Ultramarines Test Model

Well since my blog has a bit of an Ultramarines theme I though I better put up some photos of my Ultramarines Test mini.



























I'm not yet 100% happy with the results as I have never been great at painting power armour. I've always felt more comfortable with flesh, fur and cloth but that's what you get when you choose an army in power armour! But the decision was partly to try and force myself to paint power armour better. I'll slowly get there I guess...



























The shoulder pads need to be redone a bit and some of the other highlights lessened but so far I am pretty happy with his outcome. He's going to be a member of the 4th company so his shoulder pad rims will be the colour of my Salamanders, (hence my Salamander test model :D I'll put him up in the next few days)

So any comments or feedback?

Fenrisian Wolves Conversion

Hi everyone,
Today I thought I would post up my Fenrisian Wolf Conversion!!



























As you can probably tell these are based off of a Chaos Warhound with the tail from the Goblin Wolf Rider Box. I chopped the tab off of the wolf tail and then carved down the sides of the tail to get it to fit quite snuggly in the gap in the warhound for the tail. This also gives it more connection for the glue to work and allows you a fair bit of control over its final positioning. I got the idea from Gw Chatswood as the boys there had built some but for the tails they used the wolf tail talisman from the Wolf Pack box. I think they looked pretty good but I wanted a longer tail to be more wolf-esq even those these things are some crazy xenos wolf.

I've used the green stuff to pad out the stomach area to give the animal a bit more bulk and to create fur on the rest of the body. I quite like the bulkiness of the original fur as it looks like a mane to my mind.

This was my first time greenstuffing again for some time and possibly my first ever doing fur so I was quite happy with the results. I laid down a thin sheet of green stuff over the area I wanted to create fur on and went from there. I had to add a bit of extra fur to one of the legs as the green stuff stopped too high and it looked a bit strange and the other leg just looked better. What do you guys think? Any tips or hints I should check out?



























So far I only have one completed but I have another two ready for some green stuff action.
I'm not sure yet how I will cover up the scales some of the hounds have far down their legs but I figure I will do the rest of them first then worry about it. I might have a bit more tidying up of the model as I removed the spines but these are hard to remove fully. As you can see below I have used the hobby knife to clean them up a fair bit but after seeing this photo I think I might need to fix him up a little more.














Also do you think I should add green stuff to the tail to make it shaggy like the fur on the body or do you like him as is?
Thanks guys!

Edit:
There's also some great conversion ideas for Wolves of Fenris over at B+C. I really like their current wolfy theme!

New Blogs

Well Little Max and Josh Davy have both kicked off their blogs!!

Both are great guys who are always up for a hobby and we will hopefully see some of their great stuff!

Little Max - as seen here - is working on his Imperial Fists and Traitor Legion Guardsmen.
Josh Davy is working on his Vampire Counts army.

Congratulations and welcome to the world of blogs!
Check them out as they get their blogs kicked off and up and running!

Also my friend Strider has returned to us from his long holiday so I'm expecting to see plenty of Hobby from him!!

Edit:
Little Max has just been added in spot number two in the FTW Tuesday top ten!!
Nice work man and after only one day of having your blog up and running!!

Also Gw has posted their Space Hulk FAQ here. Unfortunately it doesn't cover a few things that I know have been causing issues amongst some people who have a different take on the rules to everyone else...

Ultramarines Movie

Wow!

So we are actually getting a Warhammer 40k movie!! That's totally awesome!!

But they will have high exceptions to live up to but I think the Dawn of War series were well done, especially no. 2.

There's not much to go on over at their official website but I've signed up for updates so hopefully I'll hear when things start happening.

The guys making it have only listed the Bionicle movies as their other works. Although they obviously aren't my thing and I haven't actually watched them from what i have seen they are pretty well done. i just hope they will be able to do the gritty, gothic 40k universe justice. Maybe they are working with the guys making the Space Marine game as that looks pretty nice!

Here's hoping to an Awesome movie, lots of Dvd sales which then leads to more Awesome 40k movies!!

