Thursday, August 29, 2013

projects, big and... well big

It's so great to have friends to use as cheap labor. What cheap labor have I been using my friends for? Titan construction of course!
It's 2 bags of 'Bag-O-Titan!"
Bag-O-Titans!
Contained with in these bags are the cut out pieces for 2 titans based on the Paperhammer template floating around the internet. All in all it took the two of us about 8 hours or so to cut out all the parts. Next in construction. Basically each of us is going to construct 1 Warhound titan as we see fit. Should be a bit of an interesting experience to see what two different hobbyists come up when they start from the same point.

Another update: I added the Tusks to the Squiggoth
T-rex head converted to be an Ork Gargantuan Squiggoth head
She's got some bite!
Next step will be to build up the musculature around the tusks with green stuff and texture it to match the skin.

Monday, August 26, 2013

update on the Squigoth

So I haven't been able to get a lot of work done on the Squiggoth recently for a variety of reasons. First and foremost has been time. I just haven't had much of it lately. Second reason is... well there just isn't a lot I can get done on it right now. I cut off the heads of the two Dino toys to find that they are basically sold latex forms stuffed with... well pillow stuffing. Needless to say, this does not make for a particularly strong support form. Particularly when we're talking about supporting a large structure like the Howdah and a dozen boys. So what did I do to address this? Simple. Filled the head of the T-rex and the body of the Trike with resin!
the T-rex head with the resin filling
a little extra strength with resin
Now the next major thing for the work is the fact that the Squiggoth has a large pair of tusks connected to the back of it's jaw. So... what am I going to do about those? Well I have a giant bitz box so I have to have something right? So I went and did a bit of bitz Box Diving and I found something. The Tusks from the Elphander Zoids kit. Only problem is they were angled. So what do I do? Simple, convert. I cut them apart so the large turn could be removed and then glued the parts back together and fill in the inner spaces with miliput.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Updates and various projects

So life has been life of late. Work and school have been mounting of late and it takes a toll on the time tables. So there's several things to talk about in this post.

First big thing: I will be hosting an Apocalypse game September 28th at the Game Vault in Fredericksburg Virginia. So if you're going to be in the area and want to get in on the action drop me a line with you email address in it and I'll keep you informed of details and arrangements.

Next thing: I've hit a rather odd streak of inspiration recently, one that has lead me to Toys 'R' Us. I've found several things there that I believe I can convert for various 40k usage.

First up is a 6" Shou Khan figure.
Shou Khan figure from Toys R Us
Shou Khan figure
With some creative conversion work I think I can build up a nice large scale Blood Thirster figure. Something larger then the Games Workshop model, but smaller then the Forge World model and something different then either of them but still comparable. Right now I'm figuring I'll cut off the back panel from the helmet, add on Dreads and sculpt in a lower jaw bone with teeth to go with the skull mask. I'm not sure weather I'll keep the hammer or build an axe or build a pair of axes. All three options have an appeal to it. I'm going to add the Hive Tyrant wings to the model and sculpt over the joints to secure the pose of the model.

Second project is a bit of a divergence from my normal, it's orky!
Toy Dinoes
Toy Dinos

I ran across these two dinosaur figures for $10 and had a thought that I could convert a combination of them into a Ork Gargantuan Squigoth.

So what do you think?Can I combine those dinos into something that resembles this?
Forge World Gargantuan Squigoth


I think by replacing the Tricerotops' head with the T-rexs' and sculpting on new details, like a tongue, larger teeth, horns and various Orky accoutrements I'll be able to get a reasonable Ork mammoth monster. From there it'd just be a matter of building the howdah and adding the Ork crew members.

Last thing: in preparation for the Apoc battle I figured I needed some extra materials for it. So I called on a friend and we spent a couple hours producing some of the materials.
burning damage markers
Remember those burning damage markers I made a while back? Well we made 3 dozen more. I expect the apoc battle will involve lots of burning wrecked machines so this way we'll get to see it in action.

The last Apoc game I was involved in we had a really hard time keeping track of kill points and strategic victory points through out the course of the battle. So for the game I'm hosting I'm gonna try and make that simpler, with these:
kill point tokens
point tokens
200 1-point tokens! Each player will have a cup and each time they earn a victory point they get 1 token to put in their cup. When we finish the game, they can count up their tokens.

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Iron Clad Dreadnought

So I'm building a new Iron Clad dreadnought for my army. But I've already got one of the GW Iron Clads in my army and I like variety. I've ordered a Forge World Iron Clad as well so that's 2 different models. But the army is going to have 3 Iron Clads. So... what can I do? Simple: Convert one!

So I've got a Space Marine Ven-dread kit from GW that I'm going to convert into an Iron Clad.
A venerable Dreadnought being converted into an Iron Clad
The converted Iron Clad so far
I took the more angular armored front section so that it had a flat front and then added the thick strip of Styrene around the gorgette. Took some green stuff, put a base down and attached the piping to it and then added the vent from a Space Marine back pack. The tubes are Dragon Forge designs medium power cables. I built up an armor paneling similar to the Forge World dreadnought style.

The armor panels are sheets of styrene cut and glued. So far I'd say it's off to a good start.