47-38 Planetary Defense Force

My most ambiguous conversion to date. This uses the MENG 1/35 British Heavy Tank MkV Male as the main body. The MENG model was too narrow so many panels were cut down the middle and plasticard used to widen it by 2/3rds.  It is now both longer and wider than Legion Spartan.

The interior was also heavily modified, though it is not very visible. The model assembled as instructed fills most of the cabin and sponsons with machinery. And that machinery is used to connect and support many of the external pieces. In order to make it look like this could be an APC, these pieces had to be extended in some places and removed in others. I found it easiest to build the entire internal assembly the carefully remove what parts I could.

While the model was roughly as long and wide as the actual Gorgon model, it was too short. A Gorgon has a crew compartment in the back that overlooks the transport canopy. I added the Skaven arch to give the model a similar height. I had to move the autocannons to sponsons instead of on the rear compartment. I think this is actually modeled for disadvantage as the sponsons have a more restrictive line of sight.

It was a lot of fun to do, but not something I plan on redoing any time soon. It also gave me a newfound appreciation for the GW kits as this was an insane number of pieces.

Gaunt Summoner with some bits from Eldrad.

Skulltacker

Greater Daemon of Tzeentch was inspired by Drach’nyen in the end of Master of Mankind. Overtaking an Eldar war machine, or in this case bursting out of it.

It is funny to me that Be’lakor is the smallest of the set. I tried to make him extremely dark, using Stuart Semple Black 2.0. It was not as dark as I expected, so decided to highlight with P3 Coal Black then shade with GW Druchii Violet. I like the effect but the same steps didn’t look as good on the lesser demons.

He is vengeance. He is the night. He is not Konrad Curze, but looks very similar. I love the model but didn’t want to make a Night Lords force, so I demonized him. Unfortunately I lost one of his claws so had to improvise using Dark Eldar parts. The wings are from AoS Vampires.

Last things first. This was the first demon prince I made, way back in the mid 2000s. The base is the AdMech model from the old Inquisitor game. The wings are from the very old WHFB Bretonnia Unicorn. The right arm is his but the sword is from a demon prince, the left arm is a rat ogres. Finally the base is a rock I found that I drilled a brass rod into. This thing is all metal and rock and extremely heavy for its size. This is the only figure I did not paint. Credit goes to Zach Bowles of Man Beard Painting for the work.

You will notice that Kor Phaeron is mentioned in the planet’s fluff but no model included in the army. I really don’t like the model or the character so left him out. He conquered the planet but had no reason to stick around after.  I did paint the model; you can find him on the World Eater bases. A little bit of him is on every base

Terminator Sorcerer/ Praetor. Not much alteration here, only swapping the axe head for a helblade from the plastic Bloodletters. The scenic base was originally for Kor Phaeron.

The man, the myth, the legend himself; High Chaplain Erebus. I love the effect I pulled off with his warp flames and I’ve been trying to duplicate the same effect ever since. Nothing compares to the original.

Zardu Layak. I knew I wanted to paint this model the moment I saw it. I hope I never have to touch up the armor as after several iterations I’m not exactly sure what colors I used to achieve that effect now.

Ahriman doesn’t really fit with the rest of the army but I thoroughly enjoyed painting him so felt like including him here. Maybe someday I’ll add an Allied force of Thousand Sons. The candy apple red was achieved with a base coat of VMC Brass, then dry brush of VMC Gold, then another dry brush of VMC Silver on the edges. Then the entire model was sprayed with Tamiya Clear Red.

World Eaters were added to the force solely because I wanted to try out the color scheme. They fit with Word Bearers by being part of the Shadow Crusade through the 500 Worlds too.

MkIII marines, resin MkII Vet heads, plastic Necromunda Goliath arms, and resin Chainaxes. The bare arms were used to more easily carry close combat weapons as well as to copy Kharn’s style.

The color scheme was meant to be more stylized, sort of a parade dress. The white has black and brown marbling. The blue is metallic by spraying Tamiya Clear Blue over a Gunmetal Grey / Silver / Aluminum base coat. I used VMC Bronze instead of a brass as it is colder and works better with the blue.

The Rhino is supposed to signify bloody mutations starting to appear on the armor. The flayed skin effect was made by microwaving a layer of white glue on a ceramic plate. This will cause the glue to warp and harden, which can then be attached and painted as normal.

The Contemptor was a model I purchased years ago that I was going to use for my 40k Black Legion. I decided to paint it as World Eater instead so tried to draw attention away from the various Eye of Horus emblems on it. I may have gone a little overboard with the dry pigment but I’m happy with how it turned out.

MkIV Marines. Half was painted in the Mat Kane Infantry Painting course, Indiana 2018.  The remainder were painted later.

The color scheme was based on the idea of being a dark red with the more traditional Blood Red being a highlight color.

Rhino painted in the Mat Kane Vehicle Painting course, Indiana 2018. This was my first experience with weathering and I haven’t looked back.

