December 31st Again?!

So it's New Years Eve again and what have I done since the last one? Well I have finally started to build my Titan which was planned and the Mastodon, which wasn't, I built a Chaos Marine Army that I'm thinking of building into a core of a Fallern Angel army for the Heresy era game. I've got a couple of Apocalypes formations, the Predator Assassin and Marine Formations, I almost got ripped off by a dodgy git on facebook buying the 3rd Predator. Downside of this is that the Eldar haven't been touched yet. I think that the Eldar might get re-jigged into a Craftworld army or will stay on pause till a supplement comes out that allows more options for the Harlequins, as that is the army I really want to get rolling again. I can also be said to have started an Imperial Guard Army with the 4 10 man squads in the Chaos Army, I'll decide more on that one when the Codex comes out and I get round to buying it of course. My Dark Angles have been slimmed down a bit, I've dropped plans for a Lion Company based on the pups Codex and still have the core elements for a Knights of Blood army even though I have glued the body of the Librarian Dreadnought onto the legs back to front, with a little effort I'll drop the dis from this advantage and get a "dynamic action" pose going for it with the Force Weapon. The Codex Marines are staying as they are for now. My plan for the Chaos Android & Sisters of Battle army are still at the same point as they where this time last year, I'm waiting for a new full codex for Sisters and the mythic Plastic Sisters and this rumored new plastic Necron Warriors Unit with a new style Gauss Flayer before I start putting concret ideas together for these 2.
Okay putting my ideas in one place ; I would like to get some more Terminators to make a full company of Deathwing, I'd like a few more bikes and Land Speeders, but I don't think I'm planning on adding a Ravenwing army, at least not yet. The 3rd Company might get touched up but I'm happy with them more or less, I can see me picking up enough Cyphers to swop out all my Tactical Squad Sgt's with Cyphers, I might get enough Khorne Berzerkers to swop out my robed vets for the 'zerkers for my Assault squads. My vet squad is going to get some Hoppolite Shields at some point to replace the Tomb King Shields, maybe pick up a couple more plasma cannons and 2 more mulit meltas to give plenty of Heavy Weapon choices.
Codex Marines are not changing much, they will stay as an allied choice for now.
Knights of Blood will be padded out with a couple of Tactical Squads and some jump packs for the Assault Squads. Still not sure if I'm going to field them as counts as Charcadons or not unless the Knights Of Blood get a supplement or at a pinch the Flesh Tearers.
Super Heavies- plan on making more Mastodons and seeing if they sell or not.
Sisters and Chaos Android waiting for Games Workshop to produce plastics for these.
Guard- plans after the codex comes out for now and we see what kits come out for it.

Mastodon Gets Its 2 Front Tracks For Christmas

So after getting the left front track done over the weekend, yesterday I got the right track spaced and fitted and added the bolters to the to the casement with blu tac, will look at maybe magnetising them next as well as plating the sides to make it look manufactured and try to blend the join between the AT ST head and the home made body. I'm also looking at getting a couple of flame storm cannons in January and swopping the front Heavy Bolters for those and moving the sponson forward and down to a more tusk like position and then adding a shiled of some sort around the front pair of heavy bolters to give the inpression of ears.

Sinister side started

Managed to squeese in 5 minutes on Project M today before I went outvto a (ha!) mammoth 13 hour shift (really how is giving me a longer working day doing me a favour even if it is in the town where I live? It's not like I can go home at any point,). So started spacing/squaring up the front tracks on the Mastodon, got the left sinister side done before I had to set off for work. Minor finessing issue of getting the right side done before I can try then both and then I also need to check that the tracks are level on the front. Think I've broke the back on this one; not much longer to go and it'll be ready to paint.

22nd of December Mastodon WIP

Was on my weekend off and amid getting Christmas ready and family visiting I got the casement done on the Mastodon, took it out back got 10 Marines up top and photographed it.

Merry Frelling Xmas

Yep it's that time of the year again, food, wine, and presents. This year I have a confession to make and for someone that blogs 40k, it's quite a shocking confession. I've not actually requested anything 40k for christmas. I've bought myself and my kids a 2nd hand PS3 with 13 games, but as 1 is FIFA 13 I think, that's getting traded as soon as possible and my oldest has picked up Little Big Planet that's a lot of gaming, and several years of old games to play as well. I plan on getting hold of Escalation, if just for the Banesword and plan to get the new Hunter/Stalker kit and possibly to give it a 3rd build if possible with a Saber version. If I don't spend to much on video games.

Advent Calender

So looking at this image 1 it fills me with a warm and fuzzy feeling and 2 this image of Cypher is the old metal mini, fingers crossed there is a new mini on the way and that GW are not spoiling their own party pn this one.

Back Plate

Not got a lot done this week, just the decoration on the arse of the tank. All the bits are from the Leman Russ kit although I'm thinking the fuel drum is not a good idea.

'Songs For Acid Edward' by Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer (Official Music Vid...

Fan Boy Moment!

So I posted these photos onto my Facebook page the other week and it started a conversation with a friend on there, below is the conversation cut and pasted with a little bit of editing to protect the people involved;

A B: Gav thorp needs to be let loose on this character 3 December at 22:15 via mobile · Like

Me: Could not possibly comment. Gav Thorpe, any comment? Daniel Ferry can you post these in the DA group for me please? I can only upload 1 at a time. 3 December at 22:24 via mobile · Like

Me: Please and thanks of course. 3 December at 22:24 via mobile · Like

A B: I enjoy his work and he's a DA fan 3 December at 22:31 via mobile · Like

Me: I'm sure the only comment would be on the paint job and it's not mine, I've not touched this Cypher. 3 December at 22:38 via mobile · Like

A B: Sorry mate I should have made my self a bit clear. Gav Thorp is a long time GW writer and games designer. He should wright a heresy book on him 3 December at 22:42 via mobile · Like

Me: I know who he is, got him on the friend list, well I think it's him. If they do that it pins him down, and Cypher, like Baby, shouldn't be kept in a corner. 3 December at 22:52 via mobile · Like

Gav Thorpe: I could tell you, but then I'd have to despatch the Ravenwing to hunt you down... 3 December at 23:06 via mobile · Unlike · 4

A B: :-0 3 December at 23:52 via mobile · Unlike · 1 Paul Harris

Mastodon Moving On

Glued the track sections to the back compartment today and tried the Soylent Green from GW. While good I think you need to find the right problem to use it on which I didn't.

Progress On Project M

Not much progress no, but a small amount. Added some fairing under the turrret to hide the foam board. With a bit of luck tomorrow should see the out riggers added so the tracks will sit on sides of the head squarely. Tomorrow should also see the gaps filled in with some liquid green stuff, mostly to see how it works.

25th December Cypher

Naftka has posted up a list of whats coming in the Black Library Advent Calender and 3 items stand out for me if this is for real, the Vulkan Hes'tan data slate, The Sammiel stuff on the 24th and of course Cypher himself on the big day. My mate who's just become a dad will get a kick out of Vulkan and with my DA Army Sammiel would be useful, but Cypher, Cypher with the right rules (gun slinger is a given) would be great and this just leaves what Codex is he going to be for, CSM, DA or could he be added to any alla Inquistion? Myself as I've said would be Guard and he lets you add Marine Squads to add a bit of punch but it looks like that'll just be a pipe dream.

Close Up Cypher Sword & Pistol

So after the stills from the video here are some pics from the old model, the Lion Sword and Cyphers Bolt Pistol. Make your minds up guys

WIP Mastodon, Techpriest Enginseer

So tiny bit done on the Mastodon around working stupid shifts at work. Clad the sides in plasticard will cut some bits out for plating the sides and doors for access. Will get a castlement done for round the top and may just move the roof access hatch to the back angled plate.
Also read the email from Wayland Games with the Bombshell Babes and saw this little lady, think I found my Enginseer.

