22 replies to this topic

[aa.logan]

Hi all.

I usually live over in the BL forum, but I guess the time is right to start another project log doomed to failure and dwindle away in ignominy.

I like tanks. I’m awful- I’ve probably more unassembled models than painted, and certainly more unpainted than painted. An all-tank IG army has been by slightly secret dream since 2nd edition; my hoarding of the models for it started in 6th edition. Two years ago I started building it, even painted some (I think my plog survived the recent purge, maybe it didn’t), and then life got in the way.

Since then, I built some, bought even more. I realise I’ve not played a game for almost 20 years, and as things stand, probably won’t for a while yet, if ever- it’s probably not a competitive army, and I’ve glued all of the parts that could be swapped round in order to stick with in accordance with the premise of Stillmania, which still resonates from an old WD article by Nigel Stillman- basically, WSIWYG and don’t change a list once it’s written.

I have a kernel of fluff brewing in my head as I build for them.

Known also as the “Ash Wasters”, the 225th Necromundan Armoured Division specialise, incongruously, perhaps in desert and urban warfare. Trained in the great ash wastes of their homeworld and drawing their recruits from both the inhabitants of the hives and also the clans that wander between those settlements their combined experiences of hostile environments lend them well to both types of battlefront. The division is relatively egalitarian for the Astra Militarum; it recognises that it can be more effective if it play some to the strength of the individual and the two cohorts are incredibly integrated- loyalty to house, gang or clan is obviously subsumed by loyalty to the regiment; a vehicle may be crewed by any mix of nomad clansmen, underhive gangers, uphive nobility or any social strata between them existing in relative harmony. The 225’s uniform reflects this- largely it is standard Cadian pattern, though some aspects of it reflect the combined Necromundan heritages of the recruits. As tankers, there is a fair bit of individual leeway with, for instance, some personal armour being removed for ease of movement within confined spaces, giving some aspects of them a slightly dishevelled non-uniform appearance. Some members of the regiment swear by their helmets and head protection, and won’t venture out of their vehicles without it, others resent the valuable space it takes up inside their tanks and the way it messes up their hair.

The Ash Wasters are further divided into four loose companies, always deployed in the same theatre and often the same battlefield.

Twelve Leman Russ form a company. These are all built, and as things stand have a tank commander in an Executioner (? The plasma one), whose squad is rounded out by two of the autocannon variants, there are also 3 demolishers, 3 punishers and 3 standard russes. I’m sorely tempted to add more, especially bearing in mind the pending price rise, but intend to stay strong and resist. I’m due to receive next week a further russ which I’ll be kitbashing into an Atlas, and also turning the turret into another command tank option- maybe the fancy hammer one iceman heard talk of from the most recent supplement.

The next company is a scout one. It mainly consists of sentinels- I’ve got 9 built so far (3x heavy flamer, 3x autocannon, 3x missile launcher) and I’ve also got an idea for a ‘command’ variant with plasma cannon, maybe with the commander doing some leadership (ie pointing and shouting, maybe waving a flag) out of the hatch. I’m midway through kitbashing a ridgerunner to be their ‘support’ vehicle, not sure if it would count as a tauros of another sentinel if I played, but it’s a really satisfying kit to build. This company is also where the veteran infantry ‘belong’- shotgun veterans, made from enforcers mounted in a heavily laden taurox, another really pleasing kit.

The third section is the artillery one. Three basilisks, three wyverns and two taurox repurposed as manticores and a kitbashed Trojan. Will shortly be joined by a deathstrike because I’m a sucker for overkill.

Finally, the super-heavies. I’ve built three Baneblades, and have three unbuilt- they’ll likely all be Shadowsords, but I’m mighty tempted to build at least one of the variants with the troop compartment. They already have one kitbashed salamander to support them, but the components for a second are inbound.

I’ve also two chimeras and I’m torn between nominally filling these with sniper squads or regular infantry. The visable crew and infantry I have built for this army are a mix of Cadian and Orlock parts, though I have a mountain of metal Cadians and Tallarns that could be used here.

All this text, and no pictures?

I’m an awful tease.

Tomorrow, hopefully.

[duz_]

As long there is pics soon
Sounds like fun should be easy to paint quickly too! Have you magnetised any of them? Elmo posted a great tutorial series here for that. Don't forget to get your sentinels before the price hike!

