How to Strip Paint from Plastic Models

What? A product review on Raptor's blog? What's going on? Is he bribed, brainwashed, or did he just not open the door in the workshop? None of the above. I actually found an amazing product for removing paint from plastic minis, and I felt the need to share.

It's called 'Krud Kutter Graffiti Remover.' If you're like me, you might be a bit...frugal. (Or just a cheap bum. Also good, right? I like honesty sometimes.) Now, metal models are a pain in the butt in terms of customization (and often pinning, for that matter) but it is very easy to remove the paint from them. It involves a glass you'll never drink out of again, and some acetone.

In fairness, if you're willing to take time and be both patient and quick, you can dunk plastic models in acetone and scrub them real quick, but this is sometimes known as Asking For Trouble, for if you're too long the plastic gets infirm.

Now, the the directions say to spray the surface and let it sit, but I found it more useful to simply pour some of the Krud Kutter out (...man, I feel like an ork when I type it out...) and cut it with a little water to make it go further. It's safe to soak plastic stuff in overnight, though it probably works faster. Afterwards, attack it with the good ol' toothbrush. You might need to soak it twice, but no more, and it works a WHOLE LOT FASTER than the standby of Simple Green.

The only downside? It is a little more expensive than Simple Green, but I believe you can get more actual WORK out of the Krud Kutter (WAARGH!) per unit volume (since the paint softens up, but doesn't necessarily flake off and darken/pollute the solution like I've had with Simple Green).

Anyways, that's your quarterly painting advice from the Raptor. Enjoy.

Also, it doesn't have NEARLY the distinct smell that Simple Green does.

Painted Tyrannofex

So, I finished painting this monstrous, walking gun-beast thing. I've constructed a white backdrop for pictures, and attempted to locate a better camera than the one I've sort of been given. (There was a reason it was a 'gift'...)

Enjoy. The thing was fun to convert, though my paint scheme came out a bit bluer than I'd thought, but I kinda like it. at any rate, I don't feel like stripping this one and 20 Termagants.

Humor and WiP

MY TOOTHBRUSH!
This is a slight crop, so pardon the quality. However, I had to share what happened when I was trying to remove the arms. I put the toothbrush in there, applied a little lever action to remove his other arm, heard a snap...I worried about the model, and realized my toothbrush was too short. Oh, well. I mean, we've all broken things and hurt ourselves doing modelling stuff, but this was just too funny. And yes, this is the pose it happened in.

Here's a WIP shot of my paint scheme. The fleshy bits are generally done, and the carapaces are in progress. The detailed bits will be in green (IE: tyrannofex tongue, maybe claws here and there). The weapons will be the squad markers, since you can apparently get away with making the bioweapons somewhat different than the rest of them.

Finally, I started on the first hive tyrant. Nothing fancy; just magnetized arms and the good ol' dragon wings. It needs a little green stuff work, and I think I'm going to go with an urban theme for the bases to match the scheme.

Coming Up in Modeling

15 Gargs completed and to be painted this month.

6-9 Hive Guard to be converted/painted from warriors.

Coming Up in Gaming/Tactics/Reviews/Etc.

Thoughts on the Parastie of Mortrex

Brainstorms on HQs

Tyrannofex Conversion, Complete

And lo, I have completed my Tyrannofex conversion from a carnifex kit. I strayed only a little, and that involved using Genestealer scything talons (...because who runs those on stealers?) and a couple random carapace plates. Anyway, here we go.
Imposing? I like to think so. Rupture Cannon, cluster spines, and in lieu of building a generally-unnoticeable torso swarm, I decided I'd let the bio-plasma head represent the thorax swarm. I mean, come on, it's close enough to a breath weapon, right? Besides, I like the mental image of the tyrannofex yawning wide and vomiting forth a wave of bugs.

Who says you have to have a feeding tub attached to the gun? It always seemed a little odd to have the gun STUCK like that. So, I gave him a hand. A big one. So it can ozzie osbourne someone in melee. I mean, come on, big mouth, hand, human-sized things about to scale. You get the idea.

Just for sake of completeness, a shot from behind. I have since added some of the thornback bits to cover that ugly seam on the back.

