Monday, May 26, 2008

40K Chemical Free Weekend

I've been having severe allergic reactions to any chemical fumes, including primer and model glue. This is partly because of a cold, but mostly because this is the most horrendous allergy season I've experienced. If you told me from now on it would always be this way, I would start packing. It started a few weeks ago, when I was recovering from a cold while suffering form allergies. Fumes from primer caused massive chest congestion as my lungs filled up instantly with fluid. It took several days to recover, after which, bam, I did it to myself again. A man's gotta prime! It was the second round that put the cause and effect together for me. Since then I've had smaller "attacks" from glue fumes. Acrylic paint has no effect on me, so that's how I spent a lot of my holiday weekend.

Here's what I've been up to:

I took my chances and while coughing and wheezing, put together my 59 soldiers. Why 59? One of the sergeants was missing from the box. Games Workshop doesn't sell them separately, so they're sending me a replacement box with 10 men for free. I can always use more men. If I had an extra 500 points, it would be all guys and probably another sentinel (seen here).


This was the first basilisk I've painted. I reversed the paint scheme and I think it looks fine. This is a gray basecoat with a red coat on top, reverse of the chimeras. One problem I'm having with the Foundation Paints is that they go on pretty thick, so when you use the camo tacky putty trick, it often leaves a noticeable edge between paint layers. I can try to hide it with the lighter colored bordering, but it's still noticeable. I'm guessing the only solution is to use standard paints in a minimal number of coats.

Here you can see the two chimeras with the basilisk. I don't see any major differences.


The sentinel was surprisingly hard to do. While painting it, it didn't feel quite right. It's a strange vehicle and afterwards I decided to give it a black ink wash. It's still wet in this photo. The sentinel has a more organic, animal like appearance, so things like camo are more jarring, while ink washes that normally look bad on vehicles, suits this pretty well. Still, the multiple layers of paint feel bulky and inappropriate on the sentinel, while standard military vehicles look normal.

Stuff to Do:
  1. Paint the other three sentinels.
  2. Paint the other two (three) basilisks. I've got a custom built "apocalypse" class basilisk arriving tomorrow. I might sell off one basilisk in the store, since I can have a max of 3.
  3. Paint the 59+ men, along with new lascannon models.
Army List Change (again)
After reading the Imperial Guard Armour Book 3 from Forge World and the Desert Raiders novel from Games Workshop, I'm more amenable to different weaponry. I'm keeping the autocannons and grenade launchers for alternate options. Here's my current list:

1500 Pts - Imperial Guard Roster - Imperial Guard Tallarns

HQ: Command Platoon (6#, 161 Pts)
Command Platoon @ 161 Pts
Command Squad @ [90] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry
1 Junior Officer @ [70] Pts
Cameleoline; Iron Discipline; Light Infantry; Honorifica Imperialis; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
1 Honorifica Imperialis @ [25] Pts
4 Guardsmen @ [0] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x4)
0 Sentinel Squadron @ [71] Pts
1 Sentinel @ [71] Pts
Armoured Crew Compartment (x1); Searchlight (x1); Lascannon (x1)

Troops: Armoured Fist (11#, 196 Pts)
9 Armoured Fist @ 196 Pts
Cameleoline; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Laspistol & CCW
1 Chimera @ [91] Pts
Extra Armour; Searchlight; Multilaser; Hull Heavy Bolter

Troops: Infantry Platoon (36#, 536 Pts)
Infantry Platoon @ 536 Pts
Command Squad @ [191] Pts
Cameleoline
1 Junior Officer @ [45] Pts
Cameleoline; Iron Discipline; Close Combat Weapon; Laspistol
4 Guardsmen @ [136] Pts
Cameleoline; Lasgun (x1); Meltagun (x2); Lascannon; Chimera
1 Chimera @ [91] Pts
Extra Armour; Searchlight; Multilaser; Hull Heavy Bolter
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW
9 Infantry Squad @ [115] Pts
Cameleoline; Close Order Drill; Light Infantry; Lasgun (x7); Meltagun; Lascannon
1 Sergeant @ [6] Pts
Cameleoline; Light Infantry; Laspistol & CCW

Fast Attack: Sentinel Squadron (1#, 71 Pts)
Sentinel Squadron @ 71 Pts
1 Sentinel @ [71] Pts
Armoured Crew Compartment (x1); Searchlight (x1); Lascannon (x1)

Fast Attack: Sentinel Squadron (1#, 71 Pts)
Sentinel Squadron @ 71 Pts
1 Sentinel @ [71] Pts
Armoured Crew Compartment (x1); Searchlight (x1); Lascannon (x1)

Fast Attack: Rough Rider Squad (8#, 88 Pts)
7 Rough Rider Squad @ 88 Pts
Close Combat Weapon (x7); Hunting Lance (- LP) (x7)
1 Sergeant @ [11] Pts
Cameleoline; Laspistol; Hunting Lance

Heavy Support: Basilisk (3#, 375 Pts)
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability
1 Basilisk @ 125 Pts
Earthshaker Cannon; Hull Heavy Bolter; Indirect Fire Capability

Total Roster Cost: 1498

5 comments:

  1. Are you wearing a mask (even a simple disposable dust mask)when priming?
    It might help.

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  2. I haven't tried a mask. I've mostly just avoided it. I'm thinking I might bring in stuff to the store and have other people prime it for me. It's not like it's a complicated thing to do.

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  3. Wearing some sort of respirator will probably help, but those are not too cheap. A mask might be a better short term investment.

    Suggestion about camo; make your coats thinner. I have painted quite a few model aircraft and have noticed that thicker coats of paint will cause a noticeable rise when you remove the masking agent.

    And keep in mind that camo (for vehicles, guns, men, anything) is not supposed to make your vehicles stand out, but break up their outlines to make them harder to discern from a distance. Don't know how much that matters with a red scheme though. So it is not really worth it to worry to much if the camo doesn't 'look right.'

    -Josh

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  4. I intentionally went with the red scheme, with the fluff that they're fighting on a red desert planet. The men will be mostly red with white. Of course, you can't see them because of their camoline.

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  5. I always wear a mask when priming or sanding away resin. Both give me allergic fits otherwise.

    That said, I'd probably be willing to prime all your models while wearing no mask and standing in a small closet if I could trade that for dealing with whatever obnoxious pollen bloomed around here over this past week :-P

    ReplyDelete