BUG HUNTERS

 With only seven days to go I'm making progress on the Monk, and hopefully will get it finished in time, or this will be the first challenge I've failed, so wish me luck ! LOL

In the mean time I've got more Night Hawks to show, another Devastator squad, but this ones geared for laying down mass fire power on troops, the squad consists  3 heavy bolters, a missile launcher and a sergeant with bolter and auxiliary grenade launcher ( not that that piece of equipment  still exists in 40K) There are a mix of Rogue Trader models, and second edition metals.

Painting wise same recipe as before. Next I want to show my old Legion of the Damned squad, as Azazael and I were chatting about them on my last post, I'm thinking of rebasing them but keeping the original painting, see what you think.

The model on the left was the first LotD model to ever be released, Centurius who was a limited edition release, the model next to him is a converted Centurius (this model upset a lot of upper management ! LOL) and the other 3 were converted standard marine models. While photagraphing these I remembered I had a LotD model that came from the first squad release, so I've painted him up as well.

If I ever decide to add to this contingent I'll probably convert them, as the actual models go for crazy prices.

Azazel was trying to see the White Dwarf article on my army, but it has been removed from digital copies, so here it is for all to see.

I took the background for the army for the article, but they just wanted how I made the models ! LOL The army has moved on quite a bit since then, but you may recognize some of the models in there from some of the updates I've shown in the past. I've also got a couple of support weapons done as well, first is a MK I rapier  which I added the old communication marine onto it.

Last today is a Mole Mortar, originally this was going to be a stand alone piece, but I'm now thinking of making them into a squad.

That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

TANK BUSTERS

 Work is slowly progressing on the Monk, I've got the brain painted and the bulk of the body sculpted (not my best work but it will do) so with less than two weeks to the deadline, I really need to get a move on. In the mean time, I've finished another unit of Night Hawks, these are devastators from the fifth company, one of the things I wanted to have was a tank busting squad, just in case of facing vehicle heavy armies ( less likely to happen as I mostly game solo at home, but when I made them it was a different story ! LOL)

These are metal miniatures, and are a mix, of Rogue Trader models and second edition marines to keep adding to the variation of the army, I've also added more modern backpacks to keep the idea of using what they can salvage. I've noticed GW have restocked devastator squads, and noticed they have the extra armor on the leg greaves like the second edition ones, so will have to add them to this years wish list. Until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

EVERY STEP YOU TAKE

 Don't worry I wont be watching you ! LOL No I am referring to steps I've made with the Monk, I've sculpted the brain and wiring which I will get painted, I've also made a sphere big enough to hold the brain which I will take a mould off so I can pour colored resin in and when that's dry pour some clear for the remaining section to give the desired effect, but would make for very boring photographs, so instead I have some more Space Marines to show you, today is my first squad of Assault Marines, these are a mix of old metal miniatures and some of the later plastic ones. Why you may be asking have such a variety, well very early on I decided I didn't want a Ultra Marine army, by that I mean I didn't want the whole army wearing exactly the same style and type of armor they needed to look like they used armor from wherever they could find it which would help fit with the background, of being out of touch with the Imperium for a long time.

As you may spot I need to source some jump packs, as several of the other squads are missing multiple ones as well, guess I'm going to be hunting Ebay for a while ! LOL While I've had this momentum on my Marine chapter, I've gone through all my bits boxes and put together what I have to see where I'm at, I can make up another two and a half assault squads, minus the jump packs, another two devastator squads, and a couple of support weapons, which is a bit of a pain, as I need a lot more bits, and as GW have stopped selling a lot of the old marine kits, this is going to make it harder, but I'll find a way some how. That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

ON TARGET

 Sadly were not talking my forgotten heroes entry, as I've managed no sculpting this week, but I've managed to paint a couple of units for my Night Hawks, so not a total loss. The first unit is a squad of Scout snipers, I've painted them as standard scouts not veterans for this unit. The first five models are all metal miniatures, the two on the right are standard models, the other three are conversions.

The next five are the plastic snipers that GW have now discontinued.

I've also managed to paint a unit of five devastators, that were the old plastic, and metal kit, which can unbalance the models quite easily, I've done them as fifth company but they still need their squad number added.

For fun I thought I would google my chapter and this is what GW has to say:

The Night Hawks is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in Imperial records other than its participation in the Angarius Incursion of the late 41st Millennium.

Chapter History

Notable Campaigns

Angarius Incursion (Unknown Date.M41) - The Night Hawks were part of a joint Imperial strike force that helped to put down a rebellion against the Emperor on the Agri-World of Angarius. The Night Hawks' Strike Cruiser Ebony Talon accompanied this task force. Two regiments of the Imperial Guard's Pyran Dragoons were assigned to subdue the locals and detain several key officials. With an increasingly hostile population to deal with, the Imperials soon became embroiled in a bitter war with the people of Angarius. In one notable incident, several platoons of the Pyran Dragoons' 18th Battalion attempted to capture one of the local leaders but soon found their position encircled by the Angarian rebels, effectively cutting them off from friendly forces. As the Imperials attempted to mount a rescue mission, the Night Hawks flew continuous sorties throughout the night with their Land Speeder Typhoons, pounding the enemy positions mercilessly with deadly salvos of Typhoon missiles. With the assistance of the Night Hawks, the rebels were driven back from the Dragoons' position. The Night Hawks kept up their relentless barrage, which forced the rebels to withdraw their forces in the face of such a furious assault.

