# The Emperor's Feth 2 - Astra Militarum and Blood Angels Army



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Welcome to the Emperor’s Feth!
(More on why it is ‘the other half’ later)

*History of ‘The Feth’*

I haven’t been involved in W40k since back in A-levels (1995 ish) and then I only painted a couple of Blood angels but never played the game.

Back in Sept (ish) 2008 I bought a White Dwarf for the first time in years. It just so happened to be the release of 5th edition. Obviously I was interested so I went to my local GW to take a look.

*The First Model*

After browsing the store I found the Ogryn Bone ‘Ead and just thought he was awesome so without another thought I bought him and a basic paint set and brush and set off home.

After looking at painting guides on the internet and realising that the basic paint set was rubbish I bought some more paints and set to work. After a couple of weeks this is what I came up with as my first ever properly painted model….




























After a couple of years experience, looking back, I now think he isn’t very well painted but I still really love him to bits and although I would like to repaint him I won’t!!!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*Partner in crime*

Having finished the Ogryn off I was really interested in the game and how it played so I went out and got a copy of the rules and the Imperial Guard codex to flip through. Now I knew nobody that played the game but I did know that my best mate (Jangalak on the forums) also used to paint some Eldar back at school. We both have wives and young families now and we meet up together for the kids to play etc. and on one October afternoon I presented the Ogryn model to him knowing full well what I was doing….
A week later he had bought a ton of Ultramarines and he was off!!!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*Painting and Playing - the doubles adventure and the beginning of ‘The Feth’!*

Because of our families and work we do have limited time to play and paint but we do as much as we can. After a year or so we both had armies with enough points to play 1000pt games and we both managed to talk our other halves into letting us go away for the weekend to the W40k Doubles at Warhammer World. So in Feb 2010 off we went with Imperial Guard and Ultramarines and had a wicked time.
We placed about halfway in the tournament but decided that we would enter the following year and be more competitive in our play and go for the best painted army award….


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*The Big Switch, ‘The Feth’ begin to roll!*

We got our tickets for the 2011 doubles in February having obsessively planned our lists for about 9 months after the 2010 tournament. However, Jangalak in his wisdom decides that Ultramarines are pussies and he wants to take Imperial Guard as his half of the army. So in November 2010 we had a huge amount of painting to do for the following February.

*This was the beginning of the true Emperor’s Feth!*

In the February Tournament, after nipping out of work halfway through the day to paint in the car some days, we were long-listed for the best painted army but never got into the top 5. We placed about 28th in the tournament and I made a quick tournament report which can be found on the 11th company here…

http://the11thcompany.freeforums.org...rld-t1725.html

We had a great time but more improvements were needed both competitively and paint wise….


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*The Doubles Sept 2011*

In June 2011, completely unforeseen, my dearest W40k hating wife, got me tickets to the doubles in September for my birthday!! So again the painting started in earnest for Jangalak and I as we got going with army lists again and hammering out new units and vehicles. The doubles tournament is this weekend, 2 days away, and we can’t wait. I will post a report on this blog when we get back.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*The Emperors’s Feth*

Jangalak decided it would be a good idea to document his side of ‘The Feth’ and his blog is here…

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=83481

This blog is my side of ‘The Feth’.

Because I already have 2 years worth of army I have taken lots of photo’s but will post regularly rather than put them all up at once. In this way the blog will keep getting updated and if I keep painting at home I will keep producing new material to post as we go along.

This blog is not for me to show off, I want to improve both my modelling and painting and so I am asking anybody who will read this for ideas and tips to improve my army. Even if I have photographed my models I am not afraid to change or add things if it will make them better so please feel free to critique me. I know I am not the best painter in the world but I am always looking to learn and improve.

Onwards….


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

*HQ - Company Command Squad*

To kick things off I have to start at the top. I have a Company Command Squad with Company Commander and 4 Meltaguns all in a Chimera with Multilaser/Heavy Flamer.

My list is trying to be competitive and the more meltaguns the merrier. Unfortunately GW are spanners and dont make any decent meltagunners - they are all metal and in one pose - so I bought some space marine Meltas and converted my four guys....

Group









Commander









Melta 1(a) - My Favourite









Melta 1(b)









Melta 2









Melta 3









Melta 4









HQ Chimera









































All of my vehicles have mud on them. Quite simply i tried it and liked it!!!
The overlying icon of my army are the teeth decals. Every unit should have them on somewhere.
Also defining the icon on the chimera: the 'X' means it is an HQ unit while the two vertical lines dictate that it is a Melta unit.

Any comments or questions please feel free. I want to know anyone's views on the models, convertion, mud, decals, anything that may make them better. Or of course just thoughts in general!!


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Hello buddy, nice to see you are up here at last, my half of the 'Feth' dont feel so lonely now! 

After telling you i thought the photos were great, now i have seen them on here i would recommend doing what I am with my photos now - I get the image, open it in 'Paint' (the software you get with your PC) and resize them to 85% - I save them and then 'attach' them to my posting rather than doing a hyperlink to photobucket or something.
Its all personal pref really, but I decided I liked this best as you can get lots of images on one post if you need to, and you can zoom in and out of them better than the hyper-link photos.

Love the commander best of all here - his face is nicely done and suitably grizzled looking. +rep buddy, now lets see the rest...


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Im loving the IG Hocky, and the story of you and Janga sounds awesome.

For a first time painting for back in the day on the Ogryn...AWESOME!

Im jealous that you and your mate are in the UK and get to hit up the GW shops and get your game on, Italy....ya, it sucks!

Looking forward to your next entry!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks DOE! I have been following your Krieg blog too with interest. You got game too!! No idea how you afford that stuff though!!
For anybody interested DOE's K.R.I.E.G. is here
It is well worth a look


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Back from the Doubles tournament at Warhammer World now and we had a great time!

We won 2 games, lost 3 and got nominated for best army in the painting competition too! More about the Doubles in another post later though.

For now I wanted to post some more photos of the army so seeing as I am starting at the top here is my Platoon Command Squad. They have 3 Meltaguns (Forgeworld with respirator masks because they look super cool!) and ride in a Chimera....

Group Shot









Platoon Commander - Front









Platoon Commander - Back









Melta 1









Melta 2









Melta 3









Lasgun - The fall guy!









PCS Chimera 1









PCS Chimera 2









PCS Chimera 3









PCS Chimera 4









So the army list at the moment is:

[U*]HQ[/U]
CCS*
4 Meltas
Chimera - ML/HF

*Troops
PCS*
3 Melta/1 Lasgun
Chimera - ML/HF

Total points - 260

Any comments on how I can make them better are always appreciated, thanks!!


----------



## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

Only thing I see is a little too much mud. I wasn't a tanker but I have never seen a track witgh mud piled so high.

This is what I consider heavily covered:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=mud+...225&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:225&tx=129&ty=82

Thats all, just a little heacy to me. I could be wrong though. 

Keep up the good work and inspiring models.

KT out


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi Kjell, thanks for the comments, thy are appreciated!
To be honest i have gone a little over board on 2-3 of my tanks with the mud mainly for two reasons: 1. I got carried away and got too slap happy with the polyfilla mix!!! 2. Because the tanks are so small I felt that you needed more to be able to see the effect. Actually with this i think you are right less is more so i'll bear that in mind for my future tanks.


