Obliterators

These guys have been on my to do list for a long time. Initially I did not like the idea of the Obliterators, and the first iteration of the models were not were good. But then these came along, and I thought they looked really cool. I have been holding of painting them as I were waiting for inspiration. And after painting Vashtorr, with the blend of machine and corrupted flesh I finally felt that it was time.

I decided to paint them in the same scheme as my raptors (Crimson Angels), i.e. a purple metallic with white metal borders. This scheme came to be when I painted Gulliman as I came up with it for the chaos marine that he is standing on. As such I never put much thought into it, and I never developed any real method for painting charters this way. In stead it kind a looks a bit sloppy the way I previously painted it. So for these models I decided to put some more effort into shading to get some more depth to the armour plates. I think I managed quite well, so I will have to go back to the old figures and do some touch-ups to get them to the same level. The flesh was done as my usual chaos flesh with a green and brown wash to get a sickly done to the flesh. Love how the weapon feeds blend with the back muscles. When I added this lighter done to the models the armour plating's turned darker and got a stronger red tone which is a bit strange. Just go to show the adjacent colours do influence how a colour is perceived.

Over all I greatly enjoyed these models, they are highly detailed and the poses are quite different so it does note feel like painting two identical models. I do however not think it would be fun to do multiples of them as they are very distinctive and do not offer any options to make them individual or re-posable. I am actually quite surprised that such advanced models were provided in a boxed set (presumably for people new to the hobby). These usually tend to be more  simple monopose models. Well, now they are done. I still have the 10 chaos marines, so I might do them in the same scheme at some point.

Next up will be a transport option for my desert rats. I have been working on a wheeled tauros transport, but more about that in a later post.

Opus rear update

Apart from some painting (more on that in another post) I have been working on some details of the Opus.

After some thinking I decided that the SAM pods should go on the back as originally planed. This meant I could finish up the platforms by adding some curved riveted shields to the out sides. I also added rivets to the three bolter platforms as wells as some bases for the turrets. All in all I am happy with how it turned out.

Then I needed to relocate the AA-quads. So I built two new platforms on the corners of the rear decking. As I did not have any more tops for these (as I used them as missile doors on the tactical launchers) I had to build some new tops with receiving rings for the guns. This was easily done by cutting some thin strips of plasicard and gluing them up into rings (that were matched to the bottom of the guns). These were then added to some form fitted plasicard tops. i will have to do some decorations of these to make them match up with the rest of the platforms.

I have also relocated the CWIS pods to clear the deck as well as matched up the cut-out so that the guns can swivel without hitting the edges. I am also planing a underslung four piece las-cannon array for the center pod (that lacks the downward facing twin linked las-cannons). I am not sure if all four of the cannons should be individually elevated or if I should to them paired two and two. This will go on both midsection pods.

Then I started to build the frag dispensers that will line the battlements to discourage any jump troops from getting to close. Idea is also that this should look a bit like the emergency pods mounted on the sides of IRL carriers. When I did this I had to cut a small tab away from the original piece. This was repurposed as decoration on the plasticard fillers I made for the flight deck.

I also started two new gun turrets to be added somewhere. I am thinking to put these on some outriggers on top of the observation tower, on each side of the three barrel main turret. But I am not sure how I will treat the observation windows. Either I block the side windows with the outriggers, only leaving a view forwards, or I place the out riggers above the windows, but I am not sure if that will look strange. Or I will have to find another place to put them. But I am sort of running out of space to add larger weapon systems. Except on the tower (which will likely make any Orc proud in the end).

Not much done on each part but over all I am slowly ticking of small things that has been floating around the back of my mind.

Opus Magna, rear bolters and surface to air missiles

So, I have been slowly shipping away on the Opus build. This time around I focused a bit on the rear quarters. As I built the fighters for the Opus the Nephilim the kit came with the options of either wing mounted bolters or missiles, I went for the bolters so had the missile inserts left over. This made me think about building some surface to air missiles (SAM) pods to mount on the rear platforms. So I started the build and after some nights of tinkering I had to pod arrays with 12 missiles in each pod. However, when I tried to mount them were I originally planed to have them they turned out to be to big to fit in the space available without interfering with the flight dec (and I was not about to cut in to the deck for these to).