And, from the other side. If you see a little bit of green on the forward legs, it'sbecause I cut and re-aligned the shoulder a little bit. My second Tyrannofex has come along much faster, and were you to use this process I would highly suggest fixing the gun up first, and then making sure that the crushing claw limb conversions can be properly posed.

Now, please forgive the flash, but the picture came out well enough. This is one of the monstrous-creature sized scything talons. Chop the talon off at the wrist. Then, based on the gun's pose, I cut the elbow joint (and removed the pointy elbow bit, since it would get in the way) and put a teeny bit of sprue in there just to brace it. It was later green-stuffed, and if you look close at the crab-limb conversions you can see where I did the chopping and rotating.

The scything talon lost the 'thumb', and I eyeballed the cut on the talon itself after gluing the upper limb into place. I actually glued the tip of the talon to the rupture cannon, and after that set the genestealer talons got glued on.

I have a little GS stuff to do here and there, and may yet bulk up the gun-bracing forelimb just so it doesn't look blatantly like a cut-up scything talon, but the conversion is about 95% complete.

For the previous steps, see:

Tyrannofex Phase 2

Tyrannofex Phase 1

All things considered, this was not a terribly difficult conversion. As some have remarked, GSing organic stuff is a whole lot more forgiving than mechanical crap. All you need to pull it off is some water, patience, and my preference? Dental hygiene tools, and you can get those in the pharmacy/personal care section of your grocery store.

Tyrannofex WIP 2

Busy week, but I found time for some modeling. I've also committed to the HAAWGS painting initiative, and the Tyrannofex is on the menu. I also picked up the remaining Carnifex kits I need for the Tervigons and Carnifexes. Anyway, the Rupture Cannon is a two-stage weapon, so I went about cobbling together an over-and-under weapon out of Carnifex weaponry.

Here, you see the ingredients, step one, and the end result: you will need the Stranglethorn Cannon, and the MC Deathspitters. Not like anyone would USE those, right? Right. Cut the cannon part off the Stranglethorn, and trim the lower feed tube and the top of the barrel. You want the part you chop off the gun to look like the part that comes from the sprue. (This would make more sense if you look at the MC gun sprue)
Next, you cut the bottom of the deathspitter off, file it flat, line them up and glue them together.

Once the double-deathspitter dries, we add the stranglethorn bits one after the other.

Glue to the arm again, add green stuff, and bam. Done.

At this point, all I have left to do is add the head, pose, and assemble them. Then, there's figuring out what to do for the other arm. I'm leaning towards making it a supporting arm, and just running the ammo tube alongside it.

Also, for the head, I'm going with the bioplasma head. Rather than building a thorax weapon, I think I'm going to just call it a breath weapon.

Pending Tyranid Projects

In other tyranid news, assembling termagants and hormagaunts is time-consuming, but that's not a huge surprise. The next conversions will be Warriors into Hive Guard, and then Carnifex kits into Tervigons. Eventually, I'll do something for mycetic spores, if/when I decide I want them. I'll be magnetizing a Hive Tyrant as well, and likely his Hive Guard so I can swap between shooty walking tyrant, winged melee wrecking ball (Hey, let's give Preferred enemy to 50 gargoyles. It'll be fun!) and the Swarmlord (...so, y'know, I can crank out a stupid number of instant-death power weapon attacks on the charge. It will be win. You will see.)

Other Projects

The Green Templar are almost done as an army. I have five initiates to finish basing (which is to say a paint, a wash, and a paint) and five to add colors to. Then, there'll be a family shot. Then, well, it'll be on to painting the bugs.

Tyrannofex Conversion, WIP 1

The Tyranid codex has a fair few critters without models; IE the Harpy, the Tervigon, and the Tyrannofex. While I've seen some debate on the Tyrannofex (though Haihastur brings up some things I'd worried about in the comments, and I welcome the opposing viewpoint. I kinda hope I"m not building something I'm going to shelve 'ere long...). So, I set out with the goal of making a Tyrannofex out of the Carnifex kit, and it's a swell kit, lemme tell you. A pity they kinda neutered the 'fex in the 'dex, but what do you do?


