Sunday, December 8, 2013

Angels of Absolution Wardens (Ravenwing) Nephilim Part 1

Its been almost a year since I bought the Dark Angels Ravenwing Nephilim/Dark Talon kit. People have ranted for the last year about how useless this model is. It may be more points than the Space Marine and Imperial Guard fliers, but I discovered in the last few tournaments that I love my Dreadnought with Twin-Linked Lascannon, Eros. Eros with its re-roll has a knack for taking down Stormravens quickly and easily. My logic is that sticking that Twin-Linked Lascannon in the air where its harder to hit it'll be that much more effective. Sure, this is theoretical. I could face a Quad-Gun and have it go down the second it arrives on the board. A lot of things could happen. But I want to try it out for myself.

Originally I started on the wings to test out my scheme, but I was obviously starting at almost the "end" of the kit in terms of assembly. Near the end of the summer I cleaned up the cockpit bits and primed them black. Yesterday and today I detailed the cockpit. I probably would have gone more "crazy" with it, but I assembled the whole section to see how well it will be seen from the outside and decided it wasn't worth putting it through hyper detailing. Still, I went for all of the basic 3 levels highlighting so that what can be seen looks finished. Here's the cockpit:
Back of the cockpit/seat. The primer across the whole bottom of this piece was scraped off for a solid flush gluing area.
The seat from above and control panel from above.
The cockpit all painted and assembled, waiting for a pilot.
That was my weekend for the most part. I did start work on one of the first FW models I ever bought that is long since been discontinued I think. More on  that later in the week.

-Nick

Friday, December 6, 2013

Escalation and Stronghold Assault

NDG  here in Chicago got in Escalation and Stronghold Assault yesterday and I've been really intrigued to look at both of them.
Escalation is Apocalypse-Lite. GW wants us all to own and play with Super-Heavies even if we don't play Apoc scale games, so they expanded the force org to include a 3rd optional category called Lords of War (the other two being Allies and Fortifications).

The goal is to make it legal to play these in standard pick up games without all of the fanfare and set up of Apocalypse. To balance it out, if you don't field a Lord of War and your opponent does you get a +1 to your Seize the Initiative roll. Additionally, an additional secondary object/source of victory points (similar to Line Breaker and First Blood) appears to give you a VP just for doing 3 Hull Points in damage to the Super-Heavy.

Its not like a typical Expansion book in that there are no Stratagems or other additional layers of the game to pick and choose from added. Instead, there's a Lord of War Warlord Traits table you can optionally roll on and a bunch of new scenarios to choose from, but it is made very clear that playing these models in standard rule book missions is fine, and these missions are just to expand your options for themed conflict.

Its a savvy move to try and sell big kits to people who cap their games at 2000 points. All of the data sheets appear to be the same as Apocalypse, and D weapons remain unchanged. This just allows you to access all of that information without owning the Apocalypse book.
Stronghold Assault is a much shorter book and is much more in the vein of Cities of Death and Planet Strike.

Once again they are trying to get you to purchase more kits, this time the scenery ones. It provides you with the data sheets for all of the Fortification related scenery kits and gives you new combos. It also introduces 3 new ones with no art/photos and thus, NO KIT TO SELL US. This was a huge surprise to me with GW's recent policy of not introducing army list options without kits.

Unlike Escalation which is clearly trying to get you to play standard 40K with Lords of War, this book is approached knowing full well that you're already using Fortifications in your games (at least Aegis Defense Lines anyway) and then gives you a bunch of new scenarios to play in order to play out Siege battles. So its kind of like Planet Strike without the grandeur and additional set up. You pay your points for your Fortifications, pick a mission, and play. Its not like learning a new system and all sorts of funky rules EXCEPT! The Building rules are expanded to make using the new kits even more clear.
From the 4th Edition 40K Rule Book under "Raid Missions". Raids used Sentries, Hidden Set Up, and Divided Forces. Other 4th Edition Raids included Sabotage and Ambush. There were also Breakthrough and Special Missions, each with their own FOC charts. Most players ignored these parts of the book I think. I LOVED those parts of the book.
This book plays into a certain nostalgia for me as it resurrects a handful of old scenarios like Strongpoint Attack and Break Through from the 3rd and 4th Edition 40K Rule Books. I always loved the scenarios in the back of the book more than the tired Standard missions you play all the time.

Overall, I think both books are really cool. I have a Baneblade and a Stompa kit waiting for my attention but I'm not sure they'll get paint just yet. If a plastic Thunderhawk was released beside this book, that would have been a different story. I'd probably be writing this while foaming at the mouth.

