Greetings all!

Painting that Necrosphinx really has my hobby mojo flowing and I feel like painting an army again. This project will be for Arkhan, Nagash’s chief lieutenant. I’m still trying to pin down the color scheme but I think what I have will work fine. I’ll likely expand on it as I go. I’ve a real love for ancient Egypt. Everything they created has/had such character it’s a real thrill to recreate it in miniaturized form. I’ve painted a TK army in the past but had to sell it off to pay some bills. It will be fun to do it again I think.

Colors Scheme:
Detail – Dark red or black
Metal – Dark brass, gold highlighting w/ patina
Skeletal Bodies – Krylon Almond (satin), directional dry brushing, ivory highlighting
Mummified Flesh – Dark brown, flat earth highlights
Leather – Terracotta > tanned flesh > pale flesh
Gems – Unknown at the moment. Likely red.
Construct Bodies – Onyx (hopefully he marble technique I used for the Necrosphinx will translate)

Current Range Model Concerns:
Heroes
Kings/Princes – Good to go w/ new kits en route.
Liche Priest – Eww! Converted (see Below).
Herald – Really unbalanced but satisfactory

Core
Chariots – Great kit. Conversion (See Below).
Cavalry – Satisfactory.
Skeletons – God help me… (see Below)

Specials
Ushabti – Nice though expensive
Scorpion – One of my Favs.
Swarms – Acceptable but pricy & uninspired

Rares
Giant – Still like this kit. Conversion ideas brewing…
Catapult – Satisfactory.
Casket – Very sexy kit. Converted (see Below).

On Skeletons...



The current model range for this army is unusual. It contains new kits combined with some really OLD bits. Most of the range looks good together but some kits are really showing their age (Skeleton Warriors). This kit is so freaking antiquated GW really needs to put these sprews out to pasture. I can’t bring myself to use them and I’ve been searching for alternatives.

I’ve found that the current vampire counts skeleton range will satisfy the foot troop niche nicely if you are careful which parts you choose. I used 9/10 legs in the kit with the bare torsos, and bald heads. The spears work perfectly as they appear sufficiently ancient and their state of decay fits in nicely with this theme. Add in some TK shields and you’re done.

The archers are a different problem altogether… I don’t have an answer for this kit. I hate these models so much. If anyone has any ideas on how to circumvent these horrors please let me know.

On Liche Priests...


Currently there are only three LP models. One mounted/foot blister and the LP from the CoS (Casket of Souls) kit. I hate the blister and the casket kit is doing the ‘Big Arms’ thing (Eddie Izzard ref) and does not rank up so I converted them.

Now I’m not really satisfied with these conversions but I think they will suffice until GW releases some new models. They do fit in well with this army theme so I’ll likely grow to love them.

On the Casket of Souls…




I love this kit but an idea struck me yesterday that I just had to follow. Nagash created a huge pyramid made out of obsidian to show the world the degree of his badassness. I had an idea that his followers could use small replicas made from the original cursed glass as artifacts of war.

I designed this kit to float on a dais with a LP reading from a cursed tome to activate it. The dais is a Dragon Forge Temple base I had sitting around unused, and the base is made from acrylic sheet. The two guards will walk next to it as they are unworthy of hitching a ride.

On Chariots…




The current models for the chariots are pretty cool. The only problem I found was that they are not very character friendly. Normally the chariot is too narrow for ‘based’ heroes to be used but I found a work around. I like to keep my models modular if possible and this was simple. I Dremel’d out a nice groove along the base of the two sides of the chariot so you could fit a character inside that was mounted on a base. The Prince/King clicks right in. Sweetness…

More to come as I progress.

Great start soul of iron. As a big fan of your necro sphinx i look forward to progress. The wizard kits a beaut isn't it? I made an Haemunculus out of it for my dark eldar, really love the hammer horror/max shreck vibe it gives him.

After that sphinx I'd be thrilled to see a whole army of undeadites from you Great start with the modeling, I've come up against the same problems as you (terrible skeletons, bad liches) and weirdly had the same solutions (VC skeletons, empire wizards)! But while I dropped that ball, you're pushing forward, so props already. Dig that casket conversion too, quite striking - the book liche works very well on his own as well.

- Salvage

Thanks dude. I do like the kit. Made the LP conversion simple but effective.

My only hangup on this project are those blasted skeletal archers. I have NO idea what to do with those.

Shawn G. (SoI)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
More Pics

First Completed Unit - Skeleton Archer Cavalry





Herald, Necrotect, Tomb Kings/Princes

This has nothing to do with your models, but man do I dislike that plastic king. Big, soft-looking and bleh compared to the pointing-n-yelling metal dude

Do the TK bow arms really not work at all with the VC skellies? That was my plan back when, I figured they'd fit well enough. Barring that, it looks like those VC spear arms could have the spear sniped off, wire inserted and bows sculpted in well enough, with more action-y poses got through cutting the arm joints ... (Yea that sounds like work to me too )

Also: alright, completed unit hooooo!

- Salvage

Ooh, very nice. Eager to see this progress!

Really fantastic job with the wizards!

Whenever I see "Tomb Kings" in a title my eyes tend to glaze over, because it seems like such a limited model range peppered with some real duds. I'm amazed at your solutions. Kudos! They add exactly the amount of personality needed to make this army special and unique. Can't wait to see them painted, the one's you've finished so far look great.

Have you considered the mantic archers?



They're much more in line with the newer better-scaled GW sculpts than the old tomb kings ones.

They were the first models I looked at. The problem I have with them is that they are too Gothic. They would stand out too much I think. I may pick up a box and see but I don't have very high hopes.

I may have to break down and use the GW ones. /shudder

~Small Update~

I've started work on the dais for my casket conversion and it looks pretty cool so far. I'll get some picks up when it's base mounting is dry.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Perhaps check out WarGods of Aegyptus (Egyptian stuff is under AEgyptus):

https://www.crocodilegames.com/store/index.cfm

May have something there that tickles your fancy

@ Vitruvian XVII - Thank you very much for that! I looked at that site slightly but this second visit was a goldmine of stuff to use!

Here are some new pictures for my Black Dais (Casket) and Dias Guard. I’m liking this design so far!








Also here is a unit filler for my Skeleton unit. It really adds character to the unit and I’m growing more fond of the floating elements of this army. Reminds me of Stargate a little…








More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Looking great,your black dais and the stargate obelisk look awesome.

Hehe, sweet! Look rerally creepy, hit the nail on the head when it comes to the theme of Arkhans TKs.

Where are the heads on the Guard from?

No probs on the link!

Your Necrosphinx was awsome, and these are looking just as good.
Although its no good me looking at this, i want to start a Tomb Kings army Are you being employed by GW to try and get as many new TK players as possible?

@ Vitruvian - They are from the old TK Blood Bowl team. They are head dresses that I thought would be perfect.

@ shingouki - I like it too. I have to order some new molds from Hirst so I can add some levitating obelisks. Those would be pretty sweet.

@ rodgers37 - LOL! Sorry but no. I used to be a GW staffer years ago. If GW is getting sales off my painting, I'm not seeing one red cent.

~Small Update~

I built a unit of those horrible skeletal archers last night. I hate them so...

I was think that your archers could have been the VC skellies with the TK archer arms, the arms themselves are not really that bad, infact they are quite detailed and better proportioned.

Good to see you again SoI! I'll be lurking this thread often...

@ Lint - Greetings! The Necrosphinx got me going and I can't seem to stop! It's awesome!

~UPDATE - Skeleton Unit Complete!~

This sucker took a while to get done but the results are quite appealing! I was unsure last night while on the red stage but once one was finished I was really glad. Two units now done so I can reward myself with painting a character or to 2. (Do your units first or your army will never get done…)

Next on the block will be the Dais Priest, Necrotect, and Dais Guard.







More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Man do those skellies look nice with spears, pity so few use them. Your rocking paint job helps of course Helluva unit filler too, definitely looks the part being escorted into battle by the dead guys.