[Warhead01]

Following! 
Sounds super cool, can't wait to see it.

[aa.logan]

As long there is pics soon
Sounds like fun should be easy to paint quickly too! Have you magnetised any of them? Elmo posted a great tutorial series here for that. Don't forget to get your sentinels before the price hike!

Twist my arm then...

 

Here’s a set of photos I took the other day to convince/remind myself that my in-transit order should be my last for a while- the army is quite big enough for the time being at least...

 

 

 

 

(The Valkyrie is just popping by to say hello; she belongs to a Scions Kill-Team I’ve been working on for years...)

 

No magnets, no options. The only moving parts are turrets- sponsons are mostly glued in place too. 

Edited by aa.logan, 22 May 2020 - 08:26 PM.

[WarriorFish]

That is a good number of tanks! Looking forward to seeing them come along

[aa.logan]

I watched ‘The Road Warrior’ as part of a Mad Max rewatch last night. That may have been a slight influence in my decision to build the scout company’s Tauros/wheeled sentinel/very mobile heavy weapons team/cool looking buggy.

 

Again, the more recent vehicle kits prove to be immensely satisfying to build- were this kit a fiver cheaper, I’d buy a couple more just to savour the building process and make a squad of them, but pricing is pricing *shrugs*...

 

Ive tried to convey a feeling of movement, which is why the spotter is leaning forward in histurret- I’m going to find something to fill in the gap behind him a little- maybe a kit roll or something. The gunner is currently held in place with a generous blob of blu-tack, when glued in place his hand will rest properly on the roll bars. I can’t operate a pin vice without it seriously causing a tendonitis flare-up, so until I’ve convinced my other half to do it for me, gun barrels will remain undrilled. 

 

The Ridgerunner looks *different* to the AM range, so I’ve bunged a Leman Russ handle above the driver’s hatch and an Aquila from, I think, a knight, to further Imperium it up a bit, or at least make it look less civilian, that’s also why the gunner has a Cadian head too. Fluff-wise, it is the perfect fit for the dual specialist type army that the 225th Necromundan absolutely are, and doubly so for their scout company. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by aa.logan, 23 May 2020 - 04:07 PM.

[walter h]

Excellent. I thought of the same thing and got one myself. My stuff is currently in storage,as we contemplate a possible move. This is fantastic .

[aa.logan]

Switching companies to the artillery one today. I’ve been working on these for a few days now, playing with their poses, pairings and the like, and I think I’m happy enough with them. The only one I’m not 100% happy with is the officer- I’m happy with his pose, generally and I've has him knocking around for ages; initially he was in my Salamander, but he wasn’t quite right. He’s too good not to use, so I gave him a scroll and he’s now in charge of my big guns. For now, at least.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aa.logan]

While out walking the dog, I think I hit upon the solution- the officer should be in addition to the Basilisk’s regular crew, so I’ll build another gunner/loader or maybe even a signaller tomorrow to join them. It just felt a little silly having him waving his sword about but no-one actually responding directly to it.

Hmmm.

[aa.logan]

This isn’t one of those plogs that drop off after a few posts, honest.

A nasty bout of tendinitis in my right hand ruled out a week of most things, not least hobby.

Then I was all set to work on my shotgun vets. These are to be kitbashed from Necromunda Enforcers, but current events have put me right off. The idea of spending hours fiddling with models of hyper-militarised law enforcement officers between bouts of staring blankly at footage of hyper-militarised law-enforcement officers on my phone kind of squashed my hobby mojo for a while. I did knock up that extra Basilisk loader though.

I got back on track by finishing off and undercoating my kitbashed Necromunda-pattern Trojan. I started it way back in January, and doubt I’ll get it painted anytime soon so haven’t pledged it.

Overall, I’m happy with it, and how shonky it looks, though it’s far from flawless- maybe a bit too busy in places, but I built it with only a vague plan of how it was going to look and just had fun improvising.

Care to identify the parts? Answers below

Spoiler

It’s a basic Chimera hull. The ‘turret’ is from a Taurox, and the comms army at the front comes from a need to fill a gap figuratively and the chimera kit literally. In from is going to be a light array, I think- the back plate from a plasma Leman Russ. The crane operator has an Orlock head.

