Weirdboy Battle Tower - wagon chosen

Picked up the donor toy for the battle wagon today - this truck and a helicopter for only 12 quid from Wilkensons. Its waaay out of scale, but that's kind of fitting for the Orks to have such big-wheeled beasties. I'm documenting this on my Youtube channel, and you can see more there:

Shokk Gun - finished.

Finally, finally got round to finishing this fella off. Had a lot of fun with the painting, and i've replicated what i did in the 90's with the balls on the ends of the arms - have them in Tamiya Clear Blue with lightning bolts in white to try and convey energy globes:

Nurgle Fighter - getting away more from the Stuka

Bit more progress on this one for you today. I had to fill the back of the AR-170 cockpit window and decided to cut down the Stukas one and glue the rear where it should have been all along. That left quite a gap and, as you can see here, i've filled the whole area with P38.

I've not done a complete job, as i planned to have that area covered by a living bio-mass that piggybacks the craft, giving instructions to the pilot within. So that's what i did

I also trailed the bio-mass down towards the tail and, while still soft, pressed in a couple of tiny wings to be some sort of stabilisers. Did it that way to try and convey the mass is engulfing the craft and the wings were peeking out of it. You can also see some new, white pieces to the hull - all from the Airfix Space Shuttle kit.

Nurgle Fighter

Liking having more than one project on the go, and being in a hardware frame of mind, i've been looking around for something new to do. There seems to be a fair bit of talk now about fighters in the 40K universe, so thought i'd have a go at a scratchbuilt Nurgle one. Okay then, but what to use? Figuring an existing aircraft kit in 1/48th scale, as that's closest to GW's 28mm range, would be the simplest option, i had a ponder over what one to go for. That was easy - the Stuka has always struck me as a bizarre design, totally unlike anything else in the skies of WW2 and i figured it'd do just right. At a model show a little while back i picked up Airfix's version for only a tenner:

Back at home, it was strange to be building an Airfix kit again after 30-odd years, and i started by sticking the two halves of the main frame together, leaving out any cockpit details as (A) they won't be visible when i'm done with it, (B) more additions to me bits box. Anyway, i'd already decided to do away with the propeller and had it in mind to have some sort of jet intake in its place. I also junked the cockpit canopy as i want just a resemblance to the original aircraft. I couldn't find a substitute in any of my bits boxes, so decided to sacrifice my ARC-170 from the Clone Wars as its canopy looked just about the right size and width. It did fit just right, and i decided to place it much further back than it should be, to try and tie it in with similar looks on some of the GW planes:

The area right in front of the cockpit has been filled in with Plasticard, and the plan was to have all the weapons up and on there. Next was to attach the tail wings and i thought if i glued them up at an angle, it again took the thing away from the original, plus it'd tie them in with the main wings:

Next thing i turned to was the jet intake. I was having a trawl to find something suitable, when i stumbled on this interesting shape. It wasn't what i was after but, offering it up to the front of the plane, it looked kind of nifty - changing the shape of the craft completely and giving it almost a mouth, along with a jutting jaw, while still being an air intake:

So i filed down the back of it to make it flat and cut back the end of the Stuka's nose as it was turning in too far, glued it on then P38'd the join. You can also see here that i've moved the cockpit forward - it didn't look at all right with the new nose on. And i've added a horn made from Plasticard, just a little nod towards Nurgle's usual trademark.

A Facebook Page

I've started up a new venture, collecting together my original works and commissions under one banner - Mr E Models. To showcase them, and them alone - no kits - i've set up a FB Page if you'd care to take a look-see (there'll be some real blasts from the past as well as up to date stuff there): www.facebook.com/MrEModels

Ork Weirdboy Battlewagon

A new project started, not Nurgle, but thought you might like to look see? Introducing my Son to Epic Space Marine, a whole bunch of vehicles that i'd totally forgotten back came flooding back. And out of them, one i really liked back then was the Ork Weirdboy Battle Wagon, with the bizzarro notion of bunging a psychic Ork at the top of a tower and wheeling him into the fighting so he can peer out and use his mind powers to attack the enemy. I've been looking around for a new scratchbuilt project, so thought i'd have a go at making one, not in the Epic scale, but for the regular-size troops. Thinking i'd start with the best bit first - the tower itself - i had a good rummage through my bits box, and came up with this:

Its something i started yonks back and it was supposed to be the head of an Ork Killer Kan, that i never in the end got round to, but figured it'd make a logical start for this other Orky device. What you've got here is the body of the old MPC R2D2 body, turned upside-down and i've cut out a panel and backed it with a piece of Plasticard that i'd drilled holes in to make a viewing window. The two blue blobs are the olbigatory sticky jewels, the black strip is a cable-tie and the top stack is a very much cut down external booster engine from the Airfix Space Shuttle kit. This part was going to be just a chimney of the Kan, but here i think it'll be a an observation tower for the Ork inside to climb up and look out from when the enemy is too far away to be a danger. On the back you've got another sticky jewel and a much cut down part of a chassis from a 1/24th truck kit:

So that's what i started with. The new parts to this build started with putting a lip area to the bottom of the tower/R2D2 body and then a flange around that. Another rummage through the box turned up a blue tube from our daughters broken toy hoover, which had the benefit of being IP Plastic and therefore regular kit glue worked on it no probs. Once cut to the right size, i removed a section at the bottom of it for a doorway, added some yellow go-fasta stripes to add a bit of detail, and a smaller white plumbing pipe to the rear of it:

And here's where i am right now - i've added orky teeth to the lip area to give it a bit of character, half a 1/35th WW2 barrel to the body to break it up a bit, some buttresesses under the lip and a cut-down part of the Airfix Girder Bridge at the back - this is where i'll be adding more tanks etc to make it nice and busy.

Batman Chess Set - Bane & Hush

Two new arrivals yesterday. Bane's a real nice sculpt and all i'll be doing with him is to wash and highlight the metallic bits. Hush too is a lovely bit of sculpting but... oh dear, the paintjob - bright metallic pink for the straps etc that should be red, and gold instead of the leather coat. Luckily, the face and rest are ok, so will be a quick remedy.

Eldar Warlock Titan

Okay, the first up of old metal miniatures to populate the Space Marine game is one i was after waaaay back then but, as this was before there was a GW shop in town and i had to get mine from Boot The Chemist and therefore stuck with their limited range, i never had the chance to buy. This is how he came, stripped back down to the metal and primed, with the torso unglued to the legs and with the wings not stuck on:

As the fella i'd bought the game from had done most of the work painting the troops, i decided to just stick with that colour scheme for the rest of the army, which is fine as i like that blue/yellow combination. You can see here i've followed it though on the Grav Tanks and have made a start on the Titan:

Its not clear in this shot, but the yellow is actually three different shades and then washed with brown and then glossed. And here's where i am today, the bulk of the bodywork done, the gems that are all over it picked out in white for a good base, and the gun arm still in primer. Not sure what colour i'll be doing that, all i do know is that it'll be different from the rest of it.

A Spawn and a Lobster

Well, just finished up two more things: Here's my pingpong ball Nurgle Spawn:

And something a bit different... I've always thought lobsters are a bit Slaanesh, what with their whacking great claws and tendril thingies. Came upon a rubber one at a boot fair recently so thought why not? and painted the fella up in appropriate colours. Figures he's some sort of monstrous wrecking/close combat beastie:

Jonathen Dewar

Jonathen Dewar and me go back about 20 years or so. I only met him last year, but we go back a good two decades i reckon. Picture the scene: Its the early 90's, the Garage Kits scene is starting to kick off in this country and the likes of Forbidden Planet, Comet Miniatures, Creatures Unlimited and The Cinema Store start stocking kits based on fantasy film subjects way different from the usual Universal/Alien/Aliens/Predator/Hellraiser characters that the big companies are producing. One of the most distinctive producers i soon cottoned on to were Jaydee Models, which not only had a real diverse and interesting choice of subjects, but the sculpting had a very unique style to them and very often the poses alone set them apart from the rest. At the same time, Forbidden Planet had fully painted up, unique pieces that were just jaw-dropping in their audacious subject matter and execution. It didn't matter then that i'd trek to FP and not buy anything - it was enough to just stand stare at these incredible works of art that (A) i had no chance of owning, (B) I had no chance of emulating. It wasn't until the UKGK book came out in 1997 that i was finally able to link the above two together, as this execellent book had B/W shots of all of these models and one-offs i'd been hankering for, plus a name in Jonathen Dewar. So i was stunned and amazed to meet him last year at Brampton as he was THE sculptor in that book for me. It was fantastic nattering to him yesterday and to see his work "in the flesh" and i do heartily recommend a visit to his new site - http://www.jaydeemodels.co.uk/index - and i thought i'd have a delve back into the UKGK book to show you his works that i SO wanted. First up, THE Crow kit for me - never, ever seen it bettered:

Seth from "Dusk Till Dawn" was also up there and id've loved to have gored this up:

Next up, we have one of those one-offs from the FP cabinet, the creature from "JOhn Carepenter's The Thing":

I used to study and marvel at this for ages and i'm sure i was getting looks from the staff. But it was a revelation to me to have mixed media in the scene - all the different materials for the pen alongside the clay fo the beast. And the teeth. The teeth were done in some sort of clear resin and i stared at them too, wondering how he did them and how the heck did he get them that sharp. But by far, THE figure that i did it for me was Rawhead Rex:

I'd been a fan of the short story long before the rather naff film and Jonathen's take on the fella blew away any memories of that experience. A superb example of a creator reading a book and actually coming up with what was described, i love this sculpt and out of all of Jonathen's prodigous output (get the book to see just how much that is), this one for me exemplifies what makes his work so special - a fantastic, original depiction of a not obvious subject, totally unique and distinctive. Out of all his kits, sadly i've only the one - Mad Max. An excellent kit, ruined by me by attempting a sun-bronzed look. And failing:

I'm SO pleased that Jonathen's up and around on the Net now and its about time the guy is recognised for the huge contribution he made to the Garage Kit scene and i'm so looking forward to what he has to show us in the future.

Brampton Show

Attended that yesterday and it was pretty much the same thing as last time, with the same amount of stalls and the same vendors attending. As last year, our table was the only devoted SF one, although there was a smattering of spacecraft on display on others and, there being only me and Alun and Rich on ours, we were limited to what we could bring, therefore display:

Centrepiece of our table, and the top thing folk took notice of by far, was the start of the 2013 Crewe Model Show item - the Star Wars Hanger Build:

The idea is folk build a 1/72nd Star Wars rebel ship and they're all brought together for the show next year in a massive hanger set, peopled by ground crew and support droids etc. This is just the start of it, featuring my X-Wing, Alun's X and Y-Wings, Rich's primed Y-Wing, Alun's Snow Speeder and my Escape Pod - which i'd brought along, not knowing if it is 1/72nd, but seems to fit ok. Anyway, they've been set off a treat by Alun's EXCELLENT work on the hanger bay. It sure does look worthy of a filming miniature doesn't it? Link to the build here: http://www.scifimodels.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:group-build-star-wars-hanger&catid=11:groupbuilds&Itemid=19 The other thing of note was that Jonathen Dewar was again there. I'll ramble about him in a minute but sticking to the show, he had last year a stunning Perseus and said at the time that he intended to have Medusa next to the hero, her head cut off, flying through the air, and the head attached only by spraying blood. Happy to see that he's accomplished that seemingly impossible feat in spades. Take a look at this:

Its achieved by Jonathen joining the head to the shoulders by the strongest wire he could find, so strong he could only bend it in the vice, and then covering the wire in the blood. Its an amazing bit of work, made even more so when feeling the head and realising that's no hollow or vac-form piece, but a pretty hefty item. Even more amazing is that he didn't stop at the two figures, but made an incredible setting for them, complete with turned to stone soldier.

More details on this fantastic piece of work can be found on Jonathen's newly-established site: http://www.jaydeemodels.co.uk/ Tagging along with Jonathen was Ray, Garage Kit uber-fan and authority and all round nice bloke, who'd brought along his original design Alien riff. It was pretty incredible - why has no-one before thought of the head being flexible like and eel and facehuggers for hands? Even more incredible is that this is Ray's FIRST ATTEMPT at sculpting. I'll change that - i hate him: