This week has been one of... not very much, really. I have done the usual chores and have pottered around a bit but I haven't embroiled myself in any shelf building or renovation work so I have had lots of time to focus on getting some hobby stuff done.
Obviously, I have been able to visit the beach... this was Praa Sands yesterday:
Click the Pic!
It was a cool, slightly overcast day but the waves were just right for the many surfers who were there. To make the trip perfect, I started the visit with a coffee and a Cornish pasty at the cafe there. What better way to start the day?
So what hobby have I been getting up to? Well, to start, I have finished off my Maiden Guard; a female veteran Squat unit:
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These have been languishing in a box, in an almost complete state, for ages but the bit that needed finishing was the arms... so that is what I did. A couple of days of on-off sculpting and they were finished. Just for information, the grenade launcher is from the Cadian plastic sprue, the meltas are from the Space Marine Centurian kit (they are shorter weapons than standard ones), the comms pack is from Mad Robot Miniatures, the hammer is from a Mantic Forge Father - Forge Guard model, the bolt pistol is a Space Marine one and the heads are all from Statuesque Miniatures. These are counts-as Veterans with no additional specialisation.
With the Maiden Guard finished, I could have got on with my Exos or one of my other, already started, units but I decided to start a standard infantry squad that will be part of the third infantry platoon. That meant starting from scratch and this photo shows the process and where I have got to so far:
Click the Pic!
Looking at the numbers, it has gone like this:
- Choose the bodies, clean them up, clean the bases up and glue the bodies to the bases. The heads were selected and once the bodies were glued down, they were cleaned up and the beards were trimmed as required.
- The trimmed heads were glued to the bodies with poly cement and 0.8mm holes were drilled in the bodies so that 0.8mm brass wire (I get mine from Hobby Craft) could be glued in place using super glue. These will form the armatures for the arms.
- The neckerchiefs were sculpted into place using Green Stuff (GS). This fills in any unsightly gaps between the head and body and also provides an option for colour coding later on.
- The beards were sculpted on, where required, using GS. I have also chosen which models would be the 'special ones' and have added the comms pack and space marine arms, after shortening them. (for the special weapon trooper - I have also cleaned up a melta) The comms pack was pinned in place with wire and a small sequin pin replaces the flimsy little resin aerial, and was slotted into a 0.8mm hole that I drilled.
- The moustaches were sculpted on using GS.
- All the weapons were added. Each lasgun was cleaned up, shortened and pinned together with wire. they then had a small hole drilled at the rear of the lasgun body for a wire pin. the Squat body was then drilled, pinned with wire and the lasguns glued in place. I have also drilled a Squat hand and glued a laspistol to it prior to attaching it to the wire arm of the sgt. An Ork knife was then drilled and glued to the other arm. The melta was pinned and glued to the special trooper's arms.
As you can see, I don't skimp on the assembly of these troops and, in the long run, it makes them very sturdy. Once I have bent the wire into shape and shortened it as required, the sculpting will commence in earnest... but I'll put together another picture for that, as I go.
And there you have it. I've managed to get anothe unit done, start the next platoon and still have time to go and feed the ducks!
Over the next month I will be going through the job hunting process so things will slow down a little but I think I will manage to keep ticking along with things.
Well that's about it for this week.
See you from the queue!