Smaug image

So facebook does its party trick again, GW had an issue with Smaug, but here he is on the side of an Air New Zeland plane! Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Speculation on The 1st Legion

Going back a bit here, but I do recall reading somewhere that The 1st Legion was split into 6 Wings and Deathwing WASN'T one of them. So from the Horus Heresy books we now that the Ravenwing was there at the time, so we have 1 named unit already. The next 2 are fairly straight forward, the Tactical Wing and Assault Wing, after some reading of the Forge World HH section Devastor squads aren't like they are now so I feel that a Devastor Wing isn't going to be there, but more embedded within the Tactical and Assault Wings. The Order were said to have a Seige Train, so I can see a Siege Wing as well as a tank wing being part of the Legion. Which is now, possibly, 5 Wings but more proberly 4 Wings. To my mind there would also be a training Wing which with the Raven, Tactical, Assault and Iron Wings gives us 5, but if the Iron Wing is spilt between Seige and Tank you have 6 Wings. Now all this is speculation based on my own point of view  and how I, who is no Lion, would organise a Legion.

Cypher Conversion, Company Commander & Chapter Commander

I made mention yesterday of the bits and pieces used in various conversions of Cypher that I'd made. Today money where my mouth is time. First the Cypher conversion that I'm running as a Veteran Sgt with the relic chainsword, bolt pistol and mk 3 power pack. Next up is my Company Commander most of it is a Destroyer with a Chaos plasma pistol and Destroyer bolt pistol, the straight mag on this is very close to the mag on Cyphers bolt pistol. Next up is my counts as Azriel, this is made, if memory servers me correctly, from a spare pair of Terminator legs you get in the DA Vets box, a Space Wolf torso ( the teeth aren't teeth on this one but represent the Fallen taken by The Lions Blades) the sword is my first attempt at a Sovnya made from an eldar sword and a small pole taken from a banner possibly, the plasma pistol arm is from Cypher as is the back pack, the head is from the DA Veterans box. I've chosen not to go with the helmet barer but going for the mantel of the Lion I thought I'd go with the cloak off the Chaos Terminator, to denote rank, even though that's something DA don't really go in for, I found a horse hair crest and stuck it on the cloak and I'm calling it The Mantel Of The Lion. This might get used as a Mantel of Heros at some point.

Made The Choice

When I posted last week with my 3 Cyphers I asked about which power pack to go with turns out I'd forgot one, an option I hadn't thought of at the time. I made a new Commander from bits bought off ebay a while ago and my Chapter Commander already has a Cypher pack which  I had forgotten about. So the Commander came out of the box and his Mk3 pack taken off and added to the Cypher Conversion, I took the Cypher pack off the Cypher and put that on my Captain and gave the mk3 to the Cypher, job done simple conversion complete and 2 good looking and indiviual minis added to my army.

Dr Who 50 Years Special Spoilers

Now I know not everyone is a Dr Who fan but if you do come across this blog then I'm fairly sure you have a passing interest or more in sci fi in general and any show marking 50 years is an achivement. So on Saturday I got paid to watch Dr Who, and again today as well, bit of a marathon shift I'm on as I finish at 4pm tomorrow after starting at 2.30 on Saturday. So got paid to watch Dr Who and have been wondering how are(if they want to that is) the BBC can carry on Dr. Who after Peter Capaldie decides to move on; in the show all 13 Doctors show up and move Gallifrey out of the line of fire, trapping the planet and The Time Lords in a moment out of time and let the Darleks shoot themselves to death. So how does the work around work? Russel T Davis has already brought a Time Lord back with The Master, The Time Lord High Command resureceted him to fight in the Time War thinking he'd be a great fighter but he ran away to the end of time and hid himself by becoming Human because he was terrified. So with Gallifrey trapped in a pocket universe Capaldie's Doctor finds it and pulls it back into the normal space time universe but at great personal cost, the last Doctor dies to return Gallifrey to the stars but as a greatful Gallifrey can they bring hom back to life briefly(as seen in the Night of the Doctor short film where we see Paul MaGanns Doctor regenerate into John Hurts War Doctor) and grant the Doctor another 13 lives. Please comment with your thoughts on this.

