On The Table - Death Watch Armor: Bucket

Not the Deathwatch you were expecting?

In addition to picking up 3D printing as a hobby, I have also started down the long, long and very expensive road of apply to the Mandalorian Mercenaries Costume Club. I've always wanted to get into costuming and have been interested in the weirdos I see at cons dressed like Boba Fett had a litter with the Power Rangers. I've looked into it before and was put off by the effort and price. Not that I have more time and a little more money, I have devoted myself to it at least part-time.

Thus far, I have introduced myself on the boards and scoured them for information. I have not madea  WIP post because I just don't have that much to say or that much to show off.

This bucket is a Death Watch helmet printed in 14 parts that took about 8-10 hours each. After a week of printing and a few days of burning my eyes with glue fumes, I had the helmet assembled.

Finished - Deathwatch

These may be the last Deathwatch minis of 6.5th (totally not 7th) Edition. 8th is going to drop within the next month and that may dramatically change the makeup of my armies.

For example Combi-weapons. Word is that they are no longer one-shot weapons. Now you can shoot one or the other each Shooting phase or fucking both with a -1 BS, making this a must have for ant Chapter Master or Commander. That is going to throw a wrench in the plans of my Combi-weapon bearers that I spent so much time finishing. I think that I can still use them though they will more be counters rather than removable markers. 

Finished - Deathwatch

These guys came together fast at the end. There were a few hiccups along the way though. The Frag Cannon back pack took some creative engineering to make it fit. In the end, I just had to glue it in the best I could. It is really hard to tell that it was a foul up. Why GW just skipped putting this bit in the Deatwatch kit, I do not know.

The guy in the middle used to be an Ultramarine with a Bolter but now he is a Crimson Fist with a Stormbolter. Everything went pretty smooth with him. I thought I would be slick and use the Imperial Fists shoulder guard in the Deathwatch: Overkill box with the ropes on it. Unfortunately, the way the arm was bent had those ropes defying gravity. Had to paint up a fresh one. Should have dry fit it before painting. No worries, it will all go to good use.

The Ravenguard on the end turned out ok. The pose is a little awkward but I think it works. I didn't think about putting a Covis helm on a Errant torso. The raised collar made it difficult to get the head seated.

On The Table - More Deathwatch

Just a quick update. The arms are finished and the heads are coming together right now. 

On The Table - More Deathwatch

Working hard on chopping up Deathwatch: Overkill minis and changing them around. From left to right there is a Dark Angel that used to have a Power Sword and Plasma Pistol but now will have a Frag Cannon (you know the thing that hits like a Las Cannon at close range). The guy in the middle used to be an Ultramarine with a Bolter but now will be an Imperial Fists with a Storm Bolter. The guy on the left is older bits but will have the Power Sword from the Dark Angel and a Grav Pistol.

The bodies and bases are done and I am working on the arms right now. 

Finished - More Deathwatch

These guys really came together fast near the end. I am pretty happy with them too.

The Shotgun/Shield guy came out great. I had some pauldrons painted up and ready to go. I made an impulsive choice to make this Marine an Imperial Fist of some flavor. I was experimenting with colors rather than the black and yellow that I have been doing for Imperial Fists thus far. I was not really thrilled with how it came out but didn't feel like repainting it. Lesson learned though.

I was worried about how the Hammer Marine was going to turn out. I used a Forge World torso on Deathwatch legs. The waste is really thin and made it look like he was wearing a corset. He still has an hourglass figure but the way the arms hang down it makes up for this a bit. I used the head from the Iron Hand from the Deathwatch: Overkill box. The slightly downward position give him a glower that I really love. The backpack is magnetized so he can be an Vanguard Vet if the mood takes me. There is also a hidden magnet so he can carry a Storm Shield if I want. I am going to hide some magnets in other Marines from here out so I can use this option.

I am not 100% satisfied with the Techmarine. The silhouette is off somehow. From straight on, it is not bad, but from top down (you know, the major way that I'll view it on the table top), it looks funny. Maybe there is too much of a gap between the body and the back pack. He is an Iron Hands too. I swear I don't have a thing for them but there do seem to be a lot of them in my Deathwatch Army. This guy is going to stand in as a Power Fist Marine until they put legit Techmarines in the army.

I am trying to clear the table at this point. I have the Lord of Change from a million years ago to finish and those Warbuggies. I think I am going to start some more Deathwatch Marines too. No other commission on the horizon.

Finished - Deathwatch Watch Master

I mostly fished this guy back in Nov 2016 during the first wave of Deathwatch madness. I didn't know how I wanted to finish him though. I ended up using a Deathwing head that I bought during a bit buying spree long ago. I used the shoulder guard (or pauldron if you want to be a smarty pants about it) from the Deathwatch: Overkill set that I am currently cannibalizing.

I love how this mini turned out. I think that I was right in that giving him a Chapter and a different head not only really sets him apart but also gives him a lot more personality. I don't know if I could pick out 3 things that I particularly like or dislike about how this mini got painted up. I think I made some good choices on picking more simple colors. I stayed away from the gold and I feel like it is over-done on some of the Deathwatch minis.

This min retails for $25 and that sexy alien base he is on was $2 if memory serves. The paint job took a long time to finish with all the detail and cloth. I value the paint at about $40. Total replacement cost is about $65.

Up next I am finishing a commission and three more Deathwatch Marines.

On The Table - Deathwatch Techmarine And Others

While I am waiting for my next commission to get here in the mail, I am putting some work in on these three Deathwatch Marines. From right to left there is my take on a Iron Hands Techmarine, the second of my Storm Shield and Shotgun Marine and an Iron Hands with a Heavy Thunder Hammer.

I am cannibalizing the Deathwatch: Overkill box and converting each mini. I knew that I wanted a Techmarine to in my army and it was a little upsetting to see that Techmarines have no place in the Deathwatch.They feature so heavily in the RPG and to not have them at all in the table top game seems to be an oversight and missed opportunity. Until they fix this 30 years for now when we get another Deathwatch Codex, I plan to use this guy a just a Marine with a very fancy Power Fist and I'll use a Servo-arm to represent this. I know that I have the Servo-arm from the Iron Father mini saved somewhere, but no idea where it got to.

I love shield walls. Maybe it was seeing 300 when I was younger, but the images of a phalanx thrill me. I had the idea of three Marines standing in a shield wall with weapons pointing out. It is a silly dream but it is my dream. On the table top, these guys would make a good addition to an assault-based Kill Team. The Bolters are Assault weapons so no good for mowing down enemies and then charging. The Shotguns are a compromise as they are Assault weapons.

I don't know how I feel about Heavy Thunder Hammers but I like the minis. I never would have considered giving a HTH Marine a Storm Shield until after I saw it in the FAQ. After that, I just wanted the option to. I learned a trick from magnetizing the Thunderwolf Calvary of putting the magnet int he palm of the hand so the shield fits on top of it seamlessly. The only downside is that you need to get the magnet in place before assembly.

On The Table - Deathwatch And Hard-edge Highlighting

Putting in some work on the last three Deathwatch Marines that I have planned. Not to say that they will be the last for this army by any stretch.

I have developed a new way of doing black armor that has sped me up considerably and gives a good result. I base the mini with 1:1 Dawnstone and Abaddon Black then dry brush with Dawnstone. I then wash the entire mini with Nuln Oil. This also takes care of my silver metal areas as well. Rather than using Nuln Oil to wash a second time, I find that I can get darker blacks and shadows as well as breaking up the mono-tone of grey on black. After the washes there is no touch up and I go right to hard edge highlighting.

Both of the sets of legs in the picture at at the same stage in painting but the ones on the right have a hard edge of Dawnstone.I posted this because I found the contrast (ha ha black and white puns) between the two striking. Hard edge highlighting takes me forever, it is hard to do and it can very easily go wrong. I think that it is totally worth it though.

The mini on the left is totally table-top quality but the little extra effort of the hard edge highlighting takes it over the top. It also takes what could be a very dark and shadowy model and makes it brighter. Painting dark colors in a bright and vibrant way is a skill that I have cultivated and this will come in handy with my next unpronounceable commission.

Finished - Deathwatch Marines

While two months is not a record for something gathering dust on the painting table, these three really seemed to languish. I started and finished several other projects while these guys were waiting. The Ork big gun, Nate's Haemonculus, the whole Hellion commission. I even started the three Warbuggies before putting the finishing touches on these minis.

Regardless they are done. The good news is that I've already written about them a bunch now so there are only a few details left out.

Since the last time that I posted about them, I really only finished the backpacks and pauldrons. Before that, I was trying to think strategically about Black Shields. I am still not sure that I understand how to use them the best even now. And way back when, I was griping about points.

Aside from the Black Shield, I picked the other two Chapters at random. The Black Templar shoulder pad was painted before this project even started. The idea was for him to be a Veteran. In the Black Templars, their Vets are Sword Brethren and they get to paint their cross and trim red. I have no reason to think that this change in color would survive the transition to the Deathwatch, but it makes for more variation in shoulder pads.

On The Table - More Deathwatch

It has been slow going on these three guys.

