Hello ATT,

I've started to do some modelling lately, no doubt inspired by the amazing work and discussion that goes on here. I'm crawling through it, as I also have a major renovation going on and quite a bit to do at my day job too.

Here are some in progress shots of a Forgeworld XV-84 I am cannibalizing to convert into a custom one-off suit.



Here some parts are washed and gently scrubbed to remove mold-release residue. I plan on working this project into a guide as well as a project log.



Burst Cannons from the stealth suit sprue are assembled and some thought is given to how I want to approach mounting them to the nice Forgeworld arms.



After 2.6 seconds of deep thought, I cut up the burst cannons and drill the components I will need to pin to the resin arms.

Here is a bit of fiction to introduce my 'Vre. He remains nameless, and I am open to suggestions.

Constructive C&C welcome and appreciated

The 'Vre:

The water caste envoy jinked through rubble and bodies to the nearest whole structure on the edge of the Imperial settlement. The Tau diplomacy effort that had been needlessly pushed by seniors within the fleet had failed. When did diplomacy ever succeed with the Astartes? The newest of the envoys had been sent to his death, a continual result that prompted a lottery system to be developed in the case that any member should be needed but unwilling to liase upon contact with a foreign fleet.

The village had been raised of a light stone with all the buildings present seemingly uniform in their Imperial design, she didn’t have time or the mindset to analyze any further. A constant colouration lent from the quarrying of the lightweight mineral found nearby lent to that visible unity. This would be a nice spot to visit Shar-sas thought as bolter fire rattled off in the distance. She had a way of seeing the bright spots in an otherwise bleak universe. The clatter of a vehicle colliding with something in the distance nearly broke her stride. Actinic strobes could be half seen through gaps in the ruins as vesa covered the retreat.

She came upon the vestibule of a hab annex and quietly ducked inside, careful not to disturb the loose masonry surrounding her. The last thing she needed was a bout of poor luck and a diligent astartes picking up her clumsy actions. With fingers shaking she opened the door as stray fire ricocheted off the fascia and communiqué receptacle inside the vestibule. The sound of whizzing projectiles and exploding brickwork covered her hasty entrance and the loud slam of the metal doorway. Twelve heads turned in unison to confront her, each set of eyes, some augmented, regarding her with disgust, disinterest and cruel judgment. A dozen Astartes stood around a circular table previously regarding a holo-picter display of the battlefield outside the walls of the annex. A massive warrior in mirror blue armour spoke to her with a voice like a mountainslide, addressing her in a form of low gothic which she knew from her studies to be a calculated insult. Her ears buzzed with the rush of fluids as if a pressure wave accompanied his words. “See yourself out, useless filth” was all he uttered as he turned away in contempt. None of the other Astartes made any attempt to draw a weapon or prime a hand gun until a buzzing whine, low but with slowly gathering intensity intruded into the quiet of the building. “Psyker?” one warrior asked. “Impossible” said another, wearing lighter coloured armour covered with etchings that had escaped her attention until now.

The buzzing, chopping sounds grew louder, to the point the Astartes became conscious of its proximity and started to draw close quarter weapons from their holders, straps, and sheaths. “Casxes, determine the source of that drone” ordered the first of the warriors. With practiced speed a scanning device was brought forth from an equipment container beside the gathered super soldiers of the Imperium. An impatient blurt forced its way out of the device the instant it was switched on.

Thunder hammers, glowing smoking swords, a Ram skull tipped staff and chain blades all hummed and roared to life as the klaxon of the auspex warned of proximal danger. They were all dropped as quickly as they were brought to bear from the dead hands of eleven warriors. Shar-sas ducked and covered her head reflexively as bright pulses of light punctured and detonated within the huddle of enemy soldiers. Weapons dropped to the floor and sparks shot along the tiled pattern in the floor as energy contained within the close quarter weapons was released upon the impacted surface.

