Eagle Eyes Land Raider -- Work resumed on exterior!

[JeffTibbetts]

Alright folks. My Knight is getting close to done (stalled right now) so I'm starting up new projects. One that I'm most excited about right now is a Land Raider Redeemer/Crusader for my Eagle Eyes chapter.

I shall call this mighty war machine cuauhxicalli (pronounced something like quaw-she-call-ee). Remember the name. Doesn't have the ring of Queen Bee, I know... But it means Eagle Vessel in Nahuatl and that seems spot on, since that's what it is.

I've been working on the interior already, and both loving and hating the LR kit all over again. Get ready for a pic dump...

Started with some "basic" weathering on the interior. Drybrushed Leadbelcher over a black sprayed primer, then Agrax wash, old Badab Black wash in some spots, then weathering powders fixed with White Spirit.I tried to show the rear exit points by focusing the weathering in the less trafficked areas by the front seats and the middle of the rear, by the engine.

Here you can better see the "Y" pattern in the rust. Looks like I took this while the spirits were still wet.

And here are the beginning stages of the wall details.

Nothing special, just blocked out the major details around the sides.

Now here's the next day's work:

Added some sponged-on Ironbreaker and Runefang Steel chips, and some greasy drips from the engine and a few other spots. It's a little hard to see in some pics, but there are lots of glowing red and yellow OSL effects, added with glazes. In the case of the yellow, I also added some neon pigments. I'll probably do the same for the red but I haven't yet.

For fun, I added a little Blood For the Blood God to tell a small story, where someone had a minor wound and scrambled in through the rear entry point to get at a media-kit in that little storage locker.

A little freehand of a diving eagles the shrine. My other LR has a much cooler painting on that spot, but it's all glued so it's really hard to take a picture of it now.

And then, to set up my next session, I started on some more details that I'll be painting up soon.

I added a bolter to the rack by the front ramp, and then glued a helmet and auspex sitting on the bench. I guess it's the sergeant's since he's helmetless. Also, the white bit is a resin cast of the tool kit bit. It's a double sided piece but I wanted to use both sides. Why do they do that? It's weird! This way I can use this bit and also the side with the screens on the other wall. Pain in the butt, but if I even add another LR I have the mold all ready to go.

That's all for now. More to come soon. And the name is cuauhxicalli (pronounced something like quaw-she-call-ee). Don't forget it.

[JGeils81]

awesome job J.  I keep looking at all these amazing jobs you guys are doing on your minis/models and I realize that every time I get one...itll never be done because I'll always want to do more to it!!

[JeffTibbetts]

awesome job J.  I keep looking at all these amazing jobs you guys are doing on your minis/models and I realize that every time I get one...itll never be done because I'll always want to do more to it!!

 

Yeah... I used to rush things a lot more, but after taking a long look at my priorities, I slowed down. I so rarely game that there's really no justifiable reason to rush through anything. Now I take my sweet time and look at it more as an art piece than a playing model. I feel ya, though. If I were itching to use this in a game it would have far fewer magnets, and far fewer steps in the paint recipes. 

[Brother Paen]

Great job! I've always given a minimal paint job to my LR and rhino interiors.

I've recently begun a build of every type of Land Raider ( in some cases 2 of certain models) and in my haste sealed 'em up with only primer on the inside...8 of 14...unpainted...inside..

 

.AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH. Now its killin' me ! 

[JeffTibbetts]

Hahaha! That's such an ambitious project... You do NOT want to be burdened with my attention to detail when you're doing something like that. Trust me. 

[Stercus]

Very much looking forward to seeing this pan out...

[Space Truckin]

Land Raider is looking awesome! 

How is the Queen Bee coming along?  

[JeffTibbetts]

Land Raider is looking awesome! 

How is the Queen Bee coming along?  

 

Thanks!

 

The knight is stalled out. I tried to print out some decals, which I've done successfully several times before, and they just didn't work. Trying to find access to another printer and rework the art to see if I can redo them. 

[JeffTibbetts]

Small update. Chatting on Twitter, it struck me that I really wanted to show one of the foot lockers opened up. I set out to do it last night, and I also started another set of blast doors for the rear exit points. Not a lot to show for all the work, but it'll be cool when I'm done.

I had to create a little box on the back side out of styrene card. It looks a little uneven in this pic but I later fixed that. Honestly you wouldn't even be able to tell once it's painted and assembled anyway. Just a simple box with walls and a bottom, and a back attached.

