Tuesday 26 August 2014

Steam Tank Ironblaster and Ogre Bright Wizard Done

The clock is ticking. I really only have 2 available evenings left before Rumble in the Bronx. I'm beginning to think I won't get every model ready in time. Fortunately all of the remaining characters have back-ups, but if I have to fall back on them it might break my theme a bit, so I'm still hoping to avoid that.

Anyway, I spent a fair bit of time at the painting table last night, and my Ironblaster and Firebelly are all done!
My Steam Tank Ironblaster, ready for battle. Behold the scratchy highlighting on the cannons and splotchy washes on the hull (both are more obvious in the photos than in real life). A true masterpiece.
I've seen the double-barrelled cannon idea used once before for a converted Ironblaster, and it makes sense to me with the re-rolled bounce. Of course, I didn't want to commit 2 proper Great Cannons to the cause, so instead it's done with 2 left-over Steam Tank cannons plugged into Mortars.
I had plans to make a really engineer-ish looking driver, but I was running out of time and just grabbed a Leadbelcher head and stuck it on. Then I went back later when I had some leftover green stuff and gave him a hat and feather.
The view from the right, complete with battle-damaged hull. I had trouble working out how I wanted to decorate the thing. Turns out my plans for this model were really only half-formed.
A lower angle, so you can see more of the Rhinox. It's really just a glorified chariot, much like a proper Ironblaster.
The driver scored a sash to break up the amount of metal on his back (and make use of more leftover green stuff).
There's not much in the way of accessories on the model. I gave him a pile of reserve cannon balls, which are carefully stacked in such a way that they would doubtless start falling off the back at the first decent bump in the road. I thought about some of the other tools cannon crew carry, but couldn't think of a neat and quick way to do it, so gave it a miss.
The chassis is not yet glued down, although I think I will want it to be before the tournament. This is what the Rhinox looks like when he's not completely covered by the hull of the Steam Tank.
And from the other side.
When the Rhinox was not hooked up, I caught the Ogre standing in his customary position, pretending to drive the thing around and making "vroom vroom" noises.
And here we have the finished "Bright Wizard" Firebelly. When it came time to paint him, I really didn't know what colour to paint which bit. There was a little trial and error as I worked it out.
From a slightly different angle. The zig-zag pattern is sculpted onto the original human model, but in this case the sculptor was a lazy hobo and the work was done with a paint brush. The yellow highlight was also an attempt to give those areas a bit more shape - the edges are very round.
He has a fairly impressive cloak, but apart from the collar you can't see it at all from the front. This is consistent with the original model, but in hindsight I might have preferred to make it billow a bit.
From the left side, where you can see his little personal lantern, stolen no doubt from the Ironblaster Steam Tank.
A better view of the staff top. Like all of the sculpting, it's a bit rough. The wings look good, but then those are plastic. Altogether it does the job.
So where does that leave me? I need to work out what I'm doing for my Tyrant, BSB and Hunter, then build and paint them all. In 2 nights. Could be a big ask. We shall see...

17 comments:

  1. Looks really good mate!. Also you'll get it done. Finished off the bulk of my army last night and half build a display board in an old photo frame (needs grassing, leaves and trees), so if I can, you can man!

    I'll need to make sure I ooh and ahh at your army come sat ;).

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    1. Haha thanks for the vote of confidence. I wish I was as certain myself.

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  2. Lost for words. Just really really good. Sculpting and painting on the Firebelly is top notch and very creative

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    1. Cheers John. Happy enough with the finished product.

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  3. Dude, you're a freakin' Warhammer genius. Love the Steamblaster Irontank, and the Brightbelly is a great concept.

    You might not think that your sculpting is top-notch, and maybe it isn't. But the conceptualising, conversion and painting to a solid table-top standard in such a short timeframe is high quality indeed. Very well done.

    I salute you sir!

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    1. Thanks. Given the tight timeframe, I am indeed satisfied with the overall result.

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  4. The Ironblaster is a very cool conversion, and that Firebelly is outstanding! (it would be nice to see the original Bright Wizard painted up as a 'little brother' companion :-)

    Great idea and well-executed - they're both going to add a lot to your army theme. Best of luck with the painting deadline.

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    1. Cheers. And yes, I may well paint the human version in the same colours, although showing them side-by-side may paint my sculpting efforts in an unflattering light... Still, it must be done!

      Later.

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  5. The scratchy paint on the cannons just makes them look more weathered and beaten up. I assumed this was intentional.
    And if I may be excused for lapsing into the Gentile vernacular (it's the only way to completely express this sentiment), the fire belly is totes amazeballs.


    ...sorry.

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    1. Intentional? Umm yes, totally...

      And yes, you really should be sorry.

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    2. It's not a bug, it's a feature.

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    3. Looking very awesome. I agree completely with The Wrestler.
      You totally need to get this completed. It would be very sad if you didn't...

      Hey, maybe we could have a not-so-classic Empire V Wood Elf bat rep.

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    4. Yeah, at this point I would really like to get it all done given it's taken a lot of effort. We shall see.

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  6. Just lovin' it. Keep up the good work! You're an inspiration to us all!

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  7. Loving this army, theme-wise and execution. Just wanted to mention have you considered using the GW mini of the imperial maneater? Its nice, but maybe you want to keep everything to your style. Love the blog!

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    1. I do have that model, and he's almost painted in the right colours for my army. But he's part of my original non-themed Ogre army, and I think he's happy where he is.

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