Winged Nightmares - Corsair Vampire Squadron

May have slipped up a bit here - these guys were done some time ago (before the Titans) - however I seem to have forgotten to put the final post up for the trio of winged death.

The following three Vampires are part of the Corsair contingent, comprising of two Raiders (to transport 60 Corsairs) and a Hunter escort - just in case there's a tank or two that may present issues for the orbital assault.

Forming the base of the Vampire Hunter is a proper-f*&#ed Chaos Predator, making good use of brass rods, scenic smoke and missiles flowing from the undercarriage missile bays to support the weight of the Hunter. Both Raider are on 1"x12" thick acrylic rods that screw to the base and use guiding rods with magnets to lock the fuselage in place.

In the next couple of weeks they should be accompanied by a fighter/bomber wing - 16 regular flyers with another 4 in the winds to be completed over the next 12 months.

Harbingers of the Void - Twin Phantom Reapers

First up, Happy New Year to all :) hopefully each of you have your New Years resolutions all planed out with lots of Wargaming thrown in for good measure.

Steve has just sent an update for the two Forgeworld Phantoms, dubbed "Void Reapers" given their menacing appearance and general badarsery. With six of the nine Titans down, only the Armorcast remain, then around mid year the Super Heavy Grav Tanks will be seeking out their respective paint jobs.

The recent changes have been painting of all the gems to the blade colour to reflect a more "blazing" contrast that fits in theme with the army itself. Very much looking forward to seeing these bad boys flanking the Warlock Class Phantom Titan in the future.

Harbingers of the Void - Eldar Phantom Titans WIP

Steve has been hard at it, building up the layers on both Eldar Forgeworld Phantom Titans. While i'm still working out names for these two, and converting them into the Eldar tongue, they definitely have a menacing "reaper" quality to them. With the Hell Turkey being drawn into a charged D-Cannon bubble (with swarming missiles for good measure), and the Chaos Land Raider being sliced like bread... well, there is a whole lot of awesome happening cinematically speaking.

These images came in at the same time as Elliot's latest work on the Eldar Planetscape, of the former Dras'Volharr maiden world. There will be some collaboration in the terrain aspect, with Elliot creating the Webway gate structures and Steve painting them (plus building a giant resin airbrushed portal for the "activated" mode). There are definitely some good things coming in the next few months. In case you're wondering why the portal is so damned big, well I need to get a Phantom Titan through it somehow, no? On to the pretties!

And the latest shots of the Webway Gates;

In case you're all wondering what this is going to look like in the end, imagine something akin to the following;

Phantom Titan #1 - Chaos Land Raider Scenic Base

Steve spoils... and when he spoils, he does so with style. This is the latest update for the first Phantom Titan scenic base, just in case you were wondering - it's the one with the power glaive for whipping up a quick Chaos Coleslaw. This will be a quick one and I may write a little more soon about this update ;)

All your base are belong to us - Scenic bases

Since this whole project started, many different scenic resin bases have been in my sights to amplify the visual appeal of these awesome Eldar miniatures. I thought it was well due for a showcase of what has been used and where - just in case anyone out there is currently going through the same process of scenic base selection themselves!

Dragon Forge - USA based, I purchased three of the large 200x155mm slate wasteland resin bases for use on the Vampire class super heavy flyers. It was heavy and thick enough to drill and insert a decent flight stand to handle the weight of a Vampire, not to mention it sat nicely with the aesthetic of the planetscape currently being developed.

Ironhalo.net - A New Zealand company with a nice array of 150mm round bases, three different types were bought for mounting Revenant Titans and potentially Armorcast Towering Knight Destroyers. A mix of Alpine Crags, Desert Mesa and Valhalla were picked up, also keeping in theme with the other scenic bases. These weren't as thick as the Dragon Forge types, however still gave enough all round surface contact to keep a (small) Titan from tipping.

Secret Weapon Miniatures - Another well known USA based resin scenic company, I chose these guys for their varied assortment of 120x95mm oval flyer bases - each keeping in tune with the planetscape theme. As I had 20 flyers requiring mounting, each were purchased with a 5" flight stand and widget (available at a small added cost).

