Heresy Era Mechanicum - Zhao Arkkad Cybernetica force complete!

With NOVA bearing down on me, I had to take stock of what remains to be done - As I'd been working on the Castellax recently (who are pulling double duty in both the Thousand Sons and Mechanicum forces) I figured I ought to pull out the rest of the Zhao Arkkad force and get all the waterslides, glossy faceplates and so forth complete. Once that was done it turns out the whole Cybernetica contingent is ready to go!

1500 points doesn't go very far in a Cybernetica force! This army will form half of the team game force, and will take the field alongside 1500 points of Thousand Sons. Should be good times! They're currently hanging out on a very cool gaming tray made by the inestimable Zab over at Almost Perftec.

I wanted to do something a little different for the Archmagos Dominus, and dug up an old "Telepathica Emancipator" model from the Tempus Fugitives days. I kind of like the "canopic jar" look, I'm envisioning the Magos as being a mummified husk inside (or perhaps it's just sacs of organs)...

Quite happy with how the Castellax Achea turned out - the transfer sheets from Forge World included a couple rather cool banners, and I really dug this one in particular. Added a little touch of the wyrdlight green to help tie them in to the rest of the Thousand Sons force, as they are controlled via a psychic link.

Nothing really new with the Thallax, they were pretty much done already and just needed their faceplates given a going-over with the brush-on gloss varnish.

Similarly the Vorax just got the shiny eye treatment, and the addition of a small Thousand Sons nova in white. Helps to tie them in with the rest of the force, all of whom have the white nova on one shoulder or another. Still my favorite of the new robot re-imaginings from FW, I adore these models (fiddly though they are to assemble)!

The big guy got a similar large transfer on his shoulder as a callback to the imagery on the Castellax banner, and the shiny faceplate treatment. They're all ready to be packed up for transit to the event!

While I was about it I updated the Thousand Sons painting chart. Very close to the finish line now! Trying very hard to stay focused on this project so I don't have to worry about models for NOVA, but have been entertaining thoughts of which project to pick up next - Both the Genestealer Cult and Dark Eldar/Harlequins appeal as a way to dip my toes into 8th edition (which I still haven't had a chance to play), but on the other hand I do really want to start that Sons of Horus army... Decisions, decisions!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Thanatar and Vorax almost complete!

I was going through the pictures I've taken over the last couple weeks and realized I'd never posted the shots of the Thanatar and Vorax fresh off the paint line! They were spray sealed before I left for Adepticon and are awaiting the addition of some waterslide transfers and weathering, but are table ready otherwise!

 

Rather happy with how the Thanatar turned out, the red ended up a little mottled but in the end I sort of like it! Carried on with the black weapon housings and the usual electric blue gives it some nice spot color.

The Vorax are by far my favorite of the robot range, they just exude menace. Haven't glossed up the eyes yet (or the faceplate on the Thanatar), as they'll be getting another matte pass following the addition of the transfers and weathering.

  

FW recently put up another preview of the Achean Castellax and the Osiron dreadnought, and the force will be getting at least three of each weapon loadout! Going to be an expensive day once those go up for pre-order...

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Robots rolling through the manufactorum...

Real Life(tm) has been kicking my butt recently, but there was time to put brush to model here and there as a way to unwind, so I fired up the painting servitor and got cracking!

The Thallax got painted up to the "Off the factory floor" stage prior to waterslides and weathering, thinking some hieroglyphics on the offhand shoulder would be a good way to go! Went with the brush-on gloss on the faceplates to give them a nice shine, though the lighting is a little poor to get the full effect in these in-progress shots.

Quite enjoyed painting the Thallax, so the Vorax were the next on deck - keep that momentum going! Just the antiqued gold/brass and laid in the basecoat for the red so far, but already liking how they're shaping up!

Since three models don't really make for much of a batch, the Thanatar got the same treatment. He's a beast - definitely glad I left him separated at the waist to facilitate painting! Got a whole mess of Thousand Sons basecoated in red, so expect a tidal wave of the Sons of Magnus in short order - Really excited to get stuck in with 'em, something a little different in store for the army this time around...

Heresy Era Mechanicum - The Flesh Is Weak!

The fallible flesh components of the painting servitor succumbed to the touch of Nurgle so I did a half day today - Between sneezing fits managed to get several nearly-built models constructed and even start laying in a little paint on a few models!

First up is the heavy hitter of the Cybernetica force, the Thanatar. Armed with a fearsome Hellex Plasma Wave mortar and Mauler Bolt Cannons, it's just a beast! I expect it to take a ton of fire, so it gets the Paragon of Metal special rule, granting it some much needed extra survivability!

Next were some of the most challenging models in the Mechanicum line to build in my opinion, but also the one whose look I enjoy most of all - The Vorax! A worthy re-imagining of the old Crusader robot, I love the insectile look and think they'll tie in nicely with the scarab motif of the Thousand Sons they'll be fighting alongside!

Finally, a bit of paint! As a departure from the normal gunmetal skeletal structure, the various bots of the Zhao Arkkad Cybernetica will be getting an antiqued gold/bronze color, which when tied together with the red armor plates and black weapon housings should give them a nice complimentary color scheme to the Thousand Sons as well. Just laying in the basecoats for the reds to get a feel for what panels I want to do, and of course at some point they're all going to get a hit of my usual blue as a spot color - should really make 'em pop!

