The Dencara Story

Hey guys,
here's a tidbit I've been toying with for a while. Telling the Dencara story.
I just posted the first little part here:
http://fischers-design-shop.blogspot.de/p/chapter-i.html

Well, English isn't my Mother tongue and admittedly I'm not too verse in the WH40K universe
So if you have some time and like to help me out, I would surely appreciate some editing, suggestions, improvements and so forth.
THANKS!!!

You can send feedback directly to:

 Dencara-story -at- web.de

A Meeting of Scouts (6)

Hi all,

just a small paint update.

Here you can see the base with the pigments - before varnish.

 

With the base mostly done, I started the vehicles. Since the scouts will operate outside any of the major settlements they will not receive the urban camo I used on the POLEMOS and EPIALES, but rather the standard Tiger Flash used on the HERCULES and PONOS.

For this I started with the "Terracotta" base color.

 

 

Then I added the "Ocre" flash stripes.

 

And inlined them with the "Mahagony" stripes.

 

After the basic camo they received the tripple-dot patterns (light and dark), the canvas tarps were painted in a light brown color, the camo nets got a pattern and I painted the vision ports and some of the lights in blue.

 

That's as far as I got.

Next are the sights in red, black on the roadwheel rubber, the Smoke Launchers, and the tracks.

So what do you think?
Cheers

Klaus

A Meeting of Scouts (5)

Hi all,

A bit of time passed since the last update.

But I was able to complete the build-phase for this dio.

I created the vision ports for the KAIROS,

 

as well as the sights and lights.

 

And mounted them - for this I had to remove the smoke launchers on the fenders again, as they were firing into the headlights *lol*

 

Here you can also see the new mount for the sensor platform.

 

I think it looks better now.

 

Both vehicles completed.

 

So I started to work on the crew. I recently received a bunch of Catachan legs, which I think are perfect for tankers.

 

Together with the Mad Robot Flak Vest Torsos (https://madrobotminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_14&products_id=102), they are just what I needed.

With the crew settled, I started the diorama base. As usual I used "Molto-Fill Compact" as I can manipulated it pretty well during curing and I can ensure to have nice cracks.

I also used my Hirst Arts brick molds with Stewalin to create the bricks for the caravansary.

Here you can see the front wall.

As envisioned, the base has some nice cracks - it is relatively easy, when the top of the mass is starting to cure and getting solid, while the deeper mass is still a bit liquid to manipulate the top and create cracks.

With the vehicles and crew in position.

And with the caravansary erected.

Next I carved the patterns and cobblestone into the base,

and then applied dirt and debris.

Finally I added some more details, like the straps for the tarps and nets.

The TC got a nice mustache :)

I added the cable to pull the track.

Some more personal equipment for the TC.

Almost there.

After watching another Star Wars trailer I was tempted to add a BB-8 droid, but couldn't come up with a convincing (WH40K)design.

So I decided to use one of the Raging Heroes mascots and modify it to fit the scene :)

Everybody ready for priming.

Re-arranged the desk for painting.

And started with the base.

First were the base colors,

then some hefty washes,

and finally pigments to represent the Martian-style landscape of Dencara V.

Well, this is as far as I got.
What do you think? Anything still missing?
Cheers
Klaus

A Meeting of Scouts (4)

Hi all,

last night I was able to work some more on the turret.

After sanding the turret looks quite nice.

And with the Lasers mounted on the KAIROS

 

Noble Korhedron over at Warseer wrote:

New turret is grand, just don't expect me to believe a man can fit in there!!

Well, if I compare it to the other WH40K turrets, I think it is even on the large side;)
Especially since it is a Laser-Gun, which would have no recoil and no ammo feed or loading mechanism...

But anyhow, a man doesn't need to fit in there - it'll be two ladies :D

These two are from the Raging Heroes Kickstarter "The Toughest Girls of the Galaxy"

I really like their look.

They are tiny compared to the bulky 40K trooper, but I think they will mix well in the diorama.

Last not least I put together the elevated sensor platform for the KAIROS.

What do you think?
Will that work?

It still needs all the vision blocks, sights, lights, luggage and camo nets - and of course rivets :)

Let me know what you think.

Cheers

Klaus

A Meeting of Scouts (3)

Hi all,

thank you for the feedback :)

One thing left for the PHRIKE were antennae. So I heated some plastic from a leftover sprue and slowly pulled it apart, creating nice thin antennae.

 

Since it is a scout tank, I opted for 3 antennae.

 

This completed the actual build for the PHRIKE.

As I had mentioned in the first post, the diorama idea is the meeting of scouts, with the PHRIKE having thrown a track, and a KAIROS armored reconnaissance vehicle being also on the scene.

The KAIROS will be loosely based on the UK Fox Armored Reconnaissance Vehicles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_armoured_reconnaissance_vehicle

Somehow I had the idea to build it with a almost functioning suspension (don't ask me what brain-fart had ridden me)

I had some wheels from a Tamiya US M3 Scout Car that I wanted to used. Together with some springs retrieved from a ballpoint pen I started out.

 

Pretty simple.

 

Since I wanted to picture the KAIROS with turned front wheels I thought I needed to also build functioning steering.

 

Basic function accomplished.

 

So I started to built the sides based on my plans.

 

But during the building of the hull I kept on breaking the steering. So I cannibalized an old Tamiya SdKfz 251/1.

 

This seemed to be a bit more stable and so I continued with the hull.

 

During sanding I broke the axles again (sigh)

 

With the basic hull completed, I realized I had build the whole vehicle rather wrong, and I was about to throw it away and start anew.

 

But I bit my teeth together, glued the front wheels in position and rebuilt most of the upper superstructure.

 

I think it now comes rather close to the Fox, isn't it?

 

 

 

And once it has the headlights, it will fit into the PONOS family nicely.

 

For the turret I'm also orienting towards the original Fox turret, but with twin Lasers.

 

The first version however was too high.

Looked very unbalanced.

 

So the second version is 1cm high instead of the initial 1.5cm

 

And with lots of putty.

 

So, what do you think?
Is the KAIROS OK? 

Thanks

Klaus