Tuesday 29 January 2019

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in manufactorum pt10. Chevrons

I cogitated an awful lot about the chevrons. I was trying to balance what I've already done with the Lancer and Warglaives but also take the opportunity to expand so there was a little more variety instead of sticking to some hard rules. Firstly my chevrons are not chevrons, that would be a V or A shape. These are just angled stripes but I'll be still calling them chevrons. Secondly, mine angle backwards, while Raven chevrons are more the V toward the head. And I also don't add the white line between the black and yellow. My house Corvus can be a little different as an offshoot branch of Raven.


But the big thing on this guy is his chevrons are twice as thick on the carapace as I normally do. Raven has some fluff about the more experienced you are the thicker they get [although it also says they eschew heraldic indentifiers that normally indicate higher ranks...? Go figure?]. I also covered one third of the carapace. I see this guy as a little more experienced Knight Crusader who stands back and shoots.


Whereas the running Knight is a young Gallant and so he has narrower chevrons that only cover the angled edge. This is the mirror of my Lancer and the Warglaives have similar reflected schemes.


On top of the stripes I also painted some panels black, again with mirrored panelling.


The orange got an Iyanden Dark Sun highlight but I was keen to keep some of the orange base showing.


The Gallants stripes were a bit inconsistent with thickness unfortunately but it's not too noticeable.


Chevron stripes on the shin plate too. Not a particularly common choice on Raven, invariably the inner panels are both black but this was a choice on the Lancer that I'm continuing on my other Knights, again to add a subtle amendment to the scheme but also because I haven't done too much with the chevrons on the carapace.


Should I ever get a Dominus class knight I will definitely do the entire carapace as a chevron but for now these colours are done. Further highlights will be added after decals and damage. I've also got to prime the small-arms weaponry, can't have bare plastic stubbers.


You can see I also did a white stripe down the front of his faceplate and the bottom of its mouthguard. White/cream is a further addition to my scheme. Raven does feature white sparingly, my use is on the ion shields and the head. I'd liked to have used it more but I just can't reconcile it next to the chevrons, another reason why it doesn't edge the black and yellow stripes. Anyway, decals next so gloss varnish on all the armour plates.

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in Manufactorum
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |


We begin week 4 [out of six] of Radiotherapy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for my hero. \The weekend was reasonably quiet, he's beginning to get tired a little quicker but his radiologist pointed out just how much of his body is being treated so that's understandable. On Friday his hair really started to come out and he found it so uncomfortable that night he decided he wanted to go to the barbers the next morning 

We've been taking the boys to Your Barbers in Ormskirk for years and although we're not on first name terms with them they were incredibly understanding and supportive. By the end there was just a small bit of hair left, surprisingly round his surgery scar. The owner wouldn't take any payment and asked us to put it in a charity, which we did at Clatterbridge yesterday.

Also we received some financial support from the Family Fund this included some money for clothes [he's had a lot of new pyjamas] bedding and support for transport, which with a daily 50 mile roundtrip and twice through the Mersey Tunnel is really helpful. Interestingly I understand the tunnel was featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt1. I think it's meant to be the Dartford Tunnel, and is for the entrance/exit but the inside sequence with Hagrid's bike is the Queensway Tunnel, which we take on a Tuesday. I think it was easier to film there than Dartford and they look similar too.

Anyway, it all helps and we're still being positive.

Monday 21 January 2019

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in manufactorum pt9. 'brass, brassy, bronze, brass'

And back to my old 'friend' the metallics. I must confess there was a very particular emotion I can't quite describe when I was at this stage. My brassy bronze approach has always been challenging since the first time I did it on my drop pod.


It's a result I love but can be a real slog to do despite it just stippling on metallic paints. There's no finesse [look at that big blob of gold on that side vent] but it still takes a while and the paint ends up thick and gloopy and I fear for the brushes, even the knackered ones I use to achieve all the texture.


I did sponge it on in places too which I think helps. Once again it's Warplock Bronze, Balthasar Gold, Retributor Armour, Valejo 'gold and gunmetal' mix.


But it's all going to be washed and weathered too so it doesn't need to be perfect.


Now these pics might be earlier than the above ones just after the Retributor Armour coat or post wash, not sure but you can see how rough I've been. Too much faffing to fix it so bear with...


More close-ups of the sponging.


More of the same.


The hips look pretty cool whereas those ends to the side-pods look bloomin rough.


'The Imperial Knight in front of you is a Questoris'. Once again just the bare metal from the back view.


The second knight, just a little more planted.


The two Knights together, I keep building them up after a session. It's silly really as it means I have to disassemble them before I start painting the next session but they do look cool.


