Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad finished, with custom transfers!

Finally, my first Genesis Chapter tactical squad is finished! In fact I had them lying around for some time already, but only recently I have printed a transfer paper for them.



They are far from perfect but I think they'll look well on table. Painting AOBR marines was just pain; I find their poses extremely lackey. Actually there are only 8 AOBR marines; two were already painted in Ultramarines colors, so I have replaced them with marines from the battleforce. They definately make the squad seem more lively.



Here is sergeant Lucius, along with two of his faithful marines.

I am not fond of the sergeant model, his pose does not make much sense. If I'll ever get my hands on another AOBR sergeant, I'll try to convert him a bit with Green Stuff.

I have equipped him with a meltabomb, you can see it behind his leg. I am working on a meltagun marine now, who might replace this squad's flamer. With a meltagun, melta bombs and a missile launcher, this could be a good anti-vehicle squad.



Missile Launcher Marine is probably the most interesting of the AOBR tacticals. He has some nice unique details, like the backpack or the stormtrooper-style helmet.



Here is the flamer marine, who will be possibly replaced, and the two battleforce marines.



Here is the whole squad again:



...And here is a better view of the transfers:



Note that you can find the Genesis Chapter logo sheet on Bell of Lost Souls.

Anyways, back to painting now! I will post the meltagun marine soon, as well as the Dreadnought, now with Genesis Chapter markings.

Thanks for reading! As always, opinions are most welcome.

Lootas finished!

Well, it took way too much time, but my first pack of lootas is finally finished! No wonder it took so long, those guys have plenty of detail and I tried my best at the paintjob... not to mention the rather annoying assembly.

Anyways, let's take a look at them!



I tried to experiment with the color scheme and make everyone of them a bit personal - see the first one with a lascannon? He wears blue because he believes it will bring him luck in the battle. And see that other energy weapon, owned by that grinning ork on the right? That blue glow on the weapon is my first try on "dynamic lightning" ever. And the mek with the grot... I just love that model, so much character in it already.





And here are the deffguns itselves. I love those little addons on them - like that small rocket.



...And the other side. Can anyone identify the weapons? I can see a lascannon, lasgun, and some stubbers (I guess). Any idea what is the second energy weapon (the one I painted glowing)?

Anyways, thanks for reading! As always, any commentary/criticism is most welcome, I could sure use some tips!

Ow and... I have a question for you, dear random reader: do you prefer links to the dakkadakka gallery (which has some cool functions such as a very effective zoom), or to plain images files? Let me know!

Bad Moons Trukk finished!

Hello there and sorry for the long abstain - I have plenty of work IRL right now, and I'm working on so many 40k projects at once lately!

Well, at least I have finished my first Ork Trukk. I plan to have 2-3 trukks in my army, one well-equipped for my nobz, the other lighter for choppa boyz. The one I have finished is the heavy equipped one; so, let's have a look at it!





I love the golden wrekkin' ball. The weapon of a choice for a wealthy Bad Moon.



The moon is made out of a Green Stuff. It looks a bit blobby and whacky; I confer, it is my first work with GS ever.







To make the Trukk a bit more comfy, I added a set of drums to the back, and a drummer as well!





The drummer is easily removable, thanks to the use of pinning (and some paper clip bits):



I have to say that even though it took me weeks to paint this one, I can't wait to paint another. The kit is very variable and I would like to try assembling it in a radically different way.

Well, now I'll go back to the Lootas... Have just one last to finish, so I should be able to post them pretty soon. In fact, I have a Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad ready as well, all it needs is the chapter logo... Give me some time and I'll try to print my own decals, I promise!

Anyways, thanks for reading! Any input is most welcome!

Final Liberation: Oldschool Ork Tanks

Hello there!

After seeing the neat image of a Rogue Trader era Battlewagon at From The Warp, I was overwhelmed by memories of the oldschool Final Liberation game. This PC game from 1997 was a faithful recreation of Epic Armageddon for Windows, and I loved it back in the days.

What I really liked about the game was its encyclopedia with computer-generated images of all Imperial and Ork units. I've searched my harddisc and found out that I still have them around - so I thought I could share some:



This, ofcourse, is the Battlewagon, armed with Autocannon. While I don't like the old 40K Battlewagon at all, this one looks pretty cool.



This is Bonebreaka, armed with a Deathroller and a more powerful Battlecannon...



...And this is Bonecruncha, replacing the Battlecannon with twin-linked Autocannons.



Third tank is my personal favourite - Gutrippa, armed with Battlecannon and klaws, a specialty of the Goff clan.



Finally, this is Giblet Grinda, the only Ork super-heavy tank available in the game, armed with five turret-mounted Autocannons and a Deathroller.

While the modern-day Battlewagon certainly looks great, I miss "real" ork tanks like these. The good thing is, it shouldn't be hard to convert a Bonebreaka or Gutrippa out of a Rhino chassis! I'll have to try that one day.

Well, that's all for now, but I can certainly post more of these oldschool images later. So see you soon!

Simple Combi-Plasma Conversion

Hi!

I have been recently working on converting Sternguard Veterans and I needed combi weapons so... I decided to convert some as well. I used a very simple technique and the result looks pretty decent so I decided to share :)

Stuff needed: 1 Bolter, 1 Plasma Pistol, Tools (hobby knife, files, plastic glue)

1) Take a regular bolter and a plasma pistol. Cut off the hand holding the p-pistol.



2) Bolter: Cut off the part marines usually hold in their hand, as seen on the picture below. Be careful when cutting as you may easily damage the clip, which we don't want to remove. Cut off the gun barrel as well, but don't throw it away - we will need it laters!

Plasma pistol: Split the pistol in two parts, as seen in the picture. Basically you want to get rid of the cooler-like looking part and its surrounding area.



3) Again we are going to cut the plasma pistol in half, or what has left of it. This time we need the part with the larger gun-barrel. Ever noticed those little cooling holes on the front of the pistol? You want to cut it in such a way that the piece will have three of these holes on each side - see the picture.



4) File the cutted areas and glue the pieces together. Don't forget on the bolter barrel! Be careful when glueing as any excess glue may damage the detail of the model!

Here's the final result (sorry, I forgot to take a final unpainted picture, but this should be good enough):


Size comparison to the combi-plasma from the commander box:


As you can see, the weapon is pretty compact, so it should work with most of those classical marine poses you can do with the generic marine arms.

Thanks for reading! Comments and criticism is most welcome, as always!

Edit 02/03/2012: If you are interested in more combi-weapons tutorials, here is another one: Simple Combi-Flamer Conversion

Stripping a metal Veteran Captain

Hi there!

I'm thinking about starting up a converted Sternguard Veteran squad - and I realized I have a Veteran Captain model (*1991) lying around; with a new paintjob it could be a worthy addition to the team. Now this is the first model I ever had - my father bought it me more than a dozen years before I actually started collecting - so it's paintjob wasn't that good (I remember we had only few colors at home and didn't know anything about priming:), especially after all those years.


Now I have already tried to correct the paintjob (unfortunately I forgot to take pictures, stupid me) and played him in my only Ultramarines tactical squad, but it seems more logical now to start anew and use him in my Genesis Chapter army - I paint better now, too, so the result should be really worth it!


The only picture of the corrected paintjob I have.

Anyways, onto the stripping. There were actually many layers to strip down - not only the original one (which was actually rather thick), but also the new ones from those corrections.

I used a Nail Polish Remover mixed with water (1:1 solution), old toothbrush and a needle. I soaked the parts in the solution for about a hour, then started brushing it. It didn't remove all the paint, so I repeated the process two times, soaking for 30 minutes only though. If something couldn't get removed with the toothbrush, I carefully used needle instead. I think the result is pretty good:




Looks almost like out of a blister - oh the memories!

As you can see, some of the paint is still there; I'll either repeat the process once again, or play a bit more with the needle. Right now the model is having a nice bath in a warm water with soap, to remove any possible leftovers of super glue in the cloak area.

One final tip: use gloves when working with the Nail Polish Remover. It can quite irritate your skin.

Anyways, back to work. I think I'll exchange the model's backpack for a new one. Since the model will be neither a captain nor a sergeant in the squad, it doesn't really need a cloak, and it will look better too (that old backpack is proportionally pretty different from the new ones). Not to mention how annoying the metal cloak is - it falls off all the time.

As always, any comments are most welcome :)

Warboss Burstahed finished!

The warboss and his retinue proudly proceeded through the battlefield - only to stumble upon a falling back squad of red space marines. The bloodthirsty greenskins quickly assaulted the tactical team with their choppas and power klaws, and the fight has begun.

One nob has turned back though - only to face the four meters high chimera of green muscles and cybork technology, Warboss Burstahed himself. The Warboss laughted maniacally and shot the foolish nob to leg with his kustom shoota; there can be no remorse for the weak.

The eyes of one the marines met with the disturbing gaze of the greenskin leader. The holy warrior aimed his bolt pistol right to the face of the beast - too late, for Warboss Burstahed has already launched his attack. He grabbed the marine around neck with his razor-sharp power klaw and slowly snipped his head off.

And more beakie heads shall fall this day, the boss thought.

Alright, sorry for the badly written fan-fiction above, I guess I'm in that poetical mood again. As indicated above, I finally have my Warboss painted! Kudos to my girlfriend, as she has done a large part of the paintjob. Anyways, to the pictures:



Note that his skin is pretty dark. I like my Orks darker - especially Nobs, and the Warboss should be even darker, right? I might add a bit more highlight later on, though.

You might have also noticed the ponytail. I think it adds a nice piratic touch to him, as a Bad Moon should have.



I love those holstered guns. They have a golden coat, pity it can't be seen well on the picture.



