Questing Knights of Bretonnia

 I completed another unit of knights last week, but have only gotten to posting them now. This is a unit of Questing Knights. In Bretonnian lore, Questing Knights abandon their knightly duties in favor of seeking the Grail through an arduous quest. They drop their lance and pick up a great sword. In the game they are for attacking monsters or units you may need a few turns to deal with. The models here are actually converted from the Knights of the Realm box armed with empire great swords. GW did make metal models of Questing Knights, but those were outrageously expensive and at the time I was living on student loans. The Doer Government ended up forgiving most of those loans a few years later in their ongoing quest to buy votes, but I didn't know that at the time.

Still a few more units to get through, so stay tuned!

1/50 Churchill MkIII Tanks for the Dieppe Raid

 

These models were posted to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge blog back in March, but I wanted to post them on our blog here as well. Anyway it's four 1/50 Corgi Churchill MkIII medium tanks, as seen (kind of) on the infamous Dieppe raid of 19 August 1942.

The four vehicles I've done are all Churchills of The Calgary Regiment (Calgary Tanks), aka 14 Canadian Armoured Tank Regiment (14 CATR). I had three of these painted already in a standard British armour green, but for Christmas was given another stock Corgi model by Challenger DaveV, which prompted me to revisit the three I'd already painted...

 

So I got the project underway in earnest, first re-priming all four models with flat black spray, researching the correct colour for the Canadian armour at Dieppe (turns out it was described as "dog sh!t brown" and I used GW Steel Legion Drab to replicate that), and sourcing decals for the tanks. I got these from Peddinghaus, a cottage supplier in Germany that makes a ton of very cool and obscure decals in 1/72 and 1/48 scale.

 

I also figured I may as well do some conversions on the tanks to better replicate their Dieppe configuration (because why not, right?) This involved scratch-building the exhaust pipe extensions that allowed the Churchills to deep-wade without allowing water into the engines. This was characteristic of the Dieppe Churchills and is seen on every photographed example. 

I made the extensions out of thick flexible wire (I think it's maybe soldering wire) bent to shape and superglued to the exhaust pipes of the tank. I then ran thread between the upper ends of the extensions as shown in photographs of the vehicles on the beach. The extensions were then heavily weathered with rust effect wash.

  

Unfortunately none of the Churchills at Dieppe were equipped with track guards for the upper runs, as seen on these Corgi models... sadly I don't think anyone makes appropriate models in 1/48 or 1/50 and taking a grinder to these models to remove the guards wasn't really in the project remit.

I decided to portray the three vehicles of 9 Troop, B Squadron - Bluebell, Blossom, and Buttercup, as well as the troop leader of 6 Troop, Bob (all four were Churchill MkIIIs). The decals from the Peddinghaus set are excellent and have great detail. However they did take a good deal of work to fit, as they are not "pre-cut" and need to be trimmed to size. There's also 15 decals for each vehicle!

I didn't do a ton of weathering on the vehicles as this would be the first time they were in action - just some light water streaking down the vertical panels, and dust along the lower part of the vehicles and suspension.

 

Here's a close-up of the exhaust extensions. Honestly they were a bit of a futz to build but I like the way they turned out - they really give the tanks the "Dieppe look":

I'm actually quite happy with the way these turned out. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe raid and I am looking forward to setting up a game this summer to mark it. We've played Dieppe games a few times before (but not for years) but I think the new Churchills are really going to add to the vibe.

Stay tuned for some more Dieppe armour...

Imperial Army Force Commander

 I've been having fun playing around with the Militia & Cults list for 30k and made an entire army in the form of the Inferallti Hussars. To give the Traitor Legions some cannon fodder valued support, I'm adding some units to my existing 40k Imperial Guard army. I don't need to add much as the two armies use much of the same equipment, but they do have to be slightly reorganized.

First up is the all important Force Commander. This model is from Knightmare Miniatures and pays homage to a piece of Rogue Trader art of Rogue Trader Joff ZUCKERMAN "Hero of the Kynblax Genicide." You know it's Grim Dark when genocide can be considered "heroic." 

 

This model won't be representing old Joff, but I'm sure he's a suitably nasty character in his own right. He fits well in the traitor force as he's already displaying a desiccated head! Unfortunately, he's wearing power armor without a helmut, but maybe that head band contains a refractor field or something. He also has a tattered rag wrapped around him which I painted up the same color as the guard army uniform. I figure he wrapped his original uniform around his power armor as a show of solidarity with his men...or maybe he's just nuts.

 Last up is a goofy conversion of an earthshaker cannon. The Militia & Cults list doesn't allow Basilisk tanks (those are for the Legions), but they can have the immobilized gun. I had the gun in my bits box (thanks to another conversion for an ork army that never got off the ground) and mounted it on a small chassis I was able to cobble together. It's a bit rough, but I think it helps represent how poorly equipped the militia were compared to the legions during the Horus Heresy.