The crane is mounted on the blast shield from an Imperial Knight. The crane itself comes from the servohauler terrain, I think, with a Baneblade tow hook on the end. The fuel tank is from a Goliath Rockgrinder, a kit I’m itching to get my hands on and build one day.

I had, originally, planned to cover the lasgun ports with vision slits, also from the Baneblade, but these looked awful. Then I left them empty for ages, but wasn’t too happy either. Had I not used a Chimera searchlight next to the crane, the lenses from these would have been a perfect fit, but I wanted some variation in bits. I stuck together slices from the bases of battlecannons to make those long tubes- I’m assuming that they, like the turret are essential components of the vehicle that have been moved towards the exterior to accommodate more internal storage. Or something. The ends are capped with searchlight lenses.

the rear door is probably the bit I’m least happy with, but I’m telling myself it’ll look better with paint applied. The crate at the back is from the objective set, and, as I’m sure you’re all aware, the shells are the same size as I’ve used for my Basilisk crew. The crate is mounted on a dozer blade frame, and the eradicatior (?) cannon bit I’ve stuck on is representing a further hydraulic lift. The door itself is two of the panels that are ‘spare’ on the standard Chimera, cut to size.

Edited by aa.logan, 04 June 2020 - 07:39 PM.

[duz_]

Update was worth the wait

Heal quick the Emperor's work must be done!

[aa.logan]

My hand is still a claw, but today I’ve powered through and continued my pattern of alternating between artillery and scout companies, I’ve hacked up some Atalan Jackals to make a squad of bike scouts/not-quite rough riders. My intention was to make them look like they’re mid-ride rather than engaging in combat, and are largely unarmed aside from their holstered pistols. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took an even more gung-ho approach to these than I did my Trojan, many arms were sacrificed and truncated as I tried different cuts to get arms to marry with the Cadian torsos or the handlebars;  shoulder pads cover the worst gaps, and pouches do a similar job where the torsos and legs aren’t quite flush, but a bit of green stuff before undercoating should fit any other glaring holes. What’s a bits box for if not mutiliating? My only regret is that their panniers do not include the lascarbines from the tank accessory sprue, but I might pick up a second box in the future and arm those. Again, a fun kit, but even more fun to hack up.

 

[WarriorFish]

More great work here, nice to see your creativity! Looking forward to seeing them painted up (claw dependant) It's a good idea to swap between projects and keep yourself fresh so hopefully this can speed things up nicely too.

[aa.logan]

My right hand remains largely unusable. Desperate for anything to do, I started building the Zone Mortalis terrain. Since it’s so chunky, I could cut out and assemble with just my left hand. Lots of fun, potentially getting carried away with another project, so I figured I’d refocus on my 225th.

 

I’m pretty sure that when the first Chimera kit came out, there was a White Dwarf article, possibly one copied from the Codex, and it said that despite their size, one could only carry five ratlings, as they’d stuff all available space with extra supplies, equipment and provisions. That idea really stuck with me...

 

I like the the idea of snipers being in the scout company, but special weapon teams, as far as I understand it, can’t infiltrate which goes against my aesthetic interpretation of their role. but then I thought about ratlings...

 

were i to deploy this unit unit on the table, they’d be counts-as ratlings; the use of kneeling legs I feel is a suitable concession to notions of WYSIWYG. No idea if they can have a Taurox, but I thought the idea of fully laden in fit with so much stowage and building a sniper’s nest would further code them as ratlings. Again, assembled left-handed, but the fact that I’d trimmed all my components from the sprue an age ago made it easier, bur my repurposing of the Catachan long-las for variety. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really like the Chimera commander helmet, and think it suits the snipers really well, but I’m also tempted to use it on a veteran squad too. The sniper on a blob of blutack will have an appropriate item added underfoot, otherwise he looks too much like he’s aiming at the floor- the pose is obviously better high up, but I wanted to keep him low down. As befits their status as scouts and infiltrators, their approach to uniform is the most lax so far in the army.

 

itching to get painting, genuinely, but I fear my hand isn’t going to be up operating an airbrush for quite some time. Maybe do a command squad tomorrow.

Edited by aa.logan, 13 June 2020 - 10:34 PM.

