The Greatest 40k Hobby Adventure Ever Told [Part 2]

(Part 1 here)
[Please excuse my over use of Gifs. It was tough for me to write some of this out. Also sorry for the long post - I could not break this part of the story up. If you can make it to the end it is worth it!]

Our first few weeks in Sweden were hard. Nothing seemed to go to plan at all. Without all the details this was me:

Terrain Building: Finishing the Rock Formations (and a 40k Sharpe)

I carved up a few more rock formations and set to work painting them. For those just joining this adventure, here are my previous posts on my foam carving and terrain building (post 1, post 2 and post 3).

I'll let the picture tell the story.

Terrain Building: A mixed bag update - Wind Generator, Rock Formations and Sandbag Defences

I really love having lots of things on the go at the same time. It is not great for finishing things but I do get there eventually. I like to keep my hobby as 'me time' so I place no constants on what I work on during an evening or weekend off. I run with enthusiasm rather than a disciplined plan and that keeps me coming back to do more. It does make blogging hard because I tend to wait until I have done enough on something to blog about it instead of blogging about one weekends worth on something that I won't get back to for a few weeks. With that in mind here is a selection of things that I have been playing with recently.

First up, my wind generator from ‘The Last Stand at Glazer’s Creek’ that I first posted on last December has moved forward a bit. Here is shot of where it was when I last posted on it and where it is now .

Terrain Building: Carving Rock Pillars with a Hot Foam Cutter

I have been on a terrain building bout recently working on my old school wind generator and a small forest of trees. I have always wanted to make some big rock pillars and cliff faces for my terrain set as well. Thus, it was finally time to get a hot foam cutter and give carving foam a go!

Terrain Building: My Quest for Better Wargaming Trees

From my younger days with Warhammer 40K I remember seeing many battles fought on what looked like wide grassy fields. I appreciate that Napoleonic and earlier real battles might have looked like this but it was not an environment that I saw much of where I was and so I struggled to connect with it.

Thus, a long term goal of mine has been to make terrain that I could connect to - such as environments that I was use to seeing in Australia. I have created all sorts of things over the years but now I am at a point that my hobby skills (and pockets) are at a place that I can probably have a better attempt at it then I ever have before.

Easy Medusa Conversion

Here is another small project that happened between other things. I had two Earthshaker Platforms and I wanted one to be a Medusa Siege Gun. I had seen similar conversions on the net so I gave it a crack with some personal touches. I find it really useful seeing how other people attempt different conversions, so in that spirit here is a walk through of my conversion. 

Windmill from ‘The Last Stand at Glazer’s Creek’

White Dwarf 222, of June 1998, featured a battle report adaptation of the Battle of Rorke's Drift - best known from the film ‘Zulu!’ Naturally, this pitted a platoon of the then newly released Praetorian Imperial Guard against a group of savage Orks who came at the Imperial defenders in a number of waves. I always loved this battle report for the way it leant on an historical event without making it a straight out recreation in 40k. The exaggeration and satire blended with the Gorkamorka vogue captivated me and even now, 18 years later, I enjoy flicking through that battle report.

Painting Up The Old Demolisher!

After handing up my PhD thesis (which I talked about in my last post) I gave writing a solid brake for a bit. This unintentionally spilled over to my blog too so I have gone a full month without a post. Now that I am back to writing at work I found the urge to write a post again. So what have I been up to? I finished a tank! I am splitting this one over two posts so if you would prefer to jump to the finished tank hop over to Part 2.

Reinforcing the New Front!

"Your spirit is the true shield!"

This post is about reinforcing the new army imagery that I introduced last post. To do this I have started painting up a defence line for the new campaign front in the Orpheus Sector, as well as the literal 'front' of painting lions on the front of things. [Don’t worry I’ll stop my bad attempts at being clever now.] My current progress is slightly ahead of my blogging so unfortunately I did not incorporate some of the advice that I received in my last post. Never the less, I got there in the end! 

Brimlock Dragoons and Praetorian Infantry Progress

Time for another update on the 1st Carabiniers, Brimlock Dragoons.

The background and first progress post on these guys are both back here.

Mounted Storm Troopers - 1st Carabiniers, Brimlock Dragoons

In the interest of actually posting on my blog regularly, here is the 'work in progress' up date on one squad of my Mounted Storm Troopers. 

Building a Necron Empire of Gold -Episode 3: Builders down tool and up weapons!

Well that was a long break between drinks!

The last few months have been full of too much work and not much hobby time. As a result the little rulers of the Necron Empire have been growing irritated. Under their orders, the builders put down their tool and picked up weapons to slay some explorers that ventured to close to the city complex.

Building a Necron Empire of Gold -Episode 2: Working From the Ground Up!

This project seems to be progressing faster then I can blog about it. For those that are just seeing this, it is best to start at the beginning. In Episode 1: The Concept I explained how this project came about and my thoughts on how I wanted it to end up. Keeping to the core concept is going to be really important to get the look and feel that I am aiming for. I think my brief summery of the project was an "Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian like city, paved in gold like a mythical South American lost city but laid out with Atlantis-like rings of water" or there about. I have started various structures (as you can see from the title photo) and here is where each of them are currently at.

Building a Necron Empire of Gold -Episode 1: The Concept

First off, sorry blogging world for not being around much. There has been some tough times with my father-in-law battling cancer right at a time when work/study has been totally crazy. Life gets like that sometimes. Thank you for my Lobster Awards, unfortunately I just wasn't in the head space to put a post together.

Since my last post I have found a few more followers bring me over the 100 mark which is something that I thought my little blog would never achieve. So cheers to the newcomers! I have had a lot of interest in my Taurox and Scion conversion, and rest assured they will be the focus of an upcoming post soon. Now that I have a free moment, I'd like to share a project (over a few posts) that is actually turning out to be pretty cool.

I have had this slow burn project quietly progressing on the sidelines of my other modelling for some time now. It has moved forward so sporadically that I never felt the need to shed the spot light on it for a blog post. This has resulted in having what is now a relatively big project that hasn't been blogged about! So in typical Ackland style, hold on to your hats, this is going to be quite a ride.

Teuton Scions and Taurox WIP

After starting my Taurox conversion yesterday (found here in Part 1 and Part 2), today I pulled out the Scion kit. Since I first saw them I have been dying to put Curious Construct Pickelhaube heads on them.  In my mind the baroque armour was crying out for a bit of 18th century Prussia! 

Taurox Conversion: Lowering ya ride, part 2

This is a pictorial log of my attempt to lower a Taurox and in doing so improve the overall look of the model (if that is possible). If you haven't checked out Part One,  please do so here.

As a refresher, the dodgy photo-shopped image on the left is my target and the original is on the right.   

Taurox Conversion: Lowering ya ride, part 1

Knowing that new Guard goodies were on their way I started putting a fund together so I could join in on the Guard loving. Selling a Tau codex and Warhammer Fantasy rulebook ensured that I would have some new toys to play with on release day. 

This morning the new Scions and Taurox hit the stores. Our local GW man, Dion at Warradale, had told me that he only got three Taurox kits in and many people were after are ALL of them. My response was a sarcastic dig at GW as usual. "Three at your store? I was expecting GW to send out a total of three to all of Australia - they must be getting generous these days!"
I set my alarm and got down there at 0800 to make sure I didn't miss out. Being first in line, I managed to grab a Taurox, Scion box and I also pre-ordered the new Guard codex for next week.

On to the Taurox! 

When I first saw the Taurox I thought it was a little 'aesthetically challenged'. Since then it has grown on me but there is still something odd about its proportions. I'd like to get one into my workshop and lower it!

An Army of Rough Riders! - WIP Post

OK, a lot of people have asked to see them so here they are!

Ceremonial Honour Guard WIP - Part 2

On the work bench: A Ceremonial Honour Guard

Life in the Honour Guard: Spend weeks drilling, polishing, yelling, and parading just faint and look like a noob!