A pack of hounds

 It's been a while since I last managed to post anything, but have two excuses for that, so you can choose.

First, I’ve been away on a work trip abroad that’s kept me away from my minis for a whole week. I got the chance to visit Finland, which I’d never been to before – spent some time in Helsinki and Tampere, and I think it’s the furthest north I’ve ever been in my life! Sadly, I didn’t make it far enough north to visit Santa and hand him my letter. Guess I’ll have to save that for next time.

On another note, I’ve thrown myself into a little adventure that’s taken up quite a bit of my time. Not because it’s particularly tricky, but more because of the sheer numbers. Hang on, I’ll explain:

I started to build a Warhound Titan. I wanted it to look a little more dynamic than the previous ones, so I played with the pose of the legs...

Leaning to the side to show movement

Looks like it's running?

 But you know, these fellas come two by two...

It’s supposed to have its leg lifted in the air

You can see it better here

The thing is... once I had started... Why not assembling the other box I still have?

Now you begin to see the root of my issues and delays

So four Warhounds it is! This way I can get the Warhound models off my plate in one go and move on to the next phase of the project. Right now I have an Imperial and a Chaos Warhound, so I decided to make another Imperial one (I can't march to battle with just one of those!) and three for the Chaos Legio.

Looks like the worst-rehearsed dance routine ever

Now an important addition I haven't done in any of my previous Titans. Banner poles! Flags and banners are quite an important part of the Adeptus Titanicus imagery, at least in the old times. I thought these bad boys were in serious need of some good, old fashioned banners. I used these nails; they may look thick, but I hope they'll work fin in the end:

 

Ha, I nailed these (you see what I did there?)

They might look excessive, but once you place the carapaces on, they look better:

 

Well, when I finish them they'll eventually look better!

Here's a silly idea I came up with. Unfortunately it's absoutely unfeasible on this model (I tried. I tried hard, trust me)

 

But the idea of a Cerberus Warhound was just soooo appealing!

 There's simply no room for three heads, no matter the configuration. I would have to destroy the carapace and even so I had no guarantees. BUT. I'm so trying it again on the next Reaver I'm building, you can bet!

But I'm digressing.

Looking better!

  So, while I assemble and glue the heads and weapons...

 

...Let's make some banners!

  

I know, banners should be the last thing to add, I need to make bases first... but I was so excited I couldn't wait!

 

Banners!!

 Well, the bases then.

There’s something that’s been on my mind ever since the game came out in this 8mm scale. Right, these new Legions Imperialis minis are truly gorgeous, that's out of debate. But I’ve got a hypothesis I need to prove or disprove using the scientific method:

 

AHA! I knew it! 6mm is THE right scale for these!!

This is scary. This is imposing. Besides, people this size can fit in that head

 

So it is decided. Now that I've dared to go to the very end of the known world (my shelves), from now on I'm definitely using old Epic models for the bases.

If I ever get into Legions Imperialis (which I'm not doing. I'm not ever doing that!) or I need to buy more Epic models (not doing that either! I have tons of unpainted minis!!), I'll have to look for 3D prints in 6mm. Legal disclaimer: The foregoing statement shall not be construed as expressing any clear or explicit intention to initiate any of the aforementioned projects.

Ahem.

 

Back to current bussiness. Here you have the four Warhounds!

First, the Raptor Iudex, from Legio Artemis:

 

Black Legion Rhino for scale!

And, when it comes to Legio Faucibus, we have the Ghostfang (imperial designation Cruor Celer)

 

Run, Forest, run

Please notice the very brave (or very stupid), devoted Space Marine who is quite confident about his chances:

Should have painted more details for this pic

But it's staying this way, sorry

 This is the Wolfhowl (Imperial designation Ululatus Rex):

 

Another brave Space Marine bike rider

And the Dreadstride (Imperial designation Mordax)

 

Hey, watch where you're stepping!

 I don't know which one of these pics is better (or less awful), I'll let you decide:

 

 Then this is it! All four Warhounds finished!

 

BUT

 

(You knew there was to be a "but"...)

 

BONUS!

 

Once I started adding banners, of course I had to put them on top of all my previous Titans!

 

(Why the hell are those bases different from all the others??)

 You may have noticed that loyal and traitor banners are floating in different directions. It could have been my mistake, for sure, but in fact I thought that, when facing each other, all banners should flow in the same direction:

 

I already need a bigger backdrop!!

 The rest of the band:

Could have added more banners, but not today

Top carapace banners, pennant on the arm and sensible parts banner

Wasn't it scary enough without flags??

Come here, we're gonna have fun with flags

 They all are pretty basic, but I think they add some quality to the overall effect, so I'm happy!

Wow, now I have quite some models! Should I paint more? Reavers? Knights? Or should I paint some scenery and try to actually play with what I already have?? 

Ahh, the difficult decisions.... 

Long time ago...

 ...in this very blog...

...I used to paint (and even play!) the long forgotten Imperial Assault game. You know, the kind of Star Wars dungeon crawler, before the times of Legion (and of course Shattered Point). Even before those days, Knightmodels produced some really beautiful 28mm Star Wars minis.

I was there. 

I still had some of them, unpainted, forgotten, waiting for years and years for their moment to finally come.

Well, better late than never. While I'm working on some other (titanic) projects, I've been putting some time on these, just to breathe within project stages.

I'll start with the Knightmodel minis. They were really, really sweet. I only managed to get a few of these second-hand, and honestly, I totally regret not buying more back then. I was caught up in other projects at the time and figured I could just get them later. But unfortunately, Knightmodels lost the license (same thing that happened later with the Lord of the Rings line), and the minis stopped being sold. Real shame, really.

Here you have them. Han Solo and Chewie carrying poor dismantled C3P0:

Space scoundrels

It was kind of a reedition of this post of ancient times, though I had totally forgotten the recipe for Chewbacca's fur, so I had to improvise a little.

The other couple is our favourite and most famous twins (apart from those from the Acolyte TV show, of course -sarcasm mode off): 

Ebony and Ivory

 There's really little to say about these. They are true 28mm, well scaled and proportionate, so they can pose a challenge to all those who, like me, are so used to GW and their kind of minis. To better illustrate what I say, let's compare them to the Imperial Assault ones: 

They are beautiful and really well sculpted

Of course they are enormously cool, don't take me wrong

But I think you can see what I'm talking about

The Knightmodels ones are delicate and are of a different scale. They are white metal, traditionally sculpted. They are not as clumsy or random as a 3D sculpted mini; an elegant miniature for a more civilized age...

Here you have them all:

Rebel fanfare sounding now

I also took this shot of the Knightmodels minis only, with the other one I had from long time ago:

Sigh, still so very few...

 It's been ages since last time I played Imperial Assault (or any other thing). I’ve gotta admit, painting these has totally reignited my urge to do some Star Wars projects and play something—anything, really. I don’t think I’ll be able to right now, but hey, the idea and the itch are definitely floating around out there...