All posts filed under: 40k

Mentor Legion Librarius WIP

Published by Joe B

So life is getting back to the new normal again, started a new job, our house sale has closed, and we can start looking for a house to buy. In the mean time I took the inspiration left in my last update post and started building out a Librarius from the new Space Marine codex. I already converted the Librarian from the Dark Vengeance kit, and while I considered buying the new models from GW, IÂ decided that it would be much more enjoyable to hack together my own from bits on hand. First up was the Dark Angels Company Master,Â Balthasar in his striking robes and huge sword. Fairly straight forward on this guy as I just removed the DA insignia from the robes and gauntlets, replaced his head, and added a Psychic Hood from the archives of From the Warp. The head is from the Centurion kit but couldn’t tell you where the back ordainment came from. Librarian number two was originally the Ultramarine captain from the Assault on Black Reach set. I didn’t like …

Tyranid Hormagaunts of Hive Fleet Behemoth

Published by Joe B

After finishing the Warriors brood, I realized that I didn’t have any pictures of the Tyranid Hormagaunts that so feverishly leap forward into the enemy. Obviously this isn’t run as a single brood, but rather two smaller ones, but I just lumped them together for the pictures. The actual models make up a combination of an old army box and a pile of sprues that I had given my brother in law. He then mashed up as many bodies and arms as he could assemble from the old bits so some of theÂ Hormagaunts are actual Termigant bodies or Genestealer arms. The difficulty with the leaping forward nature of the TyranidÂ Hormagaunts is that they tend to tip over at the slightest breeze. To prevent this as much as possible, we glued down layers of washer both under the base as well as on the top of some of them. The ones on top then got covered with thick layers of sand to hide them. Overall this made the models much more stable. You may have noticed …

Talos Conversion by NafNaf on Objective Secured

Good Reads 2015 W28

Published by Joe B

And I’m back! Well at least enough to pull a Good Reads together for you. Life is still a bit crazy, but I have three interviews lined up this week and two offers already in hand, so the next job thing is looking good. Now onto some Good Reads! Some of these are a few weeks back, just working through some back log! I’ve only recently started following Kraut Scientist, but man he has some inspirational kit bashes. Seeing as the Iron Warriors were my first 40k army back in 3rd edition, I couldn’t help but love Kraut’s take on a small kill team. His posts are also epic stories of his thoughts, work in progress, and finally some painted minis. With the improvements in cameras, digital editing software, and light-boxes we are able to see our minis in very high detail – much more detail than with our own eyes. This inspired Adam over on Sprue Grey to write a post on his struggles and breakthroughs on painting viewed by the camera. He gets …

Traitor Guard Veteran Squad

Published by Joe B

Next up in my picture re-take experience is my Traitor Guard Veteran Squad. I really wanted to make these guys stand out a bit from the standard traitors so I added a number of extra bits, conversions, and mutations to the group. The bits includes an array of parts from the Cadian and Catachan Imperial Guard kits, the ever wonderful Flagellant kit, and Chaos Marauders. I also used a good deal of Green Stuff to add mutations including a complete new arm to hold one of the Catachan blades. Some of the conversions were subtle, such as the extra tentacle on the first snipers trigger finger while others were a bit crazier, such as the eye-stalk head. Ever squad of note needs a fancy banner to guide them and encourage the troops. While not a real upgrade for veteran squads, it looks so darn cool I had to find a place for it somewhere. His sword army I actually think comes from the Zombie box, so now I’m up to 5 product lines. For the …

Iron Warriors Land Raider

Published by Joe B

For today’s showcase, I present my Iron Warriors Land Raider. A classic for any powered armored army, the Land Raider is beast of a tank considering its age in comparison to many of the other amazing Games Workshop kits. I finished this model over six years ago now but wanted to post updated pictures since I have improved my photography skills over the years. Considering the number of engagements this guy has gone through, he is in remarkable shape with only a couple of the spikey bits breaking off. Its also fun to look back on some of our older models and see where we have improved, but also where we may have lost some things. For example, the weathering on the tracks is a mess compared to some of my recent models, but the hazard stripes on the lascannons are in a place I would be timid about placing now. This was also the time that I actually painted in the inside of the tanks – for what ever reason. To achieve this I …

Tutorial: Painting Custom Space Marine Banner for Mentor Legion

Published by Joe B

Today I have a tutorial onÂ painting custom Space Marine banner, in this case for my Mentor Legion but the ideas could be easily transferred to any Space Marine chapter. Before beginning, I had to first think of a design for the banner itself. I scoured the codex for ideas and did the obligatory google searches. The general idea I decided on was similar to the Raven Guard banner in the codex: I also found a handy PDF on Bell of Lost Souls (I know…) that had real basic banner designs for each company. So with a rough idea of what I wanted, I then dug through my pile of water transfers to find the starting point of each element. Water transfers? Yeah, I am still working on my freehand so I like to use water transfers as the base idea and work off of them, kind of like coloring books 🙂 Like these sort of tutorials? Make sure to sign up for my newsletter. Not only will it keep you up to date on Broken …

