AdMech Update - Skitarii Vanguard

I've been cracking away at the AdMech lately as I wanted to finish off the rehab of the last lot of models I got off kijiji. The latest ones to be completed are a squad of (eleven) Skitarii Vanguard. Why eleven? Well, there happened to be a squad of ten plus one extra special weapon trooper. So I figured I might as well paint him at the same time as the rest.
 

Here's the Alpha wielding an arc maul and arc pistol. "Phi" insignia added for his squad ID.
 

The rest of the boys (?). Painted in the normal style for my AdMech - cloaks Mephiston Red, Nuln Oil'd, then MR again highlighted with Evil Sunz Scarlet, insides of cloak Rakarth Flesh highlighted Ushabti Bone; bodyglove black highlighted with Mechanicus Standard Grey; metal bits Leadbelcher; brass bits Brass Scorpion highlighted Balthasar Gold; lenses and power bits Temple Guard Blue. 

The lads (??) carry spooky "radium carbines" that are not, shall we say, "Earth-friendly." The thing I find neat about the Vanguard is their utter disregard for Health and Safety standards. They don't really care that their weaponry is nearly as dangerous to them as it is to their enemies; I guess they just reckon that if something falls off them they can always get a mechanical replacement. Closer to the Crux Mechanicus, and all that.

Assistant squad leader carries the cool-looking "Omnispex". "Hey five-eyes!!"

Here's the whole lot so far - two Onagers, Sydonian Dragoon, Kastelan Maniple and datasmith, Ruststalkers, Infiltrators, Rangers and Vanguard, led by the Tech-Priest Dominus.

More AdMech Rehab!

One of the hobby things I love most is rescuing unloved models and getting them back up to tabletop shape. There are two reasons for this. One is the pleasure I have in taking castoffs and making them usable, but the other is a bit less altruistic: it's that the models are already (mostly) assembled and (sometimes) even basecoated, so that saves me valuable hobby time on tasks I find a drudge.

This Sydonian Dragoon came in a lot of AdMech models I came across on kijiji. It was actually reasonably well assembled and basecoated so the extra work required only amounted to a few hours replacing missing/broken parts, converting others, finishing the painting and basing, and applying decals and weathering.

Kind of a neat model, but not one I'd immediately be drawn to having in my army. Cool though.

The lot also included another Onager Dunecrawler. This one required a bit more work in ordering some of the missing parts, like ladder rungs. It was already basecoated but I finished it similarly to my other Dunecrawler.

 Turned out nice eh?

I've read that the autocannon/missile array thing was the loadout to have in 7th, not sure about 8th. I guess we'll see when it gets on the table.

The Sicarian Infiltrators required more work yet. Although some basecoating was done, the heads and some other parts were quite messed up and I was thankful that the seller included a large bits tub with my purchase.

I was eventually able to get them in a semblance of order and I think they turned out OK. I love the Matrix-like scary helmets and tentacle tubes.

No AdMech leader is complete without a servo-skull or two!

Sicarian Ruststalkers. Same kit as the Infiltrators but some different parts used. Again, required some head swapping and general tidying.
 

 This guy gets a laptop computer as well as a servo-skull. Spoiled or what??

Here's the whole lot so far. Still have a squad of Skitarii Vanguard and a few Rangers to finish up. Once they're done it will be high time to get them out on the table for a battle. I've been toying with the idea of an Adeptus Mechanicus task force fighting Tyranids in an underground complex (Space Hulk tiles) while on a search for some item of lost tech or other...?

Onager Dunecrawler Rescue Project

One part of the hobby that I find enjoyable is what I like to call "rescue and rehab". This is where you find a model that's been neglected or abused, and by cleaning up, repairing, and repainting, return it to a state where it can proudly be deployed on the wargames table.

As I've been building a small Adeptus Mechanicus force (in fits and starts), I couldn't resist picking up an abused Skitarii Onager Dunecrawler for a deal... but as it turns out, not enough of one...

The model had been assembled and painted, thickly, in a bizarre colour scheme. The assembly wasn't great either, as the "turret" part had been glued straight down to the hull/legs, removing any poseability to the model. The Dunecrawler also only came with one weapon - the Neutron Cannon.

After getting the piece home, I started to make plans as to what parts I needed to order. I ended up getting an Eradicator main gun, Ad Mech gunner and cupola, comms array, and decal sheet from a trusty bits supplier on eBay. While waiting for the parts to arrive, I soaked the model in SuperClean to get most of the paint off, then carefully sliced off the turret and constructed a rotator assembly. I also cut off the manky cupola and replaced it with fresh bits, and added the Ad Mech pintle servitor. I carefully sliced apart the neutron cannon assembly and magnetized the main gun mount. Lastly, after adding the new parts, I textured the base and primed the model:  

After a lick of paint, here is what we have!

Done up in the traditional Martian colourway to match the Skitarii Rangers and Kastelan Robot maniple I've done already. The hull was painted Mephiston Red and washed with Nuln Oil, then punched up with Mephiston again.

Metalwork is Leadbelcher again washed with Nuln Oil. The gold bits are Brass Scorpion.

The undercarriage is painted Rakarth Flesh, and copious amounts of sponge weathering applied.

Some Leadbelcher applied as chips complete the weathering.

 Lenses are done with a straightforward jewel style. The "racing stripe" on the front hull was laid out with low-tack masking tape and painted in with Pallid Wych Flesh over Celestra Grey in a heavy stipple.

Here it is with the Neutron Cannon. Purposeful enough I guess but I prefer the Spaceman Spiff look of the Eradicator...

I'm really pleased with how the project turned out, even though it probably made little economic sense to do it the way I did. Between what I paid for the basket case model and what I spent on spare parts, I'm nearly up to what the model costs from a discount retailer. But these projects can be fun when you think of what it started as, and what you ended up with.

Another Bit of Junk from the Basement

From the annals of "How Not To Store Your Miniatures", I bring you this example, fresh from the hoard in my basement:



That's an Empire Army for Warmaster, stored rather inelegantly to say the least. I painted these about 10 years ago? I can't remember when Warmaster first came out, but whenever it was I promptly collected an Empire Army, and painted it using my process of that time (i.e. ASAP), which was to start with white primer (?!?), use a base coat of green or blue, and cover the whole thing in a brown ink wash that was then available from Citadel (unlike the excellent washes they have today, it was a very thick, heavy ink, and of course I was too lazy to thin it out) and then dab some silver on the metal bits. So these figures look like little blobs for the most part, with the exception of some character models, and have no groundwork on the bases even (who bothered with stuff like that back then when you could just paint the bases green?)

I stumbled across this box in the midst of a recent project. Consistent with a semi-official new years resolution to try and focus more on the pile in my basemnet, I am going to try and "reclaim" these, popping them off the bases, touching up the paint, and re-basing them with sound groundwork, static grass, etc. And with the prices for "Specialist Games" today, this is way cheaper than doing another army over again.

Plus, I might try and store them properly when I'm done...