Colour Sergeant Frank Bourne DCM "Sentries report Zulus to the South-West... thousands of them"

Rephrased to a 40k Theme...

Veteran Sergeant Brank Hourne "Sentries report Zenos to the South-West... thousands of them"

So whats a Pith Helmet???

20 Mar 07

Added a couple more troopers

18 Mar 07

Quick update... very busy at the moment

14 Jan 07

Done some painting... am happy!

07 Jan 07

What a nice long break!!! Will undercoat my Armoured Fist Squad once the weather clears up! Enjoy.

12 Nov 06

Added a couple of ratlings... showed a couple of modelling pictures... slow progress but happy

05 Nov 06

Slow progress... built a Chimera and took some photos of a lascannon team i painted up.

08 Oct 06

AM... Painted up the first trooper and am happy with the results, i think my colours work great and this is exactly what i was aiming for

PM... Just finished the first heavy weapons team!

03 Oct 06
Welcome to my newest Modelling Diary!!! A yet to be named Imperial Guard Praetorian Regiment

Why Praetorians?
I decided i wanted a different looking and unique Imperial Guard Army! Everything you see in the following pictures i got cheap as chips off ebay or from trades etc, has taken me around 3 months to collect and nothing was paid at GW prices

Fluff
One day I might get around to it!

Theme + Paint Scheme
The Army will break away from the British Red Coat Praetorian scheme you see ever too often I will paint up my test model in a week or so, i have a lot of commitments on at the moment (time is against me)but hopefully my scheme will look great! The colours will hopefully go well together yet will still make the chaps look good on the drill square. The Army will also break away from the overly British Theme with some exceptions and have all the modernised wargear etc etc of the Imperial Guard... This Army will use Ratlings and Rough Riders aswell as a tone of Armour backing them up as they defend their mainly Urban City (fluff stuff)

Modelling
I will actually attempt some modelling in this army, unlike my boring Codex Themed Witch Hunter Army! I have some green stuff, tonz of bitz, and more "Bling than Bang" for my tanks Each base will be urbanised and City Fighting themed.

What I Got


In a nutshell (not everything pictured) - 1500/2000pt with options etc etc
2 x Leman Russ
1 x Leman Russ Demolisher
1 x Hell Hound
1 x Chimera
3 x Sentinals with multiple weapon options
3 x Mortars
4 x Las Cannons
2 x Heavy B's
2 x Auto Cannons
Rough Riders (Still collecting)
8 x wee lil Ratlings
60 odd Praetorians including special weaps, sergeants, officers etc
Tonnes of Bitz! - Ammo dump/fuel/medical etc etc strategem heaven
Tamiya 1/35 Modern Vehicle Accessories (Bling Bling!)
Verlinden 1/35 Half Track Accessories (More Bling!)
Tamiya 1/35 Fuel Stuff (Bling?)


Lots of Praetorians and associated goodness Doesnt look much but they are stacked about 3 bodies high!


My Bits Box... Vox Casters, Lascannons, Rucksacks, rolled up tents, shovels, Jerry Cans etc etc 60mm, 40mm bases

Ratling Convertions
Hopefully a lot of you agree with me that the Ratling Sniper Models SUCK! So with a bit of inspiration from some Ratlings i have seen around the traps, mixed with a bit of Modern Day Sniper Uniforms mixed with a Bit of the Boer War... i present my Filed Back, Green Stuffed Ratlings!

These are WIP and my first attempt at Green Stuff Still more filing, sculpting to be done about 35% complete


Little fella with Balaclava, Bush Hat and Camo cloth rapped around the rifle barrel


Another wee fella with Bush Hat, Balaclava and Camo cloth around the rifle barrel


The two bush hat boys


Another two wee fellas with Balaclavas, their Bush Hats are yet to be sculpted... note how i filed the head band off the fella on the right (am filing all headbands off!)


4 out of the 8 ratlings so far Pics dont do them justice


So thanks for looking and stay tuned and please be patient, i will paint a test model Praetorian soon!

Fargo

Those rats look very cool! You just need to file down the rgeen stuff to make it a tad smoother.

I may be able to track you down some resin pith hats if you get sick of sculpting them, ill find out on the weekend for you.

Awesome! So this is the army I've been hearing about... and the ratlings are looking awesome! I'll have to make some fuzz-head ones sometime... actually I better get around to putting up my modelling diary sometime this week.

Might I suggest a subdued grey/ or a mousy tan fatigue? I'm finding grey for my urban mordies with a dirty black wash works a treat for the urban jungle.