One Astartes remained upright, an arm ending in a burnt stump with coagulated blood drooling from the jagged end of blackened bone. “What in the Emperor’s name?” was all he could muster before collapsing backwards onto the broken and riddled holo-picter. “Cas’la, secure enemy injured and contain in transport until further orders” was ordered from some unseen metallic voice within the room. Shar-sas looked desperately around the space to see where the voice had come from, and backed up into a field of static electricity that set her hooves alight with fuzzy sensations. A hollow pop sounded as she breached and disrupted the stealth field of a monstrous XV suit. The optic array swiveled slightly downwards to regard her as she backed away in shock. Twin rotating barrels lowered, slowly winding down to a point where they counter rotated to a stop and grudgingly settled into a locked position with a metal click. “Exit now and return to the evac muster station - transport lifts in 2.6 millicycles” occurred from the same metallic source as the previous order. “Yes ‘Vre, thank you... for sparing me” was all she could stammer as she darted by the giant suit and out of the structure, noting the lack of emblems on the armour.

He had been there the whole time… Shar-sas thought to herself with a smile, thanking the stars her noble ‘Vre had been present to see her home safe.

I can´t believe that nobody have commented on this yet because you have some serious writing skills and this story realy got me excited for the conversion you got in store for "the nameless ´Vre"

Thank you TwistyMountain, that was quite kind of you to say.

I spent some time today doing some more cleaning up and converting, the major focus being the torso of said 'Vre.

Here are some pictures in various views describing the chopping and rebuilding so far:



I used the shield generator from the standard XV kit to bulk out the torso from same kit after liberal cutting and filing to obtain the shape I was going for. After a few cuts I just let it all happen and come together on it's own.



I use a small point and shoot camera that I bought more for outdoor/rough and tumble use, so I apologize if the photos aren't up to snuff with some of our other more experienced and better equipped members.



The peg looking parts at the shoulders are punched circles of plasticard which I am using to replace the ball present on a stock kit. I feel the corugated look better suits the feel of this particular build, however minute it is.



I'll have to devise a custom jetpack for this character, which is probably the thing I am most looking forward to.



Here the arm is mocked up with the shoulder armour and torso not far off.



I want to use the centre of this stealth torso as the groin in this build. I want to emulate the XV9 here as the typical stance/shape of the XV8's don't appeal to me.



And after a successful hobby crawl I came back with goodies for later and a great feeling having supported my local shops.

More fiction to come, once I have the urge to get it all down again.

Thanks for looking, C+C always welcome.

modelglue

Oh my goodness. I will be watching this thread.

It looks amazing how you've bulked up the suit's torso. I see a shield gen and a FW shoulder armour piece but I'm still confused of how they go together, and that piece at the bottom really binds it all together and I have no idea what it is.

It's looking fantastic yes! Although burst cannons seem like a bit of a disappointing weapon to put on there (just my opinion of course ), if you're going to the effort to pin them it wouldn't be much harder to magnetize the weapon options instead.

I'll certainly be watching this thread!

Edit: The bit at the bottom is part of the XV8 jet pack isn't it?

I absolutely love suit conversions and judging by how the torso is going I expect something amazing so i shall watch this closely, you know as a loyal informant to the Emperor's Finest

Yes, cut up and rotated to serve as the pivot for the leg attachments, this will make more sense when I get it cut up and positioned properly.



I see your point, and thank you for bringing that up. I want to use this model more for a diorama, that I can set on my desk at work and have as a conversation piece/advertisement that I play 40k. You'd be surprised how many people out there play, but keep it to themselves unless amongst their close gaming friends. If I do use him in a game, he can have TL BC and a FSD. Thanks for your other words of encouragement Corteks.

@Bear, rawr back at you! Hopefuly I can keep this pace up and keep interest building.

@Terminatorinhell, I hope I can provide something amazing and new too, I get a real thrill when someone likes my work, but honestly there isn't too much to this build that everyone else out there can't do. It's pretty straight-forward using available components (aside from the Forgeworld pieces maybe ).

