I arrived home from work on the 27th at about 4:30 PM... Distraught to see that even after several phone calls to GW Mail Order, there was STILL no box full of bitz at my door. The desire to make an appearance in this contest strikes full force, and even without the necessary parts, I set to work.
The first thing I created was
the base. 4mm styrene sheet is not exactly an easy cut to make with
your X-Acto knife, but much scoring and breaking-off-pieces later, I had the
two rough pieces that would form my "icy ledge."
I cross-hatched the smooth plastic where I stuck the two sheets together, so the glue had something to grip. Once stuck together, I hurried the process with some Zip-Kicker accelerant that instantly cures the cyanoacrylate. Then I hacked at, filed, and finally sanded down the rough edges until the pieces were flush, then I used my hobby knife, a panel scriber, and the sharp edge of a needle file to gouge out the vertical striations along the faces.
Gluing my completed ice formation to a 40mm round base, I glued down some Woodland Scenics fine ballast to the open area. This will eventually have some Hudson & Allen snow and slush applied over it as well. Not over the top or flashy, but a fine base for my Grey Knight Brother Captain.
On to the man himself. I
dug out Brother Captain Stern, one of the new Grey Knight characters.
A handsome enough bloke, he has something really strange going on
with
his left hand -- like he's giving a karate chop, but with a 50-pound gun
strapped to his wrist...
Anyhoo, something had to be done about his arms. Not nearly dynamic enough... and I wanted him to have a psycannon as well, which called for some slight modification to the Storm Bolter.
Taking Stern's normal left arm (the one with the goofy "flat-hand"), I sliced between each finger with my X-Acto knife, and then used something narrow and metal (I think it was my tweezers) to push the fingers into something more reasonable than the horrible original. Now, he looks much more arthritic. Fabulous.
On the storm bolter, I sawed
the front flat, and removed the sight "prong." Front and center I
affixed the nozzle from a Necron Gauss Rifle, which looked suitably
"psychic-ish" enough for a Psycannon nozzle. I filed the remainder of
the gunsight flush with the top and sides of the Gauss nozzle, which will
hopefully make it appear of apiece.
No time to
fiddle with it if it doesn't!
The right arm just didn't do it for me, either. Elbow tucked in, pressed against the body -- blech. How static. So... again with the jeweler's saw, this time right along the inside edge of the shoulder pad, until it came out the bottom. Only broke two blades during this! As a replacement, the Grey Knight Terminator Sergeant's arm seemed to fit the bill... fully extended, including all the necessary "underarm" armor detail. Perfect! Got rid of the sword, because although nice, I really wanted him to have a Daemonhammer. So you'll notice the sword hand, cut off at the wrist, lying on the "painting handle" next to him (notice my painting handle looks like nothing you'd ever want to present at a competition. It is not wooden, not beveled or lathed, certainly not stained or shellacked... that ugly lump of plastic chunks, wire, and bottle cap is undoubtedly a painting handle and nothing more... Uh... Just don't ask. Really.), ready to accept his Daemonhammer.
Which, of course, is one of
the necessary bitz in my long-awaited order from GW mail order. If it
doesn't come tomorrow, I'll really be in a bind. I mean, moreso
than I am now.
Some slight GS work was necessary to fill in the gap left by a more dynamic positioning of the left arm with his arthritic (Hey! At least it's not flat!) hand, as well as where some of his robes were shorn off by the razor-saw removal of his right arm. Well, that's gotta dry overnight anyway, so no worries about not getting the painting started yet...
Lastly, notice his personal
heraldic shield neatly mounted to yet another painting handle that can in
now way be mistook for, say, a fancy display base. If tomorrow yields
no hammers in the mail, then at least I'll be able to paint the base and his
shield. Yippee!