Mentor Legion Company Command Squad for the Second Company

Published by Joe B

I have completed my Mentor Legion Company Command Squad led by the Master of the Watch, CaptainÂ Rothn Ryn. At one point Games Workshop released a four-pack of the ‘masters,’ four metal space marine captains that created an Apocalypse formation (before the current formation styles). This is the Captain of the Second Company, the Master of the Watch with subtle conversions such as the helmeted head and winged skull on the backpack. The Master of the Watch is responsible for the protection of the Fortress MonasteryÂ and the chapter’s relics. As such he is armed for defense with his storm shield and symbolic key to the keep. There is just something about Space Marines with capes. One of the cool things about the Mentor Legion is their vague background and history of working with other chapters. So when I was reading through the Space Marine codex for ideas on how to build out my chapter, I liked the idea of using the different chapter characters as baselines for each captain. Being armed with a storm shield and …

Tutorial: How to Paint A Broodlord from Hive Fleet Behemoth

Published by Joe B

So after a good reception of my tutorial on painting a Hive Fleet Behemoth Carnifex, I’ve put together how I painted the Broodlord from the Shield of Baal box. My goal with these tutorials is two fold: first to document how I painted the model so I can repeat it for additional units in the army, and second, is to give back to the community. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers that I want to contribute my little piece to the greater whole. So if you are looking to paint up a Behemoth swarm, or just looking for ideas/inspiration for your own army, check out the steps below and see how straight forward it is to paint a decentÂ looking army. Broodlord Step 1 – Primer The first step I have been doing with all my models is a two-stage primer. First I give it a nice coating of black followed by an top over-spray of white. The black undercoat provides a first level of shadows, any time I have tried to prime just …

25mm to 32mm Conversion Ring Review

Published by Joe B

With Games Works change to Space Marine base sizes, I bought a set of Secret Weapon Miniatures 32mm Conversion Ring set to try out. I really like the end result, but the process was a bit of a pain so I figured it might be worth a tutorial post. As with any molded product it is first important to clean off any flash. The rings had a few sections of longer flash like the picture below, but overall were well done. The main area that needed trimming was the bottom edge of each piece so it didn’t interfere with the original base. Next up, I needed to drill out the hole a bit larger as it didn’t seem to be molded deep enough. I found a drill bit that fit within the hole and then used the xacto knife to round out the front edge. The big issue I had with the 32mm conversion rings are that they didn’t fit tightly against the base. To tighten it down a bit I sliced off a small …

Mentor Legion Command Squad WIP

Published by Joe B

I normally don’t like posting work in progress shots as the in between steps can be a bit embarrassing for me. After watching prodigious posters such as Moridan7th or Greggles share every step, it made me more confident to go ahead with my own. So after unpacking the first project I threw my self into was finally working on my Mentor Legion Command Squad. I built these guys up a few years back to leadÂ my ‘side project’ of Mentors into a full blown company. Step One – Primer The models were primed black with white over spray. I have found this to be the best balance between creating deep shadows and being able to paint lighter colors. Step Two – Base Colors Next up all the base colors were blocked in. I like the block-in, wash, highlight steps as they help me see where the model is going and provide nice incentive to finish the model once the wash is in place. The colors I used for each block: Green: Caliban Green White: Pallid Wych …

Tyranid Broodlord of Hive Fleet Behemoth

Published by Joe B

So one of the main selling points of Games Workshop’s limited edition Deathstorm box set was the special edition Broodlord. Much like the one in the Space Hulk box, this guy is huge and way cooler looking than the old metal model. He is painted up for Hive Fleet Behemoth to go along with the other monsters from beyond the stars on my shelf. I think the dark red skin gives him a kind of bloody rage which is in contrast to the cool blues of his carapace. The base was one of the first of the new, smaller oval bases that GW put out to mess with all of us, but I like it. It fits the model much better than trying to fit it on a 40mm circle base and helps emphasis his movement forward in a way. Another cool aspect of this Broodlord is the Tyranid Spire he is leaping off of. Not only does it give this impressively huge genestealer more height but it adds more to the story of the …

Traitor Guard Command Company

Published by Joe B

At the very twisted heart of the Traitor Guard is the Command Company. From here the villainous orders can be issued forth and enemy armies sundered. — lets get real here, the IG Command Company squad is an extremely fragile piece of work, they usually ride around in their Chimera issuing orders and avoiding getting shot, but they look darn cool doing it. To keep the ride moving, and because who doesn’t like AdMech we have Dark Mechanicus Tech Priest joining the team. Whats great about the Ad Mech guys is that they already look really sinister, so just adding a simple chaos star servo skull was all that was needed. I added some object source lighting on both his front facing lamp and the glowing energy source on his back. Another sinister looking model with very little work needed was this Inquisitor model turned company commander. In fact they only thing I did was remove the [==|==] from his chest. Clearly he isn’t a very good what-you-see model, as the IG can’t just upgrade …