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2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
Ahh! The good old days! These were real fun to do. Lots of bits and pieces and easy conversion possibilities.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
Sergeant Uruk of the Purple Hearts marines. I chopped the head off a crossbow orc from another manufacturer. Tamiya WWII German 1/32 accessories got incorporated into the models a lot.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
I wrote the names with calligraphy ink.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
The shuriken catapult is converted using brake and clutch handles from a motorbike kit. I presume the magazine is a former engine part from the same kit, but I'm not quite sure.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
Power Glove and tri-blade bayonet.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
Missile launcher from the Purple Hearts.
2004-05-19
Beaky Marines
Another view of the missile launcher.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Purple Hearts. For some reason there's much less infantry than for the black guys.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Closeup on Purple Hearts Rhinos.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Purple Hearts Whirlwinds.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Purple Hearts AA.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Purple Hearts Marines. Note the chevrons on the shoulder pad.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
Purple Hearts Marines.
2004-06-02
Epic Space Marine
And the marines themselves.
2004-06-02
Oldies
Standard bearer for my very own chapter if space marines: The Purple Hearts. Yup, that's a LEGO helmet on the flagpole.
2004-06-02
Oldies
The heavy bolter is (badly) converted from a regular bolter using various bits and pieces.
2004-06-02
Oldies
And that's a genuine bullet hole. After the flag was finished, in a flash of brilliance I shot it with an airgun. Most of the paint flaked off from the impact and I had to repaint the damn thing all over again...
2004-06-02
Oldies
And THIS is a venerable dreadnought. Don't buy into that current stuff that looks like overgrown pigs, this is the real thing: Contemptor class dreadnought 'Eddy'. I think.
2004-06-02
Oldies
Closeup on the missile launcher arm.
2004-06-02
Oldies
For some reason, I was really into writing slogans on miniatures at this time. I guess it seemed like a display of painting prowess to be able to paint legible text in this scale.
2004-06-02
Oldies
Man I feel old. Did I really think up all those stupid slogans?
2004-06-02
Oldies
Closeup on slogans.
2004-06-02
Oldies
And ofcourse it had to have eyes and teeth.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
The first of the reinforcements are here! I dug up the rest of my original plastic marines and actually finished them - after about 15 years.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
I chose to follow the original (very simple) color scheme instead of cooking up something jazzier.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
Some scrounging went into these figures - I had piles of bolt pistols, but very few bolters handy. Thus the brother marine on the right actually has a new model bolter.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
Missile launcher. Note the veteran trooper markings.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
Missile launcher from the side. I actually like this old style launcher better than the new one.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
Missile launcher from above.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
Brother marines among Official(tm) GW ruins.
2004-06-21
Purple Hearts
The silver studs are one of the few details in the color scheme.
2004-07-09
Land Raider
The Land Raider as I bought it. Interesting interior detail, otherwise it was in shambles with some parts missing.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Ok, the basic hull is done, except for the missing front plate.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
I broke off the hatch and glued it shut instead of trying to find a suitable crew figure. the other hatch needs to be built, it's also missing.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Improvised front plate in place.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Pretty much assembled. The reinforcing spars on the front plate were made from bits of sprue.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Top view. Not the yellow heavy bolter. Gluing it on at this stage was another mistake, it soon broke off. The new hatch was made from the same material as the front plate.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
I added covers to the box like things beside the tracks, even though there apparently were none in the original.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Mounting the guns. The original guns were missing, so I salvaged a pair from the bits box.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Primed black. Looks much less hodge podge now, doesn't it? A coat of paint does wonders to scratch-built stuff, you just have to believe in it.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Front view of the primed Land Raider.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
The basic coat. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the right shade of purple in a spray can, so I was forced to try some spray can magic. The base coat is a deep, metallic wine red, a Citroen color.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Next, I would try to lightly spray on a lighter tone hoping that the average color approximates the original shade of GW Imperial Purple (which they no longer even sell).
2004-07-25
Land Raider
I drilled a hole through the hull, stuck a bolt in and used washers to space the gun from the hull. Then tighten it with a nut and glue the nut to avoid it coming off inside the hull.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Closeup on the gun mounting. Should have glued the washers together first, they were pretty impossible to keep on even stack at this point.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Gun mounting from the inside.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
The third batch of Purple Hearts marines was recruited straight from a Space Crusade (box).
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Three different ways to build the commander, and I had to try them all. The heavy bolter might actually be an illegal choice for a character, so I might have to field him as a normal devastator squad trooper.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Terminators, straight off the hulk.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Standard terminator and one with heavy flamer. All that edging takes a surprisingly long time to paint, especially when the scheme looks so simple and fast to do.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Displaying the shoulder insignia. Since I couldn't get suitable heart decals, I skipped the chapter logo. Instead these terminators sport the lightning symbol of rapid deployment troops and the flamer also shows the official special weapons - incendiary badge.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
An assault cannon conversion. Not a very good one, I might add. Note the special weapons - explosive badge.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
The cannon came from Space Crusade. I trimmed off the hands and turned it sideways on top of the storm bolter. The ammo can is from the bits box.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Assault cannon taking cover in ruins.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Tactical troopers straight off the crusade. Due to severe manpower problems, the chapter was forced to accept non-MkVI armor into field service. This is also the use of the white edging on shoulder pads.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Flamer trooper. They claim it's a plasma weapon, but since the chapter was short on flamers, these guys got reassigned.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Guns are mounted and bottom of the hull is in place.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
Regular trooper of the Crusade breed. They have discarded their bayonets but are otherwise vanilla.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
View of the backpack. Note the trademark silvered bolts.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
New addition to the vehicle pool, still not quite finished by the TechMarines.
2004-07-25
Purple Hearts
The chapter shade is not correct! Back to the mixing pot!
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Frontal view of the semi-built Land Raider.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
This proved to be a mistake - I had to pry the floor a bit loose to fit in the rear wall.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Floor and rear wall fitted.
2004-07-25
Land Raider
Glue on the top and let it dry. Next bit is going to be a bit trickier, since the front plate is missing.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Finally finished.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Part of the decals are actual GW stuff, others come from a variety of kits.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Top view.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Closeup on the salvaged dozer blade. Note the plasma gun hit on the power distribution unit.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Painting ready, time for decals.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Note the trademark silvered bolts again.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Top view. The rear seam of the top plate was rather ugly, so I covered it with a bit of sprue.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
The reinforcing spars are not quite centered...
2004-07-28
Land Raider
One of the exhaust pipes was missing, so I made a new one from a bit of sprue and some washers. Probably should have replaced the other too.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
The dozer blade was cannibalized from a Leman Russ kit.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Land Raider finally operational, here seen in the Westwood proving grounds.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
The tank performed splendidly at the Westwood proving grounds. Practice targets visible in the background.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Safely stoved away in the chapter motor pool.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Side view.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Rear view.
2004-07-28
Land Raider
Bottom view. Didn't bother to clean up the mess there.
2004-10-15
Rhinos
Two old style Rhinos. I was missing a few small parts, so I had to improvise with the other one.
2004-10-15
Rhinos
The handrail is rather fragile, I guess I really should have left it off as most people seem to do.
2004-10-15
Rhino
Here's the garden variety Rhino.
2004-10-15
Rhino
Rear view. Both of them have the large rear ramp.
2004-10-15
Rhino
This one was missing the bolters and two exhaust pipes. Luckily I had a spare storm bolter in an accessory sprue.
2004-10-15
Rhino
If you look closely, you can see that the rear exhaust isn't an official part. I made it from a bit of sprue and some steel wire.
2004-10-15
Rhino
Here's a closeup of the storm bolter. My accessory sprue was missing the loading tray, so I grabbed a 20mm flakvierling magazine from the bits box.
2004-10-15
Purple Hearts Vehicles
Family photo.
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Here's the Macragge squad with their force field projectors.
2005-06-23
Force field projectors
These are from the Macragge set.
2005-06-23
Teleport homer
It's a bit plain...
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Here's the squad from the Macragge box set. Now I have everything from the box set painted, and it only took about six months.
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Sergeant and flamer guy.
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Closer, if blurry, view of the dynamic duo.
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Missile launcher.
2005-06-23
Purple Hearts
Two troopers.
2005-11-21
Predator
A Predator tank at the Purple Hearts machine shop.
2006-01-28
Predator
Here's the 1995 era plastic/metal hybrid predator. I wonder where they put the old all-plastic molds...
2006-01-28
Predator
Side view of the Predator.
2006-01-28
Predator
The sponsons look pretty stupid, but whattaheck...
2006-01-28
Predator
The rear lights didn't come out so well. On this one I cut off the teeny hanging bits of the hull. I really have no idea what purpose they where supposed to serve.
2006-01-28
Predator
Overhead view. It was quite a chore to silver all those bolts. I was torn between adding more white edging and doing the silver bolts, but since all the other tanks had the bolts, I decided to go for a more uniform look.
2006-01-28
Tanks a galore
Purple Hearts motor pool on display.
2006-01-28
Predator
I thought about adding yellow stripes to the plow, but ended up not doing it.
2006-11-19
Rhino ready for conversion
I bought this used model relatively cheap. While it's the Chaos version, I plan to rip all the spiky stuff off and convert it into a loyalist Razorback or maybe even old skool Whirlwind.
2006-11-19
Rhino ready for conversion
I have the original Whirlwind instructions tucked away somewhere...
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
Here's the latest addition to the Purple Hearts motor pool, a Rhino reclaimed from the Bad Days... er, sorry, vile chaos forces.
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
I don't know why this sat on my desk for so long. Once I fired up the airbrush, it was really finished in no time.
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
I bought this used, assembled and primed. I really should have pulled it completely apart and reassembled.
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
The original builder didn't bother with most of the detail parts and they were lost by the time I got it.
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
But why is the top hatch so devoid of detail? Because I have a cunning plan...
2014-02-17
Purple Hearts: Rhino Salvage
The decals, or rather the varnish on them stick out a bit too much.

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Copyright 2003-2021 Mikko Kurki-Suonio