Panther AUSF .A

I was finally able to finish this Bolt Action piece, the Panther AUSF .A.
It went together well, nice resin detail from Warlord. Painted for winter in acrylics and finished with some Mig and AK weathering and enamels.

An exercise in weathering...

Death Korps of Krieg Hades Breaching Drill

Shelving a couple of my Krieg tanks to focus on the Hades drill allowed me to experiment with some of the techniques I plan to use later. This was airbrushed with Minitaire and AK Interactive acrylics with the odd GW paint pot also. Being Forgeworld resin, after a clean, it was primed with a dusting of autoprimer and then a smooth coat of Tamiya Fine Gray. This is then a perfect surface for AK's rust colours, a coat of chipping fluid and then the main colour. Brushes and toothpicks cut back the finish to a nice weathered heavy construction machinery look. This was all sealed well with a satin acrylic varnish ready for detailing and decals. Once sealed again with a matt varnish AK enamels were used to stain, streak and leave dirt/sand deposits. Final metallic surfaces were scribed with a 8B lead pencil and the pistons were finished with True Metal wax paint. I highly recommend the AK dirt and dust deposits for tanks and vehicles.

Thunder Warriors...

Some of my favorite minis are the old Rogue Trader era metals. The first Space Marine I picked up around 1991 was a Marine in Thunder Armour along with a Crusade Armour marine- see below. I've always liked the John Blanche artwork for the Unification Wars depicting these hulking proto-marines. With those images in mind I started to put together something that could do them justice...

These prints are done at 30micron resolution from a B9 Creator. The design is based on the old Crusade Armour Bolter with some modifications.

Hydra...

Disappointed by the new open top Astra Militarum Hydra kit I jumped onto the Forge World site to pick up the old closed top kit only to find it out of stock and after an email discontinued. I've always been a fan of this kit obviously taking its design qeues from the German Gepard.
After a couple of months I was able to find some parts on Ebay but with a major problem with the guns. They were damaged, bent and would require heavy remodeling. Next step was to source the parts from the new plastic kit. Here is the Hydra made from a Chimera, old Forge World parts and new plastic GW guns all magentised. I plan to modify the guns to look more like the original Kit and add some exhausts and extra details...

Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Mortar...

I have been working on this piece for a little while but shelved it to work out how I was going to make a base. I came across Secret Weapon's hollowed bevel bases- perfect for a support for what I had wanted to do. 

Bits and pieces like Tamiya barrels and sandbags were added with some Eduard razor wire for the details. The mud is a mixture of Gyprock topcoat with sand, flock, white glue, paint and water. This mix is coarsely applied and then sculpted with damp brushes and tools.

The ground plates were created with plasticard and once a master was cleaned up and primed, cast in resin (for another terrain project I have on the backburner).

Finally after priming I noticed a large amount of cracking from the plaster mix. I wanted a more muddy finish so mixed up some white glue, a very small amount of Hydrocal, paint and water to fill in the areas and unify the mud. Next stage- painting and weathering along with the final weathering of the mortar.

Destroyer Tank Hunter...

Tanks... I've always been a fan. From WWI iron behemoths to WWII's powerhouses they have always amazed me.
I have built a few scale panzers but for a Krieg mobilized army what could not be more interesting.
This is a work in progress of a Destroyer from Forgeworld. It's Stug 'look' is a favorite. As the story goes... it is supposed to be some sort of archaic weapon and I chose to weather the paint appropriately. For a Krieg army I am very keen to get hold of a filter for the rear engine cover but unfortunately these are not available separately from Forge World so I may have to rebuild one from a Super Heavy Tank filter kit. Back in the day- 20+ years ago- I seem to remember GW offering a service where each white metal part was itemised and could be purchased individually, if only Forge World could adopt this.
Next stage washes and dust...