Well I have failed to try and keep up to my mental promise of at least two posts as day due to a Game of Thrones marathon, with the first two seasons watched back to back over about a week and a half. All very good but it has dragged me away from painting and getting a bit of time to look at things.
One thing that has moved forward is my work on an ork Gargant, which has come on from looking at least a little bit sloppy to now looking like it is something that may just look passable. As my first full attempt to scratch build I have made the cardinal mistake of not actually checking any sizes so it is more mega than great in size and dwarfs the other titans I have but once it is finished I think I will be happy with it.
Just a few more nights to get the armor plating on and then a few bits of details and it will all be ready for some paint.
For those who think I only know Brigade Models I came across the following machine on a 15mm site, Critical Mass Games. I have seen their models before but the focus of 6mm in my head at the moment suggests a use of these in this scale too. The base size is reported to be 50mm by 50mm so it is probably a bit bigger than a GW Warhound and would make a better equivalent of a Reaver. There are a range of other machines that would work well as mechs in 6mm so definatly worth a look.
http://www.criticalmassgames.com/
Having a look at Tactical Command today I came across a number of references to 1:350 scale fighter planes. A few searches have come up with a range of models for fighter planes, mainly from WW2 but defiantly open for use in some retro styled armies such as Orks. Now most of the stuff coming up on Google for 1:350 is boats but I am going to poke away and see if there is anything more land based that comes up for this scale.
One thing to note is that one brand, Trumpeter, seems to be around £5 for 6 models so not really a bad price to introduce some air support to any small scale games.
Well there is another news story on the BBC website about GW, and unfortunately it is about the same old ligation issue that seems to bug them on a regular basis. Now I have nothing against them suing and protecting their intellectual property, but it does always seem to bring out the wraith of the net.
The current issue is around a book called "Spots the Space Marine" (see Space Marine run?) and GW asserting their rights over the term Space Marine (not Spot). The website of the author has a lot of support for her, generally referencing the fact that there are marines in space and space marines in literature right back to the start of the 20th century. There is also reference to some of the other suits that GW have been putting out over the last few years, such as around websites hosting their defunct rules, or sculptors more or less cloning their models. This is all very messy with people on all sides of the arguments, but always something to watch.
My personal views are that GW are in need of protecting their IP as they have spent a lot of time and money over the last 30 years building up a very distinctive set of worlds, and while they are built from fantasy and sci-fi archetypes they are also rather distinct now and more developed than almost any other fictional world I know. It feels similar to the issues of knock of Transformers which can be detrimental to Takara/Hasbro. However they also need to build some bridges with their public, around the IP issues, pricing and Finecast. For all their faults the nature of GW and their high visibility is good for gaming, at least in the Uk and a decline with them would not really help the gaming world as I suspect it would be the start of a general decline.
And for all the "evil" of GW it looks like DC and Marvel are carrying out a similar protection issue on the term Superhero at the moment. Most large corporations will be doing this sort of thing 24/7 without our knowing as the threat is ramped up as the company gets bigger so complaining itself may be cause for more lawyers coming at you.
Any one want to add their views on this one? Please be polite....
Well after a couple of lazy days not really doing much I have manged to get the core colours on the conversions. Overall I am happy with these, but after applying two different colour schemes I have found a real preference for one over the other... unfortunately not the one that ties in with the rest of my army...
Thousand Sons Whirlwind
Thousand Sons Predator
World Eaters Vindicator
World Eaters Razorback
Full line up. I really like the World Eater colour scheme, with the added interest of the white and blue but have only got a small, Thunderhawk deployed, detachment of assault marines. The majority of the army is Thousand Sons, and I think I will keep it as such but will redo my bikes in the white and blue.
These all need a bit more detail put onto the sides to just add some interest in the paint scheme but I really think these work as a great way of filling out my marine armor at minimal cost.
