Showcase; Imperial Knight Errant Freeblade

Hi All

Here are some pictures of my completed (almost) Imperial Knight Errant Freeblade. I say almost because I've still got some weathering to do yet. He'll have a mix of snow, ice and icicles eventually. I'm waiting on delivery of some bits and bobs I've ordered to do that. Once they arrive and I get it done I'll post finished pictures.
Meanwhile here's pics of the finished paintjob....

As you can see I've added Thunderbolts iconography and colour to the right shoulder guard to signify the knights current allegiance, I'll maintain this across all my future knights, all of which will be freeblades. All my knights will represent freeblades who have been attracted to the forge world protected by my space marine chapter, The Thunderbolts, an Iron Hands successor chapter. You can find a great many posts about my Thunderbolts Chapter of Space Marines in this bogs' archives.
I'm well pleased, this was a major project for me; not the biggest model I've done, that would be my scratch built Big Mek Stompa, but by far the most detailed and complex on such a large scale. In comparison the Stompa has a much more basic finish with significantly less detail.
With regard to the new techniques I've tried, I'm pleased; the OSL behind the visor hasn't quite worked but it hasn't been the disaster it could have been, more practice needed on that. The base has worked really well and I'm now completely sold on the idea of putting as much effort into the base as the figure. My work on the Eldar Corsairs has reinforced that for me, see them here.
The freehand vines and thorns I like and am really pleased with; I'll be going back to my Hornet to do some freehand work on that as soon as I've decided on the iconography for the band.
I hope you like this, please feel free to give C and C as usual.

Bluddtoof

Imperial Knight Freeblade W.I.P. The Build

Hi All

So now that our day of Deadzone is done, (and a great day it was, a cracking game which is ideal for a group day letting, everyone play several games), it's time for my next project; my Imperial Knight!
Firstly it's a really nice kit, easy to build and goes together nicely, I'd originally intended to magnetise many of the parts so as to give me the flexibility of main weapon options and also to have a model which was easy to transport but was held solidly together on the table, alas it has not come to pass because none of the joints between arms/body or body/legs lend themselves to the placement of magnets, I've not tried magnets before and I want my first attempt to be on a model that does lend itself easily. As for the possibility of using magnets to allow swapping out of the main weapon, that also proved impractical for two reasons; the two variants both have different power feeds that connect to a common point but the Thermal cannon feed originates from a piece which is hidden inside the main body of the gun and so cannot be removed, also the battle cannon ammo pack is hollow and so would need extensive remodelling to provide an anchor point for the magnet. In short I decided it was too much work for a first attempt and I've settled on the Thermal Cannon and I will fix the torso to the legs but leave the arms separate as they have a nice twist and lock connection to the torso.With this set up the model will fit snugly in a figure case.

So on to the model itself, I've built all the sub-assemblies and the next step will be to undercoat them.
The model will be fielded almost exclusively alongside my Space Marines, the Thunderbolts who feature a rock and snow theme on the basing. The Knight is a big imposing model anyway but I wanted it to be more so, originally I'd had the idea that I would model it stepping up onto a snow covered rocky outcrop, however the legs are moulded as a rigid piece for their entire length so no convenient knee joint, I looked at the knee with a view to cutting and reposing but the mould has no material to play with and so I would have needed to sculpt the whole knee section which is beyond my sculpting talents, the last thing I wanted was to give my beautiful model a gimpy leg!! I settled on mounting the model on a large rock outcrop, thus raising it even higher over it's foul enemies! The rock is modelled from thin sheets of balsa glued together and held with elastic bands overnight, once dry I cut away at it to create the broken and eroded shape, the layers give the appearance of a slate outcrop. Then an all over coat of thinned PVA to seal the balsa. Once dry I glued the legs sub-assembly in place and then I applied the rocks, gravel and then sand in stages letting each stage fully dry before the next. One benefit of using balsa instead of sculpting from a modelling clay is the base is very light so I didn't need to be too concerned over the bond between the models feet and the rocks.
Here's pics of the base prior to undercoating...

You'll notice I haven't attached the shin guards or the crotch banner as these will be painted separately and attached at the end.

In total I'll be painting the model in 12 pieces, firstly to break up the monotony of painting very large areas at a time and secondly to minimise the amount of areas which are hard to reach.

Painting pieces like the banner and the shoulder guards will also be easier as I'll be attempting some freehand work on the Knights heraldry, he's going to be a freeblade, I'm still working on the design for his heraldry.
The other technique I'll be trying for the first time is OSL, which I'll be using on the eye lenses and the face mask.

That's it for now, more to come over the next few weeks....

Bluddtoof

Dread-full December, Thunderbolts Dreadnoughts.

Hi All

Continuing with the Dread-full December theme, here are the rest of my Marine Dreadnoughts. Along with my new Contemptor these make up my 9 strong Ancients Assault Force.
Here's piccies of them all;

With Plasma Cannon;

With Quad Autocannon;

With Lascannon;

With Assault Cannon;

Fire Support;

With Multi-melta;

Ironclad with Chainfist;

Ironclad with Seismic Hammer conversion and Hurricane Bolters;

And finally the Contemptor;

And all 9 together;

As you can tell I like Dreadnoughts, I plan to build a Mortis pattern Contemptor too in the future, probably with Quad Lascannons and I have the remains of an old metal venerable left after all my recent conversion work, he'll get some new arms when I've decided what I want him to have.
As I've been touching up and converting these models recently it's become apparent how much my painting style has changed over the years since I started the Thunderbolts, how much I've improved but also how marked the changes in the GW paint range have been. Originally I used Ice Blue, now I use Lothern Blue, I'm carefully nursing my last bottle of Dark Angels Green because its' replacement; Caliban Green is totally different, when mixed with white, for highlights, it produces a much greyer tone. On the other hand Ceramite White is far superior to Skull White, giving better opacity and coverage and a much brighter finish. The brass has changed from the original Dwarf Bronze through Brazen Brass to a newer Dwarf Bronze and back to a newer Brazen Brass and is now the new Brass Scorpion. Don't even get me started on red! Suffice to say I'm now using the 3 new shades of red in layers, most notably on my Techmarines all of whom are either new builds or were stripped and repainted recently in the new reds.
So that's it for now. I'll be posting some pics of my existing Ork walkers soon as part of Dread-full December.

Bluddtoof

Dread-full December, Thunderbolts Relic Contemptor Dreadnought, Finished.

Hi All

Finished finally, it's only been 2 years since I bought this kit. Thank crunchy for Dread-full December! It gave me incentive to get it done.
Really enjoyed painting it in the end, greatly helped by ceramite white being much better than the old skull white; I only needed 2 coats whereas I would have needed at least 3 or 4 with skull white.
So without further ado here's some piccies of the finished Contemptor...

Next I'll be posting some pics of my existing and recently rearmed Dreads which form my ever expanding Ancients Assault Force.

Bluddtoof

Dread-full December, Thunderbolts Relic Contemptor Dreadnought, Nearly There.

Hi All

A bit more progress on my Contemptor, and I've now done the first coat of white. There's a lot of it on this model. With my Thunderbolts I use white to represent rank and veteran status; the higher a models rank within the chapter the more prevalent white plating will be in his armour and accoutrements. You don't get much more veteran or respected than a pre-heresy Contemptor dreadnought. The pilot may be only a few hundred to a thousand years old but the suit itself is 10,000 years old! That means lots of white!
So with a little luck one more coat of white, a little finishing and the base and this little beauty should be done.
Here's a few piccies of the w.i.p.....

Bluddtoof