Wednesday 9 May 2018

Tantalus Scratch Build

Tantalus Scratch Build

Today I wanted to share the progress I've made with my Drukhari Tantalus scratch build.  Although it's not the most complex or ground-breaking project I've ever started, the sweeping curves and unusual shapes have made this a unique challenge!

Previously on Kaiju Country...

In a previous post, I showed a picture of my Tantalus in its infancy.  Here's the picture again just in case you missed it!


Tantalus early WIP

Dark Eldar Cadillac


The Tantalus has now moved on considerably and is starting to look (in my opinion!) like it deserves to stand next to the excellent Forge World kit.


You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a decent top down shot of a Tantalus for reference...



Every Drukhari Caddy needs a formidable thruster array...


1. The cost of doing business

Although price is not the main driver for me when it comes to scratch building, I do like to keep my costs low as I'm not a crazy person with more money than hair follicles.

Always cost up the build in advance, taking into account the components you'll need and buying full kits rather than getting everything from a bits store as this normally works out more expensive.

You have to factor in the added value of extra leftover components as well!  I do use bits stores, but very sparingly...

2. Eyeballing Sprues

This is such an important stage for me in any new build project; one which I believe is vastly underrated!  It's now even easier to view components in isolation via the official GW site or a bits vendor.  I'd seriously consider it, especially if you think you'll need several kits.

With this build in particular, I took a lot of time over reviewing components before I settled on the parts I'd use to construct this beast.  This allowed me to paint a picture in my mind of how the finished piece might fit together with existing components and potentially cut out a lot of time consuming styrene and sculpting work.

If you're a complete nerd like me, you can even compare component sizes which tend to be on one of a few standard sprue sizes in order to ensure that the parts will match up when you start the build.

Examining sprues may sound dull, but there are several benefits.  For starters, it will give you ideas and if you look outside of your immediate range, you may also find some 'bridging' parts which remove annoying logistical problems in a tight build like this one.

You have to look past what the sprue components are, to what they could be.  Like when Simba looks up into the clouds and instead of rolling cumulonimbus, he actually sees the departed relative which he effectively led to his death.  (I suppose it's not really like that at all...)

For instance, the keen eyed hobby beavers amongst you will have noticed that I used some of the Dark Elf Cauldron of Blood components in this build.  Although they required a lot of modification, I knew from viewing the sprues in advance that the fit would be 'about right'.


Keen Eyed Hobby Beaver.  So much more terrifying than anyone expected...

3. Dry fitting

Endless dry fitting is often key to getting a coherent result when planning a big conversion.

I like to snip all of the key components from their sprues after sniffing up all of the 'new model' smell from the freshly opened box.  It's so much better than pencil case, but not quite as good as book.  What?  Nobody else compares new thing smells?!  Moving swiftly on...

Tacking things together with putty, small clamps, rubber bands or simply propping things up together then taking a few pictures for reference helps immensely once you're knife and glue deep into the build phase...

I feel like the beaver is watching me now.

4. Measure twice, cut once...

As you can see from the above pictures, the Tantalus is constructed around a few core kits; the step section, platform and struts from the Cauldron of Blood and two complete Raider kits (I did also purchase a couple of extra Raider engine nozzles and boarding planks).

In order to construct the extremely long hull, I knew I'd need to dissect the Raiders in a couple of key places in order to cater for the hull extension that I'd need to build.

It's an obvious point, but one that's worth mentioning; measure out what you're going to do before you cut components so that you can make sure it's the right cut to make.  A wise man once said; "It's easier to double check something than have to stick the bloody kit back together!"  I think it was Socrates or something...

In order to make the most economical use of the kits (and save work later) I made sure that the hull cuts I made did not sacrifice anything in terms of wastage.  The way to do this is... take your time and be careful.  I learned this while nursing bloody stumps.

In order to ensure I had the right dimensions, I made the Raider cuts then used graph paper to measure out a template for the hull extension - I measured the parts and laid them over the graph paper to ensure an exact fit.

I used two different styrene depths so that I could dictate the thickness of the skeleton and match up the height of the deck with the raiders.  It also allowed me to select the correct thickness and shape to slot into both ends of the Raider hulls to provide linear strength to this very lengthy model!

His eyes... and the teeth... *shiver*

5. Improvise

Improvising is not for everyone, but it is a key ingredient for most scratch builds.  Don't wing it on the measurements, but do keep a nice tray of bits next to you so that you can have a rifle around for something to fill in a gap or add a little flare to the project.  The Kurnoth Hunter scythe blades were a good example of this as they made awesome banister ends for the intricate stair case!

If I were to build this all over again (WHICH I WON'T!), I would probably have thought better of adding spikey parts like the scythe blades until the detailing stage (which I haven't quite arrived at yet...) as they can be equal parts delicate and very adept at causing impromptu puncture wounds.

Anyway, that's it for now - I'll post an update once I've completed the main hull build and sail assembly, which is proving to be a real head scratcher!

Just remember the golden rule of scratch building...

 

....THE GOD DAMN BEAVER IS WATCHING YOU!!!

 
 

Wednesday 2 May 2018

Simplicity is the key

Sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in a complicated project and overwork it, ending up with a contrived mess that ultimately might have worked out better if you hadn't tried to reinvent the wheel.

And while it is nice to add something special to your miniature projects, I sometimes find that going for a very simple result often works out best!

To demonstrate this, I'd like to share some pictures of one of my most recent projects - a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Age of Sigmar Griffon Griffin Giant Leopeagle (TM).

Fishmaid riding Leopeagle.  A thing of beauty...

Having had nightmares after visualising the image above, I actually decided that I wanted to make a Griffon without a rider so that he could be used as a wandering monster and a display piece.

This seemed like it would be an easy challenge until I got hold of the kit and realised how much of the armour and reigns were integrated into the creature's components!

What followed was an exercise in learning how to sculpt feathers and deciding that I'd rather not have to do it ever again.  Like, ever.  Until I remembered that I had the Island of Blood Griffon which I intended to complete the same exercise with in order to create a 'family' of Griffons to play themed games with.  Totally keeping it all simple...

Anyway; back on the original subject, after I'd finally completed embedding a life long aversion to sculpting avian plumage, I set to painting my Daddy Griffon and was very pleased with the final results.


 I'll update you on my progress with the Isle of Blood Griffon in a future post but for now; thanks for reading!

Tuesday 1 May 2018

The Return to Commorragh...

Seeds of Evil


Greetings and salutations!

Today I want to talk about my Dark Eldar Haemonculus Coven.  I built a small number of them some time ago for a one off event that I ran called the Blood Games which was a sort of gladiatorial games set in Commorragh.

With the release of the new Dark Eldar / Drukhari Codex, I thought I'd have a little ramble about my thoughts on the Codex and share some images of how I'm reviving the force.

My observations on the Codex are limited mainly to the Coven units and shouldn't really be taken as having any battlefield value as quite frankly, my tactical genius extends only as far as making a themed army that looks great as it's wiped off the table!

My approach to battle and regard for my men's safety was recently likened to Wellington...


"An extraordinary affair. I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them..."
WARNING!!
If you don't like your own fingers then Drukhari are for you.  Be safe in the knowledge that should you ever require a lethal weapon to defend your home, look no further than a Dark Eldar Raider...


The Drukhari Codex

Although I understand why the Indexes were produced, I still found that they sucked the life out of the armies, leaving them as dry and lifeless husks.  Much like the effect of a hot summer on the British.

Well, I was extremely pleased to see that GW have restored not only the former glory of the Drukhari, but also breathed some new life into them as well.  Where the Indexes reduced the races to very bland variations of the same core troops, the Codexes have restored what was lost, with the individual qualities of the Dark Eldar coming back to the fore.

The Drukhari are once again a fragile but deadly force with a very distinct style of play.  Much like a scalpel, they need to be used with precision and planning to get the best results.  Which is why when I play them, they tend to get bludgeoned to death by thunder hammers on turn 2 after being poorly positioned!

Having said that, they are an absolute joy to play with in 8th edition.  The new strategems provide really useful benefits which you can use in lots of different situations rather than requiring a contrived and overly complicated A-team style plan in order to use them...

Tau dementia is common - help your commander by placing him in familiar surroundings at just the right moment...

My favourite aspect of the new Codex is the fact that Incubi, Scourges and Mandrakes are now free agents, effectively allowing you to drop them into detachments without causing all of your other units to lose army traits and have some sort of existential / self-determination crisis mid-battle.



This free agent mechanic has led me to cast a slightly wider net when planning my Haemonculus Coven expansion.  As Covens traditionally don't do well against armoured targets (because it's hard to poison a land raider), I decided that I needed some mobile heavy weapons in order to dish out some anti-tank nastiness.  And to that end, I have created this bad boy...

Wrack Scourge with blaster and hideous humpy bone wings!
Eventually, he'll be part of a whole unit with two blasters and two haywire blasters. Tanks shall be nommed....

So what the hell have I been up to?!

As well as adding some more outlandish conversions, I've also been revisiting the original units and either touching up worn paint jobs or just expanding the units.  I have more planned for the force but it's mainly WIP at the moment.  My chosen Coven is The Hex...

Hex Then...

Utterly Grotesque
 

 Hex Now... 



 
 


Wrack Knight

And finally, I'd like to show you one of my more diabolical creations.  As usual, I started work on this some time ago and it's not finished yet although the new Codex has given me the foot up the arse I needed to get him painted!

In-game he's an Eldar Wraith Knight armed with a giant Husk blade (Wraith Knight Glaive), a Shadow Field (Scatter Shield) and Disintegrator Cannons instead of Eldar Starcannons as they cost the same and vary only slightly in their profile.

I played a game with him on Saturday and even though he doesn't benefit from any of the Codex rules, he's still an absolute beast!!

Concept Sketch
 
Magnus Body and Heavily modified Wraith Knight legs were the basis for this conversion...


Clearly having a dump
My hump, my hump, my lovely bony lumps
Slimmed down legs and reversed joints
...can we get ice-cream please dad?

Wrack for scale...
Building up the hump in layers was key to getting some nice detailing





First lick of paint! Plenty more work to do!
                   Just time for one last sneak peak of things to come...
Can you guess what it is yet?!