The last thing I'm going to add are some Grenadiers to represent the Force Commanders elite guard. Hopefully I should have those done in a few weeks.

Thanks for visiting.

Crossover Time: Vintage Custom Rebel Fleet Trooper

OK readers, from time to time I overlap on the hobby front so bear with me. I just finished this custom Rebel Fleet Trooper from the vintage Star Wars figure range and since it involves modelling and painting I feel OK posting it here as well as on my vintage Star Wars toy blog. Awaaaaay we go then...

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I've got a bit of a soft spot for "custom" vintage figures - you know, those figures that Kenner never made but you would've loved to play with, instead of being stuck with dreck like Prune Face or FX-7. One of the prime examples of this is the iconic Rebel Fleet Trooper (as I call him; he's also known as the Rebel Trooper or Alderaan Consular Guard/Security).

The recipe for this figure is simplicity itself: a vintage Han Trenchcoat body and a POTF2 Rebel Trooper head. That's it! I'll take you through the conversion next, but I have to give props to Trash Compactor Custom Figures who posted this great video.

Anyway, you start with a Han Trenchcoat (left) and Rebel Fleet Trooper (right), Don't worry about the condition of the Han Trench - the beatier the better, as he'll just have his head cut off and be repainted anyway. 

The first thing to do is get a cup of boiling water and immerse the figures. This will soften the plastic and allow you to remove the parts you need to swap.

First of all, gently pull off Han Trench's head, and remove the Rebel Fleet Trooper's helmet. It's held on with glue that softens in the boiling water.

Next, take a sharp X-Acto blade and cut off the Trooper's head. You'll be able to stretch his neck a bit when the plastic is soft. Make sure the bottom of the neck is level by just trimming where necessary. 

The next step is to drill a hole in the bottom of the Trooper's neck to allow it to fit on the peg on the Han Trench body. A pin vice or Dremel will do the trick here.

Once the hole is opened in the Trooper head, just push it onto the peg in the Han Trench body. It might take a bit of tweaking to make sure the hole is the right size - but keep test-fitting, and make sure not to make the hole too big. You should be able to turn the head on the peg. 

At this point, all that's left to do is paint the figure! I use acrylic paints for availability, water-solubility, and ease of cleanup. For the Trooper I mixed a custom blue colour for the shirt, used Games Workshop Mournfang Brown for the belts and Rakarth Flesh for the pants, and painted the buckles with Mithril Silver. The boots and vest were left in their original colour, just touched up where necessary with craft black. Leave the helmet till the painting is done, then push-fit it back on the head.

I bought a reproduction Bespin Blaster for the Trooper, but drilled a hole in the grip just so it won't be mistaken for an original.

Here's my custom lineup - from left to right - Corellian pilot BoShek, Grand Moff Tarkin, Rebel Fleet Trooper, Garindan/Long Snoot, and the easiest of all, Biggs Darklighter. I took the opportunity to get some weapons for the rest of the group too -once again, impossible to mistake for originals as they're the wrong colour :-)

Anyway, that's a bit of fun for an afternoon... I especially have to thank my friend KM who supplied the POTF2 Rebel Fleet Trooper for the swap. Thanks man!

1:50 Soviet T-55 Tank

Who doesn't love the T-55?? Workhorse of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact armoured forces for nearly three decades (not to mention a stalwart part of many tin-plated dictators' armed forces even still), the T-55's squat silhouette just bespeaks "Cold War". For awhile now I've had this diecast T-55 sitting in a box, but in a sudden rush of inspiration earlier this week I decided to paint it.

The hull colour is a superb spray - Rust-Oleum Specialty Camouflage ultra-flat green. After removing the tracks, the model was sprayed all over.

This was followed up with Mechanicus Standard Grey on the roadwheel tires, Leadbelcher on the DshK machinegun, and XV-88/Zandri Dust on the mantlet, then the whole model was washed with Agrax Earthshade.

Decals from the GW vehicle sheet were used, and the IR lamp was painted gem-style red. Is that what an IR lens looks like? Who knows, but it looks cool.

I also tried, for the first time, something I've often thought of doing on tracked vehicle models with stretchy rubber or vinyl tracks. These tend to bug me because the track's top run stretches straight from drive sprocket to idler sprocket and don't "sag" onto the roadwheels like the real thing. So I decided to engineer a solution for that (above).

On the T-55 model I drilled holes above the first and last roadwheels on each side, a track's width above the wheels, large enough to fit a stiff wire through. I then ran a wire through the holes and fitted the tracks so they fit between the wire and the roadwheel. This pushes the tracks' top run down onto the roadwheels, giving an impression of sag. Not as good as link-and-length tracks by any means, but works well enough on a suspension setup like the T-55's, or on other tanks like Tigers or Panthers where the upper run of track is supported by the roadwheels.