The Sicaran was the first model I ever ordered from Forgeworld and the first model painted in this Word Bearers scheme. It was completed prior to the weathering class which is why it looks so pristine.

Terminators are a mix of five of the plastic Cataphractii then five resin. This can be run as one full squad or two five man squads. I’m a long time Chaos player so I may have added more Thunder Hammers than was really necessary. The power blades are Scale 75 Eldandil Violet base with GW Druchii Violet wash and mixes with VGC Warlord Purple and VMC Ivory for the bolts.

Both Leman Russ were salvage jobs, bought second hand in poor condition. Added chaos iconography to cover damaged areas.

The Militia’s heraldry is a VMC Dark Prussian Blue half cut diagonally over a VMC Deep Green half.

Both are custom built around a metal warp lightning cannon. The darker one was built first. I regret glueing the Skaven to the base; I magnetized the crew on the second one.

The bulk of the model is made from various sizes of popsicle sticks layed across a plasticard frame. The wheels are 25mm bases attached to a wooden dowel axle.

A word of advice: paint this in sub-assembles. The first one I didn’t do that and there were a ton of areas I couldn’t reach later.

Third artillery finished. This was just mixing the bits from the plastic Skaven Warp Lightning Cannon and Screaming Bell, along with a barrel from extra plumbing pipe I had. This was my first time using Scale 75 Inktensity line. The wood was primed black, dry brushed light grey and bone in alternating layers. Then it was airbrushed using a 3:1 mix of Intensity Wood and Intensity Chestnut. I love how the wood turned out. Too bad I tried these so late in the process, they are awesome!

The core is a Starship Troopers Chicken Walker, with the crew and main gun replaced with GW bits. Three with lascannons and three with autocannons.

My only regret is that I have to track down more of these models if I want to expand the squad.

The discipline masters are Skaven packmasters carrying bolt pistols in their off hand.

The medics are Poison Wind Globadiers. One arm was replaced with a narthecium stolen from Fabius Bile.

Force Commander: metal Warlord Queek  on Erebus’s base. Left arm replaced by Tzaangor champion’s bolt pistol arm. Space marine backpack along with Iron Halo from Primaris Chaplain.

Rogue Psyker:  plastic grey seer from screaming bell kit. Left hand replaced by Necromunda Escher auto pistol.

Callidus Assassin: metal Deathmaster Snikch. Arms replaced by plasma pistol and power sword from the MkIV marines. Casualty is a plastic Catachan with their right arm replaced by one from the WHFB chaos marauders. I believe this model is the best I have ever painted anything.

Plastic Clan Rats with either arm swaps for Cadian lasgun arms or weapon swaps for metal lasguns/autoguns.

Back in early 2000s I bought a ton of loose Imperial Guard weapons with the intention of making a Catachan force that was only gun barrels sticking out of tall static grass. I never got around to that project so had lots of weapons available for conversions.

These were surprisingly complicated as they are conversions of conversions. Originally they were a mix of plastic clan rats heads/arms/feet on plastic night goblin bodies to represent plague monks (built long before those had their own plastic kit).

Pistols are from the Kharadron Overlords Arkanaut kit. Plus a few from Tempestus Scions and Cadian Command sprues. Vexilla is a WHFB banner attached to a Cadian com link backpack.

Missile teams are a simple arm swap for metal missile launchers from the Steel Legion range.

Lascannon teams are a metal Skaven Jezzail cut just past their hands and a metal lascannon cut at the bend. It is highly recommended that you pin these together. The cannon mount is from the metal mortars with an attached WHFB chaos marauders shield. All mounted on a dreadnought base.

Heavy flamer teams are simply Skaven Warpfire teams. I added 40k bits to the base to make it clear these weren’t just fantasy models.

Step 1: Rust layer

Prime black. VMA Mahogany as base layer. VMC Hull Red as heavy dry brush. 2:1 mix VMA Mud Brown : VGC Orange Fire as dry brush. VMC Silver as very light dry brush. Gloss seal. Apply chipping medium.

Step 2: Camo layer

Tamiya (Tam) XF71 Cockpit Green with airbrush. Tam XF62 Olive Drab with airbrush to modulate panels. Tam XF52 Flat Earth with airbrush to create loose pattern. Tam XF15 Flat Flesh with airbrush to finalize camo pattern.

Step 3: Heavy Chipping

Using a wet toothbrush scrub aggressively. Focus your strokes from top to bottom and in corners where water would pool. Gloss seal when satisfied with effect.

Step 4: Weathering

Apply decals and allow to set overnight.  VMC German Grey as very light stippling with a sponge (this represents normal dirt/grime, apply everywhere). 1:1 mix Tam Flat Earth : Tam Flat Flesh heavily thinned with airbrush into corners and flat surfaces (this represents dust). Gloss seal. Apply small drops of Burnt Sienna oil paint to exposed metal bits. Then apply turpentine to either the drop or right above it. Use the turpentine to thin the oil and draw it where rust streaks would occur.

When satified seal with gloss coat for protection then seal with flat coat for looks.