Missile launcher conversion: to done!

Finally! A painting update. This major project has taken months of my time and has been a real labour of love.

 

So just in time for Double Trouble, I've painted this missile launcher rack to indicate that my old school Ultramarines have a missile launcher. 

 

I've used blue stripes as a spot colour to tie it into the first founding chapter, but ive painted the base a yellow colour to tie it in with the Howling Griffons.  

 

The base, coupled with the little dots on the control panel all help to brighten this model up a bit, I was concerned that it was all just shades of mechanical gray to start with but the spot colours have worked that out nicely. In a pinch I might be tempted to use this as some form of fortification add on or something. It's generic enough.  I can't find the 2016 "40k addict" hobby stamp that indicates this is "to done", but I'm signing this little project off as completed :)

Darksun tease

Just a little tease of what I'll be Vlogging on over the next couple of days... What do you think?  

Hobby hack: bases for X-wing

I got frustrated very early on in X-wing with the way the bases skid around the board of you breathe on them. I wanted to do something easy to fix this, that was nice and simple, but most importantly - cheap. 

Whilst whiling away a lunch break in wilkinsons (for my international readers it's the sort of place where you can get similar stuff of a decent quality without having to pay outrageous prices for a label. It's not a thrift store or pound shop, it's just pitching somewhere above that) I discovered some small rubber pads that might be quite useful. As you can see from the below picture, they are clear, and small enough that you can have 4 per base. 

I decided to give them a go and have since bought a second set. They are quite good, giving that extra bit of traction and helping stop things knock around when hit by a dice or nudged by a template. What's really good is that the are self sticking, so you can just drop them straight on.  However, my personal tip would be to secure them with superglue. They do tend to fall off otherwise. 

The main potential concern (although it's not come up ever) is the raised profile of the base. As you can see from this picture, it means that the base is slightly off the ground. Now, thankfully we aren't playing a true line of sight game, so I'm clearly not modelling for advantage. However FFG's rules state that you can't change the ships or base in any way. So there is the potential for somebody to call you out on it. 

Having said that, this game is Not a games workshop game and has a totally different community vibe. People are much more relaxed and agreeable than most of the other systems ive played. I suppose I'd just reccomend taking spares with you that don't have the feet on, just in case!

Overall, I'm gonna give this  4 out of 5 stars as a tip. It's massively cheaper than some of the other non slip stuff I've seen and is very simple to do. As noted, the only real problem is the raised height. 

Refurbishing some old classics

So, I've been clearing out my old models in search of anything that needs love. Some of the stuff I've ebayed, but these guys were way to cool to get rid of.theyve all spent most of the last month in a vat of nail polish remover and are now ready to be painted. 

 I thought I'd share with you about them and make them part of my "to paint in 2016". I'll be doing a proper post on that but this is a more detailed look at these models. 

First off, this games day model! From the early 2000s I think, this guy is not great under 40k rules as he has a powerfist. I also don't think I ever had is right hand, but that's a simple conversion. I'm looking forwards to putting this guy back to his former glory. Even if I don't really want to ever take a space marine captain on foot lol. 

Rolling out another classic, this banner bearer is a metal equivalent of my current banner bearer. I've got the cross piece for the top of the pole so I can make a banner for him but I don't know what design to go with! Do I say that the first one is the chapter banner or that this guy is? I'll have to take a look at that. 

Another grizzeled veteran here. Perhaps a drill Sargent or a the guy who trains the new recruits. I'm wondering if I should paint him up to somehow represent that. "He's normally on the fortress monestry but for this battle he's out on the front line" kind of thing. Or maybe he's just a tactical squad Sargent. 

I also found and cleaned up a culexus assassin. I never found the assassins easy to paint. It's just black after all! But hopefully that'll come out ok. 

So there we have it! What gems have you found recently? I've been at my parents this week for baby Jesus day and I've found a whole host of goodies!