Defkopta to Warbike conversion part II

Second warbike conversion.  This one is just a straight warbiker boy not a nob.  Chopper style for this guy.  Little too big for my base, LOL.  So he's poppin' a wheelie.

Thanks for looking!

-BJ

Defkopta to Ork Nob Warbiker Conversion

Alright, so the conversion work on the 1st of the Defkopta to Warbike conversions is about as done as I'm going to try.  Pinned and mounted on a DragonForge biker base (love this company).

Waiting on some wheels to finish the other 4 though I'm not sure if I'm going to run them as a full Nob unit or not (probably will since I can take it as a troop choice with the Warboss I'm running) ;-)

Pics aren't the best, still trying to get my new painting area up and running and can't find my dang camera so had to use my phone.

Enjoy!

BJ gots choppa 'appy

I know, I know, it's been a LONG time since I posted anything.  Between work, and some not so pleasant health issues I've been kind of down for the count as far as the hobby goes.  Sooooo after relocating to San Antonio from Illinois I decided to start giving some time over to my very, very, very neglected Orks (Froz'n Wagh Klan).

So I have pretty much all the models I want for the army and it keeps it pretty much just under 1500 points depending on what wargear I use for the Warboss.  I've got 4 Warbosses (3 are AOBR, and then the FineCast Warboss with the Attack Squig) so depending if I decide to do any conversion work on the AOBR ones I shouldn't go over 1500 points.

Through various resources I came into posession of 3 full AOBR sets.  I know static poses, but not the way I build them, hehe (more on those conversions later).  That and I ended up with 12 AOBR Defkoptas.  Well I only plan on fielding 5 of them, so what to do, what to do...

Time ta get choppin!

Okay forgive the lack of WIP shots on HOW I did this, but here is the first Defkopta to Warbiker Nob conversion.

Bits used:

• Razorback twin-linked Heavy Bolters
• Space Marine Bike wheel
• Chimera bits
• Dozer Blade bits from an old Rhino
• Space Marine Land Speeder bits
• Green Stuff
• Plasticard

I started work on a second one, but then realized that my much needed SM Biker Wheels are no longer in my bits box...Hmmmm....KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-BJ

Project - Vanguard Champion

Thought I'd throw up a couple of shots of a Vanguard Champion I'm working on for my personal collection.

It's a slightly converted 2008 Games Day Captain mini I won as a prize for the Bartertown Sci-Fi painting competition.

Components:

1. 2008 GD mini
2. Dragonforge 40mm Hero base from the Lost Empires series.
3. Pre-Heresy Jump Pack from Chapterhouse Studios
4. Pre-Heresy Masked Helmet from Chapterhouse Studios

Painted up in my Flame Guardians color scheme.  Not 100% finished still have some minor details to work on:  Black needs highlighted, another Sunburst Yellow then Skull White layer on the Yellow particularly the Helmet and then the NMM (Non-Metallic Metal) on the shoulder pauldrons, then the wreath and jewel on the Right Leg needs finished.  I like Gold NMM I don't like Grey/Silver NMM much at all so I tend to combine the Gold NMM and Silver Metallics techniques because...I can.  ;-)

As always, thanks for looking.  Check back for the finished model in a couple of days.  I'll do a full write up on the coloring and the Yellow NMM though without pics on the next post.

-BJC

Review - Horus Heresy Era Bits

There's something about making that perfect unit for your army that leads us all to go out and try to come up with something unique and interesting to model and convert.  That ignition in our souls so to speak that sparks the flame of creativity to so something different, something no one has seen before (or at least no one in our immediate gaming community).

So where does that creatively driven gamer go to quench that need?  Well if your Google-Fu is strong enough, there's quite a few places really.  So I had that bug hit me, and of course I'm first a modeler/painter so obviously if I'm building something unique for myself I'm going all out!  My Flame Guardians project is somewhat built around those type of unique units.  Probably the key unit in that army (you'd think it would be the Kantor HQ right...) is my Uber-Vanguard unit.  The fully decked out PW, PF, and TH heavy Fast Attack unit needed something more than the metal GW models, or a bunch of plastic Assault Marines all armed with power weapon goodness.  I wanted these guys to stand out, yes that usually means that the pretty unit will be the first unit that my opponent will focus on, but that can be a good thing.

***insert hypnotic voice here*** Focus on the pretty, pretty, shiny NMM goodness and conversions while my two units of Sternguard Vets and Kantor take and hold your objectives and destroy your tanks... ***end hypnotic voice***

What to do, what to do....

Heresy Era Bits Conversions!!!  YESSSSSSS!!!!!

There are a few options out there, and I'm going to focus on two sites and their bits specifically.  For my Uber-Vanguard unit I decided I wanted to portray a unity that represented a very specialized group of Space Marine Heros.  Sure the 1st Company gets the Terminator Armor, but what about those who are considered the creme-de-la-creme of the Assault Marines...So were born the Flame Guardians Honored Ones!