And here is the shoota. I have already tested the Warboss in a small game and I have to say the model rocks. Not only it is already modelled with a power klaw, but it also has a twin-linked shoota, cybork body and hard armour as well! That's a nice setup for a starter-box warboss. I might add an Attack squid laters, if I ever get one.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one! Next to come: Tactical Squad and/or Lootas.

Rhino (nearly) finished!

Hello there!

My Rhino is nearly finished so I thought I'll share some of the pics. Only thing it misses now is the tactical arrow and the Genesis Chapter logo - these I'll finish laters, when I'll have more time (you know, summer - plus I need a pause from the vehicle for now).



Note that the Storm Bolter turret is detachable (as seen in previous post).



As you can see, we (me and my girlfriend, that is) were pretty heavy on the weathering, again. I really like the ancient look it makes.

Here is a picture of the inside:



Well that's all. As always, any feedback is most appreciated!

I have a lot of stuff to finish now; one tactical squad needs just one last soldier; one lootas squad waits for the last man as well; and my AOBR warboss is waiting here for a basing, I think I'll do that as first. So, see you soon!

Rhino WIP: Poorman's Alternative To Magnetizing

Hello there, I'm back from my vacation!

I'm slowly finishing a bunch of units, including a Genesis Chapter Rhino. I thought I could magnetize the turrets so I could swap around HK missiles and Storm Bolters (and do WYSIWYG weapon destroyed results). HK missiles suck though and rare earth magnets are hard to get in my area right now, so I went with a classic Storm Bolter turret instead. Here is a WIP picture of the Rhino:



I didn't fully glow on the Storm Bolter though. There is a sprue glued on inside the Rhino, and the lower side of the SB turret is covered with a double-side duct tape. Therefore it can be easily removed and/or swapped. See:







I might add another Storm Bolter if I'll get the parts, that would be fun. The Rhino is near finished now, just have to do some weathering and it's ready. Uh, except the tactical arrow on top, and the Genesis Chapter symbol. But those will come sooner or later too, I'm sure of that.

Two weeks pause

Hello there!

I have a near-finished Rhino sitting here and a mob of Lootas as well, but they still need some detailing so it would be too soon to post them all. I'm going for a vacation this friday and I'll be there for two weeks, which means I'll remain silent for a while now. Sorry :(

Meanwhile, here's one of the Lootas:



See you in two weeks!

Ork Names Generator!

I'd like to present you a small HTML project I made few weeks ago - an orky names generator.

How to use it:

Simply visit the website www.ergotoxin.webs.com. An orky name will be generated on each visit. If you want a new name, simply refresh the thing!

The purpose of this project is to make it easy to come up with interesting fluffy names for your nobz, warbosses, kommandos or who-ever. You can either use the generated names themselves, or use it as a source of inspiration for your own original name.

Some funny names generated:
Speed Freek Nascarr
Arch-Arsonist Burstahed (I'll definately use this one for my Warboss:)
Natzblasta

There are thousands of names possible. If you will find a bug in the code, or would like to submit some new syllables or titles, just let me know!

Also, I'm thinking of starting up either a Space Marine or Eldar names generator. Hell, even a Tau name generator would be possible, but I might need some help for that. Just let me know if you would welcome any one of these!

Hope you will enjoy this. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like the idea (or any of the ideas I mentioned), or if you would like to share some particularly nice name generated!

Genesis Chapter Dreadnought "Magnus"

I've finished the last details on my Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought and uploaded the pictures. God I love it. In my opinion it is the best model in AOBR; sure, the pose is rather static and the Multi-Melta might not be everyone's choice (though I believe it will work great as a "kan opener"), but all the great details make up for it. Really the only way to distinguish him from "normal" Dreadnoughts is that he has shorter exhaust pipes in the back.

All hail to Magnus, the veteran of the First Tyrannic War:



Magnus is the late latin for "Great". I like to give my marines late (christian) Roman names. After all, the Genesis Chapter adheres to the legacy of Ultramarines, so I believe they have a lot of common with the culture of Ultramar as well. The name "Genesis Chapter" itself has a strong Judeo-Christian connotation too.



I love how he turned out. Main coat used is Mechrite Red, with Blood Red and Boltgun Metal highlights. My girlfriend did a large part in that, she is awesome. There is Shining Gold on the sarcophagus, which is rather uncommon, yet I think it brings a lot of character and makes him look more "gothic".



Back side view. The exhaust pipes look so much better when they are drilled.



Here is the Multi-Melta. That Purity Seal is a neat detail - nice work, GW! Note that I use Mordian Blue for the sealing wax. I know GW uses red seals even on Blood Angels, but that seems like a waste to me, it just loses all the impression like that. Fun fact: blue sealing wax was historically frequently used, as well as yellow, gold, white and green.



And here is the DCCW. I love the way Boltgun Metal came out. When I'll assemble my Rhino, I'll paint in a similar style.



Here's a little detail on the basing - there's a severed Ork arm down there, along with a shattered Choppa!

Any comments are most welcome - I'd love to hear your opinions on the paintjob - after all, it is my first vehicle painted - or on the AOBR Dreadnought itself!