Jump to content

Adeptus Titanicus (Giant Stompy Battle Robots)


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

I've made and painted some of the knights from GW's Adeptus Titanicus range and posted my doings on here earlier in the year. While I haven't started painting a Titan yet, I have built some:

30856392138_3a4bac740c_b.jpg
43069508030_b16c5443c3_b.jpg

 

Unusually for me I've actually played a game of the new Titanicus rules too! Our local GW was running demos and my daughter and I had a go. It's pretty good, the big titans feel very ponderous and there's a lot of raising shields, cooling the reactor etc. Like submarine warfare with legs. It was very easy to find yourself making the relevant noises which is probably a good sign. Bad sign? Not sure!

Anyway, I was lucky enough to pick up the big box of modular building parts half price a few months ago, and I've since acquired the set of spires they brought out afterwards. After some playing around and some smaller buildings I came up with the following:

48244507687_e3547219f5_b.jpg

48244508177_4c0bb5066a_b.jpg

 

The lower part of the building is from the Civitas Imperialis modular sprues, and the upper part is mostly the spires. I bashed some of the roof pieces into landing pads and used flying buttresses to add "princess towers" to get a silhouette that looks a bit more like some of the old Hive City illustrations from e.g. the Necromunda rulebook.

There are a few additional parts from N-scale Green Max kits (ladders, pipes) and my stash of sacrificial Trumpeter bits (antenna and some other small details). Held together with scraps of styrene where necessary.

I'm not quite sure how to paint it, but I guess I want to match the feel of the Knight bases, so a slightly overgrown look?

33480332978_f836976163_b.jpg

Having an excuse to add some green flock is a) always welcome and b) very handy for hiding joins, but I don't know if the Imperium will stand for it?


Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 15
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished up another couple of buildings - I built these a while ago but have added the spires and details today.

 

48246181651_7252010e2d_b.jpg

 

The big one is a temple (probably) and the small one I'm not sure - maybe a school or light industry?

 

48246181256_d392678042_b.jpg

 

The roof tank is a Stryker wheel (maybe a bit obviously so) plus some other bits and a sprue corner for the angled pipe.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 12
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all, haven't quite started painting yet but I have primed them. I was going to use GW's new Wraithbone primer (cream colour) but couldn't get any so settled on an old can of Tamiya Red Oxide. Which really is lovely stuff - this is the result of two medium coats in a cardboard box in the garden on a windy day:

48254394156_619627947b_b.jpg

 

It almost looks like a render! I did take the time to add a few extra details to the big building, and washed everything with a toothbrush and soapy water so it was in a good state to being with, but I'm still pleased at how clean it looks.

That said, the joins on the tallest spire will need putty, and there are a few spots on some of the corners which could do with attention, as well as the balustrade joins. Still, not bad.

I'm not sure what colour now - I was thinking creamy sandstone but now I see the red I keep thinking about Liverpool cathedral - maybe that warm pink would be interesting? It needs to look OK against a ruddy brown ground colour as shown above, but the buildings will have roads and things as a buffer between them and ground in most cases.

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 11
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will, 

That looks impressive. I quite like that colour on them. It reminds me of an old painting of Hades or something.

Do you have any spare pieces to experiment on? Perhaps a dark grey wash and some detail painting on the pipes etc?

Keep them coming.

Pete

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 9/5/2019 at 9:38 PM, Hunter Rose said:

Nice! Will follow with interest Will, the buildings look good


Thanks, been rather busy with various work/real life things so not much happening at the moment on the modelling front. But Armies on Parade is coming and I quite fancy doing some Titanicus stuff for that. Unless I plump for goblins...

 

Oh yes, and there are now planes in the Titanicus scale courtesy of the new Aeronautica Imperialis which a) look cool and b) could maybe land on those landing pads. Although they might be a bit big!

 

On 8/29/2019 at 4:16 AM, DalekCheese said:

Any more?

