Storm Raven Progress Report 2

So, work progresses on the Storm Raven. Now its assembled the scale of it really becomes apparent, but in fairness to it I think it looks a lot less clunky in the flesh than in many of the pictures you see. Sure, it's not a graceful or elegant thing, but what Imperial vehicle is?

Anyway, current pics under the cut.

Stormraven Progress Report 1

So, i've been busy painting the interior of the Stormraven. Like many interiors, much of it won't ever be seen, but if the doors are open, (ie when its on a shelf) some of it will be so you pretty much have to do it all. I always think its a shame to see Flyers with the canopies painted over, for instance, no matter how much that paint-over can be. So, progress - with the interior painted we got this far:

Raven Mad!

So, now I've got my Chaplain painted he needs something to ride around in, which means I've finally got started on my Storm Raven. So far, it looks like this:

Which isn't going to terrify many enemies of the Imperium. All I've done so far is spray the whole thing Army Painter Dragon Red as a base, then re-base in black the areas that are going to be different colours. As you can see I've assembled the wings and attached the Hurricane Bolters to the main hull, but until the interior is painted thats as far as assembly is going to get.

Speaking of the interior, sticking on the Hurricane Bolters highlighted a problem I didn't expect. There is a quite a nicely detailed cargo hold, and fore- and aft-doors you that hinge open for display. Not being one of those "glue everything shut" guys, it would be nice to see it. But with the Bolters fitted the door way just leads to the interior of the weapon assembly, and looks really, really, ugly. Also, it's right next to the rear hatch, so anyone looking in would certainly see it.

But, a solution!

These are the external doors with the prongs and hinges removed, attached over the internal door holes. What I've added to them is purity seals and combat honours - its the sort of thing that adorn most SM vehicles but you're not going to stick them on the outside of an airframe and expect them to stay attached. And right next to the rear hatch? Sounds perfect for a quick prayer as the Marines leap out the back door to combat.

So, next job is to get the interior painted up. 

Blood Ravens Chaplain COMPLETED

Ah, the long weekend. As well as mulling over how to approach the Storm Raven, I painted this guy.

Really, really pleased with him. Will crack out the lightbox and do some showcase shots soon. 

Well, I finally got tired of painting Judge Dredd figures, so it's time to reinforce my Blood Ravens. 

Zooooooooom! 

Citi-Def COMPLETED

After comming around to a completely different scheme for my Citi-Def I've had a flurry of activity on them, finishing all the full squad and building up some of the additional details. I present them, completed!

The nice thing about this scheme is that it means the figures will work for almost any 28mm skirmish game, so I expect they'll get a bit more action. I've tried to keep the colour schemes to a limited colour palette too, so greens and browns and metallic, as a reflection of the more limited range you get in older comic art.

Anyhow, just waiting for my StormRaven order to arrive, and then I'll be on with that, the biggest vehicle I've done to date. 

Starting Over..!

You remember when I said I was happy with the citi-def scheme? Well I got back from a weekend away and decided that I wasn't. I hated it. I tweaked it a bit on a couple of other figures, then tweaked it a lot, and finally just repainted the whole squad over and started again. This time I've gone for a more "realistic" Forest Camo pattern, which is essentially a series of grey, black and green splodges with a green wash to blend it all down and make it look "camoflaguely". For something done in anger - or at least a bad case of the grumps - it's turned out OK in the cold light of day.

Heavy Weapon Guy Again. 

Twin Pistols. You won't hit anything, but you'll look cool (not) doing it. 

Bazooka Trooper. This shot looks like she's just swapped her arm for the weapon.