I had some more story-line run through my brain as I was doing some tedious wall repair earlier...

The 'Vre continued:

Bright spots of dried blood dotted the floor of the hab annex, scuffed and smeared in places where the Astartes recovery team had entered to retrieve their fallen brothers. "Eleven dead marines, and one critically injured" stated the Chaplain in a synthetic buzz, his combat helmet securely in place. It had been proven to the Chapter present on this troubling world that safe was nowhere, better to endure the discomfort of restricted vision and digital communication than risk more casualties. "Have the Apothecaries had any success retrieving data from our fallen brother?" asked the newly promoted Captain.
"There is some distorted imagery and voice data available to us, Techmarine Adwald is disassembling it into coherent packets now."

The two conversed longer, dissecting the brutal event piece by piece. Puzzling as it was, it appear that the Tau diplomat class had become indoctrinated into the so called "Fire Caste" from what reports had told. A young Tau Water negotiator had slain an entire squad and captain of the Chapter. Imperial Command relayed this alarming info back to the fleet as reinforcements were drawn to counter the potential increase in threat to the Astartes Liberation force.

The door swung open suddenly, a young man dressed in local garb stumbled in and sighted the two Marines. The Chaplain's pistol snapped into his hand leveled with the intruder's chest. A low hum signaled the ready charge, along with the pulsing green indicator seen only by the Chaplain inside his helm.

"Why did you come? WHY? We were peaceful. We had everything we needed. We starved under your Imperial rule. The Tau brought us light, they brought us food, civility, relief from the gangs, peace and comfort. GOOD. Why, why did you bring your aquila and fire here? screamed the youth. An obvious supporter of the Tau occupation, the Chaplain wondered how so many of the local populace could be brain washed away from the Emperor's light so easily. The Astartes had everything they could ever want in service of the Imperium. Faith, devotion to the God-Emperor, unending duty to mankind. He shook his head sadly as white hot plasma escaped the nozzle of his pistol. The youth was incinerated before a sense of doom could even register.

The 'Vre looked on with detached sadness, knowing he could not help the man from his remote location. Cloaked by technology in the shadow of a chimney a few structures away, the suit crouched on the sloped tile rooftop. Linked by array to the stealth vesa perched in the dark rafters above the two commanding Astartes, he gleaned more and more information from the careless and completely unaware Astartes examining the scene of his unintended massacre. He wondered in morbid fascination how a protector Astartes could kill his fellow man so coldly? What other unthinkable things had this Chaplain done in the name of his God?

He sent blips of code through his link to the hidden fleet in orbit, warning of more Imperial reinforcements being sent to reclaim the poor inhabitants of this world from the Greater Good. The Tau would have to double their effort to hold the "liberators" at bay until the evac ship could safely break through the atmosphere. A wave of comtempt passed through him and sent jolts of static pulses through his mind impulse link, into the suit containing him and the vesa surveying the conversation in the hab annex. The shoulder and ankle joints of the XV chassis jittered slightly under the mental assault and dislogded a roof tile. No one was present to hear it clatter on the permacrete below. The hidden drone also twitched under the onslaught of impulses sent through the mind-link, drawing the attention of the Astartes.

With the vesa's cover compromised the 'Vre was left with little choice. Nudging a red triangular icon within his mind-link array interface, the small surveillance drone detonated. A fail safe packet had been installed into the lining of the interior chassis. A concussive pop followed by dust and static wreathed flame blew out the doors and windows of the annex. Nothing of the Astartes leadership would be recovered from the ruins as Imperial fire squads advanced to investigate.

