Storm Eagle in the works. Part IV

Almost done.
Those two words mark the end of one of my most frustrating, but in the end most satisfying project to date.
The Storm Eagle has been one heck of a build and a huge thing to paint. I painted it by hand, and slathered almost half a pot of Badab Black wash over it's metallic areas, it's the last pot and it's almost gone now (too bad!).
Though some people didn't like the little conversion I did, I think the added tail section really, really finishes the model. It's more of a little brother to the Thunderhawk now. I'm really happy with the result so far. Though it's not yet finished. There are a few lenses and lights that still need work and the metal itself needs some highlighting. Last but not least, the chapter heraldry and company markings need to be added, but I will  wait with that stuff until the very last (I'm really bad at freehanding).

For the sense of scale, I added a Land Speeder Tempest and a vanguard veteran. The Tempest really fits with the Eagle's aesthetic, especially when looking at the wings.

Anyway, here are some pictures I took (without flash) in broad daylight. Hell yeah, a Guardians of the Covenant Mortikah-pattern Storm Eagle!

A fluffy Dark Angels list.

I've got a match planned tomorrow against an infantry-heavy Eldar and MEQ list. Recently, I've been toying with the idea to make a nice and fluffy list based around a Techmarine and his tanks. With 1500pts in mind, I came up with the following:

HQ
Company Master - TH/SS/Art. armour - 155pt.
Techmarine - Servo harness/Power Axe/Boltgun - 90

ELITES
Mortis Dreadnought - 2x TL-Autocannon - 125pt

FAST ATTACK
Land Speeder Tempest - 110pt
Ravenwing Bike Squadron - Vet sgt./Power maul 115

TROOPS
Tactical Squad - Power fist/Vet. sgt./melta/missle - 200pt
Tactical Squad - Power sword/Vet. sgt./Pl.gun/lascannon - 200pt

HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator Destructor - Dozer blade - 105pt.
Predator Annihillator - Dozer blade - 145pt.
Land Raider Redeemer - Multi-melta - 255pt


The idea was to field a lot of armour and to hide the HQ's in the tactical squads. Since my opponent agrees to field Forge World stuff, I'm keen on trying out the Tempest with the new IA: Aeronautica rules. It has the "afterburner" rule, which effectively makes it a flyer if the player proclaims it so, at the start of each turn. Thus only AA being able to hit it, with the catch that it can't fire any weapons while airborne.
With the appearance of Death from the Skies by Games Workshop, I fear that the Tempest has become obsolete: the Storm Talon has been reduced in points cost, and it has the same price (110pts) as the Tempest now. Bawww. I'll still be using it however.

We'll see how this list will do/die against the Eldar and Marines.

Storm Eagle in the works. Part II

Today was a big day. My Storm Eagle got basecoated. Somehow, I think the models look even better when they have a slick basecoat. There's no difference in colour anymore due to it being a resin/plastic kit, and overall, the models looks simply stunning.
It was a real tough nut to crack, when it came down to building it. Some parts still don't really seem to fit, but the gaps and creaks seem to have faded a bit now that it has a basecoat. The next big thing will be to paint the majority boltgun metal and scab red (Yes, old GW colours!) followed by some washing, highlighting and details. I look forward to working on this one, but I will take my time.

Storm Eagle in the works.

Here she is. And it was a bloody paint to build. Almost nothing seemed to fit and almost everything was warped. After a lot of fiddling with a hair-dryer, glue and elastic bands, it finally fits together.

I made a light conversion to the model: I added a tail fin from the Storm Raven kit after being inspired by a fellow blogger. This finishes the model and makes it look more alike it's bigger brother, the Thunderhawk.

Building the Storm Eagle

Oh man. The Storm Eagle is the worst best model I've been building so far. The stuff is warped beyond recognition and even when bent back into the right position it doesn't all seem to fit.
Anyhow. I made a big mistake: I ruined the front hatch (which is the same from the Storm Raven kit). The part broke, with probably no way to fix it. So what I did: I ordered one from a bits site. In the meantime, I'll go on constructing the Storm Eagle and painting it up. The model itself and the level of detail looks splendid, but the construction is one hell of a job. Pictures are to follow later

The Veterans

Today I've worked on some of my upcoming Vanguard Veterans. They won't budge with the Dark Angel codex, but with the 6thE Allies chart, it'll fit in just fine, although the unit is overpriced methinks.

The one with the power fist is the sergeant. I love the look of Mk. 8 Errant Armour. And when the ball joint of the neck is cut off, the helmet fits into the slot nicely. The legs are from a sanguinary guard kit and the tassels from a Space Marine commander kit.

The Specialists

Today, it's time for the specialists to be in the spotlights.

