Some Strain Variation

Hey all,

I spent a nice hobby day working on some strain conversions. I used the hot water method to pose and cut the models. than to add some extra variation I did some green stuff work on them. I spent far more time on them than I really should of but I had a lot of fun doing it. The phase ones are some of my favorite models from the set, and I am big fan of multiple poses.

Here are some close ups. and details on the conversions.

I was super excited to find out that when the models are hot they cut easier. I was able to cut 2 models in half and not lose any detail with just an exacto knife. It also surprised  me how well the halves went together from the 2 different sculpts. They still do need a little green stuff to cover the gaps, but not much. 

Simple repose with hot water. I wanted to see how far I could push the models. so I tried to bend this guys torso. It was pretty hard but it did bend.

This one I reposed to make him crawling. I also cut the legs off, in to add so more variety.  I Sculpted some spore vents and tentacles. My idea being that this strain was mutating into spore vent.

This was the other body swap. I reposed the legs into a running position, and covered up the gaps with some more bloating. Again I was very happy with how well the two halves matched up.

I did the most sculpting work on this one. I reposed him slightly. I picture him to either be in the process of mutating or being some kind of head crab brooding host, who drags around the egg sacks as they feed off of him.

Simple repose of the legs adds some motion to the model. I tried to add motion to some of the poses as I feel it to be lacking in the basic strain poses.

All in all I love converting, so was very happy to see that even tho these are mostly single pose models they can be worked and added to just as easily than other plastic kits that are out there. They are much easier than converting metal models which is nice. The hard plastic had me worried at first but with some hot water handy it becomes fairly easy to work with.

Cheers all, I was really inspired by all the other great strain conversions I have seen around!

So Many Cards!

So I recently played a game with a friend, the second scenario of the campaign. You need to make a 60 point list.  We both quickly ran into the problem of too much stuff being out on the table. I had 12 cards out, plus all the other counters and the like. We had trouble keeping track of wounds. There were so many models in tight spaces, that keeping track with dice was hard. Not to mention all the effects. So we started brain storming ideas to shrink some of the clutter, and  keep the board clear for a more visually pleasing game.

I saw someone on the Sedition Wars forum had made printed wound counters that they glued to the bases of the models. I like this but something about picking up the models every time they are wounded kinda rubs me the wrong way. I have also heard of people using super small dice to track wounds. 

This was one of my ideas. It is a rough draft. It took about 2 hours to make...

People are always going to be bringing revenant and Samaritans to a fight, and they all have the same stat line. This way for every five I only need one card, instead of five cards for five models. If I go this route I would have to number the Samaritans bases which wouldn't be to bad but could get annoying.

It is still a wip but I wanted to get some feedback on the idea and the layout. I am thinking that I will either try and make them the same size as the cards. Or I might make them double the size of a normal card to give more room for rules. When they are done (unless I come up with a better idea) I will put up PDFs of the cards I make here for others to use.

I also added a player aid page. Right now it has a vanguard and strain reference sheet in it, made by GeneStealer on the Sedition Wars forums. I will add these cards to it in the future. I also hope to add a painting tutorial page with links to sedition wars painting tutorials.

Cheers.

First 10 Strain Done!

Strain Update

So I did a test group of strain, enough for the first scenario. I wanted something relatively quick. I primed them grey and did a white spray over the top for a highlight. In the end I am not sure if it really made a difference. I used a blend of colors for the first coat. I used rotten flesh for the main color, applied wet and painted on some purples, oranges, and greens, and tried some browns to give them some depth. I did a couple layers like this. I than inked some of the exposed muscles with a mix of GW's baal red and scorched brown for darker red. I glazed the models very lightly with medium and scorched brown. I went back with rotten flesh over top to give them a little bit of a highlight.

here are the phase 1 strain.

 Here are some close shots of the phase 2 strain.

And a kinda crappy group shot 10 models in total.

I am not calling these guys done just yet, I am planning to go in with some gloss and maybe do some blood effects on them as well. As to whats next I need to work on some of the Vanguard heroes. Then I might try my hand at some tutorials.

Enjoy, and feel free to ask any questions!