Edit: through the miracle of time-laps photography, this process looks almost effortless and kinda' quick. While not really that hard to do, especially with something this large, the process takes a bit of care and lots more time. This took roughly 1.5 hours to do.

Note: I have no concrete idea why there’s a darker ghost/shadow left in the plastic when I remove details like in the previous images. If I had to guess I would say that the pigments in the plastic cure differently in (or are drawn to) the center of the part as it cools.

Ok, with a small lull between college projects (that’s all but gone as I write this), I gave in and spent some hours doing a bit of assembly and kit-bashing with the Kytan. As mentioned before the Kytan is a personal project, so I’m finding it very difficult to ignore it. I can do anything I want with this wonderful kit! It calls to me… So, the simple plan is, move it away from ‘Khorne Daemon Engine’ and shift it towards ‘Dark Mechanicus Daemon Engine’


Taking inspiration from several Mechanicum and Mechanicus robot models I settled on moving the cannon to an over-the-shoulder design.

When I saw the FW Mechanicum Castellax Atomata pictured on the left I knew I found my primary inspiration; move the cannon to the shoulder and put combat weapons in both hands (and I mean literally ‘in’ the hands/arms) to reflect the combat proficiency of the Kytan. It gets an extra attack after all, so it ‘needs’ two combat weapons, right? Rule of Cool says… yes!

I’m still deciding if I’m going to emulate the Castellax and do circular blades; it’s tempting, but I have another idea or two that I want to consider before I settle in the final form. For now I started work on the shoulder mount for the cannon. At first I had considered doing something more scratch built, but when I got looking at some of the bits I had, I started playing with this kit-bash.


I had planned on putting a single cannon on the shoulder, and then this happened! I guess it ‘needs’ two cannons as well. Rule of Cool does say two is better than one, after all!

I’ve had these cannons from the Forgefiend kit assembled for a while, and I was considering using one/both on the Decimator as Butcher Cannons, but the scale and form just didn’t fit with the model. They have rounded elements that suit their new purpose much better. A bit of styrene tubing and they’re virtually made to mount on the end of a Defiler leg.

I’m also particularly pleased with the simple-yet-effective addition of the optics and vox to the side of the head. It’s a small thing, but I’ve had the bit kicking around for ages, waiting for a worthy project, and I think it’s a perfect detail to add to the theme.


What serious Chaos collector doesn’t have at least a few Defiler parts (kits) kicking around? Humm… This might just work.

These images are Kytan 0.1, with my first attempt to build an armature for the cannons. I liked the pose/stance of the cannons and the overall silhouette it created; it had the right idea, but it seemed like it could use something… more. So I gave it another try.


Kytan 0.2 - Improvement through experimentation, iteration, and upgrade. I think the Mechanicus would approve.

As usual with something at this point of the build, this is only half glued together and everything else is being held in place by poster tack, friction, and hope, so the stance and alignment isn’t final by any means, just an early showcase.

By switching up to the larger front leg of the Defiler kit I could get the exact same form and silhouette in the armature but with some added bulk and more visual interest; I think it feels much more complete. I also like how the curved armor plate helps to transition the hard lines of the Defiler parts into the rounder Kytan body.

I’m adding rivets to the spots that are missing them due to the limitations of the styrene casting processes; another little thing, but I think it’s adding up nicely over the whole build. And for anyone curious, the pipes/cables leading from the armature to the Kytan body were heated in boiling water and carefully bent into shape over several dips and slow adjustment. Styrene is a thermodynamic plastic, which essentially means that you can heat it (all the way to liquid, if you want), shape it while hot, and it will cool and hold the heat-formed shape it was given. Every once-and-awhile you can use it to your advantage and simply bend the part to your will.


It makes me wish I had a to-scale gantry and/or scaffold to hang it from as it gets assembled; with servators and robotics working away to complete it. It would make a great diorama.

Next up, the arms. Again, I’m torn between two circular blades a-la Castellax Automata, or another configuration of my own design. They will be much more (likely all) scratch built, so I’ll have much more freedom in their form. I might need to model 2-3 variations in Solidworks to really get a feel for the final design. Because of how pose’able and awesome the leg assemblies are, I don’t think I’ll be doing much modification to them; it will come down to pose and the composition of the base to take full advantage of the legs, I think.

But unfortunately, there’s no time for that now. So ends another small chapter in the much larger story. Thanks for reading, and if you’re so inclined, writing a few words. As always, more to come.

Now, a brief moment of procrastination, by Subtle Discord. Ongoing iterations and experimentation with options for the Mechanicus Militia that will fill the ranks of my future Renegades Platoons. My new muse is proving very hard to ignore; spring can’t get here fast enough. Must… build... more… models! I’ve got a serious itch to take my new Mechanicus infatuation in a few directions. For now, I want to explore some solutions that I can use to easily produce large numbers of Renegades with ranged weapons.