And the open front hatch. The handle would fit right down into the crack, so this sits flush with the floor. Super easy to glue down. :D

And here it is with the wall piece on the hull. It's a small detail, but I'll paint it up and add something in the locker. My best idea right now is a roll of blank parchment strip, a feather quill made from a jade eagle (native to the Eagle Eyes' planet and their namesake) and a block of sealing wax. Pre/post-battle honorifics, baby!

And here's the start of a second set of blast doors. I haven't decided if I'll glue these in the open position or not. I think the real doors usually get stuck open anyway so I might as well go with that. So, these will really just be the teeth, most likely.

And just for fun, here's my resin duplicate of the two-sided piece. It looks even more rough with paint on it... I'm hoping that drybrushing it will cover up some of the slippages. Looks passable to me, and the flaws are really only easily noticeable when you blow it up this huge.

[JeffTibbetts]

I'm thinking about doing something like this for the open box. Here's my take on a Chaplain Field Promotion Seal® kit.

Hard to see in this, but I want a roll of parchment there, a block of sealing wax, a jade eagle feather, and a pot of ink.

I thought maybe I could roll a thin strip of plastic card or tin foil for the parchment, but the rest will need to be sculpted, most likely. Can probably carve some gray sprue for the wax block, maybe with a tiny piece of wire for the wick. Maybe I can start the feather as plastic card and score the lines in or something. Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Argent aquila]

gave ya my last likes, lovely idea for the seal kit!

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks! I've got it started. Just waiting for the ProCreate to cure. First time using it, actually. The parchment ended up tinfoil. I'll post some pics of them prepaint tomorrow when I'm at my computer.

[JeffTibbetts]

Alright, guys and gals. I got started with the purity seal kit last night. Used ProCreate sculpting putty for the first time. It's definitely different from Green Stuff in a few ways, but these projects were so small it wasn't enough to form a strong impression of its properties. Have a look at what I made with it.

Here's an uncured eagle feather quill pen. These pics are zoomed way in. That's a tshirt in the background, and you can clearly see the warp and woof of the fabric if that gives you an idea of the scale.

And the ink pot. PC is so not sticky I had to put it on a piece of Blu-Tack to work it. This piece was a real pain, for real.

And a stick of sealing wax and blank roll of parchment paper. I ended up making another thing of parchment with the tin foil folded over three times to try and bulk it up. Didn't make much difference to be honest.

I took another shot this morning after letting them cure overnight. The curve in the feather isn't because the putty curled or anything, I just bent the cardboard it was on so it cured that way. I bathed the parchment roll in superglue to stiffen it up, but it wasn't very effective.

And here are a couple bonus shots of the helmet vignette and open foot locker:

Even though I'm going with glowing eyes in my new Eagle Eyes color scheme, the helmet would be powered down so I painted them as colored glass. Just black blended to a deep red with a red dot, and of course the white reflection. After this pic I also added red-tinted gloss coat on the top. I have yet to paint the auspex or finish the metal on either. You can see the resin cast of the tool panel behind it. It looks passable, but I absolutely demolded it too early. Some of the details are smudged. Honestly, on the inside of a Land Raider I'm totally fine with it... Once it's assembled you'll never see this head on again (no pun intended).

And the open foot locker, now with paint. I can't wait to glue this wall on so I can add the purity seal stuff.

Thoughts, comments? It's not too late to change anything if you guys see something I missed.

[JeffTibbetts]

Alright. Another pic dump and I think the interior is pretty much finished. Just some touch ups left to do. I'll show you why I'm super excited about this fact at the end... :D

I got the purity seal kit pretty much done. It's really hard to photograph. Also, there was some damage to the paint from the tweezers I used to place the items. I'll have to touch it up quick. And I might add another highlight to the bottle, as it shifted when I glued it down. It's remarkable hard to photograph, so I snapped a few angles.

You may also notice something sticking out by the engine? Let's take a look at Jimmy, the Land Raider's servo skull attendant.

Jimmy's looking over the engine right now, presumably to figure out why it's leaking oil again... If he could talk, he'd say "this is why we can't have nice things..." It's also very possible that he's contemplating the Machina Opus, and spiraling into an existential crisis, wondering if it's really a poetic representation of what he's become. Your choice.

I also finished the cogitator bank for the other wall. Here are a few shots from different angles.

And then I started putting the sides together and realized it looked kind of cool with the lighting, so here are some added-drama pics.

And then, the reason I was rushing to get this done is because I got something very special in the mail. Anyone care to take a guess what this sneak peek is?

I'm so excited!!!