My initial vision is something like a larger Hive Guard. Four limbs, and then the gun arms. I'm pondering an over-and-under kind of weapon, since the Rupture Cannon is apparently a two-stage weapon (first the tick that pops and coats the target with jell, then the second shot that detonates it). But, first, we have to have the bracing arms.
This is step one of the process. They're kind enough to give me three carapace-tops for the 'fex. I used the one with the little pointy spines (since I'll be giving the Tyrannofex Cluster Spines without fail), and butchered the smooth one and the spore cyst one.

And now, a use for the crushing claws. I mean, it's not like we'd equip the carnifex with them. You can see on the right where it's a pretty clean cut between the claw and the wrist, and then chop the lower claw off. Then, it's a matter of glue and patience.

And now, the finished forelimbs. In lieu of using green stuff all the way through, I build it up with layers of hot glue. Hey, it's a lot cheaper than greenstuff, and sets faster. Then, it's two layers of green stuff; one for the details on the side, and a seperate application of the scale-top bits.

And now, a showcase of my terrible photography. I took a few shots of the modifications to the torso and waist. In order to make the thing taller, I severed the 'fex waist/tail, and reversed it. Instead of having a hunched S-curve to it, the model stands a little taller. Note that you'll have to remove some bits to make the torso fit.

The Grey Knight has graciously volunteered to hold up the curing torso/leg joint. I intend to offer updates as I work, and better pictures than the last one. Had to get the girlfriend to take the completed forelimb pics; I was just having a case of the Fail there.

Terminator Project, Tau Pictures

The next part of the 'Flow' series will be up in time. Right now, it's one exam down and out, and another one in the pipes next week. In lieu of a writing update, you get pictures.
Here is Squad 5 of the Green Templar. The capes are scratch-cast, the tabards are all GS'ed, and the shoulders are inspired by Ron's pre-heresy shoulder pads. The burst cannon credit goes to Stelek, and the fact I have a Tau army. The green streaks on the paint job were inspired by this fellow. I'm not entirely sure that the streaks are visible in the picture, but ah well.

Speaking of the Tau, here's the last squad of Crisis Suits. I got a paycheck, and promptly blew some on the Greater Good.

Finally, here are the Piranhas. I've modified them to have the Multi-Tracker (the one on the right) and the Disruption Pod (one on the left). Mmm, scanners and ECM.

I am reasonably satisfied with how they all came out.

Shout Out, On Updates

First off, the Flow series is going to continue. I was experimenting with just doing some jpegs for illustrations, but I think it will work better with just some top-down pictures and photoshopping some lines in.

My aim is to have one of 'em up tomorrow, as a 'reward' for finishing some studying on exams. Mmm, exams.

Tau Shout Out
Well, there aren't a lot of Tau blogs out there, to be honest. We're a little bit of an off codex, and I'd like to highlight a few of them I'm a fan of.

Incunablog touches on a lot of Forge World stuff. However, he's also got an interesting writeup on Pathfinders, among other things. I'd be following him, but I can't find the button. It could just be my blog-failing skills in action.

Old Shatter Hands runs the Tau of War. There's usually some interesting tactical discussion going on. It's worth a look. I also might have borrowed the creative use of powerfists as crisis suits hands.

Adam's Warhammer Tau is also fairly solid. You'll find good batreps, and some interesting battlesuit conversions as well. Bloody sharp modeling and painting, that.

Just Plain Cool
This guy just started up, but he's putting Space Marines on Dinosaurs. Yes, space marines on dinosaurs. He's doing them as a vanilla 'dex counts-as White Scars army. The blog's not very far along, but so far it looks pretty good.

Modeling Question
For all you folks out there...a question.

I'm looking into finding about 20 guys with pistols and close combat weapons. So, my question to you, my intrepid readers...what are good kits to get them from?

Khorne Berserkers will need some filing and maybe new shoulder pads, but they're certainly an option. Do they have enough heads for me to avoid using a possessified one, though?

