DE Plog

[redshirt2375]

Taking an example from Shannon, I thought I would start a "plog" to update on the status of my Dark Elf army which I am finally, after over a decade, actually putting work into getting finished. I made it my New Years Resolution to actually have my army done before the end of the year.

At the current moment I have completed 20 Dark Elf crossbowmen. I'll try and get a picture up on here tonight once I get home.

I am currently working on getting both my Hydras assembled (since you have to have 2 in 8th if you want at least 1 to survive). I finished the first one last night (current model) and start preping the handlers this morning (filing mold lines and such).

I'll likely get started on the second hydra later today (old model) I have one of each since I got the old one a long time ago and would hate for it to go to waste. I know it's ugly, but with the Dark Elves being my first WFB army I wanted to make us of both new and old models since I have so many of the older ones.

I also have 25 Dark Elf spearmen primed that I will begin painting once the Hydras are assembled.

[redshirt2375]

As expected I was able to get the handlers for the Hydra cleaned this morning on my break and I've now begun work on the handlers for the 2nd Hydra.

I must say that the new Hydra model really is miles ahead of the old model. Right off the bat the bat I couldn't help but notice that the body of the original comes in 2 pieces. Thankfully I learned all about pinning early on in my modeling career when it came to working with metal models

Another side note, anyone who may be looking for replacement bits for their pinning drills, I found a great set at Princess Auto. You get about 20 bits (the largest a bit thicker than your average paperclip) and it cost something like $13. Then even come in a little tin case.
They've served me well so far since you can use the smaller ones to bore out the barrels on various weapons and the large bits work great for pinning. I had pretty much dulled down the first one I'd started using so I was as upset when it snapped on me last night when it fell.

[redshirt2375]

So Hydra number 2 has hit a bit of a snag. After opening and actually sorting out all the pieces, I've come to find that one of the heads is missing

I have emailed GW in the hopes that they might still be able to replace the missing head (of course I'll have to figure out which one it is) or if I'm super lucky, I'll get a new one to replace it as I've heard of other people getting complete models to replace a missing part (someone ended up getting something like 2 or 3 rhinos because parts kept being omitted)

Guess I'll have to stick with only having one for now. Just means I'll get a jump start on painting my first block of 25 spearmen.

[BewareOfTom]

Jan 14, 2011 22:17:46 GMT -5 redshirt2375 said:

(someone ended up getting something like 2 or 3 rhinos because parts kept being omitted)

Oh whoever could that be?

[redshirt2375]

I wasn't going to say names

By the way, did you have to call them or did you do it by email?

[BewareOfTom]

Jan 15, 2011 12:17:33 GMT -5 redshirt2375 said:

I wasn't going to say names

By the way, did you have to call them or did you do it by email?

I emailed them and they said to call, and I only got 1 and 2 halves of a rhino (yes 2 halves but not one full) but I got a drop pod and it was missing a piece so fingers crossed.... lolz

[redshirt2375]

So I called GW today and they are going to be attempting to track down an old hydra to send me. I won't complain, but part of me hoped they just send me the newest model as a replacement instead

I've begun painting the spearmen as planned. Hopefully they will get done quicker than it took me to get the first 20 xbows done

[redshirt2375]

*sighs* so many shields. And to think I have 2 more units of these guys to do when I'm done these ones.

Luckly I get an hour for lunch so it gives me a minimum of a good 30min of straight painting time (in between sending text messages to my girlfriend...it's out lunchtime ritual since we started dating)

At home I've begun attempting to assemble the movement tray for the first unit of xbows since I can't bring the materials to work. I just have to figure out the best way to get wood to stick to metal. Any suggestions would be great since all I can think to use is some industrial adheasive that I used to glue my computer desk back together after if broke during the move. But that stuff can be messy when trying to glue small things.

[Jack Shrapnel]

"no more nails"... they sell it at Home Depot... cheapest option and will glue anything.... but takes a little bit to dry... and it's WAY cheaper than the expoxy glue options!

a tiny drop of superglue on it and it will instantly set the glue (I used that technique when modelling my Seraphim jumping off rocks)

[redshirt2375]

Thanks for the advice Shannon. I figured you'd know and was actually thinking I should just PM you about it

My first set came out a little rough, but a little green stuff to fill in a the gaps at the corners and it should work. My plan is to flock the sides to match the bases anyways.

I used a small piece of trim cut in half (thanks to Ashley's Dad's) and then cut the pieces using a mitersbox. I tried to cut them to exact measurements, but that led to them not quite touching. Next time I'll cut them a little bit longer to make sure they line up. I can just sand them down if they are a little to big.

[redshirt2375]

After taking Shannon's advice and using "No more nails" as an adhesive to hold the wood to the metal sheet, I think I can say I've successfully completed the movement tray for the 1st 20 xbows. The back rank seems a little snug, but I think I can either trim the bases a bit to give them a little more room or try and trim the sides of the tray (which might be easier since the wood seems to cut easy when using an exacto-knife.

Haven't gotten any further with the spearmen as I have taken a slight break to assemble my Grey Knights. I figure since they are all metal it won't take long to assemble them and get them on bases so I have a 2nd 40K army to mess around with for fun. Part of this is because I've taken the first step in getting my game room operational.

I picked up a folding table at Canadian Tire this weekend. It's only 72"x30" but I figure I can easily pick up a 6'x4' plywood sheet at Home Depot (have a giftcard for there and then pick up a battlemat from Nexus and "Presto" I have a table I can start playing on.

[redshirt2375]

Realized it's been almost 2 months since I did an update. GW managed to dig up an old Hydra model for me since I was missing a head from the one I've had on my shelf for probably over 5 years now. I actually assembled it a few weeks back now (wow what an ugly model) so I have 1 old Hydra and 1 new Hydra.

I've re-begun painting my first batch of spearmen. After trying it out in the tagteam, I think I'm going to run a horde instead of the 3 units of the 25 I was originally going with. Figure I can use the extra points to either add in a unit of maybe shades (have a bunch of the Menghil models that I would hate to go to waste) and also likely add crossbows to my Dark Riders (they don't seem to do all that much so far without them)

Also means I'll be a little bit closer to my painting goal since I'll have 25 less spearmen to paint

Now my question is do I mix up the shield emblems in the unit or go for a single choice across the whole unit? I was thinking it's probably best to go with mix so that if I choose to switch to a couple smaller units instead of a horde I'd could have matching shields in the smaller units.