++ AUGUSTUS b'RAASS ++ pre-heresy BRASS SCORPION p.247

[teku]

First of all a happy new year for you to mate!

I have to disagree with that the new drones look cooler. 

Liked them when they where more united with the force. 

Rhino's are top notch work. Wouldn't expect anything else!

 

Looking forward to your Mechanicum work! 

[Augustus b'Raass]

Cheers, guys.

 

I thought it'd be nice to showcase the miniatures I painted in 2018, like some other frater have done. Basically, the year started with a big Night Lords vehicle commission, then I painted a giant Death Guard and Nurgle Daemon force, and I finished with the first three of a Renegade Knights army... 

 

Commissioned Night Lords vehicles:

 

Death Guard/Nurgle Daemon force:

(105 Poxwalkers, Tree, GUO, 3x Rhino, Plague Drones)

 

(50 Plague marines, 2 Daemon Princes, 12 Characters, 3 Terminator Bodyguards, Land Raider, 7 Objective Markers)

 

(60 Plaguebearers, 3 Bloat Drones, 12 Nurgling Bases, 2 Daemon Characters, Greater Bloat Drone, Decimator, 3 PBCs, Trilobe, 6 Blightlord Terminators)

 

(Questoris Renegade Knight, 2Armiger Helverins)

 

Impressive, to say the least. I know I'm a fast painter, but considering I've had a very busy year and my hobby time felt far more restricted than previous years - coupled with the fact that my Death Guard colour scheme is far more convoluted than previous armies (it incorporates a base colour, three washes, and two drybrush stages so that my airbrush is pretty much useless - compared to previous armies which all had a basecoat, a shade, and a highlight - all of which were done with the airbrush) I'm pretty maazed by the amount of work I got done. 

 

So what have I learned in 2018? I have indeed improved my washing and drybrushing techniques, but I feel it was  slightly to the detriment of my detailing work. I also feel like this was -at least one of the - last big army projects I will do. The Death Guard/Nurgle Alliance are a pretty fun and competitive combo, which I feel like I can use for much of the foreseeable future in tournaments and the like - especially when combined with my growing Renegade Knights collection. The truth is, I also foresee that with my burgeoning family life (I and Rose are trying to spawn nurglings) my time will be limited in the coming years. So I think complete new armies are out of the question, so I'll start working on smaller projects from now on - mostly Necromunda/Kill Team/INQ28 projects. I might make an army based on seperate lists (instead of my usual approach to just build all competitive choices in the army so I can make whatever strikes my fancy) - so expect me to 'borrow' lists for AdMech and perhaps sisters. 

 

Anyway, I wish all of you a great hobby year in 2019, and hope mine will be just as awesome!

 

Cheers!
 

Replies:

 

@ guardian31: Thanks and yes, that's from the Chaos Marauders I once bought 40 of them in a spurr of the moment, and those sprues sat unsued on a shalf for three years - but this year I have managed to use every component on them! It proved to be a sound investment!

 

@ Teetengee: of course you're a bad person! Regardless of your opinion on the drones, I've always thought that. But I love you even still

 

@ Grotsmasha: Indeed it does, but I'm a bit ambiguous as to if you meant that to be something positive or not....

 

@ Hungry Nostraman Lizard: Cheers, bro!

 

@ Midnight Runner: Thank you! Glad you like them, they were fun to work on!

 

@ teku: Hey it's my Belgian buddy! I'not sure if you've seen it, but the green of the wings is a recurring colour in the force - in the smoke of several banners, icons, and the Daemon Prince, but also in plasma glow and on vehicle lights. I will also use the wing colour on Mortarion, so hopefully it'll be more obvious them

Edited January 11, 2019 by Augustus b'Raass

[Pandoras Bitz Box]

That is an inspiring haul man! It's really great how you can smash out not just so many minis but of such a high quality. I'm going to try and get more done this year but I don't expect to hit this kind of level of production. Amazing effort, looking forward to 2019's output.

[gaurdian31]

Holy cow, 2018 as definitely a productive year for you! I remember all of these being completed, but seeing them altogether is crazy! The marauders certainly do have some nice bits on them, glad to hear you got such good use out of them. What do you think you will get up to next? I read your list of ideas and I think a Kill Team would be nice to see. Maybe bring back the Imperial Fists for it? Kill Team is super fun!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Next up, I finished the Biologis Putrifier today!

