Heresy-Era Thousand Sons - Further progress on The Eye Of Magnus

Got a few more pictures of the Falchion class superheavy from Tom McBride aka Machinator - it's really starting to come together!

 

Tom's work is exceeding my expectations in every way, and I have to say that while I enjoy doing scratch buit conversions, his skills with greenstuff, resin and plasticard put my talents to shame. I've quite enjoyed seeing it come together and I've been going over the pictures to learn some of his techniques.

I think my Sabre Tank Hunter is going to be experiencing cannon envy!

Tom has been adding some really nice touches to the tank such as the runic script along the side skirts. One side reads "The Eye Of Magnus" while the other reads "The Thousand Sons". It's little details like this that really give the vehicle personality. I'm really excited to see the finished build and get my hands on it to paint it up!

Tom does a whole series of resin-cast upgrades for the Baneblade kits that are simply spectacular. I heartily recommend taking a look through his eBay shop here for inspiration if you're interested in building your own custom super heavy tanks! He also takes commission work and I have to say he's been an absolute pleasure to do business with. Thanks Tom!

The Kabal of the Crimson Woe - Complete!

After far too much procrastination, I'm happy to say the Kabal of the Crimson Woe is finally finished!

I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out - it's a nice little raiding force that exemplifies the Dark Eldar's swift and merciless way of war.

  

Here's a series of pics that are a bit more zoomed in. The entire army can start the game either in transports or lurking in reserve.

 

The last things awaiting paint were the various transports for the army. First up, the Crimson King's Raider. For the two Archons I went with dual sails to represent the Enhanced Aethersails upgrades and to help them stand out as the HQ transports.

 

The second Raider belongs to Duke Harkanet the Golden, and his Incubi bodyguard. As their armor is all heavily gold, I figured their transport should be similarly themed.

 

Next up is the custom Venom I'd built when the codex first came out. It transports the Kabalite Trueborn into battle.

 

Finally are the two Raiders for the Wyches and Warriors. These tow are significantly less blinged out to represent the lower caste of the troops they transport.

All in all I'm quite relieved to be done with the army - while I enjoyed the different play style the Dark Eldar bring to the table, I can't say that they particularly suit my disposition. I much prefer the sledgehammer of the Guard! I'll be putting them up on the auction block in due course, once I get one last game in with them. I always enjoy playing a game with a completely-painted army!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Heresy Era Thousand Sons - Sabre Complete, and Falchion started!

Greetings and salutations everyone - hope that the holidays have been treating you well! I'd like to start of today with a link to my friend's Blood Angel blog Ex Fide Vivo - after a long hiatus he's finally began painting again, and is jumping back in with a vengeance. Definitely worth a look if you're a fan of the Sons of Sanguinius!

I've had a few days off from work which has been spent painting. Lots of Datk Eldar and Thousand Sons in the queue of late, today's post is all about the big guns for the Thousand Sons. I'd picked up a resin upgrade kit for a Sabre Tank Hunter a while back and finally managed to get it finished up:

 

It's been too cold out to seal anything of late, so I may still go back in and add a few more details here and there as time allows. Moving on however, I thought I'd share the initial pictures of its big brother, the Falchion-class superheavy tank "The Eye of Magnus" that I've commissioned from the amazing Tom McBride aka Machinator (who is the designer behind most of the Rhino variants that I'm using for the army)...

 

The Falchion is the Heresy Era marine equivalent of the Shadowsword - obviously these are pictures in the very early stages of construction, but I have to say I'm giddy as a schoolboy to see it come together!

 

I'm really excited to see how it turns out, and very eager to get my hands on it once it's done to get it painted. I'll be sharing more pics as it progresses - More shots of the various Superheavy variants that Machinator has created over the years may be found at the Apocalypse 40k forums here. Definitely worth checking out!

The Kabal of the Crimson Woe - Reaver Jetbikes complete

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday! These last few months have been just hectic as all get-out so I haven't had much time to paint, but with a little holiday break I was able to finish off a few models...

Up today are the last of the small models for the Dark Eldar army I'm struggling to finish - a half dozen Reaver jetbikes. For ease of identification on the tabletop, the two bikes armed with Heat Lances were given a white stripe down the fuselage. I really like the new models, they really have a sense of speed and lethality. In point of fact, I stabbed myself good a few times on the little spiky bits while painting them, gotta have a little blood sacrifice to Khaine, I suppose!

Once they were done I turned my attention to a few Thousand Sons vehicles, pics to follow!

Have a great holiday and a happy New Year, everyone!