So despite all the things going on these are progressing quite reasonably and with no real deadline now for them there's less pressure. Despite that I might actually be going to bed later than normal, regularly ending up at 12:30am instead of 12. That said I'm enjoying it [now the metals are done anyways].


However, the weapons were all still at Warplock Bronze phase [ore even grey plastic in the pics above!] so I still have all those to paint too. I'll no doubt kick myself that these two elements are not progressing simultaneously - the panels and chassis will be completed and then the weapons will be almost starting from scratch. That's the joy of batch painting, it's smaller gains along the way but the pay off is much bigger at the end. But go with the flow and if my motivation is the armour and then weathering the chassis who am I to argue... with myself 😕

Imperial Knights - House Corvus Twins in Manufactorum
Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |

We begin week 3 [out of six] of Radiotherapy at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre for my hero. Yesterday was a bit of a challenge as he woke up feeling sick and with pain in his lower back, which we think is due to an unrelated issue with his coccyx. We spent the morning at Alder Hey just to be sure but it was a bit of a wake up call. Friday had also been bad, again with nausea but the extra prescribed anti-sickness tablets had meant the weekend had been almost normal until 5am Sunday morning. 

That said he did brilliantly today and he's back to his normal self and in school for a lesson. We had a chat with his consultant and he's still sporting a full head of hair which is surprising us all... who knows. Anyway, 'hump week' - after this it's down hill. Week 4 will be the last full treatment and then 5 and 6 is a different machine, quicker and less intense. So we get these two weeks out of the way and keep up with the anti-sickness tablets and it should be a fair bit easier on everyone.

Thursday 17 January 2019

Last Chance Open wrap up and painting competition

The Last Chance Open was this weekend and I have to commend Martin, Aceface and all the other folk who chipped in. I can definitely say the event was well run and once the free wi-fi settled down even updating the Best Coast Pairing App was straightforward [although the judges could fill in the details for you!]. I had some really great games and met some really nice people and had a good time. That said I am feeling a disconnect with 40k and how it is played. I absolutely love the idea of running knights but there were so many of them at the event it feels like a cop-out to take them. Losing even one can feel devastating and on the flip-side outgunning your opponent with them is equally disheartening because it's just not fun to take someone apart in that way. Anyway, I'll discuss my feelings in depth at a later date.


Keith Martin-Smith with Astra-Millitarum [tanks and conscripts] was my first match.


Dominik Brundler with Nurgle Chaos Marines was Game 2


Andrew Davies and mixed Chaos Daemons [Nurgle/Tzeentch] Game 3.


Sadly I missed getting a pic with Rick Martin who I faced in Game 4 with his Deathwatch. Last Game was with Robin Neill and he had Iron Hands Space Marines.


The painting competition was of a high standard. Unfortunately I didn't get chance to take pics on day one of the individual categories but I got pics of the Best Army nominations with these Tau


And they're awesome energy shields.




Otty got nominated for best army with his Tyranids and his 'nid Bastion, which won best conversion.



Ad Mech and Knights.




Liam's Renegade Knights were also nominated.




His Warglaives were a new addition to the force.


 
As was this new dual battle cannon Knight.


Apparently this eyeball took 5 minutes to paint, it's amazing how much you can hate one of your own friends ;)


Unsurprisingly Liam came away with the honours for best army.


Apparently I gave him a challenge though with only a few votes in it, not that I mind.


I did have a quick chat with the Honest Wargamer guys about how they're review of our lists had failed to recognise that not everyone is choosing a list on a competitive basis.


It was really funny when I said to Liam "why did you take the Bloodthirster?" [a question Jon had asked himself on the stream] - "because I like the model" was the answer. When I asked Otty "why did you take the Bastion?" [noted by Jon as the only Fortification brought to the tournament] - "because I never take it!". When I asked Ben about the Eldar Cobra it was also "because I never take it"!


And the final query based on Jon's surprise at seeing me take the Lancer - "Why did I take the Lancer? Because these were the only two Knights I had painted!" So we had a good laugh at our reasons.


Almost a week on I'm still feeling a glow of satisfaction about the tournament. There's a real dichotomy between just how much I enjoyed the event and the people but feel there are continuing flaws in 8th edition. Previously those flaws would be levelled at the Codex but now I think there are things inherently wrong about the game. There are also things very right and I can't quite put my finger on what the flaws are, which is why I need time to dissect what they might be, but I am both looking forward to a break but also going to miss the satisfaction brought on by the efforts of Martin, Aceface and the crew. On top of that they raised £1107.50 for Alder Hey Children's Hospital Charity, which given my circumstances is amazing news. Well done all!