Captain Cassius (counts as Vulkan), still WIP!

I decided to change miniature, just to add a bit more movement and this is what i got for now. The paintwork is not finished yet. Much more juicy details soon! Praise the multipart modular plastic Space Marines!

Tigurius WIP

Still WIP but i simply couldn't resist to post this awesome old school miniature! I hope to make this my very best masterpiece!

Counts as Vulkan (WIP)

I'm afraid many will turn up their noses, anyway...
In the fifth edition Space Marines codex there are some options to make quite competitive army lists: I found that Vulkan of the Salamanders is the most funny and suitable to my way of playing so, since there are no restrictions about the use of special characters in other chapters different from their own, I chose to make Vulkan join my Ultramarines army.
I don't like at all the GW miniature of this Salamanders' hero and even if I liked it I wouldn't buy it because I didn't want to use a Salamander with my Ultramarines, even if it is possible to do that.
So I chose to make a conversion. His name is captain Cassius, my historic Ultramarine commander.
I started from an old metal Space Marine body (precisely mark 7 armour 6, from 1990 range) and then i added stuff in order to reflect Vulkan wargear. After all I like to stick to WYSIWYG rule. I think that this body has lots of personality, seemslike he's looking for enemies to slain.
The Spear of Vulkan, which is a master crafted Relic Blade, became a two handed sword taken from Grey Knights bits. GK weapons are amazing stuff, before them there were no two handed weapons for Space Marines, except some previously released metal stuff.
Gauntlet of the Forge is sort of heavy flamer built in an armour gauntlet so I converted it starting from GK forearm storm bolter. Quite easy.
Kesare's Mantle has been represented with the old Space Marine commander metal cloak. This is going to be painted in some fancy way.
Artificier armour is yet to be represented (as well as Digital Weapons). I'm thinking about some milliput sculpts.

I added some detail in order to show his "veteran" status like a Crux Terminator and some Purity Seals. I also used Space Marine captain sculpted shoulder pads and a Ultramarines banner icon.

What do you think? If you have any suggestion please let me know!

UPDATE: I just saw GW miniature. In comparison mine looks silly! I've got to load my version with more detail so I hope to post it back soon!

Gothic DIY scenery WIP part II

do you remember this?
well, i made some changes like removing almost all that ugly ball-textured polystyrene and replacing it with more compact stuff. the parts that still show the old styrene are gonna be treated with some filler in order to make them look like masonry work.
i really like the theme of the stairs because they make me remember the scene of the 1925 movie "The Battleship Potemkin" where the cossacks shoot the sailors, even if these stairs are much shorter. also, i really like how the space marine statue looks in the gable. i'm planning to add some texture, like a wire mesh or something, to the circular window that should be a rose window.
thoughts?

Ruined temple part II, still WIP but with some detail

back to work!
i've added some detail to the temple as you can see. nothing special i know, but i think this extra stuff really contribute to give some personality to this piece of terrain. the space marines statues are 2nd edition miniature that came with the old boxed set 1994, i guess. the skulls on the bases are from skeletons sprues. on the top of the facade there's a simple decoration made with one round base, a winged skull from imperial guard vehicle sprue and some rivets.
any suggestion?

Ruined Temple WIP

 i've officially started to model my Cities of Death scenery in order to start playing as soon as possible at Killteam.
this first piece is nothing special: just styrofoam front with gothic windows and some lancet arches.

i added on the back the big aquila sculpture that i found in the Honoured Imperium box, just to give the place a "holy" feel.

hand made crater. tutorial on the way. soon, i swear!
i feel there are lots of things missing, especially on the frontage so i'm gonna add lots of details. any suggestion?

Kill Team camo scheme part II

 

more Killteam camo scheme! i chose to paint the flak armour grey in combination to the camo scheme of the fatigues just to give this soldier a ww2 feel... just think to Wehrmacht/SS soldiers on the western front in 1944, you couldn't find two men dressed in the same way, so this is what i'm trying to achieve.

the camouflage is done this way:

1. black primer
2. catachan green basecoat
3. bestial brown spots
4. bubonic brown spots
5. black wash
6. 50/50 camo green + catachan green highlight
7. snakebite leather highlight

Kill Team camo scheme

have you ever played the Killteam mission from Battle Missions expansion?
i never did but as soon as i read the rules i totally got into that so i'm planning a new camo scheme for my imperial guard. this time i want something for a temperate enviroment, just for difference sake, it's boring to paint all the time the same camo scheme.
the idea was to recreate something with a Wehrmacht flavour so i chose these colours. i'm not sure about this scheme so i'm making a lot of sketches. let me know what do you think about guys!