I'm told Chaos Space Marines have almost enough pistols and close combat weapons to get the trick done. A little bit of filing, maybe some creative use of GS to get around some icons...anyone think it could work? I am fond of the older-model backpacks with the wide-spread exhaust vents.

The Space Wolf kit...can I avoid using a bare head, and how bad are all the runes and such? And, do I have enough arms to do pistols/CCWs?

Summary
Go check these guys out. Good stuff if you're Tau, and I'm hoping Hell On Dinosaurs works out.

That aside, I am making some progress on the terminator painting; squad five of terminators is almost complete. I'm probably going to go with the Grey Knights so I can get the hood and Lascannon Number Five in there. Why? Because it's cool, that's freakin' why.

That would then put me to...Eldar, Tau, and Black Templar. I'm asking myself if I really want/need a fourth army, as I'm feeling the temptation every now and then. The Eldar, at the least, want a real Harlequin squad. The BT want their pistol/chainsword grunts.

I'm also pondering completing the Daemon Cav list, since...well, it looks neat? And it'd be cheap. I am, though, sort of tempted to do a hobby CSM list. I've seen some cool-looking Abbadon mods like this one.

The Magical, Magical Power of Counts-As

Rest assured serious readers that I am working on more tactical-minded stuff; I've got some thoughts of strategy-type articles rattling around my dome. On the other hand, I have a midterm tomorrow, just started work today, and had to cover for an idiot group member and crank out a section of a research paper because someone can't be bothered to read directions or study facts.

So.

That aside, I'd like to discuss modelling.

Namely, GW has some funky ideas about what we, the consumer, might actually buy. The short and simple case?

Thunderwolves
I've already discussed some options for T-wolves, but it's fuelled even more by hearing that Canis Wolfborn is molded to his wolf. Note well that Canis is ALSO metal, so he's a $41.25 bugger.

Seriously, GW has 'til they FAQ the SW 'dex and maybe a little more time to either get out an affordable option (...people probably would pay $30 for two plastic ones, but I think that's still price-gouging because it's like bikes) or people will get lower-cost options.

Bikes in General
$15 a unit. Space Marines can do an all-biker army. I think at 2000 it's legit to say that such an army could readily deploy about 20-30 bikers. $15 a head...oh, and let's not forget that 3-4 of these are probably attack bikes, at $25 a head.

There's also a secondary reason people might consider Cold One Riders for Eldar jetbikes/Seer Councils: $25 for 5 guys. Or, you can drop $15 a head. Do some math. Or, don't, and get the Elves On Dinosaurs. (EVERYTHING IS COOLER ON DINOSAURS. YOU HAVE MY WORD ON IT.)

Eldar tend to call it the 'Exodite' faction, or the 'I don't live on a Craftworld' guys.

And then...DAEMONS!
The Daemon army, though, is by far the greatest offender (and candidate for counts-as). For me, it's things like Fiends and Flesh Hounds. I'm looking at 18 fiends in an army.

Fiends are $20. $20*18 = $360.

Flesh Hounds are 5 in a box for $41.25, and $20 for Karanak. I want to run 36 flesh hounds, including Karanak.

(5*41.25) + 20 = $226.52

So, for my elites and fast attack, I'm dropping $586.25, and if I think in terms of an 8% sales tax, that's $633.15*

Or, maybe I'm going to use the Vampire Count undead hounds + bits for my Fiends (2 boxes at $22) and Beasts of Chaos for my flesh hounds (4 boxes at $22) for $132, or $142.56. Go GF9 for the 40mm bases for the Fiends, and it's still not a lot.

So, who wants to build 52 metal models?
Who wants to build/convert 52 plastic ones?

About what I thought.

Conclusion
To be honest, part of this IS about the modelling. Honestly, I hate building multi-part metal models, and I think the metal Fiend of Slaanesh is pretty 'bleh', to put it lightly. I don't mind the Flesh Hounds so much beyond their price, and the fact they're still multi-part metal models.

The other part is, unabashedly, cost. This is not a cheap hobby by any means (after you factor in that your models take paint and carrying cases, both of which cost) and part of what hurts new entry is the sheer freakin' cost to enter.

