WW2 - I mentioned working on a few 15mm jobs.

I mentioned last post that I've been working on a few FOW projects recently. One of them is for a long-time follower of the blog, Jake. Back in April I asked Jake to help me out by 3-D sculpting a few parts for a Knight for me (hopefully I'll have parts in hand from by the end of the month). Payment for the sculpting work/time is going to be this squadron of USMC Shermans from the Pacific Theater. Jake sent me a bunch of reference photos that showed the additional wooden armor that crews would build for the sides of their tanks, and most of the photos show an amazing abundance of extra track sections, also used as improvised armor, draped over the tanks.

Anyway, here are some closer shots of the lead tank, with sheet metal skirting added to the lumber armor. This is based on the photo (apparently taken in Okinawa, 1945) at the bottom of this post.

Here's the color scheme that Jake would like to see on the tanks. 

Now it's on to the painting : )

Cheers
Dave

Mechanicum - Acting as a Mechanicum Forge World

Sorry for the radio silence, I've been too busy to snap any photos of all the hobby work going on at the moment. In addition to my own Knights, I'm working on a big Napoleonic commission, a FOW US tank army commission, a handful of US tanks in payment for some 3D modeling I had done for my Knights, and this beauty - The Etruscan. My friend Dave Pauwels has a great many wonderful ideas, but often nowhere near the time to achieve most of them. To this end he commissioned me to clean and assemble his Cerastus Knight-Lancer. Last Fall I did the same thing for his Warhound - Venatrix Nocturna.

I wanted the Knight-Lancer to be in a wary, combat-ready pose, crouched behind the shield, feet moving (rather than a locked/power stance) to give the impression of circling, as this Knight will be doing at AdeptiCon 2015 in one of the new Knight Gladiator events (more details on those as soon as I have them).

And my custom decals have arrived. Although House Taranis have decals on the sheet that comes with the box, they are designed for the 40K-era House Taranis. Based on the eveloution of the heraldry shown in the lush sourcebook The Imperial Knight Companion, I decided to scale the heraldry back a bit, and make the icon a little more complex.

Now I just have to start getting these elements onto the Knights : )

Cheers
Dave

Mechanicum - Knights, and more...

While I've been waiting on the custom decals for my Heresy-era House Taranis, I've taken my Knight Paladin a little further. Of course, once I reach a certain stage with him I'll use the same custom decals, and then just need to build his power blade replacement for his Reaper chainblade. The base is the Knight base from the Tech Deck range by Dragon Forge Design.

A few folks have asked me about my metallics recently, in particular the base metals for my Knights' super-structure. Well the basic approach is this:

• Prime GW Chaos Black spray
• Heavy dry brush (with "Tank Brush"-sized brush) with Vallejo Game Color Tinny Tin
• Drybrush (with "Tank Brush"-sized brush) with Army Painter Gun Metal
• Wash with Army Painter Dark Tone
• Selectively shade with thinned washes of Vallejo Game Color Charred Brown
mixed with Army Painter Matt Black
• Highlight edges (as appropriate) with Amy Painter Gun Metal
• Highlight edges (as appropriate) with Army Painter Shining Silver

I hope that helps : )

For those who would like to get a closer look at how I do my metallics, I've been coerced into running two classes at AdeptiCon 2015. More details to come!

Another work project I've had on my painting table are a bunch of the fantastic Hell Dorado models from Cipher Studios. Much more information to come as this project nears completion : )

Cheers
Dave

Project Alchemy - An Oldhammer & Collecting Citadel Miniatures charity project : )

I was recently asked by my friend James Craig to help promote a project he has been involved with recently - Project Alchemy. This combines three things I like - good friends, charity activity, and a nostalgic look at old Citadel minis : ) These rest of this post is from James himself. Please read and click on the links to check out this great effort. The project runs from now until November 9th!

Project Alchemy

Jon Boyce, Tony Mansfield, Steve Casey, James Craig and others have been working over the last six months on a charity fundraiser. We've collated a fantastic pool of 30 prizes, including unreleased figures, original artwork, studio resins and signed books.

Donors to the project automatically get entered into the prize draw, with £1 = 1 ticket.

All you need to do is check out the website and donate some cash and you could win some pretty amazing stuff: Project Alchemy - An Oldhammer & Collecting Citadel miniatures charity project

http://www.project-alchemy.weebly.com 

Here is some information straight from the site:

What is Project Alchemy?The aim of this project is quite simple - to raise money for the charity UNICEF through a shared love of old-school tabletop wargaming.

Project Alchemy is a virtual raffle of some fantastic and unique prizes - if you fancy winning a piece of original Games Workshop artwork, classic signed rulebooks or unreleased models, then this is the charity project to donate to!

Each £1 pledged through our JustGiving website enables you to qualify for a virtual raffle ticket. If you would like to be entered into the draw for the prizes on offer, you must tick the box that allows Project Alchemy (Jon Boyce) to contact you.

Project Alchemy is being co-ordinated by a team of people from the Oldhammer forums, Oldhammer Facebook group and the Collecting Citadel Miniatures Yahoo group.

The charity project is not affiliated with and does not represent any of the companies whose products are being offered as prizes, and no challenge to their legal rights is intended.

Why UNICEF?Project Alchemy will (we hope!) draw donations from around the world. We have selected UNICEF as the charity to support as it meets our key criteria of both being an internationally active charity and of its high external ratings for the effective management and use of its funds; the money gets spent where it should be! UNICEF was also selected simply because it helps kids...and who better to benefit from a charity project centred on toys?!

What is JustGiving?JustGiving is a widely used online donation platform, specifically created to support charitable fundraising. For details on how JustGiving operates, visit theJustGiving homepage.
The Project Alchemy team have selected JustGiving as the platform for processing donations as it is secure and transparent. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Mechanicum - Finally, an update on the Knight-Lancer

A quick update of the Cerastus Knight Lancer. Last post you saw the pilot posing in his Throne Mechanicum. Here you can see some of the painted version in situ.

And here are a couple of shots with the carapace in place. I have a bit more work to do on the carapace and shoulder pads, including custom decals and weathering.

And then, of course, it's completing the weapon arms. I'm pretty happy with how he's coming along : )

Cheers
Dave