Feast of Blades 2012 recap

Before I get started I want to point you over to my friend Dave's blog - he's continued his excellent series of posts on making 3D bases that's chock full of cool pics and great ideas. Check it out!

I went down to Denver to check out the Feast of Blades tournament over this past weekend, and it was a great deal of fun! While I didn't participate in the tourney itself, as an outside observer it was a beautiful spectacle. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of the tourney in progress, I snapped a few, but I didn't want to interfere with the games in progress so none of them really turned out.

Outside the main hall however, they were setting up an immense Apocalypse battlefield that I did get some decent shots of! I was really impressed by the Warlords - they were really well done!

  

  

The main reason for going was to meet up with Miniature Tim and throw some dice during the open gaming time following the rounds on Saturday. The idea was to drive the Leviathan across the table in an attempt to get it into his deployment zone, while his job was to stop it. Really though it was all about having a good conversation over a beer and a laugh. Mission success!

 

Feeling cocky, I suggested we play lengthwise - a foolish decision as I found out shortly. The GK had moral superiority on their side as well, as we all know painted models fight better. Tim's grey knights were beautifully painted, too!

 

One of the best parts about the Leviathan is the Doomsday Cannon's ability to flatten terrain. The first turn it remained stationary to clear up that pesky ruin in the way, and a few turns later another ruin (as well as some defense line and a slow-moving dreadnought) were also well squashed.

 

My ability to damage things that weren't static pieces of the environment was a bit more limited. Despite firing battlecannon shots into Draigo and his Terminator squad for the entire game, I don't think they took more than a single casualty. Four ones to wound from a battlecannon?! That was worth a picture...

As I mentioned earlier, playing lengthwise was a bit of a silly thing to do. By the time the Leviathan was destroyed, it had only moved a grand total of 9 inches. The rifleman dreads stripped it of its void shields handily every turn, and an early Drive Damaged result, plus several turns ineffectually attempting to repair meant it didn't get very far before the Vindicare smashed it apart with his Turbo Penetrator rounds. Despite that, the game was an absolute blast and Tim was a hoot to play against - I'm definitely looking forward to attending FoB next year!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan Greenstuffed

...Have you ever gotten towards the end of a project and felt as though you've taken a bad mis-step? I definitely have, and here is that point with the Leviathan. Due to my ham fisted-ness there were numerous areas with gaps that I figured "hey, I'll be able to fix that with a little GS before primering", but it was only once I sat down and started gap filling that I realized that A) there were a lot more gaps than I thought, and B) I really should have been gap filling as I went along rather than waiting until it was all assembled.

I'll be the first to admit that my GS skills are sorely lacking, mostly relegated to gap filling and hair/fur, but the sheer size of the Leviathan introduced an entirely new set of issues. Primarily, how to hold the darn thing while applying the GS, and secondarily not breaking/bending/cracking anything while trying to smooth it all out. There were more than a few ominous creaks and cracks during this process, and to my horror, the rear right rounded tread section broke loose and I was forced to make an emergency repair.

I used a mix of knead-together and liquid greenstuff - the knead together was used to fill in the larger holes, while the liquid was used on the minor areas and to help smooth transitions between the plastic and the kneaded GS areas. Going to have to primer it to see how it actually worked - after which I'll more than likely need to do another pass with the GS to clean up any egregious areas. Oof!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan Banner and side sponsons complete

Managed to squeeze in some hobby time last night and worked on the Leviathan a bit more. I wasn't totally happy with how the side sponsons lined up with the upper superstructure (or more precisely, how they didn't), so I added another layer of detail to the outside cut to better fit the angles as well as to give them a bit more pop - I'm also planning on adding some further brass etch to them, Aquilas on the ourside sponsons and an Opus Machina to the middle one. I also managed to dig up enough lascannons to fit on all the side turrets, and got those cut and mounted.

As you may have noticed, I also added the awesome banner that LuckyNo.5 made for me. He was kind enough to set me up with a version designed to be double sided once it was printed out and wrapped around the banner pole. Turned out just right in my opinion!

 

I printed it out on some thin cardstock capable of feeding through the printer, set to the highest print quality. After that I carefully cut it out and applied white glue to the inside - while it was drying I set the flag in a bit of a wavy pattern by careful bending around a few plastic tubes I had lying about. After it was set I sprayed it with gloss varnish, then again with matte varnish, which gave it a bit more protection and helped lock the bends in place. Easy peasy!

I still need to do a mess of greenstuffing to take care of the gaps here and there, so for the moment the side sponsons are not yet fixed in place. I'm hoping to find some time to do that over the next week, though I'll admit that XCOM: Enemy Unknown has been getting a fair bit of my attention. Filthy Xenos!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan banner

I recently contacted the exceedingly talented LuckyNo.5 from the Eye of Error blog about commissioning a big ol' banner for the Leviathan. After all, the regimental command vehicle ought to have a suitably impressive banner!

LuckyNo.5 is responsible for the blog banner proudly splashed across the top of this page, and also made the spectacular banners for my Heresy-era Thousand Sons that can be seen scattered throughout the force. He's also made numerous blog banners for other folks, and is currently involved with the rather excellent Dark Eldar forum The Dark City as well as the Standard Template Construct blog.

We discussed some ideas about what the banner should look like, and he sent me a couple examples he worked up. I have to say, he knocked it out of the park on the first try! The 'patron saint' of the Mordian 7th Regiment is Mahagon Jhume, the martyred leader of the Night Rippers hive gang from which the vast majority of the regiment was drawn, and his name has pride of place across the top scroll. The various little text boxes include the declaration raising the regiment, which is a great touch - Unfortunately they're going to be too small to read when shrunk down to the final banner size, but will look great nonetheless. The red and black dags around the perimeter hearkens back to the serrated knife blade that is the unofficial emblem of the regiment. All around, I couldn't be happier!

He also went one step further and worked up a battle damaged/bloodied version of the banner that I will be using for the glorious 7th's Regimental Command Squad. Absolutely brilliant stuff! In fact the super high res version of the above banner is now my desktop background (at 3000x2100 pixels, it's huge)!

If you're looking for a new blog banner, or some frankly awesome banners for your army, LuckyNo.5 is your man. I heartily recommend his work, and I am constantly amazed at his amazing talents at converting, painting and being an all-around great guy!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan side sponsons built

Finally got a set of side sponson towers that I like sorted out, and snapped a few pics. This was the last bit that really needed to be made before it really looks like a Leviathan!

They're not quite perfect fits, but they're by far the closest I've been able to manage thus far. Close enough to be able to fill the gaps, at least. I was determined to utilize the small turrets that I picked up from Blood and Skulls Industry, and that required a somewhat complicated shape full of compound angles.

 

I haven't attached them yet, as I still need to go in and do a bunch of gap filling along the bottom of the upper superstructure. Just picked up a whole new tube of green stuff for the purpose. I have a feeling I'll be putting a good sized dent in it by the time I'm done!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan rebuild continues

Had a free day yesterday and spent some time gluing up the upper superstructure for the Leviathan, and added some further embellishments. It's really starting to take shape now!

The longer barrel for the Doomsday Cannon definitely works well, (thanks for the feedback, folks) and I'm quite happy with the upper turret too. Now that it's back together, I wanted to add another tank for scale, though my black background and black tank didn't work well together. The track sections are roughly three times the length of the hull of the Leman Russ, and almost as wide!

My order from Forge World arrived bearing multiple brass etch icons (amongst other goodies to be revealed at a later date), some of which have made it on to the main structure - I'll likely add some more to the side turret towers as well. The towers are proving to be a bit challenging as they are a rather complex shape - wide at the bottom, narrowing towards the top and slanted inwards to match the slope of the sides of the upper structure. Let's just say I've figured out a half dozen shapes that DON'T work... Argh.

Still, this has been a really fun project so far, and I'm looking forward to finishing it up!

The Praetorian Project - Upper superstructure detailing

Almost all the detail bits have arrived, and I was finally able to get some windows that were the right size. I was feeling like goldilocks there for a bit - those windows were too small, those windows were too big. These windows are juuuuuust right!

Still waiting for the brass etch aquilas to arrive from FW for use on the front panel (along with a Thudd Gun for the guard), but in the meantime I'm down to two choices for the Doomsday cannon. It's a little hard to tell which will work best at the moment since the front panel isn't attached to the whole superstructure, but I'm leaning towards the first one as it's closer to the 'real' model's aesthetic.

 

I'm working on the side sponson construction now, trying out a couple different options - one that will utilize the small turrets that Tom McBride supplied me with (small-ish, but match the upper turret look) and one that uses the Razorback turrets (bigger, but different style-wise). Again, I'm not sure which is going to work best until I get the upper superstructure re-assembled. Soon enough we'll see how they look!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan tracks and lower structure built

Had some free time on Saturday to work on the Leviathan, and managed to get the lower superstructure built and sort out how the tracks were going to attach. I'm rather pleased, everything ends up fitting together like a dream!

Still a lot of greenstuff work to do of course, but overall I was expecting much worse in the way of the fit of all that plasticard. I added some internal support to the lower section with some foamcore board, as when I had it taped together in the test build it felt very delicate. It's now a rather solid piece with all the interior bracing.

It took a bit of adjustment, but the tracks sit just right inside the track guards. Trusty Enginseer VictorXX is dwarfed by the tread housing. It's gonna be big!

I'm planning on leaving the treads loose for painting prior to final assembly, which means I have to mask off all the foamcore spacers. Last thing I need to do is to forget that step and have the primer melt it into goo!

The Praetorian Project - Making tracks

Pressing onward on the Leviathan - spent some time last night cleaning and assembling the tread sections I got from Tom McBride's Blood and Skulls Industry! My hobby table was adrift in resin trimmings and shavings. It looks like wintertime happened early...

I'm quite happy with how they're coming along so far - though I still need to sort out exactly how they're going to attach to the lower superstructure. I have a few ideas that I'll have to test out. I do know that I'm planning on leaving them unattached for painting and then glue them in afterwards...

One of the major elements of the Leviathan is the Doomsday cannon that is center-mounted on the hull. I finally managed to find a couple pieces of PVC that should fit the bill! Gotta love 40k for its unfeasibly large weapon systems...

In other news, if you're in Colorado my band Stealth Hippo is playing a gig on Saturday the 22nd at The DNote in Arvada at 9:30pm. Ridiculous costumes, giant mustaches and crazy music! Should be a good time!

The Praetorian Project - Leviathan detailing begins

The detailing process has begun! I pulled apart the test build and started attaching the various detail plates. In addition, the package from Blood and Skulls Industry showed up, bearing the treads, wheels and turrets!

I'm really excited to get cracking on the treads - Tom provided me with a set of 2" wide track sections, and plenty of wheels. I need to pick up some dowel and spacer material, and then we'll be cooking with gas!

 

I'm also looking forward to seeing how the upper turret looks once the Leviathan is re-assembled. Size-wise it's going to be perfect. Unfortunately the side sponson turrets I'd ordered are looking like they're going to be a touch too small, though they will find use in future projects I have do doubt! Instead I'll be going with a set of Razorback turrets - a rummage through the Closet of Doom turned up allllllmost enough bits to pull it off. Just need to order a couple extras and I'll be all set.

 

I'm still pondering how the internal bracing structure is going to work, but there's still a bit more detailing to go before I can start the re-assembly process. It's all coming together nicely though!

Adeptus Mechanicus - Praetorians complete!

As I've started the build of the new Hypaspists, the models I've been painting may now officially be considered the Praetorians for the Ad-Mech army. Assuming that the army includes a Skitarii Consul, the Praetorians may be chosen as Troops rather than the Elites slot they ordinarily take up.

While I was batch painting these models, I decided that I didn't want them to all be the same, so I swapped the colors on the cloaks between the two units. It keeps the color theme throughout but helps to distinguish them from one another on the tabletop.

The Tribunes for the units are armed with Power Weapons and Hellpistols, but I'm not completely satisfied with the ones I've built. Subsequent to the contruction of these models I'd picked up some interesting-looking "clockwork weapons" from MaxMini that I thing would be more suitable. As I have half dozen or so extra torsos, I'll likely build some replacements in the future.

With these done, it means that a vast majority of the models I have built for the army have been painted - all the more reason the build more models!