Honestly, GW? Please, make it cheaper to enter. We need new blood, and this new blood doesn't need to hear that sometimes, your new army DID cost more than your first car.**

*If you want to make it worse, add in 25 plaguebearers for $118.80, then figure that chariots are something like $20 and you're running four of them, so that's another $85 easily. So, army total is actually something like $836.95. I'm pretty sure there's a house payment and a kegger hidden in there somewhere.

**Or a car.

Note also I add in tax this time around just because the amounts are getting large. There's not a real big deal with tax when you're dropping like $35-40 on a boxed set; it's a couple bucks. It just starts adding up once you reach the few hundreds.

Eldar Army Pictures: Seer Council, et al

I've been meaning to take some pictures of what I've done recently for the Eldar, so here we go.

Princess Yriel/Jain Zar?

This model started life as a Howling Banshee exarch. Then, I decided I'd convert it to Prince(ess) Yriel, so I added a cloak (out of the likely-to-never-happen-Deathwing-Project) and some tabard bits on the front. Recently, though, I've been using it as a stand-in for Jain Zar, who's kind of fun when hidden in a unit of Harlequins.

Fire Dragons

These guys languished in 'chipped paint city' for some time. I obviously neglected to clear-coat them enough, so I stripped them and re-painted them. I also did the bases a bit different; there's Green Stuff AND flocking for texture. Additionally, I finally converted up some flamer-wielding Exarchs. Hey, I had 12 Dragons; I think I can get away with usually running 5.

Seer Council Farseer

She gets the standout bike in purple. The iconography on the bike is indeed hand-sculpted GS lovin'. I'm reasonably proud about how it came out. She is, of course, a Banshee Exarch, though that's a DA Exarch arm with shimmershield on the other side. I picked it because it looked like she was either yelling at her coed Seer Council to do better, or Dooming someone in a booming voice.

Seer Council Group Shot

This give syou a better idea of the composition. The runes on the front are actually coded; the first four are my Destructor 'locks, and the back group from left to right: Schmucklock x2, Enhance Lock, Embolden Lock. I'm pretty happy with how the color composition came out.

Oddball Warlocks

These are the three men in the group. The guy on the left is Schmucklock par excellence; he forgot a helmet so his pose is either getting shot in the face or calling someone out. Middle guy's brought to you buy the actual Jetbiker part, and he too is a schmucklock. He just kind of sticks out. Guy on the right is built out of DA parts. I actually like his pose; it looks a little bit cooler than the rest. I mean, he's Embolden Lock, he's SUPPOSED to be level-headed, right? Right.

Some Female Dire Avengers

Can you guess which one of these I got sculpted as female? If you said 'everyone but second from the left' then you would be correct. I believe the guy took molds of the Banshee exarch, Jain Zar, and maybe the odd female Guardian as models. His original theme was going to be the Sisterhood of Twilight.

The wash-tastic paint job, though, is all me.

Other Bits
I tried out Stelek's Competitive Daemons list. For me at 1850, it was:
4 Slaanesh Heralds (Might, Soporofic Musk, Charoit)
3x6 Fiends of Slaanesh
5x5 Plaguebearers
3x12 Flesh Hounds (each squad w/ Rending, one w/ Karanak)

Despite bad deep strike rolls, it was abjectly nasty. I also kind of underestimated how durable a Slaaneshi herald was, so some of them died less-than-glorious deaths. Still, all that S5 is enough to beat down some armor. I had a brutal tie in VP to one of my disciples of spite, though it was also his first time with mech guard. I think I might drop the $110 or so I need to actually complete that Daemon army, and then think about wolves.

Potential Thunderwolf Mount Options, et al

I've been brainstorming how I wawnt to do my potential Wolf army. The thunderwolves are, so far, the biggest issue: I'm not dropping $41.25 a head for a bunch of Canis Wolfborn models, or a bunch of Juggernauts/Bloodcrushers.

I'd like to direct you all to the Warhammer Bitz section of the GW site.

Mounts look like decent deals on the bitz. Options include:
-Boars
-Wolves
-A bunch of types of horses
-Unicorn
-Carnosaur

The horses and wolves are $15 for 5. If you like the sculpts, it's a decent enough deal.

