Showing posts with label Excidium Rex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Excidium Rex. Show all posts

Tuesday 14 April 2020

Excidium Rex Walks and House Raven Rolls out!

Warhound Titan Excidium Rex


I started working on this Warhound over a year ago and managed to get him 'table ready' for the 2019 UK TOC Walk, but felt a little ashamed that I had to rock up with an unfinished model in play.  Well, I have now eliminated that shame waith a hail of bullets and plasma, for Excidium Rex is finally complete!
Bracing itself with one enormous foot on a defence wall, Excidium Rex scans the battlefield for prey...

To set him apart from his pack-mate Fulgur Manus, I stripped his carapace of detail then sectioned off an area on each side where I could add some nice unique designs like this chequerboard pattern with kill markings
On this side a large Aquila and the unique registration number of this engine
The main carapace proudly displays the old-school Legio Metalica emblem as well as a House Raven crest honouring the Legio's closest ally 
As with my other two titans, I applied a large amount of weathering to the armour plating.  As I hand paint everything, this took some time!
A close up of the Vulcan Mega Bolter where you can see the symbols I applied on the top edge to add some variation
I was very pleased with the heat staining on the barrel of the Plasma Blastgun
I added some white and red symbols to this large black plate to make it stand out against the extremely bright glowing green plasma cells
I like that he looks quite menacing, peering over the wall!
I added some stripes to the crotch plate, but kept the familiar colour scheme.  The black cogs running down the centre stripe give just enough detail without overwhelming it
I deliberately reversed the shin pad colours on Excidium Rex so that he and Fulgur Manus are like the Yin and Yang of Warhounds - unique, but still clearly linked
I used some of the new Legio Metalica symbols which were recently released for Adeptus Titanicus on Excidium Rex's head.  Although they're for smaller scale models, I think they work well on his smaller plates!
Again, a new symbol can be seen on this side of his face plating
One of my favourite features of this titan are the Vulcan Mega Bolter shell casings scattered all over the floor at his feet.  Each shell was hand made with styrene sheet and tubing. I actually measured the barrel and ejection port to make sure they were perfectly in scale!
A lot of people don't base their titans, but I do as I like to add to the story of the finished piece - the heavy bases also mean that they're impossible  to knock over!
And here is the completed Warhound pack in all it's titanic glory!
The only problem with such huge bases is the fact that you need an enormous box for transportation and storage!
As a treat for a good little puppy, I added one of the new transfers to Fulgur Manus' head plate as well
Metalica and Raven Walk as one

House Raven Dice Tower - Ready to Roll!

Most gamers know the sinking feeling which accompanies the sight of a handful of dice disappearing over the edge of a table.  I've used many different dice trays in the past, but have always wanted a proper dice tower.

Well, thanks to the additional spare time I've had over Easter (and being stuck in the house because of lockdown), I finally got round to making one of my very own!

I modelled it on the Keep Inviolate symbol from my Knight Raven Household - Unfortunately I didn't document the build process, but I'll give you a brief summary.

I sketched out the design and made some rough measurements for the parts I'd need.  I marked these out on some 4mm thick Foamex board then cut out the components with a knife and steel ruler.

Foamex is really easy to cut at an angle and can also be sanded to make sure that all of the joins fit flush. It may look like a straightforward shape, but this tower tapers and has a lot of awkward angles. I cut the angles by eye after a bit of test fitting.  Foamex is quite forgiving and is easily filled, so mistakes are not as much of an issue as with some other materials such as styrene.

The other main reason I have started using foamex is that it can be quickly assembled with superglue. Most lightweight materials such as extruded foam melt, but foamex actually soaks up the glue and dries almost immediately without melting or deforming!

No more scrabbling on the floor for me!
I added transparent windows to the front in order to mimic the Keep Inviolate's iconic design
The studs around the tower were plastic half pearl craft stickers which were glued in place
The rear of the tower - the 'detail' on the back was made with offcuts and actually caps off the styrene tubing which runs through the tower
I kept the tower sides fairly simple, but added House Raven iconography to the tray walls
The styrene bars, walls and slopes inside the tower were painted to look like weathered steel
I stencilled the House Raven lightning symbol into the tray bottom. The concrete texture was added by pressing a ball of aluminium foil into the Foamex
ROLL OUT!

On the horizon...

In a previous post, I showed my TOC Walk progress list - here's how it looks now...

Venator Light Titan Maniple:
Reaver Titan - 100% complete
Warhound Titan - 100% complete
Warhound Titan - 100% complete

Acastus Knight banner:
Asterius - 100% complete
Porphyrion - 100% complete

Cerastus Knight Banner:
Lancer - 100% complete
Lancer - 100% complete
Lancer - 0% complete (Optional)
Acheron - 0% complete (Optional)

Questoris Knight Banner:
Knight Errant - 100% complete
Knight Preceptor - 75% complete
Knight Paladin - 50% complete
Knight Gallant - 50% complete
Knight Crusader - 50% complete
Knight Warden - 50% complete

WIP House Raven Knight Preceptor



Monday 1 July 2019

Titan Owner's Club UK Walk 2019 event

Having spent months in preparation, I finally got to attend the Titan Owner's Club UK Walk 2019 over the weekend and it was amazing!

There were 60+ Titan class engines and a similar number of knights in play over the weekend and it all took place over an absolutely massive 52 foot map crammed with amazing terrain built by the ToC organisers!

I didn't take a huge amount of pictures as I was too busy trying to survive against the Traitor legions and their heretical Knightly allies!  The photos I did take are below, to give you a flavour of my weekend experience.  I'll post some more detailed images of my Warhound Titans once I've applied the finishing touches.

The ToC hired a professional photographer who took literally hundreds of photos on the day, so if you want to see more (and why wouldn't you?!), keep an eye on the Titan Owner's Club website (http://titanownersclub.blogspot.com/) over the next couple of weeks!


Part of the amazing battlefield before deployment
There was a photo op before the battle began...
...and it was a magnificent sight to behold!
My Legio Metalica engines supported by a trio of knights ready for war!
Warhounds Fulgur Manus and Excidium Rex stride out to flank the Legio Fureans engines
While Ferrum Dominus takes up a strong central position in our quadrant to provide supporting fire
  
Lyden's Fureans Reavers smash their way through tank sized containers with scant regard for the Emperor's cargo!


Lyden's beautiful (and absolutely deadly) Warbringer ready to blast us to smithereens!

My view of the rest of the field...
The loyalist engines surged forward to overwhelm the traitor Legions, eventually carrying the day; but at great cost...

I just couldn't let the weekend pass without pretending to be Godzilla! :)


Thanks again to the ToC organisers for a spectacular event!  Helpful, friendly and really accommodating, they really were the stars of the weekend!  I can't wait for next year...