City Casting

Chaos Space Marines: Deathguard Plague Marine Rhino

Hello once again!  today i have a little treat of an update.  All those deathguard minis I've been painting up no longer have to foot slog it from one side of the table to the other.  Here i have a rhino converted for the deathguard faction of my chaos space marine army painted similarly to the model i used in the death guard plague marine painting tutorial i posted awhile back.  Painting a large boxy model like this can sometimes be a challenge with all the flat surface area on the model.  I find the best method of painting tanks like the rhino is develop a theme over the model and use a large brush, work on the big areas to begin with and then pick out the detail later.

Here are some pics

I've decided to use a light natural mint green paint (knarloc green highlighted to dehneb stone) for the armour plates and shading with purple wash, then painting the depressions with chardonite granite and a sort of faded pestilent pattern.  The detail on the side door was hand sculpted to symbolise that this in fact is a deathguard rhino.  a few details have yet to be picked out.  Weathering was achieved by stippling scorched earth paint with a spare piece of foam that you find packaged with the blister packs of your minis.  Other areas were drybrushed to achieve the appearance of soot. Each of the bolts were picked out by a dot of devlan mud which was trailed downwards.  all the metal areas received a coat of scorched brown before being painted with dwarf bronze and mythril silver.

Here's the other side of the tank panted the same way, along with another deathguard mini i also painted last night.  This gives a rough idea of scale as well.

Here is a detailed shot of the Crewman on the top of the Rhino manning the Pintle mounted combi-flamer.  I used some left over shoulder pads and a head from a old kit i had.  The shoulder pads are forgeworld resin, and the head is a metal piece from the old plague marine havocs boxed set (plague marines with assault weapons.)

Here is one of my favorite parts of this model, the exposed brain of the gunner! So cool!

I'm looking forward to getting this out on the table some time soon.

Plague Tower: Progress Log 5 (Casting of the Front)

So here are the first pictures of the plague tower shot with actual scenery, I thought with the addition of the front panel it was time to add some colour around the model, to get a look at what exactly it might look like on the playing field.

The front panel was originally sculpted in plasticine on a cardboard backing to get the general shape of what you see here.  the original was then cast in plaster to make a mold from which the plasticine was removed.  The front panel was then cast in resin from the plaster mold.  After the resin had cured over night the plaster mold was broken off the resin positive, leaving a archaeological dig worth of cleaning to do to remove the left over plaster stuck to the resin. The cleaning still continues!

Here is a side view with models placed on the walkways for scale.  Note that the sides of the front panel still need to be treated with green stuff to get that stretched skin look.  Also of note here are the wheels on this side which received a wooden texture look.

For a greater idea of scale of this thing, i've set it next to the imperial bastion.

There is still a great deal of work left to go into this model however it's shaping up nicely,  I'm waiting for some green stuff i ordered to come in the mail (with the help of the ever reliable Amy) before i get to work on the hardcore details and resurfacing of the front.

Plague Tower: Progress Log 4

Plague Tower: Progress Log 3

So, a lot has progressed since last i posted pictures, primarily the siding has been completed on both sides of the tank, a whole ton of rivets have been glued into place and some conveniently sized pieces of tubing have also been adhered to the front.  Things are really starting to take shape.

Another major detail that was completed was the embelishment of the side "pus tank" made from the living nature water bottle, bands have been glued around it to make it look more industrial and less little critter, and an access hatch has been glued onto the top.

Now moving to the back, you can see the detail of the rear upper hatch, which now has been added, detailing on that piece is a work in progress.

Here's an overall view of the rough plague mortar assembly...

and it's loading hatch...

overall the front looks really bland and there is still a ton of work left to do on this model, but each day is one step closer.

Plague Tower: Progress Log 2

After some further design work, i've decided what to do with the other side of this monsterous construct.  First lets take a look at the back.  I've installed some rhino doors that were extra from a predator i once bought.

after some work on the side paneling, i've finally managed to finish the wood planks along the sides, as well as adding some more armour plates for the hut supports which i will install later.

Here is a picture of the fitting for the "Pus Tank" that will occupy the majority of the other side of the model.  This was actually made by heating up a metal pipe and running it through the center of both circular disks.

And finally a picture with the "pus tank" installed to give an idea of the overall look.  The "pus tank" is made of a small "living habitat" small animal water bottle that i had hanging around collecting dust.

Plague Tower: Progress Log

Back again with some updates on exactly how this plague tower is coming together.  First i decided to finish bulking out the frame with the "hut" protrusions that are found on the exterior of the tower.  I wanted to avoid any unnessessary extra work, specifically putting these things on after i complete the siding, so it's best to get them on and over with.

Here's a second look at the shape of the structure.

Using a thick plastic card i've outlined the various areas on the model with the large metal strips that can be found in the concept sketch, these just break up the model visually.

This stage was the beginning of what will be the fiddly work on this project, i've cut out pannels of normal thickness plasticard and glued it to the sides in a mixed up fashion as to make the thing look a little ramshackle, once again a lot of this is done to visually break up the model.  All the areas that are still bare will be covered in the wooden looking siding instead the armour plates will only cover the front of the model, making it look more bulky towards the front.  You can also stee that i've started removing the top of the card that is to bee the corrugated roofing.

Here i've gone through the meticulous task of putting rivets on the sides of each armour plate, i've also started with putting the wooden siding on the areas that are still bare.  It's slowly coming along.

Well thats it for now till i get some more done.