Jet Bikes; SotonShades vs Machinator

[SotonShades]

Good News!

As I said in his development WIP thread (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?17459-Jet-Bikes!), I have ordered a selection of Machinator's Jetbikes for a bike mounted Space Marine Command squad. I have no idea if they will be at all effective on the table top, but for me that really doesn't matter. My Marine force is so large, any concept of fieding it al in an effective way has pretty much gone out of the window!

Right, so the general plan for this unit?


Captain. He'll be mounted on a Talon Speeder (the eagle headed one) and probably armed as a character killer, making good use of his speed, shooting and high toughness.
Chaplain. This guy will be mounted standing in the rear compartment of the Mako Heavy speeder (shark head). I'll be using the Limited Edition Dark Vengence chaplain, with the DA details removed. His driver wil be in full length black robes as well. Nothing else in particular special about these guys, though I might see about giving the chaplain a book in his non-crozius hand and allow his driver to have which ever pistol he'll be armed with.
The squad. For these guys I'll be using the Thunder varient speeders. Being a command squad, they'll have standard, company champion and apothecary. I might use some bits from the dark vengence bikers (like the sergeant as the champion and the plasma gunner as well) but I need to look at the codex options and bits in more detail before I decide.


For the bodies, I have a Ravenwing box set waiting to be added, which has more than enough bodies to fill out the squad and build a couple of bikes besides. Despite using all these DA bits, this will not be a Ravenwing force, just using the Vanilla Codex.

I'll post up some pics of the Jet Bikes as I've recieved them from Machinator (more and unbagging than an unboxing!) later today hopefully. Can't right now as I'm far too busy enjoying the F1 in Abu Dhabi on the BBC :p

As always, comments, criticsm and other ideas for the unit are very welcome.

Shades

[Machinator]

Sounds like an awesome project! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Good luck!

[SotonShades]

Ok, so my unbagging review! It is going to be very hard to be impartial here as I am both very excited and a big fan of Machinator’s sculpts, so take what I’m saying with a certain pinch of salt. First thing I have to say is that the delivery times were excellent. Considering that trans-Atlantic travel was involved and the British customs can be... shall we go with ‘less than efficient’? Well, I got my models in about a week. I actually got an email telling me they had been dispatched the day after I placed my order, so I really can’t complain there at all.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/8153582817_fd4ca70b1f_c.jpg

After tearing open my Jiffy bag (no idea if that is what they are called elsewhere in the world... big plastic envelope lined with bubble-wrap) I found each individual bike in an individual press-seal bag (nice touch), which helped me quickly check I had every bike I ordered and each bike had all its components. I also had a quick look to make sure there were no obvious defects and I am happy to report I found none at all. You also get a length of clear acrylic rod, which I think is a real nice touch you often don’t seem to get with smaller manufacturers, so more props to Machinator.

On to the model-by-model section:
These bikes all have an identical central section where the rider sits. The detail on here is really sharp and clean. Certainly about as good as the vehicle kits you’d get from Forge World. I particularly like that each handle bar comes in two sections; an actual handle bar/grip and a vertical section that connects to the side of the central console. I can imagine this being both great for conversions and an absolute -*Redacted by the Imperial Inquisition*- to put together. At least, put together so both sides look identical...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/8153579979_17e75ced79_c.jpg

As with any resin cast, there are a couple of slight mould lines that will need a little attention, particularly on the larger blocks. There’s a small amount of flash as well. Mainly on the thinner components such as the aforementioned handle bars. However it is nothing compared to what you would expect to find on a Finecast model or something from FW. Anyone with any experience with GWs kits would not have a problem cleaning these up.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/8153608778_d25fbaa2c5_c.jpg

The detail on these sections is pretty good as well. It definitely has a very Space Marine-y feel though there is possibly less details per square inch than you would see on a GW model. It’s a big hard to explain quite what I mean by this. The models by no means look simplified or like they wouldn’t stand up alongside the rest of your army, but I might have liked to have seen a few more plate edge lines, maybe some more rivets. Then again, this is supposed to be Heresy era tech level, so to a certain extent, a different set of rules apply. Equally, they couldn’t resemble to GW stuff too closely, otherwise Machinator would get in big trouble AND they couldn’t be sold for use with other Sci-fi systems/models. I’m certainly not disappointed by the way they look, and you certainly could add extra detail yourself if you so desired.

[SotonShades]

The Thunder Speeder variant:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8477/8153607850_8152b46c08_c.jpg

These are the jet bikes that are supposed to most closely follow the Heresy artwork we all know and love. Machinator has done an incredible job creating his own take on it and the nose in particular really does have a grim-dark feel to it. There are some great details to work with and some lovely flat areas which will allow you to really go to town with your own markings and the like. I’m fairly confident that the FW brass etch chapter symbols would fit nicely and look really great on the upper sides, just ahead of the handlebars. The only part that bugs me a little if the large flat area under the chin of the air intake; It would give you the opportunity to add and under slung heavy weapon or some kind of sensor array, but if you are going to go into that kind of conversion, removing a small amount of detail from there wouldn’t have stopped you. This is a very, very small gripe on what is otherwise a really fantastic looking component.

The engine side pods are where I have found the most faults. As before, there is nothing that I’d consider beyond the inevitabilities of the resin casting process and certainly nothing your average modeller couldn’t fix. I really am just being very picky for the sake of a fair and complete review! Just like the nose, they really do feel like they drop right into the 40k galaxy perfectly. I particularly like the little winglets, which to me are very reminiscent of the ones on the side of the Land Speeder. The engineering graduate in me particularly likes the exhaust nozzles as, unlike a lot of sci-fi stuff, they actually look like they would actually do the job.

The Mako Heavy Speeder:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/8153579485_510ac33f0b_c.jpg

This shark headed beastie is actually my least favourite of the three variants, but the one I think that suits the Heavy chassis the best. I do really like the vent detail on the top of the head and the intake mouth, but there is something about the downward slant of the head that just doesn’t quite work for me. I’d also suggest that the bolter muzzles are a little far forward, but I understand why there are where they are. It really wouldn’t look sharkey enough with them further back.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/8153606234_201cedb58f_c.jpg

As with the Thunder variant nose, the upper and side surfaces look excellent, but there are a couple of large areas under the nose and chin that just look like missed opportunities to me. Maybe some form of recessed sensor array or exposed pipe work/access hatch could have improved the component. Then again it is a part of the model, like the underside of a tank, which you very rarely see so this really isn’t a big grumble.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/8153578487_512216f910_c.jpg

The engines on the Mako really don’t work for me at all. To the point I almost considered buying another bike just to get different side pods. From a technical point f view, the casting is excellent. The detail is crisp and the fan blades on the engine intake are almost as good as the ones on GW’s plastics, which is very impressive on a resin cast. Doubly so when you realise that the engine cowling has a significant overhang of the detail. As I said, the engines don’t work for me. It really is just a personal aesthetics thing rather than there being anything wrong with them per se. I’ll probably swap them with the ones from one of the other bike; possibly the apothecary’s or company champion’s to make that bike a little more ‘special’.

[SotonShades]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8153604888_9b31ae4d58_c.jpg

I am massively impressed with the Heavy section of this jet bike though. While not a Mako feature, I’ve put it here because it is the only heavy speeder I have. This replaces the base plate and main engine block of the main speeder (so not the seat block or handlebars). The larger base plate is flawless and really ties in with the rest of the models, rather than looking like it was simply bolted on as an afterthought. The extra detail on the oversized engine block looks stunning and, again, fits perfectly into the 40k style. The shielding/railings around the ‘passenger’ section have an incredibly close fit, with isn’t something you see too often on hand sculpted models, so again Machinator has done an absolutely unbelievable job getting that right. I’m sure my Chaplain will be right at home back there.

