[BFG] Grey Knights Battle Barge

[Jimmy Zimms]

So it's time to give my imperial fleet(s) a little love since my current focus seems to of been my traitor legion fleets. With the new (well newish at least) codex for the Grey Knights I feel that all those GK stike cruisers seem to be a bit lonely so I thought we should add a BB to the list. Of course I could go down the route of simply painting up an out of the box barge with the apporiate colors but honestly I feel that's really giving them the shaft. Afterall, the GK have access to their own forgeworld (yes they got one of the red planet's moons ferried into saturn orbit dedicated to the manufacturing of their rather specalized equipment) and fleetyards at their diposal. Considering that according to the fluff they have access to the very best technology that the Imperium can offer, no simple stock barge will do!

So I decided to start with a bootstrap chasis from another game, Firestorm Armada, which imho is great for inexpensive starters for custom BFG vessels and other bits/mods. Here's a link to the product: http://www.thewarstore.com/product61820.html

AS today my package arrived I will use this thread to document (and I hope get some mod ideas from the community) the build and painting of this custom barge.

[Jimmy Zimms]

OK so here's the initial impression with the product now that it has arrived->

So let's start with packaging:


Strong sturdy and all in one piece. well done.

The model is a bit larger than other BB in the BFG scale of things but not to the level that it prevents usage in the game. Here's a relative size comparison with an IN cruiser.
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So yeah, large but not unreasonable and anyways, why wouldn't the GK have the biggest baddest BB around, eh?

Here's a nice shot of the inventory itself:

 One interesting thing to note it that the bridge section itself is metal. They probably have found that it tends to be brittle if a single resin cast or ill fitting.

The casting seems to be of high enough quality with good crisp detailing on the resin though up close it appears to be, well, a bit plain. However this could be an unexpected boon as I really don't want it to look Tarakian but fit the needs of BFG so perhaps this simplicity is a tabla rasa so to speak.

The vessel is one large cast with glue on sections for the weapon bays and the structure on the bow of the ship itself (odd at first but probably due to the ease in which it could seperately be cast). I was especially concerned about the engines but they are a thing of beauty and all I can say is BRING ON THE OSL! I really can't wait to get to that part of the painting!



One last item to point out is that there are glue on bays on the top of the model which you can make out on previous pics. However there are 4 bays on the bottom as well that I didn't know about.


Looks like we have what appear to be 2 launch bays and some sort of sensorium or orbital bombardment system available as well. Perfect! I needed exactly that for my thunderhawks and the other bit can be played off as the drop pod bays!

[AndrewChristlieb]

I really like the look of FSA's ships, but your right it is awefully plain. That said it could lend itself well to paint. looking forward to your source lighting on the engines with the small ammout of overhang.

[Jimmy Zimms]

Sacrificial Lambs, Part I
So it is time for bitz shopping now. Unfortunately atm anything Inquisitorial seems to be lacking in the dedicated bitz categories (noticed the same for AM as well). This probably means that I am going to just dive into cutting up 40k units for small parts to leverage here. Thinking I will start with this:

I think that since there's a flat area on the prow of the ship, mounting a giant "I" Cartouche will give it a dramatic flair to start with. In addition, this will give the vehicle a big bang for the buck (well, only if TIME == MONEY, that fucker is costly for just the symbol itself) as it's very easy to mount.

Another thought is to leverage this shield from the GK lord

This is even more expensive (damn that new finecast is wallet breaking) especially as I can see how 2 of them could be leveraged on the sides of the barge as baroque decoration tarwards the aft of the ship (thoughts?). I've done preliminary "recon" with this model and the shield and backing arm are modeled as one piece. That should be straight forward to saw out the needed parts for the sword and script. In addition perhaps this symbol on the banner pole would make for a better front piece?

BTW, Anyone that happens to be a 40k player feel free to PM if they want the "left overs" for their bitz bag. I have no intention of ever going back to 40k since it's in a state of total terminal codex creep. All i ask is that the costs for shipping and packaging are paid for.

[AndrewChristlieb]

Those both sound like awesome,expensive ideas! The shields are reminiscent of the "wings" on the sides of the standard bbs where the chapter symbols are placed. On the I for the prow is this to replace the add on prow for that model or is this going to be molded onto the current prow?

[Jimmy Zimms]

Those both sound like awesome,expensive ideas! The shields are reminiscent of the "wings" on the sides of the standard bbs where the chapter symbols are placed. On the I for the prow is this to replace the add on prow for that model or is this going to be molded onto the current prow?

I was thinking I would add it to the modeled prow right in the center oval, hence my cartouche comment. When I saw that in person it was the first thing to pop in my head. They way they modeled it should/could make it perfect provided I can get/make the right sigil

Now that I think of it, this could make for an intresting basis for a Thousand Sons great crusade barge as well but I will leave that one up to another adventurous soul.

[horizon]

Big!
Interesting. I will be following this.

[Vermis]

Another thought is to leverage this shield from the GK lord
This is even more expensive (damn that new finecast is wallet breaking)

Holy moley!

Would it be possible to try and pressmould the shield?  What would be the legal nitpickery?  GW have shown how to pressmould little things like purity seals, but I'm not sure about a larger, detailed component like that.
Not advocating that everyone go out and pressmould 40K figures; but in this case, if it could mean you only buy only one GK and leave it intact for reselling...

Great project idea, BTW.   The Tarakian battleship looks up to the job.

[Jimmy Zimms]

Yeah tell me about it 
Before I go too far off the reservation I have another outstanding bitz order out there that I am going to let arrive before I start buying more lords or cutting into parts (measure twice, cut once). Another option for the "wings" is to leverage these panels from scibor:

We'll see which will work better.

Personally I am coming around to simply sawing the hell out of the shield to remove the sword and scroll and mounting it as dorsal decoration instead of using it as the wings. Once this new package shows up I'll post pics and impressions on scibor which I have no prior expirence with.

As an aside, anyone out there got any GK units, regardless of game, they'd like to post? Need to get the old brain working on painting ideas and I am loath to blindly follow the GW articles. The last time I painted any GK it was wayyyyy back in space hulk days and they were still painted WHITE/GREY back then. 

[Jimmy Zimms]

Well Christmas must have come early for this jew 

So here's the Sibor casts:

I've sized them against a ruler but honestly, here's a wine cork so you better get a "feel" for the size.

Here's a close up of one of the angels that give a good sense of the depth of the sculpt:


I have to say that I am impressed on the quality of detail and the resin is high quality. these were purchased from TheWarstore.com so a big thumbs up on their shipping speed! I'd recommend both to anyone out there.

[Jimmy Zimms]

So got a few minutes to start playing around with bitz again today. I decided to play around with the prow of the vessel first and check out how/if the inquisitorial symbol will work. Via the magic of gum and a digital camera this is what I am thinking of:



I feel pretty good about this look. (for those that care this bit is from the Drago banner pole)

Too bad the rest of him didn't really work out as I had hoped. I think I am passing on the rest of the model and put him up on ebay today.