Nesewdjet-Nedjety [2.18.2013 Epic Reaver Update]

[Brother Wolf]

You know justin is going to ask for closeups, Vaaish, why do you insist on taunting him? *grin* Now that he's a moderator, he might get uppity. You know how abusive we lot are!

As always, brillitant work, looks fantastic. Love the extra tlc on the bases.

[Vaaish]

Most likely, of course you know the solution for that, right? Make me a moderator too!

Thanks, though, I'm glad you noticed the bases. I'd noticed a quality drop in them looking back through some of the models the past couple of months so I've been working to bring them back up to par again.

[Vaaish]

Odd Justin hasn't shown up quite yet, but anyhow, on to the item of the week. Also part of the epic commission, I have an IF strike cruiser for BFG finished up and ready to seal.

[misterjustin]

I'm here! I'm here!

I've been to busy to even READ forums lately nevermind chime in. But I did notice the bases under the Landspeeders and I like 'em. I would, as has been mentioned, love some close up shots :P

The Cruiser looks good too and the freehand is crisp and easy to recognize. Solid work.

And now I need to eat breakfast and then climb back under my rock. I'll be back regularly in August. No, really... August

[Blackmain]

Any chance we can get a size comparison between the Strike Cruiser and a Space Marine?

[Brother Wolf]

BFG ships use standard, small flying bases, (approx 40mm), which sadly you can't really see in this photo, but if you look at the side shots you can see the top of the base clearly enough. The width tapers from approx the width of an SM arm at the top to an SM leg at the base. So if you look at the very first photo, imagine that Lysander is using the ship as a puppet, waving it above his head like a silly child.

DOUBLE POST

@Xenith: Smarty McSmartypants. With your rulers and your exact measurements. *grins & huggles Xenith*

[Xenith]

In other words, the strike cruiser is about 8cm long.

[Vaaish]

It's been a while since my last post on this, but several things have kept me busy. I've finally pulled two of my three rhino chassis off the shelf they've been languishing on for the past two years and sat down to paint them. 397.5 coats of khaki later, I remember why I haven't touched them and why the third chassis will probably be waiting another two years to work up. I also started to wonder WHY I chose khaki for my scheme. Anyway, those were on hold this week while I worked up the last of the Imperial Fist infantry for my epic commission. The end is in sight!

Enjoy the last of the many tactical detachment:

[Brother Wolf]

SICK banner work Vaaish. Your epic skills always continue to impress.

[Col Von Barring]

Epic, Epic! Those banners are awesome. Any chance of a complete army shot?

[Telliphas]

Thats one small a** brush and steady hand you have there Vaaish. I'm astounded at the detail you manage to get down on these epic miniatures. Truely awe inspiring. Keep it up.

[Vaaish]

Thanks y'all! This small I've found a 10/0 works pretty well for detailing things. Unfortunately I can't give a complete army shot since the majority of the models are down in Australia with client I've been painting them for. Once I finish up the last 9 models and ship those down, he's mentioned doing a complete army shot. It's quite a lot of stuff, with three full companies and support vehicles.

[Vaaish]

Back with a little BFG. I'm done with these except for sealing them tomorrow night although I may paint in the windows slit on top since it seems to stand out more than I had expected and change the side gold dots on the bridge to green. Seeing them next to the original armageddon cruisers I did makes me think I may need to dull out the gold a bit in the recesses. These are brown to match the typical color of my cruisers. I've included a family shot.

[Blackmain]

This is amazing... you make me feel bad that no one around here plays BFG.

[Vaaish]

Thanks. I'm still not quite happy with them, so I've changed the bridge color to gold to match the larger cruisers.

[Vaaish]

Small update today, I've added in the adjustments to the bridge and underside. I think this helps balance things better.

[Brother Wolf]

My only nag is they look more brown than maroon like the older vessels. Still, the overall execution is your usual top-notch, so how can I really argue with such terrific looking ships.

[Vaaish]

LOL, that's intentional! If you look at my fleet a few pages back, I tend to make cruisers and light cruisers brown while escorts, battleships, and grand cruisers are the reddish color. It adds a little variety to the fleet on the table while still keeping things uniform.

[Vaaish]

It's been ages since I posted and update to this army, but I've finally finished up a project that's been languishing for years. I've kept saying I was going to paint up my rhinos but pretty much every other project got in the way. First it was 40k troops, then it was land speeders, then a dreadnought, three epic armies and a large commission, >5k Imperial Fleet for BFG... you know things happened. Anyway I decided that the running joke had gotten too old and set down to paint these up. I still have one more, but it'll be a good while before he comes into play anyway. I've learned several things through this project. To start, tanks and khaki are a pain without an airbrush; you shouldn't try out new weathering techniques on models that took three months to paint; and crazy hieroglyphs are possible.

