The BIG WIP Post!

With a few of the Troths off my desk I thought it was about time to look at what else is going on.

So what have we got? Two Praetorian officers, a sergeant, walkers, some cavalry and a Queen.

Staring with the coolest stuff first- the cavalry!

I have been coming back to these off and on since I finished my first lot. It takes quite a bit of time just to get the horses ready and build the lances so I'm ok with their slow progress. 

These 5 use pistoleer heads, Curious Constructs Lancer Torsos, legs and arms, and my scratch built hunting lances. 

Chevau-Legers Lanciers of Avar III

"Avar III have a privileged class which spends a great deal of time on horseback whiling away their leisured hours with equestrian sports and hunting."

Much respect and honour to anyone that recalls where those words came from (its not my own fluff).

These chaps will have green jackets with a red front, collar and cuffs. The helmet will be black (possibly dark silver highlights) with a back feather. 

Next up, two more riders. These guys will be Red Lancers.  Red jackets with dark blue fronts, collar and cuffs. Probably a red cap but it may end up dark blue.

I also tried out a Cadian based converted rider. The head piece was cut from a Perry mini French Napoleonic carveryman. I brought a box of them to use the heads, but the scale was too small.

The head and torso was from the Cadian command sprue. The shoulder guards were from a tank commander.   

A trumpeter from the Napoleonic set may also get salvaged. The arms are a bit small, so I still haven't decided on him yet. (he is just blue tacked together for the time being). 

I can't have loads of different Calvary units without including a few Attilan Rough Riders! I had to do quite a bit of filing on the horse, but finally got him to fit. The lance arm is from a warhammer knight.

Col. Ackland is still on the work bench but hasn't progressed yet!

Out of the last batch of hunting lance I still have a few left so there are certainly more riders to come. 

From left to right, Dragoon Guard (using Curious Construct parts), more Attilans, and a Terrax Guard (using some old Rogue Trader mounted commanders)

With the Rogue Traders, I think they look better on Attilan legs in terms of scale. I also have a few normal RT troops to mount as well and a Commissar.

I was thinking of doing a group of 5 cavalry modelled off the Praetorian Hussar pic in the 3rd ed Imperial Guard codex. I think the ammo belt needs to be a bit smaller. I was thinking of giving him a holstered shotgun to justify having the belt.

There are lots of other option too. I will do a small group of individual veterans to add diversity.

I still have loads of other torsos to play with and I'm sure there be more heads and bits to keep me going thanks to Rob and Vic. 

Top line: Curious Constructs
Left side: Victoria Miniatures
Bottom: Games Workshop

Curious Constructs WIP

 Next up, Walkers!

This chap was modelled with the Polish Winged Lances in mind. 

The headlights are from a Vox caster and the torso is a cut down tank commander. A tank hatch plate fits nicely over the arms. 

Now that it has been on my work bench for a while I don't mind the look of him without the side plates and wings, like this:

Or Just the side plates:

And with the wings:

So what do people think? With or without wings and side armour?

Once I have decided I'll do a full squadron of them.

Praetorian Officers 

Here we have the 'crazy' Colonel August and his steadfast XO for the 40th Line Regiment. They will count as Creed and Kell, but whether Colonel August is a tactical genius or madder then a March hare is debatable!

He is probably yelling something ridiculous like, "Come and get me Ork horde!" or "They can't hit us from there!". Then again he may just be running around crazily flailing his arms or executing two aids at the same time (I was in a funny mood when I made him).

I have started repainting the banner. I'm just painting over the original banner. It's a bit faded and painted banners look better than printed ones. Easy to change the XXIV to XL on the bottom too.

Psyker Queen
Back on our Queens Birthday long weekend I met Victoria Lamb (of Victoria Miniatures) at a small local hobby convention. Along with a firing line of Vic's guard I couldn't pass up grabbing a Queen Victoria mini too. She will get a pair of glowing eyes and be used as a psyker primaris.

Sargent's Power Swords
Lastly, (if anyone is still reading), I have been dabbling with my 40th line power swords.
I'm still not sure about them! I repainted one blue again and then worked up reds, oranges and yellows to get a different lightning effect.

 I'm actually thinking maybe I should just leave them blue. Any ideas?

So that's it for now, lots of cool projects on the go!

Any advice, comments, concerns and suggestions always welcome.