Know Thine Enemy

I promised this post earlier, but too much awesomeness in the form of my Octo-rant got in the way. Actually, he's got more than eight arms... and I almost thought to call him a portmanteau of Hydra+Tyrant... but calling him a "Hydrant" just doesn't do him justice. BUT... on to the main attraction. I promised a look at my hated enemies- the Imperial Guard currently being created by my cousin. I'll be taking more pictures later as he finishes, but he's taken great care to make his men look like they've deep in the action- the extras, the 40K Basing Kit, sand and gravel all give a look like they're in the middle of a warzone. He's also used green-stuff to create "mounds" and make the ground uneven. I've not seen how that looks yet all based/painted up, but I think it's a great idea. Anyways, onto the main attraction-

1) So I guess I should start out from the very beginning- out of all the races available to you in WH40K, why in God's name did you choose the Imperial Guard?? I mean, uh... what about them made you want to collect an army to paint/play/compete with?

Why indeed? There goes the argument that you would want to paint and play with something exotic, different; the idea that the army, like playing a hero in a video game, allows you to be more much more than you already are. The 40k universe is filled with all sorts of legendary warriors: lithe Eldar, weapons, tanks and armor sleek as sin and twice as deadly; the mighty, mighty Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, the heroes of the Imperium themselves, and the Tyranids, utterly ferocious, bent on the consupmtion of life as we know it. All of these forces are super human, unimaginably deadly, and just damn cool.
So why Guard?.... FOR THE IMPERIUM!


The Guard doesn't need highly trained warriors, swift and deadly, or psychers that control the very fabric of fate. The Guard doesn't need superhuman enhancement and tank like armor.The Guard doesn't need the driving force of a hive mind and monstrous beasts of cruel destruction. The Guard is relentless, slowly grinding it's opponents to dust under boot and tread. The Guard is is numerous, men and women, REGULAR men and women selling their lives dearly in defense of the Imperium. The Guard is driven by it's faith in the Emperor, an unimaginable war machine, facing the horrors of the universe with lasguns and courage.

I play the Guard because, in this whole universe created by GW, the lowly Guardsman is the underdog. I play the Guard because I can feel empathy towards their desperate struggle against unbelievable odds. I play Guard just because they are damn cool.

Oh, and tanks... God I love tanks... and come on, who didn't love the little green army soldiers we got as kids?The amount of (given, inaccurate) firepower I can call on with a Guard army? *wargasm


2) Tell me about the back-story for your army- I know Nerd when I see it (takes one to know one, and all that)- and I'm sure you've thought of some sort of fluff for your army? What do they call themselves? Where are they from? What is their purpose in "life", aside from being swept aside by the Izanagi horde? ... jus kiddin' Lian. Tell me about them.

Hmmmm... I've given it thought... but haven't really come to many conclusions. I'm an Angel/forces of good and light freak, so that kind of motif might be nice. Invictus System, Hive World Angelus, Angelforge? The 501st Angelus, the "Iron Saints". A lot of this is admittedly taken from other sources (DoW II, one of the main Hive Cities is called Angelforge and the Iron Saint is an award winning Baneblade model), but I really like the sound of that.


As for backstory, I remember you saying that you wanted your force to be representative of a fleet from a campaign pretty much drawn to a close. No spearheads of Carnifexes to knock aside armored companies or masses of firepower and MCs running around. Deception is your stength, surprise and stealth your weapon. So, we can say that you are already upon Angelus, Angelforge itself overrun or in the process of, and we, the Iron Saints, last army to be raised from the Imperial Tithe, is recalled to reclaim their home planet. Therefore, the army is largely green, plainly dressed and armed. But, as the fighting goes on and the troops become grizzled verterans... who knows what the models will look like and be armed with in the future...

To be continued....



3) I remember your old models and your new ones have more of a crisp/clean feel, and definitely a big improvement. We won't get into them, because to make it even, I've gotta show my original crappers, too. So tell me about the paint-scheme. What was your inspiration for the color scheme?

While I like bright colors and the potential reds, greens, and blues and the like have in really making a model look pretty, let's not lie to ourselves; we're soldiers, trench dogs rolling in the mud and blood of combat. Who in their right mind goes into combat wearing a damn red shirt? (Editor's Note: Heeey... I play a "salmon-colored" Master Chief in Halo...) So, I took two darker much more neutral tones I thought worked well together: khaki and grey. Really, the idea came from looking at Armageddon themed tanks. I thought, if it can work for armor, why not the men? And voila, here I am today... :P a little catachan green for the weapons, blues for the glass and red for the wire to add color accent and their you go. Subtle, but pretty...



4) And one last question- You've currently got a box set, sentinel, chimera, and one of those bad-ass Leman Russ tanks that we know and love. Anything special planned for your vehicles, in regards to paint scheme or modelling? What, if anything is your next purchase?

Just a few touches like camo netting rolled up and placed on the tank, magnetizing the new turrets so I can switch up the main guns (and hopefully sponsons). Next purchases will the the dead sexy Valkyrie (with a veteran squad to ride it) and that wargasmic Manticore. Nothing makes infantry go poof better than D3 str 10 pie plates.



Looking forward to seeing the Iron Saints go head-to-head with Hive Fleet Izanagi!

WIP Octo-Tyrant!!

ALMOST FINISHED. I have to say that in the beginning, I thought I ruined a perfectly good Tyrant by cutting the lower two sets of back vents, and just made myself $37.50 + IL tax worth of 'Nid spare parts. It started out as an idea to put insect wings on thim... but that quickly went out the window with the direction my swarm was taking... It took time, but like all good inspirations, it came to me one day at the most random place- Work. "What if I used a buttload of copper wire and some greenstuff...?" I'm pleased to share the semi-final results.


Ta-daaaah! At first, I thought the tentacles were a bit too long, but it turns out they were perfect, any shorter, and they would't look convincing as weapons. Any longer, and they'd start getting in the way of the arms and manipulating them would be a chore.


Here's a shot of the back- the tentacles I'll do a totally separate how-to guide in the future, but for the body itself, I used the GW hobby drill to make 1~1.5cm-deep holes into the Tyrant torso. It was a bit tricky, (if you're familiar with the kit, you know there are "pockets" in the body itself) but after lots of cursing, sweating, and drilling, I got holes I was satisfied with. Also, because there are pockets, you'll see your drill slip through at times, but find yourself unable to guide the wire into them... go figure. I suggest at this point, I suggest moving the drill back and forth, while rotating it... and that came out wrong... NEXT!!



A shot of the magnetized arms. Seeing as how both magnets will hold/slide their separate arm pieces (gun arm and sac arm), I felt it best to glue them together. Now, the I have the weapons clinging with the plastic "pinch" as well as the magnet strength.



A side shot of the Octo-rant in full gear- Scythes and Venom Cannon. I'll defitely invest in another set of Scythes. Absolutely dead-sexy!!


Slightly raised shot of the Octorant. Any ideas what those tentacles could represent? I'm thinking the Poisoned Biomorph, but that'll be an absolute waste of points on my cousins' Toughness 3 IG army... (he's totally anti-ogryn... I agree. Ugly buggers)


I can imagine this guy painted. The bulbous portions on the ends will definitely be a lighter "glowing" blue, like the innards of most of the monsters... or the poison green a la the Zoanthrope brain. Either way, Glow-stick-Raving Tyrant anyone??

And even now I'm not done. The final addition will be the "housings" for these tentacles. I've thought of the beetle wing "covers" triangle-shaped concave shell... OR... like those undersea tube animals that live near volcanic vents... basically a play on the backvents of the standard Tyrant- wider, with cut-outs to fit the shells of the individual tentacles.

Stay tuned!

The Death of a Tyrant

...and the return of this prodigal son. After about 3 weeks of non-activity, I'm happy to be writing again. I know I promised a look at my hated foes, the Imperial Guard, but that'll be for next post, as I'm still editing my cousin's answers to suit my purpose... I mean. Wait. What?


Mr. Tyrant... bane of my existence... I was hand-drilling through the pewter. It took about 20-something minutes for one hole (for magnetizing his arms) in the torso... I gave up that endeavor until I came up with a better plan.


