I apologise for the lack of updates. I have been really busy with uni recently, the exam session is a week away and there's tests all the time, not giving me a while to work on the army.
And there's lots to work on! More reinforcements arrived yesterday - a Cadian battleforce. If you hestitate with obtaining one of the new Sentinels or a Command Squad - don't! Those kits are simply amazing and I actually didn't want to use all the awesome parts - that way I'd make excellent models, yet lose the posibilities... Yeah, I know, silly thinking! I just have a feeling the second veteran squad I'll make will turn out way better than the first one did and I dare say first one looks damn fine!
I have finished some painting - special weapon squads and the last (finally!) infantry squad, dabbled a bit with the re-made command squad and a Valkyrie.
I'm all out of money now, as I bought regimental advisors as well... So I was considering selling some stuff - like standard bearer, the metal plasma gunner, old metal Juniors... But there's some nostalgic value attached to them. Do you think it's a good idea to get rid of them? I'm not exactly sure.
I'm sorry for the lack of pictures of the finished stuff, but just as I wanted to take them my camera battery died again and right now I'm leaving for a weekend so can't really shoot anything.
Anyway, thanks for reading and see you soon! Tests end more or less on Tuesday which gives me at least a little bit of time to paint up and update the blog while waiting for the evil exams. And now, back to the horrible AC circuits...
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Here we go. You all wanted to see them and there they are. The Psyker Battle Squad. Still a very early WIP, but it gives a nice picture overall. Without further ado..
Before we start though, a little background. The Psyker Battle Squad was assigned to the 42nd Cadian by Adepta Astra Telepathica to counter enemy psykers and wreck havoc upon foes of the Emperor. It's composition is quite unusal however. It is lead by 3 seasoned Sanctioned Psykers that are experienced on the field of battle and know well how to channel the powers of the warp. Under their jurisdiction are 6 adept psykers (So each experienced psyker schools two of them). They're a ragtag bunch that, while worthy enough not to be sacrificed to the great Astronomican beacon, might be more or less useless lonely. Together they channel raw power of the warp that is shaped by the three mentors. Some of these adepts one day might become mentors themselves, but most will just be reduced to gibbering wrecks within a year or less and replaced with another shipment... Behind them stands a solitary man, highly trained by Adepta Astra Telepathica in restrainment of emotions and cold calculation. His only duty - to hold that pistol tight and make sure the psykers make no mistakes... lest he redeems their souls..
There will be more fluff regarding them upcoming. You maybe noticed a small sidebar title "42nd Background". Expect more to appear there relatively soon!
Now, for the interesting part, the pictures!
Here are the three mentors:
And if you click below you will find out more...
What did I use to make my psykers? Well I'm sure most of you could've guessed that as it seems it'll be a popular choice. Here:
Yup, the Empire Flagellants. But before them, the Overseer I've shown a while before. Now finished!
And finally the Psykers themselves. As I said still quite an early WIP, will have lots more work on them, though the basic parts are there. Now just lots and lots of GS...
That's it for today. School is getting more and more annoying (But I think I did pass that maths test which would mean no exam for me!) so I have less and less time. But I'll post a couple of other WIPs shortly, I think. And a certain key figure of the army that finally got his colors...
In the other news I varnished my entire army. Sure looks as good as it did before and is protected, woo!
Also, there's a new poll on the right. As some of you noticed, there has been an assault of heretical ad-commenters on my blog. They have been purged by fire and precautions have been taken - the entire layout is linked via my Picasa account, rather than "their" hosting. Even though, they still could have logs and the site address. That's why Disqus _could_ stop them. Otherwise I'll probably have to contact Blogger administrator.
Anyway, if you see an aforemention heretic, feel free to use your bolt pistol at will.
And lastly, the layout is almost done. Only things left are really minor changes (though they could impact a whole lot) that I will implement gradually as I'll have more time.
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There we go. New layout is... let's call it live. Still I'm going to go through a lot of things here, updating the graphics and such to match the blog's subject somewhat. Of coruse I might always break everything apart and chose a totally different layout as well...