- Salvage

~Update~






My Casket of Souls conversion is now complete! I’m calling it a Black Dais until I can come up with a better title. I like this conversion a lot but I see room for improvement and will likely revisit this model in the future (The rear pillars are not working for me…)

The priest came out ok. Not tops for a character but definitely tabletop quality.





I finished the Necrotect last night. He painted up really quickly and I like this version better then the one they currently have in the rulebook.

Since it’s raining again I’ll have to wait a day or so for the humidity to clear up so I can varnish my completed units and get some more stuff primed. In the meantime I guess I have to start on these pieces of crap…



Shawn G. (SoI)

Looking awesome. I dont like the circular pillars either. I think something like at the end of the movie The Fifth Element, with the triangular stones on top of pedestals would maybe look cooler? or an upsidedown pyramid on a rectangular pillar. I Really love the obsidian also =)

@ S'Jet - I may pull out the Super Sculpy this weekend and see what I can create. I'll likely have to build another dais as those pillars are glued all the way down and removing them will ruin the paint job.

I also plan on buying some more Egyptian molds from Hirst Molds this weekend. Molds 93, 94, and 96-98 are giving me countless ideas. When I get them all I'll revisit the Dais and I should be able to come up with some thing appropriate.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Hey Shawn, I was an avid watcher of your TK Necro Sphinx P-log. Gorgeous work and I like the colors you chose... over the original one from GW... I should have commented then, but I'm happy to have the chance to watch your actual TK army grow now.

I had a question about the black pyramid stuff- what did you use for it? And is the the paint or texture that gives it the slight sheen?

I'm sure I'll have more questions to ask you when I formally start up my PH Thousand Sons and their egyptian theme... keep it up- this is definitely fuel to inspire my own Egyptian madness!

@ HF Izanagi - Glad you liked it! The pyramid pieces come from one of the Hirst Arts molds. I got it years ago, back in 02' I think, when I was painting this army before. I cast them up using black resin from Smooth On. They look real nice with some slight highlighting and a coat of gloss varnish.

I mean to pick up a more over the next few weeks.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Nice paint work, I specifically like the way you do fabric. Keep it up!

~BIG Update!~

It’s been a hectic last few days! First of all I got my TK book in on Thursday and as soon as I cracked the cover I noticed something I didn’t see before that gave ideas! (more on this in a sec).

First up is I finished that unit of Skeletal Archers. I hate to admit it, but they look pretty good with a decent paintjob. I would prefer newer models, but these can suffice. Hell, knowing me I’ll end up loving them in the end…




Now about that idea I had. There is a little hieroglyph on the bottom middle of the first illustration in the TK book that spawned a slew of ideas for me. It has been pointed out that I like floating stuff (And I do! Big whoop, wanna fight about it?), here is a prototype of a Heirotitan that stemmed from the ideas that took root: The Conduit.






My idea was this was made of stone cut from the black stone of Nagash’s Pyramid like the casket conversion I made. Floating over the battlefield it acts as a focus for Liche Priest magic as well as throwing curses of it’s own. While I like it this concept and it fits in nicely with my army scheme, it needs work on several levels. First it does not give off the “AHHH! Monster!” vibe it needs to. Second being that it has no real facing (I marked the base to show the front). It function till I get the elements I need. I’ll be picking up 3 Warsphinx kits today.

It was built using blocks from my pyramid and another Hirst Mold (#56). The top is held aloft via rare earth magnets (REM). Unfortunately I had a resin mishap and the mold got ruined. I have it soaking in degreaser at the moment and will upgrade to mineral spirits if this fails.

Now for some weird stuff. I’m a tad compulsive. So when I do something I feel driven to go all the way. So this is my dice cup. XD







The Necrosphinx planted a serious painting seed and when I gave into it the first thing I needed was an appropriate dice cup. My first idea was for a large canopic jar and I found a few really nice ones the problem is they were all either too large or too narrow to hold the sea of dice I intended to pour into my foes’ units. Then I found this beauty on Amazon. It’s called a ‘Bronze Scrab Box’ encase you want one for yourselves.

With some slight modification using some REMs I have the lid significantly secured. I love this thing so much I had to get matching dice. Did I mention I was compulsive?

Yesterday we had a 1000pt vet night tourney at the hobby shop and I decided to use my new TK. I had a BLAST and won Best Army and these were my prize! I can’t wait to paint these bad boys up!



Lastly, he’s home. And mine. I was given him last night along with the Stalkers. I was so happy I almost squee’d




Squee
Intransitive verb
1. A noise primarily made by an over-excited fangirl, however it has spread rapidly and is now widely spread among the web community.
2. A random ecstatic exclamation
Retrieved from Urban Dictionary.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Does this mean you're going to put the finishing touches on the sphinx? I recall you being pressed for time and not being entirely satisfied with him.

Lucky you! Lucky us for getting to see him (and the stalkers) finished beautifully! What are you going to do about his base now? It doesnt really match up with the rest. You could cover it in sand, leaving patches of the flagstone showing through?

Those skelly archers look rerally nice as well. Such a good paintjob really does make you ignore the inherent flaws of the models.

I'm glad i came back to see what else you have done.The whole job is shaping up excellently and i can't wait to see what you pull off on those snake things(i forget the name and im too tired to go look lol).Keep it up mate.

Gotta say, those Hirst molds are really adding to your army theme. Loving the dice box =p Glad to see the sphinx returned to your hands also (just read your entire sphinx thread). It's really beautiful. You say your getting 3 of them? lol. Will you paint the stalkers up a similar way?

Is the floating Pyramid that you made a heirotitan?

@Lint - Yes. I plan on going back to him and finishing his arms to my standard. For some reason the tail does not bother me anymore so I may leave it as is. I need to remember my direction for that paint scheme as it's very different from the one I'm using currently.

@Vitruvian XVII - To tell the truth I love this model too much to play with him. It would burn my pretty bad if someone was to damage it. I almost lost my crap a few times in the store over that. There were these jackholes pushing it around the demo-board with a measuring stick THE DAY I BROUGHT IT IN!!!!!! I spent 20+ hours painting that thing and they knew it. Some people are just too stupid to live...

I will be painting up a new sphinx to match this Arkhan scheme.

@S'Jet - I'm glad you liked the thread. These stalker will be painted for use in this army. As for the sphinxes, I have some serious plans for that kit I will be able to make around 6 models out of those kits. I like what the molds are adding to this army as well. I have several more en route that I can't wait to get my hands on.

@Ragnar4 - Damn. I forgot to even mention what it was in my explanation. It is a my prototype for a Hierotitan. I have a better one planned but it will have to wait till those new molds get in. I'll tweek my post to add this information in. Thanks for the heads up.

~Minor Update~

I've built the first of my sphinxes and it's modular. It's more difficult to magnetize then a dreadnought but it can be done with careful planning. And a Dremel. Pics coming soon.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I see your point there, i certainly wouldnt want such a well painted model messed around with.

I had a nice plan for a hierotitan. Take the necrosphinxs torso, make it hold an obelisk an them find some legs!

~Update~

I got to put in some real time with the sphinx kit yesterday and with some time I was able to modulate it. It’s not as easy as say a dreadnought but it can be done if you take your time and are careful. I love you Dremel.







I also was able to use the torso for a new design for my Heirotitan. The Conduit concept works well for my army scheme but does not scream monster enough. This is closer to the idea I originally had.





Getting three models out of one box is pretty cool.

More to come as I progress.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Nice magnetising!

Not really feeling the hierotitan atm. I assume you're going to do a bit more to it, but it seems like the join between pyramid and body is too stark. Perhaps that would change with some paint.

I'm no sold on it either at the moment. When my new molds arrive this week I'll likely build another platform.

SoI

~Update~

This thing was a real joy to paint again. I didn’t go all out as I did before but the end results were very satisfactory. I’ll complete the crew tomorrow.







Now I had designed this model to pose as both a Warspinx and Necrosphinx but it didn’t work out as I had hoped. Installing the howdah on it’s back scratched the paint pretty badly. So no wings for this bad boy…




I do however like the winged kitty look of this kit and may use it in the future.





Next on the chopping block will be the stalkers and crew for the Warsphinx.

