Tutorial - Valhallan Style Winter Caps

I've decided to follow up on Mordian and Praetorian headgear tutorials with another, with probably more to follow, this time covering the Winter Headgear of the Valhallans.

I've started with a Catachan head, this was cleaned up roughly in the usual manner removing the bandana, the main component of the headgear is then added, this is formed from a small ball of putty, about 4mm in diameter, it is created in a cylinder pushing the putty downwards much as with the previously covered Mordian cap, however in this case the top edges of the cylinder are then made smooth curves with a clay shaper as this is actually the top of the dome.



Once cured the front flap is added from another small ball of putty which is pressed against the dome to an appropriate shape and size.



This is then textured using the very tip of a sculpting tool to simulate fur, remembering to not make it too regular a pattern, this has to be done very gently however, too much pressure will ruin it and you'll need to reshape the flap and start again.



Next up came the flaps, obviously if your having a high collared greatcoat this will need to be done before the headgear as, as with the Valhallan models the side and rear 'flaps' should partly cover the collar. These are formed from small balls of putty which can be added all at the same time or seperately, I pushed the putty flat, forming the rough shape of the 'flap', this was then trimmed to size using the edge of the tool or a scapel. I then defined the edges of the cloth where the fur trim begins. The fur effect itself was as with the front portion then formed using the tip of a sculpting tool.





Finally once all the flaps were cured a skull emblem was added to the front of the headgear, this could equally be something such as an Aquilla though. A very small piece of putty was added, this was then shaped into a rough skull outline.



The eye, nose and teeth were then defined with the tip of the sculpting tool and a scapel blade, again applying these with great care so as not too caused too much pressure.



Job done, it looks a little odd without the greatcoat but I think it's a fairly simple way to achieve a reasonable effect which could be improved upon with a little more time spent on it.

The Phoenix Club - Resin Praetorian Components

I've had a couple of emails recently concering progress on the Praetorian components I was sculpting a while ago for the Phoenix Club, a non-profit group which arranges the sculpting and casting components and models for gamers, by gamers. I never ended up finishing the job on these for various reasons, the original aim having been to sculpt complete models (though I will eventually come back to such a project!), however some of the components were finished. The Phoenix Club no longer exists however the components are available from TrooperPX on Bartertown.

At the time I post this TrooperPX provides 5 different items (or sets of items) at a cost of US$1 for each item/set, these are;
A, Large torso (for Cadian Legs)
B, "Aiming" arm set (for large torso)
C, "At-ready" arm set (for large torso)
D, Small torso (for riding legs)
E, Riding legs






Just in case anybody does pick any of these up, I'd really love an unbiased review of the components and some pictures of them both assembled and painted, if you think you can help drop me a line at,

Imperial Navy Valkyrie & Vendetta (Part 2)

I've had a slight change of direction with my Imperial Navy Valkyries, on reflection I've realised I'm very unlikely to want to field them without Missile Pods so my Valkyrie won't be magnetised at all, as such it's now as far assembled as it will be for the time being and is joining the painting queue.



On the same basis I've decided one of the two Valkyries I'm working on will become a permanent Vendetta having proxied one for a couple of games (with another Valkyrie to be added at a later date), the interior was painted as with the Valkyerie with a simple Adeptus Battle Grey and Metal scheme so it was presentable but without spending too much time on it.



There's plenty of filling to be done, but after construction I then got on with the weapons. The nose mounted twin-linked Lascannon was fairly straight forward simply cutting the Lascannon from the other kit where the sensor is on the Vendetta's. At this point I still need to do some Green Stuff work on this especially to merge the weapons together where the bands align.



The wing mounted Lascannon meanwhile are taken from a Landraider kit using the original sponson mounting bracket, this has been cut down to a better size and then mounted on the normal underwing weapons mounts, the weapons themselves are not fixed in place yet as it'll be easier to paint them like this.



Likewise I'll come back to working on this one once it reaches the front of the painting queue, at the moment my plan is too get everything done for my Draft 1500pts Guard Tourny List ready for the 40k Online Tournament in August, it's a bit of a tall order given the list includes 21 Infantry, a Russ, Chimera and both these Imperial Navy craft but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

D Company Sergeants (Part 2)

A little bit of an update on my new sergeants models with the first ones almost ready for undercoating and others still only just getting off the blocks.

The first based on a miss cast Standard Bearer has proven the most drawn out, I decided against the original pose and am now instead working towards something similar to the beared Sergeant model with hist pistol raised vertically next to his head, it's by far the most extensive conversion and has been neglected a little while I thought it over, but it is now starting to progress.



The second and third models are both based on the Lasgun 1 model, I'm not quite so keen on them as I was, but I do like them none the less and they're suitably different from the others which is pleasing, they're both nearly completion with a little tidying to do and adding a sword grip in their scabbards.




The forth conversion is based on actual Praetorian Sergeant model with Power Sword, he is very nearly finished, I'm redoing the front of the tunic at the moment which I was'nt quite happy with, otherwise he just needs Chevrons pretty much now.



The next model is based on the other Sergeant and is the first to be finished, well bar drilling the pistol barrel a little.



The final conversion is based on the bugler and has pretty much become my favourite, the arm bugle holding arm has been removed and replaced to hold a pistol and the chainsword arm bent a little , it's very simple but I like it alot despite not being that different from teh standard models.



One problem I did run into was running out - well almost running out - of Commissar Yarrick Swords, something I bought a fair supply of before GW runied it's bits service, to preserve my stock I've started doing a copy from plasti-card, something thats worked out quite nicely. The scabbards are cut from 1.5mm plasti-card, with a width of 2mm and a length of about 16mm, one end is cut to a point an then a small file was used to round the edges.

Leman Russ 2 (Part 4)

Just a little update, I've slowly been plugging away at the second Leman Russ and the result of that is I've finally got one side painted, as with last time I'll do each side then the central portion of the hull before adding a bit of mud and markings to the whole thing in one go. This will eventually be third vehicle of the first troop, though in the short term it's likely to fill the role of a Demolisher - with an appropriate turret of course for my tournament army for this year. Next up, well the other side!

Hobby Fund (1st June)

Another month gone and time for another update on the hobby fund.

It's been quite a month all in all, I cleared out alot of stuff, much of it at the Bring an Buy stand at Exeter Legionarry at the beginning of the month, infact it was so successful I decided to take £100 out of the hobby fund to spend on other things! The result of this after new purchases following the release of the new Codex Imperial Guard (read Valkyries) and some magnets for use on the Titan amongst other things is that the fund is now looking decidedly empty. Though that said given I've actually taken money out of the hobby fund I'm very very happy despite that! This month I'm going to get selling again, I've got quite a few things to go still, I'm fairly confident I can keep this going to at least the end of the year.

• Starting Balance 1st May (Previous Sales) = £131.24


• Sales in May = £126.50


• Sales Fee's in May = -£10.50


• Purchases in May = -£140.06


• Misc Income/Outgoings = -£101.85


• Balance 13th May = £5.33