The Talon Speeder:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/8153603710_af6ee640b9_c.jpg

This is probably the most Imperial looking, being an Eagle’s head prow, and by far my favourite. I was tempted to get these for the whole squad, but I really wanted the Captain’s bike to stand out as something unique in a good way. Not only is this pure grim-dark, it is incredibly aggressive looking. Unlike the other two noses, there are no unused flat areas that look like something is missing. The undersides of the beak are fully utilised and the upper surfaces look like every plate has a purpose, angled to maximise the armour and terrify the foe! There isn’t as much room for personalisation on these, but there are a couple of access panels just behind the bolter muzzles that would be great for personal heraldry or chapter iconography.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8488/8153603196_7d4365c49e_c.jpg

There are a couple of mould lines along the top of the head that are, shall we say ‘unfortunate’ and are quite distracting at the moment. Again, less than you’d expect from a GW/FW miniature, nothing you can’t fix easily. It really is just that the placement, in what will be such a prominent position on the finished model, makes me worry that it could still be visible IF I didn’t do a good job cleaning it up.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8153575365_c77b0b88c6_c.jpg

The angled engines are also great in my opinion. Again, they look very aggressive and the vertical fins really add something that, while not necessarily missing from the other engines, really gives these ones an extra dimension to them. I may have to angle them so they roll the jet bike. They really are screaming for it!

So that is it really. All the negative comments I’ve made are really only nit picking. What you really want to know is that since I opened the packets I have been spinning round in my office chair with the nose cones in my hands making whooshing, jet engine and Boltgun noises because these things are frickin’ AWESOME!

I’ll get more pictures up as I go along. As before, any ideas on what I should do with the squad will be very welcome, along with other comments, criticisms and questions.

Shades

[SotonShades]

and six more to go!

Hey again jet bike fans. I've managed to put together the Mako Heavy Speeder this evening, with the Chaplain riding in the back and a rider keeping him moving. I won't post full details now, as I have to be up early tomorrow morning for a LOOOOONG day. I will quickly say that the jetbike itself went together really easilly. Except, as I predicted, for the handle bars. In fairness to Machinator, the rider isn't a standard SM Biker, and so it is probably as much my fault that it was quite awkward to get them to sit right. They did decide to stick to my fingers a lot though...

Newho, I'll leave you with a link to my flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63487083@N06/) with the WIP photos and this little teaser pic;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8483/8155738054_bd70318d64_c.jpg

You wouldn't want to see these guys bearing down on you at full throttle!

Hopefully I'll get a few more of the pics on here and a brief explaination of how I went about this minor conversion in a couple of days time. Comments and criticsm... you know the rest!

Shades

[Cpt Codpiece]

looking great so far :)

[SotonShades]

Thanks Cap!

Unfortunately, after two very long days I'm not really feeling awake enough to post the whole "How I did this" post, so I'll just do a pic of the whole model (sans base for now...) and make a couple of comments.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/8155742098_cd2247e592_c.jpg

All while I was putting this together I was very conscious of it not being too 'Dark Angels-y', so I took off as many of the DA symbols as I could. A lot of the time that just meant back scraping, but the head of the crozius and the chaplain's shoulder guard had to be completely removed. Fortunately for the former, I still had the crozius arm from my metal teminator chaplain. A straight swap got me the results I wanted.

Another straight swap I did was the chaplains other hand, using a spare biker hand I managed to wedge in the book from the master of the ravenwing land speeder. That left the ornate plasma pistol arm free for the rider. Unfortunately though i did have to remove the book hand so I could get the chaplain to stand properly in the bike. It was only after I'd done that that I realised he is now going to be an absolute -*Censored by the Inquisition for the protectiong of His citizens*- to paint. Now he won't come out at all... well, at least I know the superglue hold is good :)

Lastly, the DA robed rider legs DO NOT fit into the foot wells of the jet bikes. The only options, if you wanted to use them are to clip the robes back so they go over the edges of the bike (like I've done for this one) or to remove a significant proportion of the foot wells as the robes actually fall down almost as low as the grav-plates. I might try that for my captain (again, to make his bikt even mor unique) but I'd probably suggest you just avoid using these legs at all unless you're prepared to put in the work.

