Salamander Weathering Progress

Ok, these may look a little dodgy at the minute, but the hairspray and sand thing is working.  These babies were given a 'red lead' undercoat and then eau de nile (rotting flesh - really ?!?!? FFS everyone else in the world has been calling it eau de nile for at least a centuary - god only knows what it's called in the new GW paint range - my guess is "dead aunty's fingernails" - rant over) in the crew compartment dark sand over the outside.

The crew compartments were not to my liking at first, so they got the fairy power spray treatment and were then re-done.  My plan includes painting the detail on the inside (and the inside of the rear superstructure) before going much further.  There are searchlights to go on the driver's hatches, three of which I have turned around to point forwards - obviously cutting and re-gluing the searchlight at its narrowest point weakens it/them, but hopefully they'll survive the rough and tumble of war in the 41st millennium.

This is my recently acquired hellhound - with a russian green undercoat and then the hairspray and sand and then a NATO 'olive drab' over the top (I should expect that the closest GW colour might well be 'catachan green').  Quite pleased with the way that this has turned out.

And I'll leave you with a couple of shots showing how the weathering worked on the front of the salamanders.

Prehistoric monsters and ancient banners. And some actual progress as well.

So on my busy Saturday, I found homes for the Imperial Officers, the assassins and the Void Dragons that PVP delivered.  And did a bit of tidying.  There was another mouse house disaster in the garage, but it was not hobby stuff so you can breath easy.  One of my helpers decided that the thing to do with a recently vacated mouse nest was to take it carefully in his mouth to the middle of the lawn and then sit down and carefully spread the mouse-shredded material into the grass.

Anyway, one of the things I managed was to put the command chimera ATAT back together.  I plan on doing the sand and hairspray weathering on the beast.  It will be a khaki grey colour (Revell stone grey would be nice, if I can get enough of it.) so that great fall back, panzer grey seemed like it would be good for the undercoat.  Of course the weathering is only going to be on the bottom half of this baby, so the top end got undercoated in desert yellow. 

Anyway, it looks like a dinosaur itself; so here it is resting its chin on a Taurosaur whilst its neck sets (eek).

And I mentioned previously the banners from the Sepulchre of Heroes.  Most of these banners were hand drawn 31 years ago and are done in a mixture of felt tip, acrylics and humbrol enamels; my first 'army' were RTB01 Blood Angels (at the time, they were the mostly 'codex' chapter - The Ultrmarines had a half elf as chief librarian) hence all of the Blood Angels banners.  Fluftastically as well, PVPs Blood Angels were here last year and will be back in the future, so Blood Angel banners knocking about is representative of their interest in the region, even it's only that they have fought here before. 

Not bad for something so old, or the banners, come to think of it. 

You can see the rust on the tabs on this one - so these ol' things are on steel pins, not brass rod.

The old army badge.  From when the PDF were the army and all of the figures had individual names in the full page WD adverts showing the individual soldiers (all of whom are now in the Devos IV 2nd Regt - Il Guarde Presedentiale).

The reverse of the Blood Angel banner shown above.  Felt tip coming out nicely for the camera.  I might go over it with paint.  Maybe. 

The Eldar banner to the left has been burned at the bottom edge (deliberately, probably with a swan vesta cribbed off me ol' man).  Newer, internet spawned flags colour printed - these are probably ten years old. 

One side of the big Eldar banner, that orangey square and green pyramid are acually covered with a pattern drawn on with a fine black ink pen. 

The reverse of the burned banner showing the hand of Khaine.  And the other one still with the farseer's illumaniti symbol and the hand of Khaine amongst the other symbols. 

And finally, I have assembled two of the DKK lancers as well. These guys are actually easier to put together than DKK infantry figures - strange but true. 

262 Line Regt

Comptroller Bellormus has again succeeded where other Departmento Munitorium agents have not been so successful; 262 Line Regt, due to be deployed on Armageddon, somehow got diverted to Devos IV.  Obviously they will be joining 902 Div.

What you can see here is two rifle platoons and a heavy weapons platoon along with their attendant Command Squads.

These Landsers will land on Acer and then cross the continent on the Departmento made rail road, embark on a converted plankton fishery (so big it would only take two trips to get the whole regiment across the ocean) and have to walk to join the rest of 17 Korps.

Many thanks to Possum Painting for these; apparently he now sees little grey men in his sleep.  Just the Support sections and Waffenritters to go.

Raiding the blogosphere. Smashing scenery. Other things to do which are not that damned list.

Random&Creative: Jazygia 1996: The history of the Jazygian people reaches back to the 5th century BC. Then fell the thirteen walls of the great city of Jazygopolis, s...

Flufftastic - cop a load of this !  I have no idea what the Jazygian national anthem might sound like, but randomly i-tune an eastern European anthem whilst you read this.

And following on from brain candy, some for the eyes:

Pirate Viking Painting: No Creed but the Imperial: Hi folks! Finally got acceptable shots so today is a bumper update all about Assassins! These are the first in a series of Inq28 comm...

IRL, these look better than they photograph, as you can imagine.  Especially loving PVP's description of those cat suit wearing girls as 'easy'.  Don't know if he meant to do that, but it made me smile...

In other news, I appear to be running out of figure cases and storage space.  It looks like I'll have to give serious thought to the final size and shape of the collection.  But the plan to re-furbish the inside of the garage will come first and should give me some more room.  Figure cases is an easy fix; the rest requires a little jiggery pokery.

Finding an hour is not too difficult, but there's not much one can reasonably achieve in an hour without leaving a mess for next time.  Which is something I really don't like doing, hence the apparently glacial progress.  But small steps can be taken which contribute to the overall success of the project. So don't be surprised if you see posts about moving bicycles and painting walls and floors.

The Alternative Wargamer: Mission Statement: Mission Statement of this particular blog: To raise awareness of other model companies than Games Workshop and how to still play Warhammer...

This one should be worth watching; nice idea and pretty nifty with the plasticard.

So someone out there might remember the Sepulchre of Heroes.

It's been OK to play on, despite never getting to close to finished; it's supposed to be a bit of a memorial wall bedecked with the banners of past military glories.  I still plan on doing this, but probably as part of the cathedral/basilica that I'm going to talk my dad into building (seems funny to be saying that at 45, but there you go; 'tis a strange ol' world).

Anyway the thing is, it's a 2' x 2' (same size as a realm of battle tile) piece with an 18" long, 12" tall wall across the middle.  It takes up a lot of room.  And those bits can go into the cathedral/basilica. So part of progress this afternoon (Sat 15 Mar) will be to alter/modify/destroy some scenery, in order to make space elsewhere.  Welcome to the modern age !  Out with the old !  In with the new ! Terms and conditions apply !

Bang, smash, rip.  It was well put together, but no match for someone running out of space with new projects to do.

And the Chaos cultists have all arrived safely, so hopefully Admiral Drax will forgive Mrs Drax for posting them 2nd class. They look great - it'd be a shame to be burned to deaf in the name of the dark gods by anyone else...

Progress Report - Sat 15 Feb 14

OK, so a quick update:  Progress to Sat 15 Feb 14 is shown in Purple. 

More DKK (a Siege Regt)
DKK Infantry - These guys should be in the warp and on their way here. Delivers soon
DKK Fd Arty (in a box)
DKK Cavalry (in a bigger box)
Void Dragons - Nearly done, delivers soon
Half a dozen Inquisitorial Warbands (sent away - now WIP)
Corbanian 2nd Regt - Now WIP, delivers soon
Small AT AT command vehicle (needs rebuilding and Vostroyan paint scheme) no progress
Additional Officers (Imperial - sent away) Nearly all done - already blogged progress. 
Additional Officers (Not Imperial - just a pile of parts at the mo')
"Word Bearers" er, um, tbc. 
T-Hawk.  Just needs paint. Now WIP but no progress for ages. 
DKK Salamanders - need finishing off. Slow extra steps taken
Leviathan Mortis' - need construction, conversion & paint. No Progress
Additional Heavy Weapons - need paint Mortars, Las Cannons and Carriage guns done.  Only HBs outstanding. 
DKK Engr Chimera - needs assembly (needs Chimera !  hahahahha) Still needs Chimera
DKK Grenadiers (lost children of another army....you guessed it, in a box.) No Progress
Valhallans (need paint) Done !  Need a major basing event, though. 
3rd Thunderer Conversion.  (Then all three would be ready for paint) No Progress
Full Size ATAT fleet (need assembly, conversion and painting) No Progress
DKK Hydrae (Always keep six spare Chimerae kits waiting; need assembly and painting)
Devos IV "Fen Guard" unit Done and on their way.  Delivers soon. 

Thunderbolts
Clone wars Vendetta conversions
World Eaters Land Raider
Meridian Infantry
TGG Kickstarter girls
And then a trawl of what's left in the boxes.
Other KS stuff that's due to arrive
The Basilica of the Emperor's Ascension. 

There are other things to be considered as well; a trawl of the boxes is going to uncover half remembered projects and there is always the chance that the rumours are true and there will be a wave of iggies and knights released.  Which will upset my new 'spend on to finish WIP projects' scheme (so far intact !).

The things for me (specifically) to do next are the DKK salamanders, the DKK engineers Chimera and Cyclops and the third Thunderer. 

Sat 22 Feb 14 - Broken resolution: they're Imperial Knights; how could I not ?!?!  Two on the way...

High Command. Elements of 72AG Leadership. 17 Korps

And another in the continuing series. Officers of the general staff from Left to Right:

Inspector General of Infantry Mib Alas Sim.  Inspector General of Infantry Mib Alas Sim wearing the uniform of a Corunna Grenadier.  His job is to make sure that all of the Korps’ infantry assets are fit for role, in terms of quality, quantity, readiness and morale. 

Colonel Abas Khurran, Chief of Security, wearing the uniform of a Corunna Grenadier.  Colonel Khurran’s task is to ensure the security of 17 Korps Headquarters, its officers, men and material.  He is well aware that the Necromundans who comprise his command refer to Inspector General of Infantry Mib Alas Sim as ‘the milk man’.  But that’s just soldiers talk.  He is however quite observant and not beyond bugging fellow officers, which you wouldn’t think, to look at him.

Captain Yinka, Vostryan 157^th.  Captain Yinka is the data control officer for 17 Korps HQ.  He leads the team who process data for the other branches of the Headquarters.   The rest of his regiment are split amongst the various Corps HQ.  Captain Yinka appreciates that this is a chance to further his career without quite as much personal danger than his contemporaries in the line.  But he cannot help yearning for glory, it’s in his Vostroyan DNA.   Hence his retention of a powerfist, even when carrying out his normal duties.

Major Krasimir, Vostroyan 111^th Major Krasimir is the Korps communications officer.  A hobby bazuki player, Major Krasimir has a fine singing voice and his a talented dancer.  He’s also good with the comms systems; they are made in his family’s manufactorum.   His relative youth, for a Vostroyan Major  and abilities as a dancer mean that he is the fencing champion of 17 Korps General Staff. 

High Command. Element's of 72 AGs Leadership. Imperial Navy.

Hopefully, I'm back from Borneo and havn't been eaten.  Continuing the series, showing off PVP's work, and introducing more members of High Command:

Commodore Shenandoah Imperial Navy.  Commodore Shenandoah is the Close Orbit Superiority Commander in theatre; Commander Amodis’ deputy and highest ranking Naval Officer in this theatre of war.  He is with 17 Korps because they were where the action was at the beginning of the campaign.  He is an experienced Cruiser Captain and may well, assuming he survives this posting, find himself a Vice Admiral soon enough. 

Fleet Captain Ferdinand Santiago Imperial Navy is the Orbital Bombardment Officer.  Actual details of the Orbital Bombardments are done by the Orbital Bombardment CoOrdinator, Captain Caberra.  Fleet Captain Santiago’s actual job, regardless of the title, is to de-conflict the various assets in the airspace above the battlefield.  Ferdinand lost his arm years ago in a boarding action - it was bitten off by an Ork.  He has a prosthetic one, but doesn't wear it. 

Captain Zanti Caberra,  Imperial Navy.  Captain Caberra is the Orbital Bombardment CoOrdinator, his job is to order naval strikes from orbit in response to calls for fire from trained officers at the front line.  His previous job was as a Destroyer Captain and he hates dirtsiders and being on a planet.  This is just something he has to do before he can continue his career.

Captain Tablet Mostue Imperial Navy.  Captain Mostue is the Orbit/Surface Interface Officer. His task is to ensure that the vital communications links (vox and data) between Navy assets (both orbital and airspace command) are not lost and remain secure from interference.  His previous job was as Captain of the Frigate 'Jericho's Fortune'.  He likes to think of himself as a swashbuckler. 

