Marbo'd

Here's Marbo that was finished a bit ago. I was away from the tubes for a little while. I might go back and paint more green on his cowl. When he was clean the brown looked good but with all the dirt he could use a little more green up there.

Had a fun game against my brother's Plague Marines the other day. Unfortunately Marbo didn't have any good targets when he showed up. Better luck next time, guy.

IG Updates

1st Heavy Weapon Squad done

Updated Infantry Platoon

My current project is a Marbo conversion and more autocannons. Here he is ready for paint.

Bloodaxe Brownskins

I'll start adding some WIP stuff here. I've been keeping that to forums in the past, but I don't really have many units getting finished too often anymore so why not.

I've been working on a few orks lately. Here's some results. I have a handful of Boyz and 2 more Kans in the works for these guys. I have a 1500pt list planned but they're not a financial priority right now so progress won't be stunning.









In Imperial Guard news, I've finished another autocannon team and am painting 4 random guys to fill squads. The Stormtrooper Sgt pictured in my tutorial, a flamethrower guy, a vox guy, and a Vet Sgt. I'll get pictures up (and new Squad photos as they're updated) once those guys are done.

Plastic Stormtroopers : The Rest

Here's how I make my Kasrkin style plastic Stormtroopers.

Equipment:
Greenstuff
Clay Shaping tools (I use silicon tipped)
X-acto
Clippers

I start with the legs. SM Scout or Sniper Scout legs, doesn't really matter. Cut off the codpiece and the shotgun shell or whatever that is on the leg. Now there's two ways to do the shirt bottom. I prefer making one piece as shown in the picture and wrap it around to the back/butt armor. Then I push in the folds with clay tools. I used to do it with two pieces that overlap where the shirt buttons up. Lastly lightly cut the bottom seam in with an x-acto.



On to the kneepads. I start with the small ball and push it on to the right spot. Smooth to get a horizontal line over the kneecap, then flatten out the sides. Let it cure a bit and flatten/sharpen the edges with a knife.



Sharpened kneepads, and added the thigh plate. It's just a flat plate with hard edges in line with the kneepads. I like to wait until the kneepads are completely cured before I do this so I don't screw them up.You could also chop the buckle and add another plate on the right leg, but I kinda like it as is.



The gauntlets. This guy is my Sergeant so he only needs the one. For a normal guy with a rifle just do this twice. Flatten out a blob of GS (make sure the surface is smooth and wet) and cut it into the approximate shape. The point should be in line with about the middle of the hand. Next cut a little rectangle for the hand plate. Once that's cured I add a plasticard rectangle and circle for a little detail.



Last is the head. Any IG head with a visor works. You can find this specific one on the Heavy Weapons and new Sentinel Sprues. I like to cut some of the nose off so it doesn't poke through when I'm messing with the GS. I do this just like the kneepads. Work on sharpening that horizontal line, then work on the sides. Carefully add the vents with an x-acto or little plastic bit. Cut some thin rounds for the filters. I use an antenna from a vox since there's tons of them.
The bottom is the original head, my head, and the Forgeworld Respirator head. I was planning on using a few of those but they're so tiny. Why are they so small?



The only bit I didn't picture is the torso. The Scout legs have their own belt, so you have to cut the Guard's belt off. Much easier said than done.
And here he is all stuck together.



Here's his buddies painted up.



I might have missed some details. If there's any questions let me know.

I think I'll start adding these update posts every month or so. I've been adding some new things to their proper sections but this'll make it easier to find my new stuff.

Characters Updated with Navigator/Astropath

Sentinel Support updated with Running Sentinel

More of my plastic stormtroopers are being painted. I hit a snag with a missing bits order though. So hopefully I can get that worked out and build the rest.

I've been working on some non-IG things like a few orks and Tau for a friend, so I'm going to try to get myself motivated to finish my Leman Russ squad leader. I also want to reshoot my Infantry platoons as I fill in some gaps. The lighting wasn't great and they ended up pretty poor.

Converting a Hotshot Lasgun

Here's how to make a hotshot lasgun that I've been using on my stormtroopers. I took inspiration from this picture that's in the 5th ed IG codex.


What you'd need.
X-acto
Small files
Pin drill

I start by clipping off the sights making sure to leave a little bit of the rear casing.


Next chop the entire barrel off. Make sure to hold it so it doesn't go flying into space. You'll need it.
The trickiest part of this is getting the wings off. Make sure to use a new-ish blade and carefully shave it off. Watch out for those fingers. It doesn't need to be perfect right now.
Also chop the bayonette lugs off.

Push the blade in at an angle to make a notch. I do this in line with the pinky finger on the hand.


Shave the top edges of the casing to begin the rounding. Make sure to keep the notch that was made a hard edge. I shave one line, not worrying about roundness yet. If you look at the weapon from the top and break the casing into thirds, you're aiming to keep the center 3rd untouched and the other 2 are your shaved angles. That goes about the same looking at the sides but it's slightly taller. Continue to refine the edge until it's round. I do this by lightly filing and some x-acto scraping.


Chop the barrel to remove the little notch. Again make sure to hold it while you're cutting. It might need a little filing to make sure it's flat.
Next take an X-acto or something sharp to plot out pilot holes. This could be whatever pattern. I do 3 holes on each side, then 2 on the top in line with the gaps between the 3.

Once that's set drill out shallow holes

That's it for the gun. Next up is some optics. You could use whatever you like, or just leave it flat like the picture.

Take an IG heavy weapons optic. I use the squared glass end so make a triangle notch just behind the centerline. I use a round file to do most of the work.
Chop the other end off and continue shaping


That's it. Probably the most time consuming part of my plastic stormtroopers.
I'll try to continue this with a full stormtrooper, but the rest is pretty straight forward GS work.

Here's a completed Stormtrooper

WIP stuff

A blob of WIP work for hosting on other sites.