3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs

3^rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs

I’ve always been a fan of tanks and can count around 20 various Leman Russ variants in my collection. Over the Easter vacation and somewhat inspired by the ‘Spring Clean’ initiative on Beasts of War, I decided to finish off my command tank that had been sitting on a shelf collecting dust having been built and undercoated black, but then put aside as I built a Flaming Eagles Kill Team.

Then, having read and been further inspired by the many projects being created under the banner of ‘Spring Clean’, I thought why not record my effort to build and reinforce the Astra Militarum tank division that was slowly coming together. In my Spring Clean, I happened to have a three Solar Auxilia tanks from Forge World, bought at Salute 2017 with the intention of building a Solar Auxilia force… that never happened. However, the aesthetic of these models lends itself to the Savlar Chem-Dogs and with my chosen paint scheme of brown and blue, and my rough and ready painting style, I’m hoping to create something a little different.

Ever since reading about the Savlar Chem-Dogs in Codex Imperial Guard (2003), I was intrigued by this bunch of scavengers that are allowed to keep any equipment and resources they win in battle. They seem like a load of cut-throats and mercenaries, that are just about kept on the side of the Emperor’s Law by Commissars ‘sensitive’ to their troops needs and the needs to complete the mission.

I don’t regard myself as an expert or even a professional painter. I managed to win Gold and Silver Medals at the International Model Engineering Exhibition in the late 1980s when fantasy miniature painting was just taking off, and I look back at those models with fondness, although the standard then I suspect would certainly be no match with today’s expertise. Still, I’d hope that these tanks will be good enough for the table top, and with that in mind I’ve set about this project trying to keep to using only Games Workshop components to ensure that they are ‘tournament’ acceptable.

So, first up will be a Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport, and this will be followed by a couple of Solar Auxilia Basilisks. I will try to detail my work-in-progress for the Dracosan, but so as not to bore everyone and to repeat myself, I will probably just record before and after shots of the Basilisks and anything else I find in my Spring Clean to add to this project.

Hope you enjoy my project…

3^rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs

So, having painted up the Commander’s Tank over Easter – A Leman Russ Exterminator with a GW Commissar Lord Mini cut down to fit into the turret (yes it also had been hanging around for some time and he looked stern enough to make the change from being a Commissar to being a Tank Commander), I’ve now got an example paint scheme I want to follow for the rest of the division and to act as a bit of self-motivation towards the end goals…

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Preparation

So, as with all projects the preparation of the parts and reading the instructions is critical.

I was actually quite surprised when I opened up the contents of the Forge World Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport to see that there was less construction than I had anticipated. Huge chunks of resin pieces to make up the top, hull and sides would mean that this was a simple job?

Problem 1) Resin Mould Excess Grease – The resin pieces were really very slimy! So I washed them in a bowl of luke-warm water with washing up liquid and left that overnight for the water to cool and for the detergent to work. Actually, I’m pretty pleased with the need to wait. Originally, I had planned to sit down and model-make whilst Liverpool took on Tottenham on the TV, but the model-making had to wait until the parts were clean.

Problem 2) The main parts still had huge chunks of excess resin from the casting process and required sawing rather than clipping. This produces a fair degree of dust, so just be careful not to inhale. The main excess chunk at the rear of the body left a small square of resin that, rather than try to file out or scrape away, I’ve decided to incorporate into the hull. I may cover it with stowage if it looks silly at the end.

Time Elapsed:

30 minutes cleaning components;

12 hours leaving components in soapy water to cool;

90 minutes carefully removing excess resin mould chunks with hacksaw and scalpel.

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Construction

This was pretty straight-forward. There are only four main pieces with a couple of track pieces to add at the rear, two trench rails and a life support filtration unit positioned behind the cab.

The base slotted nicely with the top of the tank and was pretty much a perfect fit. I like to dry fix first before using the glue. The instructions suggested using a two-part epoxy resin glue, but I don’t have any of that to hand, and in fact I’ve always just use Loctite Superglue, whether it be plastic, metal or resin. I tend to use small 1g tubes of superglue, because larger tubes dry-out quickly if not used up on one project. The larger pieces did require a fair degree of glue and so in the end I have used two of these small tubes of glue up, but wasted none.

Once the top and bottom were glued the sides slotted in nicely as well. The trench rails look okay, although one appears a little bent and frankly I couldn’t be bothered to put back in warm water to re-bend. It looks okay, and after all, I’m not going for a Golden Demon award!

The construction requires me to choose either a demolisher cannon or a twin-linked laser-cannon for the main hull weapon. I chose the former, mainly because I haven’t got the rules for the Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport and so I could always just use it as proxy Leman Russ Demolisher if required. The las-cannons can go in the bits box, as can the turret mounted flamer. I chose a multi-laser for the gunner, because again it could be a proxy las-cannon, but also because the alternative flamer was bent.

