K0rtmer's echo chamber: mechanising the vintage DG

[K0rtmer]

The Legio Mortis will walk ...

I'm lucky to have a small number of friends who share my appreciation of all things Oldhammer. For Christmas last year, I was given this old but original Warlord titan, dating back to the first (1988) edition of Adeptus Titanicus. I understand I was purchased for cheap and, to be fair, it's not in a happy place right now. Lots of thick paint, sprue gates and mould lines never cleaned, etc. It came with three weapons - laser burner, vortex missile, and plasma gun (yay) -, but I was able to score an alternative Chaos-y head and a counts-as power fist on Facebook. Both original parts too.

I realise the pictures aren't great, but neither is the model itself. All parts are currently sitting in a Simple Green bath, getting hit with 10 minutes of ultrasound whenever I remember to fire it up. I expect to have it stripped and cleaned up alright by the end of the month at the latest.

I was asked to choose a legion and do the model up to my best standard, for a game of first-edition AT sometime this year. Of course I picked the Legio Mortis. I've decided to research the original paint schemes from back in 1988 and paint it up just like that, perhaps with a few twists to allow for creative freedom and personal preferences. I'll see. Considering to sign it up for the AT event on the boards as well.

Edited January 18, 2020 by K0rtmer

[noigrim]

Time for a dip

[K0rtmer]

It's had a dip alright. Major pain in the to get all the paint off of it. Only when I glued it to its base did I realise that what I mistook for poor details of a legacy model was, in fact, a rubbery layer of black paint almost exactly the same hue as the black plastic. A layer that never came off in the ultrasound bath. Had to drench the whole model in brush cleaner and clean it up with toothpicks and a scalpel.

I also put it on a proper base: cut the feet out and put some cork and sand on it, maintaining the integrity of the original base. This way I keep the void shield counter window and the 8 little sculpted arrowheads on the base. Definitely one of the more challenging jobs I've ever done, especially since these parts aren't easy to replace if something goes wrong. I do think the result was worth it though.

Now off to cleaning up the weapons and all.

Edited January 21, 2020 by K0rtmer

[K0rtmer]

I did some digging and located a PDF of the old Adeptus Titanicus rules from 1988. Very enjoyable read and lots of reminiscing. Biggest surprise: warlord-class titans had the carapace painted in camo. Apparently. Never realised that. (I got into Epic in 1994-ish, never played the first edtion of AT.) For Legio Mortis, I seem to be looking at: camo carapace with gold trim, black head and leg armour panels with red trims, and everything else a grimy gunmetal with perhaps red details on the weapons. Like this, I guess.

The group has settled on a Martian basing theme. This settles much of the camo and I'm currently looking at a range of options, wondering how to Mars-ify them. I can't help but think that the entire idea is a bit stupid, on a number of levels. But, hey. Rule of cool.

I don't think a gold trim would work too well with a red-orange camo paint scheme. Might just paint it black for a high contrast. I'm planning to keep to a very limited, muted palette. After all they're the bad guys. Oher than that, nothing is decided and I'll see where the process takes me. For the moment, I've primed the base and the carapace in a rust-red colour, and everything else black - which is obviously a safe choice.

Still haven't found any motivation to clean up the weapons ...

[K0rtmer]

Brief update, as posted elsewhere - in the Titans of the Heresy II thread:

Really not an easy model to paint for me. I think I've stripped the carapace down twice, this is its third paintjob - and that after a good few hours practising on spare armour panels and plasticard. Never realised how difficult it is to make camo look 'right', and to weather it well. Next time you see somebody doing it well, give them some praise. Not 100% happy with mine, but it's good enough for me this time. Next stop: OSL and more weathering.

[Thousand Eyes]

Loving some your retro stuff. Flashbacks to when I first started.

[KrautScientist]

 

Never realised how difficult it is to make camo look 'right', and to weather it well.

I think one thing that makes this such a hard thing to get right is that the actual purpose of camo runs counter to what we are trying to do when painting models: Camouflage, on top of making an object blend into the background, is supposed to break up the shape of an object in order to make it look less recognisable -- and that's definitely not what you want for your models ;) Therefore, camouflage on tabletop models always has to have a slightly stylised element about it, so as not to become "too successful", as it were ;)

 

That being said, the model is looking fantastic now, camo included. I also love the "warpaint" on the titan's head!

[K0rtmer]

Never realised how difficult it is to make camo look 'right', and to weather it well.

I think one thing that makes this such a hard thing to get right is that the actual purpose of camo runs counter to what we are trying to do when painting models: Camouflage, on top of making an object blend into the background, is supposed to break up the shape of an object in order to make it look less recognisable -- and that's definitely not what you want for your models Therefore, camouflage on tabletop models always has to have a slightly stylised element about it, so as not to become "too successful", as it were

That being said, the model is looking fantastic now, camo included. I also love the "warpaint" on the titan's head!

I agree though. Camo on a tabletop model is a weird concept to begin with. Camo on a city-sized walking war machine ... Well, better don't get me started. It's an exercise in attempting a paint job that's faithful to the original, at least in spirit. I've enjoyed it so far. In fact, when I realised I did manage to break up the model's shilouette from above, which is what I'd normally avoid at all costs - I thought I was doing it sort of right.