[WarriorFish]

Lovely kit bashing, gives them lots of character - I like using the tank commander helmet for snipers too it works really well Snipers aren't the best (currently) but Rule of Cool prevails - and when they do work it is pretty great Keep up the good progress, though be careful not to assemble too big a pile awaiting painting so it doesn't get too daunting

[aa.logan]

 

Having stuck the snipers on bases, thought I’d add a group picture to the album, seeing them all lined up shows the limitations of using the Cadian sniper arms/cloak, so I’m glad I mixed it up a little. The cut-up sprue scenery is basic, but perfectly serviceable. 

 

Im not going to risk my hand with the airbrush trigger action yet, but have started blocking in colour on a few tank crew, though the light went before I could get a decent photo to show any progress. Feels good to have gotten my brush dirty though. 

 

[Banjohero]

That is one impressive force! I love the look of the bikers and the buggy. Would you mind telling a bit about how you did the bikers?

[aa.logan]

That is one impressive force! I love the look of the bikers and the buggy. Would you mind telling a bit about how you did the bikers?

 

Sure. In short, I was far too impetuous and lacked any sort of planning, so I just hacked away.

 

I used the Atalan Jackals kit, the Astra Militarum tank upgrade sprue, tank commanders from the Chimera and Leman Russ as well as maybe some heavy weapon team arms. As I’m sure you’re aware, the Jackals all hold on to their handlebars with just one hand, and I knew I wanted my scouts to have more control over their vehicles. I was making it up as I went along, however. I started, because the instructions did, even though you probably shouldn’t, with the sergeant. Chopped the rider’s  legs at the waist to accommodate a Cadian torso and roughly got it to align with the arm attached to the handlebar. Stuck a shoulder pad on to cover the wonky join. My initial plan was to keep the neophyte armour for all limbs, but the chainsword arm looked too good not to keep so my plan shifted. Used a canteen to cover up the big gap between legs and torso, as you can see here:

 

 

for the other riders, I decided to use ‘Cadian’ arms from the tank kits- I cut the arms attached to the handlebars just above the gloves and butchered more arms than I care to remember trying to get the arms and torsos to line up. They’re far from perfect, but eventually I ran out of patience and am happy to settle for some distorted poses that are only really noticeable if you’re up close. Again, the shoulder pads were a god-Emperorsend in covering and gaps where the join wasn’t quite right, and pouches and canteens did the same job again. The helmeted heads come from the tank accessory sprue, and the bare ones are both Orlock. The quad biker uses the tank commander arm with the braiding and epaulets unceremoniously hacked off, and I’m really proud of how well it works, though if you look closely you can still see an armpit gap. There are still gaps where torsos and legs meet at the front; if they still are noticeable when undercoated, I’ll jam some green stuff in there. Really enjoyed hacking and slashing, though a plan may have led to better results and less wastage...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other news, I did some painting with a brush and everything. Not amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but since I was never any good anyway and it’s been so damn long I’m pretty happy with these crew members. I’ll slather them in awash and probably call them done, but most importantly there serve as proof of concept for my infantry colour scheme. 

 

 

 

Vallejo Somber Grey (the basis of my tanks), drybrushed with an *ancient* Citadel Codex Grey. Armour plating/helmets in P3 Coal Black. Details picked out in Citadel Enchanted Blue.

 

Spoiler

 

still going strong! Barely separated and no drying out at all...

 

 

[aa.logan]

So I’ve been a bit distracted by plastic zone mortalis terrain building, but I’ve still been nudging myself to get the artillery crew nearly to completion. I’ve not got the highest paining standards, as you can see, but rough and ready and still kind of neat works for me. 

I’ll pick out a few more details, stick on a wash and call them done in the next day or two... try as I might, the gallery won’t let me rotate the first image so you’ll have to turn your head instead. 

 

 

 

[Banjohero]

I like it. Mine are very rough too, I figured if I put some extra agrax earthshade, they are just roughed up and dirty from a long campaign.  

 

Thank you for the very detailed explanation of the bikers, again, they look soo good! Hope to do something similar myself someday.

[Hiroitchi]

Ooo bikes.. man loving the conversions bro. Excited what you are going to be ending up with.

[aa.logan]

 

could I have framed this better? Yes.

 

Did I not go for a close up because I don’t want too much scrutiny of my paint job? Also yes.

 

Am I pretty proud of the fact that I’ve finished painting some miniatures for the first time in years? Absolutely yes.

 

[duz_]

Any painted Minature is a well painted Minature!


From this angle they look great!