Iron Hearts WiP, Updates and Legs Fixed!

Hello everyone!  Hope you're ready for a breakneck few weeks on Palladian Guard, as I've invested and started a whole host of new projects which I'm going to try and finish soon!

First off, let me introduce the first preview of my Iron Hearts - a sort of regimental command squad, the Palladian Guard's elite warriors (and the bodyguard of Colonel Scipio on the table).  These were originally an idea from Colonel Gravis, and I'm really excited about them - having finished buying most of my army I went around custom buying parts to make this squad.  The idea is they are like Rough Riders on foot - explosive spears and shields, looking a little like early Romans to tie in with the theme of my army.

Iron Hearts and Review

I was going to do a full review for both Victoria Lamb miniatures and Gravis' Curious Conscripts site; however seeing as I only ordered one or two packs from each I decided that wouldn't be fair.  

But the Dress Cap Heads, Victorian Standing Legs and Rough Rider Arms from Victoria Lamb were all of excellent quality - they fit exactly with the GW scale and appearance and only required very minor flash clearing off.  Models were exactly what was shown on the pictures and set me back about $30 in all, including delivery.  They arrived in record time, making it across the world in about three days.  If I could pick one flaw, it would be the pack sizes: six heads, eight legs and four arms are difficult to make into a ten man squad.  Nonetheless, I can highly recommend any of these sets as being perfect for 40K conversions. 

As for Curious Constructs, the webstore is only a few days old so there are as yet only a few kits there.  Again I only got Lancer and Life Guards torsos, but the quality was unparalleled.  Absolutely no visible flash or warping and required next to no cleaning was required!  The various sets are on the website but from what I've heard a quick e-mail and owner Rob is able to get you any special combinations of bits you require, such as a mix of certain arms and torsos for example.  Again the scale is tailor-made for 40K, and these, Victoria Lamb bits and GW stuff fit together seamlessly.

My, they look sweet!

The Standard Bearer and Regimental Armsman (flag waver and blot-pistol man respectively) will have the Dress Caps, but I'm not sure weather the others should have them too or normal Cadian heads, to go in with the 'fully armoured' look.  Anyone have any thoughts?

War In South America

In other news, my painting desk is awash with new projects and I'm back to having 100+ models to paint!  Most of them are in the form of a new Perry Miniatures purchase:  ACW infantry and a Royal Navy Gatling Gun.  These will be used in the next instalment of the War On South America series (see Sippin' on Paint Water for the full story).  The last post in this alternate history setting introduced the Steam Tank Medved.

This will be the Russian Contingent 

And finally ...

Regular readers will remember this year's Blue Peter appeal for spare Cadian legs - thank you to all those who helped me out (they've gone on to making more Chaos Renegades).  But I've taken the plunge and ordered a few packs of legs from various suppliers to test which are the best fit for IG.  The scarcity of GW legs on eBay suggests I'm not the only one struggling with a lack of them.

Anyway, the winner was Pig Iron Productions!  These chaps do a large number of bits for their ranges but a £4.50 sprue of 5 legs is absolutely ideal for getting the most out of your spare torsos and arms.  There are a couple of styles; these are Kolony Rebels (suitably ragtag for Chaos Renegades), and as you can see from the photos they are spot on!  Mission accomplished!

Anyway, that's all for today.  As I say with some time off coming up and a full desk, I hope to keep up this frantic blogging and look forward to everyone else's as most of us move into school holiday period!  Hurrah!  As always thanks for reading, see you next time.