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.



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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...



WIP Space Marine Bikes Part 9 (basing continued)

Continuing the thread of trying for advanced basing…

Once the layout is done, the green stuff cured and the ”ruins” removed I begin the next stage… for which you need glue and Sand.

The Glue is basic White Glue, or “glue all” (see link), cheap, basic and effective.

The sand is a mixture of playground grade, hobby grade and some mixed leftover crud from the bottom of the terrain box giving a nice variety of sizes and shapes giving a more interesting and realistic look to the base. The Photo is overkill but it gives a good example of the different grits I am working with.

I start by applying a layer of white glue mixed 10 to 1 with water. A lot of people seem to vary on how much water to use but this is what works for me. Quickly, one base at a time I let sand sift through my fingers onto the base, twice letting a nice uneven layer build up, the second time around focusing on the light or bare spots. Once that stage is done I let the bases dry overnight, which believe it or not is key.

Once dry gently dust them off, using a large Dry Brush over the tub of sand, to save as much as possible. Check again for bare spots. If needed repeat the steps above

Then immediately prime with two solid layers (but don’t over do it) of a black primer.

Dupli-color Premium Sandable Primers are what I suggest for the following reasons;

1)It’s cheaper then Games Workshop primers, $5.20 vs $15.00, for about the same volume
2) It’s actually a primer instead of a spray paint.
3) Even though it’s a “gap filling” product as long as you do several light coats you will not loose any detail
4) For it’s price it’s a quality product! 15 minute dry time in perfect conditions.
5) Once dry, if you totally screwed up the project Simple Green will strip it right off
6) Last but not least, in Washington, DC’s variable climate, from humid to dry, frigid to broiling, I have just to have it bubble, crack, spit or cause any of the other headaches a lot of other products cause. I have sprayed in 20 degree weather, left it outside for an hour, finished the drying in another room and it's perfect

A special thanks goes to my good friend, The Brotha, who turned me onto the product, oh and BTW the Hot-Rod black is actually a Matt color, just sound like a gloss product.

I then Drybrush the following colors in order:

Calthan Brown (Citadel Foundation Paint)

Beast Hide (P3 Paint)

Kommando Khaki (GW)

Jack Bone (P3)

Bleached Bone (GW)

And Finally Skull White (GW)

After that I go back and pick out any details I built into the bases (skeletons, broken weapons or armor)

 

 
 
 

 

Then Finally I add back on the ruins and other terrain bitz to finish the bases.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished product I am proud of, and now I can focus on building the riders.