Theodore Bruckner and Reaper as a Space Marine Bike Captain?

I need some advice, but first boring non-hobby stuff.

So I am still recovering from pneumonia, on the antibiotics and until the cycle is done I can't really paint or convert (due to tremors). So sorting through old ideas, trades and bits boxes is what I am left with.

 

Great model 'eh?

I picked up Theodore Bruckner and Reaperin a trade a while back, to go with the Cyber-Cavalry and my Kor’sarro Khan & Librarian conversions. He's been laying around for a while and maybe now is the time to start planning out his introduction to my army.

 

So here is the problem, he is HUGE. I am using the Dragonforge bike bases, and even Jeff's large bases seem small compared to him! 

 

So the question is..

1. Use the Dragonforge 40mm x75mm base and accept the overhang, kind of like Jetbikes
2. Use the Dragonforge 60mm x 100m attack bike base (Huge, but might work)
3. Use the provided Chariot base which is 50mm x 100m
4. Or ....?

When I posted this on my Club forums someone suggest cutting down Reaper's body a bit to make it fit, and I really don't like that option, yes it will correct the size, and be closed to the Empire Demigryph Knights I was hoping to convert into a Command Squad but it stills feels like a bad idea.

So looking for some advice before I start adding Bionics and converting Theodore to be Space Marine in Heresy era armor.

 

6th Edition and Me : The White Scars are dead, Long live the White Scars!

First Let me start with a couple disclaimers:

 This is my interpretations of 6^th Edition, the Space Marine Codex, and Bike Armies as a whole 13 games in, including several Nova Qualifier / Beta games.. I am 8-3-2 using pure codex SM, BA, and also SM’s with IG / BA Allies.

I welcome 6^th, I like change! The challenge of adapting to new rules, the introduction of new tactics, all have me excited. I have mixed feelings however on Bikes in 6^th.

Second a unit breakdown highlighting the major changes and what I have seen.

 To keep it brief I am summing up what I have experienced and if you want details justifying my position post and I will respond.

Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight Part 5 Post Build.

Dreadknight Post Build Breakdown and FAQ:

To start with, it was allot of fun to build and paint this, and I realize I work better with looming deadlines! Thanks again to Kurt from the Annapolis Games Workshop store.

Constuction Notes:

In general the model goes together smoothly, little to no flash, another excellent, clean new release from Games Workshop. Almost everything "clicks" into place. I built it without instuctions (none were shipped with it) and it took about 3.5 hours, taking alot of time to explore each bit and carefully clean it of flash.

The following points are worth noting however:

Arms – Limited range of motion, infact I had to cut down and replace the “pistons” on both arms to get them in the “at rest” pose I got with my build. You can swing them forward or back about 30 – 45 degrees, up or down a bit less. Overall getting a dynamic pose will require some work. Arms are VERY strong, and will be able to easily magnetized for weapon swaps. If you wanted to go further you could place Ball magnets in the arms and the servo assist arms for a reposable model. The link is for K&J Magnetics, my favorite site to order from.

Ranged Weapons – Good options, only 2 bodies for the 3 different guns, so it will be hard to build all 3 options without making some sacrifices on style, or bitz ordering a 3rd gun body.

Close Combat Weapons – Extra Hands are a plus, the hammer is well designed and it will be easy to convert to a longer haft for all those who want it… However the sword is a flimsy piece of plastic.. It will break quickly and often unless you carefully pin it or pose the Dreadknight like I did where the sword is crossing the body and is supported. The first 11 year old who grabs your model is going to break the sword either way. Very disappointing for such an amazing bit.

Legs – The biggest disappointment of the model is the fact the legs have ZERO possibility for posing striaght out of the box..... NONE! The legs are two piece fixed bits which socket directly into the pelvis into keyed slots. Even though the feet are attached via ball socket there really is no real adjustments you can make unless you changing the facing. Making a Dynamic model “crushing” anything beneath its feet is going to be a several hour conversion process where you have to cut and pin the legs in 2 spots. Additionally the leg to hip socket is fragile. I would suggest pinning it for strength in the construction process. I pin the legs and also “squished” them in together, and using a plastic glue fused the legs to the pelvis for a second stronger point of contact.

All in all I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars, loosing points for limited range of motion, fragile legs and sword and limited conversion possibilities due to it's LARGE size. I think the people want Knight Titans will be happy however.

DakkaDakka / Blog FAQ:

Painting: 

Basecoat:

Boltgun Silver --> Chainmail --> Mithril Silver
Washed with Badab Black in the recesses, and black lined where needed.
Final highlights with watered down Mithril Silver
Highlights:
Gold Highlights were Shinning Gold --> Burnished Gold --> Mithril Silver.

Details:

Decals are from the Witch hunters sheet, an example can be found here

Plasticard was the 1/8th inch tubes from Plastruct

Book bit was from the Dark Angels Ravenwing Vehicle upgrade sprue.



Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight Part 4 (Completed)

The Dreadknight is Finished!

Kurt the Manager from Games Workshop Annapolis was nice enough to “loan me” the model late Thursday night and had it painted and based by 16:00 Saturday!

This makes it the fastest build out I have done. In the end to meet the 36 hour deadline I had to rush the final details. I was a bit disappointed with how the power sword turned out, and I wanted to clean up the shoulder shields heraldry more, but I agreed to deliver it Saturday and I did it!

A few notes:

1. I am still working on doing better power weapons, I thought it would be easier to do a larger area, but turns out blending on a larger surface is MUCH more difficult.
2. The book on the right arm is from the Dark Angels upgrade sprue, I wanted to add a bit of a personal touch without massive a massive distracting conversion.
3. Back to the book again, I tried to freehand the text, but half way through the second page my dog came up and "wacked" me to be let out. I ended up slathering paint all over it, and I had to start again, cleaning it off and repainting the page white. I cheated with a Micron pen to get it done
4. The kit does not come with any Decals, all the decales I used are from the Witchhunters set.