I nearly ruined Rhino 1 attempting to do chipped paint. While the technique did alright, it just didn't look like the chipping I'd done with a sponge. For those interested the writing on the right side DOES in fact translate. Both rhinos are listed as being the Regiment of Re. It then gives the names for the rhinos. Rhino 1 (kerew) translates as "the chariot of the Justified, much beloved of Osiris who is upon his throne, the lord of eternity. The second rhino (akhet) translates "the charior of the Horizon, much beloved of Osiris who is upon his throne, the lord of eternity. In middle egyptian writing the words ma'a kherew literally mean the true of voice and was used as a euphemism for the deceased. Akhet, the word for horizon, can also translate as tomb. I realize it's a little arcane, but I thought it would be nice to add a tad of humor in the naming of a vehicle that tends to get labeled as a death trap.

So here you are, enjoy the somewhat messed up rhinos:






EDIT: for those interested, here was the first mention of doing the rhino.... at least 2 years ago.

[Telliphas]

Woah your zoom on your camera is pretty shit hot Vaaish.....No wait these are 40k Ahahahahahaha. A nice smooth bone colour you have across the Rhinos, did you paint these by hand or use a spray gun to get the smooth coverage?

[Vaaish]

These were done by hand... it also made me REALLY want to try an airbrush in the future...

[Tinweasel]

Testor's ModelMaster Iraqi Desert Sand Spray - it's what I used as a base for my Necrons (also well over two years old and making less progress than your Rhinos!) and more or less looks like it might be a good color match for what you have on the two Rhinos. A bit late, but I'd recommend it - hey, if I'd know you were painting non-Epic vehicles in a sudden fit of inspiration... cheaper than an airbrush, in any case.

Anyhow, the execution of these guys is great and you get to flaunt in people's faces that you painted them entirely with a brush. The heiroglyphs are a great idea and while I don't know Middle Egyptian, I think they look (and theoretically read) excellent. Blessed by Osiris, too, so that ought to help these deathtraps on the battlefield - actually I've found my Rhinos are good for a 1st turn rush and make great barricades for horde armies thereafter (whether line of sight or difficult/dangerous terrain after going all 'splodey).

I am/was a little confused, though - it looks like you switched the name order versus numerical order (akhet vs. kerew) in your writeup. It also took me a little while to pick out the chipped paint effects. Very subtle, but I think it/they look(s) good!

[Vaaish]

Thanks, I migght have to look into it. I'm a little concerned with how well it will match the rest of my force at this point though. You're right, I did switch them in there. I guess that's the price for doing the writeup without looking at the pics.

Those paint chips almost killed the models. I tried to do some of the highlighted edges style to make them stand out more and it didn't look right.

[Brother Wolf]

Always look forward to your updates, but damn that is a very nice 'messed up' Rhino. Love the hieroglyphics, both in execution and definition.

Kudos, as always.

[misterjustin]

Army Painter also makes a bone spray now - which might help you churn out some more excellent Rhinos.

[Vaaish]

Thanks, but I've only got one more rhino... although that may become even more useful if my plans to eventually build a couple of land raiders bear any fruit.

[Col Von Barring]

Beautiful! Excellent bone finish. Well done.

Love the hieroglyphs. Clever idea and well executed. Now, if you had a figure of Daniel Jackson stood next to them translating.....

[basuatreya]

I am impressed with how smooth the color on the tank is. No matter how small the surface or how dilute my paint I can never seem to get a smooth coat, I always end up with some bump or clump.

[Vaaish]

Time for another update. This time I'm finishing up a battlebarge. I tried to pull back on the weathering a bit this time around since the ship is supposed to be so massive. In any event, this completes the space component of the IF force for Cal. I've never really though the model was all that nice from the photos I'd seen of it, but after working on it I've got to say it has much nicer lines than I first thought. Just a few odd bits I might change should I ever convert one. I'm also including a group shot with the strike cruiser.

Enjoy. Next up, necrons or IF thunderpidgeons

[Exetus]

I hate Imperial Fists, but you make yellow look good, Vaaish. Beautiful battle barge.

[Brother Wolf]

I continue to drool over your work. Damn nice looking barge.

[Vaaish]

Thanks. It looks like we are doing necron next. They seem to be going pretty quickly for the infantry at least.

[Inquisitor Lok]

Wow those look great! Can i ask what you do/ use to put them together? Is it just Super Glue as ive been having quite a bit of trouble putting my recent BFG chaos and SM fleets together. Also im madly impressed by your freehand skills.

[Vaaish]

I use zap a gap to glue them together. I've never had a problem with any of my metal models falling apart using it. The battlebarge did have a poorly conceived joint where the fore and aft met so I put a pin in that one to hold it together.