Let me know what you think about it. Any suggestions, ideas? Maybe you spotted some error? (Other than the ugly aquilas that need fixing)
Also, sorry if anyone had troubles accessing yesterday when I was randomly changing templates every few seconds.
Also please vote in the poll on the right.
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I Hate Right Hands - Part III - Don't Eat the Green Stuff
Posted by Hal'jin in Converting, Guardsmen, I Hate Right Hands, IG, Infantry, Modelling, Tutorial, Veterans
Apologies for the delay on that one and general lack of updates. I've been busy with uni recently and add to that the Valks and Chimeras I've been trying to get my hands on... Good news is, they're all undercoated and I've started dabbling with a Valk. I also am halfway through that damn last Infantry Squad.
There is one more issue with this guide, my camera battery died in the very middle of taking pictures of GS work and since I wasn't home I wasn't able to charge it up and such was stuck with quickly curing GS. I decided to carry on not to waste it so unfortunately some part will be words only.
I was alson thinking quite long about what to write so that I do not repeat what has been said over the internet a hundred times. I probably still will repeat everything, but I'm intending to at least relay to you the basics of the conversion work I'm doing on nearly all Guardsmen of the 42nd. Let's get started then!
First of all what will you need to work with the Green Stuff.
- Some Green Stuff, duh
- A bowl or some other container of water
- A modelling knife of some sort
- I found out that a Swiss Army Knife is a great tool too
- And some workspare, preferable a large piece of relatively thick foil
Once you have all these you must first read these rules before you start, especially if this is your first time working with putty:
- Remember to keep your hands and tools wet at all times - it prevents the putty sticking to everything and most often doesn't let those pesky fingerprints appear on the things you do.
The alternative to water is cooking oil or vaseline. They both help to lubricate the putty so that it doesn't stick where you don't want it to. - Epoxid putty is toxic - 'nuff said, really. Don't eat it, don't chew on it, even though it looks so colorful. You probably won't be hurt if you would touch your lips with dirty fingers, but I would reccoment washing your hands after finishing the job throughoutly.
- Patience is virtue - this one is hard, really is! There were countles cases where I just couldn't take it, when the thing I was making wouldn't stick on to the model and would gradually get ruined by attemps, when something didn't shape as I wanted to... The more nervous you are the worse the effect. Calm down and think of alternatives. Perhaps you can just let the piece cure and then use superglue to stick it onto the mini?
- Measure twice, cut once - as a rule of thumb measure roughly how much green stuff you will need to do the job. Then cut off half of that ammount. It actually works accurately 90% of times! And if it isn't enough there's never a problem of making more.
- Green is soft, blue is hard - it's a bit more advanced thing that I actually rarely take advantage of. Generally you should mix both the ingredients in a 1:1 ratio. If you add more green however you'll end up with softer, more malleable mass, while more blue will mean harder putty, which will keep its shape better.
- The middle is bad - unless you have bought a fresh blister of putty and it has been produced recently, the middle section, where two ingredients mix, will be useless. It will be thick, cured putty, which you won't be able to use, while it could create hard spots within the mass, ruining certain efforts. So cut out the middle section before starting the work!
- Anything is possible - well, almost. The only thing limiting the possible uses of putty is your imagination. Of course you'd rather not do large flat surfaces with it - you'd use plasticard for that.
- Anything can be a tool - literally everything. Sometimes I ended up grabbing the nearest object that I saw on the desk and it ended up being just the tool I need! I do not take responsibility however in case you decide to use your friend/relative/dog/cat as a sculpting tool.
And now, a couple of tutorials!
- Bandages
The thing I probably used the most. It's on nearly every Guardsmen in one form or another and it has been used on the veterans as well. Here are a couple examples. The mask itself actually isn't made that way, but some of them amongst many Guardsmen are, can't recall which exacly though, they look similar enough.
So, how to do it? First of all, obviously, get some green stuff.