More to come as I progress.
Shawn G. (SoI)

Lovely sphinx, great dark scheme - nice foil to the white necro, in the contrasted gems as well as the 'flesh' of the beast. Totally dig the winged kitty look also

Way to be on the speedy progress too

- Salvage

I'm trying to get at least 2 units done a week. The sphinx ate up a lot of time due to detail work and modulating so I aim to get those stalkers done tomorrow or Friday.

SoI

Awesome to see the new awesome tomb kings being painted awesome and converted awesome!

Sweet! Looks completely different to the other sphinx, and yet just as awesome!! I love your skills sir.

Awesome. I prefer it with the Howdah (cant think of another name for it) than the wings. Love the "skin". Very cool. I also think the metals came out better than on the Sphinx you did in your other thread =) You mention in your first post about oxidation. Do you still plan to do that? or leaving it clean? As i like it clean very much.

@kenshin620 - Glad you like.

@Vitruvian XVII - Thank you.

@S'Jet - I was going to oxidize my metal in this scheme but I found that I like it better clean. Less work too.

Shawn G. (SoI)

These guys were fun to do though a little annoying. Since they came glued together and on their bases I had to prime them in ivory and that was a pain to cover up. I would have done the base separately and primed the stalkers black and saved myself a great deal of cover-up time.

I’ll likely pick up another box to fill out a unit of 6. Don’t know when though. I have a unit of chariots on the horizon.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Excellent work. The blue-grey skin is the perfect contrast to the gold.

Very nice. I like the "Skin" for the monsters and the unit fillers have given me some inspiration for my WOC.

Beautiful stuff. Really impressed by the floating obelisks. For the archers I was going to suggest you check out Wargames Factories Numidians for bows but they came out looking nice. At least the old models are still 20 to a box! The Tomb Guardians intrigue me are they another option from the Snake kits or are they Ushabti conversions? I quite like the idea of the Hierotitan bit painted like a djinn being summoned from the stone!

Beautiful! And fast!

Are you going to make any Necropolis Knights?

Thanks all.

@ Vitruvian XVII - I want to but I don't know when I'll get them. The kit is pretty expensive and I'll need to pick up three sets to get the models I need. (1 for for the stalkers and 2 more for the knights).

SoI

Awesome work!

May i ask for more details on the colours used for your Sphinx? My girlfriend is in love with the scheme you used!

Gawddam that's purdy.

Love the smoothness on the Necro-howdah-Garfield whacchamacallit!

Between those and the new Talos... GW's latest offerings are really on a whole other level...

@ Rinion - Sure thing! The body is primed black and the dry brushed with VMC German Grey, then 50/50 German Grey/Basalt Grey, then a light brushing of VMC Basalt Grey. Then the body is washed in GW Devlin Mud. The skin is then painted up using a large brush with the same colors in the same sequence watered down to a milk-like consistency.

The armor is done in VGC Glorious Gold, washed in GW Tin Bits (that's right) and washed again in Devlin Mud. the gold was then used to highlight it. The gems were done in GW Mechrite Red up to Blood Red. Hope this is understandable.

@ MajorTom11 - They are awesome kits. When I'm done with this army, likely June a the pace I'm going, I will be returning to the Dark Eldar scheme I was messing with. I'll be taking a long break between though. lol

~Small Update~

I finished the crew for the howdah yesterday and installed them. pics to follow. And since I can't prime in this weather, rain forecasted for the next 5 days, I'll be painting all of my characters.

Shawn G. (SoI)

A little off topic but speaking about dark eldar I think the Stalker heads would make lovely talos/chronos head swaps for egyptian styled DE!

~Small Update~

My molds arrived Sat and I spent Sunday casting like a madman. I now have a tower for whenever I feel like using that horribly OP magic item from the rulebook and a new dais for my casket of souls. Pics soon.

On a side note the bulb from my halogen lamp finally burned out. I cant remember the last time I replaced it but I know it's been at least 5 years. Hope they still make the bulb

SoI

Really impressive work. I like your color scheme and execution. You manage to make what could be a boring, predictable army look really interesting! And the conversions are great and original.

One thing, I'd call that nifty Casket stand-in "The Ebon Dais". Has more flair than "The Black Dais" I think.

Keep p the good work and keep posting!

-C6

Finally posting, I've been following your painting for some time.

Absolutely gorgeous. I have a Tomb Kings army sitting around that needs assembling...I'm inspired! Now if I could convince the wife that I need that time in the evening....

@catharsix - Ebon Dais. I like that! I will be using that from now on. All credit goes to you kind Sir/Madam!

@teepee - Glad you like this project. You should paint them! They are a blast to build/paint.

~Small Update~

Here are the pics of the watchtower and 'Ebon Dais' I made from the Hirst Molds:

Dais







Tower


I burned through quite a bit of resin building the tower and this new dais design. I'll be ordering some more here in a while.

I started school this week so I’ll be slowing down somewhat with my painting. I’ll likely only get one unit done a week. Still nice progress though.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Your paint work makes me ashamed to have ever picked up a paint brush. Keep up the incredible work.

Is Arkhan in the new TK book, by chance?

keep it up! I really like what your doing!

Thats AWESOME!!! Do you mind divulging which Hirst Arts molds you used? That towers really inspiring.

The Ebon Dias looks sweet, a big improvement over the old one, just briliant.

Any plans to make more TK scenery? Like a pyramid or sphinx or a massive temple...

@SkaerKrow - Thanks much! It is Arkhan from the new book.

@DasFluspferd - Glad you like!

@Vitruvian XVII - I used molds 93 & 96 to build the tower and Dais. And I do have plans on building some more scenery in the very near future. I need to discuss some things with a friend to plot out a design.

~Small Update~

I completed the howdah on Sat but forgot to take some pics.





Shawn G. (SoI)

The howdah'd sphinx looks utterly awesome! I have one problem with the watchtower however... It's not floating!

Cool, will be looking forward to the scenery!

Love the finished Sphinx, beautiful. Given that youve built the kit, how well do you think the Tomb Guard crew would fit/look in chariots??

@Perkustin - LOL! Now you've gone and given me an idea...

@Vitruvian XVII - They'll do fine in chariots.

Messing with some leftover plastic kits, I think I've built my Arkhan model. I'll need to add a touch of green stuff but it's almost perfect as is. Kind of took me by surprise. I'll have some pics of him soon.

Shawn G. (SoI)

~~Update!!~~

It’s been a busy few days but I’ve gotten some work done. First up are two completed characters for my army.

Now to be honest these are my least favorite characters that I’ve built and it appears that that fact showed up in my painting. Especially for the Priest. But they are done and all they need is a coat of varnish I can move on.







Next up are some WiP’s that I’ve been picking at. I’ve started to paint the tower. This bugger will take a few hours to get done but it will be a pretty addition to my scheme. Second is an Obelisk I bought from Armorcast YEARS ago. I think I bought this back in ’04 I believe when I was first painting this army. It’s been sitting around taking up space so I dug her up and now she’ll get some love. Cant wait to get started on it.






Last but not least I think I’ve got my Arkhan model pinned down. I like the look a lot but he needs some green stuff touch up. He will look really intimidating when complete.





That’s all I have for now. The weather here has been horrible. We’ve had 1 rain free day out of the last 9 and we have more rain predicted for most of this week. I may get a free day on Wednesday to get some priming done. We’ll see.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Man, SoI, that Arkhan looks amazing! So much evil-ness in his dusty bones! I actually think your other two characters look good. The paintjob on the first one posted is pretty solid and the second guy just looks awesome ealry-90's era WFB. I'm stoked to see that Arkhan get some paint on him and that obelisk too!

SoI , may i request a step by step of you painting the skeletons?
( with pic would be super! )
Im about to redo mine and i dont want to mess up this time...

Thank you!

Wow. These are some amazing TK. Love the whole Stargate feel you got going with your floating pieces. Can't wait to see more.

Good start on the tower, that obelisk ias a really nice piece as well.

Arkhan is spot-on, may have to "appropriate" that conversion for my own uses!

Thanks all.

@ LunaHound - Which skeleton unit do you mean? And are you just looking for the drybrush stage or the whole thing?

