Imperial Bastion

 I've wanted the bastion for a while now, but I have trouble justifying terrain purchases. However, I came across a new kit on eBay that seemed to be going for a good price, so I snapped it up. Rather than have the kit sit unbuilt for six months, I instead painted it up over the weekend. I stuck with my trusty Russian Olive paint scheme to get it done quickly. I’m pretty happy with the results.

VI Legion Predator

Deimos pattern Predator for the VI Legion Space Marines.

Another 30k vehicle rolls off of the painting table in this posting. This is a Deimos Pattern Predator, painted in the colours of the VI Legion Astrates, the "Space Wolves". The kit is a resin-and-plastic hybrid from Forge World.

Decals are glossy, as the model won't get a final Dullcote spray until the fall.

There are scads of different 30k tanks in today's Horus Heresy gaming, and in general they are all awesome and a lot of fun. Many of them are "new" designs. But there is something about the classics. Just like the Rhinos from an earlier post, the Deimos Pattern Predator model carries an old-school, Rogue Trader era vibe to it, one that nostalgia-types like me just love. This specific picture from an old White Dwarf (also in the 40k Compendium) comes to mind when I think of this vehicle specifically for the Space Wolves, and I wanted to add this vehicle to that growing collection.

A classic image of the original Predator from the Rogue Trader days.

Together with the Rhino, the Land Raider and the Whirlwind, the Predator sits at the original core of the armoured forces of the Imperium, and in Rogue Trader days you could find Predators fighting among the regiments of the Imperial Army as well as in Space Marine Chapters. Over time, the Predator evolved into a vehicle designated solely for Space Marine use. GW has updated the plastic model since the Rogue Trader times (and I have to say, the updated model is pretty nice too and it will be sad when it disappears).

The autocannon on the Predator won't really hurt many enemy tanks, but it chews up light vehicles and enemy heavy infantry.

This 30k model might be a throw-back in terms of design, but the options are much more in step with the more modern 30k/40k game, in that the available weapon choices are quite vast. The vehicle I have painted here is sporting the classic auto-cannon, and a pair of heavy bolters on the sponson mounts at the sides. But you can put all sorts of weapons - twin lascannons, melta cannons, flamers, even conversion beamers (!) on to the turret if you like.

Decals from Forge World's Space Wolf decal sheet.

Steve B built this model for me (around the same time he did the Rhinos in the previous post). And as Steve B is a genius with magnets, he built it so I could swap in some of those other more exotic weapon choices - stay tuned for more on that...

Motor pool for The Rout taking shape at the lake this summer.

Since this is the final post for this years edition of "painting from the cabin", I thought I would toss in one more photo of Lake Superior.

Sunset over Goulais Bay and Lake Superior, just before the Labour Day weekend.

Thanks for reading, hope you are safe and sane, wherever you are!

Team Yankee 15mm Leopard 2s and BTR-60s + Vallejo Vehicle Paint

One of the things that the pandemic has been good for is ordering stuff over the Internet. What can be hit-and-miss though is the fulfillment of those orders. Back in April I thought to take advantage of some free shipping from Battlefront and ordered some GF9 terrain. I figured I'd add a couple Team Yankee tank sprues just for fun, so I threw in these two Leopard 2s. Well... suffice to say that my order finally arrived in July after having to cancel the first order and re-order the stuff... I guess I should also add that the complete order hasn't even yet arrived, since the two aircraft flight stands I added on were on backorder. I guess it doesn't matter much because there's no sign yet of the two 1/144 SU-25 Frogfoot model kits I ordered off eBay at the start of July... typical.

 

Anyway, the models finally arrived and have duly been built and painted in the same fashion as my other Bundeswehr Leo 2s.

The TY sprues don't come with decals, of course, but I had plenty of Iron Crosses and tactical numbers left over from prior projects. I just had to freehand a license plate for each of the vehicles.

The BTR-60 company came from a local brick and mortar store, so no worries at all about shipping or postage. Super-fast to paint these using the magic spraypaint (Krylon Camouflage Olive) - supposedly it's still in production but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. This lot of five vehicles emptied my last can :-(

 

Anyway, another thing I really like about the Battlefront Team Yankee vehicles is that they come with crew figures as well (are you listening, 1/72 aircraft makers???) I just love the cool character that a crew figure adds to the vehicle.