 

I wanted to play Warchild's This War Of Mine (highly recommended game, btw. Available for cheaps on steam, and you support a valuable NGO working with children in (ex-)warzones) on my laptop, but my GF said no because she needed the laptop to prepare for some work-related exams, and told me I should go do something productive.  lol

 

So here's pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, this is the last of all Death Guard characters in my army. It's a bit of a milestone. 

 

Excluding the classic Typhus, which I don't count as it just looks pitiful next to all the new DG miniatures, I have 12 characters in my army now. Here's two pictures, with desciptions from left to right:

 

Noxious Blightbringer, Foul Blightspawn, converted Chaos Lord of Nurgle, converted Necrosius, converted Plague Surgeon, Lord of Contagion

 

Converted Foul Blightspawn, converted Malignant Plaguecaster, Tallyman, Typhus, converted Plague Surgeon, Biologis Putrifier

 

A nice eclectic group of individuals, if I may say so myself :) :tu:

 

I hope you like them! Comments and feedback most welcome!

Cheers

 

Replies:

 

@ Pandoras Bitz Box: You're not such a slow painter yourself, dude. Don't sell yourself short: you did that Knight in very little time - especially considering the level of conversions that went in it! I remember Jeff Tibbets' Knight, which -without selling his work short in any way possible, as it was a marvelous, wonderous piece of work, that rightly got featured in the Imperial Knight iPad game- had fewer (or at least less obvious - his was more subtle) conversion work in it, but took over a year to assemble and paint.  

 

@ guardian31: Next up will be a Poxbringer, three Bloat Drones, three Helbrutes, and finally Mortarion, and then I will most likely call the army finished!

[KrautScientist]

Congratulations on finishing the last(?!) character for your DG army, buddy: That's quite a collection! The screaming Lord, Typhus and the helmeted Plague Surgeon take the cake by a far margin, if you ask me.

 

As for the Biologis Purifier, I have to admit that he is my least favourite of your DG characters (not a big fan of the stock model, though, so take this with a grain of salt). If I may be brutally honest, I don't think your treatment of the glass vials quite works: It's too colourful, by one, making him look a bit like a christmas tree (the fact that the actual sculpt already supports this look doesn't help, of course). And the actual effect looks very much painted on, which I believe is a result of your decision to go for "white" (or rather, greyish) glass and a stark black watermark. Now to be fair, this is a heck of an effect to get right, but I myself have had the best results when going for a darker glass colour, because you free yourself from the need to suggest transparency where none exists. Funnily enough, the effect works better on your Plague Surgeon -- but maybe it has something to do with being more subtle (and less of a defining part of the overall model) there?!

Edited January 13, 2019 by KrautScientist

[Chaeron]

What a fantastic haul over the year Augustus! May that be bettered further this year, of course...

 

Simply love the Renegades - great scheme and so characterful.

[Pearson73]

The characters all loo excellent, my favourite has to be the lord roaring his challenge and beseeching his dark patron, just for the classic pose.

 

I agree with Kraut regarding the Putrifier, the vials seem a little too bright and colourful and I think he might be onto something regarding the lighter glass colour.

[Midnightmare]

Knocked out of the park again, all those little details make my eyes hurt! Everything about him is brilliant, even down to how the liquid settles in the bottles.

 

Great group shots too, a right motley (sorry, I mean mouldy) crew :tu:

 

Really looking forward to seeing what you do with Morty!

Edited January 13, 2019 by Midnight Runner

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Man! What a truly inspiring amount of production, brother! If you have nurglings... your time will be... limited. Take it from me! It gets better after a few years though. I think my favorite three of the year are: 1. The traitor knights 2. The screaming Lord 3. the necrosius conversion. Cheers!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Thanks, everyone!

 

As for my continued voyage into the Death Guard, I'll be working on a conversion of which I posted the beginnings of before; the Bloat Drone with Fleshmower!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this one is finished. As you can see it has a Bloat Drone kit canopy - so not the DI stock Bloat Drone's canopy which I used for the three I did before with Plague Sprayers. My pals gifted me a Bloat Drone kit for my brithday, and I cought the Bloat Drone fever. So I'll construct the stock kit tomorrow, and see what I have left to create a third one. I've already ordered a DI drone from eBay, to use as a base for the third one! :D 

 

Hope you like!
 

Cheers,

 

Replies:

 

@ KrautScientis: You might be right (christmas tree was what I was thinking during painting...) and I'll fix it tomorrow! Pinky promise!

 

@ Chaeron: Thanks, buddy! I appreciate it. :)

 

@ Pearson73: I'll do something about it!

 

@ Midnight Runner: Heheheh I saw what you did there... ;) 

 

@ Eldrick Shadowblade: Hurray! I love Slides! Also, those are my favourites too!

[Pearson73]

Liking the Drone, the barbed wire in the Fleshmower is a nasty touch.

 

How are you planning on tackling Mortarion, converting him or leaving him stock?

Edited January 14, 2019 by Pearson73

[teku]

@ augustus b'Raass: Oooh Mortarion? when? Where!? 

I did recall the colour. Maybe with the big guy in the picture it will make more clear.

[Maarten]

I really like that little guy's mohawk!

It is always crazy to see how productive you are, the knights are still my favourite models of yours from 2018.(even beating out THE land raider.)

[Midnightmare]

Mow for the Nurgleth!!! That looks like it could have been painful to build - worth it though, looks awesome :tu:

[Augustus b'Raass]

Cheers, guys!

 

Busy day today, so I didn't get to work on the redo of the Bilogis Putrifier's vials. I have managed to finish the build of the third (the second I showed here) Bloat Drone. It's funny how from the Bloat Drone kit there's so much stuf left over you only need a cheap Dark Imperium drone to make a fully equiped second one that is totally unique!

 

Here's what I did:

Frontal view. The Flesh Mower was made by cutting down a plastic hexagonal balpoint shaft and glueing on sharpened triangles of plasticard. Simple, but effective, if I may say so :D :)

 

The arms are done the same way as the guy in the previous post - using Storm Raven landing gear and two halves of a chaos spike ring. :tu:

 

 

Now, the good part: the Bloat Drone kit has a second set of 'mouth piece with cables' It's the spike thing under the lense with attached cables that function as the base. I had to crudely cut out the DI Blot Drones mouth piece to make space, and add the frotal pice. I then added the carapace to make things sturdier and have the putty fit the parts exactly. Then all I had to do was wait!

 

 

Unfortunately the plastic cablea are so flimsy that I didn't trust them to hold up the entire piece. So I sneakily drilled in two more holes in the bottom of the mouth piece and added two brass rods, which I integrated in the whole cable thing - these contribute greatly to the structural strength of the whole ensemble, and makes it possible for the drone to have a slight tilt while still being structurally sound.

 

That's it! I hope you like him! I'll post the second, standard drone tomorrow, and then I can start painting them all three! Woooooooo!

 

Thanks for looking. Comments and feedback welcome!

 

Cheers

 

Replies:

 

@ Pearson73: Haha thanks! As for Morty, I think I'll add some touches to the base now that there are no more burglings left for decoration. But besides some glass micro bead buboes, he'll be stock. I still have to decide whether to build him as a righty or a lefty though...

 

@ teku: Probably? I don't know. After the drones, there's be two daemon characters and three helbrutes. Then it's Morty time!

 

@ Maarten: THE LAND RAIDER was a highlight too. I remember concocting how I was going to construct him and paint him, laying it out in my mind, while swimming over a lake in France. I must've swam from one end to the other about 50 times. I ended up tired, not quite ripped, but knowing exactly how to go about constructing THE LAND RAIDER!

 

@ Midnight Runner: Haha it was. Many drops of blood were spilled. I almost dedicated it to the wrong god!

[gaurdian31]

Blight drones are looking good! Can't wait to see Mortarion!

[Xin Ceithan]

If you dreamed of owning a mow`ah since you were protozoa….

 

 

then this is certainly the most wicked Thing you can get your claws on !

 

The Drone Mowerlooks great - and thanks for aharing the tutorial.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Xin Ceithan

[Midnightmare]

That is a lot of work you have put in there, and it all looks seamless in the finished product. Looking forward to seeing these guys painted!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Looking good and nasty! Love that mower. 

[teku]

Liking those drones! ;) Amazing conversions.

So Morty? Its time to get swifty!?

[Augustus b'Raass]

Hi team! Sorry for the long wait since my last update. Things have been going in overdrive on the hobby front. I'll list them in no particular order, except the first, major news.

 

A while ago, I applied to No Retreat 8. No Retreat is a fantastic hobby retreat/ITC tournament one the isle of Gibraltar for a very select group of players - there's only 42 spots!

 

 

With over a hundred applicants, I didn't really rate my chances. I almost forgot about the application, and then suddenly.... a package arrived from Gibraltar!