Right, that's it from me. I might have a go at another bike tonight. If not, it will most likely be friday before I'm likely to get my hands on my hobby tools again. Either way I'll try to get plenty of WIP pics as usual.

Shades

[Cpt Codpiece]

ooohhh the shot looks great, not too DA and yet still imposing chaplain :)

the thing with the book...... i know its more the chaplain stuck in the model than the book being in a funny place, but the hands on the DA/GK sprues with the semi pointing fingers would look great pointing to the book with maybe the book on a lecturn attached to the 'chariot' or being carried by a servo-cherubim. just an idea not a suggestion.

but yeah i like the look and the impression the whole mini gives

[SotonShades]

Apothecary; Done

Company Champion; All but done. Just waiting for the superglue to dry one one componant so I can add on the engine side pods.

Photos so I can show you lovely people these masterful conversions; erm... well, they will be done when I work out where I put my camera. I don't do well having a tidy room. Can't find anything when it has been put away!

Newho, I can tell you a little about them both to keep you interested.

Once upon a while ago I was gifted with one of the Forge World apothecaries. The previous owner only wanted the other armour mark and felt I needed a bit of cheering up, so handed the other to me. I hadn't yet used him, but this jet bike unit seemed like a great opportunity. I've used the standard biker legs and a SM torso from the Ravenwing upgrade sprue (with a small winged skull on the chest piece) and combined them with the Apothacary's backpack, narthecium arm and shoulder pads. I've also used the hooded ravenwing head to further mark him out. Under the chin of the Thunder pattern bike, I've placed a couple of searchlights, usually mounted next to the assault cannon underslung on the raven wing landspeeders (because you get more mounts and lamps than you can possibly use otherwise! Thank you GW :) ) as the Apothecary backpack doesn't feature the over shoulder mounted lamp that you get on regular SM apothecaries. It also helps differentiate the bike as being slightly special. Using more of the Ravenwing biker bits, I've added a pair of hold-alls mounted on the engine block, with various sword and skull motiffs. Normally they are supposed to sit over the back wheel of the bikes, with a rolled up canvas, but i trimmed them down slightly so they fit (just about) between the engine block and the three exhausts that stick up from the engine housing. I've also used the engine side pods that i didn't use on the Mako heavy speeder, again to make the bike a little more customised for the Apothecary's specific role. At least, that's my storey and I'm sticking to it!

For the Company Champion I have gone for a straight build for the bike, with the addition of a Terminator's storm shield over the nose of the bike, so that the barells of the bolters are just sticking out from infront of the leading edge of the shield. I didn't want him to really be carrying a shield as they are a bit to bulky for the space around the biker. I'll just say that a Techmarine installed the forcefield generator into the Jetbike's systems. The champion himself uses the basic biker legs again, but uses a torso from the old assault marines, with crossed straps across the chest piece. I've also given him a shoulder guard with a crux terminatus on it and a spare shoulderguard shield from the Terminators box set. He also has the back pack from the black reach sergeant and a bare head with a facemask which I believe is actually a chaos SM head, but looks suitably non-mutated. These componants really give him the feel of an assault squad veteran without going over the top. Lasatly, I made his power weapon from chainsword from the biker sergeant from Dark vengence (who is the pilot for my chaplain remember) as it has some lovely detailing on it, but with the teeth replaced with a plasticard blade. It looks suitably archaic to be a chapter relic, only to be used by the finest swordsmen in the direst need. I've posed it so that he has it raised vertically, but with a bent arm. I hope it gives the feel of being raised in salute, which works equally well in either a gesture of respect or challange. Depends who is in his eyeline :P

As I said, my camera appears to have gone walkies at the moment, but I will get some pics up as soon as I can.

Shades

[Meph]

Great builds so far, mate. And cheers for the lengthy and thorough review, that's very insightful stuff.

[DrLove42]

I suspect it would be very hard to read that book while travelling at high speeds

[SotonShades]

Cheers guys. Also found my camera, so picture time!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/8169941207_e51d302e56_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8339/8169969728_80e6a91c24_c.jpg

Apothecary 'Kick your *** then sew it back together'. May need to think of a catchier name!

As you can see, simple bit swaps, couple of subtle additions. Not much I can say after what I've all ready said.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7251/8169969120_6c50a647d1_c.jpg

Company Champion. No his name is not Bane. Well, not yet...

Dunno why I didn't notice this before but this angle does make his right arm look really wierd. I swear it looks better in the flesh. Again, no earth shattering conversions, but I think it works.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8070/8169939235_81bd70cc58_c.jpg

Group shot. You might spot that I've added a few pennants and purity seals to the Chaplain's bike. Because why wouldn't you?

[Cpt Codpiece]

they all look sweet :) the apothecray looks really bad donkey.

the champions power sword... im not sure if i see more phantasy star or more final fantasy, neither are a detrimental to the look though as i love both HAHAHA

its definatly phantasy star :)
http://psupedia.info/images/thumb/8/83/Tigaderagan.jpg/180px-Tigaderagan.jpg

[SotonShades]

Can you tell what it is yet?

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8172335956_322087b6f0_c.jpg


P.s. Photo is purposefully dark and moody.

[Cpt Codpiece]

oh no its jimmy saville in a dark alley :)

im guessing captains engine block with personal haralry eagle?

[SotonShades]

Good guess, but I have a more firey thing in mind for him! Anyone else? I'm just adding some finishing touches at the moment, so might get some pics up later ;)

[SotonShades]

Ok, not going to wait for anyone else to guess :P

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8175184296_b850e80a49_c.jpg

Not exactly your standard standard bearer, but I think quite a sensible approach rather than needing one hand to fight, one hand to hold the standard and one to control the bike!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8063/8175150005_269c3b1e7a_c.jpg

I've given the pilot a Stormshield, mostly because I found this arm when rummaging through my bits box, but also because it gives me a decent chance of keeping the company banner in the game for longer but will still be able to use him to take some nasty Look Out Sir saves confortably.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8479/8175148683_6230a86e85_c.jpg

I just had to use this head, with the DA symbol removed, somewhere in the squad. I think it possibly my favourite techmarine head I've seen but in this case I think it works quite nicely as a veteran's helmet with the extra lenses for added surroundings awareness.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8065/8175146777_53aa95fa5f_c.jpg

Speaking of which, I also added this comms/radar equipment to the chin of the bike. If anyone is going to be aware of ambushes or lead the hunt for hidden enemies, it's this guy!

[SotonShades]

so onto the most important part of any banner bearer... the Banner!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8490/8175180968_9622e9edf7_c.jpg

I made this out of a triangle made of plasticard that I cut to shape to fit the banner poles from the DA kits (after trimming away the feathers), back scraped the edges to give more of an illusion of the banner being thin and then used our toaster set on the highest setting to soften it to give it some flutter.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8175147055_bc0a4cafe1_c.jpg

Ok quite a lot of flutter! It did take me several heating and cooling cycles do get the kind of shap I wanted. Be careful kids, that plastic gets more than hot enough to burn you. I used metal tongues and held the plastic above the toaster, very aware that if I dropped it in, it would be lost. I pushed the plastic against a wooden chopping board and the metal spokes of our gas hob to bend the plastic, rather than using my fingers. It was tricky to get the curves I was looking for, but better than having to go to A&E with burnt fingers!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8343/8175179292_db75cf804d_c.jpg

Last but not least, obligatory gratuitous group shot, just incase you'd forgotten what they other three looked like and couldn't be bothered to scroll up! :p

[Cpt Codpiece]

OMG!!!

plasticard and a toaster genius! looks great the unity in the style is really great.