So I needed to find some were else to put them. I already had some smaller platforms built for the quad autocannons so I tried a quick swap. But these platforms were sticking out to much, which is fine for the smaller quad guns but it looked strange with the SAM's. So I decided to reposition the platforms and move them up and in to get them closer to the hull. While doing this I just put them SAM's on the tower instead of some icaros Las cannons and it really looked cool. It gave the tower a more aggressive look with the two pods on each side of the main battle cannon batteries. Once I relocated the rear platforms I tried the SAM's also in this position and now they looked good there also. So now I do not know if they will be on the tower or the back. The mounts are the universal disk so I can move things around so do not need to decided now.

When working on the back I also came up with the idea of mounting three heavy bolter towers on the back platform to mirror the three turrets that are mounted on each side at the front. Originally I hade the idea to have these on the tower but I could not really find a good position for them. In the end I am really happy the placement. Now I just need to get the towers mounted on the platforms.

Vashtorr the arkifane

This is a model that I have been looking forward to painting, and it did not disappoint. Already when it was teased I knew that this was a model I wanted to get my hands on, but when it was released I missed it as it was in the limited box. So I had to wait until it was released as a singel model. One acquired, it sat in my to do pile until the opportune moment arrived, and it just happened to be now.

The model as such is a fairly easy build even though there are quite a few pieces. The level of details is great and I absolutely love the amalgam of machine and flesh. One thing I missed was that I should have placed a small managed in the chest so that the front armour can be removed to show all the detail beneath. This might be my one criticism of this model. It looks so good without the armour that I am seriously considering getting another one and totally forgoing all the armour pieces. Apart form the armour I also left the wings and the extra stack of exhausts of for painting but otherwise the model was painted assembled. The base was done separately, nothing fancy, just some extra filler to extend the scenic piece to the edge and some extra skulls.

The metal parts were done in my usual way with a black base and brown/orange blotches before dry-brushing bronze and white metal. The flesh is a variation on my standard chaos flesh, but instead of suing the Kislev flesh as a base I used Dechala liliac. Then I painted in the highlight and larger areas starting at Kislev and going up to bone before doing a green and red/brown wash. Then it was back to painting in highlights again and at the end I added a white wash. The last step with white turned out to be a mistake as it toned down all the other colours to a more monochrome tone. So I re washed the model in gren and red/brown and re did the highlights except the white.

Armour was done with a basic gold rim and some two tone striped plating (the model has some structure but not as much as I put in). Not sure if I will attach it or if I will leave it of. Model looks better without armour, but with the graves and arm plating on it looks a but strange to not use the back and chest pieces. If I were to do another one I would re-sculpt the lower legs and the left arm so that no armour was used. Just the flesh and machine.

The hammer was originally done as a marmor type stone but it did not look so good so I went back and redid it in a hot metal type of thing. First time I do this on a large piece, I am normally not to comfy doing these light effects. I guess one should have done some OSL also but one thing at a time. At some point I need to try that though.

Over all it was a very fun model to paint, and it is testing my technique a bit but still staying close to the look I like.

Opus interceptor, re-imagined

 As part of the Opus airwing I wanted to have a dedicated air superiority fighter or interceptor. I based the design of this aircraft on the Dark angels Nephilim fighter. I have previously shown this process including the tail swap I used to get the tail shorter. However, I were not happy with how things looked. Originally I wanted something that looked like the thunderbolt or lightning as they look a bit like WWII fighters with a long bonnet and the cockpit towards the rear. This design has also been used in other Scifi settings such as the viper from Battelstar Galactica, the X-wing from starwars etc.

However, the Nephilim has the cockpit quite far forward with a rather long body behind the canopy and a long tail. Initially I thought that I would just angel the wings a bit upwards, swap the tail to so a shorter one add a longer nose and it would look like I wanted...  but I nerver rally managed to get the proportions right and it never really looked like the fighter I imagined. So I stalled the build for some time until I finally decided to bite the bullet and move the cockpit. This was something that I dreaded as it would involve a lot of cutting to the main body and once that was done there was no going back.

