Nearly There

2nd Tactical Squad Holoc is nearly done.  I've got a few more touch-ups to paint and then the bases to do.  This marine here is finished and is representative of how the squad (and future squads) will look.  I'm pretty happy with it.

Nearly there.  I'll be painting the rhino for these guys once they're done.  The rhino is in the assembly stage.  Incidentally, in the rhino box, one of the pegs on the back door wasn't fully molded and the plastic was 'twisted' and had some cracks running down the length of the peg.  I went with it anyway, glued the track sides to the base and inside barrier/doorway, and ended up getting some glue into the peg hole, exacerbating the situation as the door wouldn't open/close at all without twisting the peg plastic further.  I removed the door, cut the peg, drilled, pinned, and green-stuffed a new peg on and it works satisfactorily.  I'll put up pics once the squad is done.

Peace.

Sean.

Decal

I took Les's idea and ordered some Testor's clear decal paper.  It comes in sheets that are 5.5" x 8.5" and the adobe file for the Dark Hands decals from Bolter and Chainsword prints standard 8.5" x 11" so I had to print a standard copy onto regular paper and then copy the printed version onto the Testor's paper.  It's worked out ok so far.  Doing it this way allowed me to reduce the size to what I wanted and adjust the quality of the product all through the printer itself rather than trying to get the computer and printer to cooperate.  I just applied the first coat of clear gloss.  We'll see how it turns out after two more...

 

Sean

Progress

Kim came over yesterday and we spent some hours painting our armies.  Here's how the Dark Hands look so far:

This is one of the marines I had painted as an Imperial Fist a couple weeks ago now.  As per Paul's advice, I stripped him with concentrated Simple Green and transferred him to his new chapter colors.  Didn't turn out half bad, if I do say so myself.  Can't really tell he was painted differently.  Just need to trim and paint his weapon (as I need to do with all of the marines still) and he'll be done.  He's the closest to finished.

For continuity's sake, here's how Sgt. Holoc looks so far.  He is representative of the rest of the squad.  I need to finish chest eagles, leather, metallic areas, eyes, insignias, and the rest for them all.  That's not to mention backpacks and weapons as well...

Still some work to do.  Anyway...

Sean

And so it begins...

I got the paints I ordered yesterday and spent this morning playing with the new airbrush and painting my first Dark Hands tactical squad.  They're not done, of course, but here's how they look after applying a Vallejo Model Paint (VMP) Grey primer and two coats of VMP Light Grey Green as a basecoat.  I used the Sergeant as the model for the squad during the process so far, but I've included a squad pic in there as well.

Sergeant Kayim Holoc in all his splendor.

Tactical Squad Holoc.

I'll be adding weapons and backpacks after the unit's all painted up.

I need to mix some VGC colors together to give me a couple of highlight colors.  I'll search a bit online for VGC equivalents of their VMC line and hopefully there's a match that I can use as my base.  I'm a little worried about too many layers on the sergeant's face, but it doesn't look like it will be too much of a problem.  Getting the right distance and right flow of paint with the airbrush is a trial and error process.  Also, I found I had to keep mixing the thinner with the paint in the airbrush well in order to keep it from separating.

Anyway, that's it for now.  Can't wait to see these guys all detailed out.

Tools of the Trade

My airbrush came this morning.  It's the same one that Les says he uses, the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS.  It was largely because I was able to watch him use his brushes in his videos that I felt confident enough to buy it.   That's one thing about Les' tutorials that I really appreciate.  He doesn't reserve information.  If he says he uses a tool or a paint or a technique, you'll see him using it.

I'll be using Vallejo Model Air paints, thinned down a bit as suggested in the Iwata manual for thin, blending coats.  I ordered the paints that I think will best get me the colors I'm looking for for the Dark Hands.  The pictures in the GW source books are actually too green for my tastes.  I'll be going more for the gray-green that is depicted on the vehicles and dreadnoughts in Imperial Armor Volume Two.  The paints should be here this week, possibly today.

I learned a couple of things in the battles we played this past weekend, Kim's marines vs. a guest's tyranids, and me using Paul's marines vs. Paul playing his orks.

1.  As much as possible, keep the spacing between your models at 2" - it keeps coherency, but minimizes blast damage.
2.  Rhinos are better than I thought they were.
3.  Whirlwinds are only mediocre against orks.  S4/AP5/no cover save or S5/AP4/cover save allowed isn't all that effective against T4 when they're dug in.  Being ordnance, however, they are better against vehicles than I thought.
4.  I need to remember to announce the type of weapon I'm firing before I start rolling dice.
5.  Blast markers must be centered on a model and cannot be centered over an area.
6.  I kinda want to play some Necromunda.
7.  Massed fire can take out just about anything (a unit of lootaz, S7, took out my Vindicator, FA13, in the first turn.  It never had a chance to fire).
8.  I need to focus more on taking the objectives than taking out the enemy.
9.  Rhinos can only pop smoke once per game.
10.  Nobz are ridiculous.  In a squad of ten, you basically have to do 10 wounds to the unit before you can force your opponent to start removing models due to the wound allocation rules.  Add a painboy to this and you're better off ignoring them altogether.
11.  One 1500-point game is enough for one day.
12.  I sometimes forget if I've moved a unit, or shot, or assaulted like I wanted to.  I think I'll make up a turn-based sheet to go along with my army list to help me keep track.

Overall, I really enjoyed this weekend and I'm excited to get my Dark Hands painted up so I can field my own models.  I have nearly everything I need, but I think I'll be making a couple of vindicator purchases if I can find them for a reasonable price somewhere (now that GW's prices have gone up).  Adding multiple vindies to the table should ensure that at least one gets off a round of firing.  I'd also like to try the thunderfire cannons.

Sean

What the future holds...

Tomorrow should be a lot of fun.  The army list I'll be using won't be the army list I'd like to use, but I'm still limited by the models I have.  I still have a few more purchases to make.  Seems like there are always a few more purchases to make :).  I may not actually play tomorrow.  I learn more watching.  When I'm playing I always feel the need to 'keep the game moving'.  If I'm not in the game, I can take a gander at any rules that I might be unfamiliar with.  We'll see.  I do enjoy the games as well.

I've been imagining how the game(s) might go tomorrow and I've been looking up rules I'm anticipating will be used, like the rules for sniper rifles and such (we've already got that rule sorted out, though). 

Anyway, I think I have the backbone of the army I would like to play in the future, and it's the army I'll be building/am working on currently.  It starts off with...

1 x Captain with storm bolter, relic blade, and artificer armor.  I got this setup from Pit of the Oni and his reasoning is sound to me.  I couldn't see a better setup, really.
3 x Tactical Squads, each with a missile launcher and plasma gun and a rhino as transport.  Now, I know plasma guns aren't too popular.  Nobody wants a weapon that could explode their face.  Here's why I like them:  They have a range of 24" and can rapid fire just like boltguns, which means that when the squad is hoofing it toward an objective or just across the board in general 9 out of 10 marines will be able to fire at the same range as opposed to only 8, as would be the case if the chosen special weapon was a meltagun or a flamer (unless their target is at 12", in which case they wouldn't be moving at all).  Overall, adding a plasma gun increases the units chances of inflicting wounds on an enemy unit (above the expected 1 enemy casualty per round of fire).  And really, there's only a 16.67% chance per shot that the gun will Get Hot!  It's also nice to have a weapon in the unit that can deal with heavier armored units (S7/AP2) while they are still at range.  For 10 points, I think it's worth the risk.
1 x 5-man Scout Squad with sniper rifles and a missile launcher.  My plan is pretty much to set this unit somewhere to pick off whatever they can.  It's a cheap unit for the potential damage.
1 x 5-man Scout Squad with boltguns and a heavy bolter.  I want to figure out if this unit is worth it.  Thus far, my heavy bolter hasn't done more than pick off a unit here and there.  I also like the unit look.
1 x MkIV Dreadnought with plasma cannon and missile launcher.

This is just the start.  I plan on adding at least one more dread, but I'm not sure how I'm going to set him up.  I'm thinking about autocannons.  I'm also thinking about adding a couple of ironclad dreadnoughts and either whirlwinds or vindicators.  I like the hard look of this army.  I'm also giving some thought to the thunderfire cannons.  No devastators, though.

That's it for now.

Sean

Dark Hands

I've settled on the Dark Hands for a number of reasons, not least of which is that they are a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists.  I also wanted my army to have some color and I like the gray/camo green combination, though I intend to paint the chapter to match the colors in the Imperial Armour supplements rather than the straight camo green of the example model painted by GW.  I'll add some gray and possibly some space wolves gray gradients here and there if I get good enough with the airbrush I just ordered.  Yellow will appear here and there in small amounts, such as on some of the eagle crests and iconography, which, by the way, was another reason I chose the Dark Hands.  I like the chapter heraldry and unit markings a lot (company numbers on the knee pads vs. shoulder pad colors and the like).  I also liked that there isn't much official lore out there for them other than to say that they participated in the Cinchare Hrud Infestation (their first company action) and that they remain staunchly loyal to their founding chapter and the memory of Rogal Dorn.  They are a new chapter with their history in front of them rather than behind.

Just waiting on the airbrush.

Ultramarines the movie...

Twitter says the teaser trailer will be released on the official site 29 May 2010.

http://ultramarinesthemovieblog.com/blog/2009-11-18/dan-abnett-writing-ultramarines-movie-screenplay

Check the Twitter updates on the linked page above to verify.  Kinda stoked...