Not all that quiet on the western front

Apologies for the lack of posts of late, it's been a rather interesting couple of weeks out this way. Due to a combination of severely icy conditions, rather bald tires and lack of talent on my part I managed to put my car in the ditch and ended up having to lay out some significant cash to rectify the situation. No injuries sustained, other than the sharp stabbing pain in my wallet. Unfortunately that means the plans I had for the trip to England coming up in March were put into financial peril, so I've been casting about the Closet of Doom for some things to put up on the ol' auction block.

It's not all bad news though - In my other life as a bassist, over the last month my band has been working on getting our first CD finished up which has been a great deal of fun. While not strictly 40k related, it is another hobby of mine - If you're interested in some free music, you can check out the penultimate cuts here. Still a bit left to do to clean them up, but hey, free music!

Anyway - back to the 40k side of things. Much as I hate to have to do so, I am putting up a selection of flyers that I've built and painted over the years, which can be seen on eBay here.

First up is the Vulture Gunship...

Followed by an Aquila Lander...

A Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter...

...And last but not least, an Inquisitorial Stormraven Gunship.

I'm also in the final stages of finishing off the Dark Eldar army I've been procrastinating on - blog post to follow. I'm bummed to have to sell these models off, but needs must when finances dictate I suppose...

Mordian 7th - 5th Platoon Rough Riders complete!

Happy Thanksgiving to those readers in the States today - among other things, I'm quite thankful for having the day off! Not having to go in to work at 6 in the morning, and having no other pressing demands (hooray!), I was able to finish off the Rough Riders this morning!

The Mordian 7th originally included an entire platoon of Rough Riders, let by Captain Hilts. While on extended recon patrol on Flotis III, the vast majority of the units horses were stolen (and presumably eaten) during a daring raid by Ork Kommandos. Captain Hilts led his men in a attempt to rendezvous with the rest of the regiment, afoot through Ork-held territory. Over two thirds of the unit were slain en-route by harassing attacks by Evil Sunz Speedfreeks, and Captain Hilts himself was savagely wounded after being set afire by an Ork Skorcha. Vowing to kill the Orks responsible and 'give them a taste of their own medicine', Captain Hilts requisitioned a number of bikes and several flamers, declaring he would forgo the stealth and range provided by riding horseback to the savagery and fire that he and his unit had experienced at the hands of the Orks. Captain Hilts generally hides his burned face behind a combination hood and rebreather, giving him a rather unsettling appearance. His hatred for Orks knows no bounds, though it's whispered among other units in the 7th that Hilts is every bit the savage now as any Ork, and that the 'breathing canisters' he uses contain not only oxygen, but Frenzon or some other combat drug..

I was worried that as all the bikes are identical, the whole unit would end up looking a bit monotonous, so I really tried to ensure the torso and arms for each model was significantly different. Overall I think it gives the unit a sense of motion and vibrancy.

The unit was designed such that it could be used as two 5-man units. The first half includes the standard lance-armed models and a sergeant...

...while the other half includes all the specialty models. A pair of flamers gives the unit a bit more anti-horde, while the other two models simply count as lance-armed guardsmen (well, discarding the remains of a lance in the case of the fellow on the far right). The masked man in the middle of the picture represents Captain Hilts, with his various tanks of combat drugs and an Ork Choppa. On the tabletop I plan to use him as a counts-as Mogul Kamir.

Another unit complete, and the Mordian 7th Painting Chart is turning green! Not looking forward to tackling the 35 infantry models in the 1st platoon, though. Oof.

Mordian 7th - 5th Platoon Rough Riders in progress

With a bit of a holiday weekend ahead I'm planning on finishing off the unit of Rough Riders that I pulled out for the Cavember contest that Col. Gravis is holding. It's been crazy with work of late, so I've only managed to block in the basic colors thus far - but hey, a little progress is better than no progress at all!

Now that there's a bit of paint on, it's easier to point out what all is in the unit. For special weapons, I went with a pair of flamers, and added enough lance-armed models to drive home the idea that the unit is armed with Hunting Lances. The unit is led by a counts-as Mogul Kamir, but I have included a chainsword-armed model as well to act as a normal sergeant for smaller games. The unit also includes a standard, though much like the one in the veterans squad, it's just there for flavor and has no in-game effect. In the original Mordian 7th, there was an entire platoon of Rough Riders, including a mounted command squad, so in this incarnation I'm going with these are the last remnants of the platoon, and one of the men has managed to keep the standard aloft throughout their winnowing.

With a couple days off coming up, I'm quite confident that I'll be able to get them done in time for the deadline!