Librarian Conversion, part 2

So I think it's finally done, AND I've got pictures to show for it.  I think I've got about 30 hours into this particular model between conversions and paint, plus a few more for gluing the head and scythe blade back on several times *chuckle*

And with his command squad:

And, finally the army transport case, opened...

Army Transport

So thanks to my wonderful girlfriend (yes, she gets referred to that way here a lot, but she IS my primary enabler :) ) my army now has better luggage than I do.

http://www.saboldesigns.net/division.html

I currently have all the foam from my citadel cases in it, which works pretty well, but will hopefully be obtaining the Sabol trays over the winter.

Pics of this, and of my Librarian conversion, soon, possibly over the weekend.

Librarian Conversion, part 1

So I got inspired looking at all the neat stuff in the GW locations in the UK.

I started working on a librarian in power armor, and the head of his force weapon fell off when I opened his blister... that gave me the idea to replace it.  I checked my bits and I didn't have any weapons that would work, so my next thought was "scythe".  So, having just started building a few fine cast models, I had some scrap resin around.  I then discovered it's really pleasant to carve (going back to my experience in wood carving when I was a kid)... so he now has a scythe.

I'm next looking for a pair of wings for him.  Not sure if I want to use Sanguinary Guard wings because I don't want to hit the Blood Angels button, so I might try to get the feathered variety of Dark Eldar Scourge wings... or maybe Reaper angel wings... we'll see what I can find I guess.  I'm really going for the "Angel of Death" look on this model, and it's my first full blown conversion on a metal model to boot.  I'm showing him below.  Not my best photo, but the scythe is nicely visible.  I know some people might think the blade is a little small, but I don't want him looking like Mortarion either.

Leicester and Nottingham GW stores, and Warhammer World

My sister got married in Leicester UK last week, so for I left North America for the first time to go to what turned out to be an incredible wedding and a great time.  While I was there, I figured I'd visit some of the GamesWorkshop locations.  I forgot my camera, but luckily, my father had his.

I made a couple discoveries.  My sister's place, as well as the apartment my family stayed in, was within an easy walk of the Leicester GW store.  I've never been to a GW store in the US, I think the closest one is in Maryland or something, so that in its self was an experience.  I don't think I saw any models I'd never seen in a store before, but I've never seen them all in one place either.  (Added plus, NO Magic cards and the children that seem to go with them in too many stores).

The other discovery was that the Nottingham store, which is in the center of Nottingham, maybe a 10 minute walk from Nottingham Castle, is not the main or best thing to see GW-wise, in Nottingham.  On the outskirts of Nottingham, in a section of the city called Lenton, is the entire GW facility, design, production, sales, and even a bar done up as a dwarven tavern.

I love the stores... the GW staff was nice, interested in the customers, and ironically, the guy in the Nottingham store who gave me the address for Warhammer World was actually from Indiana (it's also worth noting that his wife works in the design department, which I thought was cool).  I really enjoyed the experience of spending time in the two retail stores (probably an hour total in Leicester and maybe 30 minutes in Nottingham), but the experience of going to Warhammer World was just, well, an experience.  I had a good time and I was SO thrilled to be able to see their museum-quality displays of painted models, the life-sized Space Marine that I've found out online must have been or GamesDay 09 and the game room.  The terrain is FANTASTIC.  My dad went to Nottingham with me and even he was impressed with the displays and gaming tables.  Here are a few pictures - hopefully I'll get some more of them cleaned up enough to post soon.  (Oh, and for the record, having seen a painted Contemptor in person, and gotten to hold the unassembled model... I'll DEFINITELY be getting one when I can afford it.

Display and Traveling

So I got my hands on an old book shelf with 4 shelves (5 including the top) that I'm using to display my army in the living room.  It works pretty well.  By the end of the day I should be able to have about 3/4 of my space marines and vehicles on display and I'm pretty pleased with how they look so far (more pictures may take a little while for the reasons below)

I leave for England tomorrow evening.  My sister's getting married in Leicester, where she's been living while getting her Masters degree, and will probably stay for at least a few years with her soon-to-be-husband.  Because I'm such a nerd, while I'm there I'm going to go to the GW headquarters an hour or so from there in Nottingham while I'm there, and I'm stupidly hyped about it.

So, I'll probably post more in a week or so, unless I can get online in the UK after I visit GW.

A few more pictures

I was able to get a few more pictures done.  We'll start with my favorite tank - Lucia's Tear - I was feeling creative the day I started it, so it's got a unique paint job, which fits with its intended role as sort of a centerpiece of the army.  I may re-work the sponsons soon - that's the only paint on the tank I'm not happy with.

Next, I've got a Captain in Terminator Armor, who'll probably take the place of the previous model I was using for the Master of the Deathwing.  He still needs basing, but other than that I think he came out pretty well.

And finally, for this post at least, we have my Legion of the Damned models.  I dig the story, and love the models, so even though they're not included in the Dark Angels codex I painted a squad of the Legion.  I'm intending them as either a 5 man Company Veteran's Squad to use with the DA codex, or an excuse to occasionally run a base Astartes army.  A Couple of them still need their eyes/lenses painted... I had been thinking the armor could use some highlights or gloss, but I kind of like the flat, burned look on them for their theme and all.

Pictures (obviously, pic heavy)

So, as requested I took another shot at getting some pictures of my army, this time with white floor and background, sort of.  I tried using as much ambient light as I could, without flash this time, so we'll see how they came out.  One of these days I'm going to build a piece of terrain big enough to use for photos, but until then, this is probably the best I'm going to do with what I have.

First photo is my Land Raider Crusader, dubbed Contempt for the quote "My armor is contempt"

The next two photos are circa 1993 Rhino I kitbashed with some new parts because of some damage done while in the possession of a previous owner.  The Rhino hasn't been named yet, but bears the markings of the 1st Tactical Squad - the grey helmets that I posted about very early on.  In the second picture you can see awards dangling off the back of the tank - those are partly painted, but have no writing on them yet.  Once I've gotten better at photographing my models I'll try to get more of that posted.

Next, we have a Deathwing Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher done in my "Grey Man" color scheme, which I've switched most of my terminators to at this point.

and some more Deathwing:

Yes, that's an old-school librarian in the background.  I picked up a couple of them and a captain earlier this year on the extreme cheap earlier in the year on ebay.  I'm still working on the fluff as to why librarian armor is in a standard Deathwing Squad, but I think it will probably work out to this is part of a librarian's training before they're allowed to lead.

Next we see the 6th Tactical Squad with their Razorback named "Faith" (for the quote "Faith is my shield".

Below is the SM Captain that is almost done being painted, with the Command Squad that is intended to be personalized to work with the Master of the Deathwing when I don't blow the points on upgrading a term squad for him (hence the grey paint on the apoth.).  I also have a Champion of the Emperor model done up as my Company Champion for this Command Squad.  I may eventually find a shield cool enough to attach to him to make him truly WYSIWYG.

And... for the final picture of this post, a shot of as much of the army is at least moderately painted to-date, on my hobby table.

Critiques are welcome, but please be gentle.