I think that the furor for Deathwatch has died down. I've lost almost every game that I have played with them and that is not helping.

I got really excited about Black Shields and made two that were loaded out. In game play, they under-performed and that made me sad again. I made this more low-key version but I think the results will be the same.

I also got excited about the Infernus Heavy Bolters. I want four of them in a Drop Pod ruining my opponent's plans. I have not done this quite yet but I think, given the track record, that I will be disappointed again.

This was not meant to be a morose post regardless of how it sounds. I am pleased with my Deathwatch army and am looking to expand it further. 

Back to Basics

I was very excited to spend the last of my dwindling X-mas money on these bases. A few years ago, I would have been pretty cranky to have spent almost $25 just on bases but now I gladly spend that amount on quality bases. I did custom bases for all my Dreadnoughts in the past and loves the different attitudes and feelings that the bases provide.

It is less so with the Deathwatch army. While it does not give individual models personality, it does give the army and overall feeling of cohesion for the army. My only regret is that I started the army on 25mm bases before the 30mm bases came out. I may go back and replace them but at this point I am too far in to change.

The two bases in the back are for the DW Dreadnought and Venerable Dreadnought. The pipe base on the right comes from Micro Art Studios and the one with the alien eggs on the left comes from Secret Weapon Minis. The difference in quality between the two is noticeable. MAS base was pre-sanded on the bottom where the SW was not and needed to be filed to even make it flat. The SW has a noticeable gap between the best and the slope of the side that needed to be filled and filed while the MAS had good detail and needed no touch ups.

The giant head is from Scibor and is a work of art. I plan to use it for the metal replacement for Be'lakor. I found a great deal on a complete metal Be'lakor and have traded my only model. I don't really miss him as his rules make him a friendship-ender. The model is awesome though and I think I can paint it even better now. 

On The Table - Deathwatch

It has been a while since anything Deathwatch has been on the table. I've been painting up a storm on commissions from Vyndica. First Nate's Haemonculus then the current Hellions. I've been farting around a little with my own projects but not making much progress.

The bodies are mostly finished. I am working on the weapons right now. I bough some assembled Infernus Heavy Bolters because they were a steal and I knew that I would want at least 4 in the end. These two will bring me up to 3 and that is plenty for now.

The dream is to land a Drop Pod with 4 of these guys and ruin a squad's day. What to do with them after that is a mystery. They will probably suffer the same fate that the Dreadnought in a Drop Pod suffers.

The other mini is the next in line of the Black Shields. 22 for the Vet, 15 for the Black Shield, 15 for the Power Weapon and 15 for the Grav Pistol makes this single mini a whopping 67 points. This is down by about 20 points from the other Black Shields but it still expensive. He is worth three Vets the way he is kitted out. I can't not give him a Power Weapon given that his only reason for existing is to double his number of Attacks in close combat. No way I am going to let anyone save against them. For the low low cost of 15 points not only do you get a Plasma or Grav-pistol but replacing the Bolter with a pistol gets and additional attack. I am still fuzzy on whether this is base Attacks or total number of attacks. The latter seem more appropriate for the 15 points.

A Christmas Miracle

Last year, I had problems with clear coating and it fogging my miniatures just at the point of completion. The Tomb Blades and the Battlewagon were the worst affected but the Flash Gitz and a whole Slew of Deathwatch minis also got fogged. I was so upset at this that I listed them for trade.

Since this snafu, We have moved to a new house. In the finnished basement, we have a nice dehumidifier that runs all the time. It is the least humid basement that I have ever been in. While I was clearcoating some other minis inside ("use in a well-ventilated area" my ass), I decided to test out re-clearcoating some of the frosted minis. The test Deathwatch Terminator came out almost perfect. Encouraged, I did a few more. It worked again! I even took out the old Flash Gitz and they were rehabbed as well. Setting my teeth, I did the Battlewagon and it too looked better. Aside from the 40% humidity or less that it is inside and not using that Krylon MAXX garbage, I don't know what I changed to make this Christmas Miracle happen, but I am very happy it did.

On The Table - More Deathwatch Marines

I am trying to clear the table of projects so I can start on my legit Imperial Knight kit. I will need more Infernus Heavy Bolters to field the number and type of Kill Teams that I want and also because they are awesome Wargear. I wanted to make a lower-points Black Shield with a little more utility than the melee killing-machines that I have already made. This guy will have a Power Sword and Grav Pistol. He come in at 67 points rather than 77/82 points. He is armed with a combination of AP 2/3 weapons so he will not be useless against any types of troops.

At this point in painting, the black has a good start. It is basecoated with 1:1 grey and black, drybrushed grey and washed black. The silver metals are basecoated and washed black with the armor. Tonight, I painted on the base colors for the gold and parchment. I also painted on the red colors on the cloak. 

Finished - Corvus Blackstar

I was kind of shocked when I finished the Corvus Blackstar tonight. I just kind of ran out of things to paint.

I started by spray painting the mini on sprue black. I wanted to assemble it in stages to make it easier to paint but I didn't find a good way to do this. The wings join the body in such a way that they need to be shaded while attached. The tail sections and engines could have been painted separately but with little advantage. So I painted it all at once.

Once it was assembled, I undercoated the whole mini with a 1:1 mix of Abaddon Black and Dawnstone. Then the mini got a drybrush of Dawnstone. I painted on my wash of Nuln Oil and then alternate with Agrax Earthshade on areas where I needed extra shading and darkening.

The silver areas were Ironbraker washed black and highlighted with Runfang Steel. It was all pretty standard. The exception was with all the vents. I dry brushed all of them with Abdadon Black, washed them black and then drybrushed with Runfang Steel. This is not precisely how I have done it in the past and it did not turn out great. I think it fits the model because it is so dark that it does not stand out much.

I painted on the red stripes inspired by the Codex. I also saw some stripes on the tail that looked like the stripes just continued. I tried to get mine as straight and as even as possible with each other but I think that worked against me. I should have made the stripes on the tail smaller. Don't ask me why, but it looks wrong the way it is.

On The Table - Corvus Blackstar

Well drunk-me tried to do some detail painting and sober-me is just now finding out about. Wisely, drunk-me decided to paint the bottom of the Corvus and not on the top or front. Good move, drunk-me.

Surprisingly, when sober-me tried to take over painting, I had a harder time replicating the fine lines that drunk-me did. It might have something to do with me having to add some water to the pot of grey paint that I was using and maybe that made it harder to get clean lines.

Drunk-me also tried to wash the red areas to try and make them darker. Unfortunately drunk-me can't tell when enough is enough (in more ways than one way). The red areas became a muddy mess and had to be repainted from scratch.

On The Table - Deathwatch Black Shield

In between working on the Corvus Blackstar I have been doing a little work on my second Black Shield. My initial thought was to give the Black Shield a pair of Specialist Weapons like LC, CF or TH, LC.The purpose of this was to give versatility of choosing between S 8 and reroll to wound and still getting the extra attack. For a mini whose only special rule is to double their base Attacks, I thought that tooling them up for close combat would be wise.
After my first (and to this point only) game with Deathwatch, I think that Black Shields with a lot of Wargear might be over-rated. For an 88 point model that only uses its special rule against very specific enemies, it is a pricey gambit. I am starting to think that just a Power Weapon would be a better option. Maybe on my next Black Shield.
In the meantime, I am going to stick to the "three Terminator" worth of points version of the Black Shield. As of right now, I have only one bit to make a Black Shield left in my collection. the bits run for about $4 on eBay but maybe I could swap for one or two on Bartertown.

On The Table - Corvis Blackstar

Things are going better with painting the Corvus Blackstar. Since the last update, I painted on the silver areas and washed them black. I also painted on black wash in selected areas rather than dipping the whole mini.
I was not able to get the recesses as dark as I would have liked. I briefly contemplated stippling on pure black on the areas that needed shading but decided against it. I traced on some black lines on some of the deep recesses and it mostly worked. I also tried alternating between Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil to try and get a deeper black.
It is kind of working but it is going to take some tinkering and experimentation to get this mini finished but I am more sanguine than in the last post. I think that this mini is going to turn out well.
The plan is to finish this as the prototype model and experiment a little more on the next one. The third and final Corvus Blackstar will be the "command" mini with a lot of conversions and modifications. What those are I have no idea but I am sure that awesome things will come to me after I google "Corvus Blackstar conversions.

On The Table - Mistakes

Compare this picture to the last in progress picture and it looks improved. I hate it though. I think that after the wash it is going to look awful and I am bracing myself for it.
Anyone that says they can paint anything any color is a dirty liar. At this point I am pretty much an expert in painting black, red and white but only in my styles. I can't do the green/black or purple/black that is popular with Necrons and Dark Eldar. I can't paint the red highlighted with tan like the 'eavy Metal nerds do with Blood Angels (though I could fake it if I needed to). I can't do the corrupted white like you see on pre-Heresy Death Guard or grey/white.
I can do red on small scale like Power Armor but that is completely different from painting red on vehicles. I am finding out that my prowess with black on Power Armor does not translate to the large scale of this flipping flyer or, emperor forbid, the Drop Pod of the future. Things are just not the same.