Again Feedback welcome!

I actually blended 7 different shades of blue, hard to see even on the finished model, it's one of the areas I need the most improvement.

Kirt beind the case were my Dreadknight now sits on display!

The Ice Wasteland table...

"Urban Wasteland" table

Opened my lightbox for the first time to take some higher quality photos, and turns out it's missing it's backdrop! So better photos soon.

Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight Part 3 (based!)

Another quick update, deadline is today so really pushing to get this ready for the store.

Photos are a bit dark, plan to set up my lightbox for the final photos.

Feedback as always welcome and wanted.



'

Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight Part 2

Quick updated, finished the build out, primed and painting started. I can honestly say this is the fastest and hardest I have worked to get a tabletop++ model done quickly..

Again Feedback welcome



Paint Started

Grey Knight Nemesis Dreadknight Part 1 (actually in my hands!)

Sorry for the 2 week break in posts, a little post tournament burnout, I have been putting off posting the results and photos. Yesterdays trip to one of my local Games Workshop Stores really refreshed my love for the hobby!

Annapolis GW(Jennifer Square) is a single employee store run by a man with a serious love for the hobby, however being a one man store he is short on time, with a backlog of project to do. I offered to build and paint the “Black Box” Dreadknight for him, and I was shocked when he took me up on it!

Here are some photos of the build out, the primer is drying as I type, and painting begins in 20!

Questions and comments welcome, I am doing some mild conversions and will have a Dreadknight post build FAQ once done.

Here is a link the the store's Facebook page, Kurt does a great job in the store and works hard to build up the local community!



WIP Kor’sarro Khan Part 5, Finished Model

Amun Khan, leader of "Khepri's Relentless Legion"

Sorry for the delay in posts. I have been using every spare minute (almost literally) to finish this army for the St Valentine’s Massacre this weekend in Media PA. I have not had a chance to set up my photo box to take good pictures of the finished Cavalry. That being said I just (02/24/2011, 16:29 EST) finished assembling the Kor’sarro Khan model I will be using.

A few notes:

1. I wanted to add gold hieroglyphics to the inside of the cloak, but I was running out of time, and that was going to be a seriously involved process.
2. I like the head I crafted for my Khan, as a follower of Anubis. It's Sculpted with a Space Wolves head as a base into a jackal like shape. I also like the colors (Thanks Beltway Gamers) I picked for it, but it seems off. It could be I am biased as every model I build I add a Thousand Sons head to it…
3. I still stink at doing power weapons, but getting closer
4. I think in the future every multi-wound model is getting "wound counters" like the jackals here.
   

   
   I am thinking of leaving him as is after the tourney, and just building a second one (additional HQ choice) and using what I have learned to make the next incarnation that much better.
   
   Feedback welcome!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



WIP Kor’sarro Khan Part 4

Another Quick update,

Made the FTW Tuesday Top 10 list, if thats not enough of a reason to post more I don't know what is... 

Khan is closer to completion, I bounce around a lot, had to work on bases for my Techmarines, so I did Khan's base at the same time.

I am using "Jackals" as wound counters, with magnets built into the excellent Dragonforge base.





Feedback as always welcome..

Bikes & Attack Bikes next!

WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 14

Just a quick update, working to finish the Bikes, Attack Bikes (photos posted soon), Thunderfire cannons w/ Techmarines, etc... I don't think I will have time to rebuild 3 fresh Dreads before the end of the month, but we shall see!

WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 13

Banners!

Finishing off the backpacks, sitting listening to a conference call for work and figured it would be a great time to post a follow up.

Worked with some wet blending and shading on "cloth" overall I think it looks better in person then the photos, but either way I like it.

Hieroglyphics are surprisingly hard to draw at this scale in metallic paints, I am finding black thinned down is fairly consistent in flow when thinned with either “Flow Aid” and or water, however metallic paints don’t seem to flow with a good amount of stability. The result is the GW Shinning Gold ends up a little more blobby then I would have preferred but it’s still better then I was a year ago.

Break down of the Hieroglyphics, which are a hybrid of correct cartouches and a 21st century modification for space, left to right on the panels:

1. Khepri’s Eternal Legion
2. Amun’s Horde
3. Anubis’ Squadron
4. 2/3/2011 completion date.

The decal is a pre-heresy Thousand Sons icon I found off some older 1996 era Space Marine decal sheets, perfectly sized for the banner top.

As always feedback welcome.

WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 12

Closing on the finish line!

Finishing up the torsos and the backpacks…

Torsos:

Primarily Space Marine Assault torso’s but also mixed in Red Scorpion Vanguard Veteran and Veteran Sergeant Cullan torsos I won last year at the  St. Valentines Day Massacre 40k GT at Showcase Comics. I was overall disappointed with the quality of the Forge World casts, with a lot of bubbles, “fuzz” and miscasts.

Backpacks:

I went through about 6 different styles of power packs for the bikers, wanting to do something unique but It was pointed out by a couple good friends that overall is pulled away from the conversion work, was too big.

Once assembly is done it’s on to the Attack Bikes!

WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 11

LEGS!

A little behind in my posts, picking up pace on finishing these as I am trying to get them ready for the ST. Valentines Day Massacre Warhammer 40k Grand Tournament in February.

Feedback is always welcome!

 

WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 10 (basing completed!)

Long delay in posts, work, life, and the holidays....

Bases completed, all 24 bikers on them (with the exception of the attack bikes to come shortly).. Starting the build out of the legs and bodies of the riders...