Finished Praetorian Baneblade

Finally another new addition to the army, the mighty Baneblade!

After excessive delays due to real life I finally managed to dust off my paints and brushes and finish the Baneblade off. In my last post great progress had been made and I was finishing off the freehand before then working on extensive weathering and painting the stowage. Without further delay, lets take a look! (apologies for the very ad-hoc photos!)



As you can see I've gone to town with the weathering. There are painted chips, sponge chips, washes for dirt and damage, track weathering and scorch marks! Compare it to the new rolled out of the factory look and its quite the contrast.



You get a good view of some of the stowage I've used on the side. All my tanks are getting updated so they really have that 'on campaign' feel.



The freehand skull mirrors that on the turret of the Macharius and in my mind is used to mark tanks in this superheavy squadron. The purity seal has some real age. I bought it in the 90s and it is from the old titan legions/epic space marine sets! Its metal and they were to put on your Titans.



A good look at the Curious Constructs tank commander issuing orders from the command cupola. Also you get a good look at some of the blue glass and searchlight I've painted.



No freehand on this side of the turret but you can see some more stowage and one of the plastic GW jerry cans.



Here you can see the main freehand on the side of the tank. Once again it mirrors the freehand on the macharius with black and white checks and red stripes. The lion motif is different but the thinking is they would be unique to the tanks themselves. Personally it's my favourite lion I've painted.



Finally the rear of the tanks. I went minimal on the mechanics shrine with most of it being that bone/stone finish. I then picked out the purity seals and the mechanicus symbol. You can also see the upside down barrels on the right... the servitor responsible has been recycled.

I hope you all enjoyed having a look at the newest addition. Onwards and upwards now, time to paint something else new for the army. I really fancy having a crack at Nork Deddog...

Cheers!

Baneblade nears completion

Greetings everyone! 

Sorry for the profound lack of blogging, it's been a ridiculous few months which has meant there has been no hobbying done at all. That said, I did manage the past couple of days to get some work done on my Baneblade! 

I've finished the main piece of freehand which mirrors to a degree that found on the Macharius. I've also tried a slightly different style lion and think it is my best one yet. Still to paint on the tank is some freehand on the turret and the mechanicus shrine on the rear. After that it'll be time to do some serious weathering! 

Originally I had converted a tank commander with a pipe (the VL head) and sabre but then I remembered I had one of curious constructs fantastic tank commanders all painted up without a tank! So I stuck him straight in there and he looks bloody marvelous. 

Fingers crossed it won't take too much longer to finish this behemoth! 

Baneblade Painting Update

Hey everyone!

A very quick post to update you on my Baneblade progress. The tank is still in the 'very clean' phase meaning the metal is all bright and there are no chips or scratches. Almost the whole thing is done in terms of things to paint with the freehand, the black gun casings and the shrine on the back the only things still to be finished. Lets take a look!

This is the main freehand that we see on this side. The markings follow those that appear on the Macharius Vanquisher with some small difference. 

I did the shrine in a slightly different colour and now am not really sure whether to try and pick out all the detail. I suspect I'll paint the purity seals and perhaps the mechanicus skull and leave it at that.

A close up of the freehand work on the side. The lion, chequered pattern, IV and red stripes are properly painted (though I might alter or add to them), the scroll is simply the draft area and writing. Lions Similar to this feature on all the tanks and heraldry in my army, however this one has the biggest mane befitting the tanks size.

I'd love to hear your comments and feedback. Also any suggestions on things to change or add please let me know!

Cheers!

Baneblade update

Hello everyone!

Here we have two quick snaps of the Baneblade I've been working on. Sadly I haven't got as much work done on it as I would have liked, but progress is still progress! 

I've now completed painting the white on all of the skulls and aquilla on the tank. Next step is going to be painting all of the black and metal. When that is done it'll be on to deciding the freehand for the tank.

This view gives you a good idea of all the blue glass and lights that I painted and the white aquilla. 

Fingers crossed the next post will give you lots of new things to look at!

Thanks for reading!

Baneblade painting update

Greetings everyone, a quick post here for you today with a sneak peak at the painting work taking place on the latest super heavy to join the Praetorian IV.

So far the tracks have been painted and weathered but still require a lot more drybrushing to bring out the colours of the weathering. The red and white colours have been painted on the hull as so it would start to take shape, there may be other panels or sections featuring the red and white but I haven't decided yet.

All targeting lenses and viewing glass has been painted in the dark blue style in keeping with the rest of the army. Additionally the inside of the command cupola has been painted in the same manner as the Macharius. Don't let the armless commander alarm you as i removed one to help painting.

The big jobs to be done are the white and black (including metal). All the Aquila and skull motifs will be white and various weapon parts and engineering gubbins will be black and metal. When these are done it will be time to start freehand and then weathering and then finally the Commander.

Fingers crossed it shouldn't take so long to complete when I get back from Texas in April.

Cheers!

What's on the painting table?

Hey everyone!

So roughly a week after my last update we have another! I'm trying to stick to my resolutions and post lots of lovely updates for your enjoyment.

A brief post for the moment just giving you a snapshot of what lies on my painting table and a glimpse of what models you can expect to appear in posts soon.



Here we are mid way through painting the main colour on the tanks. Just a couple more drybrushes to go and then it'll be on to all the detail.



