Sunday, January 31, 2010

Tervigon WIP 2

 

Here are some pics of the latest additions.  I added three birthing canals, a base, and egg sacks across the back and below.  I like the tentacle/vein across the one side, and need to add one to the other side.  I like the impotent looking little front claws which brings your attention to the bulk of the creature, and not its fighting ability.  The claws are ok, but I like the little talons better.  Hopefully when I get it painted, it will come together a little better.
Tervigon Part 1
Tervigon WIP done

Friday, January 29, 2010

Tervigon WIP

Here is my Tervigon.   He is built with the Carnifex kit.  I wanted the Tervigon to be more horizontal than standing upright.  I also wanted it to be a BIG bug.  So I made it about 1.5 cm wider, and taller.  I replaced the back legs with talons, and magnetized the front arms to use mawloc talons or the carnifex crushing claws.
I built jaw mandibles out of genestealer arms and extra spikey bits from the carnifex kit.
I also made new central chimneys out of 2, 3mm depth plasticard cut to size and carved with a dremel.
Next I built up a framework to support the green stuff out of sprue. 


Now I laid down a layer of greenstuff and will wait for it to dry before doing the final upper layer of armor.  
 
Now for the birthing canals and baby termagaunts.

tervigon part 2
Tervigon WIP done

Monday, January 25, 2010

Magnetize your Trygon Part 2

magnetize your trygon part 1Next I flattened the end of the mandible-claws, and drilled a hole in the end for another nail head.  I made sure it fit well, then green stuff and superglued the nail in.  I did the same for the Trygon and Mawloc mandible-claws.


For the tail, I thought that pins would work best.  I put two brass rods in the main part of the tail.  The most important thing is to get the pins absolutely parallel.  I also marked the tail sections with a sharpy to ensure I put the drill bit in the right direction.  With only one pin, the tail tended to spin.  Two kept them secure.

I finally wanted to magnetize the chestplate with the adrenal gland.  I measured down a bit from the premade hole and prepared another hole for another 1/8" x 1/32"small magnet. 

Next I measured the same distance and put a nail head in each chestplate.
I glued the arms for the trygon on.  I was looking for a 'turning' look, but am not real pleased with the arms.  Maybe I will reposition them.

Here is the completed Mawloc.

Trygon Prime

and Trygon

Now to paint the beast.  After putting him together, he may be my favorite model ever.  If GW keeps putting out this quality, they will have me hooked for years more.  Admitting adiction is the first step to recovery.

Magnetize your Trygon

I got my pre-ordered Trygon and decided I wanted options.  So magnets were the answer.  I have seen some other great magnetized Trygons since I did this one.  I wanted to keep mine as simple as possible, and glue as many parts on as I can.  I really don't like moving a model across the board and having parts fall off.  I started magnetizing the head with a 6mm x1.5mm disc magnet.  It is easier to mount the magnet into the neck piece BEFORE gluing the neck piece in.  I drilled out the hole with a drill bit that matched my magnet size. 

Next I drilled out the mounting spots for the mandible claws.  I used a 1/8" x 1/32" disc magnet for this and drilled the holes with a 1/8" drill bit.

 
Then wedge some greenstuff in the center of the two holes to help hold the magnets and glue one on each side.


The picture above also shows how I insert the magnets.  I put them on the end of my drill bit and then press them into the green stuff.  Other methods end up with me inevitably on my hands and knees looking for a tiny little magnet in the carpet that has made a run for it.

Next I put one of the larger 6mm x 1.5mm disc magnets in the brain pan on top of a pile of greenstuff to hold on the different head armors.  At this point, try on all the three different head armors to make sure the magnet or green stuff isn't in the way of the top of the head seating down all the way.  I usually use superglue on top of the greenstuff and then mold the greenstuff around the edges of the magnet to make sure it stays in place.

Before putting the greenstuff in the head armor, try your nail head to make sure it is short enough for the armor to seat all the way down.  When you are happy with the length of your nail, Put the greenstuff in the top of the head and push the head armor onto the lower head. I used some super glue between the nail and greenstuff again, molded it a little, and then pushed the head armor in place again.


At this point I reallized that the lower mandibles snapped into place pretty well and wouldn't need a magnet.  Sure the prime has a different tongue, but I don't want to magnetize every piece.  The mawloc tonge juts into the space between your magnets for the mandible claws, and so you need to try in the mawloc jaw to ensure it will fit when the green stuff sets up. Something like this.

Stay tuned for the next steps to keeping your options open for your Trygon/Prime/Mawloc.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Farseer and council on Jetbike

















Originaly I thought these guys would be a little overkill, and not fun to play against. After getting trashed a few times, I thought it was time for a hard hitting, lasting eldar unit. I saw Path of the Outcast's seer council and stole a lot of his ideas. I loved the upright seer council. His jetbike was a bit hard to copy, so I modified my own.
I cut the lower part of the bike and moved the wings/jets back. I also thought that the psychic eldar didn't need handlebars or footpegs. Those are for guardians, so I shaved them off. This way the council is in a much more regal upright position ready to deal out some pain. The bodies are dark elf, cold one riders as are most of the head parts. I put the cool dark elf helmet pieces on gaurdian heads to spruce them up a bit.
I am still undecided on the rooster tails. I think they work well to distinguish them from the other jetbikes in the army. I also can't decide which should be the farseer. Originaly I thought the one with the mace in his left hand and Yriel's spear in the right, but now I like Yriel's left hand guy. It looks like he is frying some poor marine's mind while he is flying. We'll see.

Storm Guardians with a bite










I like storm guardians. With the new Tyranid Codex coming out and the swarms that will obviously follow, I need some more storm guardians. I wanted to use the bodies of the dark elf corsairs, but ended up just using their arms and some heads. I need to use some more pistols, but like how they are coming so far.

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