Some light weathering done with GW Rhinox Hide and Mournfang Brown.

Eureka tank crew make another appearance. Scale of the T-55 looks good compared to these models.

Not sure what kind of game we'd use a T-55 in (as our Cold War 28mm gaming takes place in the '80s or '90s, after the Soviets had pretty much moved on from the T-55), but the model looks good and was really fun to paint. I think the tracks mod worked out OK and I might just use that on other models with vinyl tracks, in future.

Stay healthy gang!

Horus the Warmaster (1995 Version)

Here's another of the small projects I've undertaken in the past couple weeks, just to get back into the habit of swinging a brush.

As blog readers will know, we had a trip earlier this summer back to England, which included a stop in Nottingham and vicinity. And Nottingham means Games Workshop, which means Warhammer World. And one of my favourite-ever things at Warhammer World is the famous "Death of Sanguinius"/Horus vs. the Emperor diorama piece by Mike McVey. I'd snooped around the web off and on for several years trying to get more detailed shots of the models, with a view to trying my own hand at a conversion someday, but without much success.

And then, amazingly, in response to my "Ye Olde Trip to Nottingham" post, blog reader Mikko pointed out that White Dwarf #183 featured an article by Mike McVey himself detailing the construction of the diorama. Well, I happen to have that issue in my collection so off I went to soak it in...

Consequently, I decided that a replication (as far as reasonably possible) of McVey's Horus conversion might be a feasible afternoon project. Obviously I wouldn't be able to do this with complete accuracy as

• I don't have access to the massive and free quantity of conversion bits that Mike did when he was working in the Studio, and more importantly
• I do not have even a miniscule fraction of the painting and sculpting talent of a Mike McVey 

So I determined that I'd do a "close enough" job to try and convey the flavour of the model using bits that I had handy.

 

First of all, I started with a metal Chaos Terminator body. I carved off the helmet, and severed the arms below the elbow joints, as I wanted to re-use the shoulder pads. I used a metal head from the bits box (can't remember what third-party vendor it came from) and sculpted the deformed-looking skulls from greenstuff. The cowl is from greenstuff as the original got a bit messed up when I cut off the helmet. Looks slightly ropey but good enough from 3 feet away. The chain came from the bits box, as did some guitar-string cabling.

The massive lightning claws are the signature of this model. Fortunately the bits box came to the rescue again as I had the gloves left over from the Cataphractii Terminator sprues that came in the "Betrayal at Calth" 30K game. Two suitable items were selected and carved down to fit.

The decal on his right shoulder was an ace find - it's from a 1992 Chaos decal set I had in the decal folder. I'd tried to freehand the design at first but it looked terrible, so decals to the rescue. I painted in the yellow parts of the Eye of Horus and the red "Eyebrow of Horus" on the decal.

Add an easy-peasy paintjob and there you have it - one Warmaster circa 1995. Not very impressive compared to the current model so amazingly painted by Conscript Greg, but fun for an afternoon project and homage to the talented Mr. McVey.

40K Renegade Schlepper (1/35 Renault UE Conversion)

So you know how some things just hang around your painting desk forever in a state of half-completion? Well, that's what this project was like for me. I reckon it was about two years from start to finish (!) but now it's done and I can move on.

I was at a local model shop one day and spotted an inexpensive Polish-made 1/35 kit of a funky little tankette, the Renault UE. After the fall of France in 1940, French UEs were pressed into German service, including as launcher platforms for the ubiquitous "Wurfkoerper" rockets. I decided to build the kit for my 40K Chaos Renegade army to stand in as a Manticore SP rocket launcher or even, with rockets removed, as a Centaur artillery tow.

I built the kit pretty much from the box with the addition of a few 40K gubbins like the searchlight (of course) and stowage, plus an Imperial emblem on the hull top, and the Renegade peeking out from the crew compartment. I also constructed a new supporting structure for the rocket array, since the kit version didn't look robust enough to stand up to gaming, and I wanted some flexibility in configuring the vehicle without the rockets.

Looks like my assembly of one of the Wurfkoerper racks was a bit wonky ;-)

In any case, the rack I built from plasticard slots in and out of the rear compartment quite handily. It's only the work of a few moments to switch off from the launcher vehicle configuration.

The other configuration for the vehicle is as a "schlepper"/artillery tow/light carrier.

I built an insert for the cargo compartment with a couple fuel cans, a lasgun, and a pack to represent random stuff that might be carried around.

The insert is built on a piece of plasticard that just slips into the bed. The rocket array replaces it in the bed if that configuration is desired.

So that's that - project completed. Good to get it out of the way, and I can only hope that it inspires other converters!