To done! [ish] - Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists

Here we go, the Free Radical Collective in all there glory. Now officially I'm saying these are done, but there are 20 Cultists in the Dark Vengeance box, so sue me! Actually I've done a bit of work on these too but they're not so much Chaos Cultists anymore... :) wait and see.

I'm not overly keen on my 'glowy eyes' it's a but wrong but they do add a slightly unearthly look to the unit, so I can live with it.

I had always hoped these would be quick to do but I spent an awful lot of time on them fussing and faffing over bits. Then the other night I did 3.5 solid hours straight, without a break. I finished the bases, red planet and the grey areas, which is the debris from the Deathwing and Inquisition strikeforce in their HQ [see I was thinking about this a lot!]

I also wanted to freehand the FRC logo, it was unsurprisingly difficult to do and in the end I did a couple of simple 'R' designs but in fact I think I missed a trick. in particular the flat area on this guys leg would have been perfect for the full logo.

Whereas the creases here don't do me any favours. They look better than I first thought in thr pictures but the ridges do not aid clarity. Still, the reds do look quite good, I've surprised myself, makes me want to do Blood Angels!

I do like the hooded gas mask guy, I'm just not convinced I did the mask justice. As for morningstar dude, that ball and chain is a bit lacklustre but I think I was losing patience by this stage. I do like his blue skin though, very Rogue Trooper.

Unfortunately this mix of models was supposed to have more orange wearing fanatics, an even split but that didn't work out. Also flamer dude didn't have too many areas for the FRC logo, so I just put R's all over him, as tattoos too! 

I think this FRC logo came out the best in the end. My freehanding got better as I went along, I hope it helps when I do my Dark Angel logos, maybe that's the way to go, siomething more freehand than a pristine representation of the badge?

The three tenors!

This one turned out ok, helped by the fact that I did not highlight his back at all so he had quite a few more shades of red than some of the other models.

And this one too wasn't bad, if a bit chunky.

Not so sure about that mutants back, a bit of a cop out.

But overall I'm really impressed. As a group I managed to pull it out of the bag. Those 3.5 hours, and I rarely can focus for that amount of time without being distracted, were relentless. The bases, highlights on everything, the browns, the grey highlights on the black and reds will help in preparing for my Ravenwing. Even the red edges of the bases were and experiment, they're not Mechrite Red but in fact Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Red. The match is near perfect, although it's not as thick and slightly more glossy but only by a fraction. I can certainly see this as a perfect replacement and it will definitely fix all my frosted bases.

In truth this was a long slog, and actually only half complete but I learned an awful lot, even if it was hard going. Hopefully I'll be more confident with my next step, maybe finish up that Dark Angel Tactical squad. The remaining 'cultists' I will split into two groups of 5 I think, you'll see them all soon enough. I'll maybe paint them in amongst my other projects to keep me distracted from getting bored.

Dark Vengeance Chaos Cultists - nearly done

You may have noticed in my Free Radical Collective post that I finished my Chaos Cultists. There was supposed to be a 'big reveal' for this but if I'm honest I couldn't juggle everything in the right order. I actually thought I'd taken some intermediary pictures since April but I can't find any but as I said in the post I was 'doing' more than 'recording' so maybe I just got on with it.

Of course I then went on my Tyranid Bastion feast so I think these took a back seat but they've never been far from the painting table, gathering dust.

Once I hit upon connecting them to the Free Radical Collective I also knew I had to start introducing some of my Hive Fleet colours. Most of the cultists use red or orange clothing, this is to blend into the landscape and also in mockery of the Mechanicum but the bonewhite and turquoise come from their reverence of the 'nids [which they may or may not be infected by...].

I added a whole lot of rust and grime in places. I'm sure those new technical paints would have made this a heck of a lot easier, maybe I'll invest. I also wanted a healthy or should that be unhealthy selection of skin tones - a swarthy yellow and bluey-turquoise. Colours that didn't automatically jump out as xenos but were just about recognisable for their heritage.

These models were actually a nightmare to paint for me. So many bits, and I wanted them to be both a unit and individuals so I tried to be random in places. I longed for the simplicity of a gaunt by the end of this. Originally these were to be my Necromunda gang, they still can be but the remaining 10 miniatures will be very different now I know where I'm going with them.

The funny thing is I actually painted 12 but one miniature got knocked into the waste bin and luckily I only found it after I'd finished but before I emptied it and another got misplaced somewhere else, but also luckily recovered.

More trouble at t' Tyranid rumour mill

The Tyranid rumour mill is in full flow with the imminent arrival of the new Codex, haven't we been here before? Yes indeed, when we thought it would be 'Nidvember'. You may recall I was swept up with the fever but it felt more like the flu in the end. I have to say time has not changed my symptoms. Initial rumours were positive - Termagants for 4pts [cool], Devourers for 4pts [cool] so my 10 man squad is going to save me 20pts, just think of the possibilities! Scratch that I can make the Devourers poisoned for 2pts, I'll take it and suddenly I'm hitting 15 and wounding 10 or 11 Marines with 3 or 4 marines dead, lets hope they're combat squaded! I suppose it's better than 2 or 3 without poison and I can still have a pop at Monstrous Creatures.

Spinefists seem to be pointless, still! But alongside the redundant Strangleweb, still at 10pts there seems to be a new template in town that looks worth taking, although its15pts!. Anyway, Hormies become Beasts, which might make them worth taking again and a Tyranid Prime can finally join a unit of Warriors in a Spore Pod if they're his 'retinue'!

But yet what's this we also have a rumour that suggests 'things without models, not in Codex' - theres no models for the Spore Pod, does that mean there will be no new model for this.

???

But there were 'Nidvember' rumours it was a dual model, also more recent rumours [this week] it would be a 'dataslate' as a full deep strike list so how does that fit with the Prime and his retinue in a pod? And yet the Harpy rumour still persists and there is no model currently for that in our Codex.

???

Even more dramatically - no Doom! If I'm honest I thought he would disappear, or be nerfed but what of the rumours saying a Doom model in a clamshell was in existence and others stating his rules would be the same. And Zoans without psychic shooting attacks as standard!? I know I like the randomness of Biomancy but still. Nevermind, without a pod to actually get them within range of anything they're pretty redundant anyway!

And to cap it all NO ACCESS TO BIOMANCY, just the powers we already have in our Codex that won't be changing - SERIOUSLY!

Every rumour coming out now just sucks, we've relied on Biomancy to make us competitive and it's taken away?! Gaunts for 4pts and Hormies as Beasts, whoopee. Tervigons can still be wiped out even with Iron Arm or Endurance, you're lucky if they survive the game. We adapted to what was considered a poorly produced Codex. We found ways to overcome our deficiencies, like the gribblies themselves. Without allies, without all the whistles and bells of other armies we had time on our side to perfect a few small lists that not only could stand against our opponents but with a bit of luck overcome them!

The only conclusion I can come to is whatever 'big bad' is in the works that will be the prime target and 'must have purchase' we're forced into getting to leave the other models unmolested. I hat this idea and I'm even less convinced of this 'team' approach we're hearing about the author. So the 'team' got on board to finally make this the Codex the nids deserved, well we all know how 'design by committee' works - it doesn't. Maybe having a team makes it easier for them to shift the blame should this be as disastrous as it's shaping up to be.

This is why I'm not feeling the excitement. All these rumours are just spoiling what should be a new dawn, although if they're true it may end up being not so much a Dawn of War as a Dawn of Meh!

Flufftastic - The Free Radical Collective

The Free Radical Equivalent is a seemingly benevolent techno-cult operating out of the Ferron Proxima badlands. Their agenda is presented as a free transfer of technology mainly to the masses and in the process decrying the traditional values and oversight of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Their Open-Source Manifesto of "Progress is progress" borders on the heretical though and the Adeptus Mechanicus has raised their concerns with the local Inquisition, of course this free technology conveniently sidesteps the usual Ad-Mech 'tithe-gelt' but the loss of revenue pales compared to the potential corruption non-sanctioned tech could have on the population. It is for this reason, and this reason only the Ad-Mech is pursuing the Collective and categorizing them as 'techno-terrorists'.

However, the general populace have developed a fondness of the group, seeing them as 'heroic outlaws' akin to the individuals in ancient Terran folklore 'robbing from the rich to give to the poor'. The fact the 'rich' in this case is often the celebrated Techno-archaeologist Avro Vulcan is the only dividing aspect of those that support the collective and those that decry them. Some believe they are targeting him because he has become the most successful discoverer of STC's the sector has ever known. The Free Radical Collective appear to shadow his every move then 'liberate' the data before he can hand it over to the Mechanicum and garner yet more praise. The very same believe Vulcan's agenda is only about himself and the Free Radical Collective is allowing the populace to reach greater potential thanks to their generosity.