Mix it up, remembering all the rules and once it's fully mixed (equal green color everywhere) roll a long "stick" out of it. It is advisable to use two solid flat surfaces, like old cd cases to roll it, it will guarantee a more even effect.
Once you've done this, flatten it, using two flat surfaces again. Press equally everywhere so that you achieve an equally flat effect. Remember to keep both surfaces lubricated!
In case it isn't really even, use a very sharp and wet knife to cut straight lines and even out the shape.
There, you've got a bandage ready! Now you can use it for whatever you want. For example roll it aroun the boots of a guardsmen:
The thing is to use your fingers (wet!). It's imperative that you stick the bandage as close to the surface of the mini as possible, else you will end up with too big of a loop which will either look bad or fall of completely. Also remember not to press too hard with your finger or you'll have fingerprints left on the bandage!
In case that would happen there is one way to get rid of those. Get your finger wet and rub the area vigorously. Of course too hard and it might completely ruin the sculpt, that's why you have to be very careful!
In the end you might want to add some texture on the bandages, adding several small cuts along it. The final effect is something like this: - Sash
The other thing I'd like to show you is how to make a ceremonial sash, or at least it's end, like the one use below.
Yup, it is the finished overseer, will show it in more detail soon.
Firstly, make a bandage, but this time a bit thicker.
Cut it to preferred lenth and cut at least one edge to make sure it's perpendicular to the bandage. Now make two deep cuts across the bandage, closer to one edge, careful not to cut through it though!
And here is the part when my camera died. However finishing it won't be hard. Simply make several shallow cuts along the shorter part. You can keep it that way, though you will add more details if you use the blunt side of the blade using it along on the longer part, making for folds in the cloth. - Press molds
Theoretically an easy subject, but in practice it can cause issues if done wrong. You will need some additional things for this.- Some cooking oil. A really little ammount. No, water will not suffice this time.
- An unused base. WFB square bases are great for this, though round do to. It is best however if the base is flat and has not "slot".
- The piece you want to copy!
But anyway, let's get on with it. As you can see I used a piece of sprue to limit the base area as I don't really need that big. Ideally I'd fill it all with GS and that'd make for a best mold. However I'm running low on it right now and I'm tight with money, so it will look a bit differently. As you can see here I'm checking if the piece fits in there:
Now, make quite a large ammoun of green stuff and put it onto the base.
Now the very important part. Use a brush to cover the entire piece with cooking oil. It will prevent it from sticking onto the putty and ruinging your mold when you will be take the piece out.
Now firmly press the piece onto the putty. It's is adviced to first press the more detailed part in.
Now, since this mold will actually be two sided, use the blunt end of the brush to make holes which will act as guides, so that one it's all done the two pieces will fit the way they're supposed to. Also now is the time to make sure the mold is tightly adjected to the object.
Since this particular mold is drying now, I can't show you the last step, but it's simple. Lubricate the entire thing, both the piece and half of the mold with cooking oil and then slap another piece of green stuff onto it, so that it covers it entirely. Press firmly to make sure it attaches the way it should and takes as much details as possible. - Some cooking oil. A really little ammount. No, water will not suffice this time.
And that's it for today. The next part will cover weathering and wearing out the veterans' armour. Meanwhile I'm back to working on infantry squad, psykers and differential equations. I'll post up some progress on the first, some previews on the second soon, but I won't torture you with the third!
Thanks for reading!
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I'm still working on all those models and still don't have time for much writing. Here's a little update.
The Valkyries have the top part unglued. I actually think I'll just leave it that way, so you can easily peek inside at the pretty interior.
The Chimeras, sorry for the quality of the photo. The right one is pretty much completed, the left one is still in the works...
As I have a certain ambitious plan for it...
Yup, an interior. Inspired with this. Wish me luck, I'll need it!
Out of the other news I bought the box of to-be Psykers. Will post more when I get to them. I can now just afford the Battleforce I need and then I'm broke and still in need of 2 Chimeras, regimental advisors and a Russ. Woo!
Also, new IHRH on Friday/Saturday again!
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Step 1: Download this and play it.
Step 2: Check what is home when you return to find
Step 3: Unpack.
Step 4: Behold the wonders within!
Can't write more at the moment. I'm busy drooling. Will post something cool soonish.
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I Hate Right Hands - Part II - The Dark Box of Wonders
Posted by Hal'jin in Converting, ForgeWorld, Guardsmen, I Hate Right Hands, IG, Infantry, Modelling, Troops, Veterans
Time for another insatllement from the IHRH series! This time I'll cover good sources of obtaining useful bits and pieces and talk a bit about maintaining your bits box.
After the huge wall of text that the last part was, this time it will be hopefuly shorter!
To the point. First of all, what's a bits box? It's some kind of a container (or containers) in which you hold all your spare bits, unused parts of kits and various random items that one day might come in handy when making a mini. Here're my boxes:
First, the biggest box (it used to hold Cadian HQ), I sorted my bits in it to make it easier to find the thing I need. The big slot on top holds all the heavy weapons and huge parts. The the right we've got small and large accessories and on the bottom the weapons in the bigger one and body parts in the smaller.
The second thing is a Forge World pouch, in which I keep the few remaining parts of the original contents and all my green stuff press-molds and contraptions.
And the last is the box which holds all the remaining Cadian bodies I got once upon a time, that still didn't get a use (Though they will very soon!), spare bases and some cable that might come in handy.
There's one more, that I haven't taken a shot of, a Hellhound box in which I keep all the vehicle accessory sprues, spare tracks and most the bits coming from vehicles.
As you can see there's loads of stuff in there. Guard kits tend to produce a lots of spare parts (though of course, never enough torsos/legs!). It's a good thing, as some of these parts are usable by other (Not neccessarily Guard players - Inquisition and Space Marines can find the most use, though other armies could still use some parts, for example for bases) so you could trade them for more interesting stuff.
Before moving on, I'd like to show you some oddities I found in my box, and I actually have no clue of their origin (Well, one is a SoB Laud Hailer or however that's spelt). I acquired them when I made a huge trade of all my 35 Vostroyans for a bucket of Cadians. (I intended to collect Vostroyans first, though I decided that the price would be too big for the first army, and it'd be a long time till I'd be able to play). Here they are:
And the second very important thing every 40k player should have. Neodymium magnets:
They have so many uses that it's impossible to name them all.
And now a list of good sources of bits.
ForgeWorld stuff
Namely the three kits:
- Cadian Infantry Squad Upgrade Pack
- Cadian Infantry Squad with Respirators Upgrade Pack
- Cadian Hardened Veterans Upgrade Pack
Games-Workshop kits:
I will list kits I found to have useful things and write a short list of useful bits within each of them.
- Space Marines Tactical Squad
- Purity Seals
- Litany parchments
- Bolter scopes
- Small ammo pouches
- Bolt pistols
- Combat Knives
- Meltaguns and plasma guns
- Purity Seals
- Space Marines Assault Squad
- Space Marines Terminators
- Purity Seals
- Purity Seals
- Imperial Guard Cadian Command HQ and Catachan Command HQ
The new kit, of course.- Everything, pretty much!
Check the parts list here
- Everything, pretty much!
- Imperial Guard Catachan kits
A couple of things from both regular squads and heavy weapons that are useful for _pure_ Cadian veterans - Chaos Space Marines Squad
- Kroot Carnivores
- WFB Empire Pistolliers
- WFB Empire State Troops
Bits images courtesy of www.bitspudlo.com.
Also, a cookie if you get the title reference.
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42nd Cadian Background
I Hate Right Hands
- Introduction
- Part one: The Basics
- Part two: The Dark Box of Wonders
- Part three: Don't Eat the Green Stuff
- Part four: We've Seen Lots 'o Fights
- Part five: Don't Drink the Paints
The Work Done
Tactica Imperialis
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