The book I was less excited for, Stronghold Assault, has wormed its way into my conscious however, and I think I'd really enjoy playing some Siege missions and I'm trying to think of events for both NDG and Adepticon that could possibly make use of this book. We'll see.

-Nick

Sunday, November 24, 2013

III. Broken Contract - Enforcers (Updated 1/6/14)



 I'm still working away on Broken Contract, the alpha test rule set is essentially ready. Here's a tiny blurb about Enforcers - the corporate sponsored bounty hunters of the Incorporated Worlds.

Enforcers

Contract Enforcers are paid to bring fugitives back to complete their contracts. The problem with having a workforce of people capable of inflicting misery on their fellow man daily is that they are not by nature and training the post perceptive or sensitive people. This makes them ill-suited to tracking down the Breakers smart enough and determined enough to get past the Prods in the first place. Most corporations have some combination of hired and in-house Security Forces to deal with break attempts but they are not specifically trained to hunt, detain, and return prey. Some companies with have their own Enforcers under contract, but more often than not an outside firm will need to be outsourced by the security firm or the corporation. These private mercenary firms take on short term agreements, usually for the duration of tracking down a specific group of Breakers and bringing them back, preferably alive similar to the Bounty Hunters and Skip Tracers of earth when there was such concept as governments and law still being enacted.

The goal is to bring back Contract Breakers relatively unscathed so that they can still be made use of. For this reason Enforcers rely heavily on non-lethal weaponry to incapacitate their prey. Catching fugitives by facing them head on is not enough however, so hunting tactics are diverse. Their Lead is supported by Trackers, Muscle, and Gun Slingers employing everything from revolvers, arc pistols, snare-guns, and high tech drones. The tools of the trade vary depending on the depth of the Enforcer’s resources and what they are willing to risk to fulfill a contract.

-Nick 
(with Rob Ferrick)

Friday, November 22, 2013

Review APOCALYPSE WAR ZONE: PANDORAX

I'm a complete Dark Angels fanboy and had to break the bank and pick up Apocalypse War Zone: Pandorax by Jervis Johnson yesterday.


Here are the specs:

The story details Abaddon the Despoiler raiding a death world full of Imperial mining colonies while a regiment of Catachan Jungle Fighters were stuck on system. Abaddon goes straight for the largest hive city on the planet. A man named Colonel Strike of the 183rd Catachan Jungle Fighters offers resistance but the hive falls and Colonel Strike orders Imperial retreat to the various mining colonies scattered through the jungles and mountains. He is surprised when his pursuers back off from giving chase. Dating back to the Horus Heresy the Pandorax system was used to channel Daemons straight from the Realm of Chaos through an underground gate called the Damnation Cache. Only the Ruinous Powers, some of the Heresy era leaders, and the Grey Knights know of its existence (because they sealed it off). However, over the past 10,000 years it had been forgotten.

Before Hive Atika falls a distress call is sent out and it is met with response from a massive Imperial Fleet and the entire Chapter of Dark Angels. Meanwhile, Abaddon is joined by the famed Huron Blackheart from the nearby Maelstrom.

The book has a very detailed account of the fleet actions that took place off world and if you still own a bunch of Battle Fleet Gothic ships like myself you can recreate the fleets, potentially in their entirety and fight it out. No BFG rules are given in any way, but all of the classes of ships are named in perfect detail for those that have the ships and books.

The centerfold battle of the book, the true feature of the book is absolutely inspirational. It is a battle that takes place during one of the fleet actions  and involves a huge battle taking place on the Revenge, and Imperial ship, while the battle rages outside across numerous asteroids and below deck in a separate chamber deck. It is gorgeous and has a bunch of cool rules.



There are then Pandorax specific rules a few pages later for fighting "on world" that include forests with massive lizards that can eat entire squads that get too close and the like. As a fan of terrain rules, I dig this, even though it takes the "Mysterious Forest" rules and takes them to Apocalypse scale in their effects.

Then there are 3 more Apoc scenarios. The one that stands out in my mind involves 6 tables representing massive mountain peaks spaced specifically so you can fire from one table to another. Also, during Breaks forces can redeploy to another table. It seems incredibly cool.

Then there's the usual War Zone Strategem/Effects Cards, Finest Hour rules for a 3 different commanders, and a bunch of formation sheets.

The Appendix is great for anyone who doesn't own a bunch of early 2000's 40K crap because a huge chunk of fluff from the old Codex:Catachan Jungle Fighters and Battle Fleet Gothic rulebook are printed on the last few pages.

I will say, the Dark Angels don't get as much face time as I was hoping but this is still an inspirational book and highly recommended for fans of Imperial Guard (Catachans, Cadians, Vostoyans represent), Dark Angels, Grey Knights, and of course, Chaos (Chaos Space Marines, Black Legion, Daemons, and Red Corsairs.)

-Nick

New Scenery at Next Dimension Games


Back in October Next Dimension Games commissioned me to work on their store terrain. This is a smattering of what I've been working on.

One of the first pieces I worked on was a pair of Imperial Bastions. I don't have any pics of those today, but I did photograph the servo-shrine piece that comes with it.I put more time in than maybe I should have. All of the lenses are gemmed, details like skulls are picked out and highlighted, and I even did caution stripes on the base and some bird poop,
Here's the servo-skull that hovers up above it.
Here are some classic crates dating back to the 2nd Edition 40K box era. You can see liberal use of weathering powders on the pallets.
Tank traps done up very similar to the ones I use on my own tables. You can see a bit of the Manufactorum in the background.
This is the inside of said Manufactorum and uses the Manufactorum kit, a Moonscape crater, and an Urban Barricade and Wall, all from GW. You can see a WIP Shrine of the Aquilla in the background.

As a parting photo, here's the top of one of the two Sky Shield Platforms I've done up for them.
There's plenty more where that came from. I didn't picture any of the work started by other staffers that I've gone back and completed/updated. Stop in the store, check it out, play games on them!

Next Dimension Games 2934 N Clark, Chicago, IL.

-Nick

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Next Dimension Games

A month ago I was enlisted to help out with the gaming tables at Next Dimension Games in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. They've only been there a few months so you may not of heard. I wanted to take a moment to talk about Next Dimension since they're a new store and have an excellent selection of stuff.

They made the conscious decision to focus on miniature war gaming and board games and those are their two strongest sections. The store itself currently sports 18'x4' of war gaming space, and two 4 seat painting/board gaming tables. The dedicated painting table has 4 hobby lamps (one on each corner) complete with built in magnifying glasses. Most evenings that I've been in the shop people seem to like the communal painting environment they're trying to foster.
Speaking of community. One of the regular daily discussions in the store involves ways to try and develop the community in the store for a variety of games outside of the obvious big guns: Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. The owners have brought in Infinity, Bolt Action, X-Wing, WarmaHordes, Malifaux, Wreck-Age, Anima, and others and they genuinely want to draw in and build up those communities. There are thousands of dollars in product spread across these games and plenty of space to play them if you invest in the models. If you already play one of these systems they could really use people like you to come in and act as advocate for your favorite system by running demos or a small narrative event that people can jump in on.
 If you're more of the board and card game type, they have an extensive selection covering your strategy games like Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and Small World, to card games like Gloom and Fluxx, to dungeon crawler type games like Level 7, Sedition Wars, Castle Ravenloft, and Descent. They just got in the Season 2 Zombicide games which I'm pretty excited about myself.  
One thing that is very important if you're going to come in to paint or play is that you support the store. And this can be said for any store you play at, whether its Games Plus, Draxtar, Dice Dojo, Cat and Mouse, or the Chicago Battle Bunker. If you want stores to provide services like game nights, cool events, and the like, you absolutely have to spend money in the store or else your favorite hang out is going to vanish. There is nothing more frustrating for a game shop owner than counting a near empty till at the end of the night while you pack up the models or game you were playing with, listening while you bragged to all your friends that you scored your stuff off Ebay for next to nothing. I get it, we're all struggling and hobbies cost money that we can't always afford, but the humble gaming store is the hub of your gaming community. They can't stay afloat without you, and they're there to help facilitate you finding gaming space, gaming friends, and gaming advice. We all should treat that with the utmost respect. I know I try to.

If you haven't checked out Next Dimension yet, or if its been a few months since you did, you should pop in and check it out. The space is constantly evolving because they want you to come in, have fun, and of course spend some money while you're at it. I think they're a great addition to the Chicago gaming community.

-Nick

Monday, November 11, 2013

II. Broken Contract - Breakers

A few days ago I introduced the back story to a game I'm working on called Broken Contract. Today we're going to talk about one of the forces at play: Breakers. Though still a rough draft I want to point out that all of work I'm posting has gone past the eyes of Robert Ferrick who is doing quick copy editing and has been making great suggestions on organizing thoughts and throwing out ideas. Read on. -Nick

Breakers

Breakers are fugitives that have chosen to ignore the contracts that they consigned themselves to in a desperate attempt to live a free life. They see themselves as escaped slaves or justify their actions in light of cruel treatment and misleading promises, but the corporations paint a much different picture. To them the Contracted are good citizens and the breakers, criminals.

                Corporations have become a law unto themselves. Lawbreakers therefore are disloyal, the lowest of the low because they broke contract. There are many ways to break contract, running away is just the most obvious. Most contracts include provisions and clauses enough to shift planetary gravity if they were still on paper. To the corporations a contract is the basis of all civilization. If they neglect to mention that most contract laborers shipped in from nearby worlds are given the most dangerous jobs, charged for their space travel and housing, and have next to nothing left after paying what they owe, it is a Tracted’s fault for not reading more closely. 

The Contracted do have their rebels and rabble-rousers but the promise of a better life for towing the line is enough to keep many placated within their own ranks. The Corporations are also adept at twisting ideas with propaganda. Progenitor Workers, those born and raised on-world, often get preferential treatment and relatively higher wages. Progens are constantly told that they could lose their elevated positions to the influx of lower paid workers coming from abroad. This rivalry helps keep divisions between Drops, or off-world Tracted, and Progens. The Corporations don’t want the various peons banding together against their masters. Instead the work crews fight amongst themselves over imaginary differences. 

                Breaking your contract by yourself is rarely successful. Enforcers catch them quickly and drag them back to their positions a little beat up and with a harsher new contract in place. Contract Breakers band together, pool their skills, and improve the chances of success before breaking if they have any hope of success. Having a plan and the respect of the other breakers is a good place to start. Muscle, medical skills, diplomacy, agility, and sometimes plain old shifty street smarts are all huge assets. These ragtag groups are equipped with stolen equipment from their work postings and any items of worth they pick up along the way. What they lack in equipment and resources they can make up for with ingenuity and sheer desperation. Most importantly, they have their best chance at freedom when they rely on each other.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Broken Contract


I recently began work on my own Wild West Sci-Fi board game. This is the basis for the setting that I'm working with. This is only a rough draft but its meant to give my friends that are looking at it a reference point to see what my initial concept is.
 
“…Around 2218AD Mankind spread to the stars. They called it “A New Age of Exploration”. The Global Conglomerate of Earth had begun the scientific exploration of space in earnest. Resources on Earth were facing complete depletion and massive polluted zones had forced overcrowding. Food shortages, deplorable living conditions, and the violent suppression of worker’s rights had been sparking riots for decades. Earth was in its twilight and the corporate heads could no longer maintain their wealth and supremacy. Humanity needed room to expand and new resources to consume, and the corporations needed new markets to exploit. The first concerted colonization of space was set to begin.

Skip ahead to 2277AD. That’s when we saw “The Great Colonization”. The colonization of space over the next fifty years created genuine excitement planet-wide. It was common for fit and hopeful youths to volunteer for the colony ships and be trained as miners, farmers, builders, and security troopers as needed. Many saw these dangerous, but better paid, opportunities as a way to save their people back home from crushing poverty. Hired under contract, they traveled to far off worlds and built the earliest colony domes to sustain resource harvesting until initial terra-forming had begun.
                
 2277AD is also around when we saw “The Rise of the Star Cults”. People had lost faith in the old religions and felt the answers missing in their lives could be found out amongst the stars. These new religions were not readily accepted, prejudice was commonplace, and religious persecution was on the rise. Adherents of the star cults signed up for the colony ships in droves. A new galactic work force was on the move and the newly dubbed Interplanetary Conglomerate flourished with the new markets and influx of cheap labor. Those pilgrims in good standing who could accumulate enough wealth from their flock could even purchase steading rights outside the domes as long as they could pay a quarterly tithe. Life outside the domes was hard and unforgiving. Many died. But it afforded a level of freedom to those who sought it.