I'm thinking about adding a unit filler to the Archer unit as I'm increasing their size from by 10. Problem is all the designs I've come up with are too tall. I may post some pics here soon to get your opinions.

Shawn G (SoI)

Ditto on the stalkers- I want to see what those ones look like. Are you going to use your blue Sphinx in your current army/change the color to "fit in"? I'd say no, because it's awesome enough that it stands alone, but that's me.

And holy crap at the howdah'd Sphinx- I can't tell which one I like more- your competition white/blue or home version black/red...

More pics, please! I like the standard of painting you have, even for the troops. It makes for a very beautiful army.

-HF Iz

Awesome! Everything looks so fantastic!

Soul of Iron wrote:@ LunaHound - Which skeleton unit do you mean? And are you just looking for the drybrush stage or the whole thing?I'

The skeletons from 1st pic, i would love to know how you did the bones.

Any side view of the skelies please? :3

~Small Update~

I’ve finally started on my chariot unit. The weather lately has been completely horrible for priming with either rain or massive humidity. Yesterday I took a chance and decided to prime them even though it was humid as hell. I broke my own rule, NEVER PRIME ON HUMID DAYS! Some sections of a few chariots look like they’ve been sprayed in fine black sand. I was SO pissed at myself as that stuff murders any chance at detail work.

Here are the first two. The crew will be done when this weather clears up.





@Lunahound - Here are some detail pics of the skeleton bodies I used for this unit (I think it's 4).






Shawn G. (Soi)

Very nice SoI ! Im so tempted to buy a few boxes of Vampire skeleton from this thread. They have far better poses ( old one is goofy looking )

Anyways , you have inspired me to start painting my TK! :3

Whaaaaaat

Very nice as always Brosef... Would be curious to see your non-TK work too if you have any?

Gosh those are beautiful.

This blog inspired me to start a TK army.

My FLGS owner thanks you. Time to find a second job.

Soul of Iron wrote:@catharsix - Ebon Dais. I like that! I will be using that from now on. All credit goes to you kind Sir/Madam!

I consider it quite an honor to have a minor part in the evolution of such a really impressive force! Reading this makes me want to start a TK army myself... but I think what I will end up doing is creating some Egyptian/death-themed Chaos Space Marines sometime down the road. I've already been thinking about the nearly endless awesome conversion possibilities of kit-bashing TK and CSM plastic sets. Though such a project will have to wait till I have more done with my Angels Encarmine, my Dark Eldar, my (just started in anticipation of the re-release) Necrons, and perhaps even my poor, neglected Tyranids...

When you take to the field (or table-top, rather) of battle with this force in the future, and your opponent asks what your Casket stand-in is, be sure to make your facial expression as stern as possible, and intone, in the most grave manner as you can effect: "THE EBON DAIS."

@ LunaHound - Glad to hear that! TK are a really fun army to paint and the VC skeles kit-bash nicely into warriors.

@ sparkywtf - Please post your work. It's a real motivation to keep going. The hobby is expensive...

@ catharsix - Will do!

@ MajorTom11 - OMG. I've got all kinds of stuff painted. My last few projects were Tyranids, Daemons, and Dark Eldar. I will likely be abandoning the Dark Eldar project as GW are pricing themselves out of my level of interest. Here's some of my more recent work:










I have a lot more picks on my blog but here are the pages featuring more images from these works.
http://www.glaven.net/2010/07/01/tyranid-tervigon/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/06/12/mycetic-spore/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/10/13/forgeworld-khorne-daemon-prince/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/09/10/blue-scribes-of-tzeentch/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/08/18/plastic-bloodcrushers/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/07/21/daemon-prince-complete/
http://www.glaven.net/2010/07/14/great-spined-shaggoth/

Shawn G. (SoI)

Oh my goodness/ you just passed from merely incredible to truly godly!!!!! *bows in worship*

LoL! I'm no god. I know people that paint circles around me.

~Small Update~

I've finished the chariots yesterday and was able to prime the crew this morning. I'll have the chariot unit done this weekend some time and post some pics.

After they are complete, I've 3 more stalkers and I'm thinking about trading in 2 sphinxes for 2 boxes of Necro Knights. I'm not sure I want to paint anymore sphinxes at the moment as there are other more interesting units I can work on.

I've got an itch to do a bone giant and a scorpion or two.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Not sure about everyone else, but I'd like an update I'm a big fan of this army

By update, I mean more army pics

Really nice colour scheme. Looked at your blog too, love those Tzeentch Horrors in blue. Looking forward to seeing more

~Update of Sorts~

It appears that the hard disk of my IMac has a bad sector. I'm on the process of getting a replacement. It may be a few days before I get a new on installed.

I've finished a new unit filler for my archers, and I'm just about done with my chariot crew. It may be hard to get pics out as my work pc is the devil.

~Sending this from my iPhone.~

Shawn G. (SoI)

I'm liking what I've seen of your army in the thread to date, Soul of Iron - any chance of an army shot?

@Dysartes - I can do that. I think it would look better if I did it at the hobby shop where I have more room & light.

~Update~

So the OS on my PC died Sunday for the 2nd time. I think the hard drive had a bad sector, which was causing it to fail repeatedly. Got a new drive and recovered from backup (I love you Timemachine) and I’m watching to see if anything funny happens…

That aside, I’ve finished my chariot unit. I added some different parts from other kits to add some diversity to the unit. They ended up looking pretty good. Glad to get them off my table.






I’ve also finished a unit filler for my archer unit. It comes from Scibor’s Egyptian terrain line. I like it, but I wonder if it’s out of place with the other unit fillers I’ve done. Let me know what you think.





I found some resin models from the Uncharted Seas game called Water Behemoths that I picked up an my local hobby shop a few months back. I got the idea to cover them with sand on a 3/5 inch disks and use them as templates. They ended up looking better then I thought they would!



I’m trying to pin down what I want to paint next. I’m thinking about a couple of catapults or a bone giant. I really don’t know what I want to do next. Suggestions would be helpful.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I like the unit filler, but would be tempted to put at least 2 skellie archers on it to tie it in a bit better.

Those templates are sweet! Have a real Imhotep look to 'em. Will be difficult to see whats under them though??

Id like to see your take on a giant tbh.

Very cool fillers and templates! I kinda agree that maybe there should be a skele or two on the filler though. Other than that everything looks wonderful

Very cool!! I agree though, maybe one or two archers on the filler... and those templates are just sweet

I would like to add an archer to the filler, but I've already based it and I can see that element breaking off all the time.

I just got a nice deal for a bone giant on amazon so that will be my next project. Looking forward to it.

Shawn G. (SoI)

~Update~

I got a good deal for this model on Amazon and it arrived Saturday morning. I didn’t have enough time to work with him that day but I managed to get him assembled and primed by Sunday evening.

I was a little worried that the scheme I’ve chosen for this army would not translate into the older units in this line but it worked. I’m quite pleased. It barely took a day to complete.

Hope you like!







Shawn G. (SoI)

Looks great! I love the matching schemes for your other warbeasts of obsidian with gold and red accents. Just wondering though, is your army coming from the sand dunes, or temple?

It's probably nitpicking at this point, so if you've got a plan, nevermind me, but the only thing that could push it farther would be a mini-narrative or scenery on the base to enhance the overall model. (kinda like your black resin tiles for that ivory warsphinx) But like I said, it's probably nitpicking.

Great job on the painting and scheme again for this one!

-Remi (HF Iz)

He looks great, SoI, but I do have one question - what is he going to fire from that longbow?

Dude this army is stunning, i really like the colour scheme you've chosen for them and the way it translates nicely throughout the force. I especially like the conversions for your Liche Priests, in particular the one using the Island of Blood mage, i know its only simple but its very very effective.

@HF Izanagi - The Army design is of the open desert. I would have liked to add in some diorama elements but no ideas have coalesced yet.

@Dysartes - I know he's quiverless. I'm dating myself here but do you remember the old D&D cartoon from the 90's? The Ranger's bow fired energy bolts and did not need ammunition. That was my original concept for this weapon.

