Here’s a group shot of the right side of my army display. It took me forever to get one good pic at this distance. I really need to get better with my camera…
Just 3 models left till I’m done.
Shawn G.
Thokt Necron Project – Small Group Shot
Thokt Necron Project – Warriors & Reworked Wraiths
So, the NOVA Open is a scant 8 days away and I’m still painting.
I finished the needed warriors for my list. With them ALL the infantry in intend to paint for this army are complete, at least for a while. Huge milestone passed.
I mentioned before that I’ve not been overly compelled to paint the wraiths. While I like the models, they are to damn fragile (the whip coils were designed foolishly). These are my redesigns for this Thokt project. I was worried that the models would not fit the scheme, but that is no longer the case.
Last Saturday I was looking at this project found a problem. As a whole the army looks good, but it was lacking something. It’s been bothering me for weeks now and finally I figured it out. The army has no centerpiece. Couldn’t have that now could I?
I have 2 whip coil designs that I should have finished shortly. They’ll be posted soon. Before NOVA I promise!
Shawn G. (SoI)
Necron Thokt Project – Scarabs, Spiders, Destroyers, & More!
Sorry people for my lack of content. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been in a bit of a rut and it’s been difficult to drum up motivation to paint anything. Well it’s seems like I’ve gotten over that hump and I’ve been cruising nicely. NOVA is only a few short weeks away and I need to get cracking if this project is to get done!
I’ve focused on getting all the small stuff done, and so far this week has been very productive! Here’s what I got done:
I finished the remaining Canoptek Spiders that have been rotting away on my desk for weeks now. The template model is in the middle.
I also knocked out 4 more scarab bases. That completes the necessary scarabs for my display, but I’ll likely hammer out a few more for completeness. Here’s the whole lot as I can’t distinguish the old ones from the new. Which is good I guess!
Since I’ve pinned down what I intend to bring to NOVA (More on that later…), I built and painted 2 additional Heavy Destroyers for this army. I even utilized a leftover Tesla Destructor to build a left-armed cannon. Not a fan of the Deathmark heads now that they are done, but oh well.
My NOVA list includes 2 small units of warriors so I built and painted a template model. I hate the glow rods that these guys come with so I gleaned some new ones from cannibalizing the new rod design out of the plethora of gauss blasters I have sitting around. I have to say, this guy looks good! 9 more to prime and paint!
Years ago, my wife got me a GW dice box for Christmas. I love that thing and I’ve wanted to use it for years, but it was cast in porcelain like resin. It would break my heart if that thing were to drop and shatter, so it’s sat on my mantle for over a decade. Finally I let my compulsive nature take control and made/painted a dice box for this army.
I molded that beauty up; man did it take a lot of rubber, and cast it in my own black resin. I then painted it in my army colors, magnetized, and varnished the ever-living-crap out of it. And before you ask, yes the dice match my army colors. I did mention I’m compulsive at times…
I’ll be tackling another Annihilation Barge this week while I work on cutting the base slots out of my display board. Cruising along nicely!
Shawn G. (SoI)
Necron Thokt Project – Group Shot
I was asked for this group shot on Dakka Dakka. I hadn’t realized how far I’ve come in this project! This army looks pretty good so far!
I wont be able to do this soon though. I’ve a lot more to add!
Shawn G.
Necron Thokt Project – Redesigned Crypteks, Immortals, and Completed Scythe
The preparation for NOVA continues.
First up, I knocked out 5 more immortals last week. Thins brings the needed model count down to 8. I used some Praetorian heads to represent sergeants for my squads. I know, I know; “Necrons don’t have sergeants!”. But I like it and it looks cool so shut up.
I’ve already started the last batch and plan to have them completed this week.
Next are my Cryptek redesigns. I opted to redesign my C’tek a while back, as I didn’t think they looked robust enough to be minor characters. I used the Praetorian/Liche Guard kit to make them look a little beefier, and I have to say I dig this design a lot more. I’m especially fond of the glowing orbs on their backs.
Lastly, I got my bases from Dragon Forge last week. I set them up as masters for my checker plate base design and casted the molds. I now can produce my own 150mm, 120mm, 100mm, and 80mm bases. Having a large variety of base layouts has been so useful!
I used a 120mm base to mount the flying stand for my scythe. I actually pinned the flying stand to the base as I didn’t trust glue to be strong enough on it’s own. The rock formations I made out of sculpey were really easy to cut with an X-acto so I got the look I was striving for.
I already said how much I love this kit, and I like it even more after it was painted. After adding the flying stand this model is likely now my favorite! It’s so damn sweet it gave me cavities. I must have more! And after the rules for flyers in 6th combined with the Necron FAQ, I’ll likely have at least 6 Scythe variants.
That’s all I gotz for now. More to come as I progress.
Shawn G. (SoI)
Necron Thokt Project – Prepping for NOVA Open
Ok, so I’ve pinned down (for the most part) what I intend to bring to NOVA 2012. I fully intended to go last year, but a combination of laziness and Hurricane Irene kept me from going. This year however I’m going come Hell or high water!
I’ve been juggling around whether or not to bring the Space Chicken (C’tan) but at the moment I’m going to leave him home. This may change however as I’m just not feeling driven to paint my wraiths (more on that later).
Here’s my preliminary NOVA ‘Crons:
Overlord w/ Command Barge
4 Crypteks
2 Triarch Stalkers
25 Tesla Immortals
9 Canoptek Scarabs
5 Tomb Blades
6 Canoptek Wraiths
2 Annialation Barges
3 Canoptek Spiders
Not to bad eh? The list has lots of variety that shows off the character of the model range.
What’s Painted:
Overlord
3 Crypteks
1 Triarch Stalkers
12 Tesla Immortals (5 man squads)
5 Canoptek Scarabs
1 Tomb Blades
1 Annialation Barges
1 Canoptek Spiders
Still quite a bit to do. My first task will be to knock out all of the infantry as they are the most numerous. I’ll be focusing on the immortals and scarabs until they are done. On the topic of scarabs, I’ll likely be painting the remaining 19 to cover spider spawns.
More to come as I progress
Shawn G. (SoI)
I’m Back Baby!
Sorry I’ve been so quiet people! I’ve been fairly busy these last few weeks and I’ve had little time to post.
I’ll be making that up today!
First is the final piece to my friend Dave’s commission; Inquisitor Karamazov. Years ago a good friend of mine Jeff painted this piece for his guard army. I hated that model then and I hate it still.
For clarification it’s not the model or it’s design I hate, it’s the excessive detail that gives me fits. This bastard has over 30 purity seals! Seriously?
Anyway, Dave knew that this model would give me fits and gave me all the time in the world to get him done. He then proceeded to use him on me in a game upon delivery. Jerk…
I received 2 additional units commissions from Dave, but they’ll have to wait a while, I’ve a Necron army to finish for NOVA! (More on this below)
After finishing Dave’s commission, I took a swing at the new scythe kit for the ‘Crons. I have to tell you, this was the EASIEST kit to put together. It’s like it was designed for the paint-then-assemble method that I use for this scheme.
And here’s the best part, the portal/Doom gun fit snugly in place with no need for magnets. So sweet.
Now if only those bases I ordered from Dragon Forge last night would arrive today so I can finish his base…
Finally, it’s time I stopped mucking around and geared up for NOVA. With my local hobby shop closed, I’m going to focus on getting this army and it’s display finished for NOVA.
Here’s a pic on what I’m bringing:
I’ll expand on this in a later post today.
Shawn G. (SoI)
Watch the Skies, Coming At You!
It seems like, in the two weeks since the new Space Marine Stormtalon has come out, everybody’s got a conversion; whether that be an attack helicoptor, mechanised walker, or just a kitbash to make it look slightly less goofy.
After recently finishing the Forge World Stormeagle, which is in and of itself a phenomenal kit, I found myself in possession of a whole box worth of leftover Stormraven bits with which to repurpose the Stormtalon.
It didn’t take long to realize that the single biggest problem was the overall length, or lack thereof, of the Stormtalon’s fuselage. The tail boom was far too short and wound up giving the box-standard build a very compressed, almost cartoonish appearance.
I can only imagine that this was as a result of aesthetic limitations, rather than technical ones, since both the Ork Bommer and Necron Doomscythe are satisfyingly massive. Matters weren’t helped by the conspicuously underslung assault cannon turret and the weapon pods to either side. It would require a trip to the drawing board, for sure!
The first order of business was to tighten up the profile. Although the overall appearance is of a gunship, the Stormtalon is indisputably written as a dogfighter and it desperately needed to look more agile. This was accomplished by cutting down the turret and slinging the assault cannons directly under the chin, whilst simultaneously swapping the position of the wings, now canards, and missile pods.
In retrospect, I don’t think that swapping those components was strictly necessary, but it I’m satisfied with the outcome. If I had it to do over again, I may have tried to omit the wings, entirely, but the molded-on hardpoints on either side of the cockpit would then need to be cut down and smoothed over, instead.
The biggest change is to the tail boom, which was cut down at the panel line and removed, entirely. In its place is almost the entire tail from the aforementioned, orphan Stormraven, with some slight modifications to fit. The shape of the tail isn’t an exact match and, unfortunately, does give the appearance of having come from a significantly larger aircraft – but, on the whole, I’d say that it gives the Stormtalon just the right amount of displacement. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably spend more time trying to tie it more cleanly into the fuselage.
Also worth pointing out are the landing gear, originally integrated into the turret housing, now give the appearance of extending directly from the fuselage. I think this tends to be a bit more believable, since from an engineering perspective you’d want them tied in directly to the airframe. Having them come off the turret just seems silly, since it would effectively be supporting the weight of the entire aircraft when it’s on the ground – and, for that matter, how would it land after suffering a Weapon Destroyed result?
It’s fair to say that it’s the weakest of all three new flyers, this month, but that being said, I’m pretty pleased with the Stormtalon. Aesthetic considerations aside, t’s a well-engineered kit that fits together well out of the box. The studio has clearly learned a number of valuable lessons from its predecessors, the Valkyrie, Stormraven and Razorwing and has incorporated these lessons into the sprue.
-Chewie
Thokt Necron Project – Canoptek Spider
Here’s the first of 3 Spiders I own. I really like the 60x100mm base I decided to mount them on. It really suits them. At least it does to me.
I also made a tutorial on painting my Thokt theme using this mini. I will work on drafting a video on how I did my immortals Les Bursley (Awesome Paint Job) style.
Shawn G.
My Thokt Necrons
I have heard the masses crying out for a tutorial on how I painted my Necrons. Ask and ye shall receive! I just hope this makes sense…
First let’s talk primer. I started miniature painting about 14 years ago, and most of that time was using GW’s primer. At first GW’s line of primer and paints were varied and reasonably priced, but somewhere along the line they got this wild notion that they could charge whatever they wanted. So over the years I’ve watched their primer creep from $5 to $15.75 a can. What the hell is in it? Magic? My favorite part is how they claim their primer has been engineered to work with their line of paints. WTF?
I was brought to the light from a friend in a local Hobby Shop of the existence of an alternative and I’ve never looked back. Enter Krylon spray paints.
This stuff is amazing. Not only does it bind to both plastic and metal, but also it goes on flat. This is the most matte paint I have ever used, and it works perfectly for all my projects. It’s also $4 a can.
Here we have a spray paint that is both reasonably priced, durable as hell, and can be found almost EVERYWHERE. Did I mention it comes in 6 colors? And this is just scratching the surface of the products that Krylon produces. My Dark Eldar scheme uses their Fusion line.
Get this stuff.
Now that I’m done ranting let’s get down to business! I decided to use a Canoptek Spider for this tutorial so you can see the techniques I used on a larger canvas.
Miniature Color Palatte:
- VMC Black (70950) – Citadel Abaddon Black
- VMC White (70951) – Citadel White Scar
- VMC Sky Grey (70989) – Citadel Dawnstone
- VMC Ivory (70918) – Citadel Ushabti Bone & White Scar
- VGC Magic Blue (72021) – Citadel Kantor Blue
Base Color Palatte:
- Citadel Scorched Brown (Rhinox Hide)
- Citadel Calthan Brown (Mournfang Brown)
- Citadel Dheneb Stone (Rakarth Flesh)
Step Zero – A nice even coat of primer. Make sure it’s not too humid outside so you don’t get that powered sand effect on your minis. I haven’t had that problem with the Krylon spray paints very often, but it can happen. Be carefull.
Step I – I targeted all the glowing bits; cables, eyes, orbs, and leg joints with VGC Magic Blue. You can also use Citadel Enchanted Blue (Caledor Sky) as alternative. Don’t’ worry about staying within the lines. We’ll clean up later.
Step II – 1/1 mix of VMC White and VGC Magic Blue. Don’t completely cover up the previous shade. Leave a little behind for depth.
Step III – 10/1 mix of VMC White and VGC Magic Blue. I’m guesstimating here on the ratio as I normally just eyeball it. Just put some white down on your palate and add a slight tip-full of the blue. The aim is for a very pale white-blue. Mostly white.
Step IV – Dheneb Stone for contrast. I use this color sparingly to break up the scheme. It usually takes 2-3 coats for full coverage over black. Make sure your paints are well diluted so you don’t lose detail.
Step V – Clean up phase. VMC Black was used to clean up my lines. I chose this black specifically because it is has a very matte finish, which syncs well with the flatness of the Krylon primer. You don’t have to use VMC paint here, but you will loose the effect if your paint is of a gloss or even satin finish.
Now for the step I assume everyone is looking for:
Step IV & VII – Edge highlights. VMC Sky Grey was painted onto all the hard edges of the model using the side, not the tip, of my brush. You’ll need a light touch to keep the line uniform but that’s it. Again, make sure your paints are well diluted so it goes on smoothly. You may need to apply two coats incase the line is not sharp. This technique is so easy you’ll kick yourself when you try it.
Step VIII – Highlight all the hard edges of the mini. The mandibles were a little finicky, but just focus on the edges. Clean up with black as needed. The inner ring under the back plate was highlighted using the brush tip. That’s a tricky spot so use a light hand and again, clean up with black as needed.
Step IX – Adding detail. I went back and added some more glowing blue effects on the spots I felt could use some detail. Just reapply steps I-III as needed.
Step X – Edge highlight using VMC Ivory on Dheneb plates. Line highlight were added to the edges of the detail on the abdomen as needed.
And there you have it! My Tkokt paint scheme.
I try to create a video for this scheme. I will try to emulate Les Bursley’s brilliant tutorial style if I can. I’ve never made a video tutorial before so give me a little time to make sure I get it right.
I hope you found this helpful. Please leave me feedback so I can polish this tutorial for when I move to video.
Shawn G. (SoI)