The New Corporate Supremacy” as it was dubbed was around 2303AD. This is when the Interplanetary Conglomerate made a trade agreement that brought most of the colonies under one banner, the Incorporated Worlds. That’s when they made our lives of Contracted Service mandatory unless we could buy our way out of our contracts. That’s when folks really fostered dreams of life on the run. You know it’s bad when people feel like anywhere is better than where they are right now, and they’d rather be hunted down than stay. You’d think there’d be plenty of places to hide on these newly colonized worlds, but most of them are only partially terra-formed. Without a breather and a source of food, you might last a week or two on your own if you’re lucky. But I digress…

The initial waves of expansion had bolstered the power of the corporations and their wealth had reached new levels of luxurious extravagance. Wherever Steader society thrived due to abundant resources, the corporations stepped in quickly and took control. Many of the Incorporated Worlds had developed verdant agridomes, massive mining colonies and other resource harvesting facilities. Building industry was the next logical step. Most of the commodities produced were made available to the settlers who produced them for outrageously inflated prices. The corporations did this, they said, because they had to offset the costs of shipping products off world to their other holdings. From time to time they’d switch it up and blame it on increased labor costs, but we all knew that was a farce. Every credit of our wages pays for the food, barracks assignments, healthcare, and transportation costs, all rudimentarily provided by the corporations we work for. We are all indentured servants held in place by a system where working our way to freedom is a deliberately impossible goal.

As far as I can see, throughout the Incorporated Worlds nothing comes easy for the Contracted Workers or the Pilgrim Steaders, but Security Forces, Contract Enforcers, and of course the Executives and Magistrates live quite well. It’s very rare to see someone rise up out of the bottom rungs of Contracted Service to higher positions. Class, upbringing, and wealth are the limiters that determine our position and we are all more likely to descend over time than to climb.

For everyone outside of the roles of corporate governance across the Incorporated Worlds you can live a meager existence from day to day in the frontier towns with some hope of getting ahead if you are wealthy enough to have bought land or live amongst the flock of someone who has, or you can work as an indentured servant under contract in the domes and live relatively assured of having your basic needs met. Moderate freedom or assured subsistence - that is the choice each person makes.

There is a third choice, one fraught with peril as it is a life on the run. Those who throw off the shackles of servitude, break their contracts, and make a break for freedom are known as Breakers. Contract Breakers are dangerous to Corporate power and are dealt with harshly. The Executives are not keen to waste a strong back, so they will typically double the length of a contract and can assess penalties to a Breaker or their extended family. Reclaimed Contract Breakers are required to pay off the expenses incurred in their hunt. In the end, first time Contract Breakers who are apprehended are forced into the longest, most dangerous, poorest paid contracts imaginable. They become little more than slaves for the duration of their new contracts. Flee a second time and get caught, and a Contract Breaker can be reasonably assured of a violent death at the hands of Enforcers. Those are just some of the risks of the 3rd choice. Exposure, Steaders, and other Breakers can all be threats to your existence. Life of the run is often dangerous and tragically short. Some manage to sustain their flight for years, but most don’t. Instead they go back to living the life of a slave or lying in a pool of their own blood.”
-Goran Anderson. Contracted Miner and Ex-Breaker under lifetime contract to FeSky. 

In “Broken Contract” you have to make the choice between playing a posse of Contract Enforcers, employed by the Incorporated Worlds of the Interplanetary Conglomerate to capture fugitive Contracted Workers, or you can play an escaped band of Contract Breakers trying to flee to the freedom of the Steader frontier towns. Broken Contract is a game of fast paced action using dice, rulers, and 28mm miniatures to recreate cinematic high adventure tales with your friends in a world where corporate greed has become law and breaking your work contract puts a price on your head.    

-Nick

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Three! - Angels of Absolution WIP #5

Yesterday I completed my third Angels of Absolution Scout. For me this pacing is nigh unheard of; and I have more completed bitz on the painting table.
I wanted to try out giving a Scout a backpack like how the art consistently depicts them. I'm also cycling through the various bald Space Marine heads with rebreather masks, so when I pulled this vehicle driver head with antenna I decided to go all out and add an Imperial Guard vox pack.
Like my other Scouts he is based with a mix of GW Sand, GW slate, GW Static Grass, Noch Spring Grass Tufts, and clippings of broom bristle.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to shoot to complete 6 Scouts, so I'm halfway there.

-Nick

Monday, September 23, 2013

Two Down: Angels of Absolution Scouts WIP #4

Before the weekend hit I finally finished up the Angels of Absolution Scout I had been working on all week. Here he is. He has a Space Marine head with the neck shaved down to fit in the armor's neck socket. He also has a green stuff loin cloth and the "skull on a rope" that I no longer recall where it came from. So he's got a few little conversions to give him some character.
 
