Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Value Gear Details


Value Gear is a manufacturer of quality resin storage bits for scale modelers. Value Gear's mission statement is: 

...to give model builders (me included) a more useful spares box! Creating and casting sets of Generic/Universal stowage. No helmets no weapons and nothing to keep you from using it in a wooden cart, a chariot, a truck, or a panther tank. "Any Army Any Era!" is my motto. They won't work on everything but so far I have seen people use them on so many different trucks and tanks and even some War Hammer tanks and dioramas. Stowage are accents to help give your model some story or a lived in realistic look. Armies live under canvas...

With a wide selection of scales and storage options, Value Gear makes good on their mission. Because crate and canvas scale is all a matter of perspective any of their products apply well to Warhammer 40K or other tabletop wargames.




So far my favorite set has been the 'Tents & Tarps' set is full of wonderfully detailed bits.

Andy's Hobby Headquarters has a great tutorial video on creating tarps and bags with Steve of Value Gear Details:



Below are my results from following the above tutorial. I do think I need a bit more practice on my tarps, Steve is a pro at this.

The finished painted product including a great deal of Value Gear Details can be seen above and below.
A few Value Gear Details crates can be seen on the gun deck. The open one was carved out using a hobby knife and the cut of lid was painted and set in place.

Here's a great tutorial on painting weathered wood using one of Value Gear's crates:


Below are my results from following the tutorial with similar paints I have on hand.

Monday, May 23, 2016

WIP - Legion Basilisk/Medusa #2


I got a bit more work done on this over the weekend but I think this thing is going to kill me. Sooo much work. I still have a lot of rivets to place, the exhausts to build, and some interior detailing but the end is in sight.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Stormlord


I picked up the Baneblade kit late last year at the Modelzona competition in Mesa, AZ. I knew I wanted a lot of firepower so I opted for the Stormlord build and ordered a second pair of sponsons from Games Workshop. I built this as an addition to my Pardus 8th Armored regiment. 


I based out the model in the same Tamiya acrylics I've been using on all my Pardus armor. All the metallics were primed in black and brushed with graphite as outlined in this tutorial.

I wanted to make use of the rear deck. I stuffed five guardsmen in the back in various firing positions.


I wanted a couple of guys stepping up or taking a knee. To do this I cut one leg off a standing pair of legs and cut one off a kneeling pair and then swapped them. I cleaned up the edges with liquid greenstuff. It came out great!


I wanted the tank to have a real lived in feeling. To accomplish this I applied a bunch of bits to the model including a great deal of storage from Value Gear Details.


I also added a bunch of sandbags around the rear deck and top hatch. Laying down a layer of plastic wrap first allows you to work greenstuff into position but still remove it after it sets for painting.



Once all initial details were painted I applied a layer of shipping using the sponge technique, then applied a gloss layer before laying down decals.



After some oil washes a layer of dullcote was applied. That was followed up by additional weathering. The tracks were painted with GW Typhus Corrosion followed by another pass of graphite and a layer of Secret Weapon Miniature powders.





I sculpted the power cells directly into a Value Gear Details crate and made the spent power cells out of styrene.


The spent shell casings are piles of styrene rod cut to size.



I airbrushed some soot around each vent using a light coat of flat black.





Razor wire and rope helped to tie together the storage.


I added jewelry chain to the front and back tow hooks.

All weapons and sponsons, including the main vulcan cannon are removable for game play.

I pleased to say that the Stormlord took 1st in the Science Fiction Fantasy & Space, Fantasy All Scales and Types category. Considering it was painted with Tamiya paints it's fitting that this award was sponsored by Tamiya.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Best of the West 2016


On May 7th I made my second trip to Las Vegas to compete in this year's IPMS Best of the West model contest. I entered my Ork Dakkajet Egg Plane, Adeptus Mechanicus Dune Crawler, Kromlech Ork Pilot Bust, and my recently completed Stormlord. I ended up picking up 1st place in Sci-Fi/Fantasy for my Stormlord and 1st place in Humor in Modeling for my Ork Dakkajet.



Over 100 competitors entered the show with nearly 500 entries. There was a strong showing from the Sci-Fi, Gundam, and Warhammer communities.

 

The local GW retailer was there selling product and they brought a great wargame table and two armies.






The Neon City Garrison of the 501st was in attendance as well. They gave out the "Best Star Wars Model" award.



There were a lot of amazing models entered this year. What follows are some of my favorites.

Gundam










Auto



Armor







Chimera anyone?



Aircraft








Ships


Sci-Fi














Figures






Collections




Dioramas












For a more complete gallery of this year's entries check out the IMPS Las Vegas club gallery.