[The_Chaplain]

 

 

And then, the reason I was rushing to get this done is because I got something very special in the mail. Anyone care to take a guess what this sneak peek is?

 

Loricatus Mk II landraider armor kit from Subtle Discord's webstore 'The Dark Works?"

[JeffTibbetts]

And then, the reason I was rushing to get this done is because I got something very special in the mail. Anyone care to take a guess what this sneak peek is?

Loricatus Mk II landraider armor kit from Subtle Discord's webstore 'The Dark Works?"

That's not fair. You're the only other person I know who's used it. :D And you got it. Two of them, to be exact. Such an amazing, amazing kit. Since you nailed it, here are some more pics for everyone:

It's a thing of beauty. Speaking of which, I should mention: when these came in the mail yesterday, my fiancée carefully unpackaged everything and sent me these pics because she knew how excited I was to take a look. Best. Fiancée. Ever.

[The_Chaplain]

That's not fair. You're the only other person I know who's used it.

Which is a shame, because it is a beautiful product. Eventually I'd like to have a trio of crusaders with Loricatus' on them for a "Hailstorm Squadron". Let me know how the fit on the rear of those Loricatus was on your landraider-- mine was off by just a few millimeters, but that's likely due to my inexperience in building the raider.

Best. Fiancée. Ever.

I'd challenge you on this claim, but my fiancée is being promoted to wife status in 18 days, so you can keep the title.

Keep up the good work, that raider is going to look great when it's done. And thanks again for the keyboard recommendation.

[JeffTibbetts]

That's not fair. You're the only other person I know who's used it.

Which is a shame, because it is a beautiful product. Eventually I'd like to have a trio of crusaders with Loricatus' on them for a "Hailstorm Squadron". Let me know how the fit on the rear of those Loricatus was on your landraider-- mine was off by just a few millimeters, but that's likely due to my inexperience in building the raider.

Best. Fiancée. Ever.

I'd challenge you on this claim, but my fiancée is being promoted to wife status in 18 days, so you can keep the title.

Keep up the good work, that raider is going to look great when it's done. And thanks again for the keyboard recommendation.

Just posted more on your thread about the keyboard. Go check that out. And I've got a few more months of engaged status.

As for the kit, I think the casting and everything is incredible. I'm stunned by the quality, even though I had very high expectations for it. It exceeded them all and I'm a stickler for details. It's hard to test the fit right now, as I haven't yet shaved down any of the rivets and stuff. I'll let you know about the fit, though. Expect lots of pictures, as usual. :D

[Fangbanger]

Love your work, looks fantastic!

 

My fave is the oil leak on the pipe, awesome touch

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks! I did some oil like that on the Queen Bee knight (link's in my sig) and I love the way it looks. 

[Disruptor_fe404]

The servo-skull and the open locker are great touches.

 

I spy a Stormtalon assault cannon turret in the background.

 

Interesting armour kit. It's very well done, not sure I actually like it for a Land Raider though. The aesthetic works much better for the Rhino chassis, I feel. But eh, subjectivity!

[JeffTibbetts]

The servo-skull and the open locker are great touches.

 

I spy a Stormtalon assault cannon turret in the background.

 

Interesting armour kit. It's very well done, not sure I actually like it for a Land Raider though. The aesthetic works much better for the Rhino chassis, I feel. But eh, subjectivity!

 

Thanks!

 

After test-fitting some pieces, I think it looks super brutal! You'll see soon enough. I'd like it for my rhinos as well, though. No question. It's worth mentioning this will be on a Crusader/Redeemer and the extra armor is quite appropriate. 

 

And yes, I've got twin Stormtalons in pieces all over my workstation alongside my mothballed knight. Poor girl. 

[Jolemai]

No interior LEDs? Shocking.

 

:p

[JeffTibbetts]

No interior LEDs? Shocking.

Some day I need to get into lighting kits, but I just haven't gone there yet. I think a big part of it is because I'm sort of cheap by nature. I don't mind springing for nice supplies or consumables, but that's because I can use them on a bunch of kits. Spending a bunch to add something like that, just seems like a tough sell. I really want to do the interior to my Knight as well, but I'll have a bit of a hard time paying for cockpit bits. I'll do it in that case, because it's such a centerpiece, but I think I'd have a tough time with any other model.

[GhostMalone]

Jeff buddy any chance you could post a brief list of all items; pigments glue brushes paints for your interior?

 

I'm about to start my achillies alpha and im going to be making my iron warriors a dedication to patience and skill like that which you have