Showing posts with label Loxatl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Loxatl. Show all posts

6/25/09

Finished Vets, Pater Sin, and more

I am constantly in awe of those who can manipulate green stuff so precisely as to create something that looks as if it were part of the model. I'm not sure whether it's a natural talent, experience and time, or just luck, but after working so much with green stuff, I'm still puzzled at how some modelers achieve such great things. Hair, straps, filling in spliced joints; these are easy to do with a little practice. But masks are something created from scratch - and it's things created from scratch that are the most difficult (for me, at least). I will admit that I am getting a lot better - and faster - at creating these things, though. While I still feel like an amateur in many respects, my newest masks are much better in comparison to my first ones, and I'm now very comfortable creating them. Each one ends up being unique, depending on how the green stuff is moving for me - I can't really explain that, I guess it's sort of like how an abstract painter would describe how they create their paintings. As a result, each Trooper seems to have his own emotions and personality - even if they're all bad ones. ;)

This morning I finished the Hardened Vet redshirts I've been working on, so they're next up for priming and painting (the guy on the far left is my favorite):



Next on the list, as far as troops, is this squad, my second 'static' squad with Plasma/Missile launcher. They're all ready for masks (my hobby life is a never-ending mess of green stuff!), which hopefully I can churn through in the next week. My bitz box is full of chainswords for some reason, so I've been adding more to my line troopers to give them more of a melee feel. Ah! And I just noticed in the picture that the Plasma Gun's barrel needs drilling. Wouldn't want to miss that, it would ruin my OCD streak of perfectionism. Any of you guys ever have to tell yourself, "Put the glue down and prime the damn model already, or you'll never be finished!"? :P

Next up - Pater Sin! I'd thought about making a psyker squad with him at its head, but I didn't really want to go for the psyker squad. I did, however, want the opportunity to model Sin, as he's a very cool character from the Gaunt's Ghosts series:

Once it had become clear that Saint Sabbat was reborn on Herodor, the Chaos forces, led by Magister Enok Innokenti, quickly launched an all-out attack on the planet in the hope of killing or capturing the Saint. Along with the Chaos army came a different force, a group of assassins known as 'The Nine': A marksman; three psykers; three lizards; a phantom; a death machine.

Pater Sin is one of the three psykers, and is described as "A large figure wrapped in silk green robes. Well over two metres, built of corded muscle, with skin, where it showed past the rich emerald silk, decorated with the filthy tattoos of the Infardi cult. An image of the Emperor tortured and agonised was tattooed across his left cheek and forehead, with Sin's bloodshot left eye forming the screaming mouth. Sin's teeth were sharpened steel implants. He smelled of sweat and cinnamon and decay."

When I reworked my list, I decided that he'd fit well as a Priest, since my HQ is close-range/melee-oriented. So, a month back I converted up a model using Catachan arms and head, a skull reliquary stolen from the Black Templar upgrade sprue, the Baneblade Commander body, and much green stuff. I added an Eviscerator (made from two Space Marine chainswords) and called him good. I've got his skin painted, minus the tattoos, and I tried to do a couple basecoats on the robes, but unfortunately I don't have the greens I need to paint it in emerald. After a couple tries doing highlights with different mixes of greens, I put him on hold, hence why he looks cruddy. :P I only have a couple greens (Dark Angels Green, Catachan Green, and Camo Green, none of which are the right kind), so I'll have to pick up emerald of some kind before long to finish him, because I really like how the model turned out, epsecially the Evil Goatee™. He seemed like the type of guy who'd have one.



Lastly: My Loxatl! Unfortunately this guy is also on hold, because I don't have the parts I need to finish him: Specifically, Genestealer hands. My modeling-fu is not good enough to sculpt their claws/hands from scratch, so I figure genestealer claw/hands will work well. But I don't have any! If anyone has a whole bunch of them, and you're interested in trading or selling, let me know! In the meantime, I'll probably finish up everything else - the arms/legs need a scaly texture, the belly needs tidying up, and I have yet to build the flechette blaster.

There's also one more of The Nine that I want to build... the phantom. His name is Skarwael, and he's a Dark Eldar Mandrake who infiltrates his way past the Imperials to assassinate the Saint. In the books, he is a freaking hardcore creepy stealther. And which IG special character is a stealthy, slip-from-the-shadows-and-murderize-you-with-a-knife sonuvabitch?

That's right - Sly Marbo will be making an appearance in my army list, as Skarwael. Imperials, watch out...

4/28/09

Death Brigade/Veteran mini-squad

Finally! A rather large last-minute project for work intervened, but I've managed to turn this...


...into this.

My mini-squad (as it were) of hardened veterans is equipped with three plasma guns and a missile launcher. I also added all sorts of secondary and melee weapons to their backpacks, figuring that they'd be extremely well-equipped.