For the gunner, I toyed with idea of using a Forge World Chaos Militia Enforcer body and to attach the gunner’s arms, but as I’ve found a dozen or more of these torsos hidden away in a box, I think they may be better suited for a rough rider unit? So, even through the construction process, you can inspire yourself…

The gunner fitted together nicely with the multi-laser and the hatch doors sat in their hinges well. Check they are facing the right direction – according to the instructions, because if you get it wrong I think you may damage the hinges rectifying the mistake.

Once glued and I was happy with the overall construction, it was time for the undercoating. This was done outside for ventilation, as I tend to use a spray can of black or white to undercoat my miniatures. I use white if the subsequent layer coats of paint are to be bright  e,g. when using yellow, but in this case I wanted to reinforce grime and darkness of the Savlar Chem-Dogs and so black was used. This will give a darker feel to the final paint job that I hope to achieve. I sprayed the underside first, and although this would not be seen on the table top, I feel it’s necessary.

Then leave the tank to fully dry. Having painted the Commander’s Tank earlier I have collected together the paints that I will need for this new tank. Although every tank will look slightly different, I want to keep a continuity through the base colours of blue and brown, even if I experiment a bit later with different shades, or if I run out of paint!

Time Elapsed:

60 minutes construction

10 minutes black undercoating (spray)

2 hours drying time

Colour Palette for Savlar Chem-Dogs

I’m using Citadel Paints (Acrylic).

Brown Base – Graveyard Earth equivalent will be Steel Legion Drab

Camouflage Stripes – Mounfang Brown and Skragg Brown

Blue Base – Light Blue-Grey from 1990s! Equivalent will be Space Wolves Grey

Washes – Agrax Earthshade (Brown); Drachenhof Nightshade (Blue)

Tracks – Leadbelcher

Other Paints: Chaos Black; Troll Slayer Orange; Blood Red; Cadian Fleshtone; Reikland Fleshshade

Weathering Powder: Light Rust

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Painting

Stage 1: Base Colours

I used a size 8 brush to paint Graveyard Earth brown on the top half of the tank and, once dried, Space Wolf Grey on the bottom half. I used a size 0 brush to get a defined edge between the two main block colours.

Time Elapsed:

40 minutes painting Brown

30 minutes drying time

40 minutes painting Grey

30 minutes drying time

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Painting

Stage 2 – Camo Stripes

Using a size 1 customised brush, that I had cut the point off, I liberally and freely painted Mournfang Brown dark stripes across the top half of the tank and before the paint dried, dabbed Skragg Brown in the centre of the stripes to blend the two shades of brown together.

Time Elapsed:

30 Minutes Painting Stripes

60 Minutes drying time

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Painting

Stage 3 – Washes

Fairly straight-forward, but starting with the lower half of the tank, I liberally painted Drakenhof Nightshade all over the light blue area. You end up pushing the paint into the recesses, but ensure that an even single coat covers the area. It’s important to leave to dry, before tackling the brown wash with Agrax Earthshade. then I left the tank to dry overnight again.

Time Elapsed:

20 Minutes Blue Wash

30 Minutes drying time

20 Minutes Brown Wash

60 Minutes drying time (Overnight)

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Painting

Stage 4 – Fine Details for Gunner and Tracks

Time to paint up the gunner. Here, I used a fine detail brush with a point to paint the gunner primarily with Troll Slayer Orange, but also used Leadbelcher, Chaos Black and Shining Gold for highlights. The exposed face was Cadian Fleshtone and the whole of the gunner was washed in Reikland Fleshshade. It was also time to paint up the tracks using Leadbelcher and the multi-laser using Leadbelcher, Shining Gold, Space Wolf Grey, and Drakenhof Nightshade.

Time Elapsed:

60 Minutes painting gunner

30 minutes on tracks

30 minutes drying time

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank A- Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport – Finishing Details

Transfers: Tank Number and Large Skull Image came from the Imperial Guard Transfer set. NB no transfers come with Forgeworld kits, so you need to use transfers from other kits or buy separate transfers from Forgeworld. I had considered purchasing the Solar Auxilia Transfer set but the price was rather steep, and I don’t think they are available anymore (?). Anyhow, I have so many tanks, I’ve always got leftovers. I’ve tried to discover what the various symbols mean, but in the various chat forums there appears to be no common consensus except choose ones that you fancy. Smaller skull images and ‘Glorium’ came from the Cadian Infantry Transfer sheet. Make sure you use clean water for the transfers, and cut down to size before floating off. I also found that a sharp-pointed dental tool is useful to drag the transfer off your brush onto the tank. I paint a ‘ardcoat layer over the transfer to help adhere them and leave to dry.

Wash: Dirty the dried transfers using Agrax Earthshade.

