Progress is made.

Work has been kicking my ass, and my creativity's ass. I have made some small progress though, like buying the Dark Imperium boxed set (pictures of that will come) and also a new light box for photography. Still getting the hang of it, but I think I'll get there.

So anyway, onto the models!

All right, first things first. I've been working on the the crew for the first heavy bolter team in my Morphean Highlanders army. So we've got the assistant gunner below, made from a mix of GW Cadian bits, Forge World's Cadian Respirator upgrade kit and Victoria Lamb's upgrade kits, both some of her old metal and newer resin bits. The idea I had behind the posing was for him to be rushing back from the resupply truck/half-track with a fresh box of bolter shells for the main gunner.
He's recently been undercoated and so needs to be painted.

Next up is probably my most extensively converted model to date, the commander of the First Platoon for my Highlanders 101st Regiment of Foot. Again, made from a mix of GW Cadian bits, both the standard infantry box and the command kit, and Victoria Lamb bits too. The sword though is made from one of the Executioner Greatswords from the Sisters of Silence kit which I bought online from bitzbox.co.uk.
I was originally a little bit worried since, obviously, the Sisters of Silence are female and generally, women have smaller hands than men, so the fear that the hand wouldn't sync up with the arm was there. And I was proven right too. It was far too small. So I had to basically cut off the hand, then the grip and the sword while also cutting off the hand off one of the banners and then do a bit of filing and shallow drilling to get it all right, but overall, I'm pleased with it.

Then next we have a Ministorum Priest, one of the old ones which I bought from my 'local' (it's about 20 miles away from where I live). I am a little annoyed that these guys have been swapped from the Guard army list to the Adeptus Ministorum list in 8th Edition, but beggars can't be choosers. Plus, I've still wanted to paint one and I've never been able to find the actual one that I want, but still. The plan for this guy is to paint him up like a priest/vicar that followed the Scots Covenanters during The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, so basically just plain black all round, but also adding a little bit more stereotypical Scots flair with him (ginger hair and blue facial tattoos).

Then my last model, my scratch built Recon Salamander. Now, it's nowhere near the same as the actual Salamander model, especially since the official model had sloped armoured around the crew compartment, but in all honesty... I like my version. It kind of brings to mind the Universal Carrier from WW2.
Still currently adding some bits to the outer hull, like the fuel drum at the back along with the pannier full of jerry cans on the other side. I do need to buy the Astra Militarum Tank Accessories kit to cover the tank treads at the front since having just one track guard is just... daft. The crew is currently at a mix of being built and being painted, but I'm quite happy with the result so far.

Morphean Highlander #1

And I have finally finished him. After having him sat unbasecoated for nearly three years and unpainted for one year, lo and behold, here is one of my Morphean Highlanders.

Built with a mix of Victoria Lamb bits (kilt legs, bayonet sheath, which you can't see because of the shadow from the lasgun, and the lasgun barrel), vanilla GW Cadian Shock Troop bits, a few Space Marine Scout biker bits, Forge World's Cadian Respirator kits and Anvil Industries weapon sights.

Another WIP

Well work has been a pain since it has cut my creativity to a huge degree.
But I finally pulled my thumb out and did something.

One of my Morphean Highlanders in... some of his painted glory.

Morphean Highlanders WIP and a few painting WIPs

I shall get this out of the way first: my laptop fucking sucks!! I really hope that if I get this apprenticeship (for lack of a better phrase for it. It's complicated) then I can save up money to buy a new one. 

Anyway, between job searching, the lack of money from being jobless and the general feelings of not being good enough to have anything good happen (thank you, anxiety and stress), I have not been as productive as I would have liked, but over the last few months, I have had sporadic moments where I've been able to accomplish things. Some things.

First up: We have the a group shot of the Imperial Space Marine model, painted in the colours of the Raptors chapter, on the left, the sergeant for my first squad of Morphean Highlanders, with torso, legs, head and sword from Victoria Miniatures, while the laspistol is from the Forge World Cadian respirator upgrade kit, and the trooper on the right with the legs and bayonet from Victoria Miniatures (again) and the torso and arms from the vanilla Cadian Shock Troopers kit and the head and backpack from (again) the Forge World Cadian respirator upgrade kit. 

As of now (September 5th), I have painted two more models for my Morphean Highlanders, one carrying the vox-caster and a normal Guardsman. It is a pain when you try and paint tartan but put the wrong colour for the stripes first. So... blegh.

 Next up is my retinue for Lion Rampant, made from the Perry Miniatures 15th century Mercenaries box and the Mounted Men-At-Arms box.
The composition is as follows:

• 6 Mounted Men-At-Arms, with my leader (6 points)
• 6 Men-At-Arms (6 points)
• 12 Foot Serjeants (4 points)
• 6 Handgonnes, the official rules of which are included in Wargames Illustrated issue 330 on page 62 (4 points)
• 12 Crossbowmen (4 points)

So 24 points overall. Still yet to play a game with them though. Plus, since the date of this photo being taken, I have started painting them.

And lastly, we have the best example ever of me pulling my thumb out of my arse: I have put the greenstuff for the plaids on my Morphean Highlands. After sitting for almost half a year half done on my desk. The ones at the bottom are for my first infantry squad while the one sitting in the pin vice is for my Heavy Weapons team. He'll be the loader for the heavy bolter since, if you can't see it clearly, in his left hand, he's carrying an ammunition box.

The soldiers are, once again made from a mix of parts from Victoria Miniatures (the legs, weapon barrels (curse me desire to have a unique force) and heads), Anvil Industries (weapon sights), Secret Weapon Miniatures (the backpacks) and Games Workshop and Forge World.

Expensive for one squad, I know. But goddamnit if I don't want them to look great in the end.

So goodbye until next time.

An update and Morphean Highlander Taurox WIP.

So... it's been nearly four months since my last update. I'll cut a long story short on the reason why: life. I've just not had a good time of it. Between loosing my job, having money stolen from my account, falling sick and not being able to get any news on whatever job I apply for... it's just not been the best combination for my mental health. *sigh*

Anyway, on to the models!
When I had a reasonable amount of money in my account, I went out and bought an Astra Militarum Taurox kit. I'll be honest, I think I was one of the few people who actually kind of liked the model when it came out. So I bought it, while at the same time ordering some very cool resin kits from Zinge Industries' (zinge.co.uk) resin APC range to swap out the Taurox's caterpillar tracks for a set of wheels (along with other bits) to turn it into a 40k MRAP.

 (no idea why the top one came out blurry but the bottom one didn't)

So, I think it turn out quite well. This also marks the start of the colour scheme I'll be using on the vehicles for my Morphean Highlanders: basically a drab green colour with a red invasion stripe down the middle for easy identification from the air. I obviously based this around the orange IFF panels used by Coalition forces during the Invasion of Iraq, and the idea I had behind this particular regiment, the Morphean 101st Highland Regiment of Foot is that they're engaged in a war against anti-Imperial secessionist forces in the Karisol system. Obviously, particular vehicles such as command tanks and vehicles will have a simple camouflage scheme in place of the drab green while other vehicles will have camouflage netting on them.

I also have an idea for quick identification flashes on the flanks of vehicles such as the Taurox or Chimeras, but that's still a work in progress so I'm not 100% on them yet.

So yeah, that's all I've got for now, but I hope to have something up before the end of the month.