October's Results

Here we are again, another month end, so let's have a look at what I've accomplished.

Yep, that's it, I finished the War Altar. This means I didn't quite meet my target as I didn't get around to basing the SWAT team, but I'm happy with what I've managed here. Let's take a tour of this mechanical monolith...

Up at the front is the Golden Griffon. In the Empire book this is listed as the source of the spells that an Arch Lector gains when he's on the altar, so I had to have one. This is a piece from the empire general sprue that I've had lying around for a while.

Behind that is the lectern. The parts for this came from the general sprue and the helblaster box set - the main body of it is a weapons chest which I've stood upright. This means that beneath his holy texts the Arch Lector has a few weapons available should prayer fail him!

Then there's the man himself. I used a brighter colour scheme than the rest of my army has, as I wanted to give the impression that the church of Sigmar isn't part of the state military, even though he's riding to war alongside them. Note the enormous hammer, and the fact that I've painted the eyes in for once! I normally don't bother, but recently I've been trying to do this even though I find it pretty difficult to pull off.

Behind the Arch Lector is the stoker, who also operates the controls. I've posed him so that he's leaning on the rail to try to make him seem like a more organic part of the unit.

Then, mounted on top of the boiler is a relic - the skeleton of some former hero of the Empire. This is another piece from the general sprue, I've added it here to try to build up the religious look of the model, and also to further differentiate it from my Steam Tank.

As I said earlier, I'm pleased with the overall effect I've been able to come up with here and I'm keen to try using it in a game now. The only problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to transport it in...

Oh yes, and for further conversion points this month I'd like to refer everyone to the pictures in the previous blog post from the 17th - I made a few extras, painting those will form a future target (probably not November's though, I've got other plans there).

A bit of progress, and some cheaphammering

I've returned from exotic climes (or, if I'm being accurate, an unattractive convention centre in Frankfurt) and I had a day off work which allowed me to spend some time on painting the War Altar.  

What I've done so far is base coat the carriage itself, put together a lectern (which you might be able to tell from the photo contains various weapons for the Arch Lector to use if prayer doesn't get the job done) and assembled a stoker model (many thanks to Lee for the parts, more on that later). 

After some thought, I decided to use a very muted colour scheme for the War Altar itself. The hope is that this will stop the whole model from being too busy, and the Arch Lector will stand out more than if everything was very colourful. We'll see how well that pans out.

I've also put together a base for the War Altar - this was actually two bases that I glued together to make them long enough, and to make the join a bit stronger I added some planks. To make this make sense, I added more on top of that, so that it should look like an improvised duckboard road, hurriedly laid down to allow the War Altar to make it to the battlefield.

Now, onto some cheaphammering, to use the verb Kieron accidentally coined. When Lee gave me the bits to build the stoker, he also gave me some spare parts. When combined with some bits I already had, this was enough to put together...

A couple of pistoliers:

Some crew for my new helblaster volley gun:

The helblaster is made leftover steam tank parts and the gun body that was on the same sprue as the helstorm rocket battery. This gives me two helblasters, which Kieron is thrilled about.

I also finally put together the little rack of rockets that came with the rocket battery:

And, because I'm starting to think they might be a useful addition, I've undercoated some crossbowmen from the old Battle Masters game that I've had in my bits box for something like 18 years!

Finally, I've made some bases for the baggage I bought for Saga. These have to be individually based for the scenario they're needed for, but I've cunningly organised them so that they can be put together to form a barricade, so they can be used in other scenarios as well.

Some progress, and a haul from Derby

Unusually, I've got myself into gear, and actually done something early in the month. So, the Steam Altar is underway!

As you might be able to tell, I've used the roof of the steam tank for the base of the front of the altar - this is where the Arch Lector will be standing. At the rear is the boiler and wheels from the steam tank, which will show the furnace part which is normally inside the finished model. Then I've extended the whole thing to allow a model to stand stoking the boiler and remove the idea that the arch lector would otherwise have to keep turning round and shoveling coal during the battle. 

A bonus point to anyone that can tell me where the rails on the side of this bit come from!

Now, more interesting stuff. I went to Derby Worlds yesterday, and of course spent some money. This is what will be distracting me as I try to remain focused on October's targets.

First off, some buildings from Sarissa Precision. I love these! I've actually got another floor coming in the post - the floors all lift off, and are interchangeable between the two buildings. These will definitely be November's target.

Then, since I got a free copy of Saga for my playtesting services for the Triples game, I also got a free Viking:

And I foolishly went to the Ainsty Castings stand again - so got a security desk:

.... and some baggage for Saga:

October's Target

Here we go then, new month, unseasonably warm weather, time for a new target!

Since I finally got around to playing 8th edition of Warhammer, I've been rebitten by the fantasy bug. I've been an Empire player for several years and already have a large painted Nuln army. However, one thing I've wanted for ages but haven't done yet is a converted war altar.

I previously started making one that would be held as a litter by flagellants, but that always slightly annoyed me as the altar is a chariot and having flagellants charge at the same speed of horses isn't right!

As I was looking for something else I came across a selection of bits of the old metal Steam Tank model in my modelling studio (alright, back bedroom) and was struck with the inspiration to create a steam driven war altar. Makes sense with the speed of the thing and getting impact hits, and fits in with the Nuln theme a bit better as well.

So, the target is to turn this heap of bits:

Play "spot the sprue" and win, er, nothing really

into a painted War Altar. I'm also aiming to have the SWAT and Criminals I painted in September based up - I'm going to give up on the "indoor" look and make them look like they're on tarmac instead.

Oh, and for an added challenge, I have to go to Germany for a week for work during October, so time's going to be a bit limited...