Left – My original idea; bash Autoguns from various sources. Right – A new idea; bash some more of the Skitarii kit into the build.

With the release of the new Genestealer Neophyte Hybrid kits there should be no problem getting Autoguns to bash into these squads; which is good, because harvesting them from the Chaos Cultists is not an ideal source. Cleanly removing the Lasgun from the right arm of the IG model is also a bit of a pain, but I really want to use something other than Lasguns, to give them a unique look. I like the mass-produced utilitarian result that the Autogun gives, buuuut…

… the Skitarii Vanguard/Rangers kit provides an interesting counts-as option that I didn’t consider at first. I’ll be using the Radium Carbines with the actual Skitarii models, so that leaves lots of the Galvanic Rifles in my bits box. After some test fits, I’m surprised how well many of the arms fit on a regular IG torso; even the sleeves don’t look too bad, given that they’re wearing a tunic under the Flak armour. I’ve taken a section out of the rifle to shorten it (All hail the power of Tamiya Extra Thin cement to do super clean joins and seams!) and the final result is really starting to grow on me. It takes the models in a different direction, being more elegant, and the extra detail isn’t a bad thing. Hummm… Decisions. Decisions.

Oh well, that’s all the time I have for now. More scraps and bits of ideas to come, until spring, when I can really get started on some projects! *Subtle’s eye begins to twitch a bit, a bit of froth forming in the corner of his mouth* Just five more months…

+
+++
++
++++++
+
++ Modulating…
++ Re-scanning…
++++++++
+++
++ Signal Detect…
++++++
++++
+++++++++
++ Comm-Link Authenticated…
++ Decrypting…
+++
++++++++
++++++++++
++ Primary Explorator Mission ++ Planned Duration: 1,826.25 standard cycles ++ On Schedule ++
++ Hard Data Harvest Complete ++ Acquisition of information, skill, experience… Successful ++
++ Resistance Encountered - Moderate ++ Combat Asset Casualties - Within Parameters ++
++ Discovery + Experimentation + Iteration + Simulation ++ Construct Template… Repaired ++
++ Return Protocol Active ++ Estimated Transit Duration: 104.1 standard cycles ++ On Schedule ++
++



++
++ Message Repeat ++
++Return Protocol Active ++ Estimated Transit Duration: 104.1 standard cycles ++ On Schedule ++
+++++++
+++
+++++++++
++++
+
+
++++++
+++

Final semester of the final year, with ~12 weeks remaining. Still much to finish (finally!) followed by so much to start to figure out. But, things are about to get... interesting. I've got so many ideas bouncing around in my head, it's almost giving me a nosebleed, but I must...remain... focused! I can see the end, now for the final sprint. As always, so much more, starting soon... and this time I mean soon! *Subtle's eye begins to twitch, and a bit of froth starts to form in his mouth, as he starts to shake a little* I'm one part excited and one part petrified; is that a good thing? *Nervous laugh*

Since I forgot to add the pictures of my kit-bashed counts-as Rogue Psykers for my R&H Dark Mechanicus to Legion Rising, and I’m looking for an excuse to procrastinate a little…

After playing with the Electro-Priest kit some I came up with three combinations of Fulgurite and Corpuscarii arms that I think actually work quite well.

A few of the hands need a bit of file work to shape them some, but nothing really serious. Either of the ‘dynamo backpacks’ can line up the cables that lead to the gloves with just a bit of modification. I also shortened the staves-made-maces a bit to give them a better proportion. Finally, the Ruststalker heads simply work better with the concept in my mind and they were easy to add; they only needed a small shim of plastic to get them in to good position. A straightforward but effective kit-bash.


Astounding psychic powers! Amaze your friends! Curse your enemies! **Some side effects may include dry mouth, loss of appetite, nosebleeds, daemonic possession, and agonizing death.

With daemonic possession a regular occupational hazard I’ll need some models to represent the outcome. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it off until I saw the Revenants. With a little bit of file work to remove the leaf elements and a bit of green stuff to fill any undesirable details and I think they’ll do well to represent a demonic entity tearing in to reality through a tasty mortal host. I’m going to try and keep a bit of the tech, mangled and destroyed, and graft the Revenant from the waste up; as seen in the quick Photoshop cut-and-paste.

Ten weeks, and the hobby sabbatical can finally start. More more to come. I can't wait to start building and painting with less constraints again.

