New Concept

As absolutely nothing has been happening miniature related (other then the reading of blogs, which is boring to blog about), i haven't been posting.  However, last night a new concept hit me while looking through my bits in preparation to start packing them up (I haven't done a clean up cycle for miniature stuff in ages).  I took a picture of the bits I'd pulled out for the project, and i think i'll probably be using parts from every bit in the picture (except one of the shoulder pads, not sure how I ended up with 3 there).  There will also be a fair bit of plasticard, wire, and greenstuff involved (but that's pretty standard for conversions, no?

The only other hint I'm giving is that it's for my Inquisimunda force, but can be used in normal 40k as well (though when complete, I'll have a whole 2? models for that army ^^;  )  Hopefully I'll have the first shots of actual progress on it sometime next week, I doubt I'll make much progress over the weekend (as that's dedicated to friends and video/card games instead of miniatures, of which I'm like one of 3 or 4 people in my social group that actually have any interest in miniatures)

Slaanesh Cult Members

Not much miniature related stuff this week as I've been spending all my time preparing a costume for an Anime thing this weekend.

However, I did manage to get around to scraping together some miniatures for my Slaanesh Cult.  It's a mix of miniatures I had in the box I was originally collecting for an Esher gang.  A box with is mysteriously short of actual Necromunda models period...

The first thing I'd like to point out is I'm still a model short for the girls themselves and I haven't dug my daemonette out yet.  I also don't have a noise marine made.  The girls are from Reaper and a game called Rezolution.  The hired Beastmaster (which came free, but still consumes a hired gun slot,) is an old GW Dark Elf Beastmaster that a friend gave me a while back.  I'm considering hijacking a couple blood brothers (basic human men, used as a snack) from my Mordheim Vampire Warband to fill in a couple Noviciates.  I haven't really decided which models will fill in which roles as I have 2 models that need heavier weapons and none of these gals seem to fit that yet.  Though the red/brown primed gal in the duster seems to think she's the Magus.  The girl front and far right will probably be the Noviciate with 2 stubbers as I had her in mind when I made that stat set.  I'll be replacing models as I work toward getting them all dressed in school uniforms.

Hopefully I'll get some projects moving again this coming week after the event is over.  I am a bit worried about my upcoming time as Pokemon Black & White comes out the 6th.  (Don't judge! I happen to like enslaving random creatures by forcing them to live in little balls and fight my battles for me. Such a horrible concept for a game. ^.~ )

Iron Corsairs

Almost 2 months sense an update.  I'd protest being busy, but I've just kinda forgot about the blog >.> Anyway, this post is about my space marine chapter.  It had it's name stolen by my new Dark Eldar (of which I have 5 assembled now <.< ), so are now called Iron Corsairs...  which fits better anyway.  I've been thinking about paint schemes for them sense the last killzone game I bat-repped, which has also sadly been my most recent game.

My current working concept is partially thanks to this article by Jeremy Olsen over at Empire of Ghosts.  I've always liked the woodblock style art but hadn't thought of bringing it to the wartable, so I worked up the mockup above to try it out.  I've tried to sculpt up some shoulderpads with the symbol on the door, but haven't had any luck getting even one I like.

Not sure what I think of the blue primary yet.  Probably add a hint more purple to it.  I'll also need a lot of practice painting woodblock cherry blossoms before I put them on an actual tank.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back on the ball and catch up with miniatures stuff for my blog.  I have a couple projects and things to post about that should be of some interest.

Obliterator Cult progress... Or lack thereof

Well, I've learned some important things about my cutter.  Mainly, it can't do sharp corners very well.  It rounds them off.  It's not a big issue with the larger stuff, but with a 5mm x 2mm piece, it's an issue.  I'll still use it to cut out cardstock vehicles and buildings, but it means the detail stuff will have to find another solution.  It also cuts plastic better then cardstock (which isn't so much a complaint as an interesting thought as it was designed for paper cutting).  Though I guess I can't complain too much about a CNC cutter that only cost $400. 

I learned this trying to cut out the obliterator legs I designed a while back.  they came out kinda bloby and misshapen.  (And due to my own stupidity not cut through all the way.)  I'll just have to resort to more classic ways of making them. *sigh*

All in all, I don't suggest the Cricut series to wargaming modelers. I've never used a robocraft, but from some of the cutouts I've seen it's a better choice and you don't have to buy a $50 third party piece of software to make it cut more then the junk images on the cartridges.

Robed Space Puppies

I'd never really looked into the Space Wolves codex as I actually disliked how the models looked and what I knew of the fluff.  But having delved a bit deeper into the custom chapter using whichever manual works best to represent them, I've found the space puppies are actually a really nice manual to work out of.  A few of the special options need to either be ignored or renamed, but ignoring that, it has a number of very dynamic and customizable unit selections.  I was planning on using the Blood Angels codex for my Spectres, but I may just end up with counts-as Space Puppies in robes. ^.~

Anyway, The main reason I started looking into it is due the Big Jim's Killzone rules over at Galaxy in Flames.  Combined with the Dark Angels Sprues I won from the SBCGA it provided me a way to start playing with a small force and work up.

My current (as of yet untested) 250 point force consists of:
Wolf Guard (Flagged as Leader)
6" FnP LS, plasma pistol, and frost blade

Wolf Guard with plasma pistol and power weapon
Wolf Guard with plasma pistol and Close Combat Weapon
4 Grey Hunters with 3 meltaguns

Lone Wolf with twin-linked Plasma Pistols.  (Because for some reason adding more plasma reactors makes the weapon safer! >.> )

I'm not sure the Plasma Pistols should actually count as twin-linked, but my opponent thinks they should be, so I'm going with it.  Mainly as the model looks pretty neat dual wielding plasma pistols.  I need to pick up a box of something to get needed bolt pistol arms and CCW arms.  Having looked over the kits, I can't decide if I'd rather go with a Khorne Berzerker box or a Space Wolfs Pack box.  I'd get the most arms from the zerker set, but I think I'll probably find more uses for the 'extras' from the Space Wolves box.

Image came from here.

Obliterator Cult progress

Well, I've worked out some designs for the obliterators. Above is one of many doodles on how they'd work. (It happens to be the one I like how looked the best.) I worked up some plans in Inkscape yesterday and I'll have my cutter produce them for me. The idea is the basic parts are cut from 1mm stock and layered together, the individual parts can them be put together, allowing for a full range of posing possibilities.


The red lines are 1mm x 1mm boxes. The outlines on the leftmost are the center, and the other two in each row are glued to either side of the center piece. I'll have to do a few test cuts to see if i like how they're coming out. Then on to real detailing of them.

I've yet to sort out the specifics of how they'll attach to the torsos... the piece in the upper right will likely change when the specifics are worked out.

Modular Starship Tiles

Well, I've (yet again) started working on my modular space ship project. This project was started well before this blog so this will be the first posting about it. I've actually been casting blocks for it off and on using the excess resin from other pieces the whole time, but just recently I noticed I actually had enough to start working on the next stage. So I've managed to assemble the basic wall for one side of a straight hallway.




This panel is actually 2 three inch halves so I can mix and match other half combinations. This also allows the halves to be used as part of a number of other tiles, and happens to fit in one of my standard mold sizes, so I don't have to start yet another mold size. I plan making molds to speed up the construction process and so there are fewer glue joints (which are by far the weakest link). You can see some of my other custom molds for Hirst blocks in the background.

Each tile fits in a 6" by 6" space allowing a variety of spaceship interiors to be set-up. Below is an example of a 3 foot by 3 foot setup done in Google SketchUp.


In other news I bought a Piranha last week and have slowly been assembling/painting it. I'll do a blog on it when it's closer to finished.

Female Fire Warrior Torso Doodle

Thinking of doodles, I've decided I'm going to try my hand at a custom female Fire Warrior torso. Obviously the top torso is a doodle of the default FW torso that comes in the sets. It's there for size comparison mostly. The Female torso should be a bit narrower, but still able to use the normal FW legs. I think this will lead to FW females made with this torso to be a bit hippy, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.


Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

I'm not sure if any single image fed my doodle or not, but I went browsing dA for inspiration.

I'll probably make the whole thing out of greenstuff, then maybe if people like it I won't have (as many?) legal issues with making casts of it. I'll probably work on the FW torso sporadically throughout the process of working on O'larran.