Projects and updates

So I found myself the recipient of what is probably the single best time off arrangement I can: 2 days off, 1 day of work followed by 2 more days off. Why is this such a good arrangement? Simple. I get 2 days to myself, to work on my stuff, and then just as I'm getting a little bored of my own projects.... boom I have a day of work that acts as a re-set on my own personal projects and then I have 2 more days to work on my stuff. So what have I been working on? Well several things.

Yeah I stuck a bunch of wires in a bread board.

No I've done more then just that.  I'm working on a new captain on bike for my Blood Ravens but I'm feeling ambitious so I'm going to wire it up so the head lamp in the bike will light up. Which means it needs power. So using the Heroic Urban rubble bike base, available from Dragon Forge Studios, I took a dremal to the bottom of it to carve out a space for a button battery.

I messed up the messurements and didn't make the opening deep enough to account for the battery clip and the battery itself. So I added a 2mm thick sheet of styreen to the bottom of the base to account for it. All in all I think it helps because I'll draw more attention to the captain who should look more heroic and stand out. 

I drilled out the head plate for the ferring and was going to mount the LED in it but then discovered the white LEDs I have are 5mm and 10m, not the 3mm side I need for the mounting. So I'll have to pick up some 3mm LEDs to continue working on this.

Since the bike is going to be attached to the base, and have wires running through it, I specifically went in and glued the wheel halves to the body and then carved out too spaces in the back. one you can see at the front of the rear tire. This is for the wires to come back through the body and connect to the switch in the back of the body. The second space you can just barely see at the top of the rear wheel. That's going to be where the switch will be installed.

 Something else I've been working on: My Blood Raven's land speeder detachment! Here you can see the 3 of them:

 I installed magnets in the noses and in the turret bases of the weapons so they can be swapped in an out.

 Allowing me to field them with heavy flamers or assault cannons. I need to build the under slung heavy bolters and magnetize those as well.

Oh and here's some good news: My pressure pot is set up and working! So now I can start working with pressure casting and hopefully begin producing better pieces for my projects. Or I will be once I get the resin and silicons that will work with pressure casting.

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More speed!

So I've been working on a new attack bike squad for my Blood Ravens. From what I've been looking at rules wise, I think Biker armies are gonna be the default go-to army for 6th edition. Hammer of Wraith, T5 all the time, a 12" move with an extra D6 charge range, relentless. I mean let's face it bikers got a lot going for 'em now.

So here is my new and freshly converted  attack bike squad:

So I'm sure you're sitting there saying "Wait a second, you said they were converted. And that they were attack bikes. Yeah the one dude's got the scanner array backpack, but what's actually converted? And why aren't they attack bikes?"

Well, I guess I used the wrong word. I think I would have been better off saying they are transformable as opposed to converted. Allow me to show you what I mean. Here is the same bike squad with different bitz:

You can see the two forward most bikers are now armed with a melta gun and plasma gun.  Here is another change:

I magnatized them so I can swap the configurations between Biker and attack bike. With the addition of magnets in the right shoulder, the models are able to swap arms so they can be armed with different weapons. By putting magnets in select locations in the under carraige of the bike and matching points on the side car I can attach and detach the side car as needed.

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We are the Blood Ravens!

A good while back I was playing Dawn of War II and I had become inspired to begin work on a Blood Ravens army. Well they had sat on the back burner for far too long and with my funds effectively stopped, following my recent medical bills, they came out of the case and got some paint on some of them. Here are two of the bikers that I got painted the other day.

First up we have the Captain on a bike:

Blood Ravens Captain on a bike with a relic blade

Model wise he's a fairly straight forward conversion. Grey Knight helmet and great sword in right hand. The sword hand was attached to a converted rifle holding arm that I cut below the shoulder and repositioned it to be held outward. A couple other little bits add to the seniority of the model like the Raven Guard faring on the front of the model. The base is one point I would like to reference though. It comes from Dragon Forge Studios and I highly HIGHLY recommend their bases. I swear by them.

Next we have the sergent for the squad:

Blood Ravens biker Sergent with Power sword

I installed a magnet in the sergeants' left shoulder to allow him to use different weapons. This is going to be compatible with my other magnetized models in the army, allowing them to swap weapons as I see fit.

Equipped with a bionic arm and chainsword.

Equipped with a chainsword

 

 

Armed with one power fist

armed with an alternate power fist

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Some more speed and some 'Ooomph!'

So I've finished building some extra goodies for my Blood Ravens.

 A Land Raider Redeemer/Crusader and Captain on a bike.  I've been experimenting with Army lists and I've been gravitating toward bike heavy lists of late. But the thought of 18 bikes backed by 6 Attack bikes running point for a Land Raider... lets just say I like that particular image.

As a means to save some cash, and with the price of a Land Raider kit at $75 I need that, I used a rather liberal application of magnets to the kit to allow me to swap the model between a Crusader or a Redeemer. I even added magnets to the sponson mounts to allow me to swap the crusader/redeemer mounts for normal Land Raider mounts should I get those parts.

As an extra addition to my forces I converted a captain on a bike with a relic blade. Off the top of my head I'm very tempted to  run him as a counts as Kossaro Khan. Have to admit, the idea of having my entire army with the ability to out flank... oh... so very tempting.

I took a Dark Angles Raven Wing icon, cut it half, removed the sword and used the wings to bracket the sides of the forward wheel guard. I also added the least Dark Angely fearings I could. I intend to paint these parts in the colors of the Blood Ravens icons to help tie it together.

I mad a banner by cutting a triangle of plasticard and heating it in boiling water a bit so that it would become pliable.

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Adding a little speed to my forces

So with the net practically hopping about the upcoming 6th Edition I'm still learning the game in general. I know that's an odd sounding thing to hear from someone like me who's been involved in the hobby for going on twenty years. But it's true. In the previous 19 years of my involvement in the hobby I've played perhaps a dozen games spread across 4 editions. It has only been in the last few months that I've really gotten into playing the game. I am still a very dedicated converter, and that will likely never change.

But I am playing more games now. Presently I'm building a Blood Ravens army. I've got a fairly solid and variable 1,000 point list with enough units I can swap in and out to experiment with different configurations. Today I add a new unit: Space Marine bikers!

 Right now I've got 5 bikers built. One is a sergeant and one has inter-changeable assault weapons. In both the sergeant and the assault weapons, the ability to swap out weapons is made possible by the application of rare earth magnets in the shoulder of the torso and the shoulder of the arm itself.

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