I do have an idea for a quiver but that will take time to design and I can add it later.

Shawn G. (SoI)

SOI: beautiful work on the Tomb Kings so far man. You've actually inspired me to start a Tomb Kings force of my own. I especially like the unit fillers you've made for your skeletons

Im actually about to start my Khemrian Warsphinx soon, do you have any tips for painting it? What subassemblies do you use

Colossus looks fearsome!

@ Archmagos_Amadeus - The Sphinx is pretty easy in assembly. I would build/paint the howdah, hood, and head separately so you can get at the detail. That's all I can say comes to mind at the moment.

@kenshin620 - Glad you liked.

~Small Update~ Looks like I'm coming down the end of this project. The army is almost completely painted and I don't have many more units that interest me.

As of right now I'm working on Arkhan and his Chariot, a unit of Ushabti with bows, and pair of catapults.

I have really no idea what to do after those.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Do you do any scenery? Making some themed terrain for the army could be pretty cool

That will likely be the next step. There is a big tourny in my area this September and I want to go for best painted. I have an idea for a large display board.

More on that soon.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Judging by the quality so far, you should easily snag that award!

A full Khemri display board would be the icing on the cake.....

Awesome work. Are you going to enter your TK army into the Armies on Parade competition?

What army are you going to work on next as I would love to see more of your work.

@KMB - I was going to compete but there is a friend of mine entering that has been busting her ass and I don't want to compete against her. I'll just aim for the tourney this fall and build a display for the army then.

~Small Update~

Well I’ve started work on some of the new Finecast models GW has released. To be honest my opinion is mixed.





First up is the new Liche Priest. I don’t really know why, but I like this model. Painting him was a breeze, but the sculpt has some muddy detail in some locations. The cloth was pretty ratty and some of the metal collar detail was poor. I’m glad I chose a simple paint scheme for this army, as it would take serious work to get this painted to a higher standard IMO.

The new Ushabti are damn cool, but GW was very lazy making them all the same body. They also suffer from thin spots that will break if mishandled. I’m also not seeing this extra detail that’s supposed to be with these new sculpts that does not exist in the metal/plastic forms. They do glue together with delicious ease.

I painted up the champion first and it came together pretty well.






I do have one problem I don’t have an easy solution for: the lack of command for this unit. I really don’t know what to do about it. I imagine I can make a standard bearer conversion that should look ok, but the musician is eluding me. My current idea is to create a unit filler for the front rank using the large obelisk from the Scibor terrain I have and just inform my opponent of what they represent. The filler would serve nicely until GW decides to release a kit, though I don’t think that would be acceptable in a tournament.




That’s all I have for now.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Soul of Iron wrote:I’m glad I chose a simple paint scheme for this army, as it would take serious work to get this painted to a higher standard IMO.

LOL... you gotta be kidding me. These guys look great, man. I already consider your standard work a pretty high level. Keep it up. That first figure is great- the grey-brown "mummy" skin is ace!

-Remi (HF Iz)

Wow, those Ushabti archers are huge compared to the regular ones!

I like the new Liche as well, certainly better than the old one!! You've done a bang-tidy paintjob on him too.

Perhaps for the mus. you could give it a stone drum and a drumstick instead of the bow? Ie. the farthest right in the front rank could have his quiver sculpted over into a drum and a stick instead of the bow. I hope you get what i mean!

edit: apologies for the poor 'shop something like this:

@HF Izanagi - LoL. Sorry. I'm pretty critical on what I paint. The flesh was cake to do. VMC Flat Earth + Black as a base, then a light wet brushing of Flat Earth, then Flat Earth with a touch of Bleached Bone and you're done. Took 2 min.

@Vitruvian XVII - I'm no Dave Taylor lol. Sculpting is not one of my strong points. If I didn't get that drum just right, and I wouldn't, it would bother me to no end painting it. I would have to try a horn to attach via strap or something. I'm not a fan of my shortcut solution but it's all I can come up with ATM. Besides, I don't even know how well they'll do on the tabletop. I may end up hating the unit.

I think they'll do fine game wise. I don't buy into the internet hype that they are useless. People said the same thing about Tyrannofex's and I used that unit to GREAT effect with my nids (When I played them)

Shawn G. (SoI)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Vitruvian XVII - Just saw our edit. And I have to say That I could likely pull that off. I'm picking up another kit this weekend (i they have any) and I'll give this a try.

Thanks so much!

SoI

I think this is the first time I have seen a nearly complete unit of Great Bow Ushabiti. The painted one looks great!

Hehe, i think none of us are Dave Taylor! (except perhaps Dave Taylor... )

Perhaps just one of the Tomb Guard horns on its back?

Is the size difference between the two Usabti types that much irl, or is it just the photo?

It's a bit of perspective play there in that picture. The new models are slightly taller and more robust.

I've now looked at all your posted tomb king pictures and must say as I fellow TK player I revere your work as nothing less than heavenly. Keep up the great work.

Hehe, frankly im surprised you could discern anything from my awful image manipulation! No problem, its nice to be able to help with even just a small part of this awesome army

I agree with you on the Liche Priest, nice model but on my cast half of the face was miscast. :(

I've managed to trim it down and resculpt it, but I was rather annoyed at having to do that (considering the amazing facial expression is mostly the reason I purchased it!) .

~Update~

So my AC died last week and the house is sweltering. On top of that it's finals time for my Eng class. Been busy as hell, but I do have some small updates.

First, I got 2 tomb scorpions for my BDay last weekend and I've been assembling them for priming. The weather sux for priming so I have to wait. Next, I've picked up a new box of ushabti and will convert them to complete the command models. Finally I've started the preliminary designs for my display tray. I think I'll be participating in the NOVA open this year so I need to register and get my army into fighting form.

Pics to come soon.

~Feedback Request~

I was thinking about adding some non-traditional elements to my army, as Arkhan is one of the forefathers of Necromancy and likes to dabble beyond deeper into the death lore. I was thinking about adding vampire bats as a replacement to carrion for my army. I can see those creatures circling the top of the Black Tower more then the undead vultures. It would help to blur the lines between the TK and VC armies some and support my theme.

What do you guys/ladies think?

Shawn G. (SoI)

Fell bats would be cool aye, as long as you dont use the fugly GW models...

Giant bats sound good.
If you don't want to use GW bats (I agree with Vitrvian. They are hideous.) maybe these would work:
http://masq-mini.com/aid-260-Deal-of-the-month.html

Those are the ones I was looking at. I'll grab 2 sets tomorrow.

I was thinking about using bat swarms as well, but bats pouring out of the ground is a little beyond belief for me.

SoI

Love the Banner Bearer!

So, I finally got my TK that you inspired me to get.

And you are a man of great patience. I barely made it through the first 20 guys!

I love the paint jobs on the latest things!

Good! Take your time and enjoy painting them. I have WAY too much time on my hands so I grind through things to prevent boredom.

I've kind of run out o' steam on this project though. Just about out of TK mojo for the moment and boredom has set in again. Until I figure out what direction I want to go hobby wise I've gone back to an old reliable army; Daemons (40K this time).

I'm sure I'll be back to this project soon as I still have a few units to complete but WHF is just not doing it for me ATM.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I am loving these models, I hope you get your TK mojo back soon. I constantly go back to this thread. Its GREAT!!!

any chance you were able to finish Arkhan the Black? I just wanted to see what he ended up looking like.

I'll be taking this army to a local tourney in Sept. I'm trying to pin down what I intend to bring and how they will be displayed.

I will have Arkhan complete very soon as he is the centerpiece of this whole project. I also need to finish my Bow'shabti as well as they will also likely be going.

Keep an eye out.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I’m a lazy person. I built my Tomb King host to compete on the tournament scene and major painting events. Have I taken it to any? No.

As the date of each event creeps closer, I get more lazy. I had plenty of completed units and more than enough time to compete in the local Armies on Parade event. The closer the deadline got, the more meh I became. I wanted to go to Nova this year. What happened? Meh.

