Warpsmith finished

So there' a theme happening if you noticed... time to stop building and start A LOT of painting.  Who am I kidding?  I can't stop building but I can slow way down, and in that regard the Warpsmith is finished minus the static grass.  It was a real pain to paint at times since it is whole with no subassemblies.  Old school I guess, build it then paint it.  The biggest thing I've learned, from the Sorc and this model,  it have it mostly together but not all the way.  Its makes things so much easier.  Lesson learned, it took awhile but it stuck.  Enough so that I haven't fully assembled my Havocs... legs, torso, backpack, gun arm, and gun are all together leaving the shoulder pads, and support arm off... so I should have an easier time getting to everything I want to reach.

Here's the final product.  A few things to note, it is much larger than it needs to be.  It sits on a 40mm base, and stands much taller than a marine.  So game wise it's a sitting duck, but with a 2+ save it should be ok most of the time.  Either way I didn't want a Finecast version of the Warpsmith because of the fragility of Finecast.  I've had smaller diameter pieces just snap right off and didn't want to shell out $30(US) for something that could break easy.  So all the tentacles are from a Necron Doomscythe and guitar string for strength and stability.

 

A lot of firsts on this model.  First time using oil based rust effects.  Loved that.  It can have a nice subtle rust effect that can be built up and if you want to add some more orange to it's nothing to add water to a small amount of Ryza Rust and dab that in place.  Used Nurgle's Rot for as well, and it's interesting but I don't see using it for anything else beyond what I've done here.  Accents for seepage or tissue breakdown.  The red was really simple, but so effective.  It really was just using GWs paints... Mephiston Red for the base, first layer of Evil Sunz Scarlet with an edge highlight of Wild Rider Red.  Layers were applied very thin, think translucent, to build up the color.  Once that was all dry, a glaze of Bloodletter was put on the red to pull it all together and it came out great.  Super pleased with how simple it was.  The metal and skin were completely different stories however, and involved a lot of touch up and a few restarts.  

At the time of this writing, I am currently finishing the base for one the Rapiers and I'd like to finish the other Rapier this evening.  Another Hellblaster Volley Gun is on the way to finish out the battery at 3 strong.  My beloved Auotcannon Havoc squad was rebuilt yesterday and a new Havoc unit built using Forgeworld's Legion Autocannon set I got forever ago.  Love those guns, hate the ammo feeds.  If you get them, plan on rebending the belts a few times to match up.  Also if you want to use Chaos backpacks, you'll have to trim them down a little so the ammo boxes fit.

Nifty trick if you don't want to use your Betrayal at Calth heavy bolters as heavy bolters, just clip the barrel off and glue an auto cannon barrel on.  Super easy conversion for a, IMHO, better gun.

So yeah, more painting and less building.

Things are coming along

So, things have been actually coming along.  I'm finally getting some paint on some minis, building some more, trying a new paint scheme... life is good.  A long time ago, or at least it feels like a long tome ago, I mentioned switching my paint scheme over to Black Legion.  That is the new scheme I've been trying out and I've been really pleased with the results so far and it looks like it's here to stay.  Which is kind of auspicious timing since the Black Legion supplement seems to be right around the corner... well, if anyone could find any information of it beyond the rumors of the up coming Space Marine codex.  (Almost forgot, there seems to some buffs coming in the new supplement, like the Mark of Chaos Undivided supposedy giving +1 to WS AND the ability to take any icon, which for a unit of CC Chosen could be awesome... ).  Lets take a look at the latest handiwork!

Here's the Decimator conversion, now with paint!  This has been the model for me to figure out new recipes for gold, silver, and black.  Gold and silver have been tweaked for new shades that are available, but still remain laborious (If there is any interest I can provide the recipes I use in the comments below).  With black, I wanted to get away from the standard grey highlighting you'd normally see for something that would complement the tones on the model.  The blue highlight seems to do the trick well... it's complementary with the gold and silver while not fighting with the red accents.  Again, overall for my first black armored anything I'm pretty pleased with it and look forward to refining the process down even more to really get some FINISHED models on the table!  Yes, I am guilty of using the grey brigade to play... sorry.

Next up, Abaddon.  Not your standard model of the Despoiler I know, but once I saw the GW Fantasy Chaos Lord... I HAD to have that model. I got 2 actually, the other one is waiting for  its turn under the knife.  This was a way for me try some more converting and a new pale flesh recipe for the skin tone.  Which is just as involved as the gold and silver and I can provide the recipe if anyone would like it, I write most of the recipes down because it can be a long time between paint sessions for me.  

One thing that occurred to me is I might have to get another 40k Chaos Lord and remake Abby so he's got some more bling.  The reason for that is I got inspired by page 10 of the old 3.5 Chaos Codex.  The holy tome of all things Chaos, the tome all other Chaos codices are held too and found wanting.  On this page you have the short fiction of Abaddon's Chosen, with an accompanying illustration on page 11.  Now, it is an interesting thing that two of the Chosen in the Dark Vengeance (DV) set are almost directly ripped from this illustration.

Here's what I have so far.  It's not much as the conversions are relatively simple for 3 of them, but you can see where I'm going with it.

Terrible picture I know, but I do have close ups.

The DV Chaos Lord is perfect for Skyrak Slaughterborn.  Now the trick, and it's going to be a big one, is going to be converting this guy with a little less kit to bring him back inline with being a Chosen and not a Lord.  It's a little difficult to cut away the inside of his cavity, trim the right skull down, and trim the stars down, but he's well on his way to being there.  He's going to need a a good amount of rebuilding on the legs, and that will stretching my GS skills a lot but I want to see him done so it's going to happen.

The rest of Abaddon's Chosen don't require as much conversion work.  Skyrak's buddy, Urkrathos is a simple head and two weapon swap.  His sword will be from a Plaguebearer champion to represent the "dripping, and yellowed sword".  Add a small amount of GS and he'll be done.

Devram Korda, is another simple conversion. Two weapon swaps, and change out the backpack and done.  The biggest problem with him has been trying to find a sword large enough enough but not too big.  It's been one or the other, I don't want to make a scratch built sword, but I might have to.

Last but not least is the sorcerer, Ygethmor the Deceiver.  I originally thought that the Chosen with the power maul would be a good choice... it wasn't.  I didn't think the conversion through enough, and in my excitement flubbed the conversion.  Looking at the models again, the lighting claw Chosen started to look like a better choice.  Again, swap out the weapons, add two small eyes above his current set and his body is done.  A thin plasticard cape with green stuff feathers on it for the feathered cloak and he's complete.  Now I'm still out on using the Finecast Sorcerer  backpack (which wasn't the best cast... go figure) or a more traditional metal sorcerer backpack which would have to be pinned.

This unit, once completed, will be crazy expensive.  Abby, a sorcerer, and 7 Chosen in a Land Raider with a Dirge Caster... rocking as many plasma pistols and power weapons as possible with a force weapon, the demon weapon Drach'nyen, and the Talon of Horus.  It's going to be a third of my army in a 2000 point game.  It WILL be a fire magnet and people should be scared of it, since Abby gives Preferred Enemy to friendly units within 12 inches.  Is it a "competitive" unit?  Hell no.  Will it be fun to make and play?  Oh yeah.

Chris

*Edit - Lesson learned for blogging on an iPad... text good, pictures bad.*