[SotonShades]

mini update time!

Good news; I have completed a plasma gunner biker.

Bad news; I have another jetbike very securely glued to my finger, so I can't do much else til that's sorted.

With any luck, I might have some pictures of both completed bikes before the end of the day.

[SotonShades]

One of the things I love about WIP threads is that you get to see people's mistakes, not just mind-blowing finished miniatures that you think you could never achieve yourself. With that in mind;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8190250317_85eb1777ac_c.jpg

Yeh... that's on there pretty good. Took me about 15 minutes to pry it off. During which time, I managed to pull the nose section away from the seat/footplate bits.


Newho, on a more interesting note, Plasma Bikers!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8203/8190246225_ccfb2c7da5_c.jpg

You may all recognise this guy from the Dark Vengence box... Well, unsurprisingly I am stretching that kit once again! It wasn't until after I had stuck him on very firmly and FINALLY gotten his left arm to hold onto the handle par properly that i realised the right handlebar wouldn't fit under the gun symmetrically to the left handle bar. Bugger. Still, you have to look farily closely to notice and I am too lazy to remove his torso and make a spacer to raise him up by the required amount. Can't just reposition the arm unfortunately, with the head, torso, army, shoulder pad and gun all being cast as a single piece!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8190244289_0346c85051_c.jpg

Biker number 2. The sharp eyed amongst you may have noticed that he only has one handle bar at the moment. The other fits and is cleaned up, but alas I am currently out of superglue, so it could be a day or two befor I get round to finishing him properly. The even sharper eyed amongst you maye have noticed that the torso, head and plasma arm are from the old metal Bike Squadrun upgrade (which I think you can now buy as a Finecast upgrade). This guy has been sitting in my bits box for about a decade, waiting for a reason to be used. Well, if you can't combine a classic model with a brand new kit, what can you do? It also means he has a very, very wide plasma gun. Because, you know, girth is far more important than length! Don't let anyone tell you different buddy!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8191326368_a073145e7b_c.jpg

It is a good job that I only have the Captain left to add to this squad or I'd be running out of room on my desk! Seriously, these things are big enough to substitute for Land Speeders if you wanted a different take for your army! Still, I think the squad is coming along very nicely.

Speaking of the Captain...

[SotonShades]

you may remember (or have recently scrolled through this thread) that I was planning on using the DA robed legs for my Captain, but that said legs do not fit in the foot wells easilly? No? Well you know now...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8485/8191332366_478f06f3f3_z.jpg

This is the solution. Aside from trimming back the robes. This was actually sruprisingly easy to do though in comparision. After gluing the legs together, I dry fitted the seat, footplate and legs togetherto check wich sections i would need to remove. It worked out as being on the second ridge back from where the footplate angles up (keeping the rivets on the side nicely spaced) and at the junction of the footplate and the blocks to the rear. I used my flat hobby saw to mark across both sides of the footplate to make sure both sides would be the same I then made the 4 cuts across to the flat center section through the ridged footwells. I then used a hobby knife to score along the join of the raised ridge section and the flat center section between the cuts a few times before snapping the scrap section off.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8479/8191331654_d1d7372d35_z.jpg

I then used the hobby knife to neaten up the break, back scrapping to avoid taking off too much material, then sliced away what remained of the grav plates.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8338/8191331074_9de7a8b976_z.jpg

A quick dry fit, just to check the cut away worked with the central section. I'm pretty happy with it; in my opinion it looks rugged rather than overly chunky, which works for the Space Marines aesthetic.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8067/8190246889_14a4e32ed5_z.jpg

Finally a dry fit of the legs. The robes sit nicely and look like they are flowing out in the turbulance around the rear blocks of the footplate, so spot on as far as I'm concerned.

Now I just need to find a good chest piece for him, possibly with or without robes as I can sculpt some on easilly enough, and then I can pop him together. Once I get my hand on some superglue I'll get his bike assembled too.

Then I'll only have to base, undercoat and paint these guys...

As always, comments, critique, lovelyness etc! More pics on my flickr steam (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63487083@N06/) (though not many. See you all soon,

Shades

[Cpt Codpiece]

wow a nice simple fix for a PITA problem.

the whole squad look swish :) yeah i tend not to get pics of the super glue accidents......
i did manage (i still do TBH) to glue one side of my mouth shut LOL rubbing resin/plastic dust from my face with a drop of glue (how i didnt know i have no idea) on my thumb. the right side of my mouth, lips glued shut....... a cuppa or two later and the glue/skin softened enough for me to peel the lump of glue off :)

[SotonShades]

And the squad is complete!

(minus bases and painting... shh)

Meet the Captain;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8349/8195319861_0b2693af66_c.jpg

Nice full on shot to start you off!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8202/8195310605_93d57a599b_c.jpg

That's more like it. As you can see, I've kit bashed this guy quite a bit, added a good number of extra details to the bike and pivotted the engines so they look like they are rolling the bike for a devastating sword strike.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8196402262_602c284806_c.jpg

I've used several DA bits, a few bits from the BA Sanguinary Guard box and a few other bits besides to make something (hopefully) unique. I really like how it's all come together to break up the motiffs of either of those two main chapters, and with the paint scheme I have in mind, that should make them all but dissappear into the model.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8065/8195318141_fd6508853e_c.jpg

You can see here how I canted the bike over to the left. Originally I wanted to have the whole entirely within the central spar, like the original hole, but forgot to offset it slightly from the centre, so I ended up coming out the side slightly. Still, I don't think it has come out too bad all things considered. It also seems to be a quite tight friction fit, so the bike doesn't spin round on the stand too much despite the centre of mass being reasonably far forward of the stand and the odd angle of the bike.

[SotonShades]

Right, so a few more detailed shots;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8195320035_90399573dc_c.jpg

The helmet was taken from the Ravenwing spure, with the forehead DA sumbol sliced off. The front half of the Torso is from the Sanguinary guard spures, while the robed back half and the legs again come from the DA sprues. The muscular folds in the BA torso match up pretty well to the DA robes, so I decided not to green stuff extras on, and will just focus on making the more obviously armour sections stand out from the robed bits with the paint job.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8196401124_1b19d5722c_c.jpg

Adain, I've tried to mix up the componants on the arms. Rather than the sanguine blades I chose to use a DA sword arm for the Captain's Relic blade. I'm planning on making it stand out more than a normal powersword with the paintjob, along with the flares on the blade. The juxtaposition of the DA sword with the BA shoulderguard will hopefully mitigate the oviousness of either (if anyone else understands that lol). I've used the winged shoulderguards on both sides because I thought they were very appropriate for the artificer armour of a captain on a jetbike.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8195307403_dc5c06ab2e_c.jpg

All the shields I had were far too wide and chunky to fit around the jetbike, so i had to convert this one up. I'm not dissapointed with that at all as I'm fairly ceretain that, again, it's helping create a fairly unique piece. The main body of the shield is a Terminator Storm shield, with the horizontal bar of the cross cut off and shaved down. The shield then looked far too small, so I extended it with plasticard, detailed with a couple of DA icons. The top icon usually looks just like the lower one bit without the skull. I hoped that clipping the wings free and swapping them over would help give a bit more shape to the shield and turning the sword around would again help detract from the DA style.

The general plan for painting this quy is going to be a lot of metallics. The body of the bike itself will be a dark gunmetal colour, with the eagle head prow and certain other details picked out in a heavy looking gold. I'm thinking of using a much brighter gunmetal/silver colour for the captain's armour, with deep red robes and a few other details picked out in gold and possibly turquoise (a spot colour across most of my SM army). The wings will sll be painted to look like styalised fire, again appropriate for my SM chapter, the Brotherhood of Fire) which will hopefully help tie him in to the army while making the other colours pop. I will probably do the sword as a slightly off white ceramic looking blade, working tonally with the reds while still standing out, especially against the metal of the bike.