Catachan testpaint part II

so this time we've got to think about the lasgun's camo scheme. which is better? black + snot green (above) or black + camo green (below)?

please, let us know!

Catachan testpaint

new testpaint, do you like it? it isn't finished i know but just look at the camo!

Vendetta pilots

Vendetta update: these are the pilots. still nameless.
even if a Valkyrie/Vendetta isn't a fighter aircraft, i tried to give this guys a "top ace" look customizing their helmets: the pilot got a Japanese rising sun design (quite a classic) and the gunner something like Merlin the wizard.

i'm pretty happy with the pilot sunglasses.

...and i really like how the panels and the screen turned out.
that's all for now!

Vendetta camo scheme complete!

whoa... the end of a nightmare! you can't believe how frustrating can be painting a model this big with a poligonal camo scheme... by hand! so, if you ask me, go for masking and spray paints! let me tell you why this has been a nightmare:

1. black basecoat
2. Vallejo german grey undercoat
3. heavy drybrush with codex grey (or Vallejo basalt grey)
4. hand drawing of the poligonal spots with watered down black paint
5. drybrush of the spots with Vallejo german grey

in one word: hellish! basically the problem was drawing neatly on the Vendetta surface all those spots...

if you are interested in, this scheme has been "stolen" from an italian aircraft camo scheme in use during ww2 in temperate/desert areas, so i adapted it for urban scenarios and made it more poligonal.


hope you like it. the next steps are the pilots, weapons and insignas... that's gonna be much easier.
hey, i just remembered that tonight i dreamt freddy kruger!

Baneblade WIP (part I)

so, first of all i'm gonna convert the crew. the baneblade model has many hatches so i want to exploit their "potential" the best that i can.

on the turret there are two hatches, one for the commander (here shown without fur and medals conversions) and another one for the second in command/gunner/whatever. everyone on this tank wear ushanka caps and gasmasks (Pig Iron heads) to give a Valhallan flavour to the crew.

adding some armour on the heavy stubber will make the gunner much happier!

demolition cannon gunner checks everything out there is ok... or maybe he is simply waiting for some targets getting into range!

final notes: Baneblade cannon is still missing because it's gonna get some magnets as well as side sponsons... someone said Hellhammer?

that's all for now!

Panther approaching!

2nd FoW post.
this time we've got a original Battlefront tank, scale 1:100. i've planned to deploy this beauty with my SS panzergrenadier kompanie, as regimental support or something like that.

Battlefront tanks are really detailed, the hull is made of resin, while tracks, weapons and other details are metallic. note how resin makes the Zimmerit finish realistic.

as i previously said, this model will represent a Panther A from some company of the 2nd SS panzerdivision Das Reich, active in Normandy, after D-Day. it will follow Cobra rules. i gotta choose a camo scheme for it, any suggestion?

Gothic DIY scenery WIP

gothic wall section, still wip. all that arts history back in the high school wasn't wasted time.

Powerplant WIP

we need a bunch of urban scenery for our campaign (Battle for Tcharkov) so yesterday night i began making one building for this purpose. it is (would be) a power plant but many details, like coils or cables, still lack. above, the entrance with the pediment. Demolition Man for size comparison.

interior's overview: pile of rubble and collapsed wall section

external view, featuring the chimney

war-torn windows

Fantasy Monday #3 (wip): Heroquest Evil Sorcerer

it has been a long time since the last Fantasy Monday so it's time to re-start! it will also be a smart thing to do to break all this sci-fi painting, i don't wanna get bored by my imperial guard so soon.
this miniature reminds me Skeletor from the cartoon HeMan (maybe names are different in UK or US editions, dunno) so i'm gonna paint it like that dude. for now i finished the skin.

Vendetta camo scheme update

ok, i completed the first step of the scheme choosing the method i like best but i now realize it looks a bit too dark so i'm gonna break the spots, making them smaller, with more codex grey and then i'll see how it will look

HELP: Valkyrie testpaint

dilemma: which spot is better? hollow or solid? please tell me!

Tank crew lasguns

just a quickie: tank crews have always downsized weapons, even in the real world, so i converted 2 cadian pattern lasguns to a shorter version, similiar to the one you find in the tank accessories sprue, with different muzzle and stock (this is fixed, the real tank one is foldable).