Col.Gravis' Praetorian Imperial Guard: April 2007

Sunday, 22 April 2007

That would of pithed me off.... (Sorry!)

Talk about a close shave, having just finished 2nd Platoon I came to varnishing - and of course the predictable happend, the first batch went furry! Disaster! Still I gave em a quick clean with warm soapy water, touched up the paint and got away with it - remember folks always do a test model first!

Anyway, that near miss aside the platoon's done a week ahead of my 40k Online Painting vow and I'm a happy bunny, I've just started assembly of the second battery of Gatling Guns which Im gonna crack on with next. Now I was going to order some additional Sentinel Assault Cannons which I use for the guns themselves - only to discover the component is no longer available from the UK. Bugger. Thats put on hold doing a tutorial for this weapon for the moment (though Ive enough in already started weapons to do this squad) and is gonna be a problem for my tanks, still after a quick look around I see GW US, Canada and France still list the component, might have to call n a favour or too to get what I need! Watch this space.

I've also re-started work on 'the Duelist' from my kill team, the pistol is the problem at the moment and seems to be going well, I'll do a seperate post about it at a later date but so you've more of an idea what I'm talking about below is the concept sketch that was drawn for me by the Green Witch from 40k Online.

Tuesday, 17 April 2007

Update - The Tortoise is Gaining Ground!

Well as I write this I'm close to having finished the 2nd Platoon of D Company, and it's been a rather intense experience shall we say! At the very best of times I'm in the incredably slow painting catagory but since the last week of March I've cracked on at what for me is an astounding rate. Of the 35 Guardsmen which make up the Platoon 25 are finished (bar varnish and a bit of static flock), 5 will be finished today with the remaining 5 I reckon to be ready by Sunday (will post pictures then).

So to what do I owe this feat? Well I'd put it down to signing myself up for the 40k Online Painting Vows. Each month a new thread is created and you vow to finish x amount of painting, there are no prizes if you finish, no forfeit if you fail, it's just a bit of fun to help encourage you to get that job you really want to/should get done, done. This month I vowed to finish 30 Guardsmen for April and I'm well on track to do that (the Command Squad was already finished by the beginning of the month), other examples of entries this month included a Blood Bowl Team, a Warmachine force, a quite large force of Tau (almost 500pts I'd guess) right down to just a Space Marine Combat Squad. It does'nt matter how much or how little you enter, its a great incentive to get some painting done and great fun to boot. Highly recommended!

I'm already trying to decide what I'll get done for next month, and indeed what I'll move onto working on once the last of this Platoon is done, almost certainly next up will be the second Heavy Bolter Squad, closely followed by the second Lascannon Squad (which I'm really not looking forward too), the end result of Lascannon conversions I really like but found quite brain numbing to do, still gota get em done. However as something for me to look forward too I've picked up a Landraider kit on which to base my first Leman Russ Demolisher conversion - still got to order some more components and get some Plasti-card before I tackle that one though, will think and talk more about it later once the Heavy Weapons Squads are done.

Right! Back to work!

Wednesday, 11 April 2007

Standard Bearer Conversion

The first stage in the conversion meant removing the Mortar Shell and most of the models left arm, this left a big area of tunic which needed rebuilding as a result.

At this point the pose becomes fairly obvious, but looking at it I was'ny happy with how static it was looking, after a little thought I removed the models left leg entirely and the right leg below the knee. The right leg was reattached at a new angle while a new left leg was taken from another Praetorian model, I believe Lasgun #3. This gave a much greater sense of movement, a standard bearer advancing.

From here in it really was finishing up, the standard shaft made from steel rod was added with a device from the bits box topping it, I then sculpted hands around the shaft. The conversion was fairly simple, if a little time consuming on account of the amount of cutting needed, I was definately pleased with the final result however.

The final stage was of course painting, a fairly normal job for me not fantastic but a fairly good table top standard. The banner itself was the last real challenge, I wanted something with both movement and texture that looked like cloth. Having used green stuff, plasti-card, paper and fabric all before I knew none of these gave the effect I wanted. After a little experimentation I settled on a paper core (with a design printed on it - yeah kinda cheating(!). This core was liberally coated with watered down PVA glue which I used to attach a single ply sheet of toilet tissue, carefully making sure there were as few air pockets caught as possible, the result, once the banner was dry, was a flowing standard with movement and a texture which gives the impression of heavy fabric. Sorted.