Mr. Tyrant. Meet Mr. Powerdrill. SUCKA!! With this baby, I was able to drill the final 3 holes in less than 2 minutes total. The holes were perfect, as was the play between the holes and the magnets I stuck into the arms. For ease of process, I did the arms first, then stuck TWO magnets. One inserted into the arm, the other stuck onto the implant magnet. I then colored the backend of the free magnet with some light paint for insertion indication, and voila! Perfect arms without having to rip out any flipped magnets!


Perfect!


In fact, I was feeling so good about the Tyrant, I decided to continue with the Tyrant's extreme modification I hinted at much earlier, (see 'Scheduled Interruption')I thought that instead of the bottom two vents, I would have bee-wings. That turned out to be a fluke, as I want to have Gargoyles, but I'll be damned if I have to cut off their arms and modify all 30+ of them to have insect wings as well. McEff NO.


Instead, I went with creating tri-ports on his now-bare lower-back, to house these deadly whip-lash implants- I have no idea what they will represent in-game, perhaps Poison, or Implant Attack... These, coincidentally, are also practice for the whip-laden maws of the Mycetic spores I plan to have at my disposal.


And one final picture... Biomorphs and... blood suckers?? Looks like this website might undergo some changes in the near future!

Heading to Japan

Again, I hate posts without pictures, and worse, personal posts having nothing to do with modelling. I kinda feel this is a necessary evil (to track my progress), so bear with me.

I'm heading to Japan tomorrow June 11 until the 22nd for business (and relax afterwards). I'm excited to visit my ex-students, friends, and colleagues there after the week of training. I'm only sorry my wife couldn't come with me to visit her parents and friends there as well. Perhaps I'll post pictures, but seeing as how this blog is for modelling and painting, probably not- unless I find an anime character or something inspires me to create a new custom miniature...

Anyways, my paint collection has been passed to my IG-using Cousin while I'm in Japan. I've got no time, and he has nothing but, so have at it, brother.

So how about that? If I don't find anything good to post before resuming HF Izanagi work, I'll showcase some of his work as well, because

1) I think he's really improved his style since we were kids doing this (WOW man... just... WOW on his old minis...) and

2) it's nice to see the face of one's enemies before you smash them to bits... or die trying.

Anyways... be back in a week or so.

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Hunter In the Dark (oh yea, and cannon-fodder)

That's right... Izanagi is lovin' these awesome Lictor Models! This is my next "big" guy that I'll do in conjunction with more fodder, er, termagaunts. Everything about them- the infiltration, the chameleon predator-skin, the friggin mantis scythes of nightmarish proportions, and last but not least, the face tentacles- the whole deal screams AWESOME! Damn you, cousin, for implying there's anything perverted or "hentai" about them- who the hell is painting a group of men with big phallus shaped guns and rockets on their tanks?? Compensation anyone?? I mean, Who the hell wouldn't want face tentacles if you could suck up people's knowledge by eating their brains??! Sign me up!

Anywho, the problem is, I haven't finished the original 4 termagaunts that I promised myself with my Zoan during the Memorial Weekend Hobby Event, so I'm going to stay strong and finish those before touching my invisible assassin.


Here's a first look at the beauty. I overall have to say that it's a very well made model, especially compared to the Tyrant and Zoanthrope. The Tyrant and Zoanthroape required a lot of putty and didn't fit together as well as I had hoped. However, for this figure, all limbs and head are pinned...


That's right. The head is actually pinned with a copper rod through the rear-most spiracle (aka head-side-vent-hole things) angled into the side of the hood. It's not a direct hole right in the back. The arms also have straight pins in them. Actually, I lie. I pinned them then bent one or two... especially the left side as the bottom rending claw was my first test-mistake. I figured I wanted a very dynamic "here I am!" pose, and transportation would be hell for this model without it.

You can also see my first usage of the 40K basing kit! A SM beak-helmet with two cuts on it. I thought it was fitting considering my backstory, or bits and pieces of it.

I've never actually come up with a backstory for my Fleet either. I imagine HF Izanagi to be at the end of the invasion- the defenses have fallen long ago, and they're just doing the clean-up now. I'm hoping to do a future lictor all in reflective, reflecting the desolate world they've claimed. But that's why on my bases, you're more apt to see skeletons and rusted or beaten up armor rather than bloody chopped corpses... of course, until the "rescue teams" and "expeditionary forces" come down...


A shot of my half-finished Terms. They're actually a bit more than half- the bodies require a re-do, as they were busted up with a new dry-brush malfunction. But the carapaces are what I feel take up the most time- that, and the blended claws. So I'm confident they'll be finished soon.


Hopefully finished soon... I'll do them next post... and if I'm successful... my converted Tyranid project... MAYBE..

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Memorial Weekend Hobby Day!!

This past Memorial Day Weekend Saturday, I was invited by my IG-commanding cousin to join him and a Space Wolves-commander (the younger brother to my grade school classmate, no less) for painting, bbq, and lots of drinking starting before 12:00 in the afternoon... I'm happy to say that most of my minis came out fine...

I knew I wouldn't be able to complete everything, so I chose an ambitious Zoanthrope and four Termagaunts. My mission- finish as much as possible, with impaired coordination and motor functions. I'm sorry to say that even now, I have not completely finished my Termagaunts (oh man, stupid new drybrush ruined the highlights... REDO!) but I did manage to finish my first-ever Zoanthrope.


Ta-dah!! Remember when these guys had the Predator-Chakram discus heads before? Much better now.



Detail of the brain-area. I started with a Dark Angel's Green, and highlighted it with a mix of DA Green and Scorpion Green, about 1:1 ratio. Then continually added Scorpion Green until it was almost pure... then added white to make it really stand out. For most of it, I used a drybrush, but in the end, it was more effective to take a Fine Detail Brush and just lightly go over certain areas curving outward to give the appareance of light and shadow. To get the wet look, I took Ork Flesh Wash (yup, you don't find this anymore, but I'm sure there's a weaker current gen wash out there...) and took to coloring the crevices. Makes it look wet and accents the highlights nicely, I think.

My next one, I want the softer, muted colors created by the GW painting staff. (see Tyranid Codex painted section- HF Behemoth "aqua-green" brain Zoan- effin' sweet)


I wasn't sure how the scheme would look on a larger creature, seeing as how I plan to have even more of them in my army- Lictors, Tyrant, Carnis, Maws/Trys, etc. But I have to say I'm quite pleased with the result here. I'm also going to use the tiny claws on this guy for future reference- that is EXACTLY what I was going for but unable to reproduce... oh, evil blending, so time-consuming.

The only disappointment was that I based him at my cousin's house, and perhaps laid on too-thick a layer of water-PVA sealer... ended up making my base a bit smooth instead of the rough look that I'm used to. Ah well... trial and error.

Note to self- purchase mixing pots to save time.


A Zoan of HF Izanagi driving my previously painted Stealers and Horms across my painting table!


Attack!! The Hive Mind wills it!!

The rest of the weekend I also ended up watching Aladdin er, Sands of Time starring Jake Gyllenhaal... effin' great! I'm inspired to make a figurine of Dastan... perhaps... I also stopped by my local GW Store and picked up a 40K Basing Kit. You'll see some of that used next post!

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Hormagaunt and 'Stealer Update Army Update

It's been a week since I got to put something up. CT/MA was pretty cool for the week, but all I wanted to do was paint and plan my army. Before I left for my trip, I picked up a Lictor and a Zoanthroape- stay tuned til the next post.

I should have planned my painting schedule a little better, but luckily caught it early enough so I'm not stuck painting 16 termagaunts in the end without any variation... I'm now mixing troops in groups of four each This group was 4 hormagaunts and 4 genestealers.




The first 4 hormagaunts! The crappiness (and I tell myself that they're normal troops and don't count... but then I cry a little after) of the scythes signifies the dying of my drybrush. But it finished the job, and that's all I care about.




I can't wait to see a full group and then some of these things getting blown apart wholesale while overrunning a defensive position... *sigh*... one can only dream. I chose a slimy lime green to accent the black and red bodies, and I'll have to see if it goes well with the larger creatures as well...




Genestealers in my personal army scheme- I didn't know if it would work out with it, but I decided to follow the standard black then feathering highlights on the pads and blending of those same highlight colors on the spine. I think it looks fantastic. And then forgot that they had small plates on their heads...




... unfortunately, I don't have a good shot of how it looks, but I painted a pattern down the plates that I think look good on them. You can actually see it on the rightmost 'Stealer. Simple, but I think it looks great.

Next post will be more project, Memorial Day BBQ Hobby Day, and my first big creature...