----------



## Marneus Calgar (Dec 5, 2007)

Looks really cool! Although, something in me thinks you should have put *OXO* on the first of the tanks ;D


----------



## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

Hi, great to see a good looking guard army up, you tied this together really well; however there are a couple of things that stick out to me;
- I agree with Kjell about there being a tad too much mud on the chimera, that one in particular looks like it's tracks should have clogged up and stopped.
- The freehand on the last chimera looks a tad wobbly imo, dont get me wrong its ten times better than what i could do it just looks a bit wonky if you get me?
-Overall you've lavished a lot of detail in the guardsmen, but overall i think they look a tad monochrome, im not sure what you could do but i think it needs breaking up a tad.

Sorry if it seems like im being douchey, i really like them!


----------



## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

hocky said:


> 1. I got carried away and got too slap happy with the polyfilla mix!!! 2. Because the tanks are so small I felt that you needed more to be able to see the effect.


Makes perfect sense, we all get a little crazy now and then when we paint. somne, like me, have a little more crazy and a little less well done painting...

I totally get what you were after and tried to do. The overall painting is A+, and the extra work almost made it a A++. I can't wait to see what you do next.

KT


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Now this is what I was looking for - honest opinions. Thanks guys!

@Marneus - Lol! It seemed like a good idea at the time but I am gonna have to change it now as every time I look at it I'll think that the thing has rolled over a dinner table!

@dakingofchaos - I agree with the logo freehand. After seeing it on the pics (and realising that it looks like OXO) I will change them. I have no idea what to do instead though. I want a decal that shows what's inside the transport so the idea behind these two is that the 'x' signifies a command squad and the arrow means troops so i can differentiate between the CCS and PCS. Any ideas anyone?
Also the scheme is monochrome you're right. I kind of wanted it that way - an urban camo look. That means all my vets are grey while my poor normal grunts get to be a scab red colour (coming soon). Again this distinguishes them on the tabletop. However i think they need something but i am not sure what. I put the teeth on the shoulders to break up the grey more but you're right they need a little something else - any ideas?

@Kjell Thats fine mate, I need these opinions otherwise I am not going to improve!!

Moving forwards I am planning a Tyranid invasion on my army to try and make them stand out more and be a little less grey.I have ripped one of my original chimeras up to model some genestealers on it tearing it apart and I have big plans for one of my vendettas. Any thoughts on the possibility of putting tyranids into my normal guys to give them more colour? Also i need some ideas on a colour scheme for the tyranids that will go with my army's colour scheme.....


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

I have started thinking about how I could put Tyranids into my army as a theme and thought I would start nice and simple with a Vendetta base. On it I want a gun emplacement having been taken apart by Genestealers. This is what I have done so far....



























I now have to model half a guardsman lying in a big puddle of water and a couple of genestealers running past or feasting on him. Again I can't decide on a colour scheme for the Stealers as yet though....What do you guys think?


----------



## Commisar Reaper (Sep 14, 2011)

Liking the work. Army looks fantastic and the colours look great too. Nice Scheme.

Like the flesh work you done, still working on how im gunna do mine and try out ways to highlight it.

Did you mix flesh tones to make the colours and highlighting?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi Reaper, thanks for taking a look. To paint flesh this is what I do:
1. Following the chaos black prime i paint all flesh areas scorched brown.
2. Then i use watered down tallarn flesh on the flesh and leave the scorched brown visible in the recesses. Sometimes this takes a couple of coats. I water it down to give a smooth finish otherwise I find the paint comes out quite chalky.
3. Wash with Ogryn flesh wash. This tones the brown and flesh colours together.
4. Repaint the raised areas of flesh - cheeks, chin, nose, fingers, palms etc - with watered down Tallarn flesh.
5. Highlight really raised areas - nose, fingertips - with watered down elf flesh.
6. Paint eyes, teeth.
7. On my Platoon Commander (smoking a cigar) I thought i'd try giving him stubble too so I watered down some Badab black wash and carefully put 2-3 washes on his chin. I actually thought that this came out really well too although you can only just see it in the pics!

Any questions ask and any feedback on better ways to do it, I never mind trying something new out. At the end of the day you can always repaint it!!!


----------



## Commisar Reaper (Sep 14, 2011)

Thanks Hocky.

I dont have Scorched Brown, do you think Calthan Brown will work?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Try it, it will prob be fine. Even if you didn't bother with brown and just painted it all tallarn flesh then washed it with ogryn flesh it would still look great. I just use the brown for a little more depth.


----------



## Commisar Reaper (Sep 14, 2011)

Ok i see,

I do all my flesh with Tallarn then wash with Ogryn then Tallarn again.

Flesh tones can be a pain sometimes to get right.


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Hey Hocky, great to see your work up here!! 

Your painting is really good, especially the lights on those tanks, I really like those.

Looking forward to slaughtering these guys at the doubles in Feb if you're there 

Rev


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

That sounds like fighting talk Rev!!!! Hopefully i'll be there. Some real life stuff going down at the moment but there's always hope!!

Thanks for the compliments on the searchlights. Dead easy to do but actually quite effective.

So Alpha Legion eh? I'll be following that one for sure. Will it be Alpha and SW at the tourney then?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Following on from my earlier comments regarding some tyranids and adding a Tyranid theme to the army I am test painting a Genestealer as a start for the base of one of my Vendettas.....

These were the first test colours....(Excuse the white foot!!!)

















I wasn't really happy as the colours were too brown and the point of the 'nids were to add colour to the army. So I then tried this....


















This time I quite like the blue but i don't think the flesh colour works. Any idea's on either painting it better full stop or the colour scheme?


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking good but I have to agree the mud is too much and there would be a separation between where the mud piles up on the track and on the stationary part of the tank. 

The grey on the uniform of some of the troopers is a bit to much of a contrast you can always go over the uniform with a wash of the original color to blend it in slightly.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

While I mull over the tyranid colour scheme problem I thought i'd share a few more photo's. As all I have shown is grey so far I thought it pertinent to explain that Grey uniform marks out Veterans in this army and red marks out normal guardsmen. So on with the red and a platoon....

*Troop Squad 1 with Lascannon*
























Lascannon
























Sergeant

















*Troop Squad 2 with Lascannon*
















Lascannon
























Sergeant (Jangalak's favourite for some reason!)

















*Blob*


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Looking good mate, the photos are top class, you are still getting a little bounce back from the light though on some of them - still great though. And your infantry are way ahead of mine...


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Janga! I have been perusing LTP's Photo editing guide on the miscellaneous tutorial section and so after a download my photo's should get a bit better.

As you know I have been playing with the idea of a tyranid invasion but have been struggling with a scheme for them. The early ideas were still too dark so i thought "lets go pink!"....

















and i have ripped up a chimera to put some genestealers on it tearing it apart. Here is the idea....









What do you think of the scheme and the stealers pose on the chimera?


----------



## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

I like the idea of the nid theme, it would make for a very interesting army. At the risk of repeating myself i actually prefer the guardsmen to your vets, the red fabric looks very nice to me! Also loving the bricks by the hwt


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Dakingofchaos. After much deliberation I agree with some of the comments here regarding my veterans. Its all too grey! So a change of colour scheme for my vets is called for. I also think that they should be different from normal troopers - they are veterans after all. So I have been messing around and doing some research and have decided to do three things differently with them.
1. Different heads - I have spied some online and ordered so I will post pics when they are here.
2. Different weapons - Counts as lasguns, but i took inspiration from a tutorial here on heresy by itspug and came up with this....