In it, a mysterious box, and a small envelope reading 'confidential'....

 

The contents of the box were as fun as they were enticing. Three custom SN-dice, a special 'Seize the Initiative'-dice, some candy, stickers, and an ominous 'the journey begins....' 

 

The envelope had the mark of the Inquisition on the other side:

 

And inside it, it was basically GOD NEWS, EVERYONE!

 

So I'm going to Gibraltar by the end of September! Woooooo

 

Huff huff.

 

Alright, back to regular updates. I have to admit: My name is Augustus b'Raass and I'm an addict. I recently got into Necromunda and I'm hooked. HOOKED! I went on a shopping spree and bought the basic set, an additional new Esscher gang, 20 old metal Escher miniatures from eBay, 15 Necromunda 25mm bases, the two new books, the extra tiles, and all Gang Cards sets... I played my first game of Necromunda in over two decades yesterday. As any and all the miniatures I fielded were unpainted (also a first in over two decades) I of course failed to wound a single enemy ganger. Seriously, 12 consecutive 3+ and 4+ wound rolls in a row showed up either 1 or 2 on the dice. When finally I mamaged to wound on the 13th roll, my opponent mamnaged to make his 6+ save roll. In addition, two of my gangers failed their 2+ initiative rolls and fell in a pit, while my leader died from a grenade. That'll teach me to field unpainted miniatures! Hahahaha 

 

When I finally bottled out, I scrapped the gang and will start anew, as I am not satisfied with how this gang works. 

 

In addition, I finished building the third drone and have started painting all three of them. Here's WIP pics of the bog standard lawnmower drone:

 

 

 

Then there's the three Helverins I started a while ago but which got bogged down by other stuff. I've since did some work on them, but will show you more later. 

 

And finally, I bought the new plastic paint trays by GW and honestly there fantastic. I used to store my paints in racks, which together took up most of my hobby table. Now, my paint it just stored in a corner of the table, giving me so much more space to hobby on!

 

So... that's it, that's all I have... for now.

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking!

 

Replies:

 

@ guardian31: Cheers, bro! Morty will be on the back burner due to Necromunda and drones....
 

@ Xin Ceithan: hahaha nice rhyme, there, dude! 

 

@ Midnight Runner: I'll hopefully get those done soon too!
 

@ BCK: It sounds like this: BWRRRGRZLBWRAAAAA when it mows over Imperial Guard infantry.

 

@ teku:

 http://media.giphy.com/media/l1J9NjcVR6bmDGpDa/giphy.gif

Edited January 24, 2019 by Augustus b'Raass

[Augustus b'Raass]

Double post! That'l teach me to leave so much time between posts. 

 

Here's some pictures of the first Renegade Heleverins I am converting.

 

 

 

Of course, there's a pilot! I've used a zombie head by puppetswar for the head, a Genestealer Cult Neophyte body, and a sentinel pilot for the legs. :)

 

 

He's not quite finished - I'm still finishing the skull plate for the head, and contemplating whether or not to add little horns to the head. In addition, the horns on his carapace still need trim to affix them to the plate. He'll also get a few trophies - mostly skulls and perhaps a helmet on spikes, some flesh, and maybe even some chain or a body part. Puppetswar has started making some amazing body part trophies lately:

 

I hope you like him so far. Thanks for looking and hpefully your comments! More updates sooner than later. 

[DuskRaider]

I spend some time in the AT forum and this is what I come back to. That Armiger looks the bidness and I'm happy to see the Decimator Autocannons look good on it. Can't wait to see some paint on it!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Thanks, Dusky!

 

Here's my latest work on Necromunda. I salvaged three Escher miniatures from my old, old collection: 'Mad' Donna Ulanti (missing her plasma pistol arm) and two Juves. As I rad on the interwebs that the old Esscher range is, amongst the different gangs, the one that best fits into the new style of the GW plastics. So I bought a set of twenty metal miniatures to boost my four Escher gang sprues. They haven't arrived yet, but seeing as I would be having extras of the Juves, I decided to try out how well the parts fit together:

 

Here's a Juve with a new head and a new left arm:

 

And old, untouched metal Juve on a new base:

 

And finally, meet 'Mad' Deana Kholanti, after my hobby buddy Dino Kho, who also is short and ill tempered. :D ;) (I named a Librarian after him before) Deana will be sporting a laspistol and a sword that can either be a Stiletto Sword or a Power Sword 

 

I hope you like them!