 The Librarian

 The Techmarine

The Chaplain

The Dreadnoughts

Today, the dreadnoughts are the focus of the day. Aside of the lovely Contemptors, I've got a (venerable) dreadnought as well. It was my first for this army. And nowadays it gets largely overshadowed by its taller cousins.

Guardians of the Covenant Bookshelf Showcase

A few days of silence, followed by some nice 15 megapixel shots. I've got a nice little still life studio set up, but one of the lights broke down. The following pictures are an experiment. I've made more than I've posted here, but they weren't all post-worthy. Anyway, enjoy.

You shall not pass.

Awesome pose, awesome photo.

Shame it isn't focused on the company commander in the middle. Nevertheless worth a share, no?

Land Raider Redeemer finished!

Aside of the mechanicum logo on the pauldron of the hull-mounted meltagunner, the Land Raider Redeemer for my ever expanding army of Guardians of the Covenant is finally finished. With a lot of effort I managed to take a couple of pictures with a decent resolution and last but not least a front shot made with my phone.

The Land Raider has been in a state of flux for the last year. I couldn't bring myself to finish it. But today was the day. The purity seals, reflections, visors and all else is finally done. The sides of the Land Raider are further pimped with resin plates by Scibor Miniatures, which give it a nice touch. When I started constructing the Land Raider, I wanted to give it a "riding temple" feel. And I think I succeeded pretty well. It has lots of bling in the form of angels, purity seals, scrolls, incense burners and so forth. The interior is fully painted as well, but without shining a flashlight through the front hatch, no one will see it.
I wanted to leave the top cover plate in a loose fit, but since the model didn't cooperate, I was forced to glue it down

Anyway, have a look for yourself.

Tempest cockpit done and other shenanigans.

Now that the final details in the cockpit on my Tempest are done, I might as well show it. I think the radar screen worked out rather well.
On a side note, I did some touch-ups on my Predator tank, mainly the lights, lenses and a rear door with a banner and a decal.

Land Speeder Tempest finished.... Almost.

All in all, my Land Speeder Tempest is pretty much finished. I gave it a wash, a highlight here and there and painted the pilot. Somehow, I find it very difficult to make decent pictures of it. The camera's flash does murder and gives the pictures a strange gloss that it doesn't really have when I look at it with my own eyes. The first picture is taken without a flash and shows the colours much more lifelike.

The sides of the tail fins are black, because I want to add the crossed swords chapter sigil - which is the trademark of the Guardians of the Covenant - there. I've added a couple of white swords on the wings, which I've taken from the Ravenwing sprue, removing the wings on either side.

So it's finished.. almost. What it still lacks is a detailed interior. There's something of a problem here because apparently, I didn't wash the model properly on the inside before basecoating it. As a result the paint on the inside just won't stick. I guess it's some kind of residue from the casting process. I trick coating it with Chaos Black, but no result. A second time I tried to coat it with an old Citadel Foundation, but no result. It looks even worse now. Shame actually, because the pilot ended up really well. If anyone reading this has any advice, please do tell. I'd love to finish the interior as well.

Monday afternoon is hobby afternoon.

So, I've been working on some stuff. Most recently the Land Speeder Tempest which arived last friday. Aside of that, there's the redeemer and a couple of vanguard veterans/assault marines and five hammernators. Somehow, I keep postponing the infantry models, in favour of working on the vehicles.

Anyway, here's the Tempest now, the basic paints are applied. I admit, it looks kind of bland and stale. But a few washes en highlights will do the magic.

Land Raider Redeemer WIP

Hey all,

Second post of the day. But I just want to share something else today.

That something else being my Land Raider Redeemer. Now I know that as of yet, the Redeemer isn't an option in the Dark Angels codex (at least, I assume there hasn't been a WD update mentioning it). Still, I digged it more than the crusader. At the moment I could take it with the 6E Allies special rules.

When I started building it, I had the awesome idea of building LED lights in the interior. This made me paint up the interior, with a marine tending the engine and reading a scanner and another marine pointing a plasma pistol out of the front hatch. As you can see on some pictures, it's really REALLy dusty. And it hasn't been weathered or washed yet, so it looks bland and stale.

An interesting touch to it are the resin plates and slabs from scibor, which *totally unexpectedly* seem to fit in certain places on the tank.

The first picture shows the flamestorm cannons. Due to me moving to a new place, I lost one of the camera/lenses bits that normalle sire the sponsons. I put on my creative coat and slapped some other servo-skull-like scanners on top of the sponsons. They're from the Aegis Defence Line by the way. All in all, this is an ongoing project, which I could finish in a good afternoon's work. I'll post the eventual results here.