Strongpoints, part 3

I received some more of the roof pieces from wyrmholehobbies, an eBay bits seller.  Quite reasonable at $6 for 8 pieces plus shipping  and it helped me create the further effect with the lower level "doublewide" that I wanted to do.  I just like to mix it up a bit and give folks choice when they're using stuff for setting up a game.  The work the White Dwarf team did with the bastions and COD buildings on the back of the latest (Dark Eldar release) issue makes me drool and go crazy. But I shall stay my hand from my wallet cos it's almost Christmas and wives like presents too.  And I don't like sleeping on the couch.

Usually the bastion pieces are pretty easy to glue together.  The lower level pieces lock together side by side no problem.  The tower pieces , I imagine exhibit the same small limitation I found with the roof bits. To assemble them side by side I had to cut a small piece off, then put a small piece of sprue in the back to hold them together.  Like so.

I just used a pieec of sprue, as I said.  And cut it down and filed it flat.  Still doesn't look THAT great.  I'm not looking for a seamless finish here, as they're just supposed to be stamped, pre-fabricated plascrete buildings. Or some such thing.  I bought a tube of Tamiya's white putty from an LGS.  It's consistency is like toothpaste, but not grainy - not as grainy as Squadron Green Putty, which while useful and sands down nicely once it's dry, can be quite brittle.  I filled in the gap, so:

Let that dry, sanded it flat and did the thing with the assembly. Sprayed it with the Soviet Armour and drybrushed with the GW Rotting Flesh as per usual.  I painted up the floor panels using the same method as last time and  here you can see another configuration of the current project. 

Yes, that's my son's tactical marine from the Alpha Legion.  He's okay, he's a loyalist just waiting for the articificers to repaint his armour in the Blackshield way.  Or IS he a loyalist...?

Links

I Never Thought That Was My (Imperial) Strongpoint - WIP part 1

Strongpoints, part 2 - WIP part 2

Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC (where I got the putty from)

Wyrmholehobbies - eBay bits provider. 

Strongpoints, part 2

Finally! Something to show you all.  I got the first strongpoint finished, with the exception of the communication array things.  I'll do them later.  Those'll be nice objective markers, but that's about it to me.  I finished the first one about two weeks ago, but took them to the club's storage at the FLGS and forgot about photographing them.  D'oh.

For my first attempt at weathering, I'm happy.  The longer aegis defense lines were weathered with that damned awful GW stippling brush.  I've decided that I hate it.  They took forever to get the paint to stipple anywhere near like how I wanted it, and it was still too thick for my taste.  Then I got out an old blue GW drybrush and the Forgeworld Black Soot weathering powder.  I basically stippled the powder into place on the blast marks with the drybrush.  Easy.  Filled the holes with badab black.  Fixed it in place with Dullcote.  I did notice that the dullcote tended to make the powder... run? a little.  Perhaps I was applying it too heavily.

 

 

The Guns That Never Get Used, as I like to call them turned out better than I expected.  I basecoated the "metal" portions of the weapons with Charadon Granite then drybrushed BGM and washed with Badab Black. Not too shabby.  The drums on the autocannons were based with Iyanden Darksun, drubrushed with Dwark Bronze and washed with good old Devlan Mud. 

 

I have started constructing the other Strongpoint. I wanted to make it like the "doublewide" bastion that is part of the winning entry in GW's recent scenery contest for the Realm Of Battle board.  The only thing I didn't like about that building was that there was no door out to the lower... mezzanine? Where the Chapter Masters drink their root beer and watch the battle?  So I took the side tower section and cut off the firing slot for the heavy bolter and glued on a door that I'd cut out of a piece from the Imperial Sector building set. I don't think it fits in precisely with the style of the building, but it serves to show its purpose.

I built this second bastion to be modular also - it did involve buying bits from eBay for completion's sake.  Should I choose to, I can remove the tower section, disassemble it and just build one single floor doublewide bastion.  I bought more parapet sections from a bits seller on the eBays so I can just have that pop onto the doublewide section as required. The floors are removable and will be fitted to "work" as required. I glued the large doors to either end. Makes sense. 