3. Different colour scheme. Now this I need some feedback on as I have painted the armour and am wondering if it fits with my other troopers. I originally tried fortress grey with white highlights.....









....but think I will go with all white and weather it instead after following xenobiotics blog for a while here....
Pre weathering.









What do you guys think?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Well I didn't think I would have any more painting time tonight but here is the pre weathered vet stuck together. Poor pics though sorry! Will change the top of the gun I think as it doesn't work. It needs to be flatter.
Any good?


----------



## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

I think it could work if there was an extension to the tube on top, to make it look more like a scope. 

I like the scheme with the white more, but that's just bias because my own IG are painted with white. :biggrin:

Other then that... the beltfed weapon feeding from the bottom doesn't work. Beltfed weapons traditionally are attached to the side of the weapon, like the M249 / PKM


----------



## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

elmir said:


> Other then that... the beltfed weapon feeding from the bottom doesn't work. Beltfed weapons traditionally are attached to the side of the weapon, like the M249 / PKM


I was thinking the same, but it you put some block on the side of the gun above the ammo feed, then the belt could be coming from the base and then around into the side..


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Well belt-fed bolters are fed from the bottom, so this fits with that style, and I like the look of them anyway. 

As for the white, that's a good break from your largly dark force, so great choice.

Rev


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

With regard to the belt feed, as the Rev says, I stole that idea from the bolters of some chaos marines I had knocking around. Here is a pic from GW and they are a mix of ammo case and hanging ammo.....








This isn't realistic in real life but I thought it would be more interesting than nicking the bolter ammo case seen on some of the other chaos marines instead which has been done before. I may do a mix of the two. I'll experiment with my bits box!!

I am defo going to change the top of the gun, it doesn't work when you look at it in real life so i'll get some plasticard and change that.

Hopefully i'll get some time to weather the white this morning, slightly nervous about that though......


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Hocky, this is great mate! I like them alot. As whats been said before, the white makes everything stand out nicely. Your facial feature is great as well, hes got that look on his face like "Awhhh man." Well done Sir!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks D of E!!
Have finally decided to go for it and weathered the white! This is Jangalak's fault as he kept bothering me to 'pit' the white so here it is with just the top of the weapon to change and a new head....










































What do you think?


----------



## Turnip86 (Oct 7, 2011)

The NID colour scheme is pretty cool, you've done a good job on the stealer. It's not far off my own scheme though so I may be biased  I used black base coat with the fleshy parts and ribs quite a dark red (rojo red from the vallejo range applied thinly) and then the carapace is black with metallic blue highlights to make them look suitably beetle-y (just no guitars).

And you guard look fantastic, the modelling on the bases is really nice and I might have to plagiarise some of your ideas.


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

The damage looks awesome mate, really like the pitting, and the really scratch stuff. Well done


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Jangles!

Ok I am having issues. My thoughts were to make the vets look like they mean business. This means a change in scheme, weapons and heads. I like the scheme but not sure if it will fit with my normal red guardsmen. I love the new weapons but just need to alter a couple of bits so that is to come. My big problem is their heads.....

I love the pig iron gas masks and thought that they would fit nicely for vets, they are also a bit chaosy too which floats my boat!! So I ordered some and painted one up yesterday to see what it looks like. However I think it makes the guardsman head look far too small as he has bulky armour. Obviously the normal helmet bulks the head out and it looks normal.

Here are some comparison pics for size reference. Also do you think that the mask needs to be painted white?


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

I like the gas masked head, but my first impression was that it was a bit too small, which is a shame because it adds some character and makes them stand out. I guess my eye was only comparing it against the guy with the great marshmallow helmet next to him though...

Your call I guess


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Oh Rev!! Now I am paranoid that my hardest men, the ones who are fiercest in the thick of the fighting are actually guys who just found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time as war broke out while they were in fancy dress at a ghostbusters convention.....


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

haha, sorry Hocky, I didn't mean the marshmallow reference to creat an image of the Marshmallow Man in your mind!!  haha, you could write stay-puft on their helmets? :wink:

back to the original dilema though, I like the gas masked guys, you should keep them. or make a whole squad of them and then they are only ever compared against each other?


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

These are deff turning out to be some sharp looking Cadians Hocky, your doing a great job on them with your paint work, keep it up! 

Ohhh, FYI, I love the gas mask! HEHEHEHE


----------



## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

The veterans are looking very nice, your highlights are improving drasticly and the freehand on the shoulders is nice and straight now! I agree about making the tube on the top of the gun into a scope, at the moment it looks out of place imo. I quite like the scheme to the veterans and the weathering on the white has turned out well! Very well done sir!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks guys, I realy like the gas masks too. I actually think that when I have painted the armour properly the gas mask won't look as small and Rev I think you are right about the perspective of him only being comparable to the marshmallow. I think a whole squad will look cool. Therefore i'll bloody well get on with it!!
Been a bit busy round here lately so not much painting done, back on it next week though so some more progress then. Until then I had not shown any pictures of the vet squads I have painted now so this is those guys possibly being repainted white after the trial squad gets completed.....

Whole Plasma Vet Squad








5 of the normal vets...








And a close up of their backpacks








The 3 Plasma gunners
















And the Sergeant

















I gave them the stormtrooper backpacks to give the impression they were on some kind of mission and not just your average guy.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Well it seems like forever since I posted as real life has gotten in the way.

However there is some exciting news in that me and jangalak have managed to get a weekend away from the families to give the feth another outing at the doubles tournament in February!!!
We are now obliged to put something special together to get nominated again for best painted!
Therefore the last couple of days my new white vet squad has been in production again. Managed to get all the basic colours on, then it will be washes, highlights then weapons. Here is a quick progress pic








Even though I haven't been painting I still have been reading and I am loving the blood angels at the moment. So much so that last week I went a bit crazy and made a few purchases to keep plugging away at in the long term....








1750 in all and a manticore for dear old jangalak. I already have mephiston so hopefully if I ever have enough time I will be able to apocalypse it up with guard and BA!
Onwards to the doubles with IG though, more updates soon!


----------



## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

Oooh, i see you have made a light box, good man! really makes the detail easier to see now, looking very nice! It cant have been easy getting that many stormtrooper backpacks, or did you just buy the set?
The plasma coils are looking really smooth, i love that effect!
Good to hear your entering the doubles tournament, i may well see you there! Have you got a seperate blog for you Ba or will they be in here as well? looking forward to seeing them on the go


----------



## troybuckle (Nov 24, 2010)

Very nice guard. Its good to see them when there has been a good attention to detail like you have there.


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

hey Hocky, you seen these gas mask heads?

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=99143


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Well its been a while - lots going on at home and work so not much time for hobbying i'm afraid.

@dakingofchaos - hope you're at the doubles, it'll be cool to catch up offline. And no i'll probably put some pics of the BA on here every now and again. It would be far too slow to offer a proper project log - as you are seeing with this one!

@troybuckle - Thanks man. Its funny, unlike others I love painting infantry!!! I'm also a bit OCD and can't help but do the details where someone else would leave them. It would bug me far too much!!

@rev - I saw those gas masks when I was shopping around for heads and I loved them but hated the helmets!!

I haven't quite finished them yet - armour and a few more touches to guns and faces to do but here is a quick update for your opinions before I finish them off and then get cracking with a load more...