No more meh! I’ve paid for this last event and my wife will skin me alive if I don’t participate. Since a flensing at the hands of my beloved spouse is not something I care to experience, I’m going to Battle for Blobs Park! Although I wish I’d kicked myself in the ass one week earlier…

I haven’t touched this army hobby wise since mid June and I’ve still a few units I need to complete for this event on the 24th. I’ve one character, one unit, and a display board to complete. I’ve got a lot of work to do…

Details coming soon!

Shawn G. (SoI)

~Small Update~

So I've just about hammered out my army list for the Blob's Park tourney and it includes a new unit. I'm in the process of painting a unit of 6 Necro Knights for this event.

I must hate myself or something as this unit was VERY time consuming to assemble and completing it along with Arkhan and the display board may require divine/infernal intervention.

I'll try to get some pictures posted but I need to get enough done to ease the pressure.

Wish me luck and stay tuned.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Good luck at Blobs - I'll be battling it out up at Crossroads as you get your undead on down there Love me some necro knights, was thinking about what a 2x 6 NK TK army would look like (and wondering why I sold my TK army book )

Looking forward to pics and tales of victory and pics!

- Salvage

Very awesome stuff! Can't wait to see Arkhan finished!

Soul of Iron, this army is fantastic.

For a while I've been considering a tomb kings army dedicated to Arkhan as a side project to go with my Vamp Counts army, and I was even considering repainting my counts since I wasn't sure how good my black & red color scheme would look on tomb kings.

Seeing this thread, not only have I been reassured that black and red work great for tomb kings in general, and arkhan in particular, but I've also been overwhelmed with the awesome of your conversions and unit fillers.

I hope you subscribe to the notion that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, because once I finish off those vamps and get around to starting tomb kings, I fully intend to shamelessly rip of your conversions, color scheme, basically everything my rather more limited modeling and painting skills can manage.


I do have to ask - do you intend to convert Arkhan's flying, four-steed, manticore-corpse charriot? And if so, have you had any thoughts on how you might manage it? At the moment all I can think of is starting with settra's charriot, making it fly with a combination of pins & clear plastic rods, and maybe mounting some sort of pedestal w/ the book of nagash open for Arkhan's reading pleasure. I'm not sure what if anything should be done to represent the manticore aspect of it, though.

This army is amazing - any chance of an army pick so far

@ Boss - Good luck at your event. This will be only the 2nd tourney I've been to in the last 6 years.

@ Ozy - The goal is to get the Necros done by Tues/Wed. I'll only need a day to get Arkhan done but I still need time to get the display board polished. I've been swamped during the day and homework is getting in the way. Time is short and I'm getting a tad worried to tell the truth.

@ Mal - I'm glad you like it. Please feel free to pilfer all you desire. We need more TK players out there! As for Arkhan's chariot, I have done the base for it and I intended to use Settra's chariot as the base but i don't know when I'll get around to it. Arkhan's a little fragile and that mount makes him easier to kill.

@ Optio - If I can get all I need done I'll be taking the whole army to my local shop for a pre-tourney photo shoot. Should be around Friday.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Man, your painted Ushabti makes me wanna lift my Finecast ban and actually do the Ushabti/Construct heavy army I was planning.

The finecast Bo'Shabti are really nice, I just don't like how static they are. Even with different arm positions, the unit still looks 'lifeless'.

I don't have any experience with the finecast melee versions though. I'll be going back the Bo'Shabti to finish them off once I've come down from this tourney.

~Minor Update~

I've completed 3 Necro Knights. HOLY CRAP this unit takes forever to finish! I've finished/mounted the command elements and one additional snake.

I've 2 more snakes ,but they are sitting around 60% done (I have to finish/wash the metal elements). I also have 3 crew to do.

As much time as this blasted unit is taking me to complete, I'm unsure if I'll even have time to get to Arkhan. I may have time on Friday but I don't want to rush him as he's the whole reason I've done this army. Thank the dark gods I've a plethora (Yes Jeffe) of completed Liche Priests completed already.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Keep it up, Shawn. Best of luck to you to get this army done in time.

Thanks bro.

By hook or by crook I'll get some pictures posted for Dakka by Friday. I plan on having a nice pre-tourney photo shoot over at my local shop.

Soul of Iron wrote:I'll get some pictures posted for Dakka by Friday.

Awesome! I can't wait! Good luck on getting Arkhan done. If he makes it for this tourney, great, if not you've still got several great looking characters done, so it won't be the end of he world.

This blasted unit took me almost a week to complete. Every time I felt like I was making some progress, I’d look up and realize I had HOURS of work left. It was depressing at times.

Well the unit is done, and I’m relieved. I have mixed feelings on how it came out as I rushed the work somewhat, but again I’m glad it’s done.

Next up is completing the display. I’ll have that finished today so I’m on schedule to take pictures at my hobby shop.







Shawn G. (SoI)

Not gonna lie, I've got a little bit of a man-crush on you right now. That Casket conversion is outstanding, the wizard/liche kitbashes look great, and your painting is incredible. Keep it up!

Shawn, those necro knights look good, dude. I wouldn't fret over them. I have an idea that your display board is gonna be epic. Hope this last leg of the project goes smoothly for you and Good Luck at Blob's!

@ Hungryp - I'm glad you like bro. This army has been a real joy to paint.

@ Moltar - Thanks dude. As for the board, I'm putting the finishing touches on it right now. I would not call it epic, but it works well. There's a element of it that I've been working on in secret that burned up some of the time I would have spent on Arkhan, but he really was of the lowest importance when it came down to prepping for this tourney.

I'll post pics of the whole thing tonight when I get back from the store.

Time to polish my army list while this thing is drying.

Shawn G. (SoI)

The painting is ace as always, but the bases are crying for something more. Like a broken column or some rocks or something to break up the large, flat expanse.

I love coming across threads like this when they've been going for a while. I've just been utterly absorbed for 30 minutes. Great stuff

I sympathise with the Dread Knights. The mould lines on the tails are a royal pain in the arse.

Here it is. I’ll have more pics later. Off to the tourney!

Army Display



Wish me luck!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Pics not working, but best of luck, Shawn!!!


Edit: Scratch that. Pic does work. That looks amazing Shawn. Loving the sphinx.

wowe they look amazing!

Thats an amazing group shot, the conversions and time put in really make an astounding force! Nice Sphinx as well

Awesome.

Very nice looking army you have here. Awesome!

So I got back home from Blob’s Park last night at 12:30am and I have to say that was THE most fun I’ve ever had with this hobby. I met a slew of incredible players, played 4 fun and intense games, and saw some of the most talented hobbyists I’ve ever come across. I’m so glad I kicked myself in the ass and went.

I more or less broke even for the event with 1 major/minor victories and 2 minor losses. I and I have to say that’s not too bad for my first competitive tourney with a non-optimized list. I have not been excited like this about this hobby in years and I can’t wait for my next tourney fix.

High Points of the Battle at Blob’s Park:

John Matthews – It was a real honor meeting him didn’t get to play him though.

There was a painting competition at Blobs so I took my Necrosphinx and my Nurgle Demon Prince. Cool Mini or Not (CMoN) was supporting it for as minor Crystal Brush event with the top prize being a ticket to Adepticon but they backed out last minute. My sphinx took best large mini. The prize was a resin Elf on Great Eagle and The 7 Day Army Painter DVD both from CMoN.

I was the only TK player there, which kind of surprised me. I’m glad because it netted me best TK general for just showing up and a free Necrosphinx/Warsphinx kit. That prize was more expensive then the entry fee so I was in the green!

I also got a box of Kings of War elven archers just for showing up.

All-in-all I had a blast at Blob’s and I can’t wait for the next event. I’m already revising my list for optimization. My TK mojo has returned!

Shawn G. (Soi)

P.S. - Here are some more pics of the display I did for this event. (I’ll explain the Sphinx in a later post)

Gosh that display looks great.

I love your casket of souls too. Looks way better than the one that GW put out.

this brought a tear to my eye. Great job!!! I do want to see close up pics of Arkhan the Black as you showed a few WIPs, I just wanted to see a few pics of the final product I'm wanting to copy your idea for the unit fillers - I'm ordering the molds over the next month or so. I'm just in awe of the way you've made this army. Its by far the best TK army I've seen on the net.