If you're looking for storm shields, the shields section of said site is certainly worth a look for interesting options. While it's totally unrelated to wolves, the wings section there is pretty damn cool.

There's the Beasts of Chaos, at $22 for 10.
Vampire Count Dire Wolves are also $22 for 10, but a bit more beat-up looking.

Marines on Dinosaurs
I am vaguely tempted to use Cold One cav and put marines on dinosaurs. I think I could get a neat scaly them going with some Alpha Legion shoulder pads, some Dark Elf Corsair capes, and some Lizardmen shields for the odd storm shield. $70 would get me more than enough dino-horses, and the capes are about a buck a piece. Not bad, all in all. I might end up rolling with that.

I'd consider the dark elf Cold One riders, 'cept it's a dainty little thing and I'm not sure marines would fit on it. I'd go Carnosaurs, except they're $35 a head or so.

EDIT: I might have to convert up at least one Unicorn Cavalary. Just because. Then again, it's a mutant horse, and mutants are bad, so...yeah.

I think I'm probably going to roll with the Dinosaur theme, and go with the Alpha Legion pads and DE Corsair capes on the footsloggers. Not quite sold on, y'know, capes on a horse. Then again, Marines might.

I mean, it's marines on dinosaurs, and it's pretty much in the name. Raptor1313? Army of Raptors? Just maybe.

Crisis Suit Commander WIP, Mystery Sprue

And after a little bit of quiet, I offer proof that I have not been idle. This is the slightly WIP version of my Fire-Caste Commander. As you can see, it's a fairly heavy conversion, and, well, pretty sizeable as well. When he's finished, I'll post him alongside a regular Crisis Suit so everyone can get an idea of the size difference.

I actually have a list of inspirations for this one. The folks over at Advanced Tau Tactica have some amazing conversions up. Go check it out. For the Armored Core fans, I have to cite Noblesse Oblige and the Aaliyah chassis for the head.

The legs come from a Mechwarior Age of Destruction Nova Cat. I think it ends up looking like a heavier version of the leg that the rest of my conversions will have.

The hands, of course, were inspired by the conversion of Old Shatterhands. Knife + green stuff + powerfists + sanding = big hands for a Crisis Suit. The torso's bulked up with some flamer fuel tanks, and some marine thigh pouches on the top. There's a liberal application of green stuff and some sanding to make the chest look panelled. The side thrusters (the far outside) are taken from the back of a Mechwarrior AOD Phoenix Hawk. The extra wing-bits on those are from the Mystery Sprue.

Anyone have a clue just what this sprue is and where it came from? I'm seeing Imperial, Chaos, Tau and Eldar bits on this thing. I can't think of where I got it. I think it came in the triple-Falcon boxed set, or some such.

Crisis Suit Team 1, Finished

Here is is, the first Crisis Suit team converted up and completed. I'm pretty satisfied with how they came out, all in all.

The only real conversions are the legs and thrusters, and those aren't too huge. Cut plasticard tube, add extra joint. The thrusters involved measuring a bit of rectangular plasticard tubing, and angling it correctly. All in all, the toughest part was getting the legs to set, look right, and line up. Hence, some of the guys sitting on plasticard strips which were then glued to the base. But, hey, the result's a dynamic pose, isn't it? So it's worth it, in my opinion.

The missile racks are stacked plasticard tubing, in part because I like the triangle a bit more for an arm mount and in part because of the potential scarcity of those. The plasma rifles are the stock plasma rifles, largely because I think those look plenty Tau. Looking back at it, I think I have to claim inspiration from the ESWAT/Ghost in the Shell armed suit for the legs.

Kroot Squads

Another painted update? Wow. I must be feeling ambitious. These are my Kroot squads.

The squads are differentiated by...hair color. It's not like Kroot actually have that many ways to distinguish themselves as squads, so here we go. There are a grand total of 34 kroot here. Yay, meat shields!

You might notice a difference between the guys on the left, and the guys on the right. The ones on the left are my counts-as Kroot Hounds. They're simply Kroot that have fed on predators and developed a taste for stabbing the crap out of whatever they can really, really fast. The kroot on the right are the more garden-variety kroot that are fine whacking things with kroot rifles, or using the boom-stick portion. What matters to them is that they eat.

