Scythe Repaint Done!

Finally done! Work has been keeping me very busy, so I only get to paint for a few hours a week on average. Slowly but surely, I converted two new Scythes, stripped the paint and converted the old one, then I had to spend a few weeks fixing the mess I made. Then I painted all three.

I learned a lot during the process - mostly that I don't want to do sculpting without proper materials and tools ever again. I will be doing sculpting more in the future, or so is the plan. Right now I'm very hesitant to see, touch or think about putty.

These are not painted to my usual standard - honestly I was losing patience. These have been on my workbench for months. I already started painting something else and it feels great. Maybe I'll come back to them in the future and fix them up, though knowing myself, I probably won't. We'll see!

Thanks for looking!

Scythe WIP

Here are some work in progress pics that I took last night. These were taken before I went around and cleaned up everything, and I always make a mess when painting these orange bits.

I'm very happy with this. On the first image you can see how I painted the wings differently this time. The one to the left is my old Scythe, with most of the cabin paint stripped and coated Eshin Grey. You can see that, on the new one, the blues are as vibrant as on the rest of my army, and I also painted the carvings black instead of leaving them subtle. Quite a difference! The new one looks very alien.

I think I will not do anything else to the wing. Originally I really wanted to eventually add some symbols to them as they seemed plain, but this is what they needed.

Thanks for looking!

Scythe Cabin Conversion WIP

A few weeks later, after painting non-Necron minis for a bit and moving, I am back painting. I've been sanding/filling/priming on and off during this period and I'm at a place where it's good enough, not perfect, but I can't take it anymore. I want them done! And honestly, it's good enough.

Here are the pics, and thanks for looking

Scythe - further conversion and paint stripping

As mentioned previously, I started converting Scythes differently before. I pushed the conversion a step further and (attempted to) use green stuff to make those Wraith plates more integrated with the hull. Here's how it's looking for now, partway through sanding:

Frankly, it looks disgusting. It's not done yet, but I don't think I did a terrific job. When I look at similar green stuff projects online, it looks smooth and almost polished. Mine looks like a lump, and sanding it to shape made it look like a green lump covered in sawdust.

I did the same thing to my old Scythe, after using plain rubbing alcohol to strip the paint down to the primer. I'm waiting for the green stuff to dry for a bit before I start sanding this one:

I don't really know what to think, but I better keep going. Ugh.

Thanks for looking.

Night/Doom Scythe Conversion mkII

After being very unhappy with my previous conversion, I decided to give alternatives a shot, and revisit my old model and update it after I find something better.

Here goes the Wraith back plate section with some bass guitar string for good measure. I like i a lot. I'll need to do more greenstuff work after the superglue settles, and then repeat the same thing on the other Scythe I'm building right now.

Thanks for looking.

Night-Doom Scythe Painting Done!

There is not much to say about this one. Painting it was a chore, a bunch of plain surfaces with detail here and there. It's really stands out from other Necron models, maybe not the Monolith which I'm also not fond of aesthetically.

The blue tint on the wings is subtler than on my other models. It makes the gradient more apparent, which was needed to add some content to the wings. Maybe I will go back eventually and tattoo some symbols on them. All Scythes in the 7th edition codex have some form of paint job on the wings in order to make them more interesting, like the bright green Triarch symbol on this one:

Anyway, not much left to be said. My Scythe got featured on Naftka's blog!

Night/Doom Scythe Conversion

These was not much to be done with a Scythe. To fit the theme of the rest of my army, I wanted to have the pilot armless and hardwired to the ship.

I moved his torso forward, in such a way that he is effectively sitting in his lap, with shoulder plates just outside the vehicle. I connected the back of his head to the ship with green stuff, and I put a leftover bit from a Barge on the ship's spine just to diminish the empty space.

I added two more strings on the sides of the pilot cavity to make it a bit busier.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of the model. I'd prefer a closed cabin. Maybe I'll go back eventually and make one.

Night/Doom Scythe Magnetization

Necron Night/Doom Scythes are their primary flyers. Night Scythes serve as extremely fast transports, and Doom Scythes almost serve a heavy bomber role in the 7th edition.

Magnetizing between these two forms of these two Scythes is as straightforward as it gets. The portal that designates the Night Scythe and the weapon that designates the Doom Scythe can both be fully assembled with the base kit and join the attach to the ship at three common points.

In addition to being able to switch between these two flyers, I wanted to magnetize the stand itself. Scythes normally stand on a very firm, very long stand, which is to be on a very large base that helps keep the model in balance. Sadly, this makes the model impossible to transport. I wanted to make the stand removable both from the base and the flyer, but to be hold strongly enough that you can lift the base by holding the ship and keep it from shaking and feeling flimsy.

On the upper side of the stand, I drilled three holes for 3x1.5mm magnets. There are two magnets stacked in the middle:

Inside the ship, I partially removed the plastic where the stand was supposed to be glued to the ship, made a mass of green stuff, and put four 5x2mm magnets there, again two in the middle. Note that the polarity of adjacent magnets is inverse. This kept them together:

On the bottom, it was far more complex. I drilled 5 holes in the stand, with stacking two 3x1.5mm magnets in the middle. However, I also drilled 2mm holes into which I put small pipes that serve as pegs and keep the base from moving when attached:

On the bottom of the base are five 5x2mm magnets:

I like how it turned out, for the most part. The stand is not as stable on the base when nudged sideways, but it is very firm front and back. I don't know how to make it better, apart from removing the pegs I inserted and making them hooks of some sort. Still thinking about it.