Black Library <---I ownz it

Yesterday I finally got around to unpacking my 40k books after the big move. The thing that struck me is that I really didnt realise I had quite so many 40k books as I thought I did.

I was wrong. I have a bloody library full of the things. All shapes and sizes. All authors and subjects. Dont get me wrong, I love having and reading them I just wish they didnt take up so much space :)

From Left to right in each pile.

Back row: Space Wolves novels, Dan Abnetts Isenhorn and Ravenor novels, Soul Drinkers (just need Phalanx to finish it off), Grey Knights novels, stand alone books including short story anthologies, Sandy Mitchells Heretic series, Bastion Wars series

Middlerow: Tanith first and only, Ciaphus Cain, Space Marine Battles, Salamander series (need Nocturne to complete), Ultramarine novels.

Front: Both piles are Horus Heresy books just lacking Outcast Dead and Deliverance.

The Fleet expands

A loooong time ago I posted some pictures of 2 Battlefleet gothic cruisers that I had painted up. That sadly never lead anywhere since there was noone in the area to play and I wasnt prepared to spend money on a game that I would never play.

Fast forward almost 2 years. I am in a new country with new gaming buddies who play a variety of different systems. One being BFG.

With that being in the case I have come into possession of a Lunar Class Cruiser and 3 sword class frigates.

The cruiser was part painted in a green scheme which I decided to leave intact as stripping it down would have been too much of a pain. I did however complete the painting of the bow in my fleet colours as well as repair the ram thingie that had broken off. Used a random bit that looked a match. I also painted in the ornamentation along the sides.

The frigates were unpained which allowed me to go wild. I decided that I wasnt going to paint them in my capial ship colours but something different to contrast. A quick perusal of the interwebs gave me this picture.

I set about painting it tem as close as I could though I substituted a dull bronze for the gold to tie in with the test of the fleet.

All in all I am quite proud of how my little fleet is coming along and hopefully I shall get a game in the next few weeks.

Panther Redo and Heavy Gear Sidewinders

In a previous post I posted some pictures of a FOW Panther. Despite how I said I liked the result in that post I started to feel that it just didnt look good. Detail was obscured, it looked too dirty. It didnt help that it was painted over 2 different base coats.

With that gnawing at me I decided to repaint it for the third time. This time I stripped it properly, basecoats and all down to the bare resin and metal. This fun and exciting process took 2 days with the tank sitting in a container of Green Stuff and hourly scrubs.

This time I also painted in the battle damage where the zimmerit has been blown off. I used the flash to highlight it in one picture and its very glaring but under natural light it is far more subtle.

I have to say that I am much happier with this iteration. Camo is clearer and not so muddy and detail is highlighted and not obscured. I also painted the rubber tires on both the inner and outer road wheels.

Flash reveals battle damage and rust, most noticable on the left side of the picture by the machine gun.



In other news I have also finished up 2 Sidewinders for my Southern Heavy Gear Army.

These buggers were the devil to prepare. Lots of flash and heavy mould lines. First time I have run into this with DP9 mini's which are usually quite well cast. Took me about 90 minutes each to get the 2 guys prepared.

After that painting was pretty easy. Had an issue with the matt varnish causing the purple to bleed all over the place and covering all the drybrushed detail but I managed to sort that out as well.

Facelift

Way back in the dawn of time I kitbashed an Ultramarine Captain with Lightning Claws. I loved how he turned out but I was never happy with his claws as I was forced to use ones from the Assault Terminator kit.

See for your self

As you can see they are very disproportionate to his body. Far far to big and ungainly. Its played on my mind loe these many years and finally I decided to do something about it. I decided to get rid of the claws and give him the tried and true Storm Shield and relic blade combination. But what to use?

I eventually went with a Chaos Knight shield with the chaos icons filed off which made a good base for the shield.

His relic blade gave me more of an issue. I wanted it to look roman-esque but didnt want to use a spear. I eventually decided I wanted a gladius type blade. However there are no such weapons avaliable which sent me to the bits box for some inspiration.

I eventually used a fairly standard power sword arm with the blade cut off while still keeping the skull attached. I then cut down a high elf prince sword and cut a deep groove down the middle of the skull which I slotted the blade. I then shaved the power conduit off the old blade and attached it to the new one. The result....... well pretty damn awesome truth be told. Granted its longer than a real gladius would be but then its a relic blade that grants +2 strength so would need to be a bit bigger.

And there we have it. A simple arm swap breaths new life into an old model. I now cant wait to send him back onto the battlefield.

More Heavy Gear and Ultramarine Chaplain

2 new Southern Iguana's completed. One will be attached to and be the forward observer for a Fire Support Cadre. The other will be attached to a Veteran GP Squad, also with forward observer duties.

First up is the Iguana piloted by Specialist A.J. "Knifey" McGee. A.J. is a recon specialist with a background in wet work and black ops both in and out of his Gear. He is known for his use of the knife for the silent kill and that has translated into his usage of the vibro blade for anti-Gear work.

Its hard to see but he has 4 knives. Two sheathed at his hips along with the obvious two in his hands.

I also swapped out the standard Vibro blades for Space Marine combat knives. I felt they looked more vicious and they were also far easier to work with and attach being plastic.

Next up is Trooper Maggie "Hot Lips" Houlihan. Her nickname doesnt describe her social skills but rather the fact that as a forward observer for the Fire Support Cadre her kiss brings hot firey death upon her foes.

Lastly here is another kitbashed IC for my Ultramarines 2nd Company. With this Chaplain I now have the full 2nd Company including all IC's and command squad and they are all in plastic.

As can be seen he is a Jump Chaplain and tags along with the assault squads. He has been in the wars a bit as the mechanical replacement left arm and leg will attest. He is also armed with one of the chapters oldest weapons. A Heresy era plasma pistol. The Chaplain helmet was built following Ron's from "From the Warp" tutorial.