So I started out with the prototype as usual with the understanding that I might need to get a new Nephilim and restart the process if it did not work out. But I was lucky. I managed to cut the cockpit away from the engine cowlings without destroying any of the details on the connecting pieces. I then moved the cockpit backwards about 15 mm and cut away the same amount on the body behind the canopy. This made the cockpit look smaller and much further back than before (even if it is not that much further aft).

There was still a problem to figure out how to make a bonnet. The lines around the cockpit and the rest of the body sort of tapers towards a point. Adding a long square nose did not lock better in this design than before all the cutting and I was a bit disappointed. Then as I was playing around with the roof scoop that I no longer could use du to the shortened body I accidentally put it in front of the canopy, but reversed with the intake pointing backwards, and it all fell into place. From there on it was not that hard to figure out the rest with the front and side panelling. This new, longer nose also allowed me to mount the avenger gatling and add some visible barrels under neath. I also added some larger las-cannons to the sides of the nose than what is provided with the Nephilim kit, but I am sure the originals can also be used if I need to re-do this more times.

I also added the three arched skull things from the kit to the sides of the nose to make it look like the exhaust ports found on WWII fighters. Not that a jet would need that but I thought it looked nice. 

Once I got far enough with the prototype I re did all the steps on the remaining three craft making sure they are all looked more or less the same. Then I added some more details to the craft like the antenna, moving some air scoops etc.

I will leave the models as they are for now, just to make sure I am happy before gluing everything into place. I will also have to figure our how to do the landing gear...

Pteraxii done

Long time no blogg. This time it has been about two months. Not that I have not done some hobby stuff, I have, but nothing worth showing, until now. This time I finished the Pteraxii squad that I got from my wife many moons ago. I painted the first three back in feb 2022. When I started the models I quickly realized I could not paint all five in one go as the back pack is quite complex and requires some time. So I said I'll do three now and then the last two a bit later. A bit later turned out to be two years, but who is counting.

I used the same woodland theme that I have used on my rangers, a brown leather body suit and olive green plating. This is a very basic scheme and there really is no finesse to it, but it look ok and it is fine with rank and file soldiers. I really like the backpacks, the small jet engines together with the variable pose wings look really neat. I can really see these backpacks as drones with a small bomb underneath. The membranes are a bit of a hassel to get right as I am drybrushing in the blend and there is a constant "over spay" on the spars holding the membranes that I needed to go back and fix. There was also a bit of an accident with to much paint on one of them that I saw in the pics that I need to go back and fix.

With this squad done there is only the last Onager left to do on the recon elements and perhaps another strider (which I do not have right now). Then I have 20 titan guard to do...  wounder when that will happen.

But all in all I am happy with this small element of my mechanicum host.

Sydonian Skatros a.k.a the stilt man

This year I got a Sydonian Skatros from my wife for my birthday. This is somewhat of a controversial model as it seams to evoke either feelings of love or hatred for the design. It is definitely a mechanicum model with its arcane look and unconventional design. It was quickly dubbed "the stilt man" when released. I can not say that it was a favourite of mine as it is clearly an unpractical design. But once I got to sit down with it, it sort of grew on me. I used my custom ranger scheme on him with a leather suit and olive green armour. I kept all the armour, legs, and weapon in one colour which I think helps smooth things out so that the individual details of the model does not yar the eye as much. And once that happened I actually started to like the design. It is still un-practical but in a swamp or deep ash layers I could see something like this being used to keep out of the muck. But still, once you go over you ain't coming back up.

I like the back pack on this model with the extra arms holding the range finder and some new ammo clips. I think this could have been a nice addition to more of the mechanicum infantry.

I am however not a fan of the tail pipe hanging so far down his back. I can't see any point for it to be that long and it does look strange from the front.

I also started working on my last two pteraxii together with the Skatros but realized I could not keep the standar up on all three models at the same time and so I focused on the Skatros (as it was a present to be enjoyed, not rushed in a batch paint). Now that the Skatros is done I will complete the Pteraxii squad. Then we will se what is up next for the mechanicum. I still have the forge lord to complete and also a marshal as well as a Onager.