[Vaaish]

I'm back with the start of the necrons I've been collecting for the last bit. I'm trying to knock out two of the three phalanxes this week. The second is going to get a rather compressed painting tonight and tomorrow. That will take care of the bulk of the infantry leaving a couple stands of pariahs, some wraiths, and all the tomb spiders before hitting the armor.

[Vaaish]

Not a bump, but I do have an update. I finished up the second phalanx is done, but I'll have to wait and get it sealed tomorrow night. This also reminds me why I tend to do one detachment or model per week rather than two in a two days On to more commission thunderhawks.

[Brother Wolf]

WHOA! I've never even SEEN Epic Necrons. Awesome. And terrific for a 'rush job'.

[_Prometheus_]

WHOA! I've never even SEEN Epic Necrons. Awesome. And terrific for a 'rush job'.

Well, that's because they aren't "proper" necrons. They are Edenite Skeleton Infantry from FRP Games. GW never did 6mm 'Crons so the fans stepped up and did their own.

I usually don't really say much in this thread since I have the privilege of seeing Vaaish's stuff in real life, but I'll just say that these little guys are really quite impressive, although the cast quality does vary from "friggin' awesome" to "meh".

[Vaaish]

Yeah, ages ago there was a cron list in development that's evolved into the current cron list for epic but no miniatures were created for it at the time. Officially, the old epic chaos androids are basically the same design as old school necron infantry but that's it.

Just a little correction, FRP games doesn't actually make the models. They are part of the Exodus Wars edenite line, but the company that produces them is Steel Crown Productions.

In the coming weeks, the more iconic stuff like Tomb spiders, monoliths, and Pylons will appear

[Vaaish]

Not a lot to say about this, but here are two more FW thunderhawks for the IF commission. I'll be varnishing these tomorrow before heading into a necron Pylon. Please ignore the bases as these aren't the final ones.

[Inquisitor Lok]

Those are quite impressive along with the Necrons!

[Vaaish]

Hey, thanks! There's still a couple more of those to do. Next on the models finished list is a necron pylon which marks both my first large necron vehicle and my first large gem. I must say necron are tough to paint without getting too green or too black. I'm coming into crunch mode for my grad show so things might slow up or get faster. Because of that I'm concentrating on some of the easier models to finished out like the last phalanx and all the tomb spiders.

[Vaaish]

Continuing my quick projects this week, I present the six tomb spyders to go with my three warrior phalanxes. I hope to use the remainder of the week to finish converting up the two stands of pariahs for painting next week. After that it'll be grad show and I'll probably be doing well to just finish cleaning the last phalanx and fix the miscasts. After my show I'll be finishing out the last two thunder hawks for the Fists as well.

The toughest part on these were the three left eyes. I had to redo three of spyders to get the eyes to show up properly and I'm not even sure I actually painted the cast detail or if I just painted my own detail in place.

[Tinweasel]

Being somewhat of a closet Necron fan, I have to say I'm very impressed by the Spyders and the Pylon and how much detail you've managed to put on them as compared to the full-size models. (Noting the eyes and the indented glowy bits, specifically.) I'm loving the SM stuff, too, of course, but boxy ships don't have nearly the same appeal although they are beautifully weathered.

This thread never ceases to delight and amaze!

[Gacu666]

This is just freakingly epic!

[Dark]

Wonderful work on the necrons. Looking forward to seeing more. Is the company that is making them making any flayed ones? Haven't heard you say anything, but just thought of how hard they would be to paint on such a small scale.

I'm always happy to see updates on this thread as it always makes me smile. Wonderful work, and looking forward to more.

[Vaaish]

Thanks, I agree that thunderhawks aren't that interesting, it's kind of why they have been languishing until the end of the commission stuff.

Dark: DRM does make some models that are sort of like flayed ones. The casts didn't come out up to par, but the community asked that they be made anyway so they are only available on a per piece basis from the edenite line.

[After Burner]

Lol u deserve the 50k views this post has. Seeing armies like this give me the inspiration to paint my forces

The basing looks great, I love the scheme u've done and all i wanna see is more. Try making an honour guard squad for ur chapter master

[Brother Wolf]

Sharing Tin's enthusiasm and views, this thread is a genuine delight. Fantastic job on the pylon & spyders, I'm still on awe of your speed and skills.

[Vaaish]

Thanks, guys, it's really encouraging to see comments! I'm back with a quick update. Since I'm now in crunch mode for my exhibition, it's just a small one. I needed a couple of stands of pariahs to finish out the two phalanxes I've already completed for my necron force so here they are converted from the way to many winged eldar exarchs that seem to appear in the bitz box. I think they make a fair facsimile of their larger brothers. If I get time this week I'll be cleaning up the last necron phalanx for painting to finish out all but the wraiths for the necron infantry.