What do you think of the guns? I have changed the sight on top and used different magazines to show that these are vets and they are scavenging behind enemy lines, adapting and using the resources they can find, but should I leave the original lasgun end on or go down the more autogunnish route like the marshmallow headed guy?

Do the gasmasks work? Should I ditch them and leave the Cadian marshmallow heads on? I think their size is fine when the group is together. I really like the masks that don't cover the whole face but am not sure about the full face masks...


----------



## Hellados (Sep 16, 2009)

I like them mate, are you going to weather the white??


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Great job Hocky, Im def diggin the masks and the bases! Way better than the marshmellow heads...I say leave it!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## Dakingofchaos (Sep 29, 2009)

Just a thought for your full face masks (having just got my first set of guardsmen through and attempting a simliar style gas mask), have you tried filing down the front of the faces? it might make the masks les 'sticky outy'. As for the other masks i think they are superb! That a conversion kit or just green stuff? either way very well pulled off, on the gun topic i prefer the ones with the original lasgun ends left on, the others resemble that similar to a FAMAS kind of gun, i think the box clip ammo looks a lot smarter than the free swinging bullet strap as well


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Great work mate, they've turned out well. I'd give you some more rep but can't at the moment


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi guys and thanks for your comments.
@ dakingofchaos they are gasmasks from Pig Iron. They do loads of heads over there.

@ Hellados yes i have weathered the white armour, not quite finished though so pics coming soon.

While i have been working on the vets i have also been doing a couple of other bits. 1 of which is taking my old leman russ that i never use and turning it into a punisher. I never liked the punisher barrel as i thought it was too short though so i modified the battle cannon to extend it. 








Need to finish it off with a load of details and switch the lascannon for heavy bolter but What do you think?

Edit: Didn't realise it was such a bad pic until i posted it sorry!!


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Those gas masked guard look great. There's a lot of character in your models, hocky. Also, the punisher barrel is a simple but effective conversion. Well done.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Pretty freaking awsome dude, Im digging the extended barrel for the punisher cannon. Funny we are both working on the SAME model. Mine should be done tomorrow, we shall see.

However, I demand better pictures! :grin:

Regards,
DoE


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks DofE. I've been wanting a punisher for a while and seeing you do yours made me get my arse into gear to do mine so thanks!! Prob finish it next week.....


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi guys - Merry xmas!!
Needless to say that with 4 and 6 year old kids in the house its not been the time of year to be painting!!

I have weathered my white vets, i'll post pics soon and am still working on the punisher DofE. I thought i'd finished then i saw yours and decided i needed to do better you git!!
So i'll get that done and post pics too.

Also been working on a vendetta base with disembowelled trooper which is coming on nicely. However i have modeled a puddle which he is lying in but when i pour the water effects into it i think some air must be getting trapped as it dries white underneath. Anybody know what i can do to stop this?

As for now I found this pic of the doubles tourney in Sept that me and Jangalak went to. How did these poor guys end up in this position in our game 5?! Happy New Year!


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well my friend.

As for your wet effects, sorry I cant help you there. I havent really experimented to much with that stuff. Hopefully someone on here can lend a hand to the question?



hocky said:


> ...and am still working on the punisher DofE. I thought i'd finished then i saw yours and decided i needed to do better you git!!


LOL...no worries mate. She was a HUGE improvement from the way I did my first Leman Russ. Only problem is it takes longer now to paint one due to the oils needing to set.

Anyways, that looks like a nice game where your troops are pretty much done for =) Hopefully you got to take one more biker out before they were overrun? I do have to say as well that the sniper team off to the top right looks pretty freaking cool dude. Now....lets see some pics! :biggrin:

Regards,
DoE


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

hey mate, happy new year!! looking forward to seeing this punisher!! 

GW used to have a water effect tutorial but i can't see it any more and it appears they have stopped selling water effect in fact!! I was looking to have a go at that myself but I might leave it now.


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Hey buddy,

You need to get some photos of those gas mask dudes on here now you have done the weathering, they are awesome. The Punisher is looking awesome too, can you make the barrel even longer though as I am worried that the 24" range may be an issue - could you make the barrel say ...24" just to be on the safe side?!!!

And the last stand of the melta CCS against a horde of Nob bikers was a great sight, although probably the worst tactical display the Emporer's Feth have ever produced - definately not one for the honours list!

Keep it up!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Well it has been a while - work and kids at Christmas what can I say?! Anyway seeing DofE, Jangalak and Reverend on here painting away has been making me jealous and motivated to make some time so I have finally managed to get some stuff done.
Firstly I converted my existing Leman Russ into a Punisher for the upcoming doubles tourney in Feb. I originally didn't like the short barrel on it so I left half of the battle cannon on to make it look like it could throw out 20 shots!!
I went a bit nutty on weathering as I wanted to try a few things out so it is a little 'busy' I think but I kinda like it. Not as good as yours though DofE!

















































The other thing I have finally finished is this bloody vendetta base. Water effects have been the bane of my life. Finally got it somewhere near but you can't really see it in the photos!!! Pah!!
Never mind, I really enjoyed playing with greenstuff for the first time and making lots of entrails. Its not brilliant but not terrible for my first go. Also really enjoyed painting the genestealer and I really learned alot about painting white which has helped me with my white vets.

































Hope you like them and please criticise too, this is all a big learning curve where I am trying new stuff.
I have a cool chimera to come too.....


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Hey buddy, this plog just keeps getting better, the punisher really stepped up for that weathering and looks first class. The oil spills are kick ass and damage cool, especially like the bullet holes accross the front- did you drill those? Love em. May have spotted one thing but is prob the light - check the scratched off paintwork on rear of turret, where you have revealed the metal underneath it almost looks too shiny. I think it's prob just the light though. The tank ha loads on it which could look busy, but you have balanced it really nicely and its really characterful to look at. 

The vendetta base is awesome, the stealer is nice, the entrails are a perfect colour and look a good size (whatever that means!) and I love the blood washing into the pool, that is special mate! 

Full smack of rep if I can, worth the wait!!


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Hey mate, loving that genestealer base, that should really raise the stakes in the Best Army entry at the tourny!! 

And I love that demolisher, that is looking sweet! 

An update on the water effect, apparently GW have discontinued the line and no one is sure if it's coming back. You could try using PVA glue as it dries clear. Maybe some PVA to build up the area and then coat it with gloss varnish when you're done?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Rev, think i'll continue to play with water effects until I feel happy.
Until then and while I am finishing a chimera, I have also been working on a Manticore which I finally have finished....

















































What d'ya reckon?


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Nice looking Manitcore Hocky, the caked on mud looks good as well, curiously what are you using?

As for the streak marks are you using a wash? If so, try thining it out a bit and add it in layers or I would highly recommend some oil paints blended in with some minieral spirits.

The actual missiles, maybe a white or black warhead would help set them off from the rest of the model.

Nonetheless, good work mate!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## rich11762 (Jul 18, 2010)

Really nice work mate enjoyed looking through your log


----------



## Minigiant (Mar 15, 2008)

Fantastic as always!


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Wow, that manticore looks awesome Hocky!! And can I say that the lenses look great as usual!

I do agree with DoE though, the missiles could do with something extra just to make them stand out. How about adding some inscriptions written by guardsmen too: "happy birthday green scum!" "Kiss my rocket"...


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

looking good buddy, but I am with DoE on the 'oil leaks' - I am a convert to the oil paint, varnish and thinners method.

