Two Reaver Titans join my expanding maniple

Well there's one thing that really can't be argued: quarantine is an effective lead-/resin-/plastic-pile remedy. This weekend I sat down and finished two Reaver Titans to expand my Legion Ignatum maniple. Only two Warhounds and two Cerastus Knights left and my entire Adeptus Titanicus collection will have been painted (I'm ignoring five Ork flyers from Aeronautica Imperialis). Here's a shot of the two Reaver Titans.

Excuse me was that container yours? 

As you can tell by the bases I've gotten my hand on suitable decorations. In this case its bits from the Manufactorum Imperialis set. The containers on the base of the Reaver titan to the right give a nice sense of scale. The leaking plasma generator to the left helps invoke Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back memories ('Target the shield generators.'). Now let's hope it doesn't blow before the Reaver has gone past it...

Did anyone else hear a suspicious crunch just now?

As with the Warlords I've kept as many armour plates on the titans separate to make painting easier. I wanted a bit more stripes on these Reavers so I decided to go wild and just make a striped version of almost every armor plate, alternating stripes between the two as I build them. Another fun detail is the leaking generator that is rather well visible here. I made a small pool with the textured paint that goes underneath the crackle paint. This has been filled by alternating layers of Fluo Blue with dabs of white mixed in and 'Ardcoat (gloss varnish). I layered up far enough to give the impression the titan's right foot has partly sunken into the goop.

Painting trim is a large part of painting titans (and chaos space marines) 

The 'Ardcoat was also used to apply the transfers. I've probably discussed this trick earlier on my blog, but in case you just dropped in to read about painting the Legio Ignatum here it is again. To stick a transfer on properly I always apply a layer of 'Ardcoat (or other gloss varnish) first. This gives you a reasonably smooth area to work on. After the gloss coat has dried I cut out the transfer with a scalpel and drip a few drop of water on it to separate it from its backing paper. Next I apply a bit of water to the area I'm going to put the transfer on. Using care, a pincer (on the paper) and an old brus I apply the transfer. The water on the glossed spot prevents any unwanted accidental sticking to the wrong place and allows me to move the transfer around a bit. After it is in position, I remove excess water by holding a q-tip near the area (without touching the transfer!). After all water has dried I apply a second layer of gloss coat to seal the transfer in. You need to do this with care so as to prevent moving the transfer while applying. When the second layer of gloss coat dries I apply mat varnish to remove the gloss. Its a little bit of work, but it makes transfers look good and almost painted on, so it's well worth it.

No stevedores were hurt during the posing of this titan...

I wanted the fancy armour plate on one of my Reaver Titans. The paint job of the plate turned out better then I expected. As it features a big scroll I decided I needed to name the titan. Unfortunately my faux latin is not up to the task of properly thinking up a name (and Dies Irae would just be plain wrong for Legio Ignatum). In the end I settled on Stupor Mundi (wonder of the world). I've always rather enjoyed Frederick II as a historical figure and naming a titan after him seems apt (although it should be an Imperator to do him justice). I used a 0.1 tip pen to write the name on the scroll. I first practiced (and failed) twice on paper and then decided 'fuck it' and just wrote it best as I could on the scroll. Get out of your comfort zone, ignore small(ish) errors and just enjoy the hell out of the hobby I say!

I've got stripes, stripes around my shoulders...

The Stupor Mundi titan really needs a shot of its rear as the striping pattern is just too cool to ignore here (if I say so myself). As an aside, I'll need to make some terrain now and I'm wondering whether to base individual buildings and doo-dads or to make small diorama style bases with clumps of terrain. The first option makes it possible to move stuff out of the way. The second will look a lot better (but some titans will not be able to stand on/in the terrain. Decisions, decisions let's use it as an excuse to browse through some old White Dwarfs and see how this was solved in the past.

Sticking proper transfers on a titan is more difficult then I expected. But these seem to work okay.

I may be a bit immodest, but I'm once again quite happy that I took the time and effort to pose my Titans. Giving them proper walking poses instead of the standard 'hanging from a clothes hanger, trying to look menacing' one you get on the box art. I should add that painting this particular titan was hell as it couldn't properly stand without a (temporary) stone beneath it's leg. Still worth it...

This is beginning to look like a proper sized collection of titans. Now to get another bunch of boxes and go for Legio Mortis...was that my wallet screaming?

And here is a group shot of my 'merry band of misfits' also known as the Legio Ignatum (and friends). Next up I'll be painting the smallest class of titan: the Warhound. I've also got a rather large class of Knight, the Cerastus, on my painting table. Going back to the yellow and blue should be fun change of the yellow and red.