The final charge! Rough rider horses finished.

My cavalry have left it pretty late for Cavember but we are now on the home straight! I've just finished painting the horses, and I should just add I really dislike paiting horses for some reason. Well anyway they are done and I'm pleased with the result and think they make great mounts for the Dragoons.

Tomorrow after work I will try and paint the 5 cavalrymen, I'm going to mix up the colour scheme a bit and deviate from the matching khaki top and bottom of the footsloggers, it will still be predominately khaki based as I want to keep a colour scheme running throughout the whole army.


Not much time left till the Cavmber deadline so wish me luck!

Also, horses eyes? Should I paint them at all or leave them black (they are blacky brown normally right?)

Rough Riders ready for painting

So after many hours sculpting last night I've finally got my rough riders to the stage where they can be painted! Ater the green stuff has properly cured that is...

Alll of the helmets have been adorned with plumes and they all have scabbards for their cavalry swords.
Let me know what you think!

Also a preview of the colonel ready to be undercoated. Its one of Victoria Lamb's pith helmets with a green stuff colar and an aquilla with plumes sculpted on the front.

Praetorian Cavalry Update!

And so the appropriately named 'Cavember' is drawing to a close with only a few days left. My own new cavalry are woefully behind schedule, many unforeseen problems and a busy work life has meant that I still haven't got them to the painting stage as I still need to sculpt a few things. Hopefully in the next few days I will get that much finished and get them undercoated, but whether I can paint them in the few remaining days of the month is another matter as I have no days off work until the 1st!

Anyway we shall see, and here are the photos of the fully assembled (but not yet finished as plumes and sashes for the scabbards still need sculpting.) Praetorian Dragoons!

The first finished highlander!

I have finished the first test highland guard! The tartan is the black watch tartan and took absolutely ages to paint. Let me know what you think and whether you think a different colour tartan might suit the colour scheme better.

 

One thing I am considering changing is the epaulettes, trying a brighter yellow. It also strikes me that as I have made his cuffs so big I could do something there, perhaps adding some detail. I find the red a bit too much.

Mere seconds after writing this I re-painted the cuffs.
Enjoy!

A lick of paint!

I've finally started painting again and am trying to match the colours of the new models to the old ones. I'm painting a regular trooper and a highland guard as testers before the mass production is rolled out! It's slow going at the moment and I've not worked out how to do the tartan yet, but I should have these two done in the next day or two!
Only the main tunic coulour has been finished so there is still plenty to do!

A few oldies...

While I'm busy working on new models for the army I thought I'd post a few photos of some of the old characters in the command HQ squad.

First up we have the old colonel. He does look rather un-Praetorian but he is such a great model and it ensured he stood out from the army. I'll have to find a way of incorporating him into the new army as an advisor.

No army would be complete without a zulu warrior! Mine is made from lots of greenstuff and an old digga youth from Gorkamorka. I think he will certainly feature in the new army and will make a great bodyguard for a new colonel.

  

Another slightly un-Praetorian looking model. He is made from the plastic tank crew and some work with greenstuff. I'm thinking he might make a good master of ordinance and might explain the different choice of headgear.

Praetorian Rough Riders Update

What with all the current enthusiasm for Rough Riders I thought I'd post an update on how my dragoons are progressing!

Some are more finished than others, the musician and sergeant are almost finished, the others still have plenty of work to do and and the horses still need gun holsters.

Now that Victoria Lamb has released some new victorian cavalry I think I am now going to have to make yet another unit for my army!

Highland Guard Veterans Preview

As I mentioned previously I have quite a few projects on the go at the moment, without a doubt my favourite is a squad of Highland Guard Veterans! I've been meaning to do these ever since I first started collecting Praetorians, and now that I've finally had the chance I am very pleased. My work was made much easier by the glut of praetorian components now available from other hobbyists, the legs are Victoria Lamb (I'm still waiting for some standing legs to start the other 5 members of the squad), the head and torso Col. Gravis and the rest green stuff and stripped down plastic Imperial Guard bits.

