The Opus: 28 February 2018

Painted the gold in, drybrushed the whole thing gunmetal, and washed the gold with brown. I also washed the various exhausts and jets with brown, purple and blue to simulate heat discoloration.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 27 February 2018

I dunno how people manage to get hours of work in on weeknights; by the time I've got home, cooked dinner, cleaned up there isn't much evening left. But, even so, I managed to do some pin-washing black lining done on the Opus.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 26 February 2018

Another weeknight, and not much done. I primed and painted the Opus - black and then gunmetal.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 25 February 2018

I completed the Opus! For full details of the build and conversion, see this blog post on my other blog.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 24 February 2018

For it being a Saturday, I got very little done - I just assembled some weapons for the Opus.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 23 February 2018

Seriously, I have got to write the long post explaining how I did this - I have dozens of pictures of it.

Although not too many of tonight's work. It was supposed to be RPG night, but one of the players cried off. So, I spent time on the Opus. Got the final external hull plates in place (there is about an acre of plasticard sheeting in this thing in one way or another) and started to fit the weapons, control surfaces and so forth to it.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 22 February 2018

More work on The Opus - in fact, a lot of werk. The front compartment is in place and the whole thing looks balanced, reasonable, and not completely like two different kits smashed together by a five-year old playing with action figures!

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 21 February 2018

Did a fair bit of work on The Opus this evening - I boldly cut the Corvus up and widened it with some plasticard, adding a third engine in. The above picture shows where I got to - but I do plan to create a specific blog post on my other blog detailing exactly what I did.

=][= Danforth Laertes

The Opus: 20 February 2018

So this is a project inspired by a number of things. First off, it is supposed to represent the personal transport of my namesake character, Inquisitor Danforth Laertes of the Ordo Hereticus. The Deathwatch Corvus Blackstar was an obvious starting point for it, but I'd read in many places how the craft seemed underscaled for Marines (especially the larger Deathwatch figures). It did not look as if it could transport a squad (although that is a common complaint levelled against many GW transports).

So, I wanted to extend the troop bay. I really like the angled assault ramp look, and the Space Wolf Stormwolf had that on a flier. So, I bought some Stormwolf bits and the Corvus kit from eBay. The bits arrived a while ago, and the Corvus arrived tonight.

I wasted no time in cutting parts out and holding them up against each other, just to see how they fitted. And after a fair bit of worrying I think I am pretty confident I can put an extended troop bay with the angled assault ramp on the Corvus.

This will be a pretty in-depth project and so, while I will be recording that I've done something on this blog, the details of what I have done will probably appear on my other blog, devoted to Danforth's celibate girlfriends and surrogate family, the Order of Our Crystal Lady of the 'Dust Zone of Ophelia VII . . .

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 19 February 2018

All the little scales are completed! I also used some gesso / PVA / plaster mix and paper towel as papier mache to protect the polystyrene from spray. The only thing she needs now (before priming and checking for gaps etc.) is the chainmail on her left arm.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 18 February 2018

I'd had enough of scales, and so I grabbed a bunch of Milliput and some expanded polystyrene and worked on making the base she is standing on look more like a mountain peak.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 17 February 2018

I started to tackle the scales on the additional piece of tail - there are so, so, so many of them! And the angle of this picture is a cheat because it hides the big blank space behind her leg.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Arbites Shoulder Pads: 16 February 2018

Finally finished cutting out and gluing on shoulder pads! There is some excuse for not much work done today as Friday night is my 40K RPG night.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Arbites Shoulder Pads: 15 February 2018

More of the same as yesterday; I cut out many more shoulder pads from the "log" and glued them in place. The squad of 20 is nearly done!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Arbites Shoulder Pad: 14 Febraury 2018

Alright! Such a lot of hobby! I cut shoulder pads off the "log" I made yesterday and glued them onto the Arbites (one is shown above) and, once I'd decided I liked how it looked, made a longer "log" to make the rest of the shoulder pads.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Small Bits of Plasticard: 13 February 2018

So the start of a series of blog posts where I document very, very little work as I had little time and was feeling really tired and drained! For the 13th . . . I glued a handful of pieces of plasticard onto things! Woo! Go me!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 12 February 2018

Some more work on the colossal statue; the armor on the right arm and the scorpion tail stinging her to the heart ... completely changing the dynamic of the piece!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 11 February 2018

More work on Verity - she continues apace! I got all the work on her below the waist done - tassets and lamed armor and even an undersuit of chainmail. I created a gorget using a very simple technique; a wide-bore tube of plasticard cut into a wedge and fitted around her neck! I put some piping to join the bustier to the gorget - when painted (and when an undersuit of chain is put in place on the upper arms) her upper chest will look like armor panels. But, right now, it kind of looks like she is wearing some sort of kinky dominatrix costume . . .

