Back to the pylon

So it's been a long while, but at long last I'm back with the pylon. First step is to build the base. I've pinned the legs, using a cunningly crafted template to ensure the holes match on both sides. It certainly helps speeding things up too, as this needs to be repeated for all 6 legs.
One side of the template is marked 'hub', the other 'rim', to help ensure I don't drill the holes the wrong way around. An alternate method would be to drill the guiding holes in the exact centre of the template, but I could not be bothered.

 

 

The leg side of things:

 

And that's all for now.

Distraction

I was ready to get started again on the pylon, but my plans got changed when I received my latest ForgeWorld order. Onto the Tomb Stalker.

There are quite a few bits in the kit. First, the body parts: the head, the tail, and 10 segments.

 

Then, the legs - 4 sprues with 6 legs each. Only 20 are needed, the extra number is to help with posing – which is nice.

 

There are 5 sprues with 4 leg claws each (top of the below pic), and 2 holding an "energy forcipule" (the gauss weapon), and an antenna (bottom). Note there is a hole towards the tip of the blade, this is not a bubble, it is used to help glue the gun muzzle in place.

 

 

Then come the other bits used to fully build the forcipules. I've added a quick note below on how it all fits.

 

One other sprue holds 2 mandibles (extreme left), and 20 "tertiary velocitators" – small legs going in between the main ones.

Last, the manipulators. This is the part I had most trouble with, I found them quite fragile. The good news is that as they are very light, any breaks can easily be glued back.

The documentation provided by ForgeWorld is quite good, just thought I'd expand a bit on the assembly of the forcipules. The below picture indicates how all the bits fit together.

 

The result:

 

Drat…

Just when I was getting started - I break my last 1mm drill bit, so cannot start the pylon's assembly. Plus, the batteries on my camera have given up the ghost, so cannot take pictures either. I guess I'll migrate my old posts instead…

Pylon

To get us started, I'll try to document my building of a Necron pylon. First things first: you'll need to verify you've got all the bits in the kit, clean the pieces using cold soapy water, straighten any bended bits with warm water, and remove the extra bits of resin, using a combination of saw, Dremel, and sand paper (usual warnings apply: resin is toxic, wear a mask and protect your eyes). In the pictures below I've marked in purple all the bits to be removed. Note: I start with the cleaning and then do the sanding, and have not had any issues with peeling paint. Others will prefer to sand first and clean later.

 

 

 

Moving in

I have been told that my old blog was not that easy to link to. So hey, hello Blogger… Hopefully this will make things simpler.

Yes, I know I shouldn't have…

I'm very sorry. These two have been on my desk for the past couple of days, and I couldn't resist.

Skaven Packmaster

Well I had to start somewhere with painting my Skaven army, so here is the first one, step by step:

1. Apply Khemri Brown to the fur
2. Apply Orkhide Shade to the cloak
3. Apply Calthan Brown to the shaft of the things-catcher
4. Apply Boltgun Metal to the helmet and the metal bits of the things-catcher
5. Apply Snakebite Leather to the purse, belt and wrist bands
6. Apply Mechrite Red to the lips (so the rat looks like it’s in a bit of a frenzy)
7. Apply Dheneb Stone to the teeth and the claws on the feet
8. Dry brush the fur with Dheneb Stone
9. Apply Dwarf Flesh to the ears, snout and tail
10. Dry brush the shaft of the things-catcher with Vomit Brown
11. Dry brush the cloak with Gretchin Green
12. Apply Camo green to the whip
13. Dry brush the whip with Rotting Flesh
14. Apply Snakebite Leather to the whip’s bindings
15. Apply Boltgun Metal to the whip’s spikes
16. Wash the cloth with Baal Red
17. Wash the fur, shaft of the things-catcher and all leather bits with Devlan Mud
18. Wash all the metal bits with Badab Black
19. Wash the fleshy bits (ears, snout and tail ) with a mix of Ogryn Flesh and Devlan Mud (about 60/40 mix)
20. Wash the whip with Thraka Green, then with Devlan Mud
21. Dry brush the metal bits with Mithril Silver
22. Apply Bestial Brown to the base
23. Dry brush the base with Vomit Brown, then Bleached Bone
24. Apply Vermin Brown to the sides of the base
25. Apply varnish to the mini
26. Add flock to the base to taste