Both squads are 17 strong. This means you have to kill 5 of them to force a morale check, which should be reasonably difficult. Most of the time, anyway. We'll see, though. I'm reasonably pleased with how they came out, and I think the Kroot Stalkers (the counts-as hounds) are sufficiently different from the regular ones.

Piranha Number 1

I mixed up a batch of snow basing material. I think I've got that down, but now I figured I would share pictures.

This is one member out of the Piranha squadron, or "WEEEE! We're in your face with a meltagun!" It's like all those annoying attention-whore, loud, high-pitched whiny children you never want to deal with, except it kills you if you ignore it.

I'm not much a fan of the flying bases, since they tend to break. In fact, this guy's hole had already been filled by a busted peg. So, we apply the magnet to it. Good old rare earth magnets to the rescue. As you can see, the flying base has a big one on it (superglued to a piece of plasticard, which is in turn plastic-cemented to the stick). The Gun Drones have a small magnet on the bottom, and a small magnet on top of the base. Considering that the Piranhas are not too hard to destroy (AV 11/10/10 open-topped, after all) I think it's safe to say I'll be needing to slap the gun drones onto their bases pretty regularly.

Sadly, I don't yet have Piranha #2 (unemployment and all...kinda can't go out and drop $30 on 'im). The they'll be a happy little short-lived squad. Planned kit is a Disruption Pod for the 4+ cover save, and then gear for +1BS, and the ability to multi-target with the squad's weapons. Their role is harassment, contesting, and blocking up movement lanes. They're also quite expendable in those roles.

I'm pretty satisfied with the paint job, as I think it gets across the 'weathered, worn, and long in the field' look I'm aiming for with the cadre. I think there are a lot of sharp, crisp, clean Tau armies out there, and I want my grubby blue guys to stand out. It's the Greater Good, but they're a little tired and could use a few weeks R & R.

Tau Broadside Team Conversion

You were all promised pictures of Tau conversions the other night. Well, I deliver (you SAVE! Or something like that). As you can see, I've cobbled together the Broadsides I intend to run. I have spoken on them in other posts, and I have indeed drawn inspiration from the Battletech Rifleman IIC. This conversion uses pieces of the Mechwarrior: Age of Destruction Ghost. Specifically, I borrowed the lower legs, cockpit, and side of the torso. The missile pods are from an Age of Destruction model as well. The arm guard is from the Eldar grav tanks, and the guns are a mix of fusion blasters and plasticard tubing.

Overall, I think it gives the Broadside a much more imposing look. It's obviously derived from the XV-8 suit (as per the fluff), but it looks bulkier and more armored.

The Shield Drone antennae (as well as the Crisis Suit's single antennae) are sawed-off Pulse Rifles. Hey, you kitbash your Pathfinders off the Fire Warrior kit (which is much more cost effective, BTW) and you'll have spare rifles. The 'radar dish' on top is from the Skyray kit; it's the Markerlight mount cemented into place with some Green Stuff.

Naturally, the bases lack the snow. I intend to run one more batch of snow, as I see no need to waste it, and it's easier to mix up in larger batches. Right now I'd have a handful more bases to do, and the Crisis Suits. I intend to run the team thusly:

2 XV-88 Broadside Suits (2x70)

Each w/ Advanced Stabilization System (for the required battlesuit support system) (2x10)

One w/ Upgrade to Team Leader (5)

-Drone Controller w/ 2 Shield Drones (30)

-Hard-wired Target Lock (5)

Total: 200pts.

The team can move and shoot (so I don't lose a turn of shooting to clever maneuvering, or the need to backpedal. More for the move/shoot). The Drones are there to keep the unit alive longer, as someone needs to eat that krak missile/lascannon/other instant death thing. The Target Lock lets me share the Railgun love.

More pictures to come: Kroot squads, the Piranha, and I need good shots of the Fire Warriors.