Bases 4 War - Based in the UK, these guys make some badarse Eldar themed bases. I had originally wanted to go the path of using these to base most of the Warhost, however the planetscape made it a little hard to justify for my purposes. While i've not yet purchased the Wraithlands scenic bases, I have plans on picking up a batch of the 40mm/60mm/120x95mm Oval types for my Wraithlords and Wraithknights in the very near future.

Fire ze Missiles! - Vampire Hunter Scenic Base

Back when the Hunter was being conceptualised, Steve and myself had been talking about how to mount the beast plus do something funky with a missile swarm - Robotech style (for those of you able to remember that era).

Little did I suspect Steve would combine both the swarmed missiles and mounting concept into one funky mess of madness. With the Chaos Predator acting as a scenic base anchor, copper rods were bent as struts which would be shrouded by smoke plumes. The final result? The beast looking like a seagul rapid firing turds of destruction at the hapless Predator underneath. On to the pretties.

Stay tuned, there are a couple of extra goodies on their way as finishing touches ;)

UPDATE: As requested, some WIP shots of the scenic base and uncoloured smoke plumes as it all took shape.

Titans - Six of one, half a dozen of the other

If I ever win the lottery, remind me to send Steve a cut. Spent a few hours cutting excess resin chunks from six Titans (two Phantoms and four Revenants - suddenly the old Armorcast ones seem more appealing).

While there is a second batch of Titans to go (Phantom/Warlock, Revenant, Towering Knight Destroyers, etc) which will be significantly easier to build, these guys are next in line to get a fantastic paint job from Steve at Third Fate Creations.

Each Phantom has its own pair of twin Revenants, so all up three Phantoms, one being a Warlock class, and six Revenants... Pulsar, Sonic Lance variants included. Speaking of Pulsars... if you ever wondered why you can't hide from a Revenant, its because they can shoot around corners.

I'm also starting to wonder if it would be cost effective for Forge World to cut the excess resin off and re-use it. Given the stuff I cut off amounted to half the weight and reduced the bag size by almost half.

I might also add these guys are going over with a Land Raider and Predator to be appropriately demolished as scenic bases... now if only I could find a second hand Brass Scorpion.

... And the winners are! (Titan Scenic Base)...

Leading the tally for the Titan scenic base wreckage is the Chaos Thunderhawk Gunship, closely followed by the Brass Scorpion.

 So where too from here? Well, for one I now have to order them over the next couple of months in prep for January/February when the first of the Phantom Titans begin work.

At present, Luke from The Sound of Machines is currently working on one of my Phoenix Bombers to see what can be done paint wise and how the scheme may work. Once that has been sorted out, i'll be able to shoot over part of the wrecked Thunderhawk Gunship, which hopefully will be in my possession by then.

The idea i've been mulling over is breaking the Thunderhawk into two pieces, so the front end is used on one base, and the rear on another. I think a couple of Fire Dragons and perhaps an Autarch nearby would work well. I'm pretty much sold on the Armorcast cinematic effects for the Exarch's Dragon Breath Flamer bellowing into the torn opening of the Thunderhawk... for a Sunday roasting of sorts.

Now, which Chaos brass to purchase for "Chaos'ing" up the Thunderhawk... may need another poll.

... Dilema - Titan Scenic Base...

Given the first of eight Titans begins construction in November over at The Sound of Machines, it got me thinking about what to do regarding scenic bases for such grand Warmachines.

I've decided that each should have their own somewhat unique base, with the natural choices being of the following races;

*Note: All images below are copyright of Games Workshop and Forgeworld respectively. They are only shown here for illustrative purposes to assist with visualising how they may look torn asunder at the base of an Eldar Titan ;)

1. Chaos - Reaver (or Warhound) Titan parts scattered on the base, Brass Scorpion STOMPED into the ground.

2. Necrons - Monolith or Tesseract sliced apart, Pylon cleaved in two.

3. Nids - Heirophant mulched into the ground

4. Imperial Armour Super Heavy Tanks - Sliced and diced... but which one?

5. Imperial/Chaos Thunderhawk - You get the gist...