AHPC Submission #6 - Whirlwind Scorpius Artillery Tank

Here comes some more hope! A Whirlwind Scorpius, ready to fire in support of The Warmaster's noble Space Marines...

I've been away from the Challenge for a couple of weeks now, owing to the disruptions caused by a move to a new house. I'm thankful to report the relocation to Toronto is mostly complete - or, at least, the macro-parts of it are. I am now in Toronto, and my stuff is also in Toronto, mostly at the same location, and I am grateful for that. In many ways this move has been years in the making, and it is a relief to have the hardest part complete.

Spencer and Joey getting used to the new digs in Toronto.

All the same, it has been totally exhausting. There is a lot of unpacking etc. to go through, as well as some minor work to complete on the new home. I knew the disruption to my hobby efforts would be significant, and I thought I could adjust for it, but in fact I greatly underestimated how gruelling it would be. I have had to shirk my AHPC "minion" duties for two weeks (thankfully other volunteer "minions" stepped in to pick up my slack) and my paint brushes have barely budged (other than to be packed and unpacked) for almost a month. Given how much I like to paint, and the role painting plays in helping me just generally manage, this has been significant.

So I have been desperate to get some hobby stuff in, and this little project fit the bill. This is a Scorpius-variant Whirlwind artillery tank, a 28mm multi-part resin-and plastic model once sold by Forge World, another re-paint project for my Sons of Horus collection from GW's "Horus Heresy" setting. The paints I use for the Sons of Horus were the easiest to find in my un-packing, and it goes pretty quickly given that I have painted a fair bit of XVI Legion kit, so this was a good way to get back into the saddle, as it were.  

Assorted lenses and scanners - no doubt the turret is equipped with the latest in 5G tech - to ensure the rockets arrive on time and on target.

We all know the kind and benevolent Horus Lupercal, Warmaster, last of hope of humanity for liberation from the yoke of tyranny beneath the so-called "Emperor", is a figure of hope. But the universe of the far future is filled with evil people, and because of this sometimes "hope" needs to be backed up with "high-explosives". Whenever that combination is called for the Marines in Horus' legion can count on vehicles like this.

It would have been smart to put a decal of some kind on that rear hatch...but I have no idea where my decals are right now...

Wall-hugging tools like Rogal Dorn and his VII Legion might run around building this-and-that, but the Whirlwind Scorpius ensures none of these pointless constructs are too much of a barrier to Horus' progress, raining a steady stream of high-explosive guided munitions down on the heads of any fools who might simultaneously reject the obvious majesty of The Warmaster AND wear bright yellow to a battle. Backed by this sort of artillery, we can count on the XVI Legion Astartes to keep hope on the march through the galaxy at a brisk pace.

Ready to fire!

This vehicle is a mix of resin and plastic model components, but as with so many models in my collection, this vehicle is now available from GW as a full stand-alone plastic kit. Naturally, my response to these kits finally becoming available is... to be provoked into painting and/or re-painting my pre-existing models. Makes...no sense. But I do expect I'll paint up one of the newer all-plastic models at some point. Maybe for the lonely losers on the loyalist side of the equation? Can't have them pouting, after all...

Another properly re-painted model to sooth the screaming hobby monkey...

My hobby supplies, bits, set-up etc. remain pretty scattered post-move, and I am radically dialing back my painting target expectations for this edition of the Challenge. This has made a mockery of my pre-Challenge projections - as usual, saying you will paint something before the Painting Challenge actually starts seems to be more of a hex than a motivator, at least for me. It is extremely unlikely that the Dogs of War miniatures I had collected through last year, for example, will see any paint during this edition of the Challenge, and will have to wait for a more settled time to arrive. 

But I will continue to work away at the hobby projects that fit conveniently into a plastic tote I could keep with me...so watch this space for (hopefully) more from me, and definitely more from the other Conscripts, who continue to absolutely crush it during AHPC XIV.