Arbites (counts-as) Rhino Showcase

I started this project a little over 4 years ago and it is finally finished!! I am very pleased with the results!

All three vehicles are identically equipped with a hull mounted storm bolter, a pintle-mounted storm bolter, a spot light, smoke launchers, and a tow hitch.

These models are intended to be used as Rhinos in 40K, Dark Heresy, and Necromunda. But I suppose if pressed, they might make suitable Chimeras for IG Veteran squads. 

I am still uncertain about line-edge paint style. I am happy with the results, but just unsure if it is the style for this project.

Size comparison with 2 Arbites

Size comparison with a Mk1 Rhino

Size comparison with a Devilfish

I thought about trying out some weathering pigments, but could not get myself to use this project as a guinea pig on my first attempt.

Let me know what you think. To catch up on the entire project check out these posts:

Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP (part 2)
Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP
Adeptus Arbites

Troop Troupe

All of the following figures have been painted for quite some time. I had intended to post them as soon as each squad/group was completed. But with all that has been going on in RL, I never got around to it. So, I present to you 5 different groups of minis that were used in our Dark Heresy campaign and most of them are eventually destined for my IG "Tattered Outpost Defense Force".

Pulp Figures Gasmask Cultists 1 plus a Weird Villain
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These cultists are my least favorite of this posting. I wanted the "purple" robes to be a black-purple and it horribly failed on that front. Plus, while I really liked the figures, I just could never get into painting them. I didn't try very hard on the bases either... oh well they served their purpose.

WH40k Catachan
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In an experiment, I had these guys (plus about 15 other figures) painted by Trevy's Painting Table. I paid him $1 per figure to essentially "base coat" the models, and I spec'd out the colors. When I got the models back, I added more detail and did the bases.

The figures after the "base coat"

Trevy  is a great guy for taking my project, and he did an adequate job (which was perfect in this case). However, I doubt I will use his service again as the time saved on the painting table was lost waiting to get through Trevy's production schedule. And to be honest, it just doesn't feel right as a hobbyist. I thought I could justify it by equating it to the comics industry--It is not uncommon to have a junior artist/team block out flat color on a page (a flatter) followed by the actual colorist who creates all the shading, rendering, and special effects.

RT era Penal Legion
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Here are 5 Rogue Trader era Penal Legion. I have 5 more that I scooped up on eBay earlier this year. I painted these guys up in traditional colors and a typical grassy base.

RT era Imperial Guard
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I also painted these guys in traditional colors. I only have 3 other guys that are of this style and I am looking to round out a squad of 10. I did a slightly different treatment to the bases--I only used very coarse ballast. It is an interesting look.

Necromunda Redemptionists
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The guy in the middle is a Grenadier miniature Adeptus-B donated to the gang. Another friend bough the Redemptionist box set a long time ago, and I have sort of inherited it. I have about 10 more models to finish the gang, but these will do fine for Dark Heresy.

WH40K Adeptas Arbites
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And finally, here is the first squad of my small Adeptus Arbite gang/force. I have 2 other 6-man units, and three counts-as Rhino's that I last discussed here. A litle birdie told me we might be seeing some of these guys in an upcoming Dark Heresy session--and in our particular situation, it could be very bad!!

I tried to paint the bases like asphalt with road surface markings--I am not entirely happy about them, but they are acceptable for now.

Well, that's all for now, the holidays are around the corner, and I hope everyone has a happy and healty rest of the year. Until next time.

List Building: Imperial Guard

I have always wanted to make a rag-tag, or eclectic looking IG army. I was never sure quite how to do it (or when I would so), but I have been collecting the models for 15+ years. As evidence, here are a few pics...

The root of the inspiration is the last ditch effort to defend an outpost or some other important location. I envision the force to be comprised of the local enforcers/arbites, remnants of planetary reserves, desperados,  prisoners, conscripts, special forces, kill teams, and elements of the local administratum. Because of our Dark Heresy campaign, I only recently thought about including an inquisitor and/or rogue trader-- either a counts-as company command squad, or an additional inquisitor ally squad.

This is not meant to be any sort of competitive tournament list, just a casual fun list. Except for the 2 chimeras, I have everything listed. The Arvus Lighter is a scratch build project, primarily for use in Dark Heresy.

3000 Pts - Imperial Guard Roster

HQ: Company Command Squad (11#, 375 pts)
Rogue Trader or Inquisitor?