Here is the Baneblade at the Baylor brown stage of painting. Don't worry it usually looks it a bit yellowy at this stage.



Here we see the mortar teams (years overdue) the remaining 5 lifeguards and the two almost finished riflemen.



Here we have the bullgryns lurking behind the Highland Scions. I'm very much looking forward to painting these guys.

In my next post I will have some more painted models for you!

Thanks for reading

September Update

Hey everyone!

Sadly the past few months have been pretty barren hobby-wise. Nonetheless I have managed to get a few bits done and have even managed to snap a few photos.

There are photos of a few of the newer projects and some older models that have been on the cards for a couple of years!



First up we have a photos of all the work in progress items (minus one Taurox I couldn't face building after constructing so many tanks and a load more infantry). 3 mortars I started painting about 2 years ago, 3 lascannons, 4 squads of guardsmen, 5 Life guards (the other 5 were completed about 2 years ago or more), 10 Highland Scions, 5 Bullgryns, Nork, a missionary, a command section, 2 Taurox, a wyvern and a baneblade. Oh and a commissar.

Should take me all of a weekend to paint don't you think?...





Here we have a closer photos of an officer with a power fist that I converted ages ago. Also Nork with the small conversion on the loudspeaker and the commissar with the hat swap.



The mortars have been work in progress for a long long time. The bases and main uniform colour are all finished. One day I will get round to painting the rest!



The newest super heavy to attached to the IV mechanised infantry. Very much looking forward to working on this one.



The Highland Scions. They all have the newest VL kilts and heads. The only infantry in my army who don't have the trademark epaulettes. The only greenstuffing I needed to do was the plumes on the side of the helmets and then collars on their uniforms as the heads didn't fit so well with the armoured torsos.



The bullgryns. Another unit I am looking forward to painting.



I finished the first 5 Life guards years ago so its nice to finally convert and undercoat the second 5! Its been pretty shameful how long it has taken, but at least we are finally almost there, almost a unit of 10!



Here are the converted Wyvern crew. Straight head swap on both and then then addition of VL epaulettes.



Finally the Baneblade tank commander, complete with pipe and sabre.

Right that is your lot for the moment. I'm currently painting the tanks getting them all to the stage where the main hull colour is complete. Also need to buy a few more paints, pretty much out of XV88 and Ushabti bone which is pretty fatal for me!

I've also trialed the army painter spray paint on these tanks and I think it works pretty well. Not so different to the XV88 (just a little bit more gray perhaps, lacking a redder tint), I reckon it will save me a lot of hours.

I've got a few more posts in the pipeline so hopefully it wont be months before the next one!

I've been sorting lots of old stuff out recently and I unearthed some classic armies of mine. There are going to be a Warhammer fantasy posts coming up featuring a Dark Elves, Vampire Counts and Khemri army I painted over 10 years ago!

Heres a sneak peak



Watch this space.

Just a little bit more...

Thanks for all the comments on the last post, very much appreciated! I'll make it another quick post and show you a couple more projects that are bubbling away...

The Baneblade is the standard configuration, but I couldn't let the opportunity pass without another characterful tank commander! 

Keen to have Nork in my army (even if not to use him in games except apocalypse games), I only wanted a minor conversion so gave the skull speaker a hat swap because my commissars still wear pith helmets!

Sorry sadly a blurry! Unfortunately this commissar model hasn't had a lot of love from the wider community. I'll do my best to rectify that! 

Also I have question regarding the rules for bullgryns. Do they all have to have the same weapons? i.e. shield and maul or slab and grenade launcher. I see nothing in the rules that precludes you having a mixture in your squad and a mixture is what I went for! 2 slabshields to give me that 3+ save as I advance and then the power mauls to really smash things up! 

Thanks for stopping by!

A sucker for new toys...

A brief post just to let you all know that I have no will power.

It's been almost a year since I added anything at all to the IV Mechanised infantry. Unfortunately since July last year I've been absolutely swamped with real life and have been unable to pick up a paint brush or modelling knife. However two weeks tomorrow (23rd April) that should all change!

In anticipation of this welcomed advent of free time I have made some not inconsiderable purchases (particularly from Gravis over at Kirton Games). Unsurprisingly a great many of these come from the new wave of Guard miniatures that we have just seen released.

Reinforcements will include:
 3 Taurox (Yes 3, I really like the model and they will be the perfect transports for a company of light infantry, particularly as I have a few squads lacking transports at the moment!)
2 boxes of Scions, I wanted to get at least 10 guys. No idea how Praetorian I will make them at the moment, I'm thinking perhaps they would benefit from some of Victoria Lamb's lovely new style kilt legs.
1 Baneblade. This has been on the cards for ages, not sure which variant of the baneblade/shadowsword it will be yet. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
1 Wyvern. I don't give a stuff if people think the rules are naff, I like the model and think it is a great addition to the army.
1 Codex. Clearly had to happen!
Also lots of bits from Victoria Lamb to help with any converting and customising. In particular so I can finally finish the second 5 of my converted DKOK Lifeguards.

In addition to the above I still have a platoon of Tallarns to paint up, another platoon of Praetorians, and some mortars. These infantry might necessitate even more Chimera and Taurox...

Should be a fun rest of the year!