One of my first (uneducated) purchases when i initially got enthused about the 40k universe many years ago was the old 4th edition (2005) Black Templar codex. I knew virtually nothing about the faction but found the style appealing and the black and white colour scheme seemed easy enough to get my head around.
Army Building
Fast forward a decade or so... without a specific plan in mind, I decided (quite likely just on a whim) that I should build myself a new Black Templars army for Epic, and between May 2017 and November 2017 this happened.
By this time I had already produced several, complete, printed armies (Marines and others) and had my production process down.
Previously I hadn't set out to produce all the units/formations for an army as one big batch; this approach does have the advantage of painting everything more uniformly (which was what I was after, having experienced a-dozen-shades-of-yellow syndrome with my Imperial Fists), but at the risk of hobby/painting burnout.
Every army starts in a state of ugly. A 3D printed one looks something like this; bags of models and bases. Shucking the support plastic off the models is one of the most tedious tasks in the entire process.
Before getting too far in to the project i did paint up some test models to get a feel for the project and work out a painting formula.
Painting Formula
To get a uniform looking army it helps to have a clearly defined painting formula; this is just a list of steps that you follow, time after time, model after model, to make sure things are the same.
if possible/necessary write your formulas down, because a year from now when you need an extra 8 sticks of infantry you may well forget 'step 4' and end up with reserves that look like they just shipped in fresh from bootcamp while the rest of your army look like the seasoned vets they are.
The formula i used for this army was:
- Base coat Black
- Base coat Skavenblight Dinge (dark grey)
- Wash Null Oil [x2] or [x3]
- Dry brush (very lightly) Skavenblight Dinge just on ‘high surfaces’
- Leadbelcher all metal sections as appropriate
- White panels
- Light grey edge highlights (for larger models only, i.e. vehicles)
- Black icons, Red eyes etc
More Progress...
Seeing projects progress from one stage to another helps motivation. which is why i often take pictures as i go, at least at 'end points'.
Everything is printed out, assembled, based... and on parade. Before starting i had a reasonable idea of the formations (thence models) i would want available for my lists. This did change a little over time but it is easy enough to pre-select 'must take' or mandatory formations such as (in the case of Marines) tactical formations, thunderhawks, land speeders, rhinos etc... at least with forces you are familiar with.
As a (mild) point of interest, vehicles (AV) in Epic do not require bases (unlike infantry). However I almost alway do base all my vehicles on mdf squares because i find it makes measuring (i.e. from a square base corner) easier and more uniform.
With its 'crusading' theme the army is going to need a space ship, so I modelled up a new Strike Cruiser. The model is 4 main segments which are super-glued together. The base contains an integral 'scatter device' (which i first encountered playing Halo: ground command). Its use is possibly slightly more complex than a scatter dice, but conversely you don't need to carry scatter dice.
PROCESS
1) 1d6 - if you roll 1 or 6 and you're on target. No scatter.
else if you roll 2,3,4,or 5 then...
2) 1d6 - match the dice value to the base directin and move in the direction shown...
3) 2d6 - distance to move.
This ship should (hopefully) be size compatible with Battlefleet Gothic.
[ed: it's probably a little large]
Everything gets a coat of dark grey, followed by two washes of null oil.
Painting up the leadbelcher, white panels, highlights of lighter grey etc.
Final results. As it turns out i did end up making extra formations but the first batch (above) could definitely be used to make a playable army and covered most of the 'core options'.
3D prints
From the picture above (resolution aside) I think it's fair to say that 3D printed models make a perfectly functional army. Epic (and most tabletop wargames for that matter) are played at arms length, at which distance fine detail in the models becomes irrelevant (especially once the battle starts heating up). Cast models are prettier without a doubt but 3D will get you playing, which is what counts at the end of the day.
Reinforcements
Plans changes, the lists developed and extra reinforcements had to be called in.
After giving more thought to 'Templar-y' units i printed out some Stormravens, an extra tactical formation and some dreadnoughts...
...and some custom 'hammernator' assault terminators. I also made lightning claw terminator variants (all available on thingiverse by the way) but these were less photogenic.
Late arrivals include some bikers, extra land speeders and a landing craft (Stormbird)
Extra Boxy
I have taken to storing my 'real' armies in 'art boxes', available occasionally/annually from aldi and/or at all times from certain cheapy shops.
Partially as an experiment, and partially because i was sick of making fiddly mdf partitions/dividers i decided to try magnetising the army. All went well using A4 magnet sheets from officeworks which were glued to the box floors (just pva wood glue) and then cut small pieces to fit the undersides of all the model bases (glad of those vehicle bases now hey!!); rough-cut, superglue trim, and repaint edges.
I have subsequently magnetised up another box for a different army and will probably do all of them eventually [read: it was not as tiresome as i had imagined].
And that was pretty much that. From start though to magnetised boxing the project took about 6 months but i had a table-ready army (including basing) within about 4 weeks.
until next time...
From the picture above (resolution aside) I think it's fair to say that 3D printed models make a perfectly functional army. Epic (and most tabletop wargames for that matter) are played at arms length, at which distance fine detail in the models becomes irrelevant (especially once the battle starts heating up). Cast models are prettier without a doubt but 3D will get you playing, which is what counts at the end of the day.
Reinforcements
Plans changes, the lists developed and extra reinforcements had to be called in.
After giving more thought to 'Templar-y' units i printed out some Stormravens, an extra tactical formation and some dreadnoughts...
...and some custom 'hammernator' assault terminators. I also made lightning claw terminator variants (all available on thingiverse by the way) but these were less photogenic.
Late arrivals include some bikers, extra land speeders and a landing craft (Stormbird)
Extra Boxy
I have taken to storing my 'real' armies in 'art boxes', available occasionally/annually from aldi and/or at all times from certain cheapy shops.
Partially as an experiment, and partially because i was sick of making fiddly mdf partitions/dividers i decided to try magnetising the army. All went well using A4 magnet sheets from officeworks which were glued to the box floors (just pva wood glue) and then cut small pieces to fit the undersides of all the model bases (glad of those vehicle bases now hey!!); rough-cut, superglue trim, and repaint edges.
I have subsequently magnetised up another box for a different army and will probably do all of them eventually [read: it was not as tiresome as i had imagined].
And that was pretty much that. From start though to magnetised boxing the project took about 6 months but i had a table-ready army (including basing) within about 4 weeks.
until next time...
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