Weathering: Using the corner of a sponge dab Leadbelcher and/or Chainmail paint lightly onto raised edges of the tank to highlight scrapes. For rust – Use Weathering powder to dry brush around the areas likely to suffer wear and tear. Varnish Spray to seal the vehicle.

Time Elapsed:

60 Minutes Transfers (inc varnish)

30 Minutes Drying time

10 Minutes Wash

30 Minutes drying time

45 Minutes weathering (inc varnish)

30 Minutes drying time

The finished tank! (Finally). Next up the Basilisk…

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank B – Solar Auxilia Basilisk – Unboxing

Time for the next tank…

Time Elapsed:

5 Minutes unboxing -(I can’t wait!)

NB: This time I will just get on with building it as per instructions and then do the paint job following my chosen palette as before and then show pictures at the end of the process.

I’m on a roll…

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank B – Solar Auxilia Basilisk – Finished in ONE Weekend

I said I was on a roll and so after a couple of hours preparation and construction, I took about 12 hours over the weekend to paint up this Basilisk. I’ve opted for no gunner for this tank, because although you get a different gunner from the Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport, as I’ve got two of these tanks, I’ll use the guy for the second tank – I might make it a Medusa rather than Basilisk. For this tank, I’ve found a Sargeant Harker miniature and once painted up and mounted standing over the hatch, it will provide a heavy bolter option as a gun…

The side image is a Gil Evren .jpeg reduced in size and stuck to the side. So… no my freehand is not that good 🙂

Time Elapsed:

2 Hours Construction (inc cleaning resin components)

12 Hours painting (Stages 1-4 as before)

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank C – Vanquisher

I’ve run out of Graveyard Earth Citadel Paint and the only ‘original’ pot on eBay is at an extortionate £15. Fortunately, the equivalent colour Steel Legion Drab is much reasonable at £3… so a couple of pots ordered. I’ll wait till they arrive before tackling the second Basilisk.

However, as I’m still on a roll, I wanted to do a little experiment and repaint and old tank in Savlar Colours, but using a white undercoat and substituting Snakebrown Leather as an alternative base colour. I imagine that the 3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs will be cobbled together from other units and the tank crews would attempt to match the colour schemes as best they could with supplies. Alternatively, the Quarter Master has ordered the wrong shade and will be summarily executed by the Commissar who is on the horizon…

So Forge World Vanquisher to repaint and customise.

Time Elapsed:

6 Hours (inc respray of undercoat)

2 Hours (Sniper and camo netting)

I’m quite pleased with how it came out, so will apply the same techniques to a Leman Russ Punisher next.

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank C – Vanquisher

Not sure how I managed to do two tanks in one weekend… I guess – when you are in the zone?

So next up will be Leman Russ Punisher (construction and paint using Vanquisher palette). Then a Commissar’s Tank, which I will want to paint slightly differently to make it stand out, but still retain the Savlar Chem-Dog theme. Then hopefully my Graveyard Earth will arrive for me to paint up the sister Basilisk/Medusa tank, and finally I may add a Trojan Support Vehicle and/or something else to support the 3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs!

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank D – Punisher

Ok, so whilst I was in the mood, I spent a very late night completing the Leman Russ Punisher and snapped these photos this morning before I trot off to do some paid work. Again, I’m happy with how it has gone. I’ve kept to the palette with Snakebite Leather as the brown base colour and used a scion head and arm with bolt pistol to customise the tank commander. This kit is the newer GW Leman Russ, so far fewer bits to build than the previous version. I prefer the older version, but the Punisher turret is pretty cool.

Time Elapsed:

2 Hours Construction

3 Hours Painting (burning the midnight oil)

I’ll try to get the other tanks completed by the end of June (self-imposed goal), because technically I think we then are into Summer, so it will be the end of the ‘Spring Clean.’

Anyhow, I’ve got five tanks done since Easter (four of which since I started this blog) so roughly a tank a week.

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank D – Punisher Finished

3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs – Tank E – Commissar’s Tank Finished

I guess this will be the last tank in the ‘Spring Clean’. I’m really pleased with my efforts and the inspiration I’ve gained through looking at other projects on the BOW/OTT site and motivated myself to start, focus and get a tangible amount of construction and painting done.

Graveyard Earth equivalent paint has arrived – Steel Legion Drab. So, I can move on to building a Medusa, a Trojan, and have a go at scratch building/converting a Leman Russ into an Atlas Support Tank. I’ve also got my eye on another trio of tanks that could do with a repaint and add to the expanding 3rd Armoured Division Savlar Chem-Dogs.

After that a Savlar Dogs Kill Team and Rough Riders.

Oh… I can see a load of Bretonnian Knights on the horizon that also need tackling – that maybe my Winter Spring Clean!