Mad Maximillian 1934 - Gaslands in the Jazz Age!

Well, maybe it's a little after the Jazz Age per se, but close enough... Mad Max 1934 is a Gaslands/Car Wars type game set in the Dystopian 1930s, and is played with 1/43 cars and heroic 28mm miniatures. When founding Conscript Curt told me about this game a couple months ago, it sounded like an awesome project to have a go at! So I did!

 

First off, I fired up eBay and ordered some suitable diecast 1/43 model cars from Brumm, then headed over to Eureka to get crew models and bits. First up was this 1928 4 1/2 litre Bentley. I weathered it a bit with some steel wool (made necessary because the plastic hood straps broke and my attempts to glue 'em back on marred the paintwork), followed by an allover wash of Nuln Oil and a targeted wash of Agrax Earthshade over the lower part of the car. I also rusted up the exhaust system.

I painted this suitably mad-looking driver from Eureka and secured him in place. The Eureka drivers come with steering wheels so I cut the wheel off the Bentley.

The gunner is from the same pack. I used a gun mount from the Eureka accessories pack and a length of wire to mount it to the car. The "flimsy" petrol can is also from Eureka.

Looks pretty cool I think.

Next up is a 1936 Auto Union Type C Grand Prix car, in dual-wheel "hillclimb" configuration. This was a bit more involved as a conversion because I wanted the model to be displayable without the machinegun as a legit historical racer. What to do? 

Well, magnets to the rescue of course... I attached an ammo box from the spares bin to the Eureka MG and sculpted the cartridge belt from greenstuff. A 5mm disc magnet was attached to the bottom of the mount before painting. I took the car apart and superglued two more 5mm magnets in series to the underside of the front of the car so the MG magnet would adhere to the outside. Sorted!

Paintwork was as per Bentley - Nuln wash followed by Agrax. I think it looks suitably road-worn.

The Auto Union cars were the apex predators of pre-war motor racing... mid-engined like modern race cars, but with antiquated suspension and tire technology... the hillclimb cars needed four rear wheels as those rear tires took so much punishment from the 520 horsepower V16 powertrain they needed to be doubled up. 

Here's Hans Stuck madly sawing away at the wheel of his Auto Union in the 1938 Deutsches Bergmeisterschaft (German Hill-Climb Championship)... sadly machineguns were not permitted. In any case the cars went up the course one at a time anyway.

Lastly here's a 1939 Bugatti Type 59 Grand Prix car with a fetching female driver, also from Eureka. Not so successful as a racer, it looks great in French racing blue and brings some heat with twin Lewis guns.

The paintjobs on these Brumm models looked so good I couldn't bear to repaint them, so I used the Nuln/Agrax formula on all three. 

The Lewis guns were mounted to the car via a plasticard cross-piece (connecting the guns) and a short length of wire. I made a small round mount out of greenstuff and stuck that to the car hood, and glued the MG wire mount onto that.

Looking appropriately deadly, no? While I haven't picked up a copy of the MM34 rules, they look pretty fun and I love the setting and working on the models. Hopefully we can give it a go someday but even if not, it was a fun little project and I think the cars turned out nicely.

Painting Challenge Submission 16 - Some 30K Characters

A trio of characters for 30k gaming...converted from GW's Age of Sigmar line...

I've been having some fun diving into a new period and setting with my SAGA project, but I haven't lost my 30k obsession - I have a side duel to fight in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, after all! Not many figures in this submission, but I hope they will be fun for folks who enjoy the Horus Heresy setting - it is fun to have many fellow fans in this Challenge!

I'll subdivide this submission into two sub-sections, one for each character, but before I dive into the details you will see both of these models are slight conversions of figures from GW's "Age of Sigmar" fantasy mass-skirmish game.  I remembered that conscript Mike A had referred to the new "Stormcast Eternals" as "Sigmarines", and this entered my mind as I tried to think of how to get some unique-ish figures into my 30k lineup...hence this little submission. OK, enough of that, on to some background...


Herald Of The Warmaster

"I have a message of hope and change to share!"

The Warmaster is a wonderful, inspiring presence in the universe.  Such is the demand on his time, he cannot possibly be expected to make every public appearance requested of him.  And so Horus Lupercal relies on this helpful Herald to spread his message of hope and change throughout the galaxy.  From TV interviews to speeches at charity luncheons and banquets, the Herald is the go-to for the straight facts on Horus' plans to Make Terra Great Again.

The sword is for emergencies only - the Herald loves peace, after all...

Fake news remains a big problem in the 30th millenium. Pro-Emperor fools in the mainstream media flood the airwaves with all sorts of #alternatefacts.  The events on Isstvan III are portrayed as a "betrayal", while military developments on Isstvan V are reported as a "dropsite massacre".

The Herald of the Warmaster works tirelessly to correct this record. He has the data to prove how the Isstvan III incident was a terrorist act carried out by pro-Emperor false flag operatives - the real atrocity! Meanwhile, any diligent review of travel and communication logs will show the unfortunate losses among some of the Legions on Isstvan V were the result of illegal interstellar immigration which caused a training accident during military maneuvers, and not some supposed "attack" carried out by certain Legions.

Can you feel the hope? It's intense, man...it's intense!

Supporting the Warmaster is an all-consuming, passionate activity.  You can see that from the facial expression of the Herald...his love for Horus' cause is intense. He is channeling his love of the Warmaster to his audience, applying the skills learned during a public speaking course he took as part of a corporate lodge retreat on the world of Davin...

Alpha Legion Praetor Librarian

A senior officer of the XXth Legion - and his trusty pet gryph-hound...

Space Marines are essentially lab creations.  Sure, they start with "recruits" from somewhere, but with the genetic engineering, implants etc. the resulting warrior is largely an artificial construct.  As with the warriors, so with the Space Marine officers. Sergeants etc. are promoted from the ranks, but the top leaders,  they are made for command - literally.  The senior figures in a Space Marine legion are legendary, near-demigod figures.


I wanted a very senior Alpha Legion command figure for the table, someone who reported to Alpharius himself (or who knows, maybe even is Alpharius...why should mere civilians like us know the truth?). The model would have to tower over the other models, a challenge as Space Marine models are already pretty hefty figures. To represent such a senior command figure for my Alpha Legion forces, I wanted some kind of over-the-top figure, something totally pimped out, absurd and outrageous.  Thankfully, the Stormcast Eternals had me covered...

"Follow me! It is written! Just not translated..."

Super size? Check. Ridiculous "close combat" weapon(s)? Check. Silly cloak? Check. Massive, powerful looking sculpted armour? Check.  Weird symbols implying great power? Check.  A couple of small adjustments, and I felt this figure would make an ideal Praetor Librarian for the Alpha Legion.  He emits, for me, the correct amount of over-the-top obnoxiousness to fit as a senior and respected figure within the XX Legion, a confidant of Alpharius the Primarch and Supreme Commander of the Alpha Legion.  The military mind of Caesar with blended with the demeanour of a Bond super-villain...that's how I imagine senior officers in the Alpha Legion.  With this in mind, I'm really pleased with how this whacky model turned out.

Pimped out cape and super halberd? Seems right to me...

The power fist seems more like a winter glove on this monster...

He is not named, of course, because the Alpha Legion doesn't release that kind of information to the public.  It's need-to-know, and chances are very, very high that you don't need to know. Even asking about it can be bad for your health...

Socrates has his eyes on some loyalist fools...

Adding to the "I can't believe it's me either" vibe of this figure is the familiar/pet! A gryph-hound! Seems like exactly the kind of thing this guy would travel around with - an exotic, genetically engineered attack pet.  And while the officer is not named, the pet would have some kind of @sshole-ish-sounding name speaking to the presumed superiority of its owner - like "Socrates".  The Praetor will bring Socrates to meetings, interrogations, orbital drop assaults and swanky dinner parties.  All of the Legion marines will roll their eyes, but be careful to stay out of Socrates' way...you don't need a bad rep with the boss' pet, after all...


***


So these three 28mm figures ended up netting me 18 more points.  Not a lot of points, but hopefully a lot of fun on the table!  The conversion work here was very, very slight. I'm tempted to use some more Stormcast Eternals to perhaps try and cobble together some manner of insane honour guard to accompany the Alpha Legion officer, but might just leave him be...we'll see...anyway, see you next week!

Chapterhouse "Heresy-Era" Land Raider Conversion Kit

Reinforcements for the IX Legion were coming thick and fast in the days leading up to THE BIG ONE. For me it seems to be easier to get vehicles on the table than infantry (although the Blood Drinkers need more of that too) so I got cracking on the Land Raider kit I'd obtained from Chapterhouse.

They call this kit the "Heresy-era Iconoclast" and it comprises two resin sponsons and a central bulkhead that's used to convert the standard plastic Land Raider. (You can see the CH resin in the photo of the unpainted vehicle below).
 

And here it is, before painting. I was a bit concerned that the Chapterhouse kit might need a lot of work to fit, but I needn't have worried. There was a slight warp in one sponson but this was easily corrected with judicious application of heat and some bending. The central piece was a bit wonky as well but I didn't notice this until final assembly. (You can see in the "unpainted" pic that the overhanging plate is angled downwards a bit and doesn't look quite right). I addressed that issue by shimming the top plate slightly to bring it level with the top of the vehicle, as seen in the pic above. No worries.

I've built three Land Raider kits so far I think, and this is the first one where I've gotten the ramp to work properly. The problem I've always had is that the connecting rod inside the hull slips off its cams. I fixed that on this build by shimming out the rod so that inward pressure on it from the hull keeps it engaged with the cams.
 

Om nom nom

The lascannons were straightforward as they just slot into the sponson cylinder. I sawed off the ends of the lascannon assembly to get an aesthetic fit.

Nothing to look at back here - just the standard GW Land Raider.

Side elevation show the Chapterhouse conversion to good effect. They supply doors for the sponson that fit well with just a bit of trimming.

I did a standard Blood Angels paint scheme with Khorne Red building up to Evil Sunz Orange, with Nuln Oil wash, sponge chipping and moderate use of powders.

Some "battle damage" evident already as I didn't have an extra targeter to use on the right-hand sponson - I'd forgotten that I'd already pinched it to use on the Spartan :-(  In any case, one will be procured from eBay and fitted. I drilled through the top of the sponson and fitted a bit of plastic rod so the targetter will rotate along with the lascannon array. Has to be good for +1 to hit, right??

Anyway... fun kit to build, I think it looks pretty good in evoking the whole "MKIIB - Heresy" vibe. The kit from Forge World is 69GBP plus shipping - that's about 150 Canadian pesos. The Chapterhouse kit is 25USD, and I think the base Raider cost me about 60USD shipped, so that's 85USD or what, 120 Canadian or so? Not a huge difference and like I said about the Chapterhouse Rhinos, it really makes sense if you have access to cheap GW plastic. Looks cool though eh?

40K Chaos Renegades Update - Ogryns, Cyclops, Mechanics

This weekend I interrupted 30K activity to finish off some 40K models. First up were the two metal Ogryns I'd converted to finish off a squad for my Renegades army.
 

 These guys actually went up fairly quickly.

I just love the sheer character in these old models. The gasmasks turned out rather well I think.

The Bone 'Ead squad leader has a bit of a different look to his mask, to accommodate his bionic eye. 

The sculpt, again, is great - I love the small tears in the undershirt.

Here's the completed squad!

Next up is a Cyclops demolition tank from Forgeworld. Since I had some spare Renegade torsos and bits around, I figured I'd convert an operator for the vehicle as well.

The vehicle was a snap to paint - just like a full size vehicle but in miniature ;-)

Hope you can get a peek at the screen I painted in on the remote.

Renegade Cyclops operator was painted in the standard Renegade uniform - camo pants and field-grey tunic.

Lastly, here's a couple of figures my wife got me for Christmas - some special-order Imperial Guard Astra Militarum vehicle mechanics.

I converted the models with MaxMini gasmask heads to fit into the Renegade force.

I love the 40K Fitbit the guy on the left is sporting. Or is it an iWatch???

One last shot of the Cyclops. That's it for tonight!

40K Chaos Renegade Ogryns WIP

A flurry of hobby activity over the past week included some greenstuff conversion work (I am hesitant to call it "sculpting") on two new acquisitions - some out-of-production metal Ogryns. I've given them gas masks to fit in with the rest of the Chaos Renegades. These two will fill out a squad of three models, joining the example I've converted and painted already.

This guy already had an augmetic eye fitted and I thought it would be a shame to lose that, so I gave him a half-mask.

The filters are done by making a small ball of greenstuff, setting it in place on the model, and pressing down on it with an appropriate-size circular or cylindrical object (in this case, I used some plastic rod I had around). Then, use a pin or dental pick to make the holes for the filter.

This model got a full over-the-head mask. Eye ports are made the same way as the filters.

Looking forward to painting these guys and having a squad of three models to use in the army.