Not yet, see above.

 

W

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/6/2019 at 10:04 PM, DalekCheese said:

The aeronautica imperialis look nice.

Yes, yes they do.

48834709048_cc75a6e064_b.jpg

 

I've built the range now (you get a couple of almost everything in the box) and they are, like the Titanicus kits, very nice models. The seam hiding is generally even better than Titanicus designs especially on the Ork planes.

 

My Thunderbolts are inspired by EE Lightnings in the hi-vis finishes, and a bit by inter-war RAF schemes I suppose.

 

48835079921_03fec742ae_b.jpg

 

I airbrushed them with Alclad Dark Alu over their black primer, and then brush-painted everything else as I thought they were too knobbly to bother masking. The brush painting is aided by the same lumps and bumps that hinder masking, and it's easy to tidy up any mistakes with a cocktail stick once the Alclad has cured.

 

I used various Citadel colours and some contrast paints, particularly for the heat bloom and glazing some of the panels (e.g. the control surfaces) to change their colour a bit.

 

The markings are from the kit, I had to sacrifice one of the aquila wings to figure out where to cut a hole for the gubbins, and then I touched it up with paint. Everything settled down nicely and once it was dry I slit the panel lines/poked the rivets and re-applied Microsol for a tidy finish.

 

48834709353_a13bcc2b71_b.jpg

 

GW don't give you anything other than markings though, so the stencils are from a couple of different Japanese sheets, and the playing cards are from a free pack-in decal sheet Industria Mechanika was sending out with kits last year. The GW decals are very nice to use, and the others didn't cause any problems either so it was quite a pleasant experience.

 

I weathered the airframe with Tamiya black enamel (the panel liner) and dragged it out into soft streaks, and used a bit of brown enamel and engine grime to add more specific gunk. Oh yes, and I sprayed very thin Nato black on the rear fuselage and the tailplanes to show deposits from the engines, removed it very slightly with a 2000 grit sanding sponge on the corners of panels, and then dabbled contrast black to create a bit more detail and depth to the "plume". I don't think any of the photos capture this so I'll probably need to take others.

 

48835079636_dcfe54cdc2_b.jpg

 

Anyway, there they are and it was nice to finish something - I've been short on time and making progress on various fronts but all of it slow.

 

I do have the Marauder Destroyers in primer (ground attackers) and I'm wondering if they should also be silver, or something more subtle. Low-vis grey undersides and camo tops? Not sure yet. 

 

Cheers,

 

Will

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some awesome builds here...and loving the paint job on the Thunderbolts....

 

I remember as a kit flicking through my brothers copies of White Dwarf, looking at the conversions people had done. One always stuck in my mind on a) how did they d it? b) I REEEEEALLY want to try this out!

 

A chap by the name of Tony Cottrell had taken the original Kenner AT-ST "Chicken Walker" toy and did something spectacular.....

 

spacer.png

spacer.png

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember that one well. Can you spot all the Zoids attached to that poor scout walker in the second titan?
 

Spoiler

There's one of those transport things (Gustav) provided the layered armour on the head, four Helrunner heads on the knees and possibly their bodies on the upper legs? And lots of details - apart from all the guns there's the pod from one of the water ones upper right. Plus some kind of attack helicopter cockpit - assume it's an Apache?

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

I finally got around to doing some proper bases for the Thunderbolts. I wasn't sure if they were going to be scenery or artifacts, i.e. painting the moulded bases as metal or similar. Scenery won out as despite the dials and holes I think they look a lot better that way. 

 

I prised the bases open by inserting a blunt table knife into the slots under the dials and twisting. I've never shucked an oyster but I imagine it would be similar :) I had one or two parts ping off but they're too big for the carpet monster to eat and nothing broke! Once the dials and keeper plate were out it was easy to build some landscape on top.

