Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Natasha's Luck, Part One

I've spent quite a bit of time over the last few weeks putting together a landing craft called Natasha's Luck for my Rogue Trader, Marko Steelknife. The base for the model is an old 1:72 scale Deep Space Nine Runabout that seemed to be about the right size. With the addition of a few parts from my bits box I think I was able to 'upscale' the model fairly well - at least to the point that it will work for the wargame table! The Forge World Arvus Lighter would have been ok, too, but wasn't really as big as I wanted. This model ended up 13" long and 7 1/2" wide which is a good footprint for a piece of terrain.


I never really got into Deep Space Nine, so the design wasn't one I was automatically familiar with which helps my suspension of disbelief (Oh, look, the Millennium Falcon is on the table). Nevertheless I set about making as modifications as I could to disguise the silhouette without resorting to taking a saw to the hull.


One of the first things I did was swap the wings left to right to give them a forward sweep for a more predatory look. I also scrapped the sensor array that goes on top and used part of the unit to add an armoured canopy above the cockpit. I had to file and sand it down a bit to get it to fit on the curved hull, but it further changed the look of the original.


Finally, I raided my bits box for some rhino hatches and various extra tech (anything grey in the photos is not original to the kit). I used different bits on each side to break up the streamlined hull and try to make it look a little clunkier. The side propulsion units are some of the most frustrating bit of model I've ever tried to assemble. There are clear plastic bits that fit inside and trying to make everything line up was a nightmare. In the end, I left them out and used textured bits of plasticard to cover these gaps.


Of course, I added an Imperial Eagle on the prow!


While I plan on painting the windows on the cockpit like glass, I'm going to paint the rear windows like the rest of hull, because they are on of the final details that seem out of scale with 28mm models. The only thing this model lacks now is a cargo door, but I'm going to see if I can use paint to give the illusion that the rear hatch folds down.


There are really some nice details on the hull of the kit that don't show up in the photos. All of that white reflected a lot of light and the result was washed out pics... everything will show up crystal clear when I get some paint on this ship!

I'm going to paint it some sort of neutral grey or tan, raid my decal collection for some more detail, and then weather the hell out of it. I want it to look like a work horse rather than a transport for diplomats.

Of course I'll post updates as I have something to report (might be a few weeks as I have a lot on the table)!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Necromunda

I pulled down my old website at www.quindia.com a few weeks ago and while I have plans to replace it with new content, for now I am recycling some of the old pics on my blogs. While technically beyond the range of what I consider the Oldhammer/Rogue Trader era, Necromunda has to be one of my favorite GW games. I loved the fact that you only needed a handful of models to play - so of course I built practically all of the first wave of gangs and a few of the second!








Unfortunately, this aren't the greatest pics - this makes me want to dig out all of these models and have a go at taking some new ones! I must have a hundred unpainted Necromunda models tucked away as well including the full Esher and Scavvy gangs, all of the wyrds and mercs, assorted monsters, and extra models for practically every gang shown here.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Oldhammer Legacy Warband, Part 6

I managed a few more minutes on my entry for the Oldhammer Legacy Warband 2015, this time filling in the boots, gloves, belts, etc.


Boots and Gloves: Mournfang Brown (Base), Agrax Earthshade (Shade), Skrag Brown (Layer), and Deathclaw Brown (Layer).
Belts and Boot Laces: Dryad Bark (Base), Agrax Earthshade (Shade), Gorthor Brown (Layer), and Baneblade Brown (Layer).
Shuriken Pistol and Hood Fringe: Incubi Darkness (Base), Coelia Greenshade (Shade), and Kabalite Green (Layer).

I just realized while writing this that I left off the final highlight on the pistol - Sybarite Green (Layer)! Oh, well, I will fix that up in a bit when I paint in the red jewels on the housing.