I've started work on the upper arm armor; again, pointed lames with piping. I am a glutton for punishment.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 10 February 2018

More work on the colossal statue - it is really coming along. I did some more work on the leg armor here (the piping on each individual lame is what takes the time). I also created some cloth tabards, front and back, and made the basic structure of the tail wrapping around her leg. For this, I used a 50/50 mix of Green Stuff and standard Milliput. I really like this mixture - it is very sticky initially, but quickly loses its "tack", is easy to sculpt, responds well to water and sets rock solid. It avoids many of the problems its two "parents" have and doesn't seem to have any serious additional problems.

You can also see (in the foreground of the lower picture) the laminated tassets I will attach over the hips. I used a technique I have used before to make curved shapes; very thin plasticard glued together and taped around a form. Because the layers are laminated together, they hold the curve. Putting the piping on those is going to be fun!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 9 February 2018

More work done on the statue of Verity - I finished off her leg armor and did some putty work elsewhere. After spending time smoothing out the joint on her neck, I now realize she needs a gorget made, so that was sort of a waste of time  . . .

=][= Danforth Laertes

Sisters of Battle: 8 February 2018

Some of the Sisters after their Green Stuff bath. These oxidized heavily - I don't know why these did but others did not. It does not seem to have affected the texture of the surface or lost any detail. I cleaned them of flash and glued the backpacks on - they were in a pretty sorry state when it came to cleaning them up.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Sisters of Battle Tank: 7 February 2018

Another tank this evening - same deal as yesterday, TBH.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Sister of Battle Tank: 6 February 2018

Some months ago, I bought a big lot of Sisters of Battle on eBay. The metal models, after a bath in Green Stuff, cleaned up nicely but the tanks were much more beat-up. They'd been assembled with superglue (with globs of it leaking out of the seams), painted with thick paint and had delicate pieces broken during play or transport.

The Green Stuff scrubbed them fairly clean, but they still had the other problems. So, I scrapped and sanded and filed and cut and replaced the exhausts and glued on some Sisters of Battle iconography. The turret still needs work, but that is all metal and it will clean up easily.

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 5 February 2018

Starting to run really low on plastic glue (the Plastruct stuff is awesome, but when you get down to the last quarter inch it turns into a kind of syrup . . .) and who was I trying to fool when I thought putting piping on the armor lames was a good idea?

Work for tomorrow may be something that does not involve plastic glue. Not sure what . . .

=][= Danforth Laertes

Colossal Statue: 4 February 2018

Another project which has been languishing for nearly a year now, although it has been languishing on the workbench in the basement rather than my office desk. A colossal statue of Saint Verity, the foundress and patroness of my Sister of Battle Order. As can be seen, I did the major assembly several months ago and then it just sat there untouched . . . story of my hobby life!

The statue is supposed to show a woman wearing the armor of the Emperor's household during the Great Crusade; obviously, there is no official depiction of such a thing so I am taking cues from both the Custodians and the Sisters of Silence (who seem to report directly to the Emperor). The base of the model is a Wonder Woman figure (whose lamed vambraces and eagle plastron are quite appropriate) with various plasticard and putty appliances. I'm going for the "pointed lames" look of the Sisters of Silence thigh armor.

I'd put this off because it was going to be such a bother and a faff . . . but it really isn't that difficult. You just need to knuckle down and do something!

=][= Danforth Laertes

Arbites Completed: 3 February 2018

A Saturday afternoon where I could spend a fair bit of time on the hobby. I finished up the TRV commander (giving her arms and shoulder pads), completed the remaining 5 . . . constables, I suppose? and built the second horsewoman with a nightstick in her hand and a slung shotgun.

These models are as complete as I can get them right now - I am waiting on delivery of some Evergreen channel to make left shoulder pads and I need to cast a bunch of fiddly little equipment pieces (one of the most visually interesting elements of police officers is the sheer amount of equipment they carry). But the major assembly is complete.

=][= Danforth Laertes

TRV Commander: 2 February 2018

Friday is RPG night (a home-brew 40K system wherein the characters are going to have to face-down the Void Dragon . . .) and so I had very, very little time to do any hobby. All I managed was to glue the head of the TRV commander into place on her torso . . .

=][= Danforth Laertes

Arbite TRV Gunner: 1 February 2018

More work done on the Arbites (full disclosure; they have been sitting as unrelated components in bags and on sprues on my workbench - as in; woodworking / DIY workbench, not hobby bench - in the basement for a year. That is why I am making such an effort to get the squad assembled and done.)

I made up a little gunner to go in the turret - she is magnetized in place for ease of painting, and because I have so many magnets :) I also put some doors on the front hatch and will make a commander peering out of it.

=][= Danforth Laertes