Oh yeah, and using sprue waste is really good for raising your heavy wepon teams off the base so you can make the loader removable. I find they look like fallen girders/ beams if you cover them with a bit of rubble.

Anyways, good luck with them! And I'll be watching this space keenly for some pithing-goodness.

Cheers so far,



Yep will file em down... still was my first experiment

Would love to see if you can get me some Pith Helmets! Im not even going to bother sculpting any if you can get me some for bases etc etc that would be appreciated!!! I wonder if they will fit in with GW 28mm scale... PM if you can get me some



Yes this army isnt just Myth and Folklore

I am thinking along the lines of your painting suggestion, greys, dark greens/khaki and some sand/tan colours.

I have plenty of "Sprubble" for basing and if i dont make the assistant gunner a permanent attachment to the base they will be magnetised on.

Seems like this is going to be very sweet. I'm keen to see how the 1/35 accessories fit onto GW tanks too as there arn't many 1/48 scale ones and I need some extra stowage for my tanks too.

Sweet indeed I have just done a size comparison and may post some pics soon. The Tamiya 1/35 is slightly larger than the GW scale but Vehicle accessories fit in nicely, duffle bags, tents, rucksacks etc. The Verlindin range is near perfect and will fit in nicely... Tamiya is very cheap and all the accessories can be used for 40k maybe not all the jerricans but most of it. Ill use what i see fit then i can always add it to debrie on the battle field, make objuectives etc!

Fargo

Sweet, I'll look forward to the pics. Verlindin does indeed make some very nice stuff but it's all pretty expensive. If you want jerry cans Tamiya does make 1/48 scale ones and you get some stowage too:
http://www.hlj.com/product/TAM32510

Are you converting your tanks at all or just adding "bling" (I so hate that word!). Since your trying to modernise the army a little might be a good idea to take some inspiration from modern day tanks.

This should be awesome. The Pretorians are such a great looking range of minis... will watch this with great interest.

Colour Scheme

Tonight I painted up the colours I was thinking about and i really like the look of what i have come up with. With a little more practise i'll make the troops looks even better, however I think i have found my Praetorian's uniform!!! I think this uniform is still very... Praetorian but it gets away from the British Red Coat theme... dont get me wrong the models look great painted that way but i want mine to stick out from the rest! I think mine look more suited to the Urban battlefield and their bases will reflect. Very happy with my creation


The first of many guardsman to come. I used the Mortar Spotter guy as I thought it was an ideal model to test the scheme out.





Colours Used

Will just list what the base colour is for each part of the trooper.

Pith Helmet - Vallejo Khaki
Tunic - GW Dark Angels Green
Uniform Trim - Vallejo Desert Yellow
Pants - GW Codex Grey
Webbing - Vallejo Skull White
Lasgun - GW Graveyard Earth

As you can see a mix of GW and Vallejo, i have found Vallejo much better to work with.

Whats Next
Well its just kicked past midnight and over to Sunday 08 Oct so I will do some more work on the army when i get up in the morning, not sure what, might prepare some more guardsmen for painting or do the other Mortar trooper. See how I feel.

Stay tuned and thanx for looking

Dave

I like it when some one goes against convention. In this instance, i was not sure if you would pull it off, but that is a great colour scheme!

Although, for an Urban theme (for the bases) the uniform is very clean. Now, that is ok for the Pratorians straight from the camp, all spit and polish, but what about those poor chaps out in the feild, awaiting relief?

As an idea, you could have 1 or 2 squads who have been sat out in the urban war scape overnight, holding an objective, all banged up, covered in dust, a few bandages, lost or damamged helmets, using enemy guns ect.

Good idea?

Anyway, what you have done looks great!

Nice work this far and great to see them done a little differently to the norm - although having said that, when I finally get around to painting mine (I'm aiming for around 2010) they'll proabably be red

One point - the shading around his eyes makes it look as though he's wearing mascara. Could be the pic exageratting it 'though.

Cheers for the comments!!

I do want to go for an "in-field" look. Im not sure how i am going to achieve this. I am currently working on the Mortar gunner and the Mortar itself. I will be experimenting with my first Urban Base. I have tonnes of ideas, majority are going to be rubble, barb wire etc etc... i dont want the army to be bogged down in mud.

Well luckily the Mortar squad can be nice and clean as they will be providing their support from behind the front line!



Yeah i can't paint eyes, I will have to work on the technique more but it doesnt look so bad out of the photo...

You're not Robinson Crusoe there, mate. The best thing about painting chaos warriors for fantasy? No ^&*%&% eyes!

I like the green... seems really nice..., I reckon just a bit of grey dust, sort of basing would put it right into the urban theme... Praetorians aren't meant to stop polishing their boots, even if they're entreched for a long time... if they give up that... well life isn't 'proper' LOL...