Apart from that I just have the metallics, highlights on the black holster on his left hip, and few minor details like the small black stripes I intend to add on the arms and legs (see my original sketch). The I will turn my attention to the chimp/jokaero sidekick.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

More RT Characters

Here are more members of my Rogue Trader crew...


Moring Hart, Robot Tech


Worldburner, Mercenary Captain

I still need to paint a handful of robots and at least four security troops for my Rogue Trader crew. I have a lot of adventurer/pirate types to use as henchmen of Worldburner, but I haven't decided which to use yet. Originally I planned to swap out Worldburner's puny pistol, but I decided I liked it... I still might change it later.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Beastmen

Why did they just make one guy with a bow?


I don't think any beastmen could have bows anyway, but I wanted to add some variety to the goat-headed beastmen that make up the rest of the unit. He will fill in part of the second rank and no doubt be mocked by his packmates for his inability to ever hit anything with an arrow...

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Flay the Minion, Beastman Champion

It's been a while since I painted any beastmen. I've had this guy for a while now and thought it was time to get another rank and file unit into shape... This is Flay the Minion, the champion of my beastmen regiment.


More beastmen next week!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Moog of Marrow Moor

Moog of Marrow Moor is yet another of my all-time favorite Citadel models (the name is mine... think he was called Hill Troll with Club it the adverts)! I took advantage of the 40x40mm base to add a few more details than many of my rank and file.





I'm keeping an eye on eBay to try and get Moog some friends to back him up...

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Look What I Found

This isn't an eBay purchase... it is an original kit I purchased in the early 90's. I stumbled on it while I was digging through my cabinets searching for another model (a Rogue Trader SM Landspeeder which I have yet to find).



I've shifted this box around dozens of times without paying much heed to it. My boxes rarely contain what's pictured as my collection has been shuffled and condensed many times. It was at the bottom of a stack of Space Marine stuff and I decided to see what was in it. Turns out it was a complete unassembled rhino kit, including the instructions and decals, in mint condition!

Now I just need to decide how to paint it! It will certainly be for my Ultrmarines Tactical Squad, but I am torn between the standard blue or one of the old school camo patterns...


What do you think?

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Marko Steelknife, Rogue Trader

So here are the first few models for the Rogue Trader scenario I rolled up last week...


Marko Steelknife, Rogue Trader


Tardos Mors, Navigator


Nath Shada, Ace Pilot

Marko Steelknife is my Eternal Champion. I've used the character in RPGs, wargames, and even MMORPGs of many different genres - Marko Steelknife, Marcus Steele, Mark the Knife, etc.

 More next week!

Friday, March 20, 2015

Lord Fiddlemaim, Champion of Slaanesh

Here is my Champion of Slaanesh, Lord Fiddlemaim!



He gains +1WP and his only obvious mutation which, unfortunately, is Pointed Head (Quiver in fear, o mortals!). I have a handful of chaos warriors and beastmen with obvious Marks of Slaanesh and may try to expand them into allied units for the army... I will probably paint them soon since I cobbled this palette together!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Githandus Threefold, Champion of Tzeentch

Yet another Champion of Chaos, this time a follower of Tzeentch, Githandus Threefold!



He will obviously lead my Tzeentch warband. Githandus will gain a random magic item and the Brightly Patterned Skin, Multiple Heads (two extra) and Wings (medium or large) mutations. He will have several additional attributes determined randomly that do not affect his appearance.

Guess what's up on Friday?

Monday, March 16, 2015

Caramon the Rabid

Here is the first of my Chaos Champions for my warbands project. I have always loved this model ever since I saw it in the Slaves to Darkness book. I decided to paint it using the same scheme from that hallowed tome and even keep the name, Caramon the Rabid!