Last but not least, a nice group shot.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8196408422_9f72c9507a_k.jpg (http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8196408422_9f72c9507a_k.jpg)

As you can see from the RoBB section, this unit is going to take up a LOT of space on the battlefield. It might not be soo bad once they are on their flying stands, but still...

Newho, as usual there are more pics on my flickr stream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/63487083@N06/) and I welcome all your comments, criticisms and questions. Might be a while before I get them painted as I really want to crack on with my swamp board, titan and Koptaforce. And build up a few of the bikes from the ravenwing box to build a biker army around these guys... and finish off my other projects. And start my superheavy Ork Kopta... LOL

Who knows which hobby bug I'll be bitten by next.

Shades

[Kirsten]

really amazing looking squad there, great job dude. love the captain, and the shield is superb

[Meph]

Good stuff, man. That's an impressive looking squad you've cooked up.

Now paint, paint, paint!

[Cow]

I really want to see this unit all painted up, shame they cant be as hard as they look

[SotonShades]

Cheers guys. Unfortunately i am still waiting on my dragonforge bases to arrive (want to make sure they all sit on their flying stands properly before I start painting them, so i don't have to drill new holes, GS the old ones and repaint again!)

In the mean time, I have converted up a ten man bike squad to accompany them into battle; The Knights of the Aquilla.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8501/8275202675_1643a8eb8f_c.jpg

I actually did the main (painted) Knights a good long while ago. Seeing all the bits I had left over from the Ravenwing box after doing the Jetbikes made me want to add to them, though this time without the Brettonnian Helmets and converted chest plates...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8342/8276264282_c94dfb8fda_c.jpg

I see these guys as the equaries to the knights, or possibly initiate knights in training. As you can see, I have used the spare robed legs from the ravenwing box and the sergeant's bike and legs from the Dark vengence box. Mixing up the two has given a nice dynamic to the squad.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8489/8275197781_be1883eab8_c.jpg

More marine bikers. As you can see, I have kept the Aquilla wings on all the bikes to a)use them up sensibly and b) retain the Aquilla part of the squad name, if not so much the Knight part.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8486/8275197073_0d2831a291_c.jpg

Finally to round out the squad, we have an Attack Quad. I have had to trim back the Aquilla wing mantle to fit above the double front wheels (I still have a couple of bikes left from the RW box, even after this, though sadly they are lacking riders) and used a few extra elite/vehicle crew parts to mark the marines out amongst their peers in the squad.

There are more pictures availible if anyone is interested. I'll update you on the Jetbikes as soon as I can crack on with them. Comments and blah blah blah... you know the drill!

Shades

[SotonShades]

Look what finally turned up!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8354/8292982428_c42d2e36c0_b.jpg

Can't blame DragonForge. All post this time of year is a pain...

So yes, onwards and upward (literally for these guys) with the unit not the bases have arrived. I think the flying stands might be a little on the tall side, so I took a comparison shot;

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8216/8292980676_a1a451ce5a_b.jpg

Yeh... only twice as high as the top of the bikes. At some point tomorrow I'll get my saw out and trim them down (unless you lot think otherwise). I might even do it so some are barely skimming the ground while others are as high as they are now, to vary the look of the unit.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8361/8292981894_2a628bddc4_c.jpg

I've also included this because I am really chuffed with the way the Captain has turned out. There is a good chance his flying stand will stay that tall, cus it just works :D

[Fizzybubela]

Sweet. :)

[SotonShades]

Good news! I need most of these guys for an up coming tournament, so they will actually be getting painted!

Bad news, the ones I don't need are the majority of the command squad... the interesting ones. Still, the captain will be done :D

Look back soon for some updates!