• 4 Company Command Squad (Carapace Armour; Krak Grenades; Medi-pack; Regimental Standard; Vox Caster; Plasmagun x1)
• 1 Company Commander (Melta Bombs, Power Fist; Plasma Pistol)
• 1 Astropath
• 2 Bodyguard
• 1 Master of Ordnance
• 1 Officer of the Fleet
• 1 Chimera (Turret Heavy Bolter; Dozer Blade; Hunter Killer Missile; Pintle Storm Bolter)

: Ministorum Priest (1#, 60 pts)

• 1 Ministorum Priest (Eviscerator)

: Techpriest Enginseer (2#, 95 pts)

• 1 Techpriest Enginsee
• 1 Servitor Unit (Plasma Cannon x1)

Elite: Kasrkin Squad (11#, 260 pts)
Special Forces?

• 9 Storm Trooper Squad (Flamer x1; Grenade Launcher x1)
• 1 Storm Trooper Sergeant (Power Weapon)
• 1 Chimera (Turret Heavy Bolter; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter)

Troops: Infantry Platoon (54#, 492 pts)
Planetary Reserves/Garrison

• 2 Platoon Command Squad (Vox Caster; Flamer x1) 
• 1 Heavy Weapons Team (Missile Launcher)
• 1 Platoon Commander (Power Weapon; Plasma Pistol)

• 7 Infantry Squad (Vox Caster; Meltagun x1)
• 1 Heavy Weapons Team (Heavy Bolter)
• 1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol)
  
• 7 Infantry Squad (Vox Caster; Flamer x1)
• 1 Heavy Weapons Team (Lascannon) 
• 1 Sergean

• 3 Heavy Weapons Squad
  
• 3 Heavy Weapons Squad
  
• 3 Heavy Weapons Squad
  
• 20 Conscripts Squad

Troops: Cadian Squad (10#, 135 pts)

•  9 Veteran Squad (Demolition Charge; Melta Bombs; Vox Caster; Meltagun x3)
• 1 Veteran Sergeant (Melta Bombs)

Troops:  Gaunt's Ghost Squad (10#, 142 pts)

•  9 Veteran Squad (Camo Cloak; Snare Mines; Vox Caster; Plasmagun x1; Sniper Rifle x2)
• 1 Veteran Sergeant (Camo Cloak; Snare Mines; Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon)

Troops: Penal Legion Squad (10#, 80 pts)

•  9 Penal Legion Squad
• 1 Penal Custodian

Troops: Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (7#, 152 pts)
Local Law Enforcement

• 5 Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (Flamer x1)
• 1 Veteran Arbite [WH] (Auspex)  
• 1 Rhino [WH] (Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Searchlight)

Troops: Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (7#, 165 pts)
Local Law Enforcement

• 5 Adeptus Arbites Squad [WH] (Grenade Launcher x1)
• 1 Veteran Arbite [WH] (Brazier of Holy Fire x1; Auspex)
• 1 Rhino [WH] (Pintle-mounted Storm Bolter; Searchlight)

Fast Attack: Armoured Sentinel Squadron (3#, 255 pts)

• 1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)
• 1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)
• 1 Armoured Sentinel (Lascannon)

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (5#, 90 pts)
Desperados

•  4 Rough Rider Squad (Meltagun x2)
• 1 Rough Rider Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Plasma Pistol)

Heavy Support: Leman Russ Squadron (3#, 570 pts)

• 1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter) 
• 1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter) 
• 1 Leman Russ Battle Tank (Heavy Bolter Sponsons x2; Dozer Blade; Pintle Storm Bolter) 

Heavy Support: Arvus Lighter (IA) (1#, 105 pts)

• 1 Arvus Lighter (IA) (Armoured Cockpit; Flare / Chaff Launcher)

Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP (part 2)

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I got a little bit of time in on my Adeptus Arbites (counts-as) Rhinos. I added the remaining bitz to the prototype, and was able to complete the the other 2 vehicles as well. It was surprising how much time I spent planning and experimenting during this project. This isn't the first time I used poster tack to temporarily hold parts/models together, but it is to the extent used here.

I decided to trim down the smoke launcher tubes--
a little more than half
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Side-by-side comparison to a mk1 Rhino
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Hopefully I'll have all three painted up later this week.

To see the development of this project check out:
Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP
Adeptus Arbites

Arbites (counts-as) Rhino WiP

I mentioned the Arbites (counts-as) Rhino in my last post: Back on the Bench. But since taking the picture, I received the eBay bitz I was waiting for.

Using some Poster Putty (actually any brand tacky putty works), I added the remaining bitz. However, I'm not happy with the placement of the smoke launchers, and I'm not sure what to do.

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I'm also not sure about the door handles. I may draw/paint them on instead of adding a bit (what you see in the pic is a handle from a Land Speeder Storm). If I can fit it on, I will add an Aquillia hood ornament too.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Back on the Bench

Well, 2010 was quite a year! Know one had any idea how long my recovery would take-- but I wont rehash everything here (I'll have links to the posts discussing it at the bottom of this post). I've got a lot to share, so I expect this is going to be a monster post.

The only gaming I have gotten in over the last year is a handful of sessions of Dark Heresy (run by Adeptus-B).  I am playing a Psyker and our group is a few hundred XP into our 4th rank. There are 5 players left after 2 had previously dropped out of the campaign. We play about once a month. Here are a few highlighted encounters.

On a forge world, an abandoned platform about a mile off shore. 
We land in an Aquillia Lander to assault the heretics.

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On a feral world, we set up an ambush in order to capture the
leader of a small group of poachers. I started a detailed
description of the encounter in this post: Ambush!
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On a frontier world, we approach a disabled wagon on the side
of the road -- as expected, it was an ambush!
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On the modeling front, I started about 1-2 weeks ago putting in some quantifiable time on the work bench. Nothing really to completion yet... its all WiP. Even more than ever, I have a very short attention span-- I'll paint a mini for a few minutes, then grab a different mini to pin on a arm and hand, then dig through a bitz boxes looking for the right piece for something else, then I'll go back to the original mini and add a little more paint. (all this in between repairing my son's toys and organizing the garage!! :) )

The first images are for a squad of Rough Riders. These were in my "to do" pile for a few years, but Adeptus-B recently asked if I had any cowboys on horses for a future encounter-- this was the best I could come up with. Although, I decided to equip them as a unit of Rough Riders rather than random cowboys... which makes them a little less fitting as cowboys. The reason for that decision is that I would love to complete an IG army representing a small out-world "last stand" planetary defense (ie hodge-podge army).

Rogue Trader era Rough Riders as given to me by Laertes.
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After some minor conversion work (arm and weapon swaps),
and adding 2 Rogue Trader era IG jet bike riders to horses.
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In a previous post, I have mentioned my small Adeptus Arbites force here: Adeptus Arbites. I managed to mostly complete one of the counts-as rhinos. Again, this was a request from Adeptus-B for use in Dark Heresy. I still plan on adding badging, some recently acquired eBay bitz, and possibly adjusting the placement of the brush guard.

A Dollar Tree toy with some bitz and paint.
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I have worked on some minis specifically for our Dark Heresy campaign as well-- Version 2.0 for our adept and my character, and a servo-skull. Nothing of note on the servo-skull, but on the two player character minis, this will be the first time I have temporarily mounted the models on something to make handling easier. I will also be attempting Ron's (from FTW) technique of painting "inside out".

This one is essentially done-- just need to spray with matte clear
cote and then gloss the metal bitz.
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Our group's psyker mk II (a Dark Age Forsaken Leader) and
adept mk II (a Games Workshop Master of Ordinance)
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Well, I think that covers most of it. I did score some OOP Space Fleet minis on ebay to add to my Battlefleet Gothic fleets, but I'll cover that in a later post.

If you want to read more about what Ive gone through, Ive mentioned it in these posts: Going on Hiatus, Back on my Feet... Sort of, Recovery Round 3, and Still Here!

Adeptus Arbites

I have had a portion of this project on my "to do" list for many years. Adeptus-B and I were very active playing Necromunda for almost 2-years, and I was looking to create a new gang. It started with some old 2nd edition plastic space marine scouts that I wanted to convert to a unit of Arbites with power mauls and suppression shields. After converting the first one, I gathered up the remaining bitz needed to convert the rest of a squad. I will add a post later about what I did to convert them.

Later, I picked up a handful of actual Arbites from GW mail order. Unfortunately we stopped playing Necromunda before I got around to them. Well, now that we are playing Dark Heresy, this project not only moved to the top of the list, it has greatly expanded.

I should point out that I have an obsession to make my figures as multi-purpose as possible. This is one reason why I tend towards "generic", similarly styled bases on all of my minis. Only recently have I began to be more creative, but I still try to keep them somewhat "uniform". But it is not just the bases... for fantasy, I kept mindful that my orcs and goblins should be able to fulfill the role of many types of D&D encounters as well as units in a WHFB orc army.

What I have now is 3 character models, 3 5-man units, a bike, and 3 (counts as) rhinos. These will easily be able to function in a wide variety of roles in Dark Heresy, as a very tough gang in Necromunda, or as a detachment to any Imperial-themed army in WH40K.


I found the vehicles at a local Dollar Tree and added various bits from mk1 rhinos, vehicle accessory sprues, and other odd pieces (I will discuss the details in a later post). Amazingly, they have the same foot print as a mk1 rhino. I envision 2 of them as "hummer" style troop transports, and the other as a command or communications vehicle. One of the character models is lightly converted from the Battle For Macragge set, and I have an old GW Judge Anderson and bike from the Judge Dredd line. I wanted to include a cyber-mastiff and handler in this lot, but I can't buy the cyber-mastiff separately from GW anymore. Any ideas?

As I get farther along, I will add some conversion posts, and a then final completed force.