What I did with mine was spray the whole model in purity seal, then when it was dry i took some acrylic oil paint (windsor and newton burnt amber) and dabbed a little on, then with another brush loaded with paint thinner (I used some Tamiya stuff i have had lying around for a bit) i blended the oil paint in a downward motion. The thinner dissipates the oil paint which means you still have a strong colour which is transluscent but it doesnt build up more pigment at the edges of the oil leak if you know what i mean. 

The tank looks great though mate, I am just an IA convert now!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks for the comments everyone!
For the drips I am just using layers of Devlan mud and painting those drips on. I think they look better in the flesh as they blend in more with the rest of the model but I think you guys are converting me to the thinner and pigment combo. I think me and jangles will have a good chat when I throw his models around at the doubles in a month.

As for the mud it is a water, Pva, sand and polyfilla mix to get the right consistency and stickiness. Then plaster it on, paint, wash, highlight. I have gone a bit overboard with the mud on some of my tanks but it's all a learning curve.

I completely agree with the missiles. Originally they were all grey and looked dull as dishwater! The only idea I had was to put the blue and red on the midsection and tail of each missile. This made it look loads better but you're right the tips need something other than a drybrush of fortress grey!!! Give me an evenings research and I'll see what I can come up with....


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

A black and white check pattern would tempt me, but thats gonna be a long haul! Good luck!


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

A Black warhead with a white tip with some white scripture would seem perfect.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Jangles: you can do one! When you paint your vendettas pink and yellow I 'll go black and white checks!

DofE: I couldnt decide what to do after scouring the net last night so i consulted my 4 year old and she told me what colours to go with. This was before you had posted with black with white tip so be prepared....

Nearly finished will post tomorrow morning. Found some other stuff I should have done on the model too so it's taken me a little longer than anticipated!


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Advice from a 4 year old girl... this should be good


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Right finally I have made the changes to the Manticore. My daughter said White, yellow and green but the yellow didn't go (I even painted some flames on the warheads but it just didnt go with the colours on the tank) so i ended up with this simple colour scheme. I also highlighted a couple of bits and bobs that i had forgotten to before.
Let me know what you think, as you can see i'm not frightened to change! It looks better than the first time though so here's hoping....


----------



## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

Ouh, yes! I love being able to come to this section of the forum and see wonderfully painted miniatures! 

Great job mate! I particularly like the way you painted the search light.


----------



## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

Nice work on the launcher... + rep


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi guys, thanks very much for the support.
The Punisher that I painted has been bothering me greatly. It looks too monochrome which is exactly what I wanted to get away from (veterans pending!). So I have spent a little time going back to it and linking it in with my army and adding colour to break up the grey. I painted the cloth a brown colour like leather, the cans in the back green, the lights blue as a spot colour (inspiration from DofE) and the barrel at the back is now striped red to link with my red uniformed troopers.
I am much more happy with it now so here are the pics...

































The other thing that has been bothering me is the way i painted light blue rings around the missile warheads on the manticore. I think that it is too much contrasting colour. I have repainted them darker blue which looks far better but am still not sure so i will deliberate and post up when I have decided...

Hope you like!


----------



## Skari (Dec 20, 2011)

I really like the colours that you are using. Keep up the good work. +rep.


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

That punisher looks excellent. Well done.


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Love it mate. The punisher is my favourite now!


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Love it mate. The punisher is my favourite now!


----------



## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

Great looking Punisher! The changes are subtle, but definately add to the model.


----------



## zxyogi (Dec 7, 2009)

Very nice....very very nice!!!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi Guys.

The doubles tourney at Warhammer World is nearly upon me and Jangalak and so a spree of finishing our models for The Emperors Feth is in full swing.
I have been working on a chimera getting torn up by 2 genestealers which is near completion. I think i will try to model up a guardsman the top genestealer has just ripped from the top hatch but that will take some time so I will update that as and when.

















































Also I have been finishing off my vendetta. I will perhaps weather it a little more in the future but it is good to go for now at least.

































And finally the group shot of my half of 'The Feth'...









Unfortunately the tourney is on Friday (2 days time) and I realised when getting my models out that I am a Lascannon heavy weapon team short!!! Don't tell Jangalak but now I have about 2 hours of painting time to get hold of and paint one up - Doh!!!

If you have any comments or criticism please offer some as its all a learning curve...


----------



## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Love the minidiorama on the chimera. Instead of a guardsman being ripped out, why not just have a rather startled face looking up out of the hole? A bit easier, and quicker, considering your time constraints between now and Fri.


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Those 'stealers are rockin' mate, the Feth are looking good. But get you're arse in gear with that Lascannon crew!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hey guys.
Just thought I would post a little update on the doubles tournament having got back last night.
Myself and Jangalak both thought that it was the best of the 4 doubles tournaments we have been to so far. We met alot of people that we have played against before so it was nice to catch up and have friendly banter about how high we were up on the tables throughout the 5 games.
It was good having a few beers on the friday and saturday nights in Bugmans although the next mornings were hard work!!

The winners were 2 guys from the French ETC team, one of which was their captain, so kudos to those guys for demolishing everyone in their path.

As for myself and Jangalak, we played the Reverend on the Friday night and it was great seeing you again sir but even better seeing your models up close and personal - this boy can certainly paint Wolves!!! Trouble was they didn't stay on the table for long enough!!!

In the tournament we were taking double IG and won our first game against Necrons and Blood Angels quite convincingly after a vicious first turn pretty much demolished their army - Sorry!

2nd game was on table 2 against some guys from Scotland who had a Blood angel/Salamander army with 5 dreads and 3 drop pods - Seriously hard work for our army. It was a great game and super close playing a kill point mission. They went first and If it ended Turn 5 we would have won 8 - 7, it went to turn 6 and they gained 2 kill points and then we failed a leadership check for one of our units giving them a 3rd kill point - Doh! - to take it 10 - 8 to them. We then killed a dreadnaught and had a punisher, a vendetta and 2 multi lasers to kill 1 death company marine in the open for the draw....vendetta's 2 lascannons (1 had been destroyed) 1 miss, 1 hit, 2's to kill and Jangalak rolled a 1! 2 multilasers, 6 shots, 2 hit, 2 wounds, 1 armour save, 1 feel no pain save!! Punisher - 29 shots!!! 12 wounds!!!! 9 armour saves, 3 feel no pain saves - he lives and wins the game!!!! I guess they are not nutty for nothing! Great game though.

Our 3rd game we were busted down to table 22 against double necrons which again was super close - those necrons just don't die!! They won the roll off and gave us first turn so Jangalak and I decided that we needed to hope for turn 6 and played to win on that turn as we couldnt get near enough to the objectives before that. If it ended turn 5 it would have ended a draw. The game went on....We boosted our vendettas around on turn 6 to contest their 2 objectives - 1 with 1 vendetta and the other with 3 chimeras and a vendetta - while we held our own safely. They actually destroyed the lone vendetta meaning a draw if it finished turn 6....it went to turn 7!
We boosted the other vendetta to contest their objective with the 3 chimeras still holding the middle and ours safe. It was all about our vendetta surviving.....some awesome cover saves and low damage chart rolls later and the smoke cleared with it still standing!!! Win (just) for us!

