Warhawk Production Log - Part I

This production log will chronicle my efforts at putting together the first of Matt Plonski's Warhawk kits to roll off the assembly line.  he made this kit when I mentioned on the Apocalypse40K Forums that I wanted to build the Epic model of the Space Marine Lander.

Matt used a CAD program to design the Warhawk, which he then cut in sheet acrylic.

These 6 parts make up each wing.  You have to pay attention to which way the etched detail faces.  This is all well explained in the directions.

The directions are pretty good.  Exceptional for a garage kit!

The Wing assemblies after being glued together.  They look funny because you actually see the CA glue between the parts as they are clear acrylic.  All one had to do was line up the parts and glue them together.  

One thing that you really need to consider is how much finishing you will want to do.  These wing parts are stacked and the edges look it, containing 2-4 layers.  You may want to use some sheet styrene to finish off the edges.

Forgeworld Seminar at Gamesday - Preview of new releases!

The exceptional blog Wolves at the Door, took these videos of the Forgeworld Seminar!

To see the rest of his footage, which deals with Warhammer Forge, go to his site here.

Here is a screencap of an amazing IG tank

And Tech Priests with Conversion Beamers:

And a summary from Fraggle on Warseer:

IA11 –

Aiming to get it done for Gamesday UK.

SW – Redmaws company – models limited to characters - possibly two versions of Redmaw I’d guess as he turns into a wulfen on a total of less that 5 based on the roll of a D6 and his remaining wounds. May have some company shoulder pads etc but they haven’t started on the models yet. Some very nice new artwork in the book for SW.

Eldar – Aforementioned Phoenix Lord for shadow spectres. Probable rules for ‘special characters’ involved in the story but models unlikely. Some discussion about points and which FOC slot for spectres (HS or FA). Still thoughts about points and weapons etc for other units (as per previous posts)

Wraithseer – Looks even better unpainted in a non static pose. 0-1 choice. Buffing powers for other wraith units as per my previous posts.

Corsairs – List includes solitaire! (apparently its therefore unlikely to make the main codex when that gets redone). Can take a vortex grenade in Apoc. WS8. Sounds like it may be getting a model as well.

Corsair entries are all jetpack troops. Options for nobles and ‘support squad’ (which may all take flamers or meltas). Special and heavy weapons upgrade parts where there as WIP. The ‘insect wings’ look a lot better in person than they did on the photo.

Mentions of a gryninx (spelling?) cat upgrade as wargear for the cosair prince/captain and also a neural shredder.

Able to include DE warriors, venom and raider which is pretty cool.

Apoc templates – the avatar one sounds great. Designed for use with the FW avatar model as kind of a mega-tar. At the start of the game he gets 2D6 wounds. Can then fire his wailing doom using the big apoc pie template but loses D3 wounds on each shot.

Also a seer council of sorts and various FA style corsair formations.

Storyline for IA11 – SPOILERS

Basically centres around a lost elder craftworld (of FWs making) search for the spectres phoenix lord to try and restart the aspect. Imperial forces not really aware of why they are being attacked. Campaign scenarios follow the search for the lord with the outcomes of the games determining if he is found.

Future IA books.

Dark Eldar are being worked on but it seems unlikely that they will be in IA12. By the sounds of it more likely 13. One possibility is that they will revisit the IA11 storyline with the DE trying to obtain the CWE tech that was discovered. Possible elder on elder action? Its all up in the air at the moment so is very subject to change. Most of staff seem to be involved with WH forge stuff.

Other releases – carcharodon transfer sheet and elder transfer sheet were there. The IG troop transport has a capacity of 25 I believe. Astral claws upgrades (shoulder pads etc) looked very good.

Inner Geeks Reaver Titan Build Pt. 3

The Inner Geek here with another installment of my Reaver Titan project.

As I was trimming and preparing the pieces of the Reaver Titans' legs I thought I would share some tips on working with resin. Of course, the first tip is always safety, never inhale the dust from sanding or grinding this stuff! Next we have the washing which I covered in detail in an earlier post. The following are just a couple more tips in regards to trimming the pieces...

Mold lines. They suck. That's not the tip, just a fact. On resin pieces we want to trim the piece so that there is no line. Easy enough if it is a traditional plastic type of mold line where the piece is one uniform level with the line protruding out from it. But what about when the piece is not uniform and the line is the result of an uneven cast? We still need to get the pieces to match up while trimming the least amount possible. Here is an example of such a mold line.

This a trick I use to help ensure that I trim just enough. I take a sharpie marker and make trace over the line. Make a couple of passes if needed, but get the whole mold line black.

Now you can begin to trim along the mold line. You may use a file or a hobby knife, whichever you are comfortable with. Where the part doesn't need much trimming, the marker will come off quickly. Where marker remains, the part is not even, or flush.

Concentrating on areas where the marker remains, you will see less and less marker as the two sides of the part become more flush. Use common sense here, you may have to trim down areas where the marker has already disappeared to reach the parts where it has not. The idea is to use the marker to help you see where there is more trimming to be done and where the part is already even. The line will eventually disappear completely, but it is not always necessary to go that far. This much marker is acceptable to me for this particular part.

Another thing to remember about resin, it cuts a little funny when you use clippers. Sometimes where the vents (the extra sprue bits colored black below) are you can cut too close and break off a bit of the actual piece. I believe this happens because the resin tends to be weaker in these areas. So, when trimming these large bits I recommend clippers. But, I also recommend trimming different ways according to where vent is located. On a vent like the one below, where the vent is on surface you will see when finished, you do not want to have your clippers flush with the piece. I would leave some space between the clippers and the edge of the piece, then trim the remainder with a knife or file.

For the next piece, you may notice that the vents are on surface I've designated with marker. This surface will be hidden as it's the inside of a joint. The hip joint to be exact. I will put the clippers right against the piece in a situation like this. If a small indention results from the close cut it will never show.

I hope you've enjoyed this quick trip to resin land. I'm sure as this project moves forward there will be more tips and tricks that pop up and I'll be happy to share them all with you. Now I'm just trying to think of a way to stick the legs together to do mock ups for positioning. Some sort of super blu tac may be in order!

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or entertaining insults, by all means leave me a comment!

-Brian

aka The Inner Geek

The Big Game II - The Big Game Strikes Back!

Hide the women and children, rev up the Land Raider, and get those army lists ready!  The Big Game II is coming in just 6 months!  Saturday, January 21st, 2012 is the date of the next big World Record attempt.  And this time there will be NO PRISONERS!

This time, the goal will be ONE MILLION points  (Say it like Dr. Evil would and you understand the magnitude of what we are going to be attempting!).  The Los Angeles Battle Bunker will again be the hub of all activity, and again, you and your gaming group can run a game that will be counted towards the overall game total.  It doesn't matter where in the world you live, get your game store involved!

Plus, at the L.A. Battle Bunker we will be arranging the tables differently, so players play across 8', instead of 4'.  We have been using this format to good reviews all year.  Tables are set up staggered, so you can reach into the center of each table.  It is a lot better set-up than last year, which was one of the only things we really felt needed to be changed.

This year tables will be set up length wise, unlike last year

So, just a refresher on what we accomplished last year:

Los Angeles Battle Bunker

Total number of painted points on one table 739,247

(The previous record for the Biggest Apocalypse Game was 382,000 by Siegeworld)

Total number of models on two tables 864,057

(The previous record for the Biggest Apocalypse Battle was 520,000 by GMI games)

Total number of miniatures 18,592

(The previous record for the most minis in a Single Battle was 6,500 by Siegeworld)

 Total number of vehicles 1,752  (Not a record)

World Wide

Total number of points at 22 locations in 5 countries  2,310,835 !!!