Well, I'm going to be watching this thread intently. Keep up the high quality posts and conversion work and you may find that more than one of us will recommend a move to one of the more prestigious boards.
I eagerly await your next step in this model.
-AA-

Ah yeah for a diorama I can totally see why you'd choose burst cannons, while they can be underwhelming in game they do look pretty awesome. I remember glueing together my very first XV8 and hastily chucking a burst cannon on it just because it looked cool

I think I get what you're doing with the pivot piece, it really looks like it'll fit nicely in with the suit aesthetic you seem to be going for.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this come together, I hope you won't mind if down the track I do something similar? That torso design just looks so fantastic!

Smart, clean and unique. Great torso mod so far, definitely watching your progress. Certainly made easy by the copious amount of photos! Huzzah

- Tael.

Excellent work on modifying that torso. I have found that since working with the XV9's, I cannot stand suits that have no waist. I too used the center section of the XV8 jumppack as the bottom of my Farsight conversions torso. It really allows for some dynamic positioning. The fluff is also good, although I haven't finished the second bit yet.

I'm very curious as to how you intend to attach the arms. Since there is no ball and socket, how will you connect them? Oh and before I forget, great idea on modding the Burst Cannon drums on the arms.

Moving this thread into the Project Log forum.

E.

Hey Corteks, I would be very flattered if you did.

@ Agentarrow and Tael, thank you both for positive feedback, i'll be doing more modelling just as soon as my fingers heal. There was a ton of progress on my house renovation today, but at the cost of some lightly mangled fingers.



I have felt his way since day one with my very first XV model. Maybe the powers that be will take that into consideration next time they design a model for the masses.

And to Eiglepulper thank you again, as per my PM to you.

Well, with social activities completed and enjoyed, I present some more slight progress on the suit:



I added a washer ring punched from plasticard to the swivel point where the leg pivot attaches.



I want to replace all the drydex compound I used for filling with green stuff but only had 5 y.o. materiel on hand. My incredibly sweet better half braved the mall today to pick up some putty on her way home from work. It was an awkward message to leave her...



I used the inner ring of the chaos star from (IIRC) the defiler kit, took some scraping and sanding to get it to fit right, you can be the judge. The piece inside the ring is a vent from a landraider, which I took an impression of and recast to have on hand in moments like these. You really can't have enough cool bits floating around.



Here is how the leg pivot and torso interact. It was tough deciding what to use, and admittedly my scratch building skills don't come close to GW's plastics.



Here is the rear view with punched circle engraved to emulate a slotted screw head. We see a lot of this kind of detail on our beloved Tau matter.



This is the interaction of pivot and leg. It will require pinning, but I'm happy with it.



And finally, the head I am fooling around with, and the stock Forgeworld piece. I'm honestly not sure this is going to work, but I felt that using the stock head at this point was a bit lazy. The head I stuck together is a piece you might recognize form the XV84, and a shoulder guard from a derelict forgeworld B-side found hibernating in the bottom of my hobby drawers.

Thank you again for all the comments, I do appreciate hearing what my peers and seniors think.

(and to cut back into this post, I will insert some more sci-fi that hasn't left my brain in a few days)

The 'Vre resumed:

Hegen and Valdt were far ahead of the patrol picking it's way through the ruined streets that night. It had been awhile since Hegen had seen a street that wasn't smashed to pieces or burned black. Most of the time away from war zones was spent in transit between fronts on the converted troop ship VUNDERSTEIN. The conscript squad was desperate for something. Whether it be real combat, serious training, or even R&R away for once it didn't matter. They had always been sent into a conflict that was just ending, never the first, or even the reserves. Always on clean up detail. Hegen thought maybe this was for the best. It was at least safe, although mighty boring on the brightest days.

His thought was broken as a call came up from the rear of the ten man squad. The two friends had over extended their pattern track and should have made a Left-North a few blocks back. Hegen stopped to sip from a plasteen he had squirreled away last mess, and Valdt eyed it warily. "So what else did you manage to lift from the chuck hall?" questioned Valdt with a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice. Hegen shrugged innocently and brushed past his friend to rejoin the group. Valdt made to follow but something had caught his eye.