The sergeant presented a problem: In the old codex, he was equipped with a Storm Bolter. However, since Storm Bolters are no longer an option for them in the new codex, I was stuck. To break down the model would take reworking that I didn't want to do, and besides, the model looks neat. So what to do? My salvation comes in the form of Gunnery Sergeant Harker, one of the new special characters. My codex hasn't arrived (though it did ship today from the Warstore), but the rumors spake thusly:

Catachan Devil Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker. Veterans Upgrade. Armed with “Payback” Heavy Bolter. FNP, Relentless, Catachan Devils (him and squad Infiltrate, Stealth and Move Through Cover). His may not take Grenadiers.

Feel No Pain is certainly a Blood Pact-esque trait. And the Blood Pact are highly-skilled soldiers; infiltrating is certainly something their veterans would be good at. But the best part? The Heavy Bolter that he can move and shoot. Not only is it freaking awesome for a shooty plasma Vet squad, but my Storm Bolter Sergeant fits the part perfectly, no conversions required. Yes, the actual model is using a Storm Bolter, but it's more than sufficient to represent a Heavy Bolter in both size and ammo (ever seen the Last Chancer Ox model?). So, I guess Gunnery Sergeant Harker is added to my list! I can't wait to see that squad Outflank in their Chimera and shoot the heck out of the rear of the enemy.

Now, I've still got to fill out the other four members of the squad with shotgun-toting veterans. Here are two that I've put together, minus the heads.


Once my codex arrives (along with heads for the remaining veterans), I'll know a bit more about how to rework my list. In the meantime, I'm going to try and get this Loxatl built.

I've trimmed a lot from his underside, and flattened the shoulders and thighs. Then I added some sprue pieces to use as a base for the legs, though in the pic there's only the upper halves of the legs. I'll be sculpting the shape of the legs onto these pieces, then smoothing out the underside of his belly. At that point he should look something like a very scaly Komodo dragon - then it's just a matter of sculpting the flechette blaster harness and adding the blaster itself.

4/20/09

IG Codex planning

Bit of an interlude while I finish up my Hardened Vet squad (they're almost done!). I figured it was about time I got a basic updated army list together, so that I could work out what I needed to buy. Well, I've got a new (rough) list put together, and best of all, it only required me to buy some more backpacks and heads. Don't get me wrong; I love the new models being released, but GW is releasing them around tax season, meaning that the budget is limited!

My original list was geared towards total mobility and medium-range firepower. I decided to change up its focus a bit, to take better advantage of some of the new codex offerings, and so that I didn't have to build many new models. Here's what it's looking like, at a (very rough) estimated ~1500-1750 points, depending on wargear and exact model costs (I've been using the rumors to calculate).


HQ
  • Command HQ Squad w/Chimera (Commander w/Power weapon, Standard Bearer, Heavy Flamer, 2 Meltaguns)

  • Priest w/Eviscerator


ELITES
  • Loxatl Brood (3 Ogryns)


TROOPS
  • 'A' Platoon
    • 'A' Platoon Command Squad (JO w/Bolter, 4 sniper rifles)
    • Troop Squad 1 (Missile/Plasma Gun)
    • Troop Squad 2 (Missile/Plasma Gun)
    • Troop Squad 3 (Missile/Plasma Gun)

  • 'B' Platoon
    • 'B' Platoon Command Squad (JO w/Power weapon & Meltabombs, 1 Meltagun) in Chimera
    • Troop Squad 1 (Missile/Grenade launcher) in Chimera
    • Troop Squad 2 (Missile/Grenade launcher) in Chimera

  • Hardened Veteran Squad (Missile/3 Plasma Guns) in Chimera

  • Heavy Weapons Squad - 3 Mortars



FAST ATTACK
  • Stalk-Tank (Armored Sentinel w/Lascannon)

  • Banewolf (or Hellhound)


HEAVY SUPPORT
  • Leman Russ

  • Leman Russ



My list becomes a little less completely mobile, but adds some more troops that can provide a good firebase and support for the mobile squads. Also, since that leaves two extra Chimeras I have that I'm not using (and that are only partially built), I can convert one into a Banewolf. It also adds the Loxatl, which will be a neat conversion and provide some melee power.

Right now it feels like this loadout has a decent amount of anti-armor capability, and strong anti-horde potential with the Russes, missile and grenade launchers, Banewolf/Hellhound, plus the ten heavy bolters on Chimeras. It's still a little small in terms of numbers, but I'm hoping that the flexibility and mobility will make up for that.

So, what does this mean I need to build, in addition to everything I've got built so far?
  • Another infantry squad
  • Some grenade launcher troopers
  • Banewolf/Hellhound
  • 'A' Platoon command squad w/4 sniper rifles
  • 3 Loxatl
  • 3 Mortar teams


I've got some Dark Elf Cold Ones which I'll be using as the basis for my Loxatl; they're going to require major green stuff work, since I need to turn the bipedal Cold Ones into quadrupeds. To that end, I've got a test model underway.

It always feels vaguely sinful to hack up an untouched model for the good of conversions, doesn't it?

I'll have my Hardened Vets finished painting soon, though on a read-through of the rumors I noticed that Vet squads are now 10-man only! So I'm building four more to fill out the squad. Since they use the Space Marine Scout heads, though, they won't be finished until my mail order from Battlewagon Bits arrives.

Happy painting!