Real life conspires against the miniture arms race once more. Slow progress since my last entry. New bits arrived in the post the other day so I have begun experiments into roughrider conversions. So far I'm part-way through building a single rider mounted on a dark elf cold one and armed with a grenade launcher. his upper body is from the Cadian plastic sprues while the lower half is from the classic Attilan Rough Rider figures. So far it looks pretty good, the main problem I can think of so far is how to scratch build nine saddles that look nicely detailed and identical to each other.
The sentinal is also progressing, the legs and base are nearly ready for spray undercoat, once thats done the assembled body and weapon can be mounted and then the paint job can be completed. Once I have assembled the model I may pause and go back to finishing off my Marines before continuing with the Guard Patrol.
And here's the top half. The folding-stock Lasgun and extra pouches I added seem to work ok. This is the first time I've experimented with modelling webbing and stuff from green-stuff. Cockpit interior, pilot and roll-cage have been painted already. The exterior has been undercoated and dry-brushed with Tin Bitz and Bolt-Gun metal. 
The legs and base are now ready for spraying. The basic plastic base has been landscaped with fine-grade milliput and textured with modelling sand. A pulse-carbine, helmet and some tau grenades have been included to theme the patrol towards fighting Tau - my main army. I'm also experimenting with extending the texturing material (sand) up the lower legs to reflect a bit of weathering. I'll report more on how that works when I get a little further with the painting. 
Here is a close up of some of the custom detail I'm working on for this model. Seeing as this unit is supposed to be an experienced scouting force I gave the pilot of this Sentinel his own customised lasgun and some extra kit pouches. The folding stock makes for easy stowing without compromising accuracy, and the scope makes it easier to observe the enemy from a distance. 
The parts are coming together. Doing a detailed job on the painting means I'm going to have to paint the cockpit interior before putting everything together. The milliput and parts from the bits box will be coming out to doll up the base a bit before the undercoating stage. 
