Thursday 29 April 2021

2nd Edition Army Challenge: Dark Angels Predator Annihilator TO-DONE!!!

 



Hi folks,

April has been a particularly hectic month, in which I have been navigating a whole bunch of family and work commitments. Don't get me wrong, most of it has been great, but it has pinched most of my hobby time. I spent two weeks on holidays at the beach, a couple of days in the mountains running a school camp and a week with my wonderful sister just catching up. Somewhere, in the midst of all that, I managed to finish this Predator off for the challenge. 

This model was lying in way too many parts in my bitz box, after a moving house catastrophe about 10 years ago. To see it all (well... mostly) restored makes me very happy. It was originally a gift from my sister, back when I was 14 years old, and it was a regular feature in my armies for a long time. There are a few things I still need to touch up, but for the sake of meeting the deadline, I'm calling it done.

I have posted some photos of it in the 2nd Edition Facebook group, and people seem to really like the positioning of the hunter-killer missile. I remember when I went to do the conversion, my main motivation was to stop it from drawing too much attention! By mounting it on the hull it helps to preserve the classic silhouette of the Predator. The only thing it is missing is the classic stormbolter mount on the hatch. Amazingly, Jon from the 2nd Ed. Challenge has offered to send me one; I think we have set a record for the lightest trans-pacific bitz postage! Once I receive it I will be replacing the hatch, hopefully in time for the reveal at the end of the challenge.

Here are some final shots:










And here is a photo of the tank squadron I have built up so far. I would love to have an old Whirlwind one day, but that will have to wait for a special occasion. I am eBay cold turkey for the foreseeable future!





See you across the table,

Marc



Sunday 18 April 2021

Hobby Diary Part 4: Armour in April and Holiday

 



Hi folks,

The past couple of weeks I have been on school holidays, staying at to different locations on the south coast of NSW. Lake Tabourie is a place my family has always gone to; the past 58 years anyway. It was also the place where I learned how to play 40K back in the 90's, using cardboard cutouts on a camping table! I didn't bring any hobby materials with me, apart from some Magic the Gathering cards to keep up my MtG Friday appointments with The Boi. Because of this, I have not had much to report in my hobby diary. Now that I am at home, I have been busy stripping, reassembling and painting my old school Predator Annihilator for Armour in April and the 2nd Edition Army Challenge. 

This model was a gift, of sorts, from my sister. When I started painting 40K figures she sent me some money for my Birthday one year. It was significantly more than I had ever had control over in my life! I had a lot of sensible things I could have spent it on, even from a list-building perspective, but ultimately decided to sink it into a Predator Annihilator. I never regretted the decision; this monster has been the end of several Eldar Avatars, Grav Tanks, Greater Daemons and Ork Warbosses in its time, including Ghazghkull Thraka TWICE. It broke really badly two moves ago, so it is well overdue for the love its gaming record deserves. Enough talk, here are some WIPs: 


















See you across the table,

Marc


Sunday 4 April 2021

Hobby Diary Part 3: Monster March TO-DONE!!!

 





Hi folks,

Monster March has come to an end I managed to get my Forest Dragon finished just in time. To achieve this I had to graft a more modern elf rider onto the old metal legs. I kept the classic Wood Elf shield with the S shaped glyph on it, but swapped the spear for a Sisters of the Thorn wand. I imagine that would be a more useful weapon to use from the back of a dragon. I used a bunch of bright colours on the rider that I wouldn't use, inspired by some artwork of the elf-like Sitha from Tad William's Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, which I love. 






I painted the hair a very dark brown, which was a suggested by my daughter. Apart from that, I used a lot of metallics, but tried to match them with the colours of the dragon as much as possible. Overall, I am very happy with how the project has turned out. It has earned a prized position on my daughter's model shelf, with the rest of her Wood Elves.  Here are some final photos:














See you across the table,

Marc