Brief News Update; Tau-storming

For my loyal followers (...such as they exist, at any rate). I am indeed alive, but have been somewhat thrashed by real life. Summer classes run for about...5 weeks? Save that you meet four hours a night, two nights a week. It's been a bit of a thrashing, but stuff's gotten done.

The Tau army continues a gradual buildup. I need to throw up photos of the Kroot, as they have been completed (well, minus 2 'hounds.') and based. The Hammerhead's still waiting on touch-up. The Broadsides are a little WIPpy at the moment, pending some components in a trade.

The army is still short some Crisis Suits, as I'm fielding three teams of three, the commander, and two broadsides. I've got one I might re-do, and the Broadsides are somewhat inspired by the good old Battletech Rifleman IIC. I've got the torso bulked up and a radar dish over the head, though it's borrowing some components from the Mechwarrior: Age of Destruction 'Ghost' battlemech. (It was the image I could find. Seriously. Please just kind of disregard the colors...) I'm a fan of the Ghost's bulky lower legs.

The Rifleman IIC is just cooler.My beef with the Broadside is that it just looks like an XV-8 with more guns. You still have the jet pack, you still have the spindly legs...no. We're getting something that looks a little more impressive.

I'm still picking my brain on what I want my Crisis Suits to look like. Part of the reason I started Tau? Crisis suits. The look. I'm a big fan of Armored Core 4's (and the sequal, For Answer) Noblesse Oblige. It's the wings.

Of course, the question is how exactly do I pull off the wings? I'm toying with cutting off the jet pack, and making them look like they're thrusters. For those of you not so familiar with Armored Core, those 'wings' on Noblesse are actually massiv triple-barrel energy weapons. Not quite on the Crisis Suit, but if you really doubt the inherent badassery of the Noblesse? Take a look at it in the old AC4 trailer. I see Crisis Suits as moving like that, albeit slower. Mostly, it's the side-strafe booster action that makes me think of the jump-shoot-jump kind of thing.

The other thought for booster arrangement is the one on White Glint. You can take a look at White Glint in action here. I think I tried it in my prototype conversion, but didn't do the angles right and didn't get a secondary set of boosters on it.

Kroot pictures to come sooner or later. Oh, and the Piranha's pretty much painted. Just need to touch up the pilots, and they'll get posted up.

Herald of Tzeentch Completed

I've completed the Herald I hinted at a post or two ago. I like the way it's come out for the most part.

I'm also reasonably proud of the Tzeentch mark on the back. There was a lot of empty space on the back of the Destroyer body; at best it was kind of textured with the drybrushing and washing. At worst it was kind of 'bleh.' So, I pencilled in the symbol, then painted it, and BAM! Emeril-style, it looks better.

The base is a standard 60mm round, and the lava-bits are Squadron Green Putty. Gotta love that stuff for adding texture to bases. Then it's painted, and some GF9 ash waste flcok thrown into it when it's drying.

More Painting Love

I intend to put up pictures of 'em, but 32 Kroot have been completed.

That puts the FTW score from 244 to 276. I'll put up pictures of them 'ere long.

Yay, Kroot. I can see why I'm not a fan of horde armies. At this point, the Tau army has some tanks, a couple Piranhas, and a heap of Crisis Suits. I just have to GET the crisis suits.

I also need to put the Warp Spiders and Howling Banshees on E-bay, as they're of no use and I could use the money.

I'll also have pictures up of the Tzeentch Heralds; they're on the modeling block. I've got a neat-looking Herald converted from a Necron Destroyer, when I had a brief bout of insanity and tried to play wth a gimped codex. (...I suppose that playing with daemons is moving from one gimped codex to another, but at least it's fun to model.)

I've been contemplating ways to make the crisis suits in my upcoming Tau army stand out. The above pic is inspired by the old-school Battletech Battlemaster(s). I'll probably do away with the double-jointed legs, since Crisis suits are more about jumpng, and the double-jointed legs are more about walking effectively.

This is the old-school Battlemaster...

And this is the so-called 'Reseen' Battlemaster, since, ah, y'know, the original Battlemaster was kind of 'borrowed' from Dougram without a whole lot of alteration.

I'm also wondering if I should change the lower legs out. Maybe be a bit bulkier?