Multi-basing 'De-blooded' Space Hulk Terminators

So this is a bit of a detour, but my wife bought me a copy of space hulk for Christmas (thank goodness for those copies they "found"). Furthermore, she agreed to play a few games with me once I got the minis put together (she's a bit of a sci-fi junkie and thinks space marine terminators look like the mondoshawans from fifth element). At the time the package came in the mail, I had been thinking about swapping out my  terminators that were in my army (6 TH/SS and 2 LC in a LR Crusader) for some standard terminators. Like everyone else I love these models but don't play BA, so I thought it would be nice to use them both in my army (my Hawk Lords) and but retain the ability to use them in the Space Hulk game. monkiy

I didn't want to just quickly magnetize the premolded bases to some 40mm discs (which I had seen, but felt wasn't my style), so I tried a few options. I first cut some 40mm bases to fit the permolded bases, which was a pain, and since GW didn't make them flat (there's a little slope in thier "geometric artsy" design), it meant that I'd have to file them down to ensure I got smooth transitions between the red (original) base and the black (40mm) base. So I bit the bullet and decided to rebase these guys, twice, making a base akin to a display base (since 40mm bases are too big to use in Space Hulk).

Removing the blood drops was relatively easy and only required the use of a hobby knife and a file. Where I could, I kept iconagraphy that was univeral (the chalis was questionable... but oh well) and replaced blooddrops in chains with round jewels made with green stuff and used as many commander and/or terminator sprue bits as possible. Lastly, I added a few skulls from a chaos sprue that suprisingly matched very well. Here are a couple of examples:

Once it was all said and done, it wasn't that hard to do. It's just slow going for me. The materials I used aren't really inexpensive (see the image below) and overall, are easily found. I used plastic canvas for knitting or cross-stitching (5 8"x11" sheets were like 4 USD), a "No Parking" sign from Home Depot (which was like 3 USD) to use as plasticard and some Evergreen styrene (10 USD, there isn't really a good substitute for pipes and "tech" base fodder).

Once I finish these up and get them primed I'll post some more pictures... as that'll be where the rubber hits the road. Overall, I'm happy with this and look forward to painting these puppies up. 

Also, on an unrelated note - I managed to get a "more matte" finish, which I just put of the not-so-matte finish on my scouts, and I am fairly happy with how they turned out.

"Is that a codex in your pocket"

This week, I'm in Sacramento CA for work, and I had something funny happen to me while waiting to board the plane in El Paso. I was sitting there reading "Courage and Honor", the 5th Ultramarines book (which is better than the third, "Killing Ground" by leaps and bounds) and I glanced across the terminal at two men sitting on the other side. For a brief instance, I thought... that looked like a codex in his hand!
All I saw was the back cover for a brief moment... but I was fairly sure I saw a aquilla... I knew it was an aquilla - but I couldn't be sure. Like an eager little kid, I got all excited, especially since my marine codex was in my shoulder bag. After a couple of minutes of watching this guy, he reaches down and pulls out an imperial guard codex and a huge smile crossed my face.
I got up, walked over, and said (to a complete stranger mind you) "did I see a codex" as I pulled my codex from my shoulder bag. He laughed and invited me to sit down and chat. They were from El Paso and Las Cruces, were big time gamers, we exchanged info, and hopefully we'll be able to meet up and game a little once I get back from this trip.
It was a great experience, and says a lot for the community. It makes me smile even now as I write this. So I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experiense like this... please share if you have.

WIP and the joy of the not-so-matte finish...

Well, let me start off with some WIP shots of the attack bikes from my last post. While they did get some love in DC, they're not quite done. I've still got to work on some washes, and finishing up details, but I think they're coming together nicely.

Next up, my scout squad. I have to apologize for the lighting (new light box) and the "shiny" finish. I swear the can says matte, but it sure doesn't appear to be matte. Oh well, maybe a new can of matte and a second coat will take these guys somewhere. besides, they're just cannon fodder and only really serve to get my termi's homing beacon into place... poor smucks!

Lastly, here are some shots of my Assault Chaplain and his accompanying Assault Squad (including SS/TH sergeant), a couple of base coated rhinos and a predator (which will continue the previous paint scheme), some primed Sternguard, and my Chapter master (Counts as Pedro). Hope you enjoy and there's definitely more tom come.