The tanks just seem to keep rolling off the production line at the moment. This Basilisk is another model that has been waiting to have minor touches added before it can be called finished - and now those are done, here are some pics:


This is Basilisk is "Tonitrus", meaning "Thunder", and has the designation B23 (B for Basilisk, and 23 is the vehicle number). Like I said above, "Tonitrus" has been waiting to be finished, and at the moment I actually feel like I want to complete some of these older projects before starting on anything new after Christmas.



I wanted to give the Basilisk a different colour marking to my Leman Russ', so instead of Mechrite Red, I used Iyanden Darksun. The yellow looks really sharp on the model, even after being dulled with two washes with Gryphonne Sepia. On the front of the tank I used gloss varnish for the lenses, the same as on my other vehicles, for the shiny "glass" effect.



The shells on the rear platform have been taken from the Baneblade kit, and just about seem right for the Earthshaker cannon. The crew are just plastic Cadians, with the commander shouting orders at the crewman with the firing button.



I like adding a top down view so that the layout of extras can be seen (which there aren't many in this case). For some reason I took an angled photo as well, which I may decide to do for any future vehicles.



With the crew being visible, I took some close up shots. The crew are painted in the same colour armour and fatigues as the rest of my infantry.



The tank name, "Tonitrus", has been painted on both sides. The scroll was painted using Bleached Bone and the lettering is Adeptus Battlegrey. Any little mistakes were touched up before the Gryphonne Sepia washes were applied.



And to finish off is a clsoe up of the winged skull motif on the gun shield, along with the skull transfers. I didn't realise how of centre the Earthshaker cannon was until I saw this photo, that's Imperial engineering for you :-).

Thanks for reading, and I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Any week (or two), and another tank for the Emperor's Fist tank company.



This week's finished tank is 621 "Veneratio" (Honour). Veneratio is 2nd squadrons command tank.



Being a command tank, I wanted there to be some defining feature. The comms aerial's are straight from the accessory sprue, but the turret device is not meant for the Guard. It has in fact been converted from the Apocalypse upgrade sprue, using the pieces for the Chaos vehicles. Whether the Emperor would approve is another question, but once I'd trimmed off the heretical markings and given it a fitting paint scheme, it fits quite well with the tank (and the melta-bolter combi weapon will come in handy!).



I decided not to try modelling "mud" again, as seen on the previous tank. I think I need some ready mix filler to give some bulk before I try again. Instead I stippled and drybrushed on Graveyard Earth and Calthan Brown, with a very light drybrush of Snakebite Leather to simulate muddy dust. The colour tone is slightly different to another of my tanks, but variety helps to add to realism, or at least that's what I'll say if anyone notices :-).



And to finish up, the arial view of the tank, and also a close up of the turret detail. I need to put another coat of gloss varnish on the lenses just to make them extra shiny. Thanks for reading.

I'll admit this at the beginning, but I thought that I had actually finished this tank. In fact it had been sitting on the shelf pretending to be finished. So I grabbed my drybrush and got to work.



So here is the company command tank - 601 "Imperator Furor" (Emperor's Fury). As with the rest of the tank company, the tank name and designation is painted on the underneath.



Above can be seen the right side and the front view of the tank. Having used a skull to represent the number 1, I wanted something different to show the number 0, so ended up digging out a different transfer from somewhere.

I added the comms upgrade from ForgeWorld and also the upgrade from the Apocalypse sprue to help make this tank stand out as the company commander. I also used the Hellhammer cannon from the Baneblade kit to turn the tank into an Eradicator variant.



Onto the left side and the rear view of the tank. Trying to keep the tank looking used I added extra stowage, boxes and fuel cans. With "Imperator Furor" I had a go at modelling mud/grass onto the vehicle.

Using an old tupperware container, I added together water, PVA glue, sand and static grass. I mixed it all up with an old stiff brush and then spread the "mud" onto the tracks, armour panels and mine plough. Overall the result wasn't quite what I was after. I'm happy with the result, just might try doing it differently in the future, maybe adding some ready mix plaster to give some bulk, but never mind. Once the "mud" mix had dried I gave the lower area of the tank a heavy drybrush of Graveyard Earth.



And finally a shot of the company commander, popping out to fire off a few shots at anyone his crew hasn't finished off.

Thanks for looking.

.... and I ask my fellow bloggers for their help with this decision.

As many of you know, one of the best things about blogs is being able to see pictures of other peoples work, whether its a photo of a finished model or a series of WIP pics.

My current problem is that I don't know what style of picture to use for my completed model's.

The choice is between two styles, which can be seen below.


A or B

A: As you can see is just a nice simple group shot of the models in their squad

B: Is a bit more complicated and involves taking individual photos of each model and then using Photoshop to make them into a single picture

So, please vote on the right hand side of the page for which photo syle you would prefer me to use on future posts for completed models. Thanks.

Sqaud 4-1-4 is finally finished! And I actually mean finished, not my half arsed job when I still need to seal them with varnish.

All of the shoulder pad squad markings have been painted on and the Cadian symbol transfers applied. They've all had their Devlan Mud washes, and then got sealed with Purity Seal.



Here is the squad shot, nothing more to say here.



Leading squad 4-1-4 is our blonde sergeant, equipped with bolt pistol and close combat weapon. The bolt pistol's barrel has been drilled out as well.



Providing comm's is the injured guardsman. No wounded arm is going to stop this guy from carrying the vox set. The aerials aren't quite as bright as they appear in the photo, the flash really brightened them up.



And finally the meltagunner. I've posted a pic of this guy before but here are some more.

Thanks for looking through the squad, but before you go please check out the poll on the right. I'm trying to find out what stye of squad photo I should use. The choice is between:
a) the style used on this post, the squad set out and taken as one shot
or
b) the style used on previous posts, where I take individual photos of the front and back of each model and then use Photoshop to mold them into one picture

Please vote on the right. Thanks again!

As the title says, Squad 4-1-4 is still a WIP. The squad is however somewhat closer to completion than it was a month ago. Even my ridiculously slow painting hasn't stopped me!

What has stopped me, or at least slowed me even further, is my broken finger. I broke my proximal phalanx of my ring finger on my left hand saving a shot while playing football (stupid me). Luckily I'm right handed so I can still hold a brush, I just can't hold a model steady in my left hand.

So enough of the sympathy story about me being even slower at painting, time for some pictures.



The least finished model in the squad is the sergeant. He can be seen above, sporting one arm and a fetching blonde haircut. His other arm is clutching a bolt pistol in the background, waiting to be finished before being glued in place.



This unfortunate fellow that has the wounded arm will be the squads vox operator. As I rarely play outfitting him with a vox is more for aesthetics and to keep the squads kitted out the same.



Next up are the seven other lasgun armed guardsmen. They've all got arms and heads now, unlike in the previous post.

Next up will be putting the decals on the shoulder pads, which I've already gloss varnished in anticipation, and then the squad marking on the other shoulder pad. Once that's done, a heavy wash of Devlan Mud will be plastered over each guardsman, and then I'll finish up their bases.

Thanks for reading.

So it's taken me a while to get the pcitures and blog post sorted, but I finally got of my arse to do it. The new infantry squad is going to be squad 4-1-4, making it part of Platoon 4.



The pictures above show the troopers that are the furthest from completion, obvioulsy having no arms or head is a bit of a problem. I am currently painting up the lasguns for the two headless/armless troopers, and the weapons for the sergeant.

The trooper with his arm in a sling is waiting for his vox caster to be completed before I can add his head and other arm. And the final trooper just needs some highlighting and a head.



Here are two troopers that are actually close to completion. Highlighting has been done, now it's just a case of adding extra pouches etc.



The same can be said for these two troopers as well, although one does need highlighting on his lasgun and shoulder pads. All of the troopers need to have their bases completed and then a wash of Devlan Mud before being sealed with matt varnish.



Just to give you an idea of how many pouches I have to paint up. I like to make sure that each trooper has basically the same kit, just changing the position of the pouches on the body, or maybe adding another grenade set to one to keep them individual.



And finally this is the only trooper that is finished, the meltagunner. I can't remember if I've varnished him or not, so he'll probably get another coat when I do the rest. He is one of the metal models, so this extra varnish will help in the long run in case I drop him.

It took me a while but there are some pictures for you all to digest. Progress is slow but steady, but I have remembered to take more photos so I'll get them up soon (I hope). Thanks for reading.