Back in the day I had considered trying to convert some warhammer fantsy legs into kilts or trying to sculpt me own, so to be able to use ready made kilts is brilliant and saves a lot of work! My idea for this unit was to try and make them highland inspired while still obviously being Imperial Guard, I think it's quite easy to get carried away with the historical influence and end up with something quite removed from 40k.

So with this in mind I only added a few touches and changes; the plume on the side of the helmet will help to make the unit stand out and emphasis their veteran status (and hark back to the historical influence), the epaulettes and cuffs were vital as it really ties the whole Praetorian army together, and as it is movember after all I've been expanding the range of facial hair on display (particularly the colour sergeant Frank Bourne sideburns turning into a moustache from Zulu!).

Anyway enough talking, check out the pictures and let me know what you think!

Painting will be the next step for these 5 and I can't wait to try and paint some tartan. The uniforms will be khaki like the rest of the army and the tartan will based on the dark colours of the black watch...

Command HQ Preview

I've got quite a few projects on the go at the moment, one in particular which is proving good fun is the new Command HQ which is based on the Death Korps of Kreig Command HQ from forgeworld. Here's a picture of three nearly finished members of the unit; standard bearer, comms officer and a veteran.

And here's a picture of a few members of the old Command HQ who will be moved to a platoon command squad.

The whole world has gone cavalry mad...

It seems that you can't follow a Praetorian blog without seeing cavalry somewhere, I'm sure this in no small part to the great miniatures from Col. Gravis and the rather nice pictures of Victoria Lambs new cavalry models.

Well this blog won't be aby different so I'll show what I've been working on this past week...

Firstly I felt the outrider horses required some work to make them fit for service in the Emperors glorious Imperial Guard. I added a rolled up pack behind the saddle, a few aquilla (most notable the aquilla on the forehead of the horse which will be present on the whole unit), and as my cavalry are to be Dragoons instead of lancers, I created gun holsters.

Accompanying the modified horse is of course a modified rider. As I mentioned before, these were to becom dragoons and so would be leaving their lances at home. The sergeant is based on Col. Gravis RR kit with a head from the outriders kit and a modified bionic arm from the guard command sprue, the bugler has an added plume to his helmet that will be a feature of all my new cavalry. They are still work in progress and there is plenty more to add and refine!

A unit of 5 is nearing completion, so before I start to paint I'll try and post a few more photos. I've also been working on some Highlang guard, heavy weapon teams and a new command HQ squad. Watch this space for pictures in the next few days!

A New Dawn...

I've been out of the hobby for a long time, too long in fact. It was rather more by chance than by anything else that I found myself emailing Col. Gravis  pictures of the long demobbed 4th Praetorian Mechanised Infantry. The response was encouraging, very encouraging actually.

The kind encouragement and praise I received has caused me to resurrect the army and continue where I left off many years ago.

Let us start at the beginning...

......

The Praetorian 4th (a strangely popular number among Praetorian Commanders) Mechanised Infantry started life over 10 years ago, inspired by the Big Toof River display at games day ’97 and British history (like many other Praetorian collectors). They army went through many different incarnations (painted, stripped, repainted... at one stage it was sporting a lot of union flags), and abandoned the red livery, in favour of khaki fatigues worn by British troops in the late 19th century. When the Steel Legion were released with the option of fielding imperial guard as mechanised infantry the 4th were truly born.


The Praetorian 4th Mechanised Infantry were a force to be reckoned with, their armour rightly feared and the courage of their infantry undoubted. Having fought in several campaigns and distinguised themselves in the 3rd war for Armageddon they were due to return to holy Praetoria for refitting and replenishment. However, en route the gods of chaos conspired against them leaving the regiment stranded in a savage warp storm for many years.

The storm caused countless casualties, and left the regiment utterly decimated, with many of the senior officers having been summarily executed by the commissariat. Many years after the conclusion of their tour of Armageddon and their confinement within the warp the regiment finally limped into the Praetorian sub sector. Beleaguered, leaderless and crippled, the few stalwart elements of the 4th Mechanised Infantry were left were subject to grueling trials to prove their faith in the God Emperor.

Images of the glorious 4th Praetoran Mechanised Infantry in their pomp.

That was then...