A few loose stones, some ash, and a tattered pennant dropped to the blistered street just a few yards below where the invisible suit was perched. The Griffon embroidered on the ripped and bloodied material was still visible, even in this poor light. The 'Vre was quietly positioning himself for a defensive action when his left burst cannon arm elevated into the signpost hung in the stone nook he was crouching in. The patrol had gone farther tonight than they usually did, this wasn't the pattern he had become used to. He Stopped to hide and let them pass before carrying on with his nightly recon and intel gathering missions. The Tau had learned most about the Astartes present to reclaim this world, and it was decided more effort should be focused on learning the doctrines of the regular army. Although equipped poorly, what they lacked in firepower they made up for in numbers. It seemed every mission some hapless, noisey soldier was nearly bumping into the cloaked 'Vre. Tonight would be a different experience altogether.

Valdt snapped his fingers while trying to be as casual and non-chalant as possible. Hegen didn't catch on and prodded Valdt verbally to "Hurry the hell up." It wasn't until Hegen approached Valdt to physically collect him that he noticed the panic in his friend's eyes. "Where?" Hegen asked in a hushed voice. Their Commissar would be proud. Hegen followed Valdt's quick glanced and eye gestures to the ruined Tavern East of their track. Hegen gave him a quick nod with a meaningful look. Valdt had his lasgun gripped beneath his heavycoat and with virgin agression turned on the facade of the tavern, lasgun poised to kill. "Your safety, Valdt".

He looked down in embarrassment and stifled anger to see the circuit key firmly in place, blocking any energy from the battery from entering the firing stud assembly. "Besides, NOTHING'S THERE!" exclaimed Hegen. Manic laughter heavy with relief filled the narrow lane. "You were ready to murder that poor buttress, weren't you Valdt!" laughed Hegen. "I suppose better to be on form than be caught pulped by some filthy blue skin, eh?" commented Valdt. "Holy Terra Valdt! You're a killer under that soft smile, aren't you?" The two went on laughing as Hegen fumbled for his torch. Valdt reached behind himself to produce his from his pack and with a dull strobe it came to life. Hegen grabbed it playfully and shone it into the alcove that Valdt might have filled with holes if given the chance.

Bursts of light erupted from the muzzles of twin burst cannons as his location was compromised by these two hapless youths. He hated himself for what he was doing, these two posed more of a threat to themselves than to the Greater Good. Their lives ended before the flash of his volley was swallowed by the night. This was the lesser evil, if his suit fell into enemy hands the mission or the global war could be seriously jeopardized. This was for the Greater good he reminded himself. If only he hadn't allowed the debris to scatter these men might still be alive. No, this is what happened, this is life and war. They were soldiers too, one day your end will come as theirs did. Shouts went up in alarm from the nearby remainder of their squad, and he ignited his jump pack to fall back a safe distance. Given their lack of discipline in the preceding nights he observed these regulars, he doubted they would follow him into the dark.

modelglue.

Hello all again,

I've been caught up with work around the home, and haven't had too much time to get any progress made on the XV.

I've added to my fluff, which can be read (and maybe enjoyed) below.

The 'Vre continued:

Alone and at peace, he stood outside his dedicated chassis and admired the towering, inert form against a dusky sky. This skillfully designed and assembled statue in front of him, his suit, had become like a favorite pet. Much like the Imperial pilots were known to adore their mounts, he had sentimental feelings towards this mechanical object. He lovingly maintained it to be an effective weapon but also to represent the aesthetic of his persona, projected by it's bulk. It was a shame he didn't have any polyac doping to repair the scuffs earned while navigating the urban streets.

His mind was relaxed. Due to the lull in enemy activity on the outskirts of the quarry settlement and relatively few orders downloading from command, he had an opportunity to rest his warrior spirit and take notice of this beautiful world. A few pulls of ta'rowan liquor had helped nicely too...

