Marco does something

[MarcoSkoll]

A lascannon would definitely have come in handy against that wraithguard.

Probably, but the base Rhino was deliberately built unarmed. It's usually the scenario objective, and giving a firepower advantage to the player who controls the main objective is potentially a balance problem. The Razorback loadout will fulfil a different role in scenarios - an asset rather than an objective.

The Rhino's role in the Ancient Rites finale was indeed closer to "asset", but that whole scenario was being re-written on the fly and I hadn't originally expected it to be in that scenario. (Besides, vehicles are always more entertaining when used as battering rams).

Leander vs. 54mm scale Defense Laser. There, now it's in your head, you know you have to build a scenario around that

It's a possible idea, but not quite the point I was getting at. In that circumstance, the defence laser wouldn't itself be a threat to the PCs, so it doesn't present an issue with scenario power level in the same way.

[MarcoSkoll]

Not as much progress as desired, but nonetheless progress.

We have the central targeting array to fit into the Razorback turret.

This pivots up and down, and the square rod used provides a "key" so the weapons will move in kind. There's also the start of the lascannon.

The ammunition packs are included, and have a locking pin that will allow them to be changed according to the Razorback's weapon loadout of the day:


I've also managed to find where the WIP autocannon for the Sentinel went walkies to, and decided to photograph it alongside Leander's blastgun...

[MarcoSkoll]

Flipping back to the redesign of Silva, as I may wish to scrape together Skoll's warband amongst my IGT forces, she now has a couple of minor tweaks and some proper clothes.


(click for bigger)

I'm reasonably happy with this as attire, but I may poke at it a bit more over the next few days and/or wait to hear if there are any smart ideas from others before I press on with any more sculpting work on her.

[Van Helser]

The razorback targeting array looks great. I'm always amazed at what people can do with plasticard. I can't even cut straight lines!

Hope we get to see it and Silva at the IGT.

Ruaridh

[MarcoSkoll]

Right, I have one largely finished Razorback turret. There's a few green stuff hoses that need adding, I need to decide my method for detailing the underside of the turret plate (but those will wait until I've got putty mixed for something else) and I may notice a couple of details I've missed, but this is fairly close to ready.


Lascannon. It's comparatively more slender than many of the 28mm ones, but it's still fairly big, about 87mm long.


Twin-Linked Plasma Guns. These are staggered on the Forge World model, but I put them side by side to mirror the old Captain Invictus model.


And a slightly poor picture of it atop the chassis (the white plasticard and black Rhino don't make a good combination for the camera).

[Van Helser]

Fantastic work there. I really like this load-out. Perfect for destroying big-bads and blasting holes in walls to escape from apocalyptic goings on.

Ruaridh

[MarcoSkoll]

I really like this load-out.

I'm not sure whoever it first shoots at will feel the same. But it should provide some fairly* heavy firepower for scenarios that require that sort of thing.
*I guess I have only myself to blame for a lascannon only being "fairly" heavy firepower in an Inquisitor game.


One basic shape for a Sentinel body. Still needs detailing and its feet, but if I actually knuckle down, I should be able to handle it by the IGT (and hopefully will, as it actually looks pretty good standing next to the Razorback).


... and a head for Silva, which I'm less than entirely happy with. However, seeing it oversized on my screen has helped me see that I'm falling back into some bad habits regarding stylised facial features - I think it'll be possible to recover with some careful scalpel work.

[MarcoSkoll]

Votes, gentlemen


...  should the Sentinel get a 120mm base with toes overhanging, or a 150mm base (or possibly 140mm). I'm thinking that 120mm will be more practical on the table, but if people think that 140 or 150mm is sufficiently more aesthetically pleasing, I'm prepared to defer to that.

Also, the Razorback turret has power/fuel feeds now:


And a slightly better picture of the whole model than my last attempt:


I'll need to find a bit of time to detail the underside of the turret plate, but other than that it should be mostly ready for painting.

[greenstuff_gav]

150mm base; with such impressive miniatures aesthetics make the difference

[Heroka Vendile]

whatever size the base is now looks fine, I always think models with toes poking over bases look odd.

[MarcoSkoll]

It's currently on 150mm (with a 120mm inner circle), but it would fit a 140mm base (not marked) with a couple of millimetres to spare.
I'm tempted by that possibility, as the extra size of a 150mm base isn't doing a whole lot to be useful and might well just be a nuisance on the table.

[Lord Borak]

Well, this stuff is pretty Epic I must say. As for the base, always go with what's pleasing to the eye. I always find that if you make sacrifices you always end up regretting it. It's better you're happy with the model and suffer a few annoyances in the game than feel the model is 'wrong' every time you look at it.

[MarcoSkoll]

Sorry, should have dropped this picture in here days ago. The Razorback and Sentinel, both with a lick of paint, alongside a rather dusty 28mm Rhino for scale:



Both of them proved something of a hit at WHW when I took them up there for the IGT - quite possibly more with the staff than the crowds!
(We'll have to try and arrange for a mass vehicle meet-up after Leander's done. It'd be a sight and a half to have models like Kaled's flyers there too).

Anyway, the lowdown is that the Sentinel ultimately ended up with a (removable) 140mm base, but will free-stand on level terrain if needed.

For those of you who didn't see it in person, it articulates/breaks apart at the waist for posing/transport, and the autocannon is also attached via a removable pin, so other weapons should eventually be an option - a power lifter arm is likely (okay, it's not standard for armoured sentinels, but the armoured chassis saves worries about fitting models into the driver's seat).

Similarly, the Razorback turret rotates/elevates (if you haven't worked that out yet) and should also get alternate weapon load-outs sometime in the future.

[Aurelius]

Well that is totally cool Marco. Power lifter accessory with much hazard stripes is a must!

[MarcoSkoll]

Right, well. At this stage, this thread is going to become merged 28 and 54mm updates, as my modelling threads are infrequently updated enough as it is without splitting things up.

Following up on that earlier post about stuff I bought at Salute, I've finally got around to thinking about what to do with them.

So far, I've been contemplating Hayden, the Hasslefree Grymn. While it seems Kev is playing off the space dwarf archetype with the Grymn range (with a lot of models that would suit squats just fine), I've rather been thinking ratling since the start.
The squats were before my time in the hobby, and as I rather enjoyed Quickdraw McGraw's portrayal of the ratling Doyle Grisbain during our DH sessions, I'm thinking of running with that concept and adding another of these boistrous abhumans to Inquisitor Rhodes' list of agents, specifically amongst Gala's (her interrogator) entourage*
*Which is also where Alyx is likely to end up, having retired her from the DH game to allow new characters some time in the limelight.

Some sketching in photoshop has lead me to this individual:



Although I may do some redesign on the bolt carbine, I rather like it as a concept, because I can imagine the explosive rounds rather appealing to the Ratling mentality.

I'm still wary about the bionic arm - I like the look, but I'm wondering exactly how fluff sense it makes.
I doubt they're normally in plentiful supply for Ratlings (although the Inquisition can certainly swing it if they chose, and Lyra's probably nice enough to do so), which does make the character a little less than covert in any given situation.
I'm starting to think about it making its own possible cover personas - I could see it being a fair prop for a "wealthy criminal" bluff - but still, I'd welcome thoughts one way or the other.