 

Spot the oops in the picture on the right.  Oh alright I'll tell you.  I glued the panels with the firing slots adjacent to each other on the upper tower section, rather than opposite each other.  Luckily the plastic cement allows a fair chunk of drying time so I was able to pry the section apart and correct it.

For those curious, here's a closeup of the lower section with the Flames Of War spraypaint applied.  The coverage is good and it's not too thick, but as I said you need to take care when getting it into the nooks and crannies so you don't overdo it.

Other guns and such will be glued on when I next work on this building.  I really MUST finish my Damocles Rhino.
Honestly...

Links!

I Never Thought That Was My (Imperial) Strongpoint - WIP part 1

Docs Projects

Forsaken Games, New Westminster BC (the club's FLGS and charming host)

Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC (where I got the paint from)

The Army Painter's spray can line

Flames Of War spray can line

I never thought it was my (Imperial) Strongpoint...

I've had two Imperial Strongpoint box sets under my table in the shed for a while.  I haven't had much motivation to get them completed, since my 300 sq ft workshop is a bit of a mess.  The roof was replaced recently as it leaked, and all of the drywall (plasterboard for you in the UK) needs replacing in one corner cos it went mouldy from the water.  And it's full of office cube pieces.  Don't ask. The workshop will someday be turned into a more useable room, and I'd got these strongpoints to build for the table that will live in there. They're unwrapped so I couldn't return them to GW for something else.

Since A Club moved into Forsaken Games, the Motivation Gnomes have been whispering in my ear and I decided to crack one open and get it painted up.  For ages the question which has been at the back of my mind has been "what colour?!".  I have been loathe to prime them then crack out the airbrush because it would take FOREVER and use a lot of Catachan Green, or whatever small pot colour I chose.  I started looking at stuff in the paint department at Home Depot, to no avail.  The Painter's Choice greens I was interested in were satin - semi-glossy.  Not what I wanted.

Then The Army Painter came out with their line of coloured primers and my "Wooo!" light went on.  They really are damned good, and my friend Doc had decided to use their bone paint when basing his nids (I'll be doing the same thing).  They look great, by the way. In their own label range, however I just couldn't settle on a colour I really liked.  Then I noticed that The Army Painter also makes the sprayable primers for Flames Of War.  They make colours that are almost pigment perfect for the various armies in the game.  I chose the colour for painting Soviet armour as a base.  Looks foresty enough for me without being garish.

Took it home and started spraying the two bastions and three Aegis Defense Lines I'd just constructed.  I have to say that the coverage is really good in most areas on the first coat.  You have to be careful when getting into corners and stuff that you don't overpaint.  If you need to, you should do a few light coats to get the detail done without obscuring it - the same as spraying anything really. The only "real" complaint I have is that one can isn't enough for a whole Strongpoint set! lol

I wish I had a picture of what the bastions looked like after I'd just painted them with the FoW paint, but I neglected to take some.  When I do the next Strongpoint kit, I'll remember to do that.

Highlighting was very quickly (disturbingly quickly!) decided as drybrushing with Rotting Flesh.  Did it on one defense line piece at first and I was happy immediately, so off I went and did the whole thing.

Some pictures - work in progress

You can see that not all the details are in yet.  The guns and lines are barely usable on the table top right now according my my standard anyway, but if I don't get these bastions completely done in time for the weekend's tournament then I won't mind too much. BUT they WILL be finished! I need to drill out the heavy bolters and paint the door on the pictured bastion.  The other one only has the skulls detailed right now.  The rest will be done one evening this week if I can get to it. I painted the Aquilas on the battlements and on the door here with a 50/50 mix of Deneb Stone and Skull White, thinned down with water and retarder - it helps the deneb stone flow and let me do several layers.  The skulls were just the same retarded Deneb Stone and Devlan Mud (instant talent!)

When I went back to get the second can of Soviet Armour I asked Imperial Hobbies to get me a can of the German Panzer paint, which I will use on my Fortress Of Redemption.  Eventually.

More pictures of this side project as they come.  The Damocles Rhino got sidetracked AGAIN.  Throne...

Linky corner

Docs Projects

Forsaken Games, New Westminster BC

Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC

The Army Painter's spray can line

Flames Of War spray can line