For more info on the first Big Game, which was held in January, check out the blog archive for January and February 2011 on the right -------->

Alec

Planetsrike Apocalypse, LA Battle Bunker Battle Report

The latest SoCal Apocalypse game saw an AMAZING Apocalypse game based around Planetstrike.  It was absolute carnage and so much fun!  A group of regulars showed up, and were joined by some new players.  Much fun was had.

I brought the Crimson Templar Air Force, but no Super Heavy Tanks and only one "D" Weapon, on my Thunderhawk. 

The Defenders set up the terrain.  Attackers got nothing!  The 4 Bastions were objectives and they got the Leviathan for free.  It was an objective as well.  It was treated like a Warlord Titan (8 structure points and 6 shields) and they got it for free (we knew it wouldn't last).

Turn 1 - The Attackers Drop Pod with 2 squads of Sternguard from Alec and 2 squads from David Ashworth.  Plus 2 Caestus Assault Rams full of Termies and 2 Dreadnaughts with Lucius Pattern Drop Pods.

 Hey!  What happened?  Well, after the last structure point was gone, I rolled a 6 for the catastrophic damage and so a 3D6" "D" explosion!  Bye bye EVERYTHING.

Two more Bastions get destroyed! 

Eldar Super Heavies get plastered!

The endgame develops.  A close game that comes down to one objective!

This was really a lot of fun.  It is also the LAST game I ever use a GW flying stand.  I came home and the next day put the Dragonforge flying base adapters on all my Vendettas.   Now, every flyer has Dragonforge bases.  

6 Vendettas

3 Vultures

3 Lightnings

3 Thunderbolts

2 Arvus Lighters

1 Marauder Destroyer

As well as my Caestus Assault Rams.  Those required a bit of shaving of the adapters, but worked great.  I can't reccomend them strongly enough!

Next up, Cityfight Apocalypse!

The Animated Space Hulk!

OK, this isn't anything anything Apocalypse related, but it is very cool and clearly done with passion.  I enjoyed this thoroughly.

Alec

Inner Geeks Reaver Titan Build Pt. 2

The Inner Geek here.  I decided to follow the order of the instructions and start at the legs. I think they have you knock these out first because if you can get these done, you probably won't be scared of anything else that has to be done.

With that decided, I have to consider what I'm going to do with the legs. Should I go for a completely static pose, or try for something more dynamic? I am leaning towards at least having one foot in front of the other, but every once in a while I think one foot coming up off the ground might be nice. Not off the ground, mind you, but maybe up on some of its toes.

Another thing I need to think about; what kind of base should I make... or should I make one at all? I've thought about one big base, or one base for each foot. With one big base there could be problems with maneuvering and placement. Does something this size warrant a base for each foot leaving room between for troops or some such? With the feet close together (inside toe to inside toe) the outside toes are about 14" apart. So any posing whatsoever and this could increase to 16" or 18" or maybe more!?!

Here is a photo of the leg parts laid out and ready to begin trimming.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, drop me a line.

Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Brian

Inner Geeks Reaver Titan Build Pt. 1

The Inner Geek here. Alec has invited me to share some of my past, possibly present, and eventually future posts here with his readers. So I'll be posting some of my blog articles here, in particular the ones which apply to Apocalypse sorts of things. The first series is about my Reaver Titan project. I hope you enjoy!

The adventure begins!

I'll not waste a lot of time on preamble and we'll jump right in. The box as shipped is well packed. The parts are all nestled away in their individual bags, organized by sections of Titan.

First off are the bags with Laser Blaster and what I like to call, "Piston Hell"...

Next we have the huge bag O'legs...

The Gatling Blaster and Torso...

Then there is the Head and Interior parts...

And, of course, the Instructions and Certificate. Number 122 for the record...

Now comes my first of what I'm sure will be many apologies. Somehow I've lost pics of two more large bags containing large parts. I assure you, there will be plenty of opportunity to see all the parts as we begin assembly!

Now that we've ogled the parts in bag (those that I managed to show you), it's on to the wash! The parts have a coating of a release agent from when they were cast. This has to be removed or paint will never stick. My weapon of choice for this process is Simple Green. I went to my local DIY store and bought a couple of 2.5 gallon buckets for under five bucks. The blue one has several small holes drilled in the bottom, this will be my rinse bucket. The Red is intact and will hold a mixture of Simple Green and water in about a one to ten mixture.

I place a bag or two of parts into the cleaning solution and let them sit a few minutes. The parts go in no particular order, but I be sure to keep only one category or small parts in the process at once. So until all the small leg parts are completely through the process I won't run any small torso parts through. But, I might add any bags of large pieces. The process itself is pretty simple. I pick up one piece at a time, scrub it with a soft bristle brush, and rinse it manually then put it in the rinse bucket. At this point there is a slow stream of water flowing into (and out of) the rinse bucket to facilitate the first rinse and a soak in water. With some care, the water going into the rinse bucket and out of it will be about equal. Once the cleaning solution bucket is empty and the rinse bucket has a good pile in it, I fill up the wash bucket with new parts and let them sit while I give the parts in the rinse bucket their final rinse. I turn the water on a little stronger and hold each piece under the flow again. Then it's off to a towel or paper towel to dry. Repeat... repeat... repeat...

(in my meager defense, I was making a face for the camera... thanks sweetheart!)

A couple hours and a sore back later and we have all the parts cleaned and drying!

Some large parts in no particular order...

Some small leg parts...

Some small head and interior parts...

And, some small torso parts...

It's about a metric ass-ton of parts. Now, on to what I've learned so far about this kit.

The quality is really good. In fact, I'd go as far as to say, excellent. The washing process gives you a chance to handle each and every part... several times. I noted one part that may need a little filler in a non critical area. I also noted two parts with very slight warping. For the sheer number of pieces in this kit that is amazing! Of course, I might find more as we begin the assembly process, but I don't think there will be too many. This kit also included no chipped or broken pieces... amazing! Maybe I'm too easy to please, but I must say, I'm happy with the quality of the kit so far.

I hope you've enjoyed this first step in building a titan. If you have any questions, comments, or critiques please let me know. I'll happily clarify or, if I can, re-photo anything that's not clear.

Thanks for stopping by!

Brian

The Sisters are coming next White Dwarf!

Blood of Kittens continues to rule the rumors roost!

Sisters of Battle

Army Special Rules

The Acts of Faith system

At the start of your Movement phases you generate D6 Faith Points. Any Faith Points that are unused at the end of YOUR turn are lost.

Tests of Faith

An Act of Faith can be attempted immediately before a Sisters of Battle unit acts during a phase; e.g. before the unit Moves, Shoots (or runs) or Assaults.
Each attempt costs 1 Faith Point, if test if failed the point is lost.

To attempt an Act of Faith, select the unit and reduce your Faith Points by 1, then roll a D6 and add the following:
+1 if the unit is led by a Superior (Sister, Celestian, Dominion or Seraphim) or Mistress of Repentance.
+1 if the unit has been joined by a Canoness, Confessor, Saint Celestine, Uriah Jacobus or Arch-Confessor Kyrinov
+1 if the unit has taken at least 1 casualty
All modifiers are cumulative (so with 1 IC in a unit with a Superior that has taken at least 1 casualty only needs a 2+ to be successful)
If the total is equal to or greater than 5 the Act of Faith is successful, the unit immediately gains a bonus and/or special rules until the end of the phase.

Independent Characters and Acts of Faith

IC that have the Acts of Faith rule benefit from any bonuses received by the unit they are with when an Act of Faith is used, likewise the unit receives any bonuses from the ICs Acts of Faith when they are successful. Note you still have to perform 2 different Tests of Faith if you want to use both the ICs and the units Act of Faith.

Shield of Faith

Models with the Shield of Faith special rule have a 6+ invulnerable save.

Special Characters

Saint Celestine
7/7/3/3/3/7/5/10/2+ 4++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, IC, Fearless, Shield of Faith

Miraculous Intervention: When killed remove model and place a token, from then on roll a D6 at the start of your turn. On a 4+ Celestine comes back with D3 wounds and placed within 1” of the token. If she would be within 1” of another model (friend and foe?) move her the minimum distance possible so she is not within 1”. She can act normally in a turn in which she resurrects. She does not award a kill point if she is alive on the battlefield at the end of the game.

Wargear: Frag, krak, jump pack
Armour of Saint Katherine: Confers a 2+ armour save and 4++ invulnerable save
The Ardent Blade: Power weapon that always wounds on 4+ (unless a lower roll is required). Can also be fired like a Heavy Flamer (Template: S5 AP4 Assault1)

Arch-Confessor Kyrinov
5/5/3/3/3/4/3/10/5+ 4++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Fearless, IC, Righteous Rage, Shield of Faith
Heightened Fervour: Counts as having both a Laud Hailer and Simulacrum Imperialis

Wargear: Flak armour, bolt pistol, frag, krak and rosarius
Mace of Valaan: Power weapon, any model that suffers an unsaved Wound is reduced to Initiative 1 until the end of the following player turn.
Icon of Chiros: All friendly units within 6” are Fearless

Uriah Jacobus, Protector of the Faith
5/5/3/3/3/4/3/10/5+ 4++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Righteous Rage, Stubborn, IC, Shield of Faith
Protector of the Faith: While alive you can re-roll the dice to determine the number of Faith Points you have each turn.

Wargear: Flak armour, bolt pistol, chainsword, frag, krag, rosarius
The Redeemer: His personal shotgun (24” S4 Ap4 Assault 2)
The Banner of Sanctity: Models in Jacobus unit have +1A and Feel no Pain

HQ

Canoness
5/5/3/3/3/4/3/10/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, IC, Stubborn, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = The Passion – Assault Phase: Canoness and her unit receives +1I and Preferred Enemy special rule until the end of the Assault phase.
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag, krak

Sororitas Command Squad
Celestian 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Sister Dialogus 3/4/3/3/1/3/1/9/3+ 6++
Sister Hospitaller 3/4/3/3/1/3/1/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = Endless Crusade – Movement Phase: Unit gains Relentless and Move Through Cover special rules until the end of the turn.

Wargear: Power armour, boltgun (Celestians only), bolt pistol, frag, krak, Chirurgeon’s tools (Sister Hostpitaller only), Laud Hailer (Sister Dialogus only).

Troops

Battle Sisters
Battle Sisters 3/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/3+ 6++
Sister Superior 3/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Shield of Faith
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag, krak
Act of Faith = Light of the Emperor – Movement Phase: Unit immediately regroups, despite any normal restrictions (enemy within 6”, less than 50%).
Shooting and Assault Phase: Unit can re-roll any failed To Hit rolls of a 1 until the end of the phase.
This Act of Faith can be used in two or more phases if you choose but each attempt costs 1FP and requires a Test of Faith

Elite

Celestians

Celsetian 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Celestian Superior 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/8/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = Hand of the Emperor – Assault Phase: +1S and Fearless until the end of the phase
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag, krak

Sister Repentia

Sister Repentia 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/8/- 6++
Mistress of Repentance 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Fearless, Feel no Pain, Fleet, Rage, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = Spirit of the Martyr – Assault Phase: Models killed may make a single attack once all other attacks have been resolved.
Wargear: A Sister Repentia has an Eviscerator; a Mistress of Penitence has power armour, two neural whips, frag and krak

