Salamander Update - Sternguard

This week has been a relatively unpleasant one for me having contracted the flu from a gaming friend late last week (I will leave the topic of being 'Fit for Gaming' for another time).  As a result of this disease, I've been unable to make much progress towards getting any of my projects completed.  It's times like these that I'm thankful I'm not as punctual with my updates as I could be, otherwise I wouldn't have anything to show you today.

With my Deathwatch Marines making the transition to the Space Wolf Codex, I've taken this opportunity to begin developing a replacement unit for use in my army as 'Sternguard Veterans'.  What I've opted for is a unit made up entirely of Deathwatch veterans that have returned to their home Chapter to continue their service to the Emperor.  In accordance with their return, they repaint their armour Green, however the left arm remains silver as they continue to wear the Deathwatch shoulder-pad as an on going sign of their past service.

With the first fellow completed and the second one well on the way, I'm quite happy with the interaction between the green and the silver. The red weapon also creates a point of interest that will grab your attention while looking at the unit as a whole.  Below is a series of pics of the second WIP squad member.

Miniatures Painted: 35
Points of Painted Salamanders: 275 pts

Catch you all later

Trev

Salamander Update - Captain Mir’San in da house!

Lightning Claws - Bringing awesome into 40K
Wolverine style!

So it turns out that I've finally gotten a chance to convert a Captain who is armed with a pair of Lightning Claws. Such a conversion has been a long time coming as I've always loved the imagery of a hulking champion of humanity laying waste to all before him as he literally tears his enemies to shreds. Thankfully, Codex: Space Marines allows me to do this with a Company Captain for a nifty 100 points.

Due to the severe lack of useful plastic Lightning Claws for marines in power armour, I’ve made do with a pair donated by an Assault Terminator. These were combined with a set of plastic Tactical Marine arms which were manipulated until I found a pose that I liked (and didn’t look overly goofy). Of all the arms that actually allowed this conversion to work, I didn’t expect it to be stock standard Tac Marine arms, I can assure you! The only downside I see when using the Terminator Lightning Claws is that they are a little larger and have a tendancy to look a little ‘giant-foam-fingerish’ even when they are done right.

Like with all my Character models, I fitted a Dark Elf Sea Dragon cloak to his back to represent a Salamander’s Mantle and rebuilt the sides using Green Stuff.  While I was at it, I sealed off the ends of the severed power-cables for the lightning claws so that it looks somewhat natural (at least as natural as an 8ft genetically enhanced super soldier can be), making sure this time that I was still able to fit the shoulder pads on the arms (I was NOT going to have a repeat of the Librarian debacle!).  Satisfied, I finished the modelling by adding the extra details such as purity seals, Iron Halo, grenades etc and he is now ready for undercoating.

As a bit of a cheating move, I’m going to use the pictures above as my WIP photos for this entry. Since I intend to paint him anyway, there’s no point wasting the opportunity for more photos. The Forgeworld pauldron has been cleaned using the accepted method of warm soapy water and a toothbrush. All in all, this model screams ‘Salamander’ which, in my mind, means a job well done.

Catch you later

Trev

WoC Update - More Chosen

Despite the best efforts of my 40k projects to dominate the vast majority of my hobby time, I've managed to still squeeze in some work on my unit of Chosen.  While I'm not about to break any speed painting records for my efforts, I'm just thankful that progress is being made.  

overall, I have to say I'm very happy with this mini.  The weathered bone look on the shield and halberd have come out really well and make for a very striking model that will hopefully draw the eye.  With this fellow done, my Chosen are another step closer to being completion.

Miniatures Painted: 34

Points of Painted Warriors: 200

Catch you all later,

Trev

Deathwatch Update - Of Grey Hunters and Wolf Guard

Recently (and by recently I mean over the past few weeks) I've been working hard to make progress on a number of hobby projects I've currently got on the go.  Amidst all the chaos of terrain projects, fantasy armies and my newly revived Salamanders, steady progress has been made on my Deathwatch.

While I'm yet to decide just how I want to build the army, the models are proving too irresistible and I've succumbed to their siren song.  As a result, I've managed to complete another Marine armed with a bolter and close combat weapon.   Hailing from a custom chapter that was created by a friend of mine (the name of said chapter currently eludes me like the winning numbers of a lottery draw), he has been chosen to don the black and has done so without a second thought.  Completed, he joins the ranks of my budding force (which shouldn't grow to anything over 1500 points - a perfect size for an allied faction for the new edition).  With a full unit of 5 now completed, I'm thinking it's time to add a bit of punch to the force in the form of a special weapon (or two).  

With this fellow painted, I'm going to move back to the Salamander Veteran I've been working on in the hopes of getting his paint job done in short order.  While he's not yet complete, I've included a teaser pic of his shoulder pad below.

Catch you all later

Trev

Miniatures Painted: 33

Community Update – Blog Spotlight

One of the greatest things about this hobby is the global community that comes with it.  Verily it could be said that for the most part, the wargaming community could be used as a model to facilitate world peace.  I know of very few other hobbies that actively encourage players to interact with one another to the scale that we wargamers do – using the marvels of technology to transcend borders and linguistical barriers in the name of having a good time with a bunch of mates.  One of my favourite ways of interacting with the global community is through the many blogs that numerous wargamers have created to highlight not only their hobby, but also the hobbies of others in their local community. 

In the spirit of promoting this fellowship, I wanted to take some time to highlight a couple of blogs (both Aussie and Global) that I always enjoy visiting and encourage you all to spend some time visiting them too.

Project Circle – Run by a good friend of mine, Mark’s blog chronicles his escapades across a swathe of gaming systems. A decent painter as well as an inventive converter and terrain maker, Mark’s blog is one of the first places I visit when I’m looking to try something new (which is usually code for blatantly stealing an established idea of his and using it in my army).


Red Scar Gaming Blog – A relative newcomer to the world of Blogging, Antman is a person of grand imagination and is someone who is not afraid of bringing his imaginings to life. His recent work on a Daemon Prince has been well received by the local gaming community, in particular, his impressive use of ash effects. While his blog only contains a couple of entries so far, I’m eagerly awaiting every new article, wondering what insight his latest writings will bring.

Brovitar’s Blog – An exceptional painter and modeller, Brovitar’s work is a constant source of inspiration for whatever 40K project I’m working on at the time. His painting style is quite distinctive, making every project unique while still remaining true to the context of the universe in which the model exists. His latest project with the Salamander Space Marines is a shining example of this.

Terrain Wench – Incredibly gifted, Terrain Wench’s projects continually raise the bar in excellence when it comes to adding character to your battlefields. Her constant attention to detail and inspiring use of lighting effects makes her works a triumvirate of wonder, inspiration and a dash of intimidation. Keep a lookout for the various ‘How-to’ videos that appear from time to time as they are immensely helpful for terrain makers of all experience levels.

Dice and Brush – A wonderfully well-rounded blog that not only includes inspirational painting progress, but also includes a regular review of the latest White Dwarf magazine. An accomplished painter, Space Cowboy is constantly producing impressive additions to both his Empire and his Chaos Armies, leaving me in constant fear of being so inspired that I find myself starting an Ostermark army of my own. Truth be told, an Ostermark Army would be a fine companion piece to my Chaos forces considering their background and the presence of Ostermark prisoners as unit fillers.

Before I go however, I cannot leave without providing you with a WIP of my latest project – a Salamander Deathwatch veteran. 

Catch you all later

Trev