 

50094743383_94439734a4_b.jpg

 

I used fragments of cork, quite a lot of GW texture paint, and eventually found that it was worth shaving off the outer rivets and filling in the relief with lightweight filler. That saves on the texture paint and avoids problems if (when!) it shrinks back to reveal the moulded icons and things on the plastic base. Oh yes, and the moulded details are from the same Titanicus scenery kit I raided for the statue piece I did a month or two back.

 

50102083033_c2be692aff_b.jpg

 

Painted up they look pretty good, and it was only a few hours' work really.

 

50102891182_2cb52a0aea_b.jpg

 

I also made use of the GW crackle paint. Rather than applying it with a brush I used a spreader (tiny plastic knife, basically) and the combination of that and the very low grip filler surface gave really nice results.

 

50102083648_ea88d24391_b.jpg

 

It actually crackled so much that the pieces curled up, but I flattened them back down with a scalpel handle and painted everything with a 1:1 mix of matt medium and water to stop it moving around. Primer over the top of that made for a fairly robust result.

 

50102663396_f6157ac3d4_b.jpg

 

 

I normally brush-paint the base rims with Citadel and varnish the entire base, but for these (as they have 90' angles) I just varnished the tops and sprayed the sides from below with Tamiya Gunship Grey 2. I decanted it and by being careful about my spray angle I was generally able to paint without needing to mask. I did block up the dial windows with blu-tak, and mask the generator piece, but everything else was very low-effort. 

 

Surprisingly, it gives nice horizons on the scenic edge, and the paint colour and sheen match the plastic sufficiently that I didn't feel the need to paint the edges of the keeper plates.

50102083453_dc1316dd48_b.jpg

 

After that it was just a matter of clicking them back together. The dials are keyed so you can't even stuff that up :)

 

Cheers,

 

Will

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those bases are amazing, Will! 

 

Have you thought any more about a scheme for the bombers? I think I'm going to stick with the faux WW2 theme with mine, they remind me of Stirlings or Lancasters. I never was an original thinker... 😃

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, oileanach said:

Have you thought any more about a scheme for the bombers?

Maybe Coastal Command? I'm still dithering. I think I also looked at some pre-war bomber schemes in a kind of deep green which I rather liked - e.g. the Handley Page Heyford.

 

Currently painting up the T'au from Skies of Fire as Vior'la, I need to take some pics really.

 

W

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sea grey camo on the upper surfaces and white below? That'd really work. It'd look brilliant with the right amount of weathering. It'd need a subtler hand than mine, but I'm pretty sure you're up to it! 😃

 

Or are you thinking of the early War aluminium undersides? That'd tie in neatly with the thunderbolts... 🤔

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, oileanach said:

Sea grey camo on the upper surfaces and white below?

That's the one - I originally looked at the all-over aluminium pre-war schemes as I liked the colour flashes, but that would be very close to the Thunderbolts and I think maybe not suit the bigger airframes? Although I'm a bit wary of the masking required for the insignia white as there's a lot of surface relief on the AI models.

Coastal Command aircraft with invasion stripes look good though. Really good.

Anti-flash white would be another option, tying the colours together as 1970s hi-vis schemes. I'm currently painting the T'au in Luftwaffe Hellblau with Insignia White highlights and crimson/grey details. That looks quite nice but maybe suggests the Imperials shouldn't have big white areas as well?

Cheers,

 

Will

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know Will. Combatants often have closely matched schemes- the Luftwaffe and RAF used very similar colours during the War, leading to the Western Allies developing those invasion stripes. The Communists and the Allies both ran polished Aluminium aircraft in Korea. The Israeli and Arab Air Forces used much the same colour palette and even very similar patterns during the sixties and seventies- Lord only knows how they managed to make out the difference between MiG 21s and Mirages during the Six Day War! 😮

 

If it looks good, then I'd say run with it. The chances are the Tau see different colours to human eyes anyway, so there's even a fluff reason for they might end up choosing some of the same tones as the Imperials?  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...