So 2 wins and a loss on the first day and we were table 10 for our 4th game against (you guessed it) double necrons - this time with night fight for 3 turns - ouch!! They also went first - double ouch!! This was a very difficult game because the necrons were on us before we could do any damage because of night fight. Also the lightning strikes took out 3 of our vehicles in the 2nd turn! In this game there were 3 objectives fairly close together so we were aiming to hold 1 and contest 2. At the start of our final turn 6 they held the middle objective, some flayed ones had just beaten a veteran squad in combat to hold the obj to our left and a destroyer lord was contesting our home objective. with 3 mins to play our turn a boost of our remaining vendetta to the middle objective contested that, our autocannon heavy weapon team leapt from cover to about 5 inches away from being in range of the left objective and our plasma squad on our home obj shot and killed the destroyer lord. This meant that I had a run run run order in the shooting phase on the autocannon squad for 3 dice to get a 5" run move to contest the left objective - success!!! The game is now a win for us unless they roll a 4+ for the destroyer lord to get back up and contest our home obj.....4!!! Draw but great game that came to the last dice roll in the dying minutes!

So on to game 5 on table 16 against Dark Eldar and Eldar in a cleanse mission (holding table quarters). This is a bad mission as it means we have to move (guard don't like moving) and they are mobile in their fast vehicles. They won first turn and gave it to us before reserving everything. This was awkward as they didn't come in until turn 3 so we had nothing to shoot at for 2 turns and therefore they had a lot to get into quarters with. When they came on we took quite a lot of damage which didn't help and we just couldn't see how we could win the game. On turn 5 we just managed to boost the 2 vendettas into 2 quarters and moved 2 chimeras into the 3rd quarter, while we held our own. 1 vendetta just survived their shooting and so if it ended turn 5 it would be a draw. It went to turn 6 and we decided to try and get another chimera to support the vendetta under attack and promptly immobilised it on terrain - doh! So that vendetta boosted back for the cover save. Then our luck changed and our shooting went crazy which left us at the end of our turn contesting 3 quarters - 1 with only 1 vendetta under fire and 1 that we held comfortably with only 2 wraks(?) sat in a corner staring down the barrel of our 2nd vendetta (they had just passed their leadership). In their turn the vendetta under threat survived (just) but not alot else happened which meant the if it went to turn 7 we had a great chance of killing the 2 Wraks(?) and winning the game.....It didn't!!

We finished the tourney with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss which left us in 29th place out of 114. All our games were super close and we enjoyed every minute.

A personal highlight for us was also that we got nominated for best painted army too so we got to display our army in the cabinets for everyone to vote for their favourite. Only 6 get chosen so that was an honour. We didn't win unfortunately and in fact we lost out by 1 single vote to the winners but fair played to everyone as I thought the standard of painting was really high this weekend.

As for the Lascannon team - Me and Jangalak were painting that until 1 in the morning on the Friday night after 6 pints in Bugmans!!

I'll check my photos and post some when I have a bit of time...


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Hocky, it sounds like your game against me on Friday was the easiest all weekend!! You had it seriously hard by teh sounds of it. I hate playing Necrons for tehe same reason, you just can't kill them (and you had A LOT of firepower in your army list!!)

Well done for the Best Painted nomination, your army is extremely well painted and the genestealers ripping open bits of tank gave it some edge. 1 vote off though! I'll certainly have to raise my painting game for September's doubles event!! 

Rev


----------



## Red Corsairs (Jun 8, 2008)

Nice work hocky. I really like the clumps of static grass added to the tank tracks, it's a simple idea but adds really well to the whole weathered look.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

HOLY HELL! This is AWESOMENESS!

Dude, that Manticore looks so much better with the painted warhead tips! Your Vendetta, Punisher, and Chimera look beautiful!

The genestealers on the Chimera are just great and I LOVE the claw marks you did on it, looks so cool seeing them actually trying to get in, it's like a little diorama in it's self!

Great work buddy and great battle report!

Son of a &%[email protected] I'd give ya some Rep but apparently I have to spread some first, even being gone this long! Bahhh!

Regards,
DoE


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Wow, time flies when you're not having fun working your balls off to pay the mortgage!!!
I hope everyone is good in the community and thanks for all the comments guys.
I have finally finished repainting this godforsaken veteran squad from the drab grey to the white and leather style. I hope you like it - now I just have another 20 veterans to repaint.....

The whole squad









And from the back









Full face masks









Part Face masks

















3 plasma gunners

























I wanted to bring a proper veteran look to my veteran models rather than just changing the uniform colour as I had previously. So I changed and added a few bits and pieces....

The 3 plasmagunners are respirator models from forgeworld.

The 7 others are normal cadian bodies with gasmask heads from pigiron added. I love those heads and they have just released a few more too! They also have the stormtrooper backpacks added.

Converting the guns to more machine gun style - For the barrels I snipped off the original lasgun barrels and drilled in a small piece of wire lower down the barrel. I filed the sights off and instead I added a 't' shaped piece of plasticard. Finally I cut off the laspack magazine and added some bolt pistol magazines and strips of ammo from the CSM sprue.

I felt that the weapon and head changes gave the models a proper veteran look like their guns have been modified and they have adapted according to their surroundings.

I also weathered the armour heavily as if they have been in the field or on a mission for a while. Here I painted the armour white then painted black marks to show damage. I then filled these black marks with boltgun metal leaving a black outline before putting a dab of devlan mud over the marks to show water and dirt getting into the cracks in the paint. Finally I flicked chaos black paint over all of the armour to give it a pitted look and tie all of the weathering together. On the footguards I used more devlan mud wash to show mud splashes across the armour.

On the forgeworld plasmagunners the tubes connecting the plasmagun to the backpack broke straight away (they are so brittle!) and so I bent a piece of wire around and drilled each end into the model. I am pleased with how they came out actually.

Any criticism or comments are appreciated guys. Thanks for looking!!


----------



## Redeemer007 (Mar 9, 2012)

Awesome Blog, i really like your colour scheme (especially the different uniforms for the vest and regular infantry)...

the whole nid invasion is a great to have on the side.. i look forward to seeing how you develop that. 

koodos. ++ Rep.

- Redeemer


----------



## hamzorz (Jul 18, 2011)

I really like your blog man, you've done a great job giving a unique feel to this IG army.

I am curious though, what do you use for the basing on your heavy weapons teams? I really like that design and I may just blantanly steal the idea for my own nefarious purposes.


----------



## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

Time to through some Rep your way Hocky! Those revamped Vets look fantastic! Everything form the weathering to their bases looks super mate. Sorry to hear you lost the vote by one...damn that sucks to be so close. Whats next on the table?

Regards,
DoE


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Nice work buddy, those heads make em look a bit chaos which is cool. I love the weathering and the white armour makes all that great detail stand out- which is why I robbed your idea for my infantry! 

Just 4 and a half months for us to do enough to grab a few more votes and take the painting trophy so keep it up!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks redeemer007 i have some awesome ideas for the nid invasion, especially for my vendettas. just need some time to execute them!

Hamzorz steal away. the heavy weapon bases are from black cat bases. my normal guardman basesare from dark art miniatures. i wanted something different and urban and i felt that these base sets provided both. Hard work fitting hwt's onto those bases though!!

DoE - thanks man, a compliment from you means i must be doing something right with your high standards! Next up are the rest of my grey vets repainting them to the new brown and white. while i am going that i need another chimera and am thinking of adding a Hellhound to my armoury. I also have a baneblade i found in my garage the other day that i put together last year but haven't painted. How many nids can you fit on a super heavy?.....