Cool looking crew eh!

Of course, one good use for these BTR-60s will be to transport the heavy weapons platoon of the Motor Rifle Regiment!

Just such cool little models. All injection-molded plastic and a snap to assemble, while retaining good detail.

I also have to give a shout-out to Vallejo for this paint set, which was a very generous gift from Conscript Perry (thanks Perry!)

I used the Panzer Colours "Dark Rubber" on the tires of the BTR-60s and it really worked a treat - I love the effect. It'll certyainly be my go-to paint for vehicle tires and likely also for Bundeswehr "teerschwartz" (tar black) as used in their three-colour camo pattern.

Anyway, that's it for now... until we can (finally) get gaming together again, stay healthy everyone!
 

Some Terrain

 I’ve been doing some hobby room reorganizing and it forced me to blow the dust off of some buildings I’ve had lying around for far too long. I decided to just paint the bloody things! These were made by Byron and are excellent kits. Dallas already has a post on the blog where he painted some similar buildings. I also painted some resin buildings from the now out of business Critical Mass Games. They are actually 15mm, but I think they work well enough as generic fuel/horribly toxic chemical storage tanks.

Rhinos For The Rout

APCs for the VI Legion Astrates.

I have been posting a little run of 40k work from the Lake, but for some of the final postings of painting from the summer I turn the settings on the painting desk back ten thousand years and return once again to GW's Horus Heresy.  This year I have been trying to build up a loyalist force from the VI Legion, the "Space Wolves". It's been pretty much all infantry and air support to this point. Time to get a little more serious with some more vehicles, and with that in mind, here are two Deimos pattern Rhino APCs.  These are hybrid plastic and resin kits from Forge World.

The pair of individually-mounted bolt guns - classic Rogue Trader-era look!

The Rhino is a classic Space Marine vehicle, and I really like how these "Deimos pattern" vehicles are essentially throw-backs to the original plastic Rhino vehicle models from the Rogue Trade-era. The two hatches on the front, the round hatches on the side, and the two individual bolt guns mounted on top, ready to carry a squad of ten marines into battle!

FW makes custom doors with Legion iconography...not the cheapest thing to get, but you'll love the results.

The embossed doors are a nice touch from Forge World, I love the effect. The only downside is that I only acquired two sets of doors.  I would like to add a couple more vehicles, but a "plain" Rhino would look a bit poor beside these fine vehicles...oh well :) With everything happening in the world, is that really a "problem"? No.

Rear access ramp showing some wear from heavy use.

 As with all of the figures painted at the lake this summer, these models have yet to receive the final spray of Testors Dullcote - so that is why you can see the gloss coat beneath all of the decals. The application of Dullcote will wait until summer humidity fades (which seems to be happening at record pace this year, but I digress...).

Another view showing the side hatches with the custom Legion symbols - love those.

Once more, I have to recognize and thank Steve B for his help getting these models assembled. Forge World's "fit" is hardly seamless and even a cursory inspection of the photos will reveal the many difficult spots where kits does not exactly come together easily. Steve - I'm sorry it took me so bloody long to get these painted! I believe Steve put these together for me in June of 2019, I think, if not earlier...but at least I got to them eventually :)

Ready to roll out with The Rout!

Thanks for reading everyone - hope you are staying sane and staying safe.

Expanding the Aerodrome - More 1/72 Great War Aircraft

So I've built and painted a couple more 1/72 aircraft - this time a Pfalz DIII and a Bristol Fighter - both from Ukrainian model manufacturer Roden. These two kits were on sale at a local toy shop for 25% off - not bad. But they did end up needing a bit of extra work to be usable.This was probably more about the builder than the kit. But more of that later.

The Pfalz was actually a pretty straightforward build - with one exception (alluded to in my previous post) - NO PILOT!!! But no problem, my order of Wartime Miniatures 20mm pilots from Asymmetric Wargames had arrived with eight metal 20mm pilot figures and one of them slotted straight into the cockpit.

According to the super-helpful 600-page reference book "German Aircraft of the First World War", Pfalz Flugzeug-Werke was founded in 1913 with the help of the Bavarian government. As a successor to the Roland DIs it built under license, Pfalz designed and built the DIII, powered by the "ubiquitous" 160hp Mercedes inline-six cylinder engine.

The DIII was armed with twin Spandau machineguns - on earlier models such as this, they were enclosed in the cowling, but the DIIIa mounted the guns on top of the cowl to facilitate easier servicing. The aircraft was highly rated by pilots and hundreds were built. Later on it was overshadowed by likely the best fighter of the war - the Fokker DVII - but the Pfalz was flown by its own share of aces, including Werner Voss, as well as the pilot whose aircraft I've built here - Leutnant Emil Thuy (35 victories and the Pour le Merite).

The kit went together without too much difficulty, except for the landing gear , which had to be scratch-built from wire after the flimsy kit parts broke. I also didn't rig the 'plane as it seems fiendishly difficult to do and wouldn't last on the table anyway!  

The second kit I finished was this Bristol F2B Fighter, sometimes known to its pilots as the "Brisfit". Somewhat of an oddity, being a two-seater, but the model enjoyed no little success, often due to German pilots thinking it was a single-seater and approaching from the six... only to be surprised by the rear-facing observer and his Lewis gun!

Like the Pfalz, the Brisfit kit was lacking pilot figures, so I used two of the Wartime Miniatures figures I got from Asymmetric Wargames in Italy. The markings on the aircraft are those of the plane flown by Captain Andrew McKeevor of Listowel, Ontario, a small town just northwest of Kitchener. McKeevor ended the war as the war's highest-scoring Brisfit ace with a tally of 31 victories. Of course Lt-Col. William Barker of Dauphin, Manitoba also flew a Brisfit in Italy, but scored most of his 53 victories in other planes, most famously the Sopwith Camel single-seater.

The kit gave me some issues, to be honest. The interwing struts were very thin and flimsy plastic and I quickly found that I wasn't going to be able to use them in assembly - although I tried. Instead I replaced most of the struts with wire I cut from paperclips.

Like the other 1/72 planes I've built, I've fitted these with pins to suit the flight stands.

Lt. Thuy about to get a surprise from Captain McKeevor's observer...

Anyway, two more for the aerodrome. Stay healthy everyone.
 

40k Raven Guard Officer and Standard Bearer

Space Marine Lieutenant and Standard Bearer for the Raven Guard chapter.

One last bit of 40k-themed painting to share from this summer at the cabin - a couple of command figures to lead the little unit of Raven Guard Space Marines - an officer and a "Company Ancient", more obviously known "Space Marine carrying chapter banner". 

Both guns ready!

I generally dislike Space Marine figures who are not wearing their helmets - after all, space is dangerous, The Emperor spent a lot of money creating you, so wear your damn helmet! But leaving the helmet IS an easy way to single out commanders, and in this case the helmet was already cast on to the figure's belt, so I didn't bother trying to convert it. 

Helmet clipped to the belt line on the armour.

Bolt pistol at the ready. I also tried to put some detail on his little "comms unit" built into his wrist. 

Besides, even without the helmet, he still looks scary and imposing, and I have to say I really like the sculpt a lot. He's got his bolt rifle AND bolt pistol handy for action...don't mess with him. 

Skulls and purity seals...all of the things that make for a good banner to inspire a Space Marine unit. 

The detachment is small, but it is still important enough to have a banner! In the grim darkness of the far future, nobody will take your terrifying, power-armoured, genetically-enhanced super warriors SERIOUSLY unless they BRING A FLAG, right? Of course! I know the banners are nuts, but I love the whole idea of it, so naturally had to have one for these fellows. 

Not much to see behind the banner, but he still has all of the usual Space Marine bits (power pack, bolt pistol, etc.)

And he doesn't just carry the flag! He's ready to shoot things with his bolt rifle  as needed.

There are a lot of decals on these figures, and I was glad I still had my 30k decal sheet for the Raven Guard Legion from Forge World, as the otherwise available decals are not that inspiring, to say the least. The Forge World decal sheets cost an arm and a leg, of course (everything from Forge World does, after all), but wow, they are a great resource. 

40k Raven Guard so far...nice little summer project. 

So the painting pace was pretty slow this summer - but to take part in some small 40k skirmishes, the Raven Guard can now put a small detachment into the battle line. Who knows when that will be? Here's hoping one of those COVID vaccines makes the mark soon...

Thanks for reading - have a great long weekend and stay safe.