Chapter Fleet

Ebony Talon (Strike Cruiser) - The Ebony Talon was the Strike Cruiser of the Night Hawks present in the Angarius Incursion.

Chapter Appearance

Chapter Colours

The Night Hawks' Chapter colours are not listed in current Imperial records.

Chapter Badge

The Night Hawks' Chapter badge is not listed in current Imperial records.

Sources

Epic Armageddon Rulebook, "Space Marine Units", pg. 8

 Do I know why they have included this ? Yes my friend Carl wrote the background text for many of the items in the Epic Armageddon rulebook, and included my chapter, and his own the Sand Jackals, unfortunately someone spotted his and changed it for a more well known chapter, but they missed mine ! LOL They could have just looked up when my army was featured in White Dwarf 231 to fill in some of the blanks ! LOL

I've managed to see a Doctor this week about my hand, and are now starting lots of tests to see if we can get to the route of the problem, he has three possibilities at the moment, a new symptom of Fibromyalgia, nerve damage, or neurological, I'm thinking it's the second one as on one of the reflex tests, it sent shooting pains down from my elbow, right to my fingers, but will have to see what the tests show, and hopefully return to sculpting. That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

FORGOTTEN HEROES 2025

 So as normal for July it is time for Forgotten Heroes that is hosted by Jez at carrioncrowsbuffet for this year I'm aiming small, well small for me due to still struggling with my hand, I will add to my Star Wars project with the addition of Bo'mar Monk, if you don't know this character, it first appeared in "The Return of the Jedi", as the gate keeper in Jabba's Palace, it later appeared in the series book of Boba Fett, wandering around outside of the palace. this is what wookiepedia says about them :

"Zaril travelled to Tatooine… meeting with the B'omarr monks… members of a mysterious cult that removed their own brains so they could contemplate the mysteries of the universe without the distraction of a physical body."

―Thom Hudd[3]

The B'omarr Order,[4] which consisted of B'omarr monks, was a religious order that believed in isolating themselves from all physical sensation to enhance the power of their minds. To that aim, enlightened monks had their brains transplanted into nutrient-filled jars.[5] Whenever they wanted to move, those bottled-brains used spider-like droid walkers.[1] Older monks used four-legged walkers, but younger monks used a six-legged variant.[6]

The order possessed multiple regeneration gems, which at the time of Jabba the Hutt were stored underground behind triple doors.[7]

Here is what they look like

No doner model for this one, will have to be built from scratch, hopefully I can get this done by the end of the month, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

CREATURE FEATURE DOUBLE BILL 40K EDITION

 This will be my last post for this years Monster May(hem), had a few other models I'd hoped to finish but just couldn't get them done in time, and that's okay, as I can always do them at some other point. First up today is a Krootox, you may remember back in January I mentioned I'd like to use the spare parts I had to make a fifth Krootox to bring the unit to a full contingent of five, now as this was one I was building, I could change the pose and make it a bit more dynamic like I'd seen in some of the artwork. So what parts are GW, the head of the Krootox, the Kroot and weapon are all GW plastic except the Kroot's legs, the rest was made from greenstuff and a foam core.

Painting wise I went with my standard palate, and changed some of the tones, here it is with the rest of the Krootox I have, although it does make the standard GW one look like it's trying to compensate for something with all it's bling ! LOL

Next I've finished the Khymerae for my Dark Eldar which I showed earlier in the year.

Here it is with the rest of the squad, still need to make two more, or find some reasonably priced ones on Ebay, to finish this army.

Many thanks to Keith for hosting this years challenge, enjoyed being part of it again. Until next time stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave  

CREATURE FEATURE DOUBLE BILL STAR WARS EDITION

 Today I have two creatures for Monster May(hem), first is the Correlian Hound I showed in progress earlier in the year, I've been struggling with sculpting recently, but will discuss that at the end, let's just say happy to finally get this off the workbench. Painting wise it's mostly white, but glazed some other colors in to match the reference.

For those expecting the Eopie next, it is finished sculpting, but I haven't had chance to take a mould of it as I want a second one with a rider, and don't fancy sculpting another from scratch, so instead have the second Jerba seen outside the cantina in Mos Eisley, it only gets a couple of seconds screen time in the movie, so can easily be missed, this now completes the three creatures from outside the cantina, painting I tried to match the colors from the reference.

As you may or may not know, I have a long time illness, one of the side effects are ghost sensations, for instance, you can feel like you've broken a rib, when you haven't but you get all the symptoms. For the last three months I've been struggling with my right hand, now the ghost sensations, come and go but this one has been there for the whole three months, and causing me to struggle holding the sculpting tool properly, and paint brushes, so why mention this, well it's been holding me back on work for friends and clients, as I always want to give them my best work, whereas my stuff I'm not so worried about, and I've been trying to find ways to compensate, think I'm just about there, and can hopefully get there stuff finished now, sorry to bring the mood down, normal programming will now resume ! LOL Until Next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave