mk IV power armor (like everyone else in the army) was just the icing on the cake!

I would like to present to you Librarian U'uka Obataiye:

I have him equipped with an inferno pistol. I did not want to just say 'it's in his holster' which is lame so I went ahead and used a wrist-mounted version. I think it is a little bulky but it will work. You can also see the drake standard topper which I really like. All of my characters will have cloth standards to help set them apart from everyone else.

MaxMini drake scale cloak which require a fair amount of work to actually get them to sit correctly.

Another look at the standard top along with a look at some fetish/trophy ropes:

Since character models in the Salamander Legion can take proto-Storm Shields I knew I had to include one with the Librarian. I did not want have him holding it, I liked the FW model as it came, I did not want to hang it off his back either, so that led to........Chapter Serf Nambewa:

His Master's Storm Shield:

A scale shot of the two together:


The last infantry model to build was an Apothecary. This was a fairly straightforward build process with only a couple of additions to the standard model. Here is Apothecary Ki'zza Daktari:

I added an 'augury scanner' to his belt, this seems like a must have piece of equipment in the Heresy-era.

Use of a GW Dark Elf Corsair cloak, which I find really easy to use, although the cloaks all flow the same way:

Even the medics can't get away from the fetish/trophy ropes!

That is it for now, I am working on some 'heavy hitters' for the Legio next. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!

Heresy-era Salamanders: Contemptor Dreadnought

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! The weather has been super cold lately which has meant a fair amount of indoor time in the hobby room/man cave. I was able to get quite a bit of build time in which is getting me ever so close to having 3000pts of Heresy Salamanders built. First off I started with my 'Heavy Hitters' and I would like to show you all my Salamanders Contemptor Dreadnought:


This is another gifted project which was abandoned by the original owner. The paint was thin and there is not a lot of surface detail on the model so I didn't strip the paint before starting the rebuild. I used plenty of greenstuff to make a base Contemptor a little more Salamander-looking.


I had to go with a Multi-Melta which will become 'master-crafted' when using the Salamander's Rite of War during games of 30k.

Flaming Salamander icon on the chest plate instead of the aquila (which is not Heresy-era):

I managed to primer him up while I waited for his missile rack to show up from Forge World. Here he is with his newly installed (and magnetized) missile rack:


That is all for now, I have my version of Cassian Dracos up next. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.

Heresy-era Salamanders: My take on Cassian Dracos

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Greetings once again InterWebs!!! Just a short post tonight to share with you my latest build; here is my take on 'the Fallen Master, the Dragon Revenant, First Commander of the XVIII Legion': Cassian Dracos.


I used the Bray'arth Ashmantle body from Forge World, Puppetswar arms, various bits from the bits boxes, and greenstuff. I think the model works for a Heresy-era version of Bray'arth Ashmantle.

Each arm and the power pack all have fetish/trophy ropes. I scratched together the banner pole for the cloth banner I will be using.

I went with large talons on the fists to help sell the 'oldness' of the model, that and I am not a fan of the Forge World arms that are used on the Bray'arth Ashmantle model.

I think I managed to get a bit of a sense of motion out of this otherwise fairly static model (all marine dreads are very static in my opinion).


I used a helmet from the venerable dreadnought kit instead of the helmet that came from Forge World. I did this because I think this looks more Heresy-era (with the rivets and knightly-look) and it helps make it not look exactly like the Forge World basic build.

I had to sculpt a tabbard to cover up the Bray'arth nameplate on his groin. I then added a fetish/trophy rope. I think this is a decent representation of the first Legion Master of the XVIII Legion although I am looking forward to seeing what Forge World ends up doing for the model.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care!
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