Commission Part 3: "The Bloody 18th" Arrives

"Faith is not found in the prayers of soldiers cowering in trenches. It is not found in the devout priest preaching to the masses of what they should and shouldn't do. Faith is found in the moments of resolute action; in action of defending our Faith and people, we are devout." -  Attributed to Krieger 18D - "Alein"

"18D"

Trying to show off that detail

      Part 3. Here we go. The commission is finished. Ive been waiting to post this for a while now. The "Bloody 18th" has arrived. First done was Krieger 18D aka Alein. As noted earlier, He is a character done up for Bandogora's Dark Heresy Character. He was the first one I finished but the last to be completed. This was because I mixed a red wash for all the miniatures. At first I wasnt sure I wanted to use it. After trying it out on the regular models I decided to go for it.

Front of the squad

The regular Kriegers were the main challenge of this commission. The models had arrived in bad shape. After some TLC, they came out ready to be painted. Bandogora and I talked over the choices and decided to go for a Blue-Grey scheme with some red thrown in. This scheme was really nice and allowed the models to pop. After doing a test scheme, the client really liked the way the models had looked.

The back side of the Squad

Next up was the next four models. This process took me the course of 3 days with a few days in between. The biggest challenge was for me to figure out how to get the models details properly painted. Krieger modelers have a extraordinary amount of detail. These models though had seen better days. The details were wore away and some of the models had been miscast pretty badly. Bandogora had request no basing on the models. I'll admit, I was almost disappointed I would not get to base these bad boys.

Doing what i could, I was able to make the models stand out. Bandogora has already ordered  his next squad of Kriegers. This next squad is going to be ten grenadiers. It's exciting to watch a new regiment rise.

Next time I hope to be able to return to the All Guardsmen Party that I was working on. I also want to start working on my new Tanith army made out of Victoria Lamb and Brother Vinni Models.  There's a lot of exciting things to come.

Only thing left to do is to get these models all wrapped up and sent back to Bandogora. Hopefully he'll be happy with them! Its been a lot of fun to get a chance to work on the Kriegers but now its time to return to other projects.

Of course at the start of the year i mentioned a top secret project that I couldnt mention yet. Still cant talk about it too much but let me assure you all that it is coming. Stay tuned! Many new and exciting things are coming down the pipeline. As always if you like what you see please comment. If you want to follow my blog please do so, its encouraging to see new faces following your work.

Until Next time...

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Commission: Part 2: "The Bloody 18th" Rises

18D

So in frustration of the weather being humid and uncooperative outside Ive decided to write a blog post. The "Bloody 18th" has been cleaned and retrofitted with their new weapons. The models were cleaned using LA's Totally Awesome, a product I highly recommend.  It does a excellent job in cleaning off paint jobs and removing the models superglue. Its almost like having a fresh model to paint!

So what do I have for you today? Well first off the banner above me is something new. Done by the wonderful artist Kurt Metz, his artwork is very classy and beautifully illustrated. If your looking for someone to do some artwork or just have some time to kill, I recommend his site to check out.  Having seen his artwork that he did and a personal commission I cant thank him enough for, I hope this small token of gratitude is enough.

On the left is 18D AKA "Alein". Bandogora has asked me to keep this model out from the other five Kreigers as a special work in progress for our Dark Heresy Game. Alein's Story is one of duty, honor and sacrifice that we hope to tell through future Dark Heresy Games. Alein is currently serving under the Ordo Xeno with Inquisitor Ackermaan and his war band. Yet as long time RPG players know, in Dark Heresy,  the truth is often stranger than fiction.  I still need to get a scope for Alein's role as the squad sniper / marksmen but once thats done, he'll be ready to see the battlefield.

Below me is the Company Command Squad of the "Bloody 18th". Made up of honored Kriegers, the Command squad is the key component to any Krieger army. These models have been awarded many honors in defense of the Imperium and Krieg. Yet for all their sacrifice, they know that they are just another number in the dark future of the 41st Millennium. Many of these models were broken and in bad shape when I got them. The Flamer on the middle model was un-salvageable. Instead I used a Elysian Shotgun and gave it to the Krieger instead. Being another Forge world product, the Shotgun went well with the Krieger line. Elysian pouches and grenades were also added on to give some flavor to the models. Hopefully Bandogora will appreciate these extras to the models.

Hopefully By Monday I will be able to start priming these models. It is my hope to have these models back to their owner soon completely retro fitted and ready for battle.  As this commission continues I hope you all stay with me, Things are about to kick up speed...

Victoria Lamb Las guns and Kriegers

The new squad together.
Notice the Elysian Shotgun on the Commander figure

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Commission: Death Korps Of Krieg "The Bloody 18th"

     

Middle Blue Krieger

     So here it is, my first commission work!, Originally I wasn't going to post this till it was done but I wanted to get in the mood and excited for the project. This project is for a close friend of mine "Bandogora".  He sent me his first five (5) Death Korps to be painted in the middle blue scheme. Readers of my blog will recall that my first Krieger that I painted was "Clark", a member of the Inquisition and part of Umarus's War band.

