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!

Heresy Era Mechanicum - Vorax Maniple Painted

Well unfortunately Real Life(tm) has been taking up far more of my time than I like, but I did manage to get a little hobby time in over the last few days and knocked out the Vorax maniple I'd ordered ages ago!

I absolutely love the update to the old Crusader pattern robot design FW has done, though the kits proved to be a major pain in the tuchus to assemble - tons of hot water bending for the various cables and ammo feeds, and even with what I thought was gentle manipulation, I still managed to snap one of them (and fixing that was a joy let me tell you).

Same basic paint scheme as the rest of the force - blue power weapons/cables, roman numerals on the right and a little cog-tooth decoration on the left, glossy black eyes and we're good to go! From what I'm reading they're apparently a little underwhelming on the tabletop, but it's Rule of Cool all the way for me so they'll definitely show up in my lists in the future!