So, by part 5, I realised that spent a month-plus doing infantry, and it was time to mix things up. I had some tanks on order, but these were at least two weeks away at time of posting. So this meant the Sentinel, and if I'm totally honest, this was the one model I was least interested in. It was part of that old Cadian battleforce box, and while I will rarely reject a giant robot, its not usually an Astra Militarum selling point. Further research would reveal that these chicken walkers had more appeal than I thought, and I am currently pondering ideas to scratchbuild my own versions later on.
Sentinels have actually been around since 1st edition, but I don't recall seeing any in person until GW got really into plastic kits circa 3rd and 4th edition. Whereas most Guard vehicles tend to be more big tanks and bigger artillery, this AT-AT expy is more on the sci-fi end of the spectrum. Its historically been pitched as a scout and an infantry support platform, on the lighter side, but there's been numerous varieties over the years. As of late 9th edition, i.e. very recently, they received a new kit and a bit of a glow-up. Sentinels nowadays impose more on Dreadnought territory and benefit from many synergies and stratagems. I opted for the classic Scout variant as it provides buffs to my mortar teams.
As a build, thisis an older style, one runner kit, which means its fairly simple, but with a lot of spare guns. I think its one of the first production runs, as the instructions refer to individual regiments like the Steel Legion. The legs are something you have to feel out, like yer ma, as these are posable with guide pegs, but they aren't quite robust enough to hold their weight without glue. I used plastic cement while finding the pose, before using super glue to make sure. As this would have an exposed pilot, painting it would be a matter of sub-assemblies. I’m visualising the Chem-Dog vehicle pool as consisting of A) old stuff nobody else wanted, or B) stuff the original owner didn't notice was missing until it was too late. As such the pilot would be be in the same orange as my infantry, but the walker would be a stock military green. The latter was gonna be a the classic "spraypaint it green, then go in pick out pistons etc with metallics" technique which is not how I normally do things, but a consistent finish is desirable here. I mulled over the weapon selection for a bit, as while the chainsaw and HK missile were a given, the main gun was more debatable. I didn't necessarily want to magnetise it either, I had hopes/plans for the leftover guns, and so went back and forth on it a lot. Eventually, I opted for a plasma cannon.
Painting went quite well, I feel. The HK missile didn’t play nice with the red I was using, so I painted it over grey, but otherwise this approach bodes very well for the tanks when they turn up. Otherwise, I made a start on a Platoon Command Squad, and the prep-work for the last squad of Cadians/Catachans. This involved some recasting of vox units, as well as green stuff, but I think I’ll save that discussion for part six.
Up next: The remaining infantry and hopefully the first 500 points.
No comments:
Post a Comment