Hoppers filled with expendable rounds, stealth field calibrated to adapt to increased seasonal humidity and pressure. Joints lubricated, excess compound removed. This machine was pride.

A scratchy crackle emitted from the comlink within the sensor array suite, most likely command patching through another recon sortie. He climbed the leg and carapace of the suit to access the external relay. As the panel hissed downward and open the multi-tracker pinged to life with the threat of a nearby metallic object approaching with aerospace speed. Had he been discovered? He hauled himself up into his mount's torso cockpit and shook off the slight mist dulling his senses in preparation for a fight. His head settled back into a closely fitting socket and docked his neural interface with that of the suits MIU. A few minimal sweeps of sensor data, minor motor checks and power supply audit had him adjusted and ready to fight as an Astartes landspeeder rocketed by him, jinking through low rocks and clusters of the yellow coniferous trees found in this hemisphere.

It banked suddenly, ninety degrees to the right of it's previous direction, and coughed a black trail of exhaust and sparking flame as it accelerated away in this new direction. He wondered momentarily if they had detected him, as the Astates speeder had equipment well capable of assessing and neutralizing a threat such as his suit. He immediately engaged the stealth field and melted into the scenery as another shape, crescent in form and crimson in colour dashed over him in pursuit. They are running.

The landspeeder was piloted by Chendo, A scout who scarcely had time to cycle through meme logs to gain operational knowledge of the nimble chariot. They were being extracted by this storm variant from a hunting mission ordered by the Chaplain moments before he was incinerated in an alien terror bombing. The poor Imperial souls who inhabited the quarry town would never be the same after such blatant attempts to thwart Imperial dominance in the system. The squad had been ambushed by jet bikes and the ubiquitous hover tanks of the Eldar race while embarking the storm to return to the muster zone. That they were present on this world was a surprise to him and the Astartes command he radioed back to reporting the attack. No doubt they were in league with the weak Tau blueskins fighting desperately to keep a toe hold on this fertile orb.

The grav tank deftly kept pace and stride with the utilitarian speeder, sending lances of light energy streaming into the fins and fuselage containers on the speeder. Rations, gear, and various other items were vaporized by the heat of a sun as the lance found its mark again and again. The speeder bucked violently and Chendo prayed to the Emperor that he would get a chance to exact retribution before joining his holiness in the realm of eternity. The triple engines of the speeder screamed at different and unhealthy tones as it strained through the sharp jinks and dives he was yanking it through.

The chassis groaned with tortured strain as the perforated construct finally rent itself into pieces after the impressive but futile escape attempt. Twisting in two, tearing metal and fragments of ceramite armour spun away from the craft as it tore itself apart with weird physics as anti-gravitational fields dissolved. The scout was thrown from the control seat into the air at inhuman speeds, and with no chance of surviving the impact was disintegrated by monofilament discs zipping through him with uncanny accuracy.

Brutal, very unfitting of such a wise race as the Eldar thought the 'Vre as the Falcon looped back and stopped to survey the scene. He remained cloaked throughout the engagement, wise not to draw the burning wrath of the lance atop its turret. He knew he wasn't fast enough to get away from the supersonic tank, and certainly was not capable of a ranged fight no matter how effective his stealth field was. He chose caution. A choice so rarely decided upon in this age, he reflected as he armed the fail-safe detonator. A lone male exited the tank.

The Eldar kicked around a few scraps, and gracefully strode over to where the majority of the scouts remains were scattered. He looked to the horizon, and gradually turned to take in all 360 degrees of the landscape, passing briefly over the shielded form of the suit. He doesn't see me thought the 'Vre. No sooner had the thought left his mind then the jewels at the Eldar's hip rustled and emitted what could only be described as a whisper. Even from this distance, he could hear it through audio receptors as if a wind carried a voice in his direction, a faint, haunted statement.

It was in this instance the Eldar turned and looked directly at his position, seemingly locking eyes with the encapsulated and shielded 'Vre. He sees me passed through his mind as the Eldar aburptly turned and entered the grav tank. It shot away into the distance and he was left wondering what meaning and fate awaited this world.

Hello ATT,

I have been very busy with my daily life, and so haven't had the time available to make steady progress on this project. I have put some effort into devising a jetpack for this model, which is illustrated below:



Here is the new jet pack next to the torso. I chopped a hunk of resin into the general shape I wanted and added thin plasticard strips to smooth out the irregular surface and build up the details as they manifested. This took a lot of dry fitting and patience, as I really wanted to just weld a bunch of plastic together, but as they say: easy come, easy go. I really want something special at the end of all this.



Here the jet pack rests while green stuff cures. I used evergreen square tubing to make the jet nozzles, they are slightly bigger than the nozzles supplied with normal XV models.



This photo shows off the "siding" style plasticard that I bought to represent the intake grill. The plastic and resin models available from GW and FW respectively have very narrow grills by comparison.



Another view of the jetpack. This top portion will receive more and more attention. The only issue holding me back from moving forward faster is the length of time it takes for green stuff to cure to a sandable consistency. My sculpting is very basic, and my inexperience with the medium is going to be apparent to those of you who have lots of hours under your belts.

If you see an opportunity for improvement please don't be shy about letting me know what you think, and how I might achieve what you have in mind.

Bye for now,

modelglue

Hey Modelglue,
Your battlesuit really catches my fancy!
I like your way of using parts and the greenstuff/plasticard mix really works for you.
I have some thoughts on the Greenstuff-part though.
I understand your complaining about the curing time and consistency of Greenstuff, I recommend using Milliput (the green version) because it settles faster and is easier to sand down to a good finish. -greenstuff has its qualities, but this is not one of them

Keep us updated!
-PBNL

Thanks PBNL,

I'll try to get my hands on some Milliput soon and experiment with it's qualities.

Thanks for leaving advice!

I've purchased some Milliput from my LHS, and set to work immediately on my jetpack. While it was curing, I sat down and added to my short fiction that accompanies my build:

It had been weeks since the Eldar intervention. He had waited patiently over the time these newcomers to the front attacked and withdrew, vid capturing the events within his suit’s spectrum tolerances. The Eldar fleet had appeared from the warp and engaged the Imperials, destroying key vessels such as an Astartes battle barge and four Imperial Navy heavy cruisers before a hasty retreat. Why they had intervened was still not clear, as Tau diplomat vessels in the system had tried to raise a response from the new allies but none were received.

Various ground skirmishes between Astartes combat patrols, Guard armoured columns and the swift Eldar took place across the globe. From ambush raiders taking advantage of the coniferous cover provided along the northern continents, to strafing runs carried out by swift crescent aircraft of unknown designation. The Imperial ground forces were shattered by the relentless harassment, and vowed to return with lethal forces and consequences for those citizens who rejected Imperial rule.

Tau Orbital superiority had been re-established now, and supplies, relief forces and security returned to the planet. Fire teams swept the remaining hostile pockets of PDF troops from the cities and villages, while water caste coaxers presented troopers left behind in the exodus of the Imperial fleet a chance to start over. Many men and women of military stripe accepted the offer of shelter, food and medicine while given time to establish a new hierarchy within the remaining survivors. After a suitable amount of time, those wishing to join with the gracious Tau were sworn to the Greater Good.

Those who refused to be a part of the combined forces, whether for fear of Imperial retribution or due to ignorant and stubborn dogmatic views were simply allowed to exit. With salvaged ground vehicles of various manufacture and food provisions for a week, they could start a new life on the fringe of Tau leadership.

They were later discovered slain to a man a half day away from the settlement. Bodies riddled and sliced by monofilament discs, the vehicles destroyed by the burning lances of the Eldar. It was thought that the aliens had vanished from the planet and system entirely, but evidence like this unnerving and grotesque scene proved otherwise. Water Caste envoys solemnly blamed themselves for not being able to save them through enlightenment. Air Caste pilots who surveyed from an aerial vantage observed with detached confusion. The many auxiliary forces brought in to provide security simply chuckled at the stupidity of the Imperials.

