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Author Topic: Calamity's Astra Militarum Army Blog  (Read 28163 times)

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Offline Cavalier

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #60 on: September 5, 2015, 07:44:13 AM »
They look fine to me! I wouldn't worry about it. I did a running pose on one of my War Walkers and wasn't thrilled with it, but it looks a lot better when they are on some terrain and next to some other models. These look good in my opinion so I wouldnt worry about it.

What weaponry are you going to go with on these guys? My brother and I are always trying to figure out what weapons would be best on his.
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Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #61 on: September 5, 2015, 11:10:53 AM »
Thanks.  :)

The one with the foot in the air seems ok I suppose.  The other one looks like it's about to fall flat on its face.  On both it seems like the legs are all out of shape.  I'll keep them for now, and see how they look with a paint job on them. 

What weaponry are you going to go with on these guys? My brother and I are always trying to figure out what weapons would be best on his.

Good question!  They don't have good enough ballistic skill for las cannons in my opinion.  Missile launchers are a poor choice.  I accept that now.  Heavy flames are good but are limited in use.  Multi lasers and auto cannons are ok but there's other ways to take them in the army.  Plasma cannon sentinels aren't too expensive and have good killing power against all kinds of infantry, and could take out light vehicles in a pinch too, so I'm looking at them.  Only thing is, I just realised that they have the additional power pack pack to go on the side and I may have already filled that block.  :P

But, things can always be undone.  I got clippers.  ;)

Offline Cavalier

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #62 on: September 6, 2015, 08:20:48 AM »
Thats funny my brother rocked Plasmacannons on his as well. They shocked us both when they outflanked and blew the hell out of my Hornets. The only tricky thing is "Gets Hot!" as the old Sentinels only have 2 HPs. I think the Autocannons are a good choice, but I actually think the Plasmacannons work a bit better. The Sentinels are so cheap, that the risk/reward mitigates the potential damage they can inflict. In general I'm always willing to gamble on a cheap, high damage output unit. Especially when they look good!
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Offline vonny

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #63 on: September 7, 2015, 03:13:36 AM »
oftentimes you can solve the issue of wobbly torso's by applying some of the thin plastic glue (the one that's applied through the long, steel needle) around the joint, moveing the torso a bit, and then holding it in the right place.

as for your runners: while I do like the foot off the ground, I do agree the might be leaning sliiiiightly too far forward. Matter of taste, I suppose.
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Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #64 on: September 7, 2015, 06:04:09 AM »
Thats funny my brother rocked Plasmacannons on his as well. They shocked us both when they outflanked and blew the hell out of my Hornets. The only tricky thing is "Gets Hot!" as the old Sentinels only have 2 HPs. I think the Autocannons are a good choice, but I actually think the Plasmacannons work a bit better. The Sentinels are so cheap, that the risk/reward mitigates the potential damage they can inflict. In general I'm always willing to gamble on a cheap, high damage output unit. Especially when they look good!

They look best when equipped with a plasma cannon in my opinion.  The power cables go well with the lights and antenna on the model.  Plus as you say, they are high damage low cost units so what have I got to lose? 

However me, being the incompoop that I am, glued in the little thing that goes with the auto cannon and missile launcher.  I should have stopped and planned ahead.  This meant that I had to cut it off and smooth out the area, but the cannon now seems to fit on a dry run:





You can see the damage, but the cables cover it.   I really need to think things through, because as I shall now explain, It gets even better!  :P

oftentimes you can solve the issue of wobbly torso's by applying some of the thin plastic glue (the one that's applied through the long, steel needle) around the joint, moveing the torso a bit, and then holding it in the right place.

as for your runners: while I do like the foot off the ground, I do agree the might be leaning sliiiiightly too far forward. Matter of taste, I suppose.


Although I solved the wobbly walker problem, I have discovered to my great annoyance, that due to the way it's positioned, no weapons will fit onto the running Sentinel, making it completely useless.  And the other one is so poorly possed I can't stand it any more.  It's with great embarreshment that I'm going to have to write the two of them off and relegate them to painting practice miniatures, along with my two tempestors.  Damn 19 year old me!  I should have known better, even then!  :P

In my attemp to fix the running sentinel I only ended up tearing it apart too:



This project has had a lot of ups and downs so far it must be said.  :-\
« Last Edit: September 7, 2015, 06:25:03 AM by Skitarii Tangi »

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #65 on: September 7, 2015, 09:26:41 AM »
Tangi Fight ! I here you on everything going the opposite way you wish it goes, keep it up it's coming along :)
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Offline dog_of_war

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #66 on: September 7, 2015, 09:56:35 AM »
Some of my best built models ended up being ones I took apart and rebuilt or eBay buys that you would think of as scrap, but was able to salvage and turned out better than if I started out with it off the sprue. Never write off a model. There is always potential in any piece to be a great looking model. It just challenges you to think outside the box and problem solve how to correct a bad pose or broken piece. As Grizzlykin says, hang in there.

Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #67 on: September 9, 2015, 05:47:14 PM »
Thank you for the words of support guys.  :)

I did manage to save the cabin, the base and one of the legs.  Some searching could turn up replacement parts.  The biggest issue for it now is the fact that the ball joint that connects the cabin to the 'pelvis' is ruined, but it could probably be repaired with a bit of work.  And I really hope to repair it, because otherwise it's a terrible waste of a fine model.  And it never got to take part in a game either.

Offline dog_of_war

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #68 on: September 9, 2015, 06:47:17 PM »
Gives you a chance to pin it and put it in a pose that the original design didn't make possible. Had to do that with a wraithlord I got on eBay cheap nd he looks awesome now. Luckily the ball joints are more for the connection and posing and less for the esthetic. Easier to cover that up with greenstuff than a detailed outer panel.

Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #69 on: December 7, 2015, 04:32:35 PM »
Hi guys!  Sorry for the lack of activity recently.  Events in real life have been keeping me from doing any serious work on the army.  But this will change in the new year.  In the meantime, can I get some opinions on this Sentinel?









Putting it together was pretty tricky, and I'm just a bit worried that it had the same problem as the others.  Namely, a completely unrealistic stance.  Does it seem OK?  And please excuse the background there.  The house is a building site at the moment.  :P

With the release of the Emperor's Talon Recon Company I'm going to be needing a lot more of these by the way!  Which is great because I love the model and I love the idea of them!  ;D


Offline Spectral Arbor

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #70 on: December 8, 2015, 06:36:18 AM »
I'd say it has a, "Hey, what's that over there!" stance. Perfectly legit.

I might not use a grey background, for a grey model, though. :)

Offline Cavalier

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #71 on: December 8, 2015, 06:57:06 AM »
Yeah it looks good to me Tangi! I'd imagine it seeing some filthy Chaos worshiper in a building and turning around to hose it down with fire lol

I would try and keep the poses on the other models a bit more standard. My War-Walkers are all basic except one of them whose in an action pose just to keep cohesiveness.
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Offline vonny

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #72 on: December 8, 2015, 05:55:38 PM »
I think the pose looks awesome. It looks like it just took some small arms fire or saw something on one side and instinctively ducks and looks that way to give some return fire. Or maybe it crouched in a hidden position and is now coming up. Or is trying to manouvre out of the way while being under heavier fire. So many options, but they all look natural, and the pose is just great.

I'd say, if you're building a squadron, try to think of a 'story'. Are they all dodging out of the way under fire, are they all just turning their guns on a possible threat, or something completely different, and see if you can get various poses that seem to resonate with that story.
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Offline dog_of_war

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #73 on: December 24, 2015, 02:55:16 PM »
I love the pose very dynamic and as the others have said, it could describe many different narratives. Keep up the good work!

Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #74 on: January 1, 2016, 08:46:28 AM »
@ Cavalier

Thank you.  :)  That's a good idea, to build the rest in a more standard fashion.  It would make the action posed one look more distinctive.  I could put it at the head of its squadron and it would be a real eye catcher. 

@ vonny

That's another great idea, thank you!  I like the narrative idea in miniature form a lot

@ dog_of_war

Thank you too. :)

In main blog news, it's the start of a new year and I want to really increase the amount of work I get done on this project.  So I hope to really get more done asap, including the start of painting.  And I need to rename this blog, as I've moved on to far more than just stormtroopers.  I'm going to spam tanks and sentinels too.

There's one small worry I have at the moment though.  I'm worried that I may have overdone it with all the extra webbing on the Scions though.  I've stuck grenades, ammo pouches and that box thing right into their armor and I hope it's OK.  Not too cluttered.   


« Last Edit: January 1, 2016, 08:52:45 AM by Skitarii Santa »

Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #75 on: January 3, 2016, 11:26:22 AM »
For my latest update, I regret to say that I did a very stupid thing.  I tried to remove some of the extra webbing on my Stormtroopers and I broke their armour.  Four times:



Is there any way to repair this, or have I just written off four perfectly good models to painting practice?  :(

Offline Cavalier

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #76 on: January 3, 2016, 01:05:35 PM »
Its very hard to tell from the picture... is is it their chest armor that was damaged? If so wont the guns hide it?

Like I said elsewhere sorry you had another mess-up buddy. Nothing worse when you mess up in the modeling phase. So frustrating! If you could get some better lighting and I can give a little more specific advice.
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Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #77 on: January 3, 2016, 01:10:18 PM »
I apologize for the bad quality of the pictures.  It's the lighting in the room.  I'll try again soon.  And it's not the chest plate that's damaged by the lower part.  I think they're called the grieves?  The two little plates that hang down and protect the thighs.

And thanks for the words of support Cavalier.  This setback has knocked my confidence with this project a far bit.  The good news is, I still have enough Stormtroopers to make a full sized platoon.  Just a platoon made up of minimum sized squads.
« Last Edit: January 3, 2016, 01:16:03 PM by Skitarii Santa »

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #78 on: January 3, 2016, 06:49:55 PM »
I see that, now that you point it out.

Any good with green stuff? It is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you could do some effective "plastic surgery" on it relatively easily if it's what I think it is.

Offline Calamity

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Re: Tangi's Storm Troopers
« Reply #79 on: January 4, 2016, 05:20:53 PM »
I see that, now that you point it out.

Any good with green stuff? It is hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you could do some effective "plastic surgery" on it relatively easily if it's what I think it is.

I've used green stuff only once, over a decade ago.  I could give it a try, but I don't expect to succeed.

Also, I've now decided what I'm going to do for my ordinary rank and file infantry.  I'm going to use the Cadian Hostile Environment conversion kits from Forge World:

It would be nice to have collected the beautiful Death Korps models, but I have to be realistic.  Those kits are just too expensive.  Meanwhile, I have tonnes of Cadian parts lying around.  Enough to make several platoons worth of men.  Three sets of these and I'm good to go!

I wanted the army to be faceless.  It's a theme.  Faceless, expendable henchmen.  It suits the Imperium well.  That, and I'm in a crazy Star Wars mood (stormtroopers!)

If there's one criticism I could make of modern GW kits, and this is a silly criticism I'm sure, it's the fact that the heads and bodies etc are all widely varied.  I want my army to be a hoard of faceless, completely identical, expendable drones. 

But, this isn't to say that I'm not keen on some individualism, and having some Death Korp models too.  Because I'm going to get the DK Commissars to led the force:


They have the same theme as the rank and file troops (faceless, gas mask etc) but they'll really stand out when surrounded by them.

 


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