Demi-Legion: Chaos Titan Mega Build-Two Warhounds, One Reaver

[Kesher]

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=385&stc=1&d=1267113581

Well I couldn't help myself. Being a long time follower of all things Chaotic, when the Forgeworld Chaos Reaver Titan hit I just had to have it. But I was afraid that he would be a little lonely by himself in my display case so I bought two Warhounds to keep him company as well. It seemed like a good idea at the time....

Thus my Chaotic Demi-Legion was born, to ravage apocalypse and gladiator games to no end. However in order to make this plan come to fruition, I had to get my arse in gear and assemble these puppies. Fortunately I have cohorts that are eager and willing to help for their share of plastic toys!

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=386&d=1267113524

So with a watchful eye and a devoted helper the Legion began to emerge.

Most people by now have heard that assembling these things are a pain the arse. However its mostly just the legs that suck. You really, really have to plan that out carefully. First trim up all your leg pieces from the toes up to the hip joints. Have it all ready to go and your leg build will go smoothly.

It's preferable to have two people for this operation. My helper Andy "Submariner" Holley trimmed down and de-flasher these pieces in no time flat. We used the instructions for inspiration for the leg poses (basically that means we copied it). So while I dry fitted and glued each piece Andy held the hip and legs to make sure everything lined up and the hip joint that attached to the torso would be level.

It all turned out pretty good, and you can even do this without attaching the pistons -except the hamstring one you have to attach that when you build up to the hip.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=388&d=1267113573

One last piece of advice. Magnetizing or pinning the leg assembly to the torso will not only give you the ability to move you titan left to right ( and make cool machine gun noises when you shoot), but lets you transport your bad boy easier as well.

I used two 1/2" rare earth magnets here. You have to try and make sure that even with the magnets attached that the two pieces they are connecting remain flush to transfer the force of the Torso assembly to the legs. These magnets will not do all the work by themselves!

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=387&d=1267113535

So that's it for now, hopefully if the freakish snow lets up we can get more of this done, and move on to the big boy himself, Mr Reaver. The journey of three titans has begun....

[Cryl]

That's a serious serious project... I thought two thunderbolts and a marauder was a big deal!

looking forward to more pics as you progress

[Madness]

PEW PEW PEW!

Did you pick the legion colors?

[sangrail777]

I feel ya man, I'm working on two Reavers and I gotta put my warhound back together after a move through countries.

[Shadow Queen]

I like the wired in body, can we get a close up.

[Kesher]

SQ- Sure here you go.
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=391&stc=1&d=1267158139

[Kesher]

PEW PEW PEW!

Did you pick the legion colors?

No not yet, know of anything with black armor, and gold trim?

[Shadow Queen]

Thanks for the close-up.

Titans had thier own colours.

[Madness]

There's a poopload of traitor titan legions, you can either pick one or make one up, just make sure you sprinkle heraldries here and there.

[Kesher]

Well we were able to get more done on Warhound #1. We're working on the torso now, and while its not quite as hard as doing the legs, it's still important to make sure everything lines up correctly. I also plan on going back and painting the interior. I just want to get the outside painted first because we have an Apocalypse game coming up in a few weeks that I need this guy for.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=397&stc=1&d=1267473387

We started with the power-plant piece that connects to the hips. If you remember from the last article I magnetized it so we could separate and rotate the torso in game. I got a lot of comments saying to protect the magnets themselves from shattering under their own attractive force, and I have to concur with that recommendation. I plan on either putting thin card or a small layer of resin on top of the hip magnet to give it some protection. So good heads up to all that commented on that!

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=398&stc=1&d=1267473543

Back to the torso- It's best to lay everything out first, and then dry fit it all together before glueing. First I attached the powe-plant to the forward hatch area. Then I glued the servitor arm sockets on. It's very important to make sure these are level, otherwise your titan arms will be slouching.


http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=399&stc=1&d=1267473566

After that is all assembled I added on the back shoulders and filled the gaps in the pieces as best I could with some gap filler CA glue. Dry-fitting the top carapace here is a must. I realized after doing this that the right arm was a little off, but manageable. The top servitor hatches glue to the carapace and have to line up with the recesses on the torso assembly. Be sure to double check that and the overall fit of the carapace carefully, you don't want your centerpiece to look like the hunchback.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=400&stc=1&d=1267473566

Next up is the cockpit, and unlike its Imperial cousin, there is almost no assembly involved. All you have to do it insert two control sticks onto the forward control panel, and a support collar to the back. Then you just glue the whole thing to the torso. So I slapped it together and attached it to the torso.