Ecclesiarchy

Ecclesiarchy Confessor 5/5/3/3/3/4/3/10/5+ 4++
Ecclesiarchy Preacher 3/3/3/3/1/4/2/7/5+ 4++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, IC, Shield of Faith
Righteous Rage: When a model with this rule assaults the unit may re-roll to hit.
Wargear: Flag armour, laspistol, chainsword, frag, krak, rosarius

Ecclesiarch Battle Conclaves

Arco-Flagellants 5/3/4/3/1/3/4/8/-
Crusader 4/3/3/3/1/3/1/8/5+ 3++
Death Cult Assassin 5/3/4/3/1/6/2/8/5+ 5++
Special Rules: Feel no Pain (Arco-flagellants only).
Uncanny Reflexes: Death Cult Assassins has a 5++ invulnerable save
Wargear: A Crusader has flak armour, power weapon and storm shield.
An Arco-Flagellant has arco-flails (close combat weapon).
A Death Cult Assassin has flak armour and two power weapons.

Fast Attack

Seraphim

Seraphim 4/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/3+ 6++
Seraphim Superior 4/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Hit and Run, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = The Emperor’s Deliverance – Shooting Phase: Re-roll any failed To Wound rolls until the end of the phase.
Seraphim Pistols: Any model in a Seraphim squad that is armed with two pistols can fire both in the Shooting Phase. If they do so, they can fire no other weapon that turn.
Angelic Visage: Seraphim re-roll failed Act of Faith rolls and failed Invulnerable saves granted by the Shield of Faith special rule
Wargear: Power armour, two bolt pistols, frag, krak, jump pack

Dominions

Dominion 3/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/3+ 6++
Dominion Superior 3/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Scouts, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = Holy Fusillade – Shooting Phase: All weapons in unit becomes twin-linked until the end of the phase
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag, krak

Heavy Support

Retributors

Retributor 3/4/3/3/1/3/1/8/3+ 6++
Retributor Superior 3/4/3/3/1/3/2/9/3+ 6++
Special Rules: Acts of Faith, Shield of Faith
Act of Faith = Divine Guidance – Shooting Phase: All weapons in unit become Rending until the end of the phase
Wargear: Power armour, boltgun, bolt pistol, frag, krak

Exorcist

BS4 13/11/10
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Wargear: Exorcist missile launcher, smoke launchers

Penitent Engines

4/2/5(10)/3/D6+1 11/11/10
Unit Type: Walker, Open-topped
Special Rules: Rage, Shield of Faith
Unstoppable Rampage: Penitent Engines ignore any crew shaken and crew stunned results on the Vehicle Damage tables.
Battle Frenzy: Every unsaved wound inflicted in close combat generates an additional attack. These extra attacks do not generate further additional attacks.
Wargear: 2 DCCW with built in Heavy Flamers. Note that the bonus for being equipped with 2 DCCWs is already included in the PEs profile

Dedicated Transports

Rhino

BS4 11/11/10
Transport: 10 models, it cannot transport models in Terminator armour.
Fire Points: 2 from top hatch
Access Points: 1 on each side and one at the rear
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Repair: If immobilised for any reason can attempt to repair instead of shooting. On a D6 roll of 6 the vehicle is no longer immobilised.
Wargear: Storm bolter, smoke launchers

Immolator

BS 4 11/11/10
Transport: 6 models, it cannot transport models in Terminator armour.
Fire Points: None
Access Points: 1 on each side and one at the rear
Special Rules: Shield of Faith
Wargear: Twin-linked heavy flamer, smoke launchers

Contribute to Heroes of Armageddon - LAST DAY!

Today is the last day to get your ticket for the Heroes of Armageddon project!  And if you don't know what that is, you need to crawl out from under the rock you are gaming under.  I already spent $ 100 on tickets and I hope you all will donate whatever you can!

