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!

Command squad part I

There are many ways to play an Imperial Guard Company Command squad. Personally, i like to exploit the most the ability of the officier to issue orders like "Bring It Down!" so i chose to equip the veterans that escort my officier with meltaguns.
Since i play Valhallan Ice Warriors, which are made of metal, i would have 4 identical melta gunners so i decided to build up a squad with troopers from many different regiments and paint all of them in the same way to give them some chromatic coherency, even if they are not look alike at all. The first of these is this Catachan melta gunner that has been modified with Space Marines Scouts shoulder pads and some milliput to sculpt a flak armour (previously shown here). i also added a backpack to make him look like a sapper.

I painted him in the usual way, so Command designation on the right pad and chevrons on the melta bombs and grenades. i didn't add any snow, yet.

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?

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!

Baneblade tank commander

finally back!
this is my new Baneblade tank commander, still nameless. it's just the basic kit, with a Pig Iron head and some sculped fur and medals. do you like it? charge!

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?

Hexagonal bases!!!

do you remember those hexagonal slottabases that came with Talisman's miniatures, back in the 80s? well, i have them! i bought them at Gateshead Gaming. i'm planning to use them for my Dungeons & Dragons miniatures, in order to spare my round bases for 40k. what a blast from the past!
[in the picture: Aenur, the sword of twilight, still WIP]

Fixing a Catachan lieutenant

this miniature belongs to Teo. it has been bought used and hadn't got any ammo belt down the boltgun so i fixed it for my friend with a spare ammo belt from imperial guard weapons platform.

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

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).

Sentinel magnetic weapons

the first Sentinel kit had only one weapon available: the multilaser. so i had to convert (and magnetize) the autocannon.

i used an autocannon from the cadian weapons platform kit and i shortened the barrel because it was looking too long, then i added 2 targeters, one of these from devastator's kit.

Vendetta cockpit lascannon

the final weapon of my Vendetta is done! i must say this has been a little bit tricky because of the hollow case of the weapon. i decided to fill it with milliput, flatting it with the weapon flat side, then i left it to dry overnight and then carved both part as usual, gluing magnets to place.

Adjustment about magnetizing weapons

magnets are expensive so you should use the least of them unless you are a millionaire. since i am a poor italian student, i used only 2 to magnetize the hull heavy flamer of my demolisher. the problem with this method is that the weapon rotates, which is silly.

a really smart idea (which is not mine but Orlando's, thank you bro) is to make a pin to prevent the rotation. so simple...

how to customize a Leman Russ #4: fully magnetized weaponry

quite a painful work, meanly because of all that plastic shaving (gotta pass the vacuum cleaner on the floor). the trick is the same i used with valkyrie weaponry: make grooves, be careful, glue the magnets, let the glue dry and you're done. this is the result.

the heavy flamer is totally compatible with the hull mount, that of course can house many different weapons.

side sponsons stick to the hull thanks to 2 magnets each: pay attention to keep them parallel to the hull.

that's all for now, any question?

Valkyrie magnetic weapons update

just a quicky: i did the same as lascannons with rocket pods

a really easy conversion indeed, given you have the tools

How to magnetize your Valkyrie/Vendetta

the best thing about the Valkyrie is its versatility so, in order to exploit it best, i magnetized all its weaponry and this is the result.

with my dear old Minicraft drill i've milled a circular groove (is this correct?) and then i glued the magnet, paying attention to keep it perfectly horizontal: this step is important, if the magnet isn't flat then the weapons will be skewed (and will of course suck).

as you can see the twin linked lascannon is scratchbuilt: i used, for the wings weapons, space marines razorback's lascannons and 2 other lascannons from cadian weapons team. they are long the same and with a bit of care you can make them look very similar.
i used this magnets (s0201n), bought on www.supermagnete.de, check them out!

the only tricky thing on this issue is that you must never get mistaken about magnets polarity: make north stick with south and viceversa, otherwise the magnets will repel each other!

next time i'll show you how to magnetize the central lascannon so stay tuned!

kitbashing a plasma gunner

the plasma gunners saga continues! this time i made one taking bits here and there and above there is the result. legs are from tank accessories sprue, flask from cadian weapons platform, arms are from catachan guardsmen, plasma gun from space marines' sprue and head with fur beret from Pig Iron. i must sculpt the shoulder guards!