What a "smashing" week!

So, the reason I didn't post over the weekend, when I typically get a chance to, can be seen in the photo above. While on a work trip to Pittsburgh to photograph a fantastic Battle of Leipzig game I found myself the victim of a pretty crazy car crash. Another driver, entering the highway at speed, spun out on gravel and collided with me, who then proceeded to spin out and connect with the concrete barrier on the shoulder of the road. Fortunately no-one was injured, just a bit shaken up.

Suffice to say I was almost 4 hours late to the photo shoot and had to drive a compact rental back to Baltimore that night.

I wasn't really in the mood to post anything fun : (

But, now that a few days have gone by, I'm still worried about how I'll afford a new car, but I figured I'd show you all the Locust (Chaos vector-fighter) I've been mucking around with for the last little while and finished up for Adepticon.

The first batch of photos are of the Locust at the end of the build (10pm Monday night before Adepticon). It is fairly clear where the drop pod fins are, but some of the detailing of the plasticard is a bit tougher to make out.

One thing that should be clear are the power cables I used to draw power from the jet engine and divert it to the vector thrusters. These cables are available from Jeff at Dragon Forge Design.

One other thing you might notice if you take a close look at the picture above are the small pieces of etched brass. These little vents/grilles are from the Panniers set of brass from Justin at Secret Weapon. I haven't used a lot of etched brass stuff before, but these vents were just right for the job, adding that fine level of detail that would be nigh on impossible with plasticard.

As I mentioned above, I finished the build at 10pm, less than three days before I'd be heading to Chicago. After quickly snapping the photos above, with my old photo set-up as my work gear was already packed on a truck, I primed the sucker and started painting. By 1am Tuesday I had all the metal work done and had just laid down the liquid mask.

Rather than go for my standard dark red vehicle look, I decided on the bone colored flyer with dark red star. I painted the whole thing with a couple of layers of Dheneb Stone, painted Gryphonne Sepia into the shadows, the peeled off the liquid mask. I then had to highlight the edges with Skull White, and wrap up the detailing.

I love this pic above. It shows just how thin the Locust really is. Looks mean.

The base is from Dragon Forge Design, with the addition of the smoking brazier. I added that to represent a warp locator, figuring that the Veterans who descend from the Locust (counts as Vendetta) would actually "warp in" to a location determined by the Locust pilot. I mean, they obviously wouldn't fit in the plane itself ; )

I hope you've enjoyed this close-up look at the Locust fighter. Thomas and I can now go back and build fresh templates for it that might make it up on this blog (like the truck templates). I will say, however, that I think this might be the only one I ever build. Very time consuming.

So, as I contemplate my future financial situation (re: a new car) I'll leave you with two things.

The first is I may have to sell off an army to get a good-sized down payment together, if so, which would you guys like to see go up for auction? Custodes? Mechanicus? Cathay?

The second thing is, occasionally someone offers to by me a cup of coffee (or a beer) as a thank you for some of the advice I've been able to provide. It has been kind of tough to achieve that over teh Interwebs, until NOW! Over in the right hand column you'll find a little paypal button where you can "buy me a coffee", if you should feel so inclined : )

Well, that's it for tonight. Stay safe, look after your loved ones, and enjoy every day as much as you can!

Cheers

Dave

The Rapid Assault Force advances

Late-breaking News!

Like my friend Jeff Hall (of The Adept's Forge), I too will be helping the good folks of Games & Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD, celebrate their 10th Birthday. I should be thee from 7-9pm, hanging out, talking to people about painting and conversions. If you want to ask any questions about my recent stuff, just drop by! Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

So, I'm finally getting some paint on the Hellblade! Although this model was incredibly easy to assemble, I think it's going to take a bit longer to paint it up the way I want.

As you can see, I'm going for a bit of a switch-up on my Rapid Assault Force. Instead of the dark red of my Blood Pact tanks, I'm going for an off white scheme. However, I did start things off the same way. A heavy drybrush of Tin Bitz, a lighter drybrush of Boltgun Metal, then thinned washes of Devlan Mud, Thraka Green patches, Leviathan Purple patches, and Badab Black.

Once all those washes were dry I painted Liquid Mask in patches onto the Hellblade, painting more onto the leading edges and strategically placed streaks. This was followed by two thin coats of Dheneb Stone (I'll bust out the spraygun for the Locusts), then a drybrush of a Dheneb Stone/Skull White mix.

Finally I could get to my favorite part. Stripping off the Liquid Mask, exposing the darkened metal underneath. I continued a few more steps, but I'll save those for another post.

The Chaos Locust vector-fighter that Thomas and I are working on continues apace. I decided to build the engine pod, taking some design cues from the Hellblade's engine. Here it is above, and you can see the comparison below.

I'm pretty happy with it. You can do a lot of fun things with some tubing, plasticard, and Dragon Forge power cables.

I hope you enjoy it! More to come soon.

The origin of the Rapid Assault Force

Well. It has begun. The first plane for my Rapid Assault force has rolled off the production lines. I bought the Forgeworld Chaos Hellblade Fighter after I returned from the Battlefoam Wild West Shootout Tournament back in October 09 (so long ago).

After an overnight soak in some cleaning liquid and a thorough scrubbing with an old toothbrush (and the tweaking of one of the Hellblade's bent wings), the plane went together incredibly easily! Only 11 parts with no real hassles at all. If only they were all like this. I started wondering how many more I should acquire.

Anyways, after assembling the Hellblade it was time to get started on the Locust vector-fighter. Early last year, Thomas Wynn and I discussed the possibility of converting (somewhat enmasse) the fins from Drop Pods into Chaos fighters, later dubbed "Locusts" by Mr Wynn. We sketched up a few things and the project went on the Back Burner™ for over nine months. Recently I asked Thomas if he still had the sketches. Turns out he'd turned some of the sketches into cut components. He'd worked out everything for the flat plane of the wings, so I now get to work on building up the rest of the beast (engine, weapon mounts, air intakes, running lights etc), then we can go back to the computer-aided drawing board.

Here's a comparison shot. They'll actually be pretty close in overall length, but the Locust might appear a tad bulkier. As you can see I've started building up the detailing, the cockpit...

...the air intake, and underbelly.

And here's a final shot of the work thus far.

Until next time.

Cheers

Dave

Painting Purple.

A few posts back I showed you a Pre-Heresy Lucius, Fabius, and an Emperor's Children Standard Bearer. I added a few pieces of greenstuff work and here's Lucius painted, descending stairs, his paired swords held ready to skillfully deal some death!

I tried to match a blend of the Sam Wood artwork from the Horus Heresy Artbooks, the Lucius the Eternal miniature (note the black studded gauntlets), elements of the Fulgrim I worked on, and a couple of new ideas. Most notable are the signature Emperor's Children wings on the shoulder pads of Lucius and Fabius.

I could have used the Dark Angels Commander wing that I used on Fulgrim, but I wanted something different, still stylish, but not the same as their hallowed Primarch. I glued a feather from the Empire Foot Soldiers sprue to the shoulder pad and then built up the EC wing symbol from greenstuff. Once painted, I think it adds a certain opulence.

And as it looks like the Rapid Assault Force will take the prize as my next Blood Pact Project™ (unless, of course, the Ground Assault Force can garner 170+ votes over the next six days)

I figured that sitting down to lunch with Thomas would be a great idea. Here's a shot of the initial "sketch" of a Locust vector fighter we'll be building making heavy use of the Space Marine Drop Pod wings.