Trikatron and Agromax strode through the small settlement, passing shoulder to shoulder through narrow streets, often forcing refugees, Earth Caste developers, and other smaller auxiliaries into doorways, alleys and coves to avoid their massive tread. They had been imported to this planet to provide security and patrol back up, as their temperament and copious strength could be put to good use at a moments notice. Agromax’s tail twitched as is swung from side to side, occasionally tipping barrels and stands in his ignorance and lack of interest. He scanned multiple spectrums with dual optical implants, each riding the side of his head like stowage bags on a saddled grox. Agromax could go for some grox right now, he thought to himself in a base way. Trikatron’s rumen gurgled as if reading his mood, and they both looked up towards each other. Trikatron had snagged a pennant from some unlucky sign, and was marching along with it fluttering on his left horn behind his vision threshold, oblivious to the stares the awesome pair received. Their thoughts, if one could assign their low cognitive functions a name, were often interrupted by strategic updates and situation assessments. Since the slaughter of the unarmed imperial refugees, Tau command had been trying to track to elusive Eldar and small skirmishes broke out when the aliens were discovered and confronted about the incident.

Trikatron’s single optic halo flickered with the incoming com blurt that Agromax was simultaneously receiving. The message was to find the nearest open centre, and ready for extraction. Both doubled their pace, thundering claws impacting the semi-malleable stone of the small street. Agromax’s three stomachs groaned in unison with the new exertion as an Orca drop ship touched down ahead of them.

A meeting had been brokered between the revered Fire Caste operative and the Eldar. They would be well fed and appraised of their new mission, the ‘Vre might require their skills, and more importantly, their awesome presence.


modelglue

Hello Again Att,

After taking up great advice offered up by PoisonBladeNL, I set to work with milliput forming the jet pack for my project. It took a lot of filling, sanding, shaping, repeat, etc to get to this stage. Milliput has a pretty easy learning curve, dries quickly (compared with Green Stuff) and sands nicely. I found I had to add water to my tool to help with smoothing out shapes and helping the putty adhere to the base.

Here are some pictures:



Looking from this angle, you can see the jetpack has a curved section along the spine. I tried to emulate the XV 9 chassis here, and I had a few modelling firsts along the way to achieving this shape.



The thrust nozzles were featured in an earlier post but now you can see them and the general shape the sub-project has taken in the final stages. I would like to attach more detail to the large flat areas on the sides, and will tackle this when I'm ready to get some paint on this.



I had some trouble with the very crest of the intake grill, not sure what to shoot for and presented with odd angles in a very inaccessible and small area. If it looks terrible once I have paint on it, I'll try again.



The flat, mottled part you see here is where the jetpack attaches to the back of the suit torso. I think overall the height of the jetpack will be too tall, but it was a great way to try something new out and establish parameters for future endeavors.



Hopefully this view leaves you with a better feel for the shape of the curved areas. The non-uniform and dappled look of the model is due to multiple media being used and experimented with. Those being; Resin, sheet and strip plasticard, preformed shape plasticard, Green Stuff and Milliput.

I will be firing up the airbrush to give the individual components a primer coat in the next week or so, then I shall start a painting log in this thread to allow description of that whole process.

Again I have to thank PoisonBladeNL for the sage advice, as this project would not be this far ahead without the recommendation.

Any C&C is very welcome,

modelglue

The pack is coming along quite nicely, can't wait to see it mated to the torso
-AA-

Thanks for the comment -AA-,

I have to admit that I have been stymied by this project for a while now, it sits idly at the top left corner of my desk waiting for attention.

I want to devise another style of jetpack, similar in shape to the astartes version.

Hopefully I can get to this soon, as I don't want this project to languish forever!

modelglue