Lord Cypher and 2 Conversions

I currently have 3 of these brilliant models, hard to believe that this is a 3rd ed mini. Of the 3 one is as Cypher for the Fallern, I use the rules for Dark Apostle for him as that seems to fit closest to how Cypher feels for me in the Chaos Marine Codex. The other 2 are both Sgts, one in Tactical Squad 6, my senior Tactical Squad and the latest addition is a Sarge in my Veteran Assault Squad. Yes I do keep my eye out on ebay for more Cyphers, I'm thinking of putting them in as Sgts for all squads (long term blue sky plan), so look for more of these posts in future. I like Cypher as a mini and as a Character, I like the hints that may well be loyal to the Throne but not to The Imperium and is willing to use Chaos against itself. In every warzone he goes to faith and loyalty are stronger after the war than before. This may also be part of the reason I like to play Dark Angels.

Photos- Cypher as you get him out of the blister pack

Cypher Conversion 1 alternate arms, guns and power pack

Painted

2nd Cypher Conversion took this one and asked for advice on power packs

And all 3 of my Cyphers together

Quick One, I'M ON A TRAIN!

Did a little bit of work on my latest Cypher conversion last night, just magnetised the arms. I will be posting this picture up in the Facebook DA group I'm in asking for some advice about which power pack looks best, if you care to leave a comment with your suggestion, just keep it clean.

WIP This Week

Had a few hours yesterday to do something, I didn't touch either of my big projects as, frankly I couldn't build up the steam to start them. I pulled up out my secret draw with the Terminator army in and boxed up the spare marines for the Knights of Blood/Carchasons army and found that when I'd glued the the hull of the Venerable Dreadnought onto the legs the wrong way round, I'll be trying to ease this apart over the weekend to get it the right way round and start painting it red again. So yesterday all I did do was start painting another Cypher up, this one is going into my Veteran Assault squad, I went through the squad and pulled out the one I liked the least and swopped the weapons around to get the best looking one onto this guy, I also got the metal Librarian Terminator armour out and painted both legs black and the arms Wazzdakka Red with a Nuln Oil wash and then dry brushed the arms with the scarlet red.

Remagnetised The Titan

The first batch of magnets arrived yesterday, but as I was taking this week of thing seriously yesterday all I did was nap in the afternoon and drink pear cider in the evening and watch Marval Agents Of Shield. So this morning I got the Titan into the kitchen and stripped the small magnets off the pelvis and shell and fitted a couple of the rectanglular and 2 to the chopped up Rhino chassis. The magnets on the cockpit are set at an angle with green stuff and the opposite magnets have been glued to the shell. While I was out in the week I picked up a couple of sheets of plasticard and some more superglue but this glue is rather fluid, so I bought some of the gel glue today to use instead but so far I haven't broken it out of the packet. The plasticard is going on the Rhino to hide the horribul job I did of getting the tracked sections off, which I'm starting tomorrow as Empire Strikes Back is about to start now and then I really need to start tea for me and the kids, Linda MaCartneys Buffalo Burgers and sweet potato chips (fries for the American readers).

Mastodon Latest WIP

Few days off work and I'm already moving on with this build, used up the last of my super glue last night sticking the back plate and sides to the base and used some of the green stuff to fill the gaps where the fit is less than perfect (all of them). After gluing the angled plate I'd fitted on roughly was massivly undersized so I flipped that and put it underneath as a brace where the body mates with the head, that was last night. This morning I cut a new angle plate and then started to finess myself a top deck. For this one I actually got the tape measure out and did some vaugely accurate measurments, but my cutting was a touch up. So with some remedial trimming and gently knife work to trim out the foam but leave the plastic coat I got the top deck on. As it stands now I can fit 10 marines on there, but I still need to fit a casment around the top to give the riders cover.

Bottom photo; while out working yesterday I saw this lego kit, the Mandolorian Speeder, had to double check but if you squint you could pass this off as a Forge World Javlin  Land Speeder I think, and half the price.