::whistles lowly::
great looking army you got there. Also really like the Eggsac tyranid over on your blog.

boyd wrote: Its by far the best TK army I've seen <snip>.

Fixed that

Good job Shawn. Boy, you keep bringing that dang Sphinx everywhere you're gonna end up with a crystal brush one of these days

Man, that board looks sooo good with everything on it.

Congratulations on the painting win!! Deserved it with that necrosphinx though to be fair

Glad you had a good time, i have to agree though that i cant wait to see arkhan finished!

Congrats also on the well deserved painting win!

Sounds like a fantastic event, and it's great to hear
that you're feeling more motivated again.

I hope that feeling of motivation moves you to
finish off your arkhan conversion, I'm really
looking forward to seeing him done up!

This army is amazing... it was a bummer that there was no working light above our table at Blobs Park to see it better in-person!

~Comment Resended~

Shawn, I definitely screwed up at the beginning of our game at Blobs and appreciate you accepting my apology for it... looking forward to seeing you and this force at GTs to come!

Also, I do owe Mike beers. I'd promised him mine at Blobs Park, but forgot when I won my first two games, and got beat pretty bad in my second two (almost being tabled by Mike Ludwig and then you! with a lone unit surviving each game...) and thus couldn't pass any on

Cheers,
Steve Garber / RiTides

I like Beer.

Look, I regret for my comments. I will remove them from this thread. I am not the type to flame nor hold grudges.

@Steve - It's cool and I apologize to you for my curtness and my previous comments. I will remove them.

@Mike - Thank you again for this mediation.

Let's bury this mess and I'll buy you both a beer when we meet next year.

Shawn

Soul of Iron wrote:Let's bury this mess and I'll buy you both a beer when we next year.

Shawn

Sounds good, but Steve doesn't drink, dibs on his.)
Beer solves all problems, that's why I like Blob's Park so much.

And I'll buy the beer if you make it up to Border Raids in Novemeber. You're ahead of the game with your painting already, as painting is 1/3 of the points.

This army could be amazing at Border Raids. I'm not sure on the cost of the Necro Knights but they were a Very convincing unit to face (i.e. eliminated my troll horde, with the help of the Sphinx) and if they come in at under 400 points, I think could be even more awesome in that format when they units they're facing up against are smaller.

I'll be at Border Raids, as I've also just gotten my army painted up to attend tournaments... albiet to nowhere near this level! Would love the opportunity to see this force again in-person where I could truly appreciate it... or even just see it decently, since I didn't come across it until the end of the day, and only saw just a bit when you were unpacking it earlier.

Any plans to add units based on the (presumably some tougher) games at Blobs?

Well I have Arkhan to complete. Now that I don't have a deadline looming over my head I can take the time to give him the paint job he deserves. Expect some love for him this week.

As for Border Raids, I would very much like to go. I may be headed up with some of the IC crew but I need to check to see if I have anything going on around that time.

My list needs some refining and I've got some plans for it. Raids is a 2500 tourney so I have 300 points to trim. I don't know what I'll bring.

Shawn G. (SoI)

@soul of iron - Arkhan is in dire need of a close up

Can't wait to see that and the finished Ushabti need their completed pics

I can't say enough about this army other than its one of the best I've seen.

Thanks Boyd.

I've started work on Arkhan. He's got a lot of detail and i don't want to screw him up. I should finish him by this weekend.

While I was waiting on Arkhan to dry I slapped together a new Tomb King. I was kind of surprised how well he came out. I'll take pictures of him tomorrow.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Very nice army, just read through the six pages, quick question, the fell bats what are they meant to be and can we see some close ups?

@Logan - The bats represent Carrion. I'm not a big fan of the current versions and I had some old bats I did for a VC army I was working on with snow bases so I scavenged them. The paint job is old and looks like crap.

I’ve been busy as hell with work so I’ve been real slow on work for this army. Well, thinks have been settling down and here are a few things I’ve got stored up.







First up is a Tomb King I built right after the tourney at Blob’s. I wanted to try some new army builds so I needed a king with the appropriate parts. I used the axe from the Necro Knights kit but it needed to be converted some so it would fit onto a Tomb Guard body. The death mask also comes from the same kit. The shield comes via Scibor.

This guy was really easy to paint and I’m glad at how he turned out. I was worried the shield was going to be poor as the detail did not seem to strong, but it looks good! I’m especially fond of the ‘intent’ of this mini. There are some unsavory types on his lawn in dire need of immediate extirpation…







Next up is the sphinx from my display. The model is a limited run terrain piece sculpted by Chris Fitzpatrick. It came out around the same time the Tomb Kings army was first released and I bought it to eventually paint up for my personal army. I ended up selling the army but kept the sphinx because it was too damn cool to let go of.

I painted it up for my display using my army colors. It looks ok, but I’ll have to revisit it eventually as it is in need of detail work.

Lastly is this little beauty.



I have received tons of inquiries as to how I did the sandstone skin of my original Necrosphinx. I really want to share how I did it, but it needs an appropriate model so the technique translates correctly. There was no way that I would buy/repaint another sphinx just for a tutorial, so I’ll use this.

I’ll work on the tutorial over the weekend (hopefully).

Shawn G. (SoI)

That axe-wielding Tomb King looks really great.

Wow, you have really inspired me to paint my own TK army! Brilliant work on those models and i'm really looking forward to a tutorial on how you did the sandstone skin on the necrosphinx.

~Small Update~

Arkhan is about 60% complete. I've decided to try something on this mini that I've only been successful with once; Object Light Sourcing. The results so far have been pleasant to say the least.

I should have him finished by tomorrow.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Loving the tomb king, so much menace behind the pose, looks like there is something he dont like it must be got ridden of, straight away.

as ever kepp up the good work

Well, he’s done. I’m very satisfied at how he came out.









I have not attempted light sourcing in years and this didn’t come out too bad. I’ll need to refine the technique some but it is rather fun to do.

With Arkhan complete, I believe I can call my Tomb King Army finished. I still have some units to finish off but with 7 characters and 12 units complete, I can proudly say this is the largest army I have ever done.

Feels good.

Oh yeah, I painted Apophas months ago and never took any pics. Here he is!





Shawn G. (SoI)

That looks sweet man, great conversion on Arkhan, the Osl looks good as well!

Love both the models, but imo the blue on Apophas is a little too blue, but thats personal taste only, its really well done. and congratulations on finishing (well nearly) the army

Shawn, if you weren't such a nice guy, I'd say you were a jerk for making us all look bad :p

@Vitruvian - Thanks. I find the OSL to be a little strong in some parts but practice will produce better results.

@Logan - Thanks! I've still some Ushabti to finish but I've 3400 points of TK done. That's the largest army I've ever owned.

@spyguyyoda - Thanks.

I've no idea what I want to do next. None of the other armies interest me so I may just attempt a 40K army but I've bad luck with that system (most of the armies I've tried/owned got screwed over). I may wait till the Necrons get some love and create a space variant of this army or I may go back to my 'Nids. No idea really.

Shawn G. (SoI)

I love your Arkhan, but I do have one criticism. Maybe its the picture, but it's difficult to make out his black teeth. Maybe a slightly lighter grey highlight to pick them out?

Otherwise, fantastic. The whole army. A real inspiration. I've saved a bunch of your pictures for later reference. With vamp counts getting a new book early next year, I'm now not sure when exactly I'll be getting around to Tomb Kings, but when I do your army is definitely providing the model I'll attempt to follow.

very nice. Very very nice.

I know this is an older thread, but i recently started TK and was wondering if you could tell me how you painted your sphinx? As im struglling to work out how to get a good colour for the marble and the gold with the new GW paints.

And do you have any suggestions for a replacement devlan mud? The new one looks odd, and devlan mud is perfect for my bones

Thanks in advance,
Mike

~From the ashes of forgotten threads, it rises!~

I have not looked on this thread in quite a while. Sorry my friend but I have very little experience with the new GW range as I tend to use Vallejo colors primarily. But here's how I would tackle it:

The skin for the sphinx was base coated in VMC Basalt Grey (70869), dry brushed in VMC Light Grey (70990), washed in Devlan Mud, and highlighted in watered down Basalt Grey. You should be able to get similar effects using Warpfiend Grey and Slaanesh Grey as replacements for the Basalt and Light greys. Hashut Copper should be a replacement for the VGC color I used and wash it in Warplock Bronze.

As for the new mud, I have yet to sample it so I have no idea how it will behave. I still have 2-3 bottles of the old mud still to go through.

I hope this helps.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Thanks for your suggestions, hopefully ill have better luck in the future

The Army painter medium wash is (according to several threads that popped up when the paint changed) the closest match for Devlan. I suggest poking around in the Painting & Modeling section. They should be in there.

I haven’t touched this army since Oct 2011 when I finished Arkhan, but I have been collecting stuff for my eventual return. I knew I needed to get rid of that silly pyramid I was using for my Hierotitan, but I never found a suitable replacement and then my Thokt Necron project put my TK on the back burner for 2 years.

I fell in love with the Mournghul (I know there’s no ‘h’ in there but it needs one) when I picked up Monstrous Arcanum from Forge World and the model did not disappoint! I wanted this piece to replace my pyramid, but that horse under his left hand had to go.

Have I told you how much I love my Dremel?

2 hours of grinding removed the horse and after fishing around though the few TK scenery pieces I had I found the perfect fit; one of the ruined Egyptian columns from Armorcast. I had to saw off the column to change its direction so the piece gets to utilize all that nice texture on the shattered side of the pillar. He’s also pinned in two places for stability.

I can’t wait to paint this bad boy, but I got a building Jones that I just have to satisfy…

More to come so stay tuned!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Welcome back, Shawn! Can't believe no one else has commented upon your return! Very excited to see all the new additions to these tomb kings!

Hey there Moltar! It's been a while.

I've never truly left Dakka (I like to lurk the rumor threads), but I had ceased all hobby activity since around Nov of last year. Just could not drum up enough "Give-A-Damn" to build or paint anything.

I have a friend Juan who was having some trouble utilizing his High Elves and asked me to go over how they worked. After 3+ hours of strategy talk with him and my pal Robert, I really felt like playing again.

My TK are the only fantasy army I have completed, but they were never optimized for competitive play. I knew I had some work to do and I had gathered plenty of models to do so during my hobby lull.

So here I am, and I've got some cool @#$% brewing!

Shawn G. (SoI)

 Soul of Iron wrote:

Lastly is this little beauty.

I have to ask, where did you get this? I love it.

I got that from an Ebay seller going on 2 years ago. I LOVED the sinister design.

It appears he took an existing piece and re-sculpted the face and cast a mold of it. The auction also came with 2 standing statues that I'm keeping secret for a bit. I intend to add them to an Necropolis display that's in the conception phase ATM. Unfortunately the seller cast the 3 pieces of the auction in a piss poor plaster that was very easy to chip, so I will need to mold and re-cast them in resin if they are going to be of any use.

I normally would not recast another man's work but this plaster he used I can chip with my thumbnail. It's really bad!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Here he is. My first completed model in over a year. Not too shabby.

This was the first of my own projects that utilized heavy use of my airbrush. The model was primed, base coated, and faded using my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS.

Since this guy lacks any metal elements I had to stick to the other primary colors in my army being Black/Gray & Red. I wanted the column to be dark so that was done first using a series of Vallejo grays with some white line highlighting. The Mournghul himself was a different story.

I only had one more color in my palate so his body had to be red. I was not too big on a solid red body so I added some transitional fading effects to his most exaggerated elements: his shredded abdomen and claws. I added some color to the talons and gave him wispy white hair for contrast.

I really like the way he came out and I think he’ll fit in perfectly with the rest of my army.

Feels good to be back in the saddle!



Remember that ‘building Jones’ I mentioned? Here’s one of the results

I picked up a pair of these this year during my lull along with some Tomb Guard. I slapped this together right after grinding the horse out of the Mournghul’s claws. I ‘m trying out a round mounting base with some recessed slots for the crew.

I’ll paint this when I’ve finished the other unit that came out of that building session.

More to come.

Shawn G. (SoI)

good to see this back in action man...mourghoul looks crazy you did a splendid job on him.

welcome back to the madness

take care

@alabamaheretic - Feels good the be back!

~~~UPDATE~~~



I’m not a very big fan of the current carrion models and they really don’t have a place in this Arkhan host I’ve built so I’ve been hunting for some suitable replacements.

I first went with the giant bats from the VC line and they didn’t quite work either. Then the book got re-released and the Vargheist kit showed up and I knew I found my substitute.

Pretty straight up paint job here. I used my airbrush to prime and get the red basecoat done along with the black transitions. I made the hair bone color to add some contrast. They use all but the metallic colors in my army scheme.

I’ve also taken a shine to GW’s texture paint. That stuff makes basing a breeze and it looks better then the flock stuff I was using. Way more visual interest there. I’m debating on rebasing my army with this stuff. It will likely never happen…

Shawn G. (SoI)

very cool soul.

that kit looks like it is awesome to put together and paint. yea i took a shine to the texture paint too really neat stuff

This thing was a real joy to paint.

I decided to mount tit on a 120mm round to try something new, and I really like the way it turned out. I used my Dremel to grind out the base slots and added some metal plates so I could magnetize the crew to the base.

It had plenty of fun parts, but also just as many annoying/monotonous sections. Having to do all that bone was a real pain, then having to blacken and highlight all those ribbons was even worse. I can say I did end up saving a lot of time using my airbrush to get the priming and basecoats done. Doing that with a brush would have been a nightmare!

Since I’ve been painting again, I can see I’m rusty. These last few things I’ve worked on have not been as ‘sharp’ as the work I’m used to completing. A few more units and I think I’ll be back to full speed.

Shawn G. (SoI)

Wow good to have you back. I see you haven't lost your touch! Your tomb kings actually inspired me to build an army of my own.

cool looking catapult man.

digging how it came out. i'd love to play against your tks i'd lose horribly but man it would be awesome.

Mournghul looks amazing! What a great model, and some smart thinking putting him in the pillar.

I also love the Carrion models . It's just great seeing such a colourful, and characterful, army of what could otherwise be a bland bunch of repetitious skeletons.

I never knew GW had texture paint! When did they put that out?

@Robbietobbie - Feels good to be painting again. Do you have any pics of your army?

@alabamaheretic - Thanks man. I've only played 1 game of fantasy in going on 2 years. I think you'd do fine. lol

@Mastiff - Thanks. The texture paint has been out for a while. 2 years possibly. That stuff is amazing! I'll never flock again!

Shawn G. (SoI)

Impressive work! That custom base is really something! I have an entire Necron force painted from an old tutorial of yours. Color choice is certainly one of your strong suits.

@Thokt - Thanks! I'm also digging the round base. I think I'm going to redo my casket on a round base as well. It looks so much better. I've seen your necrons, dead sexy work there!

Going back to the Mournghul awesome model. It would have been brilliant if you made it look like it was coming out of the rock itself, although I know it's not in the back ground. Other than that they all look good

Young Logan

@Young Logan - That would be really cool if I could manage that, but in reality I lack the sculpting skills to achieve such a visual. Managing to completely remove the horse from under the left talons without ruining the hand was a huge accomplishment for me.

Wow, this is pretty damn cool! Tomb Kings would probably be my army if I did WHFB.

I know you've already done the Ebon Dais, but I'd love to see you paint up the "official" Casket of Souls.

@Squigsquasher I agree, the Tomb King sculpts look like a lot of fun to paint.

@SoulofIron
The alternate basing and modeling takes it all to a new level - almost gives it a diorama feel on the battlefield! Keep sharing! And thanks for the compliment good sir!

Shawn! Glad to see you're back working on Fantasy

Let me know when you wanna play a game.

Oh, and nice work

Seriously inspirational stuff. I've been considering a lot of vaguely similar themes (floating black stones and obelisks and whatnot) and your use of hirstarts is really making it looks more doable than i thought