I've always like Assault squads, and of course one can run Shrike and get some cool Infiltrate goodness with an assault unit.  Nothing like having Shrike and a 10-man assault squad just "pop" up behind enemy lines. Ahhh, Good Times!  But I digress.

So I wanted my Honored Ones to have a pre-Heresy or Heresy look and feel to their armor.  I didn't want to do a lot of sculpting (cause I suck at it) and I knew that there were some great conversion bits out there.  When you combine those with regular Assault Marines bits or BA Death Company Legs you can achieve some pretty slick looking Vanguard Vetrans.

The options I considered were from Chapterhouse Studios and MaxMini.  Both have their strong points, and weak points.  Personally I do wish I would have gone a bit of a different route than the one I did, and I may consider doing up a few additional models with a few different bits to add some additional options to the unit.

First up the bits options from MaxMini:

I love the look of the Heresy Era Turbine Jet packs.  They just plain look better than the GW plastic JP's and though the metal ones that come with the Vanguard Models or the Chappy look good with the chains and such, I just haven't liked the casts I've gotten in the past.  Now the ones from MaxMini are nice but there's just something about them that kept throwing me off.  Probably the flaps around the air input part of the turbine.  You be the judge...

The detail on the packs is great though, but like I said there's just something about the packs that kept trowing me off.  Cost wise they are pretty reasonable considering you'll be ordering them from the UK.  For 5 Jump Packs you'll be out 5.65 Euros or $7.25 plus shipping of 3.00 Euros or $3.85.  So $11.10 for 5 Heresy Era Jump Packs.  Actually not all that bad.  Of course I am running a squad of 10 Vanguard Vets, so I would have to tack on an additional $7.25 for the additional 5 packs.  So $18.35 for 10.  Again, not all that bad for what you get.  Now I did not order these.

I'm a big fan of the Black Templar MK2 Helmet, but again for my Honored Ones I wanted something unique and different for the look and feel of the unit.  MaxMini also offers what they call their Steam Knight heads.  These are simply AWESOME in their Heresy Ere goodness.  Dang shame I didn't go with these, and I truly wish I would have.  I love the detail in these helmets, and they are really perfect for the look/feel of the unit.  Again, I didn't go with these, and wish I would have. Cost for the Steam Knights is again the same as the Jump Packs.  Comes to $7.25 for the 5 heads.  My personal favs are 1 and 4.  Really don't like number 3 in the picture.

Now onto the ones I did go with.  Not that I regret what I went with, I just wish I'd have seen the Maxmini Steam Knights FIRST.  Then of course I would have had to pay shipping from two locations though.

Next up is Chapterhouse Studios' Horus Heresy Era bits.

I personally like the Turbine Jump Packs from Chapterhouse better than the MaxMini ones.  They just had the look I wanted and didn't have that silly flap on the input part of the turbine.  These do have the vent flap, but at a more logical location at the bottom of the turbine, though I did choose to leave these off of my final models.  I also prefer the fact that in comparison to the Maxmini JPs the turbines point inward and not out.  From the perspective of jet flight, the outward pointing turbines from Maxmini just don't look right.  Again, that's personal preference.

Now these bits ARE more expensive than the Maxmini Jump Packs.  At $10.00 for five and $5.00 for shipping they come out to costing a bit more ($25.00 for 10 with shipping) than the Maxmini Jump Packs.  Again, you get what you pay for and I'm MORE than satisfied with the Chapterhouse Studios' bits.

So what about Heresy Era heads you say?  Well Chapterhouse has two options for the heads, and to be honest, while I like them, I still wish I'd have gone with the Maxmini Steam Knights.  The options are Spikey or Masked.  Both are very detailed, but only come in a set of 4 vs. the 5 Steam Knights from Maxmini.  Again, not a big deal, though at the same time kind of falls into the "doesn't make sense" due to the fact that at the very minimum one needs 5 heads to make a Combat Squad and I needed 10 heads to make my Vanguard.  Not a huge issue since I used a Sergeant Chronus head for my Champion meaning I only needed 9, so a quick conversion to a Beaky Head got me to my 8.

I really didn't like the Spikey headed bits.  They would make a great Chaos conversion, especially for those building an army that had just fallen to chaos, or was perhaps in the process of falling and you had those marines who were beginning to adorn their armor with additional "trinkets" but for the look of my Honored ones they didn't do it for me.  I did think of getting them though and just filing off the spikes because I like the overall look/feel of the bits.

I chose to use their Masked heads.  I like the look/feel of them and I think they work great as Assault Marine heads as the rebreathers just look darn cool.  Again, the problem being was that they only come 4 in a set instead of 5.  I contacted Nick on this logic, and was told that at the time the sculptor did only a set of 4 instead of 5.  Per Nick: "Mainly because at that time the sculptor decided to do a set of 4,  pretty much I have set that number to 5 now :)".  This is the set I chose to go with and I'm for the most part happy with that decision.