Keep it up Fargo!

Another Update 08 Oct 06!

OK so i finished the assistant gunner


Front - Getting better with the faces...


Back

...and then I made them a base


In the raw - An aquarium mix was used and there are tiny lil shells and i was a bit worried about them but they came up a treat when painted

...and then I pinned em on!!!









I am extremely pleased with what I have achieved! I think my colour scheme looks great with the Urban base. This was my first attempt at pinning models to their base. I will get more creative as i go, i just wanted to see how my plan would take shape... Again I am very happy with this so far and I can not wait to get stuck into it even more!!!

So Whats Next???
Not sure... I might make some more bases up as i think but i think i might get a platoon started!

Thanks for looking, i'll see what i can achieve this week but im fairly busy

Dave

I was a little doubtfull of the scheme but looking at them on that base I must say that they look very sweet. The aquarium litter looks really nice too. The shells give it an intresting texture. Looking forward to seeing more mate.

Looks very nice.

Your eyes look ok to me. If you think you can't do eyes, take a look at my pic's. Mine are so cross eyed, if they cried the tears would roll down their backs!

Looks Very nice mate. Shaping up to be a Very nice army.

One problem with guard, THERE ARE JUST TO DAMN MANY of them to paint.

Good Luck and keep up the good work.

How did you drill out the mortar barrel?

Thanks for the comments.

I will get better at faces as i go along. I got plenty of Troops to paint but am going to try and do minor conversions/modelling just to keep them interesting!



Used a size 3mm drill bit and put the mortar in a vice and used pading to not leave an inprint on the model. I Drilled the hole then angled the tool as it rotated...

i thought it was going to be too hard to do but was a piece of cake and im glad i tried it!!!

Dude - some seriously nice work there! Can't wait to see them in action dying to Nids? ;-)

BTW - a storm is coming...

Cheers!

Kiwi

Thanks fargo. The valhallans use the same mortar, and I wanted to drill it out but wasn't sure what to use, but now I'll just use a 3mm drill bit.

Thanks for the comments Kiwi!!! A storm hey! Will be interesting.

I want this Army to give J's eldar an ass whooping and possibly kill some Nids, Marines, Tau and orks along the way!

Assualtguardsmen... you can use a 5mm drill bit but be careful! I used a 3mm bit because it was the largest i could fit in my tools chuck!

Got the last of my mortars and troops paint job from hell

Will do them some justice!

Dave

I like that paint job!!!! Quite a nice covering of paint.

Instant strip as well. Cool.

Don't talk about AssaultGuardsmens painting like that!

Some mortars i bought second hand have huge holes in them... only leaving a tiny lip around the edges.. so i guess i have to foloow suit on all the 14 mortars in my valhallans.

Drozzy I had one that had the same thing done to it. Just fill them with with putty and start again.

I think this project is awesome, keep up the good work...

One other thing - I am incredibly jealous of your organisation. The bitz box, pinning units to a cork for painting... nuts

thanks for the comments,

I am going to try and individually base each Praetorian... got around 50-60 of them to do

Optimistic but ill give it my best shot... big disadvantage is that i wont be able to play a game with them for a while so i am going to aim at getting the first legal force composition painted up and aiming for a 500-750 pt force. The advantage in this is that it will encourage me to crack on with the project and get them on the table

Dave

hehe I know what you mean. I currently have 500+ pts of templars I'm trying to paint up. The shoulders have a bleached bone base and work up to white for the highest highlights... meticulous but the result is awesome! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your force

quick update thanks to bad weather and finally getting some free time






Lascannon Team




Chimera with lots and lots of added gear - for those on the move I have used Tamiya and Verlinden 1/35 vehicle accessories to ensure my Praetorians have enough supplies to last in the urban environment. There are stretchers, rucksacks, duffle bags, sleeping mats, tents all sorts of stuff. The Chimera will be used for the Armoured Fist squad and will mostly be used for anti-infantry roles, hence the heavy stubber and heavy bolter kit out...

Will hopefully get more done this week

Thanks for looking.

Your painting is great, and your bases are magnificent. I think this army is shaping up really well.

However, from this angle it looks like the Praetorian head is too small for the plastic body. Any chance you've a spare Autogunner or Heavy Bolter torso laying about to chuck in the cupola instead?

Actually i do!!! I have 4... now why the hell didnt i do this!?!?! **slaps head** lucky he's not glued in...


*pulls out the saw*

Happy to contribute!

Plus now he'll have the snazzy epaulets and tunic.

Things are starting to look seriously good here.
Love the Praetorian field turnout!
Where did you get the basing material, looks fantastic.
Cheers, Dan.

Thanks mate

Its just an aquarium mix and some grinded down plastic Sprue. I just cut out some tiles from some chalkboard (thick card) that I had.

mate, they look damn sweet. don't worry about the negative comments. your bases came up a treat, also dig your ratlings

That lascannon team is fantastic. I love the bullet holes on the blast shield and how you've keep the colours to a minimum on the actual machine, whilst making it look so damn good. I find the way you've positioned the loader/gunner reassurring. I had a tough moment the other day, when I realised the mordie loader also has the control pad LOL.

Please, let us see the first infantry sqaud of ten soon. I'm sure it'll be awesome as always.

thanks all for those nice replies and positive feedback...

you would be suprised how much some good comments actually motivates my slack behind to get on with this project... currently im working on my first squad... they are kind of taking shape as combat engineers... nothing flashy just a few simple aditions to a couple of models just to make them stand out that little bit more!

Thanks ruinmaniac for the comments regarding the lascannon... if you look really carefully too i took a couple of chinks out of the armour plate too just to make it look like its been in the field that little bit longer.

I am a huge fan of using the 60mm bases for heavy weapons teams.

I will put a couple of more pics up later this week with what im working on, got a couple of ratlings undercoated and GS'd up some more. Undercoated the mobile luggage storage unit (the chimera) and fixed up the gunner...

thanks again

Me too, it gives you so much more in the way of modelling options.

I'm really loving your work. It's creative, classy and not too much. Just the right touch of individuality to each piece. Looking forward to seeing more! Are you bringing them to Cancon by any chance?

thanks for the comments, unfortunetly i wont be attending Cancon. It would be nice to see how my army would rate in players choice/appearance etc for a tourny. Never been to a tourny.

It's probably for the best.

I'm taking Praetorians to Cancon myself, and you and I aren't a million miles from each other on presentation style and ideas (although mine are boring redcoats). In fact, I couldn't believe you were using the shellgrit, I've had some in the works for a few months now - although I steal mine from my budgie - and some of the 'random' pieces are absolutely identical!

If you brought essentially the same army and beat me to an award... well, it can be embarrassing to see an old fart cry in public...

Just thought a couple of you might like the pics at this link:

http://www.thediehards.co.uk/About/zululand_1999.htm

I'm doing Rorkes Drift in 1/72 plastics so the thread title sort of jumped out at me.


sangraal

Rockin'

Thanks for the link - I've got a new bookmark.






But I did think you were gonna treat us to pics of your ladz.....

Pics of my Brits & Barks' Zulus will appear in time :-)

sangraal

P.S. We are also doing the Alamo in 1/72 with a couple of hundred Mexicans & about 100 Texians

the mortar looks great dude!

OK so here is an update. I have included some shots of modelling i have been doing and my frist two painted ratlings... enjoy


Random Stuff


The fixed Chimera gunner


WIP of a combat engineer (have drilled out his hand to hold an ammo crate) Will post more pics of this later


Ratling


Ratling again


The other Ratling


Both Ratlings


Both Ratlings again

As you can see i am still slowly getting through this project. I am pretty happy with how the ratlings shaped up... I think they look better than the standard GW models, these lil fellas are more "urbanised".
stay tuned and thanks for looking

Fargo

Sweet! Now that will look the business!

Sweet work dude - the Army will look superb on the tabletop! Gotta get going on my cityfight terrain again!

I like how they have green tunics so the Ork blood won't show and spoil their mess uniforms!

Cheers!

Kiwi

Finally an update!!!! Been a long break for me!

So...


The Army Commander... pretty simple conversion.

Armoured Fist Combat Engineers Squad

I have decided to make my Armoured Fist Squad combat engineers. Each has a backback or rucksack or something in adition to their standard kit out.



Their SGT, wearing his Beret



Flamer Trooper, with his balaclava to filter out that burning xeno smell!



Combat Engineer Trooper



The rest of the Combat Engineer Squad, ready for undercoat!



Some HQ Bases, First is the base for the Musician (glue still drying!)... he will play his bugle and "rescue dog" will respond... The musician will act as the HQ Medic. The other base is for the Army Commander, I used it from the Urban Basing Kit.



Some other bases for the lads... rather urbany i think! If you look carefully, you can see the removed "slottas" from the models that have been flattened in my vice and squashed out the GW writing... looks pretty effective (i think anyway!)

Whats next???

I think i best paint em up!

Enjoy

Dave

Keep up the good work, your giving me ideas for my praetorians.