He is destined to be the leader of my Khorne warband (my army is primarily going to be Nurgle, but I am planning on collecting warbands for all four powers). Rather than roll all of their attributes, I will pick obvious ones and then roll up a couple more until I generate ones that would not be visible. For example, Caramon the Rabid will have Chaos Armour, the Face of a Bloodletter chaos reward, and the Bird's Feet and Snake Tail mutations (I will however roll randomly to see if the snake head also has a poisonous bite). The warbands will be generated in reverse - mostly random with a few choice selections from models in my collection thrown in.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Where'd All These Monkeys Come From?

Right, so I don't have enough going on with Chaos and Undead Warhammer Fantasy models scattered all over my desk... I thought I'd add some more Rogue Trader models to my collection of painted minis. But where to start? I have piles of unpainted Space Marines, Adventurers, Pirates, Orks, Chaos, and Genestealers from the good 'ole days. Somehow just sitting down and building some army lists seemed like the wrong way to go about it though.

I decided to break out the Rogue Trader rule book and roll on the scenario chart, making a solemn pledge to adapt, collect, and paint models and terrain for whatever the results were. Might as well roll on the subplot table as well while I'm at it...

(85) Capture and hold an installation or site
(52) Traveling the galaxy in search of salvage isn't the easiest way to make a living, so when the opportunity came to obtain the wrecked alien space ship came along you were there like a shot! The planet is a Death World, but the ship must be worth a fortune - so you quickly landed nearby and set up a dismantling yard. The robots were busy hacking the ship to pieces and crating it when you were attacked by a bunch of Jokaero. What are they after? One things for sure they are not getting your scrap, and you hastily prepare defenses. Can you and your robots defend the scrap, dismantle the ship, load it aboard your freighter and take off before the Jokaero over-run your camp?

Subplot
(60) Whilst the players battle it out a further alien force lands and enters the fray - perhaps hoping to take advantage of the disorder to fulfill some mission of their own.

Jokaero? Really? I have the core for almost everything else that I could have rolled... I nearly rolled again, but decided the whole point of the exercise was to follow the dice or I may just as well picked the Battle at the Farm. Building a ship crew really appealed to me and will make a great core for future games. I also did roll a generic alien subplot which will let me paint some Orks or Genestealers - I'll decide after I've worked out the plot a bit more!

I set out in search of Jokaero, knowing GW has only ever produced two models. I'm not going to list everything I found during the search, but instead show you where I landed...


Though these don't strictly fit the Rogue Trader definition of Jokaero, these Eureka models (photo above is from Eureka's site) are wonderfully full of character. I will paint them in Jokaero Orange and swap a few weapons to mix in some obvious 40k guns. I'm going to build some kind of heavy weapons gun platform Walker to back them up and may add a few human mercenaries depending on the size of my final game.

For the salvage team, I'm going to make them a Rogue Trader and his crew - the big man himself, a pilot, a navigator, a tech (for the robots), and as many security and minor crew as needed to balance the game. I discarded the idea of using Citadel robots after a quick tour through ebay (too pricy since I want about four). I don't need combat droids anyway and decided to use some old Grenadier Gamma World models from my bits box of days gone by minis...


I think these will be perfect for light duty robots. I may mix in some sort of lifter or utility vehicles as well.

For terrain, I already have suitable desert terrain boards and a ruined space ship...



The later is a stock image, but mine is painted and ready to go on the table (somehow I've never managed to take any photos with the wreckage)! It's not an alien ship, but salvage from an Imperial transport may just as mysterious and valuable (hmm.. maybe my 'alien' subplot should be Imperial agents? Not sure yet).

I still need a ship for the Rogue Trader. I could assume it's parked just off table, but where's the fun in that? Again an internet search turned up all kinds of options, but in the end I really liked this...



 The actual model is 1:72 scale, but the kit is over 12" long when assembled and there are few details that will look wrong for 28mm models. I have lots of extra tank bits and hatches I can use to give the illusion of fitting with other 40k kits. Obviously this will be more of a lander than space ship, but it will create a good footprint for a 4x6' table and serve as the centerpiece for the Rogue Trader camp which will have assorted crates and maybe a prefab hut or two. The Rogue Trader's star ship will be in orbit around the planet.

