After recently purchasing a Valkyrie, the seller threw in an unassembled Sentinel free of charge. Score! Both models came new-on-sprue, with instructions, at less than helf retail price. If I wasn't a terrible dancer I would dance right now. Ahem, it was very cool of him to do that.

For starters the  armaments needed a little beefing up. I had the idea of running cables through the eye sockets of the skull emblem.

 A couple of guitar strings will do the trick

The normal mounting position is the hole below the cockpit, but I really wanted to try something different. I thought it would look cool with the weapon following the pilot's  line of sight.

 Pin in place and ready to glue. I also cut and refit the feet around the terrain chunks.

I was slightly concerned with the tension the strings/cables added on the weapon, but it held firm and adds a nice touch of detail.

To keep the cables tight a staple was added on the Missile Launcher. It was slightly tricky to keep in place, but that's probably because it was a last second addition.

A few more details were added like spikes and an impaled torso. I opted for the open canopy so the pilot would be more visible. The spikes are from old sprues I had lying around.

I'm satisfied with the results so far. All that's missing are more chaos-y bits (you can never have enough spikes). I haven't decided if (or how) claws will be added to the feet. They look cool on the drawing board, but I don't want the model looking too eclectic with pieces just strewn about.

More pics will be up later this week. Cya then!

Today I thought I'd post a link to a lot of great inspiring Blogs. The theme is Imperial Guard armies. There are a lot of Blogs out there, but these are just a few I've had the pleasure of finding (insert Zelda secret sound here).

Onyx's Hobby Blog 

Ever have the urge to make an Epic Armageddon Army? Go to Onyx's Hobby Blog where he has some AWE inspiring armies for you to look at. There's a whole lot of armies to drool over!

The Chaosgerbil's Lair

We can't forget the Traitor Guardsmen now can we? Chaosgerbil's blog is packed full of battle reports and insight into the mind of chaos. This is a great example of what my army aspires to be. I may have to try this out as well: Codex_Lost_and_The_Damned_ChaosGerbil_v5

Praetorian 77th

I clicked this link almost on accident while browsing the Dakka Dakka forums. To my surprise I found a great Blog devoted to the Praetorian 77th regiment. It's more than just Imperial eye-candy; there's also a lot of unique design work like the Rough Rider's conversion (which is the closest I've seen to what I have planned).

Col.Gravis' Praetorian Imperial Guard
Another fantastic Blog devoted to the Praetorians. You can find just about anything you want to know about the Praetorians here. My personal favorite is Malcador Defender "Dauntless", but I'm a sucker for Super Heavies (Aren't we all?)

These are but a few of the many great blogs out there. Of course there are so many to mention, but I'm tired of typing and really want to paint now. Please follow them if you haven't already!

Have a cool site to add? I'd love to hear about it

More pics of the Renegade IG army. This time it's of the first batch of troops to test the paint scheme.

The bodies are from a set of troopers I got a few years back. One model was chopped up to later be used as an objective marker. That project, however, was put on hold since it didn't work the way I hoped. The other four troopers I used for testing paint schemes.

Now that the Renegade project is going, nearly anything that isn't nailed down is going into this project lol. My primary goal is to build the army as creatively and inexpensive as possible. Troops, like the ones above, are fairly easy to come by. A lot of times people will disregard a model because it has a really rough looking paintjob or some wear-n-tea. Armor, like a Basilisk or Valkyrie, can be quite expensive especially when armies require lots of them.

Fortunately there's eBay and I've had some luck finding good deals. I managed to grab a few Leman Russ tanks, a Valkyrie, and a Baneblade all at good prices. With any luck I'll be able to fill in some more gaps in the list without paying too much  :)

Work continues on the Renegade IG army.

I was a bit reserved on creating this army, mostly due to the fact that GW keeps raising prices so often. Thanks to eBay, however, and some *cough* bartering with my FLGS, I was able to obtain a few good deals and get the army started.

The model is from the Colonel Schaeffer's Last Chancers set (the Hero). He is a cool model, but needed some modifications to make him a bit more ...chaos-y. Both arms were removed and replaced with a power fist and a CSM plasma gun. I don't know why I added the plasma gun. It was the only gun that looked cool so I'm going to make it work. The head was also upgraded to a cool gas mask with officer's hat (I can't remember where it's from though). Plasticard was used to make the claws, though I don't see them lasting very long without a lot of modification.

I have a lot more plastic and pewter staring back at me demanding more attention. Who am I to deny the Chaos Gods?  :P

More pics to come including the Penal Legion Mutants. Cya then!

This is a well made argument video by Matt from Miniwargaming.com. It's directed toward GW on how they treat their local retailers. Check it out.