Squadron Leader Samine Gibbres, Imperial Navy.  Squadron Leader Gibbres is an experienced Fury pilot. She was posted to a Thunderbolt Squadron at the outset of the Devos IV campaign and so far has ejected from three airframes for both mechanical and combat related reasons.  Commodore Shenandoah has decided that whilst a good space fighter pilot, she's a liability in a Thunderbolt.  She now serves as his aide-de-camp, a role in which she appears to be flourishing.  Despite being a space-sider, she manages to get the Imperial Guard to listen when protocol and logic fail.  Funny ol' thing.

High Command. Element's of 72AG's leadership. 18 Corps.

You may have seen these pictures before on PVP where Jeff describes how these guys were painted and his ideas behind the colours used.  But I thought you might like to know who these noteworthy individuals actually are:

18 Korps HQ is headed by 2* Gen Romos.  General Romos is nearly 350 years old.  He has had a long and illustrious career, beginning in the MacRagge PDF; transferring to the Sabat Worlds Crusade under Lord Militants Slaydo and then Macaroth to act as a liaison officer between the Adeptus Astartes units and the Imperial Guard.  Unexpectedly finding himself with a combat command on Ballhaut he continued to serve with distinction for a number of years.

His last combat command was a brigade of storm troopers on Agripinna itself, fighting the plague zombie outbreak.  Certain factions within the higher levels of the Departmento credit his formation with being the men who turned the tide and allowed Agripinna to eventually return to order.  His staff roles have been many and varied, including being the Commandant of the Obscura Sector’s officer selection and training programmes, Lord General of the Staff College and lately Lord General of Driftward Command itself. 

At ~350 years old, with a life of hard service, including over a century on the front line of the Imperial Guard’s toughest warzones, Gen Romos is no longer in the best of health.  He is entirely dependent on his chair for personal mobility and life support.   He has dropped three levels of seniority in order to become junior enough to actually return to a proper warzone and achieve a glorious end, rather than simply waiting for what’s left of his natural body to just give up.

He is acutely aware that despite the drugs and augmentics, he has increasing trouble in remembering current detail; his memory of the Sabat Crusades is sharp, but he knows that he keeps forgetting where he is now.  His aim is to lend his formidable experience to the, er, um, the er, current campaign and more privately to make sure that it is his last.

He does know 4* Gen Zhukov; the Vostroyan went through selection whilst Romos was heading up the selection and training programme and attended Staff College whilst he was in charge of that.  Romos’s informed opinion is that Zhukov is a perfectly adequate Imperial Guard General but his personal opinion of Vostroyan officers in general is that they all find their personalities by fishing around in Abaddon’s toilet bowl, rather than the crucible of service that a Cadian or Kreig man might find his.

Colonel Eatuthor is Gen Romos’ Chief of Staff.   Gen Romos’ misheard that the first time Colonel Eatuthor reported for duty and shot him.  He still calls him “Colonel Etugaur”. 

Brom Eatuthor is a product of Preatoria's Military Colleges; although not spireborn, he was one of the very very few to be good enough to be selected for elevation to the Officer Classes.  He has been hard working, diligent and loyal throughout what until recently has been a glittering career. He was Colonel Winterbourne's immediate predecessor commanding 1/4 Preatorian Mechanised.  Marked in his early career for greater things, he handed over his command and attended the requisite staff courses for his next appointment. He embarked for 72AG with a spring in his step and steely glint in his eye.

His recent career includes being shot by Gen Romos when he initially reported for duty and being sent to the only place he knows of where the Preatorian Regiment appears to have turned traitor.  He would like to turn this around but in a staff appointment for senile old walrus, he is staring the death of his career (far worse than his own possible demise) in the face.  He now looks worried and doesn't sleep well, as he is worried about developing a tick or stutter.

As I write this (Mon 11 Feb 14), it occurs to me that the rumour mill is grinding away at the ASL; Some readers may recall that the Commander of 902 Div of 17 Korps (where my DKK sit) is one Col Commandant Wellbahn, son of Armageddon. I've already selected a miniature to represent him, but this may give some seriously good possibilities for the Steel Legion bits of the army.  Flying in the face of my fiscal rules for this year, but I'll just have to see what happens.