Last known picture of Techno-Achaeologist Avro Vulcan and mechanid

Yet others believe there is a darker side to their harrying of Vulcan, that a deeper more sinister connection has led them to plague his every step. Vulcan is a learned Techno-archaeologist and although he has come into conflict with the Adeptus Mechanicus itself his discoveries have offered considerable advances to Ferron Proxima and, more importantly, been 'approved' by the Mechanicus for safe use in the wider Imperium. Evidence to support this argument has been borne out with the many Plasma Generators that have sprung up since their STC plan's were leaked by the FRC. Without Ad-Mech approval and their rigorous testing procedures it is only now that people are finding the STC to be faulty and potentially dangerous. Plasma gas is leaking  from the plasma coils and shows no sign of stopping. The caustic gases produced from the Standard Manifold Coupling has already taken the lives of a number of workers and citizens but still the generators are popping up planetwide to the same fatal spec.

With both the political pressure of the Mechanicum and the moral and social pressure from the recent fatalities the Inquisition has employed one of their lead Investigators - Ephion Rook, who has a long history as an Enginseer prior to his indoctrination in the Ordo Hereticus. It has been his tireless detective work that has uncovered the truth behind some of the Free Radical Collective's activities. With the co-operation of members of the Dark Angels a surgical strike into the heart of the Free Radical Collective's HQ discovered various materials of a Heretical nature. The involvement of the Dark Angels may suggest that their hunt for a member of 'the Fallen' was close to success and evidence would support there was some depraved chaotic links. 

Dark Angels of the Deathwing teleported into the Collectives HQ in support of Inquisitor Rook. Whether they found a member of the Fallen or not has not been revealed...

However, more worrying was the forensic biology reports that some of the Collective were not tainted by Chaos but were in fact some obscene Xeno/human hybrid. Inquisitor Rook has called for support from the Ordo Xenos in confirming his suspicions, that the recent appearance of Hive Fleet Gorgon may have been not the first incursion onto Ferron Proxima but in fact a later stage that has been infecting and conspiring in the dark recesses of the red planet for decades or even millenia.

What is even more disturbing in the evidence secured by the Inquisition/Deathwing strike team that teleported into the Collective's HQ was that there are clearly more of these bases hidden within the rusting hills that dot the Ferron landscape. This was in fact only a small cell and those members that were captured, which were few compared to the many killed by the heroic efforts of the combined force, may well not be the leaders or even the hunted 'Fallen' the strike force hoped.

Certain documents pointed to someone of prominence known only by the initial 'M' and there was also a cryptic reference to the 'Free Radical Equivalent' which is still to be explained. Suffice to say the investigations by the various branches of the Inquisition and the Adeptus Astartes, each for their own priorities will eventually discover the whole truth regarding the Free Radical Collective. In the mean time the population of Ferron Proxima are blissfully unaware and continue to blindly believe they are either threat or saviors.

support your local blogger - Blue Warp Studios

He's only gone and done it! My mate Liam has started a blog at http://bluewarpstudios.blogspot.co.uk/ I cannot recommend it enough, afterall I've been showcasing his insane talent and machine-like productivity for years. Lets face he scratchbuilt a Warlord Titan:

He scratchbuilt a beautiful Warhound Titan too:

He kitbashes all sorts of awesome models

And his painting is award winning, scooping loads of the certificates at Throne of Skulls

And he's insane enough to make his own life-sized Chaos Space Marine helmet too! And he shows how to make it in his blog!

Seriously, is that not evidence enough to follow his blog? Well once again it's a low rent blog, updates every couple of weeks or so and hopefully with more readers he may well dip into his massive collection and showcase all those other armies he has - Elves, Dark Eldar, Crimson Fists, Chaos Marines and many more.

Liam is a hobby genius so sign up now!

'nids part 114 - Scratchbuilt Tyranid Capillary Towers pt9.

Not much to show in these pictures really, just my sand mix PVA'd in place.

I tried to put less PVA on the crests of the craters, doesn't make much sense that dust and sand would still be perched on the bits that have ruptured upwards.

Another use for that toothbrush - scrubbing the extra sand off the bases. Using 'sharp sand' doesn't half wreck brushes!

20 hours and 15 minutes to date, with the sand taking 25 minutes and we're on 20 hours 40 minutes.

Onto the 'female' towers. I hot glued lava rocks in place.

Then once done I applied PVA and tissue paper to make the membranous sack that the fleshy growths are bound by.

Then a selection of beads were PVA'd in place.

Anywhere that the holes were visible for the beads had extra drops of PVA added to clean them up. Next up some PVA'd string for tendril vines and we're done.

Another 40 minutes doing the flesh sacs and we're on 21 hours and 20 minutes time on the project

Tyranid Capillary Towers | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. |