----------



## TheKingElessar (Mar 31, 2009)

Hah, I would LOVE to see a Baneblade being torn apart by Nids...A Crushing Claw from a Carnifex snapping a gun barrel would be incredible.

Awesome looking army, the red of the line IG looks particularly good.


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

I forgot to say - nice work on the plasma gun cables - really neat job, I'd have never guessed it wasnt part of the original.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi everyone. What a hiatus!! I'm afraid that between work and children I have had a lot of time off from painting in the past 6 months. I have slowly been working at a couple of pieces but nothing really new to show unfortunately. However myself and Jangalak are competing in the doubles tournament again at Warhammer World this weekend so a quick flurry of frenzied activity to come up with an army has happened. I have only played 1 game of 6th so far so I hope that our opponents are patient! The points limit has dropped to 1500 and we take 750 each so we have decided to go with an infantry style army with lots of heavy weapons a couple of manticores and 2 vendettas. Just thought that I would show you my 750. Jangalaks is exactly the same except he has switched the flamer SWS for an aegis defence line.
































Because of the lack of painting time I am unsure as to whether we'll get nominated for best painted but we'll see. Also the rules have changed and for the first time Jangalak and I will be going head to head as the judges are going to pick the best 750 point forces rather than the whole army. I guess some forfeits are in order for the victor!!!
Hopefully back soon for a proper update, all the best.


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

Mate, that army is looking great. The genestealer really adds something and there's definitely a lot more colour in your roce than there used to be.

Rev


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Rev. We had a great time at the doubles as usual. We had some really close games and met some cool people. Best painted was this time by force which put me and Jangalak head to head and with almost exactly the same army list!! Thankfully we both managed to get nominated for best painted but neither of us won and so we are still competing for bragging rights!! 
We are yet again heading for Warhammer World and the doubles at the end of January and our list has changed again. Neither of us have had a great deal of time to paint anything but I am trying desperately to work on one particular piece in between decorating the house and working. As soon as I get my models back out of the garage i'll post some photos and let you guys be the judges.
Adios and if I am not back before Chrimbo, merry Christmas everyone!!!


----------



## Hammer49 (Feb 12, 2011)

Fantastic looking army!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Hi everyone, 2 years on from my last post and no progress on the now Astra Militarum. However, I have retrained and changed career and am trying to build in a little hobby time each week to continue my love affair with 'The Feth'.
In the last couple of years I managed to get my hands on an entire Blood Angels army (it was pictured boxed up earlier on) and, even better, I managed to get The Reverend to put it together and basecoat it for me!!! Thanks Rev - really appreciate it!

So now the Feth are backed up by BA and I am starting to put together a huge combined force. Here is a pic of every model I own...

And these that I left in the box by mistake!

These are the models that the Rev kindly started for me...

And this is a nice Baneblade ready for the forges...

I am starting my next painting sessions by trying to finish the 15 assault marines first. Progress is going well and I will try to get some photos of them tomorrow. I am painting in Flesh tearers colours as I prefer the darker reds and blacks and will dip in and out of the Astra Militarum too.
The plan is to get the assault marines finished then a librarian then some terminators hopefully before Christmas. If I can I will also plod on with an AM bane wolf - It is in progress as we speak.
Good to be painting again - I have certainly missed it!!
Hocky


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

So these are what i plan to work on tonight. There are 15 assault marines and i plan to paint weapons, eyes and give the metal a wash later. Will post photos afterwards.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Well that took far longer to put boltgun metal on the weapons than I thought!! Never had chance for the wash so the fun stuff will have to wait till next week!
Here is how the assault squad stands at the moment...

Need to:
Wash all of the white and metal
Highlight the washed areas
Paint the bases
Sort the power out on the power fists
Sort the eye lenses out - I painted them white to wash them green but it didn't work very well - need some suggestions as to what to do - Please help!!
Overall shouldn't take too long now...


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Haven't got time to paint but had a spare few minutes to pop my librarian together today....


Used a death company infernus pistol and will put a DC jump pack on him too. The jump pack will obscure the shoulder pads unfortunately but hey ho, I really want to jump him in with one of the assault squads.
The only thing I can't decide on is colour. Normal librarians are blue so I can go:
1. dark blue armour with black helmets and shoulder pads a la flesh tearers
2. white armour and dark blue shoulder pads and helmet (my DC have white armour instead of black armour though)
3. Red armour and dark blue shoulder pads and helmet
Obviously open to other ideas too but really not sure at the moment. Any suggestions welcome.


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

Hey man, you've got some great work in here. Thinking on your problem of the big jump packs obscuring those pretty shoulder pads on your Librarian, why not try out the Sanguinary Guard packs? They're way smaller, but unless you want to buy a box kit strictly for conversion purposes I'd suggest ordering just the backpacks from any online bitz retailer.


----------



## torealis (Dec 27, 2006)

In agreement. This is some awesome work. Nice to see someone else use all the packs and grenades!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Great idea ntaw, i have looked at the sanguinary guard jump packs and reckon they would fir perfectly without the wings. unfortunately all the bits retailers have sold out, anyone have anyone spare?

On a different note still not sure what colour for the librarian? Ideas?


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Good to see you back in the game mate. Tough one for the librarian - must admit I always think the blue Lib and red marines looks a little out of place. It's hard to call a colour though - I like guard mate so everything is grey! How about an imperial fist yellow? You can get loads of nice weathering with that.


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

Hey, you know what I like on a BA Libby, eh? :laugh:

I totally have a spare SG jump pack. PM me your mailing info and I'll get it out to you whenever I get a chance to hit up the post office.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

I managed to get my assault marines boltgun metal bits washed tonight and am in process of washing their red armour with carradon crimson. Originally to save time i dry brushed the red armour with bleached bone instead of highlighting. It turned out really messy though and i am totally not happy with the result. To try to rescue the situation i am washing them and will highlight over. The test model i have done has come out ok so i'll do the rest, add some details and will post pics.

As for my librarian I was going to go with dark blue armour but Jangalak that is an interesting idea - yellow. You thinking dark or light? Would that go with the red armour of the rest of the army? 
Anyone have any thoughts on this?


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Well not too dark a yellow cos a bit of simple weathering and the armour will really pop! As for matching the rest of the army maybe the shoulder pads can tie in a bit more so they sit together well - Librarans always stand out a bit from the crowd though!


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Yellow sucks ass Jangalak. I really love painting white but my yellow trial did not go well at all so I am ditching it!! Dark blue it is for my Librarian!

As for Assault marines, I am constantly adding details such as the white on the chest, yellow, green, blue and red buttons on guns, chainswords and jump packs and am nearly finished. Here is an example of one of them...


These marines are definitely not my best work, I am really struggling with power armour. I much prefer to paint guard!! In between painting these guys I have painted over 5 of my previous grey IG veterans to red so that they can join the rank and file to make up another squad. Forgot to take a pic which is a shame as I love the sergeant but i'll do that next time.

All I need to do is to weather the assault marines now but not sure what to do - any questions?


----------



## Jangalak (Feb 1, 2009)

Nice work fella - what are you not happy with? They look finely done - can you get a better photo? They are blending in with the background.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Yeah these are quick snaps, I will take some proper pics when finished. Need to finish the bases and weather them. Not sure whether to weather(!) the armour like I did with my guard vets or to try something different. What do you reckon? Also not sure how to dirty up the feet. Should I make them dusty from an urban environment or use a different technique? If anyone has any ideas or pics as examples that would be great.


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

hocky said:


> Yellow sucks ass


Fuckin' tell me about it!!!! Yellow is a son of a bitch and why my Imperial Fists are slow progressing....though all of my projects progress pretty damn slow.

Great job on that Assault marine, though I feel his left foot looks overly dark. It would be perfect with the shading, but there's as much overhead coverage of the right foot that I think they should be closer in colour.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

ntaw said:


> I feel his left foot looks overly dark. It would be perfect with the shading, but there's as much overhead coverage of the right foot that I think they should be closer in colour.


ntaw you are absolutely right - that is just the nuln oil wash that has pooled on his leg and made it darker. I have covered it a little as I have weathered the armour tonight and painted and washed the base. I have also weathered the jump pack and had a go at painting the boosters on the back white - blue as if they are igniting. I think that the weathering has come out ok but the boosters look crap to put it simply. I haven't got a photo as I am still waiting for the base wash to dry. I'll post one this weekend when I figure out how to make the boosters look better - any ideas would be great!

While I was waiting for various bits of the assault marine to dry I painted up a couple of guardsmen that I had lying around - there's always a need for more meat in the grinder...



I have to say it is so much easier to paint guard than power armour, hats off to you marine players!!
My guys are dead simple:
1. Base colours - Always face first to completition then scab red, boltgun metal, codex grey and any accessories on there.
2. Wash - Nuln oil on the grey and metal, Agrax earthshade on the red.
3. Highlights - Boltgun metal again, codex grey again, scab red mixed with bleached bone and any accessories again such as belts etc.
4. Teeth on the shoulder pad with white.
Done
Takes a bit of time but generally quite quick.
Back to the marine next week now...


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Right here is the assault marine - just need to finish the base.
I need views/criticisms on:
1. The jump pack jets
2. The weathering on the armour
3. Any other improvements.
Thanks!






I appreciate the pics aren't the best but no daylight when i get home from work anymore!


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

I like where you have applied weathering, but it looks a bit too cleanly done for my taste. Maybe smaller patches (if that's even a possibility) might change the finished feel of it, but my opinions on weathering should be taken with a few truckloads of salt as I'm not usually a fan of it in any situation. Regardless, that's a solid looking model. 

Something that was suggested to me (here on Heresy I might add) that really changed my BA army was to paint all the joints silver and wash them black instead of having all the knee and elbow nooks painted red and washed black. It really did help to break up the 'red muhreenz' look and gave my work a bit more depth. Granted, you have a bit more of a colour break going on with Felsh Tearers, but still I think it would look sweet.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Back into the swing of things now after a break over Christmas. I finished off my 15 assault marines:

unfortunately now they aren't troops I'll need to get hold of some tactical marines doh!
I have also finished off 1 of the terminators. These were the pics before I realised I forgot a shoulder pad:





And these were after:




While I was at it I also started blacking up my land raider and Baal predator flesh tearer style:




Sorry about the pics but no daylight to take proper ones when I am not at work at the moment I will take proper pics at some point.


----------



## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

More great work, and I'm loving the glow on those jump packs!! Makes me wish I had the bravery to give that a go


----------



## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

Those marines are looking mean mate, they'd be great to face across a table.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Thanks Iraqiel, they're getting there slowly.
I figured Reverend that I'd have a go and if it goes wrong I can always paint over it!
Anyway I was supposed to get a game with Jangalak tonight but die to an Ill missus we were sadly unable to get together. On the plus side I've had 4 whole hours to paint which is unheard of! I painted the basic colours of boltgun metal and some more black on the land raider and Baal predator and washed them. Also got the weapons and flamer barrels done on the Baal. They are starting to take shape, just details , weathering and sponsons to do...


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

Just having a quick look at what I actually have fully painted now. The completed models are as follows:

*Astra Militarum*

1 x CCS - Company commander and 4 melta vets
1 x Astropath
2 x Platoon Commanders (1 x CS/LP 1 x PP/PS)
5 x Flamers
1 x Commissar
20 x Guardsmen with lasguns
6 x Guardsmen with Sniper Rifles
3 x Ogryns
1 x Vet squad with 3 Plasmaguns
1 x Vet Lascannon Team
2 x Guardsmen Lascannon Teams
3 x Guardsmen Autocannon Teams
2 x Guardsmen Missile Launcher Teams
3 x Chimeras
2 x Vendettas
1 x Punisher with HB Sponsons & HB
1 x Demolisher with PC Sponsons & HF
1 x Executioner with PC sponsons & HF
1 x Manicore with HF

*Flesh Tearers*

2 x Assault Marine Sergeants with BP & PF
13 x Assault Marines with CS & BP
1 x Terminator with TH & SS

Here is a question for you:
What would be a good list at 1850 for the Astra Militarum models I have completed so far? I have some thoughts but it would be interesting to get some other points of view.


----------



## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

Well, you might field 1850 like this:

Unbound

HQ
CCS w Astropath, lascannon, 2x melta, chimera
Commissar (in with an infantry squad) 
Elite
3x Ogryn
Troops
PCS
Infantry Squad, melta, missile launcher w flak missiles, chimera
Infantry Squad, melta, missile launcher w flak missiles, chimera
Special Weapon Squad - 3 flamers (in Vendetta)
HWS - 3 autocannons
Fast Attack
Vendetta (with sw squad)
Vendetta
Heavy Support
Demolisher with HB sponsons (swap the turret)
SQN - Plasmacutioner and Punisher with PC Sponsons
Manticore

Not the ideal way to run it - I'd drop the orgyns for another vet squad and load them up with melta and an APC personally, but that ought to keep you flexible and well powered.


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

hocky said:


> Wow, time flies when you're not having fun working your balls off to pay the mortgage!!!
> I hope everyone is good in the community and thanks for all the comments guys.
> I have finally finished repainting this godforsaken veteran squad from the drab grey to the white and leather style. I hope you like it - now I just have another 20 veterans to repaint.....
> 
> ...


Hi Iraqiel. For some reason I forgot to include my unit of plasma vets in the models completed list Even though I posted them in this thread earlier.


----------



## Iraqiel (May 21, 2008)

hocky said:


> Hi Iraqiel. For some reason I forgot to include my unit of plasma vets in the models completed list Even though I posted them in this thread earlier.


And very nice looking they are too! I'd fit them into the list by dropping ogryns, switching a chimera their way and giving them grenadiers and fwd sentries. That makes your list bound and gives you a hard hitting, mechanised squad to deal with terminators and other elite infantry.

What was your idea for the list?


----------



## hocky (Jan 31, 2009)

My list goes as follows:

CCS - 4 meltas, chimera
3 Ogryns
PCS - 4 flamers (in vendetta)
1 blob 16 guardsmen, 2 HWT's - missile launchers. Commissar.
1 infantry squad 9 guardsmen, 1 flamer, chimera.
Heavy weapons squad - 3 autocannons
Heavy weapons squad - 3 lascannons
1 Veteran squad - 3 plasmaguns, chimera.
2 Vendettas.
1 Leman Russ punisher.
1 Leman Russ executioner.
1 Manticore.

This list has a solid firebase with the manticore, blob, HWT's and Russ's. Also it has mobility and adaptability with 3 chimera's full of special weapons - meltas, plasma and flamer. Air support is provided with 2 Vendettas which are lethal and 1 also has 4 flamers to drop and fry something off of an objective. The ogryns provide some cc protection although they will be replaced with a banewolf when painted as they are the same points.

What do you think?


----------