Cost for the  heads is $3.75 for a set of 4 heads.  Shipping is still $5.00 so with 2 sets (what I ordered) that came to $12.50 for 8 heads.  Comparatively speaking this is cheaper than going with the Maxmini heads as even if one was to order 3 sets, the shipping would still be only $5.00 (still high for padded envelops) leaving the total for 12 heads at $16.25 vs. $18.35 for 10 heads from Maxmini.

I don't have one of the Vanguard finished that has the Heresy Head, but here is the Uber-Vanguard Champion (SGT) done up in all his nicey, niceness.  As i said before I decided not to use the vent flaps on the jump packs. Not that they necessarily looked bad, I just didn't like them. They come as a metal add-on and work great as mixing bits in your paint pots though.  ;-)

There are other sites out there for these type of bits.  Lots of business are getting into the resin conversion bits business and as I said, if your Google-Fu is strong enough you're sure to find what you're looking for.  I do recommend Chapterhouse Studios and Maxmini though.  Awesome products and again, yes you're going to pay for them, you're going to pay more than if you just go with what GW has, but you get what you pay for and if you want character, uniqueness, and something different then you've got to go out there and do it.

So have some fun with your army.  It's not always about building that perfect list, that unbeatable army.  It's about having FUN, it's about flexing the proverbial brush muscles and building/converting/painting the army that you're going to enjoy.

Let me know what you've done to make your army unique to your taste!

-BJC

Special Projects - Armor on the CHEAP!!!

Okay so this series on Special Projects is for all you cheap...I mean frugal gamers out  there.  You know who you are!

Seriously, I'm one of them.  Family, mortgage, etc... Lets face it, the hobby we have chosen to become well "invested" in isn't cheap.  Even those of us who seed the best deals on eBay or Bartertown understand that there comes a point when you are going to need a serious upgrade to your army and with 5th Edition, it seems to be all about the Armor!

I'm all about the Foot Slogger Army.  For me, for my time, for the space I have to store armies and models I've always refrained from having much if any mobile armor in my armies.  I simply don't like painting tanks.  Too many flat surfaces, blah, blah, blah.  However, with 5th Edition rules favoring armor and or Mechanized armies, its become absolutely necessary that I add some armor elements to my army and ASAP.

So what's a modeler/painter supposed to do?  Well it's been common practice to use proxy models in pickup games for what since inception of miniature wargaming?  And, though they may or may not be allowed in most tournemants, scratchbuilt models have become a sign that sets the true modeler/converted aside from the average joe gamer.  Soooooooooooo, here we go.  The decision is made, scratchbuilt it is.

Now I know what you're thinking, what/where/how?  Well for the time being I'm going to delve into the world of paper-scratchbuilt armor, then replace them with some more GW approved models later.  Say it isn't so!  You're going to proxy scratchbuilt PAPER models????? No not exactly.  C'mon, give me a break!  Would I do that?  HECK YEAH I WOULD!  ;-)

In all, there are some stunning templates out there at the bwc-archive yahoo group. Of course I have no intention of building them solely out of Card Stock either.  A little balsa wood, some plastic tubing, card stock, and GW bits should yield what I'm looking for.

So for my Flame Guardians I'm in need of some Drop Pods (2) and a Razorback.  Now unfortunately I can't find a good template for the full Razorback, but they've got some great Rhino templates and a few different Drop Pod variants that I'm going to play with (still waiting on approval to post the templates in the blog).

I'm planning on building a couple of different variants of these vehicles.  The first variant will be the straight up Card Stock/Balsa Wood variant.  No GW bits, no plasti-card.  Just build straight from the template.  I'll use some colored Card Stock (Red/Yellow) so I can see how they'll turn out with no painting.  Second variant will use the templates in combination with more advanced materials.  Still using the Card Stock/Balsa Wood, but also adding in plasti-card, plastic or brass tubing, and various GW and FW bits to make the models more tournament legal (or as best I can).

Thoughts?

Show Army Project - Vanguard Veteran Completed

Well the Flame Guardians project is moving pretty slowly.  Seems that every time I sit down to work on my own stuff something comes up.  Interesting how these things never come up when I an working on a client project...

Well I finished up the Champion (Sgt) for the Vanguard "Honored Ones".  Wish the pic came out better, I'll have to see about shooting some better pics and change the angle of my camera maybe.

 

 

Over all I'm enjoying the color scheme and the time per mini isn't too awful (averages about 5 hours over 2.5 days worth of painting per mini) though Kantor did take about 12 hours.  I love the Pre-Heresy Jump Packs I picked up from Chapterhouse Studios.  I used a Sgt Chronus head and BT EC arm for the rest of the "conversion" if you can call it that.  Bit of broken guitar string rounded out the conversion.  The base is one of the Ruins 25mm resin bases from Micro Art Studios (all the bases will be from this range).

More on this as I finish them out.

-BJC

BJC MiniStuido: Special Projects

BJC MiniStuido: Special Projects: "Special Project 'Show Army' Here I will be chronicling a special Show Army that I got as an idea from a Bartertown admin who I did some pai..."