Have You Seen This Model?

This model, of what appears to an Imperial Guard Catachan Jungle Warrior holding a severed Ork head, was posted on the Facebook Astra Militarum - Imperial Guard group by a member who received it via trade. He had no information regarding the source of the model. From the pictures it can be estimated to be roughly 10 inches in height, resin, and of a fairly high quality. 

If anyone can identify the source of this model it would be much appreciated I have to have one for my collection.

Terrain - Cargo Containers

Our local gaming group started an escalation style campaign based on the book Death World by Steve Lyons. In order to bring the game to life I began making some custom terrain. One of the things I knew I would want was a ton of cargo containers. 

To begin I made the below container out of sheet styrene. I was very meticulous to ensure that every part was measured precisely and that all edges were square. I added the rivets using some scale rivet strips, although small diameter styrene rod would work just as well.

After it was built I went about making a few silicone molds. I used RTV silicone which is easy to mix in a 1-1 ratio and cures in about 4-6 hours. I order my silicone from Micromark.

After the molds were finished it was time to start casting.  The resin I use is also a simple 1-1 ratio and cures in as little as 15 minutes. With three molds I can crank out a lot of these in an afternoon.

And here's a look at some of the containers used in a piece of terrain.

Storm Eagle Assembly

I recently started helping a fellow gamer (Joe) out with some of his assembly work in exchange for trade. The most recent project was a Forge World Storm Eagle he had acquired for his Imperial Fist 30k army.

The kit was new in the bag and ready for work. There was some mild warping of the hull, weapons, canards, wings, doors, well basicly all of the resin was slightly warped. Nothing a little hot water couldn't help.

After everything was straightened I went about cleaning everything off the sprue and touching up the resin bits where needed.

Joe wanted the interior detailed so I went about assembling all that I could before that point first. One of those steps was to magnetize the missile pods. This will help to prevent breakage during transport and allow for easy removal in game after receiving weapon destroyed results.

After the various hull sections were assembled I primed the interior black, gave it a drybrushing of Army Painter 'Gun Metal' and went about detailing the interior lights and screens.  I applied some OSL to all the lights and finished the lights and screens off with a gloss varnish. 

The front ramp got a little love with some hazard stripes too.

Later, after I assembled the hull I realized just how obscured almost all of the detail work I had done had become. Oh well, I suppose it's best to err on the side of detail.

Once the interior had been painted it was time to glue the hull together. I would normally use plastic weld, but because some of the parts are plastic and some resin I had to use super glue. I was also glad to have several small clamps on hand as the resin, despite my work straightening it, was still warped to some degree.

After a night curing in place the clamps were removed and I was back to work. The engines were added. Some areas needed either plastic card, putty, sanding, or a combo of all three to get them squared away. I also magnetized the wings to allow for easy transport and to reduce the risk of breakage later on.

All in all I was quite please with the end result and so was Joe.  Now that he has it in hand I'll be looking forward to see how it looks after he gets done painting it.

Tauros Venator

I've always loved peering through the Forge World online store and the catalog I picked up at Games Day back in 2005, but it wasn't until late last year that I finally purchased my first Forge World model, an Elysian Tauros Venator. My venator sat untouched for quite a while until I broke it out a couple of months ago and started to work.

One of the first details I added was a mesh screen over the roll cage. I used window screen for this detail. I also added grab bars to the roll cage using florist wire.

I made a custom lasgun carbine for my driver which was detailed in a tutorial I posted earlier.

Using some RTV silicone I made a mold of one of the front wheels and cast it in resin. I used this copy as a spare tire and attached it to the rear of the vehicle.

I used Secret Weapon Miniatures weathering powders to give an aged bronze look to the Imperial eagles, and a light dust to the sides and underside of the vehicle.

I did a little bit of OSL to the various light sources like these batteries.

I used Tamiya clear acrylics for all of the consoles. All of the paint chipping was achieved using the sponging technique.

I used an oil wash to complete the weathered effect.

And the finished product...

Inquisitorial Chimera with Chapter House & Forge World

Back in February of this year I set about making a one of a kind Inquisitorial Chimera using the Chapter House Studios six wheel kit with iconography and a rear door from Forge World. At that time I completed a review of the Chapter House Studios kit so I won't go into great detail about it in this post but you can check that out by clicking here.

The Chapter House kit required some modifications to fit. I was very happy with the Forge World kit. It was very detailed and I knew it would add a load of detail to my Chimera. 

I was disappointed however (this was my first Chimera) that there were no interior details in the crew compartment. So I made some.

I created a rear entrance and command module for the interior using styrene, sprue, guitar wire and green stuff. I also created some details for the side walls but I didn't get any pictures of them before they were painted.

The hull of the Chimera had to be modified itself. I filled in the driver's hatch and gun ports with apoxie sculpt and sanded them all smooth. I think the gun ports on the sides of the Chimera look stupid with the lasgun array sticking out so I wanted to cover the ports.

Using hatch pieces from multiple kits as well as some styrene rod I created the above gun port covers. I think they look a lot better than the standard lasgun array.

Adding the Chapter House Kit to the Chimera hull was a giant pain in the ass and required a lot of apoxie sculpt, putty, and a razor saw.  I also had to replace all the rivets on the front and sides of the hull using a small diameter styrene rod, but in the end it was worth it. 

I wanted the Chimera to appear to have been requisitioned from an existing Imperial Army so I searched for some obscure Imperial regiments and settled on using the Jouran 29th and an urban camo scheme. You can also see below the magnet in the turret.  All turret mounted weapons are magnetized.

 Initial weathering was completed by sponging to create a chipping effect.

 Decals were added using Microset & Microsol to get a nice painted on look.

After setting, the decals were worn down using a tooth pick.

Additional weathering was created using an oil paint wash.

I also used Secret Weapon Miniatures weathering powders.

 Purity seals were added on various parts of the Chimera to give it an added Inquisitor feel.

 Some bed rolls and other packs were added to give a lived in feel.

The name Jouran and number 29 were added using rub on transfers. I like these because they can be worn down easily with a toothpick.

 And the finished product...

Imperial Guard Chimera

Catachan 2nd Company APC

After playing a game of 7th Edition 40K against a 30K Imperial Fist army I decided that my IG were in desperate need of armoured transport.  My choice was a Chimera.  It has been marked for the Catachan 2nd.  Those familiar with the fluff will recognize this as Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken's company. 

Unfortunately I didn't have a camera handy for many of the steps in this build but I will do my best to explain my process.

First I made two tread guards for either side of the chimera. I created these out of sheet styrene and rounded them off with some modeling putty. I trimmed the ends with a thin strip of styrene and added pre-made rivets for detail. For added texture and detail I added some plastic netting to simulate metal tread plate. Not only does this give me a nice custom look and adds some real world detail, it saves me a lot of tank tread which I can use at a later time.

I also added some accessories from a Tamiya 1/35 scale accessories kit.

I wanted a heavy weathering effect on this model so I began by laying down a coat of rust colored primer. After that had dried I airbrushed a coat of AK interactive Heavy Chipping Fluid.  After that had dried I air brushed a series of Tamiya Acrylics: Nato Green, Nato Brown, Dark Yellow, and Flat Black.  Once that had dried I began chipping the camo pattern by rubbing a toothpick over the edges and other areas of heavy wear.

I followed up the chipping with additional wear by sponging on some Army Painter Gun Metal along the edges and other areas of heavy wear.

I also added army decals and rub on transfers which I chipped at with a toothpick.

I created a couple of mounting brackets for a shovel. These were made out of brass photo-etch scraps. The shovel I had in my bits box turned out to be a little too short so I cut of the spade and hilt and replaced the handle with a piece of styrene rod.

I applied a wash of oil paints (black and burnt umber mixed with Mineral Spirits) to each of the rivets, in all the grooves, over the details and across all the tread. Using a brush slightly dampened with mineral spirits I dragged the wash downward to create streaks of rust and grime. I picked up any extra wash with a toothpick.

Once the oil paints had dried I followed up by applying rust colored weathering powders from Secret Weapon Miniatures. These powders were applied by brush with mineral spirits.  I used the same process to apply dirt colored powders to the tank treads.

After I was satisfied with the weathering powders I applied MIG Fresh Engine Oil to the hubs and pistons to simulate leaking oil and grime. I also used the side of a pencil to highlight some of the sharp metal edges and the details of the tread.

I colored the lens of the viewports with a base coat of apricot followed by a coat of Tamiya Clear Red.

I created an exhaust effect by brushing a charcoal powder around the exhaust vents on either side of the chimera. I made the charcoal powder by filing down a piece of artists stick charcoal. This material should be readily available at any art store and is very inexpensive.

The interior was a bit more rushed and not as detailed.  I did however include a detail kit which I made out of styrene and green stuff, molded in silicone, and cast in resin.  I think it looks a great deal better than the bare interior that the kit comes with.

I magnetized the main turret weapons, except for the optional flamer.  I don't intend on using it and if I should change my mind later I will put one together.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the result.  I had nearly completed the dozer blade when my dog ate it.  It is still partially intact so I plan on piecing it back together later. I still feel like something is missing and I welcome any critiques or comments.