It was kinda hard to figure out the correct positioning of the head without the arms, so I used the feet as reference. Hopefully everything will flow together when I get to the arms.

[Kesher]

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=402&stc=1&d=1267473704

You'll notice the center compartment bulkhead isn't glued in yet. I kept that out so that I can paint the interior later. It really would have jammed me up if that was in there when I went back to paint there.

So here's a good progress shot of Warhound I along with a shot of the flexibility of the torso when its magnetized. The center of gravity of the torso seems to be working out well with the positioning of the feet. It worked out pretty good I think.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=403&stc=1&d=1267473929

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=404&stc=1&d=1267473929

Next up, pistons and weapons!

-MBG

[Madness]

*Drools.*

[Kesher]

So far we're up to working on the pistons and weapons for Warhound #1. We knocked the rest of that assembly out in one night, and managed to clean and trim the weapons.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=440&stc=1&d=1268694504

We went ahead and cleaned up all the weapons I bought for both Warhounds just so we could have options to use for the upcoming Apocalypse game. I wasn't sure what lists we would be running for that so I wanted to make sure I at least planned the Titan out for maximum killing.


I left the leg greaves off so I could paint them, and the leg detail itself easier. The pistons go on pretty fast, but some we had to drill out because the casts had been a bit smooshed and the sides had jutted into the mounting hole. No big deal really, but you have to be prepared for anything I think when you are assembling these things.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=441&stc=1&d=1268694504

I ended up magnetizing the weapon arms, so we could use whatever weapon load-out I had. The most popular weapon combo so far, seemed to be the twin Turbo Laser Destroyers. I pinned the top of the weapons mount and magnetized the bottom, again with a 1/2" diameter rare earth magnet. I also glued a small strip of plastic card onto the magnet on the weapon mount, to help prevent them from chipping or cracking- a fact learned from a previous blog comment!

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=442&stc=1&d=1268694504

Now that the assembly was complete for the most part, I needed to wash the resin down so I wouldn't have any problems with the paint adhering to it. It's a good idea to do this because when resin is cast, a small coat of mold release is left on the model. Sometimes some of the mold comes off and gets wedged into bits of detail as well. It all can make paint run off, or not even stick at all. So it's best to scrub this thing down with soap, and let it dry overnight.


I used some Dawn to clean the titan cause it good at cutting grease as well as dirt. I dunno if there is any of either on there, but hey least I got my bases covered. I got an old tooth brush and a normal soft sponge and just scrubbed every exposed surface I could see. Then I left it to dry overnight with a small fan running on it.


By morning it was completely dry, and I started priming it up in the base color I wanted. I used Army Painter's Necrotic Flesh. It's a lighter green color, like Dead Flesh, which is fine because I'm going to wash it with darker colors anyways.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=443&stc=1&d=1268694504

Next update- a little bit of customizing...


-MBG

[Rapture]

Always nice to see a big project with updates.

I am excited to see which colors you pick for the thing.

[person person]

Damn thats alot of resin, nice work and good luck!

[Silver Drakes Legion]

Great job so far. What type of magnets are you using I was thinking about magnetizing when I buy a warhound?

[Gotthammer]

No not yet, know of anything with black armor, and gold trim?

Legio Mortis was originally black with red and white trim (icon of a horned skull), the Tiger Eyes were black with yellow, but had white in there too if I'm remembering rightly.


And I'm sorry to say but painting the Moderatii's control screens is going to be a pain with the head glued on. Trust me on this one.

[Kesher]

Great job so far. What type of magnets are you using I was thinking about magnetizing when I buy a warhound?

1/2" diameter 1/8" thick for the arms and torso.