Adeptus Mechanicus - Thanatar painting complete

Managed to sneak in an hour or painting last night and snapped some pics this evening after I got home. Thanatar ready for deployment!

  

Not a whole lot of change from the previous post, got the shading on the gold and blue, managed to get the sealant on in a break in the surprisingly rainy weather, then applied the gloss coat to the faceplate. I'm thinking that it needs a little battle damage/weathering, now that I'm looking at it. I do like the 'fresh off the factory floor' look though - the tech priests would endeavor to keep their charges in peak condition, after all!

Pulled out all the Castellax and Thallax for a little Legio Cybernetica family portrait - quite pleased with how they all tie together!

Adeptus Mechanicus - Thanatar Painting begins!

The drummer in my ridiculous band's wife just had their second child, so my usual sunday afternoon schedule of drinking beer and making a racket band practice has been curtailed for the next several months. That means a few more hours of painting time a week instead! Since I had all the reds and golds out from working on the Thousand Sons, I decided I'd make a start of the Thanatar:

Had to pull out the Castellax to ensure I matched up with the existing scheme, which worked out pretty well - the Thanatar is essentially just an overgrown Castellax. Trying to carry through the "shiny black faceplates" as I've done on the Castellax and Thallax, as well. Still plenty of work remaining but the heavy lifting is done at this point!

Post #500 Giveaway and a look to the future!

This marks the 500th post to the blog, which calls for a bit of a celebration! As many of you know, I've been playing 40k since its inception back in the late 80s and most of my hobby mojo is based on the old fluff (the core of the Mordian 7th is drawn from the old red-cover 40k Compendium) and game systems such as Adeptus Titanicus and the original Epic Space Marine (where my love for heresy-era gaming took root). In an effort to share my love of old school 40k gaming, I'm giving away one of my soft-cover 1st Ed Rogue Trader Rulebooks to mark the occasion:

Pretty simple, if you're a follower of my blog and leave a comment below, your name will be entered into the drawing which will take place on September 15th. Couldn't be easier!

Figured it was a good time to look at what's on the horizon hobby-wise as well. I have to admit that my interest in 40k has been on the wane for quite some time, and I've been giving serious consideration to selling off the current iteration of the Mordian 7th either as one big apocalypse army set, or in smaller lots (possibly keeping a few units for sentimental reasons). It's been sitting unused in the Closet of Doom for well over a year, and I have no real plan to play them any time soon. I've long said that 'the building and the painting is more fun than the having', and besides if I get rid of 'em, that gives me an excuse to re-create them once again in the future, right?

Now that's not to say that I'm looking to get out of the hobby entirely, by any means! My interest in Heresy-era gaming has never been stronger, and I have been up to my ears in the Thousand Sons for months. Sadly, I'm reaching the finish line with them, and they're going to be shelved for a bit while we await the release of the Prospero book. I've more or less built all of the 'generic' units I can for the army, and I want to hold off on the rest until there's actual rules and models (cannot WAIT to see what FW does for Magnus the Red)!

So that means I have a few other projects in line to keep me occupied. As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm planning on a Geno Five-Two Chiliad army with some Alpha Legion allies, and since I have to wait for Conquest to arrive later this year to do the guard portion, I got started on a test unit of Alpha Legion over the past long weekend!

Didn't really take many in progress pics on these, but they started off with a Jade Green basecoat, followed by 3-4 passes with a Guilliman Blue glaze. This is the first time I'd tried a controlled multi-application of a glaze/wash to tint a color overall rather than just using them for a one-shot shade, and while it was very time consuming (had to wait an hour between coats to let the glaze dry) I quite like the end result!

 

But that's not all! I always have a force of Ad-Mech lurking in one form or another on the shelves, and with the most recent book Extermination, there is finally a rather flexible set of army rules and a bunch of cool models, such as the Thanatar that I picked up at Gencon and assembled over the holiday weekend as well.

 

Taking a cue from Eye of Error, I went with the 'unfolded petals' on the plasma mortar, and spent an inordinate amount of time hot-water bending the ammo feeds to get the mauler bolt cannons into a bit more of a dynamic pose. Quite looking forward to getting some paint on this beast!

 

...And speaking of painting a beast, over the past weekend I managed to get the Castigator painted up to the point where I could get a coat of sealant on it in preparation for waterslide transfers and weathering! Tried out a green on the power sword initially but found it looked a little off-balance so I went with an alternate blue such that it both ties together with, and stands apart from, the main blue of the armour plates. So, between the work to finish off the Castigator, a couple remaining Thousand Sons units, some planned Alpha Legion units, and a mess of Ad Mech there's plenty to keep me occupied for the foreseeable future, no doubt about that!

When all is said and done however, I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you readers out there. Your comments, suggestions and encouragement over the years has been instrumental in getting me to this point, and I am always humbled by all your kind words. Cheers everyone, and here's to another 500 posts in the future!

Be sure to leave a comment (and be a follower of the blog) to be entered for a chance to win the Rogue Trader rulebook!