Alpha Legion!

Don't worry, I haven't snuck in a totally random side project. I was looking on ebay and one of the German sellers that tends ot have a lot of Tyranid bits had these amazing Alpha Legion auctions up. I was immediately struck by the Red Planet BASE! - so simple and effective, red, wash, red and bleached static grass clumps. The Alpha Legion really works against that base.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Mann-Sturmtrupp-der-Space-Marines-TOP-BEMALT-UMBAU-/361463788870?hash=item5428ebb546%3Ag%3AbOAAAOSwFqJWjsJY

There are also some pretty cool scouts too, those head-swaps make them look really creepy and the red cloaks do a grand job of helping camouflage them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Scharfschutzen-Scouts-der-Space-Marines-TOP-BEMALT-UMBAU-/121859275123?hash=item1c5f60f973%3Ag%3ACRwAAOSwJkJWjsKz

There's also two lots of Terminators, I think the pics may have go all mixed up though but they're really cool with some extensive use of third party components by the looks of it but they're not deminished in any way because of it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Terminatoren-der-Space-Marines-TOP-BEMALT-UMBAU-1-/121859274971?hash=item1c5f60f8db%3Ag%3A3YcAAOSwHaBWjsKb

Interesting column/steps the Commander is mounted upon.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Terminatoren-der-Space-Marines-TOP-BEMALT-UMBAU-2-/121859274447?hash=item1c5f60f6cf%3Ag%3AdakAAOSwwPhWjsKA

No connection with these auctions at all, just wanted to save them for posterity and share them with you guys.

'nids part 184 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 5.

With these scratchbuilds there are a number of elements that I would consider 'obstacle to progress' but in reality are actually quite simple tasks that only require an evenings effort to achieve. As such that should be quite rewarding - I fill all the plastic out with PVA's tissue paper and by the end of the night the job is done the next part begins and I should be happy.

Unfortunately I have to get through the tissue and PVA process, which is yucky and I don't like it so it becomes a hurdle but in this case I was still motivated from overcoming the chitin plate obstacle and hopefully the momentum will carry me through the icing and sculpting stage too. As you can see I was a little creative with the tissue, using an old brush cleaning paper towel that really was only good for the bin but I've been using it for so long I thought it better to enshrine it within the structure.

I did use a load of tissues that came from a coffee shop which mashed up much better in the water and PVA. I guess there really is a difference between tissue and paper towel consistency [I know how obvious that sounds, but it's worth noting].

You can really see the difference on the other side of the spine, this has become more like papier mâché than glued paper. I'm going to be covering it all up anyway so it doesn't matter but if your sculpting skill aren't great that's two different option of how to detail your model. The paper towels make an effective musculature, I'm sure with a few successive coats of PVA you could easily just paint it red, cover it in Tamiya Clear Red X-27 and it'd look awesomely disgusting. Alternatively the tissue makes a different, more mineral looking finish that could be equally effective.

The smaller supports will also have fleshy joins to the main battlements. This is something I considered on the Bastion but never did, having the bone walls join directly to the Chitin towers, but for this I'm going to have exposed flesh between the armour plates and the walls.

And just because here's a close up of the paper towels, that really looks like some fibrous meaty musculature. You probably could even get away with not painting it, it's already got some crazy colours going on.

And again at this point I'm wondering should I have prepared the second one...? Next up - lets ice this sucker!

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. | 

Moar pics from GW Manchester

I felt a bit bad that I'd posted some sparse hobby shop pictures recently so when I nipped to GW Manc to try and resolve my intermediary brass metal issue I thought I'd try and remebdy that. First up I remebered to take shots of the WiP fantasy... sorry Sigmar galleon

Thats a lot of clothes pegs and coffee stirrers, not to mention actual GW marketing materials.

I got anothe rpic of this amazing Spawn of Cryptus.

These Knights are so awesome.

The checks were brilliant and the weathering subtle but higghly effective and well applied.

I thought the diamond formation for the banner was particularly ingenious, something I may steal myself. I was also impressed with the banner pole, very reminiscent of th eoriginal banner poles for the Epic Reaver Knights. I asked what it was made from and there was a significant list of bits so whether I can replicate it down the line we'll see...

They make a pretty impressive army.

Some Space Mongrels.

Iron Hands, sorry about the blur, the display was rotating at the time.

To be honest I only really took the pictures because of Red Planet BASE!

This Knight was also quite interesting. There was a subtle camo pattern built into the grey.

Close up I'm not sure it's the best quality in the world [no disrespect] but there is definitely a level of skill in that pattern and the spotting that's been applied. But it's also heavily influenced by the War Griffons so I really like that.

Some pretty standard Necrons, but dark Red Planet BASE! makes them look awesome. It's a different way to do it but it really works, so versatile.

Alternatively Martian Iron Eath gives you a different take on Red Planet BASE! , so versatile.

I don't know what chapter this is but it was pretty striking and consistent.

It looks like the store's hive fleet - the green one has had some reinforcements with the blue [Fleshborer Hives FTW]

mmm, gribbly

'nids part 183 - Tyranid Void Shield Generator part 4.

Well this just happened! With all the mixed feelings about my other projects every time I enter the shed I've seen this thing languishing on the shelf. September was the last time it got any attention, although there were other things that definitely took precedence to push it down my list of priorities.

Now it should still be low down on that list but I just needed to do something and as the plastic forms for the Chitin plates are actually one of those 'obstacles to progress' I regularly suffer from if I actually felt the urge to overcome this hurdle then I would be a fool to ignore where my mojo will take me.

I think that's one of the advantages of having numerous projects on the go, when one gets tedious it's really easy to switch to another project to maintain momentum. As it was I couldn't quite remember how to do these [I've done 10 spires so far!] so it was lucky I had a blog to go back for reference. I think the main spine is a bit ropey in places but the smaller ones came out pretty well and the hot melt glue didn't melt too much of them.

I drilled out the emitter ball too, I've found the second one so should I want to make another VSG it's possible, although I'll kick myself for not doing the two at the same time...

There's a curtain hook for the very tip of the spine and I'll be adding more down the inside. I put a Genestealer on the battlements for scale too.

All good fun, I need to pack out the plastic with PVA and tissue next, then a coating of tile adhesive/grout. I don't envisage this replacing any of my other projects but it's nice to take a break so I can make progress on it and return to the other ones afresh.

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 1. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. |

Tyranid Void Shield Generator Chapter 2. | part 1. | part 2. | part 3. | part 4. | part 5. | part 6. | part 7. | part 8. | part 9. | part 10. | part 11. | part 12. | part 13. | part 14. | part 15. |