01001110 01000101 01010100 01000011 01001111 01001101 01001101 00100011 00110001 00111010 01001100 01001111

Hello. My (nic) name is Subtle Discord... and I have an addiction... to plastic.

While I have dabbled in ABS and pure Acrylic (I prefer my Acrylic in liquid paint form), I have become a Polyholic, with my plastics of choice being Polystyrene and Polyurethane. I started in my early teens not even considering it could never happen to me, and I've kicked the habit a few times over the years, but it always returned. As I observe my current plastic hoard grow more elaborate and extensive then ever, I see now that this time the condition is here for good.

So, while I'm now comfortable with my addiction and have come to accept and embrace it, I just wanted to provide fair warning that such a condition can develop. To illustrate, pictured below is just one of my 'stashes' of high quality Polystyrene, ready for my next several binges of scratch building. I suspect I'm going to need a good stockpile with some of the things I have planned, so this is just a portion of my preparations. *Insert maniacal laugh and mood lighting here*


After working with some of styrene rivets made by Tichy Train Group in 2016, I was so pleased with the ease-of-use and final results I invested in rounding out my selection.

I've tried to used micro-beads in the past to do round rivets, and I was completely frustrated by the process; it's just too difficult to get really clean consistent results, and with the huge number of rivets I can put in one build, it made the process all but useless for me. After using these Tichy rivets, I'll be hard pressed to consider another solution. They do have a tiny bit of flash, but I've found its so small that it simply melts away when the solvent is applied to the part.

They are easily worth the cost for the time savings from ease-of use, and results they give. Simply drill a tiny hole, cut a rivet free from the sprew, and use some tweezers to drop the post into the hole; touch it with a tiny bit of solvent glue, apply a tiny bit of pressure, and it will fuse into a perfect round rivet every time. The larger rivets are a bit too big at 28mm scale as actual rivets, but they make a good solution for optic lenses if you place them in a small tube/ring of plastic, and that's the main reason for me getting some that large.

The smaller ones (0.035" and lower) come in packs of 200, and larger one (0.04" and higher) all come in packs of 96. (Note: there are additional 'odd' sizes in the full line, between the sizes pictured in detail.) Large projects can quickly use large numbers of rivets, so naturally mileage may vary; but if you're scratch building is more modest in scale, a small investment can last a long time and make adding rivet details to something an easy endeavor, instead of something that might be a daunting challenge.

Ok, *sigh* ... that's enough procrastination for me. Back to work. Just 9 more weeks until my freedom from higher learning, and I'm practically climbing the walls in anticipation. So soon. So very soon... *Insert ominous music here*

Another small entry in my Dark Mechanicus project arriving soon. Spare bits made useful; the Auto-Cannon Heavy Weapon Team.

With a tiny window of time available, I took a brief moment to procrastinate and explore an idea I had to make some Heavy Weapon Teams for my Dark Mechanicus themed Renegades & Heretics. I had first thought of using the Cadian Heavy Weapon kit with my obligatory Skitarii backpack and head-swap; I was considering ways I could modify or replace the weapons to make them more Mechanicus, but the idea was falling a bit flat with me.

However, as my modest IA:13 Dark Mechanicus project has since grown to include a collection built from the Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus codices, this little idea quickly took form. I have an affinity for the Ironstrider models, and plan to build some Dragoons to start; in an army with so many wonderfully exotic ranged weapon options, equipping them with Auto-Cannons or Las-Cannons seems a bit underwhelming. I get the mobility of the weapon platform, but it still doesn’t resonate with me like Dragoons with their Taser Lances. And since the model doesn’t lend itself to magnetization, I’m left with these excellent weapon bits looking for a purpose.


The armour plate doesn’t play nice with the normal heavy weapon tripod, but I devised another idea with a few of the other bits.

Just a couple of tiny scratch-built parts was enough to create some connection points, and it’s as simple as that. For now it’s more of a proof-of-concept really; I like the solution, but I want to create something from scratch that is purpose built for the task and refines how all the parts come together.



It’s a wonderfully simple idea compared to some of the other concepts bouncing around inside my mind, so it’s kinda’ refreshing.

Naturally, Heavy Weapon Teams can’t take twin-linked Auto-Cannons, but the rule of cool always takes precedence. Considering how straight forward the solution is, this little kit-bash is all but impossible to pass it up. I can’t wait to have a closer look at some of the left over bits in some of the other Mechanicus kits, and see how they might prove useful.

Ok, with that small hobby itch scratched… a tiny bit… for now… I’m forced to return to other matters that require my attention. Thanks, as always, for reading. *Sigh* Soon my little plastic minions. Soon.

Looking very well executed as usual. I look forward to your new projects.

wow! this is crazy! love your conversions! the attention to detail is excellent!