Finally the alien subplot... Orks seeking to make the best of the opportunity to gather loot and make mayhem? Agents of a Genestealer coven attempting to retrieve something from the wreckage... maybe elements in their employ were seeking to smuggle something off the planet... like a Purestrain Genestealer (did it survive the crash)? Or my aliens could simply be Imperials since my alien craft is an Imperial Aquila... after all this is a Death World and all of these parties are probably aliens in the end! 

This is exciting - I love doing this kind of stuff probably more than playing the games!



Saturday, March 14, 2015

Chaos Dwarf Regiment

Ok, so it's a bitty regiment at the moment, unsuitable for anything except a Chaos Champion's retinue, but I like to be able to sit back and look at the models as a group. I really like the way these blend together into a coherent whole despite the fact that they are so different.


I have a handful of Chaos Dwarves with crossbows up soon, but I want to paint something a little different next week...

Friday, March 13, 2015

Chaos Dwarf... Done for the Moment...

And here is the last berserker/mutant Chaos Dwarf I have at the moment.



I have a few more in the mail and a couple of mini-chaos warrior types to paint as the champion and standard of the unit that should bring them to ten or twelve models.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Chaos Dwarf... Told Ya!

Urk... This beastly little creature became even more disturbing when I realized all he was wearing is a beard and a bad attitude...


Monday, March 9, 2015

Another Chaos Dwarf

So far and away above the goofy tall hat Chaos Dwarfs of later years...


I have a handful more of these to come over the week... I think I can manage a unit of ten or twelve if I include a few heavier armour types, but the unit is meant to be of berserkers.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Oldhammer Legacy Warband, Part 5

I didn't take step-by-step pics this week, but the technique is the same as before - basically solid base color, a wash, and add additional layers with the one before it peeking through! The final highlight is small and sharp on only the highest points.

The jumpsuit is painted with the following:
1. Averland Sunset (Base)
2. Fuegan Orange (Shade)
3. Averland Sunset (Base)
4. Yriel Yellow (Layer)
5. Flash Gitz Yellow (Layer)

It still looked too orange, so I had to go back into the shadow areas with Averland Sunset and only left the Fuegan Orange showing in the very deepest of recesses.

The armour plates were painted with the following:
1. Celetra Grey (Base)
2. Ulthuan Grey (Layer)
3. White Scar (Layer)

I didn't bother with a shade wash because all of the plates are flat and featureless. If there were engraved sections, studs, etc. I would have used a very controlled wash just in those areas to pick out the details.

The next step is to paint the shuriken pistol, gloves, boots, and belts. I normally varnish the model with a spray so I like to leave the metallics until after that. I will paint those last.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Grim Reaper Standard Bearer

As promised, here is the standard bearer...


... and the fished unit, with the Lichemaster himself at their center...


More Undead on the way, possibly at an accelerated rate as I will be painting the Skeleton Warriors and Zombies in groups of four to six depending on the individual models.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Chaos Regiments

So here are my main units so far...


The Blighted Host of Maulblade the Doomkin


Wobblegnash's Reavers... Hack! Maim! Slay!

Up next I will finish the beastman regiment, add a minotaur or troll (or both!), and start on my small allied contingent of Chaos Dwarves. I also have a regiment of Slaanesh Chaos Warriors and the warbands of Slaanesh, Khorne, and Tzeentch coming down the road. The Undead will continue to grow as well with more skeletons, death riders, and a 30-model regiment of zombies!

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Knarl Frothmaul, Champion of Nurgle

Finally (for now - Knarl makes twelve for the unit), here is a really old Chaos Warrior model...


There is also a mounted version of this model that I'd like to get, but for now he will fill the ranks of my Chaos Warrior unit. I really like how the shield turned out... it almost looks like sculpted detail.