Sanctum Imperialis

Sanctum Imperialis, the place of devotion to the God-Emperor. I have been using this building in games for years, though I only finished its paintjob recently. I have to say I love both the modularity and fine detail of this kit. Building it was simply fun even though I went for the basic look - which, while a bit boring, looks quite impressive. Only annoying thing was cutting the doors out of the large wall section, and gluing them in a proper position later. After few games, I actually removed the open doors completely, as they were just taking place that could be used by units.

I went with a red color scheme - the headcanon behind that is that the building is situated on a Newfound or some other planet controlled by the Genesis Chapter. To make the shrine even more pompous, the statues are painted in Shining Gold. The lamps are painted with Administratum Gray, washed with Nuln Oil and drybrushed with Vallejo White.
  

I didn't pay so much attention to the inner side of the ruin, so the paintjob is much more rushed there. I'm still thinking about the layout of ruined buildings for gaming - is it more useful and practical to have one-level buildings, two-level or even three-level ones? Is it more economical to split the kits into multiple, smaller ruin sections? Let me know what you think.

Genesis Chapter Land Speeder Typhoon (new pics)

Thanks to my friend Vojta, I have some new beautiful pictures of my Land Speeder Typhoon (check link for full article about the model).

 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! They definately remind me how cool the classic Games Workshop designs are.

Genesis Chapter Bike Squad

I had these models finished for quite some time now, only thing left to do was the iconography. Working on these models made me realize how much I enjoy the armored, knightly look of Space Marine machinery.

To build my Bike Squad, I bought the old Ravenwing Battleforce, so these three are just the core of a larger bike squad - in total, it should have six bikes and one attack bike. The squad will be armed with plasma guns so it can reliably engage heavy infantry and light vehicles; I'm still not decided about the Attack Bike weapon, though.

I had fun working on the bases of these models. The base was covered in green stuff (though any putty would probably do); after that, I took the bike wheel and rolled it over the green stuff to leave its track on the ground. Later, I painted the base and added gloss varnish (or should I say, 'Ardcoat) to make it look like wet mud.

I tried to give different feel to each of the bikers. The first one above was more or less a test model; the second one is a sergeant (blue helmet denotes sergeants in the Genesis Chapter), and the third one is actually a homage to Terminator 2 (with a plasmagun instead of shotgun!). Various details from the Ravenwing sprue were added, like the large purity seals and ammo boxes. The rather clumsy flag on sergeant's bike was made out of greenstuff; next time, I'll have to think out something better.

The Pyre Chaos Lord

Finally, my Chaos Lord from the Dark Vengeance is finished - therefore, let me introduce you to the mighty Lord of the Pyre warband, Drachen the Balefire!*

 This was actually my first CSM model I started painting, which was not a good idea; the model is quite dark since I used black primer, while white would be much better option for all the orange and red parts. The model is also quite dark because of quite extensive use of Abbaddon Black with Warplock Bronze on the armour; still, I think it turned out quite well and contrasting.

I was thinking about converting the model a bit, but in the end I decided against it, since it is not only beautiful, but the plasma pistol also fits nicely to the fire-theme of the warband. My favorite part about the model is the sword - which would really deserve better rules than just being a simple Power Sword, but oh well. I tried to make a "hot" red glowing effect to its edge. Similar technique (though with much more drybrushing) was applied to the Plasma Pistol's coil.

The backpack is just another great detail about this model - one can only wish that one day, we will see ordinary Chaos Space Marines kit of this quality and style without going over the top. Unfortunately, I was taking the pictures with a weak flash and the red color made a glossy effect - luckily enough, this is not present on the real model.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the article! As always, comments and criticism are most welcome.

* In case anyone wonders, I just made the name up while writing this article.

Pillbox made out of a CD and yoghurt!

Just a quick update showing one very simple terrain piece - a pillbox bunker made out of a yoghurt cup!

The whole thing was made by taking an old CD covered with a paper, onto which the yoghurt cup was, surprisingly, glued upside-down. Basing was done on top of the "bunker" to give it a more natural feel, and craft putty together with deco stones were used to make the rough terrain around it. Small sheets of plasticard (though paper could have been probably used) were glued and pinned to the cup to make window and doors. Finally, it was painted.

 

The result is a pretty nice, though small line-of-sight blocking terrain usable as a building for small squads. I was thinking about adding some freehand or decal identification numbers on the side, or perhaps even an aquila... Though I haven't decided in the end and moved onto other projects. I'm still thinking about making more of these and perhaps adding some larger terrain pieces (barricades, fortifications or even trenches) to make a larger warzone terrain set. Hmm... I'll better start stocking the yoghurt cups.

Alaitoc War Walker

After almost half an year, I finally returned back home - and now I'm almost drowning in paint and getting lost in the labyrinth of model boxes everywhere around me! In this quick update, I would like to share some pictures of my first painted War Walker.

Again, this was the first time I applied the marble color scheme to something this big - and I'm pleased with the result. I tried to make a good mixture between light blue, blue marble and yellow to make the model well-defined and visible. The protecting glass was washed with blue ink and covered with Ardcoat (gloss varnish), which gave a rather nice effect in the end. 

The model is armed with a rather universal configuration - Scatter Laser and Eldar Missile Launcher. I already had a small testing game againstTyranids and it definately got its points back - can't wait to assemble more of these!

What I really love about this kit is the Eldar Dreadnought Base - some really nice details there! I had fun covering the base with a layer of swamp-like mud and grass, using Stirland Mud for the texture. I guess I will need to experiment bit more with the other War Walker bases, though, to make them look more different.

Anyways, see you soon! Getting back to The Pyre now...

The Pyre Berzerker (Test Model)

These holidays, the Chaos Gods blessed me with a squad of Khorne Berzerkers - a very pleasant surprise to me, as the warband I started working on, The Pyre, is dedicated to Chaos Undivided. While The Pyre is flame-themed warband, I'm sure a squad of Berzerkers will find their place in the force - especially since the orange/black color scheme of The Pyre goes very well with Khorne. 

Above is a test model of The Pyre color scheme - the armour is Troll Slayer Orange, the trims are painted with a mix of Abbadon Black and Warplock Bronze, weapons and armour details are Brass Scorpion. The orange was coated with Carroburg Crimson and the rest with Nuln Oil. For primer, I have used Vallejo White Primer. The skull helm was painted with Brass Scorpion, because, to be honest, I can't stand the usual look it has - but with a metallic color it really goes from a comical look to an intimidating one.

 The ashes on ground were done in the same way I did them on the Dark Vengeance Cultists - painting the debris with XV-88, washing it with Nuln Oil and then drybrushing with Abbadon Black, Administratum Grey and Ceramite White. Altogether, I am very satisfied with the resulting result and think the squad will look good when finished. One thing I have to think about now is how to paint the warband's symbol (which is actually unknown). I was thinking of a flaming skull.

Anyway, hope you like the color scheme as well! Ow, and happy new year 2015! Lastly, I would like to thank my dear Bookie for taking the pictures while I'm away from home!