Here's the same model from a slightly different angle. The base has standard GW basing material, a little pile of shale fragments, a spring grass tuft from Noch, some German company, some standard GW static grass, and a few broom bristle fragments sticking out of the ground out of holes drilled with a pin vise.
This model is the "test model" I completed February 17, 2010. 2nd City Warzone - First Blood! 2/17/10. He's been waiting over 3 years for some buddies to go to battle with. He also has the green stuff loin cloth and Space Marine head.
These are more legs waiting in the wings. The legs to the far left have a veteran crux attached to the loin cloth so those will be the sergeant legs. The legs in the middle are for a normal Scout, or maybe since the combat knife is at his side, maybe that would be the ideal heavy weapon Scout? The legs all the way to the right have received a lot of work since this pic was taken and actually if now a mostly done 3rd Scout. Note that if you look closely I took a moment to drill holes in the bases for broom bristle to stick out of. I think doing this now is better than when the model is done and I'm almost ruining a completed model as I'm drilling into it multiple times.
This final picture is from the 4th Edition Dark Angels Codex and shows you some of the reference material I'm working with. This is where I got the idea for loin cloths and bald heads. I noticed that this pic and the one in the new book both depict Scouts with backpacks, so I'm trying to incorporate that as well in the future.
 
-Nick

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Piece By Piece: Angels of Absolution Scouts WIP 3

I've been working along on that Angels of Absolution Scout Squad. The other day I highlighted up the flesh for the head I intend to use on the body I've been working on (visible to the right of the head). I'm really happy with how the flesh came out. Hopefully I don't destroy it when I do the eyes.
Tallarn Flesh, Ogryn Flesh Wash, Cadian Flesh Tone, Bronzed Flesh, Elf Flesh, and Agrax Earth Shade in the eye sockets. Only 2 of those paints can still be found on a shelf at a store. That's how I roll.
I've started base coating Bolt Pistol Arm attempt number 3. Its coming along.
Part of me wants to convert this in some way or add some sort of bit, but after painting up two separate arms previous that didn't work, I'm afraid to do anything fancy and run into the same problem a 3rd time.
This set of legs is all ready to go and will be used for the Veteran Sergeant. It pretty much has to be - considering I have the Veteran Crux hanging from the belt.
Green stuff loin cloth and a Veteran Crux bit.
I started dabbling with some sculpting. I'm planning on giving the Sergeant Melta Bombs so I took a Catachan arm and started the process of giving him a sleeve over his bare muscled arm. The piece of plastic card will be part of the Scout Armor Gauntlet they all wear. Its got a ways to go. Since I had some leftover green stuff I made some pieces for a purity seal. I'm really happy with how well I got the scale on these.
I suck at sculpting but I want to learn. This is my attempt to push my limits. Hopefully when the gauntlet and shoulder pad are added it will look decent.
Also while sculpting I gave this head a mohawk like the old scouts had. I think it came out pretty well. We'll see when I get it all cleaned, primed, and painted though.
Green stuff mohawk. Someone get him to Hot Topic for some bondage pants. I kid since if my hair didn't thin in my early 20's I'd totally have rocked a mohawk somewhere in the last 20 years.
Finally, here's one more set of Scout legs all base coated and ready for highlighting.
Another green stuff loin cloth with an Imperial Eagle groin protector to show he has faith in the Emperor to protect his junk.
-Nick

Monday, September 16, 2013

The Wrong Arm Take II - Angels of Absolution Scout WIP #2

One piece at a time. I just completed this arm.
Here I am again, trying to complete the same Dark Angel Scout model. Since the last post I completed this Combat Knife arm and glued it in place. If you read my last post you know that the gun arm I had completed for this model couldn't be fitted in place because of the amount I had rotated the torso - it was impacting the holster.
The Wrong Arm: AGAIN!
Well, the comedy of errors continues. I have the arm above mostly done - just some highlights and the squad marking to go. I decided to pull an extra of the identical arm from my bits box to make sure it still lines up correctly with the Combat Knife arm glued in place. Of course, it does not. The blade tip impacts the gun and though I could make it work, it looks awkward with the knife and gun touching. I spent a good half an hour test fitting Catachan, Cadian, Orlock, and Scout bitz to see what my best/easiest option would be. Sadly, most of the bitz I tried would have been most suited for a Sergeant or would require a lot of sculpting work.
Hopefully this arm works because the only other Scout arm that fits doesn't really go with the rest of the pose.
Finally I settled on this bit. Space Marine Bolt Pistol Arm attempt #3 coming later this week.
I hate the Scout heads (like a lot of people) so I'm making do with some Space Marine ones.
Finally, this blurry pic shows the Space Marine baldy with rebreather that I shaved down to use for the head. Lets hope nothing goes wrong here.

-Nick