Assembling the New Wolf Guard!!

Hi Happy Bloggers!!

Today I got the esteemed pleasure of building the new plastic Wolf Guards for my local Gw store!! I had to follow their army list but other than that I pretty much got free reign in building them with a few pose tweeks from Deke. I've got to say these are gorgeous models!! Great fun to build with oodles of extra bitz. I really wanted to use the Wolf Pack wolf helmet with the final terminator with Wolf Claws but they were already used so I'll have to keep one spare when I build my guys!

These models were so fun to build I think I will be getting a few more packs than I need, including making some for extra Space Hulk Missions! You really have got to check out the Assault Cannon on these miniatures! He has a chain fed ammo feeder which gives him a huge amount of bulk and makes him look UNSTOPPABLE!! When you see this model in person check out how the belt feeder and ammo box attach to the armour's exhaust and power outlet (the oval containing two circles) on his lower back. It just plugs straight into his grille and power outlet and is super snug and flush. :) It's quite ingenious! Imagine attaching him to your 6 man Long Fang unit.... Ouch!
(When assembling him consider pinning him as he is so heavy its pretty hard to get him to stay in the correct position whilst he is drying even when you lay him down!)

There's a sculpted shoulder pad for Deathwolf's Company!! But it's half covered with fur :(
I put it on the Assault Cannon Wolf Guard since he is my favourite! :D
There's also a sculpted shoulder pad for Logan's Company (pre-wolf lord) and the Space Wolves icon and enough Wolfy Crux Terminatus for all five models.

There's also a drinking horn to match that of Canis Wolfborn's to further the tie in to Deathwolf's Great company. And of course there is always the obligatory Wolf Tails, Wolf Skulls and those other bitz that must come with the Space Wolves! There are even some tiny wolf skulls attached to arms, cabling and shoulder pads that include the detail of cavities left by missing teeth, really have a close look at some of the details on these guys. You won't be disappointed!

The only quibble is I'd like to see a few more head options but when combined with the Space Wolf Pack this isn't so much of an issue. I'd also like to see all of the great companies get a shoulder pad then you could swap with mates to get a full pack with the correct shoulder pads! (I'm probably just being greedy but hey I can dream! It's my wish list!)


Some seriously fun miniatures and conversions to be had!
Any Questions about assembling them or the box's content I'll do my best to answer!!
Thanks Guys!!

Also how did I go on my first real attempt at model photography? I think the store's lighting did most of the work though... Any tips for improvement?

Group Shot














Pack Leader with Thunderhammer, Storm Shield and Bear Cloak (and Bear Loincloth! :D )














Wolf Guard with Assault Cannon and Powerfist (Check out that sweet Belt Feeder)














Wolf Guard with Twin Wolf Claws














Wolf Guard with Frost Axe and Stormbolter














Second Wolf Guard with Twin Wolf Claws














Ps... I saw Canis Wolfborn in person. He looks a lot better than in the photos so I'll have to wait to see him fully painted up before I make up my mind on him but I'll definitely be getting one! One of the guys from our store is getting 11!! He's running the Canis Army with Fenrisian Wolves so no Objective claiming for him!!

Also the Cloak of the Doppelgrangrel from Lukas the Trickster is beautiful!! If you get to see it properly you will notice it actually has six limbs and tyranid-esq spinal scales and tail. Painted up it looks really nice and I think I will be adding one to one of my Rune Priests. I don't think it will be a very hard conversion as long as my Priest has the right pose to begin with.

Kill for the Living, Kill for the Dead, Kill for the Warmaster!!

These were posted over at Terran Forge, a nice looking blog you should all check out.
























































Any guesses? :D

399 Visits!!

Wow!! Thanks guys! In less than a week from adding a hit counter we are already up to 399!! Thanks so much!

I didn't realise there were many people even viewing the blog so thanks a lot for checking me out. As uni gets towards that end date of 31st of October my hobby will continue to increase and you'll start seeing peeks of my actual hobby!! :D

As a reward for our 399 visits I will post up some photos of what I have been working on recently this weekend.

Special thanks goes to my 12 followers and anyone who has left a comment!! Thanks guys and girls!!

Keep those comments coming so I know what you are all thinking, what you want and what you do and don't like!

New Imperial Guard and Treadheads

Hey guys...

Check out these rad new Imperial Guard models on Gw's website!
I'm pretty impressed so far. I think I'll have to get some for my Tandaris Army....


The Imperial Guard Tank Crew have to be my favourite release of this month I think (as Space Wolves are next month :D ) Those guys are so full of character to my mind.

They are definitely going to be joining the ranks of the Tandaris soon. Not sure thought if I should use them as tank crew or just as extra cool minis....















Imperial Guard Tank Commanders: Well I think I have the right two buried away somewhere but I don't have that Commissar Commander. He's a definite acquisition I'll need to make.















Tank Stowage: I've been searching for some extra baggage to add to my tanks other than the two from the heavy weapons teams (which I need for my veterans) and the one from the Tank Accessory sprue, which I need to get a few more of so I can enclose the tracks of my tanks.















Speaking of tanks I saw a rad tank conversion in the City Store on Saturday which was a Leman Russ featuring the engine/exhaust block off of a Land Raider on the back and used predator side sponsons. This made a really striking looking tank which I think would work well as a Command Tank for a more modern force.

I think I will be sticking to the "older" chassis for the Leman Russes in the Vostroyan Army and the "newer" chassis for the Tandaris Tanks. This means that all the Punishers and such in the Vostroyan Army will be the hull of the current Leman Russ and the Leman Russes in the Tandaris Army will be the new hulls. This is to represent the fact that the Vostroyan Army is much, much older and hence have older (but better maintained and built) tanks where as the newer more modern Tandaris Army will utalise the "fast build" chassis that has just been released with the Punisher et al box.


The only one I'm not so sure of is these guys, labelled Imperial Guard Heads. I'm not even sure what all the heads are meant to be (ie Cadian, Catachan, commanders, vehicle drivers, characters, etc...) Any ideas guys??















These guys are all released here along with Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken and Gunnery Sergeant Harker, the new Warhammer basing kit (which is pretty nice, I saw it instore on Saturday as Ben got one for his "checked" Orc Boys) and the Dead Grass, which is pretty much the colour I was looking for to use with the Salamanders.

Any Ideas on what I've raised??
Thanks guys!

p.s. Tomorrow I start my conversion of Chaos Warhounds into Fenris Wolves....

Army Roster Sheets

Hey guys,

I just found some great looking army rosters from Oni's blog Pit of the Oni.

Check them out. Some pretty good looking army rosters which the more recent ones you can fill in directly. Good Stuff! I know I'll be printing some off for my next game!

Also whilst you're there check out his great job on magnetising Predators and Rhinos!

Space Hulk Mission 1: Suicide

Last Monday Night I arrived at Little Max's house to begin our inaugural game of Space Hulk! My valiant opponent Little Max checks over the rules before we kick off our game. As you might be able to tell from our models lack of assembly we pretty much got the game underway as quick as possible!



















As it was his kit he took the Space Marines first and I was the Genestealers. After a fairly generic setup with Lorenzo in the lead followed By Scipio and of course the Zael with the Heavy Flamer Little Max makes a run for it turning a marine and setting him to overwatch to guard his rear. Mean while the blips close in......















Sergeant Lorenzo is taken out by a generstealer hidden behind that door! (this is before we knew the Power Sword rules more indepth)















As Aliens plays in the background we get an eerie visitor from the film.....















After the Sergeant is gone the genestealer lunges into the Heavy Flamer specialist Zael.















And deftly takes him out!!!















The other Marines lacking the leadership of Lorenzo and knowing their mission is lost are wiped out to a man! The Hulk still swarms with Genestealers with the danger of them launching infected lifepods across the sector something must be done!















My turn as the Marines to follow! Let's hope I do Better!!