I'm making some progress, if only at a very slow rate. My whole country is in complete lockdown for at least 4 weeks; today is Day 5. I can't work and what I can do I do from home, which leaves me with more hobby time than usual. But I get distracted. All I managed to do for the titan is the plasma glow:

I've also picked up my Oldhammer daemons again, and I"m enjoying painting them very much.

Hope to be able to update with more progress sooner than later.

[K0rtmer]

Almost done with this one ...

[K0rtmer]

Final decal work and weathering on the god engine ...

[DuskRaider]

Whoa, you went REALLY old school with the Mortis, eh? I love the old schemes and you've done it justice.

 

The pale skin you've got going on with that Nurgle Sorcerer is great too.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Great job on the Titan!

[K0rtmer]

She's done. She's walking. (Couple more pictures in the spoiler tag.)

I honestly can't say that I enjoyed finishing her beyond some point. Only really wanted to get done with it. I procrastinated her a lot, but felt refreshed when I finally made the decisions on the decals and had put them on. From there it wasn't much, basically just a bit of subtle chipping, varnish, pigments and fixer. Making the banner took a long time, but I'm reasonably happy with it. Originally I wanted to make bigger flags for the carapace also, but I think I'll leave that for a while. She's good to go now.

While I found the project hugely challenging and not always enjoyable, I can honestly say I learned a lot from her, and I've since been feeling more confident and have put to use what I learned.

I'm about to finish the Plaguebearers and will then go hard on Epidemius, who has most basecoats and a fair bit of drybrushing and washes already. To spice things up, I've started this for a local lockdown painting competition:

Complete pain in the to splice four lengths of checkers decals together and get the whole thing to conform to that highly irregular surface. Again, challenging, but I think I've done alright. Couple minor-ish mistakes to be corrected with a fine-tipped brush, but that's Ok. Overall he's coming along, I think.

[Dosjetka]

The camo really works on the Titan, despite your initial reservations. Good job. :tu:

[K0rtmer]

Aspiring Champion done.

The Plaguebearers are almost done too, I expect to be able to share soon-ish.

[Sandalphon]

So great to see these old figures resurrected in your talented hands! Lots of nostalgia in here, you've really done them proud.

[Dosjetka]

Aye, you've done a good job on that Champion. Is he part of the Black Legion? If so, any plans on applying a decal or painting on their symbol?

[K0rtmer]

Aye, you've done a good job on that Champion. Is he part of the Black Legion? If so, any plans on applying a decal or painting on their symbol?

Well ... It's complicated. Yes, he's BL. I have a squad of five chosen (or veteran CSM - by 2nd edition rules, which is my legacy army's home rule set) primed and pre-shaded. Together with the champion, they'll form the retinue for short-arm Abaddon. That's as far as I intend to push the BL contingent of the army that's otherwise DG and daemons.

Most BL transfers I have are either yellow, which will clash big times with the DG paint scheme, or red, which won't look good on the BL paint scheme at all. I'm tending to go yellow, simply because it'll work well with the BL colours ... But I'm undecided at this stage. Hence the 'Chaos Undecided Undivided' decal on the banner. It doesn't worry me too much at this stage because the Champion has only half a shoulder pad of space to work with anyway, and has eye-of-Horus iconography on the power fist already. - It is really all work in progress.

Forgot to share this the other way. (Also shown: Necromunda Goliaths, which will stand in as DG cultists.)

[OakRiver]

Those 2nd Edition Chaos Marines bring back a lot of fond memories :D

[K0rtmer]

Can't motivate myself to do the finishing touches on the Plaguebearers (lurking in the background). Therefore, Epidemius!

[K0rtmer]

Progress on Epidemius's banners.

Off to paint the slime now. Oh dear, lots of slime, everywhere. In hindsight, I think I should've primed the model Death Guard Green and paint only those parts that aren't covered in slime. Can't say I'm looking forward painting green for a whole night or two, but other than that - I think he's coming along rather well and I'm excited to get on with him. Update soon, hopefully.

[Brother Mayhem]

Great work 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Brother Mayhem

[K0rtmer]

They're done. Family picture:

Not easy to get decent pictures this time of the day. I have a small photobox coming in the mail, but I've no idea when it'll get here, if at all. Until then, these will have to do:

Unsure if I want the green slime to be glossy or not. The models have a fairly matte varnish on them, which is how I like them best, and minor details and Epidemius's blood vomit have had some going over with BFTBG. That's got a bit of a gloss to it and it looks great, but there's so much slime ... I worry that, if I make that glossy too, it'll draw too much attention to all those shiny reflective little bits all over the models?

Edited May 15, 2020 by K0rtmer

[K0rtmer]

In the meantime I've had a go at one of my 1st edition Space Hulk terminators. Just to distract myself, paint something different, and also practice a few new skills. Didn't plan the Space Wolves one to be first, but it sort of happened on top of the grey primer.

I've also finished the first of a squad of ten Goliath cultists. Not the best I can do, but easy and fast enough that I'll make it through the process that is painting the remaining nine of them.

[K0rtmer]

Insignificant progress since the last time I posted. Painting depression. This too shall pass, but little to share. I do have a new photo booth though and finally managed to get a decent picture of the Space Hulk terminator in. FWIW: