Here's a group photo of the Yu Jing figures I've recently acquired.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Death Korps of Krieg: Thunderer
This is the Forge World kit...I'm assuming it was a much older model since the casting was primitive to say the least. One giant hunk of warped resin that I wound up having to cook in a pot of boling water for about 5 minutes before it softened enough to be straightened out a bit. Nice looking vehicle, all things considered.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Death Korps of Krieg: Punisher
I scratchbuilt this Punisher turret before GW released the plastic verion. It's a bundle of brass tubes wrapped in thinned styrene tube. The mantlet is sheet styrene and is based on the mantlet of the Macharius Vulcan.
The glacis plate has been heavily modified on this Leman Russ chassis, the same as the other two I've built. I don't like the forward hull-mounted weapon, the way it bulks up the profile of the tank. The Mars-Alpha pattern is much more to my preference, and though I didn't change the engine deck of the tanks, I did change the glacis plate. Sheet and strip styrene came to the rescue. The lascannon is Astartes issue, which is halfway between standard IG and DK0K. The canvas at the base of the lascannon is lightly textured Green Stuff.
Also, because I'm such a masochist, I decided that the hatches on the Forge World IG vehicles looked much better than the plastic versions and went ahead and scratchbuilt those as well. For every vehicle that was not Forge World. Every. Vehicle.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Death Korps of Krieg: Vanquisher
And now for something completely different...
The Vanquisher. I foolishly decided to start up a Death Korps army prior to the new Imperial Guard codex publication. On the positive side, I did make the vast majority of purchases from Forge World when the Pound was at a historically low rate vs. the U.S. Dollar. Anyway, I had several Leman Russ chassis available for use, having purchased several in their Apocalypse release boxes.
This is the only one I built with permanently attached sponsons. I have 2 others which only have empty sockets and are therefore not yet ready for prime-time. All the armor in my Krieg list was primed black, then rust followed by salt weathering, Tamiya German Grey, Tamiya Dark Grey...then the usual highlights. I used MIG Pigments on the treads.
My DKoK army armor uses alternating stripes to indicate unit type. The red and white markings indicate main battle tanks in my army. I also use tan and white for transports. Green and white for artillery. The turret is Forge World and is not permanently affixed to the chassis. I'll be posting more variants in the next few days.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Blog and Website Updates
I've been posting photos of completed kits at a lightning pace, trying to "catch up" and populate the blog. I also have a static website that hasn't really been updated in a long while. The code is old and the pictures aren't all that great, so I'll probably revisit that site in a while. Hopefully the blog and the site will go hand in hand- the blog can show works in progress and a few shots of completed pieces while the site shows more images and detail shots. I also use the site as a reference for my own collection of model kits; sometimes I see something on eBay that catches my eye but I have to double check to see if I might already have it.
Back in '97 I had whittled down my backlog to a mere FOUR unbuilt kits. Then I went to Japan for the first time. I returned with a suitcase full of hard to find kits and began to shift from Model Builder to Model Collector. You have to remember that back in 97 we were still using rotary phones and had to get out off the sofa to change the channel on the TV set (which was a giant CRT in a wooden console that weighed just under half a ton). Hobbylink Japan wasn't around, and eBay was still new. If you wanted to find something rare, out of production, or imported...you had to do it the hard way. Kids today just have to type in a keyword search or hit eBay, HLJ, or any of a dozen forums and online communities to find what they want. I kind of miss "the hunt", but at least my wallet is recovering.
Anyway, as it currently stands, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 unbuilt kits of various subjects. At my current rate, I'll be blind and long since retired before I get through them all. I might have been further along if Morgrimdark and I hadn't started playing 40k about 4 or so years ago. Even though I've put all non-gaming kits on hold, I have still managed to plow through over a dozen gaming vehicles and probably well over 100 figures. I have a full Death Korps army waiting to be painted (they're primed and ready to go otherwise) and a backlog of Space Marines that though not necessary could be nice. Heck, I even have a few Tau XV9 suits that need painting. Infinity has been a nice diversion- ten guys and I'm good to go. I like the minis. I like the game. It's a breath of fresh air and I think I'm going to stick with it for a while.
As time allows, I'll also go back to earlier blog posts and flesh them out with more details if warranted. After this missive, I'm going to describe the scratchbuilt detailing I did on the Death Korps tanks. Thanks for joining me for the ride.
Back in '97 I had whittled down my backlog to a mere FOUR unbuilt kits. Then I went to Japan for the first time. I returned with a suitcase full of hard to find kits and began to shift from Model Builder to Model Collector. You have to remember that back in 97 we were still using rotary phones and had to get out off the sofa to change the channel on the TV set (which was a giant CRT in a wooden console that weighed just under half a ton). Hobbylink Japan wasn't around, and eBay was still new. If you wanted to find something rare, out of production, or imported...you had to do it the hard way. Kids today just have to type in a keyword search or hit eBay, HLJ, or any of a dozen forums and online communities to find what they want. I kind of miss "the hunt", but at least my wallet is recovering.
Anyway, as it currently stands, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 unbuilt kits of various subjects. At my current rate, I'll be blind and long since retired before I get through them all. I might have been further along if Morgrimdark and I hadn't started playing 40k about 4 or so years ago. Even though I've put all non-gaming kits on hold, I have still managed to plow through over a dozen gaming vehicles and probably well over 100 figures. I have a full Death Korps army waiting to be painted (they're primed and ready to go otherwise) and a backlog of Space Marines that though not necessary could be nice. Heck, I even have a few Tau XV9 suits that need painting. Infinity has been a nice diversion- ten guys and I'm good to go. I like the minis. I like the game. It's a breath of fresh air and I think I'm going to stick with it for a while.
As time allows, I'll also go back to earlier blog posts and flesh them out with more details if warranted. After this missive, I'm going to describe the scratchbuilt detailing I did on the Death Korps tanks. Thanks for joining me for the ride.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tau: Tetra
The Tetra is another example of a nifty looking Tau unit that follows their alien design aesthetic. I love the sleek lines of the vehicle, and find the concept of a "hard top canopy" with open sides to be quite intriguing. It's just a really pretty skimmer.
On the other hand, even though it's a relatively cheap unit, it's also relatively useless. It's stealthy and fast, which balances out it's total lack of armor. It has the same firepower as an infantryman but carries a markerlight. Clearly it is meant as a scout vehicle or forward observer. The problem is it takes up a Fast Attack slot and with only the single markerlight there is hardly anything you can do with it in a regular game. Now, throw it on the board in an Apocalypse game and you can get away with a lot of mischief...
Building the Tetra was quick and mostly easy. The slight warping of the "canopy" was fixed with hot water. I did have to fill in some misaligned moldings, but they were not too bad. The mold release on the Tetra was so bad that I had to sand down every surface to some degree. The pulse rifles mounted on the chin were poorly cast and as a result I simply used leftover plastic rifles from my Fire Warrior stash.
On the other hand, even though it's a relatively cheap unit, it's also relatively useless. It's stealthy and fast, which balances out it's total lack of armor. It has the same firepower as an infantryman but carries a markerlight. Clearly it is meant as a scout vehicle or forward observer. The problem is it takes up a Fast Attack slot and with only the single markerlight there is hardly anything you can do with it in a regular game. Now, throw it on the board in an Apocalypse game and you can get away with a lot of mischief...
Building the Tetra was quick and mostly easy. The slight warping of the "canopy" was fixed with hot water. I did have to fill in some misaligned moldings, but they were not too bad. The mold release on the Tetra was so bad that I had to sand down every surface to some degree. The pulse rifles mounted on the chin were poorly cast and as a result I simply used leftover plastic rifles from my Fire Warrior stash.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)