Hell Talon, just a quick update

I have had a bit of time over the last couple of days to rough in the fixes for the bad gap and alignment issues on the Hell Talon and start on the color base for the paint. The paint is rather ambitious, and I'm not sure how the final product will come out, but in theory it should look really nice.For now this thing is VERY work in progress.

Here is the gap under the fuselage, near the engines. I have it roughed in now, and I will clean it up with liquid greenstuff before I go into detail paint. I got the main shape in place and then decided to test the paint idea I had before I got it boxed in. I still need to add rivets and clean up the vertical edge.

I ordered a custom flight stand from Dragonforge to help support this behemoth. It isn't all that heavy but the stock GW flight stand does not inspire confidence on a model this size. That will require a round 1/2" hole cut into the bottom of the cowling at the top of the picture above.  Since I still have to do damage to the bottom of the model before I can add much in the way of detail to this area of the model, I am am not in huge rush with this.

Next I can't decide which way to go with the topside engine intakes. On one hand there are the fleshy tendrils or muscle striations you see people do a lot on Nurgle based models, and on the other hand I can box off the openings to hide the gap by matching lines. I THINK the tendrils are the way to go as the gaps are not even, and trying to match the lines will throw off an already visually unbalanced model even more.

So the last thing is the paint scheme. I had the crazy idea of mixing the two Thousand Sons schemes on the same model. I am working for a fade from Midnight Blue to red base color, with the raised lines fading from Metallic Gold at the nacel tips to bright White at the back of the plane. If it works out it will be cool, but I have to reserve judgement. At this point the fade is in place, but there are tens of hours of brushwork left to solidify the scheme and get it detailed. Wish me luck!!

Hell Talon SLOW WIP....and I mean SLLOOOWWW

The Hell Talon is coming along, and it is really a beast of a kit. I have had some bad Forgeworld kits before, but this one is bad combined with being an old mold. The wear is really obvious, and the kit design is such that the pieces just sit up against one another. There are quite a few flaws even after HOURS of hot water re-shaping and clamping.

First up, this is a BIG kit. I know that tape is hard to see but this thing is 14-15 inches long. It is HUGE. That in itself, when combined with the long flat front nacels should raise alarm flags for anyone who has worked with Forgeworld resin before. Those long flat pieces seem to always be warped. These weren't bad at a glance, but the resin is JUST thick enough to make straightening them a total bear. After 4 hours on these alone they look like this....

Obviously not optimal....

Then there is the central hull assembly. The two wings glue to either side of a central core that houses the cockpit. You then add the top fuselage and wing, then flip it over and do the underside details including the engines and bombs. This is a lot like a plastic model airplane unless your joints look like this after you clean them up....

Now this stuff can be cleaned up with green stuff....a lot of green stuff....but still. I mean look at that line above the engines.....At least it is hidden by the engines and retrieval hook! The worst offender IMHO is the engine intake pods that sit on top of the wings. These are meant to tie the wing parts to the fuselage behind the cockpit and solidify that joint. But as you can see they are more joint than solid.

Again, several hours of repeated hot water and clamping and this is the best I can get. I can cover SOME of that with green stuff, but either I go Nurgle and add muscle and tissue strings to make it look intentional or they will end up out of balance. Now I have two of the Hellblade fighters, and they had the same issues with their intakes. The shape of that smaller model allowed me to clamp them down with glue, and that fixed them....I don't own a clamp large enough to reach these. Might be time for a trip to the hardware store for bigger clamps!

All the assembly gripes aside this is a gorgeous kit that has one hell of an intimidating profile. This thing most certainly will work on an opponents nerves!

I hope to have primer on it in the next few days, and MAYBE paint after I decide on what direction to go with the putty on those intakes and engine exhaust!

Boltgun's Battle coming September 20, what to take?

Normally I go into this one blind, intentionally letting my own selections play out. This tournament is a HUGE event locally. It is a hobby based tournament that regularly draws the best of the best in the mid-west. Locally Jeremy McClung has taken top honors every year with his armies...they are truly works of art, and everyone essentially gives up the best army award when he walks in the door. His army for this year is the wolves. We have seen bits and pieces of this one for a couple of years now. I'll let this speak for itself after reminding you that this is ALL truescale....

Then there is relative newcomer to Boltgun Joe Elverson and his Eldar. Joe and I have a running grudge every year at Buckeye Battles. His armies are all beautifully airbrushed and done. This is a WIP (!) picture of a couple of his wave serpents.

Look at these closely and you can see the level of competition at Boltgun's Battle every year. These two are just 2 of 30 that play and most of the armies at this tournament show up like this.  Sportsmanship is the most coveted prize and it is not an easy one to win when everyone at the event is having such a good time.



I'm pretty happy with my knights, but I wanted to take my necrons. I need a couple of units to fill the list, but they are not gonna happen in time, so it's likely knights again. I have a list im pretty satisfied with, but at 1750pts i'm pretty limited with them. I'm still looking for ideas to pair with the knights in about 250 points as a rapid objective holder unit, so we'll see where I land.

The Slaughter is over

Summer Slaughter was today (ALL day) and it went really smoothly. Hobby Central is a good 45 minute drive for me, and I haven't visited there before, but it is a really nice place to game and get your hobby on. Super friendly staff and a clean environment win every time.

I went 2-1, with the two wins being tables...total wipe out wins. The loss in round three was to the eventual best general winner. His tau with 4 riptides combined with the mission rules allowing him to recycle most of the units I killed helped him out BIG.

I noticed a few things from my first real competitive experience with an all knight army....people do NOT know what to do when faced with 5 super heavy walkers....they panic. Even my last opponent who should have known better was making mistakes. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get in your opponents head. If you can force them to make mistakes, even little ones, it is that much easier to win from the start.

Also, NOT taking the Adamantine lance formation is just dumb. If you are fielding at least 3 knights, take this thing, its that simple. re-rolling saves and extra Hammer of Wrath is incredible. Throw in void shields FTW.

Round one I played Dark Eldar, something like 14 lances....and a cobra destroyer. By all rights his lances should have eaten me, but he scattered his shooting around, sandpapering instead of killing. In the end his paper airplane skimmers just fell apart to all the high strength shots and templates. 

Round two I played Dark Angels. His army was almost all infantry, and with two devastator squads holding 8 rockets, plus a twin lascannon dred I should have been hiding....but he just locked up and didnt think, once again sandpapering me. It didn't help him that his 470pt command squad deepstrike mis-happed and destroyed itself.....OUCH.

Aaron and I discuss the way the cards are falling

Round 3 was as mentioned 4 riptide Tau....He must have had 30 marker lights and knew how to use them. Aaron and I have played before, he is an exceptional list builder and a deadly opponent....but 5 knights got in his head.....again sandpaper for the first few turns. I have to say this was the BEST game of 40k I think I have ever played, and i've been playing 20+ years. EVERY MOVE and action was a nailbiter for both of us. Both of us were hanging on every die roll  and save. We were really into it and having a ball laughing all the way through. Now the mission here allowed all but super heavy and tanks to respawn and auto arrive from reserve the turn after they are killed. So I had 4 riptides and 30 kroot and 20 fire warriors and almost 20 pods and....it all came back if I killed it. So how do you score when half the objectives are just re-occupied the turn after you blow units off of them? The mission might not have hurt as bad if there weren't 4 riptides I didn't want to kill shooting at me with all those marker lights....

On Parade after round one for Judging

In the end I took best overall. The scores are not yet up on Warscore, so I don't know the details yet, but I HAD to do something right in there somewhere. My list was up about 2-3 posts back, so you can find it there.

Now, on to Boltgun's Battle on September 20th. What to take, what to take....


*Edit results are up now...apparently people liked my army despite how much trash talk I took over it! 

Summer Slaughter 48 hours and counting!

Ok, so Summer Slaughter is in 2 days...the army is essentially done. I could do a bajillion more hours in detail on all the models, but I'm happy with them where they are. I am reading the 7th edition rules more thoroughly and making sure I have everything straight. This is my version of Gerantius, The green Knight (less the $20 decal sheet), before final clean ups.

Gerantius, The Green Knight