Here are the armies:

The largest army and biggest prize, The Steel Legion built under leadership of Dave Taylor

 Blood Angels, built by Jawaballs and his team

Ghazghkull Thraka's Horde, painted by Santa Cruz Warhammer and FTW Games

Speedfreaks under guidance of Wazdakka Gutsmek, built & painted by Goatboy & his team

 There are TONS of pics on the Heroes of Armageddon website.  Each army comes in a 1520 Battlefoam case, has custom tokens and markers and more!

BUY YOUR TICKETS!!  Or the Inquisition will be knocking on your door.

Alec

Machinator's Land Raider Mk 1.5

Well, it isn't the Mark I I love so much, and it isn't quite the Mk II Land Raider that Forgeworld Sells, but Machinator (Tom McBride) continues to show us why he is the best commercial conversion artist in 40K.  This time he has taken the best of both Mk I and Mk II Land Raiders and made a Mark 1.5

Mark I Land Raider

Mk II Land Raider

From Tom:

So I took a break from building Fellblades to work on a commission of a Mk1 Land Raider. The customer had purchased the Forgeworld MkII Land Raider upgrade kit but wanted it in an older style. He asked if I could build it using the new Land Raider body but incorporate my Liberator Pattern 1.0s wrapping them all the way around. Always up for a challenge here's what I put together:

As warned working with the Forgeworld kit was a pain in the @$$ as nothing on the body seemed to fit together right. The sponsons were thankfully less of a hassle. But in the end it worked out and looks pretty good.

The treads where a bit more difficult. As they are quite a bit longer than the standard LR treads I had to widen the radius at the very front of the track unit so that they wrapped around properly. This was done by adding a couple of plastic strips that added about 1/8 of an inch thickness around the track front. I then chopped off the raised edge along the top of the track unit and raised it up about a 1/4 of an inch making a continuous path for the treads.

I then rounded off the sharp edges and began putting on the treads and after some adjusting I actually got them all to fit (40 on each side). Finally it was patched and cleaned up. I also added some 0.35 inch rivets to blend together the new with the old.

So now it's off to it's new home. Overall a fairly quick and fun project. 

Tom

Tom McBride Doom Blaster up for Auction on eBay!

Another masterpiece from the one man ForgeWorld known as Tom McBride.

Well, he has two of his famous Chaos Super-Heavy creations up on eBay now and they are AWESOME.  Today we look at the Doom Blaster!  This creation is all resin and built on a Baneblade chassis with Tom's awesome Chaos Treads. 

The auction can be bid on here.

Dragonforge Flying bases rule the skies!

Well, when there is a new product that makes my gaming life better, I usually buy a lot of it and then tell all my friends to buy it.  Well, my latest recommendation is the Dragonforge Flying Bases.

Let's face it, the Games Workshop flying bases do not make you feel good about their stability.  How many times has one of your Valkyries or Stormravens taken a dive off the GW flying base?  Well, I have had it with them.  I recently purchased enough Dragonforge Flying Bases for 6 Vendettas, 3 Vultures, 3 Thunderbolts, 3 Lightnings, 2 Arvus lighters (bought them before the Rule of Three) and my Maruader Bomber.  

So how did they work?  GREAT!  The bases look awesome as you choose the base you want from the extensive Dragonforge line.  You can choose from any type of base that Dragonforge makes.  There are styles similar to most of the major resin base styles you see out there.  He makes Valkyrie sized bases and even larger for things like Maruader Bombers.  So even though I don't use Dragon Forge bases for my troops, I found a base that was close enough.  And then Jeff will custom cut the acrylic to any size you want!

Here are some photos to show you how the system works.

The Dragonforge Flying Base has three parts.  The first is the Base, which you buy separately.  The second is an acrylic rod which is VERY sturdy at 6" long and 1/2" wide.

  

Finally is the adapter which fits a Valkyrie perfectly as it has the same footprint as the GW adapter.

I will have my Maruader Bomber base up soon and will make sure to share photos of that with you, but I highly reccommend these to anyone with any sort of Flyer!

Alec