That Battle damage (Not mine but clients request to look similar)

These first 5 models arrived just as i was starting to type up this blog post. After looking at the models it was apparent they needed A LOT of TLC. These models had seen better days and it was up to me to make sure they were granted the right tools for the trade. After soaking them in a bath of LA's Totally Awesome, I cleaned them off and got to work putting them together. The picture to the right was requested as the bases for the wear and tear look on Bandogora's own work. No base work was requested and when asked the client refused to have any done.

Another Concept found online

My First look at 18D from pictures

That Red has got to go

 Bandogora had a request for me to make one of the models "18D" also known as "Alein", and make him specifically different from the other 4 Kriegers. 18D was Bandogora's character in Dark Heresy produced by Fantasy Flight Games. 18D was described as a Krieger sniper, so his character was going to have to stand out from the other four. A scope and a camo cloak was request for 18D which I promised to get.

He'll look better soon 

 Bandogora had purchased the models second hand and it was obvious they had seen a lot of wear and tear.  To replace the broken lasguns i suggested that Bandogora purchase some Victoria Lamb arms which he did. These arms were meant to make the regiment more his own and to replace the missing lasguns. What I had failed to realize was how broken these models were, It was going to be rough.

My plan is simple.

 I'm going to prime the models grey and then go over them with a space wolf grey / blue. Once the model is looking good I will add in some brown for the boots and the chest piece. My only hope is that Bandogora hasn't used anything too rough on the black primer, The Flamer is probably going to be the hardest part of this commission but we will see. I also want to add in some highlights and some rough wear and tear that was requested. Since my scopes and on-going Tanith project models had not come in yet, This is all going to be a Work in Progress.

Keep checking back! The Bloody 18th of Krieg will rise once again...

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All in the Squad....

The All Guardsmen party!

Well today is both a sad and exciting day indeed. Today, (February 28th 2015) I sold my first ever Tanith army. The winning bidder is lucky getting a army that has served me well across the various battles of the 41st millennium. The Emperor Protects...

However, this means that my second Tanith army that I have been posting about finally was ordered as well. This army will be composed of Brother Vinni's Models, as well as Victoria Lamb's.  So not all is lost. I kept my vehicles of the Padrus 8th Armored and the Phantine Forge world models that are made from Elysians.  With this force, I intend to start off my new army right with a new paint scheme and many new techniques.

Twitch, Tink, Doc, Cutter

However, what I have for today is taken from Shoggy's "All Guardsmen Party". These collection of stories follow Shoggy's Role playing game group as they try to survive in the Inquisition as Imperial Guardsmen. Sarge, Tink,Doc, Cutter,Nubby, and Twitch have been been the focus of this small project of late.

These characters instantly spoke to me. Many of the heroics told throughout the story are of simple men trying to survive in the universe that hates them. If you haven't gotten the chance to read the stories I highly recommend it! Shoggy is a wonderful story teller!

Doc, Cutter, Sarge, and Nubby

So far I have started on Sarge, (now Inquisitor Greg Sargent) and Cutter. From the story, Cutter and Sarge are two of my favorite characters. Sarge repeatedly proves himself to be a capable leader. His use of leadership and the "NCO disaster manual"  proves to be repeatedly used throughout the story. Cutter for his own replaced Heavy after the latter's death early on. Cutter was once a scribe that quickly learned to love his chain sword and close quarters battle. Cutter would end up on many of the parties early adventures. In one instance he threw himself down a shaft after his beloved chain sword swinging it into the body of a possessed tech priest. Only quick thinking on the part of Nubby would save him. Yet like others, death came for him at the hands of two Chaos Space Marines and a Heritek. His chain sword cutting into the half man, half machine, the last words he heard were "burn" as a massive explosion went off around him burning him and the heretic to death as they fell into oblivion. In tribute to these awesome characters I am making them into model form.

Another thing I wanted to post about was the Phantine Skyborne I've been working on. Since they were saved from the E bay, I wanted to get a community opinion. In one of my earlier stories I wrote about the recruitment poster that my character Jonus Remaus had stood in for. Many posters responded positively to the lore and background. When I found this poster I couldn't help but smile. It seemed to match everything I had written about the Phantine born man. Although the poster is for the PDF, the viewer can imagine it being for the Skyborne or even the aviator corps.

So I'm asking you my dear readers. Should I repaint my Phantine to better match this pilot and the look of a World War II aviator? I think the look would better match what i had expected from the Phantine but at the same time I feel that I like the state they are at now. Maybe time will tell, since i'm redoing my Valkyries to match the Phantine aviator corps.

As always there